Masochistic Perceptions, Trials and Truths

These are my cyberfied cerebral synapses ricocheting off reality as I perceive it: thoughts, opinions, passions, rants, art and poetry...

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Latest Visit to the Belief-O-Matic


As I continue to read, speak with others and experience life in general, I enjoy going to the Belief-O-Matic to see how my spiritual perspective may be changing/evolving. You can find the Belief-o-Matic at: http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Quizzes/BeliefOMatic.aspx

Further to this, you can simply select each school of religious thought and it will link you to a run-down about this particular religion, serving as a springboard to further readings/explorations.

Anyrood, here are my latest results:

1.
Mahayana Buddhism (100%)
2.
Unitarian Universalism (88%)
3.
Neo-Pagan (87%)
4.
Theravada Buddhism (84%)
5.
New Age (81%)
6.
Hinduism (79%)
7.
Liberal Quakers (79%)
8.
Taoism (73%)
9.
Jainism (71%)
10.
Sikhism (60%)
11.
New Thought (60%)
12.
Scientology (58%)
13.
Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (56%)
14.
Orthodox Quaker (55%)
15.
Secular Humanism (53%)
16.
Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (51%)
17.
Baha'i Faith (50%)
18.
Reform Judaism (47%)
19.
Orthodox Judaism (36%)
20.
Nontheist (31%)
21.
Islam (29%)
22.
Seventh Day Adventist (28%)
23.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (26%)
24.
Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (22%)
25.
Jehovah's Witness (17%)
26.
Eastern Orthodox (17%)
27.
Roman Catholic (17%)

So many of us are born and brought up within religions, never really looking to see if there might be a better fit out there. Personally, as most people's results will show, we share a common set of values with a number of faiths. I don't think that I could ever submit to any particular dogmatic structure, but there is much to be found in each sect that may well enhance one's spiritual growth and journey.

Happy exploring!

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Saturday, December 06, 2008


Barcelona Bullfight
(This poem was originally written when I was in Spain and witnessed a Bullfight. I was disgusted by the barbarity of it all. I have revised this piece several times since then in an attempt to convey how obscene of a specatcle it was, and how it remains as a horrible image in my mind some 18 years later.)

Levered latch lifts, leaps open
frigid falsetto metal
CRACK!
anticipation animates in a colourful wave…

OLÉ! OLÉ! OLÉ!

dodging, matador satin red cape sailing,
cuts an assaulting armada through atmosphere, dust
salt and sand sprays - stings the eyes gritty
round and round
heavy stomping hooves, tearing tangents in the turf, canon crowd cries, charging
grime-crusted nose scrapes soiled ground, lunging- OLÉ!

fresh blood accelerating through ejaculating veins,
surfacing streams streak, congealing with vapours on black velvet fur,
glazed silver with sweat;

OLÉ! and stabbing; six
spikes, colourfully flagged, now snared in bloodied nape, shaking, shimmering, sword striking
shoulder, blade to blade- stabbing, stumbling,
vomit,
vomiting blood, crimson, CHARGING!

RAGE! RAGE! RAGE TORO!!

anger and frenzy collide in climax,
as hateful lovers,
dominate and degrading,
chaos and circles
blood and charging,
olé and bleeding,
bleeding, charging,
disoriented in exhaling breath of dust
rapid respiration
round and round,
pounding the last of life remaining
revealed arteries surrender pulsing,
red cape flash-

OLÉ!

...now a pause.
Matador winks at a seniorita in the crowd.
His gait, swaggering confidently as a peacock before his mate, controlled in bright ceremonial costume, metallic and gold. Bull, standing, staggering, bleeding, staring, nodding for mercy
like the condemned who know no chances remain,
spikes still sticking in his nape, teetering reeds in wind,
blood dripping subdued, tapping silent, scarlet onto earth from his protruding tongue, a planting seed, vomiting;

Matador returns with a sword, shining silver from its sheath,
the Spanish sun
a cloudy hush;
tin band begins
playing, it is done-
olé.

Friday, December 05, 2008

Statistics, Truth and the Manipulation of Thoughts


Statistics have always fascinated me in how they can be utilised in the generation of propaganda, fear mongering and formation of public opinion. Perhaps more amazing is the contrast of effects on the masses. A single death with a name and face has more of an impact on people than tragedies in the hundreds, with some exceptions such as 9/11. Intriguing. There is so much psychology invested in convincing people to buy or believe that it frightens me as truth becomes more and more difficult to discern.

For example, take the global war on terror. In his book, Future Tense, Gwynne Dyer delves into the statistics on events surrounding 9/11. Dyer illustrates how the notion of an international bogeyman was necessary after the collapse of the Soviet Union to maintain the sense that America was still the only safe place to invest and to keep its super power status. Dyer goes on to state: "According to the U.S. government's own figures, only 625 people, the vast majority of them non-American, were killed by "international terrorism" in 2003, down from 726 people worldwide in 2002: about two people per day, far fewer than die from dog bites." Dyer continues to examine the role of media sensationalism around the tragedy of 9/11 where 3000 innocent people lost their lives, stating "the lives of the other three thousand Americans who died violently that same month in gun-related murders, suicides and accidents were just as valuable… But gun deaths happen singly or in small groups, generally out of camera shot, and as a routine monthly tragedy they are not newsworthy – so nobody called for a "war on guns" in September 2001."

The Canadian news today was headlined by the death of our 100th soldier in Afghanistan since our troops deployed there seven years ago. In the same paper, it announced Edmonton's 30th homicide of 2008.

What conclusions are we to draw from such information? Some might argue that Edmonton is a more dangerous place for it's citizens than a hostile war zone is for Canadian soldiers. Many would believe this, oblivious to the fact that many other coalition troops are dying, not to mention the number of Afghanis. As for Dyer's statements, how can we minimise an event live 9/11, media spectacle or not, while not acknowledging his other statistics? It is all a murky soup that most people never take the time to delve into (look at the last federal election in Canada a few weeks ago where we had 57% voter turn out, and now we have an overthrow of government happening and folks are finally saying "hey!").

The world woke up when 9/11 happened, despite genocides and terror being carried out regularly around the globe both before and after this event. How often will people discuss 9/11 in contrast to the genocide in Rwanda or the appalling statistics of HIV/AIDS in Africa? Will the world remember last week's violence in Mumbai, India in two weeks time? Or of the many mudslides that killed thousands time and time again in South America? How is it we choose to remember some things such as Hitler's murder of 6.5 million Jews, but are oblivious to the 20 million killed by Stalin at the same time? Why were the IRA called terrorists for fighting the British in their country, while the Rebels of the American Revolution are called Patriots as they overthrew the British government that created the colonies now known as the USA? My intent is not to argue either side, but rather to illustrate how many of our thoughts have been formed through historical and media bias.

Ultimately, I believe many are depending too heavily on the mainstream media for their information, often subscribing to a source that compliments our thinking rather than challenging it. People are thus being lead at this is terrifying. Is there any wonder why fundamentalist religions are on the rise? People long to belong, yet do not want the journey into belonging to be overly arduous. We learn that "yes-men" get ahead and that those who challenge thinking become exiled to the fringe.

I forget who said that "History belongs to the victors", but this seems to resonate as truth. As engaged citizens of the world, we need to become more engaged in our world and apply filters that assist us in making sense of things. This can't be done by simply watching the CBC, BBC or CNN. We need to read from a number of news sources, and supplement that with reading literature written by people in other cultures to see the vision they paint of their society. If you can, travel. When I taught in the former Czechoslovakia just after the fall of Communism, it amazed me as to how they were so much like everyone else, solidifying my beliefs that the Cold War was nothing more than a bunch of powerful dickheads flexing their muscles with the common people whose desires were simply to work and be with friends and families. If this is so, how do we condone the sabre rattling of governments and the construction of massive weapons caches while children are going hungry in the same society? It's just not places like North Korea and Russia that I'm alluding to, but also Canada, Britain and the USA.

My belief is that one person can make a difference, and if you get one person to live more mindfully of the world around him and her, then you've already begun a revolution. But don't believe me – this is something that becomes real only when we see it for ourselves, and, in the end, we may not see the same thing.

Such is life.

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