Religious Conflict

Dear World,

This is possibly one of the things more wrong than anything else happening on your plains. I don't know the true origins of structed religion, and I'm sure few people ever will, but it has always led to one thing - conflict. It doesn't take a genius to see how much contradictions exist in this bickering as well. How can a religion preach tolerance and peace when it goes about picking fights all the time?

Why is it that people fight each other just because their perceptions of life outside this world are different? It seems they attempt to kill each other to send the other one to that world quicker, and for no apparent reason.

Religions may say that you should be of their religion as well, and all the world be a part of it for that matter, but you find me the law where it says that everyone must be converted to your religion. People should never attempt to convert another person to a religion they were not originally in. This is coming from my Christian perspective, I might add. But I don't encourage everyone to be a part of this religion, I say you follow your own path you were born into.

For me, religion simply acts as a way to both live your life in a certain perspective and understand the implications of the way you interact with the world. These wars that exist have their roots in ancient ideals, in times where religion ruled almost all decisions made by empires and leaders. These fights seem even more so pathetic in a world that thrives around political strctures. When a pastor from Florida decides to burn copies of the Koran in a revenge upon the Muslim faith, it contradicts pretty much every Christian doctrine written, especially the part about 'forgiving your enemies.' He must've skipped that part.

I know I tend to state the obvious, but sometimes can obvious can be a little laughable, can't it? What do you think?

Yours Sincerly,

Alex

Celebrity in the Media

Dear World,

Humanity usually stuggles to get its prorities right at any time, but never more so when it comes to recognising what makes the most important news in the world. Here's what I mean. There's plenty of research into developing cures for various diseases going on and several wars being fought as we speak. These will get some coverage in your news, but usually nowhere near as much as the latest Hollywood couple breaking up or an international supermodel spotted shopping down the local street. I want to know why this is, World. In what way does this impact directly on my life or my future? I watch the news to learn about events that are relevant to my life, relevant to the way the world functions or affirm the values of being human. Take, for instance, the recent rescue of the 33 miners in Chile, which captured the world's attention with its underlying values of hope, courage and inspiration. Although it didn't directly impact on my life, it captured these values of humanity and had the whole world hanging on every moment.

Now if Mel Gibson thinks its fun to insult the Jewish community, I couldn't care less. There are many others who take their hate to much more violent levels than him. Not only do these fools like Gibson think they are above everyone else, but they even think they are above religion. Some even think they are a religion in itself. Tom Cruise would tell you this.

Maybe it's because Gibson took on the English army and fought in Gallipoli that he thinks he gets a say in everything. I hate to tell him this, but those battles were in movies. You know, fake. Hollywood, the home of celebrity, thrives on being fake. A bunch of fakers that live in the same city and pose as the fake heroes of the universe, and worst of all, everyone buys in.

There are real heroes that exist somewhere in the world. You know, the ones that treated your cancer. The ones that are helping with aid efforts in Africa. Even the ones that taught your children this morning. No they don't make the news because they don't know how to be fake in a world where the reality is cast aside. These people are too 'real' for the media. We need our fake heroes to feel comfortable about ourselves and about the world. I pity for the future of the media sometimes, World. What do you think?

Yours Sincerly,

Alex

Astrology & Superstitions

Dear World,

There are so many things wrong with astrology I don't know where to begin. So apparently, I am to believe that the position of the planets and stars in relation to Earth has a direct influence on what will happen to me today? I'd like to dignify this statement with a scientific answer, but I'm pretty sure all stars do is be ridiculously hot and all planets do is collect dust and satellites. And even if they managed to have some pull on our own planet, how me in particular as opposed to that Scorpio guy standing two metres to my left?
To help you understand my biggest hate with astrology, lets take a maths lesson. There are roughly 7 billion people in the world. There are 12 signs of the zodiac. 7 billion divided by 12 is 583.3 million.
So when I open up the newspaper and read that Sagittarians are going to be in financial difficulty this week, apparently the other 583,299,299 others will be too. I'm sure that CEO in Sydney won't suffer too bad, and I'm sure that guy living in the heart of Baghdad is becoming more concerned about his superannuation than the war going on outside his window. For goodness sake, how does a birthdate control your future? Unless you're born on Febuary 29, in which case you can't enter a bar til you're 72. Enough of looking towards the sky, lets bring this nonsense down to sea level.
So... Putting an umbrella up in a house is bad luck. Walking under a ladder is bad luck. Black cats are bad luck. Right. Well not only is that racist towards black cats, it's just plain stupid. Again, I could try for a scientific approach to this. Maybe the black colour soaks up those evil rays Jupiter are spreading? I don't know. How DO you explain this?
Superstitions are terrible because people live by them so strongly, it discourages them from having any freedom in their lives. They might not take risks on a Tuesday because they believe it will kill them quicker or because their boyfriend will leave them - goodness knows why. I have no idea how people can live totally fulfilled lives when they live in fear of the smallest of mishaps.
I find it beyond funny, perhaps concerning, that people structure their lives around objects that they cannot even see. What do you think?

Yours Sincerly,
Alex