israel

January 4, 2024

Welcome to my Josh Talk

Today I am going to breakdown in the most simplistic way I can why I am pro-Palestine and anti-Israel. And when I say I am “anti-Israel” I am referring to the government/governing forces of Israel. I am in NO WAY anti-Semitic or referring to the Jewish people in any shape or form. The actions of a governing body do not speak for the entirety of a single culture. That is absurd. And if you think that, you don’t understand how the world works.

In my town, like most American cities, there are 4 Starbucks on the same street. Let’s imagine that one day a couple of robbers go into it and hold everyone there at gunpoint, demanding that they give them all the money in the register. Somehow, someway, the authorities are alerted and they show up in seconds. Instead of reasoning with these 2 people they just decide to bomb the Starbucks because it’s easier for them than investigating. Time is of the essence, and the local police are an overfunded military force. Y’know, for safety.

As the bomb sends pieces of building and dust miles into the sky, the 2 robbers and hostages in the other Starbucks down the street look out the window and wonder what the hell just happened.

The police, realizing that they have the wrong Starbucks, go to the other one and do the same thing. Turns out it wasn’t that one either.

FINALLY they show up to the right one and do the same thing, because they haven’t learned their lesson from the other two situations. So they have destroyed 3 Starbucks with all of the innocent people inside in the process. All of this destruction and death to get 2 people who tried to rob a single coffee shop.

And this doesn’t even touch on the subsequent deserved public outrage, the inevitable police cover up claiming it was a coordinated effort with multiple assailants, or that these were cops from a town over.

Lets pretend for a moment that everything we’re being told by the Israeli government is 100% true and that there is this intricate network of tunnels connecting all of the buildings that Hamas uses to carry out their terrorist attacks.

Now let’s say that about 75-80% of Gaza is not related to Hamas in any fashion at all, they’re just people trying to live their lives in this “country” smaller than the City of Los Angeles. If you’re a highly militarized nation (Israel) if their goal, as they have informed us, is to root out Hamas, one does not just willynilly bomb everything above this sprawling network of tunnels. They would send in a highly trained task force to root them out. You are supposed to be sophisticated and smarter than them, right?

This government is acting like the incompetent police force. With their lack of regard for human life all because their “goal” is to stop crime and to “keep people safe” by any means necessary.

Thank you for coming to my “Josh Talk.”

December 12, 2023

Possession by My Mother’s Soul

I’m genuinely over war. I’ve grown weary of the constant state of creation of weapons to destroy people deemed “our enemies.” It’s exhausted and I no longer want to participate in it.

Now I can hear what some might say, “What if they try and attack you?” Let them. Let us use our weapons of “mass destruction” (oh, the irony) in use for defense instead of offense. Why waste resources and LIVES for the sake of… what?

It is abundantly clear that the primary purpose of war is for wealth creation. Not for the people, but for the select few who have access to this power. Whether it be directly or by association. I refuse to participate in the accumulation of wealth for those who see me as a pawn in a ridiculous chess game.

What is happening in Gaza is a display of overkill. It is genocide. You have a group of people isolated so much that to bomb them eliminates there presence, especially if they are not allowed to leave.

To justify their actions of “retaliation” by stating “they did it first!” makes one sound like a child. It’s amazing to me how many Christians will support this behavior when it is reported in their holy book to “turn the other cheek so that they may strike it too.”

Christ was a pacifist. To seek retribution only makes one the same as the one who instigated the first unwarranted attack.

This is a point I wrestled with the most as a child, growing up in the church. I wanted satisfaction. I wanted revenge on those who had hurt me. My mother was such an advocate for pacifism. She taught me that it didn’t matter, to just walk away. Lowering yourself to their level only proves that you are just like them.

At the time I hated hearing it and refused to let what doing so meant.

Seeing the hatred some gays have toward the “queers for Palestine” is truly unnerving. I get that we don’t have shared experiences or life lessons, but to advocate for the destruction of the people of Gaza because some of them “kill gays” is not a justification. At that point they are no better than the Muslims who want to kill them for being homosexual.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matthew 5:38-39 RSV).

For the life of me I cannot believe I am quoting the bible in a non-ironic way. My mother’s spirit must have possessed me. There is no other explanation, because I am an athiest and think all religions are cults.

I have just reached a point in my life that I fully comprehend that: death is inevitable. We will be taken regardless of what we have done/do. If someone kills me for being gay, well, so be it. I am going to die one way or another. If it is at the hands of someone else’s bigotry that speaks of their character and not mine.

I will not concern myself with that fear anymore. Much like they should not concern themselves with how I live my life.

That said… I also won’t roll-over and “accept my fate” if I cannot escape any possible “threat.” Self preservation and the safety of those I love is my top priority. I just refuse to destroy my “soul” (for lack of a better word) by lowering myself to their way thought.