008: Hamid Almighty!

Over the last couple of days, so much has been said of Bruce Almighty in some of the blogs I follow regularly. Well, I HAVE seen Bruce Almighty! I thought it was okay. But there was a scene in there that is very appropriate for times like these. In it, Morgan Freeman as God, gives Bruce all His powers for a week with only one condition: "You can't mess with FREE WILL". In case you're wondering, FREE WILL is not that movie with the killer whale in it. It's about how God gave man free will to worhip Him, or not if man so chooses.

Think about it. God with all His powers can easily make us yield to him. But He doesn't. It's like any love story, if someone loves you willingly, that's true love. God tells you your options, choose Him and have eternal life, or reject Him and spend eternity in a really hot place. I think the Christians believe this (does anyone else believe this?). Anyway, it's all laid out for us, to do as we see fit.

God allows us to choose. Unfortunately, Abdul Hamid doesn't.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Update 1 Aug 2003: Heard through the grapevine that the ban is not definite as of now. Bueno Vista is protesting the ban and the results are expected today or tomorrow. (unconfirmed)

a freudian spit generated @ 4:43 PM | |

 
007: Marriage. Man-made or God-Ordained?

A religious friend once tell me that marriage is not man-made. It was ordained by God, for Adam and Eve. As you can probably guess, the first wedding was out in the garden, and in the nude, of course. It wasn't particularly fancy, no suits, no gowns, no dinner ceremony, no silly toastings and no annoying relatives! Ah... now there's a marriage made in heaven.

But seriously, who made marriage?

The dictionary defines marriage as the institution whereby men and women are joined in a special kind of social and legal dependence for the purpose of founding and maintaining a family. Today, society and its governments have assumed the legal guardianship of this institution. And look at the kind of crap we call marriage today.

In our very own backyard, you can divorce a woman via sms. Worse still, the government allows it. The religious courts rule in its favour. And, at the back of my mind, I see a whole bunch of unfaithful husbands applauding the move. I feel sorry for you women out there. Looks like the only things that can prevent your divorce now is that "Low Batt" or "No Credit" signal.

In some countries, it is legal for same-sex marriages. (Before I am misunderstood, let me clarify that I have absolutely no problems with gays or lesbians. As far as I am concerned, you're free to stick your plumbing anywhere you like. Unless you're Anwar, but that's another story). But the logic behind homosexual marriages elude me completely. If indeed a marriage is supposed to be a sacred institution, then homosexuals have no business getting married. If indeed man was created by god, surely god did not create Eve so that she can sit and watch Adam screw Joe. If gays choose to live in defiance of society's conventions, then why bother with society's rituals? Look, just keep doing what you do if you so choose. But stop ravaging the sanctity of marriage like you believe in it.

Another pet peeve I have is people of religion saying it's ok for interfaith marriages. I'm not some religious zealot trying to preach to you but don't you all see how futile it is?

Christian Wife    : Honey, let's go. My sister is having a BBQ at home.
Buddhist Hubby  : I'm a vegetarian-lah.
Christian Wife    : God created animals for our consumption lah.
Buddhist Hubby  : Your god is crazy lah. All life is sacred.
Christian Wife    : Oh yeah, then why you whack mosquitos? Stupid!
Buddhist Hubby  : You lagi stupid, praying to holy ghost! If so holy, then why is it a ghost?
Christian Wife    : What about Buddha? Just know how to sit under a tree, talk nonsense and eat all day! Like you-lah!
Buddhist Hubby  : You suck! Jesus sucks! Go for your stupid BBQ lah!
Christian Wife    : I will. And I will eat cow. With any luck, it's your stupid mother reincarnated!
Buddhist Hubby  : That's it!! Divorce!
Christian Wife    : Over my dead body (till death do us part).

There are very valid reasons why some religions don't approve of interfaith marriages. Here's a more serious discussion about that. But surely you can see the practical reasons why it won't work. Will you truly respect your spouse's religious practice? And please, don't tell me love will conquer all. It's a silly cliche and you sound dumb when you say it!

So, did god create marriage? It sure doesn't look like it!



a freudian spit generated @ 3:42 PM | |

 
006: Are We Born Evil?

In The Star today, the 13-year-old was found guilty of killing his tuition teacher's daugther. He is to serve time in Kajang Prison. While he is to be put in the juvenile section, the child will be the youngest there, amongst the older kids all 40 of them aged 18 - 21.

What happened? What possessed a 13-year-old to commit murder? In 1993, 2-year-old Jamie Bulger was brutally tortured and murdered by Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, both 10. The incident was unprovoked.

Are children innocent or are we all born evil? I think that depends on how you define evil. Some religions claim that we are all sinners. This traces its way back to Adam and Evil - perpertrators of the original sin. God made Adam and Eve and placed them in a garden paradise with ONE rule - And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Which basically means, "you eat you die!". But I believe that the sin was not so much in the eating of the fruit but in the disobeying of god's command. And thus, a legacy was left behind for the rest of us. (That's of course, if you believe!)

I do believe that we all have an evil streak within us. Think about this: If you send a bunch of kids off to a desert island and leave them to their own devices with no parental guidance or learning aids to teach them right from wrong, how do you figure they will turn out? Will they know how to say "Thank You" and "Please"? Will they know that life is sacred and that they must not kill each other? Will they understand love or will it only be lust? Or will they kill each other, rape each other and violate one another like animals do? Some months ago, I watched a movie on TV2 (no Astro, sigh*) called "Lord of the Flies" which explores this very idea! Go watch it, all of you!

I believe evil is is not in itself a value but an intrinsic constitution that makes up a person. By that, I mean we cannot just erase evil from within us but we can curb it or quell it by simply learning good values. It will take some effort and a great deal of self-restraint to preserve some law and order. And perhaps, mankind's greatest achievement in this area is the remarkable documentation of teachings which we know today as the holy scripture and a somewhat successful implementation of it. At the last count, there are 1.9 billion Christians, 1.1 billion Muslims, 781 million Hindus, 324 million Buddhists, 19 million Sikhs and 5.3 million Confucianists which is quite impressive.

But then again, how many of these "supposed" believers actually subscribe to the teachings of their holy scriptures? How many of these Christians actually believe in the 10 commandments when they're out there porking the neighbours wife? How many of these so-called Muslims actually refrain from consuming alchohol when they're out partying? And how many of these Buddhists actually believe that all life is sacred when they're out there pouring boiling-hot water on stray cats and dogs? How many of us out there actually enforce the concept of good & evil upon our kids?

Some people can't stand religious people, whether Christians or Muslims or Buddhists. Some people can't stand how these pious people seem to be out there "recruiting" members and imposing their beliefs on other. If you're one of those, do have a little tolerance. I do, even though sometimes religious people do get on my nerves. I remind myself that it's not a bad thing they're trying to do trying to "save" me or trying to help me attain "nirvana". If there is truly a god out there, I'm sure he'd teach us to do good rather than evil. And a lot of us could use a little teaching.

I feel a deep sense of sorrow that the 13-year-old boy would be going to prison. Would it have made a difference if he had understood that life is sacred? I just hope that he finds god before prison life hardens him. I hope we all find god before we screw up our lives.

a freudian spit generated @ 2:41 PM | |

 
005: Dying In Style

Read in The Star on Saturday of the death of Pastor Kalib Besar. Pastor Kalib, 49, perished when the chopper he was in crashed en route to a prayer meet of some sort. This brings to mind yet another case. During the SARS crisis in the region, Pastor Simon Loh, 39, contracts the deadly virus and succumbs to it when he went to pray for a patient.

These are pretty high profile cases involving men of god. Both dying tragic deaths in the course of doing god's work. So what IS the deal with that? What message are we supposed to gather from all of this? That you CAN die even if you're doing god's work? Or that god does not want these men to do what they were on their way to do? Or that the Christians are barking up the wrong tree? Or maybe there IS NO god after all? What profound message are we supposed to get from all of this? And where are these pastors now? Did they make it to heaven for all their trouble?

Monotheism (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) believes that dying for God is an honourable way to go. The concept is simple; mankind was created to serve and worship God; God is pleased when mankind serves Him; and if you die while serving Him, He would be pleased as punch to see you cos you were doing stuff to honour Him. It's all there in the text. Which is also why some of my more pious friends tell me that they really aren't all that afraid of death - which, I suppose is a not a bad thing depending how you look at it.

But suppose, a good man dies while he's doing something really bad. Imagine that I am a good Christian fellow - goes to church every Sunday, sings songs, reads bible, wouldn't hurt a fly. Then suppose one fine day, in a moment of weakness (nobody is infallible, okay?!) I decide to take a quickie at the local brothel. And then, there in the middle of all that frenzied-frolicking I suffer a heart attack and die on the spot. Question is, do I still get to go to heaven, after that little heavenly session?

I suppose there is probably a lot more honour when you die doing something godly. Better than having the papers read "Missionary dies in a missionary position with prostitute". Not the kind of legacy I'd wanna leave behind! (note: for those not familiar with the Missionary Position, try this blog)

Which brings us to a burning question I have: Why does god allow good people to die tragically? Aren't they better on earth than 6 feet under? I could really use an answer for this one. And don't tell me "God works in mysterious ways" if you don't know the answer. Nothing sucks more than a lame, half-assed, non-committal answer! Mail me if you must.

I apologise to the family and friends of Pastors Kalib Besar and Simon Loh, and to all you Christians reading this, if you have found my article disrespectful. It was not meant to be. These are thoughts that keep me up at night and I articulate them in the way I know best.

I hope I die well. And in style.

a freudian spit generated @ 3:31 AM | |

 
004: It's All Alien To Me

Astro is playing "Taken". Unfortunately I never got round to saving enough money for an Astro dish to have been able to enjoy that show. And with the way the pirate scene is going, I doubt if I'd ever get a copy of the DVD. Which is a shame. Both about "Taken" and about the DVD scene.

In any case, I have always been fascinated by Aliens and UFOs. It's not completely preposterous that beings from other planets could exist. In fact, in the 70s, one crazy, Swedish bastard (most Swedish are crazy, so I'm told), Erich Von Daniken wrote a book, "Chariot of the Gods". In it, he theorised that perhaps "God" was an alien being, visiting from another planet.

This alien with all his technology and (fire)power, visiting a primitive earth would be deemed a superior entity, and thus formulating mankind's idea of "God". If you've ever read the Old Testament (which is pretty much shared by the Jews, Christians and Muslims) you would have found some pretty out-of-this-world happenings that might even lead you to believe in Von Daniken's theory. The whole concept was pretty amazing, what with Von Daniken's proof in ancient artefacts, geographical wonders, cave drawings, ancient monuments and so forth. If this story sounds familiar, that's because the concept was adopted in Stargate.

Years later, the scientific community and the archaeological fraternity would have a field day running the man down, debunking his fantastic stories and discrediting him. The asswipe had come out with the theory first, and then proceeded round the world to find anything that would prove him right! Of course he conveniently left out the evidence that proved him wrong. Worse still, he actually manufactured some of his so-called evidence. Still, he made a shitload of money with his books and TV shows. In retrospect, he's probably not that much of an asswipe since he's laughing his way to the bank.

And so, another idea of the origins of god and man goes down the drain. And the search rages on for some of us. The rest couldn't be bothered where mankind came from as long as life promises lots of money, sex and power! I expect most people who even stick with this blog are in some ways, seekers of the truth. The truth is out there (at least on the X-files anyway) and I'd like to find it. But I'm also not easily taken by the hoo-ha of religion. By this, I mean I'm not capable of blind faith.

Some people try to prove that god exists. Others try to prove that he doesn't. I accepts proofs of either. And the funny thing is while no one can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that god exists, it's probably just as hard to prove that he doesn't. Now THAT is food for thought.

Well, if there is a god then he'll hear my prayers. Today I'm asking for an Astro dish.

a freudian spit generated @ 11:18 AM | |

 
003: What's Happening So Far

I'm still tinkering with this blog. I've decided to manually enter a number for each posts. Just for kicks. I also managed to get some nifty tools. I've put in a cursor for this page. Put in a feedback button.

I'm not sure I ought to have put one in - the feedback thing. People can get really incensed when you question their religious beliefs. I expect that perhaps some religious zealot will click it and start cursing my family and all. But hey, it's a free country! I am a strong proponent of democracy and freedom of choice - if you choose to be an asswipe, I'm totally fine with that. Still, if things get out of hand, then I shall shall just remove your freedom to speak here (yes, I AM that powerful in this here world of mine)!

Perhaps, when I get start getting the hang of things I will start inviting people in to be a part of this world. However, my invitations will go out to a select few. I prefer someone who can (or think they can) enlightened me in matters of the cosmic truth. So all you net-savvy preachers, priest, pastors, ulamas, cultists, atheists, evolutionists, creationists, communists, capitalists and even statanists can expect a mail from me soon. While this is not exactly a forum, I would like to hear people defend their faith. That means you Asiawork-ists out there too. Hahhaha!

It's gonna cook in here.

a freudian spit generated @ 1:33 PM | |

 
002: Creation Is Not All It's Cut Out To Be

Was there suppose to have been any fun in this at all? I've been tinkering with my blog for awhile now; tweaking the colours, putting up some links, making it as visually pleasant as I possibly can and yet I haven't truly found joy in any of this. When does the satisfaction come in?

I think creationism is probably just like that. If you've heard the theory, god made the world in 6 days. On the seventh, he took a break. That's what Jews, Christians and Muslims believe in anyway. But I digress.

Think about it. If god made the world, it probably took quite a bit to get it just right. Now cut to thousands of years later (evolutionists say a 4.55 billion) and just take a look around you. What a screwed up mess we've made of the world. There's that bigass, gaping hole up in the ozone. And the ice caps in the North Pole threaten to melt and drown us all. There's war all over. And all kinds of shit. I wonder how god feels now.

Just imagine. Today you buy this nice hamster cage. You buy all the best decos - the cutesy little Ferry's Wheel, that nice little Tube Tunnel, and you add some extras to make it a little garden of eden for the little critters. You spend the time and the money. It's a labour of love. Then you make the mistake of actually getting hamsters! Soon the little buggers are abusing your masterpiece. They piss and shit all over and the entire things reeks of death and decay. It's also like setting up a nice tropical aquarium. You get the nice big tank, put in all the pebbles and sand, buy those nifty little decos and those expensive filters. And you plant some nice seaweeds and put in a coral or two. And it's all nice and dandy - until you actually get some fish, that is! Pretty soon, they just shit all over and then you get that green gunk all over the sides of your fish tank. So, what do you think of eden now? So, what does god feel now?

I think god shoulda just stopped short of making man. Then he'd have a nice little deco to look at. Always beautiful. Always pristine. And none of that "backstroke fish" when he gets up every morning. None of that green gunk. No cleaning or changing of water. No heartbreak. Earth was probably a nice place until we came along. Now we're practically buried in shit. Maybe we did evolve from monkeys after all.

Anyway, anyone's got a suggestion how I can make this blog better?

a freudian spit generated @ 5:28 PM | |

 
Let There Be Light

This is my world. I created it in 6 minutes. On the 7th minute I will rest. That's now.

OK. I'm done resting. Now things should get progressively interesting from here on. That is if I have the tenacity to keep this up. I will try to maintain a sense of order here, and also try to keep some consistency - both in terms of the frequency in which you'll get to read my thoughts and in the subject matter.

What is the subject matter? If the above line didn't give you a clue, perhaps this might: Yesterday I saw an episode of Futurama, hilariously titled the Godfellas. In it, Bender accidentally get shot into deep space and becomes a god to a race of tiny people. Blah-blah-blah. In the end Bender meets the real god who tells him, "When you do something right, people won't be sure you've done anything at all." Profound.

Has god done anything for you lately? Do you even believe in god? Or are you god? Or did we really evolve from monkeys? Tell me!

a freudian spit generated @ 7:07 PM | |