It appears that today, Sept. 18th, is National Cheeseburger Day here in the states, so CNN’s Eatocracy blog has made you one with everything–history, recipes, controversy, world records. I can’t compete with that, so I’m going the lazy way and reposting the story of my own best cheeseburger experience ever: [Read more…]
The room was full of wealthy men
And one of them was Mitt
He felt he could speak freely there,
And lighten up a bit.
He thought his friends would have his back;
That wasn’t how it went.
And now we know how Romney feels
For the forty-seven percent.
The poor among us always thought
That Mitt was unaware—
It seems we’re wrong; he knows, all right
He simply doesn’t care
It’s not his job to care about
The folks who don’t have much;
Who don’t have yachts, or second homes,
Or Cadillacs and such
It’s not his job to give a damn
About the working poor
Which Mitt said, to the wealthy men
He’s really working for.
The wealthy play by different rules—
Why can’t we just admit?
The room was full of wealthy men…
And one of them was Mitt.
He’s admitted to molesting boys, while working for the Scouts
Though the records aren’t available to search;
If the case had been made public, there are few if any doubts
It’d be difficult to face the folks at church.
The L.A.Times has a substantial story, well worth reading, on the paper’s review of two decades worth of confidential Boy Scouts files–the “perversion files” intended to internally police molestation cases.
Of 1,600 reports, over 2/3 were discovered not by the Scouts, but by police or other authorities. However, some 500 cases were first discovered by the Scouts.
In about 400 of those cases — 80% — there is no record of Scouting officials reporting the allegations to police. In more than 100 of the cases, officials actively sought to conceal the alleged abuse or allowed the suspects to hide it, The Times found.
The story reports case after case in which the primary concern of the BSA appears to have been their reputation. Like some other ostensible moral authorities we know, quietly doing the least possible was preferred to publicly doing the right thing.
As I say, the whole thing is worth reading, if you’ve got the stomach. Today’s verse comes from the last story, in which the coverup of a man’s actions allowed him to continue to work with kids for another 14 years. It has now been 25 years since his particular coverup began; he was interviewed for the story:
“The topic has not come up until your phone call today,” he said. “Had that been publicized, I would have been out of business, reputation destroyed, and I don’t know how I would have faced people at church.”
In “A Town Called Mercy“, the Doctor and his companions face, amongst other things, a cyborg with an overdeveloped sense of justice and an artificial eye.
Hmm… Sci-Fi show, more on the goofy side but with serious moments, cyborg, artificial eye, overdeveloped sense of… ah, that’s right–Justice. From season four of Red Dwarf:
Totally the other eye, though.
Insulting the prophet may lead to assault
But who is at fault?
To find such insulting “prohibited speech”
Is a bit of a reach
To claim that both parties are equally blameful
Is utterly shameful.
Insults and offenses may have their uses
As convenient excuses. [Read more…]
Mitt doesn’t have charisma
He doesn’t have appeal
He doesn’t have the common touch
He doesn’t have the feel
He doesn’t have the numbers
But still Mitt wants the nod
Instead of talking politics,
It’s “God, God, God, God, God!”
He’ll keep God in the public square
He’ll keep God in the pledge
He’ll keep God on our bills and coins
(and not just on the edge)
He’ll keep God in his platform
And he’ll keep God in his heart
Mitt’s bound to win — God’s helping him!
(I wonder when He’ll start.)
It seems a consensus on whether the feathers
Of dinosaurs ought to be shown has been reached
Though Hollywood lags in their fictions’ depictions
The scientists know it’s the thing to be… um… teached.
That raptors had plumage is clear now, but hear, now,
The voice of tradition that shows them without—
In movies and books (and museums?) you see ‘em
Bereft of their feathers—what’s that all about?
For some, it’s a nod to Jurassic Park classic,
A bit of tradition—what people expect;
For others, their ignorance slows them, and shows them
An icon surviving through simple neglect.
It’s not that they like things outdated, or hated;
They’d rather be current, I think, as a rule
So, really, a new wave’s approaching, encroaching,
Cos feathers on dinosaurs… really, that’s cool
(context here at io9; cuttlecap tip to Riley Black)
A bit of a strange contrast today, in my aggregator. Clearly, Christians have taken notice of the growing numbers of atheists, and have seen the need to… do… well, something. Our first attempt comes out of San Antonio, TX, where they ask the musical question
Ever wonder what atheists truly believe and how you could be a better friend and witness to them?
Not a bad start, actually. This could be an introduction to a presentation by actual atheists, don’t you think? Which would be a real first step toward understanding. Let’s read on!
Join us for our Unpacking Atheism simulcast with Lee Strobel, Mark Mittelberg, and William Lane Craig.
Oh. Three Christian apologists. I have to wonder, even if they are being scrupulously honest, what sorts of differences exist between their view of “what atheists truly believe” and, you know, what atheists truly believe. Anyway, you can show up for a live simulcast, for fifteen bucks, if you are among the first 300 to register.
Oh, look! If you click to the registration page, the description of the event changes–no more being a better friend here:
Atheism is on the rise. If you haven’t been confronted by it yet, you will be. Your children are already being challenged by it. The effects of it are seeping into our culture and, increasingly, into the church. We must confront this challenge! We need to be ready–and help our church members become ready—to not only “give an answer” (I Pet. 3:15), but also to “take every thought captive” for Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).
Yes, these are precisely the people I want to tell me “what atheists truly believe”.
*sigh*
But you know? There is hope. Our other example of an attempt at understanding atheism comes from the [D]mergent blog; it’s a thoughtful essay by a Christian minister, whose first response to the New Atheism was… to read up on it, and on science.
Over the past several years I have spent a lot of time becoming acquainted with the New Atheism and the critical responses to it. My bookshelves, and more recently my Kindle’s memory, are full of books about this matter. A topic closely related to it, the relationship between faith and science, also occupies a good amount of space. I believe for the church to move faithfully into the future the matter of the relationship between science and faith, and the growing number of those who claim no faith or belief in God, is something we must try to fully understand and engage.
Atheism is also a personal matter for him; he has lost a couple from his congregation, because they now consider themselves atheists/agnostics. Another member of his congregation, who attends regularly and participates, is a declared atheist. Having an atheist as an active member of his congregation has framed the question differently for this writer.
I won’t take the space to critique the new atheism, or present any of the critical responses to it. ( To clarify, I do believe in God and have some philosophical troubles with atheism.) It is simply true that more and more people in the Western world are identifying as non-believers, With such people, if they want, is it even possible for them to have a place in the church. I guess I am asking, can someone who doesn’t believe in God find room to live among the people of God?
Twenty years ago, I would have firmly answered, “No. It is not possible.” But over the past two decades, because of my studies and my life experiences, my own understanding of God has changed a good bit and I have become more grace-filled and understanding toward those who don’t believe like I do and toward those who don’t believe at all.
Recognizing a change in the culture, he could have reacted against it as today’s first example is doing, but he accepted it as part of a new reality.
I have come to understand the Christian faith no longer as adherence to a certain belief system, but primarily as way of life rooted in the teachings of Jesus, a way of life rooted in love, grace and the struggle for peace and justice.
Understanding the Christian faith in this way, allows us to partner with any and all people, who wish to pursue the same kind of world. I may call it the realm of God, they may call it something else, but together we call it hope.
His essay is worth considerably more than the fifteen bucks a head the simulcast is going to charge, but it’s freely available right there at the link.
Some people feel, when arguing,
It’s “win at any cost”
But lying to support your case?
You pretty much just lost.
Or spreading someone else’s lies
When you can see what’s true
We see the liar’s character…
What must they think of you? [Read more…]
The missiles have not been deployed
To vaporize an asteroid;
I’m certain you are overjoyed—
You live another day.
But just in case you wish to view
The menace, QG42,
And watch it pass us, live on Slooh,
Just click here, cos you may.
Ok, I want to write more, but this is happening *now*, in real time. An asteroid the size of a 14 story building is passing by your neighborhood tonight. Within, at this writing, the next few hours.
The link in the verse itself should (hey, I’m not an astrophysicist, I’m a cuttlefish) give you your best view of a near-miss asteroid–an asteroid that did not get Michael Bay’s call-back. Mind you, we don’t know about all of the asteroids, so another one, roughly this size, could hit us. It would look roughly like this… but a degree or so different. Mass and velocity… Seven miles per second is the speed of tonight’s asteroid, so we are all happy we can watch it pass by.
Anyway, I’ll post now, so you can watch, if you want to. See you tomorrow. A degree or two, and I couldn’t say that.
Lucky us.
