Monkey Butter's blog: "Juggalo Sermons...Rev. Last Rite"

'm not sure if I've ever told you the story about the Two Bibles. I'm unsure because like many salty sailors I tend to tell and re-tell stories and of course there is always the occasional sea story that I tell. For those of you who don't know the difference between a sea stories and fairy tales is that fairy tales start with 'Once upon a time...' and sea stories begin with 'This is no shit'. Well here's a 'no shitter' for you. When I was stationed onboard USS Harry S Truman CVN-75, I frequented the smoke pit. The smoke pit isn't an actual pit, it's just a section of the ship that is designated for smoking and all the sailors that smoke go there to puff a cigarette and engage in daily conversation. Where the smoke pit was located was right next to the Chaplain's office. Outside the Chaplain's office is a book shelf where free spiritual literature is posted so sailors walking by can pick their own copy of the "Daily Bread" or grab a condensed military bible to bring to their rack (bed in the Navy) or work space. I usually grab the occasional literature that catches my eye just to see what other ministers are preaching about, kind of a professional courtesy. I walked out to the smoke pit like I usually do and lit my cigarette and started a conversation with the shipmate or marine standing next to me. Sometimes with 1000 or more sailors coming out to smoke throughout the day there are a lot of lit cigarette butts and some of those don't make it in the butt can where they are supposed to go. Whenever the butt cans get full and people start throwing things into them that aren't supposed to go in them like paper and empty cigarette packs and a small fire can occur. This usually starts with a whole lot of acrid smoke billowing out of the butt can and usually a concerned sailor like myself puts his boot in the can to smother the fire before it can start. After all if the smoking can is left unattended then a small fire starts, the wrong people see the fire and the smoke pit gets closed which means a lot of nicotine crazed sailors that are unhappy for the rest of the day. That particular day the butt can started to smoke and I looked inside it to see what was burning expecting to see paper or an empty cigarette pack. What I saw was a military bible starting to smolder. Needless to say I was upset. Everyone has the right to believe or not to believe in the Bible, but to grab a free bible from the Chaplain's office and then throw it in the butt can is just down right disrespectful and unnecessary. If you don't want to read it, put it back where you found it or give it to someone else. So I snatched the bible out of the fire and its impending doom and brushed it off. It was hot and had a cigarette burn on it. It looked like if I had waited another minute it would have ignited and there would have been no saving it. Knowing that no one is going to want this little charred book, I stuffed it into my right inner pocket of my utility jacket. A week later, I walked out to the smoke pit like I always do and it had been raining. Low and behold there was another little bible floating in a puddle of water while everyone walked around it like it wasn't there. I scooped the soaked bible from the water and rang it out as best I could. Knowing that no one is ever going to want a sopping bible I stuffed it into my left pocket of my utility jacket. I kept these little bibles in my left and right pocket of the utility jacket for the longest time, they are still there to this day. When asked why I have two bibles in my jacket, I tell people that it is my holy armor, one saved from fire and the other from water. It seems like this day and age the common mentality of people is I don't care. Just like those that were around me in the smoke pit who didn't care enough to take a bible out of a burning butt can or bend over and pick a bible up out of a salty puddle of water, folks didn't seem to care. Our lack of caring has extended to the point that we stopped caring so much that we are now complacent. Oblivious to the world around us and now we are stuck in our own little mundane box. Maybe it's a generational problem, where each coming generation just stopped caring about everything. Perhaps it is a taste of things to come. Maybe we have just become so desensitized to the wicked world around us that we just don't have the heart to do anything about it. It seems that folks have not only stopped caring about the world and what's going on, but they stopped caring about themselves and the paths in which they are on. We are entering into a world that it about to change. What we knew in the past as reality will not serve us in the coming years. Nor will the complacency that appears to have consumed us. It is time for the world to take a step back and say, 'how do we fix this'. The Presidential Inauguration of the First Black President of the United States marks the age of a new era. Not just for the United States but for the world. I remember during the Presidential Campaign the signs that were the voice of the people. "Change", "We Can Do It", and "Si, Se Puede" or "Yes, We Can" seem to become a calling for people. The Juggalo Nation appears to be going through the same Change. Complacency has damaged our youth and our Family. Not only have we stopped caring about others, but we have stopped caring about our Family, we have stopped caring about ourselves. Change and the direction in which we take our Family and take ourselves is dependent totally upon the Individual. If the Individual doesn't care about his/her own life how can one expect them to care about others. And if the Individual doesn't care about others than how can we expect them to care about the Juggalo Family. How long will it take us to wake up from this complacency. Will we sit behind our keyboards or hidden in our own houses with only to wake up from the covers being pulled over heads and realize that the dream of a multicultural, all accepting Family full of love and joy is gone from us. That we let it slip away. We will have no one to blame but ourselves. We must break away from the thought process of self, break out from the selfish and run towards the ideals of selflessness. We must Change and we can change if each one of us wishes to do their part and give a little more to something that they believe is greater than the one and requires the many to succeed. Everyone needs someone to look after them. Everyone needs that holy armor or the sense of security that someone or something is watching out for them. Just like those little bibles, everyone needs someone to help them out of the fire and to lift their heads above the water. The great ship of our lives is setting sail and all are welcome aboard.

Sup Juggalos, Here's some news that we have for you coming down the wire. 2008 has been a hard year for everyone. I'm reminded of 'Family Guy' when Cleveland was playing the Civil Rights Board Game and Peter asked "Does anyone ever really win at this game? Cleveland responded with "You never win you just do a little better every time." That's like FOJ is when it comes to running a large church. You never really win you just do a little better every year. Let me first start off this review by hitting you with the bad news and then later I'll come with the left hook for the good news. * First off, we have had a lot of well "deadbeat" clergy for lack of a better term. That means that we have some individuals who are clergy that are in our database as clergy and we don't hear from them for periods of multiple months at a time. Granted I understand that communication is difficult for some people. But for va beach chapter we have individuals who are clergy who refuse to show up to weekly clergy meetings. Being a member of clergy is all about sacrificing. Time is the biggest thing to sacrifice. So to help alleviate this problem we have generated some Policies and Procedures which I will be posting shortly that will let clergy know what is expected to them and what at the bear minimum must happen for them to remain in good standing with the church. Think of it as a job, if you never show up to work and don't give a reason to why you don't show up to work and never tell anyone why you're not showing up to work then sooner or later you're going to be replaced. The work load doesn't stop just because an individual stopped coming * One of the guarantees that I offer our congregation is the right to a sound safe environment in which to worship. We do this in many ways, one of these ways is we have our webmasters like Rev. Wicked Wyatt and Deacon Giggleshasmcl make sure there is no pornography on the website. We read all the emails on the website and scan for bigotry, hatred and do our best to keep the drama down to a manageable level. I try to hold the same committment to those that actually attend services in person, those that come to the weekly sunday service. In light of recent events, the secure place in which we were holding service has become unsecure. I will not go into details as to how I feel that this is so. Know that we are currently looking for a safe secure location in which to hold Sunday Service. Until then, Rev. Dave, Rev. Checks, Rabbi Ponix and myself will be attempting to do a webcast. We are investigating different avenues that allow for a live broadcast in which individuals online and around the globe can participate in. The criteria will be it needs to be cheap, easy and readily accessible. Bare with us as we are toying with a couple of these ideas that we are going to try out. We can expect to be broadcasting at the very latest February. Any ideas you have please send them to Rev. Dave or myself. * Speaking of Internet connectivity. FOJ has moved from our MSN group that you are familiar with to another location. We are now available at the following locations: http://fellowshipofjuggalos/groups.live.com , My Juggalo Space has an FOJ group, and Multiply.com has two groups. Sermons are still available via www.juggalofaith.com . http://myjuggalospace.com/rev_last_rite , and www.myspace.com/rev_last_rite . We are working to create an all source ".com" site. You will see various FOJ myspaces, these are currently not being updated. Either the moderator lost the password or it hasn't been updated in so long the information is no longer valid. I would ask that the creators of these myspace accounts would delete them or request that they be deleted. I want a one source myspace so that everyone can go to it. We will be working on that as well. * On the brighter side of things, as you might have noticed I stated that we have a clergy database. Keeping this database and updating can be a pain in the butt, however this allows us to ordain our own clergy. Rabbi Ponix being not only the first Jewish Juggalo Minister to be ordained but the first Minister to be ordained by the Fellowship Of Juggalos vice Universal Life Church. Once I have the whole database updated I will be mailing out paperwork for Ministers to fill out and submit back to us and then we can start issuing certificates and credentials. One road block in the way of doing this is 1. updating the whole database (i.e. phone numbers, emails, addresses from both Ministers and Deacons and 2. having our new logo completed so that we can put it as a seal on our documents. * This brings me to the new logo. Rabbi Ponix as you may or may not recall was the creator of our first FOJ crest, the one with the Lotus Cross, the Hatchetman and the different religious symbols, a wonderful piece of work really. He has come up with the new FOJ Crest, which will have the Lotus Cross, different religious symbols and have two new items to it. Introducing the Shangri La man, which is a running man with a ball of light in his hand and instead of stating ULC in the corner it says in fiery letters FOJ. Once he is complete and has it digitized so it can easily be replicated we can move on with a lot of work. Hint Hint Rabbi. I'm going to need the combined forces of volunteers and Clergy to make 2009 a productive year. FOJ has grown to the 10,000s and is heard of across the globe. We are making a difference. We are changing lives. Now more than ever we need to come together as a team so that we can provide for the people that we serve...our Juggalo Family. The Juggalo Creed needs to reach the lips of every Juggalo and become our mantra. Faith needs to go forth to every Juggalo both far and wide. Like a Lotus, if you care for it and you cherish it then you hold it in your arms and you help it grow. How much we grow and how far we grow depends on you. How much and how little we accomplish depends on you. FOJ can no longer rest on the backs of the few but must be carried in the heart by the many. MCL Rev. Last Rite

Sup Juggalos, Again we are talking about certain things that according to Mosaic Law or the word of God in the Old Testament. When discussing the Sabbath Laws understand that there is a purpose behind some of these laws. It says that the fields must be sowed and harvested for six years while the seventh year the fields are to be untouched. This was to allow the animals and poor to eat from the fields, however leaving a field unattended and allowing wild animals on them also helps the soil. Every time that you reap and sow a field you rob nutrients from the soil. If you give a field a chance to rest than the nutrients can get replenished. We already know that on the Sabbath Day everyone is supposed to rest, of course in this day and age that's almost impossible, but for people that work the land it is very possible. The reason for the rest is to not only have a day of worship but also to give the slaves and workers a chance to rest. Interesting enough, there is a lot of focus upon harvest, crops and livestock which also bears a resemblance to the focus for ancient Pagan cultures as well. This is easily explainable in the sense that crops and livestock meant survival and basic needs and as cultures dwell close by and in some cases intermingled the concerns of one culture was shared by another. This plays a big part in the Three Annual Festivals. The Feast of Unleavened Bread was a festival designed to celebrate the Exodus from Egypt and involved celebrating with bread that isn't baked with yeast so the bread is flat. The Feast of Harvest in which offerings and food from the first fruits of the crops were used to celebrate and the Feast of Ingathering that was used to celebrate the end of the harvest year. Sacrifices were used during this time as well. The blood sacrifice had to be prepared a certain way or it was considered to be offensive like cooking a young goat in its mother's milk was considered to be offensive. It's funny in the sense that when modern day people think about blood sacrifice the first image that they conjure up is Satanism or witchcraft when in all actually this was a perfectly acceptable practice over 2000 years ago. God's Angel to Prepare the Way 20 "See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. 22 If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. 23 My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. 24 Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces. 25 Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, 26 and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span. 27 "I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. 28 I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. 29 But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land. 31 "I will establish your borders from the Red Sea [a] to the Sea of the Philistines, [b] and from the desert to the River. [c] I will hand over to you the people who live in the land and you will drive them out before you. 32 Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods. 33 Do not let them live in your land, or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you." As the Hebrews increase in numbers their need for resources will increase as well. After all, there is no TIVO or WOW to keep people occupied with their spare time and with working from sun up to sun down, there's a whole lot of humping going on. Good crops, good harvest, good sex equals more babies. More babies means the need for more space and more food. It kind of reminds me of the move "Midnight at the Museum" where the little roman character says "If we do not expand, we will die". Unfortunately the Hebrews are not the only culture in need of space and resources, so the only way to get more land and more resources is to take it from someone else. So into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites they will go. So the people of these lands have no choice but to flee or be wiped out. Now the Ten Commandments talk that God is a Jealous God and that He doesn't want his chosen people to worship other gods so put the other people to the sword and crush their temples and destroy their idols. I would like to say that there is a better way, but the people during this time period didn't see it that way.

Someone had asked why can't there be peace on Earth. Why can't everyone get along and stop with the wars. I wish I had a peaceful logical answer to this. I too, share the dream that one day Man will put aside his differences and learn to work together to ensure peace and prosperity. However, the reality remains that we are a consuming people. We consume to thrive. For us to consume we must have resources and when you look at some of the conflicts being fought even today it is a battle over resources disguised as a battle over religion. I am sad to say that we use religion as an excuse to destroy other cultures when we should be using the moralities and values taught from all different religions to enhance our culture and spirituality. I would like to say that war is something that Man engages in and battles with and that Man could curb his appetite for destruction if he really saw fit to do so. However, with Humans being at the top of the food chain and controlling the population of the planet what do we really have to control our own population? Mother Nature does her best to thin us out with disease, famine, and other natural processes that bring about death, but when someone else has a cure, or land, or food and you have none you will fight to achieve these things. War controls our population, we thin ourselves out. It is sad that Life is so carelessly thrown away. Allow me to present this, if you stuck a handful selfish people in a room and left them one bagel. The first thing they will do is attempt to reason as why one person should get the bagel and one should not, eventually as hunger grows, reasoning will be thrown out the window and accusations will begin to fly. Fighting will began and the blood bath will ensue and each will fight over the bagel. Before the death can begin, open the door. Ask what each individual was fighting about and you will see religion, politics, race, culture, family, and other topics be the response, maybe one of them will say I just wanted the bagel. The bagel was the powder keg, while the individual disputes was the catalyst. I highly disagree with it, but unfortunately that is the reality. Religion should never be used as a weapon. MCL

Heavenly Father of Shangri La: Father, why has my attendance gone down? I preached of Clown Luv and received none. I spoke of unity, yet saw none. The Drama and Hate of a few has destroyed the Faith of many. Is the Dark Carnival another testament of your word? Was it not meant to show the Family your Love? Was it not meant to show us the path to Shangri La and the horrors of Hellspit? Or is this merely just music? Is this just an excuse for Ninjas to smile in the presence of their brother and hate him when their brother is absent? I envisioned that a Juggalo is a Faithful servant of the Dark Carnival, who though plagued by Demons and Frustrations, deep in their hearts lies the Love of a Family and the potential to do good. A Juggalo's Religious background didn't matter, and their interpretation of god was theirs alone to make. But I am told that a Juggalo should be evil. I am told of a group of Juggalos who beat up a little boy and then stole his bike, using the banner of the Hatchet as an excuse to commit this act of Hate and perpetration of being a Bully. Were we not bullied as children ourselves? Were we not hated by society and shunned by those we cared about? Who are we then to commit acts of hatred against the innocent? Do we not lower ourselves to the standards of those who have hated us? And what of Bigotry? Bigotry being defined as the intolerance of another person's race, creed, sex, lifestyle and opinions. I felt that Juggalos were open-minded creatures. A Ninja who is open-minded does not necessarily have to agree with another individual but should at least respect their difference of opinion. Father, I am called an occult leader and a lunatic and I am persecuted for my Faith. At no time did I ever force anyone to believe in the Dark Carnival, fore I too know that you can lead the horse to water, but you cannot make it drink. I respect that not all Juggalos believe in the Dark Carnival. I see that Juggalos are as diverse as the stars and planets. And what of the tongues of Vipers? So many would come to me. I would open my heart and my home to them. They would sit at my table and feast with me. They would hear my words and graciously accept my Charity only to turn their backs and spit venom about me...only to slap away the hand of friendship and naw away at its fingers. I am told that I am Greedy, yet the Generosity to the pot comes from my own wallet. I am told that I am stingy, though the purse that their hand rested in was mine. Did I not Love enough? Did I not give enough? Did I not share wisdom? And yet the children continue to fight. Is the world too small so that Ninjas cannot co-exist? Can not Man set aside its own transgressions to help each other? Know this, I am not innocent of evil myself, nor am I so bold to claim to be righteous. I too am to blame. I admit that I have made mistakes. I have listened to the half-truthes of others and have based decisions on them. I have misjudged. And I have asked for Forgiveness. I have adapted and overcame. I have reconstructed myself and evolved. Father, grant me the strength to continue my work, the firmness of Faith to prevail. I ask for the unclouding of minds and the litening of hearts. Give me the power to do your will, to love the Mother of Nature, to open myself to the mysteries, the magic and the Spirits. Shield me from evil, hate, bigotry and demons and dark forces that I cannot see that would do me harm. I am thankful for those that remain Faithful, they truly give me purpose. My heart bleeds for the Family and the Dark Carnival, may it not drain every last drop. For the light of Shangri La... Amen

Sup Juggalos, This sermon is going to be part of a series of sermons that will focus on values and Juggalo Interaction with one another and non-Juggalos alike. In this day and age people, especially young people have fallen away from personal values and how to peacefully and productively interact with our fellow man. This may be due to the cumbling of modern day society. Today's human is quick to raise a fist instead of an eyebrow. Betrayal and indifference replaces loyalty and compassion. Quick judgement and disregard replace informed decisions and responsibility. In FOJ's mission statement, I state that we must take back what greed, hatred, bigotry and jealousy have taken from us. During a typical FOJ sponsored Juggalo baptism we vow against greed, hatred, bigotry and jealousy. Part of this battle involves defining and holding true the values that we should hold dear as a Family. This sermon involves openning your home to your fellow man. Home is where the heart is. It's where the majority of our happy memmories are formed. It's where you raise your children and it is also the place where you store your goods and personal sentimental items. In our culture as Juggalos we have a lot of homeless ninjas...people who have fallen on hard times, just starting out, or even those that need a boot to the butt. Openning our homes to homeless ninjas is a blessing from the Carnival. We open our hearts and homes out of compassion. However, sometimes when we open our home we get more than what we bargained for. Understand that when you make an addition to your household there will be certain things to consider. The most obvious is finances. With each member that you add into your house there will be more items being consumed than normal. Electricity (especially for you gamers), water, food for the fat kids, even items such as toilette paper get used up quicker. You need to expect that your grocery bill is going to go up as well as your utility bills. A good Juggalo will get a job or have some sort of income to help you with those bills even if they aren't paying rent. The next thing to consider is personalities. Whenever you have differing Individuals under one roof, personalities will clash. Emotions will run high. There may even be heated moments where people may say hurtful things that they don't mean to say. Undue stress and clashing personalities will happen and are common place in large or extended households. Try to do things together as a Family, but also be patient and respectful of other people's personal times. Couples may want to be alone, parents may want to spend some time with their kids, and individuals may want some peace and quiet for themselves. Try taking up hobbies that fun and time consuming. Do simple things to attempt to mitigate or lessen drama. Talk out problems CALMLY. Address issues in a manner that is calm and stick to the points trying to be made. If you feel yourself getting angry go be by yourself. Avoid the he said/she said. Theft is a big problem. I would like to tell you that everyone who is a Juggalo is honorable, but realization proves this is not to be true. Juggalos should never steal from other Juggalos. To do so lacks courage and integrity. If a Juggalo invites you into their homes do no touch what does not belong to you. Is a pack of cigarettes, money, cds/dvds worth enough to lose a friend over? Don't place items of importance in plain view and readily accessible for wandering hands. Clean up after yourself. More ofter than not items are misplaced or under clutter vice actually being stolen. Which brings us to cleanliness. Clean up after yourself and when you are done offer to clean something else. Always try to leave something better than how you found it. Take frequent showers and bath yourself. It sounds ridiculous me having said that, but you would be surprised how many adults don't groom themselves properly. If you have animals or pets clean up after them too. These are just some of the issues that can be encountered when you take another ninja into your home. It would be beneficial for both parties to sit down and have a heart to heart. Lay down the ground rules, compromise and be specific. If the ninja is jobless give them a set time to get a job. 30 days is ample time to gain some sort of employment. Talk about cleanliness, who's cleaning what. It's good to discuss daily routines. What tasks or fun things that you do everyday. Communication is the key to any personal relationship. Discuss your likes and dislikes. No one enters into someone's home with the intentions of offending them so it's good to get it all out in the open ahead of time. If you are taking someone into your home try to be mindful of the fact that this is a stressful experience for both the homeless ninja entering into your home and the host. If you are a homeless ninjas about to be added into someone's home remember to be respectful, this is not your home. Your homie out of the pure kindness of their heart is taking you in. Return kindness with kindness. Be responsible for your own actions. Don't be a dead beat roommate. Another Juggalo is taking a big risk so you can get back on your feet, so don't drop anchor, do what you have to do to get the ball rolling. Also don't do anything that would jeopardize the household that you are entering into. Ninjas can get evicted for things other than bills. A household can be evicted for excessive noise, drugs, property destruction, and other illicit/illegal activities even if they didn't cause it. Juggalos, taking Family into your home is a decision that requires forethought. It should be heavily weighed by not just the host but the homie moving in. Honesty and Communication eliminates problems ahead of time. A new household that is extended should act as a functioning Family unit. If for some reason it doesn't work out. It is best to leave and part ways as Family than to part ways as fierce enemies with hurt feelings. MCL Rev. Last Rite Founder, Presiding Minister Fellowship Of Juggalos