Really cute video by the Harvard Baseball team. Cute guys, too!
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Christmas in New York - 2035
As I sit here on the Battery Dikes and look out over New York Harbor, I am amazed I am still alive. At the ripe old age of 85, I am still traveling and speaking and sometimes even playing tourist with my boy, a senior himself.
My eyesight is not as good, but I can still see the Statue of Liberty rising from the waters of the harbor, her pedestal now converted to a dock for the tour boats that visit the aging monument. I still remember taking the J train to Coney Island for a dinner at Garguilos on West 15th. Of course that is all gone now. What land is left there is mostly estuary and marsh and the wind turbines that power much of Brooklyn slowly spin in choreographed motion.
My boy hugs my shoulder as I reminisce and soon we decide to head uptown for dinner. The walled lower Manhattan area is busy during the day, but not much good for an evening meal. “If only the people in these buildings had listened to scientists and not Fox News,” I say as I shrug my shoulders.
The boy clucks and shakes his head. “Greed always seems to win out.” He is still a bit of a cynic and frankly so am I.
It’s getting colder and for us desert dwellers from Dallas the chill in the air is unfamiliar. It reminds me of my youth, when we had all four seasons in Texas and the dusty plains were lush with vegetation and grazing cattle. Now just a distant memory.
Tomorrow, we will watch the Macy's Parade as they carry the big balloons down the street like huge beach balls past the crowds. Most of the kids never saw them when they flew overhead filled with the rare gas we wasted so quickly.
(Sorry to be so morose, but I have come to believe that we have passed the tipping point on climate change, so we had better adapt or we will not survive. The truth has become not just inconvenient but entirely conceivable.)
My eyesight is not as good, but I can still see the Statue of Liberty rising from the waters of the harbor, her pedestal now converted to a dock for the tour boats that visit the aging monument. I still remember taking the J train to Coney Island for a dinner at Garguilos on West 15th. Of course that is all gone now. What land is left there is mostly estuary and marsh and the wind turbines that power much of Brooklyn slowly spin in choreographed motion.
My boy hugs my shoulder as I reminisce and soon we decide to head uptown for dinner. The walled lower Manhattan area is busy during the day, but not much good for an evening meal. “If only the people in these buildings had listened to scientists and not Fox News,” I say as I shrug my shoulders.
The boy clucks and shakes his head. “Greed always seems to win out.” He is still a bit of a cynic and frankly so am I.
It’s getting colder and for us desert dwellers from Dallas the chill in the air is unfamiliar. It reminds me of my youth, when we had all four seasons in Texas and the dusty plains were lush with vegetation and grazing cattle. Now just a distant memory.
Tomorrow, we will watch the Macy's Parade as they carry the big balloons down the street like huge beach balls past the crowds. Most of the kids never saw them when they flew overhead filled with the rare gas we wasted so quickly.
(Sorry to be so morose, but I have come to believe that we have passed the tipping point on climate change, so we had better adapt or we will not survive. The truth has become not just inconvenient but entirely conceivable.)
Wednesday, May 09, 2012
Detroit Dungeon Party Taped on Hidden Camera by TV Station
What happens when you invite a TV reporter to a dungeon play party? You end up on TV and in the middle of a real media circus.
In Detroit, a reporter for the NBC affiliate, WDIV got invited to a local play party as he was investigating a murder. The suspect in the case was a participant in the BDSM community, but the murder was not BDSM related and in fact may be a murder for hire committed by a third party. The story is still developing, but the damage to the local BDSM scene has already happened.
The report which played last night on Detroit TV had little to do with the murder or the suspect other than to lean heavily on his involvement with BDSM. The majority of the piece was blurry video with lurid descriptions of the activities that take place at the party. Now to those in the community, these are almost commonplace, but when sensationalized, and in this case really sensationalized it seems dangerous and scary, especially to vanilla folk.
To make things worse the report gave the address of the party, a local VFW hall. All the footage of the event was shot with a hidden camera, so the participants did not know they were being filmed. Luckily the TV station blurred out all the faces but to the participants it must have felt like a violation of their privacy, and it was just that.
The report added no new information to the story of the suspect murder and was designed specifically to scare people with the “debauchery” going on in the peaceful suburban neighborhood. Never mind the fact that this party has been happening on a regular basis for a long time with no complaints, it is great stuff for ratings and TV news is all about ratings.
Now lots of people who attended that party are frightened, perhaps more than the viewers who saw the shadowy figures and blurred video on TV. They are afraid of being “outed” as kinky. Sadly in this country “kinky” is not a protected class and often people lose their families and jobs by being exposed.
The fears of the BDSM community in Detroit may be unfounded, but the hubbub this incident has caused should give people a few valuable lessons. If you are not “out” as kinky, then you need to make sure any event you attend is really a private party. That means invited folk only and/or all participants have signed some sort of release that assures they are not offended by the activities taking place and agree not to photograph or reveal names and identities of any other attendees. These are pretty standard at most play parties, but apparently in Detroit they were not used.
Secondly, do not invite the press to a play party! News folk look for sensational images, specifically TV journalists and whips and crosses make for sensational images, even if the reality of a play party is far from the imagined images vanilla people might have in their minds. Additionally, once the press splashes something like this all over peoples TV screens, some folks will complain to local authorities and next thing you know, the police are visiting any event that looks remotely out of the norm. In most cases what we do in a dungeon might not be illegal, but police will arrest first and ask questions later. I would not be surprised if a wave of “vice” operations followed closely on the heels of this report in Detroit.
The unintended consequences of this might be very severe for some people and that is what makes this even worse.
Now, to be honest, most cities have some kind of BDSM activity going on, and the police and authorities are not blind to it. I have spoken with law enforcement people about this and to a great extent their attitude is, if no one is getting hurt and there is not any prostitution going on they have bigger fish to fry. The difference in Detroit may be the murder investigation and just how much involvement BDSM may play in the crime. My suspicion is it is completely tangential, but that is for the police and courts to find out.
Meanwhile, kinky folk in Detroit should take a deep breath and then use some common sense next time they get an inquiry from a reporter about attending a party.
We don’t want to scare the Muggles!
In Detroit, a reporter for the NBC affiliate, WDIV got invited to a local play party as he was investigating a murder. The suspect in the case was a participant in the BDSM community, but the murder was not BDSM related and in fact may be a murder for hire committed by a third party. The story is still developing, but the damage to the local BDSM scene has already happened.
The report which played last night on Detroit TV had little to do with the murder or the suspect other than to lean heavily on his involvement with BDSM. The majority of the piece was blurry video with lurid descriptions of the activities that take place at the party. Now to those in the community, these are almost commonplace, but when sensationalized, and in this case really sensationalized it seems dangerous and scary, especially to vanilla folk.
To make things worse the report gave the address of the party, a local VFW hall. All the footage of the event was shot with a hidden camera, so the participants did not know they were being filmed. Luckily the TV station blurred out all the faces but to the participants it must have felt like a violation of their privacy, and it was just that.
The report added no new information to the story of the suspect murder and was designed specifically to scare people with the “debauchery” going on in the peaceful suburban neighborhood. Never mind the fact that this party has been happening on a regular basis for a long time with no complaints, it is great stuff for ratings and TV news is all about ratings.
Now lots of people who attended that party are frightened, perhaps more than the viewers who saw the shadowy figures and blurred video on TV. They are afraid of being “outed” as kinky. Sadly in this country “kinky” is not a protected class and often people lose their families and jobs by being exposed.
The fears of the BDSM community in Detroit may be unfounded, but the hubbub this incident has caused should give people a few valuable lessons. If you are not “out” as kinky, then you need to make sure any event you attend is really a private party. That means invited folk only and/or all participants have signed some sort of release that assures they are not offended by the activities taking place and agree not to photograph or reveal names and identities of any other attendees. These are pretty standard at most play parties, but apparently in Detroit they were not used.
Secondly, do not invite the press to a play party! News folk look for sensational images, specifically TV journalists and whips and crosses make for sensational images, even if the reality of a play party is far from the imagined images vanilla people might have in their minds. Additionally, once the press splashes something like this all over peoples TV screens, some folks will complain to local authorities and next thing you know, the police are visiting any event that looks remotely out of the norm. In most cases what we do in a dungeon might not be illegal, but police will arrest first and ask questions later. I would not be surprised if a wave of “vice” operations followed closely on the heels of this report in Detroit.
The unintended consequences of this might be very severe for some people and that is what makes this even worse.
Now, to be honest, most cities have some kind of BDSM activity going on, and the police and authorities are not blind to it. I have spoken with law enforcement people about this and to a great extent their attitude is, if no one is getting hurt and there is not any prostitution going on they have bigger fish to fry. The difference in Detroit may be the murder investigation and just how much involvement BDSM may play in the crime. My suspicion is it is completely tangential, but that is for the police and courts to find out.
Meanwhile, kinky folk in Detroit should take a deep breath and then use some common sense next time they get an inquiry from a reporter about attending a party.
We don’t want to scare the Muggles!
Friday, May 04, 2012
Don't Say Gay - A Plot to Make LGBT People Invisible
My family roots go back to “The Old Country” on my father’s side and the hills of Tennessee on my mother’s side, so it is no surprise that my ears perk up whenever news comes from the Volunteer State. Lately that news has been disturbing. The legislature of Tennessee has crafted what is being called the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. It is a measure that would eliminate any discussion of LGBT people in Tennessee classrooms of any discussion of sexual activity that is not related to “natural human reproduction science”. The good thing is it won’t become law because it will not come to a vote.
Now the Show Me state has taken up the cause and is pushing a similar bill that would make LGBT topics illegal in public schools and prohibit teachers from addressing bullying based on sexual orientation. You can expect Texas to follow suit if these bills are signed into law.
Though they would seem just another attempt by the prudish people to impose their stiff morality on everyone else, they are actually something much more insidious. The people writing these bills, and trust me it is not the legislators themselves, are trying to erase LGBT people from history.
It’s no secret that the younger generation of American’s is much more accepting of LGBT people than their parents. They have been raised in a world where they can see everyday examples of lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgender folk all around them. Because more and more LGBT people choose to live openly and proud, their lives are visible examples to everyone. That growing acceptance sticks in the craw of bigoted people, who realize that their prejudices are going to die off with their generation. That’s what these new laws are really about, perpetuating prejudice.
They are trying to make LGBT people invisible again, just as they were in the 1950s and 60s. They want to marginalize us in the minds of their children so that we will seem strange and frightening.
It’s all about loosing one of the last bogeymen the right wing has left and that is vitally important to their survival. The movement which masquerades as “conservative” today is in actually a far-right fear-based religion. They cling to a belief that the world is one of evil and good, black and white and for that kind of system you need clearly defined roles.
Naturally, they assume that they are the good and righteous folks, therefore anyone who is remotely different or outside their norm must be evil. It requires a scapegoat, someone to embody the bad and since it has become culturally impossible to use racial minorities like they once did, they turn to us. To the people writing these laws, LGBT people are a threat and we must be eliminated, of not in reality at least in perception. They have to keep us invisible to continue to affirm their righteousness.
If you want proof, just listen to Representative Joey Hensley (R), the Tennessee bill’s sponsor. “I have two children - in the third and fourth-grade - and don’t want them to be exposed to things I don’t agree with.”
The key word there is “agree”. Teaching about LGBT people means believing we are part of the fabric of our nation. He doesn’t agree with that idea. The problem is we are here and a constant reminder that whether he believes we exist or not, our rights are every bit as “self-evident” as any other American’s. He wants his children to live in the same cognitive dissonance that he does. Rep. Hensley and others like him want to make our very existence a matter of opinion.
The good news is that if this whole thing is boiled down to opinions, the more LGBT people who are visible, the harder it will be to maintain the illusion that we don’t exist. The good news is that children are a lot smarter than these yokels think and no matter how much smoke and how many mirrors they try to throw up, we are not going away. Kids know this and eventually they will begin asking why mommy and daddy can’t see the gay people like they can.
Now the Show Me state has taken up the cause and is pushing a similar bill that would make LGBT topics illegal in public schools and prohibit teachers from addressing bullying based on sexual orientation. You can expect Texas to follow suit if these bills are signed into law.
Though they would seem just another attempt by the prudish people to impose their stiff morality on everyone else, they are actually something much more insidious. The people writing these bills, and trust me it is not the legislators themselves, are trying to erase LGBT people from history.
It’s no secret that the younger generation of American’s is much more accepting of LGBT people than their parents. They have been raised in a world where they can see everyday examples of lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgender folk all around them. Because more and more LGBT people choose to live openly and proud, their lives are visible examples to everyone. That growing acceptance sticks in the craw of bigoted people, who realize that their prejudices are going to die off with their generation. That’s what these new laws are really about, perpetuating prejudice.
They are trying to make LGBT people invisible again, just as they were in the 1950s and 60s. They want to marginalize us in the minds of their children so that we will seem strange and frightening.
It’s all about loosing one of the last bogeymen the right wing has left and that is vitally important to their survival. The movement which masquerades as “conservative” today is in actually a far-right fear-based religion. They cling to a belief that the world is one of evil and good, black and white and for that kind of system you need clearly defined roles.
Naturally, they assume that they are the good and righteous folks, therefore anyone who is remotely different or outside their norm must be evil. It requires a scapegoat, someone to embody the bad and since it has become culturally impossible to use racial minorities like they once did, they turn to us. To the people writing these laws, LGBT people are a threat and we must be eliminated, of not in reality at least in perception. They have to keep us invisible to continue to affirm their righteousness.
If you want proof, just listen to Representative Joey Hensley (R), the Tennessee bill’s sponsor. “I have two children - in the third and fourth-grade - and don’t want them to be exposed to things I don’t agree with.”
The key word there is “agree”. Teaching about LGBT people means believing we are part of the fabric of our nation. He doesn’t agree with that idea. The problem is we are here and a constant reminder that whether he believes we exist or not, our rights are every bit as “self-evident” as any other American’s. He wants his children to live in the same cognitive dissonance that he does. Rep. Hensley and others like him want to make our very existence a matter of opinion.
The good news is that if this whole thing is boiled down to opinions, the more LGBT people who are visible, the harder it will be to maintain the illusion that we don’t exist. The good news is that children are a lot smarter than these yokels think and no matter how much smoke and how many mirrors they try to throw up, we are not going away. Kids know this and eventually they will begin asking why mommy and daddy can’t see the gay people like they can.
Wednesday, May 02, 2012
Pastor Who Endorsed Child Abuse Now Backtracks
Most everyone has heard the angry words of Pastor Sean Harris as he screeched against children who appeared the least bit gay. Apparently the media spotlight is too hot for Sean and he has tried to distance himself from what he actually said. First of all here is a transcript of the particularly fiery portion of his "sermon".
So your little son starts to act a little girlish when he is four years old and instead of squashing that like a cockroach and saying, “Man up, son, get that dress off you and get outside and dig a ditch, because that is what boys do,” you get out the camera and you start taking pictures of Johnny acting like a female and then you upload it to YouTube and everybody laughs about it and the next thing you know, this dude, this kid is acting out childhood fantasies that should have been squashed.Lets compare that with his apology in which he lies about not having said the previous statements.
Can I make it any clearer? Dads, the second you see your son dropping the limp wrist, you walk over there and crack that wrist. Man up. Give him a good punch. Ok? You are not going to act like that. You were made by God to be a male and you are going to be a male. And when your daughter starts acting to Butch you reign her in. And you say, “Oh, no, sweetheart. You can play sports. Play them to the glory of God. But sometimes you are going to act like a girl and walk like a girl and talk like a girl and smell like a girl and that means you are going to be beautiful. You are going to be attractive. You are going to dress yourself up.”
You say, “Can I take charge like that as a parent?”
Yeah, you can. You are authorized. I just gave you a special dispensation this morning to do that."
For the record, I want to ensure everyone that I do NOT believe physical force is capable of fixing effeminate behavior or homosexual behavior. Parents should not punch babies or children....Funny, when I read these statements they directly contradict each other. Either he meant it or not. Seems like he is breaking one of the Ten Commandments here....wonder which one?
I would never advocate for such discipline or actions on behalf of a father or mother. I misspoke. Hopefully, you understood that I was speaking in a forceful manner to emphasize the degree to which gender distinctions matter to God; and therefore, must matter to each of us and especially parents.
Tuesday, May 01, 2012
Role Play Abduction Mistaken for Real Thing
This is something I warn people about in my "Abduction and Interrogation" classes and now I have a real-world example to point to. A Portland couple wanted to spice up their love life with a little role play. Nothing wrong with that, but when the police found her naked and bound in the back of the car, well they naturally assumed there was a crime in progress.
The charges of kidnapping were dropped after a judge heard their story, but they still got a charge of disorderly conduct and hefty lawyer fees. Take this story to heart if you are planning to play on this edge. Though this happened back on Valentine's Day, it is a timeless story.
The charges of kidnapping were dropped after a judge heard their story, but they still got a charge of disorderly conduct and hefty lawyer fees. Take this story to heart if you are planning to play on this edge. Though this happened back on Valentine's Day, it is a timeless story.
Mitt's Swiss Bank Account - New Obama Ad
This ad is about as hard hitting as they come. Glad to see it, too! If you want to talk about class warfare, look no further than the Republican nominee and the reality of it becomes clear.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Republican War on Women is Real
Deny it if you will but the latest vote to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act is dramatic proof of the intsitutionalized misogyny in the GOP. The bill passed with 31 nay votes and all of them came from Republican men. If anyone asks you for proof of the War on Women, give them that statistic.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Pennsylvania Will Get First Openly Gay State Legislator
Brian Sims tonight has won the Democratic primary in his
Philadelphia district and will become Pennsylvania’s first openly gay
state representative. He won over a longtime incumbent and faces no Republican challenger in November.
More from Gay Politics.
More from Gay Politics.
Andrea Bocelli - Con te Partiro (Video)
I heard this again this morning in the car on the way to work and had forgotten how stunningly beautiful his voice is. Enjoy!
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Amendment One in North Carolina Will Hurt More Than Just LGBT People - Video.
The amendment being voted on in North Carolina was designed by ultra-conservatives to stop anything that resembled same-sex marriage. In the haste and hate the writers of the amendment forgot that people other than LGBT folk can be hurt by this bill, but their hatred is blind to that. Luckily there is a campaign to stop the amendment. This TV ad is one part of it. Watch it!
Thursday, April 19, 2012
President of Uganda Lies On CNN - Why Am I Not Surprised?
I usually reserve the term "lying sack of poop" for those special folks who can be so blatant in their lies that I have to wonder how they keep a straight face doing it. Apparently in Uganda it is a way of life. President Yoweri Museveni demonstrates just how big a sack of poop he is and does it on CNN.
Watch and be amazed!
Watch and be amazed!
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Tony Perkins Wants Ban on Day of Silence
So the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins wants a ban on the Day of Silence protest, a day when students in many schools remain silent to draw attention to anti-gay bias and bullying. Considering Perkins and his organization are recognized hate groups it is amazing they still get the press they do.
What if the Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan made a similar statement about the observation of Black History Month. Would the press even bother to mention it? No they wouldn't and I can say that because the delightful folks at the KKK have made similar protests in the past and only get coverage if they show up in their lovely white outfits.
It's time the press stopped using its double standard of reporting every word groups against LGBT causes say, but ignoring other hate groups. Let's press the press to start ignoring these yokels and get back to reporting real news.
What if the Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan made a similar statement about the observation of Black History Month. Would the press even bother to mention it? No they wouldn't and I can say that because the delightful folks at the KKK have made similar protests in the past and only get coverage if they show up in their lovely white outfits.
It's time the press stopped using its double standard of reporting every word groups against LGBT causes say, but ignoring other hate groups. Let's press the press to start ignoring these yokels and get back to reporting real news.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Saudi Arabia Cracks Down on Gays and "Tom Boys"
The unenlightened kingdom of Saudi Arabia, whom our country considers a strong ally had enlisted the aid of its "Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice" to make the lives of LGBT people there more miserable.
In the words of the new service Sharq Arabic, "“Instructions have been issued to all public schools and universities to ban the entry of gays and tom boys and to intensify their efforts to fight this phenomenon, which has been promoted by some websites."
This is the kind of pronouncement that signals open season on gay bashing in Saudi Arabia. Of course that is not a far stretch since it is something that occurs regularly there, but this kind of official condemnation sanctions that abuse.
It's time we told our "oil pusher" that we are kicking the habit. We need clean energy independence not just for the good of the planet and our country, but to cut off the cash flow we pour into this barbaric country, propping up their monarchy and abusing their people.
In the words of the new service Sharq Arabic, "“Instructions have been issued to all public schools and universities to ban the entry of gays and tom boys and to intensify their efforts to fight this phenomenon, which has been promoted by some websites."
This is the kind of pronouncement that signals open season on gay bashing in Saudi Arabia. Of course that is not a far stretch since it is something that occurs regularly there, but this kind of official condemnation sanctions that abuse.
It's time we told our "oil pusher" that we are kicking the habit. We need clean energy independence not just for the good of the planet and our country, but to cut off the cash flow we pour into this barbaric country, propping up their monarchy and abusing their people.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Oklahoma Personhood Bill Will Have Dire Consequences
If lawmakers in Oklahoma have their way, the zygote will become a person in the eyes of the law. This back-door challenge to a woman's right to choose was tried in Mississippi and failed, but that won't stop the anti-abortion foes from using it wherever they can.
The problem of making a fertilized egg a "person" means that in cases of rape or incest, the "person" in the victims womb has more rights than she does. Since zygotes cannot survive outside the body for long, the woman could be forced to carry the pregnancy to full term.
Then comes the matter of fertilized eggs in fertility labs. Parents wanting children may have in-vitro fertilized ovum frozen as part of their attempts to have children. Under Oklahoma law will these frozen embryos become people? If so do we hold the labs as perpetrators of kidnapping, since the embryos are being held against their assumed will?
This whole thing is just silly and a full blow assault on women and their right to choose. It will even make some forms of contraception illegal if it can be proven that the contraception somehow prevents a fertilized ovum from implanting in the womb.
The huge can of worms this bill would open is something far beyond the comprehension of the opportunistic lawmakers who are proposing it. They see an easy vote getter from anti-abortion folks and they don't care what havoc it might cause. Their real agenda is to crank the clock back to the 1950's or before. Not good for women and not good for America!
The problem of making a fertilized egg a "person" means that in cases of rape or incest, the "person" in the victims womb has more rights than she does. Since zygotes cannot survive outside the body for long, the woman could be forced to carry the pregnancy to full term.
Then comes the matter of fertilized eggs in fertility labs. Parents wanting children may have in-vitro fertilized ovum frozen as part of their attempts to have children. Under Oklahoma law will these frozen embryos become people? If so do we hold the labs as perpetrators of kidnapping, since the embryos are being held against their assumed will?
This whole thing is just silly and a full blow assault on women and their right to choose. It will even make some forms of contraception illegal if it can be proven that the contraception somehow prevents a fertilized ovum from implanting in the womb.
The huge can of worms this bill would open is something far beyond the comprehension of the opportunistic lawmakers who are proposing it. They see an easy vote getter from anti-abortion folks and they don't care what havoc it might cause. Their real agenda is to crank the clock back to the 1950's or before. Not good for women and not good for America!
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
GOP Rep. Alan West Riding the Crazy Train Again
Alan West, Republican Representative from Florida has once again gone off into crazy territory when he told a group of constituents at a Tuesday town hall event that he's "heard" that dozens
of his Democratic colleagues in the House are members of the Communist
Party.
"Heard"?
Well if that is all it takes to make wild accusations, the I have heard that Alan West is a "secret child molester and supporter of cannibalism". Of course that is not true and I would never accuse West of either of those things, but I did hear it when I asked a friend to tell it to me.
Hearing something doesn't make it true Mr. West.
This kind of nutty statement is West's stock and trade as the clip included in the link shows during his speech at CPAC.
"Heard"?
Well if that is all it takes to make wild accusations, the I have heard that Alan West is a "secret child molester and supporter of cannibalism". Of course that is not true and I would never accuse West of either of those things, but I did hear it when I asked a friend to tell it to me.
Hearing something doesn't make it true Mr. West.
This kind of nutty statement is West's stock and trade as the clip included in the link shows during his speech at CPAC.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
TSA Body Scanners a Fraud
This video confirms what I have long believed about these silly machines. TSA Theater at it's best!
Why Santorum is Dropping Out
And this is the real reason why Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum is dropping out. He was about to be spanked in Pennsylvania.
Monday, April 09, 2012
Rick Warren Cherry Picks Bible Verses Again, Puleeze!
The pastor of Saddleback Church, Rick Warren has once again emphasized his opposition to same-sex marriage, and he uses the same old tired argument that "God said so"! He is quoted in an interview on ABC This Week saying, "Well, if the Bible is the word of God, then I don’t have the right to change it."
So he is falling back on Biblical Literalism as his argument and that is a big problem for me and most thinking people of faith. If the Bible is the literal "word of God", then God really is inconsistent and capricious. I could spend days noting inconsistencies in the Bible but lets just cut to the chase. The Bible as it is known in the Saddleback Church is the King James Version. That was translated at the behest of King James from a Greek version that was essentially agreed upon by committee after committee. The actual books we now include in our Bible were agreed upon by a committee during the Council of Nicaea under Emperor Constantine. If you believe the actual "word of God" managed to filter through all those translations and committees without being altered, I have some land in the Negev Desert you might be interested in.
Beyond his silly assertions of divine guidance in his opposition to same-sex marriage, Rick makes the astounding statement supporting a conservative church, "history shows that when the church accommodates culture, it weakens it."
Perhaps Mr Warren would like to tell that to Jesus who actively sought to include cultures other than Jews in him ministry. Remember those Samaritans, Rick?
Warren just shows his personal biases and tries to find justification in Bible verses and it is getting really old. It's time the media began treating him like any other slightly off-kilter sidewalk preacher and stop giving him the bully pulpit of television.
So he is falling back on Biblical Literalism as his argument and that is a big problem for me and most thinking people of faith. If the Bible is the literal "word of God", then God really is inconsistent and capricious. I could spend days noting inconsistencies in the Bible but lets just cut to the chase. The Bible as it is known in the Saddleback Church is the King James Version. That was translated at the behest of King James from a Greek version that was essentially agreed upon by committee after committee. The actual books we now include in our Bible were agreed upon by a committee during the Council of Nicaea under Emperor Constantine. If you believe the actual "word of God" managed to filter through all those translations and committees without being altered, I have some land in the Negev Desert you might be interested in.
Beyond his silly assertions of divine guidance in his opposition to same-sex marriage, Rick makes the astounding statement supporting a conservative church, "history shows that when the church accommodates culture, it weakens it."
Perhaps Mr Warren would like to tell that to Jesus who actively sought to include cultures other than Jews in him ministry. Remember those Samaritans, Rick?
Warren just shows his personal biases and tries to find justification in Bible verses and it is getting really old. It's time the media began treating him like any other slightly off-kilter sidewalk preacher and stop giving him the bully pulpit of television.
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