Justified Injustice

If we lived in a world where there were no restrictions, the greediest and the wisest would surely be the richest and most powerful. The most helpful and the purest (the "good" people) would be the most abused and overused. Chaos and bloodbath everywhere, until finally, every single living being is annihilated.

This is exactly why we have laws; why since the dawn of time, we had to have a leader...someone to lay down and enforce the laws, punish the violators, cut off excesses, someone to follow. Those leaders turned out to be the wisest, the most cunning. Laying down laws that they themselves don't want to follow and more often than not, they don't. They don't follow because they are exempted. Exceptions. Because they are above the law. Because they are the law.
Leaders in the present are no different, only this time, things are more complicated. Witty lawyers, mercenary judges, international media, incredible technology and the condemning masses are involved. And they aren't called leaders nowadays -probably because they hardly lead anymore, they have people beneath them (like policemen, teachers and priests) hopefully doing that arduous task- they're now called politicians. They can no longer say that they're exempted from the law. Instead, they have lawyers for that. Forget exceptions, there's a subtler word for that now: loopholes.

Loopholes are made along with the laws by leaders with their own selves in mind, I guess they were thinking "just in case I..." and it's all downhill from then on. The leaders may be the most cunning, but there are also the other types of cunning: the less cunning and the not cunning at all.

Before cunningness and everything else, I wanna talk about God first. Or Allah, Bathala or Zeus or whatever other people call Him/Her/It.
It's hard not to compare God to the leaders...what with all the reverence they expect from everyone and laying down laws, just plain acting god themselves.
I'm a Roman Catholic so I'll be using God as my base.
They say God created EVERYTHING. The birds and the bees, lightning and thunder, flowers and trees, man and woman, angels and demons, good and evil, illnesses and diseases, the world, the universe...everything. God even created the Ten Commandments.
"Thou shalt not kill" is the most popular one. If God created everything, then wouldn't He have subsequently killed all those struck by lightning? All those stung by bees to death? Maybe those people who died of "natural causes" violated a commandment that nobody else knows of, except for God Himself since He knows everything, so He punished them. Wouldn't that be killing too? So who's going to punish Him? No one's above Him. And besides, He's the one who created the commandments, so maybe He's above them too.
Makes me wonder how the authors of the Good Book would defend this arguement. Would He be exempted from the commandments, what loopholes would they use if He's not?
Or maybe the big bang theory is true. Whatever the case may be, my point is, rules or laws or commandments have a way of blowing up in their makers' faces; so they make exceptions and/or loopholes. It would all depend on just how cunning you are; in making those laws, and in talking your way out if you ever get caught in violating them.

"Thou shalt not kill" is in every nation's list of long laws, just in different forms...but it is there, because really, who wants to be murdered? In some countries, it is ironically punishable by death. What kind of logic is that? Who's going to punish the punisher, since he too is a killer? Wouldn't the author of that law be indirectly responsible for the deaths of those killers too? No, there are exceptions of course.
Several degrees of murder, manslaughter, homicide... How twisted can one's mind get? A life lost, is a life lost PERIOD. It shouldn't matter if it was intentional or not. It shouldn't matter how painful or painless one's life had been abruptly cut short. Because no matter what you call it, no matter what degree you rate it, it doesn't change the fact that a life has been lost. But in reality, in the utterly gruesome reality we live in, one can in fact walk away from such thing. We've all seen it, heard of it, time and time again. It's all about loopholes. It's all about surrounding yourself with the most cunning people you can afford to defend your less cunning self and make the dead in question not cunning at all...because he's so stupid, he's dead.

If one can walk away from murder, how easy it must be for "lesser" crimes.

My Faith and Nobody Else's

Religion and faith are two separate things, but are tied up so inextricably, that it is difficult for some people to explain one without the other.
Religion has always felt like a business to me, a lifestyle. It makes me think of man-made things like buildings, books, money, costumes, politics, schedules and reason for holidays. It almost seems phony.
Faith is a force - something intangible. It is undeniable, something that can never be taken away. It is ingrained therefore infallible. And it is priceless, for me at least.

The last time I remember hearing mass was when my sister got married and my daughter had her First Communion. But before those, I've forgotten already because they were all from a long way back; back to when my mother could still force me to go. I don't need a specific time and/or place to pray, I could be doing laundry or sitting on a bus...and could be praying at the same time, just because I feel like it. Some might say that it's rude, but who cares?! I think it's thoughtful and genuine. Besides, I heard from some where, that God is everywhere, listening all the time. That means I'm not a fan of churches, and statues or whatever symbol any religion represents.
I am a Roman Catholic, but only because my parents had me baptized as one...so you can say that it was not by choice. I'm not saying I'm not happy with my religion, I just feel constrained. If it were up just to me, I would have waited for my daughter to come of age and let her choose her own religion, or even none at all.

I don't like priests either, or pastors, preachers or whatever they call themselves. I don't dislike the person per se, just the profession...but then again, I guess they're one and the same because the person IS the professional. I don't like the feeling of kneeling in front of a person, no matter who he or she embodies...it makes me feel submissive, powerless. Some priests (as I am a Catholic) in particular seem to be enjoying the attention and power just a little too much, to a point where it's abusive. They expect to get special treatments everywhere, and are popular with the ladies...especially the old super-religious ones, like my grandmother. What's so special about them anyway? They breathe, eat and sleep just like us. They sin and die too, exactly like us.

Don't get me wrong, I am not a demonic disciple...I am actually against the institution of all religions. Well, partly at least. But I am not an athiest either. I believe in God, good and evil. I'm not entirely sure if I believe in the heaven-hell theory though, but I use it to teach my kid anyway...makes it a little scarier if not truer, makes it more believable.
I am only partly against religion because I have to admit, it does help make the world a place a little better to live in. It guides people right from wrong, gives us something to lean on to, to fear even. It gives us the sense of affiliation, a belonging... Sadly, that belongingness also gives some people a reason to wage war. And war is one of the fastest solutions to overpopulation; a win-win scenario, if you're an inconsiderate monster, that is.

I pray, in my own way. I pray whenever I feel like it. I don't believe in making it a habit, like an obligation. I pray to say thanks for the things that I have, like family, home, food and everything else that I don't really need... I say thanks for the things that I DON'T have, like illness, too much stress and unsolvable problems. I say thanks for everything that I am, alive, loved and needed. I also pray to ask for one thing: peace of mind for everybody.
Saying grace before meal is an exception for me. It's a good practice for the kids, and because we really are thankful for the food that we have on our table, and for the time that we have together. Mealtime, especially breakfasts and dinners on a weekday is the only time we get to be together, so that's definitely something to be thankful for.

I find it offensive, rude even, when people judge me just because I don't go to church. People go to church to pray; like I said, I pray too...I just don't show it to others, and I don't need a church to do it either. Just because they go to church and follow a priest, doesn't make their faith stronger than mine.
I never forbid my daughter from going to church if she feels like it, and if there's someone else willing to take her (as she's too young to go out alone), because it's her choice, nobody can take it away from her, not even myself, not even if I wanted to. So if I choose to not go to church, or consider my God a woman (which I don't, but consider possible)...it's my choice, my faith, my life...nobody else's.

Predictions

2012 is the end of the world; as far as Mayans are concerned...either the 12th or 21st of December. There's no harm in believing, but then again, there's no harm in NOT believing either.
Does it really matter anyway? I mean, there's no way to stop the "inevitable" if it were true. So, que sera sera!

No point in panicking. Is fear the last feeling you want to have before you die? Would you rather sit inside a cave and wait for a golden chair for your salvation? Paranoid much.
I say go out with a bang! Live life to the fullest, enjoy life while you still have one. Live every day like it's your last one (good practice too).

As for myself, Imma live my life just like I did for the last almost-thirty years: doing whatever I feel like doing, accepting consequences of my actions (with much enthusiasm and less regret) and expecting nothing.
The prediction? I'd say I'm a "glass-half-empty" kind of person...the nonchalant glass-half-empty kind. I believe the world will end someday; but not this year, just someday. So what?

With the way people abuse resources and the amount of pollution we all leave behind, I reckon we all never think of tomorrow. The unnecessary excesses we and our ancestors enjoyed leave the future generation with lesser everything to the point of almost nothing.

So it should be no surprise if the world ends. We don't need the Mayans to tell us that. If we don't change, it will happen SOONER. We don't need Nostradamus either, anybody can predict wars and floods because these are results of our own doings. Their predictions are as good as history, they just lack details like when and where.

The world will end. The Mayans stated.
I don't think so. The arrogant ones countered.
When? How? The skeptics mused.
Why?! The cowards cried.
Bring it on! The daredevils shouted.
Good riddance. I murmured.