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Category Archives: Social Issues

Music or Torture?

Overlooked Outlook Posted on March 21, 2023 by adminMarch 21, 2023

Anyone who as ever listened to an 8-year-old trying to make music knows all too well that music can be torture.  A few minutes of them banging on a drum or trying to play Mary Had A Little Lamb on the harmonica and you will be ready to carve out your eardrums with a spoon.  Even the dog was distressed.

Apparently, the government notes this too.  They have a long history of using music as torture.  Manuel Noriega was assaulted with Black Sabbath in 1989.  In 1983 Koribians let by David Koresh were inundated with Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Were Made for Walking.”  No wonder they lit themselves on fire. (*1)

Detainees at CIA black sites in Iraq were forced to listen to the Barney Theme song. I know what you’re thinking: Who could possibly get tired of the Barney theme song.  But apparently some people find it annoying.

Now 7-Eleven has become the latest shady organization to use music as torture in an attempt to keep people from loitering outside their store.  Shocking.  People want to loiter around a 7-Eleven?  But apparently it’s true.  It seems to be a magnet for those undesirable types… like needy people and the homeless. Yucky. We wouldn’t want such people soiling the high esteem with which we hold convenience stores.

So the chain, finding that Twinkies form the Regan era a three week old hot dog forever turning in the heating chamber weren’t enough to turn people away has reached down deep into the bad of dirty tricks in order to chase people off its premises: Opera music.  They play it on speakers outside the store, which is almost as depressing as the idea of loitering around a 7-Eleven.

“Opera is annoying.” says Jagat Patel, a franchise in Austin Texas..(*2). Apparently not everyone agrees. Outside a 7-Eleven in Union Square, a man begged for spare change.  “Opera music is beautiful” he said.  “Ooh, opera! I love opera” to which all you opera fans out there, (all 27 of you) can smile a wry smile.

  1. Or more accurately, the FBI lit the compound on fire during their ill fated raid and then blamed it on the sect members.
  2. Adam Iscoe, “Louder,” the New Yorker, January 30, 2023, p. 1

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Tagged 7-eleven, government, music, opera, torture

The God of Petty Semantics

Overlooked Outlook Posted on February 21, 2022 by adminFebruary 21, 2022

What’s in a word? Apparently a whole lot. A Catholic priest in Arizona has been forced to resign after using the “incorrect” word in baptisms he performed over decades. Andres Arango would say, “We baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Oh, the horrors. For those of you like me who didn’t see the egregious offense in this passage, apparently the correct phrase is: “+I+ baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” *1

Why is this a problem? According to the Catholic Diocese, it is Christ alone who presides over all sacraments. Therefore “if you were baptized using the wrong words, [in this case I as opposed to we], that means your baptism is invalid and you are not baptized.” Which is a pretty big deal in a religion that also tells its adherents all unbaptized people will go to hell. The Diocese says it could eve nullify marriages. So they’ve decided to cause mental anguish for tens of thousands of followers, telling them they have not, in fact, been baptized as the had assumed, and their souls are in mortal danger.

While I try to be respectful of everyone’s religious beliefs, this is also a prime example of why so many people absolutely loathe organized religion. I have a hard time imagining any all-powerful Deity being so petty. Whether you worship Buddha, Allah, Krishna or Jehovah, or perhaps a 6-legged squid octopus, I’m fairly certain that if God is out there, he/she/it has more important things to worry about—like starving children, the lack of love in this world, or the fact that some people still think dabbing is a cool thing to do.

Yes, this seems more like the pettiness of us feeble-minded humans to me. I imagine even an octopus has better sense in their priorities.

This episode is also quite silly from a theological perspective. The Diocese is essentially attributing its own semantics hang-up to God, saying that a contract and commitment one makes with God is null and void simply because a wrong word was used…in a language mankind invented, used in rituals mankind invented, with words men thought up and and created, then arranged in a particular passage they decided upon (which, by the way, has changed over the years), in a religion that didn’t develop any of these rituals until long after its founder’s death.

It’s also a notion that directly contradicts everything Jesus taught while he was on this earth. I seem to remember Jesus chastising leaders for their strict adherence to rituals, scolding them for promoting the “letter of the law” over the spirit of the law. I remember him rebuking people who criticized him for plucking some grains on Sabbath, and overturning tables in the temple while defying priests. In fact, this is a big reason why he was crucified.

It would be nice if the Diocese could take a chill pill, stop traumatizing its constituents unnecessarily, and focus its energies on things that truly matter. This entire episode is reminiscent of when the Catholic Church put Gayetano Ripoll to death for instructing his young charges to say “Praised be the Lord” instead of “Hail, purest Mary.” *2 Apparently, things haven’t strayed all that far from the days of the inquisition.

Life is difficult enough as it is. We certainly don’t need to run around creating mental anguish where none need exist.

References:
1. Marina Pitofsky, “Ariz. priest resigns after incorrect word invalidates baptisms,” USA Today, Feb. 16, 2022, p. 5A
2. M.L. Martinez,, “Cayetano Ripoll,” National Geographic History, Jan./Feb 2019, pp. 74-75

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Brett Favre Speech Exposes the Narcissism In Us

Overlooked Outlook Posted on November 28, 2015 by adminNovember 28, 2015

We all know narcissism exists in the world. But none of us like to think of ourselves as self centered or narcissistic. This is why something stuck me as I was watching the speech given by Brett Favre during the Thursday night football game on Thanksgiving between the Bears & … Continue reading →

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Tagged Brett Farve, football, narcissism, society

The Labeled Society

Overlooked Outlook Posted on June 27, 2015 by adminJune 27, 2015

One of the more destructive habits that our society excels at is labeling. We routinely attach negative labels to all types of people, actions, or events: Terrorists Predators Monsters Degenerate Perverted Despicable Illegal’s Sickening Evil Catastrophic Horrific These destructive labels have become so commonplace that most people absorb them without … Continue reading →

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Posted in Social Issues, Trauma & Recovery | Tagged labels, media, predjuice, stereotypes

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Instead of worrying about what people say of you, why not spend time trying to accomplish something they will admire.
Dale Carnegie

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