As I was reading my email and chatting with my girlfriend, I suddenly heard about some new immigration law passed in Arizona that's pissing everyone off (even Al Sharpton). It was blaring out of the TV on PIX11. I was like, "Huh? What?" I had not a clue as to what was going on.
Since no one seemed to know what the deal was, I turned to Rachel Maddow since her show let the Arizona Governor speak for herself via footage from a press conference. From what I understood, it consists of the following:
1. If law enforcement suspects you of being an illegal immigrant, they have the right to demand your paperwork or any means of proving you're either a legal immigrant or a U.S. citizen.
2. If you cannot prove citizenship or if in fact you are an illegal immigrant, your ass is going to jail for 6 months and a $500 fine.
3. You looking like an illegal immigrant is in the eye of the beholder (law enforcement).
4. Although racial profiling is illegal, trying to identify and confirm the suspicion of sighting one involves the factor of racial profiling anyway.
Take it for what it is, it's really fishy and effed up.
Blogs by Ron Gunz
4.26.2010
4.22.2010
South Park and Muhammad
Lord knows I'll get burned and criticized for what I have to say but I will discuss no matter what. For those who didn't know, a lot of bickering is going on by revolutionmuslim about South Park's caricature of the Prophet Muhammad. Have to admit, they (the site that's protesting) don't lend themselves to the situation as the knuckle-headed leader of the group said he'll, "pray that Allah kill" both Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Yeah, uh, I wonder how Allah would feel having his name used in vain like that?
The reason I believe that the leader behind the organization needs to grow some balls is for the following reasons:
1. Jesus is mocked in half of the series of South Park on blasphemous levels
2. the Devil's been made to be sympathetic at times in the series (best example, the South Park Movie: Bigger, Longer and Uncut)
3. Lord knows how many times Cartman rips on Jews since the shows inception.
4. In neither of the aforementioned cases did you see radical Christian and Jewish groups whining and
pissing about their beliefs being pissed on.
5. The only one that pissed and moaned and ended up pissed on anyway was Tom Cruise because of Scientology (who wouldn't)
6. an entire episode was dedicated on mocking Mormons. I didn't hear about Mormons throwing a fit.
In my opinion, screw you Revolution. Get used to the fact that, in this country, whether you like it or not, your religion/faith/spirituality will be ridiculed one way or another. Get used to it. I'm not saying I approve of it (believe me I have my thoughts about South Park, Family Guy and Simpsons, even though all three make me chuckle with laughter), I'm simply re-stating that we have freedom of speech regardless of what it is. So, until you get used to U.S.' freedom of speech, grow some balls.
The reason I believe that the leader behind the organization needs to grow some balls is for the following reasons:
1. Jesus is mocked in half of the series of South Park on blasphemous levels
2. the Devil's been made to be sympathetic at times in the series (best example, the South Park Movie: Bigger, Longer and Uncut)
3. Lord knows how many times Cartman rips on Jews since the shows inception.
4. In neither of the aforementioned cases did you see radical Christian and Jewish groups whining and
pissing about their beliefs being pissed on.
5. The only one that pissed and moaned and ended up pissed on anyway was Tom Cruise because of Scientology (who wouldn't)
6. an entire episode was dedicated on mocking Mormons. I didn't hear about Mormons throwing a fit.
In my opinion, screw you Revolution. Get used to the fact that, in this country, whether you like it or not, your religion/faith/spirituality will be ridiculed one way or another. Get used to it. I'm not saying I approve of it (believe me I have my thoughts about South Park, Family Guy and Simpsons, even though all three make me chuckle with laughter), I'm simply re-stating that we have freedom of speech regardless of what it is. So, until you get used to U.S.' freedom of speech, grow some balls.
4.19.2010
Time Travel, New People and Life
"Change starts in your mind/leave the past behind/forget everything you know/make a change, let go" - Fear
"Why can't we tear down the walls/and show the scars we're covering?" - Inside Us All
What a weekend I just woke up from. From spending time with an awesome new friend, to listening to music I used to listen to back in high school and things still going on.
Friday night I spent it with my new friend Mel. Believe me when I tell you that sparks flew in our awesome hangout. Don't believe me? Just ask her. We spent most of it at Barnes and Noble checking out and reading some books (something I haven't done in years). What did piss me off, however, was how there are 3-5 different books written to explain how to use TWITTER! WTF?! You'd have to be brain dead to not comprehend how to use the easiest social networking site known to man. I understand big books that explain the eccentricities of Windows 7 or Mac OS X Snow Leopard and maybe even iPhone. But Twitter?! Dear God, the only way that makes sense is if it's in the children learning section, all of which it wasn't. We then headed off to Starbucks and talked about writing, faith, and bathrooms. We randomly had a nice convo with this cute young lady who was trying really hard to not piss on herself. Good times.
As far as time travel, I hit a new nostalgic high. I found myself downloading albums of artists I used to listen to back in high school and let me tell you, I felt like I was a teenager. It was easy to remember the things and feelings I went through as I listened to the tunes of Tait, DC Talk, Salvador, Tobymac, early Skillet, Todd Agnew, Jeremy Camp, Kutless, early Third Day among other albums and artists. For me, I cannot trace back to my roots without listening to the songs I was listening to at that particular time and place. I can't retrace the beginnings of my personal journey of faith to Evergrey, Alter Bridge or Killswitch Engage (even though I love their stuff). Some people's taste in music usually change due to relationships, new friends, bands, culture trend, fad and the like. Not so with me. I always try to find something new without straying from my beginnings.
Which brings me to my current state of spiritual rehab. When I attended Awakening last night, we were talking about how sometimes our spirituality, our faith and views are just downright messy. Believe me, I repeat, if you think you're life is squeaky clean, I'm willing to bet when you search deeper down that you will find very ugly things you have to confront and deal with.
What happens at times is that we get stuck at that point where we believe God accepts us, even with our imperfections. This is very much true but let's not forget the aspect of spiritual growth and learning how to cope and overcome those things that sometimes distract us from God's communion with us. I see it this way, Jesus died for your sins, you accept and embrace this reality, awesome. Now what? From what I've been re-learning, it's cultivating a relationship with Him. It's from scratch. You throw out what you heard from the street corner preachers, the right winged conservatives, the wolves in sheep's clothing. Time to get to know the Man that paved the way for you to conquer the madness.
I'm pretty much back to square one in that respect. No more of the yabadaba dingdongs of pentecostals, the don't do's of religious Pharisee-ism or the excessive zeal of the conservatives. I'm the RAGman as a follower of Jesus-- nothing more nor less. The Church hasn't, cannot and never will be the path of salvation. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that the Body of Christ came to die for us. It did, however, show Jesus dying for us. How we take that is for us to decide and make of that.
Oh and, uh, don't listen to those nutjobs that say repent or die. As long as we're humans and animals on earth, you're gonna die anyway. If anything, I think saying, "Jesus Loves You" does a world more of relief because there's no threat involved. Those nutjobs would (or should) know well that even Jesus said "thou shalt not kill" so in threatening others with death for not repenting, they're asking for a Godsmack themselves.
I'm currently learning to bury hatchets and live in peace with others in the meantime. Instead of, "life is short, live to the fullest and go as crazy as you want", I would rather say, "Life is short. While you're alive, make it the greatest period of life you can ever know".
"Why can't we tear down the walls/and show the scars we're covering?" - Inside Us All
What a weekend I just woke up from. From spending time with an awesome new friend, to listening to music I used to listen to back in high school and things still going on.
Friday night I spent it with my new friend Mel. Believe me when I tell you that sparks flew in our awesome hangout. Don't believe me? Just ask her. We spent most of it at Barnes and Noble checking out and reading some books (something I haven't done in years). What did piss me off, however, was how there are 3-5 different books written to explain how to use TWITTER! WTF?! You'd have to be brain dead to not comprehend how to use the easiest social networking site known to man. I understand big books that explain the eccentricities of Windows 7 or Mac OS X Snow Leopard and maybe even iPhone. But Twitter?! Dear God, the only way that makes sense is if it's in the children learning section, all of which it wasn't. We then headed off to Starbucks and talked about writing, faith, and bathrooms. We randomly had a nice convo with this cute young lady who was trying really hard to not piss on herself. Good times.
As far as time travel, I hit a new nostalgic high. I found myself downloading albums of artists I used to listen to back in high school and let me tell you, I felt like I was a teenager. It was easy to remember the things and feelings I went through as I listened to the tunes of Tait, DC Talk, Salvador, Tobymac, early Skillet, Todd Agnew, Jeremy Camp, Kutless, early Third Day among other albums and artists. For me, I cannot trace back to my roots without listening to the songs I was listening to at that particular time and place. I can't retrace the beginnings of my personal journey of faith to Evergrey, Alter Bridge or Killswitch Engage (even though I love their stuff). Some people's taste in music usually change due to relationships, new friends, bands, culture trend, fad and the like. Not so with me. I always try to find something new without straying from my beginnings.
Which brings me to my current state of spiritual rehab. When I attended Awakening last night, we were talking about how sometimes our spirituality, our faith and views are just downright messy. Believe me, I repeat, if you think you're life is squeaky clean, I'm willing to bet when you search deeper down that you will find very ugly things you have to confront and deal with.
What happens at times is that we get stuck at that point where we believe God accepts us, even with our imperfections. This is very much true but let's not forget the aspect of spiritual growth and learning how to cope and overcome those things that sometimes distract us from God's communion with us. I see it this way, Jesus died for your sins, you accept and embrace this reality, awesome. Now what? From what I've been re-learning, it's cultivating a relationship with Him. It's from scratch. You throw out what you heard from the street corner preachers, the right winged conservatives, the wolves in sheep's clothing. Time to get to know the Man that paved the way for you to conquer the madness.
I'm pretty much back to square one in that respect. No more of the yabadaba dingdongs of pentecostals, the don't do's of religious Pharisee-ism or the excessive zeal of the conservatives. I'm the RAGman as a follower of Jesus-- nothing more nor less. The Church hasn't, cannot and never will be the path of salvation. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that the Body of Christ came to die for us. It did, however, show Jesus dying for us. How we take that is for us to decide and make of that.
Oh and, uh, don't listen to those nutjobs that say repent or die. As long as we're humans and animals on earth, you're gonna die anyway. If anything, I think saying, "Jesus Loves You" does a world more of relief because there's no threat involved. Those nutjobs would (or should) know well that even Jesus said "thou shalt not kill" so in threatening others with death for not repenting, they're asking for a Godsmack themselves.
I'm currently learning to bury hatchets and live in peace with others in the meantime. Instead of, "life is short, live to the fullest and go as crazy as you want", I would rather say, "Life is short. While you're alive, make it the greatest period of life you can ever know".
4.09.2010
Rehab in Christ
As you may have read a few days/weeks ago, I spoke about having some spiritual rehab. I won't say it's complete but rather I am a work in progress. This phase of rehabilitation was due to a load of things that have built up within probably about three years. I'm talking about bitterness, resentment, a chunk full of disgust, struggling with celibacy and battling the tendency to have animosity towards certain groups of people.
I've felt a load of disgust and distaste towards my own fellow brethren over the years. Not all of them just a certain number of them. Instead of bringing the news of Christ's love, salvation and our coming eternal fellowship with our heavenly Father, they seem so stuck up about taking over the world worse than Pinky and the Brain. There's too much focus on demonizing people that may not have the same views as us instead of simply reflecting the love of Christ so that in turn they can see Him as He is. I'm not saying that Christians should water down the message. Jesus sure didn't. Instead, like He did, we are to find the means to help people connect with it.
Because there are bold statements made in the New Testaments about sin and morality, some simply won't accept. One thing to be remembered is that there are people who, like Pharisees, take what is there and add onto it what's simply not there. Then there's people like Sadducees, who pick and choose what they find to be acceptable and true. Nothing wrong with picking and choosing but in the case of what God, according to the Bible, states as right and wrong, you can't take or add to it.
I've felt bitter and resentful due to people claiming to be one thing and then when things hit the fan, they're the first to run for cover and later play it off like they never did anything wrong. I still feel like the vengeance I pray for has yet to be served and the justice I deserve has not been dished out. I'm not God and so long as I'm not, I'll have to forgive just so I can sleep at night.
As far as celibacy, let's be clear--as a Christian, you're taught you're to wait until marriage to consummate and get intimate. It's hard when you're at a certain age and you've managed to somewhat keep in control while deep down you wanna explode. I'm not your super squeaky clean Christian everyone wants to believe to still be. Believe me, I've had my not so holy moments but the important thing is that I get up on my feet and keep moving. I also don't believe in Christians covering themselves up. We're open letters aka everyone is suspect to transparency. Jesus and the Apostles happened to never hide anything. Paul wasn't private about rebuking Peter for showing hypocrisy towards the Gentiles. There's no coverup of the fact that Jesus whooped some ass with a whip at the temple for people turning a gathering place into a marketplace. We need to stop covering up our scars and faults and instead help people learn how to adapt best when confronted with temptations and struggles we have in silence.
I've felt a load of disgust and distaste towards my own fellow brethren over the years. Not all of them just a certain number of them. Instead of bringing the news of Christ's love, salvation and our coming eternal fellowship with our heavenly Father, they seem so stuck up about taking over the world worse than Pinky and the Brain. There's too much focus on demonizing people that may not have the same views as us instead of simply reflecting the love of Christ so that in turn they can see Him as He is. I'm not saying that Christians should water down the message. Jesus sure didn't. Instead, like He did, we are to find the means to help people connect with it.
Because there are bold statements made in the New Testaments about sin and morality, some simply won't accept. One thing to be remembered is that there are people who, like Pharisees, take what is there and add onto it what's simply not there. Then there's people like Sadducees, who pick and choose what they find to be acceptable and true. Nothing wrong with picking and choosing but in the case of what God, according to the Bible, states as right and wrong, you can't take or add to it.
I've felt bitter and resentful due to people claiming to be one thing and then when things hit the fan, they're the first to run for cover and later play it off like they never did anything wrong. I still feel like the vengeance I pray for has yet to be served and the justice I deserve has not been dished out. I'm not God and so long as I'm not, I'll have to forgive just so I can sleep at night.
As far as celibacy, let's be clear--as a Christian, you're taught you're to wait until marriage to consummate and get intimate. It's hard when you're at a certain age and you've managed to somewhat keep in control while deep down you wanna explode. I'm not your super squeaky clean Christian everyone wants to believe to still be. Believe me, I've had my not so holy moments but the important thing is that I get up on my feet and keep moving. I also don't believe in Christians covering themselves up. We're open letters aka everyone is suspect to transparency. Jesus and the Apostles happened to never hide anything. Paul wasn't private about rebuking Peter for showing hypocrisy towards the Gentiles. There's no coverup of the fact that Jesus whooped some ass with a whip at the temple for people turning a gathering place into a marketplace. We need to stop covering up our scars and faults and instead help people learn how to adapt best when confronted with temptations and struggles we have in silence.
4.04.2010
Taking Over Me available on Lulu.com
Just thought I'd let everyone know about my debut poetry book, Taking Over Me. It's available for sale on Lulu at both download or paperback. After a few revisions, it's ready, it's out and it rocks. Help support by buying it online.
Buy Taking Over Me today!
Buy Taking Over Me today!
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