On the Nature of Social Media Pandemics, or... One Socialized "Friendship" Inevitably Leads to Another

That's the thing about people, you know. You make (or simply maintain a friendship with) one person, and that at first seemingly harmless social interaction often leads to being forced, or otherwise obliged, to interact with a whole host of others that you may actually end up wishing you hadn't gotten involved with in the first place.

Which can all turn out to be great, of course. But other times, all that goofy socializing actually ends up being a distinct detriment. For example, I worked with a guy whom I actually more or less liked a number of years ago. Nice guy. A reasonably smart guy even - as more or less intelligent people go, that is. The only problem was that he was also a dyed-in-the-wool, fancy "atheist."

Which was fine, really. I mean, that's what I thought at first anyway. Because someone doesn't have to agree with me about everything all the time, right? I mean, what fun would life even be if everyone agreed with us all the time? How would anyone learn anything new? How could we grow as human beings if we didn't encounter others who make us think? I mean, really think.

So at first, I was like, okay, to each his own. Believe or don't believe whatever you want. It's all good, right? Well... not for me in this particular case, anyway. Because this one die-hard atheist friend led to me accepting the friendship of yet another atheist. Which was also fine at first glance. Except that this other atheist was one of those especially vocal sorts. You know, the kind that seems to not be happy unless they're making or sharing hateful Internet memes that disparage Christians in particular.

Yeah, that kind of atheist. The kind that makes all the rest look like sadistic, anarchist monsters with a bug up their itchy, filthy, arrogant buttocks. The kind that just can't not believe in God or an Afterlife, and then... just shut up about it. The kind of person that seems to feel the need to put down anyone with a little faith. The kind of cruel, mean-spirited douchebag who delights in making cracks about the supposed absurdity of a virgin birth. The kind of... well, you get the idea.

So then, within just a few days, I kid you NOT, a whole slew of these other atheist dudes sent me friend requests on Facebook! But, in my characteristic patience, or perhaps fancy-ass magnanimity, I was still like, okay, keep calm, and be "tolerant." Remember now, if you can respect their opinions and beliefs, then they can certainly respect yours. Right?

Uh... nope. Didn't work out quite that way, unfortunately. Nope. Uh-uh. No way, no how, Jose! Not on your life, buddy! No, in fact, before I knew it, my Facebook "news feed" was suddenly inundated with dozens of really offensive and downright condescending and mean memes. Crude jokes about Jesus galore! Horribly irreverent and even sometimes outright obscene depictions of Christ, nuns, priests, and the total disparaging of anything Christian imaginable! Just a constant barrage of rude, insensitive, and just plain intolerant commentary about people of faith in general.

Yet very seldom, if ever, any disparaging remarks and irreverent blaspheming about Muslims or even Buddhists. Not that I particularly want to see that kind of venomous bile being spewed by constantly needling, ankle-biting know-it-all worms like that either, mind you, but it really made me think: What gives? I mean, what the heck is their problem anyway? Why be so nasty? I mean, some people like chocolate ice cream, while others prefer vanilla, right? So... so what! "Live and let live." But that's obviously not what these particular atheists were after.

So finally, one day I just had had enough. So I went to my big, fancy Facebook "friend" list and I just started picking those nasty little buggers off. I just went to town, and unfriended the hell out of the whole stinking lot of them. Good riddance! I mean, who really needs that kind of negativity anyway, right?

So now, I watch, or listen to, daily masses on Youtube. I enjoy the priest or deacon's homily, and I don't give a big flying crap who doesn't like it. Because quite often, even just one bad apple really can spoil the whole darn bunch.

And I don't know about anybody else, but although it is certainly possible to make bitter vinegar from fermented apples, and although vinegar too, most definitely has its uses, it is infinitely wiser, I have found, to keep your spoiled rotten fruit well away from the cream of the crop - lest it too become hopelessly tainted.

Ode to Science Almighty

Each individual is just a cell within an immense, universal body. The collective good of that body is God. The collective bad is called the Devil (the evil), and a slew of other names not even worth mentioning here.

So some people who enter into our lives nourish and help us grow, while others act to introduce deadly viral strains into the collective. Some people may even grow strong within hateful groups (cell cultures) that, ultimately, amount to little more than a deadly cancer of the collective human soul. And all of this, and much more, is merely the most basic of concepts that theologians have posited for countless millennia now.

But don't worry, one day, Science Almighty will finally catch up, just to finally clarify, classify and assign it all the proper scientific terminology. And then they'll sit back, smile smugly to themselves, and act like they invented it all to begin with.

Happy Easter!

So I'm not an atheist. I know some people who think that that means I'm really stupid, childish or superstitious, but personally, I think it's pretty arrogant to just one day up and declare that you think there's no God, and when we all die, absolutely nothing happens. Except the usual scientifically proven stuff, of course, like decomposition of the human body and all that.

Well... I mean, I think a person has every right to say that they don't believe in anything they want to, but many of the people who get really vocal about it are often very angry and intolerant, and they're just using all the clear and present holes in most popular religions to obfuscate the fact that they are in fact, whether they want to admit or not, just plain intolerant. Just as, or even more intolerant and hard headed in fact, than the religious people they love to put down. They're also, whether they realize it or not, not very supportive of religious freedom - which is a basic tenant of any true democracy.

Of course, I've had moments in my life when I've thought that maybe there is no God. I think most people have had those thoughts from time to time in their life. Again... whether they admit it or not.  We all get down sometimes. We all get discouraged and disillusioned, especially when things aren't going our way. After all, there is a lot of suffering and cruelty in the world, and if you really focus on it, life can be extremely disheartening. Sort of makes a person want to pray... or prey upon those who do, maybe. Whatever the case may in fact be, I think it's a little silly to think that choosing to not believe in something that seems far fetched (based on current, ever changing levels of scientific knowledge) makes anyone necessarily better than anyone else.

But please don't polarize the issue for me, thank you very much! I'm also not especially religious. So even though I do believe in all sorts of things, I don't believe in getting too involved in any type of group-centric behavior. I don't do political parties or cults as a general rule. I do believe in karma, the focusing of positive energies, and the genuine power of prayer, but like a lot of people, I've personally witnessed and experienced some very negative aspects of organized religion. You know, the same stuff that makes some atheists get so mean and intolerant. Overall however, I think religion, and having religious freedom is extremely important in any society.

No, you don't have to say "Merry Christmas" to me, or even "God bless you" when I sneeze, but who is anyone to tell me or anyone else that they shouldn't be able to say anything like that to anyone else? Or say a kid can't say the Pledge of Allegiance with the word God among the verses?  Anyway... HAPPY EASTER!  I believe in some things, and don't believe in others. Just like everybody else. And I don't know everything. Just like everybody else. Whether they admit it or not.  And what I do or don't believe in, just makes me human. And flexible, really. Because if nature teaches us anything, it is that rigidity kills. Living creatures that cannot adapt and change must eventually die out.

Anyway, I'm not sitting permanently on anybody's hotly contested fence, or firmly entrenched on either side of it. I make up my own mind, based on any and all of the information that's out there.  Regardless of whether any church, state or highfalutin scientific establishment outright dismisses it from the get go. I have free will. I choose to believe or not to believe as I see fit. Because most of all, what I really believe, is that true rationality, true sanity, lies somewhere between any and all extremes.