religulous

last week my love & I were on vacation in a tiny town that dates back to the Gold Rush. We spent a lot of time at the beach & had a great time conquering the water tramp & blob-ish thing.

We also watched the documentary Religulous. Now, you know I love me a good documentary. I don't even really care what the subject is, I just want to learn more. And more. And more. If you feel the same way to can I NOT recommend Religulous? It is basically Bill Maher talking to people of different faiths trying to figure out why they believe what they believe. Or, at least that's what I thought it was supposed to be except it wasn't. He didn't let people talk! Instead he'd make an exaggerated generalization of their beliefs & before they could finish explaining why they believe that he'd step in with another sarcastic comment. I wish he would have been more open to dialogue but I think he was too invested in pointing out the absurdities & dichotomies in religion. So disappointing. Especially the segment with the Catholic priest. The Catholic priest was trying to explain that yes, there is a problem with a religion that preaches to feed the poor & yet builds buildings out of gold.

Because we Catholics (OK maybe not all of us) know that our faith is absurd & sometimes we say things & do the opposite. But we don't think we're perfect. We're human. We're muddlin' through. We don't get it all right but we're trying.

Bill Maher kept asking everyone, "What if you're wrong? What if it's not true?" Usually he didn't give people a chance to respond but when they did they'd say stuff like, "Better be safe than sorry."

To the "What if you're wrong?" question I say,

Who cares?

I am probably wrong. Who am I to have the market on truth? What are the chance that any one faith, church, person has it completely right?

But even if I am wrong my faith gives my life a hope & a purpose. And sometimes, a semblance of peace. And I am often moved to tears by the beauty of this broken world because of my faith

Who cares if I am wrong?

Without my faith I would have no motivation. If I didn't believe it's important to help people I wouldn't know what I am supposed to be doing with my life.

Because at the end of the day, I just want my life to have mattered.

reward

I was driving very early this morning & heard about how they're offering a $100,000 reward for information on who cut the fiber optics cable yesterday downing all of AT&T phones line.  And I think to myself, 

"I should tell them who did it! We could really use $100,000." 

Totally ignoring the fact that I have no idea who cut the fiber optics cable yesterday.

So apparently I'm going into the Harriet the Spy biz. 

Any leads would be appreciated.

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it makes me sad

that the only time most people start to care & talk about certain problems is when they affect a celebrity. For example, when was the last time you thought about domestic violence before the Chris Brown/Rihanna story broke? Or considered sexual assault since Kobe was accused?  

Don't get me wrong I'm glad people are talking now, but half of the information out there is incredibly victim blaming instead of educating people about the issues.  

I guess education makes for lousy headlines on those tabloids in the grocery store.

Poverty will never get this kind of play because celebrities never have to choose between feeding their kids & paying rent.

I really hope there's a bright side to this recession/downturn/depression that results in people examining their values.  In fact, I going to stop hoping, start praying, & look at my own values right now.