We Are the Seven, Judgement of Heaven

jesus camp is the scariest movie ive seen in a while, maybe the scariest movie ive ever seen (and i couldnt sleep for a week after we watched the exorcist in eighth grade. thanks dave).

i urge people to see this movie, and take it seriously. people around me were laughing. i didnt think it was funny, i thought it was, well, scary, as i think i've said. these people, the ministers, people in positions of extreme power, are talking with utmost sincerety about recruiting and raising an army of children to do what they perceive as gods will. The want to end abortion. They want prayer in schools. They want to end the seperation of church and state. and they believe that they want this because it is what god wants, and therefore it is right and should be achieved by any means necessary.

i can't even explain how angry and helpless watching this stuff made me feel. if the movie had been called Allah camp, and or even just shown a dark man in a beard saying the exact things the overweight white woman was spewing, it would casue a riot. Part of whats beyond me is the fact that the rest of the people in this country and globally that call themselves Christians havent been rushing to condemn the Evangelicals as the extremeist zealots they are. That they continue, as far as I can tell, to ally with them, to enjoy the fruits of their political gains, as it were, and ignore the invective and propaganda and ignorance they preach. I dont belive that a majority of Christians are like this, but it makes me understand a little more why some people think all Muslims want to blow up buildings. Its hard not to look at the worst aspects of a religion and not make it the face of the whole thing. whats scary is taht even though theyre a minority, both in the country and in christianity, they seem to wield a disproportionate amount of sway, at least in this administation...and they believe they do not have enough, that they are just beginning, that their job will not be done until the whole country is governed by the laws that they believe to be right (or rather the laws they believe God has handed down to them, and, by extension, the rest of us)

I think ive rambled enough, but i just cant get it out of my head. there are people like this, a lot of them, and they believe they know better than i (and you) how to live in this world, what it means to be human and american. I dont have the chance to tell them they are living their lives incorrectly, and im not sure i would if i could. but they are doing their utmost to make my way of living, on some level, wrong. I dont want to pray in schools, i dont want my kids to, i dont want other peoples kids to. I want my gay friends to be able to get married if they so choose, and my female friends to be able to get aboritions if they so choose, and people can pray or not and be gay or not and abort babies or not on their own time. its up to them. not me. and not jesus campers.

j

ps on a lighter night, Christian rock is hilarious. the song in the first scene of the movie sounded exactly like Avantasia (which, for those of you ignorant of the european heavy metal scene, is an amazing, albeit non-christian, metal opera, check it out) and later there was a jesus rap. I think we should start a band. who's with me?

Alone Again, Naturally

i used to love that song. by Gilbert O'Sullivan. it was on a tape of the top billboard hits from 1972 i think i borrowed for like 6 months straight from the MB library. This was my favorite song on it, and my mom hated it. she said it was inane. what does it say about me that when i was in elementary school I loved a song about a guy who cheerfully describes jumping off a building because hes so lonely? exactly what you think it says.


So here I am, back in p-land after a brief visit to the MB. The wedding was fun, and i dont think ive ever seen my parents dance before, which was quite the experience (if youve never seen a room full of 30-70 year olds get down to a band playing usher and "its getting hot in herre" you havent lived. seriously. my mom danced to nelly) made me think about when all my friends start getting married...which doesnt seem to be anytime soon, but man will that be a party.

i also realized that i had grown fond of portland, but that i was pretty lonely here. I like the theatre and the people there, but besides the 2-4 hours i spend there a day, i dont see them. they come and go to and from their established lives, and i miss the college "get a drink after rehearsal" vibe. not their faul though. i just need to figure out how to meet people, so im not at home drinking tea and blogging at 1030 every night. its kind of a drag.

on the plus side, everyone should see Science of Sleep. cause its really good. and i liked the Departed, ending and all. and working my way through Haruki Murakami's back catalog has reaffirmed he is in fact my favorite author, although if i could tell you who are reading this to read one book, it would be David Mitchell's Black Swan Green. Trust me.

too bad about the dodgers. but theyll be good. and now im just gearing up for lakers basketball.

Best Team in Baseball

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO DODGERS!!!!