Archive for the 'Religion' Category

The entertainer was a bit off

Published on March 6, 2010 in Family, Popular Culture, Religion and Sports. 4 comments

Nathan and Aaron had their season-end Upward ceremony this morning at church.

Many dedicated people work long and hard to make an Upward season happen, and I think the size of this one took a lot of people by surprise.  I’m extremely thankful for all of the volunteers’ efforts, and my meager contributions—an occasional coach sub or an afternoon in the kitchen—pale in comparison.

All of that said, the entertainer at this year’s season-end ceremony seemed a bit off to me.  He was a guitar-playin’, singin’, audience participationin’ sort of fellow.  Had us clapping, shaking hands, hugging, exercising, and stuff.  He had a bit with an imaginary friend named Larry.

Dig, all of that’s fine, but there was a subtle undercurrent of unmistakable weirdness about him.

Fortunately, I had a like-minded texting partner also in attendance.  (This is an exact transcript, apart from three <name redactions>.)

(begin text transcript)

Bo (10:09 AM):  I’m about to strangle the <redacted> boy.

BamaDan (10:11 AM):  Sleeper hold? Who’s the entertainer? Salome of the Mystic Feather Dance?

Bo (10:11 AM):  Marilyn Manson

BamaDan (10:13 AM):  Europe?  Where’s We’ve Got Spirit cheer?

Bo (10:20 AM):  FREEBIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRD

BamaDan (10:22 AM):  Hey you were right.  It is Marilyn.  So Harvester of Sorrow isn’t an acceptable name for this song?

Bo (10:23 AM):  “He’s a Vengeful and Bloodthirsty Savior”

BamaDan (10:24 AM):  Sol Invictus didn’t roll off the tongue I guess.

Bo (10:27 AM):  The case for this guy being a raging fetishist is not a difficult one to make.

BamaDan (10:30 AM):  I’m contacting his parole officer and checking the Davidson County predator’s list.

Bo (10:36 AM):  “ok, now everyone take your shirts off!”

BamaDan (10:38 AM):  Is Larry in a leather gimp mask?

Bo (10:45 AM):  Are you almost done, Kevin?

Bo (10:46 AM):  I was going to hug <Stepford Mom #1> very thoroughly, but she evaded me.

BamaDan (10:49 AM):  Don’t take it personal – maybe if you were at more PTO mtgs?  This place needs a buffet table.

Bo (10:49 AM):  Feet, check.  Underwear, check.  Watersports, check.

BamaDan (10:51 AM):  Would it be yellow journalism to tell <Mrs. BamaDan> that the entertainment made kids play with his instrument?

Bo (11:01 AM):  Man, is that guy ever a blog post waiting to happen.  I think I shall refrain.

BamaDan (11:04 AM):  Ummm, why?  He’s gotta have a web page.  Deserves a link of love.  Making light of the yr end entertainment is a time honored tradition.

Bo (11:05 AM):  I’d be too mean.

BamaDan (11:06 AM):  Can never have too much of a good thing.

Bo (11:32 AM):  I don’t want a churchmate to happen upon it and think I’m unappreciative of the work someone did to find him.

(end text transcript)

And I don’t.  And I’m not.

But dude was weird.

God’s Chisel

Published on February 21, 2010 in Religion. 0 comments

Our pastor showed this video before his sermon this morning.  I had not heard of the Skit Guys before, but I’ll definitely be checking them out further.  I thought this was thought-provoking and quite well done.

Running for endurance as a spouse

Published on February 14, 2010 in Family and Religion. 2 comments

Regular readers know I’m very serious about wedding vows.  I believe they are the greatest earthly commitment a person can make, and I can get just as sad or as mad as I want thinking about how all too many of us treat that commitment anymore.

Our pastor’s sermon this morning was on marriage.  One eye-opener therein for me was that Alabama has the second-highest divorce rate of any state.  Only Nevada has more (which isn’t much victory, when you think about the marriage culture of Las Vegas).  He spent some time on the infamous “wives must submit to their husbands” verses, which are not particularly controversial when sensibly read.  He advised husbands to help out more around the house and wives to be more encouraging, citing research naming those as the most common respective complaints.

The thing that hit home most for me—not personally, but thinking of more than one couple with whom I’m personally acquainted—was his report of the typical state of the couple who sat before him for “counseling” for the first time.  By the time they got there, it was over.  They wanted him to hold their hands while they got divorced, not try to help them save their union.  They had waited far too long to get help.

Folks, it’s not a sprint.  It’s an endurance run—and you do have to run.  Ensuring that you’re still meeting one another’s needs is an ongoing process.  “All You Need Is Love” is a great song, but cohabitating and being in love isn’t enough.  Make sure your definition of love includes regular maintenance.  If things get off-kilter, talk about it.  I know it’s not fun, and it may even be superficially easier in the short term to ignore it.  Please, please find the courage to broach the subject.  It’ll always be worse later.

“Fireproof doesn’t mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it.” – Ken Bevel as Michael Simmons, Fireproof

I thank God daily for the blessing that is my beautiful wife Lea, and the union we share.  I wish you similar joy.  Happy Valentine’s Day.

Tim Tebow and his mother advocate domestic violence!

Published on February 8, 2010 in Annoyances, Current Events, Family, Language, Liberty, Politics, Religion and Sports. 17 comments

The polarizing abortion commercial staring Tim Tebow and his mother aired early in the Super Bowl broadcast last night.  Backstory here.

Oh, but you know what?  Turned out the commercial was light, funny, and never mentioned anything any more controversial than “worry”:

So all of the intolerant liberals making somber proclamations and finger-wagging response videos and what-not were suddenly (and brilliantly) denied their backwater rubes shriekin’ hysterically ’bout Jeebus and murderin’ babies and stuff.

(I guess all of that must be at the link if you follow it.  Heh.)

Wow.  What should the tongue-clucking liberals do?  How can this error of overplay be mollified?  Drop this round of “dialogue,” and live to fight another day?  Reasoned rhetoric, maybe leaning a bit toward conciliatory?

Nope.  How about let’s find domestic abuse in that commercial?

“I am blown away at the celebration of the violence against women in [the Tim Tebow ad]. That’s what comes across to me even more strongly than the anti-abortion message. I myself am a survivor of domestic violence, and I don’t find it charming. I think CBS should be ashamed of itself.” – NOW president Terry O’Neill

Almost nothing is as reliably entertaining as the lunatic left.

Ouija board! Boo!

Published on February 6, 2010 in Consumption, Current Events and Religion. 2 comments

So there’s a pink and girly Ouija board available for sale, and some folks are wigged about it.

Concerned parents, dig:  you have so much more to worry about that’s so much more important.  There are actual bad guys in the actual world who are battling for your children.  Teach them to be skeptical consumers of information.  Teach them to stay away from pills that don’t come from doctors or parents.  You hearing me?

Look, I acknowledge that I’m a bit of an unusual Christian on this score.  I don’t believe there are literal demons to call in the first place.  (You hearing me?  I don’t think they’re there. Send ‘em after me with everything you got, buddy.  666, and inverted cross, and whatever the hell else.)  Speaking of, I don’t think there is an actual fire-and-brimstone place called hell.  Finally, I’m not at all sure there’s an actual fallen angel “down there” named Lucifer trying to pull me (and you) from God’s path.

I’ll tell you something that might make you feel better.  When I was 16 or so, my stepbrother Chris, this guy Matt, and I burned our Ouija board to hear it scream, and we never heard it.  It burned like the manufactured wooden good it was, and that was the end of it.

And know that ideo-motor response is a much better explanation for a Ouija board’s actions than is contact with a spirit world.  (See also Occam’s razor.)

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