tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-206200152024-03-07T02:30:07.638-05:00What the Schmuck?People are Bastards. Bastard-coated bastards with bastard fillingAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01468531114064477733noreply@blogger.comBlogger139125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20620015.post-886770088930002312006-12-18T08:46:00.000-05:002006-12-19T08:46:58.425-05:00Happy 4th Night of Hanukkah<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/c3ubVzb1ZMg"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/c3ubVzb1ZMg" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01468531114064477733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20620015.post-16067087887155220362006-12-17T18:35:00.000-05:002006-12-17T18:37:10.008-05:00Happy 3rd Night of Hanukkah!<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/gGn1xmj_jXQ"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gGn1xmj_jXQ" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="400" height="350"></embed></object>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01468531114064477733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20620015.post-45907061360055122802006-12-16T09:31:00.000-05:002006-12-17T18:37:35.954-05:00Happy 2nd Night of Hanukkah!!<embed FlashVars='config=http://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/xml/data_synd.jhtml?vid=79579%26myspace=false' src='http://www.comedycentral.com/motherload/syndicated_player/index.jhtml' quality='high' bgcolor='#006699' width='340' height='325' name='comedy_player' align='middle' allowScriptAccess='always' allownetworking='external' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' pluginspage='http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer'></embed>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01468531114064477733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20620015.post-3108441482739253842006-12-15T12:30:00.000-05:002006-12-15T12:47:06.777-05:00Happy Hanukkah!!<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lUHqfomLnC8"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lUHqfomLnC8" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><br /><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PtUYaSfC20Y"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PtUYaSfC20Y" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01468531114064477733noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20620015.post-16557559700508416702006-12-14T17:30:00.000-05:002006-12-31T09:56:43.498-05:00For Anne Marie<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ifoTOhbt9II"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ifoTOhbt9II" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01468531114064477733noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20620015.post-44903012765001514482006-12-14T10:32:00.000-05:002006-12-14T10:33:43.220-05:00Another one enters the frayThe matriarch of the siblings, Jennie/Jennifer has now entered the blogging fray! You can find her on Filing Rooms in the places to go section!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01468531114064477733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20620015.post-78462825307089464512006-12-12T11:39:00.000-05:002006-12-12T11:43:59.896-05:00A White Russian...made with soy milk, puts a whole new meaning on "Drink Responsibly"<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyA4efii78ulgJ7AsQLp1zqG7b2o0gvTyAEqVOWw4LQQmPsTYkCL1Jvdl-qyndk8wTLrl2se8FA14HcrTXDjiggnNxI68Yefghke33bb52ZDaUwqmUysAflpMGNn3KpZOG5XxC/s1600-h/white+russian.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyA4efii78ulgJ7AsQLp1zqG7b2o0gvTyAEqVOWw4LQQmPsTYkCL1Jvdl-qyndk8wTLrl2se8FA14HcrTXDjiggnNxI68Yefghke33bb52ZDaUwqmUysAflpMGNn3KpZOG5XxC/s400/white+russian.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5007681974429711746" border="0" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01468531114064477733noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20620015.post-46292842419648080932006-12-09T09:33:00.000-05:002006-12-09T09:52:05.560-05:00Disgruntled Is She ???<a href="http://twistolemon.blogspot.com/2006/12/disgruntled-am-i.html">Jaime wrote a wonderfully long post how she's disgruntled at the cafe "ministry" where we volunteer at our church</a>. I am equally disgruntled, but I<span style="font-style: italic;"> also</span> have to do cheesy Christmas music for four services this weekend. The music is so difficult, and yet so poorly written that I have an extremely high level of anxiety on this one. I even had anxiety dreams last night, I don't even know when the last time I had an anxiety dream was, but here I am having them last night. <br /><br />You would think that I had learned my lesson the last time I did something like this. It was for a praise and worship night they called "Rain" and it was all gospel music. Not like Aretha gospel, not even like Kirk Franklin gospel it was just bad cheesy white-people-<span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">tryin</span>-to-be-black gospel, blah...That was the one when the worship leader said it was going to be kinda funky, and I said, "<span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Oooh</span>, like George Clinton and the P-Funk funky?" After staring at me for a significant <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">amount</span> of time..."No, not that funky." "Oh.."<br /><br />So this time when he called and asked if I would be willing to play <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">acoustic</span> for the Christmas Musical (which isn't technically a musical, it's just a bunch of Christmas music trying to make the impression of a neutral environment so they can then <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">switcheroo</span> to the gospel message) you would think...He's smart, he's getting his masters, a <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Phd</span>. he'll say no...but I said yes. So now I had one week to learn these horribly bad songs with four key changes (because key changes are emotive, so four key changes are really emotive). <br /><br />Oh, and then there's the really bad spoken segues, that when I was listening to the CD they gave me, I thought, At least they won't have that crap...Wrong again! So not only do I have to deal with my church selling its soul in the cafe. I also have to deal with the <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">crappy</span> music that is going on this weekend. And there is nothing worse than having to play difficult music that you don't like; the effort to reward relationship is way too low.<br /><br /><br />P.S. I really wish I could do those links so you could get snipets of how bad this stuff is, but it's a Christian album and a set program, so they've got a copyright on everything there and you can't even get lyric sheets without paying an arm and a leg for them....Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01468531114064477733noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20620015.post-31682091489675913832006-12-07T11:14:00.000-05:002006-12-08T15:27:36.565-05:00Lists of...<span style="font-weight: bold;">Questions:</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">1. </span>Is it possible that one has to go backward morally in order to go forward <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">compassionately</span>? Or, is it possible to attain the highest morality and be truly <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">compassionate</span> with others?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. </span>If Jesus is an atonement sacrifice, why Passover? There is nothing remotely connected to atonement within Passover, so why choose that as the day of Crucifixion, if the point of the sacrifice is atonement? Why not <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Yom</span> <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Kippur</span> (the Day of Atonement) that would make more sense?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Books I want to write:</span><span><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">1. </span>God:The Humanist<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. </span>Neither Science nor Religion: Getting Beyond the Tools of Tribalism<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3. </span><span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Orthopraxy</span>: A Postmodern Christian Ethic<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4. </span>The Penitent God: God as an Example of Repentance<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">5. </span>Looking to Perfection: God as an Example of Attainable Perfection<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Books I want to read:</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">1.</span> United States v. George Bush, <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">et</span> <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">al</span>.<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. </span>Palestine: Peace not Apartheid<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3.</span> Thy Kingdom Come<br /><br />P.S. I had more to say at the beginning of finals, but now it's all gone...*sigh*Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01468531114064477733noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20620015.post-76579348279092089912006-12-06T09:45:00.000-05:002006-12-06T09:46:59.655-05:00DONE!!!Exam... at 7.30... this morning...got up at 6.30... was up till midnight watching Aliens....must get...sleep....Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01468531114064477733noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20620015.post-9167451266475823942006-12-05T16:39:00.000-05:002006-12-05T16:40:32.043-05:00Tomorrow's my last day for the quarter!!!And here I am taking theolgical tests!!!<br /><br /><table border='0' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='300'><tr><td><table border='0' width='300' cellspacing='0' cellpadding='0'><tr><td><p><font face='Arial' size='1'>Emergent/Postmodern</font></p></td><td><table border='1' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='86' bgcolor='#dddddd'><tr><td></td></tr></table></td><td><font face='Arial' size='1'>86%</font></td></tr><tr><td><p><font face='Arial' size='1'>Modern Liberal</font></p></td><td><table border='1' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='79' bgcolor='#dddddd'><tr><td></td></tr></table></td><td><font face='Arial' size='1'>79%</font></td></tr><tr><td><p><font face='Arial' size='1'>Classical Liberal</font></p></td><td><table border='1' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='71' bgcolor='#dddddd'><tr><td></td></tr></table></td><td><font face='Arial' size='1'>71%</font></td></tr><tr><td><p><font face='Arial' size='1'>Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan</font></p></td><td><table border='1' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='50' bgcolor='#dddddd'><tr><td></td></tr></table></td><td><font face='Arial' size='1'>50%</font></td></tr><tr><td><p><font face='Arial' size='1'>Roman Catholic</font></p></td><td><table border='1' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='46' bgcolor='#dddddd'><tr><td></td></tr></table></td><td><font face='Arial' size='1'>46%</font></td></tr><tr><td><p><font face='Arial' size='1'>Neo orthodox</font></p></td><td><table border='1' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='39' bgcolor='#dddddd'><tr><td></td></tr></table></td><td><font face='Arial' size='1'>39%</font></td></tr><tr><td><p><font face='Arial' size='1'>Charismatic/Pentecostal</font></p></td><td><table border='1' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='36' bgcolor='#dddddd'><tr><td></td></tr></table></td><td><font face='Arial' size='1'>36%</font></td></tr><tr><td><p><font face='Arial' size='1'>Reformed Evangelical</font></p></td><td><table border='1' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='14' bgcolor='#dddddd'><tr><td></td></tr></table></td><td><font face='Arial' size='1'>14%</font></td></tr><tr><td><p><font face='Arial' size='1'>Fundamentalist</font></p></td><td><table border='1' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' width='0' bgcolor='#dddddd'><tr><td></td></tr></table></td><td><font face='Arial' size='1'>0%</font></td></tr></td></tr></table><br><a href='http://quizfarm.com/test.php?q_id=43870'>What's your theological worldview?</a><br><font face='Arial' size='1'>created with <a href='http://quizfarm.com'>QuizFarm.com</a></font></table>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01468531114064477733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20620015.post-37151203873227626432006-12-04T11:22:00.000-05:002006-12-04T11:23:33.751-05:003 Days to the End of the Quarter!!And I've spent the better half of the morning <b>NOT</b> studying for either of my remaining exams! Yes!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01468531114064477733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20620015.post-78357304539733408562006-12-01T19:55:00.001-05:002006-12-01T20:01:10.974-05:004 Days to the End of the Quarter!!!!And I've finished my French project due on Monday, and that gives me all weekend to study for my last two exams next week!!!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01468531114064477733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20620015.post-27045251413433591032006-11-30T22:51:00.000-05:002006-11-30T22:54:29.108-05:005 Days to the End of the Quarter!!!!And I kicked some hiney on my first exam today, <i>and</i> found out that I've already completed my research language requirement ala my German so I don't have to take any of those classes any more!!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01468531114064477733noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20620015.post-24640971437949719352006-11-29T20:48:00.000-05:002006-11-29T20:49:10.232-05:006 Days to the End of the Quarter!!!!And my first exam is tomorrow! Yay!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01468531114064477733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20620015.post-86064217867598710012006-11-28T18:43:00.001-05:002006-11-30T22:54:05.312-05:007 Days to the End of the Quarter!!!!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01468531114064477733noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20620015.post-77777066596959227232006-11-21T14:51:00.000-05:002006-11-22T11:33:07.279-05:00Game On!Things that have come up since I went on hiatus:<br /><ul><li>Why are people amazed that there is a religious studies section at <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">OSU</span> that allows you to focus on the Bible. I recently got this question, "Can you do it without all that 'Liberal' stuff?" I answered, "Yeah, you can, but I'm a bit liberal myself, so we all get along." I told Jaime this and she came back with, "What do you mean by liberal?" Then it occured to me--What do they mean by liberal? That I disagree with them or that I disagree with the Bible? By liberal, do they mean that I focus on caring for the poor, needy and outcast of society at the expense of alleged personal righteousness? Like Jesus, right, who was called a drunkard and a sinner, because he kept such good company? If you mean liberal like that, then yeah I'm a liberal. That might smack too much of sarcasm...oh well. Why is liberal a bad word anyway?</li><li>How can Christians vote for the Democrats, don't they just want to do the job that the Church should be doing anyway? This question kinda' sat in my craw for awhile. I used to think that way, but just gave up on turning my back on the poor. I couldn't get the Church to do anything, but I felt like I at least had a voice in the government, that could vote and say, poverty is wrong and we need to take care of it. But thinking about this question, I realize that it's making a distinction that I don't make personally anymore, and maybe that's why it's so hard for me to answer. That is, isn't any endeavor taken up by Christians (a distinction that I'm not quick to make; cf<a href="http://luthersmonkey.blogspot.com/2006/07/good-samaritan.html"> my Good Samaritan post</a>) in any arena, a church related endeavor? Or in another way, isn't anything that seeks to <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">alleviate</span> poverty following Jesus' way and <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">thus</span> a Christian endeavor regardless of the environment within which it occurs?</li><li>On a new blog I'm checking in on was a link to <a href="http://www.worldviewweekend.com/test/register.php">this test</a>. This was to see how bad of a christian you really are (bad is good in this case). This is for some <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">fundi</span>-organization. I scored a 15, placing me in the socialist world view, and thus a bad christian! <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Yay</span>! I knew I had it in me. *sniff*</li><li>I <span style="font-style: italic;">really</span> like George Clinton and the P-funk all stars. I would like to say that my parents were all cool and introduced me to the Parliament Funk, but no, I wouldn't become aware of them until I saw the movie <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">PCU</span>...I need to see that movie again.</li><li>While looking for the clip of George Clinton in <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">PCU</span>, I found this instead:</li></ul><br /><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xdz9FSY3HRU"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xdz9FSY3HRU" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="350" width="425"></object>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01468531114064477733noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20620015.post-2133174226937405222006-11-09T23:46:00.000-05:002006-11-10T00:07:35.543-05:00pauseNot that I've been terribly consistent, but I'm going to be stopping for awhile. An official sabbatical from here for a spell. Too much school and disorganized thoughts to get down on digital paper. I'll be visiting with <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">y'all</span> on your blogs, and those in town hopefully more in person. Peace.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01468531114064477733noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20620015.post-49346108023072827262006-11-07T16:55:00.000-05:002006-11-07T16:56:24.825-05:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/751/2517/1600/vote%20sticker.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/751/2517/400/vote%20sticker.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01468531114064477733noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20620015.post-68675394422832235962006-11-01T18:32:00.000-05:002006-11-01T19:00:26.196-05:00Happy November!I don't know exactly <span style="font-style: italic;">why</span> it's a happy November, but I can't think of any reason to not have a happy November, so...happy November! This would disapoint my apolitical father, but go-out-and-vote-on-tuesday-for-christ's-sake! Especially if you're planning on voting Democratic, if you're planning on voting Republican...I think the polls open on Wednesday. If you're a Canadian citizen, sorry it's against the law for you to vote in America. <br /><br />I think this is a bum rap for those of you outside the U.S. I mean come on, everything we do has a global impact. I think the entire world should be given like at least a 1/2 vote toward the Presidency...it's only fair. How often do we dictate who dictates other countries? They should be able to dictate who gets to dictate their dictators, don't you think?<br /><br />I'm watching 24 season 4, and I love how it paints the Presidents as these uber-honest good people. Even when they get their hands dirty in something like the last one, he's still a good and noble person at heart. They love America and they try to promote this idea that the ends justify the means no matter what. Yay for people like Jack Bauer who can kill innocent people in a second in order to further his cause...the USA! God bless the USA!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01468531114064477733noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20620015.post-52242474144394384972006-10-26T14:44:00.000-04:002006-10-26T15:02:45.743-04:00Killin' TimeIt's raining outside, I just barely missed the 2:18 bus, I had an exam today so I'm...sitting in a cafe on campus waiting for the next bus to come. It's funny I used to have this really bothersome problem of having to pay for something when I'm just sitting somewhere. Like buying a cup of coffee while sitting in a cafe using their free wireless. Right now....not so much.<br /><br />Updates:<br /><ul><li>The class at church has been delayed until January because of lack of interest. They forgot to promote the next string of classes so <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">nobody's</span> signed up for anything. Alas, my adventures there will have to wait. Jaime's thinking that I should meet with the pastor in charge of the classes and layout what I want to teach and then let them decide if they <span style="font-style: italic;">really</span> want me to teach. That way there's no surprises.</li><li><span style="font-style: italic;">Al <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Franken</span>: God Spoke</span>--<span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Hilarious</span>! If it comes to your neck of the woods, you've got to see it.<br /></li><li>Said exam went fine. I think I only missed two questions, we'll see when we get it back.</li><li>nothing else to update</li></ul>Miscellaneous:<br /><br /> It <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">occurred</span> to me that I used to not be very political. Democrat or Republican take it or leave it, neither one seemed all that great. I'm finding myself this time though really taken in and being passionate about <span style="font-style: italic;">not</span> Republicans. I'm becoming increasingly liberal and looking for ways to put the conservative Christians in my life on the <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">defensive</span>. I had a dream last night that someone at church found out I was a Democrat and got all up in my face saying things like, "How can you be a Christian and vote <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Democratic</span>?"<br /><br />And I was like, "Why do you vote Republican? Just because their supposedly pro-life? They're not pro-life, they want to kill everything <span style="font-style: italic;">except</span> unborn babies!" Then I gave them a Bible and was all like, "Show me where in the Bible it says not to commit abortion, and I'll show where it says to feed the poor, seek justice and be merciful." <br /><br />And they were all like "Uh, Uh, Uh."<br /><br />And the I was like, "Thought so." <br /><br />Having read that, I think I have conflict issues with people in my church. I should work on that, or maybe I should just be myself and then not worry about it, or maybe I should just be <span style="font-style: italic;">mostly</span> myself and kinda' worry about it...I think I need a therapist. I think I need to run to catch my bus.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01468531114064477733noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20620015.post-62479877491940375612006-10-19T11:51:00.000-04:002006-10-19T17:56:35.212-04:00A square peg...I'm sitting in a cafe <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">in between</span> classes trying to work on this class I'm putting together for my Church. I only have a couple of weeks left until it begins and I've probably written the overview class three times, the Torah section about 5 and I've just started on the prophets. I'm running into two problems.<br /><br />The first is time, I'm not sure how much information will take up an hour's worth of time, this isn't that big of a deal, I'll just keep talking until the hour's up. Hopefully I won't run out of time and not be able to cover everything I want to talk about, but I'm pretty good on the fly and I'll have notes to work from. I'll manage the hour.<br /><br />The second and larger problem, is figuring out exactly what I can get away with. Can I say that Moses didn't write the Torah? Can I talk about Genesis and Exodus in terms of mythology? Specifically can I say that the last time I spoke with a walking talking lizard was, Oh....never, and that in the ancient near east animals had a specific meaning? I'm thinking of talking in the sense of parables instead of myth, but it is possible that even hinting at a non-literal understanding could get me in trouble.<br /><br />Can I mention that the Bible isn't really God's mouth piece to the world, but men dealing with God in certain situations and cultures? Can I bring in the Jewish culture and their understanding of evil as not being from Satan, but being from God and that men are not created wicked, but innocent and blessed by God? Can I tell them that prophecy has less to do with the future than the present historical framework of the prophet?<br /><br />I'm having all these problems because I like this church, I like the people that I know, and I don't want to be ostracized. I don't think I would be, but if I play my cards right I'll be able to teach other classes and hopefully, over the next two years <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">infiltrate</span> enough liberal theology to make some difference within the church. With this being my first time, I just have some anxiety about how much is too much. As of right now, I'm leaning toward being more open about scholarship and Judaism. I guess part of it is going to depend on who signs up for the class and what they're like...I might just have to play it by ear...I can do that, I'm just not going to be able to give handouts and all that fun stuff.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01468531114064477733noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20620015.post-8490059978661540102006-10-16T20:14:00.000-04:002006-10-17T17:02:39.428-04:00Phone-a-phobiaFaith called us last night and she and Jaime talked and talked and talked. I was only able to talk to her for a few minutes, but hopefully we'll be able to talk more. She had homework and as I said, "I'm not good on the phone." And really I'm not. I'm deadly afraid of the phone. I hate talking on the phone not because I hate connecting with people but because my past has allowed this phobia to infiltrate my psyche.<br /><br />Here is the history of my interaction with phones. One of my first memories is talking to my mother over the phone immediately following my parents divorce. The one sentence that I can remember saying to her: "I hate you." And really through my childhood I connected the phone with stress and conflict with my family.<br /><br />It didn't change much in my adult life either. As a banker, the phone was my primary tool for manipulating people into doing what I wanted them to do. If I needed more clients, I would make phone calls trying to convince people that they needed to talk to me. The popular tactics of the time were, "We need to sit down to review your accounts and possibly offer you a higher interest rate." The real goal of this meeting was to try to get these people to invest with me. People opening checking accounts were potential loan customers; loan customers were potentially investment clients. All this business was on the phone as was getting yelled at by customers because their loan wasn't happening fast enough resulting in me<br />yelling at the lender over the phone.<br /><br />Combine all of that with our last church, where a phone call from the pastor meant that you'd screwed up somewhere and he was going to let you know, and you'd spend the better part of the evening getting told what was wrong with you and what you needed to do to correct it...i.e. more conflict. <br /><br />So even though I know that most normal people do not use the phone to yell at people, I'm still afraid of it. I also feel like I need to have this amazingly deep conversation with people all the time, and I can't handle that kind of pressure. So to anyone who calls and has the misfortune of talking to me...I'm sorry...I really do want to talk to you, I just have these weird psychological issues to deal with...I think I need to build up more positive phone interactions so please call, but understand this... My name is Ben and I'm a phone-a-phobic...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01468531114064477733noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20620015.post-51361424981535312372006-10-15T18:24:00.000-04:002006-10-15T19:00:53.947-04:00Addicted to Documentaries<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.zeitgeistfilms.com/films/corporation/poster.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 154px; height: 237px;" src="http://www.zeitgeistfilms.com/films/corporation/poster.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>I just spent this weekend watching this movie and I have to tell everyone that this is a must watch. It reveals the gross underbelly of what makes a corporation how they think (they'd be psychopaths if they really were individuals) the lack of care and concern for individuals and the world, and so much more. You might be thinking, "Duh, I know all that..." but you probably don't know this much about it. From the mouths of various CEO's from big corporations to leading economists like Milton Friedman from the University of Chicago, to anti-corporate combaters like Michael Moore they are all here and put together in an in depth analysis of the corporation...<br /><br />(One word of warning, the whole bit on the dairy farms and Monsanto might make you vegan...it's worked for us...)<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.jesuscampthemovie.com/downloads/wall01.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 199px; height: 149px;" src="http://www.jesuscampthemovie.com/downloads/wall01.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />And that's just the movie I saw this weekend! This Saturday is our 11 year anniversary and right now we're planning on going to see Jesus Camp at the Drexel East movie theater. It has provoked much comment among my family and friends and I'm looking forward to seeing it and reporting back on what I think about it (because I know you're all dying to know my opinion about everything!).<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/751/2517/1600/God%20Spoke%20poster.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/751/2517/200/God%20Spoke%20poster.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Then to top it all off on the 24th we get to go to see Al Franken's God Spoke at the Wexner Center for the Arts and I can't wait! I saw the preview for this film and thought I've got to see this. I'm most impressed with this man's ability to just rip into the right's talking heads and not be afraid of the back lash. If it were me I'd go the John Stewart route, "The thing about criticizing someone on their own show is that they're there....Awkward!" Anyway, it will be a week filled with liberal left leaning diatribes and will be totally refreshing...aaahhh I can feel the release already....Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01468531114064477733noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20620015.post-23976359093935354602006-10-10T16:14:00.000-04:002006-10-10T16:27:00.750-04:00Talk about spotty blogging...I have this really guilty conscience whenever I'm doing anything that's not homework so there has been a great decline in frequency but allow me to give my excuses: I'm taking 16 credit hours (the minimum for full time is 12) all graduate courses in 3 different languages. Observe:<br /><br />1) French for Graduate Research 1 (i.e. learn to read French, but not speak it so when someone on your bus sees you with the French textbook and starts talking to you in French, you can point out that it says French <span style="font-style: italic;">For Reading</span>--speaking hypothetically of course)<br /><br />2) German for Graduate Research 2 (i.e. find a scholarly article on your subject and start translating you lazy S.O.B.)<br /><br />3) Hebrew 601--basics of Biblical Hebrew Grammar or...how to know what vowel goes where because you foolishly picked a language without vowels...<br /><br />and the killer<br /><br />4) Hebrew 621--Jerusalem through out the ages. Taught 90% <span style="font-style: italic;">in Hebrew</span> with readings from Biblical to modern day writers. Let me explain that it's much like reading about London from writers in the oldest <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">English</span> possible to modern <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">English</span>...totally different <span onclick="BLOG_clickHandler(this)" class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">grammatical</span> structures and I've been working with about 5 different lexicons to translate all of them.<br /><br />So right now, my brain is fried from my French and I'm slacking off on my German (I still need to translate one more page for tomorrow) and feeling anxiety build up. Must run...Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01468531114064477733noreply@blogger.com1