God is Dead. And Man has killed him.
Ok, I am sorry that my first post has to be political, but the current political state of affairs in this nation really riles me up. I think that every time I see or hear Bush speak, I get another ulcer on my stomach and my blood pressure goes through the roof.
This morning I read that the president’s new Budget calls for numerous cuts in order to control the spending. What kind of cuts? Oh, the cuts that any God-fearing, Jesus loving, militant adherent of the Christian right ideology would absolutely love: Medicare, student loans and other entitlement programs that help the poor. And where do we have spending increases: our lovely Pentagon, the epitome of peace that spreds love throughout the world and inspires millions of people to love this great land of ours. This is why we are giving them another increase in spending: 7% that is. They need new toys and tanks so that our enemies are not safe. See, because they are lurking around and waiting for us to be weak. We can’t be seen to be weak. That’s why we have to be strong and say: F@*k the poor! They are poor because God wants them to be poor and Jesus would support this budget. At the same time, our great God-fearing President, whose electoral victory is a sign of how much God loves us, is asking the Congress to make tax cuts for the rich permanent because they expire in 2010. Making tax-cuts for the rich permanent and cutting student loans and Medicare. That is straight from the New Testament. Oh, Jesus would be so proud of us!
God Bless America and God Bless the Christian Right which gave us this wonderful Jesus-loving President.
One of my favorite politicians of all times Benjamin Franklin and one of the founding fathers of this “Christian nation” was known for his agnostic if not atheistic beliefs having frequently questioned the divinity of Jesus. His famous quote “Beer is a sign that God loves us,” could be applied to our situation, but instead I would add Nietzsche into the mix to come up with a new quote that summarizes what my rant is all about: “Bush is a sign that God is dead. And Man has killed him.”
February 6th, 2006 at 5:46 pm
I like your quote: “Bush is a sign that God is dead. And Man has killed him”. The only prblem with that is that public belives this: “Bush is a sign that God is with us, and rest of the world is trying to kill Him.”
February 6th, 2006 at 8:38 pm
Hey Vanj, nice weblog you’ve got here. I’m not with you on this one politically, but you’ve got a nice start with this thing. Keep up the great work!
EOBeav from LF
February 6th, 2006 at 11:06 pm
I’m a Christian, although my politics are all over the map. That said, I’ve been troubled by many Christians who feel the need to go along with everything GWBush says, simply because they share the same faith. True Christianity isn’t rooted in politics. It’s rooted in a contrite heart and a willingness to move to meet another’s need. Although I believe that GWBush’s faith is real, I do resent him justifying his actions by implying that they’re somehow divinely inspired. Politics and religion just don’t mix, on any level.
February 6th, 2006 at 11:06 pm
Damn I hate to be lumped in with a political party. Ash’s reference to the “dems” as different from Bush’s party burns me up. There’s not a dimes worth of difference in the 2 major American political parties. Both are completely owned by the corporate and religious interests in this country. If America is to undergo fundamental change, it will not be from within the system.
February 6th, 2006 at 11:56 pm
Nice points made about the influence of what I call “public religion” in this country. This public religion is responsible for more death, violence, and chaos than any other concern in the U.S. To hell with them and their doctrine of fear and shame.
February 7th, 2006 at 12:21 am
Vanj, excellent webog you have going here. I totally agree with your rant about Bush and the “public religion” in this country. Bush obtained his monarchy by crooked methods, and is fueled by greed as he has done permanent environmental damage, gearing everything to make the rich richer and the poor poorer with his corporate minded warmongering ways as he professes religion in every speech. To me he is merely a hypocrite and I can’t stand him or anything he stands for. Benjamin Franklin rocked and I like your quote/title! Keep up the good work, I`ll be checking back regularly ! Feel free to visit my blogs !
February 7th, 2006 at 12:30 am
Thank you all for kind words.
Just to clerify. This is Vanja and my nick is Moody.
God is Dead. And Man has killed him was not by me but by Fyodor. Even though i agree with most what he said , i didn’t write it, so i cannot take credit for it.
Everyone can register and start their own cranks and categories.
I personaly don’t hate Bush, because i don’t think he is the one running the show. He is just not capable. Thats like saying : “I hate my 2 year old because he broke my vase”. Thats what kids do. I have same opinion on Bush. I cannot name one good thing that he did, but i don’t hate him for it because i think his incompentance is stupidiy in disguise.
February 7th, 2006 at 1:04 am
I think Ash P… Is George Bush
Bye the way the Bush family has been corrupt as far back as we have records of them in this country — George W’s Grandpa was selling the Nazi’s Steel during WWII , and was actually brought up on charges of treason… Though he was only fined $100,000 -
February 7th, 2006 at 1:06 am
God bless America, God bless Bush. God bless the poor dems maybe one day they’ll grow up.
February 7th, 2006 at 1:11 am
As the poster of the original Blog, you all know how I feel about the last post (by Ash).
Ash, I would reply using the quote of the founder of the Republican party Abraham Lincoln, who said: “We will never say God is on our side, but will humbly pray that we are on God’s.”
And I honestly cannot see how any individual with any sense of decency or social responsibility, let alone with truly Christian/religious beliefs, can support this man or what he stands for.
Peace and Love,
Fyodor
February 7th, 2006 at 1:12 pm
“God bless America, God bless Bush. God bless the poor dems maybe one day they’ll grow up.”
I think this has nothing to do with growing up. I do agree that certain John Lenon , lets hold hands, peace loving dreamers need a shot glass of reality every so often, but all of the above are valid points.
Einstein said once: ” I’d rather argue without ever finding an answer, then find the answer without arguing”
Following Bush and his politics blindly without questioning IS childish and naive, and equal to what far left is doing (see Lennon comment above).
February 7th, 2006 at 10:37 pm
There is no visible far left in this country. Those that are portrayed as such are moderates on the world stage.
February 8th, 2006 at 7:13 pm
Saying “God is dead and man has killed him” while waxing political is just ignrorant. If you are going to be a pink-socialist at least take a better stab at it.
I was in LA after katrina at no cost to you. I’m a consevative christian. Label that.
February 8th, 2006 at 8:02 pm
Ash,
You ARE cranky. Perfect for this site.
February 8th, 2006 at 9:45 pm
“Pink-socialist?” Ash, please tell me this: why is what I said socialist? This is a perfect example of some people in this country completley mislabeling things. It’s like watching the Fox News channel: whatever they disagree with or can’t udnerstand, they label it “socialist,” or “liberal” and we are supposed to shit our pants and backtrack.
When Nietzsche said, in his Geneaology on Morals, that God is dead, he said it after giving a brilliant analysis of the way humans construct religion and their beliefs. He did not mean this in necessarily a negative way. He was simply saying that God is the creation of Man and after each stage we destroy the idols we worshipped in order to create new ones. There was no value judgment in it. And calling Nietzsche a socialist would of course be preposterous.
But for the record: I am a liberal social-democrat on the European political spectrum (for those wondering whatta hell this means, and I gotta admit I wonder that myself, they believe in: parliamentary democracy, the existence of social welfare state, like France and Germany, and advocate workers’ rights, including the right to unionize and right to healthcare).
And speaking of Katrina ash, this tragedy really riles me up: tonight I was watching this humanitarian world medical volunteer association helping these poor people who have no health insurance. They can’t get treamtent for diabetes, high blood pressure; one woman came in with a heart attack! Now consider this carefully: this is happening in the “richest and freest” nation in the world, which is currently run by a crowd which loves to toute the Bible and call itself Christians. How in the world do you explain this? Or are you just going to label me a socialist again and thus not articulate a reasonable argument?
Fyodor
February 9th, 2006 at 1:54 am
oh please stop with the nietzshe circle-jerk. why do you wannabe intellectuals always bring the same stupidspittle? If you can’t make an argument against god without suggesting a replacement then you might as well get in line with the rest of satans idiots. The antiquated good book predates and therefore sets precidence.
On katrina: it was a christian disaster relief team that cleaned debri from 59 south in MS. Without the work of these volunteer christians a lot of aid would have been delayed. These people were the first to get in after the storm passed. It wasn’t a group of concerned socialist but christians so take that for whatever its worth.
We tried to give our stuff to the international red cross but they wanted too much paper work. Inventory it, stack it, move it, restack it, sign this in triplicate and “would you like to donate to the internation red cross?”. We instead donated to the Bethany Baptist Church of slidell LA since they had members who were stuck in neighborhoods that rescue crews had not gotten to. We watched the deacons load the water up and go. We were the answer to thier payers and let me tell you, there is nothing more moving than realizing that your actions were prayed for on the day you decided to take action. Dig?
A woman tried to help us find a place to camp (the city was off limits at night). This woman was living in a tent herself. She had lost everything she owned and was worried about us. Another horrible christian.
Good people abound in the US. They come together when bad things happen. Don’t belittle the beliefs of the christian majority when you are blind to thier actions. Its not fair.
And you know, if you pay attention, @#$ing the poor does not pass the shaving test. You try it some time. Stand in front of the mirror while you are shaving and say out loud “Today I will @#$# the poor.”. It doesn’t work.
February 9th, 2006 at 11:13 am
A clarification, ash: I never belittled christians in general. Christianity, just like any other religion, can cause wonderful things to happen: the relief aid (such as Katrina that you mentioned), the Civil Rights movement was spawned in Black Baptist Churches, etc. What I am taking about is the official organized evangelical Christianity that is the main support group of this administration. They are the biggest hypocrites on this planet and they use religion for their political purposes and they do it cynically, and they know it.
And “the antiquated good book predates and therefore sets precedence.”? Let me ask you this ash: who decided which gospels to include in the New Testament? The Church Council, that’s who. This book did not magically fall from the sky, written by the huge hand of God himself. This book was composed by human beings after Jesus’ death and numerous gospels did not make it into the BIble/. Again, organized Church hierarchy CHOSE which gospels to include. And now we are supposed to believe this was God’s act which automaticlaly presuspposes that we believe that organized Church itself is God’s only representative on earth. Which is of course what the organized Church ahs always wanted us to believe so they can preserve their power.
Ash, you gotta look behind the curtains, behind the facades, and question things. Of course I bring up Nietzsche…He is wonderful.
February 9th, 2006 at 2:28 pm
I can make up my own mind no matter what you think. I honestly don’t think the 700 club controls the presidency. Wake up dude. The president speaks to the majority. If you don’t believe me you can visit my grandmother in the mountains next month. We’d love for you to join us for dinner and meet the christian majority. If you aren’t interested, I want you to look for a book by peter jenkins called “A walk accross america”. I think you’ll have a better understanding of americans after reading it.
February 10th, 2006 at 2:16 pm
The Bible of course is full of contraversy - but being its possible the most influential work of literature this world has ever seen, you would almost have too expect that. So Fydor brings up a good question, So who did write the Bible…. Was it Moses, The counsel of King James, the Nicean Council, or God himself… ??? So who ? well I say - who cares !!! I dont think it’s any coinsidence that “Original Sin began from a tree of “Knowledge.” The more we crave answers to questions that are beyond our understanding, the easier it is to be tricked, or fooled. At some point in your life you have too make a that leap of faith, be it in science, religion, or some obscured mixture of the two. Take science for example, 1400 years or so the Scientific Majority new “for a fact” that the world was flat …. Less than 50 years ago we were also told the the smallest particle in nature was the Atom… We knew this as a fact… Of course we now know that this is all not Fact. Gravity — we know it exists, we can measure its forces, and calulate its acceleration, but can any one prove, matematically that it exists…. No .. we believe in gravity via Faith. so when I think of The Bible, and my Faith… I use my faith , and logic, and come to this conclusion…?
God made the world, the air the earth and all life… He destroyed the world, only to re-create it , and even sent his Son to set us all straight so there would be no more questions ? So how is it that we cannot grasp the idea that God could not make a book, and keep the message inside his own…
So thats that —
Now if you read the Bible - more specifically the new testiment , how can you bash socialism, when it is without a doubt a focal point in Jesus’ teachings. When jesus said love your enemies, I dont remember him excluding Muslims, or Jews, or any other person.
I am done….
February 11th, 2006 at 11:42 am
Excellent point xcwillix. I agree that you have to make the leap of faith. Which raises an interesting question about the efforts of the religious right to bring “intelligent design” into biology classes. Their argument is that it should be put on an equal footing with the evolution approach. But if they want to make it into a science, don’t they get away from that central tenet of religion: that things cannot be proven and you have to make that leap of faith and believe in God? While science is also of course based on faith to a certain extent, the difference is we have a method through which we arrive at certain conclusions. This is what science is all about. It doesn’t mean its “the truth,” but it is the scientific method. By trying to pass on “intelligent design” as a scientific method, its supporters are actually denigrating religion and saying God can be scientifically proven. It’s a sign of their own insecurities in their own beliefs.
And I totalyl agree xcwillix on socialist principles inherent in the Bible especially the life of Jesus. Jesus shared everything with the poor, including the table at which there were his society’s outcasts. He said turn the other cheeck. How does that compare to Bush’s oil dynasty, especially considering his comment that Jesus Christ “changed his heart.” This is the strange thing about religion. It can be used to justify anything. Unfortunately.
February 13th, 2006 at 3:23 pm
Nietzsche was incredibly anti-socialist as well as anti-Christian. Believe it or not, those aren’t mutually exclusive positions.
The important thing to remember about Nietzsche and the infamous “God is dead” quote, which I’m pretty sure appears first in the Gay Science and not Geneology of Morals, is that the man who claims that “God is dead and we have killed him” is in despair because he doesn’t know what comes next. The other atheists laugh at him, but they don’t quite realize what it is that is bothering him. The idea of God reenforced the idea that the human soul, and thus the human being, was important. Thus without God, we might have to just “become God” (figuratively) in order to reasure ourselves we have value. If not, were drifting toward nihilism.
It is the crisis of the human condition after the Enlightenment: what does the human being do when he/she no longer have rational belief. Kierkegaard argues that a human being has to take an irrational leap of faith, while Nietzsche argues we need to undertake a reevaluation of our values, and perhaps create a new basis for value.
Nietzsche also makes reference to Plato’s cave, mentioning that man continued to return to the “shadows” a reference to the fact that even though man has seen the light (in this case that there is no God), he keeps on returning to the principles of religion, even if not faith, because he has not established new basis for human importance.
February 23rd, 2008 at 1:23 pm