February 15, 2005
Kristoff Has Bought into the 'God Gene' Farce
Checking in with my very favorite New York Times columnist, Nicholas Kristof, today, I was amused to notice that, this one time, he's been scooped by some of us religious nuts.
He's written a column about "prominent American geneticist" Dean Hamer, and his 'God gene' idea. Kristof likes the idea, it seems -- it explains why so many people decide to be irrational enough to actually believe in this God character -- "... faith may give people strength to overcome illness - after all, if faith in placebo sugar pills works, why not faith in God?"
And I tend to agree that this really, in the long run, doesn't matter.
Of course, none of that answers the question of whether God exists. The faithful can believe that God wired us to appreciate divinity. And atheists can argue that God may simply be a figment of our VMAT2 gene.But, of course, loyal readers of this blog will remember that Dr. Al Mohler has already talked about this book of Dean Hamer's -- waaaaay back in October. And I talked about him talking about it here. So this is really old news. Maybe Kristof should read more Godblogs.
But what the research does suggest is that postindustrial society will not easily leave religion behind. Faith may be quiescent in many circles these days, or directed toward meditation or yoga, but it is not something that humans can easily cast off.
A propensity to faith in some form appears to be embedded within us as a profound part of human existence, as inextricable and perhaps inexplicable as the way we love and laugh.
Posted by: Warren Kelly at 09:37 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
February 12, 2005
Mindless Rambling ....
And a little bit of a Blogroll Cruise for good measure.
First, a little randomness. I've been leaving BlogExplosion alone for a bit, conducting an experiment. I wanted to see what impact being close to the top 1000 in the TTLB ecosystem was having on my actual hits, rather than just links. I have noticed a slight increase -- of course, me not posting anything for five days didn't really help endear me to any new readers (HEY, come back! I'm writing stuff now! PLEASE!!!). Now I've decided I like the little line graph going UP on statcounter, so I'm back on the 'Splosion. And I remember what I didn't like about it the last time -- a lot of people with nothing much to say (kinda like me today, huh?).
Stones Cry Out is talking about First Principles. I find myself disagreeing with the principle that conservatives adhere to custom, convention, and continuity. I'm not what I would consider a conventional person. Custom is a wonderful thing, but it isn't a rule of my life. I DO like continuity, though, since I am a (budding) historian. Continuity for its own sake, though, is wrong. I'm looking close at the other ten principles here, and if I think it's warranted I'll put a post together about my thoughts on the subject.
Scott over at the Crusty Curmudgeon reminds me that yesterday was the feast day of Caedmon, which the Celtic/British history nut in me should have remembered. I have an excuse -- I've been reading a LOT more "modern" (18th century and later) church history recently. I think this summer will be time to pull out the Bede again.
Rebecca must be reading my mind. Go read this post. We argue about doctrine, disagree about everything under the sun -- but we are still brothers and sisters in Christ if we have the same trust in Christ for our salvation. I'm getting ready to put a study together on "Baptist Distinctives" that I hope I'll get to do at church, and I got to thinking about them. I realized that while I think they're all important things, I am good friends with people who would disagree with me on just about all of them. And these are people whose salvation I do not question, and whose walk with Christ is beyond reproach. God doesn't mind if they're wrong ;-)
The King of the Blogs tourney is still running, and they've had a ruling monarch last long enough to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. And rumor is that a former monarch (who is working on a new template) is considering an attempt at regaining his throne. . . Or maybe he's just pulling people's chains, who knows. He's strange that way ......
Posted by: Warren Kelly at 09:57 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
BlogSpot Must Be Listening
... to the judges at the KotB tournament, anyway. They've changed the Blogger comment thing so that you don't have to have a Blogger account anymore to leave comments on a blog with their comment thing turned on.
I still like Haloscan better, though. BlogSpot still doesn't have trackback, for example.
I really don't have anything else to say, but I wanted everyone to know about that -- it was advertized on the Dashbard page when I logged in.
Posted by: Warren Kelly at 09:52 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
February 11, 2005
A Mad Emperor am I?
The irony of this quiz result is that I was going to use this guy in my last King of the Blogs defense, to answer the challenge post about who I would base my rule on. Unfortunately, I forgot the guy's name until two days later when my wife mentioned him. Yes, we are both history geeks, so we DO have conversations like that all the time.
Which Historical Lunatic Are You?
From the fecund loins of Rum and Monkey.
This guy actually declared himself Emperor of the United States. From what I've been able to gather, he was in reality pretty harmless, and left the folks in Washington alone. The people who lived near him humored him, and he didn't really give anyone any trouble, but he never really did much of anything, either.
Posted by: Warren Kelly at 09:38 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
February 10, 2005
Briefly ...
I heard a little about this story on the way to school this evening. Once I got here and had dinner, I figured I would check into it a little.
Is anyone else VERY disturbed about this? The fact that someone can go to the FBI and claim that your sermons are inciting violence, and the FBI then shows up and gets transcripts or recordings of your messages bothers me more than I want to even think about.
Posted by: Warren Kelly at 06:24 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
February 09, 2005
I'm Back
I've been struggling for the past several days with a lot of stuff. For a few hours today I was thinking about shutting down the blog -- but I'm not. It's hard to describe what I was feeling, because a lot of it was nothing at all (which is far more frightening than feeling something), but I think that this Steve Taylor song probably does a pretty good job of it.
The Finish LineYou can download the MP3 (legally) at this website.
Once upon an average morn
An average boy was born for the second time
Prone upon the altar there
He whispered up a prayer he'd kept hid inside
The vision came, he saw the odds
A hundred little gods on a gilded wheel
"These will vie to take your place
But, Father, by Your grace I will never kneel"
And I saw you, upright and proud
And I saw you wave to the crowd
And I saw you laughing out loud at the Philistines
And I saw you brush away rocks
And I saw you pull up your socks
And I saw you out on the blocks for the finish line
Darkness falls, the devil stirs
And as your vision blurs you start stumbling
The heart is weak, the will is gone
And every strong conviction comes tumbling down
Malice rains, the acid guile
Is sucking at your shoes while the mud is fresh
It floods the trail, it leaves you dry
As every little god buys its pound of flesh
And I saw you licking your wounds
And I saw you weave your cocoons
And I saw you changing your tunes for the party line
And I saw you welch on old debts
I saw you and your comrades bum cigarettes
And you hemmed and you hawed
And you hedged all your bets waiting for a sign
Let's all wash our hands as we throw little fits
Let's all wash our hands as we curse hypocrites
We're locked in the washroom turning old tricks
Deaf and joyless and full of it
The vision came, he saw the odds
A hundred little gods on a gilded wheel
"These have tried to take Your place
But, Father, by Your grace, I will never kneel
I will never kneel"
Off in the distance, bloodied but wise
As you squint with the light of the truth in your eyes
And I saw you, both hands were raised
And I saw your lips move in praise
And I saw you steady your gaze for the finish line
Every idol like dust, a word scattered them all
And I rose to my feet when you scaled the last wall
And I gasped when I saw you fall in His arms at the finish line
Written by Steve Taylor © 1993 Warner Alliance Music/Soylent Tunes ASCAP
School tomorrow, so I'm off again until Saturday. But this time, I WILL be back Saturday.
Posted by: Warren Kelly at 11:04 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
February 04, 2005
Blogroll Cruise: 2/4/05
- Midwestern Mugwump offers a critique of the Iraqi insurgents who apparantly have taken a GI Joe doll hostage.
- Eternal Perspectives gives us another perspective on the whole Unity in Christ issue. We are to be united in Christ -- what exactly does that mean? Does it mean we support everyone who claims the name, or do we have divisions based on doctrine?
- Sacra Eloquia, which is the Crusty Curmudgeon's less-crusty blog, has a great Intro to Philemon post that MIGHT end up being used by yours truely at some point in a Sunday School class (or possibly sermon ...). If this one isn't in your blogroll, you're missing a great blog.
- And make sure that you check out the Southern Baptist Bloggers aggregator that I've set up -- and let all your SBC friends know about it.
Posted by: Warren Kelly at 03:50 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
News Cruise
A few other people have noticed that the US military seems to be involved in religious torture. I'm a little upset that more people aren't makeing this an issue. We need to seriously ask the questions that Jeff Jacoby asks -- "Are Americans OK with using religious humiliation as tools of war? How about religious torture?"
Marcus Sheffield has a good editorial in the Chatanoogan about not counting on AMerica being the new incarnation of the Kingdom of God. He reminds me about Christ's words in John 18:36.
I'll be doing the Blogroll Cruise in a bit. My medication has worn off, which is a good thing, and I'm not in pain anymore (not much pain, anyway). I might be able to manage something original soon, who knows. I missed classes this week, because I couldn't handle sitting in the car for three hours, then sitting in class for three hours. If they'd let me lay down in class, I think I'd have gone. Not much chance of that, though. I'll be back to full strength next week, though.
Posted by: Warren Kelly at 03:36 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
February 02, 2005
A Few Random Thoughts
... from an oxycodone-fogged mind.
Monday was surgery day -- the hernia I had in September of 03 came back, and I wanted to get it fixed before it got too bad. I waited five years to get that one fixed, and it was NOT pretty. Also had to spend a week in the hospital after the surgery. This time, it was outpatient, so I'm home, but I'm still hurting. I SHOULD be OK to drive to school tomorrow, though, as long as I don't take my medication before I try to drive.
I've been reading a lot of Andrew Fuller lately, for class. I've said it before, but I'll say it again -- this is someone that everyone should be familiar with. He was a driving force in turning around the English Particular Baptists in the 18th Century, at a time when hyper-Calvinism had really taken hold and was hindering church growth. His apologetic and polemic works are outstanding, and incredibly well-thought-out. And his sermons are inspiring. I may set up an Amazon "So you want to ..." list with some recommended books on him for those who are interested, but that probably won't be until Saturday or Sunday.
Work on the new template has been nonexistant lately, but I know a little better what I want to do. The creative part is almost over, so now I actually have to try and build the thing. And I think everyone will like it -- if nothing else, the colors will be a bit easier on the eyes. And the newspaper links are going away.
Time magazine's 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in American wasn't quite what I was expecting. I think that Joe Carter's series at Evangelical Outpost is much better. But one think got me thinking -- both lists show how diverse the evangelical community is. You have to wonder what would happen if all these people got together and worked together in a more concerted effort to share the Gospel with the world. Of course, many of them would have some theological differences that they would have to work out (or agree to disagree on) first.
Well, I'm due for more medication, and after that I doubt I'll be able to blog anything even remotely coherent. Might be back this evening or later tonight. If not, I WILL be posting on Saturday. I might even have the rest of my "Faith and Reason" series finished ...
Posted by: Warren Kelly at 01:06 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
January 29, 2005
SBC Bloggers UNITE!!
Well, unite as much as Southern Baptists ever do! (that was a joke folks!)
Seriously, in yesterday's Blogroll Cruise, I talked about denominational aggregators and how they can be useful. I've gone ahead and done it -- there is a Southern Baptist Blog Aggregator set up at Blogdigger.com (I actually set one up at server.com as well, but I think that the blogdigger site is where we're going to be for now). NOW all I need are some SBC bloggers to join.
If you are interested, email me at wkelly42 AT adelphia DOT com. I need to know your URL, your feed address, the title of your blog, and your email address. Pass this along to other SBC bloggers who may not read this blog, so that we can get this running ASAP. And if you have any questions, let me know.
Posted by: Warren Kelly at 01:15 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
January 28, 2005
How Far is Too Far?
{That title should get me some unintended Google hits!}
I was planning on stopping tonight, then I read this.
I'm not a political blogger. And I think that the war in Iraq is justified, even as I fervently wish that other means could have been used, and I pray for peace there every day. But I think that this article shows exactly what lengths the military is willing to go to in order to get information and break prisoners.
I was sickened when I read this. I don't think Islam is true: they deny that Christ is the Messiah, and look to other means to get to heaven. But there are a LOT of Muslims who have distanced themselves from the radicals, and I think that it is incredibly unfair that their faith is under assault by our military. I don't have to approve of Islam; in America, they have the right to their faith as much as I do.
The worst thing is, it didn't have to be anything sexual. Pork products would have had the same reaction, and would have been less distasteful for many Americans who are still seeing images of Abu Grahib (I hope I spelled that right!). But even that would have offended me, and should have offended any person of faith.
We have said for years that faith is under assault in this country. Now we have an example of how faith is treated on the battlefield. If this had been a Christian soldier of the US Army in the hands of Iraqi captors, and his faith had been assaulted in this manner, our entire nation would be outraged. The Christian community would be up in arms. And rightly so.
We should express our outrage at this treatment as well. This religious exploitation must end. Assaulting faith is too far. This is NOT a religious war, after all.
Posted by: Warren Kelly at 10:11 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Blogroll Cruise: 1/28/05
First up, Jollyblogger. I haven't been linking to him much lately, and I am not sure exactly why. Today, he's tough to ignore, with not one but TWO great reads.
First, the McChurching of America talks about the franchising of the Megachurch. I'm torn here, because in a way, it seems that the megas are doing what I want them to be doing -- they are starting new churches rather than keeping a central church that requires its own ZIP code. But I'm not sure that these satelite churches are anything more than elaborate small groups, whose identity is still tied to the "mother church" -- it almost sounds like an Evangelical form of the Catholic parish church. Maybe that's not a bad thing, but THIS jury is still out.
Second, his post yesterday about Blogging and Walls. I have to salute someone who links to a post that criticizes him (although indirectly), and takes the time to respond to it. And I like what David has to say. I kinda like the idea of denominational blog aggregators -- simply because it would help network some of the bloggers out there. I know a few other Southern Baptist bloggers out there (one, Matt Hall, is also at Southern, and he's got links to a couple other SBTS bloggers), and it would be nice to cooperate, and possibly meet up (especially at the national convention) -- maybe even set up a blogging symposium or something to show the average church how a blog would compliment their ministry. There is a LOT we could do, but we don't know each other. For every SBC blogger I know, there are probably 10 that I don't. Denominational aggregators can build a community online, and help that community work together offline. If I had the tech know-how, I'd set up the SBC agg. myself. Maybe if I could get a lesson or two from someone with a few more skills.....?
Rebecca over at Rebecca Writes is one of my favorite bloggers. She was also pretty much my first regular reader, so not only is she a good blogger, but she has great taste! And she's got some great theological writing over at her blog. She's doing a semi-series about the anathemas of the Council of Constantinople which is great reading. She's done a series about the purpose of Christ's death that is outstanding. So I'm going to link to her post about haggis. Why? Because I have a warped sense of humor. Deal with it.
Bobby Griffith is an internet friend of mine -- he posts over at the PCCBoard Forums, and is most likely doing his PhD work at Southern -- in Church History, no less. He's like me, but more Reformed! And he's posted the Christianity Today list of Ten Reasons to Study Church History -- which should be required reading for everyone, IMnsHO.
Adrian Warnock has been accused of being too close to the Jollyblogger -- in fact, he was accused of BEING JB by one blogger (whose link I cannot find right now, unfortunately). So he's decided to disagree with Jollyblogger ... or at least, try to. Careful Adrian -- David's in Baltimore, and probably could get to Fort McHenry before you could get to him -- and you remember what happened the last time the Brits tried to take that Fort.
Now I'm closing. I just found out that I am pulpit supply on Sunday for a small Baptist church, and I have a sermon to write AND a Sunday School lesson for my own church to get ready. And maybe another post or two -- I can always prepare tomorrow .....
Posted by: Warren Kelly at 08:45 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
January 26, 2005
Takin' the Day Off ...
... to celebrate my birthday. Yep, it's that time of the year, and I'm another year smarter.
Hey, I'm 37, I'm not old!
So I'm just going to put my feet up and play on the internet this evening, and post something intelligent later, maybe (why start now, right?).
And if you feel so inclinde, my Amazon wish list is right here -- newly updated and everything.
Posted by: Warren Kelly at 09:53 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
January 25, 2005
Political Silliness
This piece from the New York Times just cruised through the RSS reader, and I'm more than a little disappointed.
Never mind the fact that I don't like using politics to effect a change that can really only come through Christ. Never mind the fact that I think that Social Security is in need of an overhaul. Using SS reform to get what you want socially is not a good plan.
Let's say that Bush, for whatever reason, decides not to push for the marriage ammendment. Maybe he's decided that he resents the Religious Right(tm) thinking they own him because they voted for him. Maybe he never really wanted to do it to begin with -- it was just campaign rhetoric to get our votes. Whatever the reason, he decides not to do it after all. So the Social Security reform doesn't get passed because of a lack of support.
Now, in thirty years or however long SS has left in it's current state, the whole thing tanks. People are upset: "Why wasn't something done about this?" And the answer? "We tried, but the Christians fought us, so it didn't get done. Blame them, not the GOP."
Don't think it will happen? Ha. The GOP will turn on us so fast it will make EVERYONE'S head spin, if it means staying in charge and in power. They don't owe us a thing.
The gay marriage issue won't go away because we legislate it away. The solution is changing hearts, minds, and lifestyles with the message of the Gospel of Christ. Let's be about our Father's business.
Posted by: Warren Kelly at 01:17 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Christian Carnival
This week's Christian Carnival is at Digitus, Finger & Co. http://www.neiluchitel.com/
To enter is simple. First, you post should be of a Christian nature, but this does not exclude posts that are political (or otherwise) in nature from a Christian point of view. Secondly please send only one post dated since the last Christian Carnival. Then, do the following:email me at (email deleted per request)
Please put Christian Carnival Entry in the Subject
Provide the following:
Title of your Blog
URL of your Blog
Title of your post
URL linking to that post
Description of the post
Cutt off date is midnight Tuesday EST
INVITE A FRIEND TO CONTRIBUTE THIS WEEK!
Posted by: Warren Kelly at 11:28 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
January 24, 2005
Blogroll Cruise: 1/24/05
A brief note: I'm not linking to posts on the whole SpongeBob thing. NOT because it isn't an important issue, but because if I did that, I wouldn't have room for anything else on the cruise. Google SpongeBob and Dobson if you want a rundown of those posts.
Allthings2all has an account of a Christian doing what Christians are supposed to be doing -- meeting people where they are. This is something we forget way too easily, and far too often. We are all ministers of the Gospel, after all.
For the Joy is doing a running series on The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience -- about emphasizing living lives that are consistant with our beliefs as Christians. We can never hope to show the world how Christ can change lives if our own lives remain unchanged.
Rolling Stone won't take religious ads. GetReligion exposes their hypocracy. I love it when the intolerant get caught with their pants around their ankles.
More tomorrow, promise!
Posted by: Warren Kelly at 09:38 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Best of Me Symphony
Head over to The Owner's Manual for this installment of the Bets of Me Symphony. This week's conductor is George Bernard Shaw, and he's got some great comments for all the entries this week.
Next week's installment is hosted at the same place. Send Gary an email at gcruse AT netscape dot com and submit your entry. Only requirement is that it's good (duh), and it's two months old. Get some new traffic to your site, and recycle one of those great old posts!!
{edit: fixed the email!}
Posted by: Warren Kelly at 05:57 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
January 23, 2005
Study of Mark: Mark 7:1-13
Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands, holding to the tradition of the elders, and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?" And he said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,
" 'This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me;in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men."And he said to them, "You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! For Moses said, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.'But you say, 'If a man tells his father or his mother, Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban' (that is, given to God) -- then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother,thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do."
(Mark 7:1-13 ESV)
Confrontation by the Pharisees. They've been out to get Jesus for some time (since Mark 3:6, when He challenged their Sabbath laws in a way that they could not refute) and now they've decided the disciples were unclean because they didn't wash their hands before they ate. Verse 3 tells us whose law that was -- and it wasn't God's. There was a LOT of washing going on -- ritual cleansing was a rule of the day.
And Jesus points out the hypocracy of the Pharisees. They follow their own laws and regulations, but in doing so break the Law of God. People were to honor their parents. But when someone's parents were old, and needed help, the money they should have received from their children was already promised to the priests for "God's use." He also says that this is only one of many ways they honor themselves over God.
I see a lot of parallels with today. We work so hard, trying to make sure that God is happy with us, that we forget what our priorities should be. We spend so much time running our ministries that we don't help the needy. We spend so much time in study that we ignore our families. We get so wrapped up in what we're doing for God that we forget to worship and praise Him.
We also tend to exult our own rules and legalities over what God says to do. We've decided women shouldn't wear pants, that men should have short hair, that music with a beat is sinful, that movies are evil, etc., and we forget that God is no repector of persons -- He wants us to talk to people who aren't our idea of "good Christian folks" so that we can be a witness to them; but our legalism gets in the way. We can't walk up to a group of skater punks and share the Gospel with them, because they are different. They need to get a haircut and buy some decent clothes before they can get saved. And that's just wrong. We need to get over ourselves and our legalities, and be faithful witnesses for Christ.
Posted by: Warren Kelly at 08:55 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Bloggers, $$, and Ethics
{Edit: I fixed the link to the DHMO site.}
I've just finished reading this at USA Today. I have a few questions about the article, and the idea of a Blogger Code of Ethics.
First, why? The Blogosphere is self-policing. I can guarentee that if I write something stupid (as I have done in the past), or blatently wrong, someone will let me know about it (whether I actually admit I was wrong is another thing). Accuracy isn't really that big an issue, is it?
Second, is anyone really reading blogs looking for objectivity? Does anyone approach the news looking for objectivity? I would hope that we're intelligent enough to realize that we all bring bias into whatever we write, in varying degrees. Readers need to be made aware of what our biases could potentially be -- which is something the blogosphere is pretty good at uncovering and letting people know about.
The very definition of a weblog seems to include the idea that the author is writing about things he/she enjoys, or opinions that they hold, or things they do for a living. I think the problem is that many people don't want to have to think, or examine things they read. We just want to take things at face value, and that's what we do. The problem isn't blogger ethics -- the problem is general gullibility and a lack of critical thinking skills.
Third: HOW did those people get the gig with Marqui? $800 a month to talk about their products? I'd do that in a heartbeat -- but you all would know they were paying me (mainly because of the post that would say "I AM GETTING PAID $800 A MONTH TO BLOG!!!!! WHOOOO HOOOO ME!!!!!!!!!!!"). In fact, if Dell, HP, Sony, Titelist, Taylor Made, or anyone like that would like to drop some $$ or free products on me to post reviews of them at my other blog, I won't complain at all. I promise to be fair and impartial.
Posted by: Warren Kelly at 02:53 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
January 22, 2005
Intolerant Tolerance
When I get a blog host that allows it, I think one of my blog categories is going to be Intolerant Tolerance. I've done several posts on this subject, and yet it just gets worse, and more obvious. The theme seems to be, "Why don't those silly Christians get over their ignorance and realize they should all be just like us?" Sounds like tolerance for a conflicting worldview to me, doesn't it to you?
Or maybe an award. The View From the Pew Award for Incredible Intolerance. You could call it a Pewie for short. And I know who'd get one this week, thanks to Sarcasmagorical.
Michael Ventre, YOU are this weeks Pewie Award Winner!!
In my humble opinion, Jesus Christ was an important and influential figure in world history, and I respect that. Because he was a symbol of love and understanding, the term 'What Would Jesus Do?' resonates powerfully. If we all acted as Jesus would, I believe the world would be at peace, and love would wash over all of God's children.Now let's examine Ventre's article, because I'm concerned that HE may be exhibiting some of these symptoms -- he may be a C.R.A.C.K.P.O.T too!!
But of course, not all Christians are alike. Many, if not most, Christians understand the true message of Jesus. But there is a frightening number of so-called Christians who can be best described as creepy, rigid, arrogant, cruel, know-it-all, pompous, obnoxious and treacherous - better known by the acronym C.R.A.C.K.P.O.T.
He's upset about the hoopla over the We Are Family foundation's video and tolerance pledge, and the use of popular cartoon characters in this video which is intended for use in classrooms throughout the country. He's REALLY upset about the criticism of Spongebob. I don't like Spongebob, never have -- but I do like some of the other characters, and my daughter watches some of the shows they're on. I don't like having these symbols appropriated by someone who is intent on teaching my kid that homosexuality is an acceptable lifestyle alternative.
The mere fact that Ventre glosses over what the real controversy is about, focusing instead on the protest over cartoon characters, is a bit creepy. It's as if he wants discussion of the issue to be deflected from where it really is -- the teaching of someone's morality to elementary school kids. If Christians were doing this, we'd be hauled into court. Because it's someone else, and someone else's morality, it's obviously OK.
The first step for the CRACKPOT Christians is to accept that they have a problem. I know programs exist that can reprogram the insufferably preachy and transform them back into normal people like the rest of us. They have to get the message that taking the Good Book, living by the parts they agree with and disregarding the parts they don?t, is a learned behavior and can be cured. They need to be taught that looking for secret messages where none exist is an urge that should be resisted.There's the rigid part -- obviously, it's Ventre and folks like him who are right, so why should they change? WE are the ones with a problem.
For arrogant, well, just read what he has to say. He reminds us repeatedly of how tolerant he is normally, and how compassionate he is. Show, don't tell.
Anyone who is obviously as hung up on telling Christians they're sick is cruel -- religious faith is an important part of someone's life, and their psyche. Any abuse or misrepresentation of that belief is incredibly cruel.
Know-it-all, pompous -- just read the article. It's amazing that he knows so much better than someone who has actually studied the Bible what it's really all about.
Obnoxious --
I've only caught bits and pieces of SpongeBob, but I never noticed any Bette Midler playing in the background. Nor have I seen SpongeBob shopping for china at Williams Sonoma, or French-kissing another male sponge. He does, however, hold hands with his sidekick Patrick and enjoys watching the imaginary TV show, 'The Adventures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy,' so I can see why the CRACKPOT Christians might get their knickers in a knot believing that the moral foundation of our nation's schoolchildren is in grave peril because a couple of cartoon characters touched each other.I rest my case on that one.
That leaves treacherous. This country was founded on the idea that people could hold their own religious beliefs, and were free to practice them, without interference from anyone. Ventre's belief that we should all go into a 12-step program to "cure" us of our faith is an attack on the Constitution itself! Treacherous doesn't begin to describe him!
Was that over the top? Yep. I look forward to a time when Michael Ventre decides to talk about the real issue -- that kids' cartoon characters are being used to teach them that their parents are intolerant idiots and that they should not listen to them OR their ministers about homosexuality and what the Bible teaches about it. That is what I find most offensive. I could care less about Spongebob. Discuss the facts, sir, and try to do it without the ad hominem attacks on people who actually believe in something.
{edit: Fixed a really bad sentence fragment in the last paragraph. Sorry.}
{UPDATE: Take a look at this over at Imago Dei if you want an even better treatment of the issue. Note that I'm not defending anything that Dr. Dobson may or may not have said, I'm trying to show that Christians are protesting the content of the video, not the alleged sexuality of the cartoon characters}
Posted by: Warren Kelly at 06:57 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
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