Christians Gone Wild!

Statue of Dionysus. Photo credit:  Mark Amores

Godly Christians all over the world are losing their shit over the opening ceremony of the Olympics this year. 

It seems they mistakenly think the "Festivity" theme that was inspired by the Greek mythological god Dionysus mocks a painting of the Last Supper by Leonardo Da Vinci. 

IT DOESN'T! 

The Festivity opening was created by Artistic Director Thomas Jolly to celebrate diversity and Dionysus represents, among other things, fruit, vegetation, and festivity. 

The ceremony also included a "blue man" who sang "Nu" which translates in English to Naked. The song is beautiful and the lyrics ask if the world would be a better place if we were all naked. Fat and thin, rich and poor, black brown and white, we would all be equal. No clothes, nowhere to hide guns and weapons, and maybe, the song suggests, there would be no war.

Feel free to open the link to the lyrics for "Nu" at the end of this post and read them for yourself. 

Since this beautiful ceremony happened, the headlines are glutted with stories about deluded godly Christians who think the celebration represented and mocked them, the Last Supper, and their god. 

Even Donald Trump has jumped on this crazy train to condemn "Festivity" which only proves that he lacks critical thinking skills, common sense, appreciation for The Arts, and respect for the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

The DJ who performed at the opening ceremony of the Olympics is now receiving so many threats that she had to hire a lawyer. It seems the good Christians who think the Last Supper was mocked are threatening to rape, torture, and murder her. 

Rape. Torture. Murder. 

I guess that is their interpretation of what the Last Supper represents and what their god wants them to do. So, knowing their bible says god will toss non-believers and blasphemers into an eternity of torture and suffering in Hell is not enough. Christians also want to rape, torture, and murder people on Earth. 

Truly terrifying. 

Much like the religious zealots who murdered people at Charlie Hebdo for insulting the Islamic prophet Muhammad, Christian zealots are just as dangerous and should be condemned for their behavior.

Here is a summary from simple Google searches explaining what the Last Supper symbolizes: 

"In Christian theology, the Last Supper marks the institution of the sacrament of Holy Communion. Through this sacrament, Christians are symbolically united with Christ and receive His grace and forgiveness. The Last Supper also serves as a reminder of Jesus’ sacrificial love and inspires Christians to live a life of service and love towards others."  

Perhaps Christians should actually practice what they preach.

 

Sources:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0xj358y7n5o

https://apnews.com/article/olympics-2024-ceremony-last-supper-complaint-3e99aefe9e5e739afcee9818906c2ae8

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2024/07/29/paris-last-supper-olympics-dionysus/74586328007/

https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/donald-trump-olympics-disgrace-last-supper-tableau-opening-ceremony-1236090042/

https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/29/style/video/apology-blue-man-olympic-ceremony-digvid

https://lyricstranslate.com/en/philippe-katerine-nu-english-0

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysus

https://www.christchurchmemphis.org/stories/what-is-last-supper

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Hebdo

Assassination Attempt in the USA

Photo Credit:  RDNE Stock Project

Everyone should be condemning the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. 

It is a horrible, inhumane, violent thing to do. 

It appears to be the work of a lone gunman. A young man who I know nothing about. I don't know why he did this. What was his drive? What was his reason? Why did he feel desperate enough to try to kill another person? And did he know it would likely be the last day of his own life? 

Innocent people in the crowd were killed and injured. Everyone was terrified. Everyone was shocked. Putting politics aside. This is a sad day for our country and it will be remembered in history. 

Regardless of whether you support Trump or Biden or neither, killing presidential candidates is never the answer. 

Vladimir Putin poisons and kills his political opponents and critics. 

But, this is not Russia. 

This is America.

Period. 

And now that the dust is settling and we are slowly getting over the shock, we get to see the true colors of politicians and all the talking points and rhetoric and nonsense and hate they bring with them.

Republicans are blaming the actions of this lone gunman on Democrats because Joe Biden made a "bullseye" remark while talking about Donald Trump last week.

Same as Democrats blamed Sarah Palin for the Gabby Gifford shooting in 2011 for the USA map with crosshairs over the Democratic states that wanted healthcare reform that her team posted. 

Same as Republicans blamed Democrats for the Steve Scalise shooting in 2017 because they said Democrats incited the shooter by bad-mouthing Republicans.  

Both sides blame the other side. 

And both sides defend themselves. 

Every. Single. Time. 

Politics is really the dirtiest game I know. And my theory is that both sides are friends with each other, while pretending to be enemies. It is them against us. With "Us" meaning normal, every day, working-class, middle-class people that both Democrats and Republicans pretend to care about, but neither party really likes us or want to socialize with us or talk to us or live near us or live like us. 

And why can't poor people run for President? 

Why does it take so much money to run for President?

Why do candidates have to be wealthy and backed by wealthy donors?

I think Democrats and Republicans get richer off our tax dollars, our backs, and our votes. They dress in their best clothes together, they talk politics together, play golf together, fine dine together, party together, and put on a front together. When it comes right down to it, none of them have our best interests at heart. And they will continue to take care of themselves and not us. Yet, they'll tell us they work for us. 

They don't.

 Perhaps instead of our current two-party system, we need a new, three-party system. 

-The Democratic Party

-The Republican Party

-The Working Class Party. 

A Working Class Party will give us the option of voting for people like us. Just honest, hard-working, down-on-our-luck, disabled, can't-get-ahead-no-matter-how-hard-we-work, don't-have-a-lot-of money, didn't-go-to-Yale-or-Harvard type of people. 

I say we try this three-party system.

And see who wins.

Sources: 

https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/10/media/sarah-palin-testifies-new-york-times/index.html

https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/trump-rally-incident/card/scalise-shot-in-2017-attack-points-finger-at-democrats-rhetoric-XLcF6DjRrQYPUpT31Fj2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Tucson_shooting

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/live-updates/donald-trump-rally-shooting-assassination-attempt/?id=111916828

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/07/13/biden-trump-bullseye-quote/74397121007/

Homeless and Sleeping

Photo credit: MART PRODUCTION

Last week the Supreme Court ruled that every state in America can fine, ticket, or arrest homeless people for sleeping in public places. 

Yes, you read that correctly. 

And while this may sound like the premise for a dystopian fiction movie or novel, it is real. 

So, in addition to being homeless and hungry and ostracized and ignored, you now are not allowed to sleep. And while homeless shelters are available to some homeless people in some cities, there are not enough shelters to accommodate all. 

Cruel and unusual punishment? The Supreme Court says it's not.

In addition to criminalizing sleeping while homeless, this decision also sets up housed people for scrutiny by the police by allowing them to use this new law to identify, question, and investigate people who happen to be sleeping in their car, at the park, at rest stops, at the beach, on the side of the road, during their lunch break, etc. for any reason, whether they are homeless or not. 

As someone who worked overnight shifts for many years, I can tell you that I was too exhausted to drive all the way home on some mornings and I pulled off the road and slept in my car for a few hours. I call this being a responsible driver, but the police will now call it "Are you homeless and Show me your ID and show me proof of your residence and the 4th Amendment doesn't matter."

So not only has the highest court in the land made life even harder for homeless people, they have moved our society even closer to a police state than it already is. 

We should strive to make life easier for people less fortunate than us. Not harder.

 

Source:  https://endhomelessness.org/blog/the-supreme-court-rules-on-homelessness-what-it-all-means/