For now I find the Phantom of the Opera is there, inside my mind...

I figured I'd mention the magnificent display of music and theatre I witnessed last night, The Phantom of the Opera. *cough* fourth row *cough* Oh yea, here's something you can think about. How many dudes do you know that want to see musical theatre, then pay 55 dollars a piece for tickets, then drive two and a half hours to witness the event? Yea, aside from the gay couple sitting down from us it seems we were the only dudes there without dates.

Those Crazy Christian Radicals, What Will They Do Next?

I was browsing the web trying to "figure myself out," (no it has nothing to do with my sexuality... nice try to anyone who wants to take a stab) when I stumbled across a delightful article with a list of quotes from christian extremists. Many of the quotes were needless to say, fucked up, but two of the quotes by a man named Randall Terry stuck out the most.

"I want you to just let a wave of intolerance wash over you. I want you to let a wave of hatred wash over you. Yes, hate is good... Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a biblical duty, we are called on by God to conquer this country. We don't want equal time. We don't want pluralism."

"When I, or people like me, are running the country, you'd better flee, because we will find you, we will try you, and we'll execute you. I mean every word of it. I will make it part of my mission to see to it that they are tried and executed."

So I goog (whoa, what am I thinking)- so I opened up a search engine and found an interview of Terry about his son coming out. If you're not interested in reading its entirity direct yourself to the last three questions, you'll discover how loving and understanding he is.

Oh yea I almost forgot, he's running for Florida State Senate... Super.

Tensions Rising.

Here's a picture of a few characters depicted in the show South Park, characters who are religous gods or prophets from different beliefs, who congragate to form a Justice League like group to fight "evil." Within that synopsis lies a more interesting aspect: one of the characters is none other than the prophet Muhammed. Hopefully you all know this is the same person that was depicted in 12 caricatures by a Danish newspaper, which resulted in a large violent outburst from the muslim community.

I remembered this episode after watching a brilliant episode they first aired yestarday, and it raised a few questions. When this older episode aired (I would say about five years ago since I believe it was season 5 and its now in its tenth season... damn I'm a loser) the world didn't feel any storms of anger from the Muslim community, not even a breeze. So why this time? I don't believe a statement saying, "Muslims in the U.S. are generally more peaceful" holds its water because I know for a fact South Park is aired all over the world. So I ask again, why this time? Have Muslims become so threatened by the non-Islamic world that violent behavior is just waiting to be released?

I might further dwell on the topic so an addition may be in the future, especially since we're discussing the modern use of Jihad in one of my classes at school.