Easter

There are a few thing I have a problem with, when it comes to Easter.  Bear in mind, these objections come are based entirely from the text of the bible.

First, Jesus rose on the third day.  He was crucified and entombed on Friday (Good Friday, specifically).  Isn't the third day from Friday Monday?  He was crucified by the Romans.  If you listen to white supremacists, he was killed by the Jews.  In either case, the Roman Empire's accomplishments with science and architecture and the Jews mastery of banking indicate enough of an understanding of math to be able to count to three, by either party.

Second, if Jesus rose from the dead, doesn't that make him a zombie?  Can I start a religion devoted to the extras of George Romero's 'Night of the Living Dead"?  Oddly enough, the most feared figure of the undead is vulnerable to the symbol of the most popular undead figure (vampires weakness to the crucifix).

Finally, I am not a christian (in part) because of Judas.  It's not because of him; it is because of christian's treatment of him.  Peter fulfilled Jesus' prediction that Peter would deny him three times, and Peter was the first pope.  Without Judas' fulfillment of Jesus' prediction of Judas' betrayal, Jesus wouldn't have been captured by the Romans and crucified (read by white supremacists as: killed by the Jews).  Judas was doing god's work and deserves to be a saint, more so than Thomas, who doubted that Jesus rose from the grave.  Maybe Thomas could count to three, and that was why he was in doubt.

If the Catholic church wants me back, make Judas a saint; then we can talk about the child rape.  And to the American christian evangelical right, unless you are Roman Catholic, you are not real christians.  You are a bunch of pick and choose christians, just like you are pick an choose Americans.  You pick and choose what parts of the bible and the constitution you like and disregard the rest.

Sorry about that last jab, but if they are really christians, then they will forgive me.

Donald Trump & the GOP

As we march closer to this year's presidential election, the nominating process for the Republican Party has gone from being a clown car to just being clowns, and I am not limiting that assessment to the people campaigning for the nomination.

The GOP is in the throws of having to accept the realization that Donald Trump may win the nomination in accordance with the rules set forth by the party, and they are looking at all possible ways of preventing that from happening.  But why would they do that?  He is xenophobic, just like the rest of the Republican party.  He's also a misogynist, like the Republicans.  He appeals to the GOP's target demographic, white people.  And finally, he, just like the GOP, will stop at nothing to gain power.  I think it is that last one that has put the GOP in the position that they are in now.

I don't know if they still have their panties in a bunch over Ted Kennedy's objection to Robert Bork's Supreme Court nomination or what, but I have noticed that since that point, Republicans' willingness to do anything to win seems to supersede their sense of duty to the country they claim to love.  Since that point, the GOP has been hijacked twice, first by evangelicals, then by the Tea Party.  Now, the GOP is being hijacked by Donald Trump and the KKK.  When will the Republican party learn?  For christian people that they claim to be, why do they continue to make deals with the devil?

After the first time, they should have learned and not let it happen again.  After courting the evangelicals, they found out that they were then beholden to them, if they wanted to continue to get their support.  The second time around, the GOP made a Faustian bargain with the tea party, and for it the GOP was given the choice of unwavering promotion of their agenda or be primaried.  By accepting Donald Trump as a candidate for the nomination of their party, the GOP is now openly supported with white supremacists, islamophobes, misogynists, and other people whose own insecurities can only be stemmed by belittling those with whom they cannot empathize with.  Donald Trump has turned the republican primaries into 1930's Germany.

When I turned 18, back in 1990, I registered as a republican, because I believed in the direction that Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush were moving this country in, but since Newt Gringrich became the Speaker of the House of Representatives, I have not voted for a republican since, and I don't forsee ever voting for a republican again.  Why?  Well, first, I'm not white.  I am Puerto Rican, which makes me an American citizen, but I'm sure that a minor detail like that  doesn't matter to the people that align themselves the today's republican party.  Secondly, I have a mother and a niece, and I do not agree with republicans and their supporters on the issues that affect them.  Third, there is no god, and I will not facilitation putting into any elected office anyone that wishes to impose their misguided belief in mythology and fairy tales through government.

I am still a registered republican, and I may vote for Trump in the primary, just to see him fall in disgrace to Bernie Sanders, but I can assure you that when my vote really matters, I want the republican party to know that, just as they have abandoned me, I have abandoned them.

Update:  In light of the riot that Donald Trump caused in Chicago yesterday, I have a piece of advice for the GOP.  Divorce yourself from Donald Trump.  State clearly, that he and his hateful idealogy are not welcome in your party, and let his supporters know that if they vote for Donald Trump, they are not voting for a republican.

Yoda

I finally understand Yoda's statement, "There is no try; there is only do."  The unsure say, "I will try my best."  The determined say, "I will do my best."

D.