Ending School Shootings? Let’s Start With Tolerance

Tags

1970s, Asperger's Syndrome, Autism, books, bullying, fantasies, guns, He Was Weird, religion, stereotypes

From my very first post on Peaceful Rampage, I stated that whenever I heard about a school shooting, my first reaction was, “This could have been me.” The reason why it was never me was down to having no access to guns. Even if I had access, I still wouldn’t have shot up my school because back when I was going through the bullying hell, it was the early 1970s and school shootings were events which occurred in large inner city school as was very often gang related. Therefore, the thought of going into my school with a gun and shooting everyone in cold blood never entered my mind.

Thinking back, while I might not have thought about my school, I did used to fantasize that I was a junior police officer and had my own gun. In those fantasies, I would save the city from robberies and such where I would shoot the bad guys but those fantasies also included shooting some of the bullies when they were aggressive towards me because I was acting in self defense. So, that means the potential for me to carry out a school shooting was there, just thank God I had no guns.

Everyone has reasons why school shootings happen. Some of these are quite plausible while others are not. Access to guns is a definite contributor to why shootings happen. You can’t shoot anyone if you don’t have a gun. Bullying is another but that depends on the mind of the shooter and their idea of how bad the bullying was. Mental illness can definitely play a part. If a person has mental issues, then that person can be much more easily pushed over the edge and snap. These can all play a part as to why shootings occur. Another argument is religion being taken out of schools. That children today have no spiritual compass and if the ten commandments were hanging in every classroom, then children would be less likely to shoot up their school. Now, I am not knocking religion, I have my own beliefs there and many people have changed their lives and find great comfort and joy in finding God. But forcing it on people is more likely to have the opposite effect. In “He Was Weird,” Mark believes God is behind his school shooting from verses in the Bible in Deuteronomy, where God is commanding the Israelites to wipe the Canaanites off the face of the Earth. One could argue that the Bible drove him to kill. It didn’t but it did give him courage. However, I don’t think the music of Marilyn Manson drove anyone to kill.

Marilyn Manson- He didn’t inspire Mark in He Was Weird

I think the main contributor to school shootings is the setting of the school. The ones where the ‘weird’ kid is outcast, bullied and made to feel they don’t belong anywhere. Students and at times teachers treat such a person in a way they feel bad about themselves. In short, no one tolerates a ‘weirdo.’ What they fail to understand is that the kid might have mental problems. Like Mark, he might have Asperger’s Syndrome or DAMP or some other mental affliction. Bullying or mercilessly teasing that person or doing anything along those lines isn’t the way to go about it. People are different and because they don’t conform to your idea of what is “normal,” it doesn’t mean you exclude them or bully them or anything else. Because if that person has access to guns and snaps, well, we know what the end result of that is. Fortunately, I didn’t.

To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1520281520&sr=1-1&keywords=he+was+weird

 

 

 

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DAMP And Death

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anxiety, Asperger's Syndrome, Autism, books, D.A.M.P., death, He Was Weird, Jesus Christ, Mothers, religion

Going to my mother in law’s funeral last week has led to much contemplation on my part, especially at the viewing the day before it. For most people, seeing their loved one’s body, no matter how nicely it’s laid out, will be an upsetting experience. My wife, youngest stepdaughter and youngest stepson were all visibly very upset at seeing their mother/grandmother laid out, knowing that she is no longer with us. My stepson had to leave the room and I went out to keep him company. However, he did go back into the room a few minutes later. So, I can see how upsetting the whole affair surrounding death can be.

I didn’t feel upset at the viewing. Now, I’m not some sort of heart of stone person but looking at her body, which looked very much at peace, I didn’t feel the need to be outwardly sad. While I loved my mother in law, especially her barmy sense of humour and I did feel some sadness, all I saw was someone who was now at peace. She did suffer for the past few months of her life and her rapid deterioration, brought on by dementia, was agonizing for all to see. Now that she’s gone, that pain and suffering is over and now she is at peace. That was what was going through my mind the entire time I was in the room viewing her body. Also, I would like to think for my own well being that she has gone onto a better place.

Thinking back to the other two times, I’ve been to a viewing, I realize that I felt the same way. Though I can’t say much about my cousin’s viewing as I was only sixteen at the time, I know for a fact I felt the exact same way when my grandfather passed away in 1983. While many people in the church were shedding tears, I saw that my grandfather was now at peace. Am I being strange to think like this?

The thing about DAMP is that people who have the condition do see things from a different perspective. I wonder if this is what I’m doing. That instead of seeing the fact that a loved one is no longer with us, I am seeing them at peace and believing that their spirit has now gone to a better place. There is part of me who thinks that by doing this, I am somehow disrespecting the memory of the deceased but most of my mind rejects this thought. I don’t really think I’m having evil thoughts by feeling this way. If anything, I’m just trying to see the good in it all.

For the most part, this part of my DAMP or Asperger’s Syndrome may be considered a blessing and I’d like to thing it is. However, there is another aspect of those conditions I have where in this case it’s a curse. Most of the time, my ability to recall and retain obscure facts is beneficial but not here. I don’t really like the fact that I’ve noticed that within the last two years that my mother in law and ex mother in law have passed away. I’d rather not have known that.

Maybe this is why that when I wrote “He Was Weird,” I made Mark’s body appear to be so at peace at his funeral. People in attendance saw a peaceful young boy and found it hard to believe that he had carried out such an atrocity. Actually, I had no debate in my mind as to whether or not to portray it any other way.

In closing, I would like to just say: Rest in peace Josephine Camps and Rest in peace Ann Williams

To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1516823247&sr=1-1&keywords=he+was+weird

Song Lyric Quotes: A New Change for the New Year

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Asperger's Syndrome, Autism, Bible, Bill and Ted, christianity, films, holidays, music, religion

First, let me wish all of you a Happy New Year for 2018! Now, I am going to tell everyone about a new change to Peaceful Rampage for the new year which will continue on indefinitely. I’ll be posting more but with a difference. I’ll still make a weekly posts about things on my mind, experiences from my past which relate and I’ll continue to highlight injustices against victims of bullying. However, in between those posts, there will be shorter, very short posts where I’ll be quoting song lyrics that have been chiseled into my mind or have relevant meaning at a particular time.

Ever since I can remember, even through my most dedicated religious periods, song lyrics have stamped their presence in my mind. When there is stress going through my mind, it’s a line from a particular song that comes to mind to combat the stress. When there is a point to be made, I can usually find an appropriate lyric to help me make it. It has come to the point now that there are so many lyrics dancing around in my mind, I feel the need to share them with the world. Who knows, there may be a time when a particular lyric might be beneficial to you.

My Asperger’s affected mind now has visions of religious zealots being horrified at the thought of my mind being influenced by musical lyrics. They’ll say that Satan has corrupted me through evil rock music. I say that’s all a lot of bo**oks! During my religious periods, I did sometimes have Bible verses and later Book of Mormon verses and sometimes they helped. However, in accordance with my view on all religions, they didn’t solve the problem. On the other hand, I know that song lyrics won’t solve any problems but they can be just as uplifting and stress easing as any religious verse. Also, I must point out that no song lyric has ever encouraged me to sacrifice a goat, commit mass murder or hate America. That too is something the religious people got wrong.

Susan Boyle- one person with Asperger’s who has definitely benefited by song.

That’s enough of me prattling on. I thought I start this new addition with some lyrics quoted very well in the movie “Bill And Ted’s Bogus Journey.” This is when they came before God and had to quote the meaning of life.

Bill, Ted and Death stand before God

“Every rose has its thorn

Just like every nighttime has its dawn

Just like every cowboy sings a sad, sad song”

Happy New Year!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christians Hated Us Too!

Tags

christianity, hate, intolerance, Marine Corps, Military, Mothers, rednecks, religion

With my mind still racing from my last post on how America considered its military between the years 1973-89 a joke and the fact that I don’t like to write posts over 1,000 words if I can help it, I decided to continue my peaceful rampage on the subject. Rednecks weren’t the only ones who looked down on those serving in the armed forces between those years. So-called Christians were just as bad towards us. While unlike rednecks, they didn’t call us a joke, they did consider military personnel to be all a bunch of Godless heathens. Some even went as far as that the military should be a mission field in order to save their Godless souls.

When I declared that I wanted to enlist in the Marines when I was in high school, there was some rumblings in my local church about my desire to do so. A lot of the rumblings were started by my mother who thought I would be wasting my life by giving four years of it to my country added on by a documentary she watched in 1978, the year before I joined, which said that the Marine Corps was full of convicted murderers. I can safely say that during my four years of service, I never met anyone I would consider a murderer.

Apparently, there was going to be someone at my church who was going to talk to me about going into the military. I know it wasn’t the pastor because he was a former Navy corpsman who served with the marines. Regardless, that talk never happened and I enlisted. The real funny thing about that was that most of the older adults in the church were complimentary of me going in and all of them wished me good luck. It was my peers who thought I was crazy for taking four years out of my life and giving it to my country. They seemed to be more convinced that all of the ‘heathens’ who made up the US military were going to turn me from the Lord.

Thinking back, I have to give Linwood Community Church credit where it was due. They did seem to be the most supportive of me while I was serving. Even when I was home on leave for two weeks and didn’t shave the entire time, none of them made any comments about it. They all seemed to understand that I was just taking a break from military life and would go back to being a marine when that leave was up. However, I know of other churches that weren’t so supportive. I did go with a friend to another church in uniform and while I didn’t want any special fuss made about me, I was ignored and even looked upon with some sort of disdain by some of the so-called strong Christians in that church. A lot of Christian churches weren’t as welcoming to serving persons.

Ah, another amusing note from my past. I worked at a Christian summer camp during the three summers in my high school years. At a winter reunion after my final summer there, I announced to all my Christian colleagues that I had enlisted. When it was time to say the closing prayer, the camp leader prayed for the Lord to watch over me while I was in the Marines and that even there, I become a witness for Christ.

After my service was up, that church was still supportive of me, now a veteran. Though there were still some in the church who thought the military was evil. It was that other church I mentioned who seemed to be more patronizing towards me. Because of the fact that I did backslide while I was in, it was concrete proof for them that the military was evil. If I’m honest, a lot of so-called Christians did view armed forces personnel with disdain. They were evil and needed to be saved and that was their excuse for treating military persons like crap.

These days, I get comments from current and recently served military persons who say that their churches have been really supportive of them. One went as far as to apologize for me having such a bad experience with Christianity. I informed him that it was Christianity I had the problem with, just a lot of those who professed to be Christians. I am glad to hear that these days, Christians are supporting and not condemning those who serve their country. Maybe they have repented of their actions in the years between 1973-89.

To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1510776111&sr=1-1&keywords=he+was+weird

Things That Prove My Insanity- Creation v Evolution

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Asperger's Syndrome, Autism, Bible, christianity, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, films, Jesus Christ, Mormons, religion, solar system

Edge of Space

Let’s begin with one that has been swirling around in my mind for many years, my thoughts on the origin of our world. True, I was brought up in a Christian household and attended Sunday School nearly every Sunday as a child and went to church on most Sundays as well. Therefore, I have been taught all about how God created the Earth, sun and moon and everything else. However, I did receive a good education and attended college and therefore have heard non religious theories about how our world was formed and evolved. Having absorbed all of this information and processed it around my strange but wonderful mind, I am now ready to put forward my own theory. We’ll call it Mike’s Theory.

First of all, evolutionists and some creationists as well have the wrong view of how God might have created the world. They think of God as some sort of cowboy builder going around the space with a big cigar in his mouth, okay I’m kidding about the cigar, and saying, “Ooh, I think we’ll put a planet here and maybe if we hook it up with that star over there, we can get light for it” I could go on but I won’t. Here’s the thing people on both sides of the argument forget. If God created everything, he also created the laws of science and would have used those laws in forming our world. Therefore, he would have sent heavenly bodies flying across the solar system and crashing into each other. The moon could very well have been formed by a smaller body crashing into our Earth and then breaking off with the bit which would become our moon stuck in Earth’s gravitational pull. In any case, would have been much easier for God to use these scientific laws as opposed to creating a world out of nothing. After all the resources required would have already been there for him.

God the cowboy builder and I suppose that’s his companion Jesus behind him.

Of all the religious theories about creation I have heard, my best conclusions came during my decade in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, also called the Mormons. They don’t believe that the world was created out of nothing either. In fact, their belief says that matter was already floating around in space where God would have wanted to make a world so he just went there and organised the matter into something. Again, he would have used the laws of science to help him in organizing his world.

Now comes the length of time it took for our world to form. I don’t think the world was made in six 24 hour long days. While, I’m not trying to convert anyone to Mormonism here, I do think their interpretation of day works for me. There are several definitions of the word day. First, there’s the 24 hour period we all know. Then the Bible says a day is like 1000 years but the meaning of day I use here is the unspecified amount of time. Right now, we are living in the day of technology. Can anyone say when that day began or when it will end? I can’t. So, each of those six ‘days’ where God created the world were unspecified times. Any of those days could have lasted millions of years for all we know. It would have taken time for the Earth to heat and cool and then for oceans to form and then plants, animals and finally humans. The length of time of each of those days is not known to us.

Now onto humans. Even the Bible says that animals were around before humans. Again, animals could have been around for millions of years and many species, including the dinosaurs, would have come and gone. Eventually ape type creatures would have also appeared and they being the closest relatives to man, would have been the springboard to which man was created. There could have been Neanderthals and Crow Magnon people before modern humans were on the Earth and even co existed with them. We don’t know and while religious literature gives us no indication of this, it is wrong to discount that they were never there.

So I guess I am a creationist however, I believe that biblical and other religious accounts of how our world came to be aren’t complete. Maybe the ancient writers thought we wouldn’t understand all the science or more probably, didn’t understand it themselves. Whether or not you believe in God creating the world or evolution, you have to admit, whoever did it did an amazing job. It’s just a damn shame that humans seem intent on messing it up.

If you think I’m weird for my theories, then you should read He Was Weird, here’s the link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504541929&sr=1-1&keywords=he+was+weird

 

 

 

 

Things That Prove My Insanity- Introduction

Tags

Asperger's Syndrome, Autism, D.A.M.P., opinionated man, Politics, religion, sports

The only truly logical person I know.

During the half century plus six years, I have been alive, many thoughts have come and gone in my mind. This is a trait with many people with Asperger’s Syndrome and DAMP, two things I believe I have but have never been formally diagnosed with. You can believe that many a topic from sports to politics to religion have danced around my brain daring me to make some sort of sense of it all in my mind. I have come to my own conclusions on many of these topics while others are still providing lots of questions inside my brain. Therefore, what I am going to do now is to share my thoughts on many things here on Peaceful Rampage.

I’ve never been very vocal about my thoughts, mainly because out of fear that they won’t match others. See, one issue I have spent a lifetime grappling with is my belief that if someone has a different view than me, then mine must be wrong. I wrote a post about this many moons ago called, “I’m Always Wrong,” if you would like to read this. These days, I have come to the understanding that my beliefs might not agree with others and in many cases I am probably in the minority. After all, I was only one of 2% of Americans who voted for Jill Stein for president last year. So, I know that what I am going to post over the next few posts may not agree with the norm, I am going to do so anyway because the objective here is to point out things that prove my insanity. Some of my beliefs and theories may seem outlandish to some.

Green Party Candidate Jill Stein

I hope that you will come along for the ride. You may find what you read amusing and even enlightening but you will also get an insight into the workings of my weird and wonderful brain. Anyone who doesn’t agree with any of the points I make, they are free to tell me they disagree here. I am open minded although unlike me of the past, I won’t automatically change my thoughts to your way of thinking. The only thing I ask of everyone is that if any debate should develop, people express their opinions in a civilized manner and not resort to hurling insults at one another.

One last point, my other fear is that I am straying away from the original objective of this blog, to sell my book “He Was Weird.” It is my bizarre hope that once people are introduced to my insane mind, they will see what motivated me to write the book and hopefully but it.

To buy He Was Weird, go to: https://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1504034377&sr=1-1&keywords=he+was+weird

Further Influences of Jello Biafra on He Was Weird

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books, bullying, christianity, Columbine, computer games, films, He Was Weird, Jello Biafra, Politics, religion, school shootings, schools, teasing

It would be a complete lie if I didn’t admit that a large part of my writing “He Was Weird” was influenced by the speech by Jello Biafra I heard in 2005. After all, it was that speech that made me realize that in the case of school shootings, this could have been me. Also like Jello, one of the reasons why it was never me was that I had no access to guns or any money to go out and buy them. What I can say was that speech made me think and reflect back to less happier times in my past and that got me to write the book.

For the record, I never intentionally plagiarized anything Mr Biafra said in that speech. If anything, I took what was said and went the opposite way with it. The best example was with Jello’s constant identification of religion. In some of the school shootings he refers to, Columbine included, he points out the “being bullied to believe” attitude that permeates many small towns in America. He attacks the attitude that if children had more religion in their lives, they wouldn’t do such horrible things. Yes, I find it difficult not to laugh at that notion too. So what I did in the book was to make Mark a Born Again Christian. Fairly early in the story, he accepts Jesus as his Saviour but that does nothing to quell the bullying hell he is suffering. While his conversion leads to the best week of his young life, it is also short lived. What religion does do for Mark in preparation for his big day is to give him courage to carry out his rampage via two verses in the Bible. I guess hanging the ten commandments up in the classroom wouldn’t have prevented the shooting in this case.

Jello Biafra

Another big part of that speech playfully attacks those who are convinced that Marilyn Manson and violent computer games like Doom causes school shootings. I never followed the argument that games like Doom desensitize a person from violence. Most kids and adults play these games as a release and nothing more. Killing aliens and monsters and even enemy soldiers on a screen is a good way to unwind after a tough day. However, in “He Was Weird,” Mark doesn’t own any CDs or computer games that would contribute to him carrying out his shooting. No Marilyn Manson or Doom, the only music the police find in Mark’s room after the shooting are by two Christian Rock bands and the only computer games are an ice hockey game and the Age of Empires series. Of course, the latter is blamed on Mark’s rampage by some people. They argue that those games gave Mark the military know how to carry out his plan that day. As a result, some victims try to sue Microsoft and others try to get the teacher who ran the computer games club fired. Well, they had to blame something I guess.

Marilyn Manson-

There are probably other things in Jello Biafra’s speech which also influenced my writing of “He Was Weird.” These are only minor points and if I remember them, I’ll post about those in the future. The biggest things were religion and the belief that music and computer games cause school shootings.

To buy He Was Weird, go to https://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1495650963&sr=1-1&keywords=he+was+weird

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Does Music Cause School Shootings?

Tags

Arkansas, books, Bowling for Columbine, Columbine, guns, Jonesboro, Marilyn Manson, Michael Moore, music, religion, school shootings

Marilyn Manson

When Columbine happened, there seemed to be a lot of people chimed in that Marilyn Manson was to blame. That the two shooters who carried out the massacre were driven to their crimes by the music of Marilyn Manson. Students at the school and many parents from the area were all certain that the two boys were hard core fans of the infamous singer. This was later debunked as investigations emerged that they were neither Manson fans nor of the trench coat wearing brigade. However, the accusations aimed at Manson nearly ruined his music career.

In the documentary film, “Bowling for Columbine,” during his interview with Michael Moore, Manson points out that on the same day, the US Air Force dropped more bombs on Kosovo than at any other time during that campaign. The bombings were sanctioned by then president Bill Clinton. Manson pointed out that the president has more ability to influence people that Manson does.

Columbine wasn’t the only school shooting where music was blamed. When the shooting occurred in Jonesboro, Arkansas, music was blamed as well. One US Senator stated that music was at fault and even got one of the teachers to say of the elder shooter, “He was a fine boy until he started listening to Tu-Pac Shaker and Bugs Harmony.” What the senator omitted was that the boy sang in the church choir and at ages 13 and 11, they know how to steal and drive a van and knew right where to get the guns for the big day. The 13 year old stated that the reason he shot only girls and a female teacher was because one girl ‘jilted’ him by refusing to become his girlfriend on demand. Sorry, that doesn’t sound like any musical influence to me.

A study by Alfred University lists the reasons why school shootings occur. There are sixteen of them and I don’t see music listed at all. The closest is viewing of violence in movies, games and videos. FFI, you can check it out yourself:  http://www.alfred.edu/teenviolence/whydoshootings.cfm

Music being responsible for school shootings also occurs in fiction as well as fact. Two of the books I have talked about on this blog have music blamed in some way for the school shooting that occurs in the story. I also have a little fun with it in “He Was Weird.” Therefore, my next three posts will talk about the shootings in those stories and the role music is believed to have played in them. I’ll start with Jodi Picoult’s “Nineteen Minutes” in my next post. Maybe then, I’ll have some understanding why people are quick to blame music for school shootings.

To buy He Was Weird, go to https://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1485376494&sr=1-1&keywords=he+was+weird

 

My Confusion of Religion and Music

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Asperger's Syndrome, Autism, books, christianity, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, confusion, contradiction, He Was Weird, Marine Corps, Mormons, music, religion

Many Born Again Christians who knew me in my teens and young adult years blamed the Marine Corps for my straying from the faith. Many but not all because some blamed music. The funny thing was the fact that there was a great deal of truth in that but not as some might imagine. See, I wasn’t turned from my faith because I began listening to Motley Crue albums, no, music played a role in my disassociation with Born Again Christianity in a different way, which I will now explain.

When I was fifteen, I worked the first of three summers at a Bible Camp based on the one mentioned in “He Was Weird.” My musical knowledge at the time was limited to AM radio and it was meeting people at the camp who had much more extensive musical knowledge who enlightened my musical experiences beyond that of mainstream radio. During the summer of 1976, I was introduced to musical artists such as Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, Jim Croce and even KISS. Although I knew of the Beatles, thanks to one friend, by the time the summer finished, I could practically sing the Sgt Pepper album by heart. What all of these musically wise co-workers all had in common was the fact that they were all very strong Christians. When the summer was over, I further investigated my new knowledge and began exploring musicians on my own initiative. That’s how a became a big Jefferson Starship fan. Furthermore, my musical knowledge would grow deeper when I would return to work at the camp over the next two summers.

Sure, there were those of the older generation and some younger ones who declared rock music to be of the devil. It was after the third summer when I heard someone from my local church youth group state that KISS was an anagram for Knights in Satan’s Service and I stopped listening to them. But for the most part, I listened to what I wanted without any finger pointing. In addition, when the church went roller skating, no one stopped the rink deejay from playing main stream music. So, I saw nothing wrong with listening to music.

My musical knowledge and appreciation expanded thousands fold when I joined the marines. It opened up my experiences to all sorts of music including my love for Southern Rock. Therefore, when I left the service, I had all sorts of musical knowledge and experiences to build upon and was as knowledgeable as many of my contemporaries. As for being a Born Again Christian, I still had the faith but by that time, I was using Ephesians Chapter 2 verses 8 and 9 to justify not bothering with the works. That didn’t stop one of my old friends trying to bring me ‘back to the fold.’

I went to church with my friend and even to some of his young adult evenings. I found them fun but there was no spiritual uplifting for me. Then at one such function, those Christians began talking about the evils of rock music and how it was of the devil. My friend even confessed that he was having a difficult time in destroying his record collection to which one person advised him to simply put them in the bath and turn the water on to warp them.

This is what I found confusing. I had come to love rock music through friends who were just as good Christians, maybe better, than the ones who were now denouncing music. This contradiction caused great confusion in my mind because I saw nothing spiritually wrong with most music. If anything contributed to my divorce from this form of Christianity, it was this confusion over music.

Yes, KISS was still a religious football kicked around by these Christians as an example of the evils of rock and roll but further artists were being thrown in. Michael Jackson was attacked because he was a Jehovah’s Witness and buying his records was supporting that ‘false’ faith. Then more anagrams came in. The band WASP was awarded two: We Are Satan’s People and We Are Sexual Perverts. Furthermore, female artists Stevie Nicks and Grace Slick both supposedly practiced witchcraft and a couple of years later, so did Ann and Nancy Wilson from Heart. To me, it was just getting ridiculous. Then the final straw came after Live Aid when these so called Christians condemned the artists who performed saying they should have given 10% of their money instead of twenty minutes of their time. I wonder how many of these ‘Christians’ gave that much of their money. If it wasn’t that, my final straw with Born Again Christianity would have come a year later when these persons would show up at concerts and tell us we were all going to hell for seeing a concert.

WASP

My attitudes towards  music remained with me when I began investigating the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, (Mormons.) During one of the discussions, I was ready to come out and ask the missionaries teaching us if I joined their church, would I be expected to burn my AC/DC albums. Fortunately, my then wife was a bit more diplomatic and managed to steer the conversation to that vein so my question was answered.  Mormonism is more of a play on the conscience. When listening to any music, one is supposed to ask themselves, “Would they feel comfortable listening to it if Jesus were listening with them?” If the answer is no, then don’t listen to it. When I was young in the faith, there were a few albums I could answer yes to. Most had swearing in the lyrics and there was one song where the singer came right out and sang “Hail Satan.” But most of what I listened to I felt okay with. So, if anyone asks, music had nothing to do with my choice to leave the faith.

Contrary to what some Born Again Christians might think, I haven’t chosen music over God. In fact, I can listen to Christian rock just as I do non-Christian rock. I do really like Stryper. Just don’t tell me that I’m worshiping Satan because I listen to music because I’ll tell you where to go.

To buy He Was Weird, go to https://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1484762670&sr=1-1&keywords=he+was+weird

Religion is the Biggest Contradiction of All to Me

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Asperger's Syndrome, Autism, Bible, Book of Mormon, christianity, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, contradiction, He Was Weird, islam, Jesus Christ, Marine Corps, Mormons, religion

Sometimes when I write a post, it opens my mind up for further contemplation on the subject I’ve posted about and paves the way for future posts. This is a good thing as I don’t have to dither on what I’m going to write about each week. Last week’s post on how contradiction has negative effects on me has been successful in influencing this week’s post.

Probably the biggest contradictions I’ve had to deal with in my life is those imposed on me by religion. For those who haven’t been following Peaceful Rampage from the early years, allow me to recap history. In my teens, I was a stalwart Born Again Christian. Like so many people who possess traits of Asperger’s Syndrome, I believed what was taught ultra literally. Not just what I read in the Bible but what was said by ministers, Sunday School teachers and others who I perceived to have standing in the church and to be good Christians. However, there were times that these people seemed to contradict each other and at times, the scriptures and that effected my faith.

The two biggest contradictory occurrences both happened when I was 17. During that summer, I worked away at a Christian summer camp and had a relationship with a female colleague there. When I came home at the end of the summer, I was determined to carry on the relationship despite the fact the girl lived 85 miles away. Naturally, to do this was complicated but I tried to have faith. Some, including members of my family thought that I was wasting time chasing after a girl so far away. However, what kept me on course was messages from two ministers who basically said that one night stands, short term and meaningless romances were a sin because that wasn’t love, it was lust. Therefore, I concluded that if I treated what I had with that girl as a summertime romance, I would be sinning against God. This contradiction messed with my head for the two years, I considered myself to be with this girl. It only ended when she rejected my proposal of marriage and that played a major part in my departure from wanting to do what God wanted.

The second instance started when I was 17 but lasted a good seven years and revolved around my time in the Marines. Some people in the church and my mother weren’t too happy my decision to enlist. They thought that me being such a good Christian, that I would become corrupted by the evil heathens that made up the US military. At the same time, however, many of them would pontificate Romans 13 and obeying the government. Ministers and teachers both stated that if we were called to go to war, we have the obligation to go. Furthermore, some, especially some of the younger Christians used to tell how the Vietnam draft dodgers were all in danger of hell fire for disobeying the Lord. This was a contradiction that in my mind, bordered on hypocrisy. Saying that you should obey your government in one hand but the other, discouraging young people from actually serving their country. That for me was the final straw with the Born Again faith. While I admit that I did become corrupted in the military, it wasn’t because of the evil heathens but because I got to the end of my tether with these contradictions. Saying that, I never renounced my faith in Jesus. I still professed to have faith but and justified it with Ephesians Chapter 2 verses 8 and 9. My statement was that if you’re saved through grace and not of works, why bother with the works?

In my very late twenties and thirties, I did find a faith that was right for me. That was the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or better known as Mormons. I didn’t find contradiction with the teachings save one, which I will go into in a moment. I will not go into any argument as to the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. I look at it this way, we can accept the Bible and Muslims, the Qu’uran, so why should the Book of Mormon be any different? Besides, if Joseph Smith did make it all up, he must have one hell of an imagination.  Another point about it is that I have read this book and found absolutely nothing blasphemous. However, I have found a contradiction. Mormons believe that murder is an unpardonable sin. Also, if somebody had something valuable of mine and refused to give it back, even after I had given him money for it, and so one night, I waited for him to be passed out drunk, killed him and got my possession back, I still would be guilty of murder. In the opening chapters of the Book of Mormon, this happens when Nephi kills a man named Laban because he refuses to give back the brass plates belonging to Nephi’s father. It is written that the spirit of God commands Nephi to do this but why would God have somebody commit and act which is really an unpardonable sin? This contradiction gets to me and saying that it’s not important isn’t the answer because it’s important to me. For the record, this wasn’t the reason why I eventually left the LDS faith.

Now for the shameless connection to “He Was Weird.” In the story, Mark does become a Born Again Christian but God never delivers him from his bullies. When he sites the ‘turn the other cheek’ passage for not standing up to his bullies, he is rebuked and told that it doesn’t mean he needs to be a punching bag. The contradictions with his faith are one of the things that lead him to use Deuteronomy Chapter 20, verses 16-17 to carry out his big climax.

At the moment, contradictions in religion have resulted in me becoming a spiritual anarchist. I believe in the teaching of Christianity including Mormonism but to follow any faith would be detrimental to my mental well being because of the fact that I would believe things so literally and contradiction would cause nothing more than stress and anxiety. Therefore, I have chosen to remain happy.

To buy He Was Weird, go to https://www.amazon.co.uk/He-Was-Weird-Michael-Lefevre/dp/1909740942/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1484157798&sr=1-1&keywords=he+was+weird