George W Bush caused the tsunamis!

Didn't take long. It is now three days after the massive earthquake and ensuing tsunamis that claimed tens of thousands of lives, and already the United States is being blamed for not doing enough to help.

Some UN schmuck is claiming we should be giving more to the disaster relief fund. Only what he doesn't realize is that - despite our faults - we are THE most giving nation this sin-ridden planet has ever seen. Crimaney, did we drop the ball on this one!

How long before some bonehead says that the U.S. itself is responsible for the earthquake? Maybe we ought to have moved the tectonic plates ourselves, albeit a little slower, to prevent all this. We coulda!!! If George W hadn't been so focused on Iraq and all the oil we'll get out of it, he would have seen this impending disaster and done something about! What a flake! I'm not voting for him next time!

Some parents didn't spank their children when they had the chance.

Tsunamis and my miseries

Nothing like a massive set of tsunamis and lots of deaths of women, children, old people, handicapped, and men who support huge families to help me realize that the fact that my car doesn't have the best sound system is absolutely freakin' nothing to complain about.

To paraphrase Paul, "I am the greatest of whiners."

Happy New Year - sorta.

I'm not sure if I should wish everyone a Happy New Year this year. There are people who don't celebrate the New Year with us in the United States. The have different calendars, and different celebrations of the new year! So rather than isolate these people and cause irreparable damage to their already sensitive souls, I will refrain from saying Happy New Year to people this year.

As far as that goes I will stop using the year's number altogether, as in "this year is 2005." The year 2005 is short for AD 2005, which is short itself for anno Domini 2005, which is Latin for "in the year of our Lord, 2005." What if the person I am talking to feels excluded by my use of the term "Lord" which of course refers to Jesus Christ? I'm afraid the ACLU may take me to court on that, since I am a public school teacher and using the year number is forcing kids to accept that Jesus is God. I will stop.

And what about the days of the week???!!! They are all named after gods of myth and legend. What if kids think I'm referring to the day of Thor when I say "Thursday"? Wait a minute! That would only offend those Christian kids, and who cares about offending them?

I love America!

united church of christ ad = confusion

Just saw the ad from UCC. The one where big bouncer types in front of an unnamed church are telling people who are homosexuals and non-whites that they aren't allowed in. Hmmm....

Are they saying that churches that are not theirs are bigoted or "intolerant"?
Does that other church in their ad toss out the homosexuals because they are merely homosexuals, or because they are wilfully and unabashedly practicing homosexuality?

Are the UCC saying that it's OK to be gay, or just that gays are allowed in their church?

I'm confused.

If they are saying that it's OK to be gay (near the end there are two women, real close to each other, the implication of course that they are lesbians) then I have a question.

What if one woman was older than the other by a couple years? Probably no big deal, right? What if the difference in age was a decade? No problem? What if one woman was 35 and the other 14? Is that OK? Would they draw a line of intolerance there?

Is everyone welcome here, and encouraged? What if it were a straight relationship? What if there was a 60-year-old man and a 12-year-old girl, and they genuinely loved each other? Would the UCC say OK to that? If not, why not?

Where does the UCC draw the line - any line? It seems everyone is invited to this very tolerant church. If we water down the Bible and change the status of what used to be called "sin," keeping with the social winds blowing at the moment, really what use is the Bible? One can justify any lifestyle one chooses. It's easy. Just eliminate a few incriminating verses and ba-da-bing! you can justify anything, even bestiality.

I see the importance of telling homosexuals that they are welcome to the church. Jesus came to save the sick and the lost. But there is a big difference between allowing sinners of all stripes (that would include me) to attend a church and... telling them that their lifestyle, whatever it may be, is just OK, by God.

Would Jesus, the God of both Testaments, say this is all just fine with Him? Would he say that the punishment he bore to free us from our sins was really nothing? Because that's what the UCC seems to be implying. I have a feeling that doesn't make him all that happy.