Just as God is the catch-all superstition, the Illuminati is the catch all conspiracy theory. You can link it to anything. Why? Because like God - they are omnipotent. You can't disprove them. Why? Because you can't prove them either. Because they're not real. It's so hard to disprove what isn't even there.
Like religion, Illuminati theories advance your views or prejudices. Take your pick of who's in them - politicians, bankers, Jews, Masons etc. etc. Mix and match whoever you don't like and post enough Internet claptrap to get that allegation around.
The same as creationists see evolution or atheism as a 'fantasy land' or 'superstition', Illuminati theorists see the remaining sane population as sheep who need to open their eyes from what the media is telling them, because media is either ran by extremely rich and therefore evil people, or the state who are evil as well.
Religion gets thrown into the equasion when it's needed as well. Illuminati are horsemen of the Devil, ready for the end game against the righteous. They can take your soul from you and make you a possessed puppet. Not surprisingly, the theory seems to have real holds in the States, where speaking of this claptrap won't be seen as ridiculous as in a more open-minded country.
The Illuminati were real - in the late 18th century. They originated in Bavaria. Their aim was to overthrow monarchy and create secular republics throughout Europe. They were captured and dissolved. They were themselves baptised Christians who just had Enlightenment ideas. Bizarrely, the world's first ever secular republic, the USA, holds the strongest opposition to the Illuminati, tarring their ideals of a separation of Church and State and Republicanism with global greed and cruelty, and devil worship.
Internet (it only seems to be there) videos and pages keep a fine-toothed comb on Illuminati insignia, which is itself Masonic insignia (the two are not the same). This is the great case of (prevalent in religion) of seeing what you want to see. Toast looks like Jesus? Triangle or eye in children's cartoon means that the world will be ruled by a small number of evil individuals. Anybody can draw a triangle or eye in a cartoon...and should world-saving intellectuals be spending their time watching children's cartoons anyway? Everything is interpretation. Conspiracy has become chic - look how Jay-Z and Kanye have seen the funny side. They actually deliberately put these symbols or easily interpretable lyrics into their songs because it fuels the obsession in these small numbers of people. They're making it up. You can say anything in a song and it doesn't make it true (as I will explain in my blog on the backlash over the Eminem track 'My Darling'). You make up your own mind on that, based on whether it seems reliable or not.
That's called rationality.
Sunday, 25 November 2012
Why Nicki Minaj did NOT insult Islam
In 2007 I can remember being pulled into a school assembly thrown especially due to a news event. The Head of Year, a Christian of relatively open mind, organised us into the hall for an urgent message.
A British teacher in the Sudan had been jailed. Protestors in the city ordered for her death. Lashes were on the cards.
Her crime: blasphemy
The crime: naming a teddy bear after a pupil, who had the most popular first name in the world. That name was blasphemous as it was also the name of the Islamic prophet.
It took a special envoy of two of Britain's Muslim MPs to sort out the fiasco in a country where slavery, genocide, racism and poverty are rife. Moving on...
Misinterpretation
I am no fan of Nicki Minaj at all. In fact, I could probably blog about how her career has been from her surreal image more than lyrical and musical capabilities. However, fuore came about from a 2009 (before she was signed/mainstream) track called 'Beam Me Up Scotty'.
The lyrics to this song are as hotch-potch as any from the clearly mentally 'different' songstress. But it was these lyrics which got the juices flowing 'Where the fuck is Akbar, give him the keys and tell him valet my car'.
First of all, as a singer whose political message and philosophy is non-existent, I don't think Minaj has any particular qualms on any religion. Many in the hip-hop industry, such as Akon and T-Pain, are Muslims, so it is a no-go zone in rap as much as racism.
Second, the Muslim God is Allah, described as 'Akbar' (great). Christian God is known as the almighty, but the word is used all of the time to describe others, as either pompous or as a sign of affection. Akbar is itself a Muslim first name. In America, Arab immigrants are often stereotyped as having valet/taxi driving jobs. I'd heard it said that this Akbar was a chauffeur of Minaj's rival Lil Kim who had quit his job, which would make a lot of sense. But it's up to you to check that. And who insults deities by telling them to chauffeur them? Had Minaj directly insulted Allah, her neck would be on the block. That would be fucking stupid, especially in such a nonsensical song.
Backlash
Groups on Facebook promoting this hatred have made racist insults to Minaj, and believe me, racism is ALWAYS worse than religious hatred because race is a) non-ideological and b) unchangeable. Apart from the predictable references to the oldest profession, there were also ridiculous allegations of Masonry and Illuminati (q.v)
However, some users were unexpected bright sparks. They said that there was not enough evidence of who Minaj was referencing to, and that also only Allah could judge her and not humans.
It came at a time also of a similar allegation against Barcelona striker David Villa. Villa had been hit by Real Madrid's Turkish midfielder Mesut Ozil, and similar to the 2006 Zidane headbutt (when allegations of isults to Islam were spoken of and debunked by Zidane himself), the Internet sought the answer from unreliable sources. Ozil's 'twitter account' said that Villa had insulted Islam, which was eventually debunked when it was revealed that Ozil dis not have a Twitter. But that has fallen on deaf ears to some people... http://www.thecheapseats.ca/2011/08/david-villa-made-a-racist-by-fake-twitter-account.html
Playing like that is libellous, slanderous and just disgusting to the emotions of Villa and his family. The story was barely scratched by REAL news outlets. It was nothing but the work of trolls and the backlash could have been so severe. Don't believe everything you read. Keep an open mind, think of fallacies and bias. Have rationality.
A British teacher in the Sudan had been jailed. Protestors in the city ordered for her death. Lashes were on the cards.
Her crime: blasphemy
The crime: naming a teddy bear after a pupil, who had the most popular first name in the world. That name was blasphemous as it was also the name of the Islamic prophet.
It took a special envoy of two of Britain's Muslim MPs to sort out the fiasco in a country where slavery, genocide, racism and poverty are rife. Moving on...
Misinterpretation
I am no fan of Nicki Minaj at all. In fact, I could probably blog about how her career has been from her surreal image more than lyrical and musical capabilities. However, fuore came about from a 2009 (before she was signed/mainstream) track called 'Beam Me Up Scotty'.
The lyrics to this song are as hotch-potch as any from the clearly mentally 'different' songstress. But it was these lyrics which got the juices flowing 'Where the fuck is Akbar, give him the keys and tell him valet my car'.
First of all, as a singer whose political message and philosophy is non-existent, I don't think Minaj has any particular qualms on any religion. Many in the hip-hop industry, such as Akon and T-Pain, are Muslims, so it is a no-go zone in rap as much as racism.
Second, the Muslim God is Allah, described as 'Akbar' (great). Christian God is known as the almighty, but the word is used all of the time to describe others, as either pompous or as a sign of affection. Akbar is itself a Muslim first name. In America, Arab immigrants are often stereotyped as having valet/taxi driving jobs. I'd heard it said that this Akbar was a chauffeur of Minaj's rival Lil Kim who had quit his job, which would make a lot of sense. But it's up to you to check that. And who insults deities by telling them to chauffeur them? Had Minaj directly insulted Allah, her neck would be on the block. That would be fucking stupid, especially in such a nonsensical song.
Backlash
Groups on Facebook promoting this hatred have made racist insults to Minaj, and believe me, racism is ALWAYS worse than religious hatred because race is a) non-ideological and b) unchangeable. Apart from the predictable references to the oldest profession, there were also ridiculous allegations of Masonry and Illuminati (q.v)
However, some users were unexpected bright sparks. They said that there was not enough evidence of who Minaj was referencing to, and that also only Allah could judge her and not humans.
It came at a time also of a similar allegation against Barcelona striker David Villa. Villa had been hit by Real Madrid's Turkish midfielder Mesut Ozil, and similar to the 2006 Zidane headbutt (when allegations of isults to Islam were spoken of and debunked by Zidane himself), the Internet sought the answer from unreliable sources. Ozil's 'twitter account' said that Villa had insulted Islam, which was eventually debunked when it was revealed that Ozil dis not have a Twitter. But that has fallen on deaf ears to some people... http://www.thecheapseats.ca/2011/08/david-villa-made-a-racist-by-fake-twitter-account.html
Playing like that is libellous, slanderous and just disgusting to the emotions of Villa and his family. The story was barely scratched by REAL news outlets. It was nothing but the work of trolls and the backlash could have been so severe. Don't believe everything you read. Keep an open mind, think of fallacies and bias. Have rationality.
Masonic Plot - Give me a Break!
When something bad happens in the world, be it a terror attack or war, gullible Internet users and far-right kooks jump onto the same two bandwagons all the time - Jews and Masons.
In fact, most of the time the two end up wired together. Some anti-Semitic Muslim cleric - can't remember who or where - said that Jews were responsible for capiatlism, communism (wait...), liberalism, Masons and Rotary Clubs (LOL). Unless you hold the view that the Masons are the Knights Templar reincarnated and set up 9-11 to start Holy War again. Or you mix up Masonic insignia and rituals with the Illuminati, a secular and republican group disbanded nearly a quarter of a millenium ago. Mix and match no matter what the contradictions are. Hitler did it, as the Internet rule always leads to. While he said that the small minority of Jews in Germany were greedy and after every pfennig, he also blamed them for starting communism and wanting to share the money between everybody. Nazis exterminated Masons for seeing them as communists, while communists themselves persecuted them. Get your head checked, please...
Whether Jew, Atheist, Mason, Pagan or whatever, the religious extremist brush always tars you with Satanism. A close-minded, obsessive, condescending and discriminatory label that anybody not in your religion is only that way because they are worshipping your enemy. All of the Abrahamic religions do it to each other, and its a battle that won't seem to end.
Anyway, back to Masons. They can not seek to overthrow governments because they are forbidden to talk about politics to each other. They do not worship Satan because they do not talk about religion to each other. If anything, they are a small-scale project of a world based on helping each other out due to the goodness of your heart rather than judging them on their views. They may not let in non-members to the meetings, but so many other groups don't either. Their existence is well known and they publicly ask for new members. If you don't like them, then have a look. Spy on them. Make some actual evidence against them instead of the documents by disgruntled ex-members which were admitted to be fake.
Masons are nothing more than an open charitable groups promoting tolerance and open-mindedness between different faiths and ideals. No wonder the religious extremists hate them...
I'll do some other blogs soon on the Illuminati hypothesis, that deserves a lot to itself...
In fact, most of the time the two end up wired together. Some anti-Semitic Muslim cleric - can't remember who or where - said that Jews were responsible for capiatlism, communism (wait...), liberalism, Masons and Rotary Clubs (LOL). Unless you hold the view that the Masons are the Knights Templar reincarnated and set up 9-11 to start Holy War again. Or you mix up Masonic insignia and rituals with the Illuminati, a secular and republican group disbanded nearly a quarter of a millenium ago. Mix and match no matter what the contradictions are. Hitler did it, as the Internet rule always leads to. While he said that the small minority of Jews in Germany were greedy and after every pfennig, he also blamed them for starting communism and wanting to share the money between everybody. Nazis exterminated Masons for seeing them as communists, while communists themselves persecuted them. Get your head checked, please...
Whether Jew, Atheist, Mason, Pagan or whatever, the religious extremist brush always tars you with Satanism. A close-minded, obsessive, condescending and discriminatory label that anybody not in your religion is only that way because they are worshipping your enemy. All of the Abrahamic religions do it to each other, and its a battle that won't seem to end.
Anyway, back to Masons. They can not seek to overthrow governments because they are forbidden to talk about politics to each other. They do not worship Satan because they do not talk about religion to each other. If anything, they are a small-scale project of a world based on helping each other out due to the goodness of your heart rather than judging them on their views. They may not let in non-members to the meetings, but so many other groups don't either. Their existence is well known and they publicly ask for new members. If you don't like them, then have a look. Spy on them. Make some actual evidence against them instead of the documents by disgruntled ex-members which were admitted to be fake.
Masons are nothing more than an open charitable groups promoting tolerance and open-mindedness between different faiths and ideals. No wonder the religious extremists hate them...
I'll do some other blogs soon on the Illuminati hypothesis, that deserves a lot to itself...
God - The One Size Fits All superstition
The world is a savage place. Its broken shell causes tremors which collapse our structures. Its waters flood to kill our crops and drown us. Storms cause death and destruction. And what's worse - you can't kill an earthquake, flood or storm like you can a wild bear. So these have got to be indestructable, living things to test our faith, no?
For many millenia, fire was considered a living thing. It moves, no? Water moves. The earth and wind move. Yet you can't control them. So they were considered a life form apart, in almost a separate dimension. Pre-historic peoples all over the world devised a system of praying and rewarding Gods who take the form of such things. Bad harvest? Farming God is angry. Miscarriage? Fertility God is angry. However, nowadays we have scientific knowledge and wisdom which these ancient people would have killed for. Bad harvest is based on weather. Weather is based on the sun and the winds it produces. Fertility is based on hormones and diet. No wonder such polytheism is now scarcely existent.
Monotheism is nothing but a one-size-fits-all solution for the world's problems. Although theism does not equate organised religion, the Holy Scriptures, said to be the word of an all-knowing God, contain such basic scientific errors as the Earth's shape and position. You'd think that its creator would know the shape, huh?
Theism is nothing but a cheap substitution for 'I don't know' or 'We all don't know'. Just as we have proved the realities of fire, water, earth and wind, storms and fertility, one day we will put any other entity which 'God' is the supposed explanation for straight into the bin.
For many millenia, fire was considered a living thing. It moves, no? Water moves. The earth and wind move. Yet you can't control them. So they were considered a life form apart, in almost a separate dimension. Pre-historic peoples all over the world devised a system of praying and rewarding Gods who take the form of such things. Bad harvest? Farming God is angry. Miscarriage? Fertility God is angry. However, nowadays we have scientific knowledge and wisdom which these ancient people would have killed for. Bad harvest is based on weather. Weather is based on the sun and the winds it produces. Fertility is based on hormones and diet. No wonder such polytheism is now scarcely existent.
Monotheism is nothing but a one-size-fits-all solution for the world's problems. Although theism does not equate organised religion, the Holy Scriptures, said to be the word of an all-knowing God, contain such basic scientific errors as the Earth's shape and position. You'd think that its creator would know the shape, huh?
Theism is nothing but a cheap substitution for 'I don't know' or 'We all don't know'. Just as we have proved the realities of fire, water, earth and wind, storms and fertility, one day we will put any other entity which 'God' is the supposed explanation for straight into the bin.
Friday, 23 November 2012
Introduction: The Un-Indoctrinable
I have always been immune to religion - out of a mixture of luck and outfoxing its plan.
I was lucky due to the family I was brought up in. Mother came from an Anglican family but in no way practiced or spoke of it to me. Father was a non-intellectual atheist who spoke to me of "Holy Joes" and "Bible Bashers" and that the Pope had collaborated in the Holocaust.
You could say that my atheism was the product of indoctrination from my dad, the same as religious families bring up their children to be like them from the moment that they are born. And I suppose that is true to an extent - I would no way have been an atheist from such a young age had I been brought up in a different environment, but I wasn't.
I was enrolled into an Anglican Primary simply because it was better than the closer community school. But before they could tell me anything about a man on a cloud who made everything in an illogical order in six days, I had my antidote. I had already read about the Dinosaurs, and how they had been around 65 million years before humans. It was a Eureka moment - I could not believe any further word on Christianity if I knew that their load-baring idea - their creation story - was a fallacy.
I was amazed by the atmosphere at that school - of about 350 students, I can only remeber about two or three Christians, and they were children of ministers. In the battle of indoctrinating those too young to make their own decision, the Church was losing out.
As a child I did not know what atheism was - the school left the word off their curriculum for some reason - so I, and my friends then, thought that the only other option was Satanism. We filled in our information reports as Satanists, and changed the words of hymns to allude to Hell instead of Heaven and Satan instead of God. It was only after telling that to my Dad that he informed me that it was "shite" and that "you've got to believe in God to believe in Satan"
Our non-denominational opposition to Christianity spread. One friend, whose Dad was an avid reader of atheist philosophy, made a flow diagram showing that hymns were simply an extension of ancient pleas to animistic Gods. He sent it to the assembly office. We didn't hear anything of it again.
I was lucky due to the family I was brought up in. Mother came from an Anglican family but in no way practiced or spoke of it to me. Father was a non-intellectual atheist who spoke to me of "Holy Joes" and "Bible Bashers" and that the Pope had collaborated in the Holocaust.
You could say that my atheism was the product of indoctrination from my dad, the same as religious families bring up their children to be like them from the moment that they are born. And I suppose that is true to an extent - I would no way have been an atheist from such a young age had I been brought up in a different environment, but I wasn't.
I was enrolled into an Anglican Primary simply because it was better than the closer community school. But before they could tell me anything about a man on a cloud who made everything in an illogical order in six days, I had my antidote. I had already read about the Dinosaurs, and how they had been around 65 million years before humans. It was a Eureka moment - I could not believe any further word on Christianity if I knew that their load-baring idea - their creation story - was a fallacy.
I was amazed by the atmosphere at that school - of about 350 students, I can only remeber about two or three Christians, and they were children of ministers. In the battle of indoctrinating those too young to make their own decision, the Church was losing out.
As a child I did not know what atheism was - the school left the word off their curriculum for some reason - so I, and my friends then, thought that the only other option was Satanism. We filled in our information reports as Satanists, and changed the words of hymns to allude to Hell instead of Heaven and Satan instead of God. It was only after telling that to my Dad that he informed me that it was "shite" and that "you've got to believe in God to believe in Satan"
Our non-denominational opposition to Christianity spread. One friend, whose Dad was an avid reader of atheist philosophy, made a flow diagram showing that hymns were simply an extension of ancient pleas to animistic Gods. He sent it to the assembly office. We didn't hear anything of it again.
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