GreenChrist

Gonna rant now, there may be casualties.


First off, environmentalists. Greenpeace. The Finnish branch of Greenpeace, to be exact. Cocks. Fucking idiots. It's not so much their ideals that I hate, it's the people pushing it and the way they do it.

So, when me and a friend were walking from one shop to the other today, we had to bypass their lunacy booth. And sure enough, one of them approached us with a handful of leaflets and screamed; "Can you spare a moment for animal rights!"

*sigh*

"Fine... what are you on about today?"
"We are reminding people that animals are our friends, and we have no right to abuse them."
"You... you what? You have signs saying 'human rights for animals', 'stop animal holocaust' and 'animal rights = human rights', and your point is to remind people that animals are our friends? You got a whole booth, and that's the message of the day?"
"Well, today we are also talking about animal tests. Leiras recently opened a new pharmaceutical development facility in Turku, and they have refused to stop testing on animals."
"No, see, that's bullshit."
"I'm sorry?"
"I said, that's bullshit. What Leiras has agreed to, is reduce the number of animals used in testing and do tests only on mice, rats and fish. And they have agreed to pursue other means of research. They were aso willing to invest in to a research center designed to study new forms of medical research, but the government bailed out on the last moment, against their promise to both Leiras and EU. They keep the rats around on the off chance you might get sick, and need medication to, you know, keep breathing."
"Yeah, but they haven't stopped animal testing completely."
"You people scored a massive moral victory over a huge pharmaceutical company, and you're not happy? Grow the fuck up. Besides... most animal testing in Finland today is done at universities... like the one you go to, am I right? Ok, can I ask you something?"
*a bit wary at this point* "Ok."
"How many whales did the japanese catch last year for 'research' purposes?"
"Umm..."
"Ok, something easier. What is the target level of CO2 the EU has set for 2010?"
"Umm..."
"See, this is what I hate about you and your lot. You wave your signs around, shout and chant protests, and demand people give you a moment and some coin, but in reality you know fuck all outside that leaflet you have made for today, and the white little lies you add to spice your story up a bit. You are like barbary apes. At a distance, quite humanish. Two legs, two arms, four fingers and you even got pretty little thumbs. But then you open your mouths and I am instantly reminded that evolution hasn't quite hit you yet. *starts walking away* Oh, and you would be hell of a lot more credible if you weren't wearing that fake hemp jacket from H&M, considering how many times they've been caught using child labor."

Few seconds later my friend said to me; "Have you ever considered using your powers for other than evil?"

I hate people like that cunt. I really fucking do. Privliged, educated and still dumb as a bag of hammers. The thing that really gets me is that they lie. Or more accurately, they intentionally mislead. I'm sure somewhere in that organization someone has to know that Leiras is reducing animal trials, and that they were onboard to build a fancy new research center. But the people on the street, the footsoldiers of Greenpeace, they rave the exact same vitriol against pharmaceutical companies they did a decade ago. They really do. And even worse, they use proganda like pictures of farmanimal being beaten or something. That shit is already illegal, and largely thanks to Greenpeace and other animal rights groups. Animal cruelty is being policed, very much so, in this country. Yet they continue to use that shock tactic to get people in to donating money. And at the same time, a whole lot of them are going to Turku University, which is just a stone's throw from a brand new (and big) bio research facility, which they helped to fund, and which does all sorts of testing. Oddly enough, Greenpeace has never protested outside that facility. CUNTS!!! YOU FUCKING MINDLESS DRONES!!!!!!

Any person who receives their information from a leaflet, and goes to war on that alone, is an idiot.


Next up... religious folk. Yeah, not really a surprise I'm going after those whackos. But today, they have really pissed me off.

After leaving my friend, I met my mom and niece. We were at the city square, decided to get ice cream before going home, and as we sat down, I heard a disturbing noise. In the middle of the square, a young woman was standing next to a cross, holding a microfone, and making a lot of noise about Jesus this and Jesus that. Around her there was a group of other men and women handing out leaflets, and I recognised the T-shirts some of them were wearing, a local Christian youth group, mostly harmless.

Now, I'm not a fan of that superstition, but I'm not really that bothered if someone wants to blather on about it. Honestly, it's the noise that's more annoying, the idiots doing it are just amusing.

But then they went to a whole new place. And now I was ready to pelt them with tomatos. And kiwis. And potatos. And rocks. And small cars. And SUVs.

Middle of the day, in the middle of the fucking town square, these lugnuts decide to stage a short play of the crucifixion, including some yobbo wearing a white dress drenched in blood with a cross tied to his back. And all the while the same bitch is shouting passages from the Bible, as the Jesus yobbo is walking around looking like he's been hit on the head with a cold cod, trying to hug people. Yeah, sure, why not, who wouldn't want to be hugged by a creepy dude in a bloody toga. Somehow, I think their message of love and peace was lost on my five year old niece, who only saw Jesus on LSD, wearing this season's masterpiece, Versace's Cloth In Pig's Blood.

Penn Jillette once said, that the best way to condemn the Bible, is to read the Bible. I think these fuckers actually managed to turn more people away from Christ.

There are days when I honestly think that mankind should be wiped off this planet in one swift stroke of a brush. I really do.


Thus ended the sermon. Go make love and be nice to each other.

11:55 - 2008-Jul-2 - comments {22} - post comment

Justice Has Been Done

Here's a funny bit from the news today.

A 19 year old woman in Saudi Arabia was gangraped by seven men, and she's going to jail for six months. Hooray! That'll teach her. Actually, she's going to jail after they beat her 200 times with a stick.

Her crime? Well, she was sitting in a car, talking with a friend, when seven charming gentlemen opened the door, pulled her out and raped her. The men were all tried and senteced to prison, 2-9 years each, and then the police realised, to their utter horror, that she had been sitting in a car with a man to whom she is not related.

Her original sentence was three months and 90 lashes, but after she told the press what had been done to her, the sentence was re-evaluated.

Hey, here's a fucking jolly idea. Why not, instead of pretending we care for human rights, really do something that shows that. Saudi Arabia is one of the closest allies to the Western world in the Middle East, and this is what goes on there. What the fuck? Let's embargo the motherfuckers. No, even better, let's stop pretending they are on our side, and beat the shit out of them. I'm sure after someone shows them a picture of downtown Bagdad and then a picture of a missilebattery, they'll come around to our side real fucking fast.

So, here's my plan. You violate human rights, and we will send someone over to pistol whip... er, I mean for a meet and greet. I'm sure we can get the Americans on our side on this. It's not like we need to talk them in to this, just show Bush a map, but cross out the words Saudi Arabia and scribble on the word OIL. He'll have a raging semi in less than a second, and he'll be pulling troops out of Iraq to send over to Saudi Ar... I mean OIL in three seconds.

The sad reality is, and this really is sad, human rights violations against women are not important. We don't care. We throw around the term human rights like stale confetti, but unless there is a pay off at the end, we do nothing. To this day there are people who say the war in Iraq was partly anti-terrorism and partly human rights. Fuck those people with a fucking fork. Human rights situation in pre-war Iraq was a fucking cakewalk when we compare it to the lives women live in most parts of the world. We just don't care.

03:05 - 2007-Nov-23 - comments {48} - post comment

Deep Thoughts

This is a serious warning. This post contains portions that may offend some people. The theme is religion. So if you continue, please don't complain how wrong I am for saying what I am about to say.



Ok, so, I'm an atheist, right. You all know that. So this might shock you.

One of my closest friends in the entire world is a priest. Technically, he's a Lutheran minister, but same difference.

Think about that for a moment. I can't even count the times I have been accused of hatred against religion, intolerance, religious phobia, and my favorite, "wanting to wipe out all religion". And while all this is being said about me, I will break bread with a man I would call a brother, who represents all that I disagree with.

So let me clarify some things. I don't hate religion. I fear religion. I hate the way religion holds people in it's grasp. I hate the way it advocates intolerance and hatred. I hate the way it keeps us from reaching our full potential. And I don't believe religion, or churches, serve any useful purpose in the modern world. Or rather, not any purpose that couldn't be offered by an educated professional.

In a way I too am a religious fanatic. My religion is science. My Bible is Darwin's On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. And I will gladly spread the message and converse with people about it. I will however not go to their door with pamphlets. I will not beat them on the head with my good book. And I will not be blowing up any churches because I disapprove of their message.

Now comes the portion in which I will undoubtedly piss off a lot of people. Deal with it.

I truly believe atheists are better human beings than religious folk. There are thousands and thousands of reasons, but at the end of the day it boils down to this: we don't need a book to tell us how to be a good person.

I have more than once been accused of being a hedonist and immoral. Well, I'll take the hedonist, cause I really do enjoy the tasty and sensual things life has to offer. But immoral? That hurts. I have huge morals. They may not be the same morals that you get given during Bible thumping hour, but they don't include hating people just because they are different either. I have a strict moral code I follow. One is that I hold a relationship, mine or someone else's, sacred. I value the life of a human being beyond anything else. So much so, that I am torn between my conviction and my desire to inflict permanent damage on someone. Religion offers these two as well. But apparently that doesn't mean you have to follow them, because men are men and men will stick their dick everywhere married or not, and killing a homosexual is jolly good fun.

A rather popular response to my question "what do we need religion for" is simply; hope. Religion, church and faith give people hope.
Well, yeah, I'll grant you that. It does. But it's false hope. Don't get me wrong, hope is a wonderful thing false or not, but it lacks something. There's only so many times you can take the "God works in mysterious ways" crap before you want to put a gun to your head. God loves us all, he watches over us, he is with us always. Ok, sure, now ask God to give you a hug.
I lose all hope almost every day. I see things that make me want to cry. And then I look at my friends and one of them will say something or do something that reminds me that there is always hope. And best of all, I can then hug them and say "thank you".
False hope, or pure, tangible hope you can touch? I know which I would pick, and have picked.

For my grand finale, I'd like to perform a little something I like to call; Fuck Godwyn's Law.

Adolf Hitler restored Germany from post-war poverty to a booming superpower in a decade. He built vast roadsystems still in use and copied all over the world. He dried swamps so there would be more land to build cities upon. He revitalized the economy. He was, according to those who met him, a brilliant intellectual. He didn't drink or do drugs. And he was, oddly enough, a remarkable conversationalist who could conduct three simultanious conversations while dictating a letter.
Now if we could just ignore the fact he was the man behind the Jewish Holocaust, we could honor him as a magnificent leader. Of course we don't and we never should. He was a monster. A perfect specimen demonstrating that when it comes to cruelty, you just can't beat the human mind.

So why do we give religion a free pass? Why do we ignore, over and over again, the atrocities not only done in the name of religion, but actually done by the church itself. I'm guessing you are thinking crusade and the inquisition, but I'm talking about something more modern.
All the way up to the 40's and 50's, Catholic nuns and priests who came to Alaska in order to educate and enlighten the native inuits, spent years beating and abusing the children for such crimes as speaking their native language. And in many cases, the more troublesome men were castrated so they wouldn't pass on such traits. Burning with a hot iron was also a popular past time.
Or how about something more modern. I can't remember the exact name of the house in question, but I'm hoping someone else does and will remind me later, but it was something like Magdalena House, and it was in Ireland. What it was, was a "sanctuary" for orphan girls and young women. And there they were forced in to slavery, and all manner of physical abuse. And this continued to the 90's.
The fucking nineties. So much for the modern church.

Why do we continue to let this slide? Every few years the church apologises for something they did in the past, and people go "oh it's ok, it's not like it was you, it was someone who came before you".
Now imagine Adolf Hitler's grandson saying his pappy made some mistakes, but if you look at the big picture, he was an ok guy. (Hitler had no children, so don't nitpick, it's an intellectual exercise)
We don't allow anyone else to conduct this sort of behaviour. We've started wars for less. What the fuck are we doing now?

I understand that religion is a subject more complex than quantumphysics. So it is almost impossible to make perfect sense or express all nuances and feelings on the matter in one blog post. But I think this will do for now.

10:28 - 2007-Nov-18 - comments {31} - post comment

Sisu

There is a word in the Finnish language that has been rolling around my brain today. I heard it used in the news this morning, in relation to yesterday's shootings. It is a good word, sadly overused, but it still has an impact on most Finnish people.

That word would be Sisu.

The term comes from the reality that Finland is a harsh realm. Let's not kid ourselves, we live in the middle of the fucking arctic. You think you know what winter is? Try living in near darkness and freezing temperatures for months on end. Finnish men are known to work hard, but drink harder, so irrational and violent behavior is pretty much coded in to our genes. The soil is a bitch to grow anything other than grass on. And we have been, through centuries, threatened by more powerful neighbours.

That's when Sisu comes in. It's a word that has a multitude of meanings. In essence, it means strength and perseverence in the face of adversity. It means not giving up, no matter the cost. It means taking a kick in the face and getting up to fight again. And it means keeping all this on going. It's not a momentary thing. It's not something you turn on and off when the need be. It is something that has to be there all the time, or you don't survive through the winter. Well, that's what it used to mean.

Sisu is the reason why we were never conquered. Yes, we were under Swedish rule, then under Russian rule, but we were never conquered. Our "ownership" was decided in meetings by the courts. We just kept to ourselves and continued working. But we were never conquered. Because both the Swedish and Russians understood, that while we didn't care which directions we paid our taxes to, if anyone were to take it by force of arms, they would not live to regret that decision.

In more recent times, Sisu applies to the battle of Tali-Ihantala during WW2. The Soviets decided that because Finland was at the time allied with the Nazis (not like we knew what they were doing, we just needed backup against the Soviets), Finland must be taken out of the equation. Permanently. So in the came. Bringing the might of the Red Army to our doorstep. After initial 10 day campaign that cost the Finnish military an arm and a leg, we asked for peace. I shall now give you a dramatization of the peace talks.

Finnish general: So... peace? Anyone? Russian general: Only the complete and unconditional surrender of Finland is acceptale. Finnish general: Um... no. No, I think we're gonna fight instead. Russian general: *laughter* You and what army? Finnish general: Sisu.

They didn't laugh. The tiny, insignificant little Finland, took on the full force of the Soviet army, and didn't blink. The end result of that display was that while it was clear in the long run they would win, the cost would be far too much. Stalin, a man not exactly known for his rationality, understood that taking back Finland was not worth the trouble. So we surrendered, but we dictated our terms of surrender. That doesn't happen much.

The point that I am trying to make with this display of national pride, is that while what happened yesterday was a tragedy, claiming that it will take sisu to get us through this, is an insult to men like my granddad, who was 17 when he volunteered to fight in the war. That was sisu. What we need to get over this, is time.

10:46 - 2007-Nov-8 - comments {12} - post comment

Blimey... Part 2

Okay, so now they are saying that the kid who shot at the school was described by teachers as a "radical militant", and that his actions were motivated by political reasons.

There are two things wrong with that.

Firstly, we don't have radical militants in this country. We have dumbass skinheads who only attack groups smaller than themselves, and we have organised crime in the form of Russian and Estonian gangs and Finnish motorcycle gangs. The term radical militant has never ever been used before, but I'm sure now that someone decided to throw it out there, it will be the next weapon of choice to describe problematic people.

And two... A radical militant, you say? Exhibited strange and worrying behaviour, you say? And you decided to wait until after he killed 8 people to say that outloud? These people, these "teachers", apparently have no trouble trashing the kid now that he snapped, but are completely neglecting the fact that they let him down. You see someone in a ditch, you help them up. You don't wait until they drown and then say "Hey, I had this lifebuoy in my pocket all the time, but you weren't worth my time".

Neck. Fork. Fuck.

10:27 - 2007-Nov-7 - comments {6} - post comment