Dude on the train

[sanguine37]

I love the dudes on the trains. One of my favorite things about NY is the dudes on the trains. The guy listening to rap ridiculously loudly, so loudly that the rest of the car could hear the robotic voice barking through his headphones, suddenly bringing a voice recorder to his mouth and robotically barking into it so that we all realized it was

Comments

[bightchee]

Cram it, spic.

[bodylotion]

So shallow, and yet there are still white only trees in LA. In 2007. This is why I don't care how expensive it is to live here. I will never leave the blue states damn it.

Some people hold on to poisonous beliefs no matter what. Like it's some sort of need. Like racism and some of the loonier, cult like brands of any religion. The crack head made a point. If he can be addicted to crack, he can be addicted to any belief.

In fact, many former addicts are very religious. My crack head uncle for one, and my recovering alcoholic stepfather is another. Why did they start drinking, or smoking crack in the first place? Because they fell victim to peer pressure and had a need to belong to something perhaps? They are perfect candidates to be swooped up into anything.

[bightchee]

If no body practices racism then there will be no racism. We can't have that, letting racism go extinct.

[chaoticangel]

When I was in the class with you and the professor said that I liked the message but I believed it was an oversimplification. I believe that racism is directly proportional to ones ignorance or inversely proportional to ones experience with other races. I also wouldn't confine faith to the rehabilitated masses, the foremost physicist of our times Dr. Stephen Hawking is a man of intelligent faith having said "If we find the answer [the unified theory], it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason -- for we would know the mind of God." among other statements that show that while he doesn't prescribe to the many forms of God that are worshiped he does prescribe to the notion of God and even Galileo had faith after he denounced the teachings of the church.

[bightchee]

I dislike the argument for faith and religion's worth using an appeal to authority. While very well respected people like Galileo and Stephen Hawking are not authorities on the matter. If you saw the debate on Nightline with Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort arguing with two members of the Rational Response Squad whether God exists the "for God" side used that argument several times and it had to be the part that bothered me the most about their argument.

[chaoticangel]

I'm not arguing for faith and religion I'm arguing against the assumption that if you have faith there must be some underlying flaw in your character that drives you to it. It bothers me that some of the most intelligent people I know have such a bias view of faith and people of faith. Churches when they have power do the same thing that all human organizations do when they have power, they abuse it. All great ideas have been corrupted as soon as humans get together and start thinking of ways to exploit them; nuclear power, biomedicine, computers, the internet, communism, capitalism, all of them have been corrupted. I could argue as to why I believe in God but that's neither my job nor my inclination but let's not make the assumption that because I do believe that I'm not as reasonable or intelligent as the next person.

[bodylotion]

Of course faith can't be restricted to those with flaws. Never claimed that. But fanaticism can. There's a difference. Fanaticism is what gives the power to corrupt. Various organized religions know it's easy to convert people at their low points, and the people they recruit are beyond loyal. Take AA meetings. Often held in churches and run by the church. Have you ever read the literature they give those people? They don't teach them to succeed without the church. Only in god can they find their salvation. Step by step, they replace one need for another. For the more main line faiths, this isn't a problem (at least not the end result. I still have problems with the tactics used.) For the batshit crazy faiths who picket soldiers funerals? Yeah, problem.

Conclusion to this rant? I have no issues with those who believe and no desire to argue with them. I have issues with those looking to corrupt.

[dr_pepper_spray]

I recently attended Russell Simons 50th birthday party as part of a film crew and since I'm from the south a revelation came from the sum of this event. There is nothing that separates rich white people from rich black people. The large but localized areas of the south where racism exists is ridiculous to me since the concerns of the working white (or of any color for that matter) is wasted on something so petty and should be shifted to an argument about class. Oh and I tried to knife Brett Ratner but he's much too light on his feet.

[jodaro]

Just like any habit that is learned, racism can be unlearned. It's just difficult to do while still surrounded by it.