Archive for May, 2009

What If God Had Lots of Guns?

Book of Religion and Culture | Posted by admin
May 04 2009

What if God had lots of guns?
Just a hacker packing heat
With a laptop in his bag
Try’n to phreak his message home

Whenever Hollywood tries to do a movie about Christianity it’s usually very painful to watch or offensive. With the notable exceptions of “The 10 Commandments” and “Prince of Egypt” which managed to get the general idea right without taking too much literary license. “Jesus Christ Superstar,” when put to film, gave the hippy Roman guards AK47’s. I’m not sure if they were trying to modernize it or just be funny. The Matrix takes this idea and runs with it. They were so busy handing out guns they accidentally gave “Jesus Christ” one. Actually, they gave him lots of guns. And I’m pretty sure it was intentional.

In the beginning was the word and the word was Neo. Neo, AKA Thomas Anderson, is a hacker with a legitimate job on the side working for a major corporation. Apparently he’s got a very large file of “sins” he’s committed. And all he has to do to make them go away is sell his soul to the Devil, Agent Smith. There’s a plot that hasn’t been seen since “The Last Temptation.” In the latter Jesus goes against his Father’s will to be with a woman. But wait, it was just a thought he had while dying. But wait, whoever lusts after a woman has already committed adultery with her which breaks one of the Top 10 commandments of God. The Old Testament rules for sacrifice require a lamb without blemish. Society has since decided that a blot here and there is no big deal. You’re still “good enough.” So really, you don’t need Jesus Christ anyway. It’s okay if he’s flawed just like everyone else. In conclusion, Neo is not Jesus Christ. But let’s overlook this roadblock and continue.

And the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, Morpheus bore witness of him, and cried, saying, “This was he of whom I speak.” Morpheus is a prophet who speaks of “The One” and has devoted his whole life to finding him. He believes his has found “The One” in Neo and contacts him. Upon taking him to his place, he begins to talk about the “Matrix.” He explains that everywhere you look, everything you touch, feel, taste and smell is the Matrix. All Neo has to do to see the whole truth is to pop a little red pill.

If Neo is his name
Will you believe
He can remove you from this place
And set your mind at ease
Welcome to the real world
Is he really Christ
Or a figment of your mind

There is a painting. And on this painting there is Jesus Christ standing at a door. And depending on who painted it, the door is either open or shut. Because the question is, would you have knocked over the vase even if it hadn’t been mentioned? We like to believe we have free will and that we make our own decisions. But that’s not the question. The question is what choices do we have? In the one painting indicates we must choose to open the door to let Christ in. The latter indicates we must choose to close the door to Christ. The Matrix takes the notion that we are born slaves and the Bible doesn’t disagree. “Behold, I was molded in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5). The question is a matter of whether or not the door is shut. The Matrix takes the notion that the door is shut and that we choose Him by choosing to take the red pill. However, “he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4). The door is open. One can either recognize they are saved or reject they are saved and close the door. So really, there is only one pill: the blue one. Christ says to us “I’m taking you to heaven. You can choose to stay behind.” Christ never asks you if you want to go because that is not your choice to make. He only asks if you want to stay.

Upon eating the red pill, Neo is baptized in a silver fluid inside and out and suddenly awakes in a pod. This is the real world. You are born a slave and your own being feeds that which enslaves you. By being baptized he has been freed from his prison. And now that he has been freed it is his duty to go forth and spread the good news and save others. But what is the Matrix that one needs saving from it? The Matrix of “The Matrix” is a computer that generates a world in which we live oblivious to our true state. It’s such a wonderful dream. One in which we believe we live free and choose freely. The Matrix a Christian sees is the one which tells us that children are born innocent and that we are inherently good and to be content (and even relish) in sin as it’s really not that bad. Certainly nothing God would send you to hell over; at least, not a “loving” God. Unlike the movie, the “matrix” and the real world coexist on the same plane. We just see the world we share differently. And unlike “The Matrix” this world is real. “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:52). In Christianity there are two real planes of existence; this world and the next. Getting to the next simply requires either dying or living to see the last day. Taking the blue pill just decides where we end up in the next world.

Cipher certainly appears on the surface to be a Judas. But he’s not. Judas was not seeking earthly pleasures. He only asked for the amount one would get for a common slave. He also wasn’t seeking to know the truth about Christ. It wasn’t a matter of doubt. He wasn’t testing Jesus. These are the things Cipher sought. Not Judas. “Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve” (Luke 22:3). Judas shows up in the second film. Cipher is just another person who doubted that Neo was the “One” but went about getting his proof in a poorly conceived manner. Neo’s real name “Thomas” is a reference to Doubting Thomas. And “Anderson” literally means “Son of Man.” Actually it means “son of man.” There’s a significant difference. “Son” with a capital “s” is Jesus’ title. “Son” with a lower can “s” is a typical reference to a human son. “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that you visit him” (Psalm 8:4)? Neo certainly was a doubter but, certainly not a capital “s” son of man. He’s too flawed for that. He may be a hero but not a savior.

Hollywood has a consistent problem discerning between a hero and a savior. It’s actually a very simple thing. The Bible makes it clear there is only one savior. So if Hollywood is making a movie about a savior and his name isn’t Jesus Christ and if he didn’t die on the cross and rise from the dead on the third day, he’s a hero. Not a savior. “The Matrix” liked to play up the “Jesus Christ” angle quite heavily. Neo is called “my own personal savior” by Cipher who also muses what it must be like to be told one day you’re Jesus Christ. Neo is actually more of a Braveheart; a hero who rises up to save his people from tyranny. But the line “to wake up one day and realize you’re Braveheart, what a mind job” doesn’t have quite the ring to it. “The Matrix” also strains the point by offering a character named “Trinity” which is obviously taken from the Protestant notion of the Trinity. She actually is a Mary Magdalene type. “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” is her song from “Jesus Christ Superstar.” That relationship is never explored in the Bible however. She is just always where Jesus is.

It’s said that many religions can be found in “The Matrix.” On the surface, it looks to contain Christianity. Digging deeper you find only a few lines support that notion and they have no foundation in what’s going on. The rest of the movie contradicts everything Christ was about. One of the students was excited about finding a bit of her religion in the movie. If she wants it, she can have it. What the writer’s of “The Matrix” attempted to do was blend the most appealing and recognizable parts of a mess of religions and put them in a fun to watch package. What they ended up doing was bastardizing all of the religions while making it fun to watch so nobody really cared. They asked a lot of interesting questions to try to get you to think while wowing you with kung-fu and wire-fu. It may be a movie with a “deeper meaning” but in the end, it’s just a movie.

12-25-2003

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Satan, Dearest

Book of Religion and Culture | Posted by admin
May 04 2009

In Christianity the Devil has always been the angel that fell, the great deceiver, the one who appears as an angel of light. Someone who takes many forms to do his work. In modern society God has taken over the role of the one that takes all the different forms and is yet the same God. Buddha, Allah, the Judeo-Christian God, all are assumed to be the same God by quite a large number of people. And when all you’re interested in are the general ideas of who God is, it’s understandable they all look the same. To someone who doesn’t like X-style of music, all music of that style all sounds the same. And any blatant differences don’t really matter. And people who love the style see just how different it really is. For example, techno; it’s catching on. More and more people can tell that one song goes 87 beats per second and the other goes 88 beats per second and that’s a world of difference.

It’s all about the presentation. That’s the general idea of “Bedazzled” and “The Devil’s Advocate.” An acceptable front is being displayed while underneath it’s just a game to get the souls. They reveal themselves in whatever way is most pleasing to their victims. It’s not until the intended victim gets to know the devil that he can escape and by then it’s typically too late. In both movies the devil is using sex to sell himself. “Devil’s Advocate” presents the devil as a man with an entourage of beautiful women just waiting to sleep with his associates. “Bedazzled,” on the other hand, takes the notion that the Devil makes a tease of a woman who’s just out to use his flesh suit to lure deprived men. In both cases the victims are too devoted to their significant other to be swayed by the Devil in that area. But then who doesn’t appreciate having other women, besides the one they’re with, find them attractive. For all intensive purposes the lure works in both cases.

Appearances are easy. If the Devil wanted to scare the hell out of you he’d appear as a pitch fork wielding monster; which he does in Bedazzled. The idea is that no matter how much the devil wants to be your friend, there comes a point where he needs to instill fear in you. He’s not perfect. It’s inevitable you’ll try to walk away eventually. For Kevin Lomax in “Devil’s Advocate” the fear is instilled by the murder of his coworker who he knew was in on some company destroying secrets. The Devil effectively made an indirect threat to Lomax to not cross him. In “Bedazzled,” Elliot doesn’t get indirect threats. When he tried to not take his last wish the Devil revealed a very nasty side of himself to get him back in line.

It’s all an illusion. Flesh suits, fantasies, and false promises are all the Devil has to offer in both films. Lomax finds out that the company he’s working for is built on lies and secrets. The company’s secret shredding parties are a sign that its existence is hanging in the balance. Eddie knows it and plans on telling the authorities and he ends up dead for it. Lomax’s wife is seeing what’s really going on and it ends up killing her. All the while the Devil is waving carrots in front of Lomax’s face. Eddie’s death is just a terrible tragedy which he claims to have no involvement with. His wife’s death is a result of her going crazy and killing herself. But that’s okay because in true ruler fashion he offers him his own sister as an alternative in order to keep the bloodline pure. Eddie was no big deal. He wasn’t much of a lawyer anyway.

Bedazzled takes a different spin on the devil and his fantasies but the same general object lesson. There’s always some “little” mistake she makes with his wishes. When he confronts her on it she plays the crying game and begs his forgiveness. And since he’s Elliot, he does and shoulders all the blame on himself. After a nearly perfect wish he realizes that Allison is a different person in every one of his wishes. He realizes that it’s all just an illusion like the video he saw at the start.

Then there’s that lucky break at the end. Hollywood has a thing for the hero killing themselves as though it’s some kind of Christ like thing to do. Which it would be: if Christ had committed suicide. There’s a difference that Hollywood tends to miss between killing ones self and accepting one’s role in life and accepting your death brought about by circumstances out of your control. Slaughterhouse 5 nails it. “Devil’s Advocate” blows it. Lomax, being turned off by the prospect of incest, shoots himself in the head to foil the Devil’s plans.

Bedazzled goes with a more permanent solution: selfless acts of kindness. Elliot decides that he just wants Allison to be happy which, is one wish that the Devil can’t screw up. And it also happens to void the contract releasing his soul from the Devil’s grasp. It turns out Elliot is just too nice of a guy to be corrupted. Lomax, on the other hand, is a little shaky in that area. At the opening of the film he’s defending a guy accused of molesting a little girl. The defendant is practically getting himself off in the courtroom and not in the legal sense. Lomax notices this and heads to the bathroom to deal with this moral dilemma. As a lawyer his job is to defend people regardless of their innocence. As a human being he’s obligated to not defend such a despicable person. After he wins the case the story takes off. He later learns his defendant was found with a little girl stuffed in the trunk of his car. And that’s when he begins to have his doubts about the greatness of his winning streak as a lawyer. In the end killing himself both saves the world since apparently the anti-Christ is Satan’s grandchild and manages to avoid ever having to win another case with a rotten client; only to end up back in the bathroom where, in this “choose your own adventure” movie, he makes the other choice to drop the client in open court.

But the Devil isn’t done yet. Lomax has an ego to feed and the Devil knows just want to give it. Lomax resists doing the news story about dropping his client which would get him a ridiculous amount of publicity but eventually the ego wins and the reporter is granted a phone call. Not too surprisingly the reporter turns out to be another incarnation of Satan himself. For all the things “Devil’s Advocate” did wrong it managed to do one thing right; it didn’t pretend the Devil was a one shot jockey. In Bedazzled it’s left as though the Devil is done with Elliot and as though the Devil works by making contracts for people’s souls. If the contract doesn’t work the Devil’s work is done and he moves on. The Devil of “Devil’s Advocate” plays a much more sophisticated role.

It’s all about persistence. Smash and grabs are for amateurs. The Devil carefully examines his prey and then tries tactic after tactic until one works. It’s a constant race between the Devil and your grave because once you hit six feet under it’s all over. The Devil started off strong with Lomax and was in such a hurry to get the anti-Christ conceived he didn’t give Lomax enough time to prepare. The Devil failed to realize he hadn’t jumped ship to the dark side yet. But that’s okay, the Devil learns from his mistakes and begins the process again but this time a little bit slower.

Put them together and you get a decent picture. Bedazzled had a lot more fun with the Devil and presented him in a way that makes you consider that the Devil will never give you what you really wanted. “Devil’s Advocate” gives the impression that he does but there are strings attached. And not just to your soul. The Devil destroys the people who work for him and the people who work for him destroy those they come into contact with. The main problem with “Devil’s Advocate” was that it played the sex card way too much. The Devil was completely out of touch with what his client wanted. I’m not sure at which point the Devil decided that Lomax would be down with incest before making the offer. “Bedazzled” was about the Devil figuring out what Elliot wanted and then screwing it up for him. In the end “Bedazzled” wins out simply because it’s fun. “The Devil’s Advocate” makes a movie out of a straw man argument and fumbles.

12-25-2003

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Remind Me Tommorrow

Book of Poetry | Posted by admin
May 04 2009

I’m in love today
As the world falls apart
Remind me to to care tommorrow
I’ve only got one care right now
And only then if my love should fade
Remind me how problems exist
Today I’m blinded by love
And I don’t want to know anything else

I can’t stop world hunger
I can’t stop the epidemic
There’s no point in fretting
Over things that can’t be changed
The only concern I have right now
Is that you and I enjoy another day
That we bring a little happiness
Into our kneck of the planet

I can’t make him love her
I can’t make her love him
All I can do is accept
That we have each other
And hope others see
It’s worth setting aside
All the anger and the strife
To experience what we have
Even for one day

That we’re in love today
As the world falls apart
Remind us to care tommorrow
We have only one care right now
Without love there will be
No tommorrow to worry about
And with love
We won’t have to worry
Because tommorrow will be another
Perfect day

Love is the only form of bliss
That doesn’t just ingore
All the bad that happens
But makes it go away
So remind me to care tommorrow
If my love should happen to fade
So I will strive to love again

8-18-2003

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Without Lenin

Book of Music | Posted by admin
May 04 2009

“Lenin, Marx; real names no gimmicks…”

Two Russian natives go run to Moscow
run to Moscow run to Moscow

Guess who’s back? Back again
Lenin’s back, tell Truman
Guess who’s back, guess who’s back,
Guess who’s back. Guess who’s back…

I created a system, cuz nobody wants to
See freedom no more they want equal
I killed the czar
cause if you want equal then this is what I’ll give ya
Lots of vodka mixed with Russian hardcore prono
Some propoganda that will shut down your brain
Then some needed sleep as I work this place over
By the Stalin now you’ll be cooperating
While your master is whipping your ass cause you ain’t working “drunk!”
Find the Anastasia to end the pain
Well I’m back and she’s dead now Russia aint the same
I know you got to work little man
Now you’re all equal and you’re gonna earn your bread

So the KGB won’t let ya be
or let you be you don’t bother me
They tried to shut Joe down in USA
But it feels so empty without me
So put the hammer in your hands
Raise that red flag on high
Chew on some grits and get ready
This work is about to get heavy
I just knocked off all royalty, “Fuck You Alex!”

Now this looks like a job for me
So everybody just follow me
Cuz we need a little controversy
CUz it feels so empty without me

Mister Hitler’s kid’s feeling a bit scoff
Embaressed, his parents could have named him Adolf
He starts feeling repressed one ball less
‘Til power comes along on a mission and yells ‘REICH!”
A visionary, vision is scary, could start a revolution
Rasputin sees all the trouble come
Yet still I just revel and bask
In the fact I got everyone kissing my ass
And filled with sick cancer it spreads to all I see
You’re a commie, you’re tired, weary yet you still ask for more
Well here’s more and it just might kill ya
Get out the tractor and sow the field
The wood splits into your skin now a splinter
Now work with the animals get ready for winter
Russia’s changed a lot, the best thing since Pol Pot
Infesting in your kids ears and nesting
Testing “All heil me please”
Feel the tension soon as someone mentions me
Here’s my six pense my 2 cents ain’t free
An order, who sent, you sent for me

Now this looks like a job for me
So everybody just follow me
Cuz we don’t need damn democracy
Cuz it feels so empty without me

8-5-2002

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Voices In My Head

Book of Music | Posted by admin
May 04 2009

You think I might be quite unstable
And you’ve read so many big books
But still I cannot see
If the unstable one is me
How come you are clawing out your eyeball?
Oh that’s me…

You think that just because I talk to myself
That my brain is now losing connections
But I know, every smell and taste and texture
Is to me, is a figment, of my mind

I know the only people who do exist
Are those who talk inside which do compel
And if you would listen very carefully
You will learn they want you dead as well as I

Have you ever heard a woman scream bloody murder?
Or asked the grinning mad man why he grins?
Can you free me from the voices deep inside me
Have you talked with all the voices in my head
Have you talked with all the voices in my head

Come untie these chains that surround and bound me
Come listen to the child you have tortured
A symphony of sadness that’s unnerving
Come closer to make this sad man smile wide

The father and the excop are my brothers
The hooker and fiance are my friends
And we all are connected to each other
In a mind that is twisted but I’m fine

How far gone can a crazy man go?
Pop some pills and you may not ever know
And you’ll never hear the sound of one ripped limb from limb

For whether you laugh or help to control
You need to talk with all the voices deep inside me
Or you will never live to tell another soul

You can shove a mouth with pills
But the mind is restless still
You must talk with all the voices in my head

06-19-2003

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Bitter Angry People

Book of Music | Posted by admin
May 04 2009


Bitter Angry People Whining
Meet me in town square
People People
Toss em to the ground
Hate me hate me
Try to take me down
Bitter Bitter
Turn it upside down
Where the tombstones are
Graves is what you’ll find

Bitter Angry People Hating All
Bitter Angry People Fighting

Everyone around hate them, hate them
Hit them in the head
Shove em shove em
It will stop when you die
Anger anger
Put it in your mind
Where the tombstones are
Graves is what you’ll find

Bitter Angry People Hating all
Bitter Angry People dying

12-20-2001

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Kazaa and the Digital Black Market

Book of Law | Posted by admin
May 04 2009


The RIAA has finally taken the final step in the beginning stages of what will be one very long and never ending battle that has been raging for years: they’ve officially begun the process of suing the first 261 alleged criminals who have stood out predominantly in the digital black market called Kazaa.

Slashdot has been following this very closely and has been complaining about it nonstop. Why? Because they simply don’t get it. Back when the internet was relatively new the digital black market mainly consisted of warez sites; sites which specialize in distributing illegal media over the internet. Most allowed you to download ROMs of popular video games. Others gave you access to popular computer games. Since the advent of the CD-Rom and Nintendo 64, it’s become increasingly difficult for small fry crooks to peddle their warez on-line due to hosting limitations imposed by free hosts like GeoCities, Yahoo, and Angelfire. Products have simply become too large to fit in the allowed space. Warez sites were quickly reduced to link sites that merely (in most cases pretended) to tell you were the warez could be downloaded from. This was perfectly legal and didn’t take up much hosting space. Tied in with ads, most warez sites are simply out to make money from ad revenue while having no real intent of getting you to what you’re actually looking for.

With the advent of easily accessible broadband connections it has become possible for people to run warez sites out of their home. In order to tap into those it is necessary to have personal connections in order to by pass the small time weasels running link sites that only link to more and more ads. By having a small hand picked club such sites can stay below the radar of law enforcement longer. Then Kazaa showed up. No technical expertise is needed for anyone to host warez and other illegal digital media. It’s also more difficult (at least not readily apparent) to trace the people hosting the files. What is done to trace Kazaa users is to initiate a download of an illegal file and then some form of netstat (Windows command) is used to see what IP is being connected to. Evidence is collected and the legal process ensues. Those who host warez on free or paid sites are easier to trace because personal information is generally needed to acquire an account. Even if the owner can’t be traced, a simple e-mail to the hosting company will get the site removed. If the hosting company refuses they can be held legally responsible. Finding the IP and thereby the owner of a server hosting warez is even easier.

I’m not sure what all the confusion on Slashdot is. Nintendo, Sony, Sega, etc have been fighting the digital black market for years and years. Web-sites hosting warez are shut down on a daily basis. Those who run them are fined and or jailed if caught. I don’t know why Slashdot thinks that Kazaa users are somehow exempt from being prosecuted for participating in the black market just as those who post the files on web-sites are prosecuted. Apparently since the illegal files are being served up on a port other than 80 (standard HTTP port) or 21 (standard FTP port) they’re exempt from being rightfully called criminals and hit with heavy fines and or jail time.

Oh wait. I remember. On Kazaa it’s called “sharing.” And that supposedly makes it all better. After all, we’ve been “sharing” our CDs and movies and whatnot with friends since forever. But wait! That’s also illegal. What the Slashdrones are conveniently ignoring is that “sharing” is also illegal. It’s just that law enforcement and those who own the copyrights can’t feasibly do anything about it (heck, they can’t even know about it without breaking constitutional laws) and besides, it’s free advertising. It’s perfectly harmless. The reason companies have always attacked the digital black market is because it’s not harmless. It hurts the bottom line in a very real way when you “share” your music, movies, games etc with a million of your closest “friends.”

I’m also not sure what the confusion is with the general public. Some girl from New York was charged with illegal trading and whined that it was “illegal search and seizure” that allowed the RIAA to press charges against her. The RIAA argued that they’re a private entity and not a government entity so that amendment doesn’t even apply in the first place; which is true. But let’s step back for a second and think. Some dumb girl is trading illegal files in a public area and the owner of those files stops by to check out her selection which has been publicly posted for anyone to see. Then they owner presses charges. That’s about as illegal as an officer looking through a box of illegal DVDs sitting out on a street corner being sold and promptly arresting the seller. Hint: it’s not illegal at all. You don’t need a warrant to search something that’s completely out in the open for looking through. “Illegal search and seizure” is a law to prevent government authorities from looking through your belongings without your permission. But by posting your belongings in a public space granting anyone the ability to look through them, there’s no issue. When I log onto Kazaa there’s no agreement I have to click through that says if I’m a government authority figure, I can’t log on and search. Warez sites have tried that one for years. There’s a long winded agreement that basically says “by entering this site you agree not to take legal action of any sort against the owner.” Then you go in and they’re just another link site because they know such an agreement would never hold up in court so they don’t host anything they could be prosecuted for.

The digital black market, of which Kazaa is being used to propagate, has only initiated a fight against companies which “dare” to shut down the criminals who peddle their warez through it because Kazaa has made the digital black market socially acceptable and easy to access. Now, after the fact, people are attempting to rewrite history to justify their illegal actions. Companies have been fighting the black market that has existed on the streets of major and minor cities for centuries all over the world. The digital black market is now taking the place of road side stores and companies are rightfully putting their foot down on it as well. Just as the black market has and always will exist, there is no end in sight for the fight against the digital black market. All the RIAA and other companies who are victims of these thieves can do is to educate the public that participating in the black market in any form is illegal and that they will take action against those they can.

By starting the campaign with 261 major players in the digital black market who distribute music illegally, the RIAA is sending a strong message that they will not tolerate this criminal activity. And if they’re lucky, John Q Public will stop believing the propaganda and lies that they’re “sharing.” It’s stealing. Slashdrones will be quick to claim its “copyright infringement” and not “stealing” simply because they’re willfully ignorant of the law and want to put a more pleasant spin on what they’re doing. The fact is, copyright infringement is a form a stealing; one that has been historically proven to result in many arrests and countless fines against the individuals who participate.

It’s all very simple. If you’re peddling thousands of MP3’s or numerous movies on Kazaa, try not to act too shocked when the cops haul you off. They’ve had plenty of practice with this sort of thing. Slashdot may be confused by the new medium by which the digital black market has spread but the law isn’t.

9-8-2003

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Blame Helen

Book of Logic | Posted by admin
May 04 2009


Sophists were philosophers of ancient Greece who argued simply to argue. Not to further any particular beliefs they may have had or wanted to examine. Their goal was not to find truth but to show anything as truth regardless of whether it actually is. Gorgias was one of the major sophists who wrote on many things using logic sometimes to prove the absurd. Succeeding even to prove nothing exists. The argument of his I am to consider is the one concerning Helen of Troy and whether she was responsible for the Trojan War. The argument breaks down into the following logical form.

W) Helen of Troy acted as she did because it was the will of the gods
A) Helen of Troy acted as she did because she was abducted by force
S) Helen of Troy acted as she did because she was seduced by persuasion
B) We cannot blame her for her actions

W v A v S	1)	W v A v S	A
W->B		2)	W->B		A
A->B		3)	A->B		A
S->B		4)	S->B		A
B	1,2,3,4	5)	B		1-4 vO

Assuming the first premise is true it must be the case that W, A, or S must be true. Assuming the remaining three premises are true and at least one of the three statements is true it must be the case that B is true by definition. Therefore, this is a perfectly valid argument form.

The dictionary definition of a false dilemma is that two options are given when there’s a third. We’ve been given three options but it’s hardly a stretch to imagine a fourth; Perhaps she wanted to go. Although we can see by the form of the argument it’s technically valid it’s a fallacious argument.

This whole dilemma was started when Helen was set to be married. She had the face that launched not just a canoe or two (as her sister is alleged to have done), but a thousand ships. At least that is the common myth. Countless suitors came to her to win her hand which would worry any over protective parent. As a result, the father made all the suitors swear an oath that they would defend her and the husband she chose in an ironic attempt to stop a war over her.

Enter Paris. A few goddesses decided that Paris knew a thing or two about beauty and decided ask him which of them was the most beautiful. Aphrodite promised Paris the most beautiful woman in the world if he chose her. The other two goddesses packed up their bags and went home. It just so happened that Helen was the most beautiful woman in the world and so Aphrodite brought Paris to her chambers to claim his prize.

This is where the argument picks up. In order to effectively blame or not blame Helen for the war it is necessary to know why she went with him. Assuming that Gorgias hit all the possible reasons, the most believable reason would be that she was forced to go. If she launched a thousand ships it’s very difficult to imagine that when Paris showed up she took one look at him and said “Imagine that, the one guy I didn’t see ends up being the hottest guy in the whole world. Take me.” Ditching her husband for some random guy that drops in after she’s married is highly farfetched.

The second premise stating that it was the will of the gods is also quite convincing. Any god worth his salt is paying attention to what’s going on and knows of the oath. As the father is telling the legions of suitors to swear to defend his daughter and her husband, the gods are hearing “to start a war with legions of suitors, harm my daughter and/or her husband.” Everyone knows all the goddesses are incredibly beautiful. No guy is going to have to think twice about telling them so unless three of them ask at once but only offer one cookie. They just needed to find the world’s biggest sap to choose the wrong cookie. It’s not so much that the will of the gods can’t be thwarted. It’s just that they’re so good about giving a false dilemma with only three choices. Three choices out of which one is undeniably the best choice for the sucker who gets to choose. This scenario is now known as “The Judgment of Paris.”

The last premise suggesting Helen was seduced had to be introduced because it is a possibility no matter how unlikely, and therefore had to be considered. We could claim Paris is a hopeless romantic or any array of unflattering things and cast it aside as quickly but it still had to be considered. “She was seduced” is a very common accusation from a slighted husband. Not including it therefore would have made the argument all the more a false dilemma and far less believable because such an obvious explanation wasn’t even considered. It’s entirely possible that Gorgias studied the reasons given by various Greeks that painted Helen as the one who caused the war and picked the top three to examine. We may laugh at Gorgias’ argument claiming that being seduced takes the blame for your actions away from you. But then we have to remember that the Greeks did make a habit of blaming the gods for everything. If Gorgias allowed the seduced to take the blame for their actions it would require a major shift in Greek mythology. The gods were constantly mucking around with humans and there was no way those humans were going to take the blame for what they did as a god’s puppet.

If we take this story back to the beginning we find Zeus having a wedding banquet for Peleus and Thetis. Eris, the goddess of strife was left off the list. Angry, she stormed into the temple and slammed an apple on the table and asked the most beautiful goddess to pick it up. Maybe it just happened to work out so well for Eris. None of the gods knew which of the three that went for the apple truly was the most beautiful. Surely if the gods don’t know a mortal must.

This whole scenario demonstrates how easy it is to manipulate people when you know their desires. I can’t imagine too many of the suitors were too happy when Helen turned them down. It’s far easier to blame the woman who slighted you than to jump through the mental gymnastics required to blame the gods whether they’re really to blame or not.

In the end it’s formally a good argument. However when you read it, it’s a fallacy of a false dilemma and over simplification. The options given are not all the options available to us. We don’t have enough information to know what Helen’s mind set was at the time. In order to know if she was to blame we have to know why she ended up in Troy. We can’t just speculate with a few well selected options. According to some accounts she left willingly as suggested at the beginning of this examination which Gorgias doesn’t account for. It’s an excellent example of leaving out information in order to persuade an audience.

11-15-2002

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Poetry

Book of Kalvin | Posted by admin
May 04 2009

I won’t cry for yesterday

I won’t cry for yesterday
I won’t shed even a tear for today
There’ll be more pain tomorrow anyway

I’m saving my tears for when it gets really bad
Maybe one day life will be so tough I’ll feel a little sad
Or maybe because it’s not tomorrow I’ll feel a little glad

One day, the pain will swell so hard and then some more
The pain I’ll no longer hold, I’ll then go and cry you a reservoir
Or maybe I’ll have held it in so long to harden me to the core

I see you crouched by a corner store, my tears begin to swell
Deep within me I know you feel the harshest hell
But there is nothing I can do for you and help you no one will

It seems this is the mind of the world, no one seems to care
Consider yourself lucky, at least we know you’re there
But to give you the slightest that it’s true, no one would even dare.

Are you going to go cry to your God above?
Do you really think he’ll shine down his love?
Did you stop and think that maybe it’s him giving you the shove?

So don’t go and cry for yesterday
Don’t shed the slightest tear for today
You’ll have all the more pain tomorrow anyway.

Walking alone along a road so dreary
Walking alone along a road so dreary
Hope for hope becoming weary
Silence the only voice to speak
Cold the only warmth I do seek
Alone in a world full of despair
Everyone seeing me there
The crowd of none soon surrounds
The deafening silence from them resounds
I walk between them unseen by none.
Backs turned I soon become undone
Alone in a world full of no pity
No end, no hope do I see

What is a life worth today

What is a life worth today
Should one die some tragic way
Would people stop and say
All he did was live and now this price to pay

When alive how many did you touch
How many people knew and loved
So much that they would say
This person for me did so much

Walking slowly in the night
As you suppose no one to see
Yet they do, they stop, they say
Hey, it’s you, do you know me, you might.

It seems at times that none would see
Would notice as you walk alone
Yet as lone as you may be they often do say
I knew him and could call him a friend of me

It seems as worth is measured by a number
But how many go unknowingly by
And one day they stop to say
Because of this, you I will always remember.

Your worth may seem so little now
But worth is worthless to account
For though it seems not a mite,
You’re true value you will know someday somehow

The flames of hell do me surround

The flames of hell do me surround
The smoke, my eyes confound
Slowly one step closer to the door
I wish to be here no more

One work of good dozens of trespasses
I know one day I’ll escape the masses
So many souls lost as I
But I am good and none can deny

A lost soul finds me through the smoke
The pitiful soul can only choke
I take his hand
I promise to take him to the promised land

The fires of hell lap at my soul
The pain more fierce than any could know
Moving one step closer to the door
I soon will be here no more

My sins abound
Few good works to be found
Falling farther and farther into the pit
I can do better and be removed from this

The soul being lead by me
Becomes clear that I am as blind as he
Wondering aimlessly though the filth
My bold promise only builds guilt

Soon I’m back at the beginning and farther from the door
Please God I can’t it any more
I’ve been as good as I can
It’s not my fault I’m so dead in sin

I’ve tried and some more I’ll try
There seems to be nothing to do but die
All hope is gone and sit and cry
The soul besides me lets out a sigh

He’s been here for ages
Looking and searching for the exit from our cages
Everyday taking few steps forward many return
A punishment from God seeming too stern

All hope now lost I bow and say
God help me, show me the way
A soul beaten smitten and crowned with thorns
Tells me to cast on him all I have borne

As his lifts my burden from me
My eyes are clear and now I can see
The son of God now shows me the way
Now I can see how much I’ve gone astray

When clearly seen no hope can be found
In a human soul, then can the grace of God abound
Walking with God though hell to the land
Lead ever so gently by his hand

So far have I gone astray
I marvel at him to say
My son thy sins are forgiven thee
No greater love have ever been shown to me

Soon in heaven I can be found
The pains of hell no longer surround
Son of man, son of God
Did what no man ever could

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The Story of KalvinB

Book of Kalvin | Posted by admin
May 04 2009

Life is a journey with many obstacles to overcome. How we handle those obstacles is what makes us who we are. When we are little, our parents teach us values we will use for life. When we are teenagers, our friends teach us how to fit in with society. When we are adults, religion teaches us how to be set apart from the norm of society. For some, those stages happen sooner, for others they happen later and for still others they may never happen at all. This is my story.

Growing up, I had a very abusive family. I rarely came out of my room. When I did it was to go to school or the library. Because of my family, I was very shy. I was also small so I was always being picked on by the school bully called Mouse. I managed to survive though. At home I read as much as I could. I had a great imagination and often went on fantasy adventures. I fought innumerable dragons, traveled to far away places, and conquered many nations. One day while day dreaming on the way to school a car hit me. Before I blacked out, I saw the driver was drinking a can of beer. When I woke up I was back in my bed; my cradle was by the opposite wall. My parents seemed worried and did all they could to make me comfortable. Maybe deep inside they did care for me.

They quietly left and I was alone again. I went to sleep rather quickly. I was woken up by some noises outside my door early in the morning. I looked over and saw that my cradle was gone. I went out my door only to find that I was standing in front of a large castle. When I turned around to go back, the door was missing. To guards came to me and dragged me inside. They threw me at the feet of the king. I was about to ask what was going on but then I realized that the king was Mouse. He informed me that in order to leave I had to find my cradle by going through his maze. The guards then led me to the entrance to the maze. After many twists, turns, and dead ends I found it. King Mouse then had his guards lead me back to the door to my house. When I opened it lights blinded me. When my eyes finally adjusted I realized I was in a hospital. My parents looked at me with sad eyes. Then they asked each other how they were going to pay for it and started arguing. The drive home was very quiet. I didn’t realize what the dream meant until years later.

I was thirteen when I figured it out. That cradle was my childhood and I needed to somehow find it. My parents showed only hate and hate I had now become. Because Mouse was the king of that castle I knew he was the cause of my problems. Maybe he wasn’t but someone had to pay for my misery. Mouse would never pick on me again. One the first day of school I saw him and began walking towards him. When I reached him, I said nothing and just slugged him. I didn’t care that I was smaller or that I might be killed. Maybe I would be better off dead. I just wanted him to feel pain. My fury flew as my fists hit him over and over. He was gasping on the ground before I quit. I had a triumphant look in my eyes when I looked around, only to see everyone else frowning with disapproval at me. I hung my head realizing I hadn’t shown how much better I was, but how much worse. The only friend I knew I could ever make was now lying on the ground groaning. We did become friends shortly after. We didn’t become better people but only worse. That summer we decided I would be kidnapped, he would collect the ransom, return me and we would share the money. It would have worked if it weren’t for a teenager turned detective. We spent the next 4 years in juvenile hall. I had just wasted my chance of ever being happy. I just wanted it to end.

After 4 years of work and more work we were let out. 17 years had been wasted. No one cared about me, not even me anymore. The only thing I had done for society was clean their streets. I quietly walked to a bridge going over some tracks. I waited quietly for a train to come. When one finally was heard I watched as it drew near. I stepped up onto the ledge and prepared myself to jump. If the fall didn’t kill me they train would. I thought back on my life and knew no one would miss me. I had no purpose in life. As I began to jump a homeless man with a kind smile gently pulled me down. When I looked at him I wondered why he was still alive. He sat me down and began talking about himself. I listened as he told about his troubled life and how he just kept going always waiting for life to be better. He said he got his strength from God. He told me all about him and I realized that someone did care. I wondered why. He was so powerful why would one life care to him. I realized that I must have some meaning in my life. Listening to that man, I knew that I could find that meaning. I am now living with him and working trying to earn enough money to live on my own and make something of myself. I haven’t seen my parents since and I never plan to see them again.

Parents, peers, and the casual person all have the potential to change a child’s life. How you use that potential can destroy or build up a person. As a result of the happening in my life I have become someone who can relate to anyone. I’m still not too outgoing but I’m not all too shy either. I know I’ll never be like my parents and I know I’ll never be like Mouse. Most importantly I know I can make something of myself. That’s something every teenager should be sure of.

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