Chamblee54

The rain finally stopped, the sun came out, and Atlanta Georgia is a lovely, lovely place. What better time to write about religion?
PG found a thingie on the internet today. It is a list of twenty reasons why the person at BEattitude  is no longer  a Jesus Worshiper. It has 331 comments. Does anyone the time them all?
The man is in what you might call phase one post Jesus. He sees things in terms of the Christian Experience. The further you get from Jesus Worship, the more you see that Jesus is not the only game in town.
The free for all going on in the comments thread is much more pleasant in digital form. In person, you would have 300 people interrupting and screaming at each other. Some think that the louder you talk, the more truth your words have.
The symbolism of the cross is rather distasteful. A cross was a method of capital punishment, and a rather gruesome method at that. If Jesus were to be offed in prison today, would future generations worship a syringe?
Whenever you hear the word G-d, the word Believe is not far behind. The two seem to go together. PG wonders if belief is really the proper way to “know” G-d. Remember, the middle three letters of beLIEve is LIE.

The Boston Phoenix recently published a list of the 100 unsexiest men. For photographs and clever commentary, go to the site. HT to jockohomo.

100. Robert Pattinson 99. Dan Deacon 98. Patton Oswalt 97. Toby Young 96. Sean Delonas 95. Marko Jaric 94.John Boehner & Eric Cantor 93. Russell Brand 92. Rick Ross 91. George W. Bush 90. New Kids on the Block 89. Greg Behrendt 88. Curt Schilling 87. Don Cornelius 86. Peter Ishkhans 85. Rick Santelli 84. Common 83. Rod Brind’Amour 82. Keith Jardine 81. David Paterson 80. Shia LaBeouf 79. Carlos Slim 78. Chris Martin 77. Clark Rockefeller 76. Guy Fieri 75. Hammer 74. Darryl McCauley 73. Robert Mugabe 72. MC Frontalot 71. John McCain 70. Boy George 69. Sean Penn and Hugo Chavez 68. David Zucker 67. Billy Corgan 66. Hugh Hefner 65. Manny Ramirez 64. Mark Halperin 63. Lehman Brothers Bankers 62. Jim Norton 61. Dick Cheney 60. Kanye West 59. Hugh Jackman 58. Omar al-Bashir 57. Ray J 56. Jonah Goldberg 55. Richard Johnson 54. Tom Daschle and Bill Richardson 53. Barack Obama’s Cabinet Members 52. Bruce Springsteen 51. Bishop Richard Williamson 50. John Thain 49. Kid Rock 48. Roland Burris 47. Pete Wentz 46. Harry Connick Jr. 45. Jack Black 44. Ron Christie 43. Denis Leary 42. Matthew Broderick 41. Warren Jeffs 40. Mickey Rourke 39. Jim Bob Duggar 38. Lang Lang 37. John Mayer 36. Raffaello Follieri 35. Lil Wayne 34. Chris Matthews 33. Tyler Perry 32. Girl Talk 31. Ron Prentice 30. Eric Violette 29. Michael Phelps 28. Kevin James 27. Michael Steele 26. Vince Offer 25. DUSTIN PEDROIA AND KEVIN YOUKILIS 24. RICK WARREN 23. BRET MICHAELS 22. JIMMY FALLON 21. JASON MESNICK 20. JOHN EDWARDS 19. Judd Apatow and Friends 18. Joe the Plumber 17. Steve Wozniak 16. Plaxico Burress 15. Andrew Dice Clay 14. Levi Johnston 13. Joaquin Phoenix 12. Robert Smith 11. Bobby Jindal 10. Detroit Auto Executives 9. Michael Kamrava 8. Christian Bale 7. Jim Cramer 6. Adam Lambert 5. Rod Blagojevich 4. Alex Rodriguez 3. Bernie Madoff 2. Chris Brown 1. Rush Limbaugh

Today is the National Day for Prayer. PG has this to offer:
Good Morning G-d. Please give me the slack I need to make it through this busy life. I had a birthday yesterday, and am getting older. Please give me less pain, both above and below the neck. Thank you for letting me get this far. Thank you for the gift of sobriety, and the memory of inebrience. The gift of moderation would have been appreciated. Help me to overcome the body chemistry that tells me to be unhappy.
Please tell the Jesus Worshipers to shut up. They make too much noise. Help me to forgive them. Give Jesus Worshipers a bit more humility. Help Jesus Worshipers to get over their confusion, and quit hating gay people. Let people know that G-d does not write books. Let men know that A REAL MAN KEEPS CONTROL OF HIS TEMPER. Please tell the proud people praying today that it is better to listen than to talk.
Please find a happy medium for Atlanta water. Let us have neither drought nor flood. It would help if the developers would move to North Carolina, and the politicians would grow a conscience. This may be asking too much.
G-d, Please try to get along better with Allah. This is important. Maybe if you and her got along better, then all those religious crazies would hate each other less. Help white people and black people get along better. Please be good to the people who have already lived, and are now deceased. Please understand that I am not in a hurry to join them.
Help Mr. Obama with the mess this country is in. Help Israel get along with her neighbors, and live within her borders. Help the world solve the carbon dioxide problem.
Thank you for the birds that sing. I will listen to them, and not an electronic device. Thank you for dogs, and dog owners who clean up. Thank you for earth, air, fire, and water. Thank you for incomplete lists. Namaste, amen, all my relations, Good Bye.

The custom of baptism has reared her ugly head again.
The dunk or sprinkle debate will probably never be resolved. The question about whether to baptize infants or converts is a call to battle. The Mormon institution has thrown another possibility into the game…baptism of the dead by proxy.
This is one of the things about the Latter Day Saints that causes heads to shake. There are computers in Mormon facilities that track the ancestors of members, and perform a digital baptism by proxy. The idea is that a person cannot go to heaven unless they have been baptized. The Jesus Worship Obsession with life after death is a nonstop source of amusement.
This custom is in the news today. It seems like the LDS baptized Stanley Ann Dunham, the deceased mother of President Obama. This is despite the fact that Miss Dunham married an African, and had a mixed race son.
The LDS church has apparently confirmed that this baptism did take place.
The comment thread on the original story has some remarkable statements. This stood out: “Baptisms for the dead are just a symbolic gesture that we remember and love the deceased and welcome them into our faith. We understand that they have the same freedom in death as they had in life whether to accept or acknowledge our gesture. Consider the last chapter in the Bible, Malachi 4:”
PG has not been to church in 38 years. The last time he heard, the last book of the Bible was Revelations. The book that puts the fun back in fundie.
HT to JoemyG-d, who is becoming an internet superstar.

PG is on the email list of Allen Hunt. Mr. Hunt is a radio whiner, who used to be a Minister. He still talks about religion, whenever and wherever.
The message yesterday was about “3 simple things you can to do grow forward in your faith life. “ The three items are read, pray, and talk. The reader(s) of this blog should know what is coming next.
PG “I recieved your letter about three words to improve your “faith life” I don’t have a problem with reading. I think more than five pages a day is indicated. I also think that any book..not just religious books…will be beneficial. Even if all you do is enjoy your reading, you have done something worthwhile.
The second two words…pray and talk…are way, way overrated. Jesus worshipers talk too much and listen too little. When you talk, you need to pay attention to your audience. You need to have the trust and respect of this person. You need to shut up and listen when it is their turn to talk.
Prayer is talking to G-d. Meditation is listening to G-d. Our culture does not value listening, and this is a serious problem.
A few days ago, an 11 year old in Stone Mountain grew tired of the abuse of his classmates, and committed suicide. How many of those bully children were Jesus Worshipers? How many of those preachers shout angry messages to those children? How many of those children were taught to hate gay people in their churches? I don’t see any of your messages about these issues.
The inability of Jesus Worshipers to quit their wonderful talking and listen to others is one of the biggest problems in our society. Your message…encouraging people to talk, after they read their five pages a day… makes the problem worse.”
To his credit, Mr. Hunt did reply. ” If we do not talk with each other, how do we grow?”
PG ” by listening”
AH ” If no one is talking, no one can listen “
PG ” don’t worry there will always be someone who wants to talk…Right now, the focus of the Jesus Woship church should be toning down the anger and the shouting, reducing the level of venom in the church, before we lose any more 11 year old boys to suicide.”
Mr. Hunt did not reply to this last message. HT on the video to Captains Dead. The lady should have listened.

The other day Father Tony posted a video at Bilerico (ba LAIR i co) about how to argue. He acknowledged that he is a venomous person.
FT used to be employed by the Catholic church. That is how he got his handle. PG thought on this for a while, and saw a connection. A little more thinking, and PG pondered that crowd pleaser, the religious argument.
Jesus Worship is a religion of beliefs, rather than practices. One of their key beliefs is the notion that you should convert those who disagree with you. If these people don’t agree with you about certain things, they go to hell. This lust to “evangelize” leads to a lot of arguments.
One of the rules for living/arguing that Father Tony expresses is that, yes, you are going to argue. This is especially true for romantic partnerships, but includes all sorts of human relating. How does this relate to religion? If you believe in a religion, does this mean you are compelled to argue with those who you disagree with?
Religious belief can be a source of strength and comfort to those lucky enough to be in the loop. For many of the rest of us, Religion (especially the Jesus Worship variety) is a source of venom. The endless arguments that believers loudly put forth spoil whatever benefits these beliefs can have. It is enough to make you wish you would never hear the word Jesus again.

Father Tony put up a video today about “How to argue”. The concept is that conflict is inevitable in human relationships. The secret is how to deal with it. He makes a few suggestions about “How to argue”. It is not a complete list. There is one very important word that he does not use.
Listen.
When someone is saying something to you, it is very helpful to listen to them. Do not think about the clever thing you are going to say in reply. Do not think about how this person is a hypocrite for saying something (Even if…or maybe especially if…they are a hypocrite for saying something).
Don’t think about problems that you have with this person. Shut up and listen. Do not interrupt. It is helpful to turn your eyes from the tv or computer, and look at the person who is talking to you.
The person who “starts” the argument should return the favor by keeping his remarks as brief and to the point as possible. Many people think they should talk until they are interrupted. You should be as concise as possible, speaking only about the issue at hand.
The louder you say something does not mean that it has more truth. The more respect you show a person you are talking to, the more respect you can expect them to show you. This is another thing that you can offer a person who shows you the courtesy of listening.
Listening is not valued in our culture. It is passive, and talking is active. Many seem to feel that they are losing power to a person if they shut up and listen.
Have you ever heard a person boast about the clever things they say? Have you ever heard a person boast about how good a listener they are? Maybe the priorities of our culture are out of whack.
Father Tony also mentioned the concept of venom in an argument. He maintains that some people are naturally venomous, and that it is a trait that you need to learn to control. PG would like to observe that people should not use Jesus as a form of venom. This should be obvious, but so many super Christians use Jesus (and the Bible) as a tool of their anger. The third commandment is a very underrated piece of work, and Jesus Worshipers would be wise to obey it.

It is Monday the thirteenth. In a logical world, this is the day people would fear. It is a day too late to participate in the Blogswarm against Theocracy. However, when dealing with government and religion, one should never let a technicality get in the way.
Perhaps the problem is not religion in general, but the types of religion that flourish in these United States. Perhaps a more benign form of spiritual discipline could make paying taxes and filling out forms more enjoyable.
Doorknob worship has never caught on here. Without a hard sell scheme for life after death, it is left sticking out in the hallway. The government is even legislating against doorknobs, in favor of those banana shaped things.
Pastafarianism would probably not make a good governing religion. Many of our leaders are on the sauce already. And the tea party is two days from now. They have the wrong beverage in the name. They will be serving whine.
Then there is the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Founded thirty years ago, with old nun habits from Iowa, the SPI has stood for debauchery and whiteface makeup ever since. The SPI shows the value of recycling, to be founded on the festering corpse of the Roman Pedophile Church. 
My bad, the RPC is still alive. Considering some of the other alternatives available, maybe separation of church and state is a good idea.
Spell check suggestions for this feature:
blogroll- logrolling, bankroll, bedroll, hologram, holograph
pastafarianism- rastafarian, egalitarianism, humanitarianism, totalitarianism, antiquarianism
HT to JoemyG-d for the video.

Chamblee54 has done free publicity for two pallets of product, Sarah Palin and Kayne West. In order to complete the trilogy, it is time to move to the ultimate media product: Jesus.
PG has come to know Jesus through the words and deeds of his believers. It is not pretty, unlike Mrs. Palin or Mr. West. PG feels that there is a distinct difference between the spirit named Jesus, which is so loudly touted, and the man who probably lived in Palestine two thousand years ago. The two critters…the contemporary spirit Jesus, and the Historic Jesus…have little in common beyond the name. This post will focus on the Spirit Jesus, which is shoved in PG’s face on a daily basis.
Not that the historic Jesus…as he is described by the Bible…is without blame. Someone disliked him enough to have him killed. Maybe if he had been better at PR, he could have lived longer and taught more. Anyone who would say “I am the way the truth and the light. No one can come to the father but through me ” is an egomaniac.
The spirit Jesus is a relentless seeker of attention. The cult of Jesus Worship is based on getting non believers to agree to certain ideas. These ideas involve life after death, and the execution of Jesus. These ideas are expressed constantly, and it doesn’t matter if you don’t agree with them, you are going to hear them again and again. Jesus Worshipers seem to think that the louder they repeat these ideas, the more true they become. It is like a dog who will not quit barking.
Anyone can talk about Jesus. Not everyone that does so has good motives. It is necessary for the listener to trust the speaker. When a man speaks about Jesus without trust, he is speaking in vain. When a man talks about Jesus out of anger, he is speaking in vain. This is what the Third Commandment is referring to.
PG would like to never hear the word Jesus again. He would settle for one day, but even that is too much to ask of the Jesus Worshipers.

PG used to have a job making local deliveries in Marietta. He often found himself behind a red light next to the Big Chicken. The Big Chicken is his friend. One day PG discovered that he could talk to G-d while waiting for the light to change by the Big Chicken. So G dude, whatever happened to that boy of yours. Man, I wish I had never met Mary. That boy was more trouble than you can imagine. He did seem to have a mouth on him. Hey, just one thing before the light changes. The Jesus Worshipers seem to think it was the Jews who offed Jboi NO NO NO. It was the Romans. They ran the show, and then they wrote the history to blame the Jews Figures But the Jews screwed up too. When Jboi finally died, I knew he was going to try to pull something. I told the Jews to put two boulders in front of the cave. Two. That way he was going to stay in that stinking cave, and I wouldn\’t have to hear his whining any more. But the Jews thought they could save money, and only used one boulder The car behind PG was honking. The light had turned green.

Police are warning all men who frequent clubs, parties & local pubs to be alert and stay cautious when offered a drink by any woman. Many females use a date-rape-drug on the market called ‘Beer’.
The drug is found in liquid form and is available anywhere. It comes in bottles, cans, from taps, and in large kegs. ‘Beer’. is used by female sexual predators at parties and bars to persuade their male victims to go home and sleep with them.
A woman needs only to get a guy to consume a few units of ‘Beer’  and then simply ask him home for no-strings-attached sex. Men are rendered helpless against this approach. After several applications of ‘Beer’, men will often succumb to the desires to sleep with women to whom they would never normally be attracted. Men often awaken with only hazy memories of exactly what happened to them the night before, often with just a vague feeling that ‘something bad’ occurred.
At other times these unfortunate men are swindled out of their life’s savings, in a familiar scam known as ‘a relationship’ . In extreme cases, the female may even be shrewd enough to entrap the unsuspecting male into a longer-term form of servitude and punishment referred to as ‘marriage’. Men are much more susceptible to this scam after ‘Beer’ is administered and sex is offered by the predatory females.
If you fall victim to this ‘Beer’ scam and the women administering it, there are male support groups where you can discuss the details of your shocking encounter with similarly victimized men. For the support group nearest you, just look up ‘Golf Courses’ in the phone book.