"Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind and unfits it for every noble enterprise." - James Madison

What Goes Around

Ayo it's poison, ecstacy, coke You say it's love, it is poison Schools where I learned they should be burned, it is poison Physicians prescripting us medicine which is poison Doctors injecting our infants with the poison Religion misunderstood is poison Niggas up in my hood be getting shot giving poison In hospitals, shots rittle the block Little children and elderly women run for their lives Drizzling rain come out the sky every time somebody dies, Must be out my fucking mind, what is this, the hundredth time? Sending flowers to funerals, reading rest in peace You know the usual, death comes in threes Life is short is what some nigga said Not if you measure life by how one lives and what he did Its funny how these black killer companies is making money off us Fast food, colas, sodas skull and bone crossers Sisters up in my hood trying to do good given choices When pregnant drop out of school or have abortions Stop working hoping that they find a man that will support them Up late night on they mothers cordless, thinking a perm or Bleaching cream will make better when they gorgeous White girls tanning, lypo suction Fake titties are implanted, fake lips that's life destruction Light-skin women, bi-racial hateful toward themselves Denying even they blood I don't judge Tiger Woods but I overstand the mental poison That's even worser than drugs Radio and TV poison, white Jesus poison And any thoughts of taking me down is poison Who want beef now, my heat shell anoint them, plaow The China-men built the railroad The Indians saved the Pilgrim And in return the Pilgrim killed em They call it it Thanksgiving, I call your holiday hell day Cause I'm from poverty, neglected by the wealthy Me and my niggas share gifts every day like Christmas Slay bitches and party everyday like this is the last I'm with my heckles connecting and we hitting the lad This is my level, fuck if it get you mad It's all poison, all of my words to enemies it is poison Rappers only talk about ki's, its all poison How could you call yourself emcees you ain't poison Think about the kids you mislead with the poison And any thoughts of taking me down is all poison Who want beef now, my heat shell anoint them, plaow This nigga Ike with the Iverson jersey Light skin with herpes Fuckin' sisters in Harlem, Brooklyn and D.C. This is the problem cause he never tell em he got it From letting fags suck him off Rikers Island in nine-three Drives in Benz, hangs in all the parties All the concerts, backstage where the stars be Rocking their shirts in bitches faces like clockwork Whats your name, where you from, chain blinging Thinking girls everywheres dumb, taking powder ruining their lives So they could never have babies, and they could never be wives He never used a condom, give him head he got ya Met the wrong bitch and now he dead from the monster AIDS I contemplate, believing in karma Those on top could just break and wont be eating tomorrow I know some bitches who be sleeping on niggas dreams They leave when they nigga blow she the first bitch on her knees Knowing dudes that's neglecting their seeds Instead of taking care of em they spending money on trees I pray for you deadbeat daddies Cause when them kids get grown its too late for you Now you old and you getting shitted on Its all scientific, mystic, you know the Earth and the stars Don't hesitate to say you heard it from Nas What is destined shall be George Bush killer till George Bush kills me Much blessings be healthy, remember Download link: http://www.mediafire.com/?dexznyjntyj

공포 속의 삶이라는 게 인간이 맞이할 수 있는 지옥 아니겠어요? 저는 지옥이라는 게 활활 타는 유황지옥이나 그런 게 아니라고 보고요, 인간이 행복을 찾아 여행을 하면서 사는 삶이 아니라 공포 속에서 추격자에 의해서 쫓기는 삶을 사는 게 가장 불행한 삶이라고 생각합니다. 무엇을 위해서 우리 대한민국 사람들이 이렇게 쫓기면서 살고 있느냐 하면, 저는 그 이름이 'nothing' 인 것 같아요. 공허, 허무에 쫓기는 것 같습니다. 미하엘 엔데가 <네버엔딩 스토리>에서 얘기한 것, 거기에 나오는 악의 대상은 'nothing' 이라고 이름 붙여져 있잖아요. 미하엘 엔데의 절묘한 말장난인데요. 영화에서는 '낫띵이 온다' 라고 번역되어 있지만, 'Nothing's coming' 그러면 아무것도 오지 않는다는 얘기죠. 아무것도 오지 않거든요. 도대체 우리 대한민국 사람들이 무엇에 의해서 이렇게 쫓기고 있냐고 뒤를 돌아봤을 때는 정체가 없는, 실체가 없는 공포에 의해서 쫓기는 거거든요. 그렇게 한다고 해서 잘먹고 잘사는 것도 아닌데요. 미하엘 엔데의 <모모>에 나오는 회색분자들, 아무런 존재 가치가 없는, 그 공허 속에서 시달리는 세대가 그 굶주림을 필사적으로 메우기 위해서 찾아내는 게 슬프게도 자기 자식들이란 말이죠. 자기 자식들을 동원해서 뭔가를 이뤄냄으로 해서 자기의 공허를 채우려고 드는 이런 게 한 특수한 가정에서 일어나는 게 아니라 사회전반적으로 일어나는 공통의 현상, 보편적인 현상으로 나타나고 있다면 그 국가 자체가 위험한 거죠. -신해철

We may be through with the past but the past ain't through with us. What can we forgive?

Code For Life: The Human Genome

The Cassiopeia Project is an effort to make high quality science videos available to everyone. If you can visualize it, then understanding is not far behind. Code for Life: Beginning more than three and a half billion years ago, a tiny, primitive molecule encoded instructions deep within itself. Then it passed these instructions on to its children, who passed it to their children and so on - all the way down through time to all living things today. The human genome, written in a code of just four letters, tells us who we really are - and that generates many questions! Is this process of natural selection coming to an end? Should we choose the best that is in us for our children? If so, who gets to decide what is meant by "the best that is in us"? http://cassiopeiaproject.com/

Not All Dogs Go To Heaven

"Moral justice cannot take the innocent for the guilty, even if the innocent were to offer itself." -Thomas Paine

A Sri Lankan Muslim boy (R) performs during a Muslim religious festival the instant a bomb exploded in Akuressa March 10, 2009. A suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber killed 14 people and wounded 35, including Sri Lanka's telecommunications minister, during a Muslim festival in the island's south, officials said. REUTERS via Reuters TV

Heroes

And as the search for self continues, we look for answers everywhere. In nature, in God, in tiny tragedies that may never be understood. But still, we are driven to it, single-minded on one goal: to find our purpose on this earth. We're all connected - our hopes, our dreams, our children's future, reflecting back in each others eyes. We fight our own personal battles but we know we're not alone. Because only together can we make our short time on this planet mean something. Only together can we be the stewards of our own destiny. And we hold in our collective hearts one noble goal . Save ourselves, save the world.

"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." - Stephen Hawking

I've got a lot to learn but some things I was born to teach Close your eyes, and feel how deep I can still reach -from the poem "Your Eyes" by Skim

"You must know," said Estella, condescending to me as a beautiful woman might, "that I have no heart- if that has anything to do with my memory." I got through some jargon to the effect that I took the liberty of doubting that. That I knew better. That there could be no such beauty without it. "Oh! I have a heart to be stabbed in or shot in, I have no doubt," said Estella, "and, of course, if it ceased to beat I should cease to be. But you know what I mean. I have no softness there, no -- sympathy -- sentiment -- nonsense." from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

January Hangover

To be with you is my desire To stay away from you is my ambition The magic of your great moments Awakens the superior inspiration Responsible for perfect compliments We have many things to talk about And we have nothing to talk about The religion of the sleepless candle Detaining the discovery of daylight When the definition of madness is love Was lit by your knowledge of darkness Your comfort corrects all the mistakes I was born to make in this world You are a very simple person With a very complicated personality Uninvited visitors with visions Of watering your plants everyday Commit suicide to write poems about you It is impossible to love you madly Without actually loving you madly For the best results of your secrets Of summer I will sacrifice my sanity And become brilliantly absentminded To remember how much I adore you by Pedro Pietri

Sarah Kay

Son of God vs. Son of Man

"아직도 인간과 이 대지에 미련을 버리지 못하였소? 그 독선의 말씀과 공허한 천국의 약속으로 우리를 당신들에게로 되돌릴 수 있다고 믿고 있소?" "그렇소, 나는 하늘에 계신 내 아버지를 믿는 것처럼 저들이 돌아올 것도 믿소. 그런데 당신은 어째서 내 가르침이 독선의 말씀이며, 그 약속은 공허한 것이라고 단언하는 거요? 군중들은 감동하여 회개의 눈물을 흘리고 다가오는 하늘나라에 대한 열렬한 동경과 기대 속에 흩어지지 않았소?" "그것은 저들의 우둔과 절망에다 당신의 미끄럽고 잽싼 혀가 우러져 빚어낸 일시적 현상일 뿐이오. 하지만 저들 중 몇몇은 돌아서면서 이미 깨달았을 것이오. 오늘 당신의 가르침은 인상적인 비유와 현란한 수식의 껍질만 벗기면 아무런 진리도 은혜도 포함하고 있지 않다는 것을. 당신은 무슨 대단한 선심을 베푸는 양 진복팔단을 외쳤지만 그것들이 어떻게 참된 복일 수 있는가요? 그것은 기껏 우리들에게 부당하게 짐지워진 불행의 자의적인 삭감, 실은 부끄럼 속에 되돌려주어야 할 약탈물이 아닌가요? 왜 인간은 슬퍼하고 굶주리고 목마르고 박해당해야만 참으로 복있는 자가 될 수 있는가요? 수천 년의 기다림 끝에 당신이 왔는데도 그런 고통스런 조건 없이 우리에게 내릴 참행복은 없는가요? 그것들이 사랑과 은혜의 하느님을 자처하는 분의 선물이라면 그 얼마나 초라한 것인가요? 위로받지 않아도 되도록 이 땅의 슬픔을 모두 거두어 들일 생각은 없소? 만족을 몰라도 좋으니 의에 주리고 목말라 하지 않을 세상을 만들 수는 없소? 나중에 자비를 받지 못하게 되어도 좋으니 애초에 우리가 남에게 자비를 베풀 필요가 없는 세상에 되게 할 수는 없소? 나중에 자비를 받지 못하게 되어도 좋으니 애초에 우리가 남에게 자비를 베풀 필요가 없는 세상이 되게 할 수는 없소? 저 세상에서 하느님의 아들이 못 되어도 좋으니 따로 평화를 위해 노력할 필요가 없는 이 세상을 우리에게 줄 수는 없소? 또 당신은 하늘나라에 재물을 쌓으라 하셨소. 무엇을 먹고 무엇을 마시며 목숨을 이어갈까, 몸에는 무엇을 걸칠까를 걱정하지 말고 먼저 하느님의 나라를 구하라고 가르치셨소. 그러나 당신은 비록 사람의 몸을 빌려 왔지만 육신을 가진 진정한 비참을 모르고 있소. 언제 우리에게 지상의 빵으로 육신을 배불리고 다시 천상에 영혼의 재물을 쌓을 여유가 있었소? 무슨 풍부한 재료가 있어 이 땅의 비바람을 막을 집을 짓고도 천국을 건설할 수가 있었으며, 얼마나 많은 천이 있어 우리 한 몸의 추위를 막고도 당신에게 영광을 돌릴 수가 있었소? 당신 아버지의 저주로 땅은 가시덤불과 엉겅퀴를 냈고 좋은 기둥감 하나를 얻기 위해서만도 우리는 수십 년을 기다려야 하지 않소? 만약 당신과 함께 충분한 빵이, 우리의 육신을 기를 풍부한 물질이 지상에 내렸다면 그건 또 모르겠소. 만나가 눈처럼 나리던 광야에서 우리의 신앙이 가장 굳건했으며 꿀과 젖이 흐르는 가나안을 약속했을 때 우리가 가장 충실하게 말씀에 순종했음을 당신도 잘 기억하실 거요. 그러나 저 광야의 내 첫 물음에서 당신은 그걸 거부하셨지요. 당신은 자식에 대한 부양 의무를 저버린 채 효도만을 강요하는 무정한 아버지의 대리인일 따름이었소...... 하기야 오늘 당신은 자신 없으나마 몇 가지 희망적인 약속을 하셨소. 구하면 받을 것이오. 찾으면 얻을 것이며, 두드리면 열릴 것이라 말하셨소. 자식이 빵을 원하는데 돌을 줄 아비가 어디 있으며, 자식이 고기를 원하는데 배암을 줄 아비가 어디 있겠느냐고 하셨소. 그러나 그것이야말로 커다란 기만이라는 것을 당신도 분명 느끼고 계실거요. 우리가 옛날 그 동산에서 쫓겨난 이래 단 한 시간이라도 구하지 않고 찾지 않은 순간이 있었소? 또 얼마나 많은 영혼이 울며 천국문을 두드렸고, 그중에 몇 명이 그 문에 들었소? 엘리야 시절에 수많은 과부가 있었지만 당신 아버지가 엘리야를 보낸 것은 시돈 지방 사렙다 마을의 과부 한 사람뿐이었으며, 또 예언자 엘리사 시절에도 수많은 나병환자가 있었지만 구침을 받은 것은 시리아 사람 나아만뿐이었소. 이미 우리는 구하며 찾기에, 열리지 않는 문 앞에서 울며 서성이기에 지쳤소. 그런데 이제 당신은 그 막연한 약속으로 애써 가꾼 이 대지를 포기하라는 건가요? 그 다음에 당신은 우리를 향해 세상의 빛, 세상의 소금이 되라하셨소. 보복하지 말라 하셨으며, 원수를 사랑하라 하셨소. 오른뺨을 치거든 왼뺨마저 내놓고 겉옷을 달라거든 속옷까지 주며, 오 리를 가자거든 십 리를 가주라 하셨소. 진실로 묻거니와, 도대체 당신은 그 모든 가르침의 실천이 우리 인간에게 가능하다고 믿으시오? 인간의 창조가 오직 당신 아버지의 선으로만 이루어진 것으로 믿으시오? 그러나 자신 있게 단언하지만 여인의 몸을 빌려 태어난 자 중 그 가르침을 실천할 수 있는 것은 오직 당신뿐일 것이오. 극소수의 사람들이 당신을 따라 출발 할 것이지만 결코 아무도 도달하지는 못할 것이오. 그리고 그 나머지--- 대부분의 인간들에게 그 교훈은 오직 감당할 수 없는 영혼의 짐, 영원히 헤어날 길 없는 죄책감과 절망의 원인이 될 따름이오. 비록 당신으로 하여 율법은 완성될 것이지만 그것은 인간과는 별 상관이 없는 독선의 완성일 따름이오. 다시 한번 말하지만 우리를 이대로 두시오. 당신의 가르침을 실천 할 수 없다는 절망과 죄책감이 분노의 팔매가 되어 당신의 머리 위에 떨어지기 전에. 그리하여 우리로 하여금 주어진 것은 모조리 누리게 해주시오. 말씀으로부터의 자유를. 공허한 약속이나 소름끼치는 위협이 아니라도 우리가 당신이 근심하는 그런 혼란과 어둠에 묻히는 일은 없을 것이오. 손상되지 않고 남아 있는 당신의 아버지의 선과 함께 여러 지상의 이익들이 우리들의 행위를 조절할 것이며, 우리의 지혜 또한 최소한의 도덕과 윤리를 터득해 줄 것이오." -이문열, <사람의아들>에서

있는 그대로의 나

남보다 자기를 낮추는 것은 결코 겸손이 아니다. 그것은 위선이다. 남을 자기보다 못하다고 여기면서 자신을 낮추어 허리를 굽혀 인사하는 것은, 마치 한 표를 얻기 위해 허리를 굽신 거리는 정치꾼과 같다. 남을 섬긴다는 것도 결코 겸손이 아니다. 우리에게 섬겨야 할 대상이 어디 있으며, 우리가 섬김을 받아야 할 만큼의 자격이 있는 것일까. 겸손이란 자연처럼 있는 그대로의 자기 모습을 숨김없이 보여주는 일이다. 우리가 진심으로 남을 변화시키려면 먼저 그를 사랑해야 한다. 남을 사랑하려면 그를 있는 그대로 인정해야 한다. 남을 있는 그대로 인정하려면 먼저 나를 있는 그대로의 모습으로 드러내 보여야 한다. 나를 있는 그대로의 모습으로 드러내 보이는 일이야말로 '겸손'이다. -최인호, 수상록<문장>에서

Why Christianity Fails

Is it moral to believe that your sins can be forgiven by the punishment of another person? Is it ethical to believe that? I would submit that the doctrine of vicarious redemption by human sacrifice is utterly immoral. I could say, if I really loved someone who'd been sentenced to prison, "If I could find a way of serving your sentence, I'd do it." I could do what Sydney Carton does in A Tale of Two Cities. "I'll take your place on the scaffold," but I can't take away your responsibilities, I can't forgive what you did, I can't say you didn't do it, I can't make you washed clean. The name for that in primitive Middle Eastern society was scapegoating. You pile the sins of the tribe on a goat and you drive that goat into the desert to die of thirst and hunger; and you think you've taken away the sins of the tribe: a positively immoral doctrine that abolishes the concept of personal responsibility on which all ethics and all morality must depend. It has a further implication. I'm told that I have to have a share in this human sacrifice even it took place long before I was born. I have no say in it happening, I wasn't consulted about it. Had I been present, I would've been bound to do my best to stop the public torture and execution of an eccentric preacher. I would do the same even now. No, no, I'm implicated in it myself, I myself drove in the nails, I was present at Calvary. It confirms the original filthy sin in which I was conceived and born the son of Adam in Genesis. Again, this may sound a mad belief but it is the Christian belief. Well, it's here that we find something very sinister about monotheism and about religious practice in general. It is incipiently at least, and I think often explicitly, totalitarian. I have no say in this. I am born under a celestial dictatorship which I could not have had any hand in choosing. I don't put myself under its government. I am told that it can watch me while I sleep. I'm told it can convict me of, here's the definition of totalitarianism, thought-crime- for what I think, I may be convicted and condemned. And if I commit a right action, it's only to evade this punishment and if I commit a wrong action I'm going to be caught up with not just punishment in life but even after I'm dead. In the old testament, gruesome as it is, recommending as it, of genocide, racism, tribalism, slavery, and the displacement and destruction of others, terrible as the old testament gods are, they don't promise to punish the dead. There's no talk of torturing you after the earth has closed over the Malachites. Only told when gentle Jesus, meek and mild, makes his appearance are those who won't accept the message told they must depart into everlasting fire. Is this morality? Is this ethics? I submit not only is it not, not only does it come with the false promise of vicarious redemption, but it is the origin of the totalitarian principle which has been such a burden and shame to our species for so long. I further think that it undermines us in our most essential integrity. It dissolves our obligation to live and witness in truth. Which of us would say that we would believe something because it might cheer us up? Or tell our children something was true because it might dry their eyes? Which of us indulges in wishful thinking? Who really cares about the pursuit of truth at all costs and at all hazards? Do you not hear it said repeatedly of religion and by the religious themselves that, "Well, it may not be really true. The stories may be fairy tales. The history may be dubious. But it provides consolation." Can anyone hear themselves saying this or have it said of them without some kind of embarrassment? Without the concession that thinking here is directly wishful that yes, it would be nice if you can throw you sins and responsibilities on someone else and have them resolved. But it's not true. And it's not morally sound. On our basic integrity, knowing right from wrong, and being able to choose the right action over wrong one, I think one must repudiate the claim that 'one doesn't have this moral discrimination innately but no, it must come from the agency of a celestial dictatorship which one must love and simultaneously fear.' What is it like? I never tried it. I've never been a cleric. What is it like to lie to children for a living and tell them that they have an authority that they must love (compulsory love-- what a grotesque idea) and be terrified of at the same time. What's that like, I want to know. And that we don't have an innate sense of right and wrong. What is it like? I can personalize it to this extent. My mother's Jewish ancestors are told that until they got to Mt. Sinai, they've been dragging themselves around the desert under the impression that adultery, murder, theft, and perjury were all fine. They get to Mt. Sinai only to be told it's not kosher after all. I'm sorry. Excuse me. We must have more self respect than that for ourselves and for others. Of course the story's a fiction. It's a fabrication exposed conclusively by Israeli archaeology. Nothing of the sort ever took place but suppose we took the metaphor. It's an insult. It's an insult to us. It's an insult to our deepest integrity. You're a clot of blood, a piece of mud. You're lucky to be alive. God fashioned you for his convenience even though you're born in filth and sin and even though every religion that has ever been is distinguished principally by the idea that we should be disgusted by our own sexuality (name me a religion that does not play upon that fact). So you're lucky to be here, originally sinful, and covered in shame and filth as you are. You're a wretched creature. BUT take heart, the universe is designed with you in mind and heaven has a plan for you. Ladies and gentlemen, I close by saying, I can't believe there's a thinking person here who does not realize that our species would begin to grow something like its full height if it left this childishness behind, if it emancipated itself from this sinister,childish nonsense. -Christopher Hitchens

불타는 그들의 신앙을 추상적인 범신론에서 위장된 무신론으로 바꾸었다. 해탈이란 이름을 가진 욕구의 선택법. 천 개의 작은 욕망은 버렸으나 그 모든 것을 다 합친 것보다 더 큰 욕망을 얻었다. 해탈을 향해 타오르는 그 치열한 욕망은 어쩔 것이랴. 만 개의 번뇌는 껐지만, 그걸 위해 타오르는, 하나지만 만 개를 합친 것보다 더 세찬 번뇌의 불길은 어쩔 것이랴. -이문열, <사람의 아들>에서

Happiness is the only good, reason the only torch, justice the only worship, humanity the only religion, and love the only priest. - Robert Ingersoll

Noam Chomsky

I am a child of the Enlightenment. I think irrational belief is a dangerous phenomenon, and I try to consciously avoid irrational belief. On the other hand, I certainly recognize that it's a major phenomenon for people in general, and you can understand why it would be. It does, apparently, provide personal sustenance, but also bonds of association and solidarity and a means for expressing elements of one's personality that are often very valuable elements. To many people it does that. In my view, there's nothing wrong with that. My view could be wrong, of course, but my position is that we should not succumb to irrational belief. While I think in principle people should not have irrational beliefs, I should say that as a matter of fact, it is people who hold what I regard as completely irrational beliefs who are among the most effective moral actors in the world, in many respects. They're among the worst, but also among the best, even though the moral beliefs are ostensibly the same. Take, say, the solidarity movement in Central America, which I think is what you probably had in mind. To a large extent, it comes out of mainstream Christianity, based on beliefs that have had outrageous human consequences in the past, and that I think are totally indefensible. In this case, they happen to lead to some of the most courageous, heroic, and honourable human action that's taking place anywhere in the world. Well, that's how life is, I guess. It doesn't come in neat little packages. [The US] is a very fundamentalist society. It's like Iran in the degree of fanatic religious commitment. You get extremely strange results. For example, I think about seventy-five percent of the population has a literal belief in the devil. There was a poll several years ago on evolution. People were asked their opinion on various theories of evolution, of how the world came to be what it is. The number of people who believed in Darwinian evolution was less than ten percent. About half the population believed in a church doctrine of divine-guided evolution. Most of the rest presumably believed that the world was created a couple of thousand years ago. This runs across the board. These are very unusual results. I don't see how one can "believe in organized religion." What does it mean to believe in an organization? One can join it, support it, oppose it, accept its doctrines or reject them. There are many kinds of organized religion. People associate themselves with some of them, or not, for all sorts of reasons, maybe belief in some of their doctrines. Who wrote the Bible? Current scholarship, to my knowledge, assumes that the material that constitutes the Old Testament was put together from various oral and folk traditions (many of them going far back) in the Hellenistic period. That was one of several currents, of which the collection that formed the New Testament was another. Biblical archaeology was developed early in this century in an effort to substantiate the authenticity of the Biblical account. It's by now generally recognized in Biblical scholarship that it has done the opposite. The Bible is not a historical text, and has only vague resemblances to what took place, as far as can be reconstructed. Elements of the Christian fundamentalist right are one of the strongest components of "support for Israel" -- support in an odd sense, because they presumably want to see it destroyed in a cosmic battle at Armageddon, after which all the proper souls will ascend to heaven -- or so I understand, again, not from close reading. They have provided enormous economic aid, again of a dubious sort. One of their goals seems to be to rebuild the Temple, which means destroying the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which presumably means war with the Arab world -- one of the goals, perhaps, in fulfilling the prophecy of Armageddon. So they strongly support Israeli power and expansionism, and help fund it and lobby for it; but they also support actions that are very harmful and objectionable to most of its population -- as do Jewish fundamentalist groups, mostly rooted in the US, which, after all, is one of the most extreme religious fundamentalist societies in the world.