Sunday, April 22, 2007

To die and go we know not where...


…shouldn’t matter, as long as in life we lived with love.

This may sound folksy and/or precious to you out there, but I had to say it. And here’s why:

I have been relatively numb to the tragedy at Virginia Tech. I read the articles, shook my head, said a prayer, commented on the insanity of the very idea of it all, asked why there has to be people like Cho Seung-Hui, tried to put myself in the situation, since I too go to a major university, and enacted and spoke all the typical rites you would expect an isolated urban-turned-suburban white male to enact and speak.

And then I went about my life, safe in my little bubble here in Illinois.

And then I read the news today, since I seldom have time during the week to read the news beyond the daily headlines. And this is what I found on a news blotter that directed me to CBS News:

The families of those killed in the Virginia Tech massacre may not be able to grieve in peace at the funerals of those they lost. An anti-gay religious group known for protesting at the funerals of American soldiers killed in Iraq is planning on appearing at services for those killed on Monday as well.

The Topeka, Kan.-based Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), which is not affiliated with any national Baptist organization, announced plans to protest at victims’ funerals only hours after 32 people were killed in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history. They also may protest at other events on the Virginia Tech campus.

The organization, founded and led by Fred Phelps, believes the United States has condemned itself to destruction by accepting homosexuality and other “sins of the flesh.” Phelps’ daughter, Shirley Phelps-Roper, said the Virginia Tech teachers and students who died on Monday brought their fate upon themselves by not being true Christians…

…“The evidence is they were not Christian. God does not do that to his servants,” Phelps-Roper said. “You don’t need to look any further for evidence those people are in hell.”

Cho Seung-Hui, the Virginia Tech student responsible for the killings who took his own life after the shootings, was sent by God to punish those he killed, and America as a whole, for moral decline, said Phelps-Roper, while adding that she believes Cho is also in hell for violating God’s commandment to not kill.

“He is in hell,” Phelps-Roper said. “But he was also fulfilling the word of God.”


God does not to that to His servants…those people are in hell…Cho Seung-Hui is in hell (no shit)…but he was doing God’s will.Yeah. About that:

I’m pretty sure I’m unaware of anything in Christian mythology that dictates God sending forth a divine messenger to eradicate college students, staff and faculty that some right-wing branch of psychopaths in Topeka fucking Kansas has deemed as heathen. You may as well say that because those that follow the Jewish faith do not follow Christ that Hitler was a messenger from God and that the Holocaust was a tidy bit of housecleaning. Of course if you did say that, not only would you be a complete fucking moron, you’d also be Mel Gibson…and I’m not sure which of those is worse: total, all-encompassing idiocy, or being Mel Gibson.

Also, I’m pretty sure that if God sends you forth to do His work, it wouldn’t involve, you know, MURDERING LARGE GROUPS OF PEOPLE, and furthermore, I seriously doubt He would send you to hell for doing anything that He commanded.

“Jay?”

“Yes, God?”

“Jay, I need you to do me a favor.”

“Sure, God…what is it?”

“I need you to kill as many people in your college as possible.”

“Gee, God…that’s…umm…why?”

“Because I can’t get the Mets game on the TV today. I need something to watch.”

“Um, but, don’t you command us to not kill one another?”

“Steve, I’m God! I can command you to do anything!”

“Um, but, if I kill all those people in your name, won’t I go to hell?”

“…”

“God?”

“…”

“Can you just get Mel Gibson to do it?”

I mean, come on! I know Christian doctrine and mythos is completely convoluted, but for a faith whose inspiration stems from the compassionate teachings of a man from Nazareth, how can anyone who is rational even deign to conclude that mass killing is the will of God? It makes me sick. Sick that we live in this world, sick that because I choose to believe in what Christ had to say that I have to share a common thread with every wacko who has ever chosen to bend those teachings to something twisted and dim. They shouldn’t dare to call themselves Christian. Then again, I’m an alcoholic womanizing artist who’s had plenty of sex before marriage, eats meat on Friday, believes in a woman’s right to choose, who doesn’t really mind the idea of gay marriage, goes to church irregularly and questions the origins of many of the passages that constitute our bible. So what do I know?

I will tell you:

That Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church are pathetic, sniveling cowards who will one day find what hell truly is, when they are punished for their own crimes against the liberty and humanity of others, when they are punished for using the grief of the unfortunate to advance their own twisted agenda, when they are punished for turning the teachings of a man who taught from a ministry based in love, compassion and hope into an excuse to mock and mar the lives of others, when they are punished for being just what they are: depraved animals who haven’t used the sense God gave them, but instead used the free will endowed in us all to preach hate.

Write letters to congress. Write letters to the anti-defamation league. Write letters to shut these horrible people down. THAT, in my opinion, is God’s will.

Let them burn with Cho Seung-Hui. I’m sure they can all have a great chat with their pal Adolf when they get there.

Fuckers.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

The Pillowman is NIgh!

The Pillowman is coming! This weekend at the Armory Free Theatre, come see the story of a writer and the writers brother. 'The Pillowman' by Martin McDonagh is a brilliantly crafted dark comedy revolving around a writer in a totalitarian state under interrogation for the gruesome content of his short stories, and the stories' similarities to a number of child murders that are happening in his town.

The show is directed by Drew Shirley, and features Corey Allen, Anthony Bianco, Christopher Blim, Detroit Dunwood, Justin Gordon, Christa Sablic, Jake Szczepaniak, Marko Tomic, and Ron Thomas.Show times are:Friday April 13th, 7:30 pm and MidnightSatuday April 14th, 7:30 pmInvited Dress: Thursday, April 12th, 7:30Come support free theatre at the Armory!

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