The Best Potter Yet

Well I went and done it already. I purchased my copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Saturday morning at 9:30am (when the bookstore opened), sat down at 10:30am and apart from bathroom breaks, dinner breaks, and walking the dog, I read the entire book finishing in the week hours of Sunday morning at 4:30am. The book was so well written, I just couldn't put it down. And besides, the rest of the world and myself waiting nearly two years for the final chapter in Harry Potter's life.

And let me tell you, it was the finest read of all the books. Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione are full of adventure, suspense, dark emotions, and incredible confrontations with evil. The ending was spectacular and has more Christian themes in it than all the other books combined. I am sure that won't make much difference to all the 'Harry-haters' out there who think his books are more about the occult than themes of loyalty, friendship, and good triumphing evil. As is often the case, you can get out of Harry whatever you read into it. And, if you're open to a great adventure, all the questions being resolved from the other books, and an ending to beat all endings, then this is the book for you.

The book, while incredibly well written, also has some disturbing parts and some eye-opening ones. I discovered that Dumbledore isn't quite the hero I always thought he was (Harry discovered this too). But you know, in real life, especially as we grow older, we often discover that our childhood heroes has limitations and skeletons in their closets. However, the author, J.K. Rowling doesn't discount him and neither does Harry. We just learn that we're all human, and some of us more so than others.

I was also pleasantly surprised to learn about Snapes' involvement and heroism in the story. As you remember from the preceding book, he kills Dumbledore. Without giving too much away, he and Dumbledore knew the moment was coming when something had to be done.

Anyways, the book is full of great eye-openers and revelations especially the one regarding Harry's mom and her biological sister. In the end, there is a final battle that beats all battles and what Harry has to do will surprise you--and once you're surprised, the story continues further. In the end, the book wraps everything up as only Rowling could do it and it makes perfect sense. I won't give away the ending but I know you'll enjoy it (if you're a fan of Harry Potter).

Keep in mind that the book is 750 pages. The good thing is that you won't mind so much because you'll be turning pages before you know it and the book will satisfy you as you go about it.

My hats off to JK Rowling who, unlike most sequels that suck, actually turned out the best book of all.

A Fun Video to Watch

Here is someone mouthing the words to Sister Sisters I Don't Feel Like Dancing. It's awfully cute. A hat tip to Famous Like Me's blog.

Peanuts Grown Up... or growing up that is..

Follow this link to an artist's rendition of Charles Shultz's post adolescent Peanuts gang. It is really very interestingly and well drawn.

An Unexpected Cost of Living in NYC

There are many costs to living in the one of the greatest cities in the world. With the cost of a 1 BR apartment in Tribeca going for $9500/mo to a $2 million dollar for a 2 BR/2 BA apartment, just making ends meet won't allow you to be a part of such a thriving metropolis. Add to that the cost of maintenance which could easier be over $1200/mo on top of your mortgage and you have to make a whole heck of a lot of money if you want to live there. That is, of course, if you're unwilling to live in the seedier and scarier parts of town.

When I lived in Manhattan, I lived on the northernmost tip of it in a neighborhood called Inwood. I had a regular sized 1 br apartment and paid only $1100/mo in rent. Sure, I didn't live anywhere near the happening places of the island. I was next to 2 major subway lines and I was within walking distance of Manhattan's oldest park that also housed Columbia University's Crew team. While it wasn't the safest area in town, there were far scarier neighborhoods in Manhattan than mine.

However, if you live anywhere south of 125th Street, you could find yourself paying an astronomical amount of money every month for rent and a whole lot more for a mortgage. It wouldn't be surprising to pay over a million and a half dollars for a 1 BR or converted studio apartment. So it isn't too much of a stretch then to read an article where one parking spot in the Chelsea section of Manhattan is going for $225,000 just to have a place to park your car. Here is an interesting news article about the high cost of parking spots in NYC and other major metropolitan cities where land is expensive because most of it is owned by other people.

He Didn't See It Coming

This is kind of funny although you know it hurt.

On a lighter note...

A producer for Daniel Radcliffe, the actor who plays Harry Potter in the extremely high-grossing movie franchise, is emphatically proclaiming that Radcliffe is straight. One only needs to see how Radcliffe's been trying to shed his boy wizard imagery to understand why such a pronouncement is necessary.

My thoughts are simple: if he doesn't want people to think he's gay, he needs to stop doing London theatre in the buff and posing for pictures with next to no clothes on, or dressing up like a leather boy on his way to the Fulsom Street Fair in San Francisco. And take this picture, for instance, I mean, you can understand why folks are thinking he'd rather saddle with Professor Snape than take Cho to the evening ball (for you non-Harry enthusiasts, Cho is Harry's girlfriend in the books and movies). The way I see it, there are only three options for Radcliffe's odd behavior:

1. He has no idea what he's doing;
2. He knows exactly what he's doing in trying to shed the Potter image (even before he's finished making two more movies, not counting the one due out next week). Could he derail his chances to continue being the young boy turned young man wizard in any upcoming movie?
3. He has a public* (corrected from a hilarious misspelling) image director who is a moron and likes to put Harry in uncompromising situations.

My guess it's the latter. Still, if he keeps up this sort of thing the only movies he'll be in will be those called, Harry Pooter and the Prisoner of Ass-kaban.

Theology According to Homer Simpson

I sit here amazed and dumbfounded. I now understand that Homer was right after all, at least according to Pope Benedict. In a recently released statement, the Pope reaffirmed and reminded the world that the Catholic Church is the universal primacy that its always claimed to be but Benedict event went so far as to say that if you're not in the Roman Catholic Church, then you are either defective (as are the Orthodox Churches) or not a true church at all (everyone else) and are not a means to salvation.

Of course, most Protestant churches would agree that their church isn't a means to salvation, only Jesus is. And one might be tempted to 'read into the Pope's statement' that he means the church and Jesus are somehow intertwined in such a way that he really means what Protestant churches say. But he doesn't. The Roman Catholic Church is THE ONLY church Jesus authorized and by means of apostolic succession, the RCC continues to lay claim as the only heir to Jesus' continued physical and spirtiual manifestation on earth.

When one talks about ecumenism and "we're all in this together", one doesn't think of Homer Simpson and two versions of heaven: the boring Protestant heaven and the partying Catholic one. It seems the Pope's version of heaven is closer Homer than many Protestants who think we'll all be mixed there together, in one form or another.

There is a new book by Mark Pinsky aptly titled, The Gospel According to the Simpsons, explores the spirituality and gospel message of Homer Simpson. In this book, Pinsky explains,

[Homer's] capacity for love dwarfs his failings. Even God sees this. Homer can't stand his fundamentalist Christian neighbor (sic.), Flanders, and is bored to death by the sermons of the weary Reverend Lovejoy. He also has little time for the Bible – “If the Bible has taught us nothing else,” he tells Lisa, "and it hasn't, it's that girls should stick to girls' sports." But when God drops in for a chat, he discovers in Homer a surprisingly convincing theology. Basically, this is that life is tough and humans are hopeless but, without making a fuss about it, God is always there as the last safety net. And, when He's not around, there's love.

"It is Homer," writes Mark Pinsky in his book The Gospel According to The Simpsons, "who has the most personal relationship with God." A special hat tip to Andrew Sullivan for this quote.

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I just hope when the endgame is tallied, that Homer isn't right about the heavens. Check out this video and you'll see what I mean.



I find it dishonorable that a person of faith can be so callous and self-righteous to assume that his understanding of God is so complete that he would make such a statement proclaiming the RCC as the only true church AND that everyone else either has it wrong or has somehow screwed up their church to warrant their exclusion from God's realm. You know, if we're going to do an historical analysis of how "the church" has screwed up in its history, one doesn't have to look far to the Crusades, the Inquisition, and the selling of Indulgences that the RCC made happen. Heck, we can stay in the past century and look at priestly abuses to children and their families.

Instead of making amends for its horrid past, the Pope ought to instead ask humbly if they can join the rest of the world's Christians in coming to God, rather than protecting its Bishops, covering up its sins, and proclaiming to the world, "You're wrong, your church is wrong but thankfully you have us, the RCC to lead you in the path of righteousness."

No wonder there are so many atheists, agnostics, and the like. If the RCC is the only choice for Christianity (and for many folks in the world they are), I too might choose to not believe in anything rather that align myself with Pope Benedict.

To be fair, I know some great American Catholic priests who have a heart for Jesus and a love for everyone else. My disdain is directly aimed at this pompass-assed Pope. Hopefully one day the RCC will find its own redemption when it finally chooses a Pope with the humility and kindness that Jesus had hoped would sustain his church, after he was gone.

Things an Employer Can Do and Cannot Do

I just read a news article about a court case in which an employer, who is Christian, fired one of his employers because the employer discovered his employee to be gay. The employer is citing religious freedom as his defense. The attorney defending the fired employee said that "People who hold those views (that gay people are sinners and are going to hell) have to know that they can't act on them with regard to employment." What he probably could have said that was more clear was, "You can believe anything you want, but those beliefs cannot infringe upon the rights of an employee, if those rights are protected by law." See. This is more clear.

If you are an employer, you can fire someone for dishonesty (lying, cheating, or stealing). You can terminate an employee if they don't show up for work, or if they don't do their work, or if the word they do is below specified standards of productivity. You can fire someone for disrespect, dishonoring the ethics of the company, or causing mischief (as long as the mischief is spelled out and defined in the employees handbook).

As an employer in New York and New Jersey, you cannot fire someone because they are an atheist, a Jew, a Christian, or a Muslim. They might be going to hell but, even if they are and you hire them (you cannot refuse to hire someone of a different religion either, but that's another post), you cannot fire them for it. You cannot legally fire someone if they are an African American (or an African, for that matter). You cannot fire someone because they are fat, or too thin (like whoever would do that, right?), or bald. You cannot fire someone who has a disability (including HIV). You cannot fire a person from France, England, Russia, Mexico, or any other country (immigration rules aside). And, you cannot fire someone based on their sexual orientation or perceived sexual orientation. Regardless of your religious beliefs (or lack thereof), a person who works and does their job has a right to have that job protected. As simple minded as this sounds, in 31 states in the USAmerica, an employer has the right to terminate an employee if that employee is lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (actually 39 states can fire you if you're transgender).

In New York and New Jersey, we honor the vision of Martin Luther King, Jr., as it applies to the LBGT community, when he said in his famous "I Have A Dream" speech, "I have a dream that one day my children will live in a land where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." It's unfortunate that not every state honors the visions of its prophets.

What's In a Name?

Given this year's drama over at Grey's Anatomy where one person (a straight person) called another person (a gay person) the "f" word, people have been talking about the power of words, what they mean, and how different words with the same meaning has extraordinary power. Just listen to Isaiah Washington's public service announcement. He explains it well, even if he can't always follow his own advice.

I am about to post a story from AmericaBlog about one gay person's opinion, "Stop Calling Me a Homosexual!" Well, he doesn't shout like that but that's the theme of the post. And, for the most part, I agree with the author. What's in a name you say? I mean, doesn't 'homosexual' mean 'gay'? Well, it does and it doesn't. The nuance is important and the article explains it quite eloquently.

The basic core idea is that using this term stigmatizes and clinicalizes a gay or lesbian person, it dehumanizes the person, it makes it easier to condemn him or her by depreciating the human element. Unlike the 'gay' term, homosexual makes some folks cringe because in the very word itself "homo" and "sex" are two terms that most folks don't talk about it public conversation. The term gay takes the sex out of the description and reminds us that the person in question is more than a sexual person. A gay or lesbian is a person who laughs, learns, has responsibilities, can be angry, joyful, or just themselves. A gay person isn't all about "sex" anymore than a heterosexual person is all about sex with members of the opposite sex.

Over a hundred years ago, there was a sociologist and mystic named Edward Carpenter, who termed the word homogenic when he tried to take the 'sex' out of homo-sex-ual. He did so to explain that men and women, men and men, and women and women all have homogenic relationships. Think about the guys who play poker on Friday nights; they are not meeting to have sex but they enjoy one another's company. Think of the Tupperwear or tea parties your mother used to attend with other housewives; they weren't meeting for sex, they were enjoying one another's fellowship. Our lives are about more than just sex--as are your lives. The term homosexual then, while at one time was a descriptive term, now has a lot of baggage and often anti-gay positions attached to it.

This article explains this well; so I'll stop typing and let you read it.

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Dear Washington Post, please stop calling me a "homosexual"
by John Aravosis (DC)

The Washington Post published a pro-gay editorial today about marriage. And that's great. But they called us "homosexuals" throughout the piece, and that's not great. It's degrading and offensive and archaic.

I've written about this before, and some have disagreed. But I'd argue that those who disagree don't understand the nuance of language or of this particular phrase. Ask any gay person, regardless of whether they agree or disagree that the word "homosexual" is archaic and offensive, whether they use the term "gay" or "homosexual" to described themselves. I.e., "I'm gay" or "I'm a homosexual." Just ask them. Unless they're living under a rock, gay people rarely if ever use the word homosexual. (My gay-friendly straight friends, however, use the term all the time. In the same way that I still hear friends use the word "oriental.")

Why? First, because it's become archaic. Usage changes, and just as Negro and colored changed to black and African-American, just as oriental gave way to Asian, homosexual has become gay. But second, and more importantly, the word homosexual is offensive in the same manner as negro and oriental. Sometimes archaic words sting. In the case of homosexual, I think the main problem is three-fold. First, the clinical nature of the term. It's a scientific word that mildly dehumanizes gay people by suggesting that they have a medical or psychological condition. Second, the words "homo" and "sex." Both words connote something negative, or at least something that shouldn't be spoken out loud, to a lot of Americans. Third, and most importantly, homosexual is the word the religious right uses expressly and uniquely in an effort to dehumanize gays. Anti-gay religious right activists have said publicly that they will not use the word "gay" - rather, they insist on using "homosexual." Why? Because for some reason or another they figure that the word homosexual helps their cause. And while I don't agree with the religious right on many things, their ability to gay-bash swiftly and effectively is unqestioned. If they think the word gay help us and the word homosexual hurts us, who am I to argue?

Again, I don't mean to opinionated about it, but if you don't hear the negative nuance in the word homosexual, it's either because you're not listening, or more likely, you don't have an ear for language. There's a reason that colored and Negro and oriental weren't offensive terms years ago, yet are today. The nuance of words changes over time. And while gays were once thought to be mentally disturbed - that all changed in 1973 - the language has not changed since that time.

It's time it did.

PS Don't believe me? Read what a communications professional has to say about this. (Actually, I hadn't read his piece until after I wrote mine, but the logic is remarkably similar.) Also, check out this recent editorial in the lead gay newspaper in the US.

I Finally Did It

I spent yesterday, most of it anyway, reformatting my home computer's hard drive and reinstalling the XP operating system. My computer had become so sluggish of late that something had to be done. Now that everything has been updated and reinstalled, the computer runs like new. If you're looking to get a new computer because your present computer is running slower than a preacher's sermon on Mother's Day, let me recommend a few things you can do to your computer to make it like new (and save you a few hundred dollars in the process).

Before I tackled the huge project, I backed everything up on an external hard drive by making a duplicate copy of my programs and files. Then, after I finished that, I added some more RAM to my computer. That has helped enormously. RAM doesn't necessarily speed up your computer, instead it allows you to do more on it at the same time. For instance, you can have 4-5 open windows running at the same time (if you have your email program open, plus your internet browser, and are currently working on one or two Word documents). RAM is pretty inexpensive but realize that not all RAM works on all computers--you have to find the RAM that works for your system. To find which RAM you'll need to buy, go here.

As I was taking the computer cover off my CPU (knowing that doing so voids my computer's warranty), I purchased a can of pressurized air and blew out the dust that had accumulated there. Lots of dust tends to make your computer run hotter by insulating the heat. Blowing out the dust allows the motherboard inside to "breathe". Also, remember to blow the dust from your various fans inside the CPU. Be careful blowing the dust off your motherboard, I did it holding the can about 10 inches away from the board. Some of the circuitry can get damaged from a direct hit of that compressed air, so be careful.

I installed the RAM being careful to touch a metal surface before touching anything in the CPU to discharge any static electricity that would immediately damage anything inside. When I was finished, I put the cover back on, plugged in my cables, and turned on the power to the computer. Now the tedious process began.

Once I reinstalled my operating system, I went and began to delete all the computer programs that came with my computer that I knew I'd never use. Using them only once, you will discover that deleting them can be next to impossible. So, I got right to it. I went to by Add/remove program option and deleted just about everything that came with my system including Microsoft Money, Norton Utilities, Outlook Express, and anything having anything to do with AOL. Once any one program was removed, I had to reboot. That was okay, I had the entire day.

Without going into too much detail (as I am tempted to do, and as I probably have already done), here are the programs I either installed or reinstalled. Note, that all of these programs are open-source and are free to use. In most instances the free programs do as good a job as the paid-for versions.

Avast! This is a free anti-virus program that is rated tops by PC World.

Zone Alarm. This is a free firewall that is extremely popular and efficient. You can purchase a firewall or use this one, but for heaven's sake, don't use the Windows Firewall that is in SP2 of XP. While it serves well as a basic firewall, it doesn't do eveything that a good firewall needs to do, as a result, it can leave you open to a lot of trouble.

OpenOffice. This is a free utilities suite (similar to Word, PowerPoint, Excel and includes extra programs like Draw, and a Database) that looks a lot like Microsoft Office. It even opens MS documents, saves to them, as well as creates its own. It has some handy extra features such as a .pdf creator. I love it, be sure to have it load in your system tray for faster starts.

This is also a handy office suit because it'll help your conscience too. Unlike many of us who have used "borrowed" versions of MS Office; this way, you'll get to use something without the guilt of continuing to use an office suite that you didn't really pay for. ;)

Firefox. This is a free internet browser with tabbed capabilities (IE 7 now has this feature).

Thunderbird. This is a free email client that lets you pull all your internet email (or work emails) threaded via pop3 access. I love this email client, I've been using it for years. And it has some of the best spam filters that I've ever used.

Picasa 2. This is a free photo management program from the fine folks over at Google, that one day may stir the same amount of ire that is directed at Microsoft (some folks are already getting a bit nervous with them). Until that time actually comes, this is a handy photoshop-lite like program that organizes and can manipulate your images to your taste.

AT Notes. This is a handy free program that lets you put those cool yellow stickums on your desktop screen to serve as reminder notes.

Evernote. This is a free information handling program that lets you copy and store all your information in one place as you surf the web, think of notes to jot down, or share information with colleagues. I use it with my sermon preparation and it's wonderful.

Okay, so there are my basic programs and as of this morning, my computer was running fast, smooth, and efficient. I am so glad I took the time to do this--hopefully I'll get another couple of years or so out of my computer before there is any need to upgrade to a fancier unit. (Heh heh, I just said, "unit" - is one ever too old to quote Beavis and Butthead?)

What's Your Blog Rated?

Here is an interesting thing to do for your blog to find out what it is rated. Some blogs are crass and others are inspiring- go here to put in your blog and find out what is should be rated (as determined by some preset conditions). Mine is rated PG-13 but that's only because my Mom reads the thing. You may remember what it used to be like with I first started it. :)

Guess the Context

I am thinking up some interesting and fun things to put on this blog on Fridays. It seems so many bloggers have fun things they put up on their sites to include Friday Picture of the Day, A View from Your Window, and Weekly Updates of unique news stories.

While I haven't decided what I am doing to do, here is one idea I am thinking about. I'd share some funny newstory and you, dear reader, get to guess the context and the story. Let me give you an example:

When Romney's eldest son, Tagg, and his four brothers complained about the brown runoff down the back windshield, their father quietly pulled the car over, borrowed a gas station hose and sprayed down both the dog and the kennel before returning to the road.

Go here to get the context.

A History of the Food Stamp Program

I invited you to take a few minutes to learn about our nation's food stamp program. Understanding the poor and the plight of those who almost have enough. This video is a proud moment in American history where our nation's leaders saw a need and addressed it through compassion rather than through the politics of exclusion and nationalistic pride.

To me, this was and continues to be one of our country's shining moments with the creation of this social program.

A special thanks to Aaron Krager over at Faithfully Liberal for this post.

Something to Lighten Your Day

One of my favorite feel good movies is Billy Elliot, the true story of a kid from a coal mining town, who takes up ballet dancing and is later accepted into the Royal Ballet School in London. If you haven't seen it, let me encourage you to go and rent it today.

Here is a scene from the movie.

My 1996

In 1996, I moved to New York City after being released from active duty serving in the Bosnian Conflict. I had been stationed at San Vito Air Station, Italy, a small reactivated radar station serving special forces troops of NATO who were sent both to Bosnia to help with relief efforts as well as help forcibly negotiate certain troubles in Europe. After my tour had ended and after my own negotiation for a seminary in New York, I moved there 'bright-eyed and bushy-tailed'.

I moved to NYC, the most magical place on earth, or so it seemed to me (and still does). What I didn't personally know about NYC was that it was in the throes of pain and death as countless men were dying of AIDS in what some survivors have called a holocaust of gruesome death and decay. While I know a few survivors (I may actually know more than just a few), there really is no way that I can fully appreciate the horror that they experienced in their 1996. In some way, I guess it is like racism- while I can sympathize with African Americans and other people of color, unless I am a person of color, I can never fully internalize and know what they experience--no matter how hard I try.

When it comes to living with AIDS, the horror they feel and experience is beyong my ability to comprehend-- they deal with the shame, the immeasurable fear, and the medical drugs that wreck their bodies. And this is only those who have the HIV virus after 1996. What horror was it like for those before then when having HIV meant certain death, a kind of death that eats you up from the inside out? Andrew Sullivan wrote an article called 1996 in which he believes that date should have its own armistice day in which the HIV cocktails were developed and saved a people (my own people, mind you) from death and destruction. Sure, having HIV today is no picnic but with the advent of the coctails, AIDS went from being a plague to a disease, and Sullivan believes that is cause to celebrate. Sullivan, as you might imagine, has his critics. There are those who contend that we shouldn't celebrate anything and they have a point. AIDS isn't over and in some places, even in developed nations, it is on the rise again. But Sullivan articulates a respite that we can't and shouldn't ignore. You can also read a brief post about Sullivan's article by going here.

Of course, he means only those who live in developed nations. In nations that cannot afford the cocktail regime, they continue to live the plague pre-1996. Everything that happened in the USA before 1996 is what people in Africa and China are experiencing every day. In these places they still use AZT (chemotherapy in a pill that destroys all the infected cells, not just the bad ones).

Let me invite you to read Sullivan's article and feel the horror, if one can actually feel something like that in a written word. Perhaps it'll give us a glimpse into the minds of survirors as well as get a taste for their disdain for the 'powers that be' whether those powers are in the White House or in the local congregation or Temple.

Synod Gathering 2007

This year was the first time that I have ever attended the bi-annual meeting of my denomination. Called Synod, it meets in various cities across America. This year it met in Hartford, CT for an entire week (and actually it is still going on now). Most folks who aren't delegates go Friday through Sunday, whereas delegates stay from Thursday until the following Tuesday.

At this gathering, I was fortunate to hear Bill Moyers give the opening address as 13,000+ attendees met in Hartford's Civic Center. It was the largest such gathering of Synod, probably because it was a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the denomination, it met on the east coast where the majority of UCC churches are, and perhaps because Barack Obama, a UCCer himself was to speak (and did).

I loved Bill Moyers speech about faith and values and the need to not let others define who we are. I also enjoyed his wit and intellectualism. I also got to hear Walter Brueggemann the following day as he spoke about our history and the struggle within the denomination between the liberals and conservsatives (yes, the UCC has its own conservatives). Brueggemann sought to bring balance to both sides of the issue by encouraging a more open dialog. Being a retired professor of Old Testament and the writer of perhaps the most widely used OT history book in seminaries, his wisdom and patience was evident to those of us who are perhaps a bit nervous and definitely not patient.

I heard Barack Obama speak and enjoyed his testimony and declaration of faith. Having met Jesus through the UCC's Trinity Church in Chicago, his speech drew much applause as well as an edification of our collective faith. I was (and remain) a bit skeptical to have a Presidential candidate candidating at a denominational gathering; but most folks present felt his speech was worthwhile given the current President's use of his faith in office. Obama presented an alternative interpretation to Jesus' Good News. He also critiqued some evangelical zeal that puts a questionable emphasis on how some political folks interpret what they think Jesus felt was important.

You can go here to read his speech.

You can go here to watch Obama's campaigning speech as well as Moyer's speech.

Personally I would rather have heard from more speakers of faith rather than a candidating presidential nominee; not because I don't like him (because I do like Obama, even if he's a little unpolished). A gathering of faithful men and women should encourage deep commitment in one's faith journey and not be a part of someone else's White House bid. I say this even though I find Obama's faith (or at least the one he presents to us, with politicians, one never knows if they really believe what they say, right?). Interestingly Jeremiah Wright, the pastor at Trinity UCC, introduced Obama via a taped introduction. Surely that adds to Obama's support, but I am still uncertain if giving him a political platform at our bi-annual meeting was appropriate.

What I very much enjoyed about my first Synod experience was all the friends I ran into and the new ones that I made. Practically every UCC minister I knew was there. I met former seminary classmates there. And, I ran into many folks from my previous pastorate including the new pastor (who is also a friend of mine).

Oh, and one more thing I enjoyed was the 14,000 dozen cookies that were baked and given out at the gathering. Yes, you read that right: 14,000 dozen cookies. Is that incredible or what?! And they were available all throughout the event, passed around during the events and speeches. I hope they will always do that. To help illustrate how much I love cookies, in the foyer of my living room I have a sign that reads, "Life's Short, Eat Cookies."

Maggie

Last Friday I became the proud new owner (or, as a church member says, "A proud new father just in time for Father's Day,") of a 3 1/2 year old golden retriever/cocker spaniel mix dog named Maggie.

It has taken her some time to get used to her new environment and it's taken me sometime getting used to getting up at 6:00am to walk her (I don't have a fence in my backyard). Walking her 3-4 times a day was at first annoying and is now rather pleasant. And picking up the poo in those small doggie bags isn't as gross as I thought it would be.

She has a good temperament, is friendly to everyone, and is good company. The only downside is her barking. I am going to read up on the dog whisperer to see how I can put a stop to that. Do any of you have any suggestions?

A Love Story

I have no idea where this story originated but it is an interesting read.

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A long time ago, before the world was created and humans set foot on it for the first time, virtues and vices wandered bored, not knowing what to do.

One day, they were all gathered and bored more than ever when Ingenious had an idea: Why don't we play hide and seek? And all of them liked the idea, and immediately the mad Madness shouted: I want to count, I want to count and since no one else was crazy to seek for Madness, Madness leaned on a tree and started to count, 1, 2, 3. And as Madness counted, the vices and virtues went hiding.

Tenderness hung on the horn of the moon; Treason in a pile of garbage; Fondness cur led up between the clouds; Lie said he would hide under a stone but he lied and hid at the bottom of the lake; Passion went to the center of the earth; Avarice entered a sack that he ended up breaking....

And Madness continued to count, 79,80, 81,82. All the vices and virtues were already hidden by then, except for Love, whom as undecided as he is, did not know where to hide. And this should not surprise us because we all know how difficult it is to hide Love.

And Madness was already at 95, 96, 97 and just at the moment when she arrived at hundred, Love jumped into a rosebush and there he hid out. And Madness shouted "I'm coming! I'm coming!" and as she turned, the first one she saw was Laziness, thrown to her feet because he didn't have any energy to hide.

Then she saw Tenderness in the horn of the Moon, and Lie at the bottom of the lake, and Passion in the center of the earth... Discovering them one by one, finding all of them but one. Madness was getting desperate, unable to find the last missing one, until Envy, envious for having been discovered, whispered to Madness: "You are lacking Love, and he is hiding in the rosebush."

And Madness took a wooden pitchfork, and stabbed at the rosebush, and stabbed and stabbed, till a heartbreaking shout made her stop. And, after the shout, Love came out covering his face with his hands, and from between his fingers run two threads of blood, out of his eyes.

Madness anxious to find Love had took out Love's eyes with the pitchfork. What have I done?, what have I done? - she shouted. I have left you blind! How can I repair it? And Love answered, you can't restore my eyes. But if you want to do something for me, you could be my guide.

From that day on, Love is blind and is always accompanied by Madness.

One Heck of a Truism

The New York Times published some graduation speech excerpts over the weekend. A hat tip to Daily Kos for posting it. Here is my favorite:

"You’ve been told during your high school years and your college years that you are now about to enter the real world, and you’ve been wondering what it’s like. Let me tell you that the real world is not college. The real world is not high school. The real world, it turns out, is much more like junior high. You are going to encounter, for the rest of your life, the same petty jealousies, the same irrational juvenile behavior, the same uncertainty that you encountered during your adolescent years. That is your burden. We all share it with you. We wish you well."

---Tom Brokaw at Skidmore College

Scathing Response

Wayne Besen, the director of Truth Wins Out, an organization that challenges ex-gay propoganda, writes a scathing response to Jerusalem's new law banning any assembly that offends religious sensibilities or may be deemed a threat to public order. Specifically, Jerusalem is two votes from passing their new law to ban Gay Pride in Jerusalem. (The vote for the bill is not expected to be taken until after this year's Jerusalem Gay Pride.) Besen contends that Israel's political system, which is very much like our own, where the right to protest and hold public assemblies challenging anything from politics to religion, that Israel's agreement to such a law could have a dramatic backlash with unintended consequences.

In the same way, it is like our own assemblies where we gather to protest one thing or another. Can you imagine a political system that banned a protest that would be deemed offensive to someone? With the wrong people in power, anarchy would thrive. And the prisons would be filled with political 'Nelson Mandella-like dissidents'. Or, as a wisened Oklahoma grandparent might say, "They're cutting off their nose despite their face."

Besen goes even further in his lamblast by suggesting an even greater threat:

If the ultra-Orthodox think for one second that American and European Jews have any intention of supporting the Jewish version of Iran, they’ve got another thing coming. It is inexcusable that people, who have felt the sting of persecution, now mimic the tyrants who drove them to the shelter of Israel.

Go here to read his entire article.

A Great Sermon

The new pastor at Broadway United Church of Christ, the Rev. James Campbell, preached one fine sermon last week. You can read it by going here. It's a .PDF file.

The sermon is about trusting your gut and he interpreted Jesus' story about raising the young man into a touching account of both Jesus trusting his gut when confronted with the sadness and situation of the widow who lost both her husband and young son.

So True

Two Amazing Videos

Let's say that your day is going okay, not spectacular, just okay. Or, let's assume that your day is really crappy and your attitude is annoying your patmates. Well then, do I have the cure for you! Check out these two videos over at Towleroad's blog. The first one is a Billy Elliot-style success story and the second is an opera singer who doesn't know he can sing and works in a car parts store. The videos are from Britian's Got Talent, a television show that highlights various people's talents (and not just for their singing).

A Gay Bomb?

Just imagine. You're in a war, surrounded by the enemy and all hope seems lost. Being the platoon leader, your men turn to you for strength, courage, and resolve. With the enemy surrounding you and you know they don't take any prisoners, you know it's the end. You call your men over and tell them how proud of them you are. You tell them that they have sacrificed their lives for their country and our country was built on the blood of such youn......

"Kaaaa-BOOM!!!" the sound rips apart the air and suddenly everything turns pink.

"That's strange," you say to yourself. 'Is that the Village People's Macho Macho Man playing in the background?'"

And suddenly the enemy drops their rifles and they start kissing each other. On the mouth. While taking off their uniforms because they must.

You think to yourself in stunned amazement, "What in the hell just happened?!"

"Oh, we're saved! That must be the new gay bomb," says the young and eternally cute young soldier who plucks his eyebrows every morning and the scary thing is that you have noticed and thinks it makes him look better.

Okay, so what am I talking about? The Pentegon has confirmed that in 1994 it was considering making a bomb, that when detonated would cause the enemy to turn gay and have uncontrollable gay sex with each other leaving them unable to fight. Instead, they'd be singing showtunes, dancing with their shirts off, and have humping each other all the time.

You think I am kidding? Go here and be amazed.

Unfortunately what the military didn't understand is that it already has gay men and women serving in its service and they don't all have sex all the time and behave like eternal club kids. They actually perform and sustain the services like they've always done with professionalism, integrity, and hard work.

A Falwell Replacement Already?!

The Rev. Jerry Falwell probably isn't even cold yet and there has arisen a new proponent of the 'God is removing God's protective curtain over America because of them homosexuals.' And to be quite honest, I am rather stunned by who it is: The Rev. Dr. John MacArthur.

John MacArthur is a prolific writer, pastor, and college and seminary president, who one would think is beyond such tribal interpretations of an angry God looking to smite the disobedient. And yet, here he is. I found a sermon post about his sermon in which James Dobson (Focus on the Family) gives support to MacArthur's belief that "he wouldn't be surprised" that a major city would be destroyed. And who does he blame? He blames them lesbians.

Here is the post:

On the June 4 edition of his Focus on the Family radio show, Focus on the Family founder and chairman James C. Dobson broadcast a sermon by John MacArthur, pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, titled "A Nation Abandoned by God." In the sermon, MacArthur said America had forsaken God and engendered the "wrath of abandonment" as a result. MacArthur declared: "You know a society has been abandoned by God when it celebrates lesbian sex." MacArthur further argued that as a result of America's abandonment, the destruction of a major U.S. city "could happen" and that "God would be just in any calamity he brought upon us."

DOBSON: Some of our listeners are not going to agree with what he [MacArthur] has to say, but it's going to make you think, and it's also going to be somewhat disturbing. And I happen to agree with what John MacArthur was saying on this day, and I want to thank him and his team and Woodman Valley Chapel for allowing us to share this message. It needs to be heard, especially at this time in our nation.

Go here to read the post. Go here to read the post source and listen to Dobson.

When Yesterday was Young

I just read a post concerning that 'Man of the bush,' no not George, this is a completely different kind of bush. I am referring to George Michael. (Ba-dum dum dum!)

Okay, so George was quoted as explaining why the media is 'out to get him'. It isn't because of his drug use, falling asleep as the wheel while intoxicated, or even his extracurricular activities in said foliage. No, it's because all men are jealous of him because he gets to shirk parental responsibilities.

Here is his story:

He said, "I think at the end of it all I represent something profoundly different for society.

"I have grown up surrounded by people who think that sex, drugs and rock n' roll is compatible with a working life while being married with children. During the 1980s, my generation and the one after me, found that was impossible.

"Me, I don't want any children, I don't want responsibility. I am gay, I smoke weed and I do exactly what I want in my life because of my talent. I represent an ideal which others have had to let go and they blame me for that. Especially men."

You can read the original post here.

Actually, I am amazed at how he went from Number 1 hottie, to well.. ahem.. looking older than his 43 years of life. Sure, he's had one incredibly ride, but daaaaaaaaang, he sure looks a lot older for the wear, right?

Honestly, I think he's an amazing talent. He always has been one. When he gets his life in order (and surely he will), he'll have one heck of a story to tell. He might not ever look as young or sexy as he was, but his music will always be.

A Laserjet Printer for $20?!

I recognize that most often, when a deal sounds too good to be true, it usually is. But help me out here, is this correct? In order to get it as this price, you'll need to do three things: 1) follow the link below, 2) put the printer in your online shopping cart, and 3) print out a separate rebate form (you'll see it when you click on the link at the top of the screen that gives you the directions. The latter is a mail-in rebate, which is usually like waiting 3 months for your rebate. Still.. a final price of $20 is tough to beat, right?

Go here to begin your link clicking experience.

Shameful Fundraising Tactics

Jim Wallis confronts Focus on the Family's claim that gay folks are responsible for the breakdown of the American family. Speaking directly to them, they concede and admit gay folks have nothing to do with it. In doing so, they show that their fundraising tactics are built on fear-mongering and lies.

Thanks to Andrew Sullivan for this post.

"I had this conversation with Focus on the Family, and I said I agree with you that family breakdown is a huge crisis, a serious crisis. And I don't think the Left talks about that enough. My neighborhood is eighty percent single parent families. You can't overcome poverty with that, with eighty percent single parent families. But how do we reweave the bonds of marriage, family, extended family, and community, to put our arms around the kids? And it's not just in poor neighborhoods. Kids are falling through the cracks of fractured family in all classes and neighborhoods.

So I said to them, I want to rebuild family life and relationships, but explain to me how gay and lesbian people are the ones responsible for all that? which is what their fund-raising strategy suggests. And after about an hour and a half they conceded the point.

They said, Okay Jim, we concede that family breakdown is caused much more by heterosexual dysfunction than by homosexuals. But then they said, We can't vouch for our fundraising department, which says a lot, I think" - Jim Wallis, Powells.com.

Bullied 15 Year Old Boy Commits Suicide

Bullying really does have ramifications for kids who cannot or do not know how to handle it. Regardless of our sexual orientations, bullying instills a level of fear in a person that can distort their reality. Unfortunately the kid in this story was also drunk, his distorted reality manifested itself in his horrible resolution to end the bullying. Here is the story:

A boy of 15 lay down in front of a train to commit suicide after being teased at school about his sexuality, an inquest was told yesterday.

Moments before he died, Jonathan Reynolds sent harrowing text messages to his family telling that them they were not to blame for what was about to happen. A passer-by saw him holding the mobile as he lay down on the tracks in front of a train travelling at 85mph (136km/h) through Pencoed railway station near Bridgend, South Wales.

In his last text message sent to his father, Mark, and his 14-year-old sister, Samantha, the teenager wrote: “Tell everyone that this is for anybody who eva said anything bad about me, see I do have feelings too. Blame the people who were horrible and injust 2 me. This is because of them, I am human just like them.

“I hope they rot in hell 4 what they made me do. They know who they are.”

He added: “None of you blame urself mum, dad, Sam and the rest of my family. This is not because of you.”

A postmortem examination showed that Jonathan, who achieved a grade A in his GCSE Welsh oral exam on the day he died, had a blood-alcohol level three and a half times the legal limit for driving.

The inquest jury sitting at Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates’ Court was told that Jonathan, a pupil at Bryntirion Comprehensive School, had argued on the phone with two friends, Saphra Hayes and Nicola Kennett, on the evening he died.

Both girls told police that they ended their conversations with Jonathan on good terms. His mother, Caroline, told the inquest that she believed that the arguments had been a “catalyst” for his actions. She said: “He was, to all intents and purposes, in for the night, and then following a few angry phone calls he changed his mind and went out.”

South Wales Police investigated Jonathan’s death because of the nature of his final text message, but Detective Inspector Russell Warwick said: “There were no issues that constituted criminality.”

Although Jonathan had not complained of being bullied at school, Detective Chief Inspector Sandra England, of the British Transport Police, said that weeks earlier he had confided to a friend that he was gay.

The friend, Aimee Murray, told Ms England that Jonathan had been teased about his sexuality by a number of boys at school. She also said that he had been using concealer on his face because of acne.

Thomas Coleman, from Pencoed, was walking his two dogs with his wife near the railway station at 8.25pm when he saw Jonathan on the line.

Mr Coleman said: “He had a mobile in his hand. I called out and said, ‘Get off the track’. He looked at me and just put his head back down and I saw him walking across the track. I was walking across the bridge and he was walking across the track and he seemed to lie down and the train came.”

William Roberts, the driver of the train from Cardiff to Carmarthen, saw Jonathan jump down from the station platform on to the track. There was no possibility of avoiding him as the train’s stopping distance at 85mph was nearly three quarters of a mile. Mr Roberts said: “I started to blow the horn. He was walking across the line right across the track and just lay down on the line.”

Dr Alan Rees, a pathologist, concluded that Jonathan died of multiple injuries. The jury returned an open verdict.

Towelroad quotes this story from the Times UK.

It sure is easy to love this guy

CHICAGO , IL-- U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today released the following statement to commemorate Pride Month.

"Pride Month is a reminder that while we have come a long way since the Stonewall riots in 1969, we still have a lot of work to do."

"Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us. But at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans. It's about whether this nation is going to live up to its founding promise of equality by treating all its citizens with dignity and respect."

"It's time to turn the page on the bitterness and bigotry that fill so much of today's LGBT rights debate. The rights of all Americans should be protected -- whether it's at work or anyplace else. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" needs to be repealed because patriotism and a sense of duty should be the key tests for military service, not sexual orientation. Civil unions should give gay couples full rights. And those who commit hate crimes should be punished no matter whether those crimes are committed on account of race, religion, gender identity, or sexual orientation."

"This Pride Month, let's make our founding promise of equality a reality for every American."

Striking Difference, Eh?

When it comes to our expressions of love, it is difficult to imagine a more striking contrast.

Would this Scare the bejezus out of you?

This is Simply Comical

The Huffington Post links a story from the New Yorker about Tom DeLay saying of Newt Gingrich's Adultrous affair, "My adultery was different than Gingrich's." Why on earth would DeLay compare it that way? So that he can show the world why Gingrich is morally bankrupt and DeLay isn't... even if in the comparison they both did the same deed.

This is worse than the pot calling the kettle black. In my opinion, this is more about how religion gone amuck affects the politics and when our hypocrisy is, at my times, the foundation for self-righteous indignation.

Heck, I wouldn't vote for either one of them. But southern America might- and with these two men, they may have to choose between the lesser of two evils.

Who'd've Thunk It?

I was all excited and happy today when I discovered that one of my favorite childhood magazines (/comics) has its own website: www.cracked.com. I remember with glee reading the hilarious cartoons (but only understanding about half of the humor) when I was young. Now that I am older, they are still funny... and I understand more of their humor.

In this particular post, I learned there are far more Hollywood Scientologists than I figured. From what I've read about these religious folks, Scientologists seem a good fit for some Hollywood actors. After the jump, you might be surprised as to who pays for levels of advanced knowledge with God and alien seduction. For a brief understanding of exactly what L.Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology created, go here to watch a brief and funny Steven Colbert video.

The Top 10 Secret Celebrity Scientologists.

Mark Twain's Anti-War Poem

Published after his death, Mark Twain, that witty Southern gent, had hoped to publish an anti-war poem while he was still alive but was strongly encouraged not to do so. When you read this poem, you may understand why.

Mixing politics with religion is always a gamble; sometimes what you say can have a powerful influence. However, at its worst, it can polarize and demonize you as both anti-American and un-Christian. Today anti-war voices are being heard more and more by God's faithful--as it should be. But there is still the threat that if you correlate God and war and American idealism as a bad thing, then you might be labeled and dismissed as either a crackpot, a heretic, or Satanic.

Kudos for voices like Twain, even if after death, we can read the hypocrisy hidden between the lines as a call to repentance.

O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle -- be Thou near them! With them -- in spirit -- we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it -- for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.

Thanks to Daily Kos for publishing this post on his blog.

Finally ... Geez!

I received my monthly subscription to The Advocate magazine today. For pretty much all of this year and last, the magazine was getting worse and worse. I was definitely sold on the idea that I was not renewing my subscription.

And then I heard that I wasn't alone. Many people had grown dissatisfied with The Advocate. And so two months ago, there was a "house cleaning". A friend who writes for them told me that just about everyone there was fired or let go. Last month's issue wasn't too bad but it hadn't the zing that made it famous.

And then I received this month's issue. Wowsers! It is fantastic! It has great articles, solid reviews, and much diversity.

Kudos to you, you New Advocate you! If you keep this up, I'll keep my subscription for sure.

What If ... ?

What if we could prevent cancer?

What if we could safely give a vaccine that would prevent a cancer that, if a person gets it, means certain death?

What if we found a vaccine for a cancer that needs to be taken early to be effective?

What if the particular cancer is caused by a virus, would that make any difference?

What if that particular virus was sexually transmitted? Would that make any difference?

As we have become smarter and our science has become more advanced, we have learned that some viruses cause cancer. One such example of this finding is the discovery that an HPV (human papillomavirus) viral infection can lead to cancer in men and women. In women, cervical cancer, which stems from an infection from HPV*, remains the number one cancer-related killer of all women world wide and the number two killer in the United States (*editorial change from original post).

So you'd think a vaccine, that has been noted to be successful, and if used, would be administered post-haste to stop this horrible disease, would be warmly welcomed by everyone. But unfortunately, you'd be mistaken.

We now have this vaccine that is being used in several clinical trials. In each of those trials, scientists are excited. In every place where the trials have been conducted, the vaccine has been 95-100% effective in preventing a person from contracting the HPV virus. But, as some of you know, HPV is a sexually transmitted disease. And herein lies the problem.

West Virginia, Kentucky, Mississippi, and New Mexico are rejecting the clinical trials in their states because they believe allowing them would be encouraging promiscuity. And since our religion teaches us that promiscuity is bad, we should not only discourage it, but punish those who do it. Okay, so they don't specifically say that last part--but they imply it.

In the U.S., it is estimated that 20 million people have it at any given time. Half of all women ages 18-22 who are sexually active, have HPV. In most cases, the symptoms clear up and goes away. But sometimes infections persist and when that happens, it can lead to cancer. In fact, according to the FDA, HPV accounts for 70% of all cervical cancer development. In total, it is estimaged that there are 6.2 million new cases of HPV reported each year. That's a lot of people, right? Shouldn't we be taking drastic measures to ensure that this virus doesn't turn into cancer and those infected with it?

Bridget Maher of the Family Research Council thinks that permitting the vaccine will cause more harm than good. More harm than actually killing a person, to be more exact. One wonders what kind of warm that could be? But Maher explains that using this vaccine would "undermine abstinence-only education". But she is assuming that if a person gets the vaccine that she will suddenly become a dangerous sex vixon who lurks on street corners picking up her johns and engage in other such nefarious behavior.

And yet, despite the fear mongering, reality has revealed to us that 95% of all Americans have had sex before marriage. One doubts that a vaccine will cause more people to have premarital sex. Sex is a natural instinct most people have--vaccine or not, people are going to have it.

In my opinion, it's one thing to have a religious conviction about sex and who should have it and when it ought to occur; it's another thing entirely to ban a life-saving vaccine because it violates that religious conviction. I mean, convictions are great for the person having them (or the persons in their care)--but to force that conviction on others is not only anti-American, if that conviction may cause death, then it is also sinful. I mean what's more important, your convictions or someone's life?

I know, I know, there are hypothetical arguments that suggest that ideologies are more important than life, and I am sure you can think of a lot of them. However, if ideology is favored over reality, then I believe a serious problem exists. Life itself is more than just a valued commodity--it is a gift from God. Life should be valued, honored, and cherished. In doing so, that value means we protect those who might be harmed or killed--even if in our protection, we offer something that may challenge our religious convictions.

This argument opens up a host of questions about faith and bioethics. What if a vaccine could be developed that would prevent HIV that later causes AIDS? What if that vaccine, if given to teenagers, would stop the disease from ever developing? What would be more important, our ideology or saving hundreds of millions of lives?

Five Steps to Being More Productive

Yahoo Finance has a great post by Penelope Trunk about ways to be more productive. It's a great list and if you're one of those folks who always thinks you could be doing more, then this is for you. I say that because I tend to think that a lot.

Here is one of the sample steps:

Keep your inbox empty.

Your inbox is not your to-do list; your to-do list is something you compile and prioritize. If your inbox is your to-do list, then you have no control over what you're doing -- you've ceded it to whoever sends you an email next.

Productivity wizards experience less information overload because they deal with an email as soon as they've read it -- respond, file, or delete. Nothing stays in the inbox. Reading each email four or five times while it languishes in your inbox is a huge waste of time, and totally impractical given the amount of email we all receive.

Go here to read the entire post.

The Worst Generation

Here's a post about one man's rant against the Baby Boomer generation. He feels this generation is the most selfish one that's ever lived. His rant is particularly interesting because of the various comparison's he makes.

Here is a sample:

And don't give me this crap about Boomer music. The Beatles were all born before the end of the war. So was Janis. So while the Boomers can claim they had the good taste to listen to gifted pre-Boomers, when it came their turn to make music, the truest expression of their generation, what did they give us?

Disco.

The generation that came before the Boomers gave them Dylan. The Boomers gave us KC and the Sunshine Band. Thanks a lot.

Go on, have a looksee.

Boy as a Human Shield

Here is a shocking photo of a 13-year old boy being used as a human shield by Israeli soldiers. Just when you think a nation cannot sink to a greater depth in human depravity, one finds something like this and stands corrected.

Go here to see a larger version of the picture and read the story.

Death Threats and Scripture

I just read a story about a gay couple in Florida, who upon picking up their luggage at the baggage claim, heard through the loud speakers a quote from Scripture in the Old Testament. The quote was from Leviticus condemning homosexuality as well as calling for those who do to be put to death.

The gay couple to whom the message was directed, immediately filed a complaint with the airport security as well as to the police department. They were not only offended but felt threatened--even more so, they felt there LIFE'S were threatened. Did they over-react?

What do you think? Is quoting Scripture about calling for someone's death freedom of speech? Is it religious freedom? Or, if the Scripture calls for death, could it also be a death threat? On the surface, I guess it depends on how seriously a person who is quoting Scripture is being serious enough.

But there are many folks who take their religion very seriously. We need only look to the extremists in Islam who do use their holy scripture to justify their murdering and killing. The picture in this post was taken when Iran strung up two teenagers caught who admitted to having a relationship with each other. Obviously, Iran takes their religion very seriously.

But honestly, would that ever happen here? I mean, in America it's different, right?

But it does make me wonder: is it imaginable that a person in America would kill another person based upon the readings and laws of the Bible, if that person knew they could get away with it? Of course they would.

Answering such a question in the affirmative might help explain why gay and lesbian activists are trying to ensure that the laws of the land protect all of its citizens including those who are gay and lesbian. If someone tells you that we are fighting for 'special rights', be sure to remind them that we're fighting for 'equal rights'--the right to live as anyone else lives without penalty or threat of life.

Disturbing Quotes

I found an interesting post this afternoon about the 100 darndest things fundamentalist Christians say. Sure, a lot of the quotes seem to center around the evolution debates which also seems to imply that these quotes were gathered by either atheists or agnostics. Still, for moderates, these quotes are both just shocking and even a tad scary--scary to think that some folks may actually believe them. The quotes are interesting at first but begin to wane towards the end. All in all though, the quotes kind of left me asking a lot of questions-- could people really believe this way?

All in all, I was left thinking that if one person believes one way, he or she's opinion probably affects other opinions too. For instance, if AIDS is caused by sin and not a virus (as you'll read in an example below), is that person more or less likely to care about safe sex education or vote for more funding into AIDS research? Probably not--if the "real" problem to them is only a sinful lifestyle, then the money would be better spent on something else thereby causing the virus to continue to spread and kill more people--whereby the person's opinions may continue to be reinforced rather than challenged.

The last quote in my example quotes is just plain scary. Now, I don't have any children--but the justification for this behavior seems to reinforce how this guy views God and how others probably do the same. It isn't any wonder then why some fundamentalists are so unkind and mean spirited when it comes to 'killing those who sin'. If we don't do it, then God will be mad at us for NOT doing it--and we'll be judged and punished as if we committed the same sins ourselves. Sure, this might sound nuts--but I wonder how many people believe it? The number might be surprising.

Here are a few samples of those quotes. You'll notice a smart-allecky and sometimes funny heading followed by each quote.

Fundamentalism In A Nutshell Award
"There are a lot of things I have concluded to be wrong, without studying them in-depth. Evolution is one of them. The fact that I don't know that much about it does not bother me in the least."

Proudly Marching Into the 16th Century Award
"AIDS is caused by immoral behavior, not by a virus."

Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child Award*
(*I changed the original title of this post, the author had something that was offensive to me.)

Dr. Jack Hyles said, "Let the child realize that you are simply representing God in the execution of the punishment. Explain to him that parents represent God before their children and that they are ministers to execute His judgment. Psalm 103:13 says, "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him." So God is like a father and He chooses fathers and mothers to represent Him in the punishing of little children. Let the child realize that if you as a parent do not punish him properly, you are being disobedient to God and committing the same sin the child is committing. Explain to him that you are a child of God and if you refuse to obey God in the execution of His judgment upon your children, God will pour out His wrath upon you. For you to be a good child of God requires that you be a good parent to the child. Let him understand this. He will get the idea that God is a holy and just God, One Who loves and yet One Who wants us to become out best. For this to be so He must punish us when we are deserving.

Sometimes spanking should leave stripes on the child. Proverbs 20:30 says, "The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil; so do stripes the inward parts of the belly." Our natural man rebels a such punishment, but we are reminded in I Corinthians 2:14 that the natural man cannot understand the things of the Spirit. Hence, we have to trust the God Who knows more than we and obey Him.

The spanking should be administered firmly. It should be painful and it should last until the child's will is broken. It should last until the child is crying not tears of anger but tears of a broken will. As long as he is stiff, grits his teeth, holds on to his own will, the spanking should continue."

Go here for Dr. Jack Hyles' webpage on raising children.

Go here to read the 100 quotes.

There Is No Green Dot

Here is a fun eye illusion. After the jump, you will be taken to a screen with flashing pink dots arranged in a circle. Staring at the pink dots, you see pink dots. If you stare in the middle of the circle where the black cross is, all the pink dots turn into one green dot. And if you stare long enough, you will only see one green dot going around in a circle and all the other dots disappear.

Go here, follow the directions and be amazed.

Just when you think seeing IS believing, something like this comes around and changes everything.

A Joke

A wealthy old lady decides to go on a photo safari in Africa , taking her faithful aged poodle named Cuddles, along for the company.

One day the poodle starts chasing butterflies and before long, Cuddles discovers that he's lost.. Wandering about, he notices a leopard heading rapidly in his direction with the intention of having lunch.

The old poodle thinks, "Oh, oh! I'm in deep trouble now!" Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the leopard is about to leap the old poodle exclaims loudly, "Boy, that was o one delicious leopard! I wonder if there are any more around here?"

Hearing this, the young leopard halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees. "Whew!", says the leopard, "That was close! That old poodle nearly had me!"

Meanwhile, a monkey who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the leopard. So off he goes, but the old poodle sees him heading after the leopard with great speed, and figures that something must be up. The monkey soon catches up with the leopard, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the leopard.

The young leopard is furious at being made a fool of and says, "Here, monkey, hop on my back and see what's going to happen to that conniving canine!

Now, the old poodle sees the leopard coming with the monkey on his back and thinks, "What am I going to do now?", but instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn't seen them yet, and just when they get close enough to hear, the old poodle says, "Where's that damn monkey? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another leopard!