If you can watch the trailer and not feel a compelling need to see this movie, your heart's an empty hole, your brain is full of spiders,
and you’ve got garlic in your soul.
In comments to the Con Man’s post rebuking unwed parents, Post bloggers prove that Christian fundamentalists and gay rights activists aren’t the only ones sparring over the definition of marriage. Mitch writes; “To suggest that a union solemnized by a judge guarantees greater spousal and child protections than a union solemnized by clergy of any ilk is not only specious, it's disingenuous.” Sue replies; “It’s the license that guarantees ‘spousal rights and child protections,’ no matter if the ceremony was solemnized by a judge, priest, rabbi, or talking mouse.” And Jerry Bovino adds; "Why should anyone get married? Why don't we just go for Civil Unions for anyone who wants one and leave the entire religious concept of marriage to the Church where it belongs.”
Post blogger Michael Conniff takes issue with the bastardization of children by parents who are perfectly able, yet unwilling to tie the knot. In a surprisingly old-fashioned tone he writes, “Here’s my advice: get married if you want to get married and don’t if you don’t. But don’t have a baby until after you get married.”
"I’ll grant you the love-child exception only if you can say with a straight face that you were using contraception religiously and did everything humanly possible to avoid having a baby out of wedlock."
Contrary to his liberal leanings, Conniff puts the onus squarely where any staunch Conservative would, “I’ve got to blame somebody so I am actually blaming Hollywood for this. Not the movies but the movie stars—they know who they are—for having their unwed babies willy-nilly and then living like it’s just like being married, which it is not.”
The first 10 parts of this series sobered countless readers. It depressed many and caused despair for the faint of heart. However, most Americans can’t or refuse to grasp our dilemma. By checking our growth rates, not only will we add 100 million in three decades, we’ll add another 100 million on top of that, and do it again until we become one billion people by the start of the next century.
No one wants to discuss it. Everyone hush-hushes about the preacher’s daughter being pregnant. No one wants to talk about sexual or domestic abuse now epidemic in America. No one talks about 18 teenagers committing suicide every day in this country. Better not talk about the 22,000 deaths by drunken drivers annually! Let’s pretend it’s not happening.
Barbara,
your letter just came in as a pleasant surprise. Hope u and your family r all doing well. I just cant express in words how much i liked it. I recieved your letter just two days b4, and i cant just count how many times i have gone through it. U look really attractive in the photograph which u had sent along with the letter. Going through ur letter, made me think as if my sisters and i r still in front of u in Delhi, talking 2 each other as long lasting friends. Hey anyways any chanches of ur coming 2 India.
From: Ed Foran Subject: FW: Katie has sent you a message about 10questions.com
Friends,
Please take a moment to watch my daughter Katie’s youtube video regarding global warming. If you vote for her video, she has a chance of presenting it to the Presidential candidates. If you are so inclined, please forward to your friends and family. I sent this to you because I think the question she poses needs to be answered by the future leader of our country.
This post is not absolutely necessary to the understanding of my future post(s) on religion, but may very well be interesting reading in how (or why) I put it all together the way I did. Please note that if you are anywhere from being reasonably devout in your chosen faith to the extreme of being a fanatic, it is virtually guaranteed that you will have extreme difficulty in getting through this post or any of the following posts on this subject. It is therefore HIGHLY recommended to avoid reading this and subsequent posts unless you actually have an open and inquisitive mind regarding religion and/or spiritual things.
“Harumph! Harumph!” a BIG sound from a BIG animal sounded not far from the tent.
I awoke with a rush of adrenaline that raced through my body like the cars at the Indy 500. Fear plowed through my mind like Hurricane Katrina. Whatever it was, it was BIG! I hadn’t had that kind of fear since I faced a grizzly in Alaska in the 70s.
This week, in Denver, Colorado, "immigrants" want Halloween celebrations taken out of the school systems. Peter Boyles, talk jock of KHOW 630 AM said, "Next they will demand Thanksgiving be taken away from us." Americans like Boyles do the job Congress refuses to do! Diversity proves a great divide that dissolves American culture.
Celebrating my son’s 30th birthday with him and some family and friends in California last week, I broke the cardinal rule of social gatherings; never discuss religion.
We had buried my cousin’s 16 year old daughter that day. The funeral service and memorial party were permeated with Christian dogma and superstition. I envied my family their spiritual comfort, all of them nodding and smiling when the pastor said Charlie Ann was now in Heaven with Jesus, running, playing and laughing, but most of all breathing, no longer suffering from the crippling and ultimately fatal Cystic Fibrosis she’d been diagnosed with as a toddler.
I have a group of close buddies I get together with every year. We all grew up together in a small town in West Texas. Usually, we do Vegas, but we grew tired of the crowds and the heat and the long lines and the cab fares. So, this year, we did something different. We rented a condo in N. Lake Tahoe and we partied and gambled and played in Reno, and both north and south Lake Tahoe. I've been thinking about this last trip often, and I finally sat down to write a reflection of what I came away with, albeit a somewhat selfish reflection. Enjoy:....
After Reverend Pat Robertson called for the assassination of Hugo Chavez, Don Imus suggested that Robertson ought to be “put to sleep.”
That pretty much encapsulates what I think of clergy of any stripe who brainlessly dabble in politics. Pay attention to the adverb in that last sentence. John Paul II’s role in the liberation of Poland is a clear example of the kind of good the “Church” can do in the realm of politics... But I write tonight to update the conversation Michael obliquely touched on in the midst of his partisan hysterics last week.
A few days ago, Michael wrote, “ole Fred [Thompson] don't get himself to church all that much.” Today, James Dobson of “Focus on the Family” fame, declared Thompson “the candidate who is opposed to a Constitutional amendment to protect marriage, believes there should be 50 [sic] different definitions of marriage in the U.S., favors McCain-Feingold, won't talk at all about what he believes, and can't speak his way out of a paper bag on the campaign trail?”
I woke up knowing that at 3:30 PM Sunday afternoon, that I would be one of the hundreds at the T-Lazy-7 Ranch for the memorial sevice in honor of Chris Smith, the longtime Aspenite who died tragically in a boat accident of the coast of Florida two months ago.
I looked out the window and the day was nothing like a normal fall day in Colorado--no sun, no hope--and I said to myself that of course the day of Chris Smith's remembrance would be a day like this, when the leaves speak only of death. On the way to the T-Lazy-7, I was listening to the Broncos game when that came to a halt because of lightning in Denver, and it occured to me that God or the gods were unhappy enough about Chris's departure from this world that He (or they) would stop an NFL game against the Raiders to display his displeasure.
