Xtianity

Michael Stahl is a Jerk.

2011-08-30T15:55:00.000-07:00

Michael Stahl being a psychopathic jerk. Michael Stahl is a jerk. On behalf of my religion, I both apologize for and disavow his psychopathic, nimrod idea.

Also, this is in danger of becoming a series.

Michele Bachmann is a jerk.

2011-08-29T18:38:00.000-07:00

Michele Bachmann being a jerk.

Michele Bachmann is a jerk. On behalf of my religion, I both apologize for and disavow her comments.

Out of Context Wisdom Quote of the Day

2010-04-10T23:47:00.001-07:00

"I used to think that gravity didn't apply if I didn't want it to... a broken jaw, three busted ribs, and a broken arm later, I figured out that gravity works whether I like it or not."

2010-04-10T03:33:00.000-07:00

Are you waking up, or are you learning to dream that you're awake?

New saying

2010-04-04T03:22:00.000-07:00

Stimulus: http://branthansen.typepad.com/letters_from_kamp_krusty/2007/05/killing_us_soft.html

Response: "That's not even preaching to the choir."

I so want to blog now

2010-04-03T01:58:00.000-07:00

http://branthansen.typepad.com/

He doesn't blog much anymore, but he does have his own show at http://www.morningswithbrant.com/

Also, I've laughed till I cried. Go. Read.

I finally wanna blog again.

Not Everything I Disagree with is Evil.

2010-01-14T12:19:00.000-08:00

Indulge me:

I'm not going to post much on Pat Robertson. He's evil. He's built an empire by inciting and inflaming fear and hatred amongst people who are either too scared or unthinking to resist it. Fortunately for "us," He's also a net positive. He may have a lot of influence over "his people," but they'd be under someone's influence. No, he's a net positive because he makes the large portion of the populace look at him and say "they're crazy." It's a debate where I don't have to participate to win.

And then there's these guys:

http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/www_usn_2.nsf

I neither like, nor agree with, their theology. In particular, I've been highly critical of some of their anti-Gay statements and decisions. Which is, sadly, only one of a handful of exclusions I disagree with. There is much to be disliked, if not opposed.

But unlike Robertson, they do good things in the world. Even to parts of the world they disagree with. They channel 89% of dollar they receive into food distribution, disaster relief, and recovery programs. And they distribute based on nothing other than need, asking nothing in return.

They are wrong, but they are not evil. And Haiti needs help.

Thank you for your indulgence.

The War on the War on Christmas

2010-01-02T13:11:00.000-08:00

January 2nd is my yay-holidays-are-over-time-to-clean-up-and-nap day. It's also a good day to reflect. My reflections follow

This was the year "The War on Christmas" was finally reduced to just a punchline. Sure, a couple of media personalities tried to make lightning strike twice, but it just didn't happen. Most people just weren't having it. At least as far as Austin goes, the media refused to attend the circus.

This, I feel, is a very good sign. "The War on Christmas" is everything I hate about the modern Evangelical movement. See, I love Christmas. It is unabashedly my favorite holiday. I love all the winter festivals: Christmas, Hanukkah, Solstice, Yule, Diwali, Kwanzaa. There is something deep in the human heart that revels in throwing an extravagant festival of goodwill during the midst of winter. My Christmas season spans the day after Thanksgiving clean through the day after New Years, and I relish every moment of it.

And the lingua franca of the season is Christmas. One of my friends once asked me what she could do to be more welcoming to some mutual, religiously diverse friends during the holiday season. I told her to throw a Christmas party and invite them.

That's what I love about Christmas, in particular. The sharing, the extension, the connection. The reminder that the richness and stability of life is in our willingness to care for each other.

Which is why, in my opinion, the ugliness that underlies what I'm starting to think of as "Archonic Christianity" becomes so apparent. The "war" has little to do with stopping celebrations. The world continues to celebrate, the stores continue to promote, songs are sung, decorations are hung. The party continues. We unabashedly settle on "their" holiday to find common ground.

It's the common ground that gets them. They don't *want* common ground. They want sheep and goats, elect and damned. They find the idea of wishing someone the happiness of their choice insulting to them perfectly. To them, only the people who make the "right" choice deserve to be happy.

A store full of symbols of life, joy, goodwill, and peace is not what's important to them, only that the two words on the sign are the "right" two words. Not the spirit in which they are written, not the feeling they invoke, not the intent. Only that the approved language has been used.

In this, their campaign to convince the world that the inclusion of others is a "war" against them, they've shown exactly who they are and what they want. They've demonstrated the anger, judgement, and control that lies at the heart of their beliefs.

And it shows. This year the non-Fox media coverage of them was much less complementary. One commentary called it "the people who aren't happy about anything still aren't happy about anything." And, for the record, it closed on a wish for Happy Holidays.

And Christmas at the White House was spectacular.

Happy New Year.

Offered w/o Comment

2009-12-23T10:14:00.000-08:00

Teabagger Worried His Magic Prayers Made God Kill Sen. Inhofe

I still love Tony Campolo

2009-08-06T13:56:00.000-07:00

It's 3:30 AM. Do you know where your church is?

http://slacktivist.typepad.com/slacktivist/2009/08/charity-conclusions-and-cake.html

Back when I was double majoring as both a "Christian" and a jerk, for some reason I loved Tony Campolo anyway. I still do.

Being reminded of him today made me look a little more fondly on who I used to be. Even if I'd never agree now with my beliefs then, maybe what I was looking for with those beliefs wasn't so bad after all. Maybe under all the "thou shalt not"s and "I'm better than"s was someone who wanted to be the kind of person who'd be in that kind of church.

I'd like to think so, at least.

Slacktivist Nails it Again

2009-07-06T15:58:00.000-07:00

As usual, Fred Clark says it better than I ever could at:

http://slacktivist.typepad.com/slacktivist/2009/07/nice-news.html

Oh, and Fred? *Nice* job.

2009-06-24T06:10:00.000-07:00

In my old church we closed every prayer list with "and pray for the peace of Jerusalem."

Today, I ask you to take the time to pray for the safety of the Iranian people, particularly the youth.

Amen.

2009-06-21T00:14:00.000-07:00

John 3:17 (King James Version)

" For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."

When was the last time you saw someone in a rainbow wig holding a sign with that on it? Must be a condemnation thing.

2009-06-17T13:37:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine once remarked on how different she thought it would be if Valentinus had been selected as Bishop of Rome and led the fledgling Catholic church into a more gnostic worldview. She inquired as to how different I think it would have been. My answer then is the same as my answer now:

Not a bit.

In the end, Gnosis isn't a shield against evil, or corruption, or political pressure. Not in a literal sense. It lies within the Spirit to perfect people, not the system or the church. Given access to where the outer church was, the Valentinians would most likely end up where the church ended up. We may each strive for the best, but in the end we are all as human as every person at the Council of Nicea, voting with our over-pressured hearts and praying for grace.

As it well should be. I can think of no greater commenter on it than Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn:

"Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either - but right through every human heart - and through all human hearts."

May we pray as fervently that we win the battle alongside our rivals as we do to win the battle with our rivals. Amen.

The Whole God

2009-06-14T11:08:00.000-07:00

I have heard time and time again that evil is the absence of God, and unbearable in his sight. Yet, in Isaiah 45:7 I read.

"I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these."

God is not mocked. The force that created the universe created all of it.

This is a difficult saying. It stretches us, it forces us to look at God with new eyes. When we say that the Creator Created the Creation, we have to take responsibility for all of it, not just the parts we like. God's exploration of himself does not end at the positive side of the spectrum.

I pray that as we work through our own dark sides, turning evil into strength, that we remember that God created it, as well. Amen.

Straight Shooting

2009-06-12T03:04:00.000-07:00

Would you send someone to hell for being a lousy shot?

When I grew up, "sin" was this black, evil, heavy force that crushed your soul into the ground and eventually drug it down to hell, and only holy blood could dissolve the sin and wash it away. Sin was evil and sticky at the same time.

I didn't find out until later that "sin" means nothing of the sort. It began as Hebrew word, "het," which became a greek word, "hamartia," and finally an Old English word, "Synn."

And each time, it was an Archery term. It means to fail to hit the target, or even to fail to hit the bullseye of the target.

So the next time you're reading, try throwing in "mistake" or "weakness," instead. "Forgive us our mistakes, as we forgive those who have made mistakes against us," "the result of our weakness is death," "if we confess our mistakes, he is faithful and just to forgive us."

Personally, I'll take a God who forgives mistakes over one who cures the "Black Oil Virus" from X-files any day. After all, what's a better day out with Dad: Archery, or watching an execution?