The Watcher behind your Forehead

April, Anno Domini 1998

Vivon, 17 Par Christic

Current Thoughts

Easter is coming for the various Christian faiths. A different date for each sect. Easter is the celebration of the dea and rebirth of the bastard son of god to another man's wife. This seems like Sort of an inelegant way for the saviour of our race to enter the world.

If you're looking at movies, go see "Dark City". It's excellent. It would be hard to say why without spoiling it, but in vague terms: the images and ideas work together perfectly and suggest interesting thoughts about both the nature of who a person is and why memories are important.

There's almost nothing that you could put up your nose, that you would benefit from having up your nose. The only exceptions I can think of are Nasal Decongestant and if you're obessed with a pasrticular perfume or scent, I don't think it would hurt you too much to spray a small amount of it into your nose. If anyone can think of anything else that you could justify putting up your nose, tell me ( Chrizard@hotmail.com ).

It's finally spring time. It was so hot yesterday. But then again, it did this a few weeks ago and then it got really cold again, so maybe it'll freeze once more. We haven't gotten very much snow at all this year, so maybe we're due, or maybe it was just a light winter.

I've recently signed up for an Orthodox Christian Newsletter. Reading anything from another religion always amuses me. For some extremely conservative opinions (or just something to shake your head [or a stick] at), go to http://www.oca.org/YO-mail/back-issues/.

Rants

On Marriage (Christopher)

In nature, social structures are organized according to a specific pattern which is followed by most species. This structure is headed by the alpha male, the lesser males and all the females. The alpha male enjoys the privilege of mating with all the females, while the lesser males are, for the most part, denied the right to reproduce.This scheme is in accordance with basic Darwinian principles. The alpha male (whose superior genes allow him his elevated position) will have many offspring and the lesser males (with infereior genes) will produce few, if any, offspring. Thus, this scheme is for the betterment of the species and will result in gentically superior succesive generations.Humans however, are always too emphatic. We find it unfair that one male gets all the females. As a result, we institute marriage. Marriage is the union, for whatever reasons, of a single man and a single woman. It prevents a single individual from accumulating several mates, because that wouldn't be fair to the other people whose potential mates he is taking.If one individual is able to acquire several mates, it's probably because he is, like the alpha male, superior to the rest of his gender. The marriage laws are like a sign that says "One per customer". Marriage is one more impediment to human natural selection, as it prevents a superior individual from passing their genes on to the maximum extent.Marriage is the tool of the collective "lesser males" of our society to prevent the "alpha males" from taking all their women. As an impediment to the betterment of the human race through natural selection, it should either be eliminated or extended to cover any diverse group or any size who wish to be united. But really, except to limit the genetic success of superior individuals or to formalize a relationship, why does marriage exist?

On Iraq and Mass Destruction (Ensemble)

Chris: The conflict with Iraq seems to have been resolved peacefully.
It turned out not to be necesary to reduce Iraq to ashes. I had come to
accept that we would be bombing Bagdad and was a little surprised that
we didn't. We certainly had the ability to.

Chrisptopher: We spend billions of dollars every year to make sure that
we can kick the crap out of anyone who disagrees with us or our
policies, and it seems like we haven't been getting our money's worth.
We have paid a lot of money to insure that we dictate world policy, but
maybe the threat of reducing their country to dust is just as good as
the actual action.

Chris'fer: Morally, I have to take Iraq's side. We have biological,
chemical and nuclear weapons, and to make sure that we don't use them, I
would want everyone else to have them as well. Why do we get to have
them but the Iraqis don't? We say it's because they're crazy and
fanatical, but they say the same things about us. Who's right and who's
fanatical?

Chrizard: The most likely answer is that neither the United States nor
Iraq is responsible enough to be trusted with such immense power.

Chris: On the other hand, as an American citizen, I'd like to make
sure that the United States of America has the largest genitals in the
communal shower room. If a country is going to get raped, I'd want to
be sure that we're not the ones who end up with a ruptured sphincter.
For this reason, I think it would be our own best interests to make sure
that we, and only we, have the powers of mass destruction.

On Sport Utility Vehicles (Chris'fer)

Part of what keeps the weapons of mass destruction sitting safely in their silo's is the concept of mutually assured destruction. This is the idea that if one side starts something, they will kill their enemies, but will almost certainly be killed themselves. As a result, everybody is too afraid to start anything.The same concept used to apply to automobiles. When you get in an accident with another car, you're about as likely to die as the people you hit. This, acting just like the nukes, makes everyone very careful not to hit anybody else and therefore drive very safely. However, with the new threat of Sport Utility vehicles, this is no longer true.If you are in a normal car and you are hit by a Sport Utility Vehicle, you are forty seven times more likely to die than the occupants of the SUV.This allows people who drive SUV's to be less careful because they "can take anyone" on the road. Their car has so much more steel and what basically amounts to "armor" than the smaller, more modest cars. All this extra metal makes for very low miles per gallon. The only percievable solution to the threat of SUV's is to buy one for your own protection; but if we all do that, the American gas consumption will sky rocket as we pay to haul all that metal with us to work every morning. Clearly, everyone owning an SUV is a bad idea.The system was balanced before their invention, and was even okay when they were only used for actual off-road work. But since their inclusion into the urban road system, the dynamic has shifted and people are no longer as likely to die as the person who they hit.

Religion+Philosophy (Chrizard)

Origin of the World

God exsists. It has to be taken on faith, but you can support that faith by asking certain questions and then accepting the most simple solution.

Where did the world come from?

A. Before there was anything, there was an infinitely dense and infinitely hot particle that suddenly exploded into the universe we know and love today.

B. God made it.For reasons I don't understand, some people still choose A. How can the Big bang theory be simpler? How can even the infinite chain of collapsing and then expanding universes be simpler than God?

Other people run the same argument the other way, saying that the big bang is simpler, but it seems much more complicated to me.

My interpretation of it is: In the beginning, there was nothing and the nothing was God. God made the something (something being the opposite of nothing) that became the universe. God is still the nothing. He is the space between electrons. Thus, God is everywhere, both inside people and in the vacuum of interstellar space.

Fires

God is in all things, and sees all. As a result, thinking is just as good as speaking and speaking is just as good as lighting fires. But as long as you have something to say to God, why not say it in as noticable a way as possible? There are lots of things that get attention, but the most efficient (I think) is to light a really big fire. If someone sees a big fire, it will get their attention. They will either run away from the fire, or stop and admire it. Also, fires are just fun. A few dozen 2 by 4's of any appreciable length and a weeks worth of newpapers will create a small bonfire. Then you can burn whatever you wish to give to God. The reasons for giving it to God could be as a gift or as a request that he smite whatever it symbolizes.

It's all Good

The "All Good" philosophy is the belief that, even if there's a problem, it's all good. This is not to say that you should be passive because nothing bad can go wrong. It is rather that nothing bad will go wrong because you can control it, and even if it doesn't do what you want, it can't be that bad. Whenever you have a problem or are feeling stressed, just say "It's ALL good" and it will be.

Replies?

I recieve mail at Chrizard@hotmail.com

Want to tell me I'm a crack whore and that I'm full of shit?

or want me to publish something you've written?

I'll publish almost anything, especially things that have been rejected by other places. If you have a good short story or just want to share your opinion on something, send it to me with a short explanation and I'll probably include it in the next issue.