tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31301178105431213212024-03-13T08:00:01.246-07:00Religion, Politics, and SexThis site is dedicated to intelligent, original, and tolerant commentary on the three subjects that used to be off-limits in polite conversation and have now become anything but polite. Why have so many people become ignorant, hateful, and uncivil? If you are disturbed by this trend then what appears here might be of some interest to you!Michael O. Varholahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02926860732348083635noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3130117810543121321.post-67901556182408688322016-12-24T12:30:00.000-08:002016-12-24T22:02:09.141-08:00Choosing to Have a Happy Holiday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Israel some 2,000 years ago was as diverse and multicultural as about any place on Earth. Readers to whom this has not occured should recall that the region was occupied by the Roman Empire, that it had maintained strong ties with the Greek world since Alexander the Great had incorporated it into his empire some three centuries earlier, and that it was a crossroads connecting Europe, Africa, and Asia. So, exactly 20 centuries ago, people in Jerusalem and the surrounding lands were celebrating dozens, if not hundreds, of different holidays. And yet, there is not one episode in the Bible of Jesus or any of his followers snarling in displeasure because some good-natured Roman, Greek, or other pagan wished them a "happy holiday" during this festive time of year. <br />
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It is, frankly, inconceivable to me that Jesus would have responded in this way. For me, it is a matter of faith that Jesus was not a bitter, petty man, and we know from the Bible that he responded to the worst cruelty with gentle words and forgiveness. So it seems unthinkable that he would have replied to well-intended words with unpleasantness, and I imagine that when someone wished Jesus "Happy holidays!" that he simply smiled and returned the sentiment. It is thus somewhat baffling and distressing to see so many of Jesus's supposed followers in our own age responding to sincere holiday wishes with anger and affront. <br />
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And yet every year we see the stories on the news about the angry, stupid people who fume about being offended, about the fictitious "War on Christmas," about rights they have supposedly lost, because people better and nicer than them have condescended to wish them a "happy holiday." <br />
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This sort of reaction would, in any event, seem to go contrary to Christian values. Isn't Christianity, after all, supposed to be a joyful religion? But there does not seem to be any joy in the angry "Christians" who take offense at people wishing them the best during the holidays. Isn't Christianty supposed to be a religion of forgiveness? Vindictiveness would certainly seem to be almost the opposite of that. And isn't Christianity supposed to be based upon an individual's freedom of choice? Censuring, punishing, or goading people to observe only one's own holiday would likewise seem to be an attempt to rob them of their free choice. Responding unpleasantly to wishes of "happy holidays" would thus appear to actually be anti-Christian in character. Baby Jesus did not cry when the pagan magi wished the shepherds "happy holidays" when they entered his manger, but he probably would if he could hear the angry minions who claim to follow him being nasty to well-wishers during this time of year. <br />
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So, I would like to wish you a Happy Holiday, whether that holiday is Christmas -- which I myself celebrate -- Hannukah, Eid, the Winter Solstice, Saturnalia, or anything else. And, it is completely up to you as to whether you will have a happy holiday, or instead choose to be angry because other people are enjoying this time of year in a manner other than your own.Michael O. Varholahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02926860732348083635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3130117810543121321.post-2911496377635587352016-04-01T13:16:00.001-07:002016-04-07T12:06:40.228-07:00Trump to be First African-American, LGBT, Jewish Presidential Candidate<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrDjJevoXoHSxouuGrjpdJSkC5YbpTR19GimO2jO4jQWJ9Ph66KPUcxpwKwerGDmiNkvnEmO-iCMi41vUvh5lz1u8tLMBv4-JVwehowqNP8EqkJBp3gA52WKvJT8tFIq34pNhyoaTOeFd8/s1600/donald-trump-trans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrDjJevoXoHSxouuGrjpdJSkC5YbpTR19GimO2jO4jQWJ9Ph66KPUcxpwKwerGDmiNkvnEmO-iCMi41vUvh5lz1u8tLMBv4-JVwehowqNP8EqkJBp3gA52WKvJT8tFIq34pNhyoaTOeFd8/s200/donald-trump-trans.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In a dramatic attempt to woo voters across the political and cultural spectrum, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has announced that he will become the first African-American, transgender, lesbian, Jewish contender for the White House. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This transformation, Trump said, will involve a rigorous course of gender reassignment, hormone therapy, and rabbinical training. He also produced a birth certificate showing he was born in Kenya, and therefore by definition an African-American. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"No diggity, homies," said Trump, dressed in a FUBU track suit and nursing a 40-ounce bottle of malt liquor, in the address to the NAACP where he made his announcement. "I love the blacks! And they love me, believe me, they do." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"Whazzup, thick?" Trump said to DNC Vice Chairwoman Donna Brazile as he unsuccessfully tried to dap with her following the meeting. "My next wife is going to be a black chick. But a young one, of course." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Trump's announcement was, met with skepticism by women's rights groups, the LGBT community, African-Americans, Jews, and the electorate in general, amid questions over whether this could harm his appeal with his base. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"I'll have blood coming out of my eyes, blood coming out of my wherever once I'm a woman, and my boobs will be <i>huuuuge</i>," Trump responded. "And I'll still be white and rich, so all those trailer people who come to my rallies are still going to love me." </span>Michael Varholahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04888127744366217274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3130117810543121321.post-90068656875907276762015-11-11T00:15:00.000-08:002015-11-11T14:55:45.461-08:00The Book of the Dead<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ucwOC05ca7AtVUUNrRXOwhUQYs_SfUhUyHmKGzyqMggrwWDB2XlZdvP8AqM8y__VWjya9cP6M_C9Nq6y3mujKTKfJ2WvdEtE5fmZdnVi_vu2GLhXvbUQF7R-yYHBVqlKHsnFOFj2kP4/s1600/occult_illustration_3_by_hauntingvisionsstock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ucwOC05ca7AtVUUNrRXOwhUQYs_SfUhUyHmKGzyqMggrwWDB2XlZdvP8AqM8y__VWjya9cP6M_C9Nq6y3mujKTKfJ2WvdEtE5fmZdnVi_vu2GLhXvbUQF7R-yYHBVqlKHsnFOFj2kP4/s200/occult_illustration_3_by_hauntingvisionsstock.jpg" width="141" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When
the Alliance forces stopped their drive into Iraq in March 1991, the 3<sup>rd</sup>
Armored Division—the unit I was attached to—was about 350 miles southeast of
Baghdad. While in the years to come there would be much criticism of the U.S.
government's decision to cease attacking and advancing into Iraq, at the time
there was hardly a person on the ground who was not baffled by it. After four
days of fighting, frontline Iraqi formations were scattered, on the run, and
surrendering; elite Republican Guard units were falling back on the capital and
attempting to intercept an Iranian drive on the religious city of Karbala; and
Saddam Hussein, the latter-day Hitler of the Middle East, was still very much
in power.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Before
the four-day ground war had erupted, the Alliance army—made up mainly of
Americans, Brits, French, Egyptians, small contingents of Arabs from the
various minor Gulf states, and even Syrians—had massed along the Iraqi border
in Saudi Arabia, dodging sporadic Scud attacks and letting waves of bombers
blow the hell out of Iraqi soldiers and cities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">My
unit, the 404<sup>th</sup> Civil Affairs Company, a reserve unit from Trenton,
New Jersey, landed in Saudi Arabia on February 5, 1991. In the weeks prior to
our departure from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, analysts had predicted 50,000
dead and wounded Americans in the first two weeks of fighting with Iraq, which
was expected to utilize chemical, biological, and maybe even tactical nuclear
weapons. A lot of the people in our unit—and presumably other units as
well—were scared as hell at the prospect of flying into that kind of a
situation, and many had tried everything they could to avoid being sent
overseas with the rest of the company. In retrospect, of course, because of the
actual low casualty rates, the ignominy of evading duty with one's unit is both
easier to forget and all the more foolish. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">When
the transport aircraft we were riding in began its descent toward Dahran Air
Base in Saudi Arabia, I expected a scene like I had read about in accounts of
the Vietnam War sieges of Dien Bien Phu or Khe San—rockets pounding into the
tarmac, soldiers burrowed in holes in the ground until mortar rounds or
artillery shells hit and churned them out, commanders desperately trying to
counter waves of sappers as they came over the wire … When we landed, we were
greeted by some of the people from our unit who had flown in the week before as
an advance party, and warned to watch out for the small clusters of wily-looking
regular Army soldiers who lurked about the air base, looking for the chance to
steal equipment from incoming troops. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">After
a brief stay in El Khobar Towers (made famous by a car bombing several years
after Desert Storm), the 404th issued me a truck and sent me and about half of
the other people in the unit out in small detachments to several of the combat
units massing on the Iraqi frontier; as Civil Affairs soldiers, our job was to
interact with civilians and refugees who ended up in the path of the army.
Coincidentally, the soldiers who remained behind in Dahran were all
longstanding members of 404th; those who were sent out into the war were
members of a small unit from Connecticut that had been merged with the company
to round out its strength; individuals like myself who had been called back to
military service for the war; and a handful of 404<sup>th</sup> veterans who
deeply resented being sent out with the other sacrificial lambs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">After
a drive north up the Saudi coast past Jubail, our mini-convoy of two trucks
headed inland, northwest, along Trans-Arabian Pipeline Road, referred to in
speech as Tapline Road. Our destination was King Khalid Military City (KKMC), a
major Saudi military base whose location is so secret that it is not supposed
to appear on maps and even we were not given its location, just directions on
how to get to it. After arriving in the neighborhood of KKMC, we were to find
the 2<sup>nd</sup> Brigade of the 3<sup>rd</sup> Armored Division, for which we
would provide Civil Affairs support. Our trip inland was attended by rain, fog,
and frost on our windshields in the morning, conditions not hinted at by the
reports of journalists stationed on the Gulf Coast. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">We
rendezvoused in the desert with the 2<sup>nd</sup> Brigade after several days
of driving to and around KKMC, arriving at a chaotic mustering area in the
dark, vehicles shambling around in every direction, navigating only in the dim
green light of night observation goggles, headlights being banned for security
reasons. It was under these conditions that the first sergeant of the company
we camped near was killed, run over as he slept by a sort of military
18-wheeler called a Hemmit. This incident was viewed as an inauspicious omen,
and demoralized many of the troops who heard about it, especially those in the
dead man's company. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Shortly
thereafter we began to advance on the Iraqi border. While the combat elements
of the brigade led the way with tanks, armored personnel carriers, and
self-propelled artillery pieces, my truck fell into formation with the massive
trains of support vehicles that followed in their wake. The trucks, Humvees,
personnel carriers, and other support vehicles traveled in six columns, each
separated by 50 meters; these columns stretched nearly two kilometers in
length, each vehicle 50 meters behind the last. So, each vehicle was separated
by 50 meters from the ones to its front, back, left, and right (unless it was
on an outside column, in which case it did not have anything on one side, or at
the very front or very rear of a column). This great formation, a block of
vehicles 250 meters wide and almost 2,000 meters long, roared across the desert
toward the heart of Iraq, a shaft pushing along a tempered steel head. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">At
night, the columns would come to a halt, gingerly tighten up the interval
between vehicles to just a few feet, and block off the alleys in between the
columns by parking trucks at their ends. It was in these spaces that we camped
at night. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I
made friends with some of the other soldiers in the unit, among them Specialist
Todd Blair and Captain Christine Maruffo. One of the ways we entertained
ourselves at night was by telling stories or by reading to each other. My
choice for reading material was a book by H.P. Lovecraft that I had brought
with me, and Blair's choice was P. J. O'Rourke's <i>Holidays in Hell</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Coincidentally,
many of Lovecraft's stories, written in the 1920s and '30s, took place in or
referred to events in Mesopotamia, Iraq, the area we were entering. His dark,
nightmarish stories, perfect for reading by the glow of a chem-light while crammed
into a Humvee, deal with primordial gods and races who prey upon a largely
unsuspecting humanity. One of his subjects is a book called the <i>Necronomicon</i>, the Book of the Dead, a
tome that appears in or is mentioned in a great number of his stories. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">After
days of driving through endless expanses of flat, featureless, rocky desert, we
came upon a huge earthen berm, erected by Hussein's troops as a defensive
barrier against invasion from the west. Great holes appeared in the earthwork
every half mile or so, breached by American combat engineers, and the vehicles
of our column drove through one-by-one, reassembling on the other side. A large
placard identified the unit that had excavated the breach that we drove
through: the 82<sup>nd</sup> Engineer Battalion, the same unit my grandfather
had been a member of when it plowed through northern France toward Germany in
1944, after the breakout from Normandy. That unit had been stationed in
Bamberg, West Germany, when I lived there as a child, and I used to walk past a
similar sign identifying its headquarters when I wandered around the U.S. Army
post in the afternoons after school. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">For
four days after we entered Iraq through its western wall, we followed the
combat forces as they finished off and routed the Iraqi army. At night, we
could watch the lights of B-52s stream eastward across the sky like flocks of
shooting stars to drop payloads of bombs on cites, troops, or minefields, and
near dawn we could see them returning to their bases in Saudi Arabia; the
horizon a kilometer or two ahead of us would be lit by cannon and rifle fire
and the muffled sounds of combat. In the morning, we would advance onto the
battlefields, past smoldering tanks, collapsed bunkers, overrun fortifications.
Small packs of dogs trotted everywhere, emboldened by the taste of human flesh.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">After
four days, a "100-hour war," the Alliance ceased its drive against
the Iraqi forces, a decision that, while it has ultimately baffled many, first
mystified the soldiers on the ground. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Once
the actual fighting had ended, our work as Civil Affairs soldiers began.
Initially, we set up camp at the furthest extent of U.S. advancement into Iraq,
on a stretch of road called Highway 8, and began to provide aid for refugees
coming down the road from the northwest, from the direction of Baghdad, headed
southeast toward Iran, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. We distributed food, directed
people into medical tents, told people how Saddam Hussein had been defeated,
how they had nothing to fear any more, how the superiority of our arms had
determined the future for Iraq. We also searched vehicles headed into our zone
of control (very few people were actually on foot), clearing people out of
buses, cars, and trucks, and confiscating any weapons we found. While people in
the United States were debating whether to arm Saddam Hussein's enemies, we
were taking from them the few weapons they had. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">At
one point, a delegation of Bedouins came to us because they wanted to be
supplied with weapons; brigade and division commanders bumped such civilian
delegations on to the Civil Affairs people, as it was our job to deal with civilian concerns. Our
commander explained that the people who made this decision were in Safwan, a
village on the Kuwaiti border 80 miles to the southeast. Some of the soldiers
snickered at their mode of transportation, a dump truck, and others at their
store-bought robes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">A
few days later, the Bedouins showed up again, having been rebuffed in Safwan
and sent back to us. They were almost out of gas, had left their families alone
for a long time, wanted to know what we could do for them. Nothing, of course;
not our problem. But we smiled, were friendly, quite unlike the way they
thought soldiers were supposed to behave. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">That
more than anything baffled the people we dealt with. When they saw soldiers and
guns, they expected to be shot at. We never shot at anyone, and probably no
Iraqi civilian was shot at by an American during the entire operation. We
smiled, shook their hands, gave them food, won their hearts and minds, took
their guns, and sent them on their way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">After
a few weeks of disarming people, my two-truck Civil Affairs team headed
southeast, toward Safwan, where so many of the refugees had been heading. For
many of them, their escape from Iraq ended there; many non-Shiites were afraid
to go across the Shaat al-Arab into Iran, and Kuwait and Saudi Arabia were
refusing entry to most refugees. A series of refugee camps were thus set up in
and around the little town. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">During
our stay in Safwan, we oversaw food distribution for the local people. One of
the three main clans who controlled the village would assist us, while the
other townspeople would line up to receive their rations. Nearly every day,
shoving, wailing, reentering lines, stealing, and every other predictable antic
culminated in a full-blown food riot, with incendiaries being flung over the walls
of the school we were operating from, and troops rushing from corner to corner
of the compound, battling hand-to-hand with rifle butts the clusters of people
who began to grow into a mob. Finally, we would abandon the remains of the
food, pile into our trucks, and drive out through the mob as they rushed to
pillage the last of the supplies. This routine was repeated on a daily basis. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">These
rioters were, as noted, Iraqi villagers, not refugees. Indeed, there was very
little unrest in the refugee camps, where the people seemed, uncannily, to be
very well behaved. As it turned out, however, the circumstances of their best
behavior were not all that uncanny, as another Civil Affairs soldier explained
to me ... <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Apparently,
the commander of the 3<sup>rd</sup> Armored Division had ordered that a large
book, a big blank tome found in a school or other official building, be made
available to the refugees. Those who wanted to go to America when the G.I.s pulled
out just needed to sign their names in it and then behave themselves until it
was time to go. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Over
the next few months, as U.S. forces pulled out of the area, very few, maybe
none, of the people who signed that book were ever taken out of Iraq by the
United States. And what of the book? Was it taken back, like some gruesome
relic, a stack of paper permeated with the souls of thousands? Not too damned
likely; it is hard to imagine anyone who would want evidence like that ever
turning up against them, a book full of pointing, accusing fingers. Was it
burned? I hope so. Because if it was left behind, of course, it probably ended
up in the hands of the Iraqi secret police, followed soon thereafter by the
people they represented. The people whose hearts and minds we won, who we
professed our friendship to. The people who could not escape into liberated
Kuwait, who could not enter a U.S-defended Saudi Arabia. Sometimes I wonder
where they are today, so many years
after they signed their names in that book … God only knows. I hope when the
Republican Guards swept back into southern Iraq that those people swore
allegiance to Saddam Hussein, spat on the American flag, cursed Uncle Sam. It
does not hurt a single American if they did, and it very well might have helped
some of them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Despite
the months of invective against him in the months leading up to Desert Storm,
and the years following the 1991 operations, Saddam Hussein remained in power another
12 years. Reasons given for why he was not ousted at the time were as diverse
as they were meaningless—fear of a power vacuum that will be filled by even
"worse" powers, an inability to remove him because of the limitations
of the U.N. mandate that called for the Alliance to drive Iraqi forces from
Kuwait, fears that the tables would have been turned on the Alliance forces if
they had made it as far as Baghdad. Sane minds are forced to reject other
notions that creep into them, dismal, lingering fears that those who rule
countries have a greater affinity with their counterparts even in enemy states
than they do with the masses of their own nations, more sympathy for those who
command opposing forces than for the troops who fill their own armies. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And
if little regard was ultimately to be given for the American soldiers who
fought in the sands of the Middle East then and in the decades that followed,
what was given to the masses of refugees who were led to believe that those
soldiers were their friends, that the United States would, inexplicably, save
them? What became of the people who signed their names in that book in a
village in southern Iraq? I have no idea whether or not there is any truth to
the myth that angels enter into a Book of Life that sits near the gates of
Heaven the names of those who have been blessed. For a certainty, however, I
know that for a short time a Book of the Dead could be found in the desert
outside a village near the gates of Hell, and into it were entered the names of
the damned. </span></div>
Michael O. Varholahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02926860732348083635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3130117810543121321.post-44414486636248953012015-09-17T23:48:00.000-07:002015-09-18T03:57:29.546-07:00Improved Republican Presidential Candidate Code Names<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">During
the September 17 Republican Presidential Debate at the Reagan Presidential
Library in Simi Valley, California, each of the 11 candidates was given the
opportunity to say what their Secret Service code names would be. None of them
were quite right and some were absolutely wrong, so we decided to come up with
some more appropriate selections here. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>Jeb
Bush:</b> "Eveready." Oh yeah, we are really feeling this allusion to
high-energy batteries. In light of some of his recent comments, Jeb really comes off as much more of a "Momma's
Boy." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>Ben
Carson:</b> "One Nation." Yeah, well, this doesn't really sound like a
name for a person, especially one who seems to be perpetually doing a Tommy
Chong impression ... Oh, there we go! "Tommy Chong" it is. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>Chris
Christie:</b> "True Heart." Wait, did he mean to say "Enlarged
Heart"? That would work better, but we are nonetheless going to go with
"Deep Dish." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>Ted
Cruz:</b> "Cohiba." Nope. That is appealingly phallic but he was already,
and will increasingly become, "Grandpa Munster." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>Carly
Fiorina:</b> "Secretariat." OMG, and right after one of her opponents
said she had a face like a horse? Really? Maybe we will just let her have this
one, unless she wants to switch over to "Mrs. Ed" ...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>Mike
Huckabee:</b> "Duck Hunter." Does this guy actually hunt ducks? Mostly we just see him doing
things like visiting homophobes in jail and encouraging them to break the laws of
the land. "Civil Disobedience" it is. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>John
Kasich:</b> "Unit One." Uh huh. But what if the bad guys know that's
already your Ohio code name? "You-Nit-Wit" is
probably a little more accurate. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>Marco
Rubio:</b> "Gator." Cute, Marco, but no, alligators don't bring their own beverages when they visit California and you will henceforth be known as
"Water Bottle." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>Donald
Trump:</b> "Humble." Humor doesn't work when it is this blatant ... We
are going to go with the much more clever "McDuck," which plays off the name Donald, the candidate's modified DA haircut, and the prolific references to his great wealth. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>Scott
Walker:</b> "Harley." Very butch. And is someone paying him for this motorcycle company endorsement? With Walker's abiding respect for education and teachers,
however, we are thinking "Professor" might be a more appropriate
nickname for him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><b>Rand
Paul:</b> "Justice Never Sleeps." Hahaha, really? Not sure what the hell
he was thinking with this ... You're number 11 right now, but maybe the sun will come out tomorrow, "Annie." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So
what would your code names for the Republican Presidential Candidates be? Let
us know what you think of these and feel free to post yours here! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinsxW0dRT3sU1jxKymqVdYHtatUFwak3_iMd1Xa-HCBY99bOr5nyVdmMBYgPFasbWIgvOTGup0FVhwS0hlalKQoiMqr2AjauWraeaojXAsonPJb-vxOJ-XbRaA1ccqy9Wpyxfarebhe100/s1600/politifact-photos-GOP_debate_field.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinsxW0dRT3sU1jxKymqVdYHtatUFwak3_iMd1Xa-HCBY99bOr5nyVdmMBYgPFasbWIgvOTGup0FVhwS0hlalKQoiMqr2AjauWraeaojXAsonPJb-vxOJ-XbRaA1ccqy9Wpyxfarebhe100/s400/politifact-photos-GOP_debate_field.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Michael Varholahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04888127744366217274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3130117810543121321.post-39476754891016074512015-06-01T03:31:00.003-07:002015-06-01T21:26:44.627-07:00Of Christians and Cosplayers<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWek3tzrrOCihLcoCfNIipoK0OHsW_50QXrrX2eXxL9pIP3Z8IyyaSoxze37GTQqrSTnsUiaPYayWifMaTyD__TOTWiGVBxvvx3LXmXUv-wWllGb1u2s3mLYyf1dnmDaN_CPe1lDWG8L4/s1600/CP_sexy_nuns_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWek3tzrrOCihLcoCfNIipoK0OHsW_50QXrrX2eXxL9pIP3Z8IyyaSoxze37GTQqrSTnsUiaPYayWifMaTyD__TOTWiGVBxvvx3LXmXUv-wWllGb1u2s3mLYyf1dnmDaN_CPe1lDWG8L4/s200/CP_sexy_nuns_01.jpg" width="150" /></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><i>By Michael O. Varhola</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Every
Memorial Day Weekend I attend a big fan convention at the George R. Brown Convention Center and Hilton Americas hotel in Houston called
<b><a href="http://www.comicpalooza.com/" target="_blank">Comicpalooza</a></b> that is noted for its many costumed attendees (<i>like those shown in the picture at right taken during the event by my friend Chris Van Deelen</i>). And, each year, I
hear stories from attendees about unpleasant interactions they have had with
members of the annual <b><a href="http://www.txcumc.org/" target="_blank">Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church</a></b>, an event
that for some years has been held at the same time and place. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Perhaps
because I make an effort to not pay attention to other people, largely out of
respect for their privacy and as part of an effort to preserve my own, I have
never really picked up on more than a few disapproving glances from the
Methodists — until this year. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">On
the last day of Comicpalooza, I needed to start getting my out-of-town people
transported to the airport and went down to the lobby of the hotel to figure
out which entrance they would be departing from. I saw an older woman with a
clipboard standing near the revolving door and, thinking she might be with my
convention's transportation team, walked up to her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Excuse
me," I said. "Are you with Comicpalooza?"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Suffice
it to say, I was struck when she snarled back at me: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Do
I <i>look</i> like I'm with Comicpalooza?" It was only then that I saw the bus
she was guiding passengers toward was one carrying members of the Methodist
conference. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">"We're
all just people," I replied in as even a tone as I could before walking
away, "so there is no way for me to tell without asking." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Based
on this experience, it certainly would have been easy for me to launch into a rant
about the hypocrisy of Christians in general or Methodists in particular. It
bears mentioning that an exceptionally unpleasant person I have known my entire
life and who has had a significant negative impact on it, is by all accounts a
devout Methodist, so I have no affinity for this particular sect. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As
easy as it might be to do that, however, for a number of reasons I do not think
it would be right. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">To
start with, while I was momentarily stung by her harsh words, I was not me that
was harmed by this unpleasant woman, whatever her intent might have been. What
she did harm, however, and, indeed, even invalidate her relationship with, was
her own church. I have known so many people over the years who have been driven
away from organized religion by people just like this who cruelly abused their
positions as parents, relatives, or other authority figures. It is impossible to
calculate the damage they inflict on the organizations they so shoddily serve
by their inclinations to mistreat others. I am secure in my faith and cannot
have it easily shaken, but I have to wonder how many young people over the
years might have ultimately rejected Christianity because of the example this
woman set. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">"They
claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him," <b><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=titus+1%3A16&version=NIV" target="_blank">Titus 1:16</a></b>
says. "They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for doing anything
good." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In
all fairness I also have to mention that I had numerous minor positive interactions
with individual Methodists over the course of the weekend. These ranged from
pleasantries exchanged in elevators to having a fun conversation with an
attendee who happened to be using the hotel hot tub at the same time some of my
friends and I were. Not taking those into consideration would hardly be fair to the people who were naturally kind, or even those who were merely neutral in their demeanor and intent on minding their own business. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">All
this serves to remind me of the fundamental fact that people are people and that one can find good and bad pretty uniformly no matter where they look. While perhaps counter-intuitive, it is indeed true that </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">labels people assign
themselves and organizations they belong to play so much
less of a role in who they are and how they act, for better or worse, than many
might imagine. And so the important thing here is not to see the tiny things that make
us all a little different, as this wretched woman did, but the big ones that make us all the same in so many
ways. Tolerance, compassion, and forbearance are what is called for.</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">So
God bless the Texas Methodists. I sincerely hope they had a good and productive
conference. There is plenty of room for all of us, in this world overall and at
the places we share for our respective events, and I look forward to seeing
them all again next year. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Well.
Most of them anyway. </span></div>
</div>
Michael O. Varholahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02926860732348083635noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3130117810543121321.post-58175120821807446852015-05-01T00:00:00.000-07:002015-06-01T11:22:38.238-07:00Gods of the Bible<i>By <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MichaelOVarhola" target="_blank">Michael O. Varhola</a></i><br />
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<i>It may come as a surprise to many people that dozens of </i><i>pagan and gentile gods appear in the </i><i>Bible, along with numerous supernatural beings, such as demons, angels, and Nephilim, and so we decided to make an </i><i>examination of them here</i><i>. Indeed, God himself has such varying characteristics throughout the Bible that it is valid to ask if the same being is actually being discussed at each point he appears. Most of the following entities were worshiped by the indigenous peoples of the Holy Land </i><i>which, because they are the most reviled by the People of the Book, are also the most well known</i><i>. We have also included hotlinks back to an online edition of the New International Version of the Bible for those who wish to read the verses in question and have included our favorite passage pertinent to each entry. Comments are welcome! </i><br />
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<b>Ares:</b> While he is not explicitly mentioned in the Bible, the Greek god of war is implicitly present in the Book of Acts (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+17:19&version=NIV" target="_blank">Acts 17:19</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+17:22&version=NIV" target="_blank">Acts 17:22</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+17:34&version=NIV" target="_blank">Acts 17:34</a>), in the episode where Saint Paul addresses the people of Athens from the place known to them as the Areopagus (<i>shown above right</i>). This "Hill of Ares" took its name from a mythological event in which the namesake god was tried <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6666669845581px;">—</span> and acquitted <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6666669845581px;">—</span> for murdering one of Poseidon's children, and the term also applied to a legislative assembly that met at the spot. Acts 17:22-23: "Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: 'People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14.6666669845581px;">—</span> and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.'"<br />
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<b>Artemis:</b> Artemis was worshiped as a mother goddess by the Hellenized residents of Ephesus — where her great temple became one of the Seven Wonders of the World — and turns up five times in as many verses in the New Testament, all in the book of Acts I (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+19:24&version=NIV" target="_blank">Acts 19:24</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+19:27&version=NIV" target="_blank">Acts 19:27</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+19:28&version=NIV" target="_blank">Acts 19:28</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+19:34&version=NIV" target="_blank">Acts 19:34</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+19:35&version=NIV" target="_blank">Acts 19:35</a>). The Christian church in Ephesus is one of the seven mentioned in the Book of Revelation and, according to tradition, this city of Asia Minor is where Mary, mother of Jesus, retired to after her travails. Acts 19:35: "The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: 'Fellow Ephesians, doesn't all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven?'" <br />
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<b>Asherah:</b> This mother goddess is the wife of Baal and carries a variety of titles, among them "Queen of Heaven." She is almost always referenced in terms of Jewish apostasy and often in conjunction with the term "Asherah poles," a type votive item associated with the goddess, and is mentioned 40 times in 40 verses (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+34:13&version=NIV">Exodus 34:13</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+7:5&version=NIV">Deuteronomy 7:5</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+12:3&version=NIV" target="_blank">Deuteronomy 12:3</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy+16:21&version=NIV" target="_blank">Deuteronomy 16:21</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+3:7&version=NIV" target="_blank">Judges 3:7</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+6:25&version=NIV" target="_blank">Judges 6:25</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+6:26&version=NIV" target="_blank">Judges 6:26</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+6:28&version=NIV" target="_blank">Judges 6:28</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+6:30&version=NIV" target="_blank">Judges 6:30</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Kings+14:15&version=NIV">1 Kings 14:15</a>, ). A representative and particularly evocative example can be found in Second Kings 17:16: "They forsook all the commands of the LORD their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal."<br />
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<b>Ashtoreth (Astarte):</b> A Middle Eastern goddess of sexuality, fertility, and war who was worshipped by the Greeks in the guise of Aphrodite. She appears nine times in nine verses, all in the Old Testament (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+2:13&version=NIV">Judges 2:13</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+10:6&version=NIV">Judges 10:6</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel+7:3&version=NIV">1 Samuel 7:3</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel+7:4&version=NIV">1 Samuel 7:4</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel+12:10&version=NIV">1 Samuel 12:10</a>, 1 <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel+31:10&version=NIV" target="_blank">Samuel 31:10</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Kings+11:5&version=NIV" target="_blank">1 Kings 11:5</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Kings+11:33&version=NIV" target="_blank">1 Kings 11:33</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Kings+23:13&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Kings 23:13</a>). Second Kings 23:13: "The king also desecrated the high places that were east of Jerusalem on the south of the Hill of Corruption — the ones Solomon king of Israel had built for Ashtoreth the vile goddess of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the vile god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the people of Ammon." <br />
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<b>Athena:</b> The classical Greek goddess of wisdom and warfare does not explicitly appear in the Bible but does so implicitly as the namesake for the city of Athens, which was named after and dedicated to her. The most famous structure in Athens, in fact, the Parthenon, takes its name directly from Athena Parthenos, the virginal aspect of the deity. This seat of philosophy and learning is mentioned five times, all in the New Testament (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+17:15&version=NIV" target="_blank">Acts 17:15</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+17:16&version=NIV" target="_blank">Acts 17:16</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+17:22&version=NIV" target="_blank">Acts 17:22</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+18:1&version=NIV" target="_blank">Acts 18:1</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Thessalonians+3:1&version=NIV" target="_blank">1 Thessalonians 3:1</a>). <br />
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<b>Atum (Atum-Re, Re-Atum):</b> This Egyptian sun god is implictly present in <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel+30:17&version=NIV">Ezekiel 30:17</a>, in one of the characteristic Biblical passages about the bad things that are going to happen to other people: "The young men of Heliopolis and Bubastis will fall by the sword, and the cities themselves will go into captivity." Also known as <i>Awanu</i>, "the Place of Pillars," and translated from Greek as "city of the sun," Heliopolis was the principle seat of worship for Atum, "the evening sun." He was one of the most important and frequently-mentioned deities from earliest times, as evidenced by his prominence in various sacred texts. He is believed to have created himself and is portrayed as both a creator and a destroyer who will precipitate the end of the world and, as a result of these characteristics, was sometimes known as "the complete one." <br />
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<b>Baal:</b> A name that translates simply as "lord" or "master" and is widely applied variously to both the Caananite storm god and to the predominant deity of any particular place; this title is sometimes even used as a synonym for all the local pagan deities in an area (e.g., "the Baals"). This is the first proper name/honorific given to a foreign god in the Bible and, because of its sometimes generic but nonetheless reviled nature, it is referred to in some context in a staggering 134 verses, all but one of them in the Old Testament (so it will take us awhile to get all the pertinent links posted). We will devote two quotes to him here, one each from the Old and New Testaments. The first clear reference to Baal as a deity appears in Numbers 25:3: "So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the LORD’s anger burned against them." The final reference appears in Romans 11:4: "And what was God’s answer to him? 'I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.'"<br />
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<b>Baal-Zebub:</b> This Semitic deity was revered in the Philistine city of Ekron in the era of the Old Testament and is apparently the same being referred to variously by the same name or as Beelzebul or Beelzebub in the New Testament, where he is identified as the "Prince of Demons." He is mentioned four times in the Book of Second Kings (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Kings+1:2&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Kings 1:2</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Kings+1:3&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Kings 1:3</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Kings+1:6&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Kings 1:6</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Kings+1:16&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Kings 1:16</a>). 2 Kings 1:2: "Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers, saying to them, 'Go and consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury.'" Meaning "Lord of Flies" or "Lord of Dung," this name may simply have been a perjorative modification of "Baal" (q.v.) rather than an actual reflection on the nature of Philistine religion. <br />
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<b>Bast (Baast, Bastet, Ubasti):</b> This Egyptian goddess is implictly referred to in <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel+30:17&version=NIV" target="_blank">Ezekiel 30:17</a>: "The young men of Heliopolis and Bubastis will fall by the sword, and the cities themselves will go into captivity." Bubastis, the "House of Bast," was named for and dedicated to the cat-headed goddess Bast, who in her earliest incarnations was associated with a wild lioness but who ultimately came to be associated with the domesticated cat (an animal critical in agricultural Egypt, where rodents could ravage grain stores). In keeping with the cat's role as an enemy of vermin that might menace people in their homes, Bast is said to have battled and defeated the evil serpent Apep (often known by the Greek name Apophis). <br />
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<b>Chemosh:</b> Worship of "the vile god of Moab," who reportedly became angry with his people and allowed them to be enslaved by the Israelites, was introduced in Jerusalem by Solomon. He is mentioned eight times in eight verses, all in the Old Testament (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers+21:29&version=NIV">Numbers 21:29</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+11:24&version=NIV">Judges 11:24</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Kings+11:7&version=NIV">1 Kings 11:7</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Kings+11:33&version=NIV">1 Kings 11:33</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Kings+23:13&version=NIV">2 Kings 23:13</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+48:7&version=NIV">Jeremiah 48:7</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+48:13&version=NIV">Jeremiah 48:13</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+48:46&version=NIV">Jeremiah 48:46</a>). First Kings 11:7: "On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites." <br />
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<b>Dagon:</b> A major god of the once-seafaring Phillistines, Dagon is generally represented as a muscular, bearded man with the lower body of a great fish. He is referred to as a deity 10 times in seven verses (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+16:23&version=NIV">Judges 16:23</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel+5:2&version=NIV">1 Samuel 5:2</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel+5:3&version=NIV">1 Samuel 5:3</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel+5:4&version=NIV">1 Samuel 5:4</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel+5:5&version=NIV">1 Samuel 5:5</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel+5:7&version=NIV">1 Samuel 5:7</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Chronicles+10:10&version=NIV">1 Chronicles 10:10</a>), and twice more in two verses as part of place names that may have been named for him (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua+15:41&version=NIV">Joshua 15:41</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua+19:27&version=NIV">Joshua 19:27</a>), all in the Old Testament. Judges 16:23: "Now the rulers of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate, saying, 'Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands.'"<br />
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<b>"foreign gods":</b> Unnamed foreign gods are referred to early in the Bible, not long after the first reference to similarly unnamed "household gods," in Genesis 35:2: "So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, 'Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes.'"<br />
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<b>"gods of Egypt":</b> References to Egypt appear beginning in the the book of Genesis, but its as-yet unnamed deities are not mentioned until Exodus 12:12: "'On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.'"<br />
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<b>Hadad:</b> Hadad was an ancient Semitic war, fertility, and storm god who was associated with the Edomites among others and equated with the the Egyptian deity Set, the Greek Zeus, and the Roman Jupiter. He was sometimes referred to simply as Baal, or "Lord," and many of the occurrences in the Bible of this name are likely to have been references to Hadad. The name Hadad appears 63 times in the Bible, all in the Old Testament as an honorific in proper names (e.g., Hadadezer, "Hadad is my help"); generally these are the names of kings and in a few are of places but none are explicitly used as the name of the deity. <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Kings+20:16&version=NIV">1 Kings 20:16</a>: "They set out at noon while Ben-Hadad and the 32 kings allied with him were in their tents getting drunk." <br />
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<b>Hermes:</b> Hermes was, amongst other things, the god of messengers and the roadways to the ancient Greeks. He is mentioned once in the New Testament of the Bible, in <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+14:12&version=NIV">Acts 14:12</a>, when the Apostle Paul is mistaken for the deity Hermes during a visit to the Asia Minor city of Lystra in A.D. 48. Acts 14:12: "Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker." The entirey of this episode, one of the most amusing in the New Testament, can be read in <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2014:8-20&version=NIV">Acts 14:8-20</a>. (The name Hermes turns up once more in the Bible, in Paul's Epistle to the Romans, but as the name of a mortal member of the church to whom the letter is addressed.)<br />
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<b>"household gods":</b> The first reference in the Bible gods other than the God of the Israelites is to the unnamed "household gods" worshiped by Rachel's father in Genesis 31:19: "When Laban had gone to shear his sheep, Rachel stole her father’s household gods." These probably would have been hearth goddesses, minor tribal deities, and/or the spirits of ancestors, which watched over and protected the home and its inhabitants. <br />
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<b>Leviathan:</b> Not a deity in the sense that most modern people would understand it, Leviathan was an ancient elemental monster who appears in the pre-Biblical epics of Baal and Gilgamesh. It appears in the Bible mostly as a device for showing God's power over immense forces and is mentioned seven times in six verses, all in the Old Testament and half in the Book of Job [<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job+3:8&version=NIV">Job 3:8</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job+41:1&version=NIV">Job 41:1</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job+41:12&version=NIV">Job 41:12</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+74:14&version=NIV">Psalm 74:14</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+104:26&version=NIV">Psalm 104:26</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+27:1&version=NIV">Isaiah 27:1</a>]. Psalm 74:14: "It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert." <br />
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<b>Marduk:</b> This deity was chief of the Mesopotamian pantheon and patron of the city of Babylon during the era of the Old Testament and was associated with water, vegetation, judgment, magic, and the planet Jupiter. He is mentioned explicitly just once, in the Book of Jeremiah, but is alluded to four other times — presumably as an honorific — in the composite names of two kings, Marduk-Baladan and Awel-Marduk (2 Kings 20:12, 2 Kings 25:27, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+39:1&version=NIV">Isaiah 39:1</a>, Jeremiah 52:31).<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+50:2&version=NIV">Jeremiah 50:2</a>: “Announce and proclaim among the nations, lift up a banner and proclaim it; keep nothing back, but say, ‘Babylon will be captured; Bel will be put to shame, Marduk filled with terror. Her images will be put to shame and her idols filled with terror.’" <br />
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<b>Molek (Molech, Milcom):</b> "The detestable god of the people of Ammon" (Second Kings 23:13). Molek has the distinction of being one of the few divine beings who appears in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, a total of 16 times in as many verses [<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+18:21&version=NIV" target="_blank">Leviticus 18:21</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+20:2&version=NIV" target="_blank">Leviticus 20:2</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+20:3&version=NIV" target="_blank">Leviticus 20:3</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+20:4&version=NIV" target="_blank">Leviticus 20:4</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+20:5&version=NIV" target="_blank">Leviticus 20:5</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Kings+11:5&version=NIV" target="_blank">1 Kings 11:5</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Kings+11:7&version=NIV" target="_blank">1 Kings 11:7</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Kings+11:33&version=NIV" target="_blank">1 Kings 11:33</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Kings+23:10&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Kings 23:10</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Kings+23:13&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Kings 23:13</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+57:9&version=NIV" target="_blank">Isaiah 57:9</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+32:35&version=NIV" target="_blank">Jeremiah 32:35</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+49:1&version=NIV" target="_blank">Jeremiah 49:1</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+49:3&version=NIV" target="_blank">Jeremiah 49:3</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Zephaniah+1:5&version=NIV" target="_blank">Zephaniah 1:5</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+7:43&version=NIV">Acts 7:43</a>]. Leviticus 18:21: "'Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molek, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.'" Acts 7:43: "You have taken up the tabernacle of Molek and the star of your god Rephan, the idols you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Babylon."<br />
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<b>Nehushtan:</b> This was the brass or bronze serpent that Moses raised up on a pole in order to protect the Israelites from the venomous snakes that an irritated God sent to bite them (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%2021:4-9&version=NIV">Numbers 21:4-9</a>). As what appears to be a generalized slip into apostasy, the Israelites had begun to worship this relic by the time of King Hezekiah, and he responded accordingly, as indicated in <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Kings+18:4&version=NIV" target="_blank">2 Kings 18:4</a>: "He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.)" This idol appears to have acquired the label "the Nehushtan" during or after the time of Hezekiah and the actual name by which it was venerated is unknown.
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<b>Queen of Heaven:</b> This celestial goddess was at one point especially popular with the people of Judah, who made sacrifice to her and baked cakes bearing her image, and is cited four times in four verses in the Book of Jeremiah (<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah%207:18&version=NIV">7:18</a>, <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah%2044:17-19&version=NIV">44:17-19</a>). She is variously identified as the goddess Asherah (q.v.) or Astarte (q.v.). Jeremiah 44:17: "We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our ancestors, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm." <br />
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<b>Rimmon:</b> A major deity worshiped in Syria, and whose temple is believed to have been in Damascus, who may have been known as Baal in other places. He is mentioned as a deity just once in the Bible, although his name turns up at least 10 times in place names that may have been dedicated to him. <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Kings%205:18&version=NIV">2 Kings 5:18</a>: "But may the LORD forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning on my arm and I have to bow there also — when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the LORD forgive your servant for this.” <br />
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<b>Tammuz:</b> A Sumerian god of fertility and vegetation who, as the length of days grew shorter after the Summer Solstice, was mourned by his followers as his influence over the world waned. He was adopted by the Greeks as Adonis and is believed by some to have been worshiped at the sport where the Church of the Nativity would eventually be established. He is mentioned just once in the Bible, in the Old Testament Book of Ezekiel. <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel+8:14&version=NIV">Ezekiel 8:14</a>: "Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the house of the LORD, and I saw women sitting there, mourning the god Tammuz." <br />
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<b>Zeus:</b> This chief god of the classic Greek pantheon is mentioned twice in the Bible, both times in the New Testament, as part of an episode in which two Apostles are so eloquent that they are mistaken for pagan gods during a visit to the Asia Minor city of Lystra in A.D. 48. <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2014:12-13&version=NIV">Acts 14:12-13</a>: "Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them."Michael O. Varholahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02926860732348083635noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3130117810543121321.post-87981677236396981852015-02-11T08:53:00.002-08:002015-02-11T08:54:12.636-08:00Reading the Koran<div class="MsoPlainText">
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MichaelOVarhola" target="_blank">Michael O. Varhola</a></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">For many years I have been intending to read the Koran and have increasingly come to believe that doing so is critical to anyone who wants to better understand current world events and the growing ideological divides that shape them. I am not completely unfamiliar with this central religious text of Islam, of course, and have absorbed some knowledge of it over the years from any number of sources.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Muslims believe that the Koran, literally "the recitation," is a revelation from God passed on to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel over a period of about 23 years, beginning on December 22 A.D. 609 and concluding in A.D 632. They regard the Koran as the most important miracle of Muhammad, proof of his prophethood, and the culmination of a series of divine messages that started with those given to Adam. They further believe that it is the only book of revelation that has been protected by God from distortion or corruption.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333330154419px;">The Koran is organized into 114 </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333330154419px;">suras</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333330154419px;">, or chapters, which are further divided into </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333330154419px;">ayahs</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333330154419px;">, or verses. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">According to tradition, several of Muhammad’s companions served as scribes and, shortly after his death, recorded the things that had been revealed to him. Interestingly, the Koran assumes familiarity with elements of the Jewish and Christian scriptures, summarizing some, dwelling at length on others and, presenting alternative accounts and interpretations in others. At some points it also offers detailed accounts of specific historical events and often emphasizes their moral significance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">During prayers the Koran is recited only in Arabic and according to purists it can only be read in this language. Suffice it to say this presents to me as ethnic chauvinism that parallels the belief once held by many that the Bible could only be read in Latin, and there are millions of devout Muslims worldwide who study the Koran in their native languages.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFDgLrkLw8_EeFSUqEmK8uVWCAiW0dX1Iukk2m4cT7o65TSx9hXSzqZn2qmzscteetjkkP16uG-LKwEA9iOWhNgOZiN5HWjLw9Y-j8dbxVfFhtv928dUigWn5RuUOQhDcZRCSwQM30b9Q/s1600/Pickthall1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFDgLrkLw8_EeFSUqEmK8uVWCAiW0dX1Iukk2m4cT7o65TSx9hXSzqZn2qmzscteetjkkP16uG-LKwEA9iOWhNgOZiN5HWjLw9Y-j8dbxVfFhtv928dUigWn5RuUOQhDcZRCSwQM30b9Q/s1600/Pickthall1.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Apropos of that, I am reading the Koran on a website devoted to providing translated versions of it in multiple languages. There are six such English versions </span><span style="font-size: 14.6666669845581px;">—</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> “Sahih International,” “Muhsin Khan,” “Pickthall,” “Yusuf Ali,” “Shakir,” and “Dr. Ghali” </span><span style="font-size: 14.6666669845581px;">—</span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"> all with different sources and varying characteristics. After some consideration I decided to go with the version translated by Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall, an author, scholar, and early 20<sup>th</sup> century English convert to Islam, a primary reason being that I was most comfortable with his verbiage (e.g., he uses the term “Day of Judgment,” as opposed to the more alien “Day of Recompense” or “Day of Doom” used in some of the other translations).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">My intent is to approach my reading with respect and piety and with as few preconceived notions as possible (although I am expecting, as with my reading of the Bible, to discover things that can in no way be correlated with the religion that has grown out of the text). I do not believe reading the Koran will in any way be spiritually harmful and, contrary to that, expect to derive some benefit from it. As someone who is already a devout person of faith, however, I do not suspect that I will end up converting to Islam as a result of reading it. </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">As I read each <i>sura</i> I will post a brief commentary on it here. </span></div>
Michael Varholahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04888127744366217274noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3130117810543121321.post-11643033992870092552014-06-04T11:53:00.001-07:002014-06-04T11:53:22.519-07:00Looking for God in all the Wrong Places<div class="MsoNormal">
I was raised in the Midwest, Minnesota to be precise, in a
Lutheran household. Going to church
every Sunday, attending Sunday school, and singing in whatever Choir was
appropriate for my age at a given time was simply part of life. I will not go
so far to say that faith or religion in general was of foremost importance to
me in my youth, but it was a significant part of my life and did play a role in
the person I grew to become.</div>
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<br /></div>
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As often is the case, once I left home my life grew too busy
and my overwhelming schedule of working and going to college simultaneously led
to my rarely attending services of any kind.
For more than a decade, I was pretty much un-churched other than the occasional
ritualistic holiday service attendance. I married and started a career, neither my job
nor my husband at the time found religion to be important so it was actually
quite easy to forget its former importance to me.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
By the time my daughters were two and three, I began to feel
that it was my responsibility to “expose” them to religion because I felt that
by not doing so I was choosing for them.
So while living on a military compound in Mannheim Germany in the 80’s,
I began to attend generic Protestant services each Sunday, and joined both the
choir and a group called Protestant Women of the Chapel.</div>
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<br /></div>
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During that time, our entire family was a regular fixture at
Sunday services as well as numerous other church sponsored activities. This period was a fairly lonely time for me
since my husband seemed to always be at work or at a work related activity and
I found solace in my new church friends.
Beyond that, for the first time in my life, I saw something in these
people, a light, a joy, a positive sense of direction and hope for the future
that I had been missing. Many of these people had suffered great loss in their
lives and yet they remained at peace and I wanted that peace, that joy, that sense
of knowing what the future would bring.</div>
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<br /></div>
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As it turned out, my sense of well-being would be short
lived. My marriage ended abruptly while
I was still in Germany and I ultimately collected up a few suitcases of
belongings and my two daughters and headed home to Minnesota with no idea what
I would be doing or what the future would bring. As they say, timing is
everything and since my father had recently passed away, my Mother was
overjoyed to have her daughter and grand-daughters close by. There was never any question but that we
would all attend church each and every Sunday together, and so we did.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For awhile, I considered staying in that small town of my
childhood dreaming that my girls would benefit from growing up there, but
career opportunities were limited and I actually missed city life. So after six months, we rented a moving van,
collected the furniture items we had acquired during our brief stay and moved
back to the DC area.</div>
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<br /></div>
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This was during the administration of George H. W. Bush and
employment opportunities were not good even in the DC area, but I was able to
get a job which led to a better job and so on.
We tried attending a local Lutheran church nearby, but the pastor seemed
really creepy and we never returned. By year three I was working at a state
university near my home and enjoying life.
My daily commute took me by a small but attractive Lutheran church and
eventually one Sunday I got the girls and I all dressed up and off we went to
church. Perhaps if things had gone
differently, I might never have gone back, but these people seemed genuinely
interested in us and even came by to visit us in our home. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Once again I became a regular Sunday church goer and my
girls really liked Sunday school. Over
time we all embraced our church family, all singing in the choirs, attending
youth events, and vacation bible school and bible camp. Eventually I was asked
to become an elder and proudly accepted thinking that perhaps I was finally one
of those people that others saw joy and hope within.</div>
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<br /></div>
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There were probably always little red flags that suggested
something other than a desire to feel closer to God and serve him in some of
the church members. There seemed to be a
profound emphasis on material things and affluence amongst some prominent
members that made me uncomfortable but I chose to ignore. I think that by the
time I retired in 2008, I was seriously considering looking for a new church
home. In 2009 we moved all the way to Texas
and during the first few months I attended services at a few Lutheran churches and
at one nondenominational church and none of them felt quite right. After learning that one of the most prominent
members of the one I favored the most was actually a convicted white collar
criminal who had destroyed the lives of thousands of people, I stopped looking.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Probably the most profound disappointment of my life as a
Christian came in the spring of 2012 when I spent a month back in the DC area
with my daughters. Because I was going
to be in the area over Easter, I thought it would be fun to sing with my old
church choir. Sadly, I got a terrible
cold and was unable to sing, but did attend several services. </div>
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<br /></div>
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I was deeply disappointed in what my old church had
become. I had been a part of a huge
fundraising effort to build a proper sanctuary for what had once been a quaint
little church and had myself contributed more than $12,000 toward that end. I
noted with great disappointment the nearly empty sanctuary on both Palm Sunday
and Easter, days that the church used to be filled to overflowing. At first I
wasn’t quite sure what was behind this poor attendance, but it soon became abundantly
clear to me that the overall atmosphere was not one of peace, love,
understanding or even mutual respect among the congregation. In particular, during the children’s talk the
lay minister asked the children about who they would invite to their birthday
party. When he specifically asked them
if they would invite the President, and got a loud no from at least one very
young child, which resulted in laughter by some of the adults and a comment from
the woman seated next to me that it was great, I began to understand.</div>
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Over the next several days, I spent a lot of time wondering
what had happened within that church and numerous others that condoned overt
disrespect towards an elected official. I wondered if these same people who
found this amusing because they held differing political views from the current
President would think it equally funny when children showed disrespect to a
teacher, a principal, or to a police officer.
After all, a message was being clearly conveyed to very young children
that they need not show respect and it that it was even OK to say mean things
and hate. I often hear Christian friends claim that allowing prayer in school will solve many of today's problems, but how can that be true when they are being exposed to hate and intolerance in their churches?</div>
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As I see it, religion has lost its way, lost sight of the
love for fellow mankind that Jesus preached.
People now judge others, try to control the lives of others,
discriminate against others, commit acts of violence against others and say mean
hateful things to others, all in the name of religion. I can only think that Jesus is heartbrokenly
disappointed on what many religious institutions do in his name and the name of
his Father. I am a spiritual person, I
believe in doing good when I can and certainly in doing no harm to others. I also believe that people are free to do
what they choose when it does not harm others, even if I don’t agree with their
actions.</div>
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I now accept that I will never again be a member of any
religious institution and I am comfortable with that decision. Perhaps if there is a day of Rapture as many
believe, I will be left behind, but so will many of the most prominent members
and leaders of religious institutions, because they have long ago lost sight of
the teachings of Jesus.</div>
Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15377073071734485098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3130117810543121321.post-53815189132839908692014-05-08T13:55:00.004-07:002014-05-08T14:01:16.695-07:00Can Blood Be Too Thick<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">All the time we see on TV friends and family members of
criminals, politicians, and other public figures who are guilty of misconduct standing
by their loved ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most recently I
recall the wife of General Jeffery Sinclair asking that he not be reduced in
rank because it would be a hardship for his family to live on the retirement
pay of a Lieutenant Colonel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Really, I
bet a lot of Lieutenant Colonels find that pretty hard to stomach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even more important is the given fact that
during his career, Sinclair most certainly ended the careers of subordinates
for far less egregious misconduct than he himself received a mere slap on the
wrist for without giving a moment’s consideration to their families.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The family members of George Zimmerman come to mind as well.
Not only were they strong supporters of his right to shoot and kill an unarmed teenager,
they showed total indifference to the feelings of Treyvon Martin’s family,
displaying a “he got what he deserved” attitude.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Looking at these two examples, I have to wonder if perhaps friends
and families can and often do go too far in their support.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Personally I suspect that in the case of
General Sinclair, the good ole’ boy network of Army General Officers chose to
look the other way until they no longer could, as they always do when it comes
to one of their own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> I once supervised a
young soldier who had served in a clerical position in the Office of the Vice
Chief of Staff, Army.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He candidly told
me that misconduct by the Army’s most senior leaders was fairly common place
and included numerous instances of adultery, misappropriation, and even
shoplifting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was responsible for
typing up the letters of reprimand, i.e. wrist slaps that never kept these
officers from being further promoted because they were maintained in an area of
their personnel file that no one would ever see. Mind you, he never told me the
names of these personnel, but having been a Military Police Officer and seen some
cases myself, I found no reason to doubt what he said. So the question I pose
is how long do friends and family members have to ignore the bad behavior of a
person before it causes real harm and/or escalates to more serious criminal
behavior?</span></div>
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I was inspired to write this piece as a follow-up to an
earlier blog<strong><em> Bad People Do Bad Things, Count on It</em></strong>. I had known the subject of
that blog (let’s call him “Sam”) for nearly five years and had personally
witnessed him behave inappropriately on a number of occasions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Beyond that, I had heard of other things from
mutual acquaintances that Sam had done before I ever knew him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even I was guilty of looking the other way
and making excuses for him on some level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When you have an adult man (pushing 70) who doesn’t make any attempt to
control his use of profanity in public no matter how many young children are
present, chases waitresses into the kitchens of restaurants, and actually
salutes the breasts of the well endowed daughter of a friend, and the only
response he gets from his wife is to giggle and say “Oh Sam,” you don’t need to
be a rocket scientist to see that he probably doesn’t actually see his behavior
as at all inappropriate.</div>
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I wrote the initial blog as an outlet for frustration due to
his actually getting away with unethical and illegal conduct, but I admit that
I secretly hoped that either he or a member of his family would see the piece
and know who I was talking about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t
know what kind of response I expected from any of them if any of them read it,
but fantasized about Sam stomping around the room blustering about slander and
law suits and even contacting a lawyer only to learn that not only had he not been
named in the blog, but neither was the school or the community so he had no
case. Of course beyond that, I hadn’t written anything that was not 100% true,
he really did those things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In any case,
as recently as this week it became obvious that someone in his family had read
the blog and knew who it was about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
know this because his adult children had “unfriended” me, my husband, and both
my daughters on Facebook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Really, like I
want anything to do with people of this caliber.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am laughing picturing the family meeting
with the wife blubbering about their reputations and Sam trying to figure out
how to get revenge. Sadly, what I cannot imagine happening is either of those
children asking him “did you do those things?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Obviously the “rotten” apples didn’t fall far from that tree.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
Life has many lessons and one of many things that I take
away from this experience is that some families stick together no matter what;
beyond that, they justify the bad behavior of each other.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We did not raise our daughters to never
question the behavior of their parents or to accept everything we do as the
best and only way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can bet that had
my husband done what Sam did and someone wrote about it identifying him only by
his conduct, I would never, ever have told my daughters about it and asked them
to support him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their first question
would have been, “did Dad actually do those things?” </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
No one is perfect and good all of the time, but I firmly
believe that especially as parents, we lead by example.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What we teach our children when they are
young and the examples we set for them are what makes them who they are as
adults.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here, and in everything, the
adult children of Sam are behaving the only way they can, circling the wagons
and justifying his bad behavior…and their own children are watching.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That alone in all of this makes me sad.</div>
</span><br />Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15377073071734485098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3130117810543121321.post-44451222712642899292014-04-05T14:58:00.003-07:002014-04-05T15:24:05.896-07:00The New Atheist Activism In America<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWC71ijXofwhS-CsljxVq3S1Tuvo-nMATKuYVTczn_u79at_q-P2joaxb2_MeTB4gg1Xv3BErmCegRy7W31qPi2VaKWHphyphenhyphenhxK7Z7-_AYHfNfF2DDRdWYKPMn-mwl3sBibY6Tmdz9YynA/s1600/819px-Religion_is_rubbish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWC71ijXofwhS-CsljxVq3S1Tuvo-nMATKuYVTczn_u79at_q-P2joaxb2_MeTB4gg1Xv3BErmCegRy7W31qPi2VaKWHphyphenhyphenhxK7Z7-_AYHfNfF2DDRdWYKPMn-mwl3sBibY6Tmdz9YynA/s1600/819px-Religion_is_rubbish.jpg" height="200" width="159" /></a></div>
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="background-color: black;">My good friend Darin Anthony sent me the following survey that he developed as part of a project for a social psychology class he is taking. I think it asks some interesting questions and made me articulate my own views on the subject of "atheist activism," to the extent that such a thing exists, and the attempts of Creationists to impose their sectarian viewpoints on society. As the graphic at the bottom of this page indicates, in any event, atheists comprise a very small percentage of Americans. Comments are welcome! </i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
<b><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1. How would you describe your faith life?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am a person of faith with an active religious life,
which includes daily prayer and monthly worship. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
<b><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2. What is your personal opinion of atheists?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My view of American atheists in general is that they have
renounced religion because they have been exposed to too much rather than too
little of it. I furthermore believe that many have confused the concepts of
"religion" and "God" and that if they understood they could
renounce the one while still embracing the other that many might be persons of
faith. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
<b><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3. What is your personal opinion of the atheists you have known?
<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On par, most atheists I know are more intelligent and
better educated than religious people I know. Most appear to have made an
intellectual decision to choose atheism and many of them have become atheists
after being driven away from religion by extremist family members or negative
experiences in fundamentalist congregations. They run the gamut in terms of
morality, many being genuinely good people and others being completely amoral. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
<b><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">4. Have you done anything to support your faith or belief system?
<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes. I make myself available talk to people about faith,
God, and religion when they want to discuss them or have questions. I do not proselytize<span class="apple-converted-space"> in any way because I think it is
counterproductive and that other people can make legitimate religious decisions
that are completely different than my own. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
<b><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">5. Why do you think atheists become activists against things
like creationism being taught in schools? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Under the best of conditions, I believe they are doing so
to keep America from becoming a dumbed-down, medievalized, fundamentalist state
(i.e., in the way that Iran is often criticized for being). Often, however, I
get the impression that they are also being driven by a personal contempt for
religion. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
<b><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">6. What impact do you see if any has atheist activism had on our
country? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall, I believe anything that could be explicitly
identified as "atheist activism" has had a negative effect on
America, in large part because it has led fundamentalists to believe they are
being attacked and to respond accordingly. "Secular humanist
activism" or somesuch would come off as much less antagonistic, and not
necessarily be incompatible with peoples' religious views. The promise of
America is, in any event, that people should be able to have any sorts of
beliefs they want and still be able to peacefully and productively coexist with
people who have differing or even opposed points of view. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
<b><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">7. What effect do you think creationism is having as it is
taught in schools? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mythology, taught as such, has great value in
understanding the universe and our place in it. I believe that teaching myths
as if they represent a literal truth diminishes the value of those stories,
does not give them the respect they deserve, and has the effect of making
people narrow minded and intellectually backward. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
<b><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8. If atheist activists win their cause how do you think it will
affect you personally?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not sure if anyone will "win" if compromise,
mutual respect, and coexistence are not the results. In a sense, atheists and
religious people alike both already "won" more than 230 years ago,
when America was founded as a secular state that guaranteed freedom of
religion. Understanding the collective value of this is what will allow
everyone to "win." <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
<b><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9. If atheist activists win their cause how do you think it will
affect the nation?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If their goal to is to keep America a nation where
religion does not dictate policy but where people can worship as they see fit
while respecting the rights of others then it will affect the nation
positively. If their goal is to curtail peoples' rights to worship privately or
to antagonize religious people then I believe it will have a negative,
fragmenting effect on the nation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin: 0in;">
<b><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">10. What do you think will happen if atheist activists lose
their battle against creationism being taught in schools?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If creationism is taught in schools
then it will severely damage efforts to effectively educate American students.
Football and overemphasis on athletic activities that benefit only a few,
standardized testing, cutting of arts and humanities programs, etc., have
already harmed the true mission of education — to provide students with facts
and to teach them how, not what, to think. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMGygBpBrtDBCmbsHXSPiwI_gT-4GZg8RIanKTiE9eMM2JbMrTNnxeYNx-gDjETIgtJ8nTPBvvMiUh2ySVOnZUls7Kz9MhxDQfH2d6TqpbTp6wy2Lys5qaobUfLDDfUtSUVa7tHQlB7Do/s1600/940px-Atheists_Agnostics_Zuckerman_en.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMGygBpBrtDBCmbsHXSPiwI_gT-4GZg8RIanKTiE9eMM2JbMrTNnxeYNx-gDjETIgtJ8nTPBvvMiUh2ySVOnZUls7Kz9MhxDQfH2d6TqpbTp6wy2Lys5qaobUfLDDfUtSUVa7tHQlB7Do/s1600/940px-Atheists_Agnostics_Zuckerman_en.svg.png" height="175" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i style="background-color: black;">Percentage of atheists and agnostics by region.</i></span></div>
</div>
Michael O. Varholahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02926860732348083635noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3130117810543121321.post-37127956660958648662014-03-24T13:28:00.001-07:002014-03-24T13:35:20.671-07:00My Page, or Yours<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have to admit to being somewhat addicted to Facebook.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For me it has become a way to reconnect with
friends and classmates from my youth so that we can reminisce about the good
ole days. I also spent 32 years in the Army so have friends located pretty much
all over the world and Facebook makes it possible to easily keep in touch with
them. My preference is to post only feel good or amusing things and cute cat
pictures. Occasionally, I will about write something more serious or use
Facebook to promote a blog that I have written so that friends who are
interested can read what I have written.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I take writing very seriously, as I feel everyone
should.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I carefully collect my thoughts
and read what I have written aloud to my husband Michael, who is a professional
writer and journalist, to make sure my intent is clear and concise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have always been open to comments from
others on my page so long as they more or less stick to the topic being
discussed and remain respectful of the fact that they are writing on my page
and not their own.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Yesterday I felt a need to do something on Facebook that I
have never in the past done, I deleted several posts from an individual on my
page.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The post was in reference to the
last blog I wrote on this site, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bad People Do Bad Things, Expect It</i></b>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I clearly indicated in the posts
introduction, I sometimes write when I need to figure out situations that I
have trouble understanding. I did not write the piece to convince anyone of
anything, not did I ask them to pass judgment on anyone person or institution, and
I most certainly did not want anyone to incorporate their own baggage, make
numerous assumptions, and make a case for why the conduct I had concluded was
bad, was in fact somehow justified.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Initially, I simply ignored the comments, actually feeling a
little embarrassed for the author that not only were they off topic, but poorly
written with numerous spelling and grammatical errors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ignoring them didn’t seem to get the point across;
they just kept coming, finally reaching a point where they were stating a need
for more information so they could “pass judgment” and implying that I had
written only one side of the incident, and ultimately that the school had
something to hide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How he came to these
conclusions is beyond me given that he does not live within a thousand miles of
the community where the incident occurred and does not know anyone who was involved.
</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It certainly appears that this man has his own history
(baggage) with Christian schools and that he was, without any facts or
information, assigning any and all shortcomings he had experienced or witnessed
to the school about which I was writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I, on the other hand, live in this community and know the players involved
in this incident. The vast majority of the information I wrote about came from
the person I ultimately concluded had acted badly, not from the school. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">What is also clear to me is that some people just need to
argue. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you see what looks like a
duck, see it walking like a duck and quacking, you don’t need to interview the
duck to know it is a duck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By the same
logic, when a person agrees to do something for a certain amount and receives
what is obviously an overpayment and says nothing and then complains when they
receive the agreed upon amount the next pay period, they are just plain
wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quitting any job without notice for
such a preposterous reason furthers that wrong as does stealing school property
and making threats against school staff members. </span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">How someone can in one post talk about how the solution to
this and every other problem is for more people to go to church and then
justify the actions of a thief and an extortionist is lost on me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If a person carelessly leaves their front
door unlocked and someone enters their home and steals their TV, the person is
still a thief and has still broken the law.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Were I to give advice, I would say to anyone that writing is
a serious business. How you write is just as important as what you write.
Spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar are important if you want to
be taken seriously and get your point across. The more errors in your correspondence,
the less credibility you will have. Lastly, your own unsubstantiated opinions
do not belong on someone else’s page, that is what your own page is for.</span>Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15377073071734485098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3130117810543121321.post-79646512902077668242014-03-22T08:57:00.004-07:002014-03-22T11:05:10.631-07:00Bad People Do Bad Things, Expect It<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgKr-Y72duVR4KPmTODg75c7rGWaL79EMIUeUg8XTKPzG50n9NB3oBnhNjiCcu-rUaNGe4a8Q6g7Q1g__rgvfn1-GlBq44v6aHFXOEm1OCs5vgx0aOBtsjyvpw2CFwaqnjgZV-grDdp8A/s1600/burglar.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgKr-Y72duVR4KPmTODg75c7rGWaL79EMIUeUg8XTKPzG50n9NB3oBnhNjiCcu-rUaNGe4a8Q6g7Q1g__rgvfn1-GlBq44v6aHFXOEm1OCs5vgx0aOBtsjyvpw2CFwaqnjgZV-grDdp8A/s1600/burglar.gif" height="177" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When did people stop doing the right thing? When did they
stop caring whether their actions harmed others?</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I guess the answer to that is that there have
always been some people who did not think about anyone but themselves.
Thankfully, and perhaps naively, I still believe that the vast majority of
people do care about others. However, I recently witnessed what I consider to
be a pretty deplorable situation and have been so bothered by what transpired
that it led me to write this piece. </span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There is a recently organized small Christian charter school
in our community that caters to those children who simply cannot learn in a
traditional classroom environment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
school’s founder did not establish it to make money but rather to provide a
service, it was her calling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are
only about 40 students enrolled in the school and the tuition is what I would
call ridiculously cheap, but then the parents of these students are not affluent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What this means is that before this school
was established there was not an alternative available to them. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This is a bare bones environment; those who teach at the
school do it as a service to the community for very little pay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Witnessing the teachers reach out to their
students gradually adapting to their individual learning disabilities and
challenging situations is truly heartwarming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>This is the kind of individual attentiveness that can only be accomplished
in a class room with no more than eight students. Any person with an ounce of
common sense could look at the school and see the tuition charged and
completely understand that this school is not about profit, it is about the
kids, giving them a chance they otherwise probably would not have.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Back in January, my husband and I heard that the school
needed a math teacher to teach one class. I mentioned this need to a few people,
none of whom expressed an interest. We finally thought about an acquaintance that
had always made great play of all the volunteer work he did and who also frequently
professed that he did not need compensation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We provided his name to the school administrator and he was subsequently
hired to teach one class each day beginning the last week of January. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">By all accounts, although a bit forgetful, he did a good job
and the kids liked him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All appeared
well until the February pay checks were given out to the staff just prior to
Spring break.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was extremely dissatisfied
with what he was being paid and quit immediately without notice. Further
investigation determined that he had in fact been accidently over paid in
January by a factor of five since he only taught one week that month and thus
extrapolated that that he should receive five times that amount for
February.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It should be noted that he
demanded to be paid more than the full time staff members and indicated that if
he was not paid the amount demanded that he would “bad mouth” the school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also stole books from the school and said
he would not return them unless they paid him. Needless to say, my husband and
I were mortified that we had ever suggested him as a candidate, but then who
knows the evil that lurks in the hearts of men.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This whole situation devastated the school, particularly the
administrator who was responsible for the accidental overpayment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hoping to minimize any potential damage to
the school and erroneously believing that paying him off would put an end to an
ugly situation, the school paid him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Actually, the administrator forfeited her own salary for the period of
his employment to cover his unearned and extorted pay. To say that they should
not have done this would be an understatement given that he was not only a
thief, but an extortionist as well, and he had already begun to make malicious
and false statements about the school and many of its staff members. He acted
like a classic bully, and the school gave him their lunch money.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Perhaps they should have known better, perhaps they should
have known that a person who did the kind of things this man did could not be
trusted, in any and all things. But they are, after all, a Christian school and
were ill equipped to deal with actions so vile.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Looking at this situation, I ask myself, why did he accept a
position for pay that he ultimately considered inadequate? Did he simply hate
teaching there and use this as a way of leaving? Why did he not ask why his
initial paycheck was five times the amount he was told he would be paid? Did he
not care about the significant impact his departure would have on already-challenged
kids? Did he not care how the other far more qualified teachers would feel
about his being paid at a rate five times what they were receiving? Had he
known that an individual would be giving up their own pay to compensate him
would he have done the same thing?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I think the only conclusion most people would come to is
that he is incapable of thinking about anyone other than himself, that the
charitable nature he has presented to so many is nothing but a façade, that he
didn’t give a hoot about the kids, or that he is a truly bad person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or, maybe he just needed the money and was
willing to forfeit any pretense of decency to get it.</span></div>
Dianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15377073071734485098noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3130117810543121321.post-49883366841927646992013-10-11T05:22:00.000-07:002015-02-11T09:24:40.846-08:00The Polynesian Theogony of Paul Gauguin<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Following is one of the chapters from Noa Noa, artist Paul Gauguin's account of his first, two-year visit to the island of Tahiti, which is couched in the context of a discussion with his concubine and provides an overview of the traditional Polynesian pantheon. It is, in fact, very reminiscent to me of Hesiod's famous Theogony of the classical Greek deities, and should be of some interest to anyone interested in the artist, comparative religion, or any number of related things. </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ymfvFQWPQMb3u_SNp3x0HH5K3xIZMkvA8v_GEeJpEwYz17Qljla2PpqLm1xBn-wEHxkeImXfSUf8vlATNIEPrnAaD2gXc0Mu9fhbg9TyqKFasuCHEXh4M5EPsmgLZdAX9tf-lMhw3UQ/s1600/Woher_kommen_wir_Wer_sind_wir_Wohin_gehen_wir.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2ymfvFQWPQMb3u_SNp3x0HH5K3xIZMkvA8v_GEeJpEwYz17Qljla2PpqLm1xBn-wEHxkeImXfSUf8vlATNIEPrnAaD2gXc0Mu9fhbg9TyqKFasuCHEXh4M5EPsmgLZdAX9tf-lMhw3UQ/s400/Woher_kommen_wir_Wer_sind_wir_Wohin_gehen_wir.jpg" height="150" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the evening we have
long and often very grave conversations in bed. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now that I can
understand Tehura, in whom her ancestors sleep and sometimes dream, I strive to
see and think through this child, and to find again in her the traces of the
far-away past which socially is dead indeed, but still persists in vague
memories. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I question, and not all
of my questions remain unanswered. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps the men, more
directly affected by our conquest or beguiled by our civilization, have
forgotten the old gods, but in the memory of the women they have kept a place
of refuge for themselves. It is a touching spectacle which Tehura presents,
when under my influence the old national divinities gradually reawaken in her
memory and cast off the artificial veils in which the Protestant missionaries
thought it necessary to shroud them. As a whole the work of the catechists is
very superficial. Their labors, particularly among the women, have fallen far
short of their expectations. Their teaching is like a feeble coat of varnish
which scales off, and quickly disappears at the slightest skillful touch. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tehura goes regularly to
the temple, and offers lip-service to the official religion. But she knows by
heart, and that is no small task, the names of all the gods of the Maori
Olympus. She knows their history, she teaches me how they have created the
world, how they rule it, how they wish to be honored. She is a stranger to the
rigors of Christian morals, or else she does not care. For example, she does
not think of repenting of the fact that she is the concubine, as they call it,
of a <i>tané</i>. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I do not exactly know
how she associates Taaroa and Jesus in her beliefs. I think that she venerates
both.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As chance has come she
has given me a complete course in Tahitian theology. In return I have tried to
explain to her some of the phenomena of nature in accordance with European
knowledge.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The stars interest her
much. She asks me for the French name of the morning-star, the evening-star,
and the other stars. It is difficult for her to understand that the earth turns
around the sun. . . .<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She tells me the names
of the stars in her language, and, as she is speaking, I distinguish by the
very light of the stars who are themselves divinities the sacred forms of the
Maori masters of the air and the fire, of the islands and of the waters. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The inhabitants of
Tahiti, as far as it is possible to go back in their history, have always
possessed a rather extended knowledge of astronomy. The periodical feasts of
the Areois, members of a secret religious and military society which ruled over
the islands and of which I shall have more to say, were based on the
revolutions of the stars. Even the nature of moonlight, it seems, was not
unknown to the Maori. They assume that the moon is a globe very much like the
earth, inhabited like it and rich in products like our own. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They estimate the
distance from the earth to the moon in their manner thus: The seed of the tree
Ora was borne from the moon to the earth by a white dove. It took her <i>two moons</i> to reach the satellite, and when after two more moons she fell
upon the earth again, she was without feathers. Of all the birds known to the
Maoris, this one is regarded as having the swiftest flight. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But here is the Tahitian
nomenclature of the stars. I complete Tehura's lesson with the aid of a very
ancient manuscript found in Polynesia. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is it too presumptuous
to see in this the beginnings of a rational system of astronomy, rather than a
simple play of the imagination? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Roüa — great is his
beginning — slept with his wife, the Gloomy Earth.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>She gave birth to her
king, the sun, then to the dusk, and then to the night.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Then Roüa cast off this
woman</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Roüa — great is his
beginning — slept with the woman called "Grande Réunion."</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>She gave birth to the
queens of the heaven, the stars, and then to the star Tahiti, the evening-star.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The king of the golden
skies, the only king, slept with his wife Fanoüi.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Of her is born the star
Taüroüa</i> (Venus), <i>the morning-star, the king Taüroüa, who gives
laws to the night and the day, to the other stars, to the moon, to the sun, and
serves as a guide to mariners.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Taüroüa sailed at the
left toward the north, where he slept with his wife, and begat the Red Star,
the star which shines in the evening under two faces.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The Red Star, flying in
the East, made ready his pirogue, the pirogue of the full day, and steered
toward the skies. At the rise of the sun he sailed away.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Rehoüa now arises in the
wideness of space. He sleeps with his wife, Oüra Taneïpa</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Of them are born the
Twin-kings, the Pleiades</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These Twin-kings are
surely identical with our Castor and Pollux.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This first version of
the Polynesian genesis is complicated with variations which are perhaps only
developments.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Taaroa slept with the
woman who calls herself Goddess of the Without (or of the sea).</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Of them are born the
white clouds, the black clouds, and the rain.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Taaroa slept with woman
who calls herself Goddess of the Within (or of the earth).</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Of them is born the
first germ.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Is born in turn all that
grows upon the surface of the earth.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Is born in turn the mist
of the mountains. Is born in turn he who calls himself the Strong.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Is born in turn she who
calls herself the Beautiful, or the one Adorned-in-order-to-Please</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Mahoüi</i> <i>launches his pirogue. </i><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>He sits down in the
bottom. At his right hangs the hook, fastened to the line by strands of hair.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>And this line, which he
holds in his hand, and this hook, he lets fall down into the depths of the
universe in order to fish for the great fish (the earth) .</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The hook has caught.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Already the axes show,
already the God feels the enormous weight of the world.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Tefatou (the God of the
earth and the earth itself) caught by the hook, emerges out of the night, still
suspended in the immensity of space.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Mahoüi has caught the
great fish which swims in space, and he can now direct it according to his
will.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>He holds it in his hand.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Mahoüi rules also the
course of the sun</i>, <i>in such a way that
day and night are of equal duration</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I asked Tehura to name
the Gods for me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Taaroa slept with the
woman Ohina, the Goddess of the air.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Of them is born the
rainbow, the moonlight, then, the red clouds and the red rain.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Taaroa slept with the
woman Ohina, Goddess of the bosom of the earth.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Of them is born Tefatou,
the spirit who animates the earth, and who manifests himself in subterranean
noises.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Taaroa slept with the
woman called Beyond-the-Earth.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Of them are born the
Gods Teirü and Roüanoüa.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Then in turn Roo who
sprang from the flank of his mother's body.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>And of the same woman
were also born Wrath and the Tempest, the Furious Winds, and also the Peace
which follows these</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>And the source of these
spirits is in the place whence the Messengers are sent</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But Tehura admits that
these relations are contested.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The most orthodox
classification is this. The Gods are divided into Atuas and Oromatuas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The superior Atuas are
all sons and grandsons of Taaroa.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They dwell in the
heavens. — There are seven heavens.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Taaroa and his wife
Feii Feii Maïteraï had as sons: Oro (the first of the gods after his
father, and who himself had two sons (Tetaï Mati and Oüroü Tetefa), Raa (father
of Tetoüa Oüroü Oüroü, Feoïto, Teheme, Roa Roa, Tehu Raï Tia Hotoü,
Temoüria), Tane (father of Peüroürai, Piata Hoüa, Piatia Roroa, Parara Iti
Matai, Patia Taüra, Tane Haeriraï), Roo, Tieri, Tefatou, Roüa Noüa, Toma Hora,
Roüa Otia, Moë, Toüpa, Panoüa, Tefatou Tire, Tefatou Toutaü, Peuraï, Mahoüi,
Harana, Paümoüri, Hiro, Roüi, Fanoüra, Fatoühoüi, Rii.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each of these gods has
his particular attributes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We already know the
works of Mahoüi and Tefatou. ...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tané has the seventh
heaven for his mouth, and this signifies that the mouth of this god, who has
given his name to man, is the farthest end of the heavens whence the light
begins to illume the earth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rii separated the
heavens and the earth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Roüi stirred up the waters
of the ocean; he broke the solid mass of the terrestrial continent, and divided
it into innumerable parts which are the present islands.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fanoüra, whose head
touches the clouds and whose feet touch the bottom of the sea, and Fatoühoüi,
another giant, descended together upon Eïva — an unknown land — in order to
combat and destroy the monstrous hog which devoured human beings.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hiro, the god of
thieves, dug holes in the rocks with his fingers. He liberated a virgin whom
the giants held captive in an enchanted place. With one hand he snatched up the
trees which during the day concealed the prison of the virgin, and the charm
was broken. ...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The inferior Atuas are
particularly occupied with the life and work of men, but they do not abide in
their dwelling-places.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They are: the Atuas Maho
(god-sharks), guardian spirits of mariners; the Peho, gods and goddesses of the
valleys, guardian spirits of husbandry; the No Te Oüpas Oüpas, guardian
spirits of singers, of comedians, and of dancers; the Raaoü Pava Maïs, guardian
spirits of physicians; the No Apas, gods to whom offerings are made after they
have protected one from witchcraft and enchantment; the O Tanoü, guardian
spirits of laborers; the Tane Ite Haas, guardian spirits of carpenters and
builders; the Minias and the Papeas, guardian spirits of the roofers; the
Matatinis, guardian spirits of makers of nets. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Oromatuas are
household gods, the Lares.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are Oromatuas
properly so called, and Genii.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Oromatuas punish the
fomenters of strife, and preserve peace in the families. They are: the Varna
Taatas, the souls of the men and women of each family who have died; the
Eriorios, the souls of the children, who have died at an early age of a natural
death; the Poüaras, the souls of the children, who have been killed at birth,
and who have returned into the body of grasshoppers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Genii are
conjectural divinities, or rather consciously created by man. Without apparent
motive, except that of his own choice, he attributes divine qualities to some
animal or to some object, as, for example, a tree, and then he consults it in
all important circumstances. There is in this, perhaps, a trace of Indian
metempsychosis with which the Maoris very probably were acquainted. Their
historical songs and legends abound in fables in which the great gods assume
the form of animals and plants.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the last rank of the
celestial hierarchy, after the Atuas and the Oromatuas, come the Tiis.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These sons of Taaroa and
Hina are very numerous.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the Maori cosmogomy,
they are spirits, inferior to the gods and strangers to men. They are
intermediate between organic beings and inorganic beings and defend the rights
and prerogatives of the latter against the usurpations of the former.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Their origin is this:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Taaroa slept with Hina,
and of them was born Tii.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tii slept with the woman
Ani (<i>Desire</i>), and of them were born: Desire-of-the-night, the messenger
of shadows and of death; Desire-of-the-day, the messenger of light and of life;
Desire-of-the-gods, the messenger of the things of heaven; Desire-of-men, the
messenger of the things of the earth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of them in turn were
born: Tii of the within who watches over animals and plants; Tii of the without
who guards the beings and things of the sea; Tii of the sands, and Tii of the
sea-shores, and Tii of the loose earth; Tii of the rocks and Tii of the solid
earth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Still later were born:
the happenings of the night, the happenings of the day, going and coming, flux
and reflux, the giving and receiving of pleasure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The images of the Tiis
were placed at the farthest ends of the <i>maraës</i> (temples), and formed
the limit which circumscribed the sacred places. They are seen on the rocks and
on the sea-shores. These idols have the mission of marking the boundaries
between the earth and the sea, of maintaining the balance between the two
elements, and of restraining their reciprocal encroachments. Even modern
travelers have seen a few statues of Tiis on the Ile-de-Pâques. They are
colossal outlines partaking of human and animal forms, and bear witness to a
special conception of beauty and a genuine skill in the art of working in
stones, for they are architecturally constructed of superimposed blocks with
original and ingenious combinations of color.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The European invasion
and monotheism have destroyed these vestiges of a civilization which had its
own grandeur. When the Tahitians to-day raise monuments, they achieve miracles
of bad taste — as, for example, the tomb of Pomare. They had been richly
endowed with an instinctive feeling for the harmony necessary between human creations
and the animal and plant life which formed the setting and decoration of their
existence, but this has now been lost. In contact with us, with <i>our school</i>, they have truly become "savages," in the sense which
the Latin occident has given this word. They themselves have remained beautiful
as masterpieces, but morally and physically (owing to us) they have become
unfruitful. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some traces of <i>maraës</i> still exist. They were parallelograms broken by openings. Three
sides were formed of stone walls, four to six feet in height; a pyramid not as
high as it was wide formed the fourth. The whole had a width of about one
hundred meters, and a length of forty. Images of Tiis decorated this simple
architectural structure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9VM3vEu4OjIv-ZV4xGZzlzP_6CWMeMAUSIN6bcaBfyRhom7FuxglWdl3KuopBjehMPcH4dUrhn-CU5flwRERvNl0NCs7lZXZOa0NiiNvEyOsZO4pjBqmQbcKN0xnq14MEhQNAuZKq4yE/s1600/62688209.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9VM3vEu4OjIv-ZV4xGZzlzP_6CWMeMAUSIN6bcaBfyRhom7FuxglWdl3KuopBjehMPcH4dUrhn-CU5flwRERvNl0NCs7lZXZOa0NiiNvEyOsZO4pjBqmQbcKN0xnq14MEhQNAuZKq4yE/s400/62688209.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The moon had an
important place in the metaphysical speculations of the Maoris. It has already
been stated that great feasts were celebrated in her honor. Hina is often
invoked in the traditional recitals of the Areois. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But her share or rôle in
the harmony of the world is negative rather than positive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This appears clearly in
the dialogue between Hina and Tefatou.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Such texts would offer
beautiful material for exegists, if the Oceanian Bible could be found as a
subject for commentary. They would see there first of all the principles of a
religion based on the worship of the forces of nature — a characteristic common
to all primitive religions. The greater number of Maori gods are in effect
personifications of different elements. But an attentive glance, if not misled
or depraved by a desire to demonstrate the superiority of our philosophy over
that of these "tribes," would soon discover interesting and singular
characteristics in these legends.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I should like to point
out two, but I shall do no more than indicate them. The problem of verifying
these hypotheses is a matter for savants.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is above all the
clearness with which the two only and universal principles of life are
designated and distinguished and ultimately resolved into a supreme unity. The
one, soul and intelligence, Taaroa, is the male; the other in a certain way
matter and body of the same god, is the female, that is Hina. To her belongs
all the love of men, to him their respect. Hina is not the name of the moon
alone. There is also a Hina-of-the-air, a Hina-of-the-sea, a Hina-of-the-Within,
but these two syllables characterize only the subordinate parts of matter. The
sun and the sky, light and its empire, all the noble parts of matter, so to
speak, or rather all the spiritual elements of matter are Taaroa. This is
definitely formulated in more than one text, in which the definition of spirit
and matter can be recognized. Or what, if we acquiesce in this definition, is
the significance of the fundamental doctrine of the Maori genesis:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">THE GREAT AND HOLY
UNIVERSE IS ONLY THE SHELL OF TAAROA — ?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Does not this doctrine
constitute a primitive belief in the unity of matter? Is there not in this
definition and separation of spirit and matter an analysis of the twofold
manifestations of a single and unique substance? However rare such a philosophical
intention may be among primitives, it does not follow that one should decline
to receive testimony. It is evident that the Oceanian theology had two ends in
view in the actions of the god who created the world and conserves it: the
generative cause and matter which has become fecund, the motive force and the
object acted upon, spirit and matter. It also appears clearly that in the
constant interaction between the luminous spirit and the perceptive matter
which it vivifies — that is to say in the successive unions of Taaroa with the
diverse manifestations of Hina — one should recognize the continual and
ever-varying influence of the sun upon things. And in the fruits of these
unions are to be seen the changes continually effected in these very elements
by light and warmth. When once we have a clear view of this phenomenon out of
which the two universal currents proceed, we see that in the fruit are united
and mingled the generative cause and the matter which has become fecund, in
movement, the motive force and the object acted upon, and in life, spirit and
matter, and that the universe just created is only the <i>shell of Taaroa</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the second place it
appears from the dialogue between Tefatou and Hina, that man and the earth
shall perish, but that the moon and the race inhabiting it shall continue. If
we recall that Hina represents matter, and that according to the scientific
precept, "all things transform but nothing perishes," we must agree
that the old Maori sage who invented the legend knew as much about the subject
as we do. Matter does not perish, that is to say it does not lose the qualities
which can be perceived by the senses. Spirit, on the contrary, and light, this
"spiritual matter," are subject to transformation. There is night and
there is death, when the eyes close, from which light seemed to radiate and to
reflect. Spirit, or rather the highest actual manifestation of spirit, is man.
"<i>Man must die . . . he dies never to rise again. . . . And man should
die</i>." But even when man and the earth, these fruits of the union of
Taaroa and Hina, have perished, Taaroa himself will remain eternal, and we are
told that Hina, matter, will also continue to be. There will then necessarily
be present throughout all eternity spirit and matter, light and the object which
it strives to illumine. They will be urged on with a mutual desire for a new
union from which will arise a new "state" in the infinite <i>evolution</i> of life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Evolution! . . . The
unity of matter! . . . Who would have thought to find such testimony of a high
civilization in the conceptions of former cannibals? I can with good conscience
say that I have added nothing to the truth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is true that Tehura
had no doubts concerning these abstractions, but she persisted in regarding
shooting stars as wandering tupapaüs and genii in distress. In the same spirit
as her ancestors, who thought that the sky was Taaroa himself and that the
Atuas descended from Taaroa were simultaneously gods and heavenly bodies, she
ascribed human feelings to the stars. I do not know in how far these poetic
imaginings impede the progress of the most positive science, neither do I know
to what point the highest science would condemn them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From other points of
view it would be possible to give other interpretations to the dialogue between
Tefatou and Hina: The counsel of the moon who is feminine might be the
dangerous advice of blind pity and sentimental weakness. The moon and women,
expressions in the Maori conception for matter, need not know that death alone
guards the secrets of life. Tefatou's reply might be regarded as the stern, but
far-sighted and disinterested, decree of supremest wisdom, which knows that the
individual manifestations of actual life must give way before a higher being in
order that it may come and must sacrifice themselves to it in order that it may
triumph.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In earlier days this
response would have had a much more far-reaching implication and the import of
a national prophecy. A great spirit of ancient days would have studied and
measured the vitality of his race; he would have foreseen the germs of death in
its blood without the possibility of recovery or rebirth, and he would have
said: <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Tahiti will die, it will
die never to rise again</i>. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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Michael O. Varholahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02926860732348083635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3130117810543121321.post-24067983691675310722013-03-16T00:00:00.000-07:002013-03-16T09:26:43.955-07:00Guide to World Holidays<i>A number of people have responded to some of my posts, notably my essay on <a href="http://religionpoliticssex.blogspot.com/2011/12/choosing-to-have-happy-holiday.html">"Choosing to Have a Happy Holiday,"</a> by saying they had not heard of some of the holidays I mentioned! Certainly people can get by in the modern world without knowing too much about Saturnalia, but it probably behooves most educated people to know about the holidays being observed by their neighbors, and so I have decided to start this guide to world holidays. I also hope to reveal some interesting things people might not have known about more familiar holidays. </i>
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<b>Saint Patrick’s Day (March 17):</b> This religious holiday devoted to the patron saint of Ireland is observed by the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Lutheran Church. It has been an official church feast day for about 400 years but, in more recent times, has also evolved into a more secular celebration of Irish culture in general that is observed with parades, wearing green clothing, eating, and, naturally, drinking. And, for those who care about such things, participation in it does grant a one-day dispensation on the strictures of Lent for those observing it! Saint Patrick, a 5th century Romano-British Christian missionary and bishop, has a number of claims to fame that warrant such revelry in his memory, the main one being the prominent role he played in spreading Christianity throughout the Emerald Isles. He is also credited with banishing all serpents from Ireland, driving them into the sea and to their deaths after they had the impertinence to attack him during his own Lenten rigors. The fact that there are no snakes in Ireland today suggests that he did, in fact, do a pretty good job in this regard.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqUj-dqdzghPa15bVCC0WOypyOEm7lTjD7f_-cYPZcTHdNOCk6sTLU_LAetoiVFnYgQSJ8foe2JsoMQVH-RwECc6ZzfgGAunp4q2r8Azrt4AjwKX7U7HYnmTYaGpldMh5haIrx_-4xpNo/s1600/Saint_Patrick_(window).jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqUj-dqdzghPa15bVCC0WOypyOEm7lTjD7f_-cYPZcTHdNOCk6sTLU_LAetoiVFnYgQSJ8foe2JsoMQVH-RwECc6ZzfgGAunp4q2r8Azrt4AjwKX7U7HYnmTYaGpldMh5haIrx_-4xpNo/s320/Saint_Patrick_(window).jpg" /></a>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTuH6aucQDYSqJt1q79PnJcDOIhCOblU6ktdd0YjnQuZkdFhNt9dx-nLmtUIZ6hDmD5KXd2WQOSacjJkcJH8LGNoplZ4mOsMPoD6mJK6YQpEhfdA-l9thO_YSL69ZwX9claZEAANKIGjg/s1600/Songkran_at_Wat_Thai_in_Los_Angeles%252C_April_2008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTuH6aucQDYSqJt1q79PnJcDOIhCOblU6ktdd0YjnQuZkdFhNt9dx-nLmtUIZ6hDmD5KXd2WQOSacjJkcJH8LGNoplZ4mOsMPoD6mJK6YQpEhfdA-l9thO_YSL69ZwX9claZEAANKIGjg/s200/Songkran_at_Wat_Thai_in_Los_Angeles%252C_April_2008.jpg" /></a></div><b>Songkran (April 13-15): </b> This holiday coincides with the New Year of many calendars of South and Southeast Asia and is celebrated as the traditional start of the New Year in Thailand. This was originally a moveable feast with a date set by astrological calculation but is now fixed; if its days fall on a weekend, the missed days off are taken on the weekdays immediately following. Songkran falls in the hottest time of the year in Thailand, at the end of the dry season. Songkran has traditionally been celebrated as the New Year for many centuries, is believed to have been adapted from an Indian festival, and is observed nationwide. The most famous Songkran celebrations, however, are still in the northern city of Chiang Mai, where it continues for at least six days. It has also become a party for foreigners and an additional reason for many to visit Thailand.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVmP0bg52eY17TCKlBzxtgS6Oq0HcTTjhO7kJNWYOQuEiy0pBWjBxIYiWuboYVKRQ1m_xxl0KbPC95cqY5fLK1UkyFZhyqrbb-p1h2_LAy-awLUzfTmOOsbVVnRWScQsjk_wicOoJbW-A/s1600/banner-md.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="117" width="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVmP0bg52eY17TCKlBzxtgS6Oq0HcTTjhO7kJNWYOQuEiy0pBWjBxIYiWuboYVKRQ1m_xxl0KbPC95cqY5fLK1UkyFZhyqrbb-p1h2_LAy-awLUzfTmOOsbVVnRWScQsjk_wicOoJbW-A/s320/banner-md.png" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgov8FH_XXsiiPS53BxMnJJHcIPDET695MUMjgtJ_6gfbHgkYcpmAi-0MC6Nbnmc_jTgKCZuJxwKDqfGYDvy3bwCp036OfJkp6ofVOuY3PWy7pdzn6oXMPHCzNEhMFGpmULPLfcxvNKuSk/s1600/happy-new-year--2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="134" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgov8FH_XXsiiPS53BxMnJJHcIPDET695MUMjgtJ_6gfbHgkYcpmAi-0MC6Nbnmc_jTgKCZuJxwKDqfGYDvy3bwCp036OfJkp6ofVOuY3PWy7pdzn6oXMPHCzNEhMFGpmULPLfcxvNKuSk/s200/happy-new-year--2012.jpg" /></a></div><b>New Year's Day (January 1).</b> Celebrated on the first day of January throughought much of the world, this day marks the beginnning of the new calendar year. Strange as it may be to conceive of, however, this was not always the case, and only started to be observed on January 1 in the English-speaking world between the years A.D. 1600 and 1761! Up until that point, the start of the New Year was generally observed on March 25, and going back into the Middle Ages a number of other dates were used, including March 1, September 1, Christmas Day, and Easter. Many Catholics may also recognize January 1 as the day Jesus was circumcised.
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJJL9IeORrCXp03MnOu6A_BAjW2WDFCCHDdY4ZGrhjnTUXh8aoc6GUsXfxIUhZnlphloc81aMWdRksVNa1erSx4F4wd2o_fT_-iO5sHALVhrdx9t5Jz4TH-Pr29fExamKrbF77y0iz8xE/s1600/Magi_%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="154" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJJL9IeORrCXp03MnOu6A_BAjW2WDFCCHDdY4ZGrhjnTUXh8aoc6GUsXfxIUhZnlphloc81aMWdRksVNa1erSx4F4wd2o_fT_-iO5sHALVhrdx9t5Jz4TH-Pr29fExamKrbF77y0iz8xE/s200/Magi_%25281%2529.jpg" /></a></div><b>Epiphany (Mostly January 6 in 2013).</b> This Christian feast day celebrates the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ. In the Western Christian tradition, Ephiphany mainly commemorates the visitation the baby Jesus by the Magi, symbolizing Jesus' physical manifestation to the Gentiles, and is generally celebrated either on January 6 as a Holy Day of Obligation or on the first Sunday after January 1. In the Eastern Christians tradition, the holiday celebrates the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, recognized as his revelation to the world as the Son of God, and is generally celebrated on January 19. In certain countries, however, Epiphany is celebrated on different days (e.g., January 9 in Columbia).
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyl_BhAXPzMSWN4n6X-PIDR9dn_M3gzPY7VccfrV8E6btrm06H5OFBqJhLSEdk4xd7I1-x08GBtVwPqCRR7Eu0v-csML6ORY30wOLbPPHPXnX0bKm8SWFlJ5mMe3bZdNTD6fPyZwzdWNs/s1600/Young_ladies_at_Harajuku.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="122" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyl_BhAXPzMSWN4n6X-PIDR9dn_M3gzPY7VccfrV8E6btrm06H5OFBqJhLSEdk4xd7I1-x08GBtVwPqCRR7Eu0v-csML6ORY30wOLbPPHPXnX0bKm8SWFlJ5mMe3bZdNTD6fPyZwzdWNs/s200/Young_ladies_at_Harajuku.jpg" /></a></div>
<b><i>Seijin no Hi</i>/Coming of Age Day (Japan; January 14 in 2013):</b> Events of this sort date to at least A.D. 714 in Japan and were officially established as an annual holiday in 1948; since 2000, Coming of Age Day has been observed on the second Monday in January. Its purpose is to congratulate and encourage all those who have reached the age of majority which, in Japan, is 20 years old, and when new adults are legally allowed to vote, drive, and smoke. Festivities include ceremonies at local government offices and after-parties among family and friends.
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQIyY6yU2NRO3AaGA3uu_cp3baC5ihHl53TNfgz-TfF1vSt5_OpFoCJEhEYfb3_hLxgNQGvpetTXyRiXEHM_ixWgcwJ8KxOPpciLLFK0dJlvz1_HNzO9e7Cker1IIguz1TkUW3cC3AJnA/s1600/Martin_Luther_King_Jr_with_medallion_NYWTS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="200" width="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQIyY6yU2NRO3AaGA3uu_cp3baC5ihHl53TNfgz-TfF1vSt5_OpFoCJEhEYfb3_hLxgNQGvpetTXyRiXEHM_ixWgcwJ8KxOPpciLLFK0dJlvz1_HNzO9e7Cker1IIguz1TkUW3cC3AJnA/s200/Martin_Luther_King_Jr_with_medallion_NYWTS.jpg" /></a></div><b>Martin Luther King Jr. Day (January 21 in 2013).</b> This U.S. federal holiday marks the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., chief spokesman for nonviolent activism in the U.S. civil rights movement during the 1960s. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, around the time of King's Jan. 15 birthday. President Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983 and it was first observed on January 20, 1986. Some states initially resisted observing the holiday as such, combining it with other holidays or giving it alternative names, and it was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000.
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZovLngIpbd1i3EId9bzcJf6NXGAB43gyYp6rQ23VubDIKDouP8D4aZHTruIPI6imT1CkpNkNGkTsd1Kp75n8phKz_fiB4q1-BHtJNehc8nYhzM6zVnEzsMH0hYE4dznS1bDoVPDE33k/s1600/Rashtrapati_Bhavan_Illuminated_on_Republic_Day-2010_Eve.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZovLngIpbd1i3EId9bzcJf6NXGAB43gyYp6rQ23VubDIKDouP8D4aZHTruIPI6imT1CkpNkNGkTsd1Kp75n8phKz_fiB4q1-BHtJNehc8nYhzM6zVnEzsMH0hYE4dznS1bDoVPDE33k/s200/Rashtrapati_Bhavan_Illuminated_on_Republic_Day-2010_Eve.jpg" /></a></div><b>Republic Day (India; January 26):</b> Republic Day is a national holiday that marks the adoption of the Constitution of India and the transition of the nation from a British Dominion to a republic on January 26, 1950. It is one of the three national holidays celebrated in India. On this day, the country finally realized the dream of Mahatma Gandhi and the numerous freedom fighters who, fought for and sacrificed their lives for the Independence of their country. It is marked by speeches, parades, and ceremonies, especially in the national capital of New Delhi. It is worth noting, for those who might not have been aware of this, that India -- and not the United States -- is today the largest republic in the world!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs9JxM_J3XKGLzx_lyXgkVwzCWZ5pBI5lk0o5e5sVxemtkZ3_NXmm7wca6IV9Bxs8VI-mI_u9ilBiy4-AqAi3P9ZmgOkvA7O6eeKlx1bcV8gYAd4SJPS5TgVPJu-xNK5STS1c29w3RFwE/s1600/Chinese_New_Year_%25284603593122%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs9JxM_J3XKGLzx_lyXgkVwzCWZ5pBI5lk0o5e5sVxemtkZ3_NXmm7wca6IV9Bxs8VI-mI_u9ilBiy4-AqAi3P9ZmgOkvA7O6eeKlx1bcV8gYAd4SJPS5TgVPJu-xNK5STS1c29w3RFwE/s200/Chinese_New_Year_%25284603593122%2529.jpg" /></a></div>
<b>Chinese New Year (February 10 in 2013):</b> Also called the Lunar New Year and the Spring Festival, Chinese New Year is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. While it is particularly celebrated in mainland China and Taiwan, it is also observed by expatriate communities worldwide in countries that include the United States, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first month, <i>Pinyin</i>, in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th, a day known as Lantern Festival. Because its observance is based on a lunar calendar, it falls each year on a different day of the Western calendar. Vietnamese New Year, or Tết, is based on the same calendar and falls on the same day as Chinese New Year. Each year of the Chinese calendar is said to be influenced by a particular sign of the zodiac, and 2013 is the Year of the Snake. People born under the sign of the Snake are said to be especially acute, attractive, aware, contemplative, cunning, graceful, introspective, intuitive, private, proud, refined, unflappable, vain, simultaneously dark and exciting, but not particularly good at communication, somewhat scheming, and often vicious.
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihZNoH3ryxSjuNjt8yY-B6M8D5WPEHdqBorOVUo-Ny2sNObCsf72PuxkYg3KI1l20BtNne88VJjLXbe8GMixAVkX6z-7FE495TfIVLzaKwV9zD1BZrLcupi07Qm9zrbsH159sFJbykCo0/s1600/Mardis+Gras+2012.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="130" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihZNoH3ryxSjuNjt8yY-B6M8D5WPEHdqBorOVUo-Ny2sNObCsf72PuxkYg3KI1l20BtNne88VJjLXbe8GMixAVkX6z-7FE495TfIVLzaKwV9zD1BZrLcupi07Qm9zrbsH159sFJbykCo0/s200/Mardis+Gras+2012.bmp" /></a></div><b>Shrove Tuesday (February 12 in 2013):</b> Better known to many in the United States as <i>Mardi Gras</i> (French for "Fat Tuesday"), this is the tradition in Roman Catholic and Anglican societies of celebrating the day before the start of the austere season of Lent with eating, drinking, and costumed revelry. It is celebrated througout the Western world and also known variously as <i>Carnival</i> in many places (e.g., Italy, Brazil) and <i>Fasching</i> in Germany. The period of celebration leading up to this day, which ends abruptly at midnight, varies from place to place and can be a day, a week, or even a few months. As a point of commentary, it bears mentioning that holidays like this are at least implicitly intended to let normal people periodically blow off steam. So, while Mardis Gras is often presented as an event created for party animals this is not really the case, as the most hedonistic can carouse whenever they want and it is the people who do not do so regularly who need observances like this one. Holidays like this have, in any case, been observed since time immemorial in most societies and subcultures that eschew such celebrations simply contribute to the misery of their members and drive them to partake of their pleasures more covertly.
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0vPhxJIX5UbDWbVZOQwZJvVeZ_Npaf0I8a6F4cEwV69X4abt-1JoMbd8GVaNwngZLiN0_4AyMa_vhwxFEXLry14As0bFHIVwp9-vo8iJh5ONjpgpFz4_9GGos3DxUn2YpeITTBOT-zbc/s1600/Antique_Valentine_1909_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="200" width="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0vPhxJIX5UbDWbVZOQwZJvVeZ_Npaf0I8a6F4cEwV69X4abt-1JoMbd8GVaNwngZLiN0_4AyMa_vhwxFEXLry14As0bFHIVwp9-vo8iJh5ONjpgpFz4_9GGos3DxUn2YpeITTBOT-zbc/s200/Antique_Valentine_1909_01.jpg" /></a></div><b>Saint Valentine's Day (February 14):</b> Generally known simply as Valentine's Day, this secular holiday is observed in more than 100 countries worldwide and is named in honor of two or three early Christian saints. This holiday was established by Pope Gelasius I in A.D. 496 and acquired its romantic connotations during the Middle Ages and, by the 1400s, was observed by the exchange of flowers, candy, and cards between lovers. Its name and history notwithstanding, however, Valentine's Day is no longer observed as a religious holiday, and the Catholic Church removed it from its list of official holidays in 1969. It also bears mentioning that the figure of Cupid, the winged child associated with Valentine's Day, is in fact the ancient Roman god of desire, pointing once again to the pagan roots of a seemingly modern holiday. Michael O. Varholahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02926860732348083635noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3130117810543121321.post-85951640810180400462013-03-12T22:38:00.000-07:002013-03-13T02:17:43.929-07:00PopeWatch 2013: Blowing Black SmokeVATICAN CITY -- A plume of black smoke issuing from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel signaled that the first day of the College of Cardinals' papal conclave had ended and that, predictably, its members had not yet selected a replacement for retired Pope Benedict XVI. The princes of the Catholic Church, however, are not the only ones blowing smoke, and over the past month there has been an abundance of idle, often whimsical, and sometimes even feel-good chatter about who the next pope will be. With an ever-canny sense of how things are rather than how people want them to be, the editors of Religion, Politics, and Sex decided to look at the presumed frontrunners in the papal race and make our predictions not just on who the next pope will be but also on who it definitely will <i>not</i> be.
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The members of the conclave are, of course, literally sworn to secrecy in this regard, so public speculation falls to lower-ranking clergy, the media, and bookmakers. Some of their top choices, however, are so absolutely unlikely that they have presumably been proposed merely as red herrings to boost the payoff for bets on candidates they think actually have a chance or to jolly along various special interest groups.
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There has also been quite a bit of discussion about the moral characteristics of various candidates and factors such as the presumable impact of things like their roles in either covering up or exposing the Church's child sex abuse scandals. But these factors have no bearing on whether a candidate would make what is considered to be a good pope and are therefore irrelevant and will have no impact whatsoever on the decision reached by the conclave. If the new pope is a genuinely good person, wants to make protecting children from predatory priests his <i>cause celebre</i>, etc., that is all great, but it has nothing to do with his viability as a candidate.
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Following are some of the top choices whose names are being bandied about on the news. We are presenting them here in reverse order, from least to most likely to be elected.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivxCcvD1yPgIUfQlYl40MpsRl3ugGCk5F6pF4qbI_xZlaigAjhqoYrBBxUZkmcWJXloGUxL9lhfQJO1MChOYbCCvKRM8aQK69ueHruADpp0K7gEqEEmdYQuYmz7n3iTonHG4TIaH6cBng/s1600/TurksonEditorial3.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivxCcvD1yPgIUfQlYl40MpsRl3ugGCk5F6pF4qbI_xZlaigAjhqoYrBBxUZkmcWJXloGUxL9lhfQJO1MChOYbCCvKRM8aQK69ueHruADpp0K7gEqEEmdYQuYmz7n3iTonHG4TIaH6cBng/s320/TurksonEditorial3.jpg" /></a>
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<b>* Cardinal Peter Turkson (Ghana).</b> Really? No, really? Anyone suggesting that Turkson has any chance at all of being elected pope is doing so for purposes of misdirection, to lead Africans in particular and blacks in general to feel more important within the Church than they really are, or as a joke. His qualities as a Church leader are, in fact, completely meaningless simply because he is black. This may seem like an extreme contention, but consider what we learned when Obama got elected, e.g., that a certain proportion of the population will become mentally unhinged when a black is elected to a particular high office for the first time. A global sex abuse scandal is one thing and something the Church can obviously survive just fine, but a black man in a miter would be the death of Catholicism as we know it. Just as Americans who were admittedly almost illiterate before Obama was elected suddenly affected expert knowledge of Constitutional law to justify their irrational hatred for the first black U.S. president, closet racists throughout the Catholic Church would suddenly start spouting references to obscure canon laws disseminated by the plethora of hatemongering schismatic websites that would pop up. Catholicism would experience a literal decimation, with one in 10 of its members abandoning the Church immediately, and there is a reasonable chance that any number of pretender popes would be elected within particular geographical areas. The cardinals are more likely to drink a vat of poisoned Kool-Aid than propagate such a monumental disaster.
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<b>* Cardinal Timothy Dolan (United States).</b> Almost no chance. Americans are notoriously bad at seeing themselves as others see them and do not realize that the United States is perceived by many people throughout the world as militaristic, imperialistic, hypocritical, and a busy-body. Election of an American would lead to widespread perception that the Vatican had been suborned by the United States and this is something that the conclave is going to be sensitive to.
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<b>* Marc Oullet (Canada).</b> Slightly better chance than Dolan, but he is still a <i>Norde Americano</i> and from a nation that is often seen as a client state of the United States, so the fear of appearance of undue political influence on the Vatican remains a consideration.
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<b>* Peter Erdo (Hungary).</b> OK, now we're getting on track, and this guy dodges all the bullets of the afore-mentioned candidates, making him a viable contender. But the Vatican has already had its "Eastern European" ticket punched in recent memory so there is no strategic advantage associated with electing him.
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<b>* Odilo Scherer (Brazil).</b> This one might actually have a reasonable chance. Sure, he is a South American, but is just about as white as most Italians, and the sense is that the powerbrokers in the Church could use him as a tool (e.g., much the way George W. Bush was puppeted by rightwing business interests). This would also be a sop to Third Worlders and give them an inflated sense of their place in the Church.
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<b>* Angelo Scola.</b> This is the one! Or, someone who is so much like him as to be almost indistinguishable. One can almost sense a <i>zeitgeist</i>, if not a <i>heilig geist</i>, among the Italian cardinals, a palpable desire to "take back the papacy." Germans and Poles have had their time in the sun and they are as exotic as this bunch is ever going to want to deal with, so it is time for the pendulum to swing back toward what the papacy has been for the majority of its history.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNZOhkrDK8AUBjVV3mc3i8PguhWW6shvkABybSvE3_47AnQ4MPSN1Z3Aysry9E-yDjXSnEhKjSMyNJpQzboQWj4mMBgcViRHvC5wheLrp9AW-FTH05vUaYWwpeqkGG2jbE6g8s61VaZDQ/s1600/CARDINAL_angelo_scola_milan_italy.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNZOhkrDK8AUBjVV3mc3i8PguhWW6shvkABybSvE3_47AnQ4MPSN1Z3Aysry9E-yDjXSnEhKjSMyNJpQzboQWj4mMBgcViRHvC5wheLrp9AW-FTH05vUaYWwpeqkGG2jbE6g8s61VaZDQ/s320/CARDINAL_angelo_scola_milan_italy.jpg" /></a>
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So, those are our predictions! If this were like a U.S. presidential election you would be able to see the candidates at the top of our list dropping off one by one, but with this contest we won't know until it is done. In the meantime, go ahead and keep giggling about the black guy, sagely speculating about the Brazilian, etc., and tell us that we're wrong now -- because in a couple of days it will be too late and we will have an Italian pope again. Michael O. Varholahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02926860732348083635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3130117810543121321.post-933948014183364902013-03-08T12:28:00.000-08:002013-03-08T13:15:30.226-08:00What Would YOU ask Jodi Arias? Week after week, the Jodi Arias murder trial drags on, replete with sordid details that were shocking the first time we heard them but which have become increasingly prosaic as we become progressively more desensitized to them. Anybody who has actually read a book by the Marquis de Sade knows what I mean.
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For anyone who has not been keeping up, the now demure <i>femme fatale</i> is charged with butchering boyfriend Travis "T Dog" Alexander like a hog, cutting his throat and stabbing him 29 times, after suffering years of increasingly degrading sexual abuse at his hands. It should all be more fun to listen to than it is.
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Today, however, CNN finally posed an interesting question: What would <i>you</i> ask Jodi Arias? Wow! A thought provoking query indeed, and one I did not immediately have an answer for. "Why should we believe you now?" was the predictable and boring question that seemed most pressing to the news networks talking heads but did not seem very satisfactory. So, after convening the best legal consultation team we could put together on short notice, Religion, Politics, and Sex compiled the following short list of better questions that we would be inclined to ask the murderous minx.
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* What took you so long?
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* Hey, baby. You from around here?
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* Now wait ... Why did you date someone named "T Dog"?
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* So, when you were blonde, did cuffs and collars match?
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* Do you practice witchcraft? (Hahaha! We saw this idiotic question posted online and it just seemed to good to not include!)
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That's all we've got for now! We will certainly add more questions as our dream interview evolves. In the meantime, please tell us what <i>YOU</i> would ask Jodi Arias and we will add it to our list!
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM2DhvyNqR5kv7S1ar02G608aamiddjC1PaH-eTTSaSQHVHvISioPcucYmL4xQss5r6MSDLys6SDDQN-yNcpJkQn1YlWrAF7KigpAMg_Tem12i3QfZxkr5eZu_YpljoauAcj3gEjgUHtY/s1600/jodi-arias-600.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM2DhvyNqR5kv7S1ar02G608aamiddjC1PaH-eTTSaSQHVHvISioPcucYmL4xQss5r6MSDLys6SDDQN-yNcpJkQn1YlWrAF7KigpAMg_Tem12i3QfZxkr5eZu_YpljoauAcj3gEjgUHtY/s320/jodi-arias-600.jpg" /></a>Michael O. Varholahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02926860732348083635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3130117810543121321.post-72967065997643467282013-02-09T14:21:00.001-08:002013-02-09T15:12:08.868-08:00Documentary Commentary: 'Mea Maxima Culpa'<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS9e0dSTdWu6LEE0xVzVkTmWH6X7qh6jQSFYi7VTfjiDOvLXbrhE5TbmMZIj45emr4oFwIz-8li6_k82r_-EEKo9gtQgaorCqpfMjy_QjGM_awQFISuDjNKD9y3-eRd-HBRJ4nFV-Ggrg/s1600/Mea_Maxima_Culpa_-_Silence_in_the_House_of_God_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="200" width="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS9e0dSTdWu6LEE0xVzVkTmWH6X7qh6jQSFYi7VTfjiDOvLXbrhE5TbmMZIj45emr4oFwIz-8li6_k82r_-EEKo9gtQgaorCqpfMjy_QjGM_awQFISuDjNKD9y3-eRd-HBRJ4nFV-Ggrg/s200/Mea_Maxima_Culpa_-_Silence_in_the_House_of_God_poster.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God</i> is a compelling 2012 documentary by director Gibney that explores the issue of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. A not altogether illegitimate response to yet another documentary on child sex abuse in the Catholic church might be "Yeah, yeah, we've heard all that before!" It is in itself unfortunate, of course, that people should become inured to horror because it has become commonplace. <i>Mea Maxima Culpa,</i> however, includes a great deal of newly revealed material, and explores the subject in some ways that have not been widely done previously.
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<i>Mea Maxima Culpa</i> explores its subject matter through the eyes of four deaf adult men who as children were molested by priest Father Lawrence Murphy at the church boarding school in Wisconsin where they each lived for a number of years. It then goes into a broader examination of the worldwide phenomena of pedophile priests; how this has manifested in other countries, such as Ireland; and the complicity of the Catholic Church in covering up the problem and its monumental efforts to suppress public knowledge of it.
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One focus of the documentary I found fascinating was the number of priests and church officials who heroically struggled to expose and combat the problem of pedophile priests but who were suppressed and silenced by the institution of which they were part. This aspect of the film, however, points out the importance of acknowledging the efforts of these clergy and remembering that the issue of child sexual molestation was not universally approved of or covered up even within the church.
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An obstacle faced by victims faced by such abuse, the documentary points out, was that even people outside the church were not interested in helping them and were thus at least passively complicit in the problem. Parents told their children how terrible it was to say such horrible things about priests, police dismissed victims as troublemakers, newspaper editors suppressed relevant details from published articles. Some of this resonated with me personally, because my parents taught me when I was growing up to <i>never</i> criticize people in authority, no matter who they were or what they had done. This, they said, would reflect badly on me, not on the people in question. I was never molested by a priest and, despite being raised Catholic never even knowingly met a pedophile priest, but it is profoundly disturbing to consider that I was told in advance that I simply needed to keep things like that to myself. This was not because my parents wanted me to be molested, of course, but simply because they were products of a Rust Belt factory town culture where everyone was part of a strict hierarchy and "knew their place"; in that world, there was nothing worse than being the outsider or the person who stood out, and so they were trying to protect me from the threat they perceived as being most palpable.
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<i>Mea Maxima Culpa</i> will likely also resonate with other viewers for any number of reasons. It began showing on HBO in 2013 and will likely become available through other venues as well over the coming months, and I would encourage anyone who is interested to check it out.
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<br />Michael O. Varholahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02926860732348083635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3130117810543121321.post-340804418558185382013-02-07T13:26:00.000-08:002013-02-07T16:07:35.863-08:00The Right to Bare ArmsIf there is one thing conservatives are good at it is observing appropriate gender roles. But, while the boys are all posting pictures of AR-15s, asserting their 2nd Amendment rights to be able to slaughter entire classrooms of children, and ranting about "tyrants" and "despots," what are the girls supposed to do? Complain about Michelle Obama's sleeveless dresses, of course! Yes, ladies, that's what the guys have been going on about when you hear them talking about "bare arms." So, while they are showing off their guns, you can complain about Mrs. Obama showing hers.
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This particular line of complaint did, of course, catch me off guard the first time I saw someone post about it, but after that it was not surprising to see it again and again. What could be more conservatively responsible, after all, than to simply reiterate someone else's already existing thoughts? Leave it to the liberals, hippies, communists, homosexuals, etc., to profligately reinvent the wheel and needlessly waste all those words on original composition every time they need to say something. With that in mind, following are some stock responses you can feel free to use anytime you see a conservative lady complaining on Facebook or other social media about the First Lady's fashion sense (and it had <i>better</i> be a lady doing it, because only a man who was gay would care enough to complain about this, and his very existence would anger God and make baby Jesus cry).
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* "They obviously have a different fashion sense in Washington, D.C, than we do here in Texas!" (Note: Feel free to swap out "Texas" for Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama, or whatever center of <i>haute couture</i> you happen to be from.)
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* "I guess I kind of agree with you, but I don't actually think black people look good in anything."
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* "Yeah, if the First Lady had lunch lady arms she probably wouldn't be showing them off, either."
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* "You're right! If she is going to be everybody's First Lady then she is going to need to appeal to the Walmart crowd, too."
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* "Yes, she really is stupid if she hasn't figured out that people are watching her like vultures and waiting to criticize everything she does!"
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Enjoy! And you can easily customize any of those responses by preceding them with "LOL!", following them with a winky face emoticon -- ;) -- or some other minor addition. And have you got some of your own? If so, please post them as a comment here so that we can all appreciate and share them! Michael O. Varholahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02926860732348083635noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3130117810543121321.post-91252554248871005272013-01-12T08:20:00.000-08:002013-01-12T13:49:50.768-08:00A 21st-Century 'Devil's Dictionary'<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjguoqrTW4GdvaTjHDL3PsTyvMgLb9pVQDtPTrOWNdTukMcSPFKqNPKp1phqKnS4xemsllydqTVYgF88Nlga74kxriN0DMfUgR8eAic38OeD1d229EjzAT3q2SIyz2XmQ_NgcJ217tFQzg/s1600/Death_of_Ambrose_Bierce.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="200" width="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjguoqrTW4GdvaTjHDL3PsTyvMgLb9pVQDtPTrOWNdTukMcSPFKqNPKp1phqKnS4xemsllydqTVYgF88Nlga74kxriN0DMfUgR8eAic38OeD1d229EjzAT3q2SIyz2XmQ_NgcJ217tFQzg/s200/Death_of_Ambrose_Bierce.jpg" /></a></div>This being the 100-year anniversary of Ambrose Bierce's <em>Devil's Dictionary</em>, I thought it would be appropriate to begin creating a 21st century counterpart to it. I began doing so about this time last year but got drawn off onto two major book projects and ended up pushing this project and any number of other ones to the back burner. Coincidentally, one of those books, my true crime compendium <b><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1578604583/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=michavarhostr-20&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=1578604583">Texas Confidential: Sex, Scandal, Murder, and Mayhem in the Lone Star State</a></i></b>, contains a chapter about Bierce. While doing research on the book, I stumbled across a compelling new theory about the final days of the popular author and explore it in the aptly-named chapter "The Death of Ambrose Bierce." <br />
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Bierce's satirical book had its roots in writings he did in the 1850s and ensuing decades and is an incisive critique of language and the way people use/misuse it. Some initial entries appear below, more will follow, and people are encouraged to reply with their own! Other terms soon to be posted will include "Accusation," "Weirdo-American," "Communist," "Freedom," "Patriotism," "Big Government," and "Second Amendment."
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<b>Liberal:</b> Term used by rightwingers to characterize anyone who disagrees with them, regardless of those people's political leanings, beliefs, or motivations.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkuRKKdLmYVSd59BRYkcRKL0hotS8CpNkj7BdFN6GaiYTGVGINM6TdeKUKpaW_83xY17kqae80EHeuwolaSCeA2HaYmPmeW-9pqANXXQTi1RHYPyqz7tYK55E8UNd-hGLitWkRldvruI0/s1600/Nugent_Asshole.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="195" width="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkuRKKdLmYVSd59BRYkcRKL0hotS8CpNkj7BdFN6GaiYTGVGINM6TdeKUKpaW_83xY17kqae80EHeuwolaSCeA2HaYmPmeW-9pqANXXQTi1RHYPyqz7tYK55E8UNd-hGLitWkRldvruI0/s200/Nugent_Asshole.jpg" /></a></div>
<b>Asshole-American:</b> An increasingly significant demographic group characterized by individuals who typically can only make their points by shouting down their detractors, advocate violence against their fellow citizens, and suffer from extreme paranoia. Prominent Asshole-Americans include rightwing radio hosts Rush Limbaugh and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Jones_(radio_host)"target="_blank">Alex Jones</a> and psychopath Ted Nugent.
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<strong>I Support the Troops:</strong> A phrase used to indicate that the speaker will not oppose any ongoing military conflict. No actual support for anyone is required beyond periodically uttering the phrase, "I support the troops," which is generally intended to make everyone feel warm and fuzzy and signal that commentary on the war is not welcome. <br />
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<strong>Values</strong> (noun): Any system of beliefs that can be forced upon other people. Sometimes also ideas adopted by individuals as a means of justifying the dismal situations they have created for themselves, particularly with regard to spouses and offspring. <br />
<br />
<strong>War</strong> (noun): A word used to characterize any major venture that has no end in sight; cannot be "won" in any foreseeable way, even if that was the intent in the first place; and is generally intended to prop up one or more sectors of the economy. It is intended to signal the indefinite nature of the supposed conflict and warn people against opposing it. Examples include "the War on Drugs" and "the War on Terror." <strong>Note:</strong> This word had a significantly different meaning up to c. 1945.Michael O. Varholahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02926860732348083635noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3130117810543121321.post-71609813477591861182012-12-20T10:15:00.002-08:002012-12-20T10:29:08.532-08:00Westboro Baptist Church Membership List<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl77g3pUzCL8czFxUEjZkGjpFV2hydHFntG8ykcN5Rp3bzjlcNsW1UEYZnMnPvK5J-zCV-PJYjpGM5HBOLudl_UC1WyiPlRyuK837xDl3r2ZOgqPrymmdCE_C8WUHHnDwANvQtXs-6lbM/s1600/375554_10151269809197420_556145151_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl77g3pUzCL8czFxUEjZkGjpFV2hydHFntG8ykcN5Rp3bzjlcNsW1UEYZnMnPvK5J-zCV-PJYjpGM5HBOLudl_UC1WyiPlRyuK837xDl3r2ZOgqPrymmdCE_C8WUHHnDwANvQtXs-6lbM/s200/375554_10151269809197420_556145151_n.jpg" /></a></div>
<i>The hackivist group Anonymous has been so kind as to leak the personal contact information of Westboro Church members. </i>
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<br />
#OPWestboro Membership List. updated October 22, 2012.
Westboro Baptist Church
3701 SW 12th St
Topeka, KS 66604
Phone: 785-273-0325
Email: wbclist@speakfree.net
Email: info@phelpschartered.com
Email: chockenbarger@cox.net
http://www.godhatesfags.com/
Phelps Law Firm
Phelps Chartered
1414 SW Topeka Boulevard
Topeka, KS 66612
PO Box 1886
Topeka, KS 66601
Phone: 785-233-4162
Fax: 785-233-0766
Fax: 785-969-9017
Email: info@phelpschartered.com
Email: slpr@cox.net
Email: kjhoffice@speakfree.net
http://www.phelpschartered.com/
<br />
<br />
— Abigail Phelps
Lawyer
Employee at SRS – Kansas Juvenile Justice Authority
Born 1968
Daughter of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr
3636 SW Churchill
Topeka, KS 66604
Email: bgail@speakfree.net
Home: 785-273-7262
work: 785-296-7709
— Barak Phelps-Davis
Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s
Son of Rebekah Phelps-Davis
— Benaiah Phelps
Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s
Son of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps
— Benjamin C. Phelps
Born 1976
Son of Fred W. Phelps, Jr
Wife of Mara Jones-Phelps
3632 SW Churchill
Topeka, KS 66604
3636 SW Huntoon St
Topeka, KS 66604
Email: idontreadthisemail@godhatesamerica.com
Phone: 785-228-9239
Home: 785-233-4162
Phone: 785-228-9239
Phone: 785-273-0277
Phone: 785-273-1080
— Betty Joan Schurle-Phelps
Lawyer at Phelps Chartered
Born 1952
Wife of Fred W. Phelps, Jr
3600 SW Holly Lane
Topeka, KS 66604
Phone: 785-273-0438
Home: 785-272-4135
Work: 785-296-3195
— Brent D. Roper-Phelps
Human Resources Lawyer for NAIC
Employee at Foot Locker
Born 1963
Husband of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper
3640 SW Churchill
Topeka, KS 66604
3636 SW Churchill
Topeka, KS 66604
Phone: 785-273-0277
Phone: 785-273-7262
Phone: 785-273-1080
Phone: 785-273-3726
Home: 785-273-1445
Home: 785-273-0277
Home: 785-272-1619
Home: 785-273-0325
Home: 785-273-0325
Work: 785-233-4162
Work: 785-273-0068
— Carmen A Phelps
Relative of Daniel F. Phelps
2621 SE Granger St
Topeka, KS 66605
Phone: 785-267-5157
— Caleb Phelps
Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s
Son of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps
— Charles F. Hockenbarger
Born 1974
Son of Karl D. Hockenbarger
Husband of Rachel I. Phelps-Hockenbarger
1284 SW Hillsdale
Topeka, KS 66604
3220 SW 17th St
Topeka, KS 66604
Phone: 785-232-1570
Phone: 785-232-2485
Home: 785-271-1619
Work: 785-273-0325
— Charles William “Bill” Hockenbarger
Member of Christian Identity
Born 1953
Husband of Mary Hockenbarger
711 NW Page
Topeka, KS 66617
3600 SW Holly Ln
Topeka, KS 66604
Email: chockenbarger@cox.net
Phone: 785-272-8569
Phone: 785-232-2485
Home: 785-246-1567
Work: 785-273-0325
Fax: 785-233-4162
— Chris Davis-Phelps
Born 1955
Husband of Rebekah Phelps-Davis
1216 SW Cambridge
Topeka, KS 66604
Phone: 785-272-7035
Home: 785-272-7741
— Daniel F. Phelps
Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s
Son of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps
2621 SE Granger St
Topeka, KS 66605
Phone: 785-267-5157
— Danielle Phelps
Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s
Daughter of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps
3119 SW Randolph Ave #204
Topeka, KS 66611
Phone: 785-267-3253
— David Hockenbarger
Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s
Son of Karl D. Hockenbarger
— Davis R. Phelps
Relative of Chris Davis-Phelps
1216 SW Cambridge Ave
Topeka, KS 66604
Phone: 785-272-7741
Phone: 785-272-7035
— Deborah Kay Hockenbarger
Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s
Wife of Karl D. Hockenbarger
1929 SW Lane
Topeka, KS 66604
Home: 913-233-1848
Work: 785-296-3959
— Deborah Phelps-Davis
Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s
Daughter of Rebekah Phelps-Davis
— Elisha Phelps
Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s
Daughter of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps
— Elizabeth “Libby” Phelps
Born ~ 1982-3-4
Daughter of Fred W. Phelps, Jr
2001 SW 2nd Street
Topeka, KS 66606
Home: 785-234-9694
Work: 785-233-0822
— Elizabeth Marie Phelps
Born 1962
Lawyer at Phelps Chartered
Manager at Sheltered Living, Inc
Daughter of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr
2001 SW 2nd Street
Topeka, KS 66606
Home: 785-234-9694
Work: 785-233-0822
— Fred W. Phelps, Jr
Lawyer at Phelps Chartered
Staff Attorney for Kansas Department of Corrections
Born 1953
Son of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr
Wife of Betty Joan Schurle-Phelps
3600 SW Holly Lane
Topeka, KS 66604
Email: fredjr@godhatesfags.com
Phone: 785-273-0438
Home: 785-273-0529
Work: 785-296-3195
— Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr
Founder of Westboro Baptist Church
Pastor of Westboro Baptist Church
Born 1929
Husband of Margerie “Margie” M. Simms
Westboro Baptist Church
3791 SW 12th Street
Topeka, KS 66604
Po Box 1886
Topeka, KS 66601
Email: wbclist@speakfree.net
Email: info@phelpschartered.com
Phone: 785-272-4135
Phone: 785-273-0325
Phone: 785-273-0338
Fax: 785-273-9228
— Gabriel Phelps-Roper
Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s
Son of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper
— George Stutzman
Born ~ 1950′s/1960′s
Fiance of Taylor Drain
— Gideon Hockenbarger
Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s
Son of Charles F. Hockenbarger
Son of Rachel I. Phelps Hockenbarger
— Grace Phelps-Roper
Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s
Daughter of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper
— Hezekiah Phelps
Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s
Son of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps
— Isaiah Phelps-Roper
Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s
Son of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper
— Jack Wu
Born ~ 1982-83-84
Westboro Baptist Member
12400 W 161st St
Olathe, KS 66062
Home: 913-897-0607
— Jacob M. Phelps
Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s
Son of Jonathan Baxter Phelps
— Jacob Z. Phelps
Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s
Son of Fred W. Phelps, Jr
— Jael Phelps
Nursing Student
Born ~ 1984-5-6
Daughter of Jonathan Baxter Phelps
— James Hockenbarger
Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s
Son of Karl D. Hockenbarger
1929 SW Lane
Topeka, KS 66604
Home: 913-233-1848
Work: 785-296-3959
— Jennifer Hockenbarger
Born 1977
Daughter of Karl D. Hockenbarger
Wife of Samuel Phelps-Roper
1929 SW Lane
Topeka, KS 66604
Home: 913-233-1848
Work: 785-296-3959
— Jonah Phelps-Roper
Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s
Son of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper
— Jonathan Baxter Phelps
Lawyer at Phelps Chartered
Son of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr
Husband of Paulette Phelps-Ossiander
Born 1959
840 SW Watson
Topeka, KS 66606
Work: 785-233-4162
— Joseph Phelps
Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s
Son of Jonathan Baxter Phelps
— Joshua F. Phelps-Roper
Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s
Son of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper
— Joshua M. Phelps
Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s
Son of Jonathan Baxter Phelps
— Josaiah Hockenbarger
Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s
Son of Charles F. Hockenbarger
Son of Rachel I. Phelps Hockenbarger
— Karl D. Hockenbarger
Member of Christian Identity
Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s
Son of Charles William “Bill” Hockenbarger
Husband of Deborah Kay Hockenbarger
1929 SW Lane
Topeka, KS 66604
Home: 913-233-1848
Work: 785-296-3959
— Katherine Hockenbarger
Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s
Daughter of Karl D. Hockenbarger
3642 SW Huntoon St
Topeka, KS 66604
Phone: 785-783-7217
— Lauren Drain
Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s
Daughter of Stephen “Steve” Drain
— LeAnn Phelps-Brown
Lawyer
Employee of Shawnee County Sheriff’s Department
Born 1966
Wife of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps
3743 SW 12th Street
Topeka, KS 66604
Phone: 785-273-0365
Home: 785-273-4780
Work: 785-291-5100
Work: 785-233-4162
— Luci Drain
Born ~ 1950′s
Daughter of Stephen “Steve” Drain
— Luke Phelps-Roper
Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s
Son of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper
— Lydia Phelps-Davis
Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s
Daughter of Rebekah Phelps-Davis
— Malachai Phelps
Born 2005
Great-Grandson of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr
— Mara Jones-Phelps
Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s
Wife of Fred W. Phelps, Jr
3120 SW Westover Rd
Topeka, KS 66604
Phone: 785-235-6999
— Margerie “Margie” Marie Simms-Phelps
Born ~ 1930′s
Wife of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr
Westboro Baptist Church
3701 SW 12th Street
Topeka, KS 66604
Email: wbclist@speakfree.net
Email: info@phelpschartered.com
Phone: 785-273-0325
Phone: 785-273-0338
Fax: 785-273-9228
— Margie Jean Phelps
Lawyer at Phelps Chartered
Employee of Kansas Department of Corrections
Born 1956
Daughter of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr
3734 SW 12th
Topeka, KS 66604
Landon State Office Building 900
Topeka, KS 66612
Email: margiep77@cox.net
Phone: 785-273-0365
Home: 785-273-7380
Work: 785-296-3128
Work: 785-296-3317
— Margy “Margie”/”Megan” Phelps-Roper
Born ~ 1985-6-7
Daughter of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper
— Mary Hockenbarger
Child Care Provider
Born ~ 1950′s
Wife of Charles William “Bill” Hockenbarger
711 NW Page
Topeka, KS 66617
Email: chockenbarger@cox.net
Home: 785-246-1567
— Micaiah Phelps-Davis
Born ~ 1991-2-3
Son of Rebekah Phelps-Davis
— Noah Phelps-Roper
Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s
Son of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper
— Paulette Phelps-Ossiander
Office Assistant at Phelps Chartered
Born 1960
Wife of Jonathan Baxter Phelps
840 SW Watson
Topeka, KS 66606
Work: 785-233-4162
— Rachel Hockenbarger
Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s
Daughter of Charles F. Hockenbarger
Daughter of Rachel I. Phelps Hockenbarger
3600 SW Holly Ln
Topeka, KS 66604
Phone: 785-272-8569
Phone: 785-272-8559
— Rachel I. Phelps-Hockenbarger
Lawyer at Phelps Chartered
YMCA Fitness Instructor
Born 1965
Daughter of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr
Wife of Charles F. Hockenbarger
1284 SW Hillsdale
Topeka, KS 66604
3734 SW 12th St
Topeka, KS 66604
1216 SW Cambridge Ave
Topeka, KS 66604
3220 SW 17th St
Topeka, KS 66604
Phone: 785-232-1570
Phone: 785-273-0365
Phone: 785-272-7035
Home: 785-271-1619
— Rebekah Phelps-Davis
Lawyer at Phelps Chartered
Born 1961
Daughter of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr
Wife of Chris Davis
1216 SW Cambridge
Topeka, KS 66604
Home: 785-272-7741
— Rebekah Phelps-Roper
Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s
Daughter of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper
1205 SW Polk St #5B
Topeka, KS 66612
Phone: 785-783-3722
— Samuel Phelps-Roper
Born 1979
Son of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper
Husband of Jennifer Hockenbarger
3640 SW Churchill
Topeka, KS 66604
3708 SW Churchill
Topeka, KS 66604
Phone: 785-228-9287
Phone: 785-273-1080
Home: 785-273-1445
Home: 785-273-0277
Home: 785-272-1619
Home: 785-273-0325
Home: 785-273-0277
Home: 785-273-0325
Work: 785-233-4162
Work: 785-273-0068
— Sara Phelps
Born ~ 1980-1-2
Daughter of Fred W. Phelps, Jr
3600 SW Holly Ln
Topeka, KS 66604
Phone: 785-0273-0438
— Seth Phelps
Born ~ 2003-4-5
Great-Grandson of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr
— Sharon M. Phelps
Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s
Grand-Daughter of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr
4128 SW 6th Ave #308
Topeka, KS 66606
Phone: 785-228-9323
— Shirley Phelps
Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s
Daughter of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps
— Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper
Lawyer at Phelps Chartered
Born Oct. 10, 1957
Daughter of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr
Wife of Brent D. Roper
3640 SW Churchilll
Topeka, KS 66604
Email: slpr@cox.net
Email: kjhoffice@speakfree.net
Email: th8asluf@godhatesamerica.com
Email: brid1611kjv@bellsouth.net
Email: info@phelpschartered.com
Phone: 785-273-1080
Phone: 785-272-8559
Home: 785-273-1445
Home: 785-273-0277
Home: 785-272-1619
Home: 785-273-0325
Home: 785-273-0277
Home: 785-273-0325
Work: 785-233-4162
Work: 785-273-0068
— Stephen “Steve” Drain
Born ~ 1950′s
Husband of Luci Drain
3801 SW 12th St
Topeka, KS 66604
Phone: 785-228-1623
— Stephen Hockenbarger
Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s
Son of Charles F. Hockenbarger
Son of Rachel I. Phelps Hockenbarger
— Taylor Drain
Born ~ 1991-2-3
Daughter of Stephen “Steve” Drain
Fiance of George Stutzman
— Theresa Davis
Born ~ 1950′s/1960′s
Family Member of Chris Davis
3632 SW 12th Street
Topeka, KS 66604
Work: 785-291-7000
— Timothy “Tim”/”Timmy” B. Phelps
Lawyer
Employee of Shawnee County Department of Corrections
Born 1963
Son of Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr
Husband of LeAnn Phelps-Brown
3743 SW 12th Street
Topeka, KS 66604
Phone: 785-273-0365
Home: 785-273-4780
Work: 785-291-5100
Work: 785-233-4162
— Timothy Phelps Jr
Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s
Son of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps
— Victoria Phelps
Born ~ Mid-1980′s/Mid-1990′s
Daughter of Timothy “Tim/Timmy” B. Phelps
— Zacharias Phelps-Roper
Born ~ Mid-1970′s/Mid-1980′s
Son of Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper
<br />
<br />
Domain WhoIs Information:
—
godhatesfags.com
westborobaptistchurch.com
beastobama.com
godhatestheworld.com
godhatesamerica.com
priestsrapeboys.com
blogs.sparenot.com
jewskilledjesus.com
signmovies.com
godhatesislam.com
godhatesthemedia.com
Registrant:
Westboro Baptist Church
PO BOX 1886
Topeka, KS 66601-1886
US
785-233-4162
Domain Name: GODHATESFAGS.COM
Administrative Contact:
Phelps, Benjamin idontreadthisemail@godhatesamerica.com
PO BOX 1886
Topeka, KS 66601-1886
US
785-233-4162
Technical Contact:
Phelps, Benjamin idontreadthisemail@godhatesamerica.com
PO BOX 1886
Topeka, KS 66601-1886
US
785-233-4162
Record last updated 09-16-2011 08:01:38 AM
Record expires on 11-06-2017
Record created on 01-22-1997
Domain servers in listed order:
NS1.ENTERPRISE.BLACKLOTUS.NET 204.69.234.1
NS2.ENTERPRISE.BLACKLOTUS.NET 204.74.101.1
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<br />@JackHerer20Michael O. Varholahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02926860732348083635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3130117810543121321.post-12513049582833815952012-12-14T21:39:00.001-08:002012-12-18T14:40:26.267-08:00Thoughts on the Gun Control Debate<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In the wake of the school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, the ongoing national debate on gun control has flared up with a vengeance, everywhere from the 24-hour news networks to late night talk shows. Where I have noticed it most poignantly is on the social networking sites I frequent, where the discussion has quickly become vehement and personal. I am not going to come down on one side or the other of the debate here, except to note that I do believe a non-absolute right to own weapons has an important place in a free society. I have, however, been struck by what I consider to be very disturbing behavior from some other people in favor of gun ownership, and do want to share some observations about it.
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* People posting in favor of gun ownership tend to be much less articulate than those posting against it. This is somewhat ironic, in that many of them explicitly or implicitly express a fear of minorities as their motivation for owning guns, because based only on their writing most people would assume many of them were members of the most illiterate, uneducated, and despised inner city minority populations. People who can only express themselves in broken pidgin English are products of some sort of cultural or intellectual degeneration and, whatever battle they are trying to win, they have already lost through their inability to clearly and fluently express themselves.
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* The vast majority of people posting in favor of gun ownership identify themselves as conservative or Republican, and complain about the "liberals" that want to take their guns away from them. In point of fact, however, some of the most heavily armed people I personally know are liberals, Democrats, or even Greens, and in favor of laws that permit gun ownership -- but, for whatever reasons, they choose not to rant about it publicly.
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* People posting in favor of gun ownership are much quicker than others to engage in emotional violence, profanity, incoherent rants, explicit or implicit threats, WRITING IN ALL CAPS TO SIMULATE YELLING, and other forms of intimidation. Plus, they have guns, too, right? Hahaha! What a way to come off as a complete, dangerous nut and end any kind of meaningful discussion.
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* Individuals posting in favor of gun ownership seem to have an unhealthy fixation on firearms. Why is it no one posts pictures of their hammer collections, raves about their new socket wrench sets, or viciously attacks others who might dislike a particular brand of pliers? Guns are tools like any other and mentally stable people treat them as such, making sure they know how to use them, pulling them out when required, and not making big play of using them as needed.
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* People posting about gun ownership tend to have a very poor sense of what we used to call OPSEC, or "operational security," when I was in the military, and publicly disclose a lot of information about their personal arsenals. In that almost all of them express fear of something as a reason for owning guns -- blacks, liberals, the federal government, the President of the United States, "Mexicans," Russians, U.N. black helicopters, whatever -- this is all the more baffling, because they are giving all those enemy peoples great intelligence that could presumably be used against them. And, in that many have collections that are not altogether legal, they have presumably put themselves on the radar of the governmental agencies they least want to be known to.
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Comments are welcome from anyone who is <b><a href="http://www.google.com/friendconnect/signin/home?st=e%3DAOG8GaCt2Pe5nylYRWho%252BkH%252BtxI48VFUbFZg8SH9ol5uYNvsRMsvuzPItIaQ1WSG3h7LniOZzdewC%252F9qE33X57VxYm86rrIZYkU7mJC2%252BrZ4PIQOjdVkgl7ozfaL72lVyvNy5vVQHX8q%252FAqYUb2KVyl8gEn1c5sAkALJ2t3ChhM804szy4wgAXt%252Fr9otpmmiIiy7OjezxunYqCqoo6zBG%252FI9skHn1AcyCSlOMFPvBukn%252FX7Xw%252BNC4GU%253D%26c%3Dpeoplesense&psinvite=&subscribeOnSignin=1"target="_blank">a follower of this site</a></b> and who posted under a real name! Anonymity and cowardice are not acceptable here, whether you own a gun or not. Michael O. Varholahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02926860732348083635noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3130117810543121321.post-2828765665498024122012-11-01T22:23:00.001-07:002012-11-04T20:27:19.070-08:00A Union by Any Other Name, Part 4The Moneyball Method
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Regardless of the goals of any group, political or otherwise, one common thread repeats: garner the highest yield for any effort applied. The political struggles between unions and corporations are no different. Both are trying to capitalize on any gains they make and pick the battles they are most likely to win. Minimizing expenses and maximizing results is a tactic used by both sides and for the very same reasons. It is a strategy employed in nature and relies on the conservation of energy. After all, nobody, regardless of the situation, wants to get the least possible returns for their efforts. It is the surest way to drive oneself into extinction. For this reason, humans are no different. While we might enjoy the fruits of our labors as a species, we prefer to engage in leisure activities as much as possible as it means we have reached a point where our work nets us more than the minimum needed for a sustained existence.<p>
In addition to the analogy to the natural world, corporations and unions act in a way that is analogous to the sports world. As the title of this section alludes to, the reference is to what the Oakland Athletics used in 2002 to tie the record for the longest winning streak. Though that was not the goal of the club, it is was the result of a strategy designed to get the most out of a budget that had little leeway and was seen as a course destined to failure. The analogy however works to lay out some of the basic issues between the unions and corporations as well as how they work. The Oakland Athletics are known as a “small market” team despite being based in the 47th largest city in the nation. Granted, it is nowhere near the size of San Francisco or Los Angeles, but its proximity to San Francisco and the surrounding communities of the San Francisco Bay Area, a Bay Area Rapid Transit station named after the stadium with an elevated walkway connecting to said stadium, and portions of the San Joaquin Valley being within driving distance gives the team a large enough fan base that one would think it is anything but a small market. The San Francisco Bay Area alone has 7.46 million residents.<p>
An examination of the city might shed some light on why it stands out and the importants it plays in the shape of the club’s market status. Oakland is an industrial city with a port. These two industries have been the base of the local economy and have led to its recent troubles. Thus, it has been hit hard by the recession and the technological changes over the last twenty years. Though nowhere near Detroit’s unemployment levels, the city is not known for its residents’ buying power. Some jokes refer to Oakland as an inordinately large crack house and sections of downtown are known as “Oaksterdam” for its medical marijuana shops. It should come as no surprise then that attendance for home games is abysmal when compared to other teams in Major League Baseball.<p>
Yet despite these drawbacks, Oakland has been able to challenge so-called “large market” teams like the New York Yankees and their massive payroll. The Yankees are known for their big name players and consistency in winning division championships if not the World Series. As New York plays host to one of the largest financial sectors around, there is another allusion to the corporation/union divide. This is because the city itself is as identified with Wall Street and finance in the way that Oakland is for its blue collar roots. Add to this information the population in the whole metropolitan area spans four states and encompasses 22.23 million people. That makes it roughly three times the size of the SF Bay Area and it too has two baseball teams. The Yankees, though, are the 800-pound gorilla of baseball. Burning through so much money to attract talent is how they have won so many championships. And with so many residents close enough to go to a game or buy team merchandise, it is easy to see how the team is able to garner so many division and league titles.<p>
Baseball is no longer the national pastime with all the nostalgia of regionalism that it once was where players often played with the same team for their entire careers. For the fans this may still be the case, but not for the corporations that are the managing staffs for each team as well as the commission that oversees Major League Baseball. The game is largely built around money, hence the references to small- and large-market teams. Players now go where the money is, just like many clubs have, including the Athletics. They once played in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City and then to their present location. Each of their previous locations now house teams of their own, showing just how large of a market they were for professional baseball. The trend is something that has also applied for workers. People once stayed with a company for their entire careers before retirement. Not anymore. The average person will have seven different careers over the course of his working life.<p>
Free agency in sports is something we have come to expect as sports fans. Why would a player who is that talented want to stay with a club that has no discernible chance of winning a championship stay with a losing team if offered a larger salary with one that does have a shot at a title? Corporations play the same game with their employees and as a result, unions are cut out of the picture. No need for a fussy mess of a contractual system that hamstrings wages for other employees, incentives to stay on the floor and avoid a strike, or even long-term baselines for minimum compensation packages. Free agency for people in the corporate world comes down to who can offer the most attractive incentives in exchange for a person’s skills. Unions obviously lose out because of this as their goal is collective in nature, which does not favor varying salaries for employees who may have better negotiating skills than others in the worker pool. White collar workers are more likely to play the job market game as free agents than blue collar workers for many reasons; the most common reason is the nature of corporate jobs compared to manufacturing. Interpersonal skills go a long way in making connections within the company and the businesses that partner with it. Manufacturing does not offer frequent interactions as the focus is on making a physical product that can absorb the worker’s time.<p>
The shift from a manufacturing base to one that is more services-based, which includes programming, has also had an impact on the unions. The shift favors the free agency strategy of employees as they do not have to worry about whether they will be subject to rules that may or may not favor them. Programmers might work as part of a team assembling new products, but they are hired for their talents, not their ability to ply a trade with precision and accuracy on what amounts to similar situations day-in and day-out. Unions also have a tendency to be overly protective of their current members, which discourages people from trying to get their foot in the door at the beginning of a career, not to mention union dues which can hamper a person’s living arrangements if the costs of living are not as equitable to the net pay before dues are assessed. Free agency is a much more promising method of making a living under such conditions and the new manufacturing base of electronics is peopled by workers who often go to college, which has been the traditional path of the white collar world. Free agency also favors and empowers corporations since they can negotiate compensation packages with an individual without worrying about a loss of power on their part.<p>
The inflexibility of unions and that of corporations come down to the same thing: greed. This might sound shocking, but neither side is altruistic in their goals. As mentioned earlier, everyone wants to maximize what they get for the least amount of effort as possible. Unions try to leverage as much for their members as possible and do their best to lock out non-union employees so as to not have any competition for their power. This is an artificial system that, while it helps workers have agency when dealing with those who own the means of production, does not do labor any favors if it remains entrenched and opposed to a mixed workforce. Without competition, there is no innovation or even a way to maintain the flexibility critical to a sustained panel that can negotiate with the companies. Additionally, the inflexibility has often come at the expense of innovations which increase productivity because it can lead to the loss of union members. The automotive industry is a great example of how this has happened. The assembly lines have been automated, meaning fewer workers are needed to build cars, but those who are employed need more education that before in order to run the complex machinery that does the work more efficiently and safely than any human could. Allowing rapid change does not benefit the union, help it retain its power, or protect workers from losing their jobs.<p>
Corporations do not want to give away anything more than they have to. It is probably an obvious statement, but nonetheless true. How else can the organization stay in business if it cannot make a sufficiently sized profit that allows it to expand or absorb unexpected expenses? The amount that is left over sometimes goes into someone’s pockets in the form of bonuses and salaries for those who manage to make the company so profitable that it has such financial stability, but a lot of it goes into expanding the organization or being socked away for the unexpected. The workers might keep the machinery running, but because they do not manage the human capital to such a degree as to expand the company’s reach they do not receive nearly as much in compensation. Whether this is fair or not is not the subject of this piece, however. The difference is mentioned inasmuch as it applies to the way both sides try to earn the greatest profits at the least cost.<p>
Going back to the baseball analogy, the unions employ something akin to Sabermetrics. Unions do not buy the best team they can assemble; rather, they pay for the most consistent one through the compensation packages they can get for their employees and the dues they can charge. By maintaining that sustained output, the union is able to keep in the running with the corporations that employ union members since they have much larger resource caches. This is one of the ways collective bargaining helps unions secure guarantees for employees. However, unions have to pick their battles well. They cannot merely choose to go on strike to get attention; they need to ensure that there will not be a public – or political – backlash for employing the tactic. This is where consistency comes in handy since it is not a sprint, but a marathon that unions must run against corporations. They have to work through their special interest and lobbyist channels just like the corporations do. But, the unions offset the greater amount of lobbying corporations can engage in with some strategic areas of labor that they dominate, like government and various trades. Unsurprisingly, athletes have unions as well as referees who officiate the games so that the corporate offices do not determine wholly the value of the talent on the field. When untalented individuals are brought in to do the work of these seasoned professionals, it becomes clear just how skilled union members are at their jobs and how much of a value they provide. The replacement referees used by the National Football League at the beginning of the 2012 season made this painfully clear.<p>
There are times when the tactics use by both sides show how manifestly greedy they truly are. A lot of what is done comes down to instilling fear with a healthy dose of intimidation thrown in for good measure. They are the same tactics used in political elections; just sometimes they go a little to the extreme as the tactics do not necessarily happen in public view the way political campaigns do. Take a look at the Teamsters in the 50s through the 70s. The influence of organized crime over that union shows how shady and corrupt the unions can become. Jimmy Hoffa is essentially synonymous with the problems that can surround unions. What better icon of fear and intimidation than the mafia?<p>
Corporations are no saints either. There are the historical instances such as the Pinkertons at the Homestead Strike in 1892. Today, there are the influences of the Koch brothers and the US Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling. The net result is not unlike the Yankees trying to buy up all the talent their money can attract, a tactic that financial companies have used in the guise of bonuses and the like to attract employees. In regard to the Supreme Court ruling, the point is to ensure corporate power is unchallenged as much as possible by letting companies flood the media channels with more advertising than their opposition can muster. Yes, unions can benefit from the ruling as much as the corporations, but do they have the deep pockets of their competitors? Neither side wants to lose, but as they need each others to remain as honest as possible, they are stuck with one another. The two provide a checks-and-balances system necessary to drive competition between diverse industries as well as the future of the capitalist system just like the political parties are supposed to do with each other.<p>
Given that much of the fight between the two groups happens in the political arena, unions and corporations have turned to the use of Political Action Committees. Yet, the traditional PACs are constrained by the rules that govern elections and the limits placed on contributions. The new free agents in the political arena where both groups can duel without restraint are the super PACs and other organizations that are not affiliated with any particular candidate. The amount of money they can spend is astounding, but again, where the corporation backed groups can blast the airwaves with their messages, the union groups have to target their messages and be more strategic about their placement, which usually follows a grassroots approach in communities. After all, the services most people rely upon to keep an orderly society in place all have unions: teachers, police, and firefighters, to name a few. If they went on strike or had a mass flu “epidemic,” it would adversely affect the community and shows how the steady consistency keeps the community on a sustainability winning streak. This is the same method that Oakland used to push itself to one game shy of making it to the 2002 postseason. The players Billy Beane selected were based on statistical analysis. One of the reasons why this approach was necessary is rooted in the slashing of the team’s operating budget. It went from one of the highest paid rosters in baseball in 1991 after it went to three consecutive World Series to one of the lowest.<p>
Why the change? This is speculative, but the economics and population numbers for the city of Oakland most likely have something to do with it. According to the 2010 Census, Oakland has a population of 390,724 people. The current owners want to move the team to San Jose, the third largest city in California boasting a population of 945,942 people. It has twice the population of Oakland and sits in the heart of the Silicon Valley, a decidedly white collar region of the SF Bay Area and thus a significantly higher likely discretionary budget amongst its residents. The shift moves the team from a union heavy town to a free agency dominated city, which mimics the shift the country has experienced as a whole from one form of industry to another.<p>
Much like the resistance unions have towards technological innovations that threaten their size and power, the city of Oakland, along with many fans, does not want the team to move. After all, it brings in revenue for the city and there is easy access to it by several public transportation lines. But, the stadium itself is not in the most ideal location for the team, not to mention the cash-strapped status of Oakland itself. The team owners are trying to follow the money like previous owners have done before. The San Francisco Giants also oppose the move because they have a minor league team, the San Jose Giants, in the area. There is a bit of protectionism going on from the corporate end in what is a form of NIMBYism. San Jose is seen as the corporate backyard of the Giants. Ironically, the tactic is out of the union playbook. The move to a new stadium would be innovative for the Athletics as they currently play in the only remaining dual use football/baseball stadium in the nation. Oakland is trying to build a new park for the team, but finding a place to put it and ensuring people would go there is not clear. However, the lure of San Jose’s higher salaries and population seems to be more important than where a new stadium is and if it is as innovative as needed for the franchise. Blocking any form of change towards the future is not characteristic of the corporate strategy, yet this shows a clear example that they as well do use the same tactics as their chief rival.
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The move to greener pastures is essentially what a corporation tries to do when it outsources jobs to locations where unions have no say. If the case cannot be won to move towards free agency and empower the companies where they are, then it stands to reason that the capital can be spent to go somewhere else, preferably a location where right-to-work laws are strong or unions are nonexistent, thus lowering the threshold for wages, which is not unlike the proposed move of the Athletics to San Jose. The unions do everything to oppose such moves because it threatens their power base and their employees’ standards of living, all of which come down to the amount of currency and the leverage that that comes with and is what both sides work to accrue. The tactics are similar, but the methods are often not seen as the same even though they are. The underlying problem is greed at all levels of the game. Winning when the game is rigged against you is hard, but it can be done. Unions have shown that time and again, so have corporations. In baseball, Oakland almost did it this year with nineteen rookies, which keeps their payroll so low. Ironically, the corporate brand of the team is “green collar baseball,” echoing the city’s roots they are trying to escape. This is telling and shows that corporations and unions are not as different as they would like people to believe. They have similar beginnings, they have similar interests, and they use the same methods to get what they want.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3130117810543121321.post-63499444834224716762012-10-30T15:38:00.000-07:002012-10-30T13:11:15.819-07:00Election 2012 Quotes<i>A lot of particularly fun and interesting things are being said in the run up to the 2012 election, and the staff of Religion, Politics, and Sex decided that we should post one of these each day! We hope you will enjoy and find them thought provoking. Feel free to make a comment with your own suggestions. </i>
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"My party, unfortunately, is the bastion of those people — not all of them, but most of them — who are still basing their positions on race. Let me just be candid: My party is full of racists, and the real reason a considerable portion of my party wants President Obama out of the White House has nothing to do with the content of his character, nothing to do with his competence as commander-in-chief and president, and everything to do with the color of his skin, and that's despicable." — Former Colin Powell chief-of-staff Col. Lawrence Wilkerson
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"This well may be a generation-defining moment. What will America's future be? Will this still be a land of opportunity and freedom for all people or just for the favored few? Because we still hope, we endorse for president Barack Obama, whose heart — unlike his challenger — has not wavered nor his principles changed." — <i>Pittsburgh Post-Gazette</i>, Oct. 28
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“I’ve struggled with it myself for a long time, but I came to realize that life is that gift from God. And, I think, even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.” — Indiana Senate Republican candidate Richard Mourdock
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“Slavery was cruel, but as a result of slavery, we have African-Americans living in this country today who are living here in situations that are probably much better to endure than if they were living in Sub-Saharan Africa. If you had the choice knowing the lifestyle of people living in Africa and knowing the lifestyle of people living in the United States, which would you choose? Pure and simple.” — Jon Hubbard, (R) Arkansas State Senate<br />
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"All that stuff I was taught about evolution and embryology and the big bang theory, all that is lies straight from the pit of Hell. It's lies to try to keep me and all the folks who were taught that from understanding that they need a savior. ... I don't believe that the earth's but about 9,000 years old. I believe it was created in six days as we know them. That's what the Bible says." — Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.)
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"I'm sorry, Jim, I'm going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I'm going to stop other things. I like PBS — I love Big Bird. I actually like you, too. But I'm not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for it." — Mitt Romney to Jim Lehrer, on the importance of the cutting the 1/100th of 1% of the federal budget devoted to public broadcasting.
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"I thought the format accomplished its purpose, which was to facilitate direct, extended exchanges between the candidates about issues of substance. Part of my moderator mission was to stay out of the way of the flow and I had no problems with doing so. My only real personal frustration was discovering that ninety minutes was not enough time in that more open format to cover every issue that deserved attention." — Jim Lehrer<br />
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"I believe in free enterprise. I don't think the government should be telling people what you pay and what you don't pay. I think it's about freedom." — Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.), on why it is OK for employers to pay women less than men
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"I pick up Mitt Romney's trash. We're kind of like the invisible people. He doesn't realize ... the service we provide ... Picking up 15, 16 tons by hand, that takes a toll on your body. When I'm 55, 60 years old, I know my body's gonna ... break down. Mitt Romney doesn't care about that." — Richard Hayes
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"I don't have the time. It would take me too long to go through all the math." — Paul Ryan, in response to a request he explain his tax plan
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"I think my biggest concern obviously would just be for [Mitt's] mental well-being. I have all the confidence in the world in his ability, in his decisiveness, in his leadership skills, in his understanding of the economy. ... So for me I think it would just be the emotional part of it." — Ann Romney
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"Only in America can you be pro-death penalty, pro-war, pro-unmanned drone bombs, pro-nuclear weapons, pro-guns, pro-torture, pro-land mines, and still call yourself 'pro-life.'" — <a href="http://www.blog.johnfugelsang.com/" target="_blank">John Fugelsang</a>
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"As the election approaches, many Americans, I am certain, are still struggling with the question of who they will vote for. Is Obama like Carter, a micro-managing school teacher who doesn't even carry a one wood, let alone hit the long drive? Is Romney like George Bush Sr., a white-glove, Wall Street handmaiden who wouldn't know a subway token from the buttons on a doorman's uniform?" — Alec Baldwin, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alec-baldwin/obama-reelection-2012_b_1911460.html" target="_blank">Huffington Post</a>
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"When you have a fire in an aircraft, there's no place to go, exactly, there's no - and you can't find any oxygen from outside the aircraft to get in the aircraft, because the windows don't open. I don't know why they don't do that. It's a real problem. So it's very dangerous." — Mitt Romney
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"Here at this site, Solyndra expects to make enough solar panels each year to generate 500 megawatts of electricity. And over the lifetime of this expanded facility, that could be like replacing as many as eight coal-fired power plants." — President Barack Obama
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“Guess what, the cheerleaders in college are the best athletes in college. You think, I’m joking, they’re almost all gymnasts, the stuff they do on hard wood, it blows my mind.” — Vice President Joe Biden, Newport, N.H., September 21
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"The thing about not having much money is you have to take much more responsibility for your life. You can’t pay people to watch your kids or clean your house or fix your meals. You can’t necessarily afford a car or a washing machine or a home in a good school district. That’s what money buys you: goods and services that make your life easier. That’s what money has bought Romney, too. He’s a guy who sold his dad’s stock to pay for college, who built an elevator to ensure easier access to his multiple cars and who was able to support his wife’s decision to be a stay-at-home mom. That’s great! That’s the dream. The problem is that he doesn’t seem to realize how difficult it is to focus on college when you’re also working full time, how much planning it takes to reliably commute to work without a car, or the agonizing choices faced by families in which both parents work and a child falls ill. The working poor haven’t abdicated responsibility for their lives. They’re drowning in it."
— Ezra Klein, <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-18/what-mitt-romney-doesn-t-get-about-responsibility.html" target="_blank">Bloomberg</a>
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"Who are these freeloaders? Is it the Iraq war veteran who goes to the V.A.? Is it the student getting a loan to go to college? Is it the retiree on Social Security or Medicare? ... The people who receive the disproportionate share of government spending are not big-government lovers. They are Republicans. They are senior citizens. They are white men with high school degrees."
— Conservative columnist David Brooks, <i>New York Times</i>Michael O. Varholahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02926860732348083635noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3130117810543121321.post-18803081902619739972012-10-24T11:34:00.000-07:002012-10-25T01:24:34.782-07:00Blue Texas — A State of Ambivalence<i>By Michael O. Varhola</i>
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Sometime in the coming years, for a variety of reasons, die-hard Red state Texas will almost certainly become a Blue state. That is, in fact, something I have been personally working to help achieve. It would be fair to say, however, that I have very mixed feelings about this imminent political sea change.
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It bears mentioning that I am not now and never have been a Democrat per se; many years ago, I was actually registered as a Republican, and for much of the past two decades I have strived to be strictly apolitical and non-partisan, which I think behooves someone working as a journalist. I am, however, a liberal — perhaps even a radical liberal — and am also revolted by and strongly opposed to most of what the Republican party stands for these days, which I consider to be regressive and contrary to the interests of the majority of the citizenry. In short, liberalism is based on an informed view of the world and the value and rights of the individual, whereas conservatism essentially represents the inverse of these ideas. Because most "liberals" also happen to be "Democrats," those two terms are often used synonymously. This is problematic in any number of ways, however, as I have recently had brought to my attention.
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Some of what I have seen in Texas from the Democratic party during the current election season is commensurate with the liberal ideal and some of it most definitely is not and has, consequently, given me some pause. Following are some of the negative and positive things I have recently experienced in this regard:
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(-): In January, I received a many-times-forwarded email message with the subject <a href="http://religionpoliticssex.blogspot.com/2012/01/debunking-congressional-reform-act-of.html"target="_blank">“<b>Congressional Reform Act of 2011</b>”</a> that appeared to be a typical piece of Tea Party/neocon invective containing a number of blatant lies and which otherwise reflected a rightwing ethos. What stunned me, however, was that this message originated with the chair of the Democratic Party of the county I live in! “While I personally do not fully agree with all of these suggestions, they are a good place to start,” this lady wrote at the beginning of the message. Concerned that Democratic leaders in our area have no idea what their own party stands for, I contacted her to let her know I was planning on posting an article about the message to this blog but was willing to talk to her about it first. She did not, however, respond to any of my attempts to reach her.
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(-): After I posted an article about the message, I contacted nearly 40 people affiliated with the Democratic Party of Texas and that of the county I live in, including one who as at that time running for the Senate and is now running for Congress (and who had contacted me via Facebook after I posted the afore-mentioned article, which it turned out was about his wife; he cut off contact with me when I would not take what was apparently meant to be a hint about removing this piece). Even though I identified myself as pro-Democrat journalist who was concerned with the way the party was being presented, none bothered to respond, not a single one saw fit to dispel misconceptions associated with their party, to respond to misconceptions perpetrated by one of their representatives, or to bolster the efforts of a liberal blogger desperate to support their agenda.
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(+) A few weeks ago, I attended a pro-Democratic event at the home of some people in my neighborhood and was grateful to them for hosting it and giving me the opportunity to meet other like-minded people. Pro-Republicans in this area are often publicly vocal about their views — something people with any beliefs in my former East Coast home would have considered rude and coarse and avoided doing — and it was nice to see that there are more people with a liberal bent living all around me than I would have imagined.
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(+): At that event, I met and spoke with some of the Democratic political candidates in Texas, including <a href="http://www.couragefortexassenate.org"target="_blank"><b>John Courage</b></a>, who is running for Texas State Senate District 25, and <a href="http://www.voterebecca.com/"target="_blank"><b>Rebecca Bell-Mettereau</b></a>, who is running for a place on the State Board of Education District 5. Suffice it to say that I was impressed with their demeanor, intelligence, and sincerity and that they strengthened my resolve to support the Democratic cause in Texas and that I voted for both of them when I went to the polls on October 22. If they get elected I believe they will do everything they can to make Texas a better place for its citizens.
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(-): Last week, I attended a training session organized by the Democratic Party in my county so that I could learn how to serve as a clerk at a polling station on election day. Without going into details that might seem overly mean-spirited, it would be fair to say that if the level of organization at this meeting was indicative of the party's efforts throughout the state in general then it is abundantly clear why a state that has as many Democrats as it does Republicans is still solidly Red. Nearly two hours after the session began, it ended without the training having been accomplished, with an indication that it would have to be held again at a future date, with promises that materials pertinent to it would be sent out via email (which, as of this writing, has still not happened).
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Disorganization, confusion, and indifference in the Democratic Party in Texas notwithstanding, the Lone Star State will nonetheless ultimately shift from Red to Blue as the Hispanic population of Texas inexorably grows and achieves majority status. But one has to question whether it will truly be a victory for the Democratic cause to have the state turn Blue not because its citizens have become more enlightened, educated, or socially conscious, but merely because one ethnic group has become more predominant than another. We will not, in fact, come much closer to the Great Society envisioned by one former president from the state of Texas if all we do is swap out the political party favored by people who mostly look alike in one way for the political party of people who mostly look alike in another way. (<i>Shown here is Rebecca Bell-Mettereau, one of the hopes for the Democratic cause in Texas.</i>)
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So, suffice it to say, I am ambivalent about the shift of the Lone Star State from Red to Blue. Overall, I am confident that Texas and America overall will be better off for this change and will continue to work for it — but it is sad to contemplate how much less meaningful that change will be than it could be. Michael O. Varholahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02926860732348083635noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3130117810543121321.post-64042989033073397592012-10-20T17:11:00.001-07:002012-10-27T11:25:11.426-07:00A Union by Any Other Name, Part 3<i>By Richard T. Balsley</i>
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<br /><i>See <b><a href="http://religionpoliticssex.blogspot.com/2011/09/union-by-any-other-name-part-1.html">Part 1</a></b> and <b><a href="http://religionpoliticssex.blogspot.com/2011/11/union-by-any-other-name-part-2.html">Part 2</a></b> if you have not already!</i>
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<b>The Use and Application of Labor</b>
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Offices and factories allow people to pool their efforts. This has the added bonus of multiplying the output of each individual as they specialize to handle key areas of the process to produce the product or service offered by the company. Having such proximity to one’s fellow workers makes it easier to cope not only with the stresses of the job, but it also helps to alleviate any sense of isolation between members of the same profession. Some of these concerns may have led to the guild halls for the same reason that people gather in offices or hold trade conventions today. As everything has a trade-off, there is a downside to the ability to congregate and perfect one’s skills on a daily basis.
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The individual worker has no say in where he can perform his job nor does he have any input into the conditions of the facility. Government ordinances do, certainly, but they are outside the power of a specific person. These conditions are under the control of the person who owns the worksite. Additionally, most workers do not own the equipment necessary to do their jobs regardless of their level of skill. Herein lays the problem for the worker: having a desire to perform meaningful work for meaningful pay without losing access to the means of production where such criteria can be met. If the chief aim of the company is to provide a product for profit, then it behooves the board members to maximize earnings, but where to take the money is another question.
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For good or for ill, all workplaces that employ groups of people are sites of labor extraction. There is nothing inherently wrong in this idea. Not only is it convenient and require less logistics, a centralized work location, and also a place where quality and safety controls can be instituted, but it is also a place where efforts can be coordinated. It is this last point where one can see the need for a supervisor. No longer burdened with teaching a new apprentice how to create the entire product, a supervisor or foreman can train a worker to perform a specific series of tasks along the assembly line style of industrialized production. The foreman likewise only needs to know how to do the jobs under his purview. Some of these changes between one job and the other are often minimal so that workers may graduate from one position to another in some industries. The purpose of this is nominally for standardization of quality.
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<br />Owning the sites of labor extraction and the means by which to do it is a central point of contention. In a truly communistic culture, the people who do the labor would own the site, giving them complete control over how, when, and the value of their efforts for whatever capital or other assets are exchanged to obtain what the workers produced. Whether it is a cultural or biological imperative for people to stratify themselves, the most likely result is the concentration of power in the hands of fewer people, not more. This is what capitalism does efficiently and effectively and why it is mentioned near the end of the last installment as a natural extension of feudalism. In a democratic republic, the people are legally equal in all respects. Within the site of labor extraction and the laws that govern how such labor may be extracted, this is not the case.
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<br />People are paid based not on the work they actually do in a factory or an office, but rather for what the company thinks the position each person occupies is worth. The individual is replaceable. As a result, the wages are deflated just enough to make the job enticing without making it too repellant and costing the company more money than what they would earn by paying the higher wage. Unions have helped keep the pressure on companies to provide benefits while keeping wages stable. Given the cut in profits that such wages and other forms of compensation unions work to secure in exchange for their members’ labor to be extracted, it is easy to see why both have an antagonistic relationship.
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<br />The disintegration of union power through right-to-work laws is not a bad thing in light of some of the problems that union control has had over the job market. Anyone attempting to enter a trade had to be a member of a union or be barred from work in a facility where the union oversaw employee relations with the company owners. Unfortunately, those very laws have given corporations more leverage in dictating what workers will receive in compensation for their labor. The rise and prominence of unions has been at times a barrier to the growth of any single business, but when strikes spread across several companies in support of work stoppages in other locales, it becomes harmful to the economy overall. Hence, there exists the need for balance in the legal system to prevent abuse by either organization.
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<br />The data for the past forty years or so shows a correlation between the decline of the middle class wage and the decline of the unions. Whether this is because corporations have worked so diligently to break the corporations or is in part a result of the changes in technology and the outsourcing of so many manufacturing jobs is not necessarily so clear. The increasing disparity between wages of blue collar and white collar workers, however, is. Unpacking the reasoning for this is beyond my purview, but what I can comment on is the mentality that defines the two sides of the argument and how that has helped lead to the entrenchment.
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<br />Essentially, the divide between unions and corporations comes down to a quasi-ritualistic structure that imposes a moral order on the thinking of the members of each group. The effect is a cultural indoctrination which Joseph Campbell described in <i>The Masks of God, Volume 4: Creative Mythology</i> as part of the ritual which serves “as the enforcement of a moral order: the shaping of the individual to the requirements of his geographically and historically conditioned social group” (p. 5). The result is the belief that the opposed group is the Other bent on eradicating the culture’s existence, and to some extent this may be true with all the legal wrangling that have informed both union and corporate culture. The strategies and tactics used by both groups are not so different, however; how they manifest is. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1