Johann Hari has a brilliant column on the travesties being done in German courts in the name of "multi-culturalism".
The upshot is that Muslim immigrants who manage to screw up enough courage to approach German courts claiming "my husband is beating the tar out of me" are being told, "Hey, it's your culture. I would hate to enforce my cultural stereotypes of women's rights onto your glorious culture. That leads to Crusades and stuff. Besides, you knew this going into a muslim marriage. Don't forget to shield your face with your hands."
On the one hand, I feel very very sorry for these women. They are hoping for a better life, and are being sold upriver in the name of being politically correct.
On the other hand, this puts the oh-so-tolerant left in the rare position of having to piss off one or all of its constituent members: Either the very powerful women's movement is going to have to sit by and watch their foreign sisters get beat, or they will have to denounce a religious practice, making them seem intolerant.
Personally, I'm hoping for muslim women to rise up and institute a smackdown on these radical Imams. Wouldn't that be humiliating?
It'd be Mujaheddin brothers vs. the Menopause sisters. Sounds like pay-per-view.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Let's make fun of disturbed dead people!!
Well, everyone is now psycho-analyzing the ass-hat that shot up Virginia Tech.
However, what everybody might not know is that Mr. Cho was also a burgeoning playwright.
The fine folks at Somethingaweful.com managed to get ahold of one of his manuscripts and have reviewed it for your pleasure.
What a whack-job.
However, what everybody might not know is that Mr. Cho was also a burgeoning playwright.
The fine folks at Somethingaweful.com managed to get ahold of one of his manuscripts and have reviewed it for your pleasure.
What a whack-job.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Success Means You Aren't Doing Something Right...
Yup, Billy and I are disagreeing again.
This time, he's quoting This blog with the following statement:
To be fair, the rest of the blog that Billy quotes goes on to excuse itself from its inflammatory stance, but as Billy has chosen to pull up and talk about that one quote, I will do likewise.
Reading and re-reading this post, I am reminded of something my Mom used to tell me:
"Don't over-spiritualize being poor"
And she didn't mean "broke", "On a down-cycle", "experiencing a negative cash flow situation". She means f---ing poor. We're talking about a woman who at one point had to decide if buying a 10 cent pen would break her budget.
Allow me to give a little history lesson about our denomination (Foursquare).
WAAAY back in the day, Aimee Semple McPherson started a radical movement of faith called Foursquare.
It bloomed.
Like, a lot.
At one point, her soup kitchens were feeding more than the government's.
After some controversies inside the church, and after Aimee's death, things kind of waned.
In that period, the Foursquare movement died down. The huddled Foursquare masses hunkered down.
Enter Pastor Jack Hayford. Jack's gift was to bring Foursquare out of its exclusivity and make it accessible for all.
Some people did NOT like him for that. He had shifted the status of Foursquare for a small people who fancied themselves as the few, committed, misunderstood devotees, who know the whole truth. Suddenly everyone is at the party.
Success and having everyone in on a movement of God does not make it "consumerism". It means you have made something that people can identify with.
Wherein lies the problem with Mega-Churches?
Is it the fact that a lot of people come together in the name of Christ?
Is it the fact that the pooled resources of many can make for powerful contributions and provision?
Here, let me learn you some edumikation: It's a cultural instinct of us as U.S. citizens to always root for the underdog.
However, sometimes, the underdog isn't right.
So, with the new "emerging church" coming on the scene, they have a need to viciously rail against the "mega-churches". Otherwise, how can they, the small, few, misunderstood, be able to justify their continued course of action despite the lack of apparent interest?
Jesus was NOT the underdog. Yes, I said it. He was the epitome of someone who has everything under control, knows what is going to happen, and does what He needs to do.
Throughout the Bible, God consistently chooses the underdog. But they are humble underdogs. If Mr. Hipps' comment holds sway on the course of the emergent church, it will be destroyed from within by those who think any church that grows too big is "consumerism".
This time, he's quoting This blog with the following statement:
The emerging church used to say mega-churches are going away. They’re not going away. They’re predicated on the metaphor of consumerism. And as long as consumerism is the dominant mode of our culture mega-churches will always thrive. Some are saying that this next generation hates that. They don’t. They love it.
-Shane Hipps
To be fair, the rest of the blog that Billy quotes goes on to excuse itself from its inflammatory stance, but as Billy has chosen to pull up and talk about that one quote, I will do likewise.
Reading and re-reading this post, I am reminded of something my Mom used to tell me:
"Don't over-spiritualize being poor"
And she didn't mean "broke", "On a down-cycle", "experiencing a negative cash flow situation". She means f---ing poor. We're talking about a woman who at one point had to decide if buying a 10 cent pen would break her budget.
Allow me to give a little history lesson about our denomination (Foursquare).
WAAAY back in the day, Aimee Semple McPherson started a radical movement of faith called Foursquare.
It bloomed.
Like, a lot.
At one point, her soup kitchens were feeding more than the government's.
After some controversies inside the church, and after Aimee's death, things kind of waned.
In that period, the Foursquare movement died down. The huddled Foursquare masses hunkered down.
Enter Pastor Jack Hayford. Jack's gift was to bring Foursquare out of its exclusivity and make it accessible for all.
Some people did NOT like him for that. He had shifted the status of Foursquare for a small people who fancied themselves as the few, committed, misunderstood devotees, who know the whole truth. Suddenly everyone is at the party.
Success and having everyone in on a movement of God does not make it "consumerism". It means you have made something that people can identify with.
Wherein lies the problem with Mega-Churches?
Is it the fact that a lot of people come together in the name of Christ?
Is it the fact that the pooled resources of many can make for powerful contributions and provision?
Here, let me learn you some edumikation: It's a cultural instinct of us as U.S. citizens to always root for the underdog.
However, sometimes, the underdog isn't right.
So, with the new "emerging church" coming on the scene, they have a need to viciously rail against the "mega-churches". Otherwise, how can they, the small, few, misunderstood, be able to justify their continued course of action despite the lack of apparent interest?
Jesus was NOT the underdog. Yes, I said it. He was the epitome of someone who has everything under control, knows what is going to happen, and does what He needs to do.
Throughout the Bible, God consistently chooses the underdog. But they are humble underdogs. If Mr. Hipps' comment holds sway on the course of the emergent church, it will be destroyed from within by those who think any church that grows too big is "consumerism".
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
I'm famous! Sort of....
Ystrday (Tusday), I got into th Santa Barbara Nws Prss...thy did a fature on social danc in the ara, and I was fatured on the covr of the "Lif" sction.
Thy mis-splld my last nam. Can you guss which lttr was lft out?
Thy mis-splld my last nam. Can you guss which lttr was lft out?
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Western culture is perfectly fine...I'm not so sure about the Emergent Church though...
It's happened again...
God bless my Pastor, but he has a tendency to rail against people who are...well, like me.
(Found here)
Now, I happen to agree with him that the church claims persecution too much, and what we see in America is more of a "it's not as popular as it used to be" mentality than true persecution.
I also agree that persecution forces people to take a stand.
What I am concerned about is the mentality in the emergent church to think that anything conservative, or western is automatically discounted.
Take Pastor Billy's infamous "...arrogant, overfed and unconcerned west." line. I use to beat him over the head anytime the US, England, or Australia does something magnanimous.
Having only been exposed to the emergent church from Pastor Billy's viewpoint, I sometimes wonder if there is a place for me there.
As shown in two different places, it seems to champion leftist causes, often accepting feel-goods over fact. The "we should be doing something to help people" often trumping more realistic solutions. After all, sometimes the best solution is killing the people doing the killing. Does anybody really think that Saddam and his sons would stop the rape rooms if we had asked them really really nicely?
The irony is that most people in the emergent church seem to idolize Diedrich Bonhoeffer for his radical views on how a church community should operate, and seem to conveniently forget that he helped foment an assassination attempt.
True, it was Hitler, but Saul was an evil leader, and David still slew the man who killed him. It should not be the place of any modern Religious icon to be involved with the active planning of military matters. That is called a Crusade, and you can see how well that turned out.
One other thing that seems to pervade the Emergent Church is the readiness and willingness to take swipes at the Conservative viewpoint.
To be fair, Billy did amend the headline to say that "Sutton says" to blame Aimee Semple McPherson for the religious right.
My question is why should we isolate the "Religious right" to begin with? It only serves to isolate and divide a church along political lines instead of denomination lines.
Pastor Billy and I have disagreed about the church's involvment in politics. I think that the politics should follow the church. Pastor Billy thinks that the church should get in on the political game.
Now, with that much venom between political sides lying just below the surface, why infect the Church with venom that had formerly been left at the door?
Yes, pastor was joking with me when he stated that he wished there was so little conflict in the world that my employer (a defense contractor) wouldn't have work.
However, would it have gone over so well if he told one of the more-hippy-ish people that he hoped that there would be enough environmental understanding so that his people could stop torching SUV dealerships and spiking trees? Somehow, I think not.
As one of my friends used to say, "Multi-culturalism/tolerance is only tolerant as long as you agree with their politics."
Tell someone with a left-leaning slant that you think global warming is linked to sunspots, and not man-made CO2, and see how tolerant they are.
Tell someone with Birkenstocks that you think current firearms restrictions make no sense, and, more likely than not, you'll get a diatribe on how firearms in the hands of citizens are the worst thing we have ever thought up. Never mind that it prevented Japan from invading during WWII after they had smashed Pearl Harbor.
The emergent church, with its exploration of viewing things from other points of view, seems to reject mine.
How am I expected to get behind a supposedly tolerant movement that feels free to rail against my viewpoint almost exclusively?
Please don't take this as me leaving my church. When I don't feel my viewpoint assaulted, I value the different take on the Bible that Pastor Billy provides.
As should be the case with any blog, this is me simply expressing my viewpoint for all you sicko voyeurs to read. For those who agree 100% with Pastor Billy, good on you. I am simply voicing a concern regarding my exposure to the Emergent Church.
P.S. H1alphas were the only true Hummers. That makes this a thing of wonder and beauty
God bless my Pastor, but he has a tendency to rail against people who are...well, like me.
This, I explained... was the best analogy I could come up with for why so many rich, comfortable, western, neo-conservative, first ammendment protected, christians could claim they are being persecuted in a society of freedom.
(Found here)
Now, I happen to agree with him that the church claims persecution too much, and what we see in America is more of a "it's not as popular as it used to be" mentality than true persecution.
I also agree that persecution forces people to take a stand.
What I am concerned about is the mentality in the emergent church to think that anything conservative, or western is automatically discounted.
Take Pastor Billy's infamous "...arrogant, overfed and unconcerned west." line. I use to beat him over the head anytime the US, England, or Australia does something magnanimous.
Having only been exposed to the emergent church from Pastor Billy's viewpoint, I sometimes wonder if there is a place for me there.
As shown in two different places, it seems to champion leftist causes, often accepting feel-goods over fact. The "we should be doing something to help people" often trumping more realistic solutions. After all, sometimes the best solution is killing the people doing the killing. Does anybody really think that Saddam and his sons would stop the rape rooms if we had asked them really really nicely?
The irony is that most people in the emergent church seem to idolize Diedrich Bonhoeffer for his radical views on how a church community should operate, and seem to conveniently forget that he helped foment an assassination attempt.
True, it was Hitler, but Saul was an evil leader, and David still slew the man who killed him. It should not be the place of any modern Religious icon to be involved with the active planning of military matters. That is called a Crusade, and you can see how well that turned out.
One other thing that seems to pervade the Emergent Church is the readiness and willingness to take swipes at the Conservative viewpoint.
To be fair, Billy did amend the headline to say that "Sutton says" to blame Aimee Semple McPherson for the religious right.
My question is why should we isolate the "Religious right" to begin with? It only serves to isolate and divide a church along political lines instead of denomination lines.
Pastor Billy and I have disagreed about the church's involvment in politics. I think that the politics should follow the church. Pastor Billy thinks that the church should get in on the political game.
Now, with that much venom between political sides lying just below the surface, why infect the Church with venom that had formerly been left at the door?
Yes, pastor was joking with me when he stated that he wished there was so little conflict in the world that my employer (a defense contractor) wouldn't have work.
However, would it have gone over so well if he told one of the more-hippy-ish people that he hoped that there would be enough environmental understanding so that his people could stop torching SUV dealerships and spiking trees? Somehow, I think not.
As one of my friends used to say, "Multi-culturalism/tolerance is only tolerant as long as you agree with their politics."
Tell someone with a left-leaning slant that you think global warming is linked to sunspots, and not man-made CO2, and see how tolerant they are.
Tell someone with Birkenstocks that you think current firearms restrictions make no sense, and, more likely than not, you'll get a diatribe on how firearms in the hands of citizens are the worst thing we have ever thought up. Never mind that it prevented Japan from invading during WWII after they had smashed Pearl Harbor.
The emergent church, with its exploration of viewing things from other points of view, seems to reject mine.
How am I expected to get behind a supposedly tolerant movement that feels free to rail against my viewpoint almost exclusively?
Please don't take this as me leaving my church. When I don't feel my viewpoint assaulted, I value the different take on the Bible that Pastor Billy provides.
As should be the case with any blog, this is me simply expressing my viewpoint for all you sicko voyeurs to read. For those who agree 100% with Pastor Billy, good on you. I am simply voicing a concern regarding my exposure to the Emergent Church.
P.S. H1alphas were the only true Hummers. That makes this a thing of wonder and beauty
Monday, April 09, 2007
Pastor Billy is gonna hate me...
My pastor has a problem with the new owner of the Santa Barbara News-Press, as you can see here and here.
Sooo, I was swing dancing on Friday night. It was a pretty good night. Awesome band, good dancers, my co-worker was there, I ran into an old friend, Jofflyn from my swing dancing days back in LA. A good night!
I was tearing it up with a girl named Tasha, when we get flagged off the dance floor by someone I've never seen before and a guy holding a fairly large case.
Thinking I had done something wrong again, I was relieved when she told me that she is a reporter doing a news story on Social Dance in Santa Barbara.
She asked me if she could interview us, and take pictures.
Tasha and I agreed fairly quickly, and we proceeded to swing dance while the cameraman took pictures of us. (It's HARD to do that, btw. I'd set him up for a good shot, then have to do a turn-out to get out of it, resulting in a very unflattering shot of my back and ass, and you couldn't see Tasha at all!)
So, the reporter then asked us a few questions. Afterwards, I asked what paper she was from, and she said, "Santa Barbara News-Press".
Sooooo, Seeing as I know that Pastor Billy isn't too fond of them, AND that he reads my blog, here you go! I am contributing to the downfall of journalistic respect in your eyes by giving the News-Press useful content to help further their circulation. Now the Daily Sound will have to struggle to catch up!
I'm off to spread more hate and discontent...
Sooo, I was swing dancing on Friday night. It was a pretty good night. Awesome band, good dancers, my co-worker was there, I ran into an old friend, Jofflyn from my swing dancing days back in LA. A good night!
I was tearing it up with a girl named Tasha, when we get flagged off the dance floor by someone I've never seen before and a guy holding a fairly large case.
Thinking I had done something wrong again, I was relieved when she told me that she is a reporter doing a news story on Social Dance in Santa Barbara.
She asked me if she could interview us, and take pictures.
Tasha and I agreed fairly quickly, and we proceeded to swing dance while the cameraman took pictures of us. (It's HARD to do that, btw. I'd set him up for a good shot, then have to do a turn-out to get out of it, resulting in a very unflattering shot of my back and ass, and you couldn't see Tasha at all!)
So, the reporter then asked us a few questions. Afterwards, I asked what paper she was from, and she said, "Santa Barbara News-Press".
Sooooo, Seeing as I know that Pastor Billy isn't too fond of them, AND that he reads my blog, here you go! I am contributing to the downfall of journalistic respect in your eyes by giving the News-Press useful content to help further their circulation. Now the Daily Sound will have to struggle to catch up!
I'm off to spread more hate and discontent...
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Ok, What in the hell...
Soooo...you joined the Marines. We won't question why for a second, but we'll be back.
They train you to kill people. You are told multiple times that you will be sent out to kill people. You stay through boot camp.
Suddenly, you are called to war and told that you need to kill people like you have been trained.
Oops, suddenly, I'm a "conscientious-objector".
If you are anti-war, at least you are being honest. Misguided, perhaps, but honest.
But for the love of mud, if you are going to join the military, have the intellect to figure out that sometimes, the military will ask you to over-run/neutralize/kill/destroy/secure opposing forces with extreme prejudice.
Our military isn't made for tea-parties. K-bars make horrible stirring sticks. (Don't ask me how I know).
They train you to kill people. You are told multiple times that you will be sent out to kill people. You stay through boot camp.
Suddenly, you are called to war and told that you need to kill people like you have been trained.
Oops, suddenly, I'm a "conscientious-objector".
If you are anti-war, at least you are being honest. Misguided, perhaps, but honest.
But for the love of mud, if you are going to join the military, have the intellect to figure out that sometimes, the military will ask you to over-run/neutralize/kill/destroy/secure opposing forces with extreme prejudice.
Our military isn't made for tea-parties. K-bars make horrible stirring sticks. (Don't ask me how I know).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)