handbaskets and heresies

posted on May 16, 2008
filed under religion, opinion | leave a comment

I don’t know why I do it. And anymore, I don’t know why it makes me so angry.

For a peculiar reason, I was Googling the terms “Dungeons and Dragons” and “Cultural Phenomenon.” I didn’t really expect it, but I found a link to one of the original purveyors of anti-D&D vitriol, Bill Schnoebelen. The link itself is to a followup article in 2001, published by some glorified tract company. I got to reading it, and even though it is rife with inconsistency and logical fallacy, even though none of it has ever borne true either in research or the media, and even though I am not even a Christian anymore (though that fact could be viewed as suspect), it started me simmering and just made me madder as I read it. I was getting as angry as I did when I cornered an anti-D&D youth minister many, many years ago at Youth In Action (who backed down when confronted, by the way - had I been Baptist or Assembly of God, I’m sure I would have had a much bigger fight on my hands). Nevertheless, as I am in command of both a much stronger vocabulary and a much broader knowledge of all things “scriptural,” I was preparing to do a bit of research and fire off an email to this hack of a holy man. Fortunately, I am in command of a much stronger sense of reason, albeit often ill-timed.

I know I don’t have to tell my readers about the silliness of linking D&D with Satanism, or whatever nefarious malevolence conjurable in one bored pastor’s mind. I suppose even when I was sixteen and dealing with parents of friends who wanted their children to have nothing to do with D&D, the overwhelming feeling I had was that these people were lording their power over people - young people, especially - with nothing resembling reason or scripture to back them up. Smug prooftexting ran rampant, and no amount of “you’re taking that out of context!” would suffice to get a mind hooked on the single meme of Satanism to relent and concede they might be a bit off-base, given their utter lack of knowledge of the topic. Indeed, the notion that the commandments of Christ himself were secondary to this opposition of D&D was stunning. What follows is a quote from the author’s above-linked article:

I am frequently told to “get a life” or write about something more important than D&D, like social justice or world hunger. The devil would sure like that.

If you, as a Christian, can get behind the notion that opposing D&D - or any social phenomenon - is more important than “love your neighbor as yourself,” then I suppose (if I may) you have your reward.

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a sennight past

posted on May 12, 2008
filed under health, food | 2 comments

I realized when I started this post that I never posted the results of my bout with South Beach Phase One in January. I was able to lose almost four inches around my waist. That was then. I’m doing SBP1 again (notice my level of familiarity with the program, that I can confidently sling about the acronym as if I invented the thing), and I’m a week into it. And I have lost almost two inches at this point. An important note here is that I did not gain any since January. No, 2007 was the year that I wrecked all the progress I made in 2006. As I have said before, 2007 was not my year. But, if the trend (and indeed, my history of losing roughly two inches per week on SBP1) continues, I will be able to again fit into the closetful of clothes I bought in ‘06 when I was - dare I say - en fuego. But this year is different. This year, by the time I rest, there will be pronounced ripples across my midsection, instead of the parabolic curve of the past.

Someone asked me why I was doing this, and then offered up a quick explanation of “mid-life crisis.” I will neither stipulate to that nor deny it. However, when you’ve seen half of the years in your species’ expected lifespan, and you know that the decisions you make at that point are going to affect the second “half,” you need to be confirming that you’re making the right decisions, otherwise that “half” is going to be short and pathetic.

If you’re thinking about the South Beach Diet (distinctly different than the Diet of Worms), which I clearly recommend, you have to do two things. One is you have to give up fast food. The corollary to this is that you can get a grilled chicken salad almost anywhere. The second thing is you have to be intimately familiar with nutrition if you go to restaurants. They usually have no idea what South Beach is all about (it is important to know that it is very different than Atkins or the Zone), and thus make very few dishes compatible with it. Typically, however, if you remember: no bread, no pasta, no rice, no sugar, no fruit, no sweet vegetables, you’re ninety percent there. My two typical restaurant meals on SBP1 are the aforementioned grilled chicken salad, and fajitas, sans tortillas.

So you’ve all heard it - two more inches by this time next week. That’s my goal. Let’s see what happens.

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let’s do lunch

posted on April 24, 2008
filed under health, food | leave a comment

Here is an open challenge - find me a better meal for you than this one.

The Chick-fil-a Chargrilled Chicken Sandwich - Here’s the skinny (pun intended). Boneless chicken breast, marinated in some sort of yummy-sauce, on a wheat bun with lettuce, tomato, and pickle. It comes with Honey Roasted BBQ sauce, and in the combo, is accompanied by waffle-cut fries and a drink.

How to make it good for you: substitute the fruit cup for the fries; it’s more expensive, but you’re buying better health and an insulin-crash-free afternoon (with help from the non-processed-flour bun). If you don’t drink Diet Coke or an equivalent, get water. Lose the sauce packet. The thing is tasty enough by itself. Don’t supersize it; you’re not really that hungry. Especially not if you’re eating like you should - healthy snacks in-between meals.

The results? 320 calories, 3.5g of fat (only one gram saturated), 43g carbs (none of it processed), and 28g of protein (which you need, because you’re working out regularly, right? RIGHT?). And you will be full. To reiterate my challenge: find me a better meal for you that you can get without making it yourself or spending over seven bucks.

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bad miss

posted on April 23, 2008
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On the whole, I think television is a tool of the devil (or would be, if, you know). There isn’t much I want to watch. Unfortunately, I watch it anyway. However, there have been a few shows that simply rock. My love for Monty Python’s Flying Circus is well-known. There haven’t been a lot of BBC-produced shows I’ve enjoyed (Young Ones, Vicar of Dibley) since, but the latest is cracking me up. You must see That Mitchell and Webb Look - it’s classic British comedy; don’t laugh, there isn’t time. Since the truly silly is what gets me the most - it’s time for Numberwang!

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and what we have left undone

posted on April 21, 2008
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Quoting famous people to make your point is powerful. Equally important, however, is what you leave out.

With savages, the weak in body or mind are soon eliminated; and those that survive commonly exhibit a vigorous state of health. We civilized men, on the other hand, do our utmost to check the process of elimination. We build asylums for the imbecile, the maimed and the sick; we institute poor-laws; and our medical men exert their utmost skill to save the life of every one to the last moment. There is reason to believe that vaccination has preserved thousands, who from a weak constitution would formerly have succumbed to small-pox. Thus the weak members of civilized societies propagate their kind. No one who has attended to the breeding of domestic animals will doubt that this must be highly injurious to the race of man. It is surprising how soon a want of care, or care wrongly directed, leads to the degeneration of a domestic race; but excepting in the case of man himself, hardly anyone is so ignorant as to allow his worst animals to breed.

(Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man)

Now if you really want to misquote someone, leave the next bit out:

The aid which we feel impelled to give to the helpless is mainly an incidental result of the instinct of sympathy, which was originally acquired as part of the social instincts, but subsequently rendered, in the manner previously indicated, more tender and more widely diffused. Nor could we check our sympathy, even at the urging of hard reason, without deterioration in the noblest part of our nature. The surgeon may harden himself whilst performing an operation, for he knows that he is acting for the good of his patient; but if we were intentionally to neglect the weak and helpless, it could only be for a contingent benefit, with an overwhelming present evil.

(ibid.)

If you want to make a point that isn’t based on the truth, using a Michael Moore-style approach is a good way to do it.

(Scientific American article that inspired the above) (how evolution fits)

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god and/or guns?

posted on April 16, 2008
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And it’s not surprising then (that) they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.
– Barack Obama

This is an interesting “give a man a fish” statement. Yes, the bitterness is “not surprising.” Little should surprise anyone anymore. “The devil made me do it,” as it were. And I suppose there are things that I could blame my frustrations on. At the end of the day (perhaps it should be the beginning of the day), however, what I should say to myself is “what am I going to do going forward?” Will I sit and stew over my predicament? Will I find my way into drug abuse, alcoholism, or violence? Will I become another welfare recipient? Will I expect God, the police, the government, the church, etc to come and save me?

Or will I get over myself, realize that I am responsible for not only the vast majority of my problems, but 100% of what I’m going to do to fix things, and make it happen?

Is there a way that our government can bring about this mindset, rather than just ultimately paying everyone off for their votes and their silence?

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soy un perdedor

posted on April 16, 2008
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I have misspeled. I have put apostrophe’s where they do not belong. I have used words where there homonyms should go.

I am truly sorry and I humbly repent.

(is it sad that I have these lyrics memorized?)

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you’re only as old as you feel

posted on April 15, 2008
filed under uncategorized | 8 comments

Oh, this is rich. Yes, I may be a nontheist now, but even as a believer the thought of the world NOT being billions of years old was a non-issue. Lately, the Young Earth Creationists have come back into view for me (for various reasons). I could go on AT LENGTH about these people, but that is best left for those still within the Christian tradition to deal with. But to state the Bible is true and literal, and ANYTHING else you see that says otherwise is false… I’m not sure what clinical mental disorder that is, but it probably has a name.

So as long as we’re taking the entire Bible literally, I think a page from Landover Baptist’s theology is appropriate:

If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them: Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place; And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard. And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

Deuteronomy 21:18-21

Two-year-old tantrum in the store? Teenage angst? College boy too big for his britches? There’s always an answer.

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this land is your land

posted on April 6, 2008
filed under opinion, musings | leave a comment

“Candidates are told stories by people all the time, and it’s common for candidates to retell those stories. It’s not always possible to fully vet them, but we try.” — Clinton spokesman Mo Elleithee (link)

Perhaps then, the proper choice is to not tell the story.

So here are the seeming truisms of modern U.S. political activity:

Your friend that is telling you this or that about politics is in some way misinformed (that includes this)
Your candidate is in some way lying
Your candidate’s primary concern is winning
Your candidate’s lifestyle is nothing like yours
Your candidate does not represent most of your values
Your candidate, if successful, will implement none or almost none of their campaign promises
Your candidate, historically, will either do something bad or nothing
Your candidate will drive some sort of wedge between you and someone you love

Nevertheless, you live in the most successful democracy in the history of mankind (assuming you are in the United States - statistically, based on my web server statistics, you are), and there is currently no democratically-elected government that is even close to offering the number of services ours does for the amount of taxes that we pay.

Our car may be misfiring and the exhaust may be smoking, but dang if everybody else doesn’t want a ride at some point.

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