Schmoozing My Religion
This is a repost. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
Abraham at twentytwowords wrote… “When I asked about churches last week, some of you reminded me you’re not Christian.So…Non-Christian readers, what (non)religion are you?” That is 23 words.
PG answered the original post “home churched”. He decided to answer the follow up question. Unlike most of the others to answer, PG wanted to keep this under 22 words.
There is a tradition in the Baptist Church to make a “profession of faith”, usually when the kid is around 10. For various reasons, PG never did this, and was never baptized. PG decided when he was 17 to quit attending. He has been to Briarcliff Baptist one time since then…he worked for Redo Blue, and delivered a set of plans to the church office.
PG went back and forth on the religion issue. In 1979, there was a week in Camp K, a moonie facility. After reading, thinking, and prayer, PG chose to live in harmony with esus worshipers. Jesus was like an eccentric, though lovable, relative.
There were seven hellish years working closely with the Bully for Jesus. By the end of that experience, PG was alienated from Jesus. He wished to never hear the J-name mentioned again. Living in the Jesus happy United States, PG could seldom go 24 hours without having Jesus shoved in his face.
After a another temper tantrum by the BFJ, PG wrote down two sentences. “I am not interested in your opinions about G-d, The Bible, Jesus, or life after death. My opinions about G-d, The Bible, Jesus, or life after death are none of your business.”
There probably is not a religion that PG could fit into without a lot of shoehorning. Atheist is out, because PG suspects that there is a G-d. What form she takes is a matter of dispute. As for belief, PG questions that belief is the proper approach to G-d.
Agnostic sounds like something you would blow out of your nose. Judaism is a party that PG is not invited to. Buddhism makes some good points, but PG is awfully occidental. As for christianism, PG sees Jesus in the words and deeds of his believers. In his seven years at redo blue, PG saw an estimated 1400 hours of loud, hateful ministry. I am not talking to you!
As for the obsession with life after death that infects Jesus worship, PG feels pity and disgust. This is not a good focus for a religious practice, nor does it excuse verbal abuse. PG has ideas about life after death, but this post is waaay over 22 words.
PG decided that this label thing was not going to work. Labels belong on jars, and PG’s hair is a half inch over jarhead level. The best solution was to write a list of beliefs. The good news here is that numbers do not count against the total of 22 words.
1. My beliefs are my business. 2. Practice outweighs belief. 3. G-d probably exists. 4. G-d does not write books. 5. Jesus has nothing to do with Life after death.
This is 25 words. Three words need to go. Line 4 states that G-d does not write books. This implies that G-d does, indeed, exist. Line 3 can be eliminated, and the answer reduced to 22 words.
Copy Someone’s Status Word For Word
PG was suffering a bout of writer’s tackle. He had a post about G-d and the Democratic convention, but that involves both politics and religion. A couple of paragraphs should knock it out. Then the important topic can be addressed.
Here is the Christian Science Monitor. Two cents just won’t buy what it used to.
“For your undecided voter in Nevada, North Carolina, in Florida, in Ohio, in Pennsylvania – those key swing states, yeah, of course G-d matters,” says Davis Houck, a communications professor at Florida State University in Tallahassee. “And that’s why Obama basically said, ‘You better put that back in – we can’t be seen as the party taking G-d out of the platform.’
Are you smarter than an atheist? A religious quiz
Support for Mr. Obama among religious voters was high in several key states in 2008 and could be key again in 2012. “In an election as close as this one will be, we can’t ignore something as central to most Americans as faith,” Democratic political consultant Eric Sapp wrote on Huffington Post in June.”
Just for the sake of comparison, lets look at Exodus 20:7, better known as the Third Commandment. 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.
PG thinks this is about the proper use of a sacred name. Including the G word into a political document, to influence the “undecided voter” in a “key swing state,” is not a proper use for a sacred name.
Now, putting politics and religion in the rear view mirror, where they belong, it is time to talk about facebook. The fundamental facebook deed is posting a “status”. This is a curious word for this act, but that’s what people call it.
PG was staring at the screen, battling sloth and negative attitude, and checked in on facebook. Someone wrote “One day I want to copy someone’s status word for word and see if they notice.” PG pasted it to his wall. A cousin in Connecticut clicked like, A friend commented “How do we know you didn’t just do that?” Another person wrote “One day I want someone to copy my status word for word and see if I notice.” Several people pasted that onto the wall. Good times.
Part of left click land is the option to googlize the phrase you have highlighted. For “One day I want to copy someone’s status word for word and see if they notice,” there are 2.9 million results. The top result was by Know your meme.
“Sometimes I Just Want To Copy Someone Else’s Status, Word For Word, And See If They Notice” is a copypasta that virally spread through Twitter and Facebook in late August 2010. The humorous, self-referential text inspired over 1,500 replicate instances of the identical sentence in less than 12 hours. Due to its self-referential nature (i.e., a tweet on the subject of tweeting), it can be seen as an example of meta-discussion.
The earliest known instance of the copypasta tweet was posted by Twitter user @BtoColorado August 18, 2010. On August 24th, Twitter user @DazWolf retweeted the message. It largely went unnoticed. On August 26th, @tim_waters, from Leeds, UK, retweeted the same message at 10:42 a.m. (EST). (Spell Check suggestion for retweeted: regretted) Water’s tweet brought the copypasta into spotlight in the United Kingdom. The trend continued to spread through Facebook status updates.
At 10:52 a.m. (EST), @elspethjane of New York City tweeted the message to her 3,100 followers, quickly picking up coverage from several internet culture blogs like Huffington Post, Urlesque, and TechCrunch among others. The meme was also cited as an example in the article “What Defines a Meme?” published in May 2011 issue of Smithsonian Magazine.”
If you ask Mr. Google for results on the phrase “copy my status”, the top result is a yahoo forum. The question is How do I cut copy and paste into my status on facebook.? This thread was started by terry v (A Top Contributor is someone who is knowledgeable in a particular category.) “I can not do this”.
There is a facebook community, One day i wanna copy someones status word for word and see if they notice. It is liked sixteen times. The only posting is from a spamspinner … “A few guru marketing friends have released a product teaching people how to make money on Facebook.”
There is a Christian website, People I Want to Punch in the Throat On Wednesday, April 27, 2011, the winner was “People Who Post Annoying Things on Facebook.” Unsubscribing is just as effective as resorting to violence. This person did have an amusing commentary on the putrid concept of reposting popular slogans.
There are a lot of annoying posts on Facebook. Let’s see if I can cover the basics: 1. Anything to do with vomit and/or diarrhea. WTH? Who shares this stuff? Why did you think we needed to know this? At least it’s usually it’s kid-centered – I can handle that a lot better than I can hearing about YOUR diarrhea! “Guess who woke up early from his nap and spread his poo poo all over the wall? Uh oh. Silly, King! I’ll post pictures later! ;)”
3. Challenges to repost stuff. You know those ones. They’re about moms, husbands, brothers, sisters special needs kids, cancer survivors, idiots, etc. My mom is the best mom, blah, blah, blah if you love your mom repost this. My kids are the best kids in the world, blah, blah, blah, repost if you agree.
There’s always that one that says something like “let’s see who reposts this” like it’s some kind of gauntlet they’ve thrown down. Psht! If you know me at all, you’ll know a challenge is the worst way to motivate me. I live to break chain letters and this is just another stupid chain letter.
5. People who announce they’re leaving FB. Have you seen any of these? I’d never seen one until a few weeks ago. Now I’ve seen a couple more. They say something like, Life has become too busy and I can’t keep up with Facebook so I’ve decided to leave. Farewell friends and keep in touch!
I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do with this info. Am I supposed to beg them to stay? “No, Joanne, please don’t leave, I love reading your creepy foreplay posts!” Am I supposed to post less so they have less to read on Facebook and then won’t feel so overwhelmed? And what’s with the “keep in touch?” I keep in touch through Facebook, I don’t even know your phone number and I’m never gonna write you a damn letter – so you’re right, I guess this is farewell!
8. Boring posts. These are some actual posts over the last several weeks: … Before you think I’m all high and mighty and NEVER post anything boring and/or annoying on Facebook, I’ll have you know, 2 of the above posts are mine. I’m just as boring as the next guy.
As you can see, this has been edited. This post is going to be too long as it is. Only posts which annoy or amuse PG were included. Perhaps the worst are the challenges to repost. Yes, cancer is terrible, but reposting a dreary status will not make the metastasizing cease and desist.
When PG finished this post, he decided to go to the grocery store. Friday afternoons there can be intense, and it is best to go before the crowds hit. When he turned onto Clairmont Road, there was a red car dangerously close to his bumper. The Lexus swerved into the left lane to pass, with the white male driver talking on his phone. It quickly cut back in front of PG, then slowed down for a red light. The license plate said Cobb.
The pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”. This was written like Cory Doctorow.
Mollie’s Rant
There is an amazing rant about abortion on bloggingheads.tv. The ranter is Mollie Ziegler Hemingway. Making exasperated faces is the host, Sarah Posner.
The rant that inspired this feature is thirty three minutes into the discussion. Out of a masochistic sense of fairness, PG decided to listen to the entire discussion, before writing this post. He got two minutes and thirteen seconds in before stopping to cop a quote. MZH said that a good way to help connect with someone, is if you see that they care about something very deeply. PG has had the opposite experience. When he is the target of an emotional volcano, it tends to scare and alienate him. It is not what you say, it is the way you say it. This is important to consider when you get to Mollie’s rant.
This is a common feeling among believers. The idea is that the more you show how much you believe something, the more persuasive you are at converting people to that belief. It has been PG’s experience that these evangelizing believers will say things that they agree with, while not addressing the concerns of the listener. The person who is being preached to is often bewildered by the display of rhetoric, and becomes more convinced of previously held opinions. It is not what you say, it is how you say it.
PG is a bloggingheads.tv fan, and occasional commenter. He even got an email, from a producer, asking him not to post “artistic” screen shots of programs. (Here are some of the pictures: one, two, three.) The normal procedure is to listen to the talkers while working on other projects. The problem is when someone makes an amazing comment, and PG feels the need to make a link to it. Multi tasking has it’s limits, and productivity suffers. One such moment was when MZH said it doesn’t matter whether YOU think that’s an abortion drug what matters it’s whether WE think that’s an abortion drug. Apparently, MZH thinks this helps her connect with SP.
Twenty six minutes in, the ladies begin to discuss the idiotic comment by Todd Akin. This is a prelude to the rant to follow. MZH makes a comment that includes the phrase “consistent pro lifers”.
Lets take a minute to consider the phrase “consistent pro lifers”. In the military, a lifer is someone who makes his career in the service. It is not always a compliment. The job of the military is to fight wars, which means they kill people. This is not something that a person who is “pro life” should be supporting.
This is a huge inconsistency for “consistent pro lifers”. Very, very few people are consistently pro life. The four main life issues are war, abortion, capital punishment, and euthanasia. Many of the Christian anti abortion people are enthusiastic supporters of killing Muslim women and children. We are killing them over there, so they won’t come over here and kill us.
The SP-MZH chat was recorded August 28. The night before, the Republican Convention was entertained by a bit of Methodist methhead method acting by Clint Eastwood. The crowd cheered lustily. No one seemed concerned about Mr. Eastwood’s performance as the fetus father in at least two abortions. Is “consistent pro lifer” an oxymoron?
The fun really starts at the thirty three minute mark. MZH has been talking about how being mean to Todd Akin is good for the pro choice cause. She then shifts gears, and starts to talk about BHO. It seems like BHO opposed an anti abortion bill when he was an Illinois state senator. To MZH, this makes BHO a radical baby killer. To MZH, this, position taken as a state senator years ago, makes BHO just as radical as a man who says that rape affects conception.
MZH goes on to whine about the media. This is a sure sign that she cannot make a logical case for her beliefs. When your message fails, you bash the other messenger. All the time, MZH gets more and more worked up. SP shakes her head so much you worry about her earpiece falling out.
At the thirty five thirty five mark, MZH lets out the republican rhetoric rascal that lurks in her consistently pro life soul. When SP tried to calm down MZH, and inject a note of reason into the debate, MZH started to scream about gay marriage. This is how things work. Gay marriage is a great distraction. When reason fails, you start to toss red herrings onto the trail.
After a while, PG began to think that he has had enough fun with this discussion. It is time to wrap up, go outside, and get a life. At this point, MZH says another jaw dropper. Arguing from the extremes is not a really helpful thing.
The ladies did have a moment of agreement to end the discussion. MZH said women are more than their vaginas, and SP said good night Chet. It is tough to hold hands and sing Kum Bah Yah on skype. Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”.
Dirty Harry Does Dragoncon
As you may know, Clinton Eastwood Jr. gave a speech at the Republican National Convention last night. What you hear about it depends on who you listen to. Some think he was great. The Tampa crowd was highly entertained. Others think it was a joke.
Of all the many twitterwits to comment today, Chris Rock came closest to the truth. @chrisrockoz Clint Eastwood on the phone with Obama now: “It all went according to plan,sir.” The truth is, you have to wonder what people were thinking.
The last night of the convention is supposed to be a showcase for the candidate. You want people talking about the candidate Friday morning. Instead, you have people talking about the “artistic” performance by Dirty Harry.
For a party that claims to be Conservative Christian, it was a strange event. You have to wonder just how smart some of those cheering masses were. Much has been made of the multiple marriages, and illegitimate children, that CE has sponsored. (There is no middle name.) “Eastwood entered a relationship with actress Sondra Locke in 1975. They lived together for fourteen years, despite the fact that Locke remained married (in name only) to her gay husband, Gordon Anderson. Locke had two abortions and a tubal ligation within the first four years of the relationship.”
The first few minutes of the speech were pretty normal. The people making rude comments about his hair were going to vote democratic anyway. At about the 3:28 mark, he started talking to an empty bar stool. We were supposed to pretend that BHO was sitting in that stool.
At the 4:46 mark, it got a little bit weird. Transcript courtesy of Fox News. “I know you were against the war in Iraq, and that’s okay. But you thought the war in Afghanistan was OK. You know, I mean — you thought that was something worth doing. We didn’t check with the Russians to see how did it — they did there for 10 years.”
It is true that BHO has escalated the war in Afghanistan. It is true that BHO has escalated the drone strikes into neutral countries. It is true that BHO is killing women and children, at the funerals of the women and children he killed in yesterday’s roboplane strike. It is also true that George W. Bush started the war in Afghanistan. It is highly unlikely that W asked the Russians for advice before he invaded Afghanistan. Considering the number of heroin addicts in Russia today, it is possible that the Russians would have urged caution.
“But we did it, and it is something to be thought about, and I think that, when we get to maybe — I think you’ve mentioned something about having a target date for bringing everybody home. You gave that target date, and I think Mr. Romney asked the only sensible question, you know, he says, “Why are you giving the date out now? Why don’t you just bring them home tomorrow morning?'”
During his big speech Thursday night, WMR did not mention the war in Afghanistan. A site called 2012 Republican Candidates has this to say about WMR and Afghanistan.
While Gov. Romney believes that the continued presence of U.S. forces in Afghanistan should ultimately be decided by the military’s top brass, he cautions that the country should not be making similar commitments in the future. He also stressed that the bulk of the security obligation must lie with the Afghanis themselves. Gov. Romney indicated in an interview with ABC on July 29, 2012, that while he is supportive of President Barack Obama’s Sept 2014 troops withdrawal deadline, he disagrees with the plan to order 23,000 troops out of Afghanistan by Sept. 30. However, he admits that his position could change depending on the counsel of military commanders, while leaving open the possibility of keeping combat troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014 should conditions change.
The next bit was just a wee bit obscene. CE was talking to the bar stool. “So anyway, we’re going to have — we’re going to have to have a little chat about that. And then, I just wondered, all these promises — I wondered about when the — what do you want me to tell Romney? I can’t tell him to do that. I can’t tell him to do that to himself.”
The crowd roaring it’s approval thinks they are Christian conservatives. They want to improve the moral standards of America. To further this end, they laughed at an elderly actor making a reference to telling someone to f*** himself. There were thousands of children explaining that joke to their parents.
With the spectacle of a tough guy actor performing an absurdist skit on national tv, the jokes write themselves. Twitter nation has responded, it all its 140 character glory.
@ConanOBrien I know what it was like for Clint Eastwood. In my career, I’ve talked to more than a few “empty chairs.”
@WendellPierce Clint Eastwood’s presentation not funny to me today. The image of the empty chair with the President being talked down to was offensive.
@kirstiealley I just saw Clint Eastwood’s speech and I LOVED it!! Funny as hell & on point!!..& I’m a Democrat..US media is SO biased in favor of Dems
@BorowitzReport: A new poll reveals that Romney trails Clint Eastwood’s empty chair.
@Its_Death Clint Eastwood is used to talking to inanimate objects. He’s acted with Kevin Costner.
@NolteNC Hey media – do you think mocking Clint Eastwood will make America hate you less?
@DCdebbiev Lay off of Clint Eastwood, why dontcha! Talkin to an empty chair was how Cheney ruled the White House.
@BarackObama This seat’s taken. http://OFA.BO/c2gbfi , pic.twitter.com/jgGZTb02
@MrWordsWorth RNC brings out Clint Eastwood. DNC makes frantic call to Betty White.
@bobcesca_go Last night an awkward Republican delivered a weird speech filled with bizarre, fantastical remarks. He was preceded by Clint Eastwood.
@jtLOL Clint Eastwood is awesome. Liberals have no sense of humor about themselves, or about Obama. Even the ones who say they’re comedians.
The pictures for this expose were taken at last year’s dragoncon parade. This was the last time PG will ever attend that event. The sidewalks were five times too crowded for comfort. The pictures taken last year, and in 2009, are of the standard fantasy character costumes. They did not change much from 2009 to 2011. If you are a total masochist who likes science fiction costumes. be on Peachtree Street tomorrow morning. When you are done, you can go to black gay pride, the Chik fil A college football party, a NASCAR race, the Dickhater book festival, or a traffic jam. All of those events display a firmer grip on reality than that displayed in Tampa FL thursday night.
Don”t Cry For Me Hyuro
Hyuro is a street artist. She was born in Argentina, and lives now in Valencia, Spain. She painted a mural in Atlanta recently, as part of the Living Walls celebration. (Turn off HD when viewing this video.) All the artists at LW this year were women.
The people living near Hyuro’s mural are not celebrating. They are mad. The painting is of a woman, whose fur skin morphs into a wolf. It was painted on the remains of a GM plant, across the street from the federal prison.
The mural is also across the street from a mosque, and a church. “Tajiddin Muwwakkil, the imam at the neighboring Masjid Al-Quaran (housed in a former restaurant), led the charge against the painting, calling it “pornographic and offensive.” However, the pastor of Antioch Baptist Church, which sits directly across from the mural on McDonough, never made a public statement against it”.
Eventually, the controversy got to be too much for the property owner. The mural is going to be painted over. When PG read that it had already been covered, he made an emergency trip to go photograph the mural.
According to Creative Loafing, the artist may be part of the problem. “When Living Walls submitted its applications about a week before the conference began, the proposal for Hyuro’s wall depicted a series of chairs, not nudes. Love promptly gave it OCA’s stamp of approval. An avid supporter of Living Walls, Love has bluntly called the switcheroo a “misrepresentation.” Monica Campana, Living Walls’ executive director, explains that Hyuro decided to rethink her approach after seeing the wall, which was much smaller than she had anticipated. According to Campana, this frequently happens with Living Walls’ artists, who come from all over the world. The street art conference is often their first interaction with the city, and they look to it to inform the pieces they put up here. Had an accurate sketch been submitted beforehand, or resubmitted once Hyuro had finalized her design, perhaps this conversation would have taken place before the fact. Perhaps we would have avoided some of the hypersexualized rhetoric, shaming, and fearmongering of the female form. Or perhaps we would’ve gotten a bunch of chairs. (No offense to chairs.)”
Pictures are by Chamblee54. This was written like Ursula K. Le Guin.
The Cost Of Hair Care
There was a statement in yesterday’s post . “Black Americans spend more on hair care products than the gross national product of many African countries.” This was tossed out in a careless moment, which is not a good thing to do. Today’s post is an investigation. For purposes of this report, America’s gross national product is the republican party.
Finding out how much African Americans spend on hair care is more google intensive than this slack reporter imagined. Madame Noire has a feature, Black Women Spend Half a Trillion Dollars on Haircare and Weaves! Why? “Black women spend half a trillion dollars to keep our hairstyles tight, our weaves looking good and our “kitchens” tamed. Why do we do this?” The $500 billion figure might include pain and suffering. Target Market News is more conservative, reporting “Personal Care Products and Services – $6.66 billion”.
In the chatter about a Chris Rock movie, Good Hair, the phrase “9 billion dollar hair trade industry” is used. The Magazine Publishers of America report that advertising spending on “Hair Products & Accessories” was $1,242,700 in 2007.
The short answers are “a lot”, and “we don’t know”. It is probably less that $500 Billion. For the purposes of this feature, we will go with a conservative estimate. This would be Target Market News. Since not all “Personal Care Products and Services” are hair related, we will call our number Five Billion. This is probably a conservative figure, but for our purposes it will do.
The second part of the statement was “Black Americans spend more on hair care products than the gross national product of many African countries.” The numbers come from Wikipedia and the International Money Fund. There are sixteen African countries with GNP less than $5 billion. They include: Mauritania, Swaziland, Togo, Eritrea, Lesotho, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Central African Republic, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Liberia, Seychelles, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Comoros, and São Tomé and Príncipe. The last seven have a GNP less than the amount spent advertising hair products and accessories for Black Americans.
This was written like H. P. Lovecraft. Pictures are from The Library of Congress.
The Life After Death Post
This post has been in the works for a long time. It is about life after death. This is a big deal to Jesus worshipers. It is fair to say that the entire religion has devolved into a scheme for life after death. Either you agree, and go to heaven, or disagree, and go to hell. PG has thought long and hard about this, and has a few thoughts.
One problem with this concept is human nature. When you have a religion based on broadcasting a message, some of the believers go overboard. Some will let their pride get in the way. They enjoy the power that seems to come with spreading this message. When a person hears this “good news,” shouted by people who are bad news, then it is natural to doubt the message.
A facebook friend supplied this quote “More people have been brought into the church by the kindness of real Christian love than by all the theological arguments in the world, and more people have been driven from the church by the hardness and ugliness of so-called Christianity than by all the doubts in the world. ” The $64 question becomes: Do people who have been repelled from Jesus go to hell?
There is also the matter of people who simply do not agree with the scheme for life after death. Of all the standards to use, why would G-d use the doctrine of one branch, of one religion? Does G-d even exist? Are the billions of people who never even heard of Jesus destined for hell? Many good people ask a lot of good questions. They are not happy with the answers, no matter how much others may believe.
PG was raised in the Southern Baptist tradition. For various reasons, he resisted the pressure put on children to “make a profession of faith”, and be baptised. When he was 17, he quit going to church. In 1979, there was a week in a Moonie camp in California. There have been many books read, a bit of thinking and talking, and a few odd meetings attended. There were 7 years working closely with an abusive professional Jesus worshiper. After a while, PG got tired of worrying about it all, and just wanted to enjoy the time he has on this planet.
Which brings us to today’s post. In no particular order, here is the product.
1- G-d does not write books. The Bible was compiled by the Council of Nicea from a variety of texts. These texts were written in a multitude of languages, and copied by hand. It is possible that the scribes copying them made mistakes. It is possible that errors in translation were made. It is probable that texts were not included in the Bible, for various reasons. The Bible is the product of man’s labor, with possible inspiration by G-d.
The first commandment says Thou shalt have no other gods before me. When you call the Bible the word of G-d, you are, in effect, making a G-d out of a book. When you violate this common sense commandment, you are going to have problems.
2- The first commandment… Thou shalt have no other gods before me. .. does not make an exception for the so called son of G-d.
3- Jesus was killed because he was a trouble maker. His death, and reputed resurrection, have nothing to do with what happens when you die.
4- What happens to people after they die is none of your business. Living people should be concerned with life, and not worry about what will happen when you die.
5- You should have faith in G-d to take care of you when you die. Period. Don’t scream about Jesus. Don’t kill the infidel. Don’t worry about your soul. G-d took care of you before you were born, and she will take care of you after you die.
6- What you say does not become more true the louder you say it. The way you say something is more important than the words you say. It is more important to show kindness to your neighbor, than to scream the so called truth.
7- The decision to end a life is G-d’s job. You are better off when you let her make this call. This applies to war, abortion, captal punishment, and euthanasia, and other forms of humans ending life.
8- G-d should be enjoyed. G-d should bring nourishment to life. G-d should NOT be fought or argued over. The third commandment…Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. … is another common sense rule that is shamelessly violated by those who claim to be “saved”. When you forget this rule, you cause trouble.
9- When copying some commandments for use in this post, PG found this. 23 Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold. PG has heard about the ten commandments all his life, and yet has never heard this line. It is just 6 verses after the tenth commandment, which is about coveting. The tenth commandment is obsolete in this era of wealthy churches.
10- Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. These men were Union soldiers in the War Between the States. This was written like Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe This is a repost.
One Million Moms Versus Skittles
It has been a bad year for Skittles . First, a young man, armed with a package of Skittles, was killed by a neighborhood watch dude. Now, One Million Moms is calling for a boycott.
It seems like there is a commercial that OMM and Catholic Vote don’t like. Arguably, anyone with an I.Q.over room temperature doesn’t like the ad either.
It opens with a young lady making out with someone in a walrus suit. Another young lady comes in the room. The first young lady looks up, and says “This isn’t what it looks like” “Good, because it looks like you’re making out with my boyfriend” “No this isn’t Bobby, he just looks like Bobby.” Somebody has very, very strange taste in boyfriends.
This is where the sales pitch comes in. The young lady is feeding Skittles to the walrus suit. The candy has a new style out, where the color on the outside is different from the flavor on the inside. They get back to smooching, and the logo comes on the screen.
When you see this on youtube, there is a footer ad, and a sidebar ad, for a Christian dating service, Christian Mingle. It is not known if the actor playing the walrus is saved.
Catholic Vote denouces the ad, in no uncertain terms, with a hardhitting expose, No Ragu or Skittles for me — Two horrendous new commercials. “And Skittles? Who would want to taste the Rainbow (interesting logo choice), if it involves kissing animals? Can’t imagine more corporations are going to jump on the bestiality bandwagon…”
The CV comments are fun. Tim I believe commercials are on to get people to buy the product.Talking about how stupid the commercials are.Does not help the marketing firms.when you don`t buy the product. Joshua Mercer So you think readers of CatholicVote will be more willing to buy Ragu and Skittles because of what I wrote? A peculiar allegation.
One Million Moms is a division of American Family Association. It is highly unlikely that there are a million members. Some of the other actions include: Oreo – No Longer Favorite Cookie Send your email letter to Oreo (Kraft Foods) now! Ask that they remain neutral in the culture war versus promoting the homosexual agenda. DC Comics and Marvel Gay Superheroes Please send DC Comics (Warner Bros. Entertainment Company) and Marvel (Disney) an email urging them to change and cancel all plans of homosexual superhero characters immediately. Ask them to do the right thing and reverse their decision to have sexual orientation displayed to readers. Mattel Considering Kardashian Barbie Urge Mattel to reverse their decision to partner with the Kardashian brand by sending them an email now.
HT to Dangerous Minds. Pictures are by The Library of Congress.
Coat Of Many Colors
Someone on facebook said that it is a shame Molly Ivins is not around to comment on the weird goings on. Yes, Ms. Ivins has gone to that BarBQ in the sky, but we still have Margaret and Helen. They are still blogging up a storm, even if it is someone’s grandson that does the writing. The small print they use is evidence that a youngun did it. What old person can read type that small?
PG knows about cntr + +, and decided to visit. There was a dandy post, Two Wrongs Make a Right Wing Republican Ticket. Here are a few quotes, and then we will explain what this has to do with Dolly Parton forty years ago. Lets hope that the wig in that video has been replaced.
HELEN: That Obama even ran as a black man and wouldn’t you know it – he’s still a black man. Romney is a white guy. Which is probably why so many people in the Tea Party are so excited about the Romney/Ryan ticket – neither are black. I’m sorry, Margaret. That was low… even for me. Obama’s color has nothing to do with it. He’s black. So what. In contrast to Obama, Romney is a man of many colors. Nope. He’s just a white guy.
What I meant to say is that Romney is white but he has a coat of many colors. No, that’s not right either. That was Donny Osmond. Margaret, what is that expression about a horse of many colors? You know. The one that means you can’t trust Romney any farther than you can throw him?
I can’t think of the expression right now, but what I am trying to say is that you can’t throw Romney very far. He’s too rooted to his principles and an unwavering commitment to his beliefs. Like the way he was pro-choice and now is not because it would prevent him from being a Republican president. And how he believed that government-controlled healthcare was needed and now it isn’t because it would prevent him from being a Republican president. And how he was proud of his record at Bain Capital but only the good stuff. If anything bad happened it was on a day when he called in sick…
Two faced! That’s what I meant to say. It had nothing to do with the color of his face or his coat at all. And I am not even sure why I was thinking about a horse. … Now I know why I was thinking about a horse. Paul Ryan is a horse’s ass. If you are a woman under the age of 39, you might want to trust me on this one. Never vote for a horse’s ass. I mean it. Really.
MARGARET: If I recall, Helen, you were under the age of 39 for about 59 years. Howard says that the expression about a horse changing its colors is a racing term and you should just stick to what you know. I’m not sure about this Ryan fellow, but Howard sure likes him. Of course, Howard’s a numbers guy too. The last thing I need is another budget in my life. I haven’t had a new coat in 40 years much less a coat of many colors.
When PG saw this, he thought about the song, “Coat of many colors”. The b side was by Porter Wagoner, “Coat of many sequins”. COMC is about a woman who is too poor to buy her little girl a coat at the store, so she makes a quilt. The other kids make fun of her, but little Dolly knows that the coat is really made of love. Mitt Romney never had a coat of many colors.
The song talks about a story in the Bible. PG had heard about the story, but didn’t remember the details. He must have been daydreaming in Sunday School when that story was taught. With the help of google, Genesis 37 appears, as if by magic. Pass the popcorn.
2 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
Ok, hold on for a minute. Israel had at least two wives. The Biblical definition of marriage must be between a man and two women.
The story gets a bit weird here. Joseph has this dream, where he becomes the boss hog brother. The other brothers decide something needs to be done, that Joseph needs to die. Reuben tries to help Joseph, and has a plan to save him. Joseph is stripped of the coat of many colors, and placed in a pit, with no water. Before Reuben can sneak Joseph out of the pit, a camel caravan comes by. Twenty pieces of silver change hands, and Joseph is sold into slavery. The brothers decide to pull a cover up, and make it look like Joseph was dead. Reuben made another sandwich.
31 And they took Joseph’s coat, and killed a kid of the goats, and dipped the coat in the blood;
32 And they sent the coat of many colours, and they brought it to their father; and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no.
33 And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.
34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.
What a story. Bigamy, slavery, and a dishonored father. Some people call that “The word of G-d”. Pictures today are from The Library of Congress. This was written like James Joyce.
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.
2 comments