RUNNINGWITHSCISSORS1

I was at my cross-country meet today, which was hosted by a Christian school in my area. However, not all the schools competing were necessarily Christian schools (mine definitely wasn't), but they kept playing Christian rock music as we were running, and the other girls on my team made me and another girl who happens to be an atheist huddle together in prayer with them (we didn't tell them we were atheists, but we didn't think they'd just automatically assume that we weren't). Since it's a school-sponsored event (with schools that aren't Christian schools), do you think this was a violation of separation of church and state? I mean, I wasn't extremely offended by it or anything, but it was just something I happened to notice.

You thought the cinnamon challenge was a really freaking stupid idea? "Well, it's not like the risks involved with it are that high," you say. "It's harmless fun."
Then the cold water challenge comes along. "Well... as long as they get right out of the water afterwards, they might not be harmed by it," you say, forcing a laugh. "Kids nowadays..."
And then, we have something so unfathomably stupid and dangerous, that we wonder why we didn't stop this chain reaction of stupidity that led to even greater stupidity in the first place. What am I referring to? According to a recent news report, a teenager set himself on fire as a part of the "fire challenge." 

MEGA FACEPALM


How on Earth did anyone think this was a remotely good idea?! I can kind of (not really) understand the cinnamon challenge and the cold water challenge, as the danger isn't as prevalent as long as performed with caution, but setting yourself on fire?! This generation is screwed if things keep going this way. We have reached the age of ultimate stupidity. This teen suffered major first and second degree burns (thank Party Cat it wasn't worse). Hopefully not many more young people will follow in this idiot's footsteps, and hopefully this age of reckless internet dares will come to an end. I just... I can't even...

WHY? I JUST WANT TO KNOW... WHY.
Why is the U.S. continuing to send weapons and ammunition and all sorts of stuff to a country that is persecuting the people of another country that were there first for the sake of their religious beliefs? What happened to the separation of church and state? Does that mean anything in this country anymore? The literal reason why the war between Israel and Palestine is happening is because the Israelis, a group of religious, self-righteous assholes think that Israel is their promised land from their God, and that's their excuse to drive the Palestinians out, killing millions of innocent people (including children) in the process. The thing I really don't understand is.... why do they take the part of the Bible about Israel being their promised land seriously, yet they throw the 10 commandments ("thou shall not kill") out the window for the sake of that promised land? It's the most hypocritical mass of BS I have ever encountered in my lifetime. I know I'm very late talking about this, and tons of other people had made these points, but this makes me feel both angry and sad, and WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?! More importantly, why are we backing them? We're spending a ridiculous amount of money to back them, and we're being very hypocritical as a country that's supposed to endorse "freedom of religion." Right-winged idiots need to get this through their heads: freedom of religion also means freedom from religion. In this case, the Israelis are forcing their religious beliefs down the Palestinians' throats, and countless innocent people are dying as the result. If Muslims or some religious group other than Jews or Christians were doing this, people would be freaking out and doing everything in their power to stop them. But no. It's all in the name of YHWH, so it's somehow justified. WAY TO GO, 'MERCA. YOU'RE A BUNCH OF HYPOCRITICAL ASSHOLES. I guess the first amendment really is dead. Democracy is dead. Everything that this country was originally founded upon... is dead. I swear, when I move out of my house, I'm going to Canada. I can't take anymore of this BS.

So, a couple days ago, I made a journal expressing how I feel about people believing that prayer heals the sick and don't attribute anything to medicine or doctors. I'm bringing this journal up again because of a conversation that I had with my mom. We were talking about how some people refuse to get vaccinations, and, in passing, I made the remark: "Yeah. It's just as crazy as the people who refuse to get medical help for a disease because they think that prayer alone will help them." Now, thankfully, my mom agreed that people need to get medical help in order to stay alive and well, but she also said, "I believe that God gave doctors the knowledge that they need to heal people." I replied, "But they have to go to school in order to obtain that knowledge," and she said, "Who do you think gave them that intelligence?" Now this is where the conversation ended-- not because I had nothing to say, but before I could say anything, my mom changed the subject, but at that point, I was already thinking to myself, If that's true, then why do we still have gaps in our knowledge? Why do we still not know everything about medicine, like how to cure cancer, or how to handle the Ebola outbreak in Africa? When humans first appeared as a product of millions of years of evolution, we didn't know jacksh*t about medicine. We just had to rely on our instinct, and it took millions of years for us (as a species) to obtain the knowledge that we currently have. If God really gave us that knowledge, then why are there so many things we have to conduct research on and figure out for ourselves, while having to watch countless innocent people die while trying to find answers? Also, there are signs of intelligence and the ability to learn in other animals besides humans. It's just not as advanced on the evolutionary spectrum as human intelligence. 
Now that the conversation is over, I'm really wishing that I had replied to my mom's final question of that subject matter with "nobody" and finally came out as an atheist. But... it's not that simple. Sigh.

Just because they didn't get their way on universal healthcare, and they're now saying that Obama's actions are "abuse of executive power." I already thought the GOP was acting like spoiled children when they shut the government down over this issue, but this is taking it to a whole new level. BOO HOO. OBAMACARE GOT PASSED. OBAMA IMPLEMENTED IT. DEAL WITH IT, AND IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, COME UP WITH A BETTER SOLUTION, AND IF THE PEOPLE REALLY LIKE IT, THEN THEY'LL PUT YOUR PARTY IN OFFICE NEXT TIME. QUIT ACTING LIKE BABIES.
So, yet again, my respect for the Republican party has decreased, as with every other stupid thing they do. This party really needs to die out.