How DARE they?!?

http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-news/oscar-nomination-rescinded-for-song--alone-yet-not-alone-002640315.html

So, the Oscars nominated an extremely unheard of song- that never had a chance of winning- for best original song. It happened to be from a Christian based movie. NO ONE had heard of this movie before this. There were no reviews of it. There were no critics watching it. There were no media write-ups about it. It was a nothing movie. Christians hadn't even heard of it.

The man who wrote the song used to be on the committee board for the Academy. He used an unfair advantage and sent a direct email to the people who were voting on the nominees. When other people heard about this they, rightly, complained. Today the Academy announced that they are rescinding the nomination.

Here are some of the reactions from Christians:

"I am a CHRISTIAN and PROUD OF IT!!!! In the Bible it talks about how in the last days that the world will be against anything that is CHRISTIAN I guess that all you people that are against CHRISTIAN are proving the Bible RIGHT!!! Jesus Christ is going to RETURN and every knee will Bow and EVERY tongue with confess that he is LORD. They remove this because it has everything to do with FAITH. Guess what OUR COUNTRY was founded on FAITH. You would not have a AMERICA if your Forefathers had not took a stand long ago."

"Gee. What a surprise. I saw this coming a mile away. It's a great song written for a CHRISTIAN fulm. Of course they would have to find a way to get rid of it. I guarantee if it had been a muslim film with a song about killing infidels and stoning rape victims it would have won the best original song Oscar!"

"The satanists couldn't allow Joni Erickson Tada to have World wide exposure. They were terrified that the presence of a quadriplegic believer would mention JESUS' message of salvation. They claim to allow freedom of thought, except when the thought runs contrary to theirs. The idea of having someone with morals and principles to be seen during their hedonistic exhibition was too much for their consciousness: they might actually have to admit that they are selling sin. Its ok for the studios to spend billions on promoting their product including sending free dvd's of their movies to voters but not ok for someone who is not a satanist to email the voters and ask them to listen to the song. This excuse is as phoney as the idea that President Obama represents all Americans."

   (Context- the woman who sings the song is a quadriplegic)

"Baffled why Americans aren't outraged by the slaughtering of Christians by the tens of thousands in Sudan, Noth Korea, Iran, Syria, Egypt, Libya, Nigeria, Tunisia, India, Pakistan, by nearly 100,000 a year. Thanks Hollywood, way to contribute in a slight of hand move to ban a song from a Christian film in your pagan festival. Glad to see we still live in a society of free relegion free from persecution, guess that only applies to non-christians."

     (I think this person has their numbers a TAD exaggerated....)


Although one Christian commenter did show some reason: 

"As a Christian, this is not "a war against Christianity" this is just common sense. There are rules and guidelines put forth by the academy. It is pretty logical that you can't promote your nomination in order to gain votes. You break the rules you pay the consequences, who gives a damn about religious affiliation. Be grateful it was even nominated in the first place, for a film with hardly any budget, no critical reviews, and definitely no advertising, Lastly, they did not replace the nomination with another song, they left it as is. it should have been thrown in the five dollar bin at Wal-mart along with the other terrible Christian films. Christians and conservatives need to stop playing this "us vs. them" game. Besides it has no chance of winning,"Let it Go" and Frozen in general are going to take home many awards."
   
I couldn't agree more.

Were you acting like a Christian?

This week marks the 11 year anniversary of when I was raped. Every year for the past 7 or so I have tried to do something positive that keeps me from dwelling on the past. It usually works. But, for whatever reason, this year it's not working.

What's been going through my mind this year is all the shitty things that were said to me following the rape:

"Did he say he was sorry? I'd forgive him if he apologized."- Jack, my dear friend to whom my church tried to marry me off. Not after the rape though, mind you. Now I was tainted and was no longer a good match for Jack.

"If you'd just forgive him and let it go you wouldn't be so angry."- My sister. In her defense I think she was trying to make me feel better. She's a  hardcore Christian who believes that forgiveness leads to peace. Sure, I believe in forgiveness. But...fuck that guy.

"The pamphlet I read about this says you should be over this by now."- My mother. It had been two weeks. I love my mother. This was not a great thing to say to someone. She was trying to make sense of what all was happening. And, I can't be mad at my mother. We had a rough couple of months after the fact but she has been nothing but supportive of most everything in my life. So, she sent me to a Christian 'therapist' who also told me to get over it. Go figure.

"Were you acting like a Christian?"- A church member. This one hurt a lot. It hurt because, at the time, I was shaming myself for my actions. Many rape survivors do this. We somehow feel like it was our faults; like we were asking for it. This statement from someone who I trusted for most of my life shattered me. It truly was my fault. Especially in the eyes of God. I had done something wrong and I should now beg for forgiveness.

And I did pray for forgiveness. I prayed a lot. And every time I did I felt more and more ashamed.  I was supposed to be a good, southern, Christian girl and now I was marked.  What respectable person would want to be with me now? I still struggle with this feeling. I'm positive my current boyfriend loves me but, who wants to move further with someone with a messed up past?

I wonder if the people around me would have acted the same way if the guy who raped me had been black?If I didn't know who he was? If I hadn't invited him over to hang out in the first place? What did I expect would happen, right?

This guy was a tall, blond, blue-eyed white man. He was a charmer in the community. Girls who complained about him should have been excited that such a likable guy was 'flirting' with them. How lucky of me that he showed me any attention.  After all, he was only trying to show me what it was like to be with a real guy. (Up until that point I had only dated outside of my race. He wanted to show me what I was missing.)

I eventually got real help. I went to see a rape counselor. She worked with me for months. And when I pressed charges and went through the prosecution process she told me what it would be like; what the steps were going to be. I have been able to talk about my experiences with others openly. I don't hide my rape. I've helped friends through the process and have spoken in small conferences about it. I've come a long way.

But, I think that the best healing for me has been every accomplishment I've made in my life since. I went back to school and earned my bachelors degree. I moved to a different part of the country on my own and have made it work. I'm the head of a great organization. I've surrounded myself with amazing friends. I love who I am. But, like any stupid fucking emotional trauma, I still have my doubts about why this happened.

And for that I blame the fucked up religion in which I was brainwashed. No matter how much I try to rinse of the bubbles of superstition with the cool water of reason there is always some oily residue.

Fisher of Men

A few years ago I was working for a specialty retail store in the mall. I had a manager that was in his mid 40s and was a very good man. I liked him a lot. He was a helpful manager, he was very understanding of my nonsense as a teenager in college and became somewhat of a mentor for me. I feel like I learned a lot from him.

He always wore a small gold pin of a fishing hook on his collar. Being in Florida, I had always assumed that it was a pin showing his love of fishing. My own father is an avid fisherman and I had always loved going on the lake with him. I decided to ask my manager, let's call him Phil, about it- maybe I could talk with him about where he fished, what equipment he used and what he caught.

Phil then explained to me that his hook pin was because he wanted to be reminded that he is a 'fisher of men' for the Lord.

*Sigh*....dammit.

"Fisher of men" comes from Matthew 4:19. This is where Jesus found Peter and his brother Andrew who were fishermen. He told them to follow him and become 'fisher of men'. The brothers immediately threw down their nets and became apostles.  (I mean, wouldn't you just thrown down your career that feeds yourself and family to follow some hippie around for nothing? I know I would!)

The more I think about it the more I'm confused as to how this has become a Christian catchphrase...

What is fishing? You use good bait, pretty lures, and smelly spray to trick a fish to getting snagged on on a sharp-ass hook that will pull it out of it's home so that it may be thrown into a cold and dark place with other terrified fish (the cooler) to then be taken out and mocked by having someone hold it up by the mouth while they take pictures of it (IT WAS THIS BIG!!). Then it is descaled, beheaded, deboned... Then, if  it's caught by my father, it gets rolled around in Louisiana Fish Fry and land in the skillet to be served up with French fries and ketchup.

Sounds like a fun ride, Christians.