Hate

They gather together, groups of like-minded individuals, huddling in their communal dens of anger, hate, and decisive ignorance. When they speak, the inability to empathize is not there, instead the vitriol covers the fear. The bluster works, and entices their audiences, their facade repeated at them ten, a hundred, a thousand,a million fold. They see their lies accepted and encouraged, and so, they lie more; convincing themselves as they convince each other.

The stink of fear covered by a sleazier smell of the excited, the poor, the con-men, and the rapture of absolute faith, permeates their gatherings- alerting their brethren to the places of succor. Their long mental bondage to the obviously untrue has bent their thoughts to credulity. The seeds of doubt, fear, and intolerance- bred into us during times of famine, to ensure the protection of the familiar over the foreign- have been given empty words, the most conducive fertilizer. Warned to be obedient, craving to be led, they have fallen for a lie foisted upon them from without, fed by the laziness and ignorance of their forebears, and reinforced by rational, cognitive, reasoning- up to a point.

Their bonds make them stronger. They fake it, and seeing it convincingly faked on the faces, in the words, and from the deeds of their ilk, they are convinced of their own sincerity. The cycle continues, and they force their spawn into it, as they were forced, a tradition of hate, a ritual of intolerance, and a wholesale denial of objective reality. Nevermind those who leave.

Nevermind those who falter. Nevermind those who repent. They were weak. They were not the truly righteous. Each tells a story, in the popular tradition, of how- once- they too did not understand. Once, they too did not believe. Yet, the universe reveals itself, and here they stand, telling the story of how they too saw the light. It is inevitable, undeniable, and conclusively right to believe the same. Anyone who does not is suspect.

Anyone who does not is untrustworthy. Anyone who does not should be shown the light! No righteous person can deny the truth, when confronted with it! No righteous person would dare give false credence to the popular lie, the obvious hidden reality behind reality. Simply look, and it is obvious that the secret lies just behind the surface. Simply look, and it is obvious all of society secretly feels the same.

The facts support their cause. There is no other way of reasonably interpreting the information. Nevermind that the information cannot speak for itself. Pay no attention to the interpretation behind the curtain. They remind themselves of their righteousness, of their infallibility (except when perfection would be an affront). Everything reinforces, everything backs them up, everything points to the inevitability, to the futility of rebellion.

It is easier to believe. It is easier to conform. It's lonely to be alone. It's lonely to buck the trend. Their friends, their families, everyone they know believes. It is easier to accept than think. The outside is scary, cold, and hostile; and when it's not is when it's the most insidiously evil and threatening.

They huddle together, in their dens of ignorance. Each alone in their doubts, most incapable of voicing what angers them about the opposition. The lies, the facades, the fakery, it all weaves together, forming a comforting blanket of assurance. There's time enough tomorrow to think, but today it's too disheartening. Belief feels good, feels comfortable, and the opposition- the presumed oppression of their side- gives them strength of conviction.

They gather together, groups of like-minded individuals, huddling in their communal dens of anger, hate, and decisive ignorance. When they speak, the inability to empathize is not there, instead the vitriol covers the fear. The bluster works, and entices their audiences, their facade repeated at them ten, a hundred, a thousand,a million fold. They see their lies accepted and encouraged, and so, they lie more; convincing themselves as they convince each other. Read More...

I Did It

I Did It

I did it. It was me who did the deed. Those others, if they existed, who may or may not have helped me, were acting solely on my orders. Orders I enforced at the point of a weapon. Orders I demanded be carried out, or the death- by my own hand- of those who denied them, my orders. I did it.

Too many years have come and gone and seen death, destruction, poverty, ridicule, spite, hate, rape, murder, and a million things worse, all at the hands of their stupid ideals. Ideals that, though some claimed otherwise, never sought the raising up of all men. Ideals that never, though some argued contrarily, sought equality, nor peace. Ideals that imposed restriction above all else. Ideals that imposed hatred, that demanded murder and rape and a million things worse. I ended those ideals. I did it.

I have watched them all my life, and during that time I have had the extreme advantage of knowledge. Knowledge of earlier times, of other lives, where it could also be seen, and had been acknowledged; but nothing was ever done. I made a decision, I designed a plan, and I forced my design upon the face of the world. I killed the religious. I did it.

I plotted, I schemed, I thought, I considered, and I made sure they would all die- but I was merciful, and made sure their deaths would be swift. I will not discuss how I did it. It is not for me to reveal the secrets of how I did it, how I made it so effective, how I- alone- enforced my decision. These things will, eventually, be known, I am sure; but they will not be revealed by me. It is enough that I take full responsibility. I brain washed, I black mailed, I cajoled, I tempted, I begged, I pleaded, and I bribed. I did it.

There were seven billion of us. Now there may be only one of those seven left. I have preserved the histories, the buildings, the words, and I have even allowed those tainted anti-Ideals to survive; but none of those tainted people. Nature does not allow the stupid to survive and thrive, and neither did I. I feel that is why I succeeded so thoroughly in what I did. I did it. I did it. I did it.

I am a monster. This is what will be said, what has already been said, and what will continue to be said. I am a monster, evil and depraved. I will not deny it. I will say my intentions were good; but I do not defend myself, nor my actions. My actions trump my intentions, I have committed vast evil and do not deserve mercy. I acknowledge my responsibility. I acknowledge my horrible guilt. I acknowledge the heinous nature and depravity of my crime. I did it.

I will say, though, that I could have gone another route. No, I could not have let them continue. They had continued on for all of history, and it was time something was done. It was time that a bold and decisive action be made. I could have done something else, however, and deprived those one in seven of their right. Their right to judge me. Their right to sentence me. Their right to punish me. I have shown my inability to act in a civilized manner, though I did what I did out of extreme love for all my fellows. Though I acted to preserve the species, though I did what I thought best, and though there is no evidence that could be presented to point to my actions being anything other than right; I know I did a crime. I did it.

Feelings may be that I am worst of the worst. Ideas may confirm that I am the most horrible ever, and the most horrible possible. Intangibles may sign my death warrant. Facts, however, will not contradict me. Facts will prove my point. Though it was unspeakably vile, I did it in full knowledge of what I was doing, of why I was doing it, and that I was absolutely correct. Only emotion speaks to the contrary. I did it.

Look past emotion. Look past shock. Look past grief, anger, and everything else. Two unassailable facts do, and will always, remain. In one massive and fatal stroke, I freed all of humanity from the bondage of superstition, stupidity, and falsehood. I did it, I killed religion and that petty notion of gods. I did it.

I have no regrets. I could have killed myself, and been spared the humiliation, the torture, and the hate. I could have deprived the survivors of their justice, or made it where that justice could not assail me. Yet, I did not. I did not do those things, though I killed six of every seven and left only the one who was not victim of depraved hallucinations corrupted by some false self-righteous divine grandeur. I did it.

I did it. Me and only me. I am proud I did it, alone though I was.

I did it.

(c) 2008 Tom Hand Read More...

Story

I have decided to write a series of stories exclusively for my blog. The first one is below.


Story

A person does a thing. The person is interesting. The thing is interesting. There are other people involved.

The consequences of the thing are not totally foreseeable. Other people doing other things cause the outcome to vary. Conflicts from the consequences of all the things cause more things to be done. More people become involved, more unforeseen consequences result. Further conflict. It is all tragically/ horribly/ funnily/ excitingly interesting. The permutations are suspenseful. It all seems unjustly/justly random/premeditated.

Something is explained. Things make sense. Realization dawns and new options are revealed. New paths are chosen. Something happens.

A person does a thing.

(c) Tom Hand 2008 Read More...