Indirectly Getting to the Point

I seem to surround myself with indirect people. This is amusing since I can be so aggressively direct that I often insult people. While tact is something I've learned over the years (especially since I've been married), I still expect people to tell me what they want. I don't know about you, but being asked if I want to take out the garbage 10 times in a row doesn't make me want to do it... in fact, it makes me more likely NOT to do it.
My favorite, though, is when someone proposes an activity or game plan, but starts it with "well, do you want to..." instead of saying "hey, I'd really like it if..."
With indirect people, half the time you have no clue what they really want because they're too frightened to actually come out an tell you. And then later when they're feeling picked on and ignored, it's you that gets in trouble for not listening to what they really want.
While women or more commonly guilty of this, many men do it as well.
So what is the answer? Obviously being literal doesn’t help, because the indirect people are aggressive enough to continue to ask the same question over and over until you get the point. So, I'm thinking that once again duct tape may be the answer.

DNA and the God of Thunder

It seems that throughout human history, cultures have a tendency of creating a multitude of Gods to represent the different things around them. The most popular have lasted until our day, with heroes such as Thor and Hercules still popping up in media today. While people often laugh at this concept, it's actually a very understandable and still very common human practice.
The truth is that everyone wants to understand the world around them. So, in a world where science consisted of magic and religious believe, different Gods were assigned to each natural event. Soon a whole pantheon was established; with each God requiring different forms of worship (in that way man believed they could control the world around them). Once again, very common behavior.
Today most people look back at the ancient cultures and shake their heads, wondering how the Greeks or the Norse could believe in such inventive stories. The more dominant religions today focus on one God, and most of those tolerate science, with some embracing it and other rejecting it outright. The funny thing is, we STILL do this today. Instead of assigning Gods to different natural, unnatural or unsettling events, we assign scientific explanations. In many ways, Science has become the new pagan religion of our day.
Instead of a God of thunder such as Thor or Zeus, we have weather systems- equally mysterious and unpredictable. This weather system even has a following of priest, or Oracles, who tell us what we can expect from the almighty weather system from day to day.
Instead of a God of love, we have the Hormone, a powerful creature that attacks us in groups and forces us to fall in love with random strangers. Only when we've satisfied the mad lust that we were made to feel against our will does the hormone leave us alone... at least for awhile.
Instead of a God of war we have politics, with politicians its priests.
Instead of a God of evil, hate, or trouble, we have DNA... DNA is the scariest of all, for like Zeus of old we never know when or who DNA might strike, or how it will change or affect the poor victim.
The Gods of old did more than just put a name or face on the things that were feared, they took responsibility for those things that people refused to. If a man was a rapist and a murder in the old days, it would be said that the god of war, or the God of love, or a trickster god had influenced the man and made him commit those crimes. Today, we blame it on bad parenting, mental illness and behavior that may have been passed on genetically.
We embrace these new scientific discoveries and theories just as much, if not more, than the ancient Greeks embraced their pantheon of Gods. In the end, people just need somebody to blame.

Afterward-
Now, I want to explain something before anyone takes offense. I do believe that there are something beyond our control, I do believe that mental disorders, handicaps, and behaviors can affect people and that these thing could be inherited. but I also believe that there are some who, instead of being a responsible adult and working on their issues, use that trial as an excuse to do nothing but complain about how unfair the world is.

In the army now

I should first say that I am not a politically minded person. As several of my friends will tell you, I could care less. This could be due to the fact that my mother was a democrat while my father was republican. As a result, politics weren't usually discussed much; which is alright... I have a sneaking suspicion that, given my parents, any political debate might have ended with the house in flames.
And so, I don't really have a political stance. I think some things are wrong while others are right. One thing I have always been against is war. Personally I don't think the best way to bring someone to your way of thinking involves violence (unless it involves Napoleon dynamite fans, but that's another story). This could be because I'm not a violent person, well, not normally, anyway.
A big source of contention between my father and I while growing up was my refusal to join the army. While I'm not sure what his point was, exactly, he always got angry when I would refuse to even consider joining the army. Who knows, maybe it would have been good for me. Personally, I don't think I would survive the army or military... I'm just not that type of guy (I break under pressure when pressure is defined and mean military men shouting at me..... Come to think of it I was never a fan of GI Joe either....). While I think my Dad thought I was condemning the military, I wasn't; it just wasn't for me.
I always support the men and women to protect our country. It's the political leaders and decisions that direct the military that bothers me. I don't think we always have the best reasons to go to war, nor do I think war is always our best option.
I have several brothers, four of which I grew up with. Two are currently in the armed forces, with a third to join here very soon. Our father was also in the military. I think the military is an honorable profession, as I said before, but it disturbs me that I know nothing about the politics that will ultimately decide my brother's fate. How sad would it be if, on the day of my brother's funeral, I was unable to explain to my child or nephew why their uncle or father wasn't coming home, or what he died for? I don't want to know about politics, and I think war and the reasons why we fight are childish. Apparently my brothers don't (or they also don't care and figure it's a paycheck... Who knows). I think I owe it to them to find out just what they are fighting for.
I don't agree with war, but I suppose it's a little more productive than fast food (although I do believe that the cheeseburger could be credited for several inventions... But that's another story).

The Passion of the Ignorant

For those you may not know, I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. As such, I'm fairly conservative while being open to new ideas and approaches. At least, that's how it's supposed to work. Unfortunately, during my time in the "Mormon corridor" I've run across nothing but bias and close mindedness. While there is occasionally a cool person every now and then, for the most part the people here piss me off. I think my first push towards that direction came when someone, upon learning that I was from Maine, said "oh, it must be nice to be out here (Utah-Idaho) where the church is so much stronger." When I answered "no, the church may be smaller, but it's just as strong as Utah," I was given a knowing wink before the subject was changed.
Personally I'm of the philosophy that size has nothing to do with strength. Those familiar with the bible may remember a story or two about that. I've found that those members that live in areas where the church may be smaller are actually stronger in their faith because they have to make a more conscience decision to live the gospel.
A great reflection of this is sacrament meeting, especially fast and testimony meetings. It seems that many have a problem separating the spirit from emotion. My personal favorite is when a speaker will lower their voice and whisper what they are saying so they can be more dramatic and have more of an emotional response. Things like that sicken me. I firmly believe that if you're going to do something, you need to do it for the right reasons- not for the reward, not because you were told to, but because it's RIGHT. Moroni 7 says more than enough on this subject.
It is this level of insincerity that really gets to me. A person can act as spiritual as they like, but in the end the spirit is not going to testify just because you say the right words in the right tone of voice.
This whole issue comes to a head in my mind when I hear people explain why a movie such as The Passion isn't worth watching.
First of all, the Lord has told us that it is not our place to judge, Also, Moroni has told us that if we must judge, we do it by judging whether something brings us closer to God or whether it drives us from him. With me so far?
And so, it seems to be that while me must decide what we expose ourselves too, and no point does it become cool to judge something and speak against something that we know nothing about. My example her is "Million Dollar Baby." While I did not like what I was hearing about the movie, I did not consider myself authorized to comment on it until I saw it.
I feel the same way about "The Passion." When the movie first came out, of course I felt uneasy and disturbed by what I was hearing about the movie. I loved how people called it evil and sacrilegious when it not only taught about Christ but stayed true to the gospel accounts. When I saw the movie, I was blown away. The Movie builds to the end, at which point we see the resurrection and the purpose of Christs actions. While the movie is absolutely emotional and does play to the heart, at the same time the spirit testifies of the message and story. Not only is this movie true events, but it's purpose is a righteous one- to bring men unto Christ.
And so, imagine my amusement when people begin to speak against the movie. Interested, I asked them to cite example from the movie. Upon further investigation I discovered that these naysayers had never seen the movie. Yet the were speaking against it (a bible a bible, we have a bible and need no other). It was not until I heard their argument that I was really angered. The movie, they said, "played to the emotions, and people confused that with the spirit, and thus fail to realize how evil the movie is."
Let's take a moment for dramatic irony, shall we? These same people who pretended to be spiritual, who play act on the stand during sacrament in order to impress the congregation, accuse a truly spiritual movie of insincerity? It was almost enough to make my head explode.
It seems to me that as a people we have begun to lose the ability to think and reason for ourselves. We have lost and forgotten those tools, such as the spirit, that help us to recognize truth. It makes me sad when people take words and ideas that they like and feel comfortable with over the truth and the right.
We must start recognizing the real reasons for why we are here on earth. As a people, we need to distanced ourselves from the "collective" and allow our minds and hearts to find the truth for themselves. Only then will we be worthy to enter the kingdom of God. If that's your thing, anyway. As for me, I just want to go see my father again.