Monday, September 15, 2008

Strength, Courage, and Wisdom

"They subjugate because they fear the power of WOMAN.
They discriminate because WOMAN is beyond their comprehension..
They enslave because they think WOMAN should be under control like an animal or an object.

WOMAN, you are beautiful.
WOMAN, you are brave and strong.
WOMAN, you are intelligent and wise.

WOMAN, you are a person.
WOMAN, you are a rightful citizen of this world.
WOMAN, you are NEVER to be silenced.

WOMAN, you are powerful."

This was inspired by

"I began to question why we accepted the conditioning of our religion and culture which places emphasis on a girl's virtue and not her intelligence; which places little significance on a woman's opinion; which asks a girl to place her self-value in relation to men; which prioritizes marriage and motherhood above self-development and career; and which encourages girls to be silent on the double standards on infidelity, sexism and discrimination and vilence against women." -Monique Wilson

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Brainwashing



No matter how the person tries to make me believe otherwise, I cannot do it.

No one should expect me to take things at face value, begging me to keep an open mind when his own mind is so narrow and clouded by fanaticism.  I just can't see eye-to-eye with religious dogma/doctrine on certain issues, and besides, the religion hasn't had a perfect track record when you're talking about science.  (Hello, Galileo?)  Oh, how I hate dogmas-they have a propensity to fool people into believing they can start wars with people who believe in something else.  Such blind "faith" in things written down by other men seems like a load of bull; the things themselves are contradictory and disorganized at worst.  How else can you explain something that supposedly espouses respect for all beings yet at the same time says that only those who belong to the exclusive club of believers are to be given special treatment?

Even if I try to put myself in these dogma fanatics' shoes, I still can't help but think that they're acting so selfishly.  It seems that they are so afraid of the changes that keep coming because such things are beyond their comprehension or those things threaten their position as authorities in the institution.

I'm in a time where my conscience clearly tells me I cannot blindly follow orders in the name of so-called religion.  I say this with conviction.  Just so anyone who reads this might know, I'm at odds with the institution, not my faith. 
I'm just so disappointed in how things are being run-I know we're all human, but these leaders need some good kicks aimed at their head.  They were made significant authorities of the institution to move and shake things in the name of truth and what do they do?  It's like being pushed back to the dark ages.

I know I wasn't placed here on this earth to please the people within the institution and those others who blindly follow doctrine to the letter.  My faith is such a personal thing and I'm free to discover things in my own way.  I know I'm under the guidance of God, whom I believe is the ONLY all-knowing and all-powerful being.  I don't need anyone pretending to be like Him, telling me what to do, under the guise of forming my values.  I know what I stand for and I'm continuing to discover more things that may comprise the person that I am and will be.  No one needs to tell me my soul needs this or that, because my soul seeks what it needs, through God and not through any other human being.  It's disturbing that these people view me not as someone who has God-given intellect and free will, choosing to believe they can indoctrinate me into becoming someTHING they can use to further their own ends that are cleverly disguised as something for the religion.