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

I am of the belief that, if you do horrible things, or knowingly allow horrible things to occur when it is in your power to stop them, you should be held accountable, no matter who you are. That's why I believe that every Catholic priest who molested children should be in jail. That's also why I believe that the Pope should be in jail. That's also why I believe that, seemingly, half the Vatican should be in jail.

If your priest touches your child, he should go to jail, or into a body bag and I'd probably opt for the latter. But the Catholics just let that shit happen. They trust in their precious popes, and bishops, and sexless nuns, their Bill Donohues, and their personal priests. They trust that those people of "authority" have the best moral judgement, I guess because they know god so well. I'm flabbergasted by the naivety of it all.

Hey Catholics, you know who generally makes good moral judgements? The fucking police. Maybe call them next time.

I'm glad that someone is finally trying to hold these sex offenders accountable, but the fact that it took 11,750 cases of sexual abuse, 11,750+ lives ruined, all in the hopes of keeping the Catholic church from looking bad, is heartbreaking to say the least.

And let's not fail to notice how G.W. Bush stepped in to save the pope from accountability last time. To me, that makes George W. Bush an aider and abettor of child molesters. Which is just as bad as being a child molester. So rationally, George W. Bush is a child molester.

Here are a couple of gems from LOL god.




Addendum:
Leah has launched her new baby fashion blog, Lennon Closet, and it is adorable. Go check it out to see the best dressed babies and whatnot.

It's already Friday.

I generally don't think that I am a person with a lot of pet peeves, but today, I discovered one capable of bringing about an immediate and fiery response. While in a political discussion (which I generally try to avoid, being the only Socialist in the office), one of my coworkers said "Ah, you're never going to change."

Seems simple enough, right? He said this because I made a statement about how I would never vote Republican (again). I've had a two friends say this about me before as well, and it always gets under my skin. While I would normally think that maybe this is a good indication to look at one's self and wonder if, perhaps, they're right about you, I'm just calling bullshit.

First off, what they really mean is "You should agree with me, and I'm unable to convince you to." Your inability to make a concrete case for your position actually says nothing about my inability to change mine. I think it's an even more ridiculous thing to say about me when I think about how much changing I've done over the years and how many people I know that I've never known to change their position on anything.
2000- I was a fundamentalist Christian. I thought it was wrong to intermarry races. I thought homosexuality was a choice and a sin. I thought George W. Bush would be a great president. I thought evolution was a lie. I was convinced that Michael Jackson was a pedophile. Militantly pro-life.
2003- I became a liberal Christian. Realized how ridiculous racism is. Began to understand homosexuality. Thought George Bush mishandled war. Realized there is probably no scientific conspiracy regarding origins of life. Remained convinced of Michael Jackson's guilt. Still pro-life, but not militant.
2009- Realized I could not find a good reason to consider myself Christian at all. Joined Socialist Party. Proponent of equal marriage rights. Evolutionist. Think's Michael Jackson was probably innocent. Not a fan of abortion, but pro-choice.

Those all seem like pretty big changes to me. So when I say I'm never voting Republican again, it's because I have before. If I don't switch to your side, it doesn't mean I'm stubborn, it just means I don't agree with you. I'm very capable of change and before you accuse me of being hard headed, perhaps you should wonder if your case is as solid as you think it is.

Anyway, that's annoying.

Side note: I think it's weird that more Christians aren't Socialists.

We found a magnet in the parking lot at work that says "MANWHORE." Now we just have to decide who's car it's unexpectedly going on

I get awkward in front of a camera.

This is, I know, an unfortunate characteristic for someone married to a photographer to have. The truth is that, over the years, I've gotten much better and much more comfortable in front of her lens. That being said, I am still painfully awkward in front of a video camera. It takes me a long time to feel comfortable in my skin when that little red light is on. Making these small mini "documentaries" (for lack of a better word) is challenging to me, because I know when I'm being awkward, and if I'm talking about our music, I feel like I'm sounding pretentious and self absorbed, as well. All that to say, whatever gene people have that enables them to turn on their charm when the camera's on them...I do not possess.

So, next week, we're scheduled to release the mini-doc for "Hold My Head Above The Water," and fittingly, we thought it would a great idea to include Leah in the video, since she's the star of that show. So yesterday, Justin, our friend and director, came over to get an interview with Leah and I. I didn't perceive it when we were filming, but Leah later convinced me that I was not myself, and came off as somewhat cold towards her. That really bothered me all night. So today I asked Justin to come back out and refilm the interview, and he agreed to. Leah said we didn't need to do that, but I told her to be a good biblical wife and submit to my will.

She'll call me out for repeating this, but I thought it was a good line. I also told her, and I meant it, that "I would sooner have people think that I'm a Nazi sympathizer, creationist, Lady Gaga enthusiast, than think that I don't completely adore you."

I'm also looking forward to reshooting it because it provides us an opportunity to pay homage to my favorite celebrity power couple.

Separate...and far from equal.

Yesterday, I talked a little bit about how I would feel if my child were bullied or was a bully. Today, I'd like to talk about what I'd do if my child was gay, wanted to take her same sex partner to prom, the school cancelled the prom because of it, the media got wind of the story, the school realized how bad they looked and decided not to cancel the prom and told her she could bring her date, and then organized a special prom for her and 5 other rejects while inviting every other student to the real prom, successfully managing to keep it a secret from her.

Yeah....That really happened.

Now, I don't know this girl, so it may be that she is a total asshole and even the people who realized it was an awful thing to do still didn't want her around. But I really doubt that that's the case. So how is it that not one single person, not one student, not one teacher, not one parent, stood up and said, "Hey, this is the biggest dick move ever?" No one. What an awful place that must be to live in.

I'm not someone who thinks that people should run and get a lawyer over every little thing, but if that were my kid, I'd sue the shit out of that school. And then I'd move. They'd be eating beans and gruel for lunch everyday after I got done with them. Someone needs to make an example out of these people.

Do you think Jehovah has a nickname for Yeshua?

Today on the radio, they were talking about the shocking levels of teen suicides that are the direct result of bullying. It broke my heart, and it got me thinking about the ways that I was bullied, but more importantly, it got me thinking about how I would react if Harper was bullied. A lot of parents, I think, tend to have a "that's just what kids do" mentality. To them, I would like to say, "Wake the fuck up! That shit is serious." I think the only thing that would break my heart more than someone bullying my child, would be if my child were the one doing the bullying. I have no idea how I would react if I found out that Harper was bullying someone, but I'm sure that it's a version of her father that she would not like to see.

But let this stand as a formal warning: If anyone ever bullies my child, I am going to hurt you.

Anyway, looking forward to a relaxing evening with the family and a new episode of Lost. I'm enjoying this new season, but I'm not a guy that sits around and formulates theories about what's happening. I just trust that, by the end of it, I'll know what the hell is going on, more or less.

We had practice last night and spent almost all of our time working on "Preaching to the Choir Invisible, Part I." I'm really excited about what we've come up with. We had been starting the song with just me singing over a strummed electric guitar, but I really hated it. It reminded me of Travis. And I love Travis, but I hate when they do that, like in that song "Paperclips." Now it's driven by bass and Fender Rhodes, and I like it a lot. Anyway, who cares?

We went to the park yesterday, like almost every other day.

I am constantly reminded of why I love my wife.

Here is the truth:
Ninja Gaiden 1, for Xbox, is way harder than Ninja Gaiden 2, for Xbox 360.

We went to Tyler this weekend to see our buddy, Ryan, get married. It was a nice time, but I really hate that drive. Leah was in the bridal party so her weekend was a lot more involved than mine. I mostly just hung out with my parents and Harper except for the rehearsal dinner and wedding.

The wedding was nice and the weather turned out perfect. Ryan cried like a bitch when Tori came down the aisle, and he got good laughs when it was time to read his vows and he said "I'll try and keep this short," and then pulled out a scroll which unrolled to be a few yards of paper. He also sang "Sweet Caroline" but I wasn't in the room to hear it. I was outside with the guys, decorating his car. The only problem is that no one would write anything awesome, funny, and obscene on it. I didn't feel it was my place to, really, since I wasn't a groomsman or anything and they all seemed pretty sure that Tori wouldn't be pleased. So it was my beautiful bride who came out and manned up. She wrote/drew some pretty amazing things, the least of which not being some stick figures having sex and saying "do my butt!" Everyone started saying how funny it was that a girl was the only one with the balls to do it, so I got to make the observation that yeah, she has my balls, so that's why she's awesome enough to do it.

Anyway, I'm happy for Ryan and wish them all the best.

My Apocalypse

In keeping with my post yesterday, I wanted to post some more lyrics. These are new and I'm not really sure what I think of them yet. So I'm going to open it up to you guys. Tell me what you think. This next record is going to be fucking dark!

My Apocalypse
Claustrophobic
Crawl out of this skin
Hard explosive
Reaching for that pin

Feel thy name extermination
Desecrating, hail of fire

So we cross that line
Into the crypt
Total eclipse
Suffer unto my apocalypse!

Deadly vision
Prophecy revealed
Death magnetic
Pulling closer still

Feel thy name annihilation
Desolating, hail of fire

So we cross that line
Into the crypt
Total eclipse
Suffer unto my apocalypse!

My apocalypse? Go!

Crushing metal, ripping skin
Tossing body mannequin
Spilling blood, bleeding gas

Mangle flesh, snapping spine
Dripping bloody valentine
Shattered face, spitting glass

Split apart
Split apart
Split apart
Split
Spit it out!

What makes me drift a litter bit closer
Dead man takes the steering wheel
What makes me know it's time to cross over
Words you repeat until I feel

See through the skin the bones they all rattle
Future and past they disagree
Flesh falls away the bones they all shatter
I start to see the end in me
See the end in me?

Claustrophobic
Climb out of this skin
Hard explosive
Waiting for that pin

Violate, annihilate
A loser to my eyes
Obliterate, exterminate
At last accept, deny

Feel thy name as hell awakens
Destiny, inhale the fire

But we cross that line
Into the crypt
Total eclipse
Suffer unto my apocalypse!

Tyrants awaken my apocalypse!
Demon awaken my apocalypse!
Heaven awaken my apocalypse!
Suffer forever my apocalypse!