The man Oct 27, 2005
I used to like watching Family Guy.  But I think it's gotten more and more like South Park since it came back to Fox.  I'm not a fan of shows that exist solely to push buttons.  Fox has a lot of shows I don't like.  Fox is known for being very liberal and amoral.  Fox is owned by News Corp.  News Corp also owns HarperCollins, a book publishing company.  HarperCollins owns Zondervan, a company that publishes Christian books.  Zondervan publishes the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible, one of the most widely spread and commonly accepted translations of the good book.  I read the NIV on a daily basis, as does almost every Christian I know. 

So to recap:  News Corp owns my Bible.  The company who puts out Fox News, the Simpsons, MADtv, Trading Spouses, and American Idol is the same company who owns the publishing rights for the Bible I read every day.  Scary. #religion
Queen of the universe Oct 27, 2005
There was this church in Orlando, FL called Mary, Queen of the Universe Catholic Shrine.  It's been stuck in my head for about 2 months now.  I've had a strong urge to say something about it, but I just don't know how to say it. 

Let's start with the "shrine" part.  Shrine is one of those words like "meditation" that has somewhat of a bad connotation.  People jump to conclusions when they hear these words.  Actually, a shrine is just a place where devotion is paid to a person or an object.  Like a church.  Pretty simple.  But I'll go ahead and jump to the conclusion that the word shrine brings to mind some sort of unhealthy ritualistic pagan-worship.  It also brings up the thought that "shrine" and "stalker" usually go hand-in-hand.  Either way, good choice of words. 

Ok, now the "Queen of the Universe" part.  Mary was the mother of Jesus Christ who was the son of the living God and savior of the human race.  He was an important dude.  So I can almost see how someone could've thought, "Mary, mother of Jesus, the most important person ever, son of God, God is the king of the universe ... Mary, Queen of the Universe!"  But still, I have to make fun of this.  Who is she?  He-Man's wife?  Don't you think it's a little bit of a stretch to call this woman the queen of the universe?  Sure, she was the mother of the son of God, but queen of the universe?  I mean, c'mon. #religion
Evil Oct 18, 2005
I'd like to take a minute to discuss the nature of evil.  This post is based largely on this link.  A lot of people think of evil as something that has horns and carries a pitchfork.  I think this is wrong.  Maybe it'll take that form someday, but I think it takes a different form in everyday life:  something beautiful or normal, but with a little twist.  In the Passion of the Christ, evil is represented by several things.  There's that woman-looking person with no eyebrows.  She represents evil because she's simple, somewhat beautiful, and symmetric.  But up close, you realize she has no eyebrows and doesn't blink.  It's taking a good thing and twisting it.  Then there's that hairy baby-like thing.  From far away, it's a beautiful picture:  a woman holding a baby.  But up close, you notice that the baby is gross and hairy and isn't really a baby.  Something beautiful, twisted. 

I can think of a bunch of examples in real life, but I'll offend people if I post them.  So I'll try to word them in an inoffensive way.  Marriage is a beautiful thing.  But joining two like things (physically) or two unlike things (spiritually) is taking something good and twisting it.  Sex is a good thing.  But taking it out of it's proper environment is taking a good thing and twisting it.  Anger can be a good thing.  But if it's acted out the wrong way, it's not good.  These things seem small.  Some say, "At least it's not murder."  True, but small things multiply, and they desensitize us.  We'll allow small things today, but big things tomorrow. #religion
America hates Christianity Oct 12, 2005
Ravi Zacharias wrote in his book Jesus Among Other Gods, "Philosophically, you can believe anything, so long as you do not claim it to be true.  Morally, you can practice anything, so long as you do not claim that it is a 'better' way.  Religiously, you can hold to anything, so long as you do not bring Jesus Christ into it.  If a spiritual idea is eastern, it is granted critical immunity; if western, it is thoroughly criticized."  This is so painfully true.  If I go around and Christian-bash and take people to court over separation of church and state, I'm considered progressive.  If I make fun of some Muslims and take some Hindus to court, I'm a hateful extremist.  Why the difference?  Because America hates Christianity.  Our country will do whatever it possibly can to erase God from the picture.  And why is this?  Because Christianity is true.  It Christianity was as ridiculous as one of the eastern religions, there'd be no need to refute it.  But as it is, it presents a threat to all those who don't believe it.  So by dismissing its claims, people can justify their actions and continue to live how they want. #religion
Judgment Oct 8, 2005
A lot of people question why God allows certain things to happen.  Why does God allow little kids to die when they're infected with some sort of disease or birth defect?  Why did God allow Hurricane Katrina to kill a bunch of people and cause so much damage?  For the former, some people think it has something to do with God punishing the parents.  For the latter, a lot of Christians point to the evil and corruption that was rampant in the city of New Orleans. 

I hope God doesn't work like this.  In fact, I'm pretty sure he doesn't.  If he did, we'd all be in trouble.  How many of us can claim that we've never sinned?  The answer is none of us (except Jesus Christ [1]).  If God immediately and/or directly punished people for the sins they committed, we would all be undergoing punishment.  But we're not.  Evil people are successful and healthy.  Holy people are poor and tortured.  If God made things work in a 1-to-1 relationship, this would be the opposite. 

So the answer to the question of why this stuff happens isn't quite satisfying.  The answer is:  For a reason.  It sounds like a typical Christian cop-out answer.  "You just have to trust God."  "It all comes down to faith."  These are weak answers because they don't give us anything to work with.  We want something concrete, something we can quantify.  Oh well.  That's the answer God gives.  Everything happens for a reason.  We might not ever know that reason.  But instead of trying to blame God for it, maybe we should try to figure it out.  I've thought about this in the past and come up with a few conclusions (1, 2, 3). 

[1] Hebrews 4:15 says that Jesus was without sin.  A lot of people think that's impossible, and some people point to the episode where Jesus overturns the tables of the money changers in the temple (Mark 11:15-17).  They say he did this in anger.  Anger in itself is not a sin.  Misplaced anger is a sin.  Ephesians 4:26 says to not sin when you're angry.  Other translations put it more clearly:  "Be angry, and yet do not sin" (NASB).  In other words, anger is ok if it's righteous anger, or anger for a reason and directed at the right thing.  That's exactly what Jesus did.  People were making an unfair profit by selling things and exchanging money inside the temple.  It would be similar to selling CDs and DVDs in the church for $25 when they're really only worth about $5.  And this was happening inside the temple.  Jesus knew the temple wasn't meant to be a marketplace, so he told everyone to get out of there. #religion
Funny Bible Oct 5, 2005
In early times in Israel, a man was required to marry his brother's widow if his brother died without a son so as to carry on that brother's bloodline.  If the brother refused to marry the widow, "his brother's widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his sandals, spit in his face and say, 'This is what is done to the man who will not build up his brother's family line.'" (Deuteronomy 25:9).  Ouch.  They took the whole bloodline thing pretty seriously. 

Another funny thing is found in Deuteronomy 25:11-12 - "If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts, you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity."  Why on earth would she do that?  Was this a common problem?  Apparently it was the thing to do, seeing that it was important enough to write about in the Bible.  But like all weird and funny things in the Bible, it's there for a reason.  I'm not completely sure what that reason is, but I'm sure it's there. #religion
Under God Sep 29, 2005
The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 by Francis Bellamy and originally read, "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."  In 1924, the American Legion and the Daughters of the American Revolution changed the Pledge's words, "my Flag" to "the Flag of the United States of America".  In 1953, the Knights of Columbus, a Roman Catholic men's group, campaigned to add the words "under God" to the Pledge.  On June 14, 1954, it was signed into law. (link)

On that note, I'm not surprised that people want to take the words "under God" out of the Pledge.  They weren't there to begin with, and they were added during a time of national fear and patriotism.  And who recites the Pledge?  Kids.  So a lot of parents don't want their kids to feel obligated to say something that the parents don't believe. 

And when you think about it, it's just not true:  we're not a nation under God.  We might have been at one point, but even that's questionable.  And even though the vast majority of people in our country claim to be Christians, it doesn't mean they actually are.  This is because the idea of a "Christian" has changed from being a follower of Christ to believing in an idea.  Belief in an idea doesn't define a person.  Actions and words do.  So when we recite things that make us claim that we're "under God," it understandably makes people uncomfortable.  So in a sense, I'm glad people want to remove these words from the Pledge.  At least they recognize that their words don't reflect what they believe. 

At the same time, I have to admit that I'm at least slightly unhappy that we're removing God from our schools altogether.  It's just another reason for me to send my kids to a Christian school or home-school them.  We'll see. #religion
God's handwriting (1) Sep 27, 2005
I heard an interesting thing recently:  Would you recognize your wife's/friend's handwriting if you saw it?  Probably yes.  Would you recognize Gandhi's handwriting?  Probably not.  The idea is that you recognize things from people you know, people you're familiar with.  It's the same way with God.  We can recognize stuff about God by being friends with him, spending time with him, getting to know him.  In other words, we'll see stuff as being God's work and as coming from God if we're close to him.  I wonder how many things happen that we don't recognize as coming from God.  We say, "Wow, what a coincidence."  Why is it just a coincidence and not an act of God, part of God's will?  And when bad things happen, we're always quick to say, "How could God let this happen?"  But what about the things he doesn't let happen [1]?  Or what about the good that comes out of the bad (Romans 8:28)?  Or what about little things that happen every day, like getting to work safely and sleeping in a bed at night?

[1] Mercy can be defined as "not getting what we deserve".  Grace can be defined as "getting what we don't deserve". #religion
Christianize Sep 20, 2005
I'm amazed and disgusted by the people who are "in charge" of or associated with certain groups of people.  I don't know much about the 80s because that's when I was a kid.  But when I read about some of the famous Christians, I can't blame people for not liking Christianity.  People like Pat Robertson, Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker, and Jerry Falwell really gave Christianity a bad name.  What's even more amazing is that even after all the bad stuff (prostitutes, porn, adultery, squandering money, lying, etc.) happened, these guys are still in the public eye.  They should have quit the business and moved to some rural town in Idaho (or Sussex County, NJ) to live out their days in obscurity.  But no.  They continue to peddle their meaningless nonsense and offend people left and right.  It's a joy to be associated with people like this simply because I claim the title "Christian". 

And how could I not mention the Reverend Jesse Jackson and the Reverend Al Sharpton?  Since when do "Reverends" head up political organizations and represent our country to foreign nations?  But if they stopped using that title, they'd lose the support of all their mindless church-going followers.  What an utter disgrace.  I can only imagine what foreigners must think of our country (aside from their thoughts about W and crew) when one of these clowns shows up at their front door to talk about human rights or something.  "Who are you again?  A traveling pseudo-preacher from the ghetto?  And what do you have to do with America?" #religion
Evangelical Sep 13, 2005
It must be said.  What's the deal with the term "evangelical"?  Ever since Mr. Bush ran for his second term and split the country in two (just kidding:  it was already split, and this word was used before then), this word has been applied to anyone and everyone who isn't something else.  You're not Catholic?  You're an evangelical.  You're not an abortionist?  You're an evangelical.  Where did this word come from?  Well it turns out that the word isn't new; it just has a new meaning.  To evangelize means "To preach the gospel to" or "To convert to Christianity".  But in our country, it has taken the place of "protestant" and "born-again".  I wonder what other word will come in the future to be the over-used expression that will originally mean "true Christian" but eventually turn into a political view?  I'm thinking "neo-Christian".  Or maybe "prophetic Christian".  Little by little, we take away the meaning of words by injecting them into politics.  Does anyone really know what a liberal is?  No.  We just know it's a non-conservative.  Instead of just ranting about stuff, I'll offer a solution:  destroy politics.  We must say no to this beast before it takes over our country. 

And my other point is this:  I'm a Christian.  I wish that word had a meaning. #religion