It’s either the end or the beginning of spring break (methinks schools conspire with each other to have spring break on different weeks so that there isn’t a massive influx of young people.) It’s also probably the last quarter for many students. So naturally, Spring is the time to live it up and party. There is nothing wrong with going to a good old kick back with beer pong (unless it’s the fifth one you’ve been to that week and you haven’t been to class) but there are still responsibilities one must take to ensure we create a rape free zone.
1. Be aware of people’s body gestures and speech: One of the easiest ways to see if a person is interested in being around is to pay attention to their body language. If they seem distant, they avoid eye contact, use protective actions (like crossing arms or step back a little), if they respond with short indifferent answers, then its best to move on. Find other people to talk to and perhaps they will be more receptive of you. If you see someone who is uncomfortable by your friend's presence, pull your friend away and take them somewhere else.
2. Don’t be insistent: There is that one guy who is a total jerk ass who doesn’t respect people’s boundary and insist they do what he wants and destroys the party. Don’t be that guy.
3. Respect boundaries: Know what people want. If they are strangers to you, don’t go slapping their asses, giving them huge bear hugs or go “Man that’s one nice piece of ass”. Greet them with a handshake, share a few words and see if you click. You really should only do those things to people that you know will accept it. Don’t assume everyone will see your approaches the same way you do.
4. Don’t take advantage of a drunken person: Don’t try to have sex with a person who is too drunk to say yes or know what they’re doing. Just don’t. Use the golden rule here. If you are not sure if someone is capable of saying yes or capable of self-awareness, err with the side of caution. Assume they are not. If you see someone talking a drunken stranger with them, stop them or go with them. Even if all they were doing was making sure that person has a safe place to sleep, you’ll have the satisfaction of know that you help contribute to that safety. If you noticed that both parties are too drunk, just stop them. It is better that they both know and consent to sex than it is to have total confusion in the morning.
5. Consent can be retracted: Yes isn’t yes forever and no one is obligated to have sex. If a person wants to stop half way, then stop. And frankly it’s better if both parties are enthusiastic about it the whole way through.
6. Have fun, but be nice: Go out and have a drink, share laughs, own people at pong, light a joint, puke on the yard, forget that you had an important meeting in the morning. Do all that but don’t be a jerkass to others. Parties should be fun for everyone not just one person. And trust me; you’re not making the party fun by disrespecting people’s personal boundaries or violating them. If a person is not interested in you than just go somewhere else and enjoy your time. And don’t take it personally either. They don’t know you and they don’t know you’re intents. It’s not about you, and you should respect that.
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Donnerstag, 5. April 2012
Dienstag, 14. September 2010
Two more dead by bullying
FoF, FRC, and NOM must be proud since they are the forces behind stopping anti-bullying laws aimed at protecting minors. They say that these laws promote the "gay agenda" to children. What they really want is for the right to torment and harass gay and social outcast children as much as they want. This way they can coerce children to follow their religious ideals of the "norm". It's working as bullying of gay teens has been on the rise. Now they have two more bodies to show for their efforts. Bigots must be proud.
Freitag, 10. September 2010
Ich zustimme
Von Queer.de
Wir sollen nicht beschämt über unseren Genital sein. Wir sollen nicht beschämt über den Beischlaf sein. Wir sollen er schützen. Das Kondom ist die bestene Idee, aber wenn man es nicht hat, soll man der Arzt oft sehen.
Der Genital- heißt zwar auch Schambereich, aber eigentlich gibt es überhaupt keinen Grund, sich für irgendetwas zu schämen. Vor allem nicht, wenn man Veränderungen wahrnimmt, die nicht sein sollten.
Klar, das allerwichtigste Instrument zum Schutz vor sexuell übertragbaren Krankheiten ist das Kondom. Doch um sich einen Tripper zu holen, braucht man sich nur mal im Dampfraum von jemanden einen blasen lassen.
Wenn es passiert ist und man sich irgendetwas "eingefangen" hat, ohne genau zu wissen, was es ist, sollte man nicht zögern, einen Arzt aufzusuchen. Denn anders als bei einer Erkältung oder Kopfschmerzen verschwinden zwar mitunter die Symptome nach einiger Zeit von allein, doch die Krankheit ist damit noch lange nicht verschwunden. Die unbehandelte Syphilis führt nach Jahren zu schweren körperlichen Schäden.
Wir sollen nicht beschämt über unseren Genital sein. Wir sollen nicht beschämt über den Beischlaf sein. Wir sollen er schützen. Das Kondom ist die bestene Idee, aber wenn man es nicht hat, soll man der Arzt oft sehen.
Donnerstag, 9. September 2010
Es is nur ein Kuss
Mark Dean Brown und Björn Czepan hatten eine Aufregung gemacht. Wie? Sie küssen und es war in eine Zeitung. Leute soll entsetzt nicht sein. Es is nur ein Kuss.
Freitag, 3. September 2010
Ugh...
Focus on the Family (aka Focus on the Patriarchy) is promoting an abstinence only policy in Yunnan, China. Why on earth would the government of Yunnan allow that? The abstinence only policy is failing in the United States, badly. It's failing in Africa, badly and resulting in STD being spread rapidly. I only hope that the students sees this for what it really is: an attempt at hegemony from American Evangelicals who cares nothing for the well being of other. If they truly cared, they'd promote safe sex. Safe sex is proven to reduce STD and unwanted pregnancy.
This whole abstinence only policy stems from heavy misogyny. How? Fundamental Christians believe the only use for sex is to make the woman pregnant. If some one is having safe sex, it means that they are having it to enjoy it. They cannot stand for that. They cannot stand the idea that a woman can enjoy sex, or take control of their own body. The loath at the fact that a woman can use their body for something other than child rearing.
I hope there is a day when the lies and evil of Focus on the Family is expose to the world. I certainly will do my best to do so.
This whole abstinence only policy stems from heavy misogyny. How? Fundamental Christians believe the only use for sex is to make the woman pregnant. If some one is having safe sex, it means that they are having it to enjoy it. They cannot stand for that. They cannot stand the idea that a woman can enjoy sex, or take control of their own body. The loath at the fact that a woman can use their body for something other than child rearing.
I hope there is a day when the lies and evil of Focus on the Family is expose to the world. I certainly will do my best to do so.
Donnerstag, 26. August 2010
Ethnography
This editions of Ethnography, I'm going to focus on the negotiation of group identity.
First let's start off with a Korean dance called Buchaechum (부채춤). Buchaechum has become very synonymous with various Korean celebrations ranging from Buddha's birthday to simple Church days. Buchaechum is a kinda of iconic of Korean culture (esepecially in it's design, make-up, and hanbok), so it is use to represent Korea in a universal way.
Next is Jeruselam Pride. Pride has always been been representing the LGBT culture in the most fabulous fasion possible through the body of the participants, the colors, and the music. But for Jeruselam's Pride, there is an added emphasis on the role of the secular Jewish community in promoting LGBT people as part of their own identity.
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Food is always a way to declare one's ethnic identity, and therefore ethnic enclaves will have their food stuff served and readily availiable. Here is a sample of some of the food one can find in Little Phnom Penh in Long Beach, California. Long Beach is one of the biggest Khmer-American community.
The Cahuilla, like many other Native American tribes, seek to find a lost identity by riviving old arts and costoms.
First let's start off with a Korean dance called Buchaechum (부채춤). Buchaechum has become very synonymous with various Korean celebrations ranging from Buddha's birthday to simple Church days. Buchaechum is a kinda of iconic of Korean culture (esepecially in it's design, make-up, and hanbok), so it is use to represent Korea in a universal way.
Next is Jeruselam Pride. Pride has always been been representing the LGBT culture in the most fabulous fasion possible through the body of the participants, the colors, and the music. But for Jeruselam's Pride, there is an added emphasis on the role of the secular Jewish community in promoting LGBT people as part of their own identity.
Food is always a way to declare one's ethnic identity, and therefore ethnic enclaves will have their food stuff served and readily availiable. Here is a sample of some of the food one can find in Little Phnom Penh in Long Beach, California. Long Beach is one of the biggest Khmer-American community.
The Cahuilla, like many other Native American tribes, seek to find a lost identity by riviving old arts and costoms.
Donnerstag, 19. August 2010
This is becoming an epidemic
More Cambodians are facing attacks with acid. The number of these incidences seems to be raising, though that could be due to increase media attention on the subject. There has been suggestions to restrict access to dangerous acid, but many of them are also necessary for industry. The government also plan to increase punishment for attacks. This will probably not help in that; the police force is inept anyways, it will result in more overcrowded prison, and it doesn't take down the core issue of violence in general.
Dienstag, 17. August 2010
They're Still There
Ever noticed, when going to a museum, how past culture are presented? Usually it's just by the extraordinary physical remains they leave behind. Stuff like pottery, sculpture, and architecture. In older museums, it really brings out the idea the the culture and/or people are gone. Well, it's wrong. They're still here. It's just that culture has changed, just like any culture, but they are still here and they can track back their current culture to the old one.
When we talk about the Greek, we get ideas of gods and goddesses, fantastic stories, wars, and romance. We're told that it's an ancient time, when culture was at it's zenith. The Greeks however, are not some dead people that only the old story speaks about. Since the time of Antiquity, Greek culture has changed greatly going from Christianizing to domination by the Turks, to modernization. This has resulted in a rich new culture for the modern Greeks.
The Greeks:
When we talk about the Greek, we get ideas of gods and goddesses, fantastic stories, wars, and romance. We're told that it's an ancient time, when culture was at it's zenith. The Greeks however, are not some dead people that only the old story speaks about. Since the time of Antiquity, Greek culture has changed greatly going from Christianizing to domination by the Turks, to modernization. This has resulted in a rich new culture for the modern Greeks.
(Pic: Kostas Martakis is a Greek pop singer and model. Like the rest of Europe, Greece has adapted to pop-culture.)
The Khmers:
Visions of the Khmers either bring out the splendid images of Angkor or the genocide under Pol Pot. For some people, it's hard believe that the current Khmers were then ones who built Angkor. French explorer Henri Mouhot even deny that the agrarian Khmers could do it. But the historical and ethnographic evidence shows that it is the modern Khmers who made Angkor. They're not some lost civilization. They're still there.
(Pic: Pich Sophea is a pop icon in Cambodia. Cambodia has made strong efforts to prove to the international community that it is capable of bringing modernity to it's culture.)
The Thais:
What the Age of Imperialism has brought us is an Image of a rugged and exotic Siam filled with people that were so removed from modernity and western civilization. And with the way Thailand is advertised by travel agencies, it still looks like it's the exotic place. But such images denies the Thais their modernity. Modern Thailand has grown fast economically, resulting in ever increasing technological and global awareness by modern Thai peoples.
(Pic: Top Chaiwat is a Thai actor and model. Here we see a fashion show. Thailand has since become an important place of cultural exchange and development.)
The Mayans:
Old scientists have always wondered about the fate of the Mayans. Their temples were abandon and it seems the civilization has collapse. But the Mayans continue to exist. Their modern civilization is fraught with the effort of their ethnic groups to obtain rights and awareness in the international community.
(Pic: Rigoberta Menchú is a Nobel Peace Prize winner who dedicated here career to advancing rights for the K'iche' Mayans of Guatemala. Mayans suffer from invisibility and harassment, such as the one they faced under the CIA funded Contra.)
Mittwoch, 11. August 2010
Ethnography
Students of the University of California, Riverside took part in a peaceful protest against unfair fee hikes and budget cuts. Look hard enough and you'll find me (or not, avoided the cameras.) We marched from the main campus to the downtown districts. (Good thing public transportation was there, I was soooo not in the mood to walk back.)
Shoppers in Hillcrest San Diego.
Lao American girls attend at a Wat.
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Indonesian youths participate in a rock band.
Dienstag, 10. August 2010
Montag, 9. August 2010
Illegale Medikamente in Nord-Apotheken
Früher ging es meist nur um Viagra, doch heute wird fast alles gefälscht: Antibiotika, Schmerzmittel oder auch Krebsmedikamente. Nach Recherchen des NDR Wirtschafts- und Verbrauchermagazins Markt werden gefälschte Medikamente nicht
mehr nur im Internet vertrieben, sondern sind mittlerweile bundesweit in rund 100 Apotheken verkauft worden. In Norddeutschland ermitteln unter anderem die Staatsanwaltschaften Hamburg, Celle, Verden, Kiel und Braunschweig. Die Staatsanwaltschaft Braunschweig hat bereits Anklage gegen einen Apotheker erhoben. Allein er soll Medikamente mit einem Volumen von 1,675 Millionen zu Unrecht abgerechnet haben.
Mehr hier
Donnerstag, 5. August 2010
Underwear? Under Here!
I've been reading a lot of DNA Magazine and I've come under the impression that gay men own lots of underwear (or at least gay Aussies). I've never quite fully understood buying so much underwear. Perhaps that's the poor person in me speaking: I have other expenses occupying my thoughts. Even so, I do enjoy wearing good underwear every now and then (I'm not one of those boys who have to be fashionable 24/7).I use to wear briefs all the time. Hanes has always been my brand of choice since they were cheap and fairly comfortable for day to day use. I wear them when I don't care about what other think, or when I don't expect to take my pants off (which is almost all the time).
Nowadays, I wear boxer or boxer briefs because they all free movement of my balls (yes I said that word). At first they felt weird because there was no support for my crotch but now I've grown accustom to them. My complaints about boxer are that some of them have no ways of closing the front opening making me weary of exposing my guns to everyone by accident. Fortunately, I only wear them around with no pants when I'm at home.
I have spandex shorts from my day as an athletic runner. I still uses them from time to time but I find that they collect too much moisture for my liking.I own no fashionable undies because I'm broke! lol. Also because I haven't any outfit to fit them with and I want to beef-up before I wear them.
My favorite brands are:
There are also times when I'm commando (did it at school once). And one day I'll wear a loincloth.
Samstag, 31. Juli 2010
Small Red Things
Candy is my "sinful" indulgence. Not that I believe that I'm sinning. More like I know that it's bad to consume as much as I do, but I still do anyway. Part of it has to do with being busy and stressful which leads to over consumptions of such things. Anyways candies can be mini-art. You have to appreciate how the sugar form, the shape, the design.
These also look like candy! It's simple: the cell is just a reddish disk. Yet if you arrange them right the par tern is amazing.
Montag, 26. Juli 2010
As if we need anymore proof of this
Children under gay and lesbian parents are doing well.
Surprise! No not really. We've known for quite a while that homosexual parents are capable of being real parents. So how is gay marriage, gay rights, or the existence of gays destroy families? I doesn't. In fact the evidences show that LGBT folks are creating families. Furthermore, if a person gets a divorce just because two guys can marry and have kids, their marriage probably wasn't stable to be begin with. So what does that make Focus on the Family and American Family Association? Certainly nothing to do with actual families. Patriarchy perhaps. Religious Patriarch more exactly. Those religious idiots can keep their "family values" (like child abuse and extreme misogyny) frankly, since those values aren't something a modern society can run on.
Surprise! No not really. We've known for quite a while that homosexual parents are capable of being real parents. So how is gay marriage, gay rights, or the existence of gays destroy families? I doesn't. In fact the evidences show that LGBT folks are creating families. Furthermore, if a person gets a divorce just because two guys can marry and have kids, their marriage probably wasn't stable to be begin with. So what does that make Focus on the Family and American Family Association? Certainly nothing to do with actual families. Patriarchy perhaps. Religious Patriarch more exactly. Those religious idiots can keep their "family values" (like child abuse and extreme misogyny) frankly, since those values aren't something a modern society can run on.
Sonntag, 25. Juli 2010
The Anime Invasion Claims Another City
Bangkok, Thailand is the next victim of the disproportionaly larged eye horde! lol.
Via NHK,
The horde has already taken over Anaheim, and no doubt sent their spys to Comi-con in San Diego.
Naruto Nerds. :P
Via NHK,
A Japanese anime song karaoke contest was held in Bangkok on Sunday. The event was organized by the Japanese embassy in Thailand.
16 finalists between the ages of 9 and 25 performed songs. They were chosen from more than 100 participants. Most of the finalists are studying Japanese and sang fluently in the language. Some of them danced energetically to the music as they sang.
Many young people wearing anime character costumes visited the venue, and took part in a photo event and an exhibition of anime items
The horde has already taken over Anaheim, and no doubt sent their spys to Comi-con in San Diego.
Naruto Nerds. :P
Samstag, 24. Juli 2010
Idiot of the Day
Via Towleroad,
A student at Augusta State University, Jennifer Keeton, claims that the school is forcing her to abandon her religious belief by accepting homosexuality. The school, of course, feels that her writing are inappropriate for a her degree to become a councilor. She's demanding the school bend to to her religious belief. Wouldn't that be great? If schools bended to the beliefs of it's student. It means I can become a mathematician and claim π = 3. Hey the Bible claim that it is and forcing me not to believe it is oppression. But the idiot isn't done with her little whine-fest:
Well that's just dandy. She "thinks"it's the right way to live. So lets get this straight, she suing to defend her first amendment rights to revoke the first amendment rights of others? That's what it boils down to. Keeton and her ilks are the type who wants freedom of religion to herself and end the freedom of religion of others. If you don't think so, see how they react when government tries to include other religions in their program; these idiots goes foaming mad if a Buddhist or Hindu tries to express their religion. Sorry Keeton, if you truly think the Bible is the right way to live than go back to the kitchen as you have no business in a learning institute (1 Timothy 2:12). And I hope you don't wear pants, either (Deuteronomy 22:5). I mean if you're going to use Leviticus, you'll have to use those too. Here's hoping that ASU wins against Keeton's stupidity.
A student at Augusta State University, Jennifer Keeton, claims that the school is forcing her to abandon her religious belief by accepting homosexuality. The school, of course, feels that her writing are inappropriate for a her degree to become a councilor. She's demanding the school bend to to her religious belief. Wouldn't that be great? If schools bended to the beliefs of it's student. It means I can become a mathematician and claim π = 3. Hey the Bible claim that it is and forcing me not to believe it is oppression. But the idiot isn't done with her little whine-fest:
The letter also cites an email from Keeton in which she says: "my Christian
moral views are not just about me. I think the Bible's teaching is true for all
people and it shows the right way to live."
Well that's just dandy. She "thinks"it's the right way to live. So lets get this straight, she suing to defend her first amendment rights to revoke the first amendment rights of others? That's what it boils down to. Keeton and her ilks are the type who wants freedom of religion to herself and end the freedom of religion of others. If you don't think so, see how they react when government tries to include other religions in their program; these idiots goes foaming mad if a Buddhist or Hindu tries to express their religion. Sorry Keeton, if you truly think the Bible is the right way to live than go back to the kitchen as you have no business in a learning institute (1 Timothy 2:12). And I hope you don't wear pants, either (Deuteronomy 22:5). I mean if you're going to use Leviticus, you'll have to use those too. Here's hoping that ASU wins against Keeton's stupidity.
Montag, 1. Februar 2010
Better PR
The leader of the opposition party, Sam Rainsy, was recently arrested for removing border posts on the Cambodia-Vietnam border. The concern is that Vietnam was encroaching on Cambodian territory in secret, which is not uncommon in territorial dispute. Just earlier, Thai nationalist were arrested for attempting to alter the Cambodia-Thailand border post. Of course, let us remember that this whole border dispute is a product of colonialism. Prior, there was NO border definition amongst any of the states of Southeast Asia.
Well, Sam Rainsy is objecting that they are unfairly prosecuted and have evidence for their claim. They can rightfully claim so, since the government is riddle with lobbyist corruption. Ah, but Sam Rainsy isn't going to get by with just a prosecution claim. The problem is that the opposition is party is riddled with racist agenda. I don't disagree that the current government is a foreign sale out. Any educated Cambodian will know that Hun Sen is an eleitist power hungery brown-noser who follows the beckoning of the more powerful East Asian states. But what exactly do want to replace him with. Racist war-mongers aren't exactly an ideal candidate, yet that's exactly what Sam Rainsy has been portraying themselves to be. Ay, the whole issue of ethnic relations in post-colonial Southeast Asia could fill volumes and the Viet-Khmer relationship is just a part of that. Presenting yourself as racist isn't going to help your cause, especially for a country whose trying to get recognized by the international community. Yeah the Viets are stilling Khmer lands, but hey the Javanese are taking the Papauans' lands, the Burmese taking the Kayins' land. Don't claim your the only ones. Yes it is noble (to the extant that you believe in the nation state system) to guard your border, but bringing racism into it makes you no better than the enemies who probably considers you barbarians likewise (see pot kettle black).
Well, Sam Rainsy is objecting that they are unfairly prosecuted and have evidence for their claim. They can rightfully claim so, since the government is riddle with lobbyist corruption. Ah, but Sam Rainsy isn't going to get by with just a prosecution claim. The problem is that the opposition is party is riddled with racist agenda. I don't disagree that the current government is a foreign sale out. Any educated Cambodian will know that Hun Sen is an eleitist power hungery brown-noser who follows the beckoning of the more powerful East Asian states. But what exactly do want to replace him with. Racist war-mongers aren't exactly an ideal candidate, yet that's exactly what Sam Rainsy has been portraying themselves to be. Ay, the whole issue of ethnic relations in post-colonial Southeast Asia could fill volumes and the Viet-Khmer relationship is just a part of that. Presenting yourself as racist isn't going to help your cause, especially for a country whose trying to get recognized by the international community. Yeah the Viets are stilling Khmer lands, but hey the Javanese are taking the Papauans' lands, the Burmese taking the Kayins' land. Don't claim your the only ones. Yes it is noble (to the extant that you believe in the nation state system) to guard your border, but bringing racism into it makes you no better than the enemies who probably considers you barbarians likewise (see pot kettle black).
Freitag, 21. August 2009
Things that need fixin'
I took these letters from PZ Myers and Ed Brayton because I felt that they convey a good sense of how fundy-zealots are threatening the institutions that are valued by the American society and how they marginalize those who disagree with them. The next time some says there are not atheist in foxholes, I'll tell them to open their eyes.
I was always a mediocre student, especially in high school. I never really knew what I wanted to do, and nothing seemed to excite me. This changed in my senior year, when a creationist visited my biology class.
On that fateful day, all the science students were herded into the school auditorium, where we listened to a long and richly illustrated lecture describing literal creationism. We were informed that in an effort to "balance" our education, we would soon hear an equally long lecture on evolution. This, like many things I heard that day, turned out to be false. The evolution lecture never materialized. Remarkably, I graduated from senior biology having learned only about creationism.
School had finally gotten my full attention. I wanted to know what we were missing, and why. For the first time in my life, I willingly (eagerly even) picked up my textbook and studiously read it. With growing interest, I realized that evolution made an awful lot of sense, and that I was being hoodwinked by my biology class.
It's hard to overestimate the appeal of rebelling against the system to a teenaged boy, and that day marked the beginning of my path to a career in evolutionary biology. We learned other things in science class that year, too--for example, that all actions have an opposite reaction. For at least one sulky teenager in the small town of Owen Sound, Ontario, it took a creationist to make him into an evolutionary biologist.
The second letter relates to the military:
I am a United States Army Captain. On a spring day at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York several years ago, I took a solemn oath to support and defend the United States Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic as an officer in the United States Army. I took a legally altered oath which omitted the words "So Help Me G-d." When I submitted my first signed copy, with those words neatly crossed out and initialed, I was informed that it was not valid. When threatened with the prospect of not graduating and being refused a Commission, I stood by my refusal to sign the Oath as it read. I could not in good conscience do so because I was deeply disturbed by fusion of religion and military service. I could not reconcile the suspicion that the Oath itself was establishing religion in a way which contradicted the spirit of the Constitution with the intensity of my commitment to defend same. I believed, and still believe, that my personal metaphysical experience of the universe must be separate from my role as a military professional. In the passing years, I have come to the unsettling conclusion that the sentiment in the Oath which so disturbed me is a practical reality in my United States Army.
Based on my alteration of The Oath, you may be tempted to label me "non-religious." I find this odd, because religion has broadly influenced my life and values. I was born into a mixed Jewish and Catholic family. The family I belong to now is mixed Buddhist and Agnostic. I attended Catholic high school where I excelled in my religious studies. I was one of a literal fistful of non-Christian students voluntarily attending a religious institution, and I never once felt pressure to conform. In our mandatory religious classes we studied Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, and Quaker, Mormon, Jewish, Protestant, Wiccan, and other religions and we were taught that mere "tolerance" was abhorrent and basic "acceptance" was the absolute minimum standard. I learned during my second semester as a Plebe (freshman) at West Point that even lowly tolerance is a privilege not to be bestowed on all Soldiers in the United States Army.
During my second year at the West Point, my Squad Leader for summer training expressed disapproval on numerous occasions with my being Jewish, and, during one mission, he grabbed my MRE (a military meal) as we sat down for lunch and handed me another. He ordered me to eat the pork chop and I reminded him that I refrain from pork for religious reasons. He told me that I could eat the pork or eat nothing. One of his peers, a female Jewish cadet, urged me to obey him and not to make him angry; I declined. The next day, my cadet Platoon Leader presented me with a written counseling statement detailing my signs of "anorexia" and a "troubling" refusal to eat which was detrimental to my health and indicative of "incapacity for leadership." I was filled with righteous indignation. I went through the Cadet and Commissioned Chain of Command and my rebuttal culminated with a conversation with the Active Duty Major in command of the summer training. When I explained the events in detail, he told me that my Cadet Chain of Command was right to be concerned, and spoke words I will never forget: "the Army is not in the business of catering to people like you." Those words have haunted me throughout my career as an Officer. They were the turning point for me--when I finally understood the message several of my leaders had been expressing to me all along: the Army has no place for people like me: dissidents who stray from the unofficially mandated military religion; conservative fundamentalist Christianity.
Throughout my service, I have been inundated by reminders of the tenacity of this "Army Religion". On a regular basis, I am confronted with being forced/coerced to partake in involuntary prayer. At change of command ceremonies, promotions, retirements, banquets, mandatory Officer/NCO call, the list goes on. What do I do when this happens? I see no reason why I should have to bow my head to participate in this involuntary prayer. But if I stand at attention, I am still showing that I am subject to religion in my professional duties. I have discovered that any other movements or fidgeting are viewed as disrespectful to those who wish to pray. Army leaders send the message out that prayer is voluntary, and that Soldiers do not have to participate. As a Platoon Leader serving in Iraq, my Squad Leaders and I were ordered to attend a mission briefing with the Battalion Command Team's security squad. The briefing concluded with a Soldier being ordered to lead the group in prayer. I was disturbed because I knew that there were Soldiers on this team who did not share the specific, sectarian Christian religious beliefs being expressed. I was standing at the edge of the formation, and chose to quietly walk away. I was later counseled by my Commander and informed that the Battalion Command Team had heard of the incident and recommended I be relieved from my duties as Platoon Leader. My Commander explained that, by not bowing my head in blatantly Christian prayer with the others, I was sending a message that I "want my Soldiers to die." These words penetrated my core. What leader can imagine a worse accusation? Who wouldn't doubt herself or himself when confronted with this message? The threat of being relieved was completely overshadowed and, again, I was an outsider, incapable of leadership because I refused this unconstitutional perversion of Christianity synonymous with the Command.Could I not, would I not be an effective combat ready officer/leader/warrior without first very publicly and repeatedly demonstrating my singular loyalty to Jesus Christ? Could I not lead brave military women and men into combat for my country without being an avowed fundamentalist Christian? I stopped practicing my own religion; I disassociated myself from Soldiers who were similarly persecuted; I lost hope.
Who can you talk to about something like this? Certainly not my Chain of Command- my immediate supervisor/rater and senior supervisor/rater had threatened to relieve me. Obviously my counseling statement wouldn't address mandatory prayer, but what did it matter what it said if both my rater and senior rater agreed I was "unfit" and there were no other Officers who I worked with or around? I later contacted the Equal Opportunity Office to make an official anonymous report about the noxious, compulsive Christian, command climate. Shockingly, the NCO I filed the report with wasted no time in contacting my Battalion Commander directly, in complete violation of the privacy regulations and guarantees of protective anonymity attendant to such hyper-sensitive filings. I later became a member of an Installation Inspector General Team and observed firsthand the impotent, incapacity of the IG to affect any meaningful change. The difference between lower enlisted Soldiers and myself is this: they suspect that they have nowhere to turn in order to escape this unbearable religious persecution--in contrast, as an officer, I do not suspect. I know.
Looking back over all my time in the Army and at the United States Military Academy at West Point, I know that there were so many good memories, so many wonderful opportunities, and so many outstanding leaders of character I met along the way. Yet, the time is painfully tainted for me by a long shadow of bitter religious persecution by zealously righteous Christians essentially universally extant throughout the United States Army command structure.What has most surprised me about this struggle is how utterly powerless I am as a Captain- a Command level Officer- to stand up for my rights and for the Constitution and Country I love. I am a great Soldier, a great leader, and a great person, and I am a victim. It is not comfortable to admit one is a victim; I believe that admitting it takes a certain type of personal strength. The first day I met my current military superior/rater, he was playing Christian gospel music in his office while he called me in to talk. Perhaps it was an innocent oversight on his part, or perhaps it is another hint of the sinister nature of the current "Army Religion". There is no safe way to find out. My experiences have shown that the inundation of invitations for fundamentalist Christian prayer and fellowship, "spiritual growth" and "moral development" that target fellow Soldiers tends to thinly mask an undeniable and comprehensive underlying propensity for aggression, hatred, and ambition to subjugate the United States Army to an official religion; fundamentalist Christianity. The result for the American military is a total destruction of esprit de corps, teamwork, morale, good order and discipline. The result for the fundamentalist Islamic enemies we fight is an immeasurable bonanza of emboldenment for their recruitment, propaganda and insurgency efforts to maim and kill our soldiers down range in Iraq and Afghanistan. I was there. I saw it. I lived it. I am still living it.
When Mikey Weinstein and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation describe this catastrophe of fundamentalist Christian usurpation of the command and control of our armed forces as a "national security threat of the gravest magnitude", they are precisely correct. It is injuring and killing our brave military members, specifically. It is desecrating the magnificent Constitution we swore an oath to, generally. And it is destroying our military's solidarity of purpose and ability to accomplish The Mission, completely.
I was always a mediocre student, especially in high school. I never really knew what I wanted to do, and nothing seemed to excite me. This changed in my senior year, when a creationist visited my biology class.
On that fateful day, all the science students were herded into the school auditorium, where we listened to a long and richly illustrated lecture describing literal creationism. We were informed that in an effort to "balance" our education, we would soon hear an equally long lecture on evolution. This, like many things I heard that day, turned out to be false. The evolution lecture never materialized. Remarkably, I graduated from senior biology having learned only about creationism.
School had finally gotten my full attention. I wanted to know what we were missing, and why. For the first time in my life, I willingly (eagerly even) picked up my textbook and studiously read it. With growing interest, I realized that evolution made an awful lot of sense, and that I was being hoodwinked by my biology class.
It's hard to overestimate the appeal of rebelling against the system to a teenaged boy, and that day marked the beginning of my path to a career in evolutionary biology. We learned other things in science class that year, too--for example, that all actions have an opposite reaction. For at least one sulky teenager in the small town of Owen Sound, Ontario, it took a creationist to make him into an evolutionary biologist.
The second letter relates to the military:
I am a United States Army Captain. On a spring day at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York several years ago, I took a solemn oath to support and defend the United States Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic as an officer in the United States Army. I took a legally altered oath which omitted the words "So Help Me G-d." When I submitted my first signed copy, with those words neatly crossed out and initialed, I was informed that it was not valid. When threatened with the prospect of not graduating and being refused a Commission, I stood by my refusal to sign the Oath as it read. I could not in good conscience do so because I was deeply disturbed by fusion of religion and military service. I could not reconcile the suspicion that the Oath itself was establishing religion in a way which contradicted the spirit of the Constitution with the intensity of my commitment to defend same. I believed, and still believe, that my personal metaphysical experience of the universe must be separate from my role as a military professional. In the passing years, I have come to the unsettling conclusion that the sentiment in the Oath which so disturbed me is a practical reality in my United States Army.
Based on my alteration of The Oath, you may be tempted to label me "non-religious." I find this odd, because religion has broadly influenced my life and values. I was born into a mixed Jewish and Catholic family. The family I belong to now is mixed Buddhist and Agnostic. I attended Catholic high school where I excelled in my religious studies. I was one of a literal fistful of non-Christian students voluntarily attending a religious institution, and I never once felt pressure to conform. In our mandatory religious classes we studied Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, and Quaker, Mormon, Jewish, Protestant, Wiccan, and other religions and we were taught that mere "tolerance" was abhorrent and basic "acceptance" was the absolute minimum standard. I learned during my second semester as a Plebe (freshman) at West Point that even lowly tolerance is a privilege not to be bestowed on all Soldiers in the United States Army.
During my second year at the West Point, my Squad Leader for summer training expressed disapproval on numerous occasions with my being Jewish, and, during one mission, he grabbed my MRE (a military meal) as we sat down for lunch and handed me another. He ordered me to eat the pork chop and I reminded him that I refrain from pork for religious reasons. He told me that I could eat the pork or eat nothing. One of his peers, a female Jewish cadet, urged me to obey him and not to make him angry; I declined. The next day, my cadet Platoon Leader presented me with a written counseling statement detailing my signs of "anorexia" and a "troubling" refusal to eat which was detrimental to my health and indicative of "incapacity for leadership." I was filled with righteous indignation. I went through the Cadet and Commissioned Chain of Command and my rebuttal culminated with a conversation with the Active Duty Major in command of the summer training. When I explained the events in detail, he told me that my Cadet Chain of Command was right to be concerned, and spoke words I will never forget: "the Army is not in the business of catering to people like you." Those words have haunted me throughout my career as an Officer. They were the turning point for me--when I finally understood the message several of my leaders had been expressing to me all along: the Army has no place for people like me: dissidents who stray from the unofficially mandated military religion; conservative fundamentalist Christianity.
Throughout my service, I have been inundated by reminders of the tenacity of this "Army Religion". On a regular basis, I am confronted with being forced/coerced to partake in involuntary prayer. At change of command ceremonies, promotions, retirements, banquets, mandatory Officer/NCO call, the list goes on. What do I do when this happens? I see no reason why I should have to bow my head to participate in this involuntary prayer. But if I stand at attention, I am still showing that I am subject to religion in my professional duties. I have discovered that any other movements or fidgeting are viewed as disrespectful to those who wish to pray. Army leaders send the message out that prayer is voluntary, and that Soldiers do not have to participate. As a Platoon Leader serving in Iraq, my Squad Leaders and I were ordered to attend a mission briefing with the Battalion Command Team's security squad. The briefing concluded with a Soldier being ordered to lead the group in prayer. I was disturbed because I knew that there were Soldiers on this team who did not share the specific, sectarian Christian religious beliefs being expressed. I was standing at the edge of the formation, and chose to quietly walk away. I was later counseled by my Commander and informed that the Battalion Command Team had heard of the incident and recommended I be relieved from my duties as Platoon Leader. My Commander explained that, by not bowing my head in blatantly Christian prayer with the others, I was sending a message that I "want my Soldiers to die." These words penetrated my core. What leader can imagine a worse accusation? Who wouldn't doubt herself or himself when confronted with this message? The threat of being relieved was completely overshadowed and, again, I was an outsider, incapable of leadership because I refused this unconstitutional perversion of Christianity synonymous with the Command.Could I not, would I not be an effective combat ready officer/leader/warrior without first very publicly and repeatedly demonstrating my singular loyalty to Jesus Christ? Could I not lead brave military women and men into combat for my country without being an avowed fundamentalist Christian? I stopped practicing my own religion; I disassociated myself from Soldiers who were similarly persecuted; I lost hope.
Who can you talk to about something like this? Certainly not my Chain of Command- my immediate supervisor/rater and senior supervisor/rater had threatened to relieve me. Obviously my counseling statement wouldn't address mandatory prayer, but what did it matter what it said if both my rater and senior rater agreed I was "unfit" and there were no other Officers who I worked with or around? I later contacted the Equal Opportunity Office to make an official anonymous report about the noxious, compulsive Christian, command climate. Shockingly, the NCO I filed the report with wasted no time in contacting my Battalion Commander directly, in complete violation of the privacy regulations and guarantees of protective anonymity attendant to such hyper-sensitive filings. I later became a member of an Installation Inspector General Team and observed firsthand the impotent, incapacity of the IG to affect any meaningful change. The difference between lower enlisted Soldiers and myself is this: they suspect that they have nowhere to turn in order to escape this unbearable religious persecution--in contrast, as an officer, I do not suspect. I know.
Looking back over all my time in the Army and at the United States Military Academy at West Point, I know that there were so many good memories, so many wonderful opportunities, and so many outstanding leaders of character I met along the way. Yet, the time is painfully tainted for me by a long shadow of bitter religious persecution by zealously righteous Christians essentially universally extant throughout the United States Army command structure.What has most surprised me about this struggle is how utterly powerless I am as a Captain- a Command level Officer- to stand up for my rights and for the Constitution and Country I love. I am a great Soldier, a great leader, and a great person, and I am a victim. It is not comfortable to admit one is a victim; I believe that admitting it takes a certain type of personal strength. The first day I met my current military superior/rater, he was playing Christian gospel music in his office while he called me in to talk. Perhaps it was an innocent oversight on his part, or perhaps it is another hint of the sinister nature of the current "Army Religion". There is no safe way to find out. My experiences have shown that the inundation of invitations for fundamentalist Christian prayer and fellowship, "spiritual growth" and "moral development" that target fellow Soldiers tends to thinly mask an undeniable and comprehensive underlying propensity for aggression, hatred, and ambition to subjugate the United States Army to an official religion; fundamentalist Christianity. The result for the American military is a total destruction of esprit de corps, teamwork, morale, good order and discipline. The result for the fundamentalist Islamic enemies we fight is an immeasurable bonanza of emboldenment for their recruitment, propaganda and insurgency efforts to maim and kill our soldiers down range in Iraq and Afghanistan. I was there. I saw it. I lived it. I am still living it.
When Mikey Weinstein and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation describe this catastrophe of fundamentalist Christian usurpation of the command and control of our armed forces as a "national security threat of the gravest magnitude", they are precisely correct. It is injuring and killing our brave military members, specifically. It is desecrating the magnificent Constitution we swore an oath to, generally. And it is destroying our military's solidarity of purpose and ability to accomplish The Mission, completely.
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