Simple Question #014a: What Does it Mean to "Behave"?

Especially when the coffee is flowing, I'm late for work, everyone wants something from me, and I can't hear God's loving voice in my ear telling me life is good, I don't feel like behaving. I know what I think it means to behave, but it seems so nebulous. I see a definition on thefreeditionary.com that states, "To conduct oneself in a specified way," but I'm not sure that's the whole story.

What does "behave" mean to you?

Learn Something New: Toki Pona - The Happy Language

Feeling blue? So was the creator of Toki Pona, Sonja Elen Kisa, who came up with the idea while feeling depressed one day. I'm not too much of a polyglot, but it seems like with less than 120 words, I might even be able to master this one. There are so many hateful words in all of today's most popular languages, this is a breath of fresh air... or, rather, a breath of sin kon.

The Unicorn Museum & Intolerance - Learning to Breathe

So I recently visited a site mentioned on BoingBoing.net that was created in response to the Creationist Museum. It's the Unicorn Museum and it's worth a look. I found it kinda boring in its one-note sarcasm, but I'm probably not the intended audience.

Then I looked at the comments and (not surprisingly) found quite a bit of "back and forth" between people with differing views on religion. Of particular interest to me was a post by someone clarifying the nature of the passage in the Bible mentioning unicorns and a response by someone dismissing the clarification as merely a crutch to help someone grapple with the inconsistencies of their source of faith. I wanted to respond, but instead I decided to post my initial response here to allow it to mellow like I do when I have an emotional reaction to such things. So here, for your edification, is my initial response:

Especially when viewed from a scientific standpoint, understanding the history of the words in any particular translation of any book is important regardless of whether it is religious in nature. Of the dozen or so most popular Biblical translations currently available in English, the word "Unicorn" is only used in the one most poetic of all - the King James Version.

It's honestly not a matter of sleeping well at all (I have Sonata to help me with that). I welcome open discourse on religion and faith, but if we do so assuming we are undeniably correct and everyone else is hopelessly wrong, the only result can be to thoughtlessly gainsay ideas you didn't bring to the table. This helps nobody.

The bottom line for me is that this site is funny, but it's also pretty juvenile. Literalism in any discipline deserves a healthy dose of humor, but belligerent ignorance can be ugly when professed in public regardless of spiritual inclination. I get it - you think people with religious faith are stoopid. Unfortunately, this site responds to someone else's ridiculousness (i.e. the Creationist Museum) with their own wrapped in the convenient, flame-resistant robe of satire. Like so much humor in that vein, this ends up just sounding shrill and smug rather than truly funny.

Now I will take a few deep breaths and see if I want to post this to their comments section later today.

Simple Question #013a: Should Churches Have a Sense of Humor?

According to Wikipedia, Heresy is defined as, "theological or religious opinion or doctrine maintained in opposition, or held to be contrary, to the Roman Catholic or Orthodox doctrine of the Christian Church, or, by extension, to that of any church, creed, or religious system, considered as orthodox." Simplifying this down to its essence, it means openly disagreeing with any religion. Given the historical trend of Churches falling away from the teachings of Christ, isn't it our responsibility to be active heretics when the circumstances are appropriate?

So much heresy is tied up with humor. Many Churches over the years seem humorless to me. Why is that? What is the nature of humor that is so threatening to leaders of any stripe... especially so many in charge of the world's religions?

Just in case you're completely un familiar with the idea of heresy as humor, here's one of my favorite examples:

Cool Quote #001a: Thomas Jefferson

"I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility toward every form of tyranny over the minds of men."

To Serve or Not to Serve?

During normal business hours, I am surrounded with people who don't care about what isn't profitable for them. It's a small company, so I can see why keeping an eye on profitability is important. In some ways I've tried to deal with it and find a way to continue to be who I am without playing into that mentality or be changed by it. Things seem different today. Maybe it's just me...

If service lags for people who don't bring in a lot of revenue, nobody seems to care. As a result, I can't provide the service I would like to because the people who don't care are blocking the resources I need to do so. Their negative "stuff" is starting to rub off on me.

So how do you stay positive when everything around you seems negative? How do you reconcile faith in such a negative, competitive business world? I don't know, but I'll keep going forward and let you know. Maybe I just need to let go.

Maybe I'm Not Wrestling Enough?

I'm scared.

It seems as if my life is going pretty well these days, but I know there's the clear and present possibility that trouble's just around the corner. I know it's important to enjoy this time, but I can't help but think that maybe there's something to my concern (which makes that difficult).

I hope everyone in my life lives longer than I do. I know that's not technically likely (or maybe even desirable) , but I can't help feeling some dread in going through the loss of a parent or friend or mate... hell, even the loss of a pet is tough.

I'm generally a happy person, but I know trials probably loom ahead. I know they will help me grow, but I like it where I am. Just as I'm getting comfortable here, I can sense change coming. Writing all this down makes it seem more inevitable too.

Maybe I just won't publish this and everything will stay the same...

Simple Question #012a: Should Politics and Religion Mix?

We're getting closer to an election for President (among other things). You know politics will come into discussions of religion as time flows on, so let's get this one out of the way early:

Should Politics and Religion mix?

What you do matters.

In every way you can imagine, the things you do matter.



Thanks to Spulch for linking me to this video.

JWSTSOOY #003a: Grandparents Strangle Grandchild Covered in Blood, Blame Their Actions on Her "Demonic Possession".

'Exorcism' call leads to death of man

We'll leave the discussion for whether demonic posessions are real or not for a later post. These grandparents are simply insane.

Simple Question #011a: Do animals have souls?

Is there anything in the Bible indicating that animals don't have souls? If not, then why does this theory persist? Humans have an awful track record of assuming what God intends, so I'm not sure we should assume not just because it's more convenient or easier.

What do you think?

Tammy Faye Goes to Huge Diamond-Encrusted Auditorium in the Sky

On the heels of the last post about mega churches comes the news that one of the earliest and most iconic examples of televangelism, Tammy Faye Messner has died.

Are Mega Churches Evil?

If the title of this post isn't leading, I have no idea what would be.

If I had to give a simple answer, I would say that they are not. I would quickly follow up with the observation that the tendencies of these kinds of Churches (their size, their fast-food/fast-faith mentality, their money obsession, etc...) are symptoms of a deep rooted flawed (some might argue evil) approach to organized religion.

Don't get me wrong. Some of the leaders of these groups are really quite dangerously manipulative of their followers. Any form of prosperity theology is wrong-headed and counter-intuitive to Jesus' teachings, in my opinion. Very often it seems that the very people preaching in a judgmental, buzzword-heavy manner end up being found guilty of the very sins they publicly reject so vociferously.

Well, now you know some of what I think on the subject. What do you think?

8 Random Factoids Meme

I've been tagged by my friend and co-blogger Revrin Rick over at the fantastic yes yes yes ... is the answer blog in a random facts meme.


Rules to play:

1. Players start with 8 random facts about themselves.
   
2. Those who are tagged should post these rules (on your blog or in emails if you want, and send 'em around, since not all my pals have blogs, or just list 'em in comments on this post) and their 8 random facts.
   
3. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them they have been tagged.

My 8 random factoids:

1. I'm easily amused by animals.
   
2. The current two-party political system in the U.S. is repugnant to me.
   
3. A world without irritating people is unimaginable to me and I'm not convinced that's a bad thing.
   
4. I love a wide variety of music. Having said that, I must admit that most modern religious music does nothing for me.
   
5. Horror movies with no sense of humor are useless to me.
   
6. I hate cilantro. I've tried to like it... really, I have.
   
7. Marcel Duchamp is one of my favorite modern artists, but he also ticks me off.
   
8. I realize that there are people who do not love their fellow human beings and I hate people like that. ;)

Whew! That was harder than I expected. What are your 8?

Comments are Encouraged & New Section: Twitter

Just in case it wasn't apparent to anyone who drops by this site, I heartily encourage comments. In fact, there are days where I don't create any new posts because I'm more directly involved in talking with other people who comment here. In fact, I anticipate a good discussion will ensue in the BBS: Parable of the Wicked Tenants post below and it would be great if you would chime in!

I've also added a relatively new section to this site: Twitter. What the heck is that? We'll, without getting too deep into it, Twitter is an easy way for me to tell you what I'm doing related to this blog. I update my Twitter status multiple times a day which can be good if you're wondering whether I've fallen off the face of the earth or I'm just working on a new post.

FYI: For those wondering, I fell off the face of the earth a long time ago.

BBS - The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants.

This one is maybe a bit confusing to me. It seems like the people responding to Christ's question about what will happen is (at least somewhat) appropriate. Then His response is cryptic to me. Maybe it's just because I haven't had enough coffee this morning, but maybe you can help me understand what's going on here. Is Jesus differing with their opinion or just agreeing with them and then pointing out their inability to see prophecy through His words?

I love when Jesus does this: telling a story with a complex, yet obvious outcome and then simply pointing out how it's relevant to the current situation. In everyday life, I believe these kinds of connections are the basis of Deja Vu. Christ makes that connection part of the conscious rather than the subconscious.

What do you think?

Simple Question #010a: Is Intelligent Design Necessary?

For Christians, is the concept of Intelligent Design really necessary to reconcile science with the Bible?

It's a straightforward question. There are many ways in which, at least on the surface, the Bible seems to contradict scientific findings of the last 100 years. Does this mean you need to "find God" in these scientific results before you can rest easy in your faith?

I have an opinion or two, but I'd love to hear what you think first!

Simple Question #009a: Where do you see God?

I was looking at some pictures recently and reflecting on how we can see God in it all. Some images seem to bring up God more presently than others for me. That prompts me to ask this question: In what do you see God most clearly?



Too sweet? Maybe, but I still like it. :D

Christian Paintball

Why not?

Christian paintball park provides friendly fire

Wisdom from a Bathroom Wall

This was passed on to me many years ago from someone who claimed it to be found among the other scribblings on a public bathroom wall:

Not old enough to know better.
Old enough to know better.
Not old enough to know.
Old enough to know.
Not old enough.
Old enough.
Not old.
Old.
Not.

I think I got that right. :D