Free speech, dog fighting, athletes, gays, and religion

Today is my day off and, unlike last week when I actually got something done (built a curing cabinet for my candles), I spent the morning getting all worked up about several issues that really just make me sick to think about.

The first involves a case the Supreme Court decided to hear involving a "documentary filmmaker" named Robert Stevens who believes his films about and depicting dog fighting are protected by the first amendment. It all started when I got an email alert from Care2 with the story, then led to the LA Times and several more versions of the same story. Rather than rehash the story, I'll just state my opinion (with bullet points, of course).

• Dog fighting is illegal in every state. fact
  
• Filming a dog fight for the purpose of obtaining evidence for a trial is gathering evidence. fact
  
• Profiting from the sale of anything is not free speech, it is free enterprise a.k.a. doing business. fact
  
• Going around the world filming dog fighting for a film that will be sold is not gathering evidence, it is doing business. fact
  
• Selling not one, but three, films about dog fighting through a magazine or website devoted to dog fighting is not making documentaries, it is promoting an illegal activity. my opinion
  
• If your business is promoting an illegal activity, you are not protected by the first amendment. You are profiting from the promotion of that illegal activity making you an accessory to the crime or, in this case, many crimes. my opinion
  

And then, since it was dog fighting, I had to check up on Michael Vick. I learned he is going to released in May, but will be confined to his home because he will be under "house arrest". I was somewhat heartened to discover the commissioner of the NFL has been rather frazzled by the negative reaction to the whole story and wants to see remorse before considering reinstating his eligibility to play in the league. I sincerely hope it doesn't happen. Has he really paid his debt to society, or is he just another athlete who was indoctrinated by his coaches to believe he is better than everyone else and deserves to make millions of dollars because he can play a sport?

I have to admit my bias, perhaps prejudice, on this point since I have met a fair number of professional athletes over the years and have a generally low opinion of them based on my personal experience. They may have graduated from college, but they didn't learn anything and probably didn't even try. I recently read that a very high percentage athletes who retire from professional sports are bankrupt within two years. I would post a link, but I don't remember where I read it. I believe it, though, because they never learned about managing money or even how to live independently as an adult. They are catered to, told how great they are, used up, and finally spit out when they are past their prime. It would be sad, except they are such assholes, it's hard to feel sorry for them.

The last story, and perhaps the most horrific, was about the persecution of gays and lesbians in the Middle East and specifically in Iraq. This one I will quote because I don't think I can make my fingers type it. Translated by the IGLHRC, but from Alarabiya:

A prominent Iraqi human rights activist says that Iraqi militia have deployed a painful form of torture against homosexuals by closing their anuses using “Iranian gum.” … Yanar Mohammad told Alarabiya.net that, “Iraqi militias have deployed an unprecedented form of torture against homosexuals by using a very strong glue that will close their anus.”

According to her, the new substance “is known as the Ameri gum, which is an Iranian-manufactured glue that if applied to the skin, sticks to it and can only be removed by surgery. After they glue the anuses of homosexuals, they give them a drink that causes diarrhea. Since the anus is closed, the diarrhea causes death. Videos of this form of torture are being distributed on mobile cellphones in Iraq.”

According to this human rights activist, for the past 3 weeks a crackdown on homosexuals has been going on based on a religious decree that demands their death; dozens have been targeted. She says that the persecution of homosexuals is not confined to the Shiite clerics. Some Sunni leaders have also declared the death penalty for sodomy on satellite channels.”

I realize I have many more gay and lesbian friends than most people, but I can't understand why anyone thinks gays and lesbians are so different. From my experience, they are exactly the same: they are people. They have the same problems, hopes, dreams, disappointments, triumphs, tragedies, and feelings as everyone else. The only difference is that they are sexually attracted not to the opposite gender, but to their own gender. Some of the more dramatic like to think their problems are greater because they are gay, but sorry to burst your drama bubble, they're not. They're exactly the same, the difference is in the way each individual person chooses to deal with their problems, but not inherently different because of sexual preference.

It always bothers me when I learn that one of my friends in not "out" to their family. I don't even talk to my family, so maybe it shouldn't be so surprising, but aren't those the people who are supposed to love you unconditionally? My family does not, but in that I do believe I am in a very small minority. The ones that surprise me are the ones who attend family events and are otherwise close to their immediate family, yet feel unable to share the truth about the person they are. They introduce the person they're dating as a best friend and tell them to act straight. Some never introduce their families to anyone at all. They have a secret life that remains hidden from the very people who should be interested in their happiness.

Thinking about animals, indoctrination, prejudice and persecution brought me to the issue that bothers me more than everything else: religion. I think religion is responsible for most of the social problems in the world (my opinion). I cannot deny that some religious charities do good things, but there will always be compassionate people who will make sure those same things are done. I'm talking about the brain-washing indoctrination that makes otherwise (semi)intelligent people start sentences with phrases like "Well, I'm a Christian" and "The Bible says" to justify whatever bigotry they espouse. "Love the sinner, hate the sin" is another one.

How can anyone read the story from Alarabiya and not realize it is being done in the name of religion? Why can a heterosexual get married, divorced, married, divorced, married, and divorced again, but a homosexual can't "marry" the life partner they've been with for 25 years? Where does it say that in the Bible? Marriage is a legally binding contract between two consenting adults. Legally binding, not bound by the Bible. Animals are property, the Bible says it. You have to Believe or you'll go to Hell, the Bible says it. Jesus (a man) will be resurrected, the Bible says it. The twelfth Imam (a man) will be resurrected, the Koran says it. And what? They're going to fall from the sky fully clothed in what they were buried in? Will they be born like a little Buddha and raised to believe they will somehow solve all the world's problems by simply announcing their presence?

It is absolute nonsense, and proof that everything can be justified with religion except common sense.

And, what about critical and/or analytical thinking? It doesn't say anything about that in the Bible. Does that mean we shouldn't do it? Because, I do both and, if you do you may realize you've been brainwashed. If you're relying on religion to get you through the day and you realize it's all a big hoax, you have to start accepting responsibility for yourself and your actions. You have to think about the consequences of your actions because now you know there's no Big Man in the Sky looking after you.

Truthfully, I don't really care what people believe as long as they keep it to themselves. I'm just not interested in hearing it and I'm tired of hearing about social injustice being justified in the name of religion and having everyone be okay with it. It's not okay with me and I think you are mentally ill when you start talking about "your religion" as a way to justify your bigotry and hateful actions.

Personally I'd rather read Aesop's Fables than the Bible, Torah, Koran, or any other book of religious gibberish. It's a lot easier to read and the morality is not subject to individual interpretation. Sphere: Related Content