I recently bought this patch that says “No Gods,” and it kinda brought me back to seek the original idea of a religious free society. “Religious free” doesn’t mean that you don’t believe in anything - it just imparts that dogmas aren’t worth following, whether it’s Christian, Islamic, Hindhu or whatever. The dogmas of the old world were created to drill people, so they would follow and fit into a hierarchy-based society. Priests and prophets are only humans, just like anybody else, and their drive for power puts them in a place of control. The power of words is still strong and it’s the only way to reach your cipher.

The recent terror attacks in Paris or Beirut follow the schemes of dogma. It’s not necessarily a war, but more of a problem of misled people and foremost young people following the dogma of leaders greedy for power who want to watch the world burn. Those leaders preach hate and destruction just for their own benefit and you’ll find them everywhere - and it’s gonna happen anywhere! It’s part of our society - we neglected to fight for our freedom of speech for so long, and now it’s spiraling downwards. The reaction to terror is more control, more weapons, more dogma - what we need though is humanistic education and interaction. What were these idols again? Liberty, equality, fraternity.

You can conceal any of these, as we are heading towards regression. Power, these days measured in money equaling wealth, and corruption have replaced the idea of social coexistence and happiness. Whether you agree or not - IS is the bastard child of Western Society. It has grown out of the Western appetite for destruction, which you can find in any freaking part of our heritage - and even pop culture. The militarization of our culture is in full bloom. Just think of the Playstation battlefronts that are fought every night in virtual reality. And who’s gonna explain the next generation what reality actually is? The media already speaks about the ‘normality’ of terror attacks - we ask, who is launching these ideas? Fuck all this! Love one another!

NO GODS, JUST US! Have a prosperous new year 2016!

Yours truly,

Lodown

Neil A. Unger’s Board Stories

Jamie Reid’s Advice

The Nature Of The Experiment

by Gardar Eide Einarsson

Beauty and Destruction

by Magnus Gjoen

History is referential

by Eric Beltz

What’s the World

by Musa N. Nxumalo

Crystal Anthems

by Vernon Deck

Pain Is Universal

by Ashkan Honarvar

WALK THIS WAY

by Sophie Bramly

Jennylee

Hinds

WHAT UP, DOE?

by Bernardo Aviles-Busch

Alex Zhang Hungtai

Beatsteaks

Junior Boys

Dangerous Half-Light

by Sam Wolfe Connelly

CERN

by Jane Stockdale

Elaborate Primitivism

by Ramsey Dau

The Year in Review / Movies

PLANA–ZO!

America Amplified

by Paul Rucker

Cold Calls & Croissantification

by Janet Delaney

Meissen is out of Bounds

by Penny Byrne

No More Corporate BLues

Quasi Skateboards / Chad Bowers