Seriously, it seems there’s war everywhere you look. Worse yet, nearly all of them (the significant ones, at any rate) are caused by something to do with religion, at their heart and history. I know it has been said, but I have this forum and therefore add my voice to the cry of, “You guys are morons! Killing over religion? Slaughtering people and worse, because of something that really can’t be touched or carried or weighed or measured. A pound of flesh is worth how much religion? How much does it cost in the blood of good human beings to get people to stop fighting over God? Does God want us to fight? That seems unlikely, from most religious standpoints.

A close friend of mine shared something with me recently that was powerful and moving in ways I want to share with others. The following excerpt is an accurate reflection of my feelings on the subject, in general. While I do have my own opinions and thoughts on the matter, but since I found these words to be particularly poignant, I paraphrased and [edited] by them to fit my own views more accurately and specifically. The original ideas are there, of course, just added to and expanded on as follows:

“Please don’t get me wrong by sending this to you. But we had a discussion … regarding Muslims. … and it deeply bothers me [that] the misconception most [people seem to] have over the basic Muslim religion [is founded on and/or by terrorists. This could not be further from the truth!]. The Muslim faith [and most other faiths, major or otherwise, are not] based on [violence or] terrorism. In fact, Islam [the name of the Muslim religion, for those who may not know-ed.] teaches peace and living in harmony. Any passage can be taken out of context, as we know [it] has happened with the [Christian] Holy Bible countless times, [the crusades, for example. It has been admitted as a terribly misguided and destructive act, at best, and as an attempt to twist spirituality for nefarious ends at worst]. In all religions, you’ll find extremists who do not accurately represent their faith. People who … [hurt or] murder others in [any] God’s name are [at best,] nothing more than [extremely]misguided criminals [and, at worst, the scum of the earth and the true root of all Evil. That's just my opinion, however].

‘There was a [big part of] my life that I explored [and studied and even took part in] other faiths and in doing so, I learned [more than most people learn in a single lifetime]. I’m not claiming to be an [infallible or all-knowing]expert … in any religion, but I feel I’ve looked into the [deepest] core meanings [of many religions], spoken with and formed [enough] friendships with true believers [of many religions], including Christians, Muslims and Jews [among many others]. Enough to know that their faith isn’t built on destruction [but rather, on good things, like life and growth and joy and love and peace. After all, who comes home after a hard day's work, takes off his shoes, and says, 'Y'know, this peace is ok, but I sure wish I could get killed in a war over religion today!' It just never happens, because we all want to be happy and free of fear and all the other things we're promised in the U.S.Constitution, for example] You’ll find that [nearly] every religion feels it their responsibility to [at least offer the chance for others to] convert … to their faith. Not to take over the world [you morons!]but merely to enlighten and bring everyone [especially the murdering morons] closer to [something good, which is usually somehow referred to as] “God”.

… I wanted to share [this] with you because … [i feel strongly about it and maybe it can be something for you to think about and possibly offer as food for thought at the next dinner conversation. Who knows? Maybe, in the end, peace on Earth can be achieved, not through conquest or government or political and economic means, but by means of a good dinner conversation-ed.]“

Is there really anything else to say on the subject, after that? STOP DOING BAD THINGS IN THE NAME OF RELIGION. I think that’s a bit of an oversimplification, but at least all the angles are covered now. So, next time you’re at dinner, see if this conversation comes up, and if it does, maybe you’ll have a strong viewpoint to offer. Whether you agree or disagree with me doesn’t matter. It’s yourself you have to convince, if you don’t.

Filed under: Uncategorized ]]> http://heartwordpages.com/2012/05/13/you-guys-are-morons-a-k-a-killing-for-religion-is-stupid/feed/ 0 bctietjens http://heartwordpages.com/2012/04/28/cricket-wireless-broadband-speed-not-that-bad/ http://heartwordpages.com/2012/04/28/cricket-wireless-broadband-speed-not-that-bad/#comments Sat, 28 Apr 2012 11:20:27 +0000 B.C. Tietjens http://heartwordpages.com/?p=203 ]]> So, having moved again recently, to a much nicer place with its own pros and cons, I was forced to make considerations for internet. The only real choice left to me was to get some kind of mobile broadband and since I use cricKet wireless for my phone I thought I would give them a try on their mobile broadband.

The modem, combined with the first month’s payment of 65$ came to a total cost just under 150$. This gives me, literally, just the modem and the service. The modem arrived the next day, since cricKet is usually offering free overnight shipping. I was pleased with the shipping and the customer service fellow I spoke with (I think his name was Gary) was quite proficient and polite. So far so good, yes?

The modem arrived on schedule the very next day, and installation consisted of nothing more than plugging it in and clicking a few buttons to get through the auto-install wizard. Within moments, I was online. My place doesn’t get the greatest signal, on average my phone gets one bar and my modem gets two. However, the following screenshots show just what kinds of speeds I am seeing so far:

As you can see, from the two shots, I am getting speeds varying between decent and good. Most of the time. The only big downside to this service is the fair use policy, which says that I am paing 65$ a month for 7.5 GB of high speed usage, after which point they will throttle my download speeds back to a much lower level until the end of the month. If this was a home based service I would be outraged but since it is mobile I guess I can deal with that, in theory. I will likely make another post, or a comment on this one, re:what the speeds are like after I have reached that limit, since 7.5 GB is gonna be pretty easy to go through.

Ultimately, however, my opinion and experience with cricKet wireless broadband has been a good one. Here’s hoping it stays that way, but as it stands right now, I would recommend it to anyone with the need for it.