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Inaudible Pontification

How Prometheus Teaches Children Better Morals Than Christianity

I saw Prometheus last Friday, which was good and bad at the same time. It makes mistakes here, and has amazing moments there, so all in all it was a splendid affair. I also went to church on Sunday for the first time since I left a Christian school four years ago, which was even weirder than Prometheus.


I can't say that I have everything figured out, but I know that I can't follow a religion at all. The idea is so disgusting to me that sitting in the church felt uncomfortable. Now by no means does this mean I am an atheist; far from it. I do believe in something, but I am still trying to figure out what that is. It could range from a mythical being of infinite power to a tiny, tiny ant. I am not, however, going to let anyone else be involved in that process unless I allow them to.

But religion seems to do the opposite of that. It seems to strengthen the tradition of adults forcing their beliefs onto their children, which honestly scares me. Now, I am the last person who should be allowed to tell kids what to believe in, but I don't think the people looking after the kids in that church should be either. To me, if a parent wants to teach a child to be honest, kind and generous to a point, that is okay. But if you are telling even a 12 year old child what they should believe in beyond that, then you are failing as a role model.

Now, how does this tie into Prometheus? Outside of putting me in a philosophical state of mind, it had a scene that was genuinely the greatest piece of parenting I have seen in a film. There is a flashback to a character's life as a child where they are in egypt with their father. They ask their father about death and where people go after they die. The father responds with "To heaven." the child naturally asks why he believes that. He replies that he chooses to.

It's a simple scene that not only demonstrates how parenting should be: simple calm and without the expectation of the child to believe anything but what they choose. But it's also the only thing you really need to answer when someone asks you what you believe. Though that is more directed at Christians who try to scientifically explain Jesus Christ, which is not what the whole point of this post is.

So, on sunday I was sitting in church, watching as a line of children in robes marched into the church from the side to help in some way. I wasn't sure with what, seeing as only one of them was actually doing anything. The rest were just off to the side, staring agelessly at the walls. And just when you thought the whole thing couldn't involve children more, some more kids came out from the audience and sat on the ground in front of the man talking. There was then this weird moment where these three kids who looked just like two of my sisters and me were getting ready to talk. The whole thing continued from there, to the inevitable end where the priest kept saying goodbye about five times before we could actually leave, which was irritating.

As I left, all the church people said goodbye and hoped I would return, which added a nice cherry to this creepy event. This reminded me of how these kids are brainwashed. They're given chocolate in Easter and told to feel guilty about a man who is God and the son of God at the same time. They are told to feel guilty and thankful for this man/god's sacrifice, all the way to christmas, where they will then celebrate another somewhat Christian holiday, all for the presents that they wish for. I wish that we lived in a world where a child could be taught what was right without the need for threats of violence. I wish we could all just decide to teach what is right and then let children figure out what they wish to believe in, only helping when asked. Unfortunately that is not how Christianity works, or most religions I have seen, for that matter. They do not work on any real trust, but more the idea of a authoritative group consensus on what we should all believe. This is the main reason I do not like religion; I will never like the idea of depending on others to strengthen my beliefs. I prefer to know and understand what I believe, even if others find it ludicrous. 

A little over eager

As I was checking the news this morning, I came upon something that made me get a little excited, that was my mistake. The thing in question was the cover art for "Batman Arkham city", and the reason I bring it up is not for the purpose of cover analysis. That would be pointless, and I’m sure there are many others who have done a better job than I would ever do.

Said the reader of this blog

No, what I want to get into is the anticipation that comes with waiting for anything your excited with. See, a couple years ago I used to do this all the time. I would hear about some big Hollywood adaptation of one of my favorite comics, a video game or even just a TV show. So I would spend months finding every news story, trailer, picture and everything else I could find on that thing I was obsessed with. And while its all good and well to walk into a movie and have a good feeling about what your about to see, its never a good idea to get over excited and expect the greatest thing ever. Because you will more than likely feel the opposite about the experience walking out, than you did walking in. As I did many, many times over the years.

I guess the feeling of surprise is what I really miss from going to the movies, or reading a comic or playing a video game. Its like I've come to a point where I've seen all the things that would make me feel child like innocence. And then I watch a trailer for "Batman Arkham city", and I just can't help myself. Every moment I look at the game, I just start to imagine all the things I'm going to do and then I'm lost to all its "greatness". And that’s where I fall into the trap of OVER-EXCITEMENT!!!

DAMN IT BATMAN!!! Stop making me creep out my friends.

Fortunately I've noticed the symptoms of this problem and I'm lowering my excitement, so that the game doesn't disappoint. But I'm not the only one who falls for this trap. Oh so many geeks such as myself fall for this trap. When a friend and I saw TRON: legacy, I walked out quite happy with what I had seen. Nothing special in the story area, but the special effects were good enough for me to have a good time. But my friend had walked in expecting to be blessed by the gods with the perfect movie, and so he walked out with a bad taste in his mouth. We both saw the same movie and noticed the same problems, but where as I was not bothered at all by the lack of quality in those areas, his experience was ruined. And it happens all the time to all kinds of people, but especially geeks.

TRON LEGACY: why did you have to look so good?

Because anyone who knows how to make big amounts of money in any form of entertainment knows that brand recognition is the biggest selling point of any product. And geeks recognize a lot of things in pop culture. They just don't recognize sometimes when a studio is waiting to give a sucker punch to the gut after taking your money (pun, kind of intended), and although geeks are getting better about it with every terrible, terrible movie (i.e. wolverine origins and batman and robin), there still learning. But every year those geeks automatically give movies that are bad a good opening weekend, means more movies that are geared towards them that are terrible.

Do you WANT nipples on your batsuit?

But were getting better about it, even the most fan-boyish of us are starting to take a second look at what there getting excited about. Which makes me a little happier. Now after reading all that you might think hype is a bad thing, but its okay to get a little excited. I'm just saying, try to be a little careful with what you follow and don't get too excited about anything; allow what you’re following to fail on its own merits.

Now all I got to do is not think too hard about batman arkham city and I will be fine.

I'm a little excited

Damn it.