Closer to Home

Frédérik SisaThe Recreational Nihilist

(Second of two parts)
  
Another front on the religious battle with homosexuality is California’s school textbooks. As reported by Reuters
(http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060407/us_nm/rights_gays_textbooks_dc),
“Conservative groups are reacting to proposed legislation that would require school textbooks to include lessons on how gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender persons have helped California develop.”

Gays: Still Victims of Oppression

Frédérik SisaThe Recreational Nihilist

     I am often amused, in an eye-rolling sort of way, by denials that certain people are victims of socially ingrained prejudices and outright discrimination. While in some cases — race and gender — the nature of the prejudice has gone far beyond pointing at a white male, yelling “oppressor!” and leaving it at that, it really comes close in other cases to being that simple. I’m referring to gay, lesbian, and transgendered individuals, whose victimhood isn’t the product of paranoid delusions; their oppressors don’t even bother to hide under rocks. And who are these gay-hating, gay-bashing oppressors? The answer: So-called religious conservatives, particularly the very vocal right-wing of Christianity.

Immigration Chaos

Frédérik SisaThe Recreational Nihilist

     From Gov. Schwarzenegger’s‚ recent guest column in the Los Angeles Times on the topic of immigration.
        “Our goal should be to create a policy that reflects our national motto:E pluribus unum  (Out of many, one).
        Sounds good to me. Let’s move on:
        “Immigration is about our security.”
        Sure. Next:
        “Criminalizing immigrants for coming here is a slogan, not a solution.”
        Yes, it is.

Good Goth, Here We Go Again

Frédérik SisaThe Recreational Nihilist

     In reading my fellow critics’ reviews of V for Vendetta, I came across a pet peeve that irks me enough to devote this week’s scribblings to setting the record straight. That pet peeve is the consistent misrepresentation of the Gothic (or Goth) subculture in the media and in films.
 
     The most in-your-face offense, of course, comes on the big screen, typically in the form of what I call gothploitation. This is when the Gothic “look” is appropriated without its substance. I think the trend started more or less with the first Matrix film. But it really went over-the-top in the Underworld films, which concealed nonsensical storytelling by exploiting gorgeously gothic costume design.

Breaking Up Is Easy to Do

Frédérik SisaThe Recreational Nihilist

     In November of 2005, fifty-eight percent of San Francisco voters approved a ban on owning, buying, or manufacturing handguns. Enforcement will be delayed until June, however, while the courts hear a suit filed by the National Rifle Assn. The basis for the suit: the city is (allegedly) usurping the state’s sole right to regulate handguns. (Source: Associated Press)
     In South Dakota, Gov. Michael Rounds signed a (symbolic?) law banning almost all abortions. The state is shaping up to be the staging ground for an assault on Roe v. Wade, although both sides of the abortion debate are tactically divided. (Source: L.A. Times)

Waiting for Oscar

Frédérik SisaThe Recreational Nihilist

     Ah, yes, Oscar Night is nigh. It’s time to get wrapped up in the sparkle and glamour of Hollywood’s biggest event. Film critics far and wide are tripping over themselves with predictions as to who will walk away with the little golden man.
     Fashionistas are foaming at the mouth in anticipation of the latest designer wear.

     But instead of fawning over the latest peacock fashions that will strut down the red carpet, or waiting for Philip Seymour Hoffman to squash the debate as to whether Heath Ledger or David Strathairn should win for Best Actor, I’m going for the Big Picture.

Sisa: Part 2 – The Sad Lesson of History

Frédérik SisaThe Recreational Nihilist

Second of two parts

     In trying to consider the effects of religion on society, as the social scientist Gregory S. Paul attempted to do in the Journal of Religion & Society,  the following comes to mind:
     The overwhelming majority of people have been religious, both today and throughout history. Yet war, genocide, poverty and murder exist as much now as they did in the past. It’s rather hard to  argue that the world is better off today than it was a thousand years ago.

Sisa: Part 1 – The Mostly Harmless Bombshell

Frédérik SisaThe Recreational Nihilist

     My column was all set, ready to examine the effects of a  nuclear bomb detonated in the middle of popular wisdom until last-minute research revealed a serious discrepancy.
     The whole thing started with a study  published in the Journal of Religion & Society by someone named Gregory S. Paul. In it, he claimed that “in general,  higher rates of belief in and worship of a  creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult  mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy and abortion in the prosperous  democracies.”

Frederick Sisa: No Sacred Cows

Frédérik SisaThe Recreational Nihilist

sisa.jpg     Happy Holidays!
     There. I¹ve offended you. Mortally wounded you, even. On this day after Christmas, I¹ve just wished upon you a horrible, gruesome, drawn-out, agonizing, torturous death. A plague on your house both of your houses, actually.
     Oh, wait. Scratch that. Sorry. I wrote "Happy Holidays," not "Drop Dead."