Today's Menu
Mar. 3rd, 2005 10:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
azuriteToday's Menu
Today's Menu features delicious controversy!
But first, choose from our appetizers:
* Piracy, available served warm or chilled
* Religion a'la mode (choose from Strawberry, Vanilla, Blueberry, Chocolate, or Neapolitan)
[Poll #448267]
The reason I created this poll is due to the fact that I, probably like many other people, have mixed views on piracy. I have loads of MP3s on my computer, programs I haven't paid for, and even some anime episodes. Of course, I can justify that not all soundtracks are available --they can be out of print or only available import. Sometimes I have paid $50 for a CD imported! But where does all that money go, even if it's a legit CD? The same thing applies to anime-- sometimes the fansubs are better than the licensed version. But once licensed, distribution of a fansub is supposed to stop-- so people like me turn to P2Ps and bittorrents. In the case of burned games, I have only a few Japanese versions of DDR, but I can't even play them until I get my PS2 modded. I prefer them over the equivalent US releases, because they have more familiar songs and options. What to do when the same games in Japan are out of print? I could try and find or import a legit copy, but how do I really know? Plus, I'd be paying far too much for something I'm not "supposed" to have!
How do you draw the line between what is allowed (MP3s, etc.) to what is blatantly illegal (anime piracy)?
This whole controversy was spurred by an article in today's Daily News, on page 13. It's titled "Cross-on-county-seal petition fails." The article addresses how a petition started to try and get a cross back on the Los Angeles County Seal (removed after the ACLU threatened to sue over the cross representing government promoting a religious establishment) failed, since it fell short of the required number of signatures on the petition.
I could argue with you over the crosses and everything, but first let's start with the background-- some people want the cross back on because it represents California's history, and our many missions and Spanish background. I fully understand and appreciate all that, but isn't there another way to depict it? How about the picture of a mission, or maybe a Spanish missionary in robes with a rosary-- and no big crosses? I'm sure there are plenty of other ways of showing California's Spanish history.
The thing that got my goat was how the majority of the supporters were obviously priests and pastors of various churches throughout Los Angeles. I respect and admire them for their dedication and faith, but a few of them seem to be a bit... well, dumb. There's certain things that are plenty controversial given religion and science, fact and fiction, or however you want to put it. But American history is a little less debatable than the origin of religion and the interpretation of God's word. One of them is a heck of a lot more recent than the other, for one thing.
Sandra Need, a member of the executive board on the Committee to Support the Los Angeles Seal Ordinance said, "The founders (of America) all believed in God and lived by the Ten Commandments."
Uhm, no! Look, one of the things we (and I do mean Californians; it might differ state to state) learned without controversy (that is, "er, you'll learn this when you're older," or "you need to get your parent's permission to learn about this...") is the history of America. It's pretty indisputable, for the most part. We know who the "founding fathers" were, and we know lots about them.
Let's go back a bit further, though. Think back to why the Puritans first came to America. In a nutshell, they were being persecuted for their choice of religion. That's the whole idea behind America (and look how far we've come): freedom! Freedom from a lot of things, but freedom OF many things, as well. There is a difference. So many people came to America to have their freedom to practice whatever they want, to believe what they want. It didn't work perfectly everywhere, but it was a heck of a lot better than in England, where Protestants killed Catholics and vice versa, for over 100 years!
To get to the point, look at a few of the founding fathers:
"I have examined all the known superstitions of the world, and I do not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology. Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the earth." --SIX HISTORIC AMERICANS, by John E. Remsburg. Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to William Short
John Adams signed the Treaty of Tripoli. Article 11 states: "The Government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion."
Thomas Paine: "I would not dare to so dishonor my Creator God by attaching His name to that book (the Bible)."
Consider this.
Now, I think it's all well and good that a little girl who was originally a cynic discovered that the power pf the dollar bill and how "In God We Trust" could let the courts prove some old man was Kris Kringle. But honestly? I've never liked that on the bill, and I don't like the idea of prayer before Supreme Court gets into session, or the idea of the Ten Commandments being displayed in every school around the nation. I understand that they are all very important things, and the Ten Commandments in many ways can be construed as the foundation of all our laws, BUT that does not mean that everyone in the nation has to be constantly bombarded with the concept of "one god, one faith," when that's not what America is built on at all. One religion and the pushing of it leads to oppression of other people, and that's NEVER right. I'm not saying other religions don't do it, but certainly not as badly as Christianity does here in America.
I guess what I'm trying to get at here is not whether things like the Ten Commandments on display are right or wrong, but how a person making a statement on behalf of an organization for religious purposes (like I said, other people signed the petition because it represented CA history, with missions, etc.) can make such a stupid statement! You don't even have to do a lot of research to find out the majority of the founding fathers either made no statement toward religion one way or the other, or disagreed entirely with religion, and were atheists, agnostics, or deists!
Yeesh.
There's more to be said and told, but things have to be finished first... tomorrow's ballet, and I hope I don't still have this tummy ache! There's webpages to be coded (SMRFF, BEA, Darkness Rising, The Rose Chronicles), fics to be written (3 oneshots, WDKY16, DAA2), and other things to be done, I'm sure... like figure out Newsgroups, and how I can get the binary attachments on groups when I'm on a free reader. X_X
Today's Menu features delicious controversy!
But first, choose from our appetizers:
* Piracy, available served warm or chilled
* Religion a'la mode (choose from Strawberry, Vanilla, Blueberry, Chocolate, or Neapolitan)
[Poll #448267]
The reason I created this poll is due to the fact that I, probably like many other people, have mixed views on piracy. I have loads of MP3s on my computer, programs I haven't paid for, and even some anime episodes. Of course, I can justify that not all soundtracks are available --they can be out of print or only available import. Sometimes I have paid $50 for a CD imported! But where does all that money go, even if it's a legit CD? The same thing applies to anime-- sometimes the fansubs are better than the licensed version. But once licensed, distribution of a fansub is supposed to stop-- so people like me turn to P2Ps and bittorrents. In the case of burned games, I have only a few Japanese versions of DDR, but I can't even play them until I get my PS2 modded. I prefer them over the equivalent US releases, because they have more familiar songs and options. What to do when the same games in Japan are out of print? I could try and find or import a legit copy, but how do I really know? Plus, I'd be paying far too much for something I'm not "supposed" to have!
How do you draw the line between what is allowed (MP3s, etc.) to what is blatantly illegal (anime piracy)?
This whole controversy was spurred by an article in today's Daily News, on page 13. It's titled "Cross-on-county-seal petition fails." The article addresses how a petition started to try and get a cross back on the Los Angeles County Seal (removed after the ACLU threatened to sue over the cross representing government promoting a religious establishment) failed, since it fell short of the required number of signatures on the petition.
I could argue with you over the crosses and everything, but first let's start with the background-- some people want the cross back on because it represents California's history, and our many missions and Spanish background. I fully understand and appreciate all that, but isn't there another way to depict it? How about the picture of a mission, or maybe a Spanish missionary in robes with a rosary-- and no big crosses? I'm sure there are plenty of other ways of showing California's Spanish history.
The thing that got my goat was how the majority of the supporters were obviously priests and pastors of various churches throughout Los Angeles. I respect and admire them for their dedication and faith, but a few of them seem to be a bit... well, dumb. There's certain things that are plenty controversial given religion and science, fact and fiction, or however you want to put it. But American history is a little less debatable than the origin of religion and the interpretation of God's word. One of them is a heck of a lot more recent than the other, for one thing.
Sandra Need, a member of the executive board on the Committee to Support the Los Angeles Seal Ordinance said, "The founders (of America) all believed in God and lived by the Ten Commandments."
Uhm, no! Look, one of the things we (and I do mean Californians; it might differ state to state) learned without controversy (that is, "er, you'll learn this when you're older," or "you need to get your parent's permission to learn about this...") is the history of America. It's pretty indisputable, for the most part. We know who the "founding fathers" were, and we know lots about them.
Let's go back a bit further, though. Think back to why the Puritans first came to America. In a nutshell, they were being persecuted for their choice of religion. That's the whole idea behind America (and look how far we've come): freedom! Freedom from a lot of things, but freedom OF many things, as well. There is a difference. So many people came to America to have their freedom to practice whatever they want, to believe what they want. It didn't work perfectly everywhere, but it was a heck of a lot better than in England, where Protestants killed Catholics and vice versa, for over 100 years!
To get to the point, look at a few of the founding fathers:
"I have examined all the known superstitions of the world, and I do not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature. They are all alike founded on fables and mythology. Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the earth." --SIX HISTORIC AMERICANS, by John E. Remsburg. Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to William Short
John Adams signed the Treaty of Tripoli. Article 11 states: "The Government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion."
Thomas Paine: "I would not dare to so dishonor my Creator God by attaching His name to that book (the Bible)."
Consider this.
Now, I think it's all well and good that a little girl who was originally a cynic discovered that the power pf the dollar bill and how "In God We Trust" could let the courts prove some old man was Kris Kringle. But honestly? I've never liked that on the bill, and I don't like the idea of prayer before Supreme Court gets into session, or the idea of the Ten Commandments being displayed in every school around the nation. I understand that they are all very important things, and the Ten Commandments in many ways can be construed as the foundation of all our laws, BUT that does not mean that everyone in the nation has to be constantly bombarded with the concept of "one god, one faith," when that's not what America is built on at all. One religion and the pushing of it leads to oppression of other people, and that's NEVER right. I'm not saying other religions don't do it, but certainly not as badly as Christianity does here in America.
I guess what I'm trying to get at here is not whether things like the Ten Commandments on display are right or wrong, but how a person making a statement on behalf of an organization for religious purposes (like I said, other people signed the petition because it represented CA history, with missions, etc.) can make such a stupid statement! You don't even have to do a lot of research to find out the majority of the founding fathers either made no statement toward religion one way or the other, or disagreed entirely with religion, and were atheists, agnostics, or deists!
Yeesh.
There's more to be said and told, but things have to be finished first... tomorrow's ballet, and I hope I don't still have this tummy ache! There's webpages to be coded (SMRFF, BEA, Darkness Rising, The Rose Chronicles), fics to be written (3 oneshots, WDKY16, DAA2), and other things to be done, I'm sure... like figure out Newsgroups, and how I can get the binary attachments on groups when I'm on a free reader. X_X
