The God Thugs

September 15, 2007

I live in a really bad neighborhood.

To an outsider, it would look completely normal. It's ethnically diverse. White black, Indian, Latino, Pakistani. Hell, we've even got two little people in my neighborhood, and you just don't see that everywhere. And we all live in harmony. No racial tension here. We're within walking distance of the police station and the 7-11, which is owned by an ethnically mixed couple (the husband is from Pakistan, the wife from the Philippines, both very nice) and it employs primarily Latinos and Asians. We're walking distance from Albertsons, and several car dealerships, including the one I work at. In my own apartment complex, which is not gated, people leave their bikes unchained, and they stay there for weeks. Untouched. That is the type of neighborhood I live in.

I've lived here for over 2 years, now. Really what I'm getting at is that I live in a pleasant neighborhood. Not ritzy, not pretentious. Just a nice place to be.

Well, it was nice until recently.

I was walking home the other evening. I got off late, because I've been doing some overtime. It was dark. Which is another nice thing about my neighborhood. I sometimes get home at midnight, and can still walk home a few blocks (parking sucks) and will really only encounter people walking their pit bulls, because they're being nice enough not to walk the dogs that they know their neighbors will be afraid of during the day. But I walk home late in the dark with no fear.

But then I saw it. Graffiti. In MY neighborhood.

A scary graffiti. A graffiti worse than any gang related "Scabby was here" "'lil bitch is my shorty" "Scabby 187" "13th street gang" shit. No. For that is graffiti that stems from a violence we are prepared for. A violence based on ethnicity and territory, and a stupid animalian sense of ownership.

But this is not that. It's worse. For it's a graffiti based on the love of God. And sure, people who are religious are frequently nice, good people, regardless of their religion. I have many Muslim neighbors, and there have been no problems. Ever. And I'm really not concerned about them. Sure the religion is hard to understand. It's a tad sexist and has gotten some horrible media post 9-11. BUT, the beliefs of your average Muslim are not that radical. No more so then a guy dying nailed to a piece of wood and springing back to life 3 days later then defying the laws of gravity and physics in general by ascending, in the flesh, through the sky and clouds, to heaven.

The words "I LOVE GOD!" are spray painted in several places around my neighborhood. On a building that someone will have to pay to clean, and they desecrated a tree.

Basically, my feeling is that anyone, in any religion, that has to do more than wearing the smallest piece of religious paraphernalia such as a cross, Star of David, or even your CTR ring, (which to me is pushing it) is cause for concern. Anyone who has to display "my boss is a Jewish carpenter" bumper stickers, "God is good" t-shirts, WWJD? Bracelets (but I much prefer WWBBD? aka, What Would Brian Boytano Do?, or better yet, WWTDD?, What Would Tyler Durden Do?) For to me, anyone who displays these items is someone who is so obsessive about their beliefs that they will argue heatedly their beliefs, then after that, will argue violently their beliefs, and then kill for their beliefs. And these arguments have led to some of the longest, most violent, and bloody wars in our planets history, some of which are still raging to this day.

Suffice it to say that I am fucking scared.

FOR THE REAL GOD THUGS GRAFFITI THAT IS REALLY IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD, CLICK BELOW:

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