Movies...

I'm not a movie buff, and I only ever go watch them if it seems to be a convenient thing for me to do. I never actually go out of my way to go to the cinema, which means that I'm normally quite behind when it comes to whats hot in movieland at the moment.

But in the past three weeks, I have watched Lions for Lambs, Hitman, and the Kingdom, in that order. That is courtesy of MBO cinemas having those movies at very convenient times for me and my classmates (a little free time vacuum for most of us, an exceedingly rare phenomenon.) I still haven't watched Beowulf, but I got a very stern warning from my brother that its the single worst movie he has ever watched in his life. Apparently, the story is dumb, the physics illogical to the point of unbearablility and the entire movie is filled with little scenes that have absolutely nothing to do with the plot. The movie's only saving grace, which is apparently the gore, couldn't quite compensate for the incredible stupidness of everything else. Thats what my brother said. I haven't watched it, so I don't know. But if I'm honest, I have to admit that I'm pretty apprehensive about Beowulf now. (Even if I get to see Angelina Jolie and a naked succubus.)


But back to the main issue, the movies that I have watched. I'll give you the bad news first. Hitman sucked. I never played the game, but I always found the concept to be exceedingly cool. A mute, merciless killer who strikes and no ones is none the wiser until he's safely immersing himself in a jacuzzi after extraction. But the movie completely betrayed agent 47 (I think that was his number) He becomes a gung ho, trigger happy, not particularly witty and bald version of Jason Bourne. Its hard not to make comparisons of the two movies, especially when the scene where the Hitman proves his observational powers to his pantyless pretend girlfriend is a blatant rip off from the first Bourne movie. The Hitman is supposed to sneak, poison, trick and strangle his way to mission objectives. He does not walk into a room full of gangsters and let rip with two sub-machine guns. The real Hitman would have found that approach vulgar. Even for an action movie, its weak. But then again, I have been spoilt not too long ago by the Bourne Ultimatum (which I think is one of the best movies this year, hence the constant comparison). So here is a warning. If you loved Hitman as a game, and would like to be spared the agony of watching him turn into a pussified, gunslinging man who is betrayed by his own agency for no reason other than to satisfy some Russian president, then stay away from the movie. Go rewatch Nacho Libre or something.


Now I have two more movies to talk about, both of which I have to admit I liked very much. The latest one I saw was the Kingdom, which is about terrorists in Saudi Arabia blowing Americans up. The FBI rightly gets pissed off, but because the American government is so buddy buddy with the Saudis, they can't get a team onto Ground Zero to do investigations. What follows is the usual story about a particularly ballsy FBI agent who blackmails his way into Saudi Arabia, solves the case, and puts him and his entire team in the line of fire. What particularly unnerved me about this movie is the fact that I actually felt pissed off when I saw the Muslim extremist give his inflammatory speech. Suddenly, my dim view of religion got even dimmer. Its all nice and good for the moderate Muslims to denounce the terrorists and loudly proclaim that the terrorists have no right to call themselves Muslims. It doesn't change the fact that they do call themselves Muslims and their murder is derived from the very same book that the moderates get their values from. I'm sure that there is nothing wrong with the teachings in the book, as everyone of the faith will proclaim. But over the many years that civilization has existed religion has time and again proven that its not something that the human race is ready for. I don't think that the fact that some people can take the text in a non-murderous and non-bigoted way can be used an excuse for the continued preaching of it.

I was throughly depressed at the end of the movie, even if I didn't really show it. The stark truthfulness of the entire movie reminded me of how fucked up this world really is. The ending definitely left an impression. The same promise made by the FBI agent and the dying terrorist cell leader, "we will kill them all". The message couldn't be clearer. The senseless killing will not stop until either side is wiped out. And some people actually argue that cultural relativism is actually a good thing. /wrist


Right, on to Lions for Lambs. (If you have read this far and still remain vaguely interested in what I have to say then, thank you.) =P. This movie has three stories running parallel. There is one part with a reporter being given a scoop on a new American initiative in Afghanistan by the Senator who is running the whole operation. The other is about a disillusioned political science student who called in to see his professor. And the third is about two American soldiers that are stuck in the Afghan mountains, awaiting rescue. I found the first two deeply entertaining, the third to be some kind of compulsory action sequence that movie makers seem obliged to do.

The first scenario was sparring by a liberal (the reporter) versus a war hawk (the senator) on the issues on global terror and the war in the Middle East. I actually found both sides well represented, although I generally tilt towards the anti-war hippie camp. I found the
Senator's arguments compelling, and I think that movie did a lot to help me understand his side of the story, and the reasons behind all the war mongering.

But it was the second scene that struck a chord. A professor sees a bright student lose interest, and decides to intervene. The student is adamant that the world is fucked up, and not worth saving, so he might as well go and live his own comfy life in the corporate world instead of making the change that he feels needs to be made. The situation really is deja vu. It wasn't so long ago that a very cynical me sat before a particularly well read and optimistic old fart and trashed out the issue with him. That ended with him declaring that I'm there is little hope left for me and that he is saddened that a person that has reached my level of reasoning should choose a path of doom and gloom. (At least thats how I saw it). Well times have changed, and I've grown up a bit, so I'm actually not naive enough to authoritatively predict doomsday within the next generation. So if a right cause comes along, I might actually do something. (maybe the fight against domestic violence, but AWAM seems to ignore my attempts to contact them.)

Still, that movie gives me the sense that I'm not alone in my disillusionment. It says loud and clear to me that just because no one else seems to care or even seems bothered to know, it doesn't mean that you should be like that too.

So, yes. If you have time and cash to spare, do watch the two movies. But don't blame me if you don't like them. I do have really weird tastes.

Emboldened Malaysians.

Wow. Another rally? That whole Bersih thing seems to have given Malaysians some serious balls. I must say, I found this rally to be really amusing. Asking the Queen of England for help to sue the British government is plainly ridiculous. But thats also missing the point of the petition. The aim of the rally was to make some noise, and it sure did. I had never even heard of Hindraf before this. As a publicity stunt, it was bloody brilliant.

But to me, it serves another purpose. It further shows the levels of intolerance that our government has for any opposition to their stand. The violent response shown will only make the international community who might have been skeptical about all the reports of Malaysia not really being democratic after all believe all the stories circulating around the internet.

Confirming the stories of your opponents is not very smart. But I can't even begin to imagine what the government is doing. Everything they do flies in the face of logic, and I can't honestly say that my evaluation and my game plan would work any better for them. Because I don't know what their agenda is. I can't call them dumb, because they might see things that I don't see....

Oh well...

I wonder...

A couple of years back, the Black Eyed Peas hit the scene. Everyone was introduced to 'Where is the love' and for a while, I actually listened along happily. Then they started showing what they were really about. Completely meaningless lyrics sung to catchy tunes. Reminds me of the joke that Chris Rock told about rap music. Women who love rap music don't care about the lyrics. For them, if the beat is right, they will dance all night.

Black eyed peas lyrics makes me want to put an ice pick through my skull. The problem is, I also notice that there are other artistes that sing stuff just as dumb as they do, but I don't feel any murderous impulse when I hear them. Snoop dog, 50 cent, and to a lesser extent, Sean Paul, they all rely on the beat and the cool factor to sell. But I don't hate them. In fact, I actually like some of their music. Okay, maybe not Snoop Dog, but the rest are passable.

Here is a line from Timbaland and Keri Hilson - They way I are

I'm about to strip and I'm well equipped
Can you handle me the way you are?

Blatant references to things impolite. Things that will make most people cringe in everyday conversation. Yet, I love this song.

And for some comparison here is the song by one of the BEP members gone solo.

If the girl real pretty,
Nine times out of ten,
She pretty like her mama.

And if her mama real ugly,
I guarantee ya she gon’ be ugly like her mama.

Everytime I hear this, I change the station.

I wonder what the difference really is. It can't be the complete disregard for general politeness and gender political correctness. Snoop dog is as misogynistic as rappers get, and yet I don't hate his music enough to avoid it.

It can't be the stupidity of the lyrics either, because I've heard lyrics just as stupid, and had no problems with it. Hey Ya by Outkast is a perfect example of this. Lend me some sugar, I am your neighbour? Shake it like a polariod picture? It doesn't get any more senseless than that, yet I have no problems with that song.

Then I thought maybe it was because I had a problem with Fergie being a sellout to the whole female gender, making me have a problem with her, and by extension, the people associated with her. I mean, she did introduce us all to her humps, her lovely lady lumps. But the pussycat dolls ask you to 'loosen up their buttons', females acting totally trampily. Yet I don't really have a bone to pick with the dolls.

As of now, I'm content to leave it as 'I just have a problem with you, never mind why'. But I'm still pretty damned curious as to why. Any ideas?

Goodbye England.

The score says it all. England 2 - 3 Croatia.

When it all started, England looked like a shoo-in to the finals in 2008. A string of screw ups later, they have been dumped out of the competition.

I'm not whooping in joy at the English failure. But I don't mourn for them either. I think that they are the most overrated team in the world, partly because their league is marketed so well.

They lost to both Russia and Croatia. Both teams have players that I can't even name. Yet they beat a team whose players I can easily identify. If that isn't proof of overhype, I don't know what is.

The pundits are harsh, especially the English ones. Every last one of them has declared the English team undeserving of a spot at Euro 2008.

For me, all this means is that the likes of Lampard, Gerrard, Wright Phillips, Rooney and Beckham are not as good as the football pages and EPL pundits would like to paint them to be.

Tired at wrong times of the day.

Work is annoying. But interesting. And somewhat frustrating.

Its annoying because its tiring. And it eats my weekend up. And leaves me looking forward to Wednesdays and Thursdays as my days of rest.

So far, it has remained somewhat interesting. There are still subtle little things for me to learn, and unlike most of my colleagues, I actually look forward to taking down orders. Walking someone through what he or she wants sure beats cleaning up the bloody mess they leave behind. And seeing different kinds of people eat, handle their children and work makes for an interesting spectacle.

And its also frustrating. Because I know that the job pays peanuts. And I also know that I would slip into severe depression if I came to a realization that I would be doing the same routine thing for the rest of my life with little chance of escape. I suspect those are to prospects that face some of the long term staff there. Its hard to take pride in the work I do. With the kind of pay it receives and the rate of staff being hired and leaving, I can't seem to shake off the feeling that I'm doing something anyone else can do. I think I'm getting a clearer picture of how some people end up finding their jobs meaningless and hollow. But have to do it anyway, because its just what they do. And I hope it never happens to me. I am really scared of getting stuck in a 9 to 5 job that has me groaning every morning and staring blankly at the wall in the evening.

The temptation to quit is there, but I'm going to see this through. Just need to keep telling myself that it could be much worse.

I'm getting really annoyed.

Its 1 a.m. and I don't normally blog at this time, not unless I'm super emo or something. But I've spent a good portion of tonight reading about the bersih rallies, and I'm getting really pissed off.

I'm not pro-opposition, just anti-stupidity. Someone sent me a link to our information minister's telephone interview with Al-jazzera. I thought Syed Hamid Albar was rubbish on Hardtalk. That was enough to make me rant and rave for a good 15 minutes. Zainuddin's performance on the other hand makes me contemplate denying being a Malaysian when people ask where I'm from. The simple mindedness and the utter childishness of the accusations that he hurled at the news network is something I would expect from a name-calling match between 12 year olds.

I really wonder if he realizes how stupid he actually sounded. He probably doesn't, seeing how he probably gets away with that kind of rethoric on home ground where the press is held at gun point and the people are fed government or anti-opposition propaganda on a daily basis. But Al-jazzera is an international news network. What you say is going to be broadcasted to millions all over the world. If it was me, I'd be shit nervous. I would really hate to say the wrong thing.
But even if you did ambush me, an engineering student who has never really played politics, and has no experience dealing with the press, I don't think I would have cocked up that badly. He is the information minister. How the hell did such incompetence find its way up the ranks of our government?

And how is this for scare tactics? RTM 1's report on the rally ended with footage from other violent protests from other countries and the message "Demonstrasi selalu berakhir dengan keganasan". All reports in the local newspapers were similarly biased. The way that this is being handled either shows complete idiocy on the part of the government or a severe underestimation of human intelligence. Seriously, if this is the best the can come up with, then they are morons. If they can't be bothered to do better because they know that they are going to get away with all this, then they are insulting my intelligence. And I'm tired of it. Everytime this happens, all I see is this patronizing old man patting me on the head like I'm a 5 year old child and telling me to behave myself and to listen to him because he has 'eaten more salt than I have rice'. Well, I have read more books than you have words, so there.

Disillusionment really is reaching its tipping point.

Lets fighting love - Part 2

Micheal found himself in a very familiar alley, walking home following the path less taken. He actually found himself wondering why he was taking this route at all, considering that was his emo path. He never took that route unless he felt like cutting off the rest of the world.

He shrugged and kept walking. Then he saw something that left him reeling for a while. There was a couple walking in the very same alley. He couldn't help but feel a sense of deja vu. Holding his breath and closing his eyes, he strained hard to hear for the rapid pitter patter that would confirm his fears. It didn't take long. The near silent footsteps were even coming from the exact same direction.

Micheal opened his eyes and looked at the couple. It wasn't the same two people. Odd. If this really was a recurring nightmare, he would have thought that the participating characters would have been the same. Different couple, but still instantly recognizable people to Micheal. Before the realization of the implications could hit him, the ninja had burst into view.

The attack was exactly the same, a sharp blow straight to the head of the unsuspecting boy. The girl spun around and screamed, and Micheal found himself responding. Just like before.

But this time, he knew better than to use the shoulder barge. He still gave his most bloodcurling scream to get the ninja's attention, but led with his fists this time. Apparently, he wasn't the only one with memories of a parallel scenario, because the ninja had turned around to face him and taken off his mask, a big grin on his face. The girl no longer in immediate danger, Micheal slowed down to a walk. The ninja had something to say to him, and he wanted to know what it was.

"Hey there, twin," started to ninja.

Micheal stole a glance at the girl. She was frozen with fear, mouth agape and eyes staring into nothingness. He wished she would at least look for a way out of this, but he remembered the throwing stars. No, running away would be a bad idea.

The doppelganger saw his eyes travel, and added, "Lovely isn't she? Almost makes killing her hard. But after what she has done, its never a problem."

"What did she do? I have never had thoughts of murdering her before. What are you doing here?"

"Well, you were taking too long. So I decided to move things along. This avenger gets bored easily."

"She doesn't deserve to die."

"Yes she does. As do you."

"Me?"

"Yes. You are going to try and save her. And you will fail again, just like before. And for being such an idiot, you will deserve to die."

"This is ridiculous."

"I'm sure it is. And now I'm bored. Chop Chop!"

Weapon drawn, the ninja shuffled his way towards Micheal. The katana became a blur as the ninja started showing off. But as he drew closer, he started slowing down. In fact, he slowed down so much that Michael could very easily dodge the slash. And just as easily, he dodged the second one, and soon after, a third.

Micheal was puzzled. And from the look on the ninja's face. so was he.

"What the..."

Impressed with himself, Micheal decided to press the advantage. His punch caught the ninja by surprise, and left him with a bloody nose. Getting very annoyed, the ninja renewed his attacks, the flurry of swordplay doubled in ferocity.

But Micheal emerged unharmed. Screaming in frustration, the ninja reached down and grabbed his throwing stars. Micheal thought that they were meant for him, so he waited for them. But the ninja turned around and threw the blades at the paralyzed girl. Her fate had seemed to be sealed at that point, her eye right in the middle of the weapon's trajectory. Micheal was running forward, instinctively trying to save her. And he found himself running faster than the weapons were flying. He suddenly felt like Max Payne and Neo combined.

He plucked the flying stars out of the air and flung them back at the ninja. There was no escape for him, the sharp blades slicing into his kneecaps. Half screaming and half cursing, the ninja collapsed.

"This is impossible."

Smiling, Micheal replied. "I know. Tell me about it. This is great."

"But how?" the ninja asked, still confused.

"You no longer fight for what is right. She doesn't deserve to die, and you know it. When you stopped being an agent of justice, and became a pouty, self serving murderer, you stopped being able to beat me."

"Where did you get all that shit from? The compendium of paladin asswipe ideals?"

"It doesn't matter," Micheal replied. Half a second later, the ninja lay in a pool of his own blood, the shurikens on his knees now lodged in his windpipe.

Whoever knew?

I certainly never expected it to happen. But Malaysians finally are starting to show a bit of spine. They are demanding fair elections in a peaceful rally that had to be dispersed with water cannons. Apparently, the gathering was illegal because the permit for it was never issued. I tried looking for justification for denying these people the permit and I could find none. I shouldn't be surprised. In a rather anti-climatic twist, here is a potentially controversial article.

http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2007/11/find-the-patter.html

Read the link that leads to the freakonomics column.

Steven Levitt is saying that voting is pointless if you want to make a difference, and as much as it defies everything that I have ever learned, I have to say that he is right. The first thing that I thought of when reading the article was "what if everyone thought like you? then there would be no democracy". Then I realized that the scenario would be impossible because we don't vote to protect our self interests anymore. We have come to accept that our vote does nothing to change the outcome of policy. What it does do, however, is massage our egos and give us the idea that we are good citizens.

Will I vote? I guess.. Just to stick it to the big man, I will. Its my way of picking a side.

The 5 a.m. sleepless night rhyme

I look to my left, and I see my world,
A zone of comfort, where I seem unfurled,
At ease with the norms and expectations,
A place where I never seem out of fashion.

To my right, the great unknown,
Where seeds of doubt are too easily sown,
A place that I had been blind to see,
By circumstance of just being too mousy.

Drawn to the right, but happy with the left,
Confusion to the point of certain death,
I can see the joy that lies in store,
But if I submit to impulse, I feel like a whore.

I see examples, and I often wonder,
Whyever not, its not like the world will be torn asunder,
But something always feels out of place,
Like a duck wading around in toxic waste.

I tell myself that these things take time,
It could take years to feel sublime,
But to think of time that has gone to waste,
I can't help but to think that I should make haste.

You are who you are, I've heard that before,
But what if who you are is a bloody bore?
Do you force yourself to get with the hype?
Or do you ignore it and do what you like?

Its really no fun figuring this out,
Too bad I'm too old to sit down and pout,
So I'll rhyme my way to some peace of mind,
And hope that somehow, the stars will align.

Stupid laws.

Hilarious stuff. Talk about being outdated or sometimes, just plain daft.

The UK's top 10 most ridiculous British laws were listed as:

1. It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament (27%)

2. It is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British king or queen's image upside-down (7%)

3. It is illegal for a woman to be topless in Liverpool except as a clerk in a tropical fish store (6%)

4. Eating mince pies on Christmas Day is banned (5%)

5. If someone knocks on your door in Scotland and requires the use of your toilet, you are required to let them enter (4%)

6. In the UK a pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants, including in a policeman's helmet (4%)

7. The head of any dead whale found on the British coast automatically becomes the property of the King, and the tail of the Queen (3.5%)

8. It is illegal not to tell the tax man anything you do not want him to know, but legal not to tell him information you do not mind him knowing (3%)

9. It is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament wearing a suit of armour (3%)

10. It is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls of York, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow (2%)

Other bizarre foreign laws voted by those polled included:

In Ohio, it is illegal to get a fish drunk (9%)

In Indonesia, the penalty for masturbation is decapitation (8%)

A male doctor in Bahrain can only examine the genitals of a woman in the reflection of a mirror (7%)

In Switzerland, a man may not relieve himself standing up after 10pm (6%)

It is illegal to be blindfolded while driving a vehicle in Alabama (6%)

In Florida, unmarried women who parachute on a Sunday could be jailed (6%)

Women in Vermont must obtain written permission from their husbands to wear false teeth (6%)

In Milan, it is a legal requirement to smile at all times, except during funerals or hospital visits (5%)

In France, it is illegal to name a pig Napoleon (4%)

Nyahaha.

Zero Punctuation rulez. (Google it, watch it. Else u're a loozer)

Ktnxbai.

I don't like British Music.

WTF.

I swear I'm right. I swear I knew it all along.

The Dashboard Confessionals sang that and its been my little anthem since it was released.

You don't like British music huh? Apparently, Muse isn't quite your thing. Supermassive Blackhole not a good track? I believed it. Until you said you'd go to one of their concerts anyday. I shrugged. Muse had just visited, so maybe it was all the hype..

Oh. And the Sugarbabes suck too huh? And now, you liked them ever since they hit the air.

Yes, I'm nitpicking. They are non-issues. They don't matter, at least not to an average reasonable person. Yes, I'm bitter. So sue me.

Contradictions.

I've asked these two questions a number of times and I have never gotten an answer that is satisfactory. Both have things to do with Islamic principles and government policy.

Gripe one. Muslims can't gamble. There are active steps taken to keep them out of Genting. There are signs outside 4D gambling shops warning them to stay away. Yea, sure, lots of Muslims still end up buying the stuff, but what I'm interested in is the official Government stand on this, and not the efficiency of its enforcement. So far, as far as I know, the Government discourages Muslims from buying 4D. So, in essence, the government is against all forms of gambling done by Muslims and will try to regulate and put a stop to instances of it happening.

Yet, their kids gamble all the bloody time, oblivious to the fact that they are gambling. Remember those plastic egg vending machines that seem to be in every comic book and sundry shop? Those that seem to have different content inside? Or the card vending ones for that matter. Dragonball, Power Rangers, that kind of stuff. Thats gambling right there. If it is advertised on the outside that you stand to gain a figurine of hero X when you put a dollar into a machine and twist a dial, you are promising a chance of winning. Its now a game of chance, putting it neatly into the category of judi. If that isn't a clear enough example, here is another one. I remember this from back when I was 12. There is a keropok vendor near my school, selling all manner of crackers. One of his products is a tiny little packet of nearly inedible prawn crackers with a little gift on the inside. The packet itself cost 20 cents, and most of the time, you will get a little plastic lobster that cannot possibly cost more than half a cent. But, you stand to win one of those Tamiya car rip offs that go for about 5 bucks at the pasar malam. There are other prizes too. So, a little token fee for a shot at winning something that is worth 25 times as much as the original investment. Sound familiar?

Its all gambling, and yet these people get away with selling it to Muslims, and Muslim children at that. I'm not a Muslim and if someone pulled this kind of shit of on my 12 year old, I'd get pretty pissed off. And I don't have a God promising me eternal suffering if I went near any of that. Thats just fucked up.

Now, on to the second problem. Alcohol. Muslims can't touch that stuff. (debaters not withstanding) Not even food that has alcohol in it is allowed. Chinese food that contains a bit of rice wine is not halal anymore. Even if eating 2000 portions of it isn't enough to make you drunk. (Which I was told is the main justification for banning alcohol for all Muslims. Drunk people do stupid and very un-Islamic things) So imbibing alcohol molecules in any form is dosa, correct? So whats the deal with tapai? Its served all over the place and is as part of Malay culture as lemang and ulam. But its fermented glutinous rice, and fermented normally indicates a presence of alcohol. I know, because when I smelled a batch when I was a kid, it felt to me like smelling the fumes from a bottle of VHS tape cleaner. The smell of alcohol was THAT strong. Rum and raisin has a distinctive taste of alcohol, but hardly smells that strong. Yet, rum and raisin ice cream is in a fridge that carries the warning to Muslims that rum and raisin is not halal. If this isn't hypocrisy and selective application of rules, then I don't know what is. It is entirely possible that the Jabatan Agama Islam realizes this and decided they cannot do anything about it because the eating of tapai is so ingrained into our society already. I guess they realize what a sudden decision to make tapai non-halal would bring a lot of complications and get people asking questions that they are not quite prepared to answer.

But ignoring the problem is not going to make it go away. I guess with the immense control that the government has on any form of intelligent questioning, these inconsistencies can be stopped from ever surfacing as actual issues. To be honest, I think that they are non-issues too. Its just that if Malaysian Muslims are anal enough to care about the direction of the kiblat from space, and about the halalness of vaccines, I suppose something like this should be considered pretty big problems.

Stupid..

A grieving father has been awarded $11 million in damages against a fundamentalist church that pickets military funerals because they believe that the war in Iraq is punishment for American tolerance for gays. Good for him. But it really does beg the question, where do these people come from anyway?

These are two of the signs that they use when picketing. 'Thank God for dead soldiers" and "God hates fags". Thank God for dead soldiers? No bloody wonder the father got pissed off. And one of the church leaders has claimed that they will continue to picket. Apparently, a $11 million fine is 'an act of futility'. Wow. If that was the case, the judge should have hit them with $111 million.

I wonder who told them that the casualties in Iraq was punishment for accepting gays. Did one of them get a visitation from God one night? Or some messenger of God for that matter. Or did they pull it out of their interpretation of the Bible? To be honest, I'm getting pretty sick of reading about people like this intruding on other people's lives because they think its their holy duty to do so. That father sued because he felt that they had ruined his son's funeral and intruded upon a solemn ceremony. If I were in his position, I'd kick their asses too, even if I were anti-gay. There are places and times where you don't preach and spew your religious convictions.

I wish they would stop caring so much and leave all of us heretic sinners to burn in hell after we tell them to eff off for the fifth time.

I mean, thats what I would do when giving advice to someone. If they don't want the advice, it really is their problem now isn't it? Admittedly, repeating it over and over might get them to accept your message as true, but nine times out of ten, you're just being annoying. And when you go past their breaking point, things get ugly. Wouldn't we all be so much better off if you just roll your eyes and tell yourself that you will get the last laugh when you watch us all burn in hell while you sit on your pretty little cloud strumming your harp? Or if you really can't bear seeing someone walk the wrong path, keep telling yourself that you have tried and move on. No one is going to blame you for failing in your task to bring salvation. I think even God will forgive you.