Missionaries. *shakes head disapprovingly* I do not understand them.
First of all, I somewhat hate people who think their beliefs are the only correct ones and therefore have the audacity to try and “fix” or force down their beliefs into the throats of those who are different. It is so absolutely arrogant that it disgusts me. Christian missionaries are, in my opinion, by far the worst when it comes to such nonsense.
Let’s look at the classic example of white man vs. Native American. Back in the day, European settlers came to America and ran into the believed-to-be lesser race of people known as Native Americans/”Indians.” These people did not worship the one Christian God nor had they ever heard of, let alone believed in, Jesus Christ. Well well, the Euro’s thought, they must be savages! They believed that God is everything and everything is God; they worshiped the very ground they walked upon; how beastly! Unlike their haughty Christian counterparts, the Native Americans didn’t lay waste to any- and every-thing that came across their paths in the name of Christ. So what happened? The Native Americans were slaughtered, herded like cattle, and/or forcefully converted to Christianity by the so-called true Christians. Decades of degradation, poverty, and a lack of human rights ensued and we now find ourselves coming full-circle. Missionaries are now being sent to the utterly poor and crime-riddled Indian Reservations in order to do “God’s work” by helping to ease such conditions which, if we actually think about it, are in existence today because of the very same missionary work started a couple of centuries ago. Bravo, Christianity, bravo!
I just don’t get how that makes sense to anyone, but sure enough- there are still hundreds of thousands of missionaries at work around the world. In no way am I saying that being a Christian is bad or that Christian beliefs are the wrong beliefs. What I am saying is that we all should be made more aware of the hypocrisy which often comes along with dogmatic beliefs- not just in Christianity but in religions and other groups worldwide. It is so dangerous to lose the value of open-mindedness, as is evident by so many things in history- holy wars, ethnic cleansing, witch hunts, etc.
Though I do not expect such a thing to happen, I do hope that a day will come when the human race can get past that natural tendency of putting one’s own way of life on a pedestal and looking down upon all others who do not share in that path.
“You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.”
-Friedrich Nietzsche
What causes depression?
I don’t know anymore.
Everyone has good days and bad days. Days where everything is bright and blooming, where the sun shines and you can’t help but smile at people as you walk past them, no matter how weird that makes them look at you. And the other kind, the days where nothing really matters, everything sucks, everyone you meet are boring and annoying, and you would rather just go home, turn off the lights and listen to depressing music.
Lately, I’ve been having more and more of the latter. At some point in my past, there was a resembelence of logic as to my mood, it would be relevant to things that had happened. Lately, theres nothing to it. I just feel at the bottom of the barrel no matter what I do. It seems like what is keeping me from being this down, is simply the energy it takes me to pretend to be fine. Days like this, where I have barely gotten any sleep and am really tired, I simply do not have it in me to smile and pretend.
I am clinging to the idea that moving to Stavanger will fix everything. Somehow make me happier, make things better. I just don’t know any more.
And how pathetic is that? I live in Norway, one of the best countries in the world. I have had everything handed to me on a silver platter, a nice balanced childhood, a rich life in every way. Maybe human beings thrive under the perssure of failure, and living in the socialdemocratic lullabyland of Norway is damaging.
Vegard
Well I hope ya’ll aren’t sick of me yet, because I have another blog in me and it deals with drunken venting.
Summer quarter…first of all, I believe the very statement to be an abomination to mankind. It’s just not natural to attend school in the summer, ESPECIALLY by choice. And by choice, I mean wanting to get your first level of a college degree complete. Now, I thought the classes I signed up for (2 yoga classes, 1 communications class, and 1 computer class) would be a piece of cake. How wrong I was. Oh how very wrong I was. This quarter is shaping up to be one of my worst. I love yoga so far and the communications class is fairly easy, but the computer class….my god, it feels like a curse has been placed upon me by Zeus himself. In fact, this computer class deserves an entire paragraph of its own, therefore:
Where to begin? Let’s start with the textbook issue. Foolish me decided to buy what I thought was the needed textbook from a friend last quarter. Luckily, it was the textbook I needed- at least ONE of them. Yeah, unbeknownst to me, we actually needed a whole textbook bundle which includes the one textbook I have, a $70 access code to this dumb internet site, the cd which holds all needed software/files, and another textbook. Needless to say, I’m currently fucked. Because of this issue, I have to do all my schoolwork on campus computers, and as if things weren’t going bad enough, they’ve decided to cut computer lab hours this quarter.
The worst part of all is the disappointment I feel in myself. Why did I trust this friend of mine to give and/or know what I needed for this class? Why didn’t I just buy my damn book from the criminally over-priced campus bookstore? *sigh* GAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!
I apologize for any misspellings/incorrect grammar. I am drunk right now.
Goodbye,
Elaine
P.S.- I also apologize for bitching about my life. Believe it or not, I know I have things pretty good. I just felt like using this blog to vent.
People of the internet!
I come to you in this gravest of days. The Norwegian news-agency Dagbladet just alerted me, this womans dog has been stolen!! Apparently, some burglars broke into the home of the people watching her dog, and stole it! She was on vacation, and it is now ruined by the loss of her poor, clothes-wearing puppy who is probably being kept in a cage somewhere!
For those of you that can’t read Norwegian, the news article states that the police have found DNA-evidence on the crime scene. Thank god, those inhumane bastards need to be caught!
Alright, seriousface. What the fuck? I don’t know what infuriates me the most about this! So a beautiful, big breasted blonde has her dog stolen, and she gets a huge news article about it (which on the front page had a larger picture and font than most other articles)? Alright, I can almost live with that. But from the article, I read that the police has recovered DNA-evidence from the crime scene. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Rapists and murderers are walking free because DNA technology has not been used, but HOLD YOUR HORSES, HOLD THE PHONE, HOLD YOUR BOAT! This is the sort of crime where the criminals HAVE to be apprehended!!!
This is absolute bullshit. What about the fact that 1 out of 10 women get raped
or attempted raped in Norway at some point in their life, and 2% of all rapists are ever caught? What about the fact that as few as 10% of murderes in this country are actually solved? How about spending some tax money on THAT, in stead of a missing fucking DOG??
Norway, you dissapoint me.
Vegard
Greetings one and all!
The time has come for my blog about Olympia. The town of Olympia is the smallish and unique capital of Washington state. It’s an interesting mix of middle-aged conservative politicians and radical hippie youth, and for this reason I love it. I am fortunate enough to have a sister who lives over there, which therefore allows me to make semi-regular trips to the “west side.”
On my last particular trip, nothing too exciting happened, but it was fun nonetheless. I was able to celebrate my sister and her husband’s 3rd year wedding anniversary (we ate, drank, and got perhaps a little too merry), saw the latest A-Team movie (not very enjoyable), and ventured into Seattle for what turned into an awesome night chalk full of Michael Jackson, classic tourist activities, and disgruntled park employees. All in all, it was a success!
Oly isn’t your typical near-the-sea town, it’s quirkier than Seattle, more welcoming than Tacoma, and simply different from any other place I’ve visited. As I said before, it’s inhabited by a unique blend of drastically different types of people- politicians, hippies, musicians, druggies, a few republicans, and just about any other type of person you can think of. As a whole, the town is more health-conscious than most and seems to promote inner and outer peace as well as happiness. I have yet to meet a single high-strung person inhabiting the place.
While I do love being over there, I cannot deny that my true home is and probably always will be Spokane (the city on the other side of the state). I know not why I feel more at home here; it’s drastically more conservative, the climate is almost hellish, and yet it’s my home. Perhaps someday I will feel the pull to move away, but it is not this day. I appreciate my hometown for its pros, its cons, and everything in between. What can I say? I feel content where I live. I count myself as one of the lucky ones.
And on that note, I bid you, my reader, a fond farewell!
Elaine