It's Not a Pyramid, It's a Square Made of Triangles!

My vacation of sorts went pretty nicely, I think. It was lovely being in a setting with a whole lot of space to roam and enjoy nature.
However, the ambiance was interrupted one night by a message from someone with whom I have not spoken to since high school. We weren't really even acquaintances.

You see, I had received a message from this person earlier in the day asking if I wanted to join a "movement." I thought that it was rather odd, and I had read the message right when it was time for me to go back in to work from my break, so I hadn't responded.

Apparently that was upsetting to this person, and they decided to send me a long string of frownie-faces. I was quite put off by their, er, persistence so I decided to ask what the whole deal was about.

They refused to specify and asked simply for me to take 15 minutes to watch a video. Ok, not too bad just a video. Then they told me that they would call before the video (classic foot-in-the-door sales technique). They kept hyping this video and the company up--"it's amazing, life-changing!" Here's a link to the video: huh, it's been deleted...

This person is involved with a company called WorldVentures, an apparent multilevel marketing company (which, in this case, is a pyramid scheme masquerading as one). It promises the career of a lifetime: vacationing while making money. (They conveniently do not mention the numerous training fees and cult devotion among its members).

I find it interesting, really. The person who messaged me about this company happens to be a theist. Now this is not to say that all, or even most, theists are easily ensnared in schemes like these. However, I feel a similar mindset is at work in both theism and devotion to companies like these: ridiculous promises of a reward so long as you devote yourself wholly to the cause, self-blame when things do not go the way they were supposed to (I just need to have more faith/I just need to utilize more of my time for the company), and a heavy focus on recruiting others. You'd almost think that churches are in it for the money...

Dante Doesn't Approve, But God's Cool With It

Today was a very long day--however, I would like to share this post (by a theist) that I came across on The Book of Faces.




My first point: so you knew everything about your friend's mom's eating/outdoor habits? And your friend's father's as well?
My second point: research suggests that replacing saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats reduces one's risk of heart disease, among other health problems.
My final point: so gay marriage is a sin and transgender people are scary, but gluttony is just fine and dandy?

I see the overall point of the message--don't worry about what you do in life, because life is short. Just live. But some degree of self-discipline is necessary to live life to the fullest. I would rather eat what I know is a healthy diet for the most part and exercise than, well, not...because I don't want life to pass me by while I laze around and stuff my face. And I didn't need a god to tell me that. My own mind and thought process led me to this conclusion. Oh wait...

86 The Truth

All I have to say about tonight is: gotta love when people in positions of power lie and make changes that affect the "little people" in a detrimental fashion. It'll come back to haunt them, though.

God Is Love Is Jealousy Is You

The other day, I came across a post on The Book of Faces which read as follows:

"Okay I usually never do this... But this is something I am incredibly passionate about and I can't stand to see people spewing hate in the name of God. God LOVES, God IS LOVE! God calls us not to judge and to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Not everyone has to agree with each other, but we do need to respect and love on each other. So please, if you're going to talk about God or the Bible, talk about how He loves and forgives and longs to have a relationship with everyone of us. Hate doesn't help anything, but love, true agape love, can bring peace that surpasses all understanding."

I agree with the point about mutual respect. However, one cannot assert that god is love. The bible even says: 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

In the bible, god states that he is a jealous and angry god, a statement which flies directly in the face of the bible's definition of love. If god did exist, it seems he exhibits a very human and fallible trait known as cognitive dissonance.

Work It Out

I'm taking a bit of a break from the blog tonight so that I can work out after a long day at...work! I hope everyone has a pleasant evening!

A Rey of Understanding

Today, I worked morning to night. After work, I came across this article via Upworthy about Daisy Ridley's experience with a disease that affects many women: endometriosis. This disease is caused by abnormal growth of the uterine lining (basically, it grows in places where it is not supposed to). It can cause excessively painful periods, fatigue, and nausea, to name a few symptoms--symptoms which are often dismissed by doctors as being "normal parts of life." Thank you Daisy for opening up about this struggle!

Gonna Veg

Today, I did a whole lot of stuff. And just now for dinner, I made this!

You might be surprised to learn that everything on this plate is vegetarian! For the "chicken," I cooked up some Gardein plant protein chicken strips.

I'm not a strict vegetarian. I will eat meat if it's certified humanely raised/organic/grass fed/wild caught. The way factory farms treat animals is horrid and inhumane.

However, I take issue with vegetarians who say it's "wrong to kill animals." Wild animals are free to do as they wish, but there is always the risk of being killed by another animal. It is simply the nature of things. That's just my thought for the day.