I saw the movie Pseudo at Empire theatre today. They were showing it as part of a substance abuse seminar for youth so I thought I’d check it out. It was very well done. I found it very disturbing and it successfully drove the point home that gang life is not a happy life at all.
It was very violent and gory but also went in depth into the families of four youth who got involved in the gang life and what happened to them as a result. The movie instills the betrayal for money that permeates that game so to speak. Yet when murder is involved it is no longer a game.
It also drives home the fact that being a murderer isn’t something good and isn’t something I want to be. It certainly adds a taste of reality to shatter the graven image that murder is somehow cool. Which brings us back to Matt Foley and the free the murderer campaign. It’s heartless and foolish. It minimizes the act of murder and rationalizes it which is clearly not the godly path to repentance.
I do believe there is a path to repentance for anyone who wants to leave the gang life behind. The key word is “leave” that life behind. It begins with accepting responsibility for ones actions and legitimately feeling remorse for how those actions have hurt others and their families. That is something the free Matt the murderer campaign refuses to do. They live in the selfish world of the not so happy bunny who jokingly says it’s all about me. That is not the path to peace and enlightenment.
I was recently corresponding with a blog reader who said they had over come a substance addiction. A significant accomplishment indeed. During their recovery they said they made a table on a blackboard. One side had the heading Religion. The other side had the heading Spirituality. They were then instructed to write down words on one side that came to mind when they thought about religion and on the other side write down words that came to mind when they thought about spirituality.
They said, under the heading of religion it was filled with negative words and images that were unfortunately associated with religion while the other side was filled with positive words that came to mind when reflecting upon spirituality. I found that profound.
The term religion often leaves a bad taste in one’s mouth. To some extent it does for me as well. Yet the term spirituality doesn’t tend to invoke the same negative images. When I think of spirituality I think of a private and personal communion with deity. I think of enjoying the outdoors, from the mountains to the sea. I think of Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance.
Without trying to offend the sincere atheists on the blog, I do believe that atheism falls under the freedom of religion. Not to say that atheism is a religion but rather the right to believe or not believe what one chooses falls under the freedom of religion.
I am told that the 12 steps of AA begin with a belief in God or a higher power. I think all of us need to aspire to something higher. Be that a higher power, be that God, be that a higher ideal or just something better. We need something to look forward to. Where there is no vision, the people will perish.
When we see something that is clearly wrong, aspiring to something better is a positive and healthy response. In fact aspiring to a higher ideal is something even atheists can do without disrupting their own mission statement. Ironically, many of them already do simply because they believe in their heart it is right, not because they believe they will get some kind of reward for it. To do good without thought of reward is what most religions are supposed to be about.
Leaving the gang life is good because that life destroys lives and hurts others.
Thanks. I didn't mention George Bush or False flag once. All joking aside, the movie did kinda freak me out. Like that movie with Marky Mark called Contraband. All the threats to the guys family hit a little too close to home.
ReplyDeleteI am very angry at all the forced, stupid *spirituality* that is forced down the throats of EVERYONE attempting recovery from chemical dependency. It is all that is ever on offer, from the 12-step nonsense; what on earth does any god have to do with recovery from chemical dependence? The answer is Nothing; except when near the death-grip of the brainwashed, 12-stepping AA *Elders,* who are personally desperate for NEW cult-members. They are only happy when they have forced spirituality down the necks of those desperate to get better. We get someone else's god rammed into the brains of those with NO other way out.
ReplyDeleteThere is NO difference between the words, *spirituality* and *religion.* Duh... they BOTH posit the invisible existence of another *world,* that is NOT of physical matter...right-o...? Both words ALSO posit the Exact Same existence of actual "Beings" or *Gods,* that some people just KNOW, that magically *inhabit* this Same Other World. Heh, believe in this laughable nonsense if one wishes, but DON'T foist it on everyone else, for starters, eh, AA...?
Some invisible being cannot physically *cure* anyone of a desire to have one more beer! Yet, this is Exactly what AA says will occur, if you cringingly accept the laughable nonsense. They are a Cult, feeding off the desire to be free of substance addiction.
They have deliberately made up, out of whole cloth, a very special *substance-abuse* God! A Magical Being, who floats somewhere in never-never land, who spends all its time caring only; if Joe Sixpack has...One too many beers!
I quit drinking nine years ago, and will never go to one more of the AA-cult gatherings, where people shout, cry, and babble aloud to this God, throughout the brainwashing sessions. The meetings are the SAME; as going to any Alabama Baptist-Church snake-handlers, talking in *tongues.* I never needed these dangerous freaks.
If only people desperate to quit drugs could be in the hands of our national medical system, for once, run by genuine professionals, called *Doctors.*
Fair comment. Unfortunately many of our doctors are on the take and keep increasing the dosages of methadone for those on the program. I'm certainly not a big fan of the public use of tongues and the heebie jeebie aspect of it. Sometimes when it is used it seems very strange and ungodly. I would think that would fall under religion not spirituality. If someone was to break out into tongues at an AA meeting then I can see how you would feel that is cult like. All I'm saying is people in recovery who want to turn to a higher power should be allowed to do so. Nobody likes anything crammed down their throats.
DeleteYet people go on pilgrimages looking for some kind of spirituality in their life. For those looking, they should be allowed to explore. My point is, atheists who see corruption and want something better are indeed aspiring to a higher ideal and I think that is good. I always felt kind of awkward when Harbour light would make people listen to a religious sermon before they feed them dinner. To me Christian service is free with no strings attached. First United was better at offering no strings attached service yet they too have had problems with weird things going on when they opened their sanctuary up for the homeless to sleep in. I think that was a wonderful act. Just hard to police.