The Fault Is Not in Our Stars.
remember with peace said...
i was disgusted reading your article. who cares what you think about the truth of the documentary? She has passed and should be remembered with more respect. don't judge others. it builds up and some day you'll be burned by the libra.
This comment was left for me in response to my post about the documentary The Last Days of Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, which was shown on VH1 last week. At first I wrote a response to it, then changed it, then deleted it and wrote another, then decided to delete the comment entirely and ignore it. But now I've chosen to answer, as it is precisely this sort of thing that makes me despise most people, particularly simpletons such as "remember with peace."
First, I’ll directly address you, rwp. You found my site by Googling "lisa left eye lopez herbal cleansing." (Her name, incidentally, was Lopes, with an s, as evidenced by the 7000 times it was written on-screen during the film. Way to comprehend.) So right off the bat, I suspect you are a knucklehead who saw this movie and thought, "Hm, I'd like to know more about this highly questionable and possibly dangerous diet regimen endorsed by some reckless pop star dim-wit. Sounds right up my alley!"
As for the “burned by the libra” comment, well, I hate to break it to you, but astrology is a bunch of magical bullshit and the people who rely on it are sad and irrational. If you are looking to purify, cleanse or otherwise detoxify your body, please begin with your brain and wash away these absurd conceits. For me, that last line is beyond disgusting—it is nauseating, foolish, and, in particular, discouraging. But I’ll get back to that.
Now, as for your wondering who cares about what I think: I don’t care who cares what I think. But I thought it, and posted it, and if you are disgusted by it, so be it. I was merely examining the “truth of the documentary,” or rather the lack or distortion of it. Perhaps it was the film itself (that is, the filmmakers, or in this unusual case, chiefly the editor) that lacked respect for its subject, or more likely the viewers.
The notion of respect for human beings is one which I simply reject. People don’t deserve respect, despite every loudmouth imbecile incessantly demanding it for no reason. I respect art, concepts, nature. Things that are what they are. People are rarely what they appear to be, what they try to be, or what they themselves think they are. People’s rights deserve respect. Their actions, ideas, accomplishments, opinions (hey, how about that?) and even their intentions may deserve it. But requiring respect just for being? I don’t see it. And the notion of respecting a person’s memory is hard to divorce from that—respect earned for dying, however tragically, doesn’t register with me. (Dying heroically is another story, but again, that's an action.)
People are shit. (Ba-dum-BUM!) Not every person, but, you know, generally. We're the worst things in the universe (that we're aware of). We exhibit the unique trait of inflicting cruelty for no reason. I think it has something to do with our unearned intelligence. We are cruel because we know we can be. Sure, some other mammals exhibit cruelty, too; chimps and dolphins spring to mind, you know, the “smarter” ones. We’re just a notch above them. Somewhere along the line, our jawbones shifted and created greater cranial capacity, allowing our brains to grow, bringing about the development of advanced language and poof—chimps with checkbooks. (I sometimes think “ants between ice ages” is a more apt analogy, but in any case I didn’t mean to bring evolutionary theory into this mess of a blog-rant.)
Don’t get me wrong. There are many people I love, admire, even strive to emulate for their good qualities, but the truth of the matter is you never really know anyone. I’m sure many people go to their graves with truly black hearts, having harbored dark thoughts that they never acted upon. For instance, is a person a pedophile if they lusted after children but died having never actually molested any? I sometimes wonder about how many people had in fact gone the extra step and simply got away with it. I'm sure they are remembered with respect. Do they deserve it? Anyway, that's tangential.
As you may have surmised, I’m not a person who values religion. I have no use for it. I do, however, have a use for faith, irrational as that notion may seem. Too many people hold their religious faith like a guarantee to some greater reward, a golden ticket that they can lord over the non-believer. Many look for signs of angels or divinely-crafted images as proof of their faith, ignoring the contradiction inherent in such an idea. As I see it, that’s the point of faith—there can be no proof. Therein lies the absurdity, and yet the principle of faith is deeply instilled in the race, even for a cynical pragmatist such as myself.
My faith is rooted in—surprise!—human nature. Yes, I do believe it tends toward evil. You can peruse any major newspaper on any day and see a hundred reasons not to put your faith in humankind. That is all the more reason to cherish and encourage those who attempt to thwart our vulgar birthright. My faith lies in that next person I encounter--the belief that this person, in any given situation, will at least try to do the right thing, however subjective that idea is.
That is why I find your comment so discouraging. It is people like you, rwp, that make that faith harder and harder to summon. Superstitious. Easily offended. Determinedly unenlightened by facts and empirical evidence, preferring to indulge in stale pseudoscience and quackery. Eager to stifle another’s opinion because it doesn’t dovetail with your own.
As I've mentioned, I respect your right to your opinions and beliefs, however misguided and willfully ignorant they seem to me. Oh, there I go, judging again. (Good luck, by the way, with your own efforts to make it through life without investing any judgment. It seems to have gotten you this far.)
As the great philosopher Yau-Man Chan said, “Love many. Trust few. Harm none.” I’m genuinely sorry if you felt I did harm by posting my thoughts. I'm sure this little rant of mine has done nothing to assuage your dislike of me. Probably heightened it. Whatever. I mean, I personally don't think I'm lacking in compassion, but what the hell do I know. I’m only human.
i was disgusted reading your article. who cares what you think about the truth of the documentary? She has passed and should be remembered with more respect. don't judge others. it builds up and some day you'll be burned by the libra.
This comment was left for me in response to my post about the documentary The Last Days of Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, which was shown on VH1 last week. At first I wrote a response to it, then changed it, then deleted it and wrote another, then decided to delete the comment entirely and ignore it. But now I've chosen to answer, as it is precisely this sort of thing that makes me despise most people, particularly simpletons such as "remember with peace."
First, I’ll directly address you, rwp. You found my site by Googling "lisa left eye lopez herbal cleansing." (Her name, incidentally, was Lopes, with an s, as evidenced by the 7000 times it was written on-screen during the film. Way to comprehend.) So right off the bat, I suspect you are a knucklehead who saw this movie and thought, "Hm, I'd like to know more about this highly questionable and possibly dangerous diet regimen endorsed by some reckless pop star dim-wit. Sounds right up my alley!"
As for the “burned by the libra” comment, well, I hate to break it to you, but astrology is a bunch of magical bullshit and the people who rely on it are sad and irrational. If you are looking to purify, cleanse or otherwise detoxify your body, please begin with your brain and wash away these absurd conceits. For me, that last line is beyond disgusting—it is nauseating, foolish, and, in particular, discouraging. But I’ll get back to that.
Now, as for your wondering who cares about what I think: I don’t care who cares what I think. But I thought it, and posted it, and if you are disgusted by it, so be it. I was merely examining the “truth of the documentary,” or rather the lack or distortion of it. Perhaps it was the film itself (that is, the filmmakers, or in this unusual case, chiefly the editor) that lacked respect for its subject, or more likely the viewers.
The notion of respect for human beings is one which I simply reject. People don’t deserve respect, despite every loudmouth imbecile incessantly demanding it for no reason. I respect art, concepts, nature. Things that are what they are. People are rarely what they appear to be, what they try to be, or what they themselves think they are. People’s rights deserve respect. Their actions, ideas, accomplishments, opinions (hey, how about that?) and even their intentions may deserve it. But requiring respect just for being? I don’t see it. And the notion of respecting a person’s memory is hard to divorce from that—respect earned for dying, however tragically, doesn’t register with me. (Dying heroically is another story, but again, that's an action.)
People are shit. (Ba-dum-BUM!) Not every person, but, you know, generally. We're the worst things in the universe (that we're aware of). We exhibit the unique trait of inflicting cruelty for no reason. I think it has something to do with our unearned intelligence. We are cruel because we know we can be. Sure, some other mammals exhibit cruelty, too; chimps and dolphins spring to mind, you know, the “smarter” ones. We’re just a notch above them. Somewhere along the line, our jawbones shifted and created greater cranial capacity, allowing our brains to grow, bringing about the development of advanced language and poof—chimps with checkbooks. (I sometimes think “ants between ice ages” is a more apt analogy, but in any case I didn’t mean to bring evolutionary theory into this mess of a blog-rant.)
Don’t get me wrong. There are many people I love, admire, even strive to emulate for their good qualities, but the truth of the matter is you never really know anyone. I’m sure many people go to their graves with truly black hearts, having harbored dark thoughts that they never acted upon. For instance, is a person a pedophile if they lusted after children but died having never actually molested any? I sometimes wonder about how many people had in fact gone the extra step and simply got away with it. I'm sure they are remembered with respect. Do they deserve it? Anyway, that's tangential.
As you may have surmised, I’m not a person who values religion. I have no use for it. I do, however, have a use for faith, irrational as that notion may seem. Too many people hold their religious faith like a guarantee to some greater reward, a golden ticket that they can lord over the non-believer. Many look for signs of angels or divinely-crafted images as proof of their faith, ignoring the contradiction inherent in such an idea. As I see it, that’s the point of faith—there can be no proof. Therein lies the absurdity, and yet the principle of faith is deeply instilled in the race, even for a cynical pragmatist such as myself.
My faith is rooted in—surprise!—human nature. Yes, I do believe it tends toward evil. You can peruse any major newspaper on any day and see a hundred reasons not to put your faith in humankind. That is all the more reason to cherish and encourage those who attempt to thwart our vulgar birthright. My faith lies in that next person I encounter--the belief that this person, in any given situation, will at least try to do the right thing, however subjective that idea is.
That is why I find your comment so discouraging. It is people like you, rwp, that make that faith harder and harder to summon. Superstitious. Easily offended. Determinedly unenlightened by facts and empirical evidence, preferring to indulge in stale pseudoscience and quackery. Eager to stifle another’s opinion because it doesn’t dovetail with your own.
As I've mentioned, I respect your right to your opinions and beliefs, however misguided and willfully ignorant they seem to me. Oh, there I go, judging again. (Good luck, by the way, with your own efforts to make it through life without investing any judgment. It seems to have gotten you this far.)
As the great philosopher Yau-Man Chan said, “Love many. Trust few. Harm none.” I’m genuinely sorry if you felt I did harm by posting my thoughts. I'm sure this little rant of mine has done nothing to assuage your dislike of me. Probably heightened it. Whatever. I mean, I personally don't think I'm lacking in compassion, but what the hell do I know. I’m only human.
posted by psaur at 10:16 PM
3 Comments:
wow. that's why, despite my having no respect for you, you are my hero.
I, too, was offended by your post regarding the Left Eye documentary. I was offended that you a) wasted the time watching it and b) wasted your time discussing it. It took you 15 years to watch Return of the Jedi and you waste your time with that blather? You'll be burned by the ewoks for that, good sir.
The libra forgives you! Will you read this at my wedding?
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