Sword of Omens, Give Me Sight Beyond Sight

Cultural hegemony and high school History classes have socialized Americans like myself to believe that the Puritans gallantly fled England due to immense religious intolerance from a ruthless king who would detain his own citizens without charging them a crime and subject them to cruel and unusual castigation. Thus, our fortitudinous forefathers sojourned across the pond to found a utopian society in which the ideals and beliefs of all would be welcomed as a collective part of humanity; a society where many of the norms would be considered radical deviations from those established in their former homeland. The Land of the Free. The Home of the Brave.

Yet, like many oppressed peoples, the Puritans soon became the oppressors. It began with the mass assassination of Native Americans and the Trail of Tears, continued with the enslavement of Africans, and persists today with the general marginalization of all people of color. It seems America's forefathers never wished to create the society their idealistic doctrine implied, but rather create a social order in which they reigned so they could impose their ideas on others. Naturally, this behavior was socialized in their children and their children's children until we ended up with our current society full of inequalities and double standards; a society in which the judges issue a death sentence for any deviation from the norm.

There’s a saying, you know—an old one like they always are—that implies life is circular. Or, in other words, karma is legit. Whether or not you believe old adages or subscribe to samsara and philosophies of the like is insignificant. Deep down, everyone who never talks out of turn and always uses the proper fork houses a self-contained social deviant too lazy to alter the comfortable routine of their lives. But what becomes of that caged beast? Does it die of starvation confined in its tiny cell, surrounded by its own feces? Does it break free from its shackles and unleash havoc at the masquerade party? Or does it just make brief appearances in remote locations from time to time like Sasquatch, getting stoned and shamelessly writing senseless drivel?

If It Bleeds, It Leads

When Jesus comes back, he is going to be mobbed by paparazzi. Unless, of course, L.C. and Heidi are spotted shopping together on Rodeo Drive at the same time the Messiah returns to raise the dead, judge the world, abolish evil, and rule in righteousness for eternity with an iron scepter. In which case, it will be quite a laborious task for society to determine which event is more consequential.

This is how I foresee the news of the Second Coming being delivered exclusively by TMZ.com:

Main Headline: Amy Winehouse Hospitalized After Smoking Poison Sumac.
Subheader: Christ Returns, Mistaken for Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes.

This is assuming that Angelina Jolie did not recently give birth to the Prodigal Son, which is an exceptionally distinct possibility considering the media fare her latest additions to her multicultural menagerie have received.

Blessed art thou whom are able to transcend greed and the cravings of immediate satisfaction. May Mother Angie watch over we victims of first-world consumerism and protect us against a culture that deifies quasi-celebrities with no discernable talent. The meek are still waiting to inherit the earth from such physically and financially beautiful luminaries and, until that day comes, they shall transmogrify their psychologically oppressive environment into the Church of Jolie-Pitt.

Society is an association of institutions held together by a set of artificial values. Your prestige in society is measured by the degree to which you choose to conform to its values. Deviation is met with indignation. Consider the values of your society. Deviation is essential.