Posts tagged as:

religion

Bob and Weave

by Jose on December 26, 2007 · 9 comments

in Uncategorized

SevenI’ve been tagged by JD to do the 7 Things Meme. I really thought I got hit with this meme, but it was really the Crazy 8s, so technically I never got hit with the 7 Things Meme. That’s weird coming from someone whose made his rounds and then some in the blogosphere, but I guess it’s only appropriate.

1. My blog runs on a schedule: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. I did this in accordance with my own schedule, and have been since 2003, so it works for me.

2. I usually get mistaken for an English / Social Studies teacher until it comes time to calculate the bill, tip and everything.

3. I have a good 5-6 posts on reserve in case I ever run out of material to discuss on this blog, but the world spins far too fast for me to not have anything to discuss. Come to think of it, I have a good 7 posts in my head as we speak.

4. I used to be a devout Catholic until I found how much of that religion was clouding my judgment. I also researched Islam and Buddhism, but frankly, I’m far too unstructured to care much about any of it. I don’t hate on those who do practice the religions; oftentimes, I have to participate in Catholic rituals due to my family. It just doesn’t work for what I believe, and the more I find out, the less I’m inclined to become part of any specific religion, denomination, or anything of that nature.

5. I have met at least 5 people from every other forum of Internet expression I’m actively involved with except for this blog. On Xanga, I met over 80 people, but only 30 of them intentionally. On MySpace, I met a couple of people here and there. On Facebook, I met maybe 2 of them as well. On this forum: zero. It looks like that might change soon, but more on that to follow.

6. I actually like it when I find something damning about my heroes and idols. It makes them human. When I found out that MLK Jr. had extra-marital affairs, or Malcolm X was once a slick hustler, or that John Lennon used to do tons of drugs, I became even more enthralled in their lives. I mean, the man who we consider Jesus Christ (Yoshua bin Yosef, Horus, the Sun) used to hang with the lowest of the low in his heyday.

7. I’m not as anti-Bush as most of my brethren. Let me explain: Bush is the epitome of American corruptive audaciousness. Not only does he not really care for the people of this country, he’ll tell you (read between the ill-written lines). And if he doesn’t, then everyone else in the office certainly will. For this small cabal of masters and corroborators to exalt GWBush into this position in the face of the American people makes the rest of the country look like idiots for not seeing exactly why and how this all happened. I think Bush is appropriate for a people so apathetic and disillusioned with concerns of whether or not presidential candidates should wear American flags on their lapels or which celebrity will make it to the top of the news before they find out how many more young people die across the Atlantic and within our own borders. This country deserves Bush, and if you say you hate Bush, but can honestly only site that he looks like a monkey, that he speaks funny, or that your friends are anti-Bush so you have to stick with them, then you deserve Bush, too.

Extra: For a blogger, I’m a much better listener than I am a talker.

jose, who finds it disconcerting that these points of view are called radical when I’m just saying what the news is telling me …

{ 9 comments }

Imagine

by Jose on October 7, 2007 · 4 comments

in Uncategorized

John Lennon “Imagine”Imagine there’s no Heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today …

Field Negro’s contemplations about religion, Lupe Fiasco, my grandfather’s memorial service, and other personal issues really had me thinking about the positions I’m taking in worldly issues. It made me think about the existence of Heaven and what it means for so many of us trying to find meaning in our lives. It’s about 12:53pm and normally if I was a practicing Catholic, I’d be in church right now. Instead, I think about why it is I’ve left the pipe dreams the church sold me almost 10 years ago. We’ve become so complacent with everything around us …

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
We’ve sat down and watched as the world around us and everyone else’s individual interests overshadow the collective well-being of the proletariat. It’s almost as if we live our lives wantonly, waiting until the very last moment to reconcile with ourselves and our relationship with the G_d within us. There are wars going on, famine, sexism, racism, unneeded death, and all sorts of pestilence ravaging our world, but many of us accept it because, as much as we preach change, we’re really not.

You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

Even personally, we have issues with our parents, friends, lovers, co-workers, strangers we randomly meet, children, students, employers, … that list is interminable, and yet we constantly try to find a way to find a balance. Some of us go about it one way and end up miserable, while some of us have been successful in that endeavor. I’m personally still trying to keep things in perspective. Maybe it’s my Aquarian nature to think so idealistically about the state of the world, but there has to be a time for us to finally come together.

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world …

And I’m not saying some of these issues don’t happen for a reason. Problems throughout the world are in constant reaction to the last action, similar to a pebble in a pond, and the more pebbles you put into the pond, the more the waves crash with each other. Think about the constant intersections of rupture, and somewhere in between them, a plateau of stillness.

You may say that I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one

Imagine if we weren’t simply searching for utter happiness, but peace. Simply being angry isn’t going to do anything other than alleviate my emotional wounds. Acting and being part of the solution has become so vital to my quest for true peace. Everything is relative, and when we put our lives’ pieces in proper perspective, it becomes a lot easier to imagine that reality …

jose, who wonders if someone noticed the theme since last sunday …

p.s. – Shout-outs to:

AM, who wrote a really good entry about me,

All the Carnivals I forgot to highlight as of late like JD’s Carnival of Math 18,

Evolution’s Carnival of Education 139,

Global Citizenship in a Virtual World’s Carnival of Education 138, and

EducationWonks’ Carnival of Education 137.

I’ll do a better job after this, honest.

{ 4 comments }