Literature vs. politics

Imaginative literature - science fiction and fantasy - is much more than escapism. By creating new cultures and scenarios, we create a rare opportunity for people to step outside their own reality, and freely consider the real issues in their lives. The mythology we are creating in this age is the cure for ethnocentrism. And no, Virginia, we are not going to cram ourselves into the Western Judeo-Christian conception for our stories. I don't think a black and white fantasy world, no matter how many millions we spend on the special effects, is going to get people out of the current black and white thinking which dominates American culture and led us to be the largest negative influence on the world.

Smashing Pumpkins live on, sort of

I came to two conclusions today after reading about the Smashing Pumpkins two least popular releases, Machina and Zeitgeist. 1. Their style is described as "gothic-metal-shoegaze." That explains why I like some things in each of those styles, and I generally like everything the Pumpkins have done. 2. The Pumpkins have become Spinal Tap. If their bassist, lead guitarist or keyboardist dies under mysterious circumstances, they will probably continue touring anyway.

Film With Same-Sex Parents Splits School District

In one town in New Jersey, half the parents think they can shield their children from the fact that some parents are same-sex. They want to discuss it in the home, rather than let an award-winning documentary director relay the truth through a video shown at school. Rather than let a montage of children, like the third grade viewers, tell them that same-sex couples are real and (blasphemy) actually healthy loving families.
The kids in the video are probably just like the kids your child will meet at school. Some of your child's classmates are bound to know about gay people and may even come from a family with two dads. Do you want to risk that they start a conflict by saying "your parents are both faggits" or "they're not your parents"?
You fundamentalists must be shaking in your boots. Divorce didn't go the way you wanted it to, and society may be better or worse (people are evenly divided on that, though I personally think marriage is underrated). Divorce didn't go your way either, and society didn't fall apart so you may be wrong. Hell, back i nthe day when slavery was illegal and women couldn't vote you didn't want to change. Now things are so different, and what's next but acceptance of different sexual lifestyles. If a homosexual family comes across to your kids as healthier than your own, you're done. Either that, or there'll be some new societal advance to stop from evolving. That reminds me, shouldn't we keep evolution out of schools? Yet another place where America is evenly divided.
If people can't agree on what God is, if God is, and most of all on what God wants with the SAME EVIDENCE, how the hell can a person who refuses to expose themselves and/or their children to some of that evidence hope to know the truth? This country is proof that humans don't know squat, and news like this is proof that 50% of humans don't know we don't know. See quote in last post.

Absolute rationalism - the irony

Education is a method whereby one acquires a higher grade of prejudices. - Laurence J. Peter
That certainly applies to Ken. It also reminds me of an inherent fallacy in liberal thinking: the conservation of an attitude that conservatives are wrong. Maybe conservatives fight against the lifting of traditional discrimination in societies. Maybe they got us into a wrong-headed war in Iraq and don't know how to win or quit. If you read that sentence and ignore the maybes, as I think Move-On.org and other super-liberals do, then you do NOT have a liberal open mind. Think about it.
On a personal note, the same goes for Ken. See the quote above. When you have a "higher standard" or rationality, reason, etc. you are in fact close-minded. Maybe you are open-minded about the status of women, or homosexuals or even people of many ethnicities. When you, as an absolutist atheist, demand that people with faith prove it with rational science, you are still closing your mind in that area. You make the quote true. That's the danger of absolutes, even "absolute open-mindedness." We are human, as God said. Need forgiveness? Ask Him.

Which Cthonic god am I?

Your Score: Sisyphus!

O Creature of the Underworld!

Definately not a god, but a well known Underworld figure.

Sisyphus was punished so harshly for very good reason. He was a very evil man in life, and would waylay travellers by the side of the road to kill them. He was famous for chaining Thanatos to a rock, so that no one would die, but thankfully Hades interviened and had him roll a rock up and down a hill for all eternity. Good riddance, I say.

My test tracked 1 variable: How you compared to other people your age and gender. You scored higher than 99% on underworldness!

Link: The Cthonic God Test written by ErebusNyx on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Wealthy Killers - on Abortion

I today read an argument against abortion by a Christian doctor. He called doctors "wealthy killers" of "silently screaming" babies.
It made me think. First, I remember the strongest argument in the area of abortion which I heard during college philosophy classes. A woman said that abortion would be wrong so long as we lived in a society filled with people who could afford to adopt children as an alternative. So, views against abortion would be weaker in a weaker economy. Second, I remember that religion is strongest when an economy is poorest.
So, speaking from a mathematical perspective, religion is inversely proportional to economic health. The strength of pro lifers, a religion-motivated movement, should also be inversely proportional to economic health. I know, it makes my head hurt too.
My extrapolation is thus: So long as America is rich, Christianity will not have the pull it wants, but abortions will remain relatively uncommon. If the economy falters, Christianity would strengthen, but not without limits. There would be a breaking point, after which abortion would become a good idea, especially in the absence of birth control which some sects oppose.

I think I'm going to hate it

They finally made a movie of Neil Gaiman's Stardust. now I know why readers complain when their favorite becomes cinema. I think I'm going to hate it. It doesn't feel like Neil Gaiman. The preview makes it look like a fantasy/action film. It's the next Pirates of the Caribbean, when it should be a macabre modern fairy tale.
On top of that, the movie, as the book, centers around the male human adventurer. Nowhere in the previews and poster does it mention the actor's name. DeNiro and Pfeiffer? I'm scared at how awful this movie could be. I'll keep my fingers crossed that it will be unlike the preview says. Claire Danes could be its saving grace.