NEWS: Religion's Role in Morality by Country

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/03/a-map-of-gods-countries/284469/

Although the Atlantic has a spotty relationship in my book, this brief article citing a study by the Pew Research Center is extremely thought provoking and straightforward. Answering the single question, "Is it necessary to believe in God in order to be a moral person?" you can see clear divides in the world.

My observations: I don't think they asked the question correctly in Japan, where the response would correlate with results as having half the people saying "yes" in a country where I only know of three actively religious people who believe in a single, most likely Western "God" figure. Many people here may believe, for example, that Buddhist teachings offer moral value, but that would not be tied to a centralized god. From this, I believe the answer was either lumped into religion, or they were asking participants in the survey who were more likely "actively religious", otherwise the results would have been less than 5%.

Lol@America, Lol@China. Given their GDP, China is an outlier for saying "God and morals don't matter" and the US is high above the average for people saying "Faith in God is necessary for moral value."

As a person who believes in the self-determinate value of people calibrating their own moral compasses, any country in the purple range depending on an old book, written back when slavery and stoning to death were popular, to determine moral values will be put further down on the list of "Countries I Want To Be In". Anyone else note the irony that countries reporting God as a moral necessity are some of the ones where death by stoning and slavery are still pretty common? Wow, nice job their gods.

tl;dr, most religious texts are violent, antiquated self-help books on morality written thousands of years ago when you or your god could brutally murder someone for being wrong, while still espousing that it's bad to kill people, and folks in many countries still guide their morals from the stories in them.

Social Media? Schmocial... Schmedia

My summary when I think of Twitter and 90% of its users [think impersonal, if ur mah friend ur kewl must be 1/10 shooting star ;D]:

News / Famous people / "Famous people" / News about famous people / Buildings, just the buildings (no people) / Places I don't go / Organizations I don't actively support / GOOD MORNING OH HI LOOKATME LOOKATME LOOKATME LOOKATME LOOKATME LOOKATME LOOKATME LOOKATME LOOKATME LOOKATME LOOKATME ‪#‎ImOnTwitter‬ ‪#‎bored‬ ‪#‎SpendAllMyTimeOnElectronicDevicesBeingSocialButSocialIsInAirQuotes‬

My summary of most Facebook users' experience:
+What they think, "Time to go and find some new information about the world and all of my friends in it!"
+What they do--skim headlines, look at a (minority) of people's activities that are more fun (than being on facebook) and feel envious, and OH A PICTURE OF A DOGGIE.

That said, I don't mind social media, despite the daily droll most people put themselves through on such sites, I think they have an over-arching power to raise awareness and unite opinions through linking the masses on issues of importance. We have access to more accurate information than ever before, even if our political systems can't keep up with how quickly our values and beliefs are evolving into a well-tempered, active thinking community.

A Brief Reflection on Nostalgia, Memory, and Knowing Yourself

"I remember when I used to be really into nostalgia..." --Demetri Martin

Brooding angst +Blissful happiness = Brooangst + Blissappiness = Brooanblissness?

Shifting through some old documents, I found a series of quotes I wrote down some six or seven years ago from music I was listening to when I first started college at Willamette. Only band names and a few key lines proved enough for a one-way ticket all aboard the nostalgia train. It's as if I can see a different me through sub-recollection of feelings projected, just through remembering music by Weezer, Tiger Army, Modest Mouse, Cake, and Bad Religion--among others--where just the band name takes my mind back to when I had the words and music floating through my (in)famous headphones (pic, above) constantly.

"If I can touch it,

I can destroy it,

if it's imaginable to some degree,

I can become it,

like a hungry turning vortex that just flickers to existence,

consuming bits and pieces until I'm finally extinguished"

(Marked, Bad Religion)

Songs tap into mental cavities we sometimes can't feel genuine in accessing for ourselves, and (good) songs offer an external perspective to what's internal, granting us another lens through which to see our feelings and thoughts. With music as a personal experience, we can think of (good) music as a personified commentary on the self. This is why we constantly relate ourselves to situational lyrics we hear, it's a way of looking at yourself through music. Do this enough, and you will build a subconscious image of yourself through music. Remembering the nostalgia of that 'you' constructed through music is what I'm talking about.

"Message read on the bathroom wall says, 'I don't feel at all like I fall'

And we're losing all touch, losing all touch, building a desert"

(Custom Concern, Modest Mouse)

Deep thoughts filtered through flippant moodiness, it's so readily apparent you can smell it.

  

Memories are vessels of success, regret, and randomly accessed images, all in disorganized snapshots that can render pictures of an emotion and will be seen under the scrutinizing lens of Hindsight20/20. For this there is no proper response, though an appreciation of how far you've come and generating a scope of growth are recommended. If you find something warm, hold onto it in the moment, past and present.

"As soon as your born you start dying

So you might as well have a good time"

(Sheep Go to Heaven, Cake)

Just imagine: you could be having this much fun finding yourself.

I feel like most people don't make time for memories, there is always something in front of them that needs more focus, and it can be unsettling to look back. However, doing so is how you continue to know yourself and gain perspective.
Take time to be you--most people are too scared to.
For a while, stay quiet and still.
Leave the electronic behind, go outside, and walk off the beaten path.

"It burns like a fire in the night

a glow that rises and becomes the starlite

Under the trees, in the night

You'll find it there

In the space between heartbeats

Where the whole world disappears"

(Forever Fades Away, Tiger Army)

I've have yet to find myself, but in this place is the closest I get.

PSA: You never know where or when nostalgia may happen to you, so always be prepared to quell the OH SHI- with a few deep breaths of things far gone, and also make time to languish in the warmth of positive past reflection, being happy just to have lived a life worth remembering.

"In fact we didn't know what we were doing half of the time

We were so sure of ourselves and drove a long way through life

Memories make me want to go back there, back there"

(Memories [how perfect], Weezer)