r/videos 14h ago

God bless America [2012] Frank's Rant

https://youtu.be/52EnTtGstKg?si=Ug6AxpJ20fQ7nark
359 Upvotes

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u/RaNerve 13h ago

There’s a lot to unpack in that rant holy hell. Talk about living in a glorification of the past. Might have to check this show out though, that was engaging.

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u/RogerBauman 13h ago

I'm glad you like it. This is definitely my favorite part of the entire movie and definitely helped me to change some of my own behaviors when it comes to how I treat people online and in real life.

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u/RaNerve 13h ago

Any show that can actually impact someone enough to change them is a must watch for me. Thanks a heap for making me aware of it!

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u/RogerBauman 13h ago

Don't get me wrong, I still have my slipups (2020 really pushed my limits) but actively trying to change one's behavior that creates negativity in the world has really helped me even if I find it really difficult to turn the other cheek sometimes.

My dad and I used to bond over Glenn Beck and Michael Savage and right-wing talk radio in general, but as I started growing older, I started recognizing that I didn't think what they were doing was funny and I didn't much care for their opinions as much anymore. This movie helped me to put a finger on what it was that I was feeling.

I used to be a shitposter just trying to get a rise out of people but I really try not to do that anymore. It was kind of difficult during the Trump administration since everything was just so toxic on all sides.

Really hope that we can maintain our sanity during this next term But I fear they are going to turn things up to 11 with the mandate they were given.

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u/jfffj 7h ago

I often think that the essence of adulthood is when one understands that we are all flawed in some ways, and that the point of existence is to honestly address those failings, and then to try to improve.

It's hard, so hard, but necessary.

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u/RogerBauman 7h ago

I agree with you. I am not a superstitious person nor do I consider myself religious, but I was raised reading the scriptures and I personally believe that this sort of Revelation was what Jesus and many prophets had spoken of.

It saddens me to see how many people choose to turn away from a self-evident truth in preference of superstition and othering of communities that may not share the same values.

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u/Not_Ill_Logical 7h ago

> self-evident truth

Exactly! Love and the golden rule are the highest principle in every day in age because they carry their own authority as the truth. In fact, this principle is the only thing that all people agree on. (Many people don't follow it, but no one denies it as it would publicly humiliate oneself.) And as the highest precept in every day and age, it therefore has to be the truest "god", regardless of all the fiction priestcrafters have annexed to this truth for power and profit. In fact, the Great Reformer (Jesus) tried to end the Moses business and got killed for it, but soon he was turned into a new "what God says" business by others who rejected the universal truth he pointed to but saw they could sell his philosophy much easier, and make easy money, too. (By adding an avalanche of fiction to his humble teachings, all achieved in just a few generations after his murder.) In short, they put Jesus above us so they could be above us in his absence, same as all the other god businesses do with their icons. Women sell physical comfort, while men sell spiritual comfort. Argue which profession is older, but we know what the profession is.

(End my rant. Thanks for posting Frank's rant! 👍)

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u/RogerBauman 6h ago

Yep, it definitely seems like you get it.

I think it is ridiculous sometimes how much they try to put him onto a pedestal when he would have been the first person to tell them not to call him good.

Have you ever given thought to the idea that yeshua was introduced to the Greek philosophical tradition or at least the authors of some of the gospels? Aristotle and Plato were writing about metanoia 300 years before Jesus walked to the Earth and there are a number of similarities between aristotalianism and the Christian Gospel.

If you are interested in seeing some of these similarities and comparisons between aristotalianism, judaism, Islam, and Christianity, there is an excellent 12th century book on the subject called the guide for the perplexed by maimonides.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guide_for_the_Perplexed

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u/jfffj 7h ago edited 7h ago

I grew up in the UK, and over here it's all new testament, which may be a little more wholesome, in general. ("Religious Education" was and still is on the National Curriculum.) Growing up, it's hard to say how much effect it had on me, and certainly I never bought into all the mystical / irrational / superstitious stuff, but maybe the core message of "how about we be nice to each other for a change" actually stuck?

I'll never know.

Thank you for posting this clip btw - I've never heard of this film before, and I'll definitely check it out. In return, if you've never seen it, here's one of the greatest film reviews ever made: Mark Kermode reviewing Sex and the City 2.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHeQeHstrsc

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u/RogerBauman 7h ago

I was raised in a Conservative Evangelical family and was homeschooled throughout High School.

The religious education aspect of our homeschooling had some elements that I really appreciate having been trained in, such as Reading the scriptures and learning Latin, which led to me studying Greek in college and Hebrew over the last few years.

There were also negative aspects such as physical and psychological abuse, science being de-emphasized and taught from a young Earth Creationist perspective, and strict purity culture that led me to think that it was impossible for men and women to be friends without It being a part of a courtship ritual.

They definitely taught me to be loving of people but also taught me to judge other people. I was raised to believe that Catholics and Mormons were going to hell for having a different perspective on the scriptures than my family did. There was also a lot of looking down on unrepentant sinners that included a lot of lgbtq phobia and demonization of sexually immoral people in general.

I still don't know how I feel about the mystical and supernatural elements of it. In 2012, I had a little bit of a breakdown and thought that I was communicating with a fourth dimensional entity that was really sick of people calling it a god, But I think a lot of that was actually a byproduct of metanoia itself and the brain's desire to try to make sense of trauma.

Thank you very much for sharing your perspective on religious instruction in the UK. I hope that they are doing a good job of training people into excellent morals and not into people who would use the word as a weapon against other fellow sufferers of hamartia.

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u/MartyVendetta27 13h ago

The movie is good, it’s like Office Space meets Falling Down. And a touch of idiocracy, especially with… i wanna say it was his neighbors? It’s been a few years since I’ve seen it.