Saturday, March 14, 2009

Cannibal Corpse (updated)

Just finishing up that heavy-metal documentary here. There's talk about some bands being banned in some countries, like Cannibal Corpse, not the least for their hyper-violent album art.
As one of the band members points out, there's art as least as violent, and more realistic, in the Vatican.
Also, imagine The Passion Of The Christ had not been a religious movie. It would have been banned everywhere. And imagine the protagonist had been a woman. Couldn't even have been produced!

Update: I don't want to seem like I'm attacking Christianity, I'm really not, many of my best friends are Christians. But in the West, Christianity is very dominant, and like they say, with great power comes great responsibility (I think Goethe said that. No wait, it was Spiderman). So like any group, they need some self-awareness. And some Christians, surely a minority, but a very vocal one, has this all-pervading belief that they are the Good Ones, and those they disagree with are the Bad Ones. (OK, we all suffer from that to some degree.) For example when they attack heavy metal for promoting violence... look at the numbers: through history, how many people have been killed in the name of heavy metal, and how many have been killed in the name of Christianity? (Witch hunts, inquisition, crusades...) I'm not saying Christians are bad, I'm just saying maybe they are just people like everybody else, and maybe it would behoove them to not judge (lest thou be judged) quite so much and not to Throw The First Stone so often (let him who is without sin throw the first stone).

Joe quotes:
“Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing bad things, but for good people to do bad things, it takes religion.”
-Stephen Weinberg

It seems to me that religion has also had a huge civilizing influence. But it's clear something is rotten, if for nothing else then for the number of people who hate their parents' religion with the heat of a thousand suns.
For example, while many heavy metallers use (inverted) religious imagery because it looks cool or sells records, a few of them are really sincere. Especially in Norway, it seems there's an age-old unresolved conflict between the vikings and the Christianity which was forced upon them by the state. Norway was were you had, in the nineties, those burnings of the old wooden churches (over fifty!). They interviewed some of those who did it and others too, and they had zero regrets. They really regard Christianity in their country as an evil blight on life. Interesting. (Of course it's really a small minority, a handful of people.)

... The wiki page on (Norwegian) Black Metal contains a lot of fact and events which are amazingly brutal and incredible. If I'd seen them in a movie, I'd consider them grossly unrealistic. Jeeeez.
Especially since I never heard much about Norway, and I had thought that like Denmark and Sweden it would be just be full of basically laid-back and mellow people. But maybe not?
... Or maybe so, still. See docu.

----
... Aaaaaanyway, oddly enough my search for Cannibal Corpse art also turned up this little tidbit, which I post here just to see Joe go "boing" again. (I know I did.)


(Aha. It's Maggie-Pie, not a bad photographer.)

17 comments:

Monsieur Beep! said...

Why, not only Joe...

hehehe.

C'mon, I'm only just loooooking.

Ha, yesterday I went to a nice restaurant and was being served by a waitress with naked arms for cooling herself down somewhat, because she was so busy. Man she was cute, domai like!

Viejo verde.

Anonymous said...

Mmm...boioioioioioioioioioioioioing!

“Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it, you'd have good people doing good things and evil people doing bad things, but for good people to do bad things, it takes religion.”
-Stephen Weinberg

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

When I lived near Copenhagen, there was so friggin many cute chicks working in the restaurants. Gawd. And Danes tend to be casual too, open to gentle flirting without too much BS.

One of them, in a pizzeria, one hot summerday, she wore a black dress so small I still think it must have been a nightie. Barely covered her ass. Hot damn, that was a good day.

Anonymous said...

open to gentle flirting without too much BS.

That's good. The BS is total BS.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

It's *so* BS.

Now we got me reminiscing. One of the girls who worked a short time in the restaurant which were right next door (I also lived very close to wonderful parks and all the shopping and transportation you could want, best location ever) was so damn young and beautiful she was like luminous, you felt you could warm your hands on her.

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

No need to blame religion, really. Why? Because barbarians who want to justify their bloody cruelty with a noble varnish will always manage to INVENT a propitious religion anyway. Ever heard of cults? The Assassins, the Thugs, the Solar Temple, the Waco Whackos...? One jedi wannabe Osama BinL. (last name withheld for anonymousness reasons)?
Not casting any value judgement, good or bad, about religion. (THIS time.) Just saying that the real problem lies with people.

Are we really created to God's image, sweet Sheeva (hindu god of Destruction)? I mean, there are genders, skin colors, ethnic types, many shapes and heights and weights... so it's not a physical image. And if it's spiritual... is this sickening ferocity and bloodlust to God's image?
Reminds me of this theory about Satan, whom God all-powerful seems bizarrely worried about getting toppled by, to such extent that he needed an innumerable private guard of elite angels led by General Michael to prevail. According to official Christian Churches doctrin... So this theory, noting that God is NOT invulnerable and neither is he gentle (read both Bible and Koran: a bona fide paranoiac), suggests that the Devil won that ancient war, and is now posing as our loving Creator, which he exiled to Hell, therefore we should actually become Satanists if we want Ultimate Good and our true Father to prevail at Armageddon. Just a theory I heard about.
By a humorist.
Still makes a damn lot of sense... in the frame of the Clergy's own doctrin!

Voltaire, who was as deeply theist as he was anticlerical, said that "If God didn't exist, we'd need to invent him". Isn't that what we've done, precisely? So many contradicting religions, all with one or a great many gods to the uncanny cultural image of their followers. It doesn't even matter, in the facts, whether there is a God who's clearly keeping silent about human affairs. Whether real or imaginary, the image we've created of God is to our own likeness (so who's created who, huh?). And any sensible human can only reject this despicable image brandished by dirty-hearted humans. Just like we rejected the god-like evil figures of Stalin or Nero or Saparmurat Niyazov.
I too am a believer, I have my own faith, and am quite intensely convinced by it. But:
-If you make fun of it without becoming paroxystically insulting/agressive, I'll recognize you that freedom of speech and belief, and with a smile on top. Hold on, I think I've got some chocolate sprinkles left as well.
-Organized religion/clergies to me are an age-old undisputable fraud of monstuous selfish evil, and I just cannot, in good faith and out of respect for God, follow those sickoes. They're just like the wolf poorly disguised under a sheep skin in the cartoons. "Morning, Sam..."

A few days ago, I heard this story on the news: a woman in Brazil had an abortion performed on her 9 year-old daughter. The child was pregnant, following a virtually incestuous rape by her step-father. The regional bishop heard about it, and immediately, with much fire and brimstone and media coverage, excommunicated the mother, the daughter, and the whole medical team who performed the abortion! I hope he didn't forget the ambulance driver, the hospital's caretaker, and the cook's cat...
Interestingly, that same bishop had nothing to comment about a bastard who would rape his step-daughter and get her pregnant. "That's not murder", is suppose... Well he's got a point: most raped women (and children!) only die on the inside.
There was, mercifully, a big scandal, worldwide, with many Catholics raising an outcry of indignation. The bishop's hierarchy declared the annulation of all the excommunications. That's all I know about that.
God damn them (and I won't apologize about the language), some people have no fucking business ever being spiritual guides, or becoming bishops of shit, or even daring to give any sort of moral advice from their filth-vomiting hearts. You see such sons of bitches like that heartless prick, or that other negationnist a-hole who's been de-excommunicated but is still a bishop (while the excommunication was PRECISELY because his ordination was illegal in the first place), and the crappy Vatican of Benedict Arnold the 16th serenely lets them remain official moral and spiritual references to the Lord's flock? Fuck them all!
No, wait, scratch that last bit.
They don't deserve an orgasm. Don't fuck them, EVER. You might catch diseases, anyway. They're too filthy.

Yes, Satan IS infiltrated into the Clergy up to the highest levels.
At least the highest earthly levels.
The rest doesn't matter anyway.
I hereby pronounce the rejection of this fundamentally corrupted and immoral "Church" in the name of the God of Love.
And I'm so pissed off at them, that I won't even bother doing everything opposite to their official teachings, that would be giving them too much importance. I have a far better idea than those supremely grotesque Unblack Metal bands. I won't rape and steal and smoke and kill to spite the twisted hypocrite "moralists". I'll do infinitely worse.
Yes, you've guessed it. I'll live in respect of my fellow human, advocating and living the same mercy and forgiveness I see in the my own image of the Lord. Best way to spite the corruptors is by living with a pure heart.
And to top it all, I'll pity their unfathomable ignorance and sorrow. Because he who knows not Love and mercy is not alive. Spiritually? They're rotting zombies. Watch your step, there are leperous bits lying around.

Live with a smile, enjoy life, and whatever you do, don't fret for nothing.
Amen.

I've already been told I should start my own religion/cult, and many would follow me. Well, consider that I just officially have. I *ORDER* all who want to follow my guidance to live free, be their own masters, empower themselves with knowledge, and never ever send me donations. Otherwise, I pledge I'll spend it all on booze and hookers and tell you about it in explicit detail.
Kool kult, innit? :-)
Anybody who "follows nobody" is automatically a member of my libertarian kult. This should gather significant numbers...

Right, what's next on my "to do" list?
- Find vaccine for common cold.
- Develop cold fusion. (Already works with my tongue on a metal post, looking promising.) Not to be mistaken with previous item.
- Achieve world peace.
- Find cure for bigotry. That's a tough one.
- Invent interstellar travel... no, maybe not before we eradicate bigotry. Might compromise extra-terrestrial contacts otherwise.
- Get a driving license. If cars still exist within a few years with the oils crisis.
- Move out of my mom's basement. The attic, maybe? It has a nice view.
- Lose my virginity.
- Write shorter blog posts.
- Catch the roadrunner.
- Think of the children.
- Write a good book.
- Stop picking By Dose.
- Finish last level of Pac-Man, the original game.
- Commander charter flights for the Lemmings migration.
- Teach my goldfish how to sing.
- Go a reasonably-sized organic latex one, to preserve the environment.
- Become best buddies with the Hulk. Then taunt all the bullies!
- Meet God and tell him jokes. Preferably raunchy ones.
- Take a bathroom break.
Excuse me, seems like that last one can't wait. So bye.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

"Reminds me of this theory about Satan, whom God all-powerful seems bizarrely worried about getting toppled by"

We don't know that, do we? We only know what preachers say.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

... Hey, what happened to not judging religion...? :-)

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

I only said "according to what the preachers say" or something equivalent, what, 3 times in one post?
:-P

"Hey, what happened to not judging religion...? :-)"
What's that?!? You questioning my infallibility? And it amuses you, too? I'll have you know I'm a big cult leader now! Heathen! Flames and sulphur, fire and silex, combustion and brimstone, matches and minerals, avenge my prophet pride in the name of Baal! BLAAAARRRRGH! [Terrifying samoan-like haka grimaces.] Thou shalt be excommunicated, eviscerated, enucleated, and exasperated! And maybe beheaded, but I'm still not sure, doesn't rhyme very nicely with the rest.

Besides, I'm only judging the religious folks. The "Church", not the religion itself, big difference. Okay, dear friend? [Maybe I'll let you off the butcher's hook after all. This Black Metal rhyming business is tougher than I thought.]

And declaring that religion doesn't matter IS passing a judgement. Of indifference. So there!
Mooom! Eolake is making fun of me again!
(Oops! Sorry, I should've called Dad. No High Mother Goddess mentioned in my Kult, Seth dammit. Maybe I should think this doctrin of mine over a little bit. Sure, cultists are utter morons, but still...)

Hey, the title of this post reminds me of something...
Really, I must say, reading this article on Black Metal, I had a lot of fun. The names of their groups and singers are as entertaining as watching an episode of the Addams.

Too bad they want to compete with my, um, just severity as a prophie-petty.

Anonymous said...

Just saying that the real problem lies with people.

With the people who set up these religions, and the good, well-meaning, soft-headed people who help sustain them. Can you really see something like female genital mutilation happening were it not for religion? No. The idea is ridiculous. Even male circumscision started out as a ridiculous religious idea, and when that would no longer fly with some people they tried the lame "it's for health reasons" schtick.

so it's not a physical image.

Ah yes, the religious rationalization. An old, old tradition.

And if it's spiritual... is this sickening ferocity and bloodlust to God's image?

Actually, I'd say yes. We're to believe that the Bible is God's word, right? And the Koran? That's the usual story. You want to keep people from editing it, after all. You can't alter God's holy words! The God of the Bible is, in the words of Richard Dawkins, "The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully." 'Nuff said! (That's Stan Lee by the way.)

Voltaire, who was as deeply theist as he was anticlerical, said that "If God didn't exist, we'd need to invent him".

I think you could probably say that Voltaire was a deist, not a theist.

the image we've created of God is to our own likeness (so who's created who, huh?).

Well sure, that’s why he keeps changing. What you said earlier about us not being created in his physical likeness. Well, go back to 1200 AD (to randomly pick) and ask people about that. Ask them where Heaven is. (Above the sky.) Ask them where Hell is. (Literally below ground.) When science showed that this wasn’t so, the religious smile knowingly and say “Ah, yes, well that’s meant metaphorically, you see. Of course Heaven isn’t just up there! How childish!”

I too am a believer, I have my own faith, and am quite intensely convinced by it.

No! No! Say it ain’t so, Pascal! Now I’ve got to get myself a new hero – you’re all washed up!

and I just cannot, in good faith and out of respect for God, follow those sickoes.

But those sickos are following the true faith. Again, read your Bible. It’s all there. Unless of course you want to make up your own beliefs, which will have to still be based on nothing but at least will likely be free of the hatred and cruelty an savagery supported and encouraged by the Bible.

Yes, Satan IS infiltrated into the Clergy up to the highest levels.

Humanity needs no help from Satan.

in the name of the God of Love.

What God of love is that? Certainly not Jesus, who went one step further than the God of the Old Testament. In the OT, at least your suffering ended at death. Jesus gave us Hell! What a Prince of Peace. Will friends like that I don’t need enemies. Satan is an old softy by comparison. Or at least he couldn’t possibly be worse.

Live with a smile, enjoy life, and whatever you do, don't fret for nothing.
Amen.


According to the Bible and those TV preachers, unless I accept Jesus Christ as my personal saviour, I’m doomed. Living a good life (actually, according the Big Man himself, too) isn’t enough. We’re fucked. And since it’s not actually possible to make yourself believe something you don’t believe (see your namesake’s argument in favour of paying lip service to the Almighty), there’s nothing I can do.

I've already been told I should start my own religion/cult, and many would follow me.

Only if you unite the clans. Do that, and they’ll follow you.

Anonymous said...

It seems to me that religion has also had a huge civilizing influence.

That was probably accidental.

Eolake Stobblehouse said...

To think that Jesus invented hell goes against everything I know about him. It seems rather more likely that somebody else would attribute the idea to him to give it gravitas.

Anonymous said...

A reading of what he is supposed to have said destroys the idea of his being a "Prince of Peace."

It's not so much that he invented Hell but we do not hear of it until the New Testament.

His whole schtick is tied up with the idea of Hell. Believe in him and you'll go to Heaven. If you don't believe in him, you go to Hell. Basically you can ignore everything else, because that's the key point.

It's not really possible to separate that from everything else he's supposed to have said and done. That's the key thing.

And it's a package. Religions are like cable companies. You can't just choose the channels you like. You take the package. You aren't allowed to pick some things Jesus said and say "I'll believe this about him, but not that." It's a package deal.

There is no way of knowing what he really said and what was merely attributed to him. I've yet to hear of any convincing evidence that he existed at all. What do we have? People always mention Josephus, but we've since been able to conclusively prove that the appparent references to Jesus in his works were interpolations. Why would they do that? Christians would save works which seemed to contain references to Jesus.

Unfortunately Jesus' reputation, like that of Mother Teresa, falls apart under the least scrutiny. Too bad. It would be nice if someone in this world lived up to their reputation.

Anonymous said...

Btw, Jesus is, or will be, the worst mass murderer in history. For those who believe in his existence, since he and God are one and the same Jesus is responsible for all the killing God did in the Old Testament. At the end of the world, Jesus will separate the saved from the unsaved and destroy utterly the unworthy. So, after being tortured in Hell for "eternity" you then get the pleasure of being annihilated. (I guess after billions of years of being tortured, oblivion might be something to be looked forward to.)

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

"soft-headed"... :-)
I've learned a new word today. Pretty self-explanatory, too.
And, alas, so aptly used. :-(

"female genital mutilation [and] male circumscision"
Please, don't get me started.
I'd rather not get into a long rant right now, especially if its only purpose is to concur with you.

The real reason with circumcision, I'm speculating, is to turn masturbation from something very spontaneous to a complicated affair (with no foreskin you really need lube), and the aim from THAT is to drive young men into early marriage so that the "Chosen Community" would better grow and multiply.
Just my own, totally unsubstanciated theory.

And now, for the amazement of the cheering crowds, I will use my fantastic mystical will powers and move on.

"Ah yes, the religious rationalization. An old, old tradition."
Maybe. But I meant it as "it cannot possibly, logically, be a physical image". Otherwise, you have to ask, at the very least: what sex is God?
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." [Gen 1: 27]
So, of man and woman, which is the more spitting image? (I'd guess man, because far more guys chew tobacco and they can spit quite far...)

"is this sickening ferocity and bloodlust to God's image?
Actually, I'd say yes. We're to believe that the Bible is God's word, right? And the Koran?"

Come on, do YOU really believe that?
Even one who believes they come from God HAS to admit there's a lot of human-made nonsense crammed in there. Well, at least one who believes AND has some basic sense.
I believe you do (have some basic sense, that is). But of course it's just MY irrational belief, what do I know? ;-)

"You want to keep people from editing it, after all. You can't alter God's holy words!"
Rea-hea-hea-hea-heaaaaalllly? Did you know that the KJV is widely considered today as being hastily translated? Its followers brandish it as THE Word, but it's not accurately rendered from the original texts. I mean, original manuscripts. I don't know of any recording of God dictating the absolutely first text... (Did they even have magnetic tapes back then? It IS an old pre-digital invention, but still...)
"Traduttore, traditore". Italian proverb. "Translator, traitor". The excuse of translation is the most convenient known way to "edit" a book.

"the most unpleasant character in all fiction"
That last word is priceless. :-)
And essential.

"I think you could probably say that Voltaire was a deist, not a theist."
That's possible. I'm good with words, but not so much with convoluted arbitrary theories like Religion. Tomayto, potahto.
Give me good ol' fantasy like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Greco-Roman mythology... any day. That modern stuff is too dadaist for my processing bio-circuits. "Da-da! Ma-ma!"

"Well, go back to 1200 AD (to randomly pick) and ask people about that."
Has nobody told you that time travel to barbaric epochs was highly dangerous? You go back by yourself, mister I'm-Tired-Of-Living!
Heck, just if we get seen materializing, either we get called angels, or get burned as demons, flip a coin. (They never quite wondered how come creatures of the Devil, such as witches and the possessed, were so vulnerable to fire?...)

"No! No! Say it ain’t so, Pascal!"
I'm your hero? Hey, why you never said so? ;-)
Ease your heart, young-formerly-old Padawan. Remember what I said further on: logical thinking proves that Satan is really God. I'm not following the genocidal misogynistic bully, no way hey Zeus!
As for "all washed up", before you blasphemate Me, return to the "Cleanliness" post! (sigh) How easily they err...

"But those sickos are following the true faith."
Says they.
Even among Christians themselves (or Protestants, or muslims, or Trekkies), there's just too much dispute over what "the true faith" actually is. Have you heard of the very recent hullaballoo over the Pope's latest tirade in Africa against condoms? I swear, this guy is the George W. Bush of Catholocism!
Well, MY belief, is that there are lots of things which we'll never, or not in a loooooooooooong time, be sure of.
I call it, "the Theory of Relativity", by Turbo Pascal. Cool name, huh? Might catch on.

"Unless of course you want to make up your own beliefs"
You're really not following, are you? "Mine are the only ones that ARE NOT made up, they are the Actual Truth Immanent. Hari Paska."
For your penitence, you'll repeat this mantra one million times, while balancing buckets full of water atop a pole set in the middle of Piranha Lake.
And I'm being kind, last time I was upset the buckets were filled with vitriol, and leaking, dripping on the penitent's head under the Sahara sun.
I'm afraid I'm getting soft on my old days, much like Yahweh. He listened to his hippie son way too much, even gave up the traditional stoning of bee-hatches.

"Humanity needs no help from Satan."
Ah, maybe... but what about the OPPOSITE?
See? I do have all the answers.
Especially when the answer is a question. :-)

"in the name of the God of Love.
What God of love is that?"

That would be my good sex-maniac buddy, Eros. You know, underage, naked, slinging aphrodisiac arrows at everybody's butts (or boobs, for the babes), his mother was an unrepentant nudist who shagged the whole of Olympus and half of the mortal men (because in ancient Greece, the other half were homos).
Are you beginning to understand the perfection -and the awesome attractiveness- of My Truth? Believe, my children!

"Jesus gave us Hell!"
No, actually, that would be my drill instructor in the Army, Sargeant Saltoor Al-Waywayfi.
The West knows him as Mister Vince McMahon. He's actually an illegal Lebanese immigrant, but no federal agent who went to ask him questions ever returned.

"Satan is an old softy by comparison."
That's why He lost the First Heavenly War to the Devil. Got old and soft. And trusting.
"Yahve", as he calls himself, is kept well safe from coups by his well-established paranoia. Which his current Earthly zealots are trying to keep firm and strong against the threat of "peace and love mellowism".

"According to the Bible and those TV preachers, unless I accept Jesus Christ as my personal saviour, I’m doomed."
What they mean is, unless you accept donations to their bank accounts as your only path to salvation. And while at it, don't forget blind obedience, they often need a good mob, or fresh staff for Abu Ghraib.

"We’re fucked. And since it’s not actually possible to make yourself believe something you don’t believe, there’s nothing I can do."
You've missed the best part :
According to the Koran and the OT, when somebody fails to See, it's because "the Lord made their hearts blind". An expression still routinely used in the lands of Orient.
Furthermore, by definition if you're fucked, then you're a fornicator, therefore a sinner. Priapus be praised, it's the perfect set-up!

"It seems to me that religion has also had a huge civilizing influence.
That was probably accidental."

Precisely what Momma Bush said when little George Jr popped out. She was using the "religiously proper" planned abstinence method of contraception.

"Jesus is responsible for all the killing God did in the Old Testament."
Wasn't that Saruman? Or maybe Voldemort. Or Emperor Vega...
You seriously believe all those legends? They're just dubious entertainment.
Read Exodus. From the number of times God culled hebrews for disobeying him, and according to the numbers mentioned or suggested each time, they've probably all died at least three times.
"Oh, my God, you've killed Kenny. Why, God?" ;-p

"(I guess after billions of years of being tortured, oblivion might be something to be looked forward to.)"
See? Now you're getting this whole mercy concept.

Shamelessly stole those two from Sukiho's blog:

In the beginning there was nothing.
God said, “Let there be light!” And there was light.
There was still nothing, but you could see it a whole lot better.

“Both god and Hitler attempted to create a perfect race by horrifically slaughtering all unworthy people. Hitler is viewed as one of the most evil and sadistic men to ever walk the earth. The god of bible is viewed as a father of “perfect love”.”

My verif sounds like greek : "drolos"

Anonymous said...

I'm your hero? Hey, why you never said so? ;-)

I figured you just assumed you were everyone's hero. ;-)

Pascal [P-04referent] said...

Never underestimate my immense modesty.
Others made the mistake. None lived to tell.