Saturday Ramblings 7.7.12

Posted byChaplainmikePosted inJeff Dunn, Saturday Ramblings

Good Saturday morning, iMonks! Here’s hoping if you have been in the dark that you have power restored. If not, then how are you reading this? The storms from this last week left a lot of debris in the yard of the iMonastery, so we invite you to grab a rake and help us to clean up what we can only call Saturday Ramblings.

The storms that rampaged across the Midwest might have been welcome in Colorado to help douse the wildfires that destroyed nearly 350 homes in the Colorado Springs area. One thing we don’t need is someone trying to tie some spiritual significance to these natural disasters. This article is, on the whole, well-balanced in this area, especially from Charisma magazine.

Steve Strang, publisher of Charisma, wants your help to make a movie about the community of Sanford, Florida in the wake of the Travor Martin case. I don’t doubt there are some great things happening in that town as this case progresses, but is there really a need to make it into a movie? Your thoughts?

The other big news of the week comes from Switzerland with the believed discovery of the Higgs boson, or “God particle.” Here is a good overview article on the discovery, and another with a little more depth. Oh, and here is Ken Ham’s Answers In Genesis explanation of why this doesn’t matter, and how not to be confused by God’s name being used in this hypothesis. Ah, how did we ever get along without Ken Ham?

Ok, for some the REALLY BIG news this week was the coming out of Anderson Cooper. Craig Gross, pastor of XXX Church, answers the question, “Will there be gays in heaven?” In doing so, he steps on some fat people. Read and reply.

Father and son Catholic priests? Yep, apparently so. In Texas, nonetheless. Ok then.

A pastor’s conference in Alabama open only to “white Christians” has been called unbiblical. In other news, it gets dark at nighttime…

Finally, a woman trying to make ends meet offered to sell her soul on eBay. The bids reached $400 before the auction site took down the listing. Hmmm … couldn’t she have done the same thing with an appearance on TBN?

Happy birthday greetings went out this last week to Buddy Rich; Lena Horne; Stanley Clarke; Mike Tyson; Jamie Farr; Dan Aykroyd; Princess Diana; Carl Lewis; Liv Tyler; Dave Thomas; Jose Canseco; the United States of America; Eva Marie Saint; Neil Simon; Bill Withers; Nancy Reagan; Bill Haley; George W. Bush; Sylvester Stallone; Nanci Griffith; and Doc Severinsen.

The greatest drummer of all time? No contest. It’s Buddy Rich. Everyone else plays for second. Watch the intensity with which he plays here on the Johnny Carson show. Who is Johnny Carson? That’s a topic for another day. Enjoy.

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QXdi25469U’%5D

42 thoughts on “Saturday Ramblings 7.7.12”

  1. I took the weekend off from reading blogs, so I missed this and am likely commenting into space that no one will see. I’m going to do it anyway.
    I read the article written by Mr Gross, and had more fun reading the comments. It seems the fallaciousness of the homosexual is sinful argument has gone viral. Logical thinkers are convinced Christians sticking to their guns on this issue are delusional or misguided. It’s not a matter of choice for the gays as it is for the gluttons, the gossips, the adulterers, etc. SO many reasons why the church needs to have a come-to-Jesus meeting on this and get in line with Him. Jesus being the Him, not Paul.

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  2. That’s what I learned in Church History. The Church went for full priestly celibacy to make sure priests (and especially bishops) could have no legitimate blood heirs. And could not sire dynasties within the Church. (Some tried in any case, but without legitimate authority they didn’t last.)

    This was a time when political power (including entire countries and their populations) was inherited from father to son like any other personal property; not much of a stretch to extend that to Spiritual Authority as well. And if there was more than one potential heir, you had an Inheritance Blood Feud, from dagger-and-poison palace assassination to open warfare like the Wars of the Roses.

    The Sunni/Shia blood feud within Islam is a 1300-year-old inheritance fight over the True Heirs of Mohammed’s spiritual authority — Fatima’s husband (Sunni) or Ali (Shia). And the granddaddy of them all — the Arab/Israeli Wars — is a 4000-year-old fight over who is the true heir of God’s Promises to Abraham — Isaac or Ishmael?

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  3. I wonder how Mr. Ham would react if he bothered to figure out that the one of the big contributors to the Big Bang theory (regarded as the Father of the theory) was actually Father Georges Lemaitre.

    Probably wouldn’t make a difference. Apostate/FALSE Christian, remember. (If Fr Lemaitre were a REAL Christian, he’d be Evangelical instead of Catholic and agree 1000% with Ham.)

    Thing is, Fr Lemaitre took a LOT of flak when he first proposed the Big Bang — something about trying to sneak Religion (AKA Creationism) into a matter of SCIENCE(!). Fred Hoyle — in his usual “Prove Fred Wrong” style — counter-proposed the Steady State theory, AKA Aristotle’s idea of The Eternal Cosmos — to counter The Big Bang. (I think Hoyle originally coined the term “Big Bang Theory” in derision; but then Hoyle was known for proposing outrageous theories and daring all comers to prove him wrong.)

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  4. The storms that rampaged across the Midwest might have been welcome in Colorado to help douse the wildfires that destroyed nearly 350 homes in the Colorado Springs area. One thing we don’t need is someone trying to tie some spiritual significance to these natural disasters.

    We’ve seen very little pointing to the disaster and screaming “GOD’S PUNISHMENT ON AMERICA FOR fill-in-the-blank!!!!!” this time around. Usually there’s a Pat Robertson or other God’s Anointed shooting off his mouth — the Indonesian tsunami, the I-95 bridge collapse, Katrina, the Japanese earthquake/tsunami, the Haiti earthquake — but not this time.

    I’ve heard it speculated (very cynically) that it’s because this time “Colo Spgs” — AKA home base of Focus on the Family, Navigators, and several other parachurch ministries/Christian Culture War crusader orders — is the one being hit.

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  6. Yes, the Maryland father/son combo is from my parish. The father had been a deacon for years, and his son entered the priesthood after college and seminary. When the father was widowed a couple of years ago, we ALL encouraged him to study for the priesthood. We were thrilled that he was called – it seemed like such a natural fit.

    With the some of the Anglican parishes moving to the Catholic Church, we may see more father/son priests – who knows?

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  8. 6. If you don’t know that barcodes are the Mark of the Beast, are you still damned if you take the implant?

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  9. 5. Did you ever notice that the words to the US national anthem fit together perfectly with the music to the old Soviet national anthem?

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  10. How to respond to conspiracy theories:

    1. “Ah,but that’s just what they want you to believe!”

    2. “This explains how Obama can be both a Communist, and a Muslim extremist.”

    3. “If you really want to know the truth, try hypnosis / recovered memory therapy.”

    4. “As a matter of fact, my family does belong to a group like that–what was the name? I have its card here–the Elders of Zion, but I haven’t been to the meetings in a long time. The dinners are bad and all that ritual stuff is more boring than it sounds.”

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  11. Consider last week’s weekend review (to bring a LITTLE relevance to my post), where we learned that the Loch Nes Monster is sound evidence proving the claims of young-earth creationism. There are no longer grounds to argue this stuff from logic and reason, because logic and reason are considered tools of the enemy to confuse and deceive us.

    Which ends in a filthy stable in Aslan’s Land.
    The Dwarfs are for The Dwarfs, and Won’t Be Taken In.

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  13. Ironically on that show I mentioned, they interviewed an Imam in the small portion I saw, and what he was saying didn’t sound a whole lot different than what the Christians they had on (at least the ones I saw) were saying.

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  14. I had to laugh at Ham’s explanation as this is some secularists’ attempt to remove God from the equation. I was raised in a Fundamentalist school and while I’m grateful for the education I received, I have serious problems with the scientific portion of it as the textbooks took a similar stance.

    I wonder how Mr. Ham would react if he bothered to figure out that the one of the big contributors to the Big Bang theory (regarded as the Father of the theory) was actually Father Georges Lemaitre.

    Imagine my shock and surprise upon finding that out. It pulled out the rug from under me. Science was no longer the enemy. Worse, what provoked me to do a thorough search on the matter? A Dan Brown novel. (Ok, so my reading taste isn’t that great there, but I didn’t have the mental energy at the time to deal with something more thought provoking.) Proof God sometimes uses the oddest things to wake us up, to tap us on the shoulder and say, “Hi.” (Evangelicals I’m sure would probably consider me a back sliding heathen)

    Of course, this caused me to realize a couple of things: 1. Wait… you mean God doesn’t hate science? 2. If a Catholic has no problem in participating in science, perhaps scientists aren’t wasting their time, but there’s actually something to be learned here. Maybe Catholicism isn’t as restrictive as I’ve been led to believe. 3. I don’t have to feel guilty for reading articles on science anymore? I don’t have to feel sorry for the scientists who are trying to reverse engineer God’s creation? Maybe they’re doing something worthwhile?

    I don’t know if I can properly convey how freeing that moment was.

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  16. “Otherwise we’re simply reinforcing to the world that we are an escapist bunch who’s concerned more about going somewhere else rather than being the body of Christ here.”

    Excellent point. Sounds like Islam.

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  17. There’s a father/son pair of priests out here in Maryland – they just didn’t get ordained together, I think the son was a year or two earlier than his father. No reason why not – widowers do sometimes enter the priesthood, they usually don’t have a son doing the same, is all.

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  18. Wasn’t nepotism one of the main concerns driving the Catholic church’s eleventh century decision requiring a celibate priesthood? I understand that there was a problem with a bishop obtaining control of church lands and wealth and keeping it under family control by appointing his children to his office once he retired.

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  19. Yes, HUG, but isn’t your dismissal proof that the conspiracy is TRUE? Consider last week’s weekend review (to bring a LITTLE relevance to my post), where we learned that the Loch Nes Monster is sound evidence proving the claims of young-earth creationism. There are no longer grounds to argue this stuff from logic and reason, because logic and reason are considered tools of the enemy to confuse and deceive us. A sound argument (from an evangelical “world view” mindset) is to accept on faith what Bowers is saying is true, that he really attended this secret meeting and is accurately communicating the clandestine plans discussed there, and that sporting a goatee and a radical t-shirt really was an effective disguise (if so, we have nothing to fear from the communists). Perhaps if it feels right (i.e. it resonates with paranoias I currently have), then this, too, is sound evidence that it is true. Perhaps if a communist floats, which would prove he or she is made of wood and is therefore A WITCH, then that, too, would be sound proof. You see? I’m left with sarcasm, and not all that good sarcasm to boot! If this is what the faith has become, I don’t think the communists have anything to fear.

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  21. Because all too often “who’s going to Heaven” becomes “ME, NOT THEE!”

    Never mind that the pre-Victorian Christian afterlife was Resurrection of the Body into a New Heaven and New Earth — a perfected Cosmos 2.0.

    Never mind that the final scene in the Book of Revelation has New Jerusalem — Heaven — coming down to Earth, not the other way around.

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  22. He also is said to have attended a communist meeting “in disguise” (from the sounds of it, he probably looked like Inspector Clouseau) and heard of the conspiratorial plots first-hand.

    Dumb Ox, that sounds so Classic Conspiracy Freak-ish I don’t know where to begin. The Sekrit Knowledge (Occult Gnosis) that I and Only I KNOW, etc.

    Just like Mike Warnke & John Todd, except then it was SATANISTS instead of Communists.

    Maybe the conspiracy is bigger than Bowers can imagine: conservatives and liberals are banning together to take over the world?

    “If your Conspiracy Theory doesn’t fit the facts, Invent a Bigger Conspiracy.”
    — Kooks Magazine

    Until EVERYONE in the world (and Everypony in Ponyville) except for The Lone Crusader Who KNOWS What’s Really Going On is part of The Conspiracy. Ever wonder why Conspiracy Freaks are so bitter? They’re the ONLY one in the entire Cosmos who isn’t In on The Conspiracy.

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  23. “Finally, a woman trying to make ends meet offered to sell her soul on eBay. The bids reached $400 before the auction site took down the listing. Hmmm … couldn’t she have done the same thing with an appearance on TBN?”
    You’re crackin me up here. Crackin’ me up!

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  24. I thought Gross did a good job of addressing the poor treatment of gays (or if you prefer: people who suffer from SSA) by Evangelicals without denying the sinfulness of some sex. Everyone in our life is a sinner of some type of sinner. Maybe you could share this privately with your gay friends as an example of how a Christian can consider something sinful without condemning and persecuting the person involved in that activity. This is a such a difficult issue to discuss because one side views sexual desire as part of an identity and the other side over simplifies the issue into a behavior problem.

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  25. You have captured the essence of what is wrong with evangelicalism today, and the cry of the hearts of us here at Internet Monk. The problem is, Jesus doesn’t sell well. He doesn’t put petiole in the pews like a good controversial topic like homosexuality does.

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  27. I can’t figure out why this homosexuality issue is just now becoming a big deal. The church has been around for 2,000 years and I’m sure there were homosexuals in the church during those previous 2,000 years. So why is this just now becoming a big deal?

    My theory is that it is because the church has lost its focus on proclaiming Jesus and become too focused on affecting change in the general culture. It has lost the mystery part of the Faith and replaced it with impacting the culture and/or following rules. The result being that the message of the church is viewed as an ethical code or general set of guidelines rather than something that is to be lived and experienced everyday.

    I think people (including Gross) are focusing too much on the “sin” issue of homosexuality and not enough on why this is all of a sudden a big deal: people don’t view Christianity as relevant to their lives and worthy of ALL their being. I think if the church got back to focusing on Jesus and presenting Him for who He is and show that He is not only worthy of all our being, but that it is the only logical response in light of His work on the cross, this issue wouldn’t be nearly as big as it is currently within the church.

    And not only do I think this would resolve the homosexual issue within the church, I think too it would impact the culture in a greater way than all the combined efforts of current Evangelical leaders. By presenting to the culture a way of life that is distinct from the general culture I think it will make people aware of what they are doing and their need for Jesus. Trying to make Jesus blend with the culture doesn’t help people see their need for Him.

    2 birds with one stone in my opinion.

    I don’t know if Evangelicalism is up to this task. Many (but certainly not all) Evangelical leaders seemed to be very wary of the experiential side of Christianity. But this experiential side is exactly what is missing from the message of many Evangelical churches these days and the cause of many problems.

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  28. I like Gross a lot and I really appreciate his ministry. His article is great but as much as I’d like to post it on facebook, I can’t. I have many gay friends and they do NOT see homosexuality as sin. How do you deal with that?

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  33. Christians need to stop answering questions about the premise of who’s “going to heaven”, and they need to read N.T. Wright’s book Surprised by Hope. Otherwise we’re simply reinforcing to the world that we are an escapist bunch who’s concerned more about going somewhere else rather than being the body of Christ here. There was a special 20/20 on TV last night that was about heaven that I saw a few minutes, and it was so frustrating to watch I had to turn it off.

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  34. Just curious, has anyone heard of Curtis Bowers? He has gotten a lot of attention for a video entitled, “Agenda – Grinding Down America”, which allegedly details how communists are plotting to take over the country through environmental regulations, moral decay, etc. He is a former Idaho State Representative who appears to be an alumni of Noebel’s Summit Ministries, which also addresses the communist agenda via “Christian world view”. He also is said to have attended a communist meeting “in disguise” (from the sounds of it, he probably looked like Inspector Clouseau) and heard of the conspiratorial plots first-hand. Other than that, I can’t find much information about him. I am being asked to watch his video, and I’m looking for tactful ways to respond.

    It’s all confusing to me; it’s the conservatives who introduced draconian laws like NDAA, but it is the liberals/communists who are out to get us. Maybe the conspiracy is bigger than Bowers can imagine: conservatives and liberals are banning together to take over the world? Maybe I should make quick make my own hysterical documentary and get my fair share of 15 minutes of fame.

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  37. People have tried to sell their souls on e-bay before. They set a rule because of that, to the effect that no one may offer for sale any purely metaphysical entity. (One might, however, sell a bottle which may or may not contain one’s soul. I did in fact see someone selling a collection of machine parts which, the description stated, may or may not be a time machine.)

    The so-called “God Particle” takes its nickname from a book by Leon Lederman, whose editor wouldn’t let him call it the “Goddamn Particle.”

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  38. I have been reading Neil Peart’s book Ghost Rider which had been recommended by Jeff. Neil is/was the drummer for the band Rush. You can see a great drum solo by him on youtube. I see some of the commenters there calling him the best drummer. He is great. I have not seen all the best drummers so I don’t know. Even if I saw them all, I don’t know how I would judge!

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  40. Holy Batman and Robin, Burt Ward celebrated his birthday this past week as did George M Cohan, Huey Lewis, Rube Goldberg and PT Barnum (I couldn’t resist with Ken Ham’s comments mentioned).
    Buddy Rich was the greatest drummer ever, glad you chose that video.
    It sounds like Ken Ham thinks scientists are wasting their time, the feeling is probably mutual.
    I wonder what somebody does with a soul they buy on ebay.

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  41. No kidding! I don’t think Keith Moon would have been half the drummer he was without Rich’s influence.

    Nanci Griffith….Flyer will always be on my desert island list.

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