Zoe’s Journal

Our Hostess:

What a Layout!

Something is going on with the Taboo…

Let’s all get some more drinks!

Kitties!

So I saw a trailer today for a movie that comes out on December 7th. Now my anticipation is amped - I can hardly wait! It’s called ‘The Golden Compass‘, and the trailer is here:

This is totally my type of movie - I am almost drooling with excitement right now.

I just purchased a set of concert tickets for one of my favorite bands, Nightwish. Indeed, they held the top spot for over a year - until Sirenia and Sonata Arctica came along. (and yes, I know Sonata Arctica has been around for years before Nightwish got together) They’ve been going through a tough spot after firing their female singer, but they just found a new girl to take her place. I listened to an excerpt with the new girl. She’s good, but doesn’t seem to be as powerful as Tarja.

I can hardly wait for Sirenia to start touring the U.S. Lately, according to their tour information, they’ve been visiting places like Notodden, Kristiansand, and Folken, Stavanger. Ah, see why I love Northern Rock? They need more recognition in the United States! I guess that’s where ‘the fans’ come in.

The song posted above is, by the way, by Sirenia. Lyrics follow.

Voices Within

Darkness drapes my weary eyes
drape the void that grows inside
And I can’t take this veil away
I can’t find the strength
I tried to shield my scenery
tried to set my mind free
This life has brought me to my knees
Devastation unleashed

Whispers…calling on the wind
Like voices calling from deep within
Shivers…all down your spine
I’m the void that rides your aching mind

Nightfall seems to come my way
and it seems as if to stay
A shadow haunts me from the past
Will it forever last?
A voice is calling in the wind
yon the horizons, and from within
I deem the thought, shall I abide
these ghastly wispers inside?

Whispers…called you on the wind
Like voices called you from deep within
Wither…wane adown the line
I’m the void that rode your aching mind…

I’m going to rant. You ready? Okay. Take a look at this article and then come back.

The Mandatory Article

First of all, I love how atheists are termed as ‘Angry’. Well, NOW I might be angry, since you’ve immediately shuttled us, as a group, off into a white padded sub-category. Angry. This is so typical. (Now I’m going to do the name-calling) Growing up in church, whenever the speakers waxed passionate about ‘The Lost People’, one adjective that was always used to describe them was ‘Angry’. The other was ‘Rebellious’. Angry and Rebellious.

Okay, let’s take a step back. Here I am, let’s say that I’m in the gym. (this really did happen, by the way) A random person strikes up a conversation. How nice, right? Then they start ‘The Spiel’. What? No! I’m not religious. I’m atheist! Why are you trying to infect me with your beliefs? I don’t push my perfectly sound reasoning on you! Leave me alone! No, No! I don’t want to ‘keep God first’ in my life! That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard of!

See? This might be why the ‘Angry’ term is used. How blind they are! How insensitive to social cues! I mean, how offended would they be if atheists starting pounding on their doors at 8am on Saturday morning? This is why I find it totally offending that they use the ‘angry’ word like it’s something abnormal.

NEXT TOPIC

The Rev. Douglas Wilson, senior fellow in theology at New Saint Andrews College, a Christian school in Moscow, Idaho, sees the books as a sign of secular panic. He says nonbelievers are finally realizing that, contrary to what they were taught in college, faith is not dead.

Panic? You’re damn right that I may be panicking. But not for the reason you might think. I panic when I think of the hold that superstition has on people here in this country. I dread to think of the atrocities that have been committed in the name of religion. And I want an END to it. As I quoted a couple of posts ago, from the song Imagine by John Lennon:

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

Unfortunately, that’s all we can do at the moment. Imagine. And I can throw my two cents into the wind - a dandelion puff in the face of a storm.

The other excerpt from that quote by the Illustrious Rev. Douglas Wilson deals with the second part. The college remark. And this really opens the door into another room I want to explore.

He (the Rev.)says nonbelievers are finally realizing that, contrary to what they were taught in college, faith is not dead.

Here is yet another example of what I grew up with. ‘DON’T GO TO COLLEGE. THEY TEACH YOU TO ASK QUESTIONS’. By all means, don’t ask questions! We want you to stay dumb, ignorant. We like our worshippers mindless. No questions. That’s just too dangerous! Here’s the cold, hard facts, from someone who is actually IN college. College does not teach students that ‘Faith is Dead’. I mean, why the hell would they do that? It’s utter, complete nonsense! Anyone with sense can see that ‘faith is not dead’. All they have to do is walk into the bookstore and go to the ‘religion’ section.

But I will say this. Faith in a supernatural being is the most - THE MOST - ridiculous thing ever. It was invented by power-hungry leaders - the same leaders who say ‘Don’t ask questions - remain uneducated’.

I’m going to move on deeper into this room - leaving the article behind. You should still read it, though. My next subject is:

THE ANTI-CHRIST
Reading Revelations, it’s obvious that The Anti-Christ is the Bogeyman to beat all Bogeymen. Kind of like an Anti-Biotic to the virus. Here is my take on the whole situation.

I was still in the Christian community when talk of the Euro came around. The people panicked. The christian ones, at least. They panicked, because they believe that the ‘world is going to become one - uniformed’. The Euro is one example. The Metric system is another. They don’t want to go to that system, because they think that we should all keep our differences. Anything that threatens to unite different factions of the world is seen as a threat by the Christians. Why? Because this deed is described in Revelations as being something that ‘The Anti-Christ’ will accomplish. And when ‘The Anti-Christ’ arrives, it’s ‘The End of The World’.

What came to me the other day, as a kind of epiphany, was the ‘Big Picture’. What is the real reason that Christians don’t want the world to become one big, happy family?

Because then, there would be no place for religion. It would be the ‘odd kid on the block’. And why? Because religion can not live in peace until the entire world has converted to its way of thinking. This is why, as Hitchens puts it: “Religion kills.”

Bad behavior in the name of religion is behind some of the most dangerous global conflicts and the terrorist attacks in the U.S., London and Madrid, the atheists say.

Finally, a voice of reason in all this madness. I mean, just think. Use your brain. That’s what it’s there for.

I’ll leave you with the ‘Dreamer’s Song’.

Man, it really sucks. Having a glorious cartoon image scan rolling in your head, and being unable to draw it on paper. Someday they’ll have those thingamajiggers where you can hook up your brain and take pictures of your thoughts… until then, I remain an as-yet-undiscovered artist. But here it is in words:

Frame 1:
Couple of guys leaving the office for an all-day meeting. They wave, smiling, and tell the lone office gal, ‘Hold down the Fort for us!’.

and CUT.

Frame 2:
Deep rumblings sounding. The ground is shaking. The office gal is too busy taking consecutive phone calls, flipping through numerous computer screens, and panicking over an IT problem to notice.

and CUT.

Frame 3:
Desks and cubicle walls have apocalyptically risen into the air. Papers are raining down. The fax machine and printer are beeping. The phone is ringing. The walls continue rising and break through the ceiling, there to reign in the sky, trailing cords and wires like Laputa: Castle in the Sky.

Needless to say, the guys that went to the meeting come back to the office, only to find a barren concrete battleground.

See? I could win an Oscar or something.

The best part of the whole thing is… it really happened. Figuratively speaking, of course. But it happened. And I almost bashed a couple of heads in with my shoes.