tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7775068824140560742024-03-16T11:49:47.155-07:00Atheists Concerned for America: Political MusesA blog with the intention of grouping together several essays for <a href="http://cellophanetales.angelfire.com">Atheists Concerned for America</a>Atheists Concerned for America: Political Musehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10901301803211052014noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125truetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-777506882414056074.post-35626723776768824082020-08-01T19:45:00.034-07:002020-10-10T18:46:44.474-07:00Part One to the 2007 Original Short-Story Compilation, "TRILOGY OF CONFRONTED PREJUDICE"
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<p><br id="docs-internal-guid-ca6f9082-7fff-619f-21a5-8929adf44b35" /><br /></p><h1 dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 25pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><u><b>Terror and Karma</u></b></span></h1><p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.8; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 22pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><center><h2><i>A Short Tale of Deadly Prejudice</i></h2></center></span></p><p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 17pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><center><h3>“</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 17pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We have learned to say that the good must be extended to all of society before it can be held secure by any one person or any one class. But we have not yet learned to add to that statement, that unless all [people] and all classes contribute to a good, we cannot even be sure that it is worth having</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 17pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.” - Jane Addams</center></h3></span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="http://cellophanetales.angelfire.com" style="text-decoration-line: none;"><span style="color: royalblue; font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 15pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; font-color: royalblue; ">Home</span></a></p><p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">**</span><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><center><U><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 19pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part I</u><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 19pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: <i>Premeditation</i></span></center><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 17pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Date: November 5, ----</span><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 17pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the eyes of Detective Gavin Horace</span></p><p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The town of Smithee had always been uneventful and dull. Mr. Robertson had been the butcher for years, Sister Misty had always run the chapel, and the many townspeople had always attended church services every Sunday. Nothing ever changed, and the people of Smithee liked it so.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So when the Somana Siblings moved into the largest, most lavish home in Smithee, the townspeople began to talk amongst themselves. The Somana Siblings were most strange, from their dark, satanic-like clothing and obscene makeup, to the odd language they seemed to speak amongst themselves. Among the townspeople, they spoke with no trace of an accent, spookily enough.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Somana Siblings were the antithesis to the townspeople in every way imaginable. Five, they were: three young women who controlled the household and raised their town brothers, whom were just a few years short of manhood themselves. When Sister Misty asked where their parents were, the eldest sister seemed very offended, and made a snide comment about being above medieval standards of dependence on a weaker generation.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">By nightfall of that very day, the Somana Siblings had lost any opportunity at jovial residence in Smithee; the word of Sister Misty was always taken as true. Commenting on the Somana Siblings, she called them 'liberal, nasty, and a shame to our town.' Those still willing to give them a chance gave up easily, for the first Sunday of their arrival they did not attend church service, and to top it off were instead found afterwards, idling on their porch dressed in their usual morbid attire, appearing shameless of their sinful blasphemy.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And so the next five weeks went on with the townspeople attempting to ignore the strange Somanas. But it was a fall day that drew immense focus on the forlorn family, and it was also a day that struck immense anxiety into the hearts of the townspeople, whom it is notable hadn't had a shocking day in their monotonous lives.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My investigation has thus far provided these solid facts: it began when the eldest sister, called Claire, strolled into town in an ankle and wrist-lengthened black Victorian-styled dress, matched with black heels, and morbid makeup -- Sticking out even more so than normal, accordingly. The attire looked most expensive; an intentional, precise match with her pallid skin and dark eyes. Her long, midnight-colored hair waved in the windy chill, while she strolled through the marketplace with business pose. Her beauty struck and upset all, so unlike </span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">any</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> woman in Smithee in every way. She fathomed no approval by the townspeople, though it was surely not her motive.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She ran nonchalant errands, collecting groceries most politely. When a young, hopeful adolescent offered to assist her with her heavy groceries, she refused cordially, and rushed home. She was seen about an hour later on the other side of town, in avid conversation with 'Henry the bartender'(as he was described to me) at the library, looking completely charmed by the handsome, benevolent young man.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Those who witnessed this frowned upon Henry, for they felt he was naively befriending the strange and unwelcome woman. But he paid no mind, and within another hour they departed the library with books in medical science, cheerful and happy. All were awed by his peculiar behavior, for he was such an honorably decent young man.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then the two were seen in the pharmacy uptown retrieving assortments of herbal treatments and various forms of pain killers. Though Mr. Adams the pharmacist made no comment then, by nightfall he assured all at the nightly church vigil that Claire Somana was a junkie, and was polluting the mind of poor Henry, whom at merely twenty two was suseptible towards the untamed woman's manipulation.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"You see, I knew they weren’t normal!"said Sister Misty.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"By God, how they have sinned. Those two brothers of theirs can't be older than fourteen or fifteen, and they're being raised by a junkie -- I shutter at the thought of how the other sisters are!" said another.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I've only seen the middle sister once -- I think her name is Evie, isn’t it? She came to the park with her brother, the blonde one, Jacob is it? She read while he played ball, but didn't </span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">once</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> greet anyone!" said Ms. James, who had mothered and raised four children herself. "These boys need a home. A </span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">proper </span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">one."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Should we be so quick to judge? To make assumptions? Perhaps we are mistaken," said Sarah, Ms. James' only daughter. "They've not been here two months!"</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Sarah, we can tell a bad seed when we see one, now be quiet," said Ms. James. The others agreed, and as Pastor Mony began service, the townspeople's minds rested warily upon the Somana Siblings, who needlessly said were absent, as habitual..</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The service went as normal as ever: Mony spoke of Abraham, of Jesus, of the end of times; Sister Misty left for a short time to prepare the bible studies meeting, which succeeded service, hastily returning to distribute communion(perhaps the only unorthodox act which the townspeople performed: taking Eucharist regularly, feeling it should be ritualized as often as possible to celebrate 'salvation'). None suspected that the conflicting event, my investigation's sole inherence, would be so indescribably horrific. Evidently, when Donny Wright horrifically shrieked, tripping in a scurry past the aisles to Pastor Mony at the altar, falling shakingly on his knees, crying at the hems of Mony's robes, uniformly it was conceived as a foolish, blasphemous hoax.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Murder! Murder! In the streets! Henry Robinson, dead! Henry's dead! Blood </span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">everywhere</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">!" he screeched in horror. It was unbelievable. Henry was loved by all, who would kill him? Besides, no one had ever committed murder in Smithee -- Not ever. Immediately an uproar of denial arose, but Donny Wright's horrified disposition did not dispense.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Murder! Murder! His body lies on the steps preceding the church! Witness it yourselves!" he bellowed. Panic began to arise; Donny was a law abiding young man, involved adamantly within Church -- It was unlike him to lie. Some screamed in panicked apprehension, but it was three honorable men who stood up and instructed patience, and then proceeded to investigate the alleged crime scene. It was only but a minute before they returned, their pale visages fixated in horror, confirming the dreaded: Henry Robinson's life had truly been taken.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Notify the authorities," said one of them. "Henry's dead."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And so I, Detective Gavin Horace, reported immediately to the mysterious, disturbing case. At first, I, too, was</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> certain</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> the murder had been a hoax, impossible by all means. Outside assistance had never been necessary in Somana, and the idea of a murder didn't</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">seem plausible. But there had been no hoax, the tragedy had occurred, and my utmost determination has been fully executed to reveal the culprit, and offer the poor soul his rightful justice.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The crime scene was a mess: blood was splattered all over the body. His face revealed a look of horror I myself have never once witnessed in my many years as a detective. He was pallid, utterly shocked; I'll </span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">swear it that</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> he had to have been paralyzed as he took a final breath. His death had most certainly been painful, for he appeared to have bled deeply from his slit throat and groan profusely, for most sickeningly, he had been castrated. Modern tools of science prove his death was slow, first suffering from internal bleeding before being castrated painfully. It was ironic enough that his remains lied on the church steps, but more so were the words written in blood on the step above the body's head.: '</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.'</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Upon questioning the man who had originally found Henry Robinson's body, his alibi was clear and concrete -- He had walked out of the church to set up the refreshments for the Bible Studies meet, nearly suffering a heart attack at the sight. </span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">'So much blood,' </span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">he recalled</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">,'So much blood</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.'</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My necessary objectivity in my career had not once faltered, but Captain, I admit this time my expertise illuminated fallibly. The situation was supernaturally spooky, so it seemed, and I would be a fool to state otherwise. My guard was dented; I was unable to suppress my own anxiety. I feared failure for once, when it had never been more imperative to succeed. The population in Smithee was short of 2,000 - And yet in this small, tight community, a </span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">killer</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was inside, and had fooled them all. The incentive was unclear, as Henry was a man without enemies, according to friends and family. He had, however, gone to university for two years in the city, but unexpectedly returned three months ago. Immediately, I hoped for an outside predator seeking vengeance against Henry, but the townspeople thought otherwise.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"That Somana woman was with him all day!"</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"She plotted something!"</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"She's </span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">evil</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">!!"</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"She probably drugged him!" said Mr. Adams. "She bought all sorts of pain killers at the pharmacy today."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"She is Satan's spouse in the flesh, an evil spirit trying to destroy our pure devotion to our Lord," cried Sister Misty, who was under extreme distress, though she had never been too close to Henry. "Banish her, detective."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I knew well of the people of Smithee: religious and conservative, judgmental, and very strict. I was not surprised that they had so quickly concluded that the abstract newcomers had been responsible. When the medical crew took Henry's body for the autopsy( which I referenced to above) I assured them I would find the killer. I can only hope my clues can ensure I sustain my integral promise.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At that time, I had only the speculation towards the Somana family as my starting point, and so I sought their residence. Their house was two stories high, and was surrounded by perfectly cut green grass. The house looked gloomy somehow: I couldn't help but notice spider webs on the windows, and that black was the solitary color applied to the bricked-exterior. It gave off an eerie, creepy sense. I understood the town's resentment towards the Somanas immediately. As I walked up the steps into the porch, I watched the wind gently move their wooden swing, chills ravishing my bones as I knocked forcefully.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A girl of average stature and short dark hair opened the door, looking as though no guest was welcome at that time of the night, understandably. She was not at </span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">all </span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">as mesmerizing as her eldest sister: she looked strange with her slanted eyes, hooked nose, and short raven hair made her appearance masculine in no assist.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Who are you?" she commanded immediately.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Detective Gavin Horace," I said evenly, showing my badge. "Pardon my visit at this time, but I'm here to question Claire Somana's whereabouts tonight."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The girl glared at me. "She's out now. What's this about?"</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Who are you in relation to Claire?" I asked sharply.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Medaysa Somana. I'm her youngest sister," she answered calmly. Realizing the matter must be serious, her composure changed. "If you need to talk, come inside."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I thanked her and entered through the threshold. The house had spectacular interior: It was completely decorated in Gothic style, predictably. There were large comfortable couches in the immediate sitting room, elegant lamps, strange, morbid paintings on the dark walls, and glass displays of war memorabilia. In the center of the room, facing couches on either side, was a long black table lit by thirteen candles. Surrounding the room was a dark yet spotless, spiral staircase, primitively wooden, and well-polished wooden doors on each side downstairs, which led to adjacent rooms. The home had clearly been designed intently to entice visitors with a nostalgic reflection of Gothic literature. To state the least, it is an original and shocking "illustration." She told me to make myself comfortable, and so I attempted to take in the eccentric surroundings politely as I sat on one of the couches. She sat on the couch opposite and was first to speak.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Explain what's going on," she said firmly, and then in quite a grave and more youthful voice she added, "Please."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Henry Robinson was murdered tonight, and found at the church steps during the service," I said clearly. I felt a strike of pity for her. She couldn't have been older than nineteen. "Your sister was seen with him earlier this day."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"She didn't kill anyone!" said Medaysa indignantly. "Henry's an old friend; she'll be </span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">devastated</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">." She was very pale. She battled tears, running her fingers through her hair as she shook.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Where were you tonight, Medaysa?" I asked out of necessity. I carefully watched her body language before she responded, looking for clues.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Here," she said coldly. "My brothers and my older sister Evie can vouch. As for Claire, she’s gone to the University in the city."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"When did she leave?" I asked sharply and quickly.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Seven thirty," said Medaysa. "Henry dropped her off here around seven and she packed a quick suitcase as she'll be gone a few days."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Why was she with Henry the entire day?" I asked.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Like I said, they're old friends," said Medaysa strongly. "Henry Robinson, the </span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">bartender</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">? Ha!. He's got a mind. Henry and Claire are scientists. Henry didn't like the ethics at the university, so he went independent and returned."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The knowledge she offered me could have eliminated Claire Somana, hypothetically. Ironically, however, the relationship between the two made the suspicions more reasonable.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"How old are you?" I asked her, curious of the custodial situation.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Nineteen; Evie is 21,Claire is 24. She has legal custody over Kyle and Jacob, our younger brothers," she answered informatively.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I'll need to speak to your sister immediately," I said firmly. "I need an address."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Medaysa surveyed me carefully, but then nodded in compliance. She understood. At this point, I rested assured Medaysa had been honest in her information; I sensed no trace of criminal intent in her fearful eyes. Sympathy once again afflicted my objectivity as I discerned her distraught demeanor, indisputably near an emotional breakdown.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"I must ask if you're withholding any information from me," I said, concealing my sympathetic character expertly.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Medaysa got up; she now had tears pouring down her cheeks. She began pacing, and oddly enough, her lively focused emotions nearly brought a strange beauty to her previously plain visage. When she stopped pacing, she stood directly in front of me, put her hand on her heart and said, "Henry and Claire are like kindred spirits, and I just..just, I don't fucking know!"</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She literally fell down onto her knees, running her fingers through her hair once again, and then pressed her fingers onto her cheekbones and on her arms. The tragedy was causing a psychosomatic reaction. She began coughing and shaking, looking as though in immense pain, and I decided to notify a doctor momentarily.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Medaysa, I'm going to call a doctor!" I said, loud and clear. I got up, grabbed her arms, and tried to steady her. "Steady, steady, breathe."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She shook her head, but began inhaling and exhaling slowly, and in a few moments she was calmer. She left the room momentarily to take a form of relaxant. When she returned, she sent me on my way to her sister, though she said Claire was not the murderer, and I once again felt inclined to promise to discover the perpetrator. She seemed convinced the murder had been conspired, a crime of passion, and was doubtless the killer would strike again. "I will perform my duty," I spoke firmly. "I will serve justice."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Upon heading out, I consulted my partnering detective on this assignment, Detective Jill Motif, homicide specialist from the neighboring village of Rhosborough. I intended to seek out Claire Somana, and I requested she continue with interrogations in Smithee, and to maintain contact with the medical specialists for the autopsy report, which she sent me later.Every moment it sunk in more, more, </span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">more</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> … There were no coincidences. I suspected conspiracy as well. There was no doubt in my mind the murder of Henry Robinson was an act of premeditation.</span></p><p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I am talking about "It Takes a Village", I'm obviously not talking just about or even primarily about geographical villages any longer, but about the network of relationships and values that do connect us and binds us together</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">." - Hillary Clinton</span></p><p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">**<br></span>
<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 19pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part II</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: </span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 18pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Conspiracy</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 17pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Date: November 6, ----</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 17pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the eyes of Evie Somana</span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I had never agreed with Claire's selfish reasoning for harboring in the pathetic town of Smithee. Never could I have understood the horrific nature of a cult-lifestyle properly before, no matter how many books I may have read: the brain-dead housewives, the monster-like, dominant husbands, the brainwashed children, the young adults, newly bloomed into cult cunts, exactly like their buffon parents--It all repulsed me</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The moment I entered our new home I was sure it was a mistake; present circumstances have proved this beyond any doubt.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Henry Robinson's death was a tragedy. My dear sister, Claire, spent two years in avid research with him at the university. She had been entering graduate school and he just a freshman, new. She took notice to him quickly regardless, noticing his particular attraction to eccentric science. According to Claire, within three months they were studying and experimenting together.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">All went well at the start, but after two years, Henry felt his time was wasted at a university of tight boundaries and immense interest in only conventional science and political correctness. And so he returned to Smithee, became a bartender, and opened a lab in the basement of his home. He implored Claire to visit often.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then it happened. It was a normal day in our home; our perfect home with the prairie view, bought when Claire began college, because it was three miles from the university. Medaysa and I watched Jacob and Kyle frequently, which was fine as we were grown women, and I still lived in my parents' home. I felt I owed it to them. It was such a normal summer day. Jacob and Kyle were playing ball with their friends, Medaysa celebrating her graduation from high school, and myself, alone, reading inside. And then the news was passed to me -- My parents were killed in an accident of transportation, leaving their fortune, children, and despair behind. I need not elaborate on the pain we felt, feel, and will always feel.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Claire managed to finish her graduate degree by the end of the season, and in a directionless situation, Henry alerted us of the beautiful home in Smithee, and of the laboratory Claire could use with him in collaboration. He insisted.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I saw Henry the day he died. He had been with Claire all day in a rush to finish one of their experiments. Their research was incomplete and therefore Claire chose to take a visit to the university library. I saw him grant her luck before her depart. Not for a moment did I believe his life would be taken so swiftly, </span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">raped</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of him, I even dare to say. And I cannot grieve in peace-- I fear my family will be taken next by the perpetrator.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I ordered my brothers to stay in the house, lock up -- And I implored Medaysa to enforce this rule. I voyaged out to seek Claire to decide the best motives for the future of our family. The trip took little time, and upon reaching our parents' home, I found Claire in the sitting room, and on the chair opposite her, the detective Medaysa spoke of - Detective Gavin Horace. Claire was crying, her makeup distorted on her visage. She was holding up better than I had imagined, however,</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Yes, sir," said Claire. "Check with the company, my ride from Smithee to Alice Springs will be documented, the driver will as well alibi me appropriately You waste your time and the murderer runs free!" said Claire, who sounded manic. I joined her at her side, comforting her soundlessly.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Have you any information to offer me that can assist the investigation?" asked the detective in a nonchalant tone.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Investigate those most adamantly reproaching me," said Claire. "Those who seem purest in their faith - Perhaps they killed Henry in fear I would corrupt him - Sick-minded fools!!"</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She cried out screaming, running out of the room. I knew the detective would question me next; I did not follow her. I composed myself orderly, and stared at him eye to eye warily, letting him know I was strong, equal, and not to be belittled with. I was first to speak.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My name is Evie Somana," I said. "I am the middle sister. I, like my youngest sister, who you spoke with last night, was at home. As Claire stated, please seek out the townspeople that through blinded prejudice may have a motive, whom you might otherwise ignore through a 'mirage'."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He smiled at me, stood up, and began circling the couches. He laughed a bit. Instantly, I knew. My pretentious attitude had just made me a suspect. I still did not worry; I was innocent, and as I had never gone anywhere near the crime scene, his motive to find a confession inside of me would be fruitless. Henry Robinson was a man I respected.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Have you a motive, ma'am?" he asked in a charming sense. His voice turned deep and chilling as he leaned on the arm of the sofa and stared at me. "Was he yours first, Evie? Did it drive you mad? Were you protecting what was yours? Did she wrong you, Evie?"</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I glared at him. "As Henry was gay, I doubt any of us women were fighting over him," I snapped, and he was taken back. "He and Claire were most certainly not </span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">involved"</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He stepped back and surveyed me closely. I could tell, though, for the present, he believed me. I thought back for a moment for any assistance I could offer. I thought of Henry's former boyfriend, Sam. They had dated before he left for the University and Sam had been devastated. It seemed out of character, but had Sam snapped? Had an unrequited love in such a prison-like town caused such distress to cause a murder? No -- the murder was premeditated. The chances were slim. To top it off, the message left at the crime scene did not match up at all.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But I knew revealing this information was only ethical. "Sam Williams may know something. He was his boyfriend prior to Henry's university leave."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The detective immediately looked alerted. He lowered his eyebrows inquisitively and then raised his head firmly. "I shall look into this; I'll be in touch."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Claire and I ventured back to Smithee a few hours later, mourning together. Our decision was to remain in our home in Smithee. Our pride was a large part of this decision, of course, as it was our home. We would stay together safely and await justice to be served in our home -- Our </span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">righ</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">t.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was mid-afternoon when we arrived at home. We needed to visit the shopping center, and I volunteered to go. My younger brother, Jacob, insisted on accompanying me. I was not happy with this, but I understood: he was attempting to show maturity, to man up in a time like this. I was glad he persisted, however, relieved to have company within mere </span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">seconds</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> after venturing into the marketplace. I expected sketchy behavior, but the townspeople did not even whisper. They watched me cruelly, spoke of us loudly, and their behavior almost spoke as a dare to attack. They sickeningly desired their belief in my family's guilt be confirmed, at any and all costs. This, of course, did not happen. I whispered inconspicuously to Jacob to ignore it. '</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ignore, look forward, stay composed. Repeat</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.'</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wanted to scurry hastily, but I acted as normal as possible. I could not allow their antagonizing behavior to obliterate my defenses. I willed myself to demonstrate a strong women -- Something the town depressingly lacked. I couldn't remove my eyes from Jacob, though, as my deepest concern was his safety, much more than my own. And then I was approached by Sam Williams as Jacob and I strolled down the sidewalk through the park.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was a strange coincidence by all means - My stomach hurled all my emotions vehemently, and I felt sick. Immense stress and guilt contaminated my veins. I felt uncomfortable and resentful of the secret I held. Detective Horace's transportation was faster. Had Sam already been interrogated? Surely he had? Perhaps not? I wondered if it was my duty to inform him of my actions...</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Hello, Evie!" said Sam. I had only ever properly met Sam twice. Once was when we had visited Claire at the university for Thanksgiving. This was when Claire and Henry had already discovered their mutual interests and had become friends quickly. Sam had come to see Henry as 'friends' (truthfully in hope of an assignation), and they celebrated with our family.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I became well-acquainted with Sam over that long weekend. He had professed to me his love for Henry, and as I always chose to take the role of an avid listener at the beginning of all my social relations, I became quite aware of the young man Sam had been. He was not interested in advanced studies; lessons did not interest him. He enjoyed the simple life of Smithee, though the burning secret he held in his heart haunted him. He told me of a time where he had been certain he had let his guard down to a fellow friend of his, and he compulsively practiced masculinity in the mirror for three days, until he realized he was being paranoid. He mentioned to me a potential interest in the armed services, but I knew his fear of exposure would prevent this. Still, for a boy of my own age, I found him somewhat charming and at heart a good person.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My second meeting with him was quite soon after our relocation to Smithee. I had actually been quite curious how this boy I had met nearly two years ago had been getting along. We had written each other a few times, but with no devoted consistency. He had met me at the park this time as well. He had grown nicely into a man now: He was tall and lanky and equipped with a proper poise, something he had lacked before. His blonde hair had grown out well, and his blue eyes shone beautifully.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ironically, he commented on my beauty before I had a chance to compliment his. He said my shorter, neck-length haircut suited me much better than the long, dark curls from before. He told me the men in Smithee would die for my petite, feminine shape, and that my green eyes were lucky and pretty. I laughed as he commented that if he had been romantically attracted to women he'd desire me like no other. I told him I was flattered and had that been the case, I would have cordially accepted a date.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And now we met again. He was very pale, his eyes were void of any emotions. He had never stopped loving Henry; I saw it, I felt it somehow. And I instantly knew he was grieving harder than possibly anyone else. As far as he was concerned, Henry was the love of his life, and the only other homosexual he had revealed his secret to. As I sunk this knowledge in, I found it impossible to look at Sam. It would have torn me to pieces.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Evie, my friend, how misfortune has reached us! Oh God, Evie, how could anyone..." I was shocked how quickly he fell apart. I looked at Jacob. He looked so obedient at that moment, respecting the man in silent understanding. By speaking, he would destroy Sam's last bit of ego, if there were anything left to eradicate -- Which, truthfully, there probably wasn't, and Sam likely hadn't, and wouldn't properly even acknowledge Jacob. Still, despite the encompassing despair which poisoned our dispositions, our regimental employments, still somehow I suppose there are places inside of us which are damage-proof, because I still felt so very proud of Jacob's maturity, which we ensured even after our parents died; it's what they would have wanted. I looked over at his respectfully curious gaze, and smiled in pride, feeling happy for perhaps a millisecond before naturally my sorrow overwhelmed it. .</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I could think of no words to explain the feelings in my broken heart: my parents, then one of Claire's very few true friends taken, and now I witnessed someone beyond in love with Henry, simply unable to assess his emotions, but understandably.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Sam, Sam," I began as I embraced him kindly, and then patted him on the back. "Please allow me to assist you as humanly possible as I can."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He nodded and I guided him to a wooden bench. For a moment I attempted to conceal my own tears, but I couldn't. I wept along with Sam. It went beyond the murder, though that may sound cruel. The stress was murdering </span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">us all </span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">internally. Henry was dead, and we seemed to be dying in our own hearts.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Sam, I told the detectives of your relationship with Henry. I had to, I didn't suspect you, but I thought maybe you might know something," I explained to him quickly, and guilt rushed out of my system in a blissful relief. Fear he would misunderstand my intentions did not dissipate, however.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He let go of the embrace, wiped his tears and faced me somewhat composed. "I'd rather you hadn't, but I understand. But I don't know anything, honestly,"he said, and I knew his words to be true.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Just be honest to the detective and you'll be fine," I said. I decided Jacob's presence was probably inappropriate, so Sam and I escorted him back home. Sam seemed to feel guilty, because he took it upon himself to speak to Jacob.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Ah, Jacob, how you look just like your father, really," Sam said before we left. Jacob's face lit up, and it was true. Though Jacob still had a boyish face, those blue eyes that glowed so mystically and that short, curly brown hair were carbon copied from Dad -- He truly is his father's son. Goodness, there are no words, not with the articulation of the wisest woman to have ever lived, to describe how much I would love for Dad to be here.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Thank you," Jacob said honestly. "I'm sorry about Henry, he was a good guy."</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I brought Sam back to home, where I made him tea and dumped his brandy out. The last thing he needed added to his depression were depressants.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I consciously waited with him for less than an hour when the knock on the door alerted us of the visit of Detective Horace. I motioned for Sam to stay seated in his rocking chair as I opened the door.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was not Detective Horace, but it was a detective. It was a female, and unlike Detective Horace, who was middle-aged, she looked fresh out of the academy. Her look, however, seemed to nearly mirror mine. Control.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was polite as I somewhat formally introduced myself and Sam to her. Her name was Detective Jillian Motif, and she was sharper than Horace for sure. Her questions were more precise, her tone more alarming, her poise threatening.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Your alleged alibi can be confirmed by who?" she asked, as though she had no doubt of Sam’s guilt. I looked at the woman and I believe I understood her attitude. She was very plain-looking, and it was obvious she spent little time attending to her beauty. I believe she felt the need to constantly be on the defense. She had most likely been treated below standards her whole life.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As Sam gave her a list of five people who had been at the church with him, her mood seemed to calm slowly. I relaxed myself, knowing there was no way now Sam would be in a dilemma. Detective Motif asked a few short, simple questions and then instructed us to submit any new information to Horace or herself. Naturally, we complied.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I remained in Sam’s apartment attempting to comfort him for a short while. Upon leaving, it seemed almost as though both of our spirits had been raised, if only just. Time could be only healer. I prayed no more tragedies would fall upon us.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He atmosphere felt peculiarly chilling that night. I suppose there was fear in me as I made my way home in solitude. The trip seemed to take longer than normal, and in a bitter paranoia, all my senses felt enhanced, and I shook at any movement. I was relieved as I joined my family at home. All was well.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The remaining week went normal. Medaysa schooled Jacob and Kyle, Claire continued her studies in her own lab in the basement, and I wrote. The week was gone like a thief in the night, and I began to relax a bit as no other hostile behavior had occurred in town. On Sunday, as a family, we decided to take a visit to the top of a large hill outside of town. Our parents had raised us in the practice of transcendentalism, and the night was starry and pretty. It was an ideal time to enjoy the wonders of nature on the hill, surrounded by woods.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We never made it past the church. It was we who found Sam’s body on the church steps, drowned in blood. A look of pure terror remained on his motionless body. Written in blood was the identical message as before: '</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned'</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Were we next in this murder conspiracy?</span></p><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">'"But someone digs upon my grave? My enemy - prodding sly</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">?" - Thomas Hardy</span></p><p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 2.4; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
**</span><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 19pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Part III</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">:</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 18pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 18pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Revelations</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 17pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Date: November 19, ----</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 17pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the eyes of Kyle Somana</span><p></br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Claire lost her mind. I never saw her in such paranoia and in such rage. She was positive we were next on the chopping block. She locked us all in her laboratory, dimming all the lights, demanding silence for three nights straight. After much protests, she let us out, tearful and shaken.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I understood. Evie, who was normally entirely verbal, was quiet and cold. She snapped when spoken to, and could not sleep any longer than three hours at a time. It was a scary time - Medaysa had pulled hair from her scalp the night of Sam’s murder herself.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was only thirteen. I was too young to be that scared to die. Jacob and I weren’t close to Sam or Henry, no, but it was obvious the murders were no coincidence. Someone was murdering them with an incentive - Based on the messages, it was a religious conspiracy. As we were far from Christian, I, too, was scared for our lives.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We never left the whole week. Detective Horace and Motif questioned us again, but we once again had an alibi. They suspected us less as our entire family was less likely to commit the murder together. After the bloody message, the detectives began looking for clues among the most devoted religious icons in the community.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The medical examiner revealed both victims had been brutally stabbed sixty six times after castration - Even after death. This shocked and frightened all, naturally. As we hadn’t left our home, I wouldn’t know, but I was sure most had also done the same. They didn’t want their families hurt.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No one knew of the secret relationship of Sam and Henry beside my family and the detectives. As far as the town knew, someone just liked the taste of blood. Of course, though, the town still suspected my family. I suppose they thought my sisters killed Sam and forced two boys, fifteen and thirteen, to watch.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For whatever reason, I brought it upon myself to prove them wrong. It was Sunday again and I was sure the culprit would be around again. Pretending I was in my room, I slid out of the window, pocket knife in coat, flashlight in hand. I began my way down the road to the church, full of townspeople expecting another murder, no doubt. I was shocked there was even a service, given circumstances. Extremists.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Local police were stationed around the church. The killer wasn’t going to come. I began my way back, but a blinding light flashed upon me, and I had been spotted. And then I realized how guilty I looked.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I had a long coat with a pocket knife in it - Sam and Henry had been stabbed. As the police approached me, a million horrible thoughts raced through me. How could I have done something so moronic?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Three of them came within five feet of me, weapons at their sides, flashlights on me. I put my left arm above my eyes so I could see. The men looked so intimidating. They were big, tall men and I was a short, scrawny boy. They would frame me, I knew it!</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Identify yourself!” one said fiercely.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Kyle Somana,” I croaked.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“What are you doing here? Up to no good, I see!” Another said.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And then the worst happened. The third officer searched me, and he found my knife. And then all three of them watched me in disgust but in success, truly believing they had found the culprit.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“It’s dangerous to go out without protection!” I screamed indignantly. “Do you see blood on this?”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They stopped, a bit taken back. I took my opportunity to continue. “I came to see if I could spot anything. I have the right to walk around protected. Do you see a body? No!” I was so, so nervous; I pretended confidence. Why would I expect them to do their job honestly?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“We should take him in for questioning,” said one of them. He came towards me to try to handcuff me. I jumped three steps back.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“What evidence do you have to arrest me? What you know of the law my sister Evie controls in the palm of her hand, trust me!” I screamed. This was true -- Evie had always been the most well-read person I knew, and she was obsessed with the law.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Let him go,” said one of them. “Go home.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They were hesitant, but in pure relief I quickly made my way off -- And then the glass shattered at the chapel while I was passing and nearly scathed me. Flying through came a figurine of Jesus Christ, now destroyed. Something horrible was going on in there. I looked both ways, unsure of what to do.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“STOP WATCHING ME!” screamed a voice from inside the chapel. A candle, kept in a glass container with religious imagery was thrown through the window next, it too shattering and causing a small fire. I was too scared to move as I stood on the left side of the window, not daring to peer inside. Then I heard footsteps coming my way, and I was lucky to see Detectives Horace and Motif.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Help … Something crazy … “ I began, but the detectives broke through the small chapel door, and one of them flipped on the lights. Everything illuminated before my eyes and I took a glance inside the chapel.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sister Misty was in there, in the long aisle between the pews on either side, surrounded by human-sized, broken statues of religious icons. It looked very scary, and for lack of better term, evil. She was crying. Hair her was a mess; her eyes bulged. She looked exhausted.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“They stare at me!” she yelled, running to a large statue of Jesus at the altar, lifting up and smashing it in front of the closest pews. “Make it stop!”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Ma’am, do not move!” screamed Motif. Horace ran towards her, grabbed her, and sat her in one of the pews, and shockingly, she began to calm down as he firmly held her by the shoulders.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Why, Sister? Why do they watch you?” he smiled at her sweetly, like a man to his senile mother. I understood perfectly. She had murdered Sam and Henry and now she was losing her mind. I hated her.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At every pew there were pockets equipped which held bibles. Sister Misty pulled one out and began reading a passage I had heard before from the Book of Corinthians. “</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Liars, Adulterers, thieves, homosexuals, will not inherit the kingdom of Heaven.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Every moment her madness further confirmed her guilt. Horace pulled the Bible from her, relaxed her arms, and smiled at her in a consoling manner. His innocence reflected that of a child. “Is that why you did it, Sister? Did you do God’s will?”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She screamed out loud as she grabbed the Bible from Horace and opened it to another passage. “Look at the Book of Leviticus - </span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And no man should lie with another man, and no woman with another woman, for this is disgusting </span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">…” She continued screaming and shaking. “THEY WON’T STOP WATCHING ME!”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She pointed at the remaining religious statues in the chapel. Horace once again tried to calm her. “Shut you eyes. Tell me everything. The pain will dissipate, you’ll feel better, Sister,” he said in such manipulation.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Those boys … I saw them kissing in an alley once when I was walking home. When I left the Catholic Church, I came here and was accepted, and I even kept my title of a Sister, and I started this chapel. I had a duty … </span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I will burn this village before I let such corruption occur</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">!” she screamed through tears. “And those Somanas ….”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I grasped the knife and I couldn’t stop. I ran inside, and pulled the knife from in my jacket. I wanted to kill her, to slaughter her for what she had done. She had killed innocent, caused stress and chaos and terror. I charged at her in the most rage I’ve ever felt in my entire life.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“”Stop!: called Motif. She lunged at me, and skillfully pulled the knife from my hand. She restrained me from destroying the cold-blooded woman. “Don’t. You’ll regret it, you’ll ruin your own life.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“I saw Claire Somana tonight. She had gone out right before service, to grab pain killers from the pharmacy, I took my bloody knife and I … I ….” she began, and I almost fainted. I knew what was coming, and I couldn’t take it. I felt my body sink from this world to the next, to some strange void worse than any kind of religious hell, to a place where there was truly nothingness, and where I was nothing, and where I could not return. I knew what she was going to say, and I couldn’t hear it, but I did. “The eldest sister’s body is behind the alter table.”</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She got up, and she raced up the altar. Horace followed and saw the body. I wanted to be dead. My life had been misery. My parents, and now my eldest sister were gone. I wanted to kill her … I deserved that much.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Motif grabbed her fiercely, nearly breaking her arm, pulling her from the altar. I was surprised she had left me standing there. How had she known I wouldn’t run and stab the woman? I suppose because Horace was standing by her anyway, examining my sister’s body … Or perhaps it was that, I was too traumatized.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Misty Carey, you’re under arrest for the murders of Henry Robinson and Sam Williams …” began Motif, but I believe I fainted, as that is the last I remember. I’m glad I never saw Claire’s body.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 13pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And even when the murderer was sentenced to never leave prison again, left in solitary confinement, I felt nothing. But I did go on, and so did my remaining family -- Claire was the strongest person I had known - And she would not have wanted us to give up, regardless of the pain that was brought from the revelations.</span></p><p><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 10.08pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 14pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And you, there on the sad height, Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light.</span><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">” - Dylan Thomas</span></p><p><br /><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: SEGOE UI EMOJI; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">**</span></p><p><br /></p><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" style="font-family: "segoe ui emoji";"><span style="color: black;"><span face="" 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https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/777506882414056074/3562672377676882408
Atheists Concerned for America: Political Musehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10901301803211052014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-777506882414056074.post-9830569033695765542015-11-20T00:47:00.000-08:002017-03-28T12:27:59.535-07:00The Short but Terrifically Sweet Story of an Awkward Young Woman who Learns an Invaluable, Distinguishable Lesson SO 'Feminist-Esque' about Depending on Men for Inner Happiness<html>
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<SPAN STYLE="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, SERIF; FONT-COLOR="BLACK";><span style="font-size: MEDIUM; font-color: black;"><font face="Georgia" size="4" color="black"> Sixteen-year-old Kelly sits on her twin-sized bed underneath her favorite <i>Hello Kitty</i> bedsheets, lame as she knows this makes her. Laying on her side with her head propped on the matching-set pillow, hands folded gracefully under her face, feeling tense nevertheless she lets go a yawning sigh which leaves a reasonable wistful distaste in her mouth. It is ten to midnight. A full moon is shining its luminous colorful light through her cream-colored, boring plain-like curtains. Normally, she likes that her bedroom is upstairs on occasions such as a full moon, when there is a spectacular sight to see. Tonight, however, she cannot care less about the pretty illuminated presence of a bright full moon directly past her window; no (if only), for tonight she has personal drama to sulk and overbearingly preoccupy herself with. Henceforth, lost dramatically in a tortured realm of overt mental madness, she indeed can even sense her entangled depressive thoughts nonstop racing across her brain. In fact, as far as her troubled, now vulnerable-feeling mind (currently in its most-corroded ever state) is concerned, her entire life has fallen apart in the proximity of one day's potential.</span></span></span><br /><SPAN STYLE="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, SERIF; FONT-COLOR="BLACK";><span style="font-size: MEDIUM;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"></span></span></span><br /><SPAN STYLE="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, SERIF; FONT-COLOR="BLACK";><span style="font-size: MEDIUM; FONT-COLOR: BLACK;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"> <font face="Georgia" size="4" color="black">So yeah, she is rather "distracted" one could say.</span></span></span><br /><SPAN STYLE="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, SERIF; FONT-COLOR="BLACK";><span style="font-size: MEDIUM;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"></span></span></span><br /><SPAN STYLE="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, SERIF; FONT-COLOR="BLACK";><span style="font-size: MEDIUM; FONT-COLOR: BLACK"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"> <font face="Georgia" size="4" color="black">In this single, actually proved incredible day (as it would swift turn out), her boyfriend of well over two years broke up with her, she found out about her parents' imminent divorce, AND she is having a bad hair day. The culmination of it all is taking a sufficient toll on Kelly. This is rather understandable of course, but that doesn't assuage any of her feelings, so it really makes no difference to Kelly right now. Even if it isn't but a, err, colossal-bit understandable (and it by all means IS, a pinch too much so no doubt, actually), either way bottom line she is in a great deal of pain. <i>Anguish</i>, actually, is perhaps more like it. This is like nothing she has ever been bothered by before.</span></span></span><br /><SPAN STYLE="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, SERIF; FONT-COLOR="BLACK";><span style="font-size: MEDIUM;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"></span></span></span><br /><SPAN STYLE="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, SERIF; FONT-COLOR="BLACK";><span style="font-size: MEDIUM; FONT-COLOR: BLACK"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"> <font face="Georgia" size="4" color="black">She can't stop pointlessly thinking, '<i>This sucks. I can't believe Mom and Dad are getting a divorce after twenty-five years of being together. Twenty-five years. And I can't believe I didn't see</i>...' Her puzzling thoughts trail her, leave her more and more fazed. If she isn't pondering this without any answers, then she is thinking miserably to herself, '<i>I can't believe Jason cheated on me. That bastard! Always acting like he's the sweetest, nicest guy, and all the while he was just playing with my heart, and me, being stupid, fucking let him, too. I believed his lies, and now I feel like a fucking idiot for it</i>.' Rolling over onto her other side, she takes a deep breath, blowing off some steam.</span></span></span><br /><SPAN STYLE="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, SERIF; FONT-COLOR="BLACK";><span style="font-size: MEDIUM;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"></span></span></span><br /><SPAN STYLE="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, SERIF; FONT-COLOR="BLACK";><span style="font-size: MEDIUM; FONT-COLOR: BLACK"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"> <font face="Georgia" size="4" color="black">In the discomfort of these unseeingly oh-so-isolating-like moments, Kelly literally hates herself. She cannot conceive how stupid she'd been to ever a trust a guy like Jason, and to stay with him for a whole two-and-a-half years at that. How stupid could she have been?! Now, she, unlike so many other girls (especially of her age), is one to avoid crying; the way she'd been raised, doing so is the act of letting your full guard down, to bury one's head in the sand with his or her pride right along with it. Usually she manages to follow this philosophy well. But tonight, it seems, is quite different, not succeeding to show a characteristic that is generally pretty uniform of herself. This, necessarily, bases on the fact that she is suffering the several tears which fall from her glistened, currently half-lifeless ocean-blue eyes.</span></span></span><br /><SPAN STYLE="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, SERIF; FONT-COLOR="BLACK";><span style="font-size: MEDIUM;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"></span></span></span><br /><SPAN STYLE="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, SERIF; FONT-COLOR="BLACK";><span style="font-size: MEDIUM;" "FONT-COLOR: BLACK"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"> <font face="Georgia" size="4" color="black">Becoming conscious of this, feeling agitated Kelly, apparently angry at herself for crying, sits herself <i>right</i> up, wiping her tears off immediately; basically—though she, lost in hesitancy, won't ever allow herself to realize this, complicatedly—she refuses to accept she is merely human, and that there is nothing 'weak' about crying every once in a while. Nevertheless, she vehemently shakes her head in respite, crying out loud this time. "<i>NO</i>!! I won't waste tears on that lousy creep! I can't be that stupid..." She yells this as if to make real and sure the difficult-to-fathom principle for the sake of her '<i>fenced</i>' state (so to speak) of own self. She is a qualifying member of the Rasputin family, after all, and cannot do injustice to its glorious name by letting herself get choked up like this. It is a reprehensible disservice. And besides, she, now starting to feel cognitive and more clear-headed about the whole thing, thankfully, reminds herself that Jason really isn't worth it; and as for the divorce, she embraces the reality check now that she is most definitely not the first person to ever go through something like this and come out alive and well. As a matter of fact increasingly frustrated, she keeps trying to emphasize all of that inside, being brutal on herself in her latter, rather <span style="color: red;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><strike>dangerous</strike></span></span><font face="Georgia" size="4" color="black"> impacting thoughts...</span></span></span><br /><SPAN STYLE="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, SERIF; FONT-COLOR="BLACK";><span style="font-size: MEDIUM;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"></span></span></span><br /><SPAN STYLE="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, SERIF; FONT-COLOR="BLACK";><span style="font-size: MEDIUM; FONT-COLOR: BLACK"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"> <font face="Georgia" size="4" color="black">'<i>Just get the fuck over it, Kelly. If they're getting a divorce, then clearly they're not happy together, so why should you let yourself get depressed over it? Why bother questioning it; why bother wallowing in pointless denial? You're one of just millions of kids who go through this exact thing everyday. You'll live</i>.' </span></font><font face="Georgia" size="4" color="fuchsia"><u><B>SARCASM</B></u></font><SPAN STYLE="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, SERIF; FONT-COLOR="BLACK";><span style="font-size: MEDIUM; FONT-COLOR: BLACK"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"><font face="Georgia" size="4" color="black">...always a heartbroken </span>cynic's choice of best friend, is often a path she takes (often successfully, too) as a method of cheering up; like a first step (for her, that is) in the process of healing. Grinning to the sardonic cynicism (that of which she makes sure becomes immediately internalized all-throughout, by the way) she falls back squarely on her pillow, then immediately finds herself looking up at the ceiling, totally focused, as though searching for answers on its white popcorn-base surface. Pulling the comforter over herself and attempting to get cozy like any normal night, sighing she closes her eyes, relaxes, and for a brief second after smiles at her own "silliness" (as that's what she at very least feels this whole debacle rather was, honestly, anyhow).</span></span></span><br /><SPAN STYLE="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, SERIF; FONT-COLOR="BLACK";><span style="font-size: MEDIUM;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"></span></span></span><br /><SPAN STYLE="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, SERIF; FONT-COLOR="BLACK";><span style="font-size: MEDIUM; FONT-COLOR: BLACK;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"> <font face="Georgia" size="4" color="black">And from this day forward Kelly does not ever, <i>ever</i> let an unfaithful man take over her emotions and sway her into another mess like that again—</font><font face="Georgia" size="4" color="black">no, not now; no, not ever. Yep, it may have taken a moment, but Kelly Rasputin at last knows and recognizes that inside she is far, FAR better than being that kind of whiny, desperate girl who's always beside herself screeching (if you will), "OH MY GOD I'M GONNA DIE—— *GASPS* I DON'T HAVE A BOYFRIEND!!", and other likewise 'messed-up' shenanigans.</span></span></span></BR><P><SPAN STYLE="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, SERIF; FONT-COLOR="BLACK";><span style="font-size: MEDIUM;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"></span></span></span><SPAN STYLE="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, SERIF; FONT-COLOR="BLACK";> <span style="font-size: MEDIUM;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"></span></span></span><SPAN STYLE="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, SERIF; FONT-COLOR="BLACK";><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"><br>**</br><P></span></span></span><br /><SPAN STYLE="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, SERIF; FONT-COLOR="BLACK";><span style="font-size: MEDIUM;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"></span></span></span><br /><SPAN STYLE="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, SERIF; FONT-COLOR="BLACK";><span style="font-size: MEDIUM;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"></span></span></span><br /></div>
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<SPAN STYLE="FONT-FAMILY: Georgia, SERIF; FONT-COLOR="BLACK";> <br /></span>Atheists Concerned for America: Political Musehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10901301803211052014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-777506882414056074.post-46845765702494635612015-07-23T19:59:00.001-07:002016-02-04T19:57:16.120-08:00Regarding the Curious Question of Josef Stalin's Strictly Verifiable Religious Origins... <hr><br></br><font face="Georgia" color="black">
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<u><a href="http://cellophanetales.angelfire.com/"><font face="Georgia" color="royalblue" size="4.55"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Home</b></a></u></font></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><font face="Georgia" SIZE="5.55" color="black">"<u>JOSEF STALIN: Christian Who Manipulated Jews</u>"</FONT></span></span><p> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,",serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><font color="black">By Thomas Keyes</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><font size="4" face="Georgia" color="black">Apr. 7, 2005 </font></span></span></i></span></span> </div></br>
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<font size="4" face="Georgia" color="black"><div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"> Many times in history, you read that in a predominantly Christian society, a handful of highly intelligent and crafty Jews has gotten control of a vast number of Christians, and that this is the sort of thing that has led to the repeated expulsions that Jews have experienced. This phenomenon has been recorded in Spain, Germany, Russia, Austria-Hungary and elsewhere. It is almost as if Jews float on water, whether it's a lagoon or an ocean, but are eventually tossed ashore by a big wave. </span></span>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,",serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Georgia,",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><font size="4" face="Georgia" color="black">But there was one time in recent history when a Christian put himself in charge of a society of Jews. That one Christian was Joseb Dzhugashvili, better known by his alias, Josef Stalin, the man who ruled the Communist Party and the USSR with an iron fist. </span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><font size="4" face="Georgia" color="black"><div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;">Upon reading about the early Communist Party, I did not realize that so many of its high-ranking officials were Jews, because their names all seemed genuinely Russian. But their names were code names, aliases in other words. Thus Trotsky's real name was Brönstein. Martov's real name was Tsederbaum. Kamenev's real name was Rosenfeld. Zinoviev's real name was Apfelbaum. Sverdlov's real name was Solomon. Radek's real name was Sobelsohn. Litvinov's real name was Wallach. Even Lenin was part-Jewish. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><font size="4" face="Georgia" color="black">Perhaps these aliases were assumed because originally these men formed an underground. Perhaps they sought also to conceal their Jewishness from the anti-Semitic element among the proletariat they claimed to be championing. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,",serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Georgia,",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><font size="4" face="Georgia" color="black">I noted in an article that I posted here recently entitled, "Jews: Figuring the Odds," that in a photograph of 61 leaders of the early Communist party, 22 Jews were included, and since Jews made up only 2.5% of Russia's population at the time, the odds against such a landslide's having occurred in a random selection would have been 21 quintillion to 1. This proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that certain Jews automatically rise to the top. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><font size="4" face="Georgia" color="black">But Josef Stalin was not a Jew at all. Nor was he a Russian. He was a Georgian from a Christian family. Georgians are the largest group of 60 or 70 that make up the Caucasian ethnicity, not to be confused with the Caucasian race. The Georgians, also called Kartvelians, and their relatives, Lezghians, Abkhazians, Chechens, Ingushes, Kabardians, Mingrelians, Circassians and others, inhabit the Caucasus, between the Black and Caspian Seas. These people are completely unrelated to ethnic Russians, Armenians and Azerbaijanians (or Azeris) that live in the vicinity. Nor are the Georgians Jewish.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span><br /> <span style="font-size: medium;"><font size="4" face="Georgia" color="black">Stalin was brought up in the Georgian Orthodox Church, one of the oldest of Christian churches. He aspired to be a priest, probably to please his mother, who sought this vocation for him, and, at the age of 15, he won a scholarship to a seminary in Tbilisi (or Tiflis), the capital of Georgia. He excelled in singing and sang a solo in the local church on the occasion of Tsar Alexander III's birthday. Later he was expelled from seminary for absenteeism. </span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><font size="4" face="Georgia" color="black">I'm pretty sure that it can be substantiated statistically that a higher proportion of Jews than Christians become atheists. At any rate, one of the planks in the Communist Party's platform was atheism. This derived from the atheism of Karl Marx, another Jew. So Stalin, upon entering the party, if he had ambitions to rise within, would have had to confess atheism as a first step to being credentialed as a Communist. But whether Stalin really embraced atheism or persisted in his predilection for Christianity is a question that only Stalin could have answered. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,",serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Georgia,",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><font size="4" face="Georgia" color="black">However that may be, it does remain that the teachings of Christianity did nothing to prevent him from perpetrating the incredible monstrosities synonymous with his name. If the word of Christ had had such a redeeming quality as Christ's devotees like to pretend, Stalin would probably never have become what he was. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,",serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Georgia,",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><font size="4" face="Georgia" color="black">Anyway, with the death of Lenin, who probably preferred Trotsky to Stalin, a real power struggle ensued, with once-Christian Stalin winning out over Jewish Trotsky and his coreligionists. So one time and maybe one time only, a Christian manipulated Jews, instead of vice versa, as Stalin went on to control the party and the country for 30 years.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><font size="5" face="Georgia" color="black"> <u><b>P.S. A Note from Jordan</b></u></font></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><font size="4" face="Georgia" color="black">: If you're further interested in learning about the horrific man that was Josef Stalin and how he murdered a total 20 million people across the span of his evil dictatorship, you may find this short documentary rather intriguing:</span></span></div>
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**</span></div>Atheists Concerned for America: Political Musehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10901301803211052014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-777506882414056074.post-67856600712258824992015-07-23T15:47:00.002-07:002018-04-19T22:39:01.030-07:00<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.14in;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><FONT SIZE="6.5"><u>"Hitler's Sinister, All-Monstrous Rulership: Unholiest of Missions Catalyzed in Christ's Name"</FONT></u></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><FONT SIZE="6">"<i>I am Catholic and will remain so until the day I die</i>" – <u>HITLER</u>, 1941</span></span></div></FONT>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>By Charlotte Schnook and Jordan Adorno</b></FONT></span></span></div>
<br></br><center><img src="http://atheistsconcernedforamerica.blogspot.in/2015/07/hitlers-monstrous-dictatorship_23.html?m=1" height="415" width="409"></center><P><br>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"> <b> </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><a href="http://cellophanetales.angelfire.com/"><font color="royalblue" size="4">Home</a></font></u></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">**</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><h2><b>Preface. </b><u>Background History</u>:</h2></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> History
is currently being distorted by the millions of Christians who lie to
have us believe that the Holocaust was not a Christian deed. Through
subterfuge and concealment, many of today’s Church leaders and
faithful Christians have camouflaged the Christianity of Adolf Hitler
and have attempted to mark him an atheist, a pagan cult worshiper, or
a false Christian in order to place his misdeeds on those without
Jesus. However, from the earliest formation of the Nazi party and
throughout the period of conquest and growth, Hitler expressed his
Christian support to the German citizenry and soldiers. Those who
would make Hitler an atheist should turn their eyes to history books
before they address their pews and chat rooms.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Considering
that Christianity has thus far been incapable of producing an
unbiased, educated follower which speaks the truth (I haven’t
encountered any), I have been forced to dispel the myth by writing
this essay. It is not until I bring up his speeches, my personal info
on the Nazi regime and their tactics that a Christian will begin to
question what their clergy told them. (I am the offspring of a German
soldier. My Opa served under Hitler in WW2 and my father was raised
during the time of the Nazi regime. This is important information to
take into consideration for I am privy to some info that most
Americans do not know. It is common for American media and education
institutions to lie to their citizens concerning Nazi Germany.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> So,
in presenting this information I must break it into four parts:
<b>1) </b>Facts about Hitler and his involvement with the
Church. <b>2)</b> How the Church was the catalyst
for Antisemitism. <b>3)</b> Facts concerning how the
Nazi regime drilled these beliefs into Germanic society. <b>4) </b>Quotes
Hitler made proving his disdain for Atheism/occultism, his upheld
Christian faith, and his hatred toward Jews due to his Christianity.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><h2><b>1. </b><u>Hitler's Early Church Affairs</u></span><span style="font-size: large;">:</h2></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><img border="0" height="400 name="graphics1" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjmEm9zvdZuS1WdooQ5SxdS_iUD8c_GCPv396wf23w9N5tliCrAHoZ_ilqBo_mURA9qhCRtCwAAVSQb1GgsWqzAqCyMmWvZW6VFBAANHVyZxMhzw-OJpdvpVmlzKWhTFmEgs2tcn_EPIh2wCjTPVielOrZyWQQ" width="400" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>a) </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">Hitler
was baptized as Roman Catholic during infancy in Austria.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>b) </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">As
Hitler approached boyhood he attended a monastery school.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b> b-2. </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">On
his way to school young Adolf daily observed a stone arch which was
carved with the monastery’s coat of arms bearing a swastika.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>c) </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">Hitler
was a communicant and an altar boy in the Catholic Church.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>d) </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">As
a young man he was confirmed as a “soldier of Christ.” His most
ardent goal at the time was to become a priest. Hitler writes of his
love for the church and clergy: “I had excellent opportunity to
intoxicate myself with the solemn splendor of the brilliant church
festivals. As was only natural, the abbot seemed to me, as the
village priest had once seemed to my father, the highest and most
desirable ideal.” - Adolf Hitler, </span> <span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://hitler.org/writings/Mein_Kampf/"> <font color="royal blue"><i>Mein Kampf</i></a></font></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>e</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">) </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><u><b>Hitler
was NEVER excommunicated nor formally condemned by his church</b></u></span><span style="font-size: medium;">.
Matter of fact the Church felt he was JUST and “avenging for God”
in attacking the Jews for they deemed the Semites the killers of
Jesus.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>f) </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">Hitler,
Franco and Mussolini were given VETO power over whom the pope could
appoint as a bishop in Germany, Spain and Italy. In turn they
surtaxed the Catholics and gave the money to the Vatican. Hitler
wrote a speech in which he talks about this alliance, as excerpted,
“The fact that the Vatican is concluding a treaty with the new
Germany means the acknowledgment of the National Socialist state by
the Catholic Church. This treaty shows the whole world clearly and
unequivocally that the assertion that National Socialism [Nazism] is
hostile to religion is a lie.” – </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Adolf
Hitler writing to the Nazi Party</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">, 22 July
1933</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>g) </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><u><b>Hitler
worked CLOSELY with Pope Pius in converting Germanic society and
supporting the church</b></u></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><u>.</u></span> <span style="font-size: medium;">The
Church absorbed Nazi ideals and preached them as part of their
sermons; in turn Hitler placed Catholic teachings in public
education.</span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>h) </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">Due
to Hitler’s involvement with the Church he began enacting doctrines
of the Church as law. He outlawed all abortion, raged a death war on
all homosexuals, and demanded corporal punishment in schools and
home. Many times Hitler addressed the church and promised that
Germany would implement its teachings: “The National Socialist
State professes its allegiance to positive Christianity. It will be
its honest endeavor to protect both the great Christian Confessions
in their rights, to secure them from interference with their
doctrines (Lehren), and in their duties to constitute a harmony with
the views and the exigencies of the State of today.” – </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Adolf
Hitler to Catholic bishops, assuring them that he would take action
against the new pagan propaganda</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">, 26 June
1934</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>i) </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">"Providence
has caused me to be Catholic, and I know therefore how to handle this
Church.”-</span> <span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Adolf Hitler, speaking on the
reaction of the Catholic Church to National Socialism in Berlin, 1936</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>j) </b></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Further
Reading</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">.
If you would like to know more about the secret dealings of Hitler
and the Pope via Vatican "privilege", I recommend you a
very resourceful book entitled</span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hitlers-Pope-Secret-History-Pius/dp/B001RNN8P8"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><font color="royalblue"><i>Hitler’s
Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII</font></i></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">,
by John Cornwell</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><h2><b>2. </b><u>How Christianity Catalyzed the Holocaust</u>:</h2></span></span></div>
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<img border="0" height="400" name="graphics2" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEiT_rclFnWVlV70IyuR21CR8buJnAPsx1y9vBdgmw2FQLuOJGUA5pozOHr4Av-uOiQOs7QxPMA5x4GiUYHLKNJbiJMUH_-cEu39vg3lPfoKTM9rqIIr1Y2J9vS_QYLhJTLpneHeBh6teQBgKHV7A64bS4pJnvvLHA0k2beuJg" width="400" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">(<b>Caption: </b><i>Hitler
with Archbishop Cesare Orsenigo, the papal nuncio in Berlin. It was
taken on April 20, 1939, when Orsenigo celebrated Hitler’s
birthday. The celebrations were initiated by Pope Pius XII, and
became a tradition</i>.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>1. </b></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Hitler’s
antisemitism grew out of his Christian education. Austria and Germany
overwhelmingly were Christian nations at this turning point,
particularly holding that Jews were inferior to all Aryan Christians.
The Christians blamed the Jews for the killing of Jesus. Jewish
hatred did not actually spring from Hitler, it came from the
preaching of Catholic priests and Protestant ministers throughout
Germany for hundreds of years. The founding Protestant leader, Martin
Luther himself, held a livid hatred for Jews and their Jewish
religion. In his book</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/anti-semitism/Luther_on_Jews.html"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><font color="royalblue"><i><b>On
the Jews and their Lies</b></i></font></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">,
Luther set the standard for Jewish hatred in Protestant Germany up
until World War 2. Hitler expressed a great admiration for Martin
Luther by constantly quoting his works and beliefs.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>2.</b></span> <span style="font-size: medium;">Now,
you must remember before Hitler rose to Chancellor of Germany the
country was in a deep economic depression due to the Versailles
treaty. The Versailles treaty demanded that Germans made financial
reparations for the previous war and Germany simply was not at all
self-sufficient enough in order to pay the debt. Hitler was the
leader that raised Germany out of the depression and brought them
back to a world recognized power. Due to his annulment of the
financial woes of the Germanic people, Hitler became their redeemer
and anointed leader of the German Reich Christian Church in 1933.
This placed him in power of the German-Christian Socialist movement,
powering Hitler authority over their individually legislated,
political and religious agendas. It united all denominations, mainly
Protestant, Catholic and Lutheran people to instill faith in a
national Christianity.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>3.</b></span> <span style="font-size: medium;">"If
anyone can lay claim to God's help, then it is Hitler, for without
God's benevolent fatherly hand, without his blessing, the nation
would not be where it stands today. It is an unbelievable miracle
that God has bestowed on our people." - </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Minister
Rust’s speech to mass meeting of German Christians</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">,
June 1933 </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>4. </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">The
closeness between Hitler and the Church was demonstrated on some
annual occasions. “[...]Warmest congratulations to the Fuhrer in
the name of the bishops and each diocese in Germany with fervent
prayers which the Catholics of Germany are sending to heaven on their
altars.” - </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Cardinal Bertram of Berlin</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">,
as addressed each April 20 to honor Hitler's Birthday</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><h2><b>3. </b><u>Nazis' Widespread FORCED Christian Conversions:</h2></u></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>a</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">)
In the 1920s, Hitler’s German Workers’ Party (pre-Nazi term)
adopted a “Programme” with twenty-five points (the Nazi
“constitution”). In point twenty-four, their intent clearly
demonstrates, from the very beginning, their stand in favor of a
“positive” Christianity: “We demand liberty for all religious
denominations in the State, so far as they are not a danger to it and
do not militate against the morality and moral sense of the German
race. The Party, as such, stands for positive Christianity, but does
not bind itself in the matter of creed to any particular
confession...” -</span> <span style="font-size: medium;">Hitler’s
German Workers’ Party "Programme”;</span> <span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Positive
Christianity endorsement </i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>b</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">)
The Nazi regime started a youth movement which preached its agenda to
impressionable children. Hitler backed up the notion that all people
need faith and religious education: “By helping to raise man above
the level of bestial vegetation, faith contributes in reality to the
securing and safeguarding of his existence. Take away from
present-day mankind its education-based, religious- dogmatic
principles-- or, practically speaking, ethical-moral principles--by
abolishing this religious education, but without replacing it by an
equivalent,te result will be a grave shock to the foundations of
their existence.” </span>– <span style="font-size: medium;">Adolf
Hitler, </span> <span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://hitler.org/writings/Mein_Kampf/"> <font color="royal blue"><i>Mein Kampf</i></a></font></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>c</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">)
The Nazi regime began to control schools insisting that Christianity
was taught.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>d</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">)
The Nazi regime included anti-Semitic Christian writings in textbooks
and they were not removed from Christian doctrines until 1961.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>e</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">)
The Nazi regime having full blown power over the people began to
forcibly convert all its military.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>f</b>)
The Nazi regime forced the German soldiers to wear religious symbols
such as the swastika and they placed religious sayings on military
gear. Exampled in this photograph of the German army belt buckle (I
believe my Opa had one), it reads “Gott Mit Uns”; for those of
you who do not speak German it is translated as 'God With Us'.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>g</b>)
The German troops were often forced to get sprinkled with holy water
and listen to a sermon by a Catholic priest before going on a
maneuver. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>h</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">)
The Nazis created a secret service called the “SS Reich” that
would act as spies on the dealings of other citizens. If anyone was
suspected of heresy-acting not only against the Socialist party but
the CHURCH DOCTRINE entirely, too - they would be prosecuted.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><h2><b>4. </b><u>Hitler's Many Self-Attestations to Christianity</u>:</h2></span></span></div>
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<img alt="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtdVF9y2k9Fp4aTI9Qa2v-TsSyihjaFfIZEzNjjRvPuRBiCLLbm5xxlRoXlbz7GnC-LHFVIfGyIkmtv0nDiarPUfHWiM3EgZaudiSN_CppD-SirvRcrnRTt7vL2_NT6tMWAp5YeR1x7NQ/s400/Christian_Hitler.png" border="0" height="400" name="graphics4" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtdVF9y2k9Fp4aTI9Qa2v-TsSyihjaFfIZEzNjjRvPuRBiCLLbm5xxlRoXlbz7GnC-LHFVIfGyIkmtv0nDiarPUfHWiM3EgZaudiSN_CppD-SirvRcrnRTt7vL2_NT6tMWAp5YeR1x7NQ/s400/Christian_Hitler.png" width="400" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Adolf
Hitler’s speeches and proclamations clearly reveal his faith and
warm feelings toward an ideal, Christianized Germany even more.
Nazism presents an embarrassment to Christianity and demonstrates the
danger of their faith, so many theists misleadingly pin him onto
other theistic views. The following words from Hitler show his
disdain for atheism and pagan cults, revealing the strength of his
Christian feelings:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>1. </b></span>“<span style="font-size: medium;">National
Socialism is not a cult-movement-- a movement for worship; it is
exclusively a ‘volkic’ political doctrine based upon racial
principles. In its purpose there is no mystic cult, only the care and
leadership of a people defined by a common blood-relationship... We
will not allow mystically- minded occult folk with a passion for
exploring the secrets of the world beyond to steal into our Movement.
Such folk are not National Socialists, but something else-- in any
case something which has nothing to do with us. At the head of our
programme there stand no secret surmisings but clear-cut perception
and straightforward profession of belief..." (</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Quote
continues below</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>1-a. </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">"
[-] But since we set as the central point of this perception and of
this profession of belief the maintenance and hence the security for
the future of a being formed by God, we thus serve the maintenance of
a divine work and fulfill a divine will-- not in the secret twilight
of a new house of worship, but openly before the face of the Lord…
Our worship is exclusively the cultivation of the natural, and for
that reason, because natural, therefore God-willed. Our humility is
the unconditional submission before the divine laws of existence so
far as they are known to us men.” - </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Adolf
Hitler in Nuremberg,</i></span> <span style="font-size: medium;">September 6th, 1938</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>1-b. </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">Christians
have always accused Hitler of believing in pagan cult mythology. What
is written here clearly expresses his stand against cults.
Consecutively, the followed notices Hitler using the Christian Bible
in order to attack the Jews and uphold his Antisemitism.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>2. </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">"My
feelings as a Christian points me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter.
It points me to the man who once in loneliness, surrounded by a few
followers, recognized these Jews for what they were and summoned men
to fight against them and who, God’s truth! was greatest not as a
sufferer but as a fighter. In boundless love as a Christian and as a
man I read through the passage which tells us how the Lord at last
rose in His might and seized the scourge to drive out of the Temple
the brood of vipers and adders. How terrific was His fight for the
world against the Jewish poison. To-day, after two thousand years,
with deepest emotion I recognize more profoundly than ever before the
fact that it was for this that He had to shed His blood upon the
Cross. As a Christian I have no duty to allow my self to be cheated,
but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice… And if
there is anything which could demonstrate that we are acting rightly
it is the distress that daily grows . For as a Christian I have also
a duty to my own people." –</span> <span style="font-size: medium;">Adolf
Hitler</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>, Giving a Speech on 12 April 1922 </i></span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>3. </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">"Christianity
could not content itself with building up its own altar; it was
absolutely forced to undertake the destruction of the heathen altars.
Only from this fanatical intolerance could its apodictic faith take
form; this intolerance is, in fact, its absolute
presupposition." </span>– <span style="font-size: medium;">Adolf
Hitler</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://hitler.org/writings/Mein_Kampf/"> <font color="royal blue"><i>Mein Kampf</i></a></font></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>3-a. </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">(Here
it is quite obvious here that Hitler is referring to destructing the
Judaism alters on which Christianity was founded.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>4. </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>"</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">The
personification of the devil as the symbol of all evil assumes the
living shape of the Jew." </span>– <span style="font-size: medium;">Adolf
Hitler, </span> <span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://hitler.org/writings/Mein_Kampf/"> <font color="royal blue"><i>Mein Kampf</i></a></font></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b> 4-a. </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">The
idea of the devil and the Jew came out of medieval anti-Jewish
beliefs based on interpretations from the Bible. Martin Luther, and
teachers after him, continued this “tradition” up until the 20th
century.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>5. </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">"With
satanic joy in his face, the black-haired Jewish youth lurks in wait
for the unsuspecting girl whom he defiles with his blood, thus
stealing her from her people." </span>– <span style="font-size: medium;">Adolf
Hitler, </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://hitler.org/writings/Mein_Kampf/"> <font color="royal blue"><i>Mein Kampf</i></a></font></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b> 5-a. </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">It’s
common in war for one race to rape another so that they can defile
the race and assimilate their own. Hitler speaks about this very
tactic here.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>6. </b></span>“<span style="font-size: medium;">The
best characterization is provided by the product of this religious
education, the Jew himself. His life is only of this world, and his
spirit is inwardly as alien to true Christianity as his nature two
thousand years previous was to the great founder of the new doctrine.
Of course, the latter made no secret of his attitude toward the
Jewish people, and when necessary he even took the whip to drive from
the temple of the Lord this adversary of all humanity, who then as
always saw in religion nothing but an instrument for his business
existence. </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><b>In return, Christ was nailed to
the cross, while our present- day party Christians debase themselves
to begging for Jewish votes at elections and later try to arrange
political swindles with atheistic Jewish parties-- and this against
their own nation</b></i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>.</i></span>” – <span style="font-size: medium;">Adolf
Hitler, </span> <span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://hitler.org/writings/Mein_Kampf/"> <font color="royal blue"><i>Mein Kampf</i></a></font></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>7. </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">"…[T]he
fall of man in paradise has always been followed by his expulsion.”
</span>– <span style="font-size: medium;">Adolf Hitler, </span> <span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://hitler.org/writings/Mein_Kampf/"> <font color="royal blue"><i>Mein Kampf</i></a></font></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b> 7-a. </b></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">See <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%203&version=NIV"><font color="royalblue">Genesis
Chapter 3</font></a>, in which humankind is cast from Eden for their sins.
Hitler compares this to the need to exterminate the Jews for their
sin against Christ.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>8. </b></span>“<span style="font-size: medium;">Hence
today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the
Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting
for the work of the Lord.” – Adolf Hitler, </span> <span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://hitler.org/writings/Mein_Kampf/"> <font color="royal blue"><i>Mein Kampf</i></a></font></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>9. </b></span>“<span style="font-size: medium;">The
Antisemitism of the new [Christian Social] movement was based on
religious ideas instead of racial knowledge.” – Adolf
Hitler, </span> <span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://hitler.org/writings/Mein_Kampf/"> <font color="royal blue"><i>Mein Kampf</i></a></font></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b> 9-a. </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">This
quote is very interesting for it disperses the idea that Hitler raged
war due to being an Aryan supremacist. He states quite clearly that
he has a problem with Jews for their belief not race. That is why
many German Jews died in WW2 regardless of their Aryan nationality.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>10. </b></span>“<span style="font-size: medium;">Only
in the steady and constant application of force lies the very first
prerequisite for success. This persistence, however, can always and
only arise from a definite spiritual conviction. Any violence which
does not spring from a firm, spiritual base, will be wavering and
uncertain.” – Adolf Hitler, </span> <span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://hitler.org/writings/Mein_Kampf/"> <font color="royal blue"><i>Mein Kampf</i></a></font></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b> 10-a. </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">Here
Hitler is admitting that his war against the Jews were so successful
because of his strong Christian Spirituality.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>11. </b></span>“<span style="font-size: medium;">Along
with the fight for a purer morality we have taken upon ourselves the
struggle against the decomposition of our religion. We have therefore
taken up the struggle against the Godless movement, and not just with
a few theoretical declarations; we have stamped it out. And above all
we have dragged the priests out of the lowlands of the political
party struggle and have brought them back into the church."
-</span> <span style="font-size: medium;">Adolf Hitler, </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>In
celebration of Germany’s exit from the League of Nations, maintains
that the Third Reich actively implements the Christian agenda</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">,
1919-1945</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>12. </b>For
further reading:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b> </b></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b>12-a. </b></span><span style="font-size: small;">Norman
H. Baynes, ed. </span><span style="font-size: small;"><i>The
Speeches of Adolf Hitler, April 1922-August 1939, Vol. 1</i></span><span style="font-size: small;">;
19-20. Oxford University; 1942</span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>12-b</b>.
Richard Steigmann-Gall. <i>The Holy Reich: Nazi Conceptions of
Christianity</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><h2><b>5. </b><u>Hitler's <b>HATRED</b> for Atheism:</u></h2></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><br /></u></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><img border="0" height="400" name="graphics5" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgwxxxD8ga2misHCrwFQ63qfCm6PlspXrrNygLydDnH4ajGp4ZrYYUwZGUmXGSrVf4J3qWyLDg2CNfdej9uV6058dsAc3TNeahrgb0BPDL8jn1lJlMNExGlAHvu7zjXOxZzL_dGPrBF7dLdgDIG6IdC8rxOgdpTmWg" width="400" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The following quotes DIRECTLY illuminate how Adolf Hitler <i>strongly</i> resented Atheists, finding nonbelievers in their core principle nothing but utterly repulsive. Sufficient as ever in only his proud words, I avenge my community by re-publicizing Adolf Hitler's reprehensible sentiments toward those not God-believing:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>1. </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">"For
their interests [the Church's] cannot fail to coincide with ours [the
National Socialists] alike in our fight against the symptoms of
degeneracy in the world of to-day, in our fight against a Bolshevist
culture, </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>against atheistic movement</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">,
against criminality, and in our struggle for a consciousness of a
community in our national life" -</span> <span style="font-size: medium;"><i>The
Speeches of Adolf Hitler, </i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">April
1922-August 1939</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>2. </b></span>“<span style="font-size: medium;">We
were convinced that the people needs and requires this faith. We have
therefore undertaken the fight against the atheistic movement, and
that not merely with a few theoretical declarations: we have stamped
it out.” - Adolf Hitler, </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>during a
speech in Berlin,</i></span> <span style="font-size: medium;">24 October 1933</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b> 2-a. </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">This
statement clearly refutes modern Christians who claim Hitler was an
Atheist. Hitler wanted to form a society in which ALL people
worshiped Jesus and considered any questioning of such to be heresy.
The Holocaust was like a modern inquisition, killing all who did not
accept Jesus. Though more Jews were killed than any others, it should
be noted that MANY ARYAN pagans and atheists were murdered for their
non-belief in Christ.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>3. </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">"I
often feel that we will have to undergo all the trials the devil and
hell can devise before we achieve Final Victory....I may be no pious
churchgoer, but deep within me I am nevertheless a devout man. That
is to say, I believe that he who fights valiantly obeying the laws
which a god has established and who never capitulates but instead
gathers his forces time after time and always pushes forward—such a
man will not be abandoned by the Lawgiver. Rather he will ultimately
receive the blessing of Providence. And that blessing has been
imparted to all great spirits in history." - Adolf Hitler,
as quoted from</span> <span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Albert Speer's Inside the
Third Reich: Memoirs </i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">(1982)</span></span></div>
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</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>4. </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">"We
do not judge merely by artistic or military standards or even by
purely scientific ones. We judge by the spiritual energy which a
people is capable of putting forth, which will enable it in ten years
to recapture what is has lost in a thousand years of warfare. I
intend to set up a thousand-year Reich and anyone who supports me in
this battle is a fellow-fighter for a unique spiritual-- I would say
divine-- creation.... Rudolf Hess, my assistant of many years
standing, would tell you: If we have such a leader, God is with us."
- Adolf Hitler, from </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Secret
Conversations with Hitler</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> (page 68)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>5. </b></span>“<span style="font-size: medium;">And
now Staatspräsident Bolz says that Christianity and the Catholic
faith are threatened by us. And to that charge I can answer: In the
first place it is Christians and not international atheists who now
stand at the head of Germany. I do not merely talk of Christianity,
no, I also profess that I will never ally myself with the parties
which destroy Christianity. If many wish today to take threatened
Christianity under their protection, where, I would ask, was
Christianity for them in these fourteen years when they went arm in
arm with atheism? No, never and at no time was greater internal
damage done to Christianity than in these fourteen years when a
party, theoretically Christian, sat with those who denied God in
one[,] same Government.” - Adolf Hitler, </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Delivering
Historic Speech in Stuttgart</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">, 15 February
1933</span></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><h2><b>6. </b><u>Third Reich's Conspiracy to Christianize Already Widely Overruled Masses</u>:</h2></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Nazi
World War II records (and such premonitory filings that preceded
alike) have preserved documents which, in possessing greater, grander
details, do well to illuminate the Holocaust's Christian
involvements; and so noted in part here:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>1. </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">"Around
1937, when Hitler heard that at the instigation of the party and the
SS vast numbers of his followers had left the church because it was
obstinately opposing his plans, he nevertheless ordered his chief
associates, above all Goering and Gobbels, to remain members of the
church. He too would remain a member of the Catholic Church, he said.
And in fact he remained in the church until his suicide..."
- </span><span style="font-size: medium;">from</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>
</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Inside the Third Reich </i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">by
Albert Speer</span> <span style="font-size: medium;">(pages
95-96)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>2. </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">A
consecutive historic occurrence is better explained by a scholar from
a renowned Christian organization, in fact, called </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Kinsman
Redeemer Ministries</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">: “Adolf Hitler and true
National Socialism were confident that as the harmful influence of
atheistic or religious Jews and Judeo thinking was removed from
society, that all true Christians would return to the pure faith in
Jesus Christ. A return to what the first Christians said and stood
for was not only the Protestant cry of Martin Luther, but also the
official position of true National Socialism. The German people were
earnest God-fearing Christians, seeking only to implement in the
political realm, the theology of Christ Himself...” – from
</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Positive Christianity </i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">by
Pastor Mark Downey, 2009</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>2-a. </b></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">For
further reading:</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.kinsmanredeemer.com/PositiveChristianity.html"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><font color="royalblue">Positive
Christianity</span></span></font></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>3. </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">"After
April 7, 1933, civil servants in Germany were required to prove that
they were not Jews. Because births had been registered by the state
only since 1874, the church was called upon to provide many records.
The Catholic Church cooperated right up to the end of the war.
Likewise, after the 1935 Noremberg laws that forbade marriage between
Aryans and non-Aryans, most Catholic priests did not perform such
ceremonies, even though the number of Jewish conversions to
Catholicism was accelerating because of the persecution." - from
</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Pope Benedict XVI: A Biography of Joseph
Ratzinger, </i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">by John L. Allen Jr.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><h2><b>7. </b><u>Hoaxed Statements Alleged to Hitler in the Infamously folly </u><i><u>Table
Talk</u></i>:</h2></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Many opposed to the fact that Hitler was a Christian immediately cite Hitler's “secret conversations” within </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Table Talk</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">, a publication where anti-Christian statements allegedly made by Hitler are compiled by a suspicious biographer. However, these alleged statements simply have no empirical standpoint whatsoever in
any historic debate because </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Table Talk</i></span> <span style="font-size: medium;">never unearthed proof of its credibility. In spite of myth, these supposed
anti-Christian “secrets” were not recorded or captured by audio,
film or radio broadcasts, and furthermore the specific translator had
a burning anti-Catholic passion. Altogether, these </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Table
Talk</i></span> <span style="font-size: medium;">conversations are left highly
questionable. But what's ultimately problematic about this alleged
dissatisfaction with Christianity is its lack of accurate context to
History's Adolf Hitler, the one who proved his Christian allegiances
useful. Nevertheless, here consecutive is my point-by-point rebuttal:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>1. </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">As
Jim Walker explains, “Those who deny Hitler as a Christian will
invariably find the recorded table talk conversations of Hitler from
1941 to 1944 as incontrovertible evidence that he could not have been
a Christian. The source usually comes from the English translation
(from a French translation) edition by Norman Cameron and R. H.
Stevens, with an introduction by H.R. Trevor-Roper. The problem with
these anti-Christian quotes is that the German text of the
table-talk </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>does not include them.</b></span>”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>1-a. </b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">In
fact, in the original German text and throughout each translation
afterward, these quotes </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>corroborat</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">e
Hitler’s well-publicized infatuation with his savior, Jesus Christ.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>2. </b></span>“<span style="font-size: medium;">Originally,
Christianity was merely an incarnation of Bolshevism the destroyer.
Nevertheless, the Galilean, who later was called Christ, intended
something quite different. He must be regarded as a popular leader
who too up His position against Jewry. Galilee was a colony where the
Romans had probably installed Gallic legionaries, and it's certain
that Jesus was not a Jew. The Jews, by the way, regarded Him as the
son of a whore-- of a whore and a Roman soldier ... The decisive
falsification of Jesus' doctrine was the work of St. Paul. He gave
himself to this work with subtlety and for purposes of personal
exploitation. For the Galiean's object was to liberate His country
from Jewish oppression. He set Himself against Jewish capitalism, and
that's why the Jews liquidated Him.” – </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Adolf
Hitler</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">, Table-Talk (page 76)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>3.
“</b></span><span style="font-size: medium;">Christ was an Aryan, and St. Paul used his
doctrine to mobilize the criminal underworld and thus organize a
proto-Bolshevism.” – </span><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Adolf Hitler</i></span><span style="font-size: medium;">,
Table-Talk (page 143)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Given
that what is sound are Hitler's own public proclamations and
autobiographical testaments, it holds to reason that these listed
quotes are far likelier to be valid given at least their consistency.
After all, at least these Pro-Jesus statements were featured
in </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>every</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">publication,
whereas his uncharacteristic, anti-Christian whining mysteriously
found its way into newer translations. But if you are still curious,
you can read more about </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Table
Talk </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">hoax
controversies <a href="http://www.nobeliefs.com/HitlerSources.htm"><font color="royalblue">here</font></a>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">** </span></div>
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<P><b><span style="color: #0b5394; font-size: large;"><a href="http://cellophanetales.angelfire.com/"><span style="color: royalblue; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"><u>Home</u></span></a></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;">**</span></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><P>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: extra-large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">"<u>My Immediate Words in Response to the Supreme Court Ruling Gay Marriage the Law of the Land</u>"<P></span></span>
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<p><img align="RIGHT" src="https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-0/p206x206/13924950_10155065107477802_1723448616670743622_n.jpg?oh=e7fb972b1de2cd00f2a22a5e7893c61b&oe=58583456" height="325" width="325" />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;"><u><span style="color: red;"><b></b></span></u></span>
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<p><span style="color: #141823; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;">GAY MARRIAGE HAS PREVAILED--<i>Oh my God</i>. At last, in my lifetime I'm proud to say (and much sooner than I'd ever thought!) JUSTICE, TRUE MAGNIFICENT JUSTICE, has come triumphing down for Gay and Lesbian Americans everywhere!!! Our earnest, impassioned voices, for so long enfeebled and silenced and dismissed, have been heard and honored--WE HAVE THE FREEDOM TO MARRY IN THIS GREAT LAND WE CALL HOME!! <i>Yes</i>, it has happened, a day many, many oppressed ancestors of our past never could've foreseen. But at last it has indeed occurred: JUSTICE WINS, and the American flag proudly swings today with the message soaring that love has <i>no</i> gender, and that we are all made of flesh and blood, indifferent really, and that discrimination IS NOT the American way. GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!!</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #141823; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<p><img align="right" src="https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13876699_10155065117597802_336273736119904969_n.jpg?oh=35e501e18726cf608b27094065402ff9&oe=5850355D" height="325" width="325" />
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<span style="color: #141823; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;">It seems like it was just mere days ago that I was jumping up and down happy, riding on a brutual adrenaline rush even, as I realized that a whole ten states had ratified Gay Marriage. "We're in the double-digits now!!" I went around excitedly mentioning whenever the topic was the heart of discussion among my peers or certain members of my family. And in reality this really <i>wasn't</i> much too long ago; it has in fact just been the moderate-size slab-on cornerstone of a short couple years (sparkling fresh in battery life liveliness as they were, of course though, resulantly prolonging and impressing in their effect) in which much, much thrust and rapid happening then greatly sped to transform the grand-scheme of color that broadens the map of the land indefinitely: one, two, three, four--following years and years of American voters uniformly voting staunchly in favor of bills and legislation stifling or discounting completely the legal possibility of gay marriage in every state, suddenly it's mid-term elections and select states have gay marriage on the ballot and vote, amazingly, all in </span> <span style="color: red; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"><b><i>FAVOR</i></b></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;"> of allowing same-sex marriage unions in their states!!! But see by that time, I remember because I was watching the post-election results come in play-by-play that night, there was not much register of surprise in me when these positive closings were read off and discussed on the air; for, in but a short period of time following the sensational historic presidential cycle of 2008, in which Barack Obama was elected president, there seemed vastly increasing a phenomenal wave of greater willingness for understanding, tolerance, and slowly but surely, even acceptance for gay and lesbian people in America. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="clear: right; color: black; float: right; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></br><img align="RIGHT" src="https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13891910_10155065107287802_7613935185466223055_n.jpg?oh=2a23ebb2a8e6f59a61a24c1b15af9372&oe=581EC322" height="325" width="325" />
</span><span style="color: #141823; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #141823; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #141823; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;">Interestingly, 2008 itself, a rather many of us will remember, quite oppositely was a high peak-year in terms of manifesting surges of homophobia in the public societal domain, fire-flames and uproar from monstrous homophobic and anti-gay coalitions having overwhelmed warm bodies virtually everywhere nationwide. What a relief that's all long gone down the river by now (and did so relatively quickly too, fair to say)--so much hate and ignorance and antigay propaganda were crawling their way upwards and into vivid life then, anytime, and everywhere you seemed to look. Yeah....definitely <i>whoo!</i> that those days are over, my friends. I can still sit here after all this time and perfectly re-envision those "Protect the Children!" signs everywhere during the 2008 election here in Florida when the "Marriage Protection" amendment was on the ballot (and, unfortunately, was passed, by a tiny but significant 4% overage)! Dear God...But no matter, sing '<i>Ding-dong, the witch is dead</i>!', as it's pulverized to something more pitiful than nonexistent now. Yep, finally no such legal leeways matter anymore; no more stagnating for years back-and-forth in circular legal logic, no more praying for patience as we see on TV these great machines of prejudice and antigay discrimination amounting another in their significant political number, no more having to teeter in wonder of how long, how great, how impactive in time it would be, if ever that is, before we at last are awarded the right to marry that we should have rightfully received by default, as so justly deserved! No, because on this very incredible, and never-to-be-forgotten monumental day--the exact date of June the twenty-sixth in the year 2015 precise--our Supreme Court Justices have made their all-effectual ruling: by a defined 5-4 margin, our Justices have officially ruled in favor of marriage equality for all, ANYWHERE, ANYONE, ANYTIME, so long as it resides upon United States soil. And you know what the best part about it all is??!!</br>
</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #141823; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #141823; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><font color="black" face="Georgia">There's not a damn thing a homophobe anywhere can do about it. Gawd, I'm loving imagining the millions of pathetic, now homophobic burnouts everywhere widely across America right now, mourning and despairing and going batshit crazy over this! Jesus has failed them, they'll have to suppose is the doom cast onto them, I'm going to hazard a guess. Because there's nothing any esteem of their potential efforts can do, hence; gay marriage is now landed like an extraordinarily overpowering foreign spaceship fresh upon US soil, and to dare waste an effort trying to stop it is to ask to be the very one who'll inevitably fade in the passing of most tedious dust.....OH YES, <i>JUSTICE HAS WON</i>!!!</span>
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<P><b><CENTER><U>GOD BLESS AMERICA, EVERYONE!!!!!</CENTER></U></b><BR>
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</div>Atheists Concerned for America: Political Musehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10901301803211052014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-777506882414056074.post-68008228098791782882015-04-25T08:01:00.003-07:002023-01-10T19:43:14.411-08:00 The Lost Part 3 to the Original 2007 Compilation, "Trilogy of Confronted Prejudice"<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia";"><b><span style="font-size: xx-large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><U>BE A MAN</U></span></span></b><P><Br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: XX-LARGE;"> <i>A Short Tale of Perseverance</i></span></span><P><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: X-large;"><U>By Jordan Adorno</u></span></span/><p>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;">“<i>I do consider myself a feminist role model; but I think am a role model for men as well as women... I am an independent woman, I don't rely on other people to take care of me, I do exactly what I want to do, I fulfill my dreams, I have strength of character, I have a vision...I think I've accomplished a lot of things; and I think that’s a role model for male or female</i>” — Madonna</span></span></div><P>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://cellophanetales.angelfire.com/"><span style="font-family: "Georgia" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: royalblue; font-family: "Georgia"; font-size: large;"><span style="color: royalblue; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"><u><b>Home</b></u></span></span></span></a></span></div><P><BR />
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<center><span style="font-HEIGHT: 159%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: XX-large;"><u>Part I </u>– Indignation <u><br /></u><i>In the eyes of Susanna Marshall</i></span></span></span><br /><p></center>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia" , sans-serif;"><u><br /><p></u><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: left;"> When I called my two beloved friends, Mackenzie Smith and Emily Mages, I never planned in my mind at all such a scheme involving forthright a rejection, but which, consecutively quick to imitate imminent, exacerbated growth, afterward would storm into a final, violent-declaring wish for full disparagement of , almost (seemingly? maybe?!), to our entire village. Truly! In fact, all I'd originally hoped for was to waste a little bit of time mingling just us, let loose in the chatter of our simple lives. But a philosophical conversation leaving us pondering our dissatisfaction with our inability to achieve independent success, given our being ever dependent on (at best) lackluster husbands, unexpectedly led us into "dangerous" conversation territory that no man would ever have approved of.<br /><br />“...Do not tell me, my dearest friend, you are happy in a marriage to a compassionless man you have never loved. Your love is for Kristen Lament,” Emily Mages told me much too bluntly, silently as much naming the matter indeed most highly noteworthy ... And it was too true. She was right. My only love had been for Kristen when we were sixteen in a secret romance – But the effects of extreme emotional distress caused us to seek a parting of our ways and proceed along with the arranged marriages bestowed upon us by our conservative parents. “My love, we shall part, but let us end it on this final kiss,” I had said my last impassioned words, and then I walked to my home, and awaited my husband-to-be in a fortnight. And my misery began.<br /><br />“I’m inclined to agree, yes, but I am obviously not alone,” I spoke, directly to my dear friends. Then I got up from my sofa, I walked to my window, pulled aside the curtain and sat on the windowsill, watching out to the village where I watched a man lead his wife through town. “Mackenzie, I am in such luck my husband is at war.”<br /><br />“I would never deny that I am plagued by my own dark shadow of unhappiness. How such injustice is placed upon us women!” said Mackenzie. When we had been wed off at sixteen, two years ago, she had been most vocal in her indignation to Emily and me as we mourned in silence ...We had no way to reverse the actions that were the cause of our grief.<br /><br />“And I must endure the patronization of my husband in his medical field as he truly believes I, and all women, suffer such low intelligence,” snorted Emily, sarcastically sliding off her words. “And yet he knows not of our secret education. Do you remember my loves, with Kristen, how we excelled in mathematics and the principles of science?” She spoke with such excitement; it made me smile. I remembered my excellence in political philosophy and our discussions on the very real possibility of incredibility, a fallible nature, within the holy books of the world, our obsession with the concepts of evolution, our constant practice of complex mathematics, our studies of ancient cultures – All in the basement of my home, using deception fooling my mother, pretending we did nothing but chatter of pretty boys (a topic I had no interest in) and of our future devotion to our husbands. My mother was a fool, just another brainwashed woman of society.<br /><br />“I am unhappy,” I let out alas, almost melodramatically. “I want to attend a University, become a philosopher and a writer, fight for feminism – Prove equality in the sexes,” I tried to explain my words carefully, so my dearest and only friends would understand. “If at all, we women are superior in emotion and social development – Men only excel in physical domination.”<br /><br />“Look at the war. So many die – And this by far is the worst; I mean just THINK, they for their first time now use fighting aircrafts!!” Emily said diligently. “It will be a bloodbath.”<br /><br />“Men do not understand the concept of peace,” spoke Mackenzie passionately. “They need women to assist them in politics.”<br /><br />“No doubt,” I said cynically. “I do hear of the movements to allow women to vote. Henry is appalled.” Henry was my not-so-dear husband, who luckily was fighting in the war. I shall not say I wish an ill fate upon him, because I do not. But still, nevertheless I simply cannot , cannot ever genuinely love him. My love remains with Kristen. I pray one day, in the future, this kind of love shall be tolerated and accepted. Someday maybe...<br /><br />“I want to do something,” Mackenzie said abruptly, coming to join me by the window, and she saw my tears of frustration.<br /><br />“What?” I laughed sarcastically. “No one shall listen – Our village is male-dominated with their uneducated, brainwashed wives.”<br /><br />Emily looked thoughtful. “Most women at the least are able to read and write,” she began, sounding as though she had had an epiphany. “I think we should form a petition and after some success we can appeal it to the mayor’s wife, who will persuade her husband to take action.”<br /><br />“What will the petition do? What level do we begin at?” I asked sharply.<br /><br />“Allow girls in the village to receive equal education to the boys,” interjected Mackenzie.<br /><br />“But we should approach the matter somewhat harmlessly.”<br /><br />“We’ll start the petition; I think we may get some women on our side,” said Emily, nodding enthusiastically. “But we shall need signatures from at least some men, which should prove difficult.”<br /><br />Mackenzie and I stood thoughtful as Emily joined us, putting a hand on each of our shoulders. “My loves, we shall achieve what we can.”<br /><br />I nodded, though my hopes did not exceed my doubts. Mackenzie’s composure was only of fierce focus. She hated her husband perhaps more than either Emily or I. She felt boredom towards his profession in law, in which she believed he was immensely biased. And like Emily, she hated having a husband ten years her senior, equipped with disrespect towards her and all women, and yet called himself a gentleman. Mackenzie in her sensitive emotions repressed him openly in their home; publicly, however, they engaged in the most believable front of a blissful marriage.<br /><br />But as this plan began its initiation, we had no doubts the anger my dear friends’ spouses would direct at them. I, in luck, had a husband at war and would not deal with the animosity he would otherwise bring. I was grateful as I was very prone to emotional distress, lacking Emily’s strength and Mackenzie’s ferocity. “I shall invite Mrs. Jack into my home,” I said, firm with my idea, and then I smiled. “And I shall coerce her with my charm. She is easily led.”<br /><br /> “And I perhaps will invite Ms. James – And even her husband. He’s amiable, he shall hearken to me,” said Emily, in a confident tone.<br /><br /> “I shall not endeavor into anything now,” Mackenzie said. “I shall not bring light to our conspiracy; suspicions could quickly rise.”<br /><br />We nodded in compliance; we held no suspicions that Mackenzie held fear, as she was, perhaps, braver than even Emily. Her intentions were well thought out, and she would strike eventually, and strike she would with success.<br /><br /> “I swear I shall burn the village before I allow us to fail!” Mackenzie exclaimed,<br />sometime later. Even though Mackenzie did not mean the comment literally, I could almost believe it in such a sense, as Mackenzie was one to halt at nothing.<br /><br />**<br /><br /> Two days later, the three of us attended church service as normal, but stood out to out fellow villagers in a quite devoted sense, purposely; our intentions, obviously, to portray innocence to the first of many we sought to convert to our beliefs. I stood alone in the front pew, eyeing all in forced tears, dressed in black accompanied by a veil, in an act of pretense mourning my husband’s absence. Mackenzie and Emily sat silently by their husbands, as expected, pretending to avidly absorb the sermon.<br /><br /> Upon leaving, I sought out Mrs. Jack, whom I had previously spoken to of a meeting today, and began speaking of the sermon with passion. “Oh yes, Colossians is too correct in stating that we do not endeavor into philosophy, as it is a subject of Satan, and it shall force us to question are faith in such blasphemy,” I began dramatically. “Thank God we have such a genius book in our Bible.”<br /><br /> Mrs. Jack agreed. “Too true! We must follow the teachings of our Lord, and seek direction through Him alone,” she said, in disapproval of philosophy. I laughed inside as it was my favorite subject and it had, yes, turned me to an agnostic feat of countenance, so to speak. “Now, shall we make our way to your home?”<br /><br /> “Indeed. Let us enjoy a walk, as it hardly a mile from here,” I said kindly. We made our way.<br /><br /> The one reason I had chosen Mrs. Jack was because she too had her husband at war. She had an inability to bear children, and I too pretended to have the same problem, as I had not bore any children either, but for different reasons I did not disclose. As she spoke in passion of these matters, and I responded in pure pretense, it was almost pleasant, if only entirely deceptive.<br /><br /> I made her tea at home, spiking it with a bit of brandy. We chattered happily, but I began pressing on the subject of my husband. I moved along to the necessary independence I had achieved, and how I had shocked myself in my own strength. And then I disclosed into her, as though a secret, the next step. I had truly begun to believe in the equality of men and women I told her. I begged her, as though I cared, not to judge me. I told her, in my somewhat standoffish manner, I had sought refuge in books, and had educated myself quite well. She was intrigued, and she seemed to notice my education had only been a benefactor to my personality and she realized how articulate and amiable I was.<br /><br /> Thereby, I explained to her carefully that if women like she and I could function alone with no husband, why did society say we women needed men to take care of us? Had we not proved our strength? Had I not proved my intelligence through personal studies? And then I told her how Jesus himself had elevated women to a degree, and then I noticed she truly began to think …<br /><br /> “An advancement of women could indeed improve society. I do believe this,” I said very firmly. And then cleverly, I spoke of my husband again. “I remain forlorn as I ponder upon my husband in the war, but I simply am confiding in you the recent epiphanies that have dawned upon me. Do women not have a huge responsibility in society, as mothers, to raise children into suitable people? We must be equal. It seems, when given a chance, we can be as successful as any man.”<br /><br />But still, I was clearly being too forward. I could see the variety of emotions ranging on her face every few seconds. She had never anything like this; it frightened her but clearly she was pondering upon it. I could tell she wanted me to continue. I was feeling a bit of confidence. “A social experiment is necessary to make confirmations,” I said, leaving the sitting room, going to my room, pulling the petition out of my drawer, and bringing it back to her. “This is a petition to educate the girls in the village equally to the boys.”<br /><br />It indeed took convincing, but Mrs. Jack was nevertheless the first to sign. Mission served.<br /><br />**<br /> Emily’s mission occurred that evening, when she invited Mr. and Mrs. James to dinner at her home. I had already briefly visited, showing her the petition’s first signature, which adamantly encouraged her. She cooked an excellent meal, and after simple conversation with Mr. and Mrs. James, Emily could tell her mission wouldn’t be too hard. They respected and liked her. <br /><br /> “Oh, my dear friends, I must speak of an important matter,” she began in a quiet voice. <br /><br />The hardest part was her husband, Donald, who sat with her. She loathed him; he was one to never admit to shortcomings, and he was too conservative. But Emily had mustered incredible perseverance. <br /><br /> “What is it?” asked Mrs. James, curiously. <br /><br />“I am an intelligent woman with potential, and I feel I am equal,” Emily stated composedly, and she ignored the expressions on their faces. “We have the responsibility to raise the children in society; we are the mothers of the world, and our duty surpasses many of the hardships men face. We are equal, and we deserve education.” <br /><br />Donald was embarrassed and offended, but he attempted a polite countenance. The conversation was similar to my own with Mrs. Jack, but Donald tried to stray her away from her motive, insisting his wife was ill, but it seemed the James’ were interested; they were good-hearted. When she brought out the petition, Donald slapped her, and Emily responded in something of a melodrama, falling to the ground in a perfect act. “Oh, my husband, why must you ignore my plea?” <br /><br />The James’ were obviously offended, and as Donald tried to escort them out, Mrs. James said she wanted to speak to Emily first, saying she needed to instruct her, which pleased Donald. But when she spoke to Emily in the study it was only to find a pen to sign the petition. <br /><br />Emily was too pleased. “Matthew will sign as well,” she said, nodding. “Join us for lunch in our residence tomorrow.” <br /><br />Emily would later comply happily with this. She endured hours of fighting with her wretched husband, but she was a strong woman, and it was worth it to her. Mackenzie encouraged us for now. She planned on striking later, and she had placed upon herself the most difficult duty: She was to make a speech at the Women’s Bible Class in two weeks time, once Emily and I had opportunity to get more signatures. It wasn’t easy, though it wasn’t always hard, either. Educating women was very progressive in urban cities, especially in the North, but we were in a rural community in the South. But we women would deal with it no longer. We got dozens of signatures by women over two weeks’ time. Giving girls equal education must have seemed innocent enough. <br /><br />More men obliged then we may have previously guessed. I believe that perhaps the fact that Emily was a teacher in elementary studies at the local school may have aided us. She was highly respected, and perhaps the fact that a teacher felt unhappy that her female students couldn’t receive higher education meant something. Regardless, our petition was becoming a success. <br /><br />Some men tried to silence us, but we did not allow it. I used my loyalty to my husband in my defense; I was shocked at how manipulative I had become. I said my husband’s strength only inspired me, and that he would be proud. I also reminded all that in many large cities women were becoming educated, and most of all, many women were working in what was labeled “Men’s work” during the current war. <br /><br />“Hypocrisy, do you not see it?” I once demanded to a few Christian extremists who did not believe in elevating women past domestic duties. “We were never found capable until the men were unavailable to do the jobs themselves! I will not rest until the intellect of women can be pursued to the fullest!” <br /><br />There was simply no turning back for us anymore now.<br /><br />**<br /> Mackenzie was next. She was brilliant in her speech; Emily and I naturally attended. She used Jesus as a tactic, speaking of how he elevated women more than ever, speaking of how many of his most devoted were women. She pulled the few quotes of the Bible that showed strong, powerful women, and then she pulled quotes that almost hinted at equality of men and women – These quotes were rare, but Mackenzie, in her immense drive, found them. “Our creator placed brains inside of our heads for a reason!” said an impassionate-as-ever Mackenzie, letting out much of her emotions. “And we must realize this.” <br /><br />“My good friend only wishes for the best of our village, and we must stand together in sisterhood to meet our potential,” said Emily, standing up and addressing all. <br /><br />So many looked interested, so many looked furious, so many look inspired. We really had no fear at this point; our lives were misery in such male domination, if we were shunned, it could only improve our lives. No matter how conservative one is, or how rigid they are in their beliefs, one cannot help but take in the information given to them. Though some women glared at Mackenzie so evilly, I knew it did not bother her. As I watched my fellow women I saw looks on their faces I had never seen. I had never liked many of them, but I now saw potential; I saw how they began to really take in what my dear Mackenzie said. Mackenzie was a genius. <br /><br />There was uproar afterwards. Many accused Mackenzie of being possessed. Emily and I stood by her and defended her. It did not matter; we would have been properly exposed soon enough. So many criticized, saying we were threatening family values and meddling in matters that have always brought us peace. Peace, yes, degrading a gender into a life of potential that could never be reached. <br /><br /> How I ached when I thought of the primitive pagan cultures of the past that worshiped both goddesses and gods. I’m quite a skeptic to all religion, but I know of no genocides having happened due to those religions. At least they saw their female counterparts as equal. If only we had grown from this! Women would most likely rule the world! <br /><br />And of course we had the power to make a difference. But the one most important step was that all of us women in the village came together. If we women did not join together, it would not work. We wouldn’t be taken seriously if the other women didn’t want the same. But the fact of the matter was there were more women in the village than the men at the time, given the war. <br /><br /> It was utterly perfect timing. And we got plenty of signatures. Even after being brainwashed their whole lives, women were very intelligent. This was proof. Deep down women all know the truth. It seemed those who were repressing our efforts were those most devoted to their faith. Extremists, men or women, I always considered waste of human beings. This was hardly a loss. <br /><br />Two more weeks passed. The mayor’s wife, Jane Roger, signed during this period. Then, with her blessing, my kindred sisters and I took a visit to her residence. Jane Roger was very kind to us, and Mayor Roger was very polite, though he was so polite that it was obvious he was not completely comfortable with the current matters. We were confident, though – We had gone thus far. <br /><br /> The five of us sat over tea and spoke gently of casual matters. I avidly spoke of my husband, pretending, once again, to be in complete depression because of his absence. The act was so casual at this point it was almost enjoyable. It was quite comical watching their sympathy. It was a guilty pleasure. <br /><br />But it was so easy after that. Emily was even able to kill two birds with one stone – To show our devotion, she showed Mr. Roger the mark on her face from when Donny had slapped her. Husbands hitting their wives had never been accepted, but it was agreed upon most that women often drove their husbands to horrible means and it could easily be excusable. Truthfully, we didn’t expect the reaction we received. <br /><br />The man was outraged. It was strange, really, because none of us had interacted much with the Rogers as we didn’t even really enjoy their company much. But that would explain our ignorance to his feelings on such a subject. It seemed as though this was a man with ….. A brain? Ah, interesting. And so the man went on … “He hasn’t a damn right to treat you like that! I’m appalled Matthew did not tell me!” The man had jumped up from his chair in his tantrum. It seemed kind at first, but it almost seemed abnormal. <br /><br />However, it seemed as though it could only help us. “I’ll be seeing your husband tonight, dear Emily.” <br /><br /> Emily looked down at her lap and didn’t respond. This was smartest. I was very nervous at this point, but if we could just keep our composure solidly, show ourselves as young ladies, he would see our motive was absolutely good. I did wonder, I remember, if perhaps Emily was hoping Mr. Roger would really do a number on Donny. <br /><br />“Thank you, Mr. Roger,” said Emily finally, in a high-pitched, innocent girly voice. “Your concern is most appreciated. Please do calm yourself, though, you’re frightening your dear wife.” <br /><br />He smiled at her a bit, and he laughed a bit. “I will not tolerate any man hitting his wife, ever,” he said. “I shall deal with this personally, but you must not intervene at all. It will be between us two men.”<br /><br /> I began to respect him a bit. He had at least one principle idea correct. And at this point I knew we had already won. The tension went down slowly, and for a bit we went to casual matters, Mackenzie humoring us with silly conversation. Then, with her help, I slid the topic of conversation to a bit of a lesson on our founding fathers. I spoke pleasantly, as though I wanted to share such knowledge with such good friends, and I could tell Mr. Roger was taking to us well. <br /><br />He was impressed by my knowledge, and it helped considerably that I made it harmless. All he knew was that I had read a bit as I had tragically missed my husband. Emily asked me a few questions earnestly, even though she knew the answers, just to show how it could be for women. And we made it so polite it looked great. And so finally, knowing we had done excellently, we approached the topic straight at hand.<br /><br /> “You have been mayor of our village for a good amount of time, Mr. Roger. In this tragic time of worry and apprehension without Henry, I have been forced to learn independence, and my own strength has shocked me,” I said in a passionate voice. “And sir, I have done some studies. Henry would have been skeptical before to this, I admit, but I am sure if he saw the woman I am now, changed for the better, he would agree it is only right to allow all women to be educated. It would only turn us into even better wives for our husbands.” I smiled in a schoolgirl manner now, and then politely acknowledged his wife, who seemed to have respected my words. And then I turned to Emily and allowed her to speak. <br /><br />“As I have revealed, my husband often does not treat me adequately. And through this experience I’ve learned by far not all men are equal. And yes, I am not afraid to say I am a much better person than my husband. And I don’t believe I will always be able to depend on him – So why would I stay ignorant to knowledge I may so often need?” she said carefully, and slowly, checking their reactions after every few words. “Please approve this for all women who would like to go to school to make themselves better mothers and wives, and for all the girls now who only receive minimal education.” <br /><br />Emily gestured to Mackenzie. “Mayor Roger, please ponder upon all you have done for our community with me,” Mackenzie began, and she got up from her seat and began circling us. “And now all I must say is that I already know you shall oblige to the terms of our petition, and send the girls in the primary school with the boys to secondary school.” <br /><br />She sat down, so dramatically, in a pronounced, affective sort of way only Mackenzie could. I personally thought her words had been a bit pretentious, but it wasn’t much of a surprise coming – Mackenzie, after all the most judicious of us. She wouldn’t make a plea because she already felt it should happen, and therefore it would. In a perfect world (or at very least in a better world rather) her mindset would be perfect. But yes, for sure one had to make an admission out of it; for oh how really dangerously pretentious this still came to force as!! <br /><br />But Mr. Roger laughed and it was approved. It was June, and when the children finished primary school, it was not just the “future fathers” of our village continuing school, but it was the future mothers, who in my opinion, were most certainly superior and would show that in coming years… <br /><br />Thanks to indignation, as a matter of simple fact. Thanks to Emily’s, thanks to Mackenzie’s, and thanks to my own as well. Pure, unapologetically put forth indignation.</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia" , sans-serif;">
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<center><span style="font-HEIGHT: 159%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: XX-large;"><u>Part II</u> – Epiphany<br /><i>In the eyes of Mackenzie Smith</i></span></center></span><br /><br /> <span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: left;"> What a relief it was to win the first part of our battle for equality. I felt such pride for my accomplishment, righteously of course. My dear friends and I had made a difference. If we hadn’t done it, who knows when it would have happened? It was wonderful and though many would have left it at that, of course we weren’t done. There was too much potential.<br /><br />It was only going to be harder, and our celebration of our first success was really more of a meeting to decide our next motives and how to go about it. I felt motivated regardless. I certainly wouldn’t give up. I knew they wouldn’t either. And nothing else, if worse came to worse, we’d stick together and it would be fine. There was no team like Emily, Susanna, and I. After all, together we were the all-final, unfailingly ultimate and tremendous-like triple-threat trio no less! (Well...sort of anyway, hehe.)<br /><br />Eventually, an inevitable mention of something crucial: “The monthly village council meeting is Friday!” I finally brought promptly onto the table. It occurred to me that this was perfect. It would be very controversial, but it was absolutely necessary. “It’s always the same twelve men, that’s including Mr. Roger. No woman has ever been allowed to attend. One of us should go … And I think it should be me.”<br /><br />I wanted to do it myself, I just somehow felt I would succeed, and though it sounds horrible, it was almost as though I trusted no one else to do it, though it wasn’t personal at all to my friends. I just wanted to do the deed myself.<br /><br />“Are you sure? Emily is so diplomatic and calm in those situations,” Susanna pointed sharply out. This was true, but I felt the opposite was needed. This task required extreme emotional devotion and I didn’t think there needed be an act this time – Now it needed to be fair game, and we needed to show them we meant business.<br /><br />“Yes, we need to use some force now, and I’m the one to do it,” I said firmly. Emily and Susanna surveyed me carefully, but they seemed to trust my instinct. I was relieved as I really hadn’t planned on any compromises.<br /><br />And thank goodness, they rapidly complied, warming to it nicely, apparently. “Use prudence, Mackenzie,” Emily advised sharply, looking pensive. “It could get quite nasty.”<br /><br />“Yes, they’ll say awful things that’ll anger you, but you’ll have to keep your composure,” Susanna also warned. “But you can do it, I know it.”<br /><br />And so thus was the plan of action with which we initially maneuvered ourselves on.<br /><br />**<br /><br /> The day was sunny and looked seemingly ordinary indeed. But nevertheless, in its more cooled, cleverly-still subtleness, long it awaited much development, some profound even. Yes, soon-as-ever-to-come whilst developing its major headway, it'll crash, alas disruptive, in the mutated form of some juicy assortment amidst the cloudless, unharmed blue skies; and yet, beneath the lids of my inner defenseless eyes, all the while there would also there transpire, directly unto me this time, an all-encompassing fear which would thunderously illuminate itself outward in the light of my own blanched-out, frozen-fearful gaze. So happened it was Monday then, so I had time to rehearse my plan to myself until perfection. But the truth was – I had no plan. I just felt it would come together somehow when it happened. I felt no real apprehension, even when Emily and Susanna nagged me with advice and precautions. I just felt it was something that had to be done and would therefore be done.<br /><br />Coincidentally, the council meeting was at the exact same time as Women’s Bible Studies that week. Oh, the irony... So, as Robert, my infamously-kept husband, set out to work at his firm, and I acted all the normal. He hadn’t been pleased at all with me recently, but he was smart to not dare place a hand on me. None of us knew what had happened to Donny, but life at Emily’s home had become more bearable in the past days, thankfully. Mr. Roger had certainly served a good purpose and had managed to cause a further influence unknowingly.<br /><br />The council meeting was at one. Around noon, admittedly, I was beginning to feel true fear. I could be putting my life at jeopardy! But the more I thought of that fact I also thought that everyday I wasted in this pathetic lifestyle was putting my life at jeopardy. So as I walked through the village streets, with my heart racing, I kept this fact in my head as I approached the meetinghouse in the heart of the village. I entered, and proceeded straight to the main room. I was ironically the first there.<br /><br />The room was rectangular in shape (lounge-ish, perse), a very nicely-sized layout joined with a long, equably rectangular wooden table with six chairs on each side of it comfortably. There were windows on both sides of the room, guarded by simple curtains. In front of the table was a dais with a larger chair place on it where Mayor Roger sat and directed the meeting. I took a seat in the chair farthest from the door and waited. I was fifteen minutes early, purposefully of course (had to be at the best astuteness of my ever-sharp mind by the time all the room finished filling, I was evenly considering), but the suspense began to drain me.<br /><br />And then I heard a few men laughing and I closed my eyes for a moment. When I opened them there was no more laughter, and four men were in the room with me, staring point-blank at me in confusion. “Mackenzie Smith, is it? Did you need something?” one of them asked kindly, but in a dismissive manner.<br /><br />“I am here to participate in the meeting,” I said as firmly as possible, though I felt I may have let my fear out a bit. But I held myself steady; I knew I could do this. “I am an upstanding member of this village, and I want to be a part of making it what it is and will be.”<br /><br />The men looked at me puzzled; when they realized it wasn’t a joke, they realized this was the latest of the recent schemes my friends and I had caused, and they looked tense, upset, and very displeased. But they also looked as though they were about to put an end to the situation before it even began. Obviously, I would rather die than allow that.<br /><br />One of the men glared at me. “Young woman, you have no business here whatsoever. Leave the property now or you will be arrested for loitering,” he said cruelly, trying to intimidate me. It wasn’t medieval times, though, and if I was arrested, I’d be released in no times. This did not frighten me.<br /><br />“You fool, you do not scare me,” I laughed, and I was actually getting a high from the rush of excitement. “My brain power exceeds yours; I can assure you of this. I will not rise from my seat, and you will do well not to touch me.”<br /><br />The four men were taken aback. I knew them all by name. The first man was John Jackson, a preacher. The second man was Adam Simmons, one of the most conservative people I’ve ever met, and one of the families who we hadn’t even bothered with in regards to the petition. And ironically enough, Kristen Lament, Susanna’s only true love, had been forced to marry the twit. The third and fourth were actual policemen by the names of Sam White and Blaine Ross. I had never liked them, and I was secretly pleased I was having the chance to attack them.<br /><br />“Your disrespect will be the end that destroys, you little girl!” snapped John, rudely. “Do not think the Lord does not see your actions. You will do well to go home and take care of your home as any decent woman would do for her husband, especially a man like Robert.”<br /><br />“What you know about Robert I could fit in the palm of my hand,” I laughed mirthlessly.<br /><br />Robert was far from a happy thought. “I have more wits than him any day, too. Leave your conservative ideas behind. I am equal!”<br /><br />I was so happy to let my feelings out. I knew this was the beginning of an end for me, at least to some degree. But I was so happy at that moment – No more front, no more hiding, I was finally coming clean! And I wasn’t regretting it, not for a second, it was all ending, yes, but I would deal with it, I would …<br /><br />“Be quiet,” said a voice coming from the threshold. The rest of the men were each filing in just as well, too familiar fools who I’d had the burden of knowing my entire life. There was no shame in me, on guilt, nothing. I felt only feelings of strength. I was on a mission that I would complete.<br /><br />But when I saw who the voice belonged to, I admit perhaps I felt just a bit bad, for a millisecond, perhaps. It was Mr. Roger, the man who had helped me. I couldn’t help but feel bad, but he had to understand the ultimate motive was equality, and I would work to that. It was not personal, per say, and if he did really respect me, he’d assist me. “Mr. Roger,” I began a bit quieter. “You know I am worthy of being here.”<br /><br />He did not approach me, but he did stand in front of the other men, and he stared at me as I sat. He did not speak immediately but he did study me closely. I think he was attempting to find out my true motives, to conclude whether my intentions were good or bad. But I don’t think he was too sure. “Mackenzie, I have already assisted you, and now you come here, causing a ruckus?”He seemed hurt; a star cast both dubious yet doubtless in its shining ray. It was obvious that he didn’t get it. I so wasn’t causing a “ruckus”, first off; I was just standing up for women, plain and simple! But on the other hand, still, he had helped, this was a fact.<br /><br />So I decided to explain myself once to him formally, before I found myself behaving much too rude. “Sir, what you did was remarkable and honorable, and I do appreciate it. But I cannot stop there! I don’t just want the ability to learn, I want equal rights, and frankly, I don’t care how ludicrous that may seem to you or any other!” I said heatedly, adamantly without any trace of doubt or insincerity in my voice.<br /><br />He looked appalled. I believe he thought I was out of my mind. I believe it was right then he was starting to regret helping me, and perhaps all the horrible rumors about me were start to validate themselves in his mind. “Mackenzie, I shall ask you once to return home and allow us to our duties, you have no business here!” he said, sounding like an angry parent. Was society so faltered by stigmas that he was unable to even see my perspective, at the very least?<br /><br />“Mr. Roger, I am not leaving,” I said, and I stared at him directly now. I did not feel bad now at all. He was making the choice to not support me now, and that was his prerogative, but I didn’t need to have any respect for him anymore. “Do what you want, but I will not leave. I will not stand by and allow myself to stand down, fall behind my heart and its principles.”<br /><br />“You are disturbing the peace, Mackenzie!” he decided sternly and loudly. He was becoming angry. When he saw my face lacking any kind of remorse, he pointed a shaky finger at me and yelled, “Arrest her!”<br /><br />“You may arrest me if you want,” I said outright, half-surrending. “Your tactics will not distort my perseverance. I shall return, and with help at that.”<br /><br />“If Mrs. Marshall and Mrs. Mages join you, they will be arrested too,” said a stiffly replying Mr. Roger with no sympathy. “Arrest her, now.”<br /><br />I thought of violence, but I realized I was above that form of ‘negotiation’; and plus, if I did become violent, I would only appear less credible. So with dignity, I allowed myself to be taken away on the charge of loitering. I was taken to the police station in the town a short distance away, as our village did not need our own independent station. They were willing to let me go with an apology, which I outright refused. The charges were kept, I was arraigned, and I pleaded no contest.<br /><br />Of course Robert had been notified at this point. I was set to return to court soon enough, and he was appalled. On our short journey to return to the village, he was absolutely livid, and I do admit I feared him. He wasn’t an enormous man, but he wasn’t a small man either. He also had a horrible temper to reckon with. I knew he wouldn’t strike me. Still, it seemed the emotional distress of the whole impending encounter could be, it was quickly proving, quite trying.<br /><br />**<br /><br /> When we arrived home, he was lashing out on our furniture, shattering a glass table in our sitting room and throwing a lamp across the room, shattering loudly against the wall. He screamed out; it was over everything that he was angrily insane and yelling: how I had humiliated him, at how I was becoming evil, at how I was defying him, how I was a heartless demon in the end. I could not take it. I ran to our room, grabbed together a few things, placed them in a bag (which I swiftly then equipped), charged out, and thereupon headed for Susanna’s home. Thankfully, he knew better than ever daring to follow me there (or anywhere period for that matter).<br /><br />I attempted to shed no tears as I recollected the day to Susanna. She listened intently. She proceeded to comfort me, and then she told me she was proud. This meant a lot, obviously. I was not giving in, I had no regrets, I was just frustrated. I was so confused on how any human being with a brain could truly believe a woman could not attend a simple council meeting!<br /><br />“You were strong, Mackenzie,” she assured me. “But I don’t want you to return to Robert...You definitely don’t deserve that.”<br /><br />We were sitting on her couch, wrapped in blankets, sipping tea. I of course agreed with her, and I knew she was offering to harbor me. “You realize if you allow me to stay with you this revolution will truly begin, right? No going back now, love.”<br /><br />“I know,” she nodded understandingly. “I think we need to make a mark here and head out. We’ll leave an imprint, and hopefully things here will change slowly. After the Bible studies class, we heard about the arrest, and Emily and I had a talk. She thinks we should go to the city.”<br /><br />I pondered upon this notion carefully. Our fantasy that we would change our village was just that, I suppose, a fantasy. But perhaps Susanna was right; we could leave an imprint …. But we wouldn’t stay. Even if we accomplished some, which we had, we wouldn’t ever reach our full potential. So we could leave, head to the city, live together as a new generation of women, have a chance, if only a fraction of one …<br /><br />“That’s a big step,” I observed, not negatively or positively. And then I laughed. “What about Kristen? Is she coming?”<br /><br />Susanna shrugged, but I could tell it had crossed her mind. “I think, after all this time, I’ll pay her a visit,” she said, nodding. “Of course I want her to.”<br /><br /> I got up and pulled Susanna up as well. I embraced her. “In a blink of an eye everything has changed. I guess it was just finally time to wake up from the whole entire nightmare of the most oppressed life of which has been ours to live this thus far; yep, 'spose that's so, I'm afraid, ” I said darkly, but in a heartfelt tone. “We have each other, and we’re going to leave this hell behind. The three of us – And Kristen too, maybe, might I need add...”<br /><br />She hugged me harder. “Don’t worry, I’m not afraid. I’ll be with the people I’ve trusted more than anyone else in my life.”<br />
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<center><span style="font-HEIGHT: 159%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: XX-large;"><u>Part III</u><span style="font-family: "Georgia" , sans-serif;"> </span>– Flight<br /><i>In the eyes of Emily Mages</i></span></center></span><br /><br /> <span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: left;"> It was my idea to flee, and I do believe it was the only option for us. We had made minor progress in comparison to the ideals we had, and we would not have our ideals in this lifetime. If we wanted a life of opportunities, we needed to seek a home elsewhere, and the perfect time was the present. And thankfully, my kindred sisters were with me.<br /><br /> Before he left for work the next morning, Donny, however, would speak terribly of Mackenzie. I argued with him indignantly, of course, not because his opinion mattered, but because I hated that man. He was just another brainless man raised by another brainless man, repeating an endless cycle …A waste of a man. He left in quite a mood that I was delighted I had instilled in him. I happily relaxed for a bit as I was meant to rendezvous with Susanna and Mackenzie in an hour or so – After most of the men had already left for the day’s labor.<br /><br /> And then a surprise knock came at my door. I hypothesized in my mind it was Susanna and Mackenzie, deciding to come to my residence instead, but it was not. I opened the door, and the last person on earth I would have expected was there – Kristen Lament, smiling at me in a devilish manner as she curled her tongue in her mouth.<br /><br /> “Kristen?” I said, shocked. When we had all been married off, the three of us had distanced ourselves from Kristen a bit – Not because we loved her any less, but because it was much too painful for Susanna. Susanna, Mackenzie, and I had all been friends since little after our birth. And we had befriended Kristen after our primary education ended. We had absolutely always stuck together, and though it seemed not right, Kristen still had to be left behind to hold our tight circle together. But, now that we were actually fleeing, Kristen’s surprise visit came at a perfect time!<br /><br /> “Yes, it’s me,” she said. Her devilish smile and composure screamed she was in on some sort of private joke, and without me saying anything, she walked right inside and into the sitting room, and made herself instantly comfortable.<br /><br /> I smiled – It was the same Kristen I knew for sure. Seeing her was like comic relief. She beckoned me to join her as she put her feet up. “What do I owe the pleasure?” I asked, heading for the chair beside the couch she resided on, but then I was pulled by her onto the couch and I nearly fell onto of her – But I was screeching with laughter. “Kristen! Ha, it’s nice to see one of us never grew up!”<br /><br /> She laughed heartily as I sat up and looked at her, still laughing a bit. Any unwelcome tension that I may have felt at this point dissipated, thanks to her childish efforts. “I’m so happy to see you all working against the system, I really am,” Kristen said, offering her commendations in a light tone. “But you’ll never reach what we need, don’t you see that?”<br /><br /> How quickly she was to bluntly put down the truth, as always. I pretended to not hear this, as I wasn’t ready to talk about that just yet. “How does Adam treat you?” I asked, swiftly changing subjects.<br /><br /> “The same as your spouse treats you,” she responded cynically.<br /><br /> “That sounds awful,” I said, and even laughed in a cynical tone.<br /><br /> “It is, it is,” she noted earnestly, laughing cynically herself. “But at least you enjoy men in general! I have it the worst! I mean, Susanna is in the same boat, but at least her brute of a husband is at the war!” She said this so emotionally I started laughing happily, just happy to be with Kristen again, and hear her unintended humor.<br /><br /> “Well, I’d hardly define my husband as any kind of thing I’d have a sexual preference to, trust me,” I said, still laughing. “It’s so horrid.”<br /><br />Kristen nodded adamantly. “We’re used to it though, aren’t we? It’s been a long time,” she said, changing her tone to a more nostalgic, serious note. “I wish things could have been ….Different.”<br /><br />Now guilt really did arise in me. The three of us were kindred spirits, and we had found Kristen, a perfect addition, and she remained part of us for years …. And we left her behind. Even though we had no malicious intentions toward Kristen, I still felt horrible. As I looked into Kristen’s eyes, I saw her sadness. “Kristen …. It just would have been worse for you and Susanna,” I said in a very humble and comforting tone. “It would have destroyed you both.”<br /><br />Kristen shrugged. “Look at us now,” she said quietly, not in an accusing voice, but it was unhappy. “We’re so lost.”<br /><br />“But we’re surviving,” I responded strongly. “At least none of us have gotten pregnant.”<br /><br />She laughed out loud. "I will never hold a human being inside of me, no thanks.”<br /><br />I laughed harder than ever. Kristen was one of those women who usually repulsed being around other women, though that was mainly because the women of our village and its surroundings were all the same. She enjoyed sports and she was tough. She wasn’t very feminine, and she hadn’t even bothered with a front even though she was married. She had short, auburn hair and though she was of small stature she had impressible muscle mass for a woman of her size. Still, though, her glinted, glowing blue eyes had a sort of emotion in them only a woman could have.<br /><br />“Ha, you’re such a man!” I joked, struck offhand by the corny anecdote. Her mouth fell open in repulsion, though she was smiling. Still laughing, I added, “An ideal man, though. The kind of man I’d have a preference for.”<br /><br />And then I realized how strange that sounded and we both cracked up in laughter. It was just like old times, it really was; and I realized that Kristen was most definitely coming with us on our special adventure (MISadventure, really, it was thus seeming) , on our flee, on our path towards … Liberation. I decided to tell her this, not ask her.<br /><br />“Well, thanks. I think,” she finally mused out, candid straight into the air, once our laughters began to die down. “But another thing I shall never do is equip a penis, no thank you.” She said this in an almost professional tone, and I, not at all unexpectedly, bursted out laughing once again. The tone was perfect to speak about our liberation in an excited manner.<br /><br />“Oh my God, Kristen, you’re so funny …. And I have news for you. The three of us are fleeing this village,” I said, and I tried not to show I was about to add she was coming as I wanted to watch her expression.<br /><br />She looked down at her lap absently for a moment, and I smiled exuberantly. I finally added,“And you’re coming with us!” She screamed out in joy and then she hugged me, laughing. At that point, I was unsure if my dear knew the seriousness of the situation. When our embrace ended, she looked at me intently, smiling, but looking a bit befuddled by such a lovely, yet borderline preposterous, statement. “How on earth are we going to do this, though? You’re serious? If you’re not, you should be, it’s meant to be …” She trailed off, talking quite fast in the adrenaline rush she was experiencing from my statement she so wanted to come true.<br /><br />I smiled at her. “I am serious. I don’t know if you know, but Mackenzie left her home when Robert lost it and she went to stay with Susanna. No one would ever approve of that. Mackenzie’s already gone past the point of no return, and we’re joining her. We’ve already left our imprint …. What else can we do?”<br /><br />Kristen nodded, agreeing. “And Susanna and I may even pick up where we left off,” said she, in a sort of dreamy voice, though totally authentically. “I hope time hasn’t ruined it.”<br /><br />I laughed out loud. “Trust me, it hasn’t.”<br /><br />We talked excitedly for a bit of time, catching up on simple manners, enjoying each other’s company. I felt such relief to have Kristen back again, and at such impeccable timing. And now we were going to run away, go out, and never come back. The world would be our oyster!<br /><br />**<br /><br /> It was going to be hard, but we were going to be free. FREE,and free at last, I must too mention; well so just as we should have been long, long ago, perhaps before even the start of everything, quite frankly, as to most forwardly emphasize. End of fucking story. (Uh, well with kind forgiveness for my, err, “French”, though, please of course.)<br /><br />Anyhow, an hour later, the two of us ventured to Susanna’s house, and the suspense of seeing the only lover of her life once again, nervously speaking to her, was making Kristen very apprehensive. I repeatedly reassured her, though it had virtually no real effect on her unsparing mind. And so when we arrived at her doorstep, I then knocked loudly, so that they would come quick and the suspense would end. I was excited to see how the first part of our happy-ending story was faring today.<br /><br />It was Mackenzie who opened. When she noticed Kristen she froze in shock, but then she smiled amiably and they embraced; and then, upon this is when I soundly heard true tears of joy – And then I myself realized some of the tears were coming from my own eyes as I grinned in appreciating the moment.<br /><br />“What is it?” called Susanna, and as we walked in, she saw Kristen and, too, was shocked. She didn’t race to Kristen immediately. Mackenzie and I stood to the sidelines as Kristen walked to Susanna, frozen in movement, standing in front of her sofa. Susanna looked so shocked, but she was the first to speak. “Kristen, oh Kristen.”<br /><br />“All this entire time that this has been going on, I mean it when I say I’ve wanted to see you again – I promise it. But I just wasn’t sure, I just didn’t know...so I went to Emily instead,” said a suddenly rather gentled-sounding Kristen quietly, who thereon remained flushed, just as in a vulnerable voice she was just finishing, “I love you.”<br /><br />And Susanna kissed Kristen as she wrapped her arms around her. It was long and full of passion for three years’ missed time. As I watched them, I realized how much worse it must have been for them – Mackenzie and I had never properly been in love with anyone, they had, and they had suffered worse as they had had to partner off with not only a mate they did not choose, but a mate of the opposite gender they felt attraction towards.<br /><br />When they finished, they fell onto the sofa next to each other, talking quietly for just a few minutes in their own realm of existence, which normally would have annoyed me, but of course now was quite understandable, and now brought me nostalgic happiness. After a short time, they beckoned us to join them and we begun discussing our departure from our Hell.<br /><br />There weren’t many material possessions we would need to bring along with us – We’d be starting a new, and I personally did not want to bring any reminders of our previous life. So I proposed we each packed one bag of pure necessity only – And only Susanna, whose guilty pleasure was clothes (that’d be too well-minded over the years, that was for sure). We laughed at her as she unwillingly agreed to leave the majority of her wardrobe behind.<br /><br />And then we had to decide how much money we would bring with us – How much was necessary. As much as we repulsed our husbands, it would be wrong to steal hefty amounts from them and then hit the road. Besides, we would not have earned it, and I myself wouldn’t therefore feel right using it. Of course, as we had suffered through partnership with them, some of it belonged to us, and we would take the appropriate amount. We decided we would most likely be afforded a given small selection of minimum-wage jobs when we first arrived in the city; so, estimating we’d still be treated unfair and fall on the short end of the stick (we were women, the major oppressed demographic, that was sadly the unquestionable given) and so for that we’d thereby need at least a year’s savings. So we each settled on taking certain portions of what savings our spouses had kept away in our safes.<br /><br />We would head for New York – The city of what (hopefully anyway) was a slew of newborn opportunities for us lost women. We knew there was an unbelievable amount of diversity in the city, so perhaps there would be tolerance for four women who were housing together, that too specifically, instead of with men who would be otherwise dominating them. We would have to see. And so, in a rush of utmost captivating excitement, we henceforth cleverly planned our escape, which we determined would take place three days from now; consecutively, we would rest subsequently later on a fixed time as well, midnight, that we would be free. All was, thus, so far starting well.<br /><br />Mackenzie never returned home. Meanwhile Susanna’s house was bombarded by Robert later on in the evening. Then, to make it worse, Donny and Robert both went to Susanna’s home to terrorize them. Resigning irresolutely, last they locked up, and after sometime they departed, as they had no other options. If they had tried to damage Susanna’s home in anyway, she would have surely turned bent on vengeance and destroyed them.<br /><br />But everyone had turned against Mackenzie and Susanna by the end of the night. I ventured out to the marketplace that night to purchase some supplies, and I heard John Jackson, the preacher that Mackenzie had dealt with at the council meeting, and his wife chattering with a few friends of theirs harsh words about Mackenzie. As it no longer mattered, I approached them and stood up for my kindred sister.<br /><br />“I find it repulsive how you dare to speak ill of a woman who seeks, in full-most overreach of such spited pinching hardship no less, the maximal usage to the human brain of which she has been gifted with, and why? Because it is her greatest, deep-down most utmost-held aspiration to fight for the greater good of humanity and of all – pure selfless unlike the likes of you!!!” I proclaimed, and said so both sarcastically and rudely. “I understand you all lack intelligence, but really must you be so audacious as to make fun of your legit superiors? Do you not realize how much stupider you appear?”<br /><br />I laughed mirthlessly at them as I charged off and I now heard the whispers switch from the topic of Mackenzie to myself. But I smiled because my sisters and I were to have the last laugh. We were going to fly away into the real world. We were going to leave the village idiots right where they were and forget them. And then someday in the far, far future, we’d come back, and actually come to feel sorry for them when we were rich...<br /><br />NOT! (Haha.)<br /><br />So when the night finally came around of our escape, I – my one heavily-contained, leather army canvas-style bag propping neatly up over my one shoulder by its assembling string's stretching, fully-extended pull – was all set to go. I was much more “obedient” towards Donny. I made him a nice meal and even pretended to fall asleep next to him. And as soon as he was in a deep sleep, I quickly got out of bed, waited a bit, and ventured out to rendezvous with my sisters at the meeting point: The clearing in the woods to the east of the village, a bit of a walk for all of us.<br /><br />As we met in the clearing, the four of us spoke for a few moments in quiet relief. We’d all been scared one of us would be left behind; but luckily, no, all was fine and well. Or so we thought. We heard footsteps from the other side of the clearing, in the opposite woods, and I gasped. “Do you hear that? Guys, did you hear that sound?! There’s someone out there, I swear! I heard ’em!!” I cried out fearfully, shaken to my wits. I heard Susanna say something about calming down, but Mackenzie seemed shaken, too. Kristen took out a pocketknife, but once I saw what had made the footsteps, I knew it would be useless.<br /><br />John Jackson revealed himself, dressed in an all black suit, as though he had been passing through on his way to dinner. He looked gleeful, and in his hand by his side was a revolver. At this point I was in beyond fear for my life, after all having no idea how he had found us or what his intentions were. “Well, well, well,” he said, laughing, and he pointed his gun forward at us. “Nice to see such lovely young ladies going on a stroll tonight – Don’t you dare make a slight move.” We were all shaking horribly, except Kristen, who was frowning horribly at Jackson. She still held the pocket knife in her hand, she even held it still. But I have no idea how she may have thought it would be helpful. Jackson laughed at her as he stood still, gleefully laughing at us.<br /><br />“What do you want from us?” Kristen demanded fiercely, and I heard no fear in her voice.<br /><br />“Dare you try to leave your spouses and lives behind? Dare you leave your spouses to the mess you have created in our community?” bellowed Jackson angrily.<br /><br />I was truly scared, scared that he would fire the gun and destroy us all. But then Kristen lunged forward to the ground six feet forward for upward something of a millisecond. Immediately, Jackson pointed his gun downwards to her and at that very instant, and I to this day do not even believe it was humanly possible, she hopped up, took her pocket knife and launched it directly at Jackson. In seconds the knife was inside of Jackson’s chest, and he had dropped the gun, and then dropped to his knees, and then fell on his head.<br /><br />Immediately Kristen screamed in utter shock. “I killed the man,” she said whisperingly, frightfully unnerved. She was shaking to the absolute madness of things. “Oh my God!”<br /><br />We were all scared, apprehensive, nervous, all of us fully confused, each utterly and wholly aggrieved inside; yes, we’d thereby succumbed to indeed an entirely barricading and overwhelmed wretched state, right at the face of the most unhandy, ill-fortuning circumstance at hand. I was first to speak, first to seek out reason. “Our lives were in mortal peril; you saved all of us! You did absolutely nothing wrong!” I passionately let myself express forward, hitting out at them right upon the most sensitive gauge of their ears. I was relieved to have my life, and I had her to thank for it.<br /><br />My interruptive soundbite seemed to hang, impressing upon the atmosphere momentously before penetrating apart ever thread of thin air. “She’s right, you know. We have a mission to complete,” affirmed Susanna loudly, directing her voice at Kristen as she placed a hand around her neck.<br /><br />“We have GOT to get going on,” said Mackenzie hastily, sounding very serious. “The man was going to exterminate us, Kristen, you’re a hero!”<br /><br />A few moments passed similarly by before any of us had the stomach or the willingness to bury the body in the woods. It took away such an incredibly decent amount of our time that, as we finally actually finished – drained so thoroughly in disgust it was very uncanny to anyone’s enabled imagining, mind you – I’m surprised we all didn’t become sick. We quickly nevertheless charged away and continued on our mission. We were strong women, and we had gone thus far already, and therefore no one would ever be standing in the way of our deserting journey. Not once, not ever again (to speak quite blandly on the matter that is).<br /><br />And at that very point forthright, in the testament of my life I knew that I would continuously prove there was no tribulation or labor in this world that to survive through I would need to be a man.<br /><br /></BR><p><hr />
<br />
</span></span></span></div>Atheists Concerned for America: Political Musehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10901301803211052014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-777506882414056074.post-55859480670403700492015-04-14T01:41:00.000-07:002017-04-13T09:12:56.889-07:00The Lost Part 2 to 2007 Short-Story Compilation, "Trilogy of Confronted Prejudice"(Terror and Karma being Part 1)<br /><div lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0.08in; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="font-size: 29pt;"><span lang="en"></span></span></span><p>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="font-size: 30pt;">"<u>Extreme Emotional Disturbance</u>"</span></span></span>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="font-size: 30pt;"><span lang="en"><br /></span></span></span></div><P>
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<i style="font-size: 25pt; line-height: 150%;"> <span style="color: black;">A Short Tale of Unspeakable Violation</span></i></div><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 23pt;"><span lang="en">"Short of homicide, <b>Rape</b> is the '<i>[U]ltimate violation of self</i>'."
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 23pt;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 28px;">—</span><span style="line-height: 15-%;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 23pt;"> Byron R. White</span></span></span></div>
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<b style="font-size: xx-large; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 24pt;">By Jordan Adorno</span></span></b></div>
<br /><a href="http://cellophanetales.angelfire.com/"><span style="color: royalblue; font-size: x-large;"><u>Home</u></span></a>
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**</div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 17pt;"><u></u></span></span></div><font color="black" face="Georgia">
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><FONT FACE="GEORGIA" COLOR="BLACK" SIZE="5.9"><u>Part I – <b>Repression</b></u></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"><FONT FACE="GEORGIA" COLOR="BLACK" SIZE="5"><i>In the eyes of Courtney Amos</i></span><P></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;">
</span></span> <span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> I hate the male gender. I always have and I always will. No form of therapy can rectify this; I am the most extreme feminist. I do not believe it is at all wrong to blame men for society’s downfalls. Society has always been male-dominated, has it not? I may be "biased", you feel because of my preconceived ideas regarding the male gender (for currently unknown reasons that I will soon illuminate, and which may also sizzlingly intrigue you to feel somehow different too, no less) but this matter is factually proven, and in an obvious of most manners, too. After all, even if no further add-ons grasped my staunch 'anti-male' position (and many do, for sheer clarification purposes), it takes but one clear, transparent look around at our world to see the damages of having had a patriarchally-built society. Nevertheless, as I now am approaching my departure from this life, I have chosen to elaborately recollect my hidden past which shall explain my certain, well, ill “subjectivities” (let's just say, <i>hm</i>?) towards men. When I have alas passed on and the lovely women in my life, most namely including my daughter, come across this detailed personal account, I hope the missing puzzles pieces to my strange held whole-world perspective in life come together and grant those dear to me closure.</span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> My
story begins when I was eleven. My mother had married a lawyer; I had
never known my birth father and my mother and I had barely made it by
on our own, it having been much harder back in the 1920's. Women were
still treated terribly in the workforce and my mother’s wages
barely fed us. But my mother took advantage of her beauty and dazzled
James Sanders. We were poor, but my mother was an excellent
opportunist and a great thinker. They were wed in six months.</span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> Both
my mother and I took his last name. At that time, I as Courtney
Sanders, my mother as the respective Mrs. Samantha Sanders (a
name <i>she'd </i>forever kept),without any doubt henceforth were
living a life refreshed and transformed for the utmost, surreal
better. Our social status completely changed …. We moved into his
large, lavish home in the richest district of town with him and his
son. Never in my wildest dream had I imagined we would have
progressed from our poverty to such privileged lifestyle. I felt
beyond blessed.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> At
first, I was euphoric. I had my own bedroom, I went to a private
school, and my mother now stayed home with me, never having to work
again. And in the beginning, I found my stepbrother (who was sixteen
at the time), a kind boy, and I was sure he would be a great older
brother who would look after me always. I was naive, naturally,
barely eleven after all; I have never blamed myself for him at the
very start of this unimaginable horrible mess coming to confront and
overpower me. And I never shall. And yet, the pain shall never
disintegrate. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en"><i>No</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> .
I</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> n
turn, a sole subsequent fact apparently serves as an amazing true,
heart-collapsing matter for some (at least basing from what gathered
experience has made noticed the more I've shared my story with
different audiences, that is) — </span></span>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span lang="en"><i>Seventy-five
years later, chills still run adamantly through my bones every time I
reminisce upon the traumatic event, as if inconceivably its horror
had transpired but yesterday.</i></span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> I
remember the day it began clearly. It was the start of autumn, and it
was oddly cold and windy. My mother and stepfather had gone out
shopping and I had stayed in my room most of the day, having woken up
quite late. I had done nothing but read a schoolbook and take
notes. It was an hour or two before dusk when my not-so-dear
stepbrother, the devil Alan Sanders, asked me to join him in his room
to talk, as he was experiencing boredom without any of friends, who he
said had all been quite busy, had no time that day for leisure, and he of course could not go fishing with his father today.
Innocently, I complied – I, too, had begun to feel lonely after
all.</span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> We
talked casually for some time. He spoke of his approaching birthday;
how he was </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, '', serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 200%;">excited
he was receiving a new radio. He also mentioned how his father had
hinted that perhaps next year he would grant him a car – Which, at
the time, was a much larger luxury than it was today. I wasn’t
surprised at all, though. My stepfather loved us both. He treated me
like his own, and I always thought it was in his nature to grant us
with all the gifts we so desired. Alan and I continued talking
cheerfully …. It had all seem so dull; there had been nothing to
really be suspicious about.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> And
then he began directing the conversation slowly but surely into
territory I was certain my mother would find inappropriate. He spoke
of my body, which he ever so gently had said was ‘</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en"><i>just
beginning its bloom into womanhood</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> ’.
At the time I asked why he would want to speak of this, as I</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> thought
it must be a strange topic of conversation for an older brother to
have with his younger sister, but he simply said he loved me, and it
was all right for us to hold secrets together. Thus forth, he needed
to silence me, so sneaking himself into my manipulatable mind (being
that of a defenseless little girl's notably), in that way he slipped
me right into his forbidden courtyard's cement of sexually perverse
fortresses; each a fortress which in it he left me voiceless and
thereby served equally terrifying for me at then my feebled tender
age, he'd used their eery undiscoverable, individualized dark hidden
space to emulate his full compass of mentally-summoned, pedophilic
obscenity. He called it natural, and every time he encouraged me to
relax as he begun touching me in ways that I, a little girl, hadn't
understood never should be (‘S</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en"><i>urely
your mother wouldn’t understand today’s generation of
adolescents</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> !’),
he'd so laughed it all off, my different looks full of horribleness,
sounding so casual. I believed in his sincerity. He began talking to
me about my growing breasts, the hips I would get, how he’dprotect
me from boys with bad intentions …</span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> Oh,
how I had been easily manipulated by his false attitude of "gentle
touch", his faked demeanor's seemly care for me.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> I
shall not haunt my loved ones senseless by</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> granting
details of the incident; it was terrible. It was not anything minor,
something that one could say I misconstrued. I never was quite the
same after that first experience. I wasn’t the Courtney so happy to
be with her new family – I quickly had become a shaken, confused
child.</span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> I
wondered whether to confide in my mother, but reasonably I was taken
aback by this idea and very frightened. My mother had such dear love
for my stepfather. At the time I completely doubted she would believe
me – And I would only cause tension and chaos to fill our
household. It was my reason at the time as a child, and Alan knew I’d
feel this way. Having to see him every day after it happened only
manipulated me further, and I was left puzzled and lost. And so I
remained silenced. </span></span>
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> The
abuse continued until I was fourteen. I was not so ignorant no, I
hadn’t conformed</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> to
social stigmas of gender roles, and I independently went beyond my
normal studies. I was on the road to success. Alan had seen this
growth when I had begun my upper studies at my new school, and the
abuse had stopped early into my studies. I truly thought it was over
for some time, but of course it wasn’t, it couldn’t be. But the
next time he came to me again it</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en"><i>was
</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> the
inexplicable last time, and it brought imminent change.</span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> It
so started as such: He came to my bedroom, and this time he was
meticulously cautious, offering me assistance in my schooling, asking
if I wanted a drink or a snack. I was no fool anymore, however. In
case of an emergency, I had hid a chef’s knife under my bed.
Ironically, I had done this after the abuse had stopped for a bit –
I was so relieved, and I knew I would relapse horribly if it began
again. And thank God I was ready.</span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> I
watched him slowly moving closer to me, and I just waited. He was in
touching </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">distance
soon, and I was very frightened even though I had my defense. This
young man had</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">abused
me for three years. But I kept my composure, and as he took a moment
to pull me up from my bed, and was about to place his hands on my
breasts, I squatted down hastily and pulled the knife from under my
bed. I looked at him directly in the eye and lunged the knife athis
groin, somehow having enough control in myself to miss his trouser by
an inch. He</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">screamed
and charged out without a moment's waste, stunned and stupefied;
suddenly </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span lang="en"><i>HE</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">
was the one that was small and enfeebled, suddenly </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span lang="en"><i>HE
</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">was
the one that apparently was defenseless.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> “YOU’LL
NEVER TOUCH A HAIR ON MY SKIN AGAIN! IF YOU COME WITHIN THREE FEET OF
ME EVER AGAIN, I’LL MURDER YOU YOUR SLEEP AND BURY YOUR BODY! MARK
MY WORDS!” I screamed with all my might and rage. At the time, I do
not believe I was bluffing. I truly believe I may have actually felt
this way. </span></span>
</span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> Needless
to say, the abuse therein ended and never again repeated.</span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, , serif;">**</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> I
left home at eighteen, unwed, and never looked back. It was so
disgraceful at the time, and perhaps I wouldn’t have done it had it
not been for Alan, who stilled lived at home while he attended
college. I knew my life could have been better as I lived for several
months in poverty, suppressed by the sexism of society, and at that
very time it also marked the beginning of the Great Depression.</span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> I
was an opportunist like my mother, and I chose a path that elevated
me. I met a very rich businessman who was clearly unaffected by the
Depression. He was quite old, and he had no wife. I seduced him and
like my mother, made him fall in love with me. He married me, and I
kept him pleased, unpleasantly, and I prayed for the day he would
pass on and I could inherit his fortune. I felt no remorse; he was a
man, and as a woman I was forced to do such acts because of the
cruelty pressed on women by men. He died within two years, and
I inherited his mighty fortune.</span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> I
would never have had to work again, and naturally that very lifestyle
as enticing. I chose not to. I wanted to show the world a woman could
dominate, and I began by aiding the poor during the rest of the Great
Depression. As the men set off to the war in Europe, I took part in
various jobs that many of the soldiers had had to leave behind. I was
pleased, partially,because of these doings, though I still trusted no
one and remained lonesome. So when a wealthy family I had good
relations with had a pregnant daughter out of wedlock, I offered
to take the baby. They gladly agreed, and my daughter, Torina, became
the center of my life.</span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> Now
that I had my daughter, I abandoned my late husband’s name and took
up the surname Amos, and I used all the energy in me to forget my
traumatic childhood, and give Torina the best life I could.<p></span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"><CENTER><i> I
hope when you, dear Torina, read my shocking secrets you shall
forgive my secrecy. I hope you now understand why I held you under
such obsessive security, and why whenever you came home after outing
with boyfriends you often found me weeping in my bedroom. I spent
mainly sleepless nights haunted by the idea of a man violating you.</i></span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"><i>Forgive
me, Torina. You are the true adoration of my life. I fear, still, after so many </i></span></span><i style="font-family: Georgia, '', serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 200%;">years of your marriage to Henry Loss that he may someday mistreat you. But he has not ever given me any clues to this, and perhaps in my last moments before I depart from this world to the next, I can rest assured of your safety...</i></div><P></center>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> Perhaps
I shall have more time to live than I anticipate. How is it, at
eighty-six-years-</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, '', serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 200%;">old,
I have never once forgotten the name of my family and friends? No
memories of the abuse have left; none of the joyous ones as I raised
my loving daughter; none of the immoral marriage I suffered through;
none of the drive I put into women’s rights in the second half of
the century when so many chances arose. It’s all there.</span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> But
yet my body is too frail to leave from my bedrest most of the day. My
dearest assistant, Eliza, keeps me jovial nonetheless. She began
working for me fifteen years ago, and yet she is my family more than
a worker. I give her board in my home, and her continuous presence
neverleaves me lonesome to rot as so many of the elderly endure. I
have enjoyed happiness in mylatter years – Torina and her family
visit me, Eliza is here, and I worry not of money. If Godexists, I
thank the being for this. But that is not all, my loves, I have one
lost confession I must divulge.</span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> Alan
Sanders, whom I shall no longer refer to as my stepbrother was
imprisoned for the remainder of his life in 1965 for molesting four
girls all under the age of eight in a daycare he was employed in. The
possibility of manipulation and deception among children did leave
room for what perhaps may have been reasonable doubt, but his
ex-wife, Kendra Simons, reported he sexually assaulted her twice
after their separation. And forty-four years after he began his abuse
on me, justice was appointed. Surely I should be rejoicing this? Of
course not!</span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> I
am responsible for the attacks on those five victims. Had I simply
spoken when that </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, '', serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 200%;">devil
had attacked me while he was still a youth, when perhaps I had been
his only victim, at least five other victims would never have been
touched. But no, I had been afraid my loving mother wouldn’t have
believed me. I have dealt with this guilt for thirty one years since
he was imprisoned.</span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;">I
don’t see that fact that I was eleven as an excuse. I was much
beyond the age of reason, and all of the four girls had been under
eight and had come forward. But I had not been strong enough. I had
never thought of Alan striking again. To me, it had ended when I had
personally confronted him. I had never thought of future victims.</span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> The
guilt remains in me forever. I shall not ask you, my loves, to
forgive me.</span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(128, 128, 128); border-bottom-width: 1.1pt; border-style: none none double; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<u style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><FONT FACE="GEORGIA" COLOR="BLACK" SIZE="5.9">Part II – <b>Violation</b></span></span></u></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.06in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"><FONT FACE="GEORGIA" COLOR="BLACK" SIZE="5"><i>In the eyes of Billy Englund</i></span></span></span></div><p>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.06in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: large;"><i></i></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;">The
night of the incident had been a night like any other. I worked at
the desk until dusk, I ate a light dinner, and my good friends and I
enjoyed some drinks together, discussing casual matters among ourselves. Johnny took a young lady home, Charlie’s wife called him
in early, and I left the bar with a familiar smile on my face. All
was well</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> ...</span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 200%;"> Or
so it seemed, anyway: I hadn't any idea this thus far pleasant
evening was only but at its </span><span style="line-height: 32px;">inconspicuous</span><span style="font-size: 13pt; line-height: 200%;"> beginning, unseemly enough;
and no idea either that it'd culminate so very regretfully, as hands-down the most unforgettable, unimaginably terrifying and
surreal night of my whole life, to be just exact.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> So
as I made my way to the subway, pondering a bit, and the fact that I
ran into a pretty</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> girl
didn’t bother me in the slightest. She was no older than I, perhaps
twenty two. She was</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> thin,
and equipped with a tall, feminine body that would dazzle any man’s
eyes. She had long,</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> dark
curls and sharp facial features. Her eyes shone like green grass, and
when she approached me, looking almost bashful, I was shocked she’d
have any interest in me. I wasn’t</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> bad
– I had a boyish face and sparkly blue eyes myself – But my bony
body and messy hair was</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> nowhere
near enticing as she was.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;">“<span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span lang="en">Hello,
sir,” she said. Her voice was calm, but vulnerable – It was
girlish and small. “It’s</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> mighty
chilly tonight.”</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> This
was true. It was the Christmas season, and snow dropped mercilessly
as the temperatures chilled great. I, myself, loathed the cold New
England weather. My career</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> move
in advertising had forced a move to colder weather, but I had enjoyed
the mild</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> temperatures
of South Carolina.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> “Quite
true, ma’am,” I agreed. “Where would you be headed?”</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> “Home,”
she said, dispirited. “I’ve seen you around. You live in Core
Square?”</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> “Yes,”
I remarked, surprised at the coincidence. "I’ve been here for a
year now. Have you </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, '', serif; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 200%;">been
here long?”</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> “No,
only four weeks!” she said cheerfully. “It’s good I found you,
I believe I’m lost!”</span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> She
seemed so kind and innocent. We walked and chattered as a guided our
way to </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">the
subway, grabbing cocoa before making our departure. She told me how
she had been in</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">foster
care as a child and had difficulty adjusting to adulthood. She had
come to town to avoid the memories and start anew. She liked it so
far, but she was lonely. I felt her swift flirtations, and I
countered by speaking of Elizabeth.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> “Elizabeth
went into the armed services,” I mused. “I love her so dearly.
She serves three ore months, and then she is to join me here
afterwards. Naturally, I’m thrilled.”</span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> As
I continued to speak of my first and only love, she seemed too
gleeful for me. I </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">couldn’t
help but be flattered. I was tempted, but my love for Elizabeth
overruled all. As I</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">conclude
my speech on Elizabeth, knowing this girl knew I had no interest in
pursuing her, I spoke to her of my line in work in advertisement.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> “How
interesting! Is it you who sends us to those fast food joints?” she
laughed heartily.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> “Ha,
I wish. Much more pay,” I said evenly, smiling at her humor. “But
my local work</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> does
do well. I’m guessing you’re in school?”</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> “Yes,
Oakridge College in downtown. I’m studying criminal justice, but
I’m joining the</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> police
academy soon. I just want the degree,” she explained, trying to
make herself seem brilliant quite obviously.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> “I
didn’t catch your name,” I said, surprised. “I’m Billy
Englund.”</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> “Erika
Bradshaw,” she said cordially, shaking my hand. “Pleasure.”</span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> She
asked me to walk her home after we got off the subway. I agreed –
It was late.</span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;">Her
apartment was two blocks away, as we lived in the same housing of
both condos and apartments. I lived on the condo side, but the walk
was very short. I admit as e passed my house many fantasies and
desires crossed me, but once again, my adoration for Elizabeth
overcame to the everyday, manly desires.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> As
she unlocked the door to her apartment, she told she wanted to show
me how she</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> had
decorated profusely as she had had extra time on her hands as she
hadn’t made friends. I felt in control, and at that point, my urges
had settled down, so I complied. My ego felt inflated, I couldn’t
wait to tell my buddies tomorrow. Hell, I’d introduce her to my
sultry, dear friend Johnny and they’d have a good old time. He
would owe forever. And as I smiled at the thought...All was well.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> The
interior design of her small apartment was admittedly impressive, and
had it been a different circumstance, it would have seemed quite
normal and understandable for her to want</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> to
enjoy the privilege of showing her pretty home off. It was small, as
I noted a little living</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> room
with nice Asian design, complete with tapestries and incense; a tiny,
perfectly organized</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> kitchen;
a small square-frame room with windows as wall next to the living
room she made into a</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> study,
and by the kitchen, the door leading her bedroom.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> I
was so amused! I felt it’d be easy to resist at this point. I felt
so flattered. I felt bad not to accept such a desperate invitation,
but I thought of Elizabeth. As I stood there, a slight</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> headache
instantaneously came to me and I sat down for a moment on the sofa.
She joined</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> me.
“...Headache,” I said casually, in an amused voice that didn’t
reflect how I felt.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> “Ah,
I have aspirin,” she offered kindly. She got me a drink of juice
and two aspirins. I </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">took
them quickly, and forced a placebo effect in me to minimize the pain.
I forgot how much</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">I
had had to drink … It hadn’t been a stressful Monday night, it
was Friday. I wasn’t drunk, no … But I had consumed much more
alcohol in the shorter time span I spent with my friends</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">than
I normally would. I wasn’t too worried. I’d sit for a moment,
wish her a good night, and</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">be
on my way.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">Again... All was well.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> “Where
were you tonight?” I asked casually. “You were out late.”</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> “I
didn’t have school or work, which is rare, so I decided to explore
downtown a bit </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">more.
I have an awful sense of direction, unfortunately. Regardless, it was
fun. There are</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">lots
of good shops,” she explained, getting comfortable on the seat by
me. She was watching</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">me
closely, almost studying me. I scooted a bit on the couch away from
her. I could tell she</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">noticed.
But I wasn’t intimidated.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> “What
a coincidence we met,” I said, with a slight laugh. I would learn
later that there</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> was
no coincidence, but at the time, I was ignorant to this. “A
pleasure to make a friend so near</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> to
me.”</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> She
smiled. “Yes, it’s been so lonely! Did it take you long to make
friends here, too?” she</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> asked
curiously.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> I
shook my head. “Everyone’s pretty tight at my job. I just
happened to fit right in. My boys and I have a good time, but I know
what you’re staying. I was worried, too,” I said</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> sympathetically.
At this point she smiled and got up. She went to the kitchen and
grabbed a</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> soda
for herself. She then sat down on the sofa opposite me, respecting my
space. I felt at</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> ease.
Nothing was going to happen. I didn’t mind a pleasant conversation.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> “Ha!
Well, there are some interesting people in my classes, but as class
is so busy …” she</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> began.
She went on a bit; talking about her variety of classes, the tedious
schoolwork, her</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> job
… I don’t remember when I began droning out. But I remember truly
believing I had died. </span></span>
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> Her
words just faded out, and my vision blurred. I felt sharp pains run
through my whole body,</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> particularly
my stomach. The feeling of nausea erupted through me. I tried to shut
my eyes</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> and
stay still as I let out a deep breath to relieve the pain, but it
didn’t go away. I wanted to</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> die
in those painful moments just to make the pain go away. I felt as
though the agony would</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> only
go on forever …</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> I
began groaning. As the peak of the pain drifted, I squinted my eyes,
taking deep, shallow breaths. As I tried to properly look around, all
was wrong. The world almost seemed to</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> be
on a tilt and then it would shake like a pendulum. I felt so sick and
frightened. In the heat</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> of
the confusion, I barely knew who I as or where I was. I knew only
survival. I screamed, I simply couldn’t compose myself. I didn’t
know what was wrong with me.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> I
didn’t know if it was just me …. Well, yes, surely it was. But
how? And why? This was no</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> effect
of alcohol … And I felt a cold, outstretched hand pull my hand up,
and thus I cooperated. It was Erika. She said something on the lines
of lying down, and I moved along with her until I heard her push a
door</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> open.
I wasn’t like it now, though, I was losing my mind in a stranger’s
house and I was</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> completely
vulnerable. I was too weak and drowsy to make protests, though.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> Next,
I felt myself pushed onto a bed, and I groaned. I just hoped for a
moment of relaxation</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> against
the cozy bed, but I never got it. The pain remained with me. And now
I was really scared. I wanted to run home but I didn’t even have
energy to get back up. And then I heard</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> Erika
laugh, though I hadn’t a clue what could be funny …. </span></span>
</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> And
then I understood. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en"><i>She
</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> had
done</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> this
to me. What was she planning? I was suffering enough as it was. I
felt her pull on my</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> left
arm and I felt a strong force wrap around my wrist, and then I heard
a click. I pulled on my</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> arm,
and I realized she had restrained me. I screamed for my life. She
gave me no mercy as</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> she
handcuffed my other wrist. I wanted this to be a nightmare and for me
to wake up in my own bed, safe and sound ….</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> “Let
me go, please,” I begged, suddenly growing rapidly lethargic. She
laughed. She hopped on top of my legs, putting considerable force on
my knees. I told her she had to stop, and she told me to beg all I
want;</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> that
she was in control. I wondered what I had possibly done to deserve
this. I didn’t want it</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> to
happen … She had no right.</span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> But
it did. She pulled my trousers off, and there I was, exposed to a
stranger. She </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">was
beautiful, but I hadn’t, and didn’t, want her. I thought of
Elizabeth, where she was, what</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;"><span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, '', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: 13pt;">she
was doing, if she was thinking of me. I wanted to die.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> Even
if I had wanted it, I was in no physical state to perform. I was
dizzy, fatigued, my</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> vision
was blurred, and I felt as if all my insides were going to crawl out
of me. She had</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> planned
this all, she was pure evil. She knew I wouldn’t be with her, and
she took matters into</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> her
own hands.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> She
stimulated me manually first, causing the needed physical reaction.
It wasn’t as if I</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> could
help it, my body was reacting to her touching. But I felt strangely
guilty because of this.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> And
as she accomplished her awful deed, I felt responsible to the max. I
let a woman</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> overpower
me. But as she finished and slapped me in the face with a laughed, I
felt myself</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> drifting
out again, the world twisted around me, and an exhaustion poured over
me.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> I
recall being unable to stay awake even though I had an urge to stay
conscious. It was</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> a
task impossible, and I was out cold in seconds. I’m not sure in the
entirety what happened</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> the
rest of that night to me. </span></span>
</span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0.06in; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 11pt;">**</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> My
next recollection was opening my eyes and being outside in</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> the
cold, shivering horribly, feeling dizzier than before, and I felt
moistness under me. It was dawn and it was so cold …. I need to get
up … And then I realized the evil woman had in some</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> way
sodomized me and I was bleeding. I was going to bleed to death …. I
screamed again and again. I distantly heard people talking …. A
blaring noise … More</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> talking
… And I passed out again. I woke up in a hospital bed, and
according to doctors who had attended to me, I had lost a lot of bed.
I was lucky to be alive, and of course the worst</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> part
came: </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">the
inquiry</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> .</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> How
could I possibly admit I had been overpowered by a woman? How could
anyone</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> believe
me? Why would they believe a woman raped, drugged, and sodomized me?
I’m not</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> sure
how I did it, but I suppose it was all the anger it me. I told the
doctor everything. I</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> suppose
it was easier because it was a female doctor in her thirties, and she
looked very</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> sympathetic.
She listened. I didn’t think she believed me though, and I didn’t
think anyone</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> else
would. I was horrified at the humiliation, at the disbelief I’d
face, at all the negative attention, and meanwhile the pain …. I
regretted talking the moment I said everything.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> It
seemed she consulted the other doctors and it seemed they believed
me. I suppose all the medical injuries definitely assisted my case.
It was a relief, obviously, but it wasn’t</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> easily
from there. I felt socially humiliated in degrees indescribable. I
had to face detectives</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> who
were all men, and all skeptical, and were extremely patronizing. It
was terrible. But I</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> had
to keep going; I just told the truth.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> The
detectives had probable cause and within hours had a warrant to
search her home –</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> Before
she had time to clean up the mess. The strap-on she had roughly
penetrated me with</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> to
near murder had my DNA, and was found with her in the bathroom, where
she had been</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> casually
washing up. The handcuffs were still there; GHB was found in her
medicine cabinets.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> To
top it off, an eyewitness claimed to have seen her leave me outside
my home, and it was</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> credible
as the witness had been the first to approach me and call for help.
She had been</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> foolish,
and she had been arrested. She hadn’t seemed to realize how much
damage she had caused; she was shocked when the District Attorney
threatened to charge her with attempted</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> murder
if she didn’t plead guilty. And of course she did. She is currently
serving fifteen years</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> in
state prison. Imagine if I hadn’t come forward— Perhaps more men
would have become</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> victims.
It wasn’t easy going through the worst humiliation of my life, and
it only became</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> worse
upon media’s coverage on such a strange case. I had to fly back to
South Carolina for a</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> bit.
When Elizabeth and I rejoined each other after some time and returned
to our home in</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> New
England, we both faced depression.</span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> But
by God’s miraculous grace perhaps (although it <i>was </i>for a
grand-totaling obvious reason, then again), however noteworthy, none
of society’s stigmas could have overruled the indisputable,
callousing guilt of Erika Bradshaw.</span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(128, 128, 128); border-bottom-width: 1.1pt; border-style: none none double; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<u style="font-size: x-large; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><font size="5.9">Part III – <b>Secret</b></span></span></u></div></font>
<div align="CENTER" lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"><i>In
the eyes of Martha Sand, Trauma-Specializing Psychiatrist</i></span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><P></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> One of the most fascinating clients I have ever encountered was Courtney Amos and Billy Englund. Never had I met a rarer pair – Courtney was eighty-seven, in a wheelchair,but somehow so vibrant, and Billy was twenty-three, youthful but at the time so directionless. At my greatest source of intrigued amazement, one could say, I soon understood why. Courtney Amos and Billy Englund were both victims of one of the most traumatic
events that could ever surface into anyone’s lives: Rape. It is the greatest violation of the human body, of the human mind, perhaps. <i>Rape</i> – Perhaps the most horrid and oldest of crimes in our world. I had dealt with many rape victims before, but this was sufficiently different. I welcome the challenge, however, if I could in any way aid my clients towards recovery, it being the ultimate goal.</span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> Courtney revealed her testimony first of the sexual abuse she had faced as a
pre-teenager from her stepbrother. According to her, she was a happy person now, and though she hated her stepbrother infinitely, she wasn’t there for the counseling on the trauma she had experiences so many years ago – But of the guilt she felt for not reporting her rape, and in result, her stepbrother sexually assaulted at least five others. I listened so intently. On my very first meeting, however, I was a listener, not yet a responder. Billy begun his tale next, somewhat reluctantly, often not looking at me directly, blushing horribly, and then putting his hands over his face
in shame. As politically incorrect as it was of me, I was skeptical about Billy, profoundly interested as I was, though unsure of what to expect. As he begun to story, though, I felt such profound sympathy for him – My objectivity was in danger of being overrun. I had never dealt with a male rape victim; in fact, I am now ashamed to admit I hadn’t learned much about it previous to Billy as it was so uncommon for a male victim to come forward, and therefore I felt the knowledge was small. Point-blank, regardless for better or worse I'd most likely never use it, would find it to be ill-adviced I do think.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> Billy
was a good man who relocated to New England from Florida for a decent
job and</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> still
stayed strong. He fit in well thankfully, but he wouldn’t have felt
properly settled until his fiancée in the marines returned from
overseas to be with him. But someone destroyed him from inside – A
young woman posing as a shy but a friendly person and in need of a
walk home in such late hours. She knew he was living in her
neighborhood. She tracked him, attempted to seduce him, but Billy
felt, and I agree, she had premeditated the whole ordeal and she had
planned to make him suffer. She invited him into her home for a brief
moment, gave him a common date rape drug instead of aspirin. She
guided him to her bed in the peak of the symptoms of the
intoxication, handcuffed him to her bed, and raped him. As he
concluded, I was shaken at the thought of how many other men were
victims of rape, and perhaps by the same perpetrator, yet too ashamed
to come forward.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> I
asked them how they had come to meet, and Courtney revealed she saw
the unusual</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> case
in the newspaper, in natural curiosity and it sent her to tears, as
she questioned all in the obvious truth this man had revealed.She had
had a complete hatred towards men before Billy; she openly admitted
that. This is a far too common result of sexually assaulted women,
but it is quite understandable, and unfortunately, often quite
difficult to treat. She had lived with that for nearly her entire
life; I found it astounding personally, as she detailed me many of
her life events in future sessions, the many steps she ruthlessly
took to repress men ... Most of all, her admittance of manipulating
an old man into marrying her with plans to inherit his fortune upon
his death –</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> Which
she did. But, it seemed as though her newborn friendship with Billy
Englund had made her question her life of hatred towards me, weighing
even more guilt on her shoulders. When his</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> rapist
was convicted through a plea bargain, Courtney was overwhelmed with
retrospection.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> “I
questioned my past. I realized that women are not always the victim.
I saw aninnocent, traumatized man in Billy. It did not take me long
to track him, and now … hell, thereare quite a few amends I would
make,” she told me in a tearful voice that was hard to</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> understand.
“But when I was young it made sense to me that men were the enemy
as a whole, and I wish I could take that back.”</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> She
would never forgive herself, and maybe even rightfully here in this
case. Perhaps she deserved to live with</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> the
guilt of her animosity towards men. As for her not having the bravery
to come forward as</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> a
pre-teenager, I adamantly counseled her.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> “You
did nothing wrong. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en"><i>Nothing</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> !
Sixty percent of rape goes unreported,” I explained</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;">
deliberately and </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> carefully.
“You are brave to face this now. You’re braver than most victims.
You were intimidated by a manipulative, sick, stronger man. The man
will never leave prison now.”</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> I
prescribed her a well-known anti-depressant; I felt she deserved to
live her last days in</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> as
much relaxation as possible. I prescribed Billy a similar medication
with a very precise</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> dosage.
The medication would not cure the trauma, no, but I have strong
belief it would give</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> Billy
an extra weapon to leave the depression behind.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> I
knew he could do it. He was still strong and potent; with each
session I saw him recover a bit more. I suppose after Courtney came
to the sixth session, revealing the</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> medication’s
mild success and parted me for a final time, I could have referred
Billy to a crisis counselor. But I didn’t, as I suspected he, too,
would no longer be seeing me soon enough. It was saddening, yes, but
it was necessary. I would miss him.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> Sure
enough, I was correct. Two sessions later, his improvement had
doubled, with his</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> fiancée,
Elizabeth, as a witness. He was once again enjoying work again, as he
had done so</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> before,
he was socializing, and he was smiling. “The trauma’s always
there,” he said before he left. “But I will not allow it to
dictate me</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> <span lang="en">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> ever
again.”</span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 13pt;"> I
was proud, so very proud. I’ll never forget Courtney Amos or Billy
Englund, the two clients I learned more from than any other. Courtney
realized her mistakes in her past and Billy was climbing the ladder
of recovering beautifully.</span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.06in; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: 11pt;">**</span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;">
“</span><span style="color: black;"><span lang="en"><i>Three
grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do,
something to love, and something to hope for</i></span></span><span style="color: black;">."
– James Addison.</span></span></div>Atheists Concerned for America: Political Musehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10901301803211052014noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-777506882414056074.post-20236176797469944672014-10-01T20:21:00.000-07:002016-02-24T08:10:37.437-08:00Striking Down Dangerous Myths Regarding Female Intelligence...<p></br>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.12in; margin-top: 0.06in;">
<img border="0" height="405" name="graphics1" src="https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfl1/v/t1.0-0/p280x280/12742750_10154537968997802_5660472058260939068_n.jpg?oh=e034aa91fb480d079c7b96bd958c00f9&oe=576E0B41" width="410" /></div><BR>
</div>
<p><div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.12in; margin-top: 0.06in;"><a href="http://cellophanetales.angelfire.com/"><span style="color: royalblue;"><span style="font-family: "georgia", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><b>Home</b></u></span></span></span></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.12in; margin-top: 0.06in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><P>**<p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.12in; margin-top: 0.06in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><span style="font-weight: normal;">Introduction</span></u></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">:</span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Remarkably,
even in today's society, still men are raised to have deep-seated
confidence and belief in their own abilities, whereas women (more and
more the more they get older) are disadvantageously made by instilled
second nature to — thanks no less to the unfortunate sexist social
stigma exclusively at blame here, notably — to ever self-doubt.
They are constantly told they can't do thing after thing ultimately
just because they were born female (although this is most usually
conveyed but </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>subtly</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;">,
as well as repeatedly, into girls' subconsciousness), and
subsequently end up becoming conditioned to stand down and just
accept such parameters as simple fact. Women as a whole are far, far
more inclined to be immensely apologetic about their thoughts and
feelings, whether wrong or right immediately inclined to submit to
the correction of male counterparts, and as a collective have
substantially less self-esteem built into them. Essentially, once
grand-totaled, this very much alive sexist stigma, which includes
many more sexisms that too add significantly to society's impediment
on women, is overall the result of a rather particular and quite
"hush-hush", basically ignored social formula that
universally sets women up to be the victims of society's unobstructed
undermine.</span></span></span></div>
<P><div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.12in; margin-top: 0.06in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgReD-h20XKwUpYxGO8QpTrYL5D7yn8_xZ7OkkuUAerC_VipE57ZvdWyvnUdKeb6xhdqgyDxOEN1zaHxgII3bS8vfMgxAK1FoTLyER6559t-qZrOVWFY87uTxrzdkMiNpxCIMV226KL8Yc/s1600/F0073520-Female_brain%25252C_artwork-SPL.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="325" width="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgReD-h20XKwUpYxGO8QpTrYL5D7yn8_xZ7OkkuUAerC_VipE57ZvdWyvnUdKeb6xhdqgyDxOEN1zaHxgII3bS8vfMgxAK1FoTLyER6559t-qZrOVWFY87uTxrzdkMiNpxCIMV226KL8Yc/s320/F0073520-Female_brain%25252C_artwork-SPL.jpg" /></a><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;">One great practical, real-life demonstration of such undermine in action is that when men take IQ tests they always score significantly lower
than what they expected, whereas women in reverse score significantly
higher than their typical (sad as it may) dismally low expectations.
In truth, we live in a society where it is basically commonplace,
unjustifiably as it would so seem, that a man says the word 'the',
and automatically everyone thinks he's a genius. (It is unbelievable
but I'm almost not even exaggerating in making note of this, which
alone really does emphasize the severeness of the matter.) On the
other hand, a woman who is authentically very intelligent will so
often still concentrate heavily on much more trivial weaknesses, and
no matter what will find reasons to think her husband, brother,
father, male coworker (etc.) is somehow smarter than she is. Parallel
studies have sadly re-proved this finding again and again (Traywick,
2012).</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.12in; margin-top: 0.06in; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Consecutively,
men are quite privy in general to be taken aback or uncomfortable
when faced by a woman who instead declines to be all these enfeebling
characteristics: best described as the assertive, ideal modern woman,
men are intimidated because she does not "need" them to
complete and validate her, and moreover has no problem standing
beside them in much contrast to most as a refreshed, challenging
equal. Nonetheless, such facts notwithstanding, repeated studies have
also shown that women revoltingly will play dumb when they first meet
men in order to placate their wish of feeling superior and smart—
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><u>THIS
INFURIATES ME</u></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;">.
Degrading oneself, intentionally cutting down one's own personhood,
on sheer behalf of assuring a male counterpart maintains his desired
ego (precedented or not), that rather than unapologetically
displaying her own personal, GENUINE talents or giftedness, is one of
the saddest, most detestable things I ever (and with nothing short
intense frustration no doubt) have come across in my years of
dedicated gender studies.</span></span> <span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Henceforth,
the following assertions are sound, repeatedly-proven facts
pertaining critically to the condition and state of modern society,
whether harmonic or not to the ears. And with such said, hereby I now
present a college paper I wrote on the subject for my Developmental
Psychology class:<P></span></span></span></div>
<p><hr /><p>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0.11in;">
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0.11in;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><u>"Female Intelligence: Undermined in an Ever-Sexist America"</u></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0.11in;">
</div><P>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0.11in;">
<span style="font-size: xx-large;"></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.06in;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";">By Jordan Adorno</span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.06in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><P></span></span></span></div>
<p><div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.12in; margin-top: 0.06in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8IxtWg_VQW2zL8ciPtSxs0sWlfCmi6WcOLaTK4iBkrH1Nq1Xq25iartahfU55WiEsOY5r1i2zOQIU7G61lKRZ6U-B21D3MpEpKyL3oaw7p3CozB69PrvNVeETxBfgPcyU1PyIFRSqM-c/s1600/12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8IxtWg_VQW2zL8ciPtSxs0sWlfCmi6WcOLaTK4iBkrH1Nq1Xq25iartahfU55WiEsOY5r1i2zOQIU7G61lKRZ6U-B21D3MpEpKyL3oaw7p3CozB69PrvNVeETxBfgPcyU1PyIFRSqM-c/s400/12.jpg" height="325" width="325" /></a><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Although it’s become the misfortunate typical belief depraving our society, the assumption America's overall progressed and succeeded past sexism
is dangerously inaccurate. Women still suffer disadvantages of sexism
underneath patriarchal order, the face withdrawing them from enabling
social equality next to men. As starting proof, is it not commonly
conceived that laws eradicated widespread recurrences of career
discrimination long ago? It sure is, but truthfully that precise
standby notion is the quintessential sexism which, in its dismal
societal misconstruction, has unintentionally left the American
people to the futile misunderstanding of their own society! Barring
women today are the same degrading, sexist paradigms that society's
proliferated all-throughout the scope of history, amazingly. Such
anti-woman lies explain why most people are SO shocked upon finding
out that female workers earn on a national average, seventy-seven
cents to every dollar earned by male workers (Alexander, 2010).</span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.12in; margin-top: 0.06in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Crucially,
a common trend of rampant misunderstanding about today’s women
doctors, lawyers, police officers and the like exemplifies nowadays:
importantly, these women who have risen to eminence are quite often
considered proof that females have equal opportunities in the
workforce, and that it’s just a matter of women choosing continuous
integration or not. In reality, such careers are parts to the
constricted bubble of socially acceptable careers for America’s
modern women. Urgently, however, the big picture of gender inequality
is perpetuated by a widespread, sexist pretext that restricts women
as a </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>collective</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;">
(sometimes consciously, sometimes subconsciously): the counterfeit
societal belief that women are inferiorly intelligent, or if softer
said, just "less inclined" to certain intellectual areas
(i.e. just 'less so' in math and science - a more popular of lies),
and thus are unmeant for a vast spread of male-dominated careers.
From a modern superficial lens, it's quite easy to be misguided into
believing that boys and girls are offered all the same opportunities,
and that by girls' choice alone many eminent fields severely lack
women’s input. What's so inaccurate about that preclusion is it
fails to consider how boys in our patriarchal society grow up with
more favor and encouragement overall by far, which boosts their
self-confidences and broadens their potentials early-on.
Consistently, for a matter of sheer fact, illuminating; studies
decade-after-decade prove parents think their sons are automatically
more intelligent than their daughters (Blakemore, Berenbaum, &
Liben, 2009).</span></span></span>
</div><P><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtKg99ObFS-4lPidZBmV8TOuvYG4V1ly1hxkuN-ufwOWH4Kfq7cjerbqVepuCBmARvt4WQgsd5ytpHs4hadOn8KngiAxSmk6FKF9en6zQ3QcTHsX22EIUpGncxT8PNanafvBG6nEfOtKQ/s1600/17mqcy53otlqbjpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtKg99ObFS-4lPidZBmV8TOuvYG4V1ly1hxkuN-ufwOWH4Kfq7cjerbqVepuCBmARvt4WQgsd5ytpHs4hadOn8KngiAxSmk6FKF9en6zQ3QcTHsX22EIUpGncxT8PNanafvBG6nEfOtKQ/s1600/17mqcy53otlqbjpg.jpg" /></a></span></span></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.12in; margin-top: 0.06in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Society instills into boys from a very early age, the "<i>freedom-to-be</i>"
if you will, a limitless slate of open potential, but oppositely
stigmatizes into girls a limited scope of confidence, rather, in
their potential. To specify, young males are blessed with mostly high
approval in pursuing any prestigious work, whereas young females
often suffer societal disbelief in their competency. How can equality
be named when our boys are not nearly as misled to self-doubt? How
when, in stark contrast, girls suffer a stigma that, so ravishingly
perpetuated in society, condescendingly questions female
intelligence?! Therefore, although women might in (approximately) a
decade outnumber or at the very least long have equaled men in a
field like law (which has become very much appropriated to women in
recent times), men - across every eminent field, from math to
language, science, business and so on pretty unanimously - remain if
not predominant, a still substantial number of the overall makeup.
And what's so abominable about this sexism is that disbelief in
women's intellectual potential is inaccurate, unfounded, and
irrelevant according to all credible institutions of science. In
fact, many modern-day researchers are now oppositely concerned with
the findings of up-to-date, empirical data regarding boys and their
academic performances: transparently, recent years reveal that girls
outperformed boys throughout school, were likelier to attend and
finish college, and were far less likely to drop out of high school
than boys (Sommers, 2010).</span></span></span><br />
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.12in; margin-top: 0.06in;"><P>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Another prevailing sexist paradigm that society still purports is one which has never been NEARLY as likely to riot controversy as it should: the
claim that a biological wire predetermines males to just '</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>be</i></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;">'
better in Math than females is a widely accepted, </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><u>absolute
fallacy</u></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;">!!!!!
Contrary to popular belief, this is still not proved by any brain
scientist, and has even been proven </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>insignificant</b></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;">
by several credible studies recently conducted across schools
nationwide! The largest of such recent studies empirically analyzed
tests scores of over 7 million students and concluded boys are NOT
outperforming girls in Math class nationwide (Hansen, 2008).
Surprisingly, even in 1988 psychologists concluded there was only a
trivial gap between boys’ and girls’ math abilities, but they
admittedly also found that high school boys were more adept to
tackling complex math problems. In contrast, however, elite
psychologists in recent years have re-consolidated their conclusions
based on updated educational data: it all safely proves that these
exacerbated, so-called “superiorities” are losing their already
feeble trend according to current generational analysis of females'
math performances (Malakoff, 2008). So sad to consider that this myth
has been a rampantly damaging prejudice against women despite
twenty-two years of opposite findings (at least, anyway)!</span></span></span></div>
<P>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh65aMvxOF7wFC0zldZvHJh-nHLxsUjka2n8ktZSSDaFAQlC-1VO88WuQLJkFopo1DpvIL_KuVx5WatreXkKgdKAK_Z-sVarse-TKZCfiLBYzLma63WKTZ9fAGMPyUNeV1-7_WyACnybso/s1600/123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh65aMvxOF7wFC0zldZvHJh-nHLxsUjka2n8ktZSSDaFAQlC-1VO88WuQLJkFopo1DpvIL_KuVx5WatreXkKgdKAK_Z-sVarse-TKZCfiLBYzLma63WKTZ9fAGMPyUNeV1-7_WyACnybso/s400/123.jpg" height="325" width="325" /></a></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;">
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.12in; margin-top: 0.06in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;">How then, it MUST be stipulated and demanded, can society claim equality when men are left to pursue their all-choosing potentials, told they're capable of anything, while women are deemed socially
acceptable for only a certain fixed area of prestigious careers at a
SLOW-TO-PROGRESS pace?! The contrast should make obvious that until
the slow-to-expand belief in women’s competency is acknowledged and
promoted everywhere, the status of American men and women will remain
unequal. For example, in spite of boys’ and girls' equal
performance in science classes and the increasingly evident uprising
of eminent females in various science fields, it was found that
parents were </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>three
times more likely</b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;">
to engage their sons in intellectual conversation about each exhibit
at a large-scale science center than their girls (King, 2007)!
Parents substantially placing less importance and esteem on their
girls has shown its greatest fracture on young gifted girls – a
composition equaling that of gifted males by elementary school - whom
originally score higher on IQ tests than boys, even. Somehow, these
remarkable talents are inconceivably likelier to be downed by
society’s too familiar disapproval, each girl a grandiose
illustration of society’s great intimidation and uneasiness for
females who outwardly demonstrate their grander intelligence without
timidity toward their male counterparts (Gurian, Ph.D., 1998).</span></span></span><br />
<P><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpy9LHFUzWGdXs3hrIxYEzK2hFK47fOYKzzHWhM4Ww2i1CGYzbybWLm2JViSoA55qdOKOZpIeRyO77ivdDbf3m6RL8wUIQU1Z7o1Dw4-5WTuqIbIvwoDF2gyU7IB_frChFg9J1ScGcwV0/s1600/article-2277493-1786E29F000005DC-483_634x761.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpy9LHFUzWGdXs3hrIxYEzK2hFK47fOYKzzHWhM4Ww2i1CGYzbybWLm2JViSoA55qdOKOZpIeRyO77ivdDbf3m6RL8wUIQU1Z7o1Dw4-5WTuqIbIvwoDF2gyU7IB_frChFg9J1ScGcwV0/s400/article-2277493-1786E29F000005DC-483_634x761.jpg" height="325" width="325" /></a></span></span></span><div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.12in; margin-top: 0.06in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Ultimately, one ironic, baffling question shiningly illuminates the senior principle of America's sexism: WHY hasn't society unlearned its sexist pretexts, unlearned its perpetuated myth that women are
"intellectually inferior"!? This abusive degradation of women has been damagingly pronounced upon society for millenniums, and deserves nothing but immediate abolishment. If each American just dared to embrace an ACCURATE perspective on our sexist America, the moral ultimatum to restructure ourselves would undoubtedly arise. We
as Americans must evolve into a nuclear unit of demanding crusaders
for COMPLETE gender equality! Sheer proof of every parent’s
performance would then easily be shown in whether there is adequate
concern that both their boys and girls grow into men and women who
had all the same chances. As such, in being the most remarkable
proposed course of action in regards to combating the issue of
society's widespread sexism even today, thus every boy and girl would
turn into men and women whose independent pursuits — life goals
based on their freely chosen interests and exploration without stigma
— were sought without the taint of sexist, unfair societal
inclinations. Indeed, this idealized version of society is surely the
quintessential picture we must all work very speedily to make a
reality NOW.</span></span></span><br />
<hr />
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.02in; margin-top: 0.08in;"><P>
<span style="color: black; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><u>References</u></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.02in; margin-top: 0.08in;"><p>
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.02in; margin-top: 0.08in;">
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.06in; margin-top: 0.08in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Alexander,
Susan. (2010, April 23). Unequal pay harms women. Retrieved from
</span></span></span><a href="http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-04-23/opinion/20861671_1_paycheck-fairness-actequal-work-wage"><span style="color: royalblue;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><u>http://articles.sfgate.com/2010-04-23/opinion/20861671_1_paycheck-fairness-actequal-work-wage</u></span></span></span></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.12in; margin-top: 0.06in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Blakemore,
J, Berenbaum, S, & Liben, L. (2009). </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Gender
development</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;">.
New York, NY: Psychology Press.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.12in; margin-top: 0.06in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Gurian,
Ph.D., Anita. (1998). Gifted girls - many gifted girls, few eminent
women: why? Retrieved from
</span></span></span><a href="http://www.aboutourkids.org/articles/gifted_girls_many_gifted_girls_few_eminent_women_why"><span style="color: royalblue;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><u>http://aboutourkids.org/articles/gifted_girls_many_gifted_girls_few_eminent_women_why</u></span></span></a></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.12in; margin-top: 0.06in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Hansen,
W. (2008, July 25). No gender difference found in math scores. Los
Angeles Times. Retrieved from
</span></span></span><a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jul/25/science/sci-math25"><span style="color: royalblue;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><u>http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jul/25/science/sci-math25</u></span></span></a>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.12in; margin-top: 0.06in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Malakoff,
David. (2008, July 24). Girls = boys at math. Retrieved from
</span></span></span><a href="http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2008/07/24-01.html"><span style="color: royalblue;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><u><span style="background: #ffffff;">http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2008/07/24-01.html</span></u></span></span></span></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.12in; margin-top: 0.06in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;">King,
Laura. (2007). The Science of psychology: an appreciative view.
McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages.</span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.12in; margin-top: 0.06in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sommers,
Christina. (2010, July 1). Are there more girl geniuses?. Retrieved
from </span></span></span><a href="http://www.aei.org/publication/are-there-more-girl-geniuses/"><span style="color: royalblue;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><u>http://www.aei.org/publication/are-there-more-girl-geniuses/</u></span></span></a>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0.12in; margin-top: 0.06in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">Traywick,
C. (2012, July 16). Why Women Finally Have Higher IQs than Men.
Retrieved from
</span></span></span></span><a href="http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/07/16/why-women-finally-have-higher-iqs-than-men/"><span style="color: royalblue;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><u><span style="background: #ffffff;">http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/07/16/why-women-finally-have-higher-iqs-than-men/</span></u></span></span></a>
</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">**</span>
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Atheists Concerned for America: Political Musehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10901301803211052014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-777506882414056074.post-40457333832515205312013-04-02T00:32:00.000-07:002018-04-25T01:40:16.969-07:00MY SPEECH FOR THE B'NAI MITZVAH...<span style="font-family: "georgia" , , serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
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<center>
<p><img src="http://cellophanetales.angelfire.com/grouppic.jpg" height="425" width="429" /></center>
<br />
<br />
<div style="line-height: 159%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><a href="http://atheistsconcernedforamerica.com/"><span style="color: red;"></span></a></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><a href="http://cellophanetales.angelfire.com/"><span style="color: royalblue;"><u><b>Home</b></u></span></a></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , , serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia"; font-size: medium;">**</span></span></span><br /></BR><p>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , , serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></i></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , , serif;"><span style="color: black;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia";"><span style="font-family: Georgia;, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Well,
hello! Shabbat Shalom, everyone! It's nice to see so many of you
present for our very special event! We are honored to have you here
to celebrate such an important day in our lives. My name is Jordan
Adorno, and I am very proud to be among my class of eight others who
have all worked very hard over the course of these last fifteen
months to make this Shabbat so meaningful. It has not always been
easy, but it has always proved to be an ever-remarkable,
unforgettable experience in the spectrum of our religious lives. With
the help of the best teacher in the world, Cantor Robuck of course,
we've successfully managed to become impressive in the Hebrew-based
Jewish traditions which you have and will continue to see us partake
in throughout this very special Shabbat.</span></span></span></span></i></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 159%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia;, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,",serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"> Fifteen months ago, in January of 2012, there were twenty-two people in the class at start. Some of us, including myself, had just finished our conversions following a five-month "Discover Judaism" course, and were eager to all together jump into this new exciting pursuit. Proud and thrilled to be newly Jewish, we could not wait to delve into this new </span></span>"B'nai Mitzvah" project. Among others present were individuals who'd too converted to
Judaism, but at different points prior to us. Still, then there were some members of the class that were older women whom in their time had not the privilege to have a bat mitzvah at age thirteen, which today we are pleased to note can be taken for granted. A family of four even comprised part of the initial set as well.</span></span></span></i></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 159%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia;, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,",serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"> But nonetheless here we are, a mere nine of us. As time went on and the demands of the learning process grew greater, fewer of us there were. Although I am unable to speak for the others, at this point of culmination my drive and motivation this entire time could not be any clearer: when Judaism so miraculously slipped into my life almost two years ago, it truly became the central thing that saved my life, what allowed me to continue my growth as a person. Until then Jewish people had just been people who I respected for a culture made up of prestige, unimposing religious practice, high IQs, and adorable little hats! Moreover, by this time I had already spent years passionately Atheist, even creating a website entitled “Atheists Concerned for America” (which ironically is more popular now when I've converted back to a theist), set on disproving God's existence and vilifying Christianity. Understandably, I was unhealed from the realization that the religious identity that had been engrained into me since birth was, from my perspective, a catalyst for things which I by principle detested the most: sexism, intolerance, close-mindedness, homophobia; it did not enable me to question all the impending matters around me, it did not allow me to accept myself for who I am. </span></span></span></span></span></i></div>
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia;, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></i>
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia;, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;">If nothing else, the sole claim that the ever-acclaimed Virgin Mary was Queen of the Universe was absolutely unacceptable for me — I knew for certain that none other than the super goddess that is MADONNA was the true Queen of all things!!!</span></span></i>
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia;, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,",serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: x-medium;">
</span></span></span></i>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 159%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia;, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,",serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"> And thus, upon my serendipitous discovery that Judaism DID allow me to question things with an open mind, DID allow me to so strongly express my belief in social justice and equal rights, DID allow me to be who I was and whom I had no reason to have shame in....It was like I could breathe fresh air again, like the salt trapped in the wounds that emotionally broke my heart were finally beginning to heal. And alright, sure, the guarantee of brownies and cookies after services was pretty enticing too. Anyway, as I vehemently took upon the principles, scruples, and traditions of Judaism with utmost seriousness and devotion, nothing, absolutely </span></span>NOTHING, could prevent me from progressing each day no matter how difficult the struggle was to fulfill the prospect of the B'nai Mitzvah. Regardless of how many hours I was working, how much stress was overruling my life, I zealously learned to read Hebrew, the trope, the prayers and songs, and even excelled to take upon extra responsibilities. For all that today I have nothing but utter pride and elation to perform what I have so adamantly attempted to perfect over the preceding fifteen months.</span></span></span></i></div>
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia;, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,",serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: x-medium;">
</span></span></span></i>
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<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 159%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia;, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,",serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"> For you see, all in all when the means are justified and my personal expectations are met, the conclusion I straightforwardly arrive at is that Judaism has empowered me to become a better version of myself with each passing day; it has enabled me to be the VICTOR, not the VICTIM, of my every worldly circumstance.</span></span></span></span></i></div>
<br />
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia;, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,",serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;"><br /><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"> The only drawback is that I'll be hearing 'Told you so!' from my family members and friends who told me I wouldn't stay Atheist for too long. Who would have thought that nineteen-year-old kid who'd replied, “I'd rather die!” would be standing up here right now!</span></span></span></span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia;, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,",serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: x-medium;">
</span></span></span></i>
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<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 159%; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia;, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,",serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"> Thank you, it has been an incredible honor to have this experience with eight of the loveliest people you could ever meet, and with the guidance of the extraordinaire that is Cantor Robuck! Thank you to each and every one of you who has believed in me and offered me unconditional support and knowledge to succeed. It means more than
can ever be spoken! On that note, <span style="color: #7f6000;"><u><b>SHABBAT SHALOM</b></u></span>, and have a wonderful night!!!</span></span></span></span></i></div>
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**Atheists Concerned for America: Political Musehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10901301803211052014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-777506882414056074.post-76164117015826139792013-01-27T02:04:00.003-08:002016-10-25T04:18:40.812-07:00A little encouragement for Interfaith acceptance of Science in the Modern World......<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"><br /></span><font face="Georgia" color="black">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"><img src="https://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a6dc03b3127cceeb393bc1b3c300000030O00IcNnLFy3cOQe3nws/cC/f%3D0/ls%3D00908791096820160223004029557.JPG/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/" height="409" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="405" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"><br /></span><P>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://cellophanetales.angelfire.com"><font face="Georgia" color="royalblue" size="4.55"><u><b>Home</b></u></font></a><P><p><span style="color: royalblue;"> </span></span> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;">**</span></span> </span><br />
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<h1>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">"<u>Modern-day Problems with Fundamentalists of the Abrahamic Faiths: why Refusal to accept Science and other Worldly Advancements is Perilous to their Religions' Continuity"</u></span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">By Jordan "BluntJoey" Adorno</span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span></h1>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><h2>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">"<i>So, let us not be blind to our differences - but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved.</i></span>" - John F. Kennedy</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="font-size: medium;">By entirely refusing to accept Science and its principles simply because it disagrees with one's own religious texts, Abrahamic believers today only open the door for MORE criticism and, arguably, devaluation of their entire cause.
Plainly put, a religion that falls behind the progress of the modern
world will increasingly find survival pronouncedly difficult. Many
people will not be able to, in good faith anyway, identify with a
religious ideology that, frankly, is totally refuted by modern-day
knowledge and discovery. The running excuse for Biblical "Inerrancy" of Islamic, Christian and
Jewish fundamentalists, which stately declares any and all scientific
evidence appearing to validate Evolution actually an act of God merely
testing our faith, has unsurprisingly
become the growing source of jokes and ridicule in the public eye more as years pass. The longer a society becomes less and less receptive to
the paradigm of surrendering unquestioning obedience to a higher,
overruling authority for no clear reason except blind tradition (</span>most <i>especially</i> in the case of religion and
human spirituality), the more absurd such an
outrageously crafted excuse is perceived by the masses. Therefore,
rather than seeking to repudiate Science at all costs, leaders of the
Judaic, Christian, and Islamic faiths should - in spite of their
individual holy texts' seemingly disharmonious contentions with modern
Science - pave way to incorporating Science and other substantial
societal developments into their faith systems. Otherwise their already declining numbers
will continue to decimate faster than ever, until ultimately the religions no
longer carry a vital purpose in the lives of billions across the globe. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"><a href="https://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a6dc03b3127cceeb3973c032d600000030O00IcNnLFy3cOQe3nws/cC/f%3D0/ls%3D00908791096820160223004029426.JPG/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img align="right" alt="https://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a6dc03b3127cceeb3973c032d600000030O00IcNnLFy3cOQe3nws/cC/f%3D0/ls%3D00908791096820160223004029426.JPG/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/" border="0" class="decoded" src="https://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a6dc03b3127cceeb3973c032d600000030O00IcNnLFy3cOQe3nws/cC/f%3D0/ls%3D00908791096820160223004029426.JPG/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/" height="325" width="325" /></a><span style="font-size: medium;"> It's no secret that the amount of Atheists in this country has SKY-ROCKETED<span style="font-size: medium;">. In an ever-technologically advanced world<span style="font-size: medium;"> in which knowledge can be sought and acquired easily by<span style="font-size: medium;"> infinite means, society has <span style="font-size: medium;">gro<span style="font-size: medium;">wn less confident overall <span style="font-size: medium;">about</span> the "inerrancy<span style="font-size: medium;">" of religions. Indeed, in the <span style="font-size: medium;">far more rational society of today<span style="font-size: medium;">,<span style="font-size: medium;"> church<span style="font-size: medium;">es are left increasingly disappointed by their <span style="font-size: medium;">alarmingly decreasing attendance rates. Fundamentalist denominations like <span style="font-size: medium;">certain branches of Baptists,<span style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="font-size: medium;">Pentecostals</span>, or in particular Jeho<span style="font-size: medium;">vah's Witnesses, tend to be named - notably with a VERY firm negative connotation at that - "extrem<span style="font-size: medium;">ists" by many. Even fellow Christians of <span style="font-size: medium;">other, larger denominations (including, notably, <i>Catholicism</i>, which has actually accepted Evolution f<span style="font-size: medium;">or decades) will frown upon the<span style="font-size: medium;"> incessantly stringent attachment such fundamentalists<span style="font-size: medium;"> retain to grasping the Bible's "literal" meaning<span style="font-size: medium;">. (See <span style="color: royalblue;"><a href="http://catholicism.about.com/b/2007/08/04/evolution-and-catholicism-compatible-pope-says.htm"><span style="color: royalblue;"><u>"Evolution and Catholicism Compatible, Pope Says"</u></span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>.)<span style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="font-size: medium;">In a <span style="font-size: medium;">(thankfully) growingly egalitarian society, the religious degradation<span style="font-size: medium;">, subordination of women, has become <span style="font-size: medium;">far le<span style="font-size: medium;">ss attractive (as such fu<span style="font-size: medium;">ndamentalists will descri<span style="font-size: medium;">b<span style="font-size: medium;">e the role of women as men's "helpers", like Eve was to Adam in <span style="font-size: medium;">"the beginning"). People want to embrace and lavish in the secular enjoyments of the day, and <span style="font-size: medium;">apparently, scrupulous religious life<span style="font-size: medium;"> def<span style="font-size: medium;">initely just does not permit that, or at ver<span style="font-size: medium;">y least <span style="font-size: medium;">considerably restricts it. And with easily-accessible education casting a glare of general doubt on religion in America,</span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>Christianity most especially<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="font-size: medium;">(itself the main religion in the <span style="font-size: medium;">states, obviously)<span style="font-size: medium;">, the phenomenal fear <span style="font-size: medium;">of Hell and eterna<span style="font-size: medium;">l damnation just doesn't h<span style="font-size: medium;">ave the effect it used to. In end, although 89 %<span style="font-size: medium;"> of Americans called themselves Christian in 1990, as <span style="font-size: medium;">of <span style="font-size: medium;">a CNN study as early as 2009 only 75 % did, with 1/4 young adults open<span style="font-size: medium;">ly admitting to 'having no faith' in a 2007 study conducted by the Washington Post (<span style="color: royalblue;"><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/03/09/us.religion.less.christian/"><u><span style="color: royalblue;">"America becoming less Christian, survey finds"</span></u></a></span></span></span><b><span style="color: royalblue;">;</span></b><span style="color: royalblue;"> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/14/AR2007091402199.html"><span style="color: royalblue;"><u>"In America, Nonbelievers Find Strength in Numbers"</u></span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>). <span style="font-size: medium;">Thus, it is clear that, be it one reason or another, religious practice, especially pertaining to Christianity, carries a very much depressed relevance to Americans in modern culture.</span>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> The question is whether the <span style="font-size: medium;">leading religious movements of today will <span style="font-size: medium;">let</span> that 'depressed relevance' become a <i>despondent</i> one, or whether they will smartly instead take serious ste<span style="font-size: medium;">ps</span> to restructure their active religious practic<span style="font-size: medium;">es to fit the current day.</span></span> </span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Now, it is not to be unappreciated the power and pr<span style="font-size: medium;">esence that the Christian faith <i>does</i> ha<span style="font-size: medium;">ve, so far perpetually <span style="font-size: medium;">t<span style="font-size: medium;">oo, o<span style="font-size: medium;">ver America<span style="font-size: medium;">.<span style="font-size: medium;"> Even these fundamentalist gr<span style="font-size: medium;">oups wh<span style="font-size: medium;">ich <span style="font-size: medium;">have been so <span style="font-size: medium;">critically</span> emphasiz<span style="font-size: medium;">ed as the faith's most damagin<span style="font-size: medium;">g conflict receive plenty of medi<span style="font-size: medium;">a attention, t<span style="font-size: medium;">heir <span style="font-size: medium;">infl<span style="font-size: medium;">uence well-acknowledged. Churches are still packed on Christ<span style="font-size: medium;">mas and Easter. But the num<span style="font-size: medium;">bers speak for themselves<span style="font-size: medium;">: <span style="font-size: medium;">As recently as <span style="font-size: medium;">even</span> <span style="font-size: medium;">the <span style="font-size: medium;">19</span>80s<span style="font-size: medium;">, a self-declaration to Atheism would have been generally appal<span style="font-size: medium;">ling to most<span style="font-size: medium;">, and yet today, in the year 2013, <span style="font-size: medium;">secular<span style="font-size: medium;">ists<span style="font-size: medium;">/</span></span></span>nonbelievers<span style="font-size: medium;"> are <span style="font-size: medium;">abundant as ever, a rapidly </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>gr<span style="font-size: medium;">owing demographic in this<span style="font-size: medium;"> count<span style="font-size: medium;">ry; astoundingly, according to a well-corroborated national study conducted by </span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> the Pew Research Center, "</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">...[<span style="font-size: medium;">O]</span>ne-fifth of American adults have no religious affiliation" (</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/01/14/169164840/losing-our-religion-the-growth-of-the-nones"><span style="color: royalblue;"><u>"</u></span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/01/14/169164840/losing-our-religion-the-growth-of-the-nones"><span style="color: royalblue;"><u>Losing Our Religion: The Growth Of The 'Nones</u></span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/01/14/169164840/losing-our-religion-the-growth-of-the-nones"><span style="color: royalblue;"><u>'</u></span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/01/14/169164840/losing-our-religion-the-growth-of-the-nones"><span style="color: royalblue;"><u>"</u></span></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;">). And their prime arguments against Christians, Jews, and Muslims a<span style="font-size: medium;">ll</span> derive <span style="font-size: medium;">from what</span> core,<span style="font-size: medium;"><i> </i><span style="font-size: medium;">single-handedly </span>universal<span style="font-size: medium;">,</span></span> all-dam<span style="font-size: medium;">ning weakness?!</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">T</span></span>he easy ability to attack so many of the doctrine-forming statements found in the Bible - ranging from science to history <span style="font-size: medium;">in its heavy amount of</span> unsubstantiated <span style="font-size: medium;">inconsistencies</span> pertained to highly important subject matter<span style="font-size: medium;">s</span> - that are transparent fallacies when one stubbornly insist<span style="font-size: medium;">s</span> on living by a strict, <span style="font-size: medium;">"</span>literal<span style="font-size: medium;">"</span> interpretation of its every line!<span style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="font-size: medium;">It's the clear-as-d<span style="font-size: medium;">ay potential path Christianity has to self-destruction in American culture<span style="font-size: medium;"> if <span style="font-size: medium;">said</span> <span style="font-size: medium;">'</span>Literalists' do not cease to swamp mainstream culture with their rigid, <span style="font-size: medium;">progressively-</span>less<span style="font-size: medium;">-</span>rel<span style="font-size: medium;">ev</span>ant message</span>. <span style="font-size: medium;">Noted Fundamental<span style="font-size: medium;">ist </span></span></span>Christians<span style="font-size: medium;">, Jews, and Muslims alike</span> are only running <span style="font-size: medium;">in purposeless<span style="font-size: medium;">, <span style="font-size: medium;">dizzying circles that are <span style="font-size: medium;">digging a bigger and bigger hole for themselves more <span style="font-size: medium;">with every<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span>day.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"><a href="http://www.robertferrell.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/544685_10151597234275396_728816225_n1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" class="mainImage" src="http://www.robertferrell.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/544685_10151597234275396_728816225_n1.jpg" style="height: 300px; width: 300px;" /></a><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Overall, persistence to maintain an overbearing belief in Biblical inerrancy no matter what is pretty much the worst thing that Christians can do in this day and age to their religion's future. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">See, m</span></span>ore and more in the present age, a</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>ll that is <span style="font-size: medium;">consequent</span> <span style="font-size: medium;">from <span style="font-size: medium;">upholding </span>such stubborn pious extr<span style="font-size: medium;">emes</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> -</span> well, at lea<span style="font-size: medium;">st in </span>the overwhelming <span style="font-size: medium;">majority</span> of <span style="font-size: medium;">ca<span style="font-size: medium;">s</span></span>es anyway<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span>- is the illumination of <span style="font-size: medium;">cou</span>ntless additional reasons to <span style="font-size: medium;">NOT</span> take the faith<span style="font-size: medium;">s</span> and t<span style="font-size: medium;">h<span style="font-size: medium;">eir</span></span> extraor<span style="font-size: medium;">din</span>ary theological postulations seriously. Vehement exclusionary boundaries are created thanks to this standing </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">pretext,<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span>which isolates quite substantial <span style="font-size: medium;">demographic</span> margins <span style="font-size: medium;">of<span style="font-size: medium;"> the population:</span></span> from people who stand by the conviction for equal rights (be that for women, gays, <span style="font-size: medium;">Atheists, </span>non-Christian<span style="font-size: medium;">s/Jews/Muslims</span> etc.) to people who simply cannot subscribe to a philosophy that forbids open-mindedness to another's opposing <span style="font-size: medium;">perspective</span>, <span style="font-size: medium;">the</span> examples<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">of</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> why a strict<span style="font-size: medium;">ly </span>literalistic Biblic<span style="font-size: medium;">al</span> approach prove<span style="font-size: medium;">s</span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">so incendiary and disgusting<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>in present<span style="font-size: medium;">-</span>day America </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">are </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">endless. The</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="font-size: medium;">hopelessly</span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">convinced</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>Christian, Jewish<span style="font-size: medium;">, and Muslim</span> leaders</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span>continu<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">in<span style="font-size: medium;">g</span></span></span> the preservation of this<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span>obsolete<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">fundamentalist</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">principle</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>(not without the help of their faithful mass of unquestioning followers of course) should be MORTIFIED with themselves<span style="font-size: medium;">.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: small;">** </span></span></span><br />
</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>Atheists Concerned for America: Political Musehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10901301803211052014noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-777506882414056074.post-59447608149866217752012-12-07T11:33:00.000-08:002016-08-16T10:46:31.599-07:00A college paper I wrote for Medieval Humanities which my CATHOLIC professor raved about to the entire class!<p>
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<font face="Georgia" color="black" size="6">"<u>Christianity's Dark (Far Less Known!) Beginning: Constantine and the Council of Nicaea Conspiracy</u></span>"</font> </span></span><br></span>
<P><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-large; font-weight: normal;"><font face="Georgia" color="black" size="5"><b>By Jordan Miguel Adorno</b></font></div></span>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 150%"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium"> Christianity, as common knowledge provides, is a historical flourish of many cultural influences, but it in pure theological essence roots back originally to Judaism, the faith of the Hebrews. Preceding prior, Judaism, historically acknowledged as the world's first monotheistic religion, centered around an ultimatum for complete and fearful worship of its very much personified deity, commonly called “Yahweh” (amongst countless other names), who required all kinds of strange laws to be obeyed diligently in his name. These laws are found today in what Christians consider the Old Testament - the full text of the Hebrew Bible known to Jews as the <i>Tanakh</i> - wherein prophecies about a forthcoming savior from God are vividly detailed. Christians, very much separating themselves from Jews, allege that the legitimate appearance of this Messiah is divinely recounted in their additional holy text, the "New Testament", which they formally deem to be the equally divine continuation of the Hebrew Bible. Entire to the critical matter at hand, this such alleged "fulfillment" of the prophesied messianic arrival is in fact the most crucial component to the Christian faith: indeed the quintessential character behind all Christian theology, Jesus Christ is centerfold to even the slightest bits of introductory knowledge about Christianity because he, according to them, IS that prophesied Messiah long-ago promised by God; and not only that, he is the sole man whom, most crucial of all, ultimately as the "Son of God" supposedly lived only to meet his predestined, all-sacrificial death on the cross for, so it is proclaimed, "the salvation of humanity." <i>Or</i>, perhaps, that's just how the Council of Nicaea DECIDED it happened, in Rome, 325 C.E., upon compiling the books to be included in the Christian Bible following Emperor Constantine's establishment of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire (Riley). Though total a reversal, actual support of this alternative standpoint can in fact be found verifiable at sheer factual essence; as once all is properly considered, the strongest most compelling historical evidence leads oppositely to a far more truthful (albeit less popularized) conclusion instead: that the Council of Nicaea was actually the perfect conspiratorial creation of a foolproof, <u>Christianized</u> version of Rome specifically suited for the precise kind of impenetrable, all-absolute dictatorship that Constantine wished to seek over his people. </span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 150%"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: MEDIUM;"> Fairly speaking, there is widespread, consistent acceptance among most historians that, in some form, Jesus of Nazareth was indeed someone that existed at the beginning of the first century C.E.. Extensively speaking though, this nonetheless makes it still beyond unrealistic, a human impossibility arguably, that then in the fourth century somehow a Bible was sanctioned without any error in accordance with the true story of Jesus of Nazareth.<img align="right" border="0" src="https://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a6dc03b3127cceeb39a553322e00000030O00IcNnLFy3cOQe3nws/cC/f%3D0/ls%3D00908791096820160222230734990.JPG/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/" height="340" width="330" /> Demonstratively, “Human Tradition: Medieval Europe and the World Beyond”, written by renowned Art History scholar Gloria K. Fiero, rationally associates a mystified aura with the stagnant early days of Christianity’s dark, directionless beginning: "[...] the story of Jesus and the meaning of his message provoked [:] Was Jesus human or divine? What was the status of Jesus in relation to God? Such fundamental questions drew conflicting answers” (Fiero 18). As such, it is not kept secret from historical record that the Roman politicians at the Council of Nicaea were first stumbled before deciding which version of Christianity being intrinsically practiced was the correct one for Rome. After all, the greater good of the state was at risk, and thus they - uniform only, first and foremost, in their sworn allegiance to an especially demanding leader, the all-powerful Emperor Constantine of course - had much, presumably, to weigh into question: Which form of the Christian theology would be MOST practical in unifying the then-crumbling state of Rome? Which would MOST lead them to new methods of regaining structural empowerment? Which would consequentially allow Constantine to utilize power over the people MOST naturally, and MOST speedily? <i>Essentially, which version of Christianity would BEST recover the steadily dying, once-formidable Roman superpower</i>?! Such matters, made evidently unforgotten, were wisely taken into much consideration before the Council moved forth with consolidating what (basically) still today is the widespread, conventional Christian Bible. Analytically, so it seems suspiciously coincidental that the version of Christianity chosen was the one which conveniently allowed for the easiest creation of diligent, unquestioningly obedient people throughout their then-crumbling empire by implanting them with a horrific fear of Hell. Given, this easily can lead to significant doubts regarding the level of "divine" credence REALLY accounted for at Nicaea. Speaking realistically alone, if nothing else there weren't any of the instantaneous communication methods that even in the modern day cannot be perfected beyond ALL human error!</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 150%"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: MEDIUM;"> At pivotal fault for much of the issue's surrounding mystery and peculation is Christianity's failure to go mainstream prior to the fourth century, as it summarizes its (only VERY eventually) finalized doctrine's unbeatable high potential for fallibility: Since the death of Christ had been caused by the overruling party, the Romans themselves, who'd specifically executed Jesus for his heretic threat on the power of the state, consequentially the brave early Christian communities postdating his short ministry were small and flatly unconsolidated. Persecution of said followers from the state was so serious at first that many in fact even faced death for their Christian stance (and hence the colorful history of documented Christian </span><a href="http://www.allaboutfollowingjesus.org/the-history-of-christian-martyrs-faq.htm"><span style="color: royalblue; font-size: MEDIUM; font-family: GEORGIA; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><u><i>martyrdom</u></i></span></span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: MEDIUM;">). By 70 C.E., when the Romans had at last destroyed the Jewish temple, the Religious Tolerance Organization explains, "Jewish life was totally disrupted. Jews were no longer able to worship at the Temple. Out of this disaster emerged two main movements: rabbinical Judaism centered in local synagogues, and the Christian movement" (Religious Tolerance Organization, "The first three centuries of Christianity, as seen by religious liberals and historians"). Gregory J. Riley, reputable historian, notes supportive evidence in <i>One Jesus, Many Christs</i>, citing one, how the Gospel accounts in the Bible were written, rewritten and "revised"(altered?) for many decades after Jesus lived following years and years of intermingled, supposed "verbal preservation"; and two, that such texts weren't even officiated in their final, supposedly "divine" form as seen today until nearly the end of the second century! (Note that though each gospel is 'according to' stated person, none is explicitly written firsthand by the said individual.) No less compellingly, Riley consecutively explains how 70 C.E. may have been the spunky start of a rabid Christian movement, but that it completely ended up being decelerated for lack of unified agreement on a concrete theological basis, plainly regarding, "Even in the same geographical area and sometimes in the same cities, different Christian teachers taught quite different gospels and had quite different views of who Jesus was and what he did" (Riley 4). With such knowledge at hand, does the allegation that the Bible is the inerrant "Word of God"still seem like a sound statement?! </span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 150%"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: MEDIUM;"> In further elaboration, Christianity during the late first century ranged three major branches. The first represented sect, called "Christian Jews", says well-acclaimed author Michael Brown, "[...] regrouped in Jerusalem under the leadership of James, one of Jesus' brothers. The group viewed themselves as a reform movement within Judaism" ("Answering Jewish objections to Jesus: General and historical objections", Michael Brown). <img align="right" src="https://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a6dc03b3127cceeb38df7a127600000030O00IcNnLFy3cOQe3nws/cC/f%3D0/ls%3D00908791096820160222230735268.JPG/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/" height="340" width="335" /> Second, Gnostic Christianity, the sectional roadway perhaps most "open-ended", was preferred by the more intellectually-inclined early followers yearning for more unbound spiritual discovery and less preordained ritualism. Still, it too was no stranger to the ambiguity of major internal division, for as the Religious Tolerance Organization states, "Each group was under the leadership of a Gnostic teacher like Marcion, Valentinus, and Carpocrates. These groups shared some core beliefs, but otherwise differed greatly from each other" (Religious Tolerance Organization, "The first three centuries of Christianity, as seen by religious liberals and historians"). Additionally, historian Riley, in his acclaimed <u><i>The River of God</i></U>, too keys upon this tricky disparity, “Among Gnostic Christians there were communities under the name of John and Thomas and many other lesser and later disciples" (Riley 8). Finally, third, "Pauline Christianity", which, thanks to the Council of Nicaea, fundamentally formed the timeless doctrine of Christianity widespread still today: indeed at the Council of Nicaea in 325 C.E., "Pauline Christianity" was chosen to be the one true, "divinely-inspired" sect, the one that spoke the superior words of God no less. The "Pauline" movement was led by a man who, straightforwardly up-until-date, was a literal serial killer, a monster executing Christians in frightful numbers— a Roman named Paul, who'd supposedly been enlightened by a spontaneous apparition of Jesus, who accordingly in his spectral presence divined Paul His messenger. Today his legacy is no less preserved, honored SAINT Paul by Catholics for instance. However, one must take a step back and evaluate the facts which establish the historical context:</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 150%"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: MEDIUM;"> Undeniably through his popularity, Paul was afforded immense political influence, which in turn only made his transformation into an indispensable Christian icon that much easier. Again, though never meeting Jesus on Earth, Paul claimed that his spectral account with God "assigned" him supreme religious authority on Earth, and thus his writings were subsequently justified an invaluable degree of influence over the early Church’s formation at the Council of Nicaea. Most of the crucial texts in the New Testament are written by him (fourteen of its twenty-seven books to be precise), the bulk of which were <i style="color: black;">epistles</i> (directive letters of robust spiritual instruction) addressed to early Christian congregations. Very formidable in establishing the argument that the Council of Nicaea had agendas nefarious, lucrative, and unfailingly political, but none which were genuinely inspired by inerrant "divine" motivation, the Roman Empire rapidly progressed into an overpoweringly totalitarian-like state following the Council of Nicaea like never before! Enabled by the opportunistic "Pauline" Christian theology, Emperor Constantine placed the Roman people under his imperious thumb by making Christianity the catalyst that would force all into utter dependence and subordination to the state. Calculating and complicit as ever it seems more accurate of fact, thus the Council shortly succeeded to produce Constantine's intended result: <B style="color: black;">a re-solidified, obedient, unquestioning state of Hell-fearing, Christianized people </B>(Riley). And all this was thanks very single-handedly to the rigid implementation of Paul’s '<i style="color: black;">salvation-on-faith-alone</i>' dogma, the pretext uniquely concrete to his version of Christianity alone (hence why <i style="color: black;">it</i> and NOT the others was the very choice selected by the Council), for it so inexplicably stated that only trust in Christ, <i style="color: black;">not good works</i>, could save humans from the fires of Hell (<u><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians%202:%208-9&version=NIV"><span style="color: royalblue; font-size: MEDIUM; font-family: GEORGIA; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%;">NT Ephesians 2: 8-9</span></a></u></span></span><span style="color: black;">; </span><span style="FONT-SIZE: MEDIUM; color: royalblue; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: royalblue; font-size: MEDIUM; font-family: GEORGIA; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%;"><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=%201%20Peter%202:24&version=NIV"><span style="color: royalblue; font-family: Georgia;"><u>NT 1 Peter 2:24</u></span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: MEDIUM;">). Rather convenient a theological ultimatum for Constantine and his agenda to repair his falling empire, but notwithstanding "Pauline" Christianity contains significant inconsistency with the alleged words of Jesus in the Gospels.</span>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 150%"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: MEDIUM;"> Confusingly, many of Paul’s instructions are of no foundation to the Gospels, and too often directly contradict the word of Jesus Christ. <img align="right" src="http://cas.umt.edu/english/joyce/notes/episode_1_images/images/NiceneCreed.jpg" height="340" width="335" />
And no, none of the many examples are subject to "alternate" interpretations, as there are simply too many verbatim, inexplicably specific statements inconsistent between the two men relating to the practice of faith. To delineate on a note of mattered difference in fact between the contexts of Biblical knowledge pertained to the two men separately, in converse Paul's words are written NOT usually in parables, the teaching form quite common to Jesus' sermons, nor are they record courtesy of secondhand authorship either, which is of course at least somewhat a debilitating factor in the messages ascribed as Jesus' throughout the Gospels. Instead contained by the more conversational-driven, rather upfront curb styled all-within his writings - and which perhaps better-suited their overall much ridgier, "ultimatum-centered" religiosity altogether just as well - Paul's contributions to the New Testament actually follow a refreshingly to-the-point narrative wherein he is self-espoused to a divinely-gifted context of life-or-death importance. Concretely, therefore, the nature of this dishonesty is briefly accounted in the following: For starters, Paul, declaring divine order of course, tellingly pontificated, "If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord’s commandment. But if anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized" (</span></span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+14%3A37-38&version=NIV"><u><span style="color: royalblue; font-family: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: MEDIUM;">NT 1 Corinthians 14: 37-38</span></u></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: MEDIUM; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%;">). And yet, then in The New Testament's Corinthians, St. Paul contradicts Jesus on the very crucial topic of Baptism, saying, "For Christ sent me [Paul] not to baptize but to preach the gospel" (</span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%201:17&version=NIV"><u><span style="color: royalblue; font-family: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: MEDIUM;">NT 1 Corinthians 1:17</span></u></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: MEDIUM; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%;">); however, such is boldly inconsistent with Jesus, who, according to the Gospel of Matthew, said, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them" (</span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2028:19&version=NIV"><u><span style="color: royalblue; font-family: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: MEDIUM;">NT Matthew 28:19</span></u></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: MEDIUM; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%;">). Excessively damaging, another example lies again in Corinthians, in which Paul explains that Christianity lives or dies on the fulfillment of the Messiah, upon his sacrificial death and final glorious resurrection, both which accordingly Jesus himself foresaw and spoke of in detail to his Apostles (</span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+15%3A14-17&version=NIV"><span style="color: royalblue; font-size: MEDIUM; font-family: GEORGIA; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%;"><U>NT 1 Corinthians 15: 14-17</span></a></u></span><span style="line-height: 150%"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: MEDIUM;">). Contradictorily, Jesus stated in The Gospel of Matthew that he would be buried <i>three days and three nights </i> just as Jonah was in the whale three days and three nights, but Jesus is crucified Friday evening and resurrected on <i>Sunday morning</i></span> (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2016:21&version=NIV"><u><span style="color: royalblue; font-size: MEDIUM; font-family: GEORGIA; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%;">NT Matthew 16:21</span></u></a>; <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2026:61&version=NIV"><u><span style="color: royalblue; font-size: MEDIUM; font-family: GEORGIA; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%;">26:61</span></u></a>; <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2027:63&version=NIV"><u><span style="color: royalblue; font-size: MEDIUM; font-family: GEORGIA; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%;">27:63</span></u></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: MEDIUM; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%;">)! Does that therefore mean that St. Paul inadvertently invalidated Christianity entirely?!</span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 150%"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: MEDIUM;"> Continuously, Paul lies many more times - without need, sometimes, persistent to make himself more unconvincing maybe - such as in his writings provided in The New Testament's "Acts", where he orders that everyone, "[R]emember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, '<i>It is more blessed to give than to receive</i>'” (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2020:35&version=NIV"><u style="color: royalblue;">NT Acts 20:35</u></a>). But no such statement can be attributed to Jesus within the Gospels of the Bible at all! Interestingly also, if Jesus Christ, the Messiah for all Christians, elevated women more so than anyone before, why did Paul destroy that with misogynist values? After all, was it not Mary Magdalene who was the first to be <i>directly told</i> to PREACH the good news after being first to witness the Resurrection of Christ!? And yet directly and unhesitatingly Paul discouraged Mary Magdalene's role during the most important event in the Bible, of course the Holy Resurrection unarguably, when he stated, “Let your women keep silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church" (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Corinthians%2014:%2034-35&version=NIV"><u style="color: royalblue;">NT 1 Corinthians 14: 34-35</u></a>). These contradictions turn great volumes of doubt on Pauline Christianity's true source. Notwithstanding, the Council of Nicaea consequently succeeded to almost entirely exterminate mainstream knowledge of the controversial books that did NOT get canonized into the Bible: omitted at the Council were at least 80 gospels as well as hundreds of varying Epistles (letters), sometimes discredited for originating by smaller Christian communities, but likely most of all because they didn't fit with the strict "Pauline" doctrine they were attempting to promulgate; the latter is compellingly provable, for the natures of these "Lost Gospels" are most relatable in containing offset teachings and risky controversies, such as reincarnation, validation of good works, biographical information decided best left unknown for the public (an example being Jesus' eighteen years between age 12 and 30, which the Gospels make absolutely no mention of), or, such as in a case like Mary Magdalene's (although her Gospel contains, in addition, some VERY inflammatory claims about Jesus' life), just for being the work of feminine penmanship ("The Lost Gospels", Gnostic Society Library).</span>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 150%"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: MEDIUM;"> In corroboration, such is another highlight by theology scholar Gregory J. Riley, stating a general consensus of agreement that separate groups never saw any of the Biblical Gospels at all: "Among Jews especially in the East there were Christian communities and literature under the name of Peter and James that stood in opposition to Paul and John." <img align="right" src="http://www.romeacrosseurope.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Council.jpg" height="340" width="335" /> At the Council at Nicaea there, clearly, were various reasons for their selections and discards. Christian defenders leave it simply that it was an ethical and divine work; however, that is NOT the case given the erroneous nature traceable through Scripture (mentioned above in small example only). Discovery reveals the importance via political vote at Council, but little can be found to confirm that "Godly" motivations shaped the event which framed the first historical, VERY </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">late unification of Christianity. Duty repealed the two opposing sectional doctrines for there laid no utilizing force by which to dictate<i> subordination to the state</i>, as primarily intended by Constantine (with most scholarly agreement, too). In contrast, “Pauline Christianity” provided the psychological phenomenon that tolled from a true belief in Heaven, Hell, a wrathful God, and limited salvation. These components so central to "Pauline Christianity" were deemed creatively suffice by the Council. Foreseen potential historically outreached, the consecutive Dark Ages featured a uniformity of diligent, unquestioning citizens well-controlled by the overwhelmingly powerful entity that the immediate Catholic Church was over Europe. To underline how interwoven the motives and actions of Rome's charismatic ruler were, popular historical resource "Antiquity Online" offers an excellent layout of Constantine’s affirmative action through and for the Church, explaining that in an effort to stabilize his crumbling empire, " [...] but it was the increase in its grandeur, including the prestige gained from Constantine's support that helped the Church make great new gains in converts. Some conversions were accommodations to the belief that the emperor was a Christian -- an accommodation to state power." If this is not enough reassurance of the intentional meaning behind Emperor Constantine’s hunger to reestablish rule, does it not strike suspicion that, “Constantine also ruled that various other Christian groupings who did not conform to established doctrine would be considered heretics and would have their meeting places confiscated [...] [W]ith the power of the state behind them, the bishops decided to make their authority law" ("Constantine, the first Christian emperor," Antiquity Online). And so the Council of Nicaea was successful in their interpretative foundation of Christianity, the state religion of Rome. At the political catalyst of the “Hell” phenomenon and Christian-exclusive "Heaven", the early Church accumulated masses and masses of lucrative revenue by pricing the forgiveness of sins (<i>Reconciliation</i>) especially high among the Sacraments. See, in commission of this sanction the Church thereby left the now very Christianized population of Rome inordinately in fear of being without Reconciliation, which was basically the most necessary Sacrament to evade Hell. To best illuminate the theological qualm that this potentially eroded, the one paramount Scripture ever-catalytic to the matter must be straightaway uncovered: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourself, it is the gift of God - not by works, so no one can boast" </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">(</span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians%202:%208-9&version=NASB";><u style="color: royalblue;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">NT Ephesians 2: 8-9</span></u></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">);</span> <span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;">second, and in assured corroboration, "'He himself bore our sins' in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; '<i>by his wounds you have been healed</i>'" (</span></span></span><span style="FONT-SIZE: MEDIUM;"><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20peter%202:24&version=NIV" style="color: royalblue;"></a></span></span><span style="color: royalblue; font-size: MEDIUM; font-family: GEORGIA; LINE-HEIGHT: 150%;"><u>NT 1 Peter 2:24</u></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: black;">). Overall, in order for the Church to enjoy the uprising that led to its becoming the overruling, embodying force that it truly was over Europe, a theological (and non-exceptional) casting of all non-Christians to a brimstone of eternal torment, Hell, had to be the fruitful catalyst necessary, decided the Council of Nicaea, for such inherently productive results to become reality.</span></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 150%"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: MEDIUM;"> In conclusion, the stressed importance that Constantine and his lobbying henchmen placed on the Empire when they complexly conceived a theocratic reunification of the Roman state at The Council of Nicaea during early fourth-century Rome, taking great measure to create the first formal Christian Orthodoxy, is unforgettable. Their efforts were history-changing, as the extraordinary limelight of subsequent events that followed as Constantine ably seized dictatorship over Rome only proved to justify the means of the Nicaean Council. And yet, in support of the Council's consolidation of Christianity, nevertheless no compelling record of Jesus' life - one sufficiently preserved by a reputable level of accuracy that is - has ever surfaced to even <i>halfway</i> verify the extraordinary number of supernatural allegations made about the life of the said Jesus of Nazareth. <img align="RIGHT" src="https://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a6dc03b3127cceeb38cd75127000000030O00IcNnLFy3cOQe3nws/cC/f%3D0/ls%3D00908791096820160222230735623.JPG/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D550/ry%3D400/" height="340" width="335" /> After all, even between the four canonical Gospels much conflict rests! In fact, Gloria Fiero discusses in “Human Tradition: Medieval Europe and the World Beyond", Chapter 8, emphatically the small rates of Christians early on, explaining, “Despite the missionary activities of the apostles, the disciple of Jesus, only a small percentage of the Roman Empire - scholarly estimates range from ten to fifteen percent - became Christians in the first hundred years after Jesus’ death” (Fiero 10). How minuscule does that number’s credibility become when stripped down to the mere handfuls of supposed eyewitnesses who could by<i> some</i> accuracy recall Jesus and his message for widespread reach? (And even then we know too well today, of course, that there is exponential proof contingent to the VERY high fallibility of eyewitness testimonies; just like in modern life, the more recent the typically more efficient.) All in all, in honesty the nature of the argument here posited is truly not to insult any of the beliefs prescribed to the Christian religion. It is rather a clean demonstration of the overwhelming unlikelihood that the Bible was somehow perfected by human hands within history as it is written (whether or not divine "inspiration" is alleged); inconvenient or not, such skepticism is all that can be RATIONALLY procured from a basic understanding of the clear-cut facts surrounding the Council of Nicaea in 325 C.E. Rome. There is absolutely no proof to confirm the claim that the Bible as we know it is anything close to an inerrant, much less Godly, literal form. Zero. <P></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><P>
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<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 150%;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /><span style="font-size: x-large; font-color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><font size="5" face="Georgia" color="black"><U>Works Cited</u><P></font></span></span></span></span>
<p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 150%"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: MEDIUM;">"Constantine, the first Christian emperor," Antiquity Online, at: </span> <a href="http://www.fsmitha.com/h1/ch24.htm"><span style="color: royalblue; font-family: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: MEDIUM;"><u>http://www.fsmitha.com/h1/ch24.htm</u></span></a><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="line-height: 150%"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: MEDIUM;">"The Lost Gospels." <i>Gnostic Society Library</i>. Gnostic Society Library, n.d. Web. 09 Dec 2009. <a href="http://www.gnosis.org/media/LostGospels.html"><span style="color: royalblue; font-family: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: MEDIUM;"><u>http://www.gnosis.org/media/LostGospels.html</u></span></a>.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: LEFT;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: MEDIUM;">Brown, Michael. "Answering Jewish objections to Jesus: General and historical objections," Baker Book House, (2000).</span></div>
<br /><div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: LEFT;"><span style="color :black; font-family: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: MEDIUM;">Fiero, Gloria. <i>Human Tradition: Medieval Europe and the World Beyond”</i>. 2. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2006. 10, 18. Print. </span></div>
<br /><div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: LEFT;"><span style="color :black; font-family: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: MEDIUM;">Riley, Gregory. "One Jesus, many Christs," Harper SanFrancisco, (1997).</span></div><br />
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: LEFT;"><span style="color :black; font-family: Georgia, serif; FONT-SIZE: MEDIUM;">Riley, Gregory. "The River of God," Harper SanFrancisco, (2001). Page 8.
</br>
<P><font size="2">**</font> </span></span></span></div>
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</div>Atheists Concerned for America: Political Musehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10901301803211052014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-777506882414056074.post-42602264342850707662012-11-01T15:19:00.000-07:002015-11-27T20:18:29.703-08:00Deaf People with the opportunity to hear should take it in a heartbeat!<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span lang="EN"></span></span><br />
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<img height="288" src="http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42699000/jpg/_42699033_girl_sign416.jpg" width="400" /></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://cellophanetales.angelfire.com" style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: left;"><u style="color: red;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: royalblue;">Home</span></span></u></a><span style="color: red; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; text-align: left;"> </span></b></span><br />
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**</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 150%; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="en">"</span><span lang="en"><u>Why
Deaf People Opposed to being Cured Unknowingly make a Life-Altering
Mistake</u></span><span lang="en">"</span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 150%; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="en">Believe
it or not, many deaf people eligible for some form of hearing aid,
implant, or surgery which would allow them to hear opt against it.
Accordingly, they feel complacent in their own world of silence in
which they've spent their whole lives adjusted in. They view the
outside world as having underestimated and looked down upon them all
their lives solely due to their deafness. In spite of the blatant
doubt that society felt for them and the rest of deaf people, they
are able to live self-sufficient, socially-integrated (at least
within their own infrastructured communities, anyway) lives. Although
they cannot hear they effectively have been using sign language to
communicate just as long as hearing individuals have been using vocal
speech to communicate. They've learned to read lips with some
proficiency, therefore becoming more adept to communicating with the
hearing world, and perhaps through much hard work have even acquired
the ability to speak (if only to a limited degree).</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%;">
And yet not one deaf
individual will ever truly be able to understand just how greatly
disadvantaged they really are - unless, of course, they someday hear.</div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%;">
I strongly advocate any deaf
person with the opportunity to hear (even if only a bit) seizing the
chance as a true miracle. Yes, the methods by which deaf people can
now ably supplement and live functioning lives are extraordinary.
However, none ever can grant a deaf individual the ability to walk up
to a given hearing person and easily start up some small talk in the
typical, carefree way that is of course taken for granted by most.
Nothing can actually allow them to experience music the way it was
meant to - by listening, not by feeling whatever vibrations
consequent from its playing. And no matter what, deaf people must
utilize a sparingly smaller amount of harder-to-discover outside
environments - whether that be in the context of work, socializing,
or even just tedious errand-running - which are intentionally made
friendly to their "supplemented" inability to hear as does
everyman. The daily tasks that hearing individuals meet in everyday
life, a normal day's molehills, are the mountains which the deaf are
forced to perseveringly climb nonstop, whether that be in finding
employment, in searching for a place of worship specially for the
hearing-impaired (which - particularly for deaf individuals whose
religion is not that of the majority's - can be sparingly rare), or
otherwise.</div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="en"><u>It is simply unarguable</u>:
The life that the deaf American leads is much tougher by default than
that of the hearing one.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%;">
Now, none of this is to
disregard the tribulation of the no-longer-deaf person as they learn
the difference between a good sound and a bad sound, between
important ones and unimportant ones as they strive to recognize the
basic rhythm of sounds in everyday life. Each day no less
overwhelming, the new hearer very necessarily would have to
constantly attempt to well-familiarize oneself with the countless
many sounds fitted into the different aspects of life. But before
such struggles can even BEGIN to be acknowledged, it is not to be
forgotten that such repercussions of transitioning into the hearing
world are not only totally expected - <span style="font-size: small;">they're technically but the
most desirable outcomes following being truly cured of one's
deafness!<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> Why but to gain the e<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">xperience of hearing, of knowing h<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">ow great their disadvantage really was and why<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> as a cured individual th<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">at disadvantage has greatly <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">shrunk.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div lang="en" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So yes, certainly there is the undoubtable strife of adjustment to face, but again, it could not be emphasized enough that this was explained in great detail to them beforehand, and that knowingly - bravely - the miraculous procedure was avidly prepared for. And, most important of all, the end will by far justify the difficult means as they increasingly enjoy the ability to communicate with the overwhelming majority of people, by speaking and hearing at last. In sum, all the previously noted burdens of everyday deaf life which altogether form that daunting mountain</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> soon enough begins to speedily dissipate.</span> <b>With time to adjust, patience, hard work, and an elated<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> lear</span>ning process, that frightening, mysterious procedure that allowed them to hear is easily <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">redefined</span> for the new hearer as the very<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span>miracle that <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">went on to </span></b><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">extraordinarily </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></b></span><b>better their life for<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">ev<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">er.</span></span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: small;">And that<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">,</span> I think, says it all, my skeptic<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">s and supporters al<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">ike</span></span>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: small;">** </span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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Atheists Concerned for America: Political Musehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10901301803211052014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-777506882414056074.post-4175719269051072322012-11-01T12:11:00.000-07:002016-10-25T02:12:17.496-07:00Gay Adoption is GOOD!!!!!<div style="text-align: center;"><p>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></br></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><img alt="http://www.trbimg.com/img-551e951d/turbine/sfl-should-gay-adoption-be-difficult-20150403" class="decoded" src="http://www.trbimg.com/img-551e951d/turbine/sfl-should-gay-adoption-be-difficult-20150403" height="405" width="409" /> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><b><a href="http://atheistsconcernedforamerica.com/" style="color: royalblue;"><span style="color: royalblue; font-size: LARGE;"><u>Home</u></span></a></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><br /></span></div><p>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">**<P></span></span></span><br />
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><u><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-large;">"Gay Adoption: an Ideal Option for Foster Children despite Social Persecution"</span></u><br></span></span><br>
<div align="CENTER" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: LARGE;"><b>By Jordan Adorno</b></span></span></span></span></DIV>
<br><P> <span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium; line-height: 200%;">When it comes to the question of where to place orphaned children left in the dilemma of foster care, adoption of each child into suitable families whom, after having been willingly scrutinized, are waiting to adopt their own sons and daughters is always the most ideal goal. With over 500,000 children existing as unresolved burdens in the system throughout their childhood years, it appears transparent that new methods of integrating these children into healthy, deserving families must be pertinently evaluated (Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2009). However, though it seems logical that homosexuals would be considered a highly marketable demographic for adoption,gays wishing to become parents are still victims of slow-to-progress, prejudicial legal complexes,as well as the adoption agencies conveniently hiding behind said complexes to fit their homophobic bias, too. Illogically, however, even after positive results from countless studies have sufficiently demonstrated that children of gay parents are under no greater hazard whatsoever (later discussed), homophobia in many parts of the USA still disallows gays from potentially decreasing the percentage of children in foster care by substantial margins.</span></span><br />
</span></span></span><br /></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: GEORGIA, serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="color: black;"> <span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 200%;">It is preliminarily necessary to any<i> </i>Pro-Gay argument to address the many myths which have rampantly fueled an inaccurate perception of gays and lesbians as deviant dangers to society. Because of the rabid efforts by Christianity – the religion which roughly 75 % of America identifies as – homophobia heavily misleads the nation with lies about gay people, which then makes it extremely difficult to accurately restructure society’s consequentially perpetuated discrimination. In terms of intellectual, objective research, though, the rabid organizations seeking to prevent gays from receiving equal rights are unfounded because for decades world-renowned credible institutions like the American Psychological Association, the largest body of mental research nationally, have concluded that gays are as normal as straights. </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black; line-height: 200%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;">(For further detail, see <u></u><span style="line-height: 200%;"><a href="http://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/parenting.aspx"><span style="color: royalblue;"><u>"Lesbian & Gay Parents & Their Children: Summary Of Research Findings"</u></span></a></span><span style="line-height: 200%;">.)<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;"> In an article entitled “Sexual Orientation, Parents, & Children”, the APA details their resolution after carefully analyzing and asserting dozens of research studies’ specific findings; questioning the APA and its passionate, urgent opposing of <I>all</i> cases regarding legal and social discrimination against gays would be absurd in itself, but nevertheless the APA exceedingly compiled an expansion of empirical research data dating from the early 1970s to the article’s publication year, 2004 (American Psychological Association Council, 2004).</span>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><a href="https://meyeramericanlit.wikispaces.com/file/view/gay%20mothers.jpeg/435943066/gay%20mothers.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br /><img align="BOTTOM" border="0" src="https://meyeramericanlit.wikispaces.com/file/view/gay%20mothers.jpeg/435943066/gay%20mothers.jpeg" height="325" name="graphics1" width="325" /></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=777506882414056074" name="il_fi"></a>
<span style="color: black;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 200%;">If a “concern" of anti-gay Americans is to scrutinize the research’s relevance, it is well-rebutted by numerous other, most namely research institutions, too, referenced within the American Psychological Association article. The Department of Children and Families, who deal with helping abused children in all kinds of disturbed situations by, quite frequently, relocating them to foster homes, is one great example of this (APA Council, 2004). Foster parents are chosen very scrupulously by state-approved professionals,so DCF is obviously very credible. Research compiled by J. Stacey and T.J. Biblarz, contributors to <i>American
Sociological Review</i> respectively, correlatively found that gays and lesbians are NOT any less competent, and thereby no more dysfunctional, as parents than straights are, as detailed in "Does sexual orientation of parents matter?" very informatively (Biblarz & Stacey; 2001). The same opinion was voiced from the American Civil Liberties Union in the late nineties - itself one of the most powerful machines on human rights whose power has been useful in many legal interventions – and rightfully they have stepped in on excessive cases of homophobia on many specific occasions, too (American Civil Liberties Union, 1999). Slow-to-change lawmakers should accept
the ethical, renownedly respectable research from these prestigious institutions and even be <i>keen</i> to help correct ignorance in America concerning homophobia, as opposed to perpetuating baseless, archaic prejudices.</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: black;"> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 200%;">The
culmination of this small selection of compelling facts should be
weighed in the context of how powerful the presence of homophobia is
in American culture. All of these empirically-based research organizations on mental
health, human rights, child welfare and so forth are having their
research, all of which have concluded in favor of gays and lesbians,
mysteriously neglected, and why? Curiously, as noted previously all
of this isn’t new or “cutting-edge” research as some of these
positive correlations existed in the 1970s! Hence, it is too ironic
how the agenda of antigay activists has less to do with concern based
on fact and far more to do with concern based on reprehensible hate,
and therefore should be discarded. In a culture that has made strong
turnarounds from slavery and the patriarchal ownership of women, it’s
hardly a respectable statement that America should continue to accept
evil when hundreds of thousands of parentless children are at risk.
It is a human instinct in most beings to pass on their identities by
creating families, to appreciate the beauty of children, and America
should extend that right to ALL contributing members of society
regardless of sexual orientation!<p></span><P></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"></span>
</div>
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<P>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: black;"><u><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: X-large;">References</span></u></span></span></span>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: black;"><P><span style="font-size: medium;">American Civil Liberties Union, Initials. (06, April 1999). <i>Fact
sheet:</i></span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Overview of lesbian and gay parenting, adoption and foster care</i>. Retrieved from</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights_hiv-aids/overview-lesbian-and-gay-parenting-adoption-and-foster-care"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: royalblue; font-size: medium;"><u>http://www.aclu.org/lgbt-rights_hiv-aids/overview-lesbian-and-gay-parenting-adoption-and-foster-care</u></span></span></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">American Psychological Association Council. (2004, July 30). <i>Sexual Orientation,</i></span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Parents, and Children. </i>Retrieved from</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><a href="http://www.apa.org/about/governance/council/policy/parenting.aspx"><span style="font-size: medium;"><u style="color: royalblue;">http://www.apa.org/about/governance/council/policy/parenting.aspx</u></span></a></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2009). Foster Care statistics. Retrieved from</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><a href="http://ww.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/foster.cfm"><span style="font-size: medium;"><u style="color: royalblue;">http://ww.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/foster.cfm</u></span></a></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Stacey,
J. & Biblarz, T.J. (2001). (How) Does sexual orientation of
parents matter?</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>American
Sociological Review</i>, 65, 159-183.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></div>Atheists Concerned for America: Political Musehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10901301803211052014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-777506882414056074.post-46528088296245935062012-10-05T01:06:00.001-07:002013-09-20T17:06:24.884-07:00Why I will be voting for President Obama on November 6th...<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></span><br />
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<h1>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">"<u>A <span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">succinct</span> list of Compelling Reasons to Reelect the President</u>"</span></span></span></span></h1>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Barack_Obama_signs_Lilly_Ledbetter_Fair_Pay_Act_of_2009_1-29-09.jpg" class="decoded" height="500" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Barack_Obama_signs_Lilly_Ledbetter_Fair_Pay_Act_of_2009_1-29-09.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="450" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>President Obama signing the all-monumental Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, his very first bill in office notably, in the name of women's rights</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://atheistsconcernedforamerica.com/"><span style="color: red; font-family: Georgia;"><u>Home</u></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> <span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><u></u></span></span>An unapologetic conservative friend of mine asked me via Facebook why it is that I want President Obama to win in November. Inspired by that and the fact that I'm having issues sleeping more than four hours tonight (:P), I guess I'll just elaborate a bit on here :): </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> First of all, I think he has made <i>tremendous</i> progress when it comes to social issues, particularly<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> the rights<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> of</span> </span>women </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">(<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">a</span>nd no, I'm not just talking about him being Pro-Choice :P<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">) </span></span>and gays. The very first bill he signed, in fact, was the Lily Ledbetter Act, which effectively helped greatly in the fight against unequal pay. (Women on average, as of 2008, were making 77 cents to men's dollar :(.) In major addition, he quickly established women's rights as a pivotal duty expected of his entire <span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">cabinet</span>! It is to be highly admired that President Obama is con<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">tinuously fighting for <span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">gender</span> equality in America, regardless o<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">f one's own party affiliation (or lac<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">k thereof)</span></span>.<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Consecu<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">tively</span></span>, a</span>s far as gay rights go - which by pure nature of course is going to be very important to me, and there's nothing wrong with that - he has accomplished so much, most mentionable his ending 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' and his making sure hate crimes against gays be included in the federal hate crimes law. (Gay men, according to the <span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">following cited collegial study among COUNTLESS <span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">others</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">,</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> are, quite <span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">stunningly,</span></span></span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"><i> five times likelier</i> to be the victims of <span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">hate cri<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">mes, especially those involving VIOLENCE (<u>source</u>: "<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/05/09/480802/hate-crimes-gay-men/?mobile=nc">Gay Men Face Inordinately High Rates Of Hate-Motivated Violence</a></span></span>")</span>,<i> </i>yet they likely only make up between <span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">5-8 %<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span>of the overall human population<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> - <span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">how disturbing is that<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">?!</span></span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">) </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Moving on, I am a firm proponent of Healthcare reform, yes, of "Obamacare" or whatever you want to call it, especially as a mentally ill patient who has been the victim of EXCESSIVE rip-offs from his insurance company. The new Healthcare reform law provides me many benefits, ranging from my ability to remain on my father's insurance until the age of 26 to guaranteeing that once I'm in the situation where I DO have to leave my father's insurance plan, at very least I'll have a much larger selection of AFFORDABLE Healthcare insurance plans. (To list just one rather illuminating current dilemma I face, my insurance company, BlueShield/Bluecross, will not allow me to purchase a perfectly adequate generic brand of my ADD medicine, effectively forcing me to pay 87 dollars today instead of 20 (or less) for the generic.)</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> Thirdly, it is a proven, concretely<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">-</span>substantiated FACT that the economy is at last enjoying steadily increasing, significant improvement (albeit not as speedily as would be ideal, admittedly :P). I, personally speaking, am quite content with the job I have now had and greatly succeeded at for almost a year. (I was originally hired as a seasonal employee ONE WEEK after applying; now, comparatively, my boss verbatim has informed me that I am “the most valuable employee that we [management] have.”) It is to be consciously acknowledged therefore, by the way, that I am CERTAINLY not one of those undesirables who simply wants to live off the government (be it the inexplicable case of Healthcare or otherwise), nor am I a raging, liberal apologist of such people (although I'm pretty sure you already knew that :]).</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> All of these reasons which compel me to reelect the incumbent president do NOT, however, suffice to make me complacent about the issues which I disagree with him on not withstanding. For instance, my ever-obvious love and adoration for the Death Penalty and my unfailing opposition <span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">against<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span>even REMOTE tolerance for illegal immigrants are two perfect examples of me disagreeing with the president. Nonetheless, overall I feel certain — far beyond a reasonable doubt, to speak emphatically (:P) — that President Obama is the candidate which by far has my confident, well-concluded vote this November because, in terms of the “Greater Good,” he has proven his ability to improve and make America successful consistently throughout his almost-finished first term in office; yes indeed, all my zealous study and analysis has left me perfectly assured that the good Obama would do if reelected greatly exceeds that which would result from a Romney/Paul administration :).</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>Atheists Concerned for America: Political Musehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10901301803211052014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-777506882414056074.post-55517560132352568322012-07-14T23:00:00.033-07:002014-11-26T21:47:02.476-08:00A much-needed Reality Check on Gay Marriage.<div style="color: black; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">"<u>Legalizing Gay Marriage:</u></span><span style="font-size: large;"><u> why 'Civil Unions' are Separate but NOT EQUAL</u>"</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-size: small;"> In modern-day USA, gay rights is a highly contentious issue in the political limelight. The most faithful Christian demographics have consistently been the gay community's strongest opponents, whereas more secular demographics have always been increasingly supportive. And although in the current year, 2012, credible polls suggest that over 50 % of Americans now support gay marriage (including President Obama, most remarkably) - only the most controversial of all demanded rights by gays, notably - the fact remains that the number of states where it's legal has yet to reach double-digits (<u>source</u>: <b><a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/06/cnn-poll-americans-attitudes-toward-gay-community-changing/" style="color: royalblue;"></a></b><a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/06/cnn-poll-americans-attitudes-toward-gay-community-changing/" style="color: red;">"CNN Poll: Americans' attitudes toward gay community changing</a><b><a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/06/cnn-poll-americans-attitudes-toward-gay-community-changing/" style="color: red;">"</a></b>). This is in major part due to the </span></span><span style="font-size: small;">substantial </span><span style="font-size: small;">number of</span><span style="font-size: small;"> those so-called "moderates"</span><span style="font-size: small;"> whom practically view themselves as<i> </i></span><span style="font-size: small;"><i>saintly</i></span><span style="font-size: small;"> for</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">supporting</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">civil unions for </span><span style="font-size: small;">same-sex couples</span><span style="font-size: small;"> while </span><span style="font-size: small;">'diplomatically' (in THEIR deluded heads, that is) </span><span style="font-size: small;">reserving marriage for heterosexuals only.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Such </span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">statements, in truth, are</span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"> vociferous endorsements of <i>decreased</i> discrimination, yes, but the fact remains that ANY discrimination whatsoever is reprehensible!! Indeed, it is imperative that we as a society acknowledge the crucial (if inconvenient) fact that anything less than <i>no discrimination</i> is totally unacceptable and in need of full eradication nonetheless. In fact, the mere notion that these constituents feel great about themselves for reaching this supposed 'happy medium' is all the more offensive. </span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">See, the philosophy that gays should have the right to enter civil unions but not actual marriages is equatable to the long-abolished pretext which decided blacks should have the right to ride on the bus with whites, but <i>only</i> as long as they stayed in the seats designated to them in </span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">the back; hence, just as we realized it was NOT social justice to make African Americans experience</span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"> a merely <i>decreased</i> degree of discrimination (in other words, a form of</span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"> discrimination nevertheless), we must now in turn face the unavoidable fact that granting homosexuals some but not all rights is </span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">no less</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"> a shameful social injustice, too.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> Even if we are to speak purely in legal terms, the civil unions offered in a handful of</span> <span style="font-size: small;">states to gay couples still lack many essential protections provided to married couples. Thus, if the only problem with gay marriage is the very inclusion of the word 'marriage' itself, which is what most of these supposed "moderates" say, the civil union compromise remains legally insufficient. But as far as I'm concerned that legal conundrum is secondary, actually, to simple moralistic implications of the matter. Indeed, who is ANYONE to feel entitled to the detestable "right" of denying his or her fellow tax-paying citizen, gay or straight for that matter, to basic civil liberties?! Such is certainly NOT the American way - as a matter of strict fact, it is the total antithesis to the one thing that this country is most founded upon: </span><span style="font-size: small;"><i>freedom</i>!</span><br />
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<a href="http://townipproject.wikispaces.com/file/view/Gay-Marriage-7.jpg/34017439/307x401/Gay-Marriage-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="http://townipproject.wikispaces.com/file/view/Gay-Marriage-7.jpg/34017439/307x401/Gay-Marriage-7.jpg" border="0" height="325" src="http://townipproject.wikispaces.com/file/view/Gay-Marriage-7.jpg/34017439/307x401/Gay-Marriage-7.jpg" width="325" /></a><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"> Our primary constitutional liberty to religious freedom, for instance, works to perfectly illuminate the fallacy in the essence of gay marriage opponents' argument altogether: although every American has the right to feel and even publicly express personal resentment towards others' religions of choice, most important of all is that nobody has the right to impede on another citizen's liberty to make that choice for <span style="font-size: small;">his or her own self</span>, not EVER, at least not on American soil. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">We each have the liberty to practice our own religions freely </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">(if we have one at all, of course) so </span></span>long as <span style="font-size: small;">they do not involve any <span style="font-size: small;">unlawful acts, <span style="font-size: small;">as</span> that</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"></span> is <span style="font-size: small;">one of the primary </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">inherent protections </span></span>written into the heart of the US constitution! By that same token, in constitutional theory, thus, opponents of gay marriage have the right to <i>feel</i> so, the right even to openly <i>voice</i> so, but <i>never</i> the right to strip <span style="font-size: small;">any</span> one person or group of their respective right to marry whom they wish, just as no one reserves the right to take that same liberty from them either. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;"> All in all, the main point I mean to emphasize here is that regardless of one's personal feelings of discomfort about another having all the same liberties extended to his or her own self, there are basic constitutional rights that take precedence before anything else in this country. Historically, our country's ancestors traveled here for refuge from, quite often, religiously-fueled discrimination, which ironically alone is the central catalyst to all the opposition against gays. By allowing this prejudice to win we as a country are regressing socially, emulating the very discrimination that tormented our ancestors. No, rather we must accept the inevitable fact that it is NOT the American way to disenfranchise groups of people of their basic civil liberties even in the slightest. Inconvenient to some as it may be, it hence must be acknowledged by all that just as heterosexuals are afforded the right to marry whom they wish, so homosexuals </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">should </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">be afforded just the same. </span></span></div>
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Atheists Concerned for America: Political Musehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10901301803211052014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-777506882414056074.post-535407880688755392012-06-04T21:47:00.011-07:002017-04-03T02:23:48.583-07:00IT IS MUCH TOO CRUCIAL AT THIS TO AVOID ADDRESSING THIS ALL-CHANGING, PARAMOUNT ISSUE ANY LONGER....<BR /><p>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: black;">"<u>Why I</u><u> </u><u>am a Jew: Confessing to the Evolution of </u><u>Atheists Concerned for America</u></b></a>"</span></span>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: MEDIUM;"> <span style="color: black; font-size: MEDIUM;">Those of you who've been following this site for even a short period were probably shocked to see me wearing a kippah (<i>yamaka</i>) in some of the videos I've added throughout the site. (A kippah is of course a Jewish-type hat which modern Jews, inexplicably men, wear while inside their respective synagogues.) My strong, unrelenting essays revealing the "dark side" of the Bible might've even suggested that I'm an "anti-theist"; in reality, I've always felt that Atheists who say all organized religion is bad are just as insane and radical as the religious extremists whom they so vehemently oppose. No - my Jewish enlightenment came as a welcome surprise a year ago, sweeping me off my legging completely. It in fact truly became the one thing that has saved my life. </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: MEDIUM;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: MEDIUM;"> It all started with my mom beginning to explore Judaism early last year. At first I didn't take her too seriously, as my mother has infamously gone from religion to religion throughout her adult life. But after casually joining her at a Friday night <i style="color: black;">Shabbat</i><span style="color: black;"> (the proper term for the Jewish sabbath) service, I became intrigued and compelled to greater curiosity about the religion.</span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: MEDIUM;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-size: MEDIUM;">In addition, it just so happened that a good friend of mine, Jamie, was Jewish, and that her stepfather was the senior rabbi at that very synagogue, <i>Ohev Shalom</i>; henceforth, my already knowing Rabbi Rubinger (Aaron :P) alongside Jamie's in-depth knowledge to guide me made the path to my Jewish illumination that much sweeter.</span></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="font-size: MEDIUM;"> As days passed I was impressed to be participating in a religion that DIDN'T reject me just for being gay, and which actually ENCOURAGED me to question everything, even the Judaic texts, for only the benefit of my own spiritual advancement. The religion's intent, I learned, was not to overbear the outside world with its own dogmatic teachings, but rather to best interpret and learn from its texts how to make the world a better place. Amazed, before I knew it Aaron was waiving the fee for the conversion class (which my mom and step dad were already enlisted in), and faster than a ray of light I was morphing from a passionate Atheist into a zealous, scrupulously faithful prospective Jew.</span><br style="color: black;" /> <br style="color: black;" /> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,'',serif; font-size: MEDIUM;"> One thing that <i>really</i> opened the door for me, though, was the stunning fact that a Jew apparently can be "Agnostic" about the existence of God. This granted me from the start leverage to maintain my unbelieving stances while also exploring what Judaism could do to enhance my life. As I delved deeper, I was relieved to learn that whereas most Christians retain a firm degree of literalistic attachment to the Bible, Jews acknowledge that their Scriptures are highly unlikely to be the unaltered Divine word, especially following millenniums of transcription. Immediately, I highly respected Jews even more so for logically accepting that their Bible, the <i>Tanakh</i> (called the Old Testament in Christianity),</span><span style="font-family: Georgia,'',serif; font-size: MEDIUM;"> remains - though probably not purely divine - still a<span style="font-family: Georgia,'',serif;"> G</span>od</span><span style="font-family: Georgia,'',serif; font-size: MEDIUM;">-given</span><span style="font-family: Georgia,'',serif; font-size: MEDIUM;"> record of their extraordinary history as well as THEIR supreme moral guidebook to life. See, Jews are specifically forbidden from proselytizing others to their faith, another major plus for me coming as an Atheist :). (To</span><span style="font-family: Georgia,'',serif; font-size: MEDIUM;"> further bring context, here's a <u>full</u> definition of<b> </b>the <i>Tanakh</i>: </span><span style="font-family: Georgia,'',serif; font-size: MEDIUM;">pivotally </span><span style="font-family: Georgia,'',serif; font-size: MEDIUM;">compiling Judaism's </span><span style="font-family: Georgia,'',serif; font-size: MEDIUM;">entire Bible in itself</span><span style="font-family: Georgia,'',serif; font-size: MEDIUM;">, it contains the <b>Torah</b> ("Teaching", also known as the Pentateuch by Christians; 'the Five Books of Moses'), <b><i>Nevi'im</i></b> ("Prophets") and <b><i>Ketuvim</i></b> ("Writings") respectively.</span><span style="color: black;">)<span style="color: black;"><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,'',serif; font-size: MEDIUM;"> As I attended the conversion classes, I </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,'',serif; font-size: MEDIUM;">therefore </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,'',serif; font-size: MEDIUM;">became captivated by the fact that Jews prevent</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,'',serif; font-size: MEDIUM;"> modern-day opponents from</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,'',serif; font-size: MEDIUM;"> inevitably discrediting their Scripture of its credence </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,'',serif; font-size: MEDIUM;">(as with today's heavy scrutiny on Christianity, for instance)</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,'',serif; font-size: MEDIUM;">. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,'',serif; font-size: MEDIUM;">See, had the Jews continued using a literalistic pretext toward the Bible,</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,'',serif; font-size: MEDIUM;"> opponents to Judaism would otherwise be able to attack the Hebrew god DIRECTLY for any (and every) adversary to be found within Judaic texts. Instead, this way, I realized, a Jew could</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,'',serif; font-size: MEDIUM;"> take the good with the bad in exploring their Tanakh without feeling any guilt. I easily fell in love with this signature principle to Judaism, absolutely gratified and persuaded by this key difference from Christianity!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,'',serif; font-size: MEDIUM;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,'',serif; font-size: MEDIUM;">And unlike salvation-based religions like Christianity and Islam, Judaism focuses on the <i>here and now</i>. Instead of obsessing about an oh-so-exclusive afterlife, as Jews we strive to improve the world around us. This works well for me, someone who resents religions more preoccupied with the hypothetical afterlife; if I'm going to stand behind any cause, religious or otherwise, it needs to have some kind of practical relevance to the living world. I'm not going to live my life preparing for a world I don't even know for sure will follow after death. Simply put, I cannot genuinely be a part of something that doesn't strive to make a difference somehow in the ever-worsening world of our own! No, through Judaism I am obliged to make the world a better place: Justice, peace, righteousness, charity...these were the values that turned me into a Jew.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><br style="color: black;" /><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia,'',serif; font-size: MEDIUM;"> And hence I was left insatiably enamored by a predilection to Conservative Judaism. Before I knew it I was attending (with or without my mom, notably) both Friday and Saturday Shabbat services every week. I was making friend after friend among the congregants and fellow prospective Jews in my class alike. I bonded with both Rabbi Rubinger and Rabbi Kay, asking them all the pressing questions across my mind, and showed my devotion as I attended synagogue for the string of holiday services in impending months (i.e. Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot, Simchat Torah etc.). Before I knew it synagogue had become a source of sanity and enrichment to my life, and the congregation like a second family. </span><br />
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<span style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Georgia,'',serif; font-size: MEDIUM; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,'',serif; font-size: MEDIUM;"> And now as I attend classes for my upcoming Bar Mitzvah (slated for April of next year), I can safely say I have absolutely no regrets. Am I more open to the possibility of God's existence? Yes, I think that in the extraordinary development of the Universe, starting with the Big Bang of course, it's hardly farfetched to think that there might be some consciousness to all that. Fittingly, Judaism does not describe an exclusively male, patriarchal-like god, but rather a genderless overruling deity, which resonates appropriately with me, the firm-as-ever feminist and all. I'm now open to belief rather than stubbornly redacting it. But regardless, most of all Judaism drives me to become a better version of myself everyday, <i style="color: black;">commands</i><span style="color: black;"> me to as a matter of fact, so with that said you better believe it's here to stay :)...</span></span></span></span></div>
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<P><span style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Georgia,'',serif; font-size: MEDIUM; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></span><P><center><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,'',serif; font-size: MEDIUM;"> ...But don't worry - so is <b> <a href="http://cellophanetales.angelfire.com/"><u style="color: royalblue;"><u>Atheists Concerned for America</u></u></a></b> :P!</center> </span></span></span><br />
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</span></div>Atheists Concerned for America: Political Musehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10901301803211052014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-777506882414056074.post-1548734799898914832012-06-04T18:07:00.007-07:002015-11-27T20:22:32.665-08:00My Favorite Inspiring Quotes (some which may well shock you!)<div>
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"<i>Ignorance is not bliss</i>." - <b>MADONNA</b></span></center></br>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> <u><i>Madonna, Queen of Pop</i></u></span><i> </i></span></div><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;">"<i>Small minds discuss people.</i> <i>Average minds discuss events. </i><i>Great minds discuss ideas</i><i>.</i>" - <u>Eleanor Roosevelt</u></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;">"<i>There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action</i>." - <u>Goethe</u></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;">"<i>Many people would rather die than think; in fact most do</i>..." - <u>Bertrand Russell</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">"<i>A tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny</i>." </span>- <u>'The Wolf and the Lamb', Aesop</u></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;">"<i>When in doubt, tell the truth</i>." - <u>Mark Twain</u></span></div></br>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-large;"><span class="text Prov-15-10" id="en-NIV-16818" style="color: black;"></span><span class="indent-1"><span class="text Prov-15-10">"<i style="color: black;">The one who hates correction will die." - </i><u style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: royalblue;"><span style="color: royalblue;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs%2015:10&version=NIV"><font color="royalblue">Proverbs 15:10</font></a></span></span></u></span></span></span></center>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">"<i>When indeed we shall learn that we are all related to each other, that we are all members of one body...Until the spirit of love for our fellow men, regardless of race, color or creed, shall fill the world, making real in our lives and in our deeds the actuality of human brotherhood - until the great mass of the people shall be filled with the sense of responsibility for each other's welfare, <b>social justice can never be attained</b></i></span>." - <u>Helen Keller</u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;">"<i>So, let us not be blind to our differences - but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved.</i>" - <u>John F. Kennedy</u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black;">"<i>Next time you want pussy, just look in the mirror baby</i>!" - <u>Madonna</u> (again)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;">"<i>Believe not because some old manuscripts are produced, believe not because it is your national belief, believe not because you have been made to believe from your childhood, but reason truth out; and after you have analyzed it, then if you find it will do good to one and all, believe it, live up to it and help others live up to it</i>." - <u>Buddha</u></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;">"<i>I may disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it</i>." - <u>Voltaire</u></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">"</span><i style="font-size: xx-large;">Don't be idealistic of people</i><span style="font-size: x-large;">!" - </span><u style="font-size: xx-large;">Brenda Horne</u></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: large;">"<i>There is no evil committed in this world that cannot be redeemed by a greater love, and a will to love will always find a worthy object</i>." - <u>Katherine Kurtz</u></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Atheists Concerned for America: Political Musehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10901301803211052014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-777506882414056074.post-14381338005247842752011-12-25T02:51:00.008-08:002015-12-13T02:59:55.371-08:00HANUKKAH! HANUKKAH! HANUKKAH! HANUKKAH!<div style="font-family: Georgia,"",serif;">
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<h1 style="font-weight: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">"<u><I>Hanukkah</i>: a Response to Modern-Day Jew Controversies</u>"</h1></span></span></br>
<h2 style="font-weight: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">By Jordan "BluntJoey" Adorno</h2></span></span><br /><P>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,'' serif;"><div style="text-align: left;"> Hanukkah - "The Festival of Lights", <I>Chanukah</i> (AKA Hebrew) - one of many traditional Jewish holidays, has somehow grown into a modern contention for Jews in America. The most fundamentalist Jews fear that Hanukkah is becoming much too assimilated with Christmas. They fear that the holiday, which is actually very minor theologically, has been commercially over-inflated to "compete" with Christians. In the last couple of centuries gifts have been integrated into Hanukkah, and that particular addition remains the most central controversy about the celebration. This is because in origination, the gifts addition <i>was</i> intended to solve the problem of Jewish children feeling left out when all their peers got Christmas presents. (Remember that at the turn of the 20th century around 96 % of America was Christian, compared to 2009, when 75 % of Americans identified as Christians in a national poll (<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/03/09/us.religion.less.christian/"><span style="color: royalblue;"><b>CNN POLL</b>: "America becoming less Christian, survey finds"</a></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,'' serif;">). Nonetheless, I postulate that Jews still CAN continue the presents tradition in good faith, and in harmony with <i>strictly</i> their own religious principles, too!</span><p></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,'' serif;"><div style="text-align: right;"> For starters, possibly the biggest criticism today about Christmas is that it has been commercially reduced to a national day of presents. Jesus, countless scrutinize, no longer is the focus of celebrating. (ex: </span><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/24/us-christmas-pope-idUSTRE7BN0GG20111224" style="font-family: Georgia,", serif;"><span style="color: royalblue;"><b>Reuters.com: Pope ushers in Christmas, decries commercialization</b></span></a><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,'' serif;">, Phillip Pullella). It has reached the point that it's the absolute norm to see secularists, nonbelievers, Buddhists - anyone who doesn't have their own specific holiday to celebrate then, basically - celebrating Christmas as "a time for the family"; altogether, this has majorly contributed to the ever-increasing, overall <i>generalization</i> of the Christmas holiday, the practical expansion of its celebrators to include </span><i style="font-family: Georgia,", serif;">all </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, , serif;">Americans, Christian or not. Good ol' St. Nick, in his popularized facade as "Santa Clause", brings presents down everyone's chimney midnight on Christmas Day with his flying sled of reindeer. He, rather than Jesus, has become the central figure associated with Christmas, the joy of it, even though the Santa Clause metamorphosis has no relevant meaning to the holiday (nor does it even much resemble the real Saint Nicholas as history knew him!). Hence, although Christmas is the most important Christian holiday, SUPPOSEDLY signifying the birthday of their [alleged] messiah (and that's its own twisted story, mind you), the relentless widespread commercialism behind it, that which reaches a market of, approximately, 90 % of Americans each year, has desensitized the day's true meaning.</span><P></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,'' serif;"><div style="text-align: left;"> Now, in a stark contrast however, exchanging presents during Hanukkah does NOT pose anywhere near the volume of such dangerous risks or consequences, for — just as a countless many of these same "old-fashioned" Jews who frown upon the concept of kindly offering one another gifts on a mere ONE of the exceedingly long list of Jewish holidays would say (and likely by age 30 for their millionth-and-one time, too) — it was necessary to properly make fully explanatory the reinforced message of Hanukkah as NOT anywhere near as high up in religious importance as Christmas; and because of this key fact, unfortunately, likely more than the foremost half of the already very small Jewish demographic within Western (particularly US) Society, I soon learned, does not understand Hanukkah lacks the same humongous potential to cause an alarming irreligious breakaway or a careless disregard of their present spiritual status, that which Christmas had suffered more than ever these days, in being arguably Christianity's <i>most important holiday</i>, the one which had subsequently made for a most powerful difference. It, yes, remained that that same denunciation, 'slap in the face' if you will, in a sudden rebelliousness fresh and new would very unlikely retain the proximity for Hanukkah to be the exact holiday which the given individual would seek out as the ideal chance to make his departure with a blast, disparaging from his old disingenuous, fake Christian facade that his parents had forced him into as being the "most opportune" social grace one could contain.</div></span><P></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,'' serif;"><div style="text-align: right;"> There are several reasons for this. Firstly, Jews comprise less than 2 % of Americans (<span style="text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/usjewpop.html"><span style="color: royalblue;"><b>"Jewish Population of the United States, by State"</b></span></a> <span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,'' serif;">, Jewish Virtual Library). Therefore, no commercialization phenomenon <i>ever</i> would ensue to the magnitude of Christmas - not even close. Secondly, a very crucial but not particularly well-known fact about Hanukkah is that although it falls around (often during) Christmas, it is actually far less significant religiously in comparison. Far less. In fact, Hanukkah is the one of very few Jewish holidays without any foundation to the Torah (<a href="http://judaism.about.com/od/holidays/a/hanukkah.htm"><span style="color: royalblue;"><b>About.Judaism.com: What Is Hanukkah?</b></span></a><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,'' serif;">, Ariela Pelaia). It is commonly misconceived that Hanukkah is a big holiday because of its correlative timing with Christmas. In reality, that coincidence of dating is itself the lone explanation for why Hanukkah tends to get more attention than any other Jewish holiday. Neither of the High Holy Days - Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the most important religious events for a Jew every year - receive anywhere <i>near</i> the exposure Hanukkah receives annually, simply because they don't fall in conjunction with a bigger more widespread holiday. Such is the basis to what some Jews flag as (and not without vociferous criticism, of course) the "Christianizing" of Hanukkah. According to such opponents, this is a transparently false promulgation of Jewish practice; most surely of all, their mutual concern is that Jews are somehow misrepresenting themselves and their heritage, a theory which is supported by the vast majority of non-Jewish America's continuous misconception that Hanukkah is a supremely important occasion. In reassertion of their frightful suggestion, these (mostly) fundamentalist Jew thinkers opposing this alleged "Christianizing" point out that while the secondary legend attached to Hanukkah is relatively common (the story of how a small amount of oil lasted for a miraculous eight days), the actual Hanukkah history is rarely recognizable to non-Jews.</span><p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"> <span style="font-family: Georgia,'' serif;"><div style="text-align: left;"> In truth, the Hanukkah story begins a few thousands years ago with the Maccabees, a small community of Jews living beside the massive Greek civilization. The Greeks lived debauchery-filled lives which included most repulsively the recreational sexual abuse of young children! The Maccabees, though minor in number, courageously vowed to be nonconformists despite the threatening pressure from the Greeks. Subsequently, the conflict of culture erupted into a war between the Maccabees and the Greeks, but by an extraordinary miracle the Jews defeated the previously insurmountable Greek army.As written by a renowned Jewish writer, "<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.918);">Though much smaller than the Greek armies, Jewish forces, under the command of Judah Maccabee, ultimately triumphed" (</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.918);">"101 Things Everyone Should Know about Judaism", Richard D. Bank). </span>Immediately after winning, the Jewish farmers wanted to celebrate <i>Sukkot </i>- the eight-day, Jewish "Festival of Harvest" following the High Holidays - which they had missed out on due to the war. However, it was ultimately decided that they couldn't just change the date to celebrate Sukkot, and thereby Hanukkah was instituted as a celebration of the won war and the restoration of <i>Sukkot </i>(hence why Hanukkah lasts eight days). To quote a highly venerated Rabbi, "When the Maccabees regained control of the Temple in Jerusalem in 168 BC, they held a celebration, not in recognition of any miracle, but in observance of the eight-day fall festival of Sukkot" (<a href="http://www.cbbsb.org/Bulletins/2005/CBBBulletin_12-05.pdf"><span style="color: royalblue;"><b>Congregation B'nai B'rith: "Hanukkah - The True Story"</b></span></a>, Rabbi Steve Cohen; <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Maccabees+1&version=GNT"><span style="color: royalblue;"><b>The FULL BOOK OF MACCABEES</b></span></A>, BIBLEGATEWAY.COM).<P></span>
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<center><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,'' serif;"> And yet, each modern American Jew must ask of his or herself, why is it somehow nevertheless still extremely rare that the average non-Jewish American obtains any knowledge of that? Hmm...</center></span><p></span></div><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,'' serif;"><div style="text-align: left;"> And in altogether smooth somewhat forthright "rite-of-passage" return to the self-proclaimed behalves of "anti-assimilation" American Jews' bestriding <i>Chanukah</i> celebrations and to whichever 'right' varying degree of unvarnished "appropriation" is sociable, that crucial notation <i>itself</i> is proof Hanukkah has become overly-romanticized by the consumers' sensationalism during Christmas. Everyone knows OF Hanukkah, but not anything about it other than the fact that there's a gift for each of the eight nights. But nevertheless, I challenge such contenders this: <i>why - how (!)</i> - have you allowed yourselves to give CHRISTMAS so much significance to your Jewish tradition??!! I, quite contrarily, procure an alternate perspective, but please preface note first that we as Jews (if we're good practicing ones, anyway) frequently attend synagogue and scrupulously fulfill countless Judaic holiday traditions all-throughout the year already; therefore, reasonably I hereby must also ask this of self-described "anti-assimilation" Jews: <i>In what way, exactly, does the addition of present exchanging tarnish the already secular celebration of Hanukkah?</i> And why even then, for that matter, does introducing presents absolutely HAVE to retain a perpetual basis to Christmas, as opposed to being just another perfectly JEWISH, albeit newer, Hanukkah tradition? Where the error in exchanging presents in the name of being Jews celebrating the miracle of Hanukkah? It certainly exists somewhere, there, no, right?</span><P></span></div>
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<center><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,'' serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <u>Hint</u>: <b>THERE ISN'T ONE</b></span>. <span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,'' serif;"> Just enjoy Hanukkah those Hanukkah donuts, learning the real story behind, lighting the menorah, and feel the uncompromising freedom to innovate the JEWISH celebration by buying me lots of gifts!!!!!</span></span></center>
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</div>Atheists Concerned for America: Political Musehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10901301803211052014noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-777506882414056074.post-59683412058454755512011-09-04T00:50:00.107-07:002015-01-18T16:35:36.886-08:00 Top Reasons Casey Anthony WAS Guilty<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i><u>Florida vs. Casey Anthony: </u></i><u>The Miscarriage of Justice that was the Unconscionable Acquittal</u></span></span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">By Jordan Miguel Adorno</span></span></h1>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;"> <b>Introduction:</b> Casey Anthony was originally arrested for her daughter's death on--to be very specifically noted--<i>October 13, 2008</i>.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"> The victim's remains hadn't even been discovered. Why is this such an important distinction in the case against Casey Anthony? Well, the case's original first-degree murder indictment, which was secured by strong, reliable scientific data even despite the lack of a body, is a marvelous reminder of what is and isn't needed to convict someone of murder in the United States, hence: </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><b>a)</b> A concrete cause of death is NOT required for prosecution so long as a homicidal manner of death is definitively determined; </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><b>b)</b> A body is not required for prosecution if extenuating evidence concretely proves a murder took place; </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"><b>c)</b> A motive is absolutely NEVER required for prosecution in ANY criminal case, and hence shouldn't <i>ever </i>be expected in order to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt; <b>d</b>) in Florida, if you were in the commission of a felony and someone dies, either intentionally or unintentionally, that is by statute <b>first-degree murder</b>. (<a href="http://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2010/782.04"><span style="color: red;"><b>FL Statute: 782.04 <i>Murder</i></b></span></a>.) Regardless, by the time I'm finished informing you of the facts, you'll have no doubt that this was no 'accident'.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black;"> Nonetheless, we still cannot forgo mentioning, however, a long history of embarrassing cases within our justice system where, all together, a phenomenal sociological denial that a woman could kill her own child erroneously influenced juries. </span><span style="color: black;"><span style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">This
precisely has led to much dysfunction within our system: countless
biased juries with a deluded, </span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">entirely</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial;">
unrealistic demand to see a high-quality videotape actually
showing the mother murdering her child have been sworn in (the kind
of jury, specifically, that is weakly just blinded by ludicrous and irrational, simply UNFULFILLABLE expectations for "better/more" evidence, unobjective by their irrational
refusal to accept clear-as-day motives for murder etc.).
This societal phenomena - this insatiable yearning birthed from lack
of education, and grown into ultimately unresolved denial - has been
the cause of many a biased jury's absolutely unsupportable leniency
(if not total refusal to render a 'Guilty' verdict for that matter)
toward that especially cold-blooded kind of defendant who heartlessly
kills her own offspring, no matter what's obvious to common
sense's eyes. So, as</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"> your mind absorbs the crucial, ever-disturbing details of this particular case, no doubt you will easily begin to very assuredly conclude that the jury in <i>Florida v. Casey Anthony</i> was clearly bedeviled by this precise phenomena of ultra denial for the true, albeit disturbing, fact that a mother can indeed harm her child. </span> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Anyhow, with such pretexts in mention, let us explore the evidence that DID, regardless of the bamboozling jury verdict (to say the least!), prove the most important fact of all beyond a SHADOW OF A DOUBT: <b>Casey Anthony alone, none other, had the <i>means</i>, <i>mode</i>, <i>opportunity</i>, and <i>motive</i> to murder Caylee Anthony, her innocent two-year-old daughter, on the night of June 16, 2008:</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Motive.</b> Casey Anthony is a psychopathic narcissist who murdered her daughter in cold blood so that she could lead the good (child-free) life with her new boyfriend. (As a matter of fact, the very night she killed Caylee she went to Blockbuster casually with her then-boyfriend [we have video footage], who later confirmed that they had a very "romantic night" afterward, too!) In the thirty-one days where she did NOT report her child missing, instead making up events and people that never happened in order to keep her parents (who actually loved Caylee) unsuspecting, she partied nonstop all over Orlando, and even got a tattoo on her arm with the words <b>'</b><i>the good life</i>' in Italian. Does that sound like a grieving mother?!</span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>The above is a photo of the '</i>'Bella Vita<i>' tattoo which Casey Anthony got during the thirty-one days in which she concealed Caylee's death with pathological lies. Meaning of the tattoo: <b>The Good life</b></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b> Forensics in Casey Anthony's car.</b> The science in the defendant's car is the most compelling evidence. As a matter of fact, the original first-degree murder indictment was based mostly on the extraordinary 'Hail Mary' strength of the forensics found inside her car (remember, the body had not yet been found): the <i>death band </i>of a mitochondrial hair belonging to Caylee (the victim); the impossibly strong, inexplicable scent of death picked up by cadaver dogs; air samples revealing human decomposition. It all fits to implicate one person - <i>Casey Anthony</i>!! </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Poor Caylee's remains; when the jury glimpsed a photo like this for the first time, the prosecutors were shocked by their dull glances.</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Medical Examiner's Report: '</b><u>Murder, NOT Accident!</u>' The Defense claimed that the child actually drowned in the pool, and that no foul play was involved in Caylee's death. However, renowned medical examiner "Dr. G" clarified that the manner of death was clearly homicide, for reasons such as: the duct tape wrapped several times around the child's mouth and nose, <span style="color: black;">the fact that Caylee had been bagged and thrown away like trash in a swamp</span>, the presence of extremely high chloroform traces, the disturbing fact that the child "disappeared" but was suspiciously never reported missing by her mother, and that</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"> - in total discredit of Jose Biaz's outrageous claim that Caylee drowned in a pool - </span><i><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">one-hundred percent of accidental child drownings in Florida led to parents calling 911. </span></i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> <b>No other suspects can be implicated.</b> Absolutely no one else had the means, mode, opportunity, or motive to kill Caylee. Everyone else in the family loved and missed Caylee, whereas Casey did nothing but party in the time Caylee was 'missing.' <i>She</i> took Caylee away from her parents' house in her car, <i>the one in which Caylee's dead body was for sure.</i> In addition to that, curiously, Casey changed her MySpace password to "timer55" after June 16th; <i>fifty-five days after June 16, 2008 would have been the exact date of Caylee's third birthday</i>! Coincidence? Hardly. Casey knew she'd have to figure something out by then, as she would not be able to excuse hiding Caylee from them any longer once her third birthday arrived.</span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black; line-height: 115%;"> <b>Computer searches. </b></span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: black; line-height: 115%;">Casey was the only person home who made the nefarious searches on the computer ('<i>how to make chloroform'; ''neck breaking'; 'household weapons' etc.</i>) This definitely shows premeditation, including the harbinger murder weapon of course. Also, although Cindy Anthony claimed it was she who was making the chloroform searches, her work records prove she was not at home when the searches were made, and that therefore beyond all doubt she perjured herself (and should have been charged for it, too!). </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><u><b><span style="color: red;">CRUCIAL--November 2012 Update</span></b></u><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">: all-too-tellingly, the Orange County Police Department has now admitted they overlooked a computer search for </span></span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: -webkit-auto;"><b><span style="color: #222222;">'</span><span style="color: #222222;">foolproof suffocation methods</span></b><span style="color: #222222;">' on June 16 - </span><span style="color: #222222;"><i>the very day Caylee supposedly went "missing"</i> </span><span style="color: #222222;">(</span><u style="color: #222222;">source</u><span style="color: #222222;">: </span><u><b><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/casey-anthony-detectives-overlooked-google-search-for-fool-proof-suffocation-methods-sheriff-says/" style="color: red;">"</a><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/casey-anthony-detectives-overlooked-google-search-for-fool-proof-suffocation-methods-sheriff-says/"><span style="color: red;">Casey Anthony detectives overlooked Google search for "fool-proof" suffocation methods, sheriff says"</span></a></b></u></span><span style="color: #222222;">)!!! What a totally humiliating, not to mention absolutely UNACCEPTABLE, blunder on the police's part! Perhaps this key, unheard piece of evidence may have potentially made a difference and would have prevented the travesty that was the indefensible acquittal in this case... (Then again, however, was that jury EVER going to convict Casey Anthony?!) </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This photo depicts Casey Anthony during the thirty-one days in which she partied rather than report baby Caylee missing; only finally did Caylee's grandmother, Cindy Anthony, report Caylee's disappearance after catching Casey in her endless series of lies</span></i></td></tr>
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7. <b style="text-align: center;">Casey Anthony's VERY Guilty Behavior</b><span style="background-color: white; text-align: center;">:<font color="black"> why didn't she ever report her kid missing!? For thirty-one days the woman lied to her parents about where Caylee was. A normal parent reports their child missing but she meanwhile was photographed all over Orlando partying it up. <I>Casey Anthony</i>, she ALONE was the last one seen with Caylee on June 16th, the date of the murder, when the two left the Anthony house that night after Casey got caught stealing from her own grandparents. Why did she tell pathological lie after lie to EVERYONE, including the police, especially since they specifically asked her, 'Was there an accident? <i>Did your child drown in the pool</i>?' These are certainly only the actions of someone with A LOT to hide, not those of an innocent 'victim', and obviously the abundance of compelling evidence in this case only reasserts that. Casey Anthony is the ONLY person in the overall scenario to ever be a suspect or to exhibit any kind of psychopathic, deceptive, concealing behavior, and was the only one in the family that didn't bother to watch Caylee's memorial service. (Yes, Casey was actually afforded that opportunity, but instead chose to be busily chatting up her lead attorney, Jose Baez, instead.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> <b><span style="color: black;">Conclusion</span></b><span style="color: black;">: The case against Casey Anthony is indeed circumstantial - I have absolutely no problem admitting that. And why? Because every single circumstance tied to the murder leads back to one person, and one person alone - </span><i style="color: black;">Casey Anthony</i><span style="color: black;">! There is not a glimmer of reasonable doubt existent here; not one other person is of reasonable (hence) suspect, not by a long shot. Some may choose to ignorantly presume that because the jury acquitted her that automatically means it was a weak case (and yet these same people will rave on about the "multitudes" of innocent people in prison - such hypocrisy in their philosophy, no doubt, eh?); but as a matter of <b>fact</b>, it is my unfailing recollection that BEFORE the trial everyone, including criminal attorneys of all walks of life, thought Casey Anthony was absolutely doomed. With everything said, I will bring us full circle and emphasize that the Prosecution's preponderance of compelling evidence all together illuminated one sickening, all-important conclusion: <u>Casey Anthony callously murdered her two-year-old daughter, Caylee Anthony, in cold blood</u>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black;"> ...But very sadly, justice died when that jury shamefully allowed themselves to be lackluster in their duty, never even asking ONCE to review any of the evidentiary exhibits! Lazily caught up in the confusion of the Defense's aversion tactics, the jury - as made interpretable based upon their own frankly mortifying statements after the fact - clearly fell to the Defense's spell of lies and created "reasonable doubt" from extraneous details. In fact, within forty-five minutes ten of the jurors were happy to acquit, accordingly, and thereafter spent the next ten hours pressuring the other two, who happened to have been the only ones on that jury with college education. As more proof of how disingenuous the verdict was, </span><span style="color: black;">Juror #3 even inadvertently confirmed that they disregarded the judge's instruction to take circumstantial evidence just as seriously as 'direct' evidence when she said as her excuse to acquit, "...<i>The prosecution presented a strong circumstantial case, but ultimately it was circumstantial</i>." Another juror had a cruise to get to, one said 'I could never judge another person', and the foreman himself came back days later saying how disgusted he was with the verdict which he helped render. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> On a curious side-note, one </span>conundrum<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> that many people just can't seem to get past is, "But twelve people acquitted her! In their ignorance such people are unaware of <i>thousands</i> of cases where a defendant was convicted, the case was re-tried, and twelve people ACQUITTED this time. There are in addition <i>myriads </i> of cases where the first time, the jury was hung 11-1 to acquit, the second time 11-1 to convict, and then finally justice wins the third time (and of course the point is no less sound even when be it that the legal sequence follows in vice-versa form instead). And plus, turning back to simple common sense, there will always be such a thing as a bad jury from time to time, particularly in cases where they chose to convict and the accused was later exonerated. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> <font color="black">Indeed, the individual jurors who have spoken out lead informed individuals about the case (such as myself, and now yourselves as well) to single-handed valid conclusion: <b>It was the Prosecution's all-crucial lack of a high-quality video recording of the crime's every moment--an outstandingly UNreasonable (and unfulfillable, as most murderers don't video-tape themselves doing it, obviously) 'need' to see themselves the mother killing her child in order to truly believe in her guilt</b>; it was this unforeseen stagnant catalyst that led to the inconceivably unjust acquittal rendered. Yes, such error of ways freed a cold-blooded murderer and stole justice from innocent baby Caylee, a poor girl who never lived to enjoy her third birthday party. Incredible isn't it? How all in all, poor baby Caylee's life was less valuable than her selfish mother's desired to live 'the good life', that which never could have included her child. </span></span><br />
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<u><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia;"><font color="black" size="5">R.I.P CAYLEE ANTHONY</font></span></span></u><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span></div>Atheists Concerned for America: Political Musehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10901301803211052014noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-777506882414056074.post-59784798597783997342011-08-12T11:32:00.012-07:002013-02-26T18:56:50.025-08:00 Statutory Rape<div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: black; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"> <span style="font-size: small;"> Statutory rape is an issue which has become too much of an unsettled "gray" area </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">in an</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">arguably </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="query_h1" id="query_h1">lackadaisical</span><span style="background-color: white; font-style: italic;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">court of public opinion</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">. Face it, though yes, <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">alm<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">ost </span></span></span></span>nobody would straightforwardly</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span>say</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, "</span></span>I don't condemn/believe in 'statutory rape'", in a survey of any moderate-size group of individuals you'll likely hear <b>at least</b><i> </i>one person share some disturbing views on the topic. And it's unacceptable but </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">usually they're </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: small;">casually responded to, entertained equally even; in TRUTH however, it's just unconscionable how unpunished such compassionless words are so often left, especially when the brought-out opinions cling hard onto the railings of a wrongly moralized, <i>considerable</i> leniency train (to speak lightly). They defend, <i>diplomat</i> even for the sex offenders, granting them an egregious amount of leverage, repulsively suggesting sometimes that the age of consent should be FOURTEEN, or that it's somehow okay for a thirteen-year-old to date a twenty-year-old. Unbelievably, however, the commonest, ultimate generalized problem notwithstanding is the far too prevalent perspective that these sex offenders aren't 'really' offenders because the victims were asking for it. Now, on the contrary any moral person should easily be able to recognize the obvious disgust in a grown adult pursing any kind of romance, sexual or not, with juveniles instead of adults like themselves.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.childprotectionguide.org/archives/vol1_iss31_clip_image002.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="http://www.childprotectionguide.org/archives/vol1_iss31_clip_image002.gif" width="320" /></a> When I was fifteen/sixteen I had a crush on my history teacher. At the time I was TRUTHFULLY convinced one-hundred percent that I was in love with him. I would've, at that tender time, done anything to be intimate with him. Now as a grown adult I don't think I would have ever been the same if anything had actually happened; adolescents are generally stubborn about their wide range of emotions, particularly when it comes to crushing on others. Poisoned, the maniacally hormonal heart belonging to an under-grown teenager is much more susceptible than grown-ups' to an animal-like drive for impulse. There thus is absolutely no reason for an adult to ever try justifying illegal statutory 'relationships', nor should one ever view it as any bit appropriate to exercise a predatory pattern of attracted doodling with pubescent kids. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> To be more specific, why on earth would an adult have a sexual urge to meddle with preteens and/or teenagers to begin with?! After all, such children are experiencing the beginning, most sexually vulnerable stages of their life! The intent behind these predators' actions is deplorable. Again, you see, we are inevitably returned to the question of why some adults would be ever prone to "falling" for juveniles: in sum after all, adolescents, premature adulthood life, are underdeveloped <i>physically, mentally, and sexually;</i> moreover defined, teenage life is a ragingly hormonal, mentally-yet-stabled, constantly manic transition between childhood and adulthood. They're the inexplicable makeup to the complexest, frightfully vulnerable stage of human nature preliminary of adulthood...So one cannot stress enough the question, why do some adults have problems with lust resistances when it comes to<i> juveniles</i>?! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> And seriously, let's not ever forget to go back and ask the plain-and-simple question which, if answered, would potentially clear-up the most mystifying tenant of all here: <i>'conflict essence'</i>! Why would an older adult (especially a teacher, who knows better than most the lasting harm that will be caused) care to meddle romantically with teenagers, or in more sickening cases, preteens, in the very first place anyway?! At their completely tender rite of age, teenagers, it's quite mentionable to say,<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>should be highly unlikely to have much of anything to share in common. (Of course many of these twisted, sick pervs are<i> </i>psychologically immature to the extreme, though, which <i>is</i> a sure factor in the overall spectrum of things no doubt.) All in all notwithstanding, at the end of the day these statutory sex predators cannot justify their longing to be sexual with underage children, adolescent or not, in any way whatsoever. There's just no excuse, and certainly no viable reason for such behaviors. We as a society need to revitalize our stance of disapproval for these sex offenders, and see to it that we are firmer in taking measures to prevent statutory rape from happening everywhere from our homes, school, outside world...<i> </i></span><br />
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Atheists Concerned for America: Political Musehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10901301803211052014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-777506882414056074.post-73030602984948567562011-07-15T21:10:00.001-07:002014-08-29T01:48:59.020-07:00Bipolar Paper I wrote for Abnormal Psychology<div style="color: black; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%;"> <u>BIPOLAR DISORDER: a DANGEROUSLY <span style="font-size: large;">UNDERREPRESENTED <span style="font-size: large;">EPIDEMIC</span></span></u></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%;"> </span><span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%;">By Jordan Adorno </span><span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%;"> </span><span style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: large; font-weight: normal; line-height: 200%;"> </span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span>Bipolar Disorder is a severe mental disease that is characterized by extreme interchanges between mania and depression. In other words, people with this disorder (formerly called ‘manic depression’) are prone to various unhealthy behaviors and emotional instability. As a matter of fact, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, <i>5.7 million people</i>, to be more specific, suffer from this illness, although many do not receive treatment<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">(Bethesda, 2009)</span><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"></span></span>. The single most substantial reason for this are the widespread stigmas about Bipolar Disorder, that it isn’t “real”, that it’s just shrinks’ latest “hoax”, that it’s just a fancy name for people who have mood swings, that it can be willed away with “self-training” etc. <i>Correctively</i> speaking, however, Bipolar Disorder is a serious mental disease that according to the American Psychological Association, affects men and women in equal numbers, and has potential to be life-threatening without treatment (American Psychological Association, 2005).</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.medicalook.com/diseases_images/bipolar_disorder.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.medicalook.com/diseases_images/bipolar_disorder.jpg" height="325" id="il_fi" style="padding-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 8px; padding-top: 8px;" width="325" /></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">Startlingly, according to Kevin Caruso, expert for<a href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CDIQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.suicide.org%2F&ei=GRbmUNutGIbg8AT_loCwBA&usg=AFQjCNH9euWfjBOh-JBCkTYGBG-LwRu6CQ&bvm=bv.1355534169,d.eWU"> <span style="color: red;"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Suicide Prevention, Awareness, and Support</span></i><i> Online</i></span></a>, <span style="color: black;">between 25-50% of people with Bipolar Disorder attempt suicide in their lives (Caruso, 2009). Such a positive correlation truly dispels the misconception that Bipolar Disorder is nonexistent, and proves also that bipolar persons refusing professional assistance due to the widespread disinformation are at higher risk of suicide. Many more disturbing numbers are directly associated with Bipolar Disorder, which demonstrates the desperate need for society to understand the disorder and its natures - <i>accurately</i><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">!</span> <span style="color: black;">According to the APA’s empirical resources, Bipolar Disorder’s main points are as given: it can cause someone to spend days, weeks, maybe even months feeling indestructible, overambitious, ecstatic about their life, and then suddenly spiral them into an overwhelmingly depressed period full of self-doubt, witlessness, and lack of motivation, even to do normally enjoyable things. Basically, when an individual is in a manic or depressive state, they overall tend to exhibit the extreme degrees of either euphoria (<i>manic</i>) or miserableness (<i>depressive</i>). <span style="color: black;">For instance, though a bipolar individual may seem relatively normal most of the time, a sad or tough experience can destabilize his or her mental processes by sending them into an overtaking depressive stage; likewise, a happy or self-satisfying event could trigger mania for an indeterminable duration, sending the given Bipolar individual into a “euphoria” that too often leads to self-damaging behaviors such as <span style="color: black; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: black;">impulsiveness, money wasting, promiscuity, or even rash, life-changing decision making; ultimately, a </span></span><span style="color: black; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: black;">lost sight on important matters is the typical endpoint at either end of the "mania" and "depression" scales. <span style="color: black;"> Overall, when sufferers of Bipolar Disorder experience these manic or depressive stages, they are </span></span></span><span style="color: black; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: black;">dangerously</span></span><span style="color: black; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="color: black;"> incapable of properly regulating their emotions (American Psychological Association, 2005). </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span>Unbelievably, according to <i>Psych Central</i>’s<i> </i>Steve Bressert<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Ph.D.<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">,</span></span> “Roughly 70% of manic episodes in bipolar disorder occur immediately before or after a depressive episode”; then, speaking on the durations of these episodes, Bressert makes very apparent, “Both the manic and depressive periods can be brief, from just a few hours to a few days, or longer, lasting up to several weeks or even months” (Bressert, 2010). Unfortunately, because of the stigma that Bipolar is a "woman" disease, society sometimes sees it as emasculating if men seek help for emotional instability. As such, the margin of men voluntarily seeking professional mental help is significantly less reported (Bressert, 2010). Since men and women are affected equally in numbers, equal concern should be felt and applied, but due to society teaching men to not express a need for emotional aid, too many Bipolar men remain untreated. Unsettlingly, the conventional Bipolar male is much more prone to becoming aggressive, violent, and even committing suicide (not to mention males are already four times likelier to successfully commit suicide at that), which is terrifying (Caruso, 2009). Needlessly said, it cannot be emphasized enough that it’s urgent that mental health stigmas come to an end - <i>immediately</i>!</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.medicalook.com/diseases_images/bipolar_disorder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Prevalently, serious symptoms of Bipolar Disorder begin to manifest during adolescence or early adult life, when people are most vulnerable to the exposure of emotional intensity, rash decisions, and risky behaviors. Once symptomatic, without treatment their unorthodox behaviors will continue throughout their adulthood and may exceed to much worse degrees. In corroboration of this alarming factor, Kevin Caruso stresses, “[E]arly diagnosis and treatment of Bipolar Disorder should be considered an urgent matter” (Caruso, 2009). What’s so curious and frustrating is that treatment for Bipolar Disorder has been available at compelling success rates for several decades, the mood stabilizer Lithium having been the namely prototype. Indeed, a series of others medications work at impeccable success rates when taken consistently, leading Caruso to recommend, “Become familiar with the symptoms, and if symptoms are present, see a medical doctor and a therapist immediately. Do not delay. Bipolar disorder is highly treatable, so get help” (Caruso, 2009). Caruso's eloquent choice of words could not stress any greater how much of an emergency Bipolar manifestation should be to a newly-afflicted, most likely very young individual.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: black;">In corroboration, the APA states that about 99 % of psychological disorders are treatable, explaining, “Through therapy, people can learn coping techniques and problem solving skills to deal with depression and other mental health disorders” (American Psychological Association, 2005). Perhaps if our society didn't rampantly spread stigmatic ignorance regarding mental disease, the suicide rate of Bipolar individuals wouldn’t be egregiously high. So, to compel individuals down the route of seeking psychiatric assistance, a range of available resources importantly attempt, in and across the mainstream world, to educate on Bipolar Disorder. For example, preliminary facts about the disease, as well as directions on identifying the easily viewable symptoms, are commonly contained in fairly well-distributed pamphlets (such as at doctor's offices), television commercials and documentary specials, large online databases on mental illness (such as the APA's tremendous resource of empirical information), and countless books; respectively, all these resourceful methods of research provide long-proven explanations that specifically detail how biology and genetics, NOT environment, are the true roots at uncontrollable cause of the disorder. (And as such, each resource's advice on being aware of family history, not autobiographical events, help remove misplaced self-responsibility, and therefore make Bipolar sufferers less abashed about getting professional help.) </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">And of course, uniformly the world's credible psychiatric practitioners offer widespread availability to their medical treatments that, if consistently regimented, can absolve Bipolar Disorder's everyday repercussions. In light of these publicized pontifications, it's thus strictly sad that, at least in the broadest general sense, there’s arguably still more substantial <i>misunderstanding</i> about Bipolar among the public than there is properly informed understanding. <span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">To succeed at the above goals to help Bipolar persons and their support systems, appreciating the firm distinctions during the adolescent period in life, when Bipolar symptoms are usually first triggered, precisely those that distinguish between a normal teenager and an emotionally impeded, abnormal teenager (of what is and isn’t of great alarm hence), is absolutely crucial. Many mental health deniers use adolescent mentality, PMS, and normal life difficulties to say Bipolar is a made-up disease. The contention has exacerbated into a social debate about whether Bipolar Disorder’s more often misdiagnosed or more often unreported and consequentially under-treated.</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">Although exact numbers are of course unknown, the statistics we have surely remain but an under-representation of the true deviant numbers. Obviously it's only prudent to remember social rejection of psychiatry,<span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">rejection </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">of diagnosis and treatment for Bipolar Disorder hence, retains to have an </span><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">unnervingly high negative</span><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> impact on the stats and numbers from the start (i.e. ‘</span><i style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">Everyone has an illness nowadays</i><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">’). But all biases aside, in truth the manic and depressive stages of Bipolar Disorder contradictorily disassociate from normal adolescent</span><i style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </i><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">and young adult behaviors quite distinguishably. As said by the National Institutes of Health, “Bipolar disorder symptoms can result in damaged relationships, poor job or school performance, and even suicide [...] But bipolar disorder can be treated, and people with this illness can lead full and productive lives” (Bethesda, 2009)</span><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">. These treatments include daily dosages of mood stabilizers which psychiatrists can usually safely prescribe in relative immediacy, such as the mentioned prototype originally called "the miracle drug" - </span><i style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">Lithium</i><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> of course, Depakote, Lamictal, Seroquel, Wellbutrin, and so forth (on a long list of flexible options). Consistent cognitive-therapy sessions are also effective in combination with one's medication routine. Most of all though, it must be made inexplicable that these options are ALL preferable to sinking beneath the misconceived stigmas about Bipolar and refusing professional consultation for mental ailments </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">(Bethesda,<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span>2009)</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">From the beginning, admittedly, belief in the existence of a Bipolar “cure” is fallacious, for no single treatment method has accelerated to such status. With that in mind, many refuters look down upon patients who are willing to take medication for the rest of their lives. Though so popular a statement, it is totally foolhardy, like saying someone with diabetes should be looked down upon for staying on their medications. Credibly, the National Institute of Health (and all other credible sources in the psychiatric field) posits succinctly, “Bipolar disorder usually lasts a lifetime. Episodes of mania and depression typically come back over time”; then, to account for people’s misunderstanding, “Between episodes, many people with bipolar disorder are free of symptoms, but some people may have [normalized] lingering symptoms” </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">(Bethesda, 2009).</span></span> Essentially overlying all the environmental contributions which can worsen or better the Bipolar situation, thus, is strong hereditary research which directly correlates the imbalances of Bipolar Disorder with the engineering of brain activity (especially in the hippocampus and amygdala), and therefore there’s no shame in taking medication for the rest of one's life, if necessary (Martin, 2006).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span>Many people insist that mentally ill people can train themselves to control their symptoms. But as empowering as “self-training” sounds, the idea is a fallacy that rests without any professional psychiatric endorsement. Bipolar Disorder is a complicated disease caused by chemical imbalances in the brain; even mainstream psychiatric treatments that have been proven efficacious are only effective while in the patient’s maintained use. Nothing in medical history has ever advised “individual willpower” to be the ultimate synthesis for Bipolar Disorder. This myth likely derives partly from the misconception that being Bipolar means having mood swings all day, and that one is symptomatic all the time. But credibly, as formerly mentioned, we know such hypotheses (if they warrant even that label) have been disproved empirically by the greatest experts in psychiatry. Thus, while it might appear that someone has been controlling their Bipolar on their “own”, the reality is they’re just not manic. The Bipolar individual’s exasperated emotional state is not adept to rationally handle even very often what are perfectly normal, everyday burdens -<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span><i>Plain and simple</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">!</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 200%; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%; text-align: left;">But once one can accept this knowledge, observational determinations about a g</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%; text-align: left;">iven</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%; text-align: left;"> individual's recurrence of mania and depression (with main regards to lengths and strengths) can make these extreme episodes of uncharacteristic emotional scatter - </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%; text-align: left;">and</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%; text-align: left;"> the more moderate but still off-steadying "lingering" symptoms in-between episodes, too - more predictable and, consecutively, more manageable, too. Referencing further, Dr. Bressert explains the beginning state of mania, in itself which personifies the initial unfamiliarity of self, citing, “An early sign of manic-depressive illness may be hypomania - a state in which the person shows a high level of energy, excessive moodiness or irritability, and impulsive or reckless behavior. Hypomania may feel good to the person who experiences it. Thus, the individual often will deny that anything is wrong ... [A]s with nearly all mental disorder diagnoses, the symptoms of manic depression must cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning” (Bressert, 2010). These guideline pointers are usually very useful.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%;"> Bipolar’s central involvement in school and work performance, when apparent, tends to cause the most damage. It can cause temporary depression, disregard, inattentiveness, and strain for long periods. Hypothetically, a teenager could lose academic zeal during a manic state even if they usually flourish in school, and likewise with their social interactions, too. Accordingly, these people get so overwhelmed by their newest unique, suffocating anomaly of emotive battling inside themselves, that they actually become rude, irritable, totally unpleasant to be around, childishly joyful (at inappropriate times, like as a contributor to hyperactivity in school). As a terribly unhelpful addition, uniformly these manic phases always (almost) include some alteration in their sleep pattern, which can just exacerbate the symptomatic misbehavior</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> (Bethesda, 2009)</span></span>. Thus, the bipolar individual will have much difficulty living up (or anywhere close) to his or her maximal function. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 200%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"></span>If mental health professionals were just in on a lucrative scam with the Bipolar phenomenon, then why the many warnings of what does <i>not</i> implement Bipolar? “Symptoms also cannot be the result of substance use or abuse (e.g., alcohol, drugs, medications) or caused by a general medical condition” (Bressert, 2010). Sometimes, yes, unavoidable flaws in the system blaze the fire in patient frustration, and consequentially root the cause of psychiatric misconceptions (mania and aside). Particularly, Bipolar receives that assorted negative backslash when mishandled as the disorder which is sociologically burdened to overcome people's DEEP sensitivities: <i>Attention Deficit Disorder</i>. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 200%;">Tricky indeed, the main problem is that Bipolar, in its earliest manifestation in adolescence or young adulthood, seems to also have an adverse affect on school and work performance. Complicating matters, though, it so happens that decreased performance in work/school is one main symptom of ADD, too. Unfortunately, an initial ADD mislabel leads Bipolar persons to dismiss their temporal seizures of depression and mania - not to mention the tertiary inattentiveness that made for their misdiagnosis to begin with - regardless of their excessive time spent in episodic suffering, due to society's generalized disbelief in ADD. Most adults with Bipolar are already way too used to emotional instability, so that factor, on top of the rampant stigma on ADD that is, makes for a clear-cut systematic misunderstanding of the psychiatry's basis. Regardless of these complexes of pride and denial, the fact still remains that during manic and depressive phases, the typical bipolar individual just CANNOT distinguish between what is emotional stability versus an unstable emotional state, and why? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><i>Easy</i>: when a Bipolar individual is spiraling through their sporadic phase of mania (which, one must remember, is essentially nothing short of an extreme emotional disturbance), a significant impairment of their judgment is in sequence, though surely self-unrealized. <span style="line-height: 200%;">Touching upon this complex, Dr. Martin - a leading researcher on bipolar disorder in children - in explaining the importance of psychiatric consultation, makes very specific implications, like his worry that many parents especially lose faith in the mental health system if it “failed". Naming anti-depressants the greatest stigma of mental health, Dr. Martin explains, “Medications such as corticosteroids, medical conditions such as thyroid disease, and neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s syndrome may present with features of bipolar disorder. The diagnosis of bipolar disorder is made only when none of these conditions are present” (Martin, 2006). Truthful to this across the epidemic of Bipolar Disorder, patients can be easily misdiagnosed as suffering from ADHD (most commonly guessed incorrectly if the child is early in hyperactivity of excess), chronic depression (if bouts of high mania are not carefully brought upon by identity), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, even Borderline Personality Disorder (which attains some Bipolar-like traits). </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-size: large; line-height: 200%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">Indisputably, the unproven common belief that “willpower” alone is enough to handle Bipolar disorder isn't anything but the senseless makings of a phenomenal societal distrust toward the field of professional psychiatry;The stigma is only helped by countless more in-detail lies, which all together make psychiatric patients less prone, sometimes, to seek out professional mental health assistance. Lack of <i>real</i> change from effective treatment will only mean a lack of <i>real</i> improvement, which will always be the continuous result of transgressing more energy into the misconceived oxymoron about this “curability in self-willfulness” nonsense. Philosophically speaking, what's simplistically discernible from all this, arguably, is the dismal realization appointing blame on society itself for allowing dangerous misconceived thoughts to proceed growth (Martin, 2006). It should be evident by now that the further one searches into Bipolar's depth, the more confirmation there is debunking the misconceptions. At front-line is the officiated separation of Bipolar into <i> types</i>: within the illness separate categories of manic depression - “Bipolar I” and “Bipolar II” respectively - interactively are the best tool to touch surface on estimating and learning more about someone’s Bipolar, individual life tolls. Psych Central’s “An Introduction to Bipolar Disorder” carves distinction between the two types: “I” is distinguished as consistent of, “[The] presence of only one Manic Episode and no past Major Depressive Episodes”, and also clarifies that "I" is the worse of the two. Pointedly, the researcher defines an important key factor, recurrence, "...[A]s either a change in polarity from depression or an interval of at least 2 months without manic symptoms” (Bressert, 2010). Disassociated, Type “I” patient are broadly susceptible to intense mania and will rarely disengage into an unfixed, extreme depressive phases; “II”, interestingly enough, is as a converse easier defined, characterized by, “Presence (or history) of one or more Major Depressive Episodes and at least one Hypomanic Episode. In addition, there has never been a Manic Episode or a Mixed Episode” (Bressert, 2010). (See below for further elaboration.)</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> A ‘hypomanic episode’ pertains to symptoms common in adolescent vulnerability, to young persons’ mentality ever-development, except never seeming to leave. Henceforth, the connotation medically separating “II” is its deemed limitation, </span><i style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">'hypo</i><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">'. Notwithstanding, in many times decreasing the extraordinary deal of confusion on the topic, innovating research increasingly spreads the two farther apart: Type I's mania (or depression) surpasses all emotional escalation thinkable, and evidences to demonstrate itself as obviously </span><i style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">not </i><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">at all self-controllable; in fact, any sane person unbiased about mental health would surely agree to that in witness of ‘Type 1’ Bipolar people intoxicated in their mania, after watching their maneuvers down highly destructive paths which terminate to harm both for themselves and others, too. Cursed to suffer the results of their overbearingly emotive self-wars, ‘Type 1’ cases are basically at the mercy of a top-notch genetic predisposition to Bipolar; this extenuating hereditary vulnerability - alone the substance which establishes the need for a 'Type 1' differentiation in the first place - premises the Type 'I' cases an essential distinction: </span><i style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">specially</i><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><i style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">excruciating manic phases</i><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">. </span><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">Nonetheless, unfathomable as it sounds, even the most compellingly written description of the implacable Bipolar mania specified to "Type 1" - the best summation ever detailing it, that even had the highhanded substantiation of the world's best psychiatrists - could just</span><i style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </i><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">touch the tip of the iceberg ... Well, </span><i style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">maybe</i><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> (Martin, 2006). So with that noteworthy comparison in mind, how can we continue and not cease our societal distrust in the field of psychiatry - </span><i style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">how</i><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">?! Has most the western world lost perspective on the focal frontier behind a progressive, transient humanity? Lost the timeless, omnipresent goal to heighten the quality of human life, to achieve harmoniously existing societies within a man's lifetime? Is pride, learned stubbornness, denial (each a unique entrapment in ignorance, bold I venture) too precious to dispose of for the sake of betterment? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> In conclusion, we live in a day where we should be grateful to have access to resources which, thanks to each concretion of progress in psychiatry, serve the needs of mental health. Instead, millions of importunate opponents have, in their refutation toward the psychiatric field, caused nugatory, infamous widespread denial over the reality of our certain psychiatric illness in question, despite irrefutable proof that it exists from the mental sufferings of 5.7 million Americans: Bipolar Disorder has inherited a cyclonic phenomena of disbelievers who promote inaccurate misconceptions that are suffice to uproar the public! Bipolar Disorder, a disease doubtlessly more serious than most moderate forms of visible physical harm (i.e. broken legs, leg rashes, acne), is, in proficient extent, much too severe for disregarding. The torment that everyone with Bipolar Disorder uncontrollably is guaranteed because of a mere genetic chemical imbalance remains just egregious, and the millions afflicted mustn't face it untreated! Let’s save these very sick individuals who misfortunately have inherited Bipolar Disorder, not stigmatize it! After all, <span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">Bipolar Disorder's misleading media attention has already made it the victim of accelerated vilification, inadvertently having singled it out for emphatic defamation by opponents to the entire mental health field.</span><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">At end, the collective ideal, singular goal worth having</span><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> is transparent as ever: as a re-inspired America, </span><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">altogether </span><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">we must unite against the barricade stopping mentally ill people</span><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> from seeking professional help. After all, a</span><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">ccept it or not, Bipolar Disorder, just like every other psychiatric ailment, </span><span style="line-height: 200%; text-indent: 0.5in;">affects EVERYONE in some way. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;"> <span class="Apple-style-span"><h2><u><font face="Georgia" color="black">References</u></font></h2></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 200%;">American
Psychiatric Association. (2005). </span><span style="line-height: 200%;"><i>Let’s
Talk Facts about Bipolar Disorder</i></span><span style="line-height: 200%;">. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 200%;">Washington,
DC: American Psychological Association.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Bethesda,
MD. (2009). Bipolar Disorder in Children and Teens. <i>National
Institute of </i><span style="line-height: 200%;"><i>Mental</i></span><span style="line-height: 200%;"> </span><span style="line-height: 200%;"><i>Health</i></span><span style="line-height: 200%;">. Retrieved
on July 8, 2011 from</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #333333;"> </span><a href="http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/bipolar-disorder-in-children-and-teens-easy-to-read/index.shtml"><span style="color: red;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/bipolar-disorder-in-children-and-teens-</span></span></a><span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 200%;">Bressert
PH.D, S. (2010). An Introduction to Bipolar Disorder. <i>Psych
Central.</i> Retrieved </span><span style="color: black; line-height: 200%;">on
July 8, 2011,
from </span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1133989044" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">http://psychcentral.com/lib/2007/an-introduction-to-bipolar-</span></span></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Caruso,
K. (2009). Bipolar and Suicide. <i>Suicide
Prevention, Awareness, and </i><i>Support. </i>Retrieved on
July 8, 2011, from </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #333333;"> </span><span style="color: red;">
</span><a href="http://www.suicide.org/bipolar-disorder-and-suicide.html"><span style="color: red;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">http://www.suicide.org/bipolar-disorder-and-suicide.html</span></span></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Martin,
B. (2006). Risk Factors for Bipolar Disorder. <i>Psych
Central</i>.
Retrieved on July 8, <span style="color: black; line-height: 200%;">2011, from </span><a href="http://psychcentral.com/lib/2006/risk-factors-for-bipolar-disorder/" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="color: red;"><span style="text-decoration: none;">http://psychcentral.com/lib/2006/risk-factors-for-bipolar-disorder</span></span></a></span></span></div>
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