The Tao of Zen Nihilism
I used to get in a lot of trouble for saying this (and I still do, in fact), but here we go again.
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS NINJA!
Except for this guy. And he’s my favorite ninja in all the world. That’s because he’s the ONLY ninja in all the world.
Happy birthday
The Mighty Mighty Daniel Solis (the guy laying out HotB and made that smashing cover) is playtesting his first roleplaying game.
You should help.
Click the icon above to submit a playtest application. Daniel’s new idea is TEH HAWT!!! If you don’t know anything about it, check out Daniel’s Livejournal (
) for additional details.
I was in my grandmother’s attic where my uncle lived, looking through his albums. I was listening to them based on the covers. I listened to Molly Hatchet. I didn’t like it. I listened to Meat Loaf. I loved it. I listened to Styx. Eh. I listened to Led Zeppelin. Eh.
And then I found an album called 2112.
It was a gatefold. I opened it up, saw the songs made up a long story. A story stretching across the entire first side of the album. I put it on the turntable and started listening. And the thing that blew me away most–not the lyrics, not the story–was the fact that all that noise came from just three guys. I loved the first side, but the second side had a song called Something for Nothing. My little mind read the lyrics and they stuck with me. I couldn’t get the tune out of my head. I loved that album.
Later, when my uncle asked me which was my favorite album, I told him. He asked, “Did you listen to Permanent Waves?”
I shook my head. I was chosing albums based on the covers. I didn’t even remember an album called “Permanent Waves.” We went back up to the attic and he put that album on. And again, I could not believe three guys were making all that noise.
Later that year, I was over at my grandmother’s house again, hanging out with my uncle. He was talking to a friend of his, talking about the fact that their third friend couldn’t make it that night. They were wondering who to call. Everybody was working. I asked them what they were talking about, looking up at them, no more than four feet high.
They both looked at me. My uncle smiled. “Did you like 2112 and Permanent Waves?” I nodded enthusiastically. He turned to his buddy. “Let’s take John,” he said. I didn’t quite understand what was going on until the lights went down and the music started.
I was at my first Rush concert.
It was not my last.
The next time they came to MN on tour–for Moving Pictures–I was there. I saw them on Signals. I saw them on Grace Under Pressure. I saw them on every tour for every album.
And I still can’t believe just three guys make all that noise.
Of course, those three guys have been my favorite musicians since I first saw them live with my uncle and his buddy. And when I saw Neil Peart’s drum solo, I knew–I KNEW–that I wanted to be a drummer. And I started writing poetry. Really bad poetry, but hell, every teenager writes his share of bad poetry.
Their example drove me. Devotion to musicianship. Devotion to the band. Devotion to the music. It was all about the music. Not costumes, not image, not wrecking hotel rooms, not Satan worship, not groupies. Just the music. I still remember the reporter asking Peart why he didn’t do “stick tricks” like Tommy Lee and the other hair metal drummers.
His answer? “They don’t record well.”
It was all about the music. And friendship. Three friends making music.
Thirty years of making music.
On Thursday night, my buddy Steve and I drove out to the stadium with butterflies in our stomachs. We were smiling all the while. Big, dumb grins. We couldn’t ditch them. When we got there, we had the distinct impression that we actually were going to miss out on what was putting those big dumb grins on our faces… but it happened. It really happened.
We stood in line. We watched the ones ahead of us get ushered up, click, then ushered away. Ushered up, click, ushered away. Ushered up, click, ushered away.
Then, our turn.
We walked up, shook their hands. We couldn’t get those big dumb grins off our faces. And I knew there was no chance to say what I wanted to say. No chance to tell them how important their music was to me. No chance…
So, I said that.
“I don’t know how to say ‘Thank you’ for thirty years of music in five seconds.”
Alex laughed. He said, “That’s about enough time.”
Click.
And they ushered us away. And to this day, I’ve still got that big dumb smile on my face.
Four years ago, I published Discordia, my gift to the Goddess. I’ll have something for her next year on the five year anniversary. For now, a poem for my beloved Goddess…
For Discordia, On Her Day
Today, I eat hot dogs
I eat them with the buns
Discordia tells me not to
*&^% HER! SHE CAN’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!
ALL HAIL ERIS!
HAIL DISCORDIA!
Eat a hot dog for Eris today. Or don’t!
Task Resolution and the Whiff Factor.
Recently, on
Saying “I believe in a god” does not make you relgious.
Saying “I don’t believe in a god,” likewise, does not make you religious.
Religion and theism rely on faith: belief without evidence. Or, sometimes, when your god tests your faith, despite the evidence.
Quick aside. This reminds me of when RPGs use the term “faith” in fantastic/magical cultures where the gods make their presence known by direct acts of divine intervention. In this case, the people of the world do not have faith, they have devotion. Evidence exists for the gods’ existence. If you don’t believe in god–right after he made a miracle occur–then you are exactly what the Bible calls you: a fool.
George Orwell predicted the co-oping of words for political purposes. Changing the definition of the word to your own political advantage. Not everyone does this intentionally and not everyone is familiar with the technique. An unrelated example is when the Bush Administration has changed the definitions of “torture” and “terrorist.” (They also tried to include “the unborn” under child abuse laws. A very clever–if unethical–strategy.)
Recently, the religious right has tried to put atheism under the same umbrella as religion. Let me explain why this is a catalogical mistake.
Just saying “I believe in a god” does not make you religious. Yes, it makes you theistic, but not religious. You know the folks who believe in a god but don’t go to church, don’t participate in rituals, don’t eat the flesh and drink the blood and all the rest of that? Yeah, they’re not religious; they’re theists. They believe in at least one god.
This is important because the religious right uses the word “religious” when they should be using the word “theist.” They do this to bolster their numbers. “90% of Americans are religious!” No, not at all. Many of those folks don’t belong to churches, don’t attend services, don’t identify with a specific religion at all. They believe in something, but they don’t know what it is. In fact, if you start defining terms, most of them define themselves as agnostic: “I don’t know if there is a deity, but…”
A religion is a philosophy: a collation of statements about the nature of reality, morality and ethics that invokes the existence of a divine presence. Not all philosophies require a god for their statements of truth, but a philosophy that does is a religion. For example, one could not call the philosophy of Nietzche a religion because it does not include a belief in a god. Now, some can point at many philosophers (Nietzche, Ayn Rand, etc.) who have a cult of personality following, but none of those people believe in the divine powers of their devotion; they just blindly and obediently follow everything their leader says. This does not make a cult of personality a religion; it makes it a cult of personality. Sometimes dangerous, sometimes benign… just like religions. Sometimes dangerous, sometimes benign.
The reason the Catholics have a creed (Latin: “we believe”) is because a religion is also a social institution that teaches its followers the correct belief system. Religions tell you, “This is our god, this is how you worship it, this is what sacrifices it demands, this is its laws.” If you don’t believe in those things, you are not a member of that religion. Sure, the followers of a particular religion can debate the details, but there aren’t many Christians out there debating the divinity of Jesus. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be Christians.
Atheism is a simple statement: “I believe in no gods.” Saying that does not tell you how to act. It doesn’t tell you really anything about the universe… except the lack of gods. Going from “I don’t believe in a god” to any other moral statement is a leap even Morpheus (from The Matrix) couldn’t make.
Saying “I believe in a god” does not make you a Catholic, a Jew, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Neopagan, a Discordian, or anything else. What you believe about that god is what defines your religion.
Saying “I believe there are no gods” does not make you a Nazi, a Communist, a physicist, a bio-engineer or anything else. All of those philosophies are built on statements that have nothing to do with the existence of gods.
So, don’t believe the hype. Don’t allow the meme to change what you are or what you believe.
If you haven’t seen my Mekhet custom bloodline, you can check out the Chessmen here.
As a response to both fallentyrant and trekhead ‘s sage wisdom, I’ve adjusted the "On the Board" mechanic thusly:
Devotion: On the Board
Requirements: Aspex 2, Dominate 2, Obfuscate 2
The Chessmen pepper their language with game metaphors such as “stalemate,” “behind the eight ball,” and “captured pieces,” The most common reference is “on the board.” While kindred scholars have written many opinions about what this phrase actually means, no-one is entirely certain.
In game terms, the Adashari may spend a Willpower Point to be considered "on the board" for the evening (the effect dies at dawn). The benefit of being on the board gives the Chessman "9 again" on any draws involving Allies and Contacts, reflecting the ease with which the Adashari manipulates his pawns.
However, the Adashari also suffers a penalty for being on the board. Putting himself directly into the Great Game, he puts himself tremendous risk as "10 agains" pulled against him are not limited to only two draws.
*EDIT*
An Adashari must decide if he is on the board before the game begins. He may not activate this Devotion during the game.
“I’m far less interested in what people believe than I am in why they believe it.”
I think my time in AZ has softened me a bit. Maybe made me a little less cynical, a little less… nah. Those are negative words and I’m about to talk about friends, so I should be as fair as I can.
I saw Gay Meme Thing this morning while I was answering calls at work. I didn’t really think twice about it. Someone asked me, “Do you believe in gay rights?” and I said, “Yes.” I believe in being open and honest about the things you believe in. I believe in wearing my heart on my sleeve. So, naturally, someone asks me if I believe in gay rights, I say yes.
And then, an hour or so later, I saw the response. Like I said, I didn’t really give it a second thought, but others saw the meme as an “us or them” thing. Divide and conquer. Looking back now, I can understand that point-of-view. That’s not how I saw it, but I understand how someone else might.
I don’t second-guess the originators of the meme. I assume they wrote it with the same intention I read into it. “Honk if you heart queers.” I heart everyone, so it wasn’t a big deal for me.
Now, I do know–for a fact–that people on my Friends List won’t post it because they don’t believe in the equal rights gays are looking for. While I respect and love my friends, I do not respect that opinion. I think it’s wrong and I have reasons for thinking it’s wrong. They have reasons for thinking it’s right. And we both have language to discuss our differences.
I guess what I’m saying is this. I respect the intent of asking people to say, “We think this is right.” At the same time, I understand why people saw the question as a divisive measure.
So, instead, I ask this. “Why don’t you believe in gay rights? Let’s sit down and talk about it. I might convince you otherwise and I’m open to the option that I might be wrong.”
An invitation to conversation, I think, is an approach I prefer.
Why is that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands?” -Ernest Gaines
We would like to know who really believes in gay rights on livejournal. There is no bribe of a miracle or anything like that. If you truly believe in gay rights, then repost this and title the post as “Gay Rights.” If you don’t believe in gay rights, then just ignore this. Thanks.
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.
Also, please read this.
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