Hotashi

It’s been a while since I posted an entry. I’ve been busy with wedding planning, moving into a new condo and the typical regulars of life. Once I have more time after the wedding I’m sure I’ll post more often. =)

So I just tossed our reusable grocery bags into the laundry. It’s really important to wash them otherwise the attempt at reducing plastic bags in landfills is overshadowed by food poisoning from not washing raw produce (including raw meat) that is carried home from grocery stores. The municipality that I live in has passed a law where grocery stores are to charge $0.05 per plastic bag in attempts to reduce plastic bags in landfills, local water bodies and public places in general. More and more people are now using grocery bags. I was under the impression that this law was only for grocery stores but more department and retail stores have started to do this as well. I’m not sure if this is because they actually care about the environment, or they want to fit in to the green movement, or just because they also have to abide by the law. Either way it’s refreshing. Jack and I went to the mall and the retail stores we bought clothes in charged us for the bags we needed. We didn’t bring reusable shopping bags with us just out of habit, but we’re looking to invest in some non-grocery shopping bags now. I’m glad that my habits are being forced to change for the better.

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Sometimes the idiocy of people astound me. I’ve been desensitized to many things being a sociology major, so I’m surprised when I feel this way. But this just made me want to smack someone. According to the article published in Metro News today, “An Israeli health official (Yakov Litzman) says the outbreak of swine flu should be renamed ‘Mexican’ influenza in deference to Muslim and Jewish sensitivities over pork…[because] the reference to pigs is offensive to both religions” WTF? How is it offensive? Yes the consumption of pork is avoided for both religions but how is the name of the disease in any way offending Jews or Muslims? If anything it is offensive that this man is attempting to stigmatize a nation and its people for a disease that is not even confirmed to have emerged out of Mexico.

Honestly, how stupid can this man be? Remember SARS anyone? How were Chinese people (in China and in the communities of various global Chinese diaspora) treated? Like lepers. People in Toronto might remember how people avoided Chinatown and how numerous businesses went under because people were scared to be in contact with people of Chinese descent. Remember how people would cross the street if they saw someone who looked Chinese (hello stereotype of East Asians!)? Have people learned nothing from the past? STOP STIGMATIZING GROUPS OF PEOPLE BECAUSE OF YOUR OWN MORAL FEARS! AND STOP PERPETUATING MORAL PANIC TO JUSTIFY XENOPHOBIA, RACISM & OTHER FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION!

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Tomorrow is Good Friday. It will be the first Good Friday that I can remember where I did not go to church. I used to go to church regularly in my later teens and my early 20s, but I’ve stopped. I don’t go anymore because all the churches I’ve gone to are too institutionalized, too bureaucratic, too full of propaganda, too filled with conformity, too filled with one-sided thinking, too filled with Othering, and yes I will say it, too filled with blatant bullshit. I feel that what churches do now, despite if it is actually their intentions, is what Jesus came to change. I feel that the majority of Christians and the majority of churches act like the pharisees, promote restrictive laws, and discourage critical thinking in order to manipulate individuals into conformity. I acknowledge that churches do a lot of good as well - charitable works, providing refuge for those in need, accepting and supporting people during difficult times, sharing the good news of salvation. But I cannot get over how everytime I sit at a service there will be something said, something done, or something implied that makes me want to stand up and tell whomever is doing it (usually the pastor - who *surprise surprise* is most likely a man) to shut up because he/she does not know what the fuck they’re talking about. As snobbish as this is going to sound, I feel like institutionalized church is made for the feeble minded who need someone to tell them what to do, what to believe and how to live their lives. Very ironic since Jesus was killed for openly criticizing these very practices.

This weekend Jack and I are going back to my parent’s place for Easter weekend and we’ll go to church on Easter Sunday with them. I’m not against going to church. I go from time to time - usually with my family or Jack’s family - but I don’t attend church. I know my mother probably prays for me because she thinks I’m somewhat (or maybe fully) lost. I think she just doesn’t understand my perspective, but she has (at least temporarily) stopped nagging me about how I’m bad for not going to church. But she’ll be happy this weekend that we all go together. I have no worries, although I will probably be tempted to take off my shoe and throw it at the moron who makes some idiotic remark.

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I don’t know if I posted about this before, but not too long ago I sponsored a child - a little girl from India. I’ve wanted to sponsor a child for years, at least since I was twelve or so. Whenever I saw children on those advertisements for various charitable organizations asking for sponsorship I thought to myself, “that could have been me.” I don’t know if privileged White individuals think the same when they see these children since the vast majority of children shown are “coloured” aka “non-White”. But anyway, when I saw children, young girls in particular I would think that could have been me. I was just lucky to be born into a privileged Indian family as opposed to a poor one. And trust me, the chances were against me on that yet for whatever reason I was blessed to be born into the family I have.

It humbles me to think about it this way. The things I have are complete blessings. If I had been born into a neighbour’s family I would not have what I have, I would not be where I am, and I would not be who I am. I want to make sure that my sponsor child, Jyoti, has opportunities to have a greater degree of choices available to her. She should not have to worry about eating proper meals a day, or being able to clothe herself, or if she will have to stay at home while her brothers attend school since her parents can’t afford to send her as well. I truly hope that I can do for her what was done for me. That I was given choices and was taken care of. That my childhood was a happy one where I didn’t have to worry about adult matters; that I could just be a kid.

I had made a promise to myself a long time ago, that when I could I would start to sponsor a child. Well that time is now. I didn’t have a steady income before since I was a student and I did not want to risk having to end a sponsorship because I couldn’t afford it. So before I would donate lump sums to various organizations. But now that I got a job I fulfilled my promise to myself and thanked God by using my first paycheque to help someone else. Because really, the money I earn is God’s. I couldn’t work without the things He has given me. And so, I sponsored a little girl, just like me. Jyoti. Thinking about her makes me so happy.

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I know that this may offend some people but I must be honest. Sometimes I don’t want to refer to myself as a Christian because I don’t want to be associated with all the idiot Christians out there. Sure that may be an un-Christian position for me to take, but at least I’m not lying. The reason for this is simple, stupid Christians make stupid comments, act on stupid conclusions they have made, and do stupid, hurtful things in the name of God. Stupid. I know I have my stupid moments also, but at least I try to be aware of my own stupidity rather than justifying it EVEN WHEN IT IS POINTED OUT TO ME.

The latest trigger for my passion against stupid Christianity was based on the conclusions of an individual I know on the topic of homosexuals and HIV/AIDS. This person took statistics off of a publication that stated that gay men are at higher risk for contracting HIV/AIDS while lesbian women have a greater chance of having breast and cervical cancer. They took these statistics without even reading the study properly and concluded that these statistics ‘obviously’ mean that being gay or “endorsing this behaviour” is unhealthy. The irony (well not really ironic but I’m not sure what word to use) is that the publication is written by advocates in the GLB (gay, lesbian, bisexual community) who contest that the GLB community are neglected by Health Canada. They use the statistics to show that there is a need for programs to target members of the GLB community because of these higher risks since ONE of the MANY contributors to the elevated cases is due of the limited or lack of available, inclusive, welcoming, or specialized programing available. For instance, the reason that there are more cases of cervical cancer among lesbians is because many doctors do not encourage regular pap smears the way they would for a heterosexual woman because of the notion that increased sexual intercourse (of course referring to heterosexual intercourse because homosexual intercourse isn’t ‘real’ intercourse *rolls eyes*) can lead to cervical cancer. So since lesbian women do not engage in heterosexual intercourse they must *of course* not be as prone to cervical cancer as straight women. So, like this lack of medical attention, there are social reasons for the elevated cases, not necessarily biological ones like how many people like to claim (mostly out of ignorance and homophobia). You can read the article here. It’s only 6 pages long and it is quite an interesting read.

I’ve heard many stupid things said by Christians regarding homosexuality and HIV/AIDS. There are some who believe that STIs are God’s punishment for sexual sin, especially homosexuality. These people are obviously stupid and uneducated since THE MAJORITY of the AIDS cases in Africa alone will show you that contraction was through practicing monogamy in a heterosexual relationship. It just bothers me so much when I hear such ignorant, hateful, and downright stupid comments being made by Christians. And really, why don’t they understand that the same way they discriminate, isolate, and criminalize Others is exactly what Jesus set out against. Jesus helped the blind, the lame, the crippled, the lepers, the women - those who were second class citizens and who were social outcasts. And look at what these Christians do. They are the current day pharisees. They are one of the reasons that hatred, prejudice, and pride still exists in our world.

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