Everything that's wrong with the USA summarized in one video

[peef]

lol enjoy ur fascism. I'm not sure whether I should laugh or cry. I hope my kid turns out exactly like that kid. (BTW here's the original, I like how they leave out all the parts where she mentions O' Reilly)

Also, I've been busy studying for a test and have thus neglected LJ lately, I'll make an actual entry later.

Comments

[peef]

Ozzy, always playing the devils advocate...

Of course the event was scripted, but I agree with most of the commenters on youtube that the girl probably gets the basic just of what she's saying. I think it's going a bit far to say that she doesn't know what the fuck she's talking about. I'm sure she doesn't understand all the politics behind it, but I also have a feeling she understands the part about adults treating children like human beings and not pushing beliefs down their throats, which is the main point of the video. Every kid I've ever met wants to be treated like a "big" person.

I mean come on, I never bought that jesus crap and started spouting about how religion is bullshit and a waste of time before I was 8, and my parents used to MAKE me go to church. When I was in 1st grade I seriously used to sit in church, plug my ears, and make up my own religion about how we actually descended from bad-ass aliens with laser guns (kinda like Scientology). By the time I hit 4th grade or so I'd been bitching about it so much that my PARENTS stopped going (although the worsening stupidity of Christianity over the past years also contributed greatly to that change).

I don't think everyone who believes in religion is retarded, but I do think people who believe in religion "because that's what they've always been told" are incredibly pitiful. I feel that children should be raised in an environment without religion, and then left to decide based on their own life experiences whether or not there really is a God once they are mature enough to understand what God means. Kids will believe in God just as easily as they'll believe in Santa, but an adult raised to believe only in the tangible world will have to think a lot harder about the meaning of life, and if such a person SHOULD decide to believe in a religion, the resulting faith will be much more pure and true than some schmuck who only believes what they believe because someone raised them that way.

So no, I don't think the girl is particularly brainwashed or a tool of her parents. I mean, there's no way to prove what the relationship is really like, but at the very least if the parents actually believe any of the stuff they're having their daughter say, I can't see them forcing any kind of beliefs on her. The only criticism I can really level at them is the decision to put her on the Internet, where she is now the object of much /b/tard fapping, but that's a separate issue.

[god_osyris]

Not so much playing the devil's advocate as really just being an asshole when I hear shit that makes lil' sense when it comes out of people whom I regard highly and who appear to be intelligent human beings. (you know like... Peef > Jeremy)

We've had this discussion before @ yo crib son. (and it was a great one at that). I don't think the child is brainwashed but a tool for that video she was (lol..Yoda style talk). The same speech coming from an adult would of just gotten swallowed up in the vastness of the net and no one would of given a shit, the fact that it was a kid doing it instead, attracted more attention because it was scripted to have that effect (to the point of being a "forced meme" in a sense).

You're absolutely right about religion (of any form) should not be forced upon a child, you're right that a child should be given the choice to choose and learn from wotever source he/she/it wants (btw...go get Richard Dawkins book : "the god delusion" [great read] ) but I do feel that basic fundamental teachings from religion (any) can be a great tool and source of knowledge to help guide a child in the right path (of living, not believing of supernatural entities).

Remember wot I said during our lil' debate that night @ yo crib: "an uncontrolled source of information of any type (be that religion or politics etc etc...) that is not directed in a specific direction, causes chaos due to it's randomness, the info must be refined and directed specifically and then balanced out to create a natural equilibrium between things"

The problem with religion is not with people forcing it on their kids or the chaos we bring to each other due to our belief. The problem with religion is the factioning of structured belief systems and segregation of a people due to the unwillingness of them to accept the other side in a balanced way.

Protestants, Lutherans, Christians, Catholics and so forth all believe in the same god and the same teachings, yet add variations to the SAME EXACT texts to "benefit" their own needs, thus creating a barrier between them (an uncontrolled barrier).

Now, add a totally different religion to the mix from a different culture or people and make them clash and you'll have a recipe for chaos.

The same can be said about any topic on this planet, Xbox fans talk shit about Playstation, Hip Hop fans say rap is shit, straight people talk shit about gays, whites talk shit about blacks etc etc...and it's all because one side is always pushing for dominance instead of finding balance.

Of course I'm not that stupid, I know that it's normal for one side to always look to dominate the other side (such is human nature) but again, you'd think that in day and age we are in, that people would actually learn from the past and move forward and truly evolve instead of reverting back again and again to the same shit we have done since man walked this earth. (basically saying, "Humans are'nt as intelligent as they believe themselves to be" )

Santa was man made, god was'nt... Religion was man made.

Kids do not believe in Santa as easy as they believe in god. Because again, humans are creatures of habit & reward and as a child they learn that Santa = gifts, thus enticing them to further believe in Santa. If Santa did'nt have some form of payoff, children would not believe in him. Children's belief in god (in any form) is brought on by their own thoughts naturally, but the payoff is brought on by religion (and enforced by parents for the most part).

**15 minutes later**

shit...had to leave fo a minute and now I lost my fuckin train of thought...bah... fuck it. Dude, I agree & understand most of your views and I do see that the kid (or creator of that piece) meant no real harm in it's propaganda, but the issue will not come from that piece, it will come from the "uncontrolled & unbalanced" response on the opposite side who is NOT going to compromise or accept that view/opinion, thus further creating more chaos on top of the chaos that was already there.

lawl, I <3 debating with you dude.

and.... /b/ fapping to her? ewwwww... she's chunky and has a pig nose (cute arm warmers tho), I'd rather fap to Emma Watson.

[peef]

Yeah yeah, I agree with you about balance between two sides (in this case atheism vs. religion) being more favorable than the annihilation of one or the other. I also agree that using a kid is obviously a propaganda strategy, and that what really matters shouldn't be who said what, only what is said (that's why I like Anonymous).

Kind of unrelated, but I've gotten irritated by the terms "atheist" and "agnostic" lately. I think it has to do with being in Japan, because for most average people here, there is no concept of "being" a certain religion. I mean, most people here don't believe in the super-natural, but the phrase "atheist" seems to suggest that you would never go to a religious service of any kind, which is not the case with Japanese people. "Agnostic," again, suggests that you've spent time pondering whether or not God exists and have decided to actively remain neutral, which is also not the case with people here. Religion just isn't an issue for most people. People may regularly participate in Shinto festivals, have a Christian wedding, and have a Buddhist funeral service, and never think twice about any of it. I feel like society here has a much healthier idea of what "faith" really should be, i.e. they're able to separate religious stories from real life, and they don't mind participating casually in multiple religions so long as it makes them feel better about themselves and the world. Kind of like in Dogma where the dude says it's better to have ideas than beliefs because ideas can change. Of course, I was raised in St. Anthony USA in the middle of all this 9-11 bullshit, so I'll probably never be able to look at religion, especially Christianity, from a neutral viewpoint. Thus, yeah, I suppose I am an Atheist because I actively oppose Christianity. I still think it's better to be neutral though, like most other people are over here, it's just that I'll just probably never be able to see Christianity in a positive light because of all the bullshit I've gone through thanks to it.

Also, yeah, those arm warmers are cute.