The Insidious Senior

Disclaimer: My thoughts, as rash as they are, are my own thoughts and opinions.

Not those of Monochromatic Rainbows.

Note: Lots of insults ahead, some of which are not the original manifestation of my brain.

Raised in a traditional Chinese family with Chinese values, I'm not one usually susceptible to moronic and pointless dishonorment of seniors and those older than me. But neither am I a coward hiding under a blanket of cowardice (thought I would emphasize the point in case I wasn't clear enough just how much of a non-coward I am).

I'm sorry I cannot say the same for "The Insidious Senior" whose ONE single action has left me with a strong feeling of abhorrence and indignation.

Before I unfold the sequence of today's events I must before give you a disclaimer: I'm a healthy girl of 16 years of age; a hormonal girl who might very well be overreacting about this situation but I am quite aware that neither am I a creature with staggeringly retarded perspicacity.

The Tale:

My mother gave me a Bible several years back; it was a leather NIV version, which I soon took a liking to. I wrote my name on the title page and my mother's but soon after I got a blood red/burgundy NKJV Bible. I am ashamed to say I much preferred this new one from then on and so left that leather NIV on my shelf one day. Earlier this year, my homeroom teacher required of us a Bible to be put under our school desk and so I brought my pastel orange NIV to school and placed it under my desk, which, to my agitation, soon disappeared. Fast forward several months and come today, 10th of December 2007 - I found it. I found it in Pak Purba's room, but it wasn't how it was before. I cannot form into words the extent of the damage. My friend L kindly photoed the images. From what previously was a Bible of relatively good conditions, it had now become this piece of masquerading ... something

I'm not the most ardent of Christians, but neither am I bereft of a conscience and a sense of decency (both of which this particular senior appears to lack).

We often mistreat our Bible, scribble on it, pile things on top of it, and other forms of negligence I'm sure our adolescent minds can cook up from here to the beyond, but this! this is far from negligent. In fact, this senior took measures to destroy it. I don't care at all if he IS an atheist, or Buddhist, or Muslim, or SATANIC even, I am just at complete loss at how this could happen at a supposedly Christian school.

I'm not suggesting he be suspended or anything of the sort, (some divine retribution, some divine intervention which would eventually lead to some pains, in his life would be perfectly acceptable)

Yet, I'm not God, nor do I have any sort of authority to punish him, that's fine, but I can mock him, can't I? So here I am: fuming, scheming, typing.

Dear Senior, If you're reading this, I would advise you to close your sorry little four-eyed eyes and go play hentai games/kill helpless animals or anything equally pathetic.

The thing is, you lied, I asked you, confronted you earlier this day and you lied. I was at the time unaware that you out of what petty little brain you have decide to write you name and GRADE on the side cover. I never really did suspect that the other person named 'R' in MY grade would do such a thing because you know why? Frankly he's smarter, he would realize that

a.) it's a Bible.

b.) destroying the Bible would anger someone.

But more than that, I knew that person had a modicum of respect for people's beliefs. Unlike you. Because that's what it amounts to: blatant disregard of people's property. And that property, IS A FREAKING BIBLE.

I do not care if you thought it was amusing, because if that what it was, amusement, a way to settle your boredom than you really are scum, fit to wiggle away the rest of your life among the lowest of the lowest.

Denial of your actions or even trivializing the matter just adds up to laughable cowardice.

And if you decide to mock me or ask the help of your friends, that's just horribly pathetic, I the lone short junior girl who have been scared refused backup from friends. (Because your pettiness did not deserve their attention despite their equally enraged emotions hearing your lack of ... numerous moral/ethical/human qualities.)

And no, I want nothing, nothing you do will appease me. An apology? Sure.

A replacement for my Bible, no, that's the only thing I do not want as a result. Verbal sparing, disagreements, bring it on. But I beg everyone not to stupidly appease me by giving me another Bible, because this isn't what it's all about at all.

It's about how someone could be so idiotic....., no I take that back, calling you an idiot would be horrible insult to actual idiots. I'm not simply enraged because of his contemptible conduct. It's about him damaging an item that people have died for, and tortured because.

An item, a symbol far grander, more purposeful, and more important than ANY of his DREAMS could ever be (let alone accomplish).

So there, I'm apologize that I took so many words to convey the extent of his imbecility.

Because honestly, I do not have any desire to make him seem like a fool.

Why should I take all that credit.

Catholics and Christians

Note: I’m blabbering, I’m a blabbering moron. This post is seriously rambling and blabbering! See! I am blabbering! Wohoo! *promotes self down to A2 SL*

***

being edited*

*vitriolic/ Steph

A Gay Darkness

This is a response to a dear peer's post which I just can't stop getting out of my head.

'They (homosexuals) say, "But we love each other!" What's loving about medically dangerous behavior? Love seeks the ultimate good of the loved one.' - Kendal Metcalfe quoting Frank Turek

HEED THE IGNORANT CLANGS OF BIGOTRY AS WE IRRATIONALLY DENY THE EXISTENCE OF LOVE THAT IS OBVIOUSLY GENUINE AND SINCERE!

Although you may perhaps consider me to be one of them, religious and conservative people often confuse me.

Bewilderment strikes me each time Christians openly profess their disdain towards homosexuals, bashing them unsympathetically for their so-called divergence from God's plan.

Homosexuality is, after all, involuntary. What man or woman would want to marry a person who would not be able to bring upon them any offspring? Why would a woman want to have a sexual relationship that is almost entirely dependent on prosthetics - where the mutual coalesce of flesh is virtually impossible? Surely people who take preference on such irregularities have something that is wrong with them to a psychological, even spiritual level.

Plenty research suggests that sexual preference is decided on that basis of a person's upbringing. Parental relationships, among the many things that shape a person's psyche, are prevalent in most cases of homosexuality. Traumatic experiences, and sexual abuse, are among the numerous things that contribute to deviations of sexual preference. Most importantly, after a certain age of maturity, sexual preference becomes of permanence.

Heartbreaking, isn’t it, how an unfortunate childhood can trail a person to their death? Sin is fused into the very core of a human soul that escape from it is impossible. Christianity condemns homosexuals who supposedly refuse to give up their fleshly sin. But how can Christians be so sure that homosexuality is escapable by mere devotion to Christ, when people who profess these things don’t even know how hard being gay is?

The subject of sexual rebirth is tricky. It’s a bit like sex change procedures; no matter how “female” a transgender man can become, a part of him – a part that is untouchable by medicine or therapy – will forever remain a man.

Ex-homosexuality is a myth. Those who profess to have been sexually converted are simply denying their sexual desires for the sake of sanctity. Complete liberation from sin is nonexistent - we are humans, after all. As normal and "heterosexual" as homosexuals can become, a the will always want what they have left – that hollowness and dissatisfaction in them that will never be contented by a normal sexual relationship.

Besides, after years of research and attempts to de-homosexualize gay men, psychologists have said that there are no "cures" for homosexuality.

This isn’t to say that I don’t believe homosexuality is a sin – I do. It is one that is so deep-seeded that it can never be completely removed, rather simply denied and suppressed. The legalization of gay marriage equates to the incubation of habitual sin.

Am I a biased hypocrite for sympathizing over homosexuals – which the bible deems as among the most immoral and perverse people to walk the face of this earth – while condemning the practitioners of pre-marital sex, something supposedly less perverse than homosexuality?

Homosexual people are generalized as effeminate, narcissitic, lustful, and perverted. True, many of them are, but aren't we all - heterosexuals and homosexuals - imperfect?

When you think about it, homosexuality is not voluntary, while fornication is. Homosexuals fornicate because marriage is impossible for them, while heterosexuals fornicate because they are unwilling to wait just a few years for marriage. Needless to say, both are sinful and ultimately result in death - what I view as wrong is how people approach these issues.

Why is it that the selfish, impatient, lustful animals are tolerated while those handicapped in sin - even celibate ones - are unloved and exiled?

The dreadful irony is that many of these gay bashers aren't even practitioners of abstinence.

Nobody is doing the right thing.

Homophobes and conservative Christians make life a living hell for gay people. Homosexuals are inculcated with fear and hopelessness as narrow-minded protesters declare the unfortunate fates of these people. A peer of mine posted a jaundiced remark on how immoral gay people are, without any viable solutions other than the complete rejection of these people.

Gay rights activists encourage this immorality, as nude men shamelessly parade in gay pride as they profess pride over the illness that plagues their people. Liberal churches admit their own defeat as they encourage gay marriage under the false idea that all love is sacred. - Gay love is very much real, true, but not so sanctified by God.

Lives are hard enough as it already is for gay people; don’t make it worse. The reality is that most of them are walking towards hell, with the world encouraging this. Compassionate truth has been eradicated! All that’s left is a violent reality or empathic lies. Can homosexual celibacy – the only way these people will ever find truth – be practiced when support and encouragement is nonexistent? In this lightless war against pitch-black darkness, where do you stand?

Heresy and My Ensuing Wrath

Disclaimer: The writer of this post is by no means a perfect measure of Godliness. His opinions do not in any way reflect the other writers of this blog.

A few days ago, I wrote two posts on this blog which I have now deleted for being contradictory and irrationally bashful. This, my dear friends, is the expression of my infuriation, with nearly all of that crude dementia filtered out.

Charismatic denominations of Christian faith place emphasis on its belief that Christianity does not have to be an ancient practice where worship is limited to hymns and the temptation to fall asleep in services is rampart. Instead, modern congregations such as Hillsongs have gained much attention for delivering modern worship music - something that appeals much more to the increasingly pop-culture-obsessed youth of today.

Stephen Tong, a noted Indonesian reformist preacher is extremely frank about his disapproval of this unorthodoxy found in such churches. I, being a member of his congregation, am one of these people who are not particularly happy of this fusion of rock concerts and services. We have been criticized for being culturally uptight and chauvinistic in our views against these more modern denominations.

Personally, I don’t necessarily mind listening and singing to these rock Christian songs. It’s the purpose of these songs that bother me. Followers of charismatic denominations argue that these songs allow people to have fun in church, to make church a place where everyone wants to be. But one must question, does devotion have to be fun? Is surrendering your own soul to a greater power supposed to be something easy? And more importantly, is this added fun to the whole Christian experience serving for a greater purpose?

As the line between rock concerts and church services become less apparent, what is to differentiate church from actual concerts? What is to keep people from attending church for the sake of mere ecstasy? I know I used to attend a charismatic church for this reason, like many of my peers who look forward to church as a fun place to jump around to ear-deafening music. Motivations and intentions are distorted to a vortex of self-gratification as we abuse “worship.” And while hymns composed by the likes of Bach and Handel are much less fun and enjoyable to sing to, they surely allow for more sincere devotion and is less prone to such decadent misuse.

And though this deformation of church into a concert hall is bad enough in itself, words don’t even begin to describe how tragic the pretension found in our school chapels is. During this week’s chapel, the twelfth-grade chapel band, performed “The Time Has Come,” a song from the Hillsongs United We Stand album. To my dismay, the song was accompanied by a two-minute-long intro that was completely unnecessary. It occurred to me that though the solo had not been necessary, its inclusion allowed plenty room for guitarists to show off their talents in plucking metal strings. It is ridiculous how chapel is taken advantage by non-Christian musicians as a showcase for their talent, to the extent that chapel is no longer a place for glorifying God, but a place for self-glorification. Chapel has now become a talent show that is involuntarily attended where students are forced to watch conceited displays of arrogance under the illusion of worship. Oh, the tragedy.

Music happens to be a significant source of revenue for the Hillsongs church. Their albums have consistently gained top positions in the Australian charts, as they are designed to do so. My friend rashly blamed Hillsongs for these "necessary" intros, ignoring the previously stated fact. The inclusion of two-minute-long solos in their albums is obvious in cause - to make their albums more appealing to the general public - to make their albums sell more so that their church can expand (which is by all means appropriate for a growing congregation), and to make the concerts (where these albums are recorded) more appealing to all who pay to watch it (including those non-Christian watchers who watch for the mere sake of fun).

One must thereby question whether or not the inclusion of these show-off sessions in our chapels serves for a good purpose. After all, are our chapels meant to please the mainstream public? Aren't the circumstances of Hillsongs United, - where songs are written to appeal to the public - completely unparallel with the circumstances of chapel worship? Aren’t we then abusive hypocrites who would be stoned to death by the Catholic Church for heresy if we lived in ancient times?

To abuse Christianity to the point that church becomes comparable to rock concerts and talent shows is beyond wrong. It is horrifying, appalling, petrifying, mortifying, disgusting, and worthy of vomit. And what is worse is that everyone is too ignorant to see and do anything about it.

So please, excuse us “chauvinists” for being “uptight” in our religious views. After all, aren’t we entitled the right to be angered by the blatant abuse of His benevolence? Tolerance for such senselessness is no virtue – it is merely a tool used to circumvent people from doing the right thing.

It is clearly obvious that the abolishment of charismatic denominations would be nonsensical and inconsiderate of those who are truly sincere about their faiths. Replacing rock with hymns in our school would lull most people to slumber and anger those die-hard rockers. So at the very least, dear rockers, take your vile condescension somewhere else - a club, a bar, a concert, just anywhere other than our chapels. To those who come to church for fun, look elsewhere for your bliss - a club, a bar, a concert, a place where those guitarists go to showcase their talent. Do so and we will all finally be pleased - guitarists will freely venerate themselves, jumpers will jump to the guitarists' self-veneration, devotion will no longer be abused, and you hypocrites will no longer feed my bitter soul with this raging wrath.

Deal?