Westboro

Ugh, these people. The BBC has a documentary about them. At the moment, the videos are up on YouTube and you can watch them here. It's...interesting. In some ways, listening to them talk, you can forget that they are such hateful terrible people who antagonize others at their lowest, most painful moments. You can't, however, forget that they have a warped view of Christianity.

Low Blood Pressure Problems?

I have the solution!!! It gets really awesome around 1:10.

Haha

See Jesus and Mo for some wildly un-PC comics. I have only read a couple, so if there are some truly offensive ones, then sorry about that. And I guess by truly offensive, I mean "not funny."

Ted Haggard!

You know how I love Ted. Well, GQ has a new piece on him, and he remains just as fascinating as ever. (Although there are way more details on his masturbatory habits than I care to know about.) A member of his previous church, New Life, sums up my view on the Reverend:

"I think Ted genuinely loves God, and I think he has a sincere interest in helping people, but I don't believe a word that comes out of his mouth."

Some other intriguing nuggets:

"Here's where I really am on this issue," he half whispers. "I think that probably, if I were 21 in this society, I would identify myself as a bisexual." After a weekend of Ted trying to convince me of his unambiguous devotion to his wife and kids, I'm at first too surprised to say anything.

"So why not now?" I ask finally.

"Because, Kevin, I'm 54, with children, with a belief system, and I can have enforced boundaries in my life. Just like you're a heterosexual but you don't have sex with every woman that you're attracted to, so I can be who I am and exclusively have sex with my wife and be perfectly satisfied."

After the final amen, I strike up a conversation with Wing, Guy, and Art, three parishioners who come every week to stock up on Ted's encouragement. Wing was evicted from his house after falling behind on payments, and he's been living out of his car for the past two weeks. Guy's wife left him last week, taking their daughters with her. Art, a burly Hispanic man in a sleeveless shirt, was addicted to meth when his brother told him about a new church with an unconventional pastor.

"At first I thought, Man, I don't wanna go to no faggot's church," Art says. "But the first day I was here, Pastor Ted looked at me and said, 'You've been struggling with drugs, haven't you? Today you walk free.' I haven't touched it since."

Part of what these guys love about St. James is that it helps struggling people in real, tangible ways. During the offering, when most churches pass the plate, Ted instead has his saints give money to one another. Today the gifts included a $500 donation to fix one man's car and money for another man to pay his electricity bill.

Abandon All Logic, Ye Who Enter Here

Some really awesome Americans, who are probably more "real American" than I am, have decided that it would be cool to burn Qurans on 9/11 this year. I know Jesus would be all over that. He loved getting his hate on.

The Constitution: Real & Imagined

The Onion has a great article whose title conveys the content: Area Man Passionate Defender of What He Imagines Constitution To Be.

"Our very way of life is under siege," said Mortensen, whose understanding of the Constitution derives not from a close reading of the document but from talk-show pundits, books by television personalities, and the limitless expanse of his own colorful imagination.

Then the New York Times Magazine has an article called How Christian Were the Founders? that is actually about the Texas State Board of Education. As it turns out, Texas is one of the most influential boards of education. They buy 48 million textbooks a year, which encourages publishers to produce books in line with Texas guidelines. They are also one of the most conservative boards in the country. The view of one of the board members:

“The underlying authority for our constitutional form of government stems directly from biblical precedents,” she writes. “Hence, the only accurate method of ascertaining the intent of the Founding Fathers at the time of our government’s inception comes from a biblical worldview.”

The article discusses the various religious views the school board has tried to inject into the public schools, some actual history about the founding of our nation, and a little bit about the Liberty Law School. A long, but interesting read.

Public Christmas Decorations

A Southern Baptist writer argues that keeping Christmas decorations out of public buildings (malls, courthouses, etc) and in private churches & homes will improve the true spiritual meaning of Christmas.

Nigerian Religion Clash

The Atlantic has a good piece on the clash of Muslims & Christians in Nigeria, and the attempts to rise above it.