People say they’re [swear words] “just words” and the like. There’s a bit of truth to that. These words – “hell,” for example – are not inherently evil and several are used in the Bible. And there’s no verse that specifically picks out curse words as wrong. However, Ephesians 4:29 says “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Obviously, cursing does not count as “wholesome talk” any more than “to the pain” qualifies as “something totally not made up on the spot to intimidate a royal coward due to being unable to walk properly, much less fence.”
Let’s assume you’ve, somehow, never sinned in your entire life and the Devil’s made it his personal life goal to send you to eternal flames faster than a napalm-soaked Chevy Volt. He doesn’t have to get Mr. Demon Lawyer (but I repeat myself) to draw up a few clauses for you to sign. All he has to do is, you know, toss some wealth your way. Or see to it that your Hittite soldier’s wife bathes in plain view of the palace.
“Dad, do you smell something burning?”
“Oh, that’s probably just the neighbor’s electric car.
Safer than riding around on flammable fuels, you know.”
Renaissance art, pseudoreligious books, and movies have all established a certain image of angels in pop culture. While in some ways this image is totally accurate (they usually get the concept of them being servants of God right), there tends to be a lot that is believed simply because people have believed those things for centuries. Note the absence of the word “millenia” in the previous sentence, which describes how long ago the Bible stopped being written. In the following paragraphs, I’ll try to present a few of the more blatant ones that may or may not outshine the keyboard scene from that one NCIS episode in the spectrum of things made up by ignorant… we’ll call them “artists.”
That’s… not how… how did you get even a single degree, McFluke?! For that matter, how did you even graduate high school?
So, without further ado, a list of angelic characteristics that are completely uncharacteristic of angels:
I went to Chicago over the weekend. My church and many sister churches were part of the ICMC (International Campus Ministry Conference), where a bunch of college students get together and fellowship and learn stuff. On Friday, we had the HOPE “day of service” called “Lots of Change.” Basically, most of the students at the ICMC went around a rough Chicago neighborhood called Englewood and picked up a lot of trash.
Afterwards, we all met up at Sherman Park, had lunch, and listened to a few of the people who organized/sponsored Lots of Change give speeches. It was great and I got to hang out with some friends I haven’t seen in years, but there were two or three things that ticked me off (although this wasn’t a surprise; it is Chicago).
An Illinois state senator got up and gave a short speech. In it, he quoted MLK and, later, read a bit from one of the Corinthean books (he just said “Corintheans” without a number – and I think without a chapter or verse). Anyway, when he mentioned Corintheans, a bunch of students cheered a bit (we weren’t expecting a secular speaker to read from the Bible). He then destroyed any rapport he’d gained with us with a snide remark along these lines “So Corintheans gets applause and MLK doesn’t?”
That’s right, Mr. Senator. MLK was definitely a great guy and a historic figure, but there are two reasons we would honor Corintheans more than him.
Everyone and his dog quotes MLK. This is not a bad thing, but if people applauded every time MLK was quoted, we’d probably need new hands (evidenced by the fact that the speaker before him also quoted MLK).
Any true Christian would not put MLK on the same level as the apostles. And I really, really doubt MLK would put himself on the same level as them. He was a great orator and all, but the apostles had the explicit approval of the Lord.
At some point, Chicago’s mayor Richard Daley gave a speech. First of all, let me say that I’m automatically suspicious of anyone who’s held a position like mayor for over twenty years – be they hardcore conservative or super-green-hippie liberal. But more specifically, he brought two political issues into his speech that had no business there.
He spoke very passionately against the U.S. gun industry. He specifically mentioned an NRA rider on the Obamacare bill that prevents a gun owner’s insurance from going up or something if he accidentally shoots his neighbor’s kid.
He talked about how we need to stop the warmongers.
Let me first say that if that rider he mentioned is what he made it out to be, then I agree with him that it shouldn’t have been passed. That said, he had no business attacking the gun industry.
I’m sure he utilizes many guns indirectly. He’s a mayor! He’s got bodyguards, and there’s a large police force in his city. What does he think they use to defend folks? Archery?
Guns are no more evil than the Internet, or pencils, or hammers, or any other tool. And a mayor who’s probably (albeit unintentionally) helped the illegal gun industry a lot (by supporting gun bans) shouldn’t be criticizing the legitimate gun industry.
It isn’t the wisest thing to mention any political issue when you’re talking to folks from all over the country – and even some other countries. The majority of the guys staying in my hotel room were pretty ticked off by his comments.
When he talked about warmongers, I’m assuming he meant proponents of our military presence in the Middle East (he complained that we spend billions of dollars on our military overseas, but can’t spend the money to help people in Chicago’s low-class neighborhoods) or perhaps Republicans in general, since that is one of the Dem’s nicknames for the GOP.
I may not fully agree with the military’s actions, but you cannot deny the good we have done in Iraq, at least. You cannot honestly compare cleaning up trash to saving many lives from terrorism/militant fascism.
No one who spends their city’s money on “green” stuff has any right to complain about how the nation’s money is spent on the military (he was touted for his environmentalism, among other things, when he was introduced). Even if I thought “climate change” was a threat, I’d consider other things much more important (at least immediately so).
Maybe you ought to focus less on funneling money into the areas and more on convincing those who need help to help themselves. I’m not saying we shouldn’t do stuff like what we did at Lots of Change, but anything you do to help them like that is just a quick fix; a remedy for the symptoms. There were several people who came out and watched us pick up trash. They were nice and polite and all (and they thanked us, too), but why weren’t they cleaning up? This trash we picked up was usually on or near the sidewalk; a lot of it was in people’s own front yards! They just don’t care enough to clean it up. Until you fix that, the trash will just build up again. This principle transfers to more serious things, too. You could confiscate all the guns in Englewood (which had well over 100 homicides this past year), but until you get a stronger police presence (only so much police is good), or eliminate the desire to kill each other, or loosen gun control laws (enabling folks to defend themselves – the laws obviously aren’t stopping the violence), or some combination thereof, you’ll continue to have violence and they’ll just get replacements.
I was watching Expelled and when I heard the segment from this song (Evolution) I had to stop watching and search the Internet for it. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a song that’s had little exposure, has a one-word title, a nobody artist, and the title of a controversial issue that’s also in the titles of more famous songs?
Evolution by Kevin Lee:
I didn’t crawl out of the ocean. I didn’t come from no monkey.
Science tends to forget; evolution’s just a theory.
They present it in the textbooks and on animal TV
Like it’s fact. But, tell me, were you there twelve million B.C.
.
And if you’re right and there’s no God, I guess we’ll all know before too long
If there’s nothing to believe in after we’re gone.
If you’re right I’ll eat my words and you can disregard this song.
But I’d hate to be in your shoes when you find out that you’re wrong.
.
When did evolution stop? ‘Cause fish still swim in the sea.
And last time that I checked, apes still lived in trees.
They’re not our distant cousins. And I don’t care what you say;
Giraffe’s neck is long because God made it that way.
.
And if you’re right and there’s no God, I guess we’ll all know before too long
If there’s nothing to believe in after we’re gone.
If you’re right I’ll eat my words and you can disregard this song.
But I’d hate to be in your shoes when you find out that you’re wrong.
.
Now it doesn’t take a genius to know there’s more than this.
But I’ll put my faith in the Word of God – not in scientists.
There’s nothing wrong with science. There’s too much good to list.
But you can stop trying to teach my kid to become an atheist.
.
And if you’re right and there’s no God, I guess we’ll all know before too long
If there’s nothing to believe in after we’re gone.
If you’re right I’ll eat my words and you can disregard this song.
But I’d hate to be in your shoes when you find out that you’re wrong.
Yeah, I’d hate to be in your shoes when you find out that you’re wrong.
This is an update from the original Obama Hates Me post. I am not a singer, but my sister happened to visit my house today, and she is. No instruments and you can kind of tell it was made by amateurs, but it’s good if I do say so myself. Slightly different lyrics from the original.
Obama Hates Me, a SCAAC original parody: Written by Guffy Conservative with Contributions from SisterO. Sung by SisterO (download):
I’m not going to go into all the non-logics of my discussion with obdaddy that I missed yesterday, but I just have to mention the ending of his last message. It was in response to my last message, wherein I cited a few bits of evidence in favor of the Bible (specifically, archaelogical and genetic). His response was this:
…Had you come back with personal anecdote, perhaps an honest if subjective discussion on your personal reasons I might be more willing to continue. Genetic evidence? next you’ll be saying that the Theory of Evolution is simply a theory. Like saying a bat is simply a winged mammal that baseball players use to hit a ball.
I’m pretty confused by that last sentence – he seems to be attacking my ability to tell the difference between a bat animal and the baseball equipment. Whatever – anyway, what I wanted to draw attention to was the first sentence. Essentially, what he’s saying is that he’s put off by me citing facts. He would be more willing to continue the discussion if I just told a personal story. This is the same guy who has consistently told me that I am afraid of or blind to logic. He claims to be more logical, while criticizing me for using facts instead of a personal story to support my view. And FYI, whether or not you think the Theory of Evolution is true, it is a theory. Just as it is not possible to prove God’s existence because it requires faith, so it is impossible to prove evolution because humans have not existed long enough to get a sufficient sample of biological development to prove evolution. And without proof, a theory is no more than a theory.
I left a couple of comments on a YouTube video of the Alan Grayson thing and got suckered into a debate with this guy obdaddy. So far, we’ve gone back and forth on waterboarding, torture, religion, the media, Rush, Crowder, Obama, liberalism, conservatism, and a good bit more. Essentially, he’s a bitter middle-aged man who can’t send a message or leave a comment without being condescending (concerning our age gap), insulting people (“tea baggers”), or something of the like.
It’s almost funny how he calls me a “zombie” and a “sheep” when he regurgitates (or at least appears to) stuff I’ve heard many, many times. Let’s just go through a quick rundown of some of what he’s said to me.
He really harped on Rush being a druggie, despite me trying to explain that Rush got hooked on what was originally necessary medicine (or as necessary as painkillers can be). He also consistently ignored the fact that Rush kicked the drug.
He told me to stop mindlessly listening to Hannity, Beck, and the like. I told him I’ve watched Hannity maybe three times and I’ve never even heard or watched Beck, or any of a number of other people he mentioned. He proceeded to call me a liar. To which I say, why would I lie about something like that? I told him I listen to Rush! Why wouldn’t I “admit” to listening to Beck or Hannity if I did? It makes no sense to me.
He said that waterboarding is torture because the waterboard-ee doesn’t know that it’s relatively harmless. So, apparently, we’re now allowing the ignorance (or lack thereof) of terrorists to dictate what we define as torture.
He accused me of being in a cult when I said I believe that the overwhelming majority of “Christians” are not Christians at all. However, I gave him specific Biblical reasons for this. He replied by saying that not everyone believes the Bible. To which I said that that doesn’t matter! Do you have to believe the Qur’an in order to use it to determine whether or not someone’s a Muslim? No.
He called pretty much every sort of media “snake oil salesman” (Rush, ESPN, liberal news, Disney, etc.), apparently because their motivation is selling adspace and stuff. I’ve asked him if he hates capitalism or something, but no response to that yet.
He says that I’m just a young idealist who’ll learn better as I grow. Does that ring just plain false with anyone else? Let’s see, the demographics show that a much bigger proportion of middle-aged people are conservative compared to the number of college students who are conservative. Seems to me that it is far more likely that my peers will grow to be conservatives, rather than us few conservatives growing to be liberals.
He essentially called liberalism the ideal of being benevolent, of helping society’s weak and claimed that conservatives construe health care for all as “evil.” I asked him what he, personally, does to help society’s weak and gave a few examples of what I’ve done, pointing out that liberals would actually have laws passed forcing others to care for society’s weak, rather than caring for them themselves. He hasn’t yet cited a single thing he’s done to care for the weak. He also told me not to try and pass off missionary work as anything other than condescending and rude. Someone’s got to explain that one to me.
He said Tea Partiers are racist and hateful but has yet to supply a single example (although I did ask). He claims he’s not calling me racist but says I “protest too much” when I gave him the short version of what’s in my letter to Janeane Garofalo.
It’s been a while, I know. Needed a break from politics. Anyway, I’ve been keeping up with IMAO, and this post struck me as particularly funny:
I was thinking that while conservatives are concerned about important things like terrorism and preserving freedom, liberals are always worried about silly pansy things. Maybe, though, to help them out, we can try using our practical conservative know-how to solve them.
SISSY LIBERAL PROBLEM: Global warming.
CONSERVATIVE SOLUTION: Destroy the sun.
SISSY LIBERAL PROBLEM: Children have low self-esteem.
CONSERVATIVE SOLUTION: Drop children in the middle of enemy territory. Those that make it back will have earned self-esteem.
SISSY LIBERAL PROBLEM: Muslims feel unfairly discriminated against.
CONSERVATIVE SOLUTION: Forcefully convert them to Christianity.
SISSY LIBERAL PROBLEM: Not enough support for the arts.
CONSERVATIVE SOLUTION: Classify monster trucks as art.
SISSY LIBERAL PROBLEM: Endangered species.
CONSERVATIVE SOLUTION: Drop endangered species in the middle of enemy territory. Those that make it back will be toughened up to help their survival. All others probably deserved to go extinct.
SISSY LIBERAL PROBLEM: Plastics don’t biodegrade.
CONSERVATIVE SOLUTION: Load plastics into rocket and fire them into the sun. If we’ve destroyed the sun, fire rocket to moon. Nuke moon.
“Practising Christian” Barack Hussein Obama claims that, by the number of Muslims, America is one of the largest Muslim countries in the world. I wasn’t aware that the 48th largest Muslim country (pretty small, for the 3rd most populous country in the world) was “one of the largest”.
Now why would he say something like that? It’s not remotely true. Going by the same logic, Ghana is one of the largest countries in the world. It is the 48th largest country by population, with approximately 23 million people. The only reasons I can see for that are that either he’s a closet Muslim, which I’m still reluctant to believe, or that he’s trying to cater to Muslims (or both). Why does he insist on catering to Muslims? They’re not going to stop attacking us and it doesn’t make him more popular, except among the few radicals who wouldn’t ever vote for a Republican in a million years anyway.
All together now: “Drop. Your. Sword.“
Chicago
Posted by guffyconservative on 08/02/2010
I went to Chicago over the weekend. My church and many sister churches were part of the ICMC (International Campus Ministry Conference), where a bunch of college students get together and fellowship and learn stuff. On Friday, we had the HOPE “day of service” called “Lots of Change.” Basically, most of the students at the ICMC went around a rough Chicago neighborhood called Englewood and picked up a lot of trash.
Afterwards, we all met up at Sherman Park, had lunch, and listened to a few of the people who organized/sponsored Lots of Change give speeches. It was great and I got to hang out with some friends I haven’t seen in years, but there were two or three things that ticked me off (although this wasn’t a surprise; it is Chicago).
An Illinois state senator got up and gave a short speech. In it, he quoted MLK and, later, read a bit from one of the Corinthean books (he just said “Corintheans” without a number – and I think without a chapter or verse). Anyway, when he mentioned Corintheans, a bunch of students cheered a bit (we weren’t expecting a secular speaker to read from the Bible). He then destroyed any rapport he’d gained with us with a snide remark along these lines “So Corintheans gets applause and MLK doesn’t?”
That’s right, Mr. Senator. MLK was definitely a great guy and a historic figure, but there are two reasons we would honor Corintheans more than him.
At some point, Chicago’s mayor Richard Daley gave a speech. First of all, let me say that I’m automatically suspicious of anyone who’s held a position like mayor for over twenty years – be they hardcore conservative or super-green-hippie liberal. But more specifically, he brought two political issues into his speech that had no business there.
Let me first say that if that rider he mentioned is what he made it out to be, then I agree with him that it shouldn’t have been passed. That said, he had no business attacking the gun industry.
When he talked about warmongers, I’m assuming he meant proponents of our military presence in the Middle East (he complained that we spend billions of dollars on our military overseas, but can’t spend the money to help people in Chicago’s low-class neighborhoods) or perhaps Republicans in general, since that is one of the Dem’s nicknames for the GOP.
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Posted in Christianity, College/NCSU, Gun Control, HOPE, ICMC, Spending | Tagged: "Corintheans", "Lots, (albeit, (although, (as, (enabling, (evidenced, (he, (Passed), -, 1, 100, 2, 3, A, about, accidentally, actions, again, against, agree, all, along, also, among, an, and, any, anyone, anything, Anyway, Apostles, applauded, applause, approval, archery, Are, areas, aren't, around, assuming, at, attacking, automatically, bad, bans), Basically, be, been, before, Bible, bill, billions, bit, bodyguards, books, brought, build, bunch, business, but, by, called, came, campus, can't, cannot, care, change, chapter, cheered, chicago, Chicago's, Chicago). An, christian, church, churches, city, city's, clean, cleaning, climate, college, combination, comments. When, compare, complain, complained, Conference), confiscate, conservative, consider, continue, control, convincing, Corinthean, could, countries, Country, criticizing, Daley, day, defend, definitely, dems, deny, desire, destroyed, did, do, does, doesn't?" That's, dog, dollars, Don't, done, doubt.", Each, East, eliminate, Englewood, enough, environmentalism, even, Every, everyone, Evil, expecting, explicit, fact, fascism, fellowship, few, figure, First, fix;, focus, folks?, for, force, Friday, friends, from, front, fully, funneling, gained, gave, general, get, Gets, give, Going, good, gop, Got, great, green, guffy, guffyconservative, gun, guns, guy, guys, had, hammers, hands, hang, hardcore, has, Have, haven't, he'd, he's, held, help, helped, him, himself, his, historic, homicides, honestly, honor, hope, hotel, how, I, I'm, I'd, ICMC, if, illegal, illinois, immediately, important, in, indirectly., Industry, insurance, international, Internet, into, introduced)., Iraq, is, Isn't, issue, issues, It, Just, kid., kill, large, later, laws, learn, least, legitimate, less, let, level, liberal, Like, lines, listened, lives, loosen, Lord. At, lot, low-class, lunch., Made, majority, many, may, Maybe, mayor, Me!, meant, mention, mentioned, met, middle, military, military's, Ministry, mlk, money, More, most, Mr., much, My, nations, near, need, neighbor's, neighborhood, neighborhoods), new, nice, nicknames, No, not, NRA, number, obamacare, obviously, of, off, on, one, Only, or, orator, organized/sponsored, Other, ought, our, out, over, overseas, own, owner's, park, part, passionately, past, pencils, people, peoples', perhaps, pick, picked, point, police, polite, political, position, presence, pretty, prevents, principle, Probably, proponents, put, quick, Quoted, quotes, rapport, Read, really, reasons), remark, remedy, replacements., republicans, Richard, rider, right, room, rough, said, same, saving, Say, saying, secular, seen, Senator, serious, service, several, Sherman, shoots, short, shouldn't, sidewalk;, since, sister, snide, so, Some, something, speaker, specifically, speech, Speeches, spend, spends, spent, spoke, state, staying, stop, stopping, stronger, students, stuff, super-green-hippie, supporting, sure, surprise, suspicious, symptoms., talked, talking, terrorism/militant, than, thanked, that, the, their, them, themselves, then, there, There's, thereof, these, they, they'll, thing, things, think, This, those, thought, threat, three, ticked, time, to, together, too, tool., touted, transfers, trash, trash. Afterwards, true, twenty, two, u.s., unintentionally), Until, Up, us, use, usually, utilizes, verse)., very, Violence, warmongers, warmongers. Let, Was, Wasn't, watched, we, we'd, We'll, weekend., went, Were, weren't, what, when, where, which, who, who's, why, will, wisest, With, without, would, yards!, year, years, you, you'll, you're | 2 Comments »