Nobilis- All Bull

Hoo was this fun! Some guy named Nobilis posted a comment on my podcast page. He complained about the content of the show.

What. The. Fuck.

Could you IMAGINE taking the time out to complain about the CONTENT of some assholes PODCAST?

And here’s the best part- He complained that I bitched to much about Religious Ritual. Me? Talk about religion? In a negative way? WHAAAA?

WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU LISTEN TO MY PODCAST TO BEGIN WITH?

I think by exposing yourself to about nineteen seconds of the Geologic Universe, a few things become instantly apparent- among which are MY VIEWS ON RELIGION. If you make it to podcast number SIX there is NO REASON you shouldn’t know what going on.

Anyway- First is his comment. Followed by mine.

Like I said- FUN.

* * * * * * * *

George, why do you think people listen to your podcast?

It's for the entertainment.

Devoting three quarters of your podcast to a very long rant about religion is not entertaining. After ten minutes I started skipping ahead. Ten minutes is plenty. When I hit the twenty minute mark I stopped it.

I'm very frustrated. I don't mind your religion rants, they're usually right on the mark... but this one went way, way overboard.

Here's why:

I have a shelf in my house, covered with foil (for safety) where I burn candles. I like candles. To me, they symbolize peace, enlightenment, and the transitory nature of life and its problems. TO ME. Not to any God or gods, not to any mystical force... to me.

Stay with me.

Would you agree that peace and enlightenment are good things? Would you agree that life and its problems are indeed transitory? Burning candles helps me to keep those things in mind. They are a tool I use for engineering my own consciousness.

Burning candles is a ritual. People use ritual to change the way they think and feel about things. Basically, it's a non-chemical drug.

Do you drink coffee or beer? Do you exercise? Do you have sex? Chances are good that you do at least some of these things.

Do you do any of these things because of the way they make you feel, because of the effects they has on your brain? Doing any of these things is NO different than performing a ritual. To claim some kind of superiority over people who perform rituals is an act of hypocrisy, if you indulge in any sort of mind-altering behavior.

Heck, from the right point of view, MUSIC is the same way! Have you ever listened to music in order to change the way you think or feel? That's NO different than using ritual.

Some people don't understand ritual. They do them because of social pressure, or fear of God, or because they believe some magical effect will happen as a result. THOSE things are pretty silly when you come right down to it. Hell, doing ANYTHING because of social pressure or fear of God or magical effects is pretty silly.

But one of the things you derided in this podcast is not the motivations for ritual, but the act of ritual itself.

Now I realize that you probably acted out of ignorance. It appears, from what I heard, that you conflated the ritual (not silly) with some of the common motivations for ritual (silly). This is a common mistake among atheists and agnostics and I don't blame you for it. Happens all the time.

I hope that you read this post and understand it. I'm not asking you to perform rituals. I'm not asking you to stop poking fun at some of the weird ways that people use rituals. I'm just asking that you do so from a perspective that includes an understanding of what ritual is, at its core.

If you're interested in having a conversation about this topic, I'm willing.

posted by: Nobilis

Oooh. Fun.

Hey Nobilis- Why do you think people create podcasts?

To talk about WHATEVER THE FUCK THEY WANT TO.

Now I realize that you’re forced BY LAW to listen to my podcast- and I’m sorry that can’t use the FAST FORWARD control (that you mentioned in your post) to skip over the shit you don’t like and I realize that you’re only posting to complain about the content of this COMPLETELY FREE ENTERTAINMENT I provide because of the new internet laws FORCING you to... so I’ll cut you some slack.

I’m not talking about RITUALS. I’m talking about the MEANING IMBUED INTO rituals. Hey- if you want to light candles, or count ceiling tiles, or chew soda bottles or WHATEVER- BE MY GUEST. I think it’s INCREDIBLY hypocritical however- (and the MEANING behind my ¾ podcast length rant is THIS) to think that

A: These rituals effect ANYTHING REAL,

or

B: If you DON’T perform these rituals you’ll be punished by some invisible force of the universe, or something other BAD might happen,

or

C: YOUR rituals make more SENSE than someone else’s rituals.


Do you realize that before I figured out the sham-nature of ALL RELIGIOUS THOUGHT I used to be TERRIFIED that I’d burn in hell if I didn’t cross myself at the appropriate time? Is that a good effect of ritual?

You yourself described what I’m talking about:

Some people don't understand ritual. They do them because of social pressure, or fear of God, or because they believe some magical effect will happen as a result. THOSE things are pretty silly when you come right down to it. Hell, doing ANYTHING because of social pressure or fear of God or magical effects is pretty silly.

Bingo. You go on to say-

But one of the things you derided in this podcast is not the motivations for ritual, but the act of ritual itself.

Uhh.. what’s the difference? I was talking about THESE SPECIFIC RITUALS that ARE RIDICULOUS. When I listen to music, or exercise, or have sex it is absolutely NOT the same as a ritual. I place no RELIGIOUS / SPIRITUAL / UNIVERSAL / SUPERNATURAL meaning into those activities. I do them because my brain / body likes the way it feels. I like to sit in front of the TV with a pillow on my right and a bottle of Cherry Zero on my left. I do this almost every night. If I DON’T do this- I WILL BE ALRIGHT AND WILL NOT SUFFER ANY CONSEQUENCES.

YOU HOWEVER- If you don’t type a long-ass post onto my comment page because you didn’t like my podcast, you probably worry that you’ll lose your geek license, and that Michael and Evo won’t be with you at the re-newel ceremony when you fly off at Carousel.

You wanna call me ignorant and superior- that’s FINE. But which one of us has decided to take the time and EXPLAIN through a semi-anonymous FORUM how what the OTHER THINKS and SAYS is WRONG and NOT ENTERTAINING. Would that be me- or YOU?

So hey- if you don’t find what I’m doing entertaining- TURN THE SHIT OFF. I hate to be the one to break this to you BUT I’M NOT DOING THIS FOR YOU.

Why don’t you take some of the foil off the shelf and… oh never mind.