frazzled-imp's Diaryland Diary
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Rant-O-Rama
�Neoteny� is �remaining young,� and it may be ironic that it is so little known, because human evolution has been dominated by it. Humans have evolved to their relatively high state by retaining the immature characteristics of their ancestors. Humans are the most advanced of mammals � although a case could be made for dolphins � because they seldom grow up. Behavioral traits such as curiosity about the world, flexibility of response, and playfulness are common to practically all young mammals but are usually rapidly lost with the onset of maturity in all but humans. Humanity has advanced, when it has advanced, not because it has been sober, responsible, and cautious, but because it has been playful, rebellious, and immature.
Still Life with Woodpecker, Tom Robbins
God that, kids? We�re all just great big children when you get down to the nitty gritty.
Although some of us act like it more than others.
I think I�m getting ready to start a rant. Hang on to your hats, folks, Amie is about to bitch.
Yee-haw!
I had a wonderful conversation tonight (this morning?) with a person whom I know will eventually see this, and is probably grinning like a fool right about now.
Yes, you. Hi there!
I think I�ve given up on this foreign concept called �sleep�.
Anyway.
We started off on one thing, and bird-walked all over the place. It was a fine conversation, one a person such as myself has a hard time coming by these days, outside of a few select people. When you spend your day in the company of a three year old whose main topic of conversation is what happened on Blues Clues and Dora the Explorer, adult conversation is a wonderful, glorious thing. When the opportunity for one presents itself, you grab it with both hands and hang on for dear life. You talk until you�re blue in the face, or you pass out. Whichever comes first.
Among the myriad of topics we covered, from the beauty that is the female musician to gun control and violence in the media, religion popped up, as it invariably seems to do when I get started on one of my patented �Oh, shit, Amie�s got the soapbox now� rants, was religion.
For the record, I�m not a religious person. I�ve never been a religious person. I was raised by parents who, while coming from deeply religious backgrounds themselves, were at a point in both their lives where they were non-practicing, and frankly, did not give a shit one way or the other. For the most part, they remain the same to this day. And I, for one, am extremely grateful to have been spared the doctrine and dogma that could have potentially dominated my younger years, in exchange for the right to explore, and decide for myself what my beliefs would be. My grandparents, on both sides, have made desperate attempts over the years to lead me towards what they view as �the light�, be it Catholicism on one side, Baptist or Methodist on the other, but, lucky for me, all efforts on their parts have failed. I�ve taken in what they all have to say on the matter, but I remain independent in my thoughts.
I�d like to think that, despite my lack of religious upbringing (or perhaps, because of it?), I am, indeed, a �moral� person. I try to do the right thing, whatever my endeavors may be. I don�t always succeed, but I give it my best shot, and do what I can to own up to the mistakes that I make along the way. I am, I believe, a good person. Flawed, battered, and scarred, but hey! I�m still here, and would you like a shoulder to cry on, mine is perfect for soaking up tears. I believe that compassion, while so sorely lacking in so many people, is the name of the game at hand. And while I have my selfish moments -- because, let�s face it, folks, who doesn�t�it�s self preservation at its finest, an ingrained human trait that none of most of us will never successfully shake, and probably shouldn't in the first place -- I try to keep them to a minimum, and apply them only when necessary.
In other words, I�m trying, desperately, to practice what I preach.
I�m not saying that religion, in whatever form it may take, Christian, Pagan, Muslim, Hindu, Atheist (oh yes, folks, I surely do believe that there are plenty of people out there that practice atheism to a religious degree), what have you, is a bad thing. Far from it, I think that these things are tools which can be used to teach wonderful things to those that may not be able to find it in any other manner. Religion can give hope to the person who is drowning in the daily insanity that we call life. It can give solace, bring people together, unite them for a common purpose. All sorts of heart-warming things that can make your toes curl with delight, and bring to mind thoughts of soft kittens purring in your lap, while you sip hot cocoa and read a good book by the light of a roaring fire. Happy thoughts. Happy people.
However, like any tool, it can be used for both good and bad purposes. And, sadly, it seems to me that I see a lot more people using it to a degree that whatever Beings may be being would weep at the amount of incredibly stupid shit being said and done in their names, than I see those using it in a practical, healthy manner.
What am I talking about here? Yes, you guessed it.
Fanaticism.
People who are so hell-bent on their particular set of beliefs being right, that they can�t get their heads out of their asses long enough to get a breath of fresh air.
Folks, breathing is important. Jesus wants you to breathe. The Goddess wants you to breathe. Allah wants you to breath. Shiva (what the fuck do I know?) wants you to breathe. Basic human biology wants you to breathe.
Lack of oxygen causes brain damage.
Lighten up. Live a little. Let your neighbor live a little. Whether you believe in an afterlife or not, why not make the most of the time you have here, and quit worrying about what the person next to you believes? Even if you don�t agree with them, give them the freedom to make those choices for themselves. Don�t turn that potentially beautiful tool you have in your hands into a mallet to bash people about the head with.
It accomplishes nothing.
I was going to go somewhere else with this little tirade. Although, now that I�ve realized it�s 5 a.m., I�ve completely lost track of just where that was going to be.
But, it was fun to type!
G�night, folks. Tune in tomorrow (today, actually) when an extremely sleep-deprived Amie lets you all in on some earth shattering news that is turning her little world upside down, and hurling it in a new, wonderful, direction.
Some big changes are coming this way.
5:05 AM - May 02, 2003
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