Success!

Jun. 26th, 2009 10:17 am
uberreiniger: (jesus christ pose)
After fifteen years of trying, this morning I finally succeeded in defining myself religiously.

I am a Christian who likes to do the religious equivalent of the Buffalo Bill "Silence of the Lambs" dance in front of the spiritual mirror in full pagan drag
uberreiniger: (Manly Warrior Love! (base ladytalon))
Why women will suffer if gay people can marry.

I won't bother pointing out the folly of reasoning in this article. But probably the best part is where he quotes a Roman satirist as depicting actual married life in ancient Rome and how all the Roman gayness left married women unsatisfied. This is after he states up front that what the satirist has written is satire.

That's satire, folks. Humor. Because you know, it just isn't possible that just like we do today, people in ancient Rome of all persuasions found jokes about gayness funny. But no, as long as it agrees with your position it stops being comedy and starts being historical fact.

Come to think of it, there's plenty of satire out there these days about weird, bigoted Christians. But if you tried to tell him that this satire depicts the actual day-to-day norm I bet he'd get bent out of shape and defensive real quick.

I love it when religionists think they're being clever and smart and beating the enemy at their own game by appealing to unwieldly sociology and science that just doesn't fly.

uberreiniger: (Apple)
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I have a fascination with lunar/fertility goddesses that's going to get me into trouble some day.
uberreiniger: (Fire starter (undeadmiko))
I should be in bed. I got off at 10:30 and have to be back to work at 6:30. Ugh.

I learned something today. Apparently if you make a joke containing the word "prophecy", some people will think you are taking the Lord's name in vain. Because you are saying He gave you a prophecy He didn't actually give you. Luckily for me, nearly everyone else thought the joke was funny.

While I'm in a Biblical mood, I leave you with an inspirational quote:

"Amateurs built the Ark. Professionals built the Titanic."
uberreiniger: (good/evil (uberreiniger))
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/14021621/teenage_holy_war/1

Most of you (and most people who've already posted it on livejournal,) will sneer at this and shake your head in sorrow, bewliderment, and anger. For me... well, what can I say? I spent my teen years going to these kind of things. I'm not the same person I was then. I don't view God the way most of Christian America views Him. But things like this... I remember and I know what the kids there are going through.

I'd like to add this statement. Rolling Stone loves to look down its nose whenever it talks about anything relating to Christianity or any thing relating to morality. As a magazine they're entertaining, but they should never be mistaken for objective journalism.

As a Christian I do believe the world is a place full of evil. And I do believe that if there are things in your life that are having a negative effect on you, you should give them up. Those are messages that have always been central to Christianity and that people don't like to hear. The man running the event in the article might be a zealot with delusions of demagoguery, but in that if nothing else, I feel he is correct. His definition of a Christian and some of his statistics are another matter...

What I don't believe is right is for people to decide they are sinning when they enjoy A&W root beer just because somebody on a stage told them that everything outside the boundaries they establish as being safe is bad and evil. If God wants you to get something out of your life, He'll get it out. And He doesn't need a headbanging light show to do it. It's too easy to mistake a perceived authority as the voice of God and there are too many people too eager to do it.

I had a point I was going to make but I'm tired and my train of thought is wandering. A few years ago I felt it I was following God's wishes when I gave up L5R for while due to the fact that I couldn't control my temper when I lost a game. I took a long step back and now I enjoy the game without being an obnoxious ass. I just saw the effect on my own life and relationships and did what I felt the right or godly thing to do would be. It's that easy. That's all you have to do. And that's why people who arbitrarily give up things on another's say-so are so often bitterly disappointed in the results they achieve.
uberreiniger: (satanic winter goat (athenablueeyes))
The B-side to Christianity's smash-hit debut single )

x-posted to [livejournal.com profile] tq_kimber. 'Cause you know. Any excuse to talk about my writing.
uberreiniger: (jesus christ pose)
Posted by someone in [livejournal.com profile] christianity:

Cut for those uninterested in Xian spirituality )
uberreiniger: (Enemy of God (uberreiniger))
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20061121/cm_csm/ydsouza

Mostly just posting this article because it makes a case I've been privately thinking about for some time now. You can remove God from the equation, remove anything from the equation you want. In the end man's desire for conquest remains and will simply find a new excuse.
uberreiniger: (good/evil (uberreiniger))
He calls it "God's will." What about the lousy, inedible pizza his company makes? Is that also "God's will?"

Call me a liberal Christian and a Universalist if you will, but I choose to believe in a God who wants me to have good pizza.

Moving on to the article, I hate to say it, but while his model society is puritanical, it's not unconstitutional. Nowhere in the United States Constitution are you guaranteed the right to birth control, pornography, or even an abortion. Now if he attempts to create legal statutes against such things in this town, then yes, he will be in trouble and can look forward to a long future of court rulings (assuming this town has a court,) being overturned by higher courts. Based purely on what the article says, however, it looks like this is a town where such goods and services will simply be unavailable, not outlawed.

How is it different from, say, pharmacists who refuse to fill perscriptions for birth control pills on religious grounds? (a practice I do not agree with) Because those individuals are attempting to force their values on the larger society. This looks like a place where people of a particular conviction can retreat from society to practice their belief. And that's nothing new in this country. Amish and Mennonite communities are noteworthy for their lack of birth control, pornography, and abortion clinics, and everybody loves them. I guess there's a double standard for the mean ol' Catholics, however.

This isn't a town I would want to live in, but if people make a choice to live there, (and in doing so, are aware they are giving up other choices willingly,) then they should be allowed to do so.
uberreiniger: (Library (skellorg))
I continue to exist mostly in the doldrums. Life feels infinitely better than it did before we moved, yet I still navigate through murky waters. I've always been somewhat melancholic at best so maybe it's just me back in my natural state and I've been in a state of heightened tension for so long I no longer recognize it. I'm sure the fact it's been cloudy and cold all week has had something to do with it. I've found it very hard to find motivation. I'm trying to write a query letter to the next literary agency on my list and I just can't do it. Every time I sit down to type it my mind just goes blank and "selling myself" becomes the hardest thing in the world. I should have saved the one I wrote to the last agency and used it as a template as I thought that one was really stellar. At least it got the agent to actually read the manuscript. Hopefully this will abate soon and I'll be ready to mail in a few days.

But if I haven't been writing at least I've been reading. Actually sat down and did some Bible-reading today for the first time in a while. Mel picked up a version I hadn't seen before a few weeks back called "The Amplified Bible" and it's quite good; goes a bit more in-depth on the historical and archaeological aspects than other versions. Also includes paranthetical references throughout the text designed to help you keep straight who's who, what's what, and the context of what is being said. While all the parantheses are more jarring than helpful and footnotes would have been preferred, it's still a lot of useful information.

Today I read two of the Lesser Prophets, Micah and Nahum, and the added notes shed a fascinating light on the text, giving you non-Biblical historical documents which detail the fulfilment of various prophecies. i.e., a 18th century scholar visiting the ruins of Jerusalem and seeing the exact crops growing there which would the prophecy from thousands of years ago foretold and in the exact places. Keep in mind these crops were planted by foreign invaders with no knowledge of the prophecy. Very exciting stuff. I wish I had it with me so I could give better examples. I'm aiming to have a collection of different versions of the Bible and I think we chose a good place to start.

And here's the fiction I'm reading. )

I'm going to go play some L5R tonight. I've been saying I will for weeks now. Maybe actually doing it will be just the thing I need.
uberreiniger: (Leviticus)
Wow. Interesting discussions the last few days. It honestly got me to do something I've been toying with for a long time and make a religion-only filter. I have a lot of thoughts on Christianity that sort of whirl around my head in essay form and I'd like to start sharing them, but I've been hesitant to do so. Hence, I'm saying to heck with it and just making a filter for that kind of thing. I might actually make it an entirely seperate journal, but it will depend on how committed I stay to the idea of actually making such posts. Anyway, please comment if you want to be on the filter.
uberreiniger: (Pathetic God)
Job interview yesterday was a very fascinating experience. However I'm not going to take the job. Why? Because it is 100% commission based. And I'm sorry, but I cannot live that way. To be fair, the company looks really solid, and I firmly believed the man when he says your income could reach 50-70K after three years. But he was also upfront about the fact you will NOT be making that much UNTIL the three years are up. If I want to spend three years not making money I'll stay at the job I'm at. Although getting to fly to New York for two weeks for the training seminar would have been fun.

I really don't feel bad about the interview or the day in general at all. I think I learned more about myself yesterday about what I want and need out of a job then I have at any time in the last five years. The interviewer also tossed out a few financial tidbits which are going to affect how I manage my own savings in the near future. If they work better, (and just about anything would work better than the way I'm saving now,) then more good might come of this day then just a failed interview.

It was fun getting dressed up in a suit and slipping and falling on my bum in the first November snowfall, (which itself began as cold November rain. Sing it, Axl!) After I got home Mel and I proceeded to have one of the most magical days we've ever had together. We had Chinese at the FooKee buffet, (a name which we've decided will be a verb in and of itself from here on,) took a very restful nap in which she had a most profound dream. I merely dreamt I was Obi-Wan Kenobi. Then we got up and went out for the evening. We sipped Chantico at Starbucks, browsed books at Barnes & Noble, and had a passionate discussion about God(s) at O'Dowd's Irish Tavern over Harp lager and spinach dip.

And here's a conclusion that discussion led me to. Click here if you're interested. )

Or if you're a jerk like me you'll just say it as God doesn't need you to do His job for Him.
uberreiniger: (Leviticus)
...it's more or less exactly how I feel.

http://www.jesuswouldbeashamedofyou.com/

First posted by [livejournal.com profile] catlin
uberreiniger: (happy tachikoma (machinegirl))
First of all, I am totally all YaY! *cums* over the fact that I now have not 60! Not 70! Not 80! not 90! But ONE HUNDRED icon slots to use! I found out at 10:50 tonight right before I had to come to work so I didn't get a chance to upload new icons, but when I get home... oooohhh baby! This icon whore is going to be ridden hard and put away wet!

Speaking of wetness, I took Mel on her first outing to the plaza and showed her all the beautiful fountains for which Kansas City is known. The weather was perfect and it was just the quintesential day for enjoying the plaza in all its Seville-inspired beauty. I think it's the first time I've ever been on the Plaza and received no snooty stares from uppity rich people... and this was even after daring to park my Corolla in between a Beemer and a Mercedes-Benz! Anyway, most of our Plaza time was spent in the Barnes & Noble, which was nice because I haven't gotten to go in that B&N very often and it was very fun, even if Mel was ready to publicly disown me for repeatedly doing the Happy Banana dance in the elevator.

A book I found: one of the rare moments when I actually purchase a work of non-fiction. )

I need to say thanks to a lot of people. HUGE thanks to [livejournal.com profile] zombiecowboy and Lesley for going to a lot of trouble to host a wonderful birthday party/Mel's welcoming party Sunday night. I got not one, but TWO cakes - gourmet ones at that with fancy-schmancy fondent frosting - and we are still revelling in their buttery sweetness. Thanks to [livejournal.com profile] megiloth, and [livejournal.com profile] yaqui for being kind enough to take a break from trolling cartoon communities and keeping the city's power running respectively to attend said party, and thanks to [livejournal.com profile] thanis_bloodsto for not falling off the Earth for a month this time! Thanks to [livejournal.com profile] cygny for the sweet, wonderful card that arrived in the mail today, and thanks to [livejournal.com profile] elvinborn for going out of her way to tell me how hot she thinks certain men's biceps are what happened on SciFriday this past weekend. I would also like to take a moment to give a happy birthday shout out to [livejournal.com profile] renfestlady whose special day was yesterday. Sorry I didn't know about it or I would have shouted it out sooner!
uberreiniger: (melpomene (enrania))
I don't often talk about books that I read here because no one here has read them and no one cares. But every now and then a book affects me enough to make it worth it. I just finished reading Them by Joyce Carol Oates. I make a point to read a "literary" novel every once and a while to keep my horizons broadened and I read a few pages of this one over at A&A's one day and wanted to know more.

All I can say is I cannot remember the last time a novel plunged me into a mood this black. If you want to read a book where, for 478 pages not one person has anything good ever happen to them or ever does anything nice for another person, then this is it. By that I don't mean to say it's a bad book. If it were a bad book I could dismiss it. But it's not. It's an amazing piece of literature and it's a book that makes you face everything about mankind that you'd rather not think about. I just barely keep those thoughts at bay much of the time as it is, so this novel's really done a number on me.

Right, so yeah. Enough of that. The play nearly met with disaster last night when our Lysander was in a car accident. I guess he has diabetes and passed out behind the wheel. He was unhurt and made it to rehearsal for the final act. Glad it wasn't worse.

I think another thing that's got me down is that LJ as a whole seems to be in one of its periodic upswings where everyone is venting their spleens of how Christians are the Bad Guys, or more often and even worse, the Stupid Guys. I don't know about you, but I would much rather be the Bad Guy then the Stupid Guy. And it's troubling because when you're raised a Christian, you get taught all your life that you're one of the Good Guys. Then you get out to find that no one sees you as the Good Guys; that you're viewed with suspicion at best, or at your best moments, as well-intentioned but clumsy children who don't know their own strength and "don't know any better." And it's not like we shouldn't see it coming. Christ said no servant is greater than his master, that the world will hate you because it first hated Him. But no one ever really prepares you for how to deal with that, day after day, year after year, for the rest of your life. Because that is what it means to follow Him.

Follow Him... yes, that is what I do. Haven't followed the other Christians for about ten years now and still fiercely hesitant to do so. Yet I still feel this overwhelming need to protect them, to speak up for them when no one else will. Because that's what Good Guys do for people, even Bad Guys and, as much as it may pain us, Stupid Guys.

Maybe I need to just not care as much.

Last night Mel and I talked about how people tend to focus on the negative in their journals and that's not what I want to do, so I'll conclude by focusing on the positives. I have love, I have friends old and new, I have roleplaying games, I have acting, I have writing, and a woman who makes wonderful tacos. Her tacos are fucking metal \m/ \m/ Put in that perspective, all the bleak prose and the snarky hatred of the computer world don't really amount to jack squat. And our Shakespearean comedy did not become a tragedy in the very real sense when it very easily could have.

For a fun time, try walking around a grocery store at night still wearing your costume from Shakespeare while the piped-in muzak is Avril Lavigne sneering about how "she don't wanna read Billy Shakespeare." I think it was Avril anyway. Sounded like her voice and the lyrics bore the sparking resonnance typically seen when her two brain-atoms collide inside the vacuum of her skull.
uberreiniger: (jesus christ pose)
[livejournal.com profile] fire2furniture, while filling out a meme, just gave the best answer I have ever heard to the question "do you believe Jesus is the son of God?" It is second only to J.C.'s own classic, cryptic response of "who do you say I am?"

Her answer?

"I haven't seen God dragging Mary onto the Maury Povitch show to prove otherwise."

I cannot stop smiling about this. Priceless. Purely great and priceless.

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