The Indian Ten Commandments
Do what you know to be right
Remain close to the Great Spirit
Be truthful and honest at all times
Take full responsibility for your actions
Show great respect for your fellow beings
Look after the well-being of Mind and Body
Give assistance and kindness wherever needed
Work together for the benefit of all Mankind
Dedicate a share of your efforts to the greater Good
Treat the Earth and all that dwell therein with respect
The ten lines above bear the label “The Indian Ten Commandments”. Set in florid calligraphy, resting before a beautiful background, these ten lines adorn facebook pages, dorm rooms, and new age parlors from one great water to the other.
No one seems to know what tribe spawned them, or what hand put them into english words. There are, and have been, hundreds of tribes in North America. Each tribe has its own culture. It is possible that some tribes don’t value some of the thoughts expressed in TITC. It is also possible that some claim to believe, and then do the direct opposite. People do that sometimes.
Now, TITC are all good ideas. Compared to the Abrahamic TC, it looks even better. There is no jealous G-d wreaking havoc on the great great grandchildren of those who fell out of favor. We all know how well Jesus worshipers keep those commandments.
There is an unfortunate tendency among the Eurasian/African people to think of the tribal people as the noble savage. They were living in splendid harmony with nature, until the Europeans came and spoiled everything. This ignores the reality that these tribes were full of humans. They were not always nice people. Living in harmony with nature can be a struggle, and sometimes you need to get mean. To credit this population with a pretty list of “Ten Commandments” is just a wee bit insulting. It violates at least two of TITC… “Show great respect for your fellow beings” and “Take full responsibility for your actions”.
If you want to live in harmony with G-d, man, and the earth, you just do it. You don’t need a pretty poster to tell you how. It would help to respect the original Americans.
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”. Part one was written like George Orwell. Part two is a repost. Part two was written like H.P. Lovecraft. Today is the 122nd anniversary of his birth.
There is a bit of creativity floating around called “The native american code of ethics”. If you google that phrase, there are 329k ways to read this list, many suitable for framing. PG is not opposed to people sharing nuggets of wisdom, but is just a touch skeptical of this latest development.
The version of NACE cited above says the list was originally published in the October 1994 edition of Intertribal Times. A google search of the site shows no trace of the NACE. However, it does show a recent article, about an effort in the Montana legislature to adopt the cowboy “Code of the west” as an official state creed.
The legal effort is a bit of Republican showboating, and is likely to be vetoed if it gets passed. Contrary to initial reports, the code does not contain the phrase “The only good Indian is a dead Indian”. The code does say ““Ride for the brand,” “Talk less and say more” ,“Always finish what you start ”,“Live each day with courage,” “Take pride in your work,” “Do what has to be done,” “Be tough but fair,” “When you make a promise, keep it,” and “Remember that some things aren’t for sale.”
Getting back to NACE, there are some good ideas there, but why are they specific to Native Americans? When the Europeans conquered the Americas, there were hundreds of individual tribes. Many of these had little in common with each other. While some may have agreed with some of these rules, it is doubtful that all agreed with all. That does not even consider the issue of whether they practiced these ideals, especially in times of war and hardship.
Item 5 of this list says “Do not take what is not yours whether from a person, a community, the wilderness or from a culture. If it was not earned or given, it is not yours.” Even if the NACE is the real deal, what right do non native Americans have to print pretty posters of it?
The different peoples of North America have long been “the other”. During the 19th century, the Northeast quadrant of the United States gained hegemony over the country, first in the War Between The States, and later during the “Indian Wars” of the west. The mostly European population did not respect people different from them. Today, this is seen with embarrassment, and the “Native American” is seen as a mythical Mr. Natural. This view is probably just as unreal as the Indians killing cowboys in the movies. (Native American is a phrase coined by import Americans.)
The “otherness” of the original americans continues today. Many of the poor people from Mexico that come to the United States are original americans. Maybe the name of this list should be “Illegal Alien Code Of Ethics”.
1. Rise with the Sun to pray. Pray alone. Pray often. The Great Spirit will listen, if you only speak.
2. Be tolerant of those who are lost on their path.
Ignorance, conceit, anger, jealousy and greed stem from a lost soul. Pray that they will find guidance.
3. Search for yourself, by yourself. Do not allow others to make your path for you.
It is your road, and yours alone. Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you.
4. Treat the guests in your home with much consideration.
Serve them the best food, give them the best bed and treat them with respect and honor.
5. Do not take what is not yours whether from a person, a community, the wilderness or from a culture. If it was not earned or given, it is not yours.
6. Respect all things that are placed upon this earth – whether it be people or plant.
7. Honor other people’s thoughts, wishes and words.
Never interrupt another or mock or rudely mimic them.
Allow each person the right to personal expression.
8. Never speak of others in a bad way.
The negative energy that you put out into the universe will multiply when it returns to you.
9. All persons make mistakes. And all mistakes can be forgiven.
10. Bad thoughts cause illness of the mind, body and spirit. Practice optimism.
11. Nature is not FOR us, it is a PART of us. They are part of your worldly family.
12. Children are the seeds of our future.
Plant love in their hearts and water them with wisdom and life’s lessons.
When they are grown, give them space to grow.
13. Avoid hurting the hearts of others. The poison of your pain will return to you.
14. Be truthful at all times. Honesty is the test of one’s will.
15. Keep yourself balanced.
Mental self, Spiritual self, Emotional self, and Physical self –
All need to be strong, pure and healthy. Work out the body to strengthen the mind.
Grow rich in spirit to cure emotional ails.
16. Make conscious decisions as to who you will be and how you will react.
Be responsible for your own actions.
17. Respect the privacy and personal space of others.
Do not touch the personal property of others – especially sacred and religious objects.
This is forbidden.
18. Be true to yourself first.
You cannot nurture and help others if you cannot nurture and help yourself first.
19. Respect others religious beliefs. Do not force your belief on others.
20. Share your good fortune with others. Participate in charity.
Inventor Of The Bible Tract
Jack Thomas Chick is someone you know, but have never heard of. He created the gospel tract. Go to his site, and you can read his story. Born in California in 1924, he seemed an unlikely candidate for religious superstardom. After a turn in the Army, he became a Jesus Worshiper. In 1948 he married Lola Lynn Riddle, who he describes as being ” instrumental in his salvation”. He hit on the idea for the palm sized comic book for Jesus, and an artform was formed.
The tracts are the result of a rather narrow view of Jesus. The King James Bible is the perfect word of G-d. The tracts have a last page, with instructions on how to be “saved”. Anyone who disagrees is going to go to hell. Many of the tracts tell a story. A kid trusts a drug dealer, only to be disappointed. The Titanic is going to the bottom of the sea, and what will happen to the passengers. A man is about to commit suicide, and Jesus comes to the rescue.
Mr. Chick has a special distaste for the Catholic Church. He had an associate named Alberto Rivera. Mr. Rivera claimed to be an ex bishop of the church, who had been privy to some unsavory secrets. Many of his tracts proclaim conspiracy theories about the Church. Other targets of his scorn include Mormons, Muslims, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and almost anyone who does not fit his definition of being saved.
Jack Chick is his real name. Any drag queen using that name is probably not the same person. He is reclusive, is rarely photographed and does not give interviews. He drew his early tracts, until he hired a man named Fred Carter in 1972. Mr. Carter is a much, much better artist than Mr. Chick. An advanced search of the Chick website does not show a mention of Mr. Carter.
Mr. Chick has sold hundreds of millions of his tracts, translated into over 100 languages. The tracts sell for sixteen cents each, or a 25 pack for $4.00. This is one cent a tract more than in 2008. Arguably he has sold more copies than any author working today.
This feature was originally posted in 2008. Through the miracle of spare time, aka the devil’s workshop, more information will be added today. A photograph has emerged, that reportedly is the image of Mr. Chick. HT to Dangerous Minds.
Jack Chick is still alive. This obituary is a hoax. A movie about him has been released, God’s Cartoonist:The Comic Crusade of Jack Chick. (Here is the full length feature.) His website has been updated, with a trendy emphasis on Islam.
Bible tracks have kept up with the times. You can buy an android application with ten popular titles. “Here are 10 more tracts to take with you to view on your phone! Share these little discussion starters with your friends, relatives and other people you meet. This app features some of our most popular titles! They’re sure to get the reader’s attention and give you the opportunity to share Jesus with them. Everyone is talking about Global Warming. Show them this popular title and get a REAL discussion going! With over 800 million Chick tracts in print, they are used by Christians all over the world to fulfill the Great Commission (Mark 16:15-16). Make sure your friends don’t miss out on eternity!”
The internet has had mischief makers poking fun at Mr. Chick. Someone named Psycho Dave put up the Jack T. Chck parody archive in 2000. It inspired an exchange of lawyer letters. More recently, Topless Robot supplied us with The 10 Most Awesomely Insane Jack Chick Mini-Comics.
Not everyone is impressed. Many people who consider themselves Christian disagree with the POV presented in the Chick Tracts. Here are a few reviews of Chick Tract Assortment, available on Amazon.
RACIST, CULTURALLY INSENSITIVE, EXTREME November 3, 2011 “virtuous10” (somerset, NJ) There may be around 10 out of the 100 that were acceptable, but the vast majority of the others were so off the wall it was crazy. If they weren’t weird they were racist and culturally insensitive. To name a few, theres a black man in jail named Leroy who is super sexual and angry, you have Native Americsns drunk, white missionaries who came back from Africa pale faced after there were attacked so often by “those poeple”, you have the catholic church being called evil and the vatican trying to control the world, you have an angry Arab muslim man saying we’re taking over America like we did England, a tract which consisted of scene after scene of a little girl being brutally beaten by a man then left to live on the street….I mean on and on.
Maybe these are popular because you still have pockets of the country that are not diverse, and where churches that don’t believe in interracial marriage abound. Maybe these awful stereotypes or extreme messages are not a big deal there. However I live in the Northeast (and the 21st century) and I dont find this acceptable. I don’t understand how this organization can believe offended people will be open to the gospel. The pure gospel message is unicversal and powerful enough and filled with love to change the heart of any person from any culture. Why add all of this mess? Do a search for “chick tracts offensive”. So many non believers are using this to show Christians are crazy. Thank God I spent only 30 dollars. They will not receive another red cent from me. And AMAZON NEEDS 0 STARS!!! This would be the perfect candidate.
Hate for the Lord August 4, 2011 Matthew Sanborn “Monsterfashion” (Arkham, MA)
Nothing really says religious intolerance like a good Jack T. Chick tract. Molesting your daughter, killing for money, robbing, rape and torture can all be forgiven by God if you simply check “yes” you belive in Jesus at the end of one of these amazing comics. But be warned, if you are Catholic, Musilum, Jewish, gay, play role playing games, have relgious tolerance, read Harry Potter, have any money, or are a Protestant who reads anything but the King James Bible, then there’s a myriad of demons just waiting to throw you in the pit. Well worth the money for the sheer hilarity as you won’t belive anyone, even the insane, could possibly take this stuff seriously. The only problem is that Chick will get some cash from you. But if you want to see religious bigotry and misguided hatered at its best, look no further than here.
spread the good news! July 5, 2011 Provident Savings “bible man” (spring valley,ny usa)
I personally would like to thank Jack Chick for his wonderful work in ministry,by providing the resource the christians to help spread the good news to the lost.The package arrived on time.I highly recommend this seller!
This was written like Raymond Chandler. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
The Ten Suggestions
1 And G-d spake all these words, saying,
2 I am the LORD thy G-d, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of bondage.
3 Thou shalt have no other G-ds before me.
4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them:
for I the LORD thy G-d am a jealous G-d,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children
unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy G-d in vain;
for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy G-d: in it thou shalt not do any work,
nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle,
nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is,
and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
12 Honour thy father and thy mother:
that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy G-d giveth thee.
13 Thou shalt not kill.
14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
15 Thou shalt not steal.
16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife,
nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
18 And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet,
and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.
19 And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear:
but let not G-d speak with us, lest we die.
20 And Moses said unto the people, Fear not:
for G-d is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.
21 And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where G-d was.
22 And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel,
Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.
23 Ye shall not make with me G-ds of silver, neither shall ye make unto you G-ds of gold.
24 An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.
25 And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.
26 Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.
A The ten commandos are not meant to be believed. They are meant to be practiced.
B If you take away the religious whoopee, the ten commandos hold up as common sense rules for living.
C If you meet someone who claims to practice all of the commandos, then you are dealing with a liar.
D We are all G-d’s children. She gave you a heart and a mind. When in doubt, trust your heart.
E The first commando is powerful and under appreciated. It does not include books about G-d.
F There is an ongoing controversy about the public display of the ten commandos. Some say such displays violate the second commando. Does a sign forbidding lying and stealing work in a courthouse?
G The third commando is more than G-d’s last name. It is about the proper use of a sacred name. In a perfect world, the word G-d would only be used for worship and respectful discussion. A “pledge of allegiance” to a nationalist symbol is not an appropriate use of a sacred name.
H Sunday is too fine of a day to spend inside a church house.
I When you are discussing religion, it is normal to be a hypocrite.
If you disagree with people, the easiest, cheapest, and laziest argument is to say they are hypocrites.
J Whenever possible, show kindness to your neighbor.
K The text for Exodus 20 is courtesy of King James Bible Online.
Pictures are by Chamblee54. This is a repost.
The complete text was written like William Shakespeare.
The commentary was written like Raymond Chandler.
Three Part Plan
There is a three part statement that applies to many situations. If you remember this, and know when to apply it, your life will be easier. The three parts are…It is none of my business, I don’t understand it, I am not interested.
For a few years in the early nineties, PG represented Redo Blue in a customers office. There was a small machine to run prints on. The print room was a public area, and the scene of many informal discussions. Often, PG was running jobs, and could not leave his work station to avoid hearing conversations. The three part plan was th result.
Lets take this one step at a time. It is none of my business is frequently a no brainer. People are discussing things because they don’t know what to do, and more input will only confuse them. If no one asked you what you think, there is a good chance they don’t want to hear it.
Architecture is a complicated profession. Building plans have thousands of details, and the slightest mistake can bring the building down. If you have never studied this, you cannot possibly know what they are talking about. It is best to focus on doing your job, which hopefully you know how to do. If you don’t understand a discussion, you don’t need to worry about it.
In the last paragraph we mentioned that you never studied architecture. There might be a reason for this, like thinking that it is boring and complicated. If you have no interest in a subject, it shouldn’t bother you for people to talk about it. People who care passionately about a subject might not appreciate your non interest.
This principle applies to many things. Religious discussions, other people’s families, and NASCAR are three examples. If a person insists on forcing you to deal with a subject against your will, then that person does not respect you. In this case of Evangelic Christians, this principle is a conflict with their belief that your religion is their business. You should deal with this conflict the best way you can.
Supremacy
There is a playwrite named Owldolatrous. He wrote a blog post about the chicken sandwich company that went viral. The post today is about a follow up, Aesop to the Right: Why I Believe Bristol Palin. The concept of Ms. Palin as an advocate for “traditional marriage” is kinda bizarre. When you are an attention whore, any camera is your friend.
OD says things a lot better than PG. With the miracle of copy paste, they can be easily borrowed. Here is a selection from the post.
I don’t think you hate me. I certainly don’t think you’re afraid of me. Neither is Bristol Palin. She probably even has LGBT people she calls friends. She just disagrees with them about whether they should be invited to the party (the party, in this case, being marriage). But here’s the problem: the basis of that disagreement is her belief that her relationships are intrinsically better than ours.
There’s a word for this type of statement: supremacist. … I know that the word “supremacist” makes you think of “White Supremacists,” which makes you think of the KKK and cross-burning and lynching. We think of supremacist as a Southern thing, a rural thing, a racial thing, a militia thing, a hate thing.
Here, maybe this will help: I’ve had supremacist habits too. I grew up in the rural South. I never hated African-Americans. I never knowingly said or did or voted in any way that hurt African-American people. I even had African-American friends. But I’d be lying to you if I didn’t admit that some white supremacy seeped into my thinking at a very young age. This is a painful thing to admit. Even now, I find I can’t go into specifics, from sheer shame. Fortunately I have been able to break those habits, but it has taken a while.
Supremacy is the habit of believing or acting as if your life, your love, your culture has more intrinsic worth than those of people who differ from you. Supremacy can be about race, but it doesn’t have to be. Supremacy and hate aren’t identical, but they often go together.
Some people turn supremacy into an over-arching philosophy. For most, it’s just a habit of mind. As a habit of mind, supremacist ideas can spring up in anyone. Being liberal doesn’t make you immune. Being gay doesn’t make you immune. Being a minority doesn’t make you immune.
You don’t have to hate people to feel innately superior to them. After all, what kind of threat are your inferiors to you? You may be annoyed by them, from time to time, or you may even like them. You can even have so much affection for them that you might call that affection love.
There is more, but this is enough for our morning discussion. Supreme, Supremacy, Supremacism, Supremacist. It is not just for white people. The whole business of thinking that you are somehow better than your neighbor is part of being a human being. Think about it, aren’t there some people that you think you are better than? Of course there are. You are a competitive animal, and you have to win sometimes. You, and your tribe, are just better than that other tribe.
PG saw a sign over a desk once. I have never met a snob who was not a born liar. Above this sign was a plastic case. In the plastic case was a white dress shirt, with an ink stain in the front pocket.
There is a concept, mythos over logos. The idea is, when you present people with information that contradicts a long held belief, the person will ignore the information and stick to the belief. This is related to the concept of supremacy. If you think you are better than a person, and you get evidence that the person is better than you, you will ignore that evidence and continue to believe the person is inferior to you. It helps when your magic book agrees with you.
PG was riding his bike yesterday, when the thought came to him. Anti racism is a form of supremacy. PG associates with a so called “radical community”. There has recently been a rabid discussion about racism. Now, this is a pretty enlightened bunch. The type of virulent racism that PG saw growing up in Georgia is simply not there. This does not stop the Anti Racist Supremacist Egophile (ARSE) from looking for racism to combat. The ARSE will expand the definition of racism to include every PWOC, except him and his immediate tribe.
One root word of Supremacy is Supreme. There were once three young ladies performing as “The Supremes.” Four videos are embedded into this post. That is not real hair. Diana Ross did not get to sing lead because of her vocal ability. Pictures for this episode were taken at a dance performance on July 11, 2012. This was written in the style of H. P. Lovecraft.
What Did Jesus Really Say?
When religion raises its gnarly head, folks like to talk about what Jesus said. The question for today’s discussion is, how do they know?
Some say the Bible is “the word of G-d”. Some even say it is inerrant, which means there are no mistakes. (The spell check suggestion for inerrant is ignorant.) This assumes that the translation, and the understanding of that rendering, are also perfect. There are people who think this is nonsense.
PG is in the latter category. He has two beliefs about Christianty. G-d does not write books. Jesus has nothing to do with life after death. If you add the label evangelical, you get a third disagreement. To PG, evangelism means trying to convert people to your understanding of Christianity. PG thinks that what he believes is only open to discussion when PG trusts the other person.
How did we get to this point? The Bible is a collection of texts, from a variety of sources and languages. It was compiled into one text somewhere during the fourth century, give or take a hundred years. At this time, the only way to get a copy was to have a scribe copy the text by hand. As anyone who has played telephone knows, there were probably mistakes made while copying this text. It was several hundred years before the printing press was invented, and more than a tiny minority of people could read.
How to the Bible get from being a collection of texts, to the current “G-d in a book” view. Here is one hypothesis. “The deification of the Bible is a result of the Protestant reformation. Before then, the final authority, the ultimate arbiter and source of information in religious matters was the church, with its ancient traditions and living experts. When Luther and friends opposed the teaching of the Catholic hierarchy, they needed a superior authority to appeal to, which was provided by the Bible.”
Moving right along, we still have to listen to people who speculate on what Jesus said. In one sense, it does not matter. A core belief of Christianity is that having the correct beliefs about Jesus will get you into heaven, while those without this belief will go to hell. This is a big deal in JWR. Many believers are far more interested in the death of Jesus than his life. Anything Jesus said pales in importance to what is reputed to have happened forty four hours after his death.
OK, so what did Jesus say? We really don’t know. The accounts of the Bible were written many years after his life on earth. Jesus spoke a language called Aramaic. The New Testament was written in Greek. The King James Bible is in English. Whatever record we have of the words of Jesus was written down after the fact, and translated a minimum of twice.
A few years ago, some scholars began to look at the reputed words of Jesus, and decide what was really said. They published a book, The Five Gospels: What Did Jesus Really Say? The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus. “The Jesus Seminar , a group of scholars who have attempted to locate the authentic words of Jesus, made headlines two years ago by reporting that, of the entire Lord’s Prayer as found in Matthew, the only words that could conclusively be attributed to Jesus are “Our Father.” In this book they have published their results. This new translation of the four gospels, augmented by the noncanonical Gospel of Thomas, presents Jesus’ words printed in colored code: red for words Jesus almost certainly spoke, pink for his probable locutions, gray for the less than likely, and black for the implausible.” Many old favorites were said to be invented by later scribes.
The Jesus Seminar is a function of the Westar Institute. A good bit of their findings are available online. If your mind is already made up, it won’t make any difference.
As this is spoken, the 2012 is heating up. BS detectors will be buzzing nonstop. A poster is emerging, with a picture of BHO. There is a quote, attributed to Caroline Kennedy. “I can’t stand to hear his voice anymore. He’s a liar and worse.”
According to snopes, the quote is from a book, The Amateur: Barack Obama in the White House. There seems to have been a bit of a personality conflict between the Obamas and the Kennedys. In addition, it was suggested that BHO was not liberal enough to suit Carolyn Kennedy.
Whatever personal problems existed between Ms. Kennedy and BHO appear to have been smoothed over. The former first daughter made an appearance on behalf of BHO in New Hampshire. “Caroline Kennedy stumped for President Obama’s reelection bid Wednesday night, highlighting the differing visions for the country held by the two parties. … “I’m a woman, a mother, a lawyer, an educator, and I really believe that Barack Obama is fighting for the America that I believe in.”
Here we have something, said in private, in the last four years. It is being used out of context, by people who hate liberals. If we cannot quote a contemporary public figure correctly, why can we assume to know what Jesus said two thousand years ago?
Pictures, of Union Soldiers, are from The Library of Congress.
Kindness
There is a bit of a debate going on about whether, or not, Jesus said to “Love your enemy”. There are some who profess to believe this, and proceed to practice the opposite. There are others who claim to love their enemies, but you have to understand what they mean by it. It can be very confusing.
PG went to a source for documentation. Oh, the blessed conjunction of copy paste with public domain. When PG entered enemy (singular) in the search engine, 100 verses came up. When the request was made plural (enemies), 237 entries popped up. The last mention of enemies in the bible is… Revelation 11:12 “Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them” Loving your enemies does not include bringing them to heaven with you.
As for Jboi, he was quoted as saying Matthew 5:44 “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”.
There is a scholarly debate about what Jesus did or did not say. The words available to modern man have been copied by hand, edited, translated, and interpreted. PG does not know Greek from Geek, and cannot tell Aramaic from Alabama. Like anyone else, PG can only read and listen, and think for himself.
In a sense it does not matter what Jesus “really” said. The cult of Jesus Worship is going to believe what it wants. More important, it is going to practice what it wants. As far as the difference between what Jesus “really” said and what his believers say and do…they can explain.
What follows is a humble suggestion. Maybe the translators and scribes got it wrong. Maybe Jesus did not say to love your enemy. Maybe what Jesus said was to show kindness. This is a practice thing, rather than a belief thing.
It is not as much fun to be nice to someone, as it is to scream about life after death. Kindness does not need to be justified by a quote from a magic book. You just need to do it.
Pictures are from ” The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”. The text of this message is a repost. This was written in the style of H. P. Lovecraft.
The Imperfect Church
There was a link on facebook to a tasteful story last week. The incident took place last September. The first page of google does not report, with one exception, what has happened in the last year. As some people say, G-d is in the details. This is one story where it may be the devil in the details.
First, here is a TV station report on the initial incident. The link has a video report, including an interview with the pastor’s son.
A gay Gibson County couple said they were assaulted when they tried to attend church services at the Grace Fellowship Church in Fruitland last Wednesday. “I went over to take the keys out of the ignition and all the sudden I hear someone say ‘sick’em,'” said Gibson County resident, Jerry Pittman Jr. Pittman said the attacked was prompted by the pastor of the church, Jerry Pittman, his father.
“My uncle and two other deacons came over to the car per my dad’s request. My uncle smash me in the door as the other deacon knocked my boyfriend back so he couldn’t help me, punching him in his face and his chest. The other deacon came and hit me through my car window in my back,” said Pittman. He said bystanders did not offer assistance. He said the deacon yelled derogatory homosexual slurs, even after officers arrived. He said the officers never intervened to stop the deacons from yelling the slurs. Pittman said neither he nor Lee were allowed to press charges while at the church.
“If I was on the scene I would not have allowed that. The deputy should not have allowed it if he did,” said Gibson County Sheriff Chuck Arnold. “I haven’t talk to him but that would be out of character for my deputy to say unless they were causing a problem themselves.”
Friday, the couple filed assault charges against Deacons Billy Sims and Eugene McCoy. Pittman pressed additional charges against his father and Deacon Patrick Flatt. Pastor Pittman’s attorney contacted ABC 7 Eyewitness News by phone and said she had no comment and demanded we not contact the pastor. All parties are due in court October 4.
At first glance, that looks pretty gnarly. When you read the comments, the waters start to get muddy.
I’m openly gay and from this area. I received the following info from pro-gay confidants in the area.
There’s a lot more to this story than it appears in this story. The son and bf had been attending the church for 2 yrs without incident. Things got ugly between father and son when the son reported to his stepmother than his father was cheating on her. Divorce proceedings ensued (significant that, in the event the church folded, the church property reverted to the father’s name and would be part of the divorce) and the son still showed up for services on the morning in question. It couldn’t be proven that the father yelled ‘sick em’, but it became clear that, when the elders approached the son/bf to tell them to leave, the son lashed out first. Unfortunately for him this makes it self-defense in the eyes of the law and he killed his own case. Regardless, it’s also pretty clear that the elders used seriously un-Christian words – fag etc – against them in this incident, so shame on them. Can only speculate about the son’s motivation for showing up where he knew he was no longer welcome, but it’s not likely his main purpose was to worship.
This church and its founder/members are notoriously low class people. In the words of my mother when we discussed this, “What do you expect from trash?”
The story does not end there. WBBJ has another report, Gibson County Pastor Charged With Stealing. It seems as though the estranged wife of Mr. Pittman heard he was stealing from her employer. He was arrested on the charges. Chamblee54 does not know what happened to either case.
Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”.
The Perfect Church
This time in 2008, The Perfect Church was hit by lightning. PG thought it would be fun to check out how they were doing four years later.
The Perfect Church still has a website. When you log in, you are greeted with an auto start music player, with no way to turn it off. The history of the church does not mention the lightning strike. The Perfect Church is on McDaniel Street in SW Atlanta, a few blocks away from the location of the Jack city video.
Some feel that it is not appropriate for a church of people to call themselves perfect. There are numerous Bible verses to support this, as well as common sense observations. No less an authority than Dear Abby says “A church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.”
A visit to the clinic of Dr. Google has a few observations. A young man took a group from his church to paint a lady’s house. On the way to the site, the passed The Perfect Church. “I saw this as a teaching moment and told my young adults that the label was only true on a day like that day…when the parking lot was empty!” One quote in the lesson that follows is quotable: “WHAT IF instead of exhausting our finances on church ski trips we wore holes in our pants on church knee trips?”
In Avondale Estates, across town from Jack City, you will find A Perfect Wedding Chapel. They have an auto start video, which is embedded above. The site says “A wedding ceremony only requires two people.” The gender of the participants was not specified.
Ed Stetzer has a picture of Perfect Alternative Baptist Church. Here is his commentary: “It you are tired of your stale and carnal church, it appears there is a perfect alternative– though if it were really perfect, why did they use commas on the date? It appears they are such a personal alternative that they need a chain link fence to keep the people out. If that is not enough for you, it turns out that there is actually a Perfect Church — and it’s in Atlanta, of course.”
Perfect Alternative Baptist Church. is in Bayou La Batre AL. The auto start music player features Kirk Franklin. PG suspects a lot of buildings in that neighborhood have chain link fences.
A comment at the Ed Stetzer site mentions that The Perfect Church, in Atlanta, is supported by The Beautiful Restaurant. There is no auto start music player. “The Beautiful Restaurant was founded in 1979. “Beautiful” came from the scripture “Acts 3:2.” The concept of the Restaurant was and still is, founded on religious principles giving love, consideration and concern for the customers, as well as the preparation of the food. The Beautiful Restaurant has been featured in many magazines, publications and films. The lastest being “The Rise of The Southern Biscuit” released in the summer of 2005, and shown on the PBS television channel.”
Pictures are from The Library of Congress. This was written like Dan Brown.
Heathen Hunt
PG looked out the window, and saw two men wearing neckties. They were walking up the driveway. PG put a shirt on, and arrived at the front door at the same time as the knock.
The African American stood closer to the door. He had a pamphlet in his hand. He said he was talking to the people in the neighborhood, and he had a question. Where can you go to find truth?
PG looked at the man, and did not smile. I don’t mean to be rude, but when I see you walking back down that driveway, that will be truth. Good bye.
The large man had a nervous laugh. He left without protest. The two men walked away, followed by a large African American woman wearing a long dress.
This is wrong on so many levels. Religion is a highly personal matter. At the very least, you should not go knocking on doors, pushing your opinions about a sensitive matter on strangers. The heathen hunter knew nothing about PG. He did not know, and probably did not care, about the festering wounds he was pouring salt in.
It is not possible to live in the United States without hearing about Jesus, and the scheme for life after death. PG has heard about “salvation” thousands of times, and has made the painful decision not to agree. This heathen hunter thinks that he will be so special. He thinks that hearing this obnoxious message for the ten thousand and first time will make be different. Jesus should give this man the gift of humility, and respect for his neighbor.
The jist of the post below is the need for trust and respect. If the person who you are preaching to does not trust you, then you are speaking in vain. Period, end of story. For this stranger to show up uninvited, and assume that he is trusted, is a gesture of disrespect.
There is also the race of the messenger to consider. PG is a Georgia white person, and has been around black people all his life. His attitudes about race have been criticized by anti black racists, anti white racists, and anti racism racists. PG tries to treat people with fairness and kindness. He also keeps an eye on his back. It does not make PG feel less violated to have a black man deliver an offensive message to his front door.
The person who taught PG the most about Jesus is the Bully for Jesus at Redo Blue. For seven years, PG worked across the room from this man. There were dozens of temper tantrums, hundreds of missed pickups, and thousands of hours, on company time, devoted to conducting a ministry. After a while, PG wished nothing more than to never hear the word Jesus again. It is highly relevant to today’s discussion to note that the Bully for Jesus is African American.
The third commandment says to not use the name of G-d “in vain”. There is a post from August of 2008 that deals with this issue. It will be repeated as part two of this post. Ironically, PG was reviewing posts from August when the heathen hunters appeared. The idea was to find posts, and pictures, that could be repeated when PG was too lazy to write anything new. Religion has long been a source of unhappiness for PG, and there is a lot of material.
In his unpaid role as resident non Jesus Worshiper, PG left the following comment at Twenty Two Words yesterday. ” I sometimes feel that I am the only non believer that comments here. You might consider that not everyone is impressed by your religion. Many shortcomings…selfishness, meanness, lack of respect for others … can be found in thoughtless, inappropriate preaching. Just because you are doing it for Jesus does not make it any less offensive. It also reflects poorly on Jesus”
To which another reader replied: “@Chamblee: You’re right, preachers can taint their own message. Can you expand on what you mean by thoughtless, inappropriate preaching?” Oh my. This is going to take more than twenty two words. Twenty two volumes might not cover it all.
There are two quotes that help. One is from a motivational speaker: “You need to sell yourself first, your company second, and your product third.” The second is the third commandment: “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy G-d in Vain…”
Anyone can read to you from the Bible. Not everyone that does this has worthy motives. Some are crooks and thieves. For a person to preach to another, there needs to be TRUST. If you do not trust the person who is preaching to you, then that person is speaking in vain.
Trust has a brother named RESPECT. When you preach to a person who does not care for your message, you are showing disrespect to that person. When you preach without mutual respect you are speaking in vain. The third commandment is more than G-d’s last name.
This is not just the person you are talking to. It is everyone who comes in contact with your message. This is not just the words you speak, but your actions, the chrome fish on your car, the catchy phrase on your t shirt, and the Bible you make a show of carrying around.
We are all G-d’s children. When you disrespect the children of G-d, you disrespect G-d. And when you preach without trust and respect, you bring shame to Jesus.
Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”.
This was written like David Foster Wallace.
Eatmorchikingate
Eatmorchikingate was made for 2012 media. The corporations give tons of publicity to a valued advertiser. The spelling challenged ads of CFA have inspired giggles and groans for years. The entry of The Jim Henson Company introduces a stable of beloved charactars. And there is matter of equal rights for LGBT people.
There was a comment exchange on facebook recently. “Turning a chicken sandwich into Public Gay Enemy Number One makes LGBT people look superficial, vindictive and juvenile — everything that we as a community have worked hard to overcome.” “Maybe that is why the press is giving this so much attention. It takes attention away from Sally Ride’s surviving partner.” The struggle to live without being hated has degenerated into waffle fry jokes.
There is a dandy commentary about this whole thing, The Chick Fellatio: stuck in the craw. It has a paragraph at the start that needs to be quoted in its entirety. It is about listening, and paying attention. Too often. people assume they know what you think, and don’t listen to what you are saying. Or they break in to interrupt, and don’t give you a chance to finish. Even if you disagree with the rest of the feature, this one paragraph should be displayed everywhere. Maybe someone will post these words in front of a pretty picture, and the poster will be liked on facebook.
Now, let’s get to the nitty-gritty of things. Please read carefully. These things have been said before, but not by me, and not all in one place. Please read with an open mind. If you can’t read with an open mind, please leave, take a minute, come back, and try again. If you can’t do that, then please don’t bother. Please read all of the words here, rather than just reading half of the argument and assuming you know what I’m saying. Read these words as they are written. Again, if you don’t want to read my words, then don’t continue.
You really should read The Chick Fellatio: stuck in the craw. before you continue. The link opens into a new tab, so it is easy to come back here. The pictures, from The Library of Congress. , will be here when you get back.
There are four points to this discussion. Chamblee54 will offer a commentary on each.
1 – There is little to argue with on point 1.
2 – “Asking for “mutual tolerance” on this like running up to a bully beating a kid to death on the playground and scolding them both for not getting along”. To begin with, if you take the word bully, and change the vowel, you can get belly. Like the protruding body part you get when you eat too many perfected chicken sandwiches.
PG used to work with a bully for Jesus. There was no physical abuse, although there were a couple of threats. It was emotional abuse, a lot of it. Lots of so called good christians supported the BFJ. They seemed to think they were standing up for Jesus when they did this. After all, they were going to go to heaven when they died, so it is ok to treat your neighbor like dirt while you are alive. This point will be relevant in point 3.
3 – “This isn’t about Jesus. I have a lot of Christian friends. Most of them …” Ok, this is where we are going to have to agree to disagree.
Jesus is a spirit living in the heart of man. It has little to do with the star of the Bible. This spirit has evolved over the years, until what we have today has little resemblance to what people felt even a hundred years ago.
To some people, Jesus is love. To some, she is righteous anger. To the majority of Jesus Worshipers, Jesus is a scheme for life after death. If you don’t agree with this scheme, then you are going to hell, and it is ok to treat you like dirt.
People, including the author of this feature, like to refer to the so called teachings of Jesus. The truth is that we know very little about what Jesus actually said. The Bible is a controversial document, with much disagreement about what it says and how to interpret it. Both sides in this dispute claim to have the teachings of Jesus on their side.
To PG, the best way to know Jesus is through the people who believe in her. Remember the Bully for Jesus? PG worked across the room from him for seven years. He witnessed thousands of hours of an on the clock ministry. (BFJ was paid to work for Redo Blue. He spent this time conducting a ministry.) BFJ showed an enormous amount of hatred towards PG, and used Jesus to express this hatred. It was during this nightmare that PG came to realize that Jesus hates him.
And so now, we have the spectacle of people waving a book, and calling it the word of G-d. This book leads people to hate LGBT people. The fact that others find love in this book is a cruel irony, or perhaps the Stockholm syndrome. And this same spirit is calling people to go buy overpriced chicken sandwiches, to support a company that hates LGBT people. That has EVERYTHING to do with Jesus.
4 – This chapter gives the example of KFC giving money to groups that fight equality for Asian Americans. This is a bad analogy. KFC is owned by Pepsi. They are the ultimate corporation. Pepsi has a faceless CEO in some office somewhere, who would not be giving interviews to a Baptist magazine about gay marriage.
CFA is the Cathy family. It has long been known for staying closed on Sunday, and for other “Christian” quirks. It should be noted that Dan Cathy is the son of the founder, and might not know enough to keep his mouth shut. (Ryan Tate is another founder’s son run amok.)
The company has tried to back down. The controversy will die down eventually. This too shall pass.
Abby Farle Is My Clean Up Facebook Friend
The Chick fil A story just gets weirder and weirder. It is the sort of thing which blossoms in hot weather, when real news slows down and media mouths need something to chatter about. Just ask Abby Farle.
CFA is an Atlanta based fast food chain. It is known for spelling challenged advertising, a cow, and being closed on Sunday. The company has always made noise about Jesus, which irritates some people. They quietly give money, and food, to different groups, some of which are religious.
S. Truett Cathy operated a grill, in Hapeville GA, called the Dwarf House. There is a small door for short people. He sold chicken sandwiches there, and started to open other stores. The cow mascot, and redefining the traditional spelling of chicken, came later.
Dan Cathy is the son of the founder, and the present President and C.O.O. He kick started the present fuss with some comments on a radio show. “I think we are inviting G-d’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at Him and say, ‘We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage,’ I pray G-d’s mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, arrogant attitude to think that we have the audacity to define what marriage is about.”
Mr. Cathy stepped in it again with a print interview. The fun started. Some said they were going to stay out of CFA, and spell chicken correctly. Others said they were going to eat mor, and changed their spell check settings to chikin. Miss Piggy said to eat more cows. Attention vultures in all shapes and sizes, including XX large, saw the circus as a chance for another fifteen minutes. An attempt to back down by CFA was ignored in all the joyful noise.
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any stranger, Gizmodo published an alleged facebook conversation. It featured a young lady named Abby Farle, who was quickly found out. Supposedly, this fake facebook person was the creation of Chick fil A. She defended the company in an alleged facebook conversation. PG learned about it at another facebook thread, this time started by a real person. Here are a few of the comments.
It is going to be tough to prove that “Abby Farle” is the invention of Chick fil A. The company has issued a statement trying to back down, but people on both sides don’t want to let this matter slide. The facebook page created by Mike Huckabee is part of this mess. With competing messengers fighting for attention, it is tough to tell what the real message is. In the case of Jesus, the jerks have long been louder and more persistent. After a while, it is just easier to walk away from it. If you don’t agree with the scheme for life after death, there really isn’t a good reason to subject yourself to the abuse.
I’m confused. Is it not likely that an employee of the company, maybe at company HQ simply did this on their own?!? Why the assumption that this was generation by CFA executives or public relations. Sounds beyond stupid as some intentional way to spread positive pr after the Henson thing. And in this digital age, it would be easy for any stock photo to have been pulled by just about anyone. I don’t see any facts in the article that demonstrate that this fake Facebook account was created by the company or its executives. It looks more like something maybe a lower level employee did just because he was sick of hearing all the negative crap on Facebook but didn’t want to be seen as biased with his own comments. I also don’t get how this would be a game changer. I think you should just admit you are doing it because you are such a massive Muppet fan. Not because of this unsubstantiated BS.
1-This is from the comments, of the Peach Pundit Story about CFA backing down. Bob Loblaw July 22, 2012 at 3:20 pm I know a person who was interviewing to be an owner/operator who says they were asked if he engaged in premarital sex during an interview after telling the interviewer that they were unmarried. Calypso July 22, 2012 at 4:22 pm Why would anyone engage in premarital sex during an interview? Doesn’t sound like they really wanted the job. 2- ” I think you should just admit you are doing it because you are such a massive Muppet fan.” Miss Piggy has lost a lot of weight. She is no longer massive. Not eating waffle fries has it’s advantages.
Miss Piggy appeared to me in a vision while I was floating in the ocean at Tybee Island yesterday morning. I do not want Miss Piggy mad at me.
I suspect this is a hoax. There is no Abby Farle on facebook. The Chick fil A fb page is mostly about Cow Appreciation day. All I have seen is a screen shot, with last names blacked out. It would be fairly simple to fake that bit of dialog.
If this wasn’t a hoax I’m sure it wasn’t done by any executives at CFA. It was probably by a low-level employee or someone else acting alone. My decision to no longer patronize CFA is not based on this one incident, but on conversations with friends. As well as the Miss Piggy vision
We will probably never know who created Abby Farle. (Who’s your daddy Abby?) Any photoshop queen could have pasted that Gizmodo conversation together. What is amazing are the people who assumed that it was another CFA product. When your COO runs his mouth, and creates ill will, people are willing to believe bad things about you.
The facebook member page of Abby Farle is long gone, if it ever existed to begin with. Today, there is a “public figure” page, with 524 likes. There is a meme generator. There is also this, Hi Guys!! I’m Abby Farle. It has one of the few messages, produced by this circus, which is worth reading.
Hi Guys!! I’m Abby Farle. Oh, wait, I’m not. You know why? Because Abby Farle is fake. I’m Jeremy Goldman, author of the upcoming Going Social: Excite Customers, Generate Buzz, and Energize Your Brand with the Power of Social Media and blogger at jeremygoldman.com. You know why I’m not lying to you about who I am? Because lying to further a cause sucks. Brands shouldn’t do it. Advocates of those brands shouldn’t do it.
I’m sure many of you have seen that Chick-Fil-A has allegedly created Abby Farle to stick up for their policies. The truth is still coming out – but we do know that Abby Farle – at least the one in the picture – is a fake. Assuming for a second Abby Farle is 100% the creation of a brand – or a brand representative – doesn’t that suck? Shouldn’t we be past this type of idiotic manipulation as a society? In my mind, we are. That’s why I’d like to encourage all of you to avoid any brand that speaks down to you or misleads you in any way. We’re smart, and we’re owed better.
Thanks for listening! – Jeremy “not Abby Farle” Goldman
Pictures are from The Library of Congress
Chamblee54 
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