Archives for October 2006

Whew! There are many and long postings in this archive that has given my many interesting elements to comment on. I'll endeaver to do so here, but I'm sure that I'll miss an important point or two.My Beliefs responseI'm going to skip on commenting on your beliefs (entry entitled "My Beliefs") because I believe/hope that each of the significant elements of your discussion will come up at other points and we can discuss them each in turn giving them the proper attention they deserve.It was good enough for Paul and Silas... responseDespite the preeminent place given the gospels, Paul’s writings … [Read more...]

Today is the start of an interesting sidebar for me. I'm going to respond to a friend's anti-thesis of Christian faith at http://infidelismaximus.blogspot.com.The author of Infidelis Maximus is a friend and someone whom I believe can really enjoy a good rational discussion about all things related to Christian faith or the disavowel thereof.So if you're interested in any of these sorts of religions discussions, you may also wish to look at Infidelis Maximus. But please do remember to keep any postings or comments there rational and discoursive, ok?In the meanwhile, I'd be interested in … [Read more...]

Ok, these two posts are worth the 5 or 10 minutes it takes to watch them.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K_38Fg6nmU... and ...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7U6UPLrNdQ&mode=related&search=Enjoy!-Kev … [Read more...]

I got this note from my uncle about how the much the USA has changed in 100 years. The changes are quite extraordinary. It also illustrates to me how important "cultural receptivity" is to change. The USA has a culture that is among the most accommodating to change ever in the history of the world. (Renaissance Italy is probably the other society that comes to mind.) And yet many of these changes (listed below) caused powerful ripples throughout our society and culture. For example, women have only been able to vote since 1920 and, even in my childhood in the 1960's and 1970's, I recall … [Read more...]

I took Dylan & Emily to see "Jackass 2" last week. We arrived at the theaters on a Monday evening while it was still light out. But as we walked in, I noticed a dark and furry blotch on the wall. It was a bat. Even though it was about 8' off the ground, we all took turns looking at it up close because we were able to climb the wall. It was such a cute little thing! Here's a pic of the cute little critter.Ok, now for the movie. Like most of the Jackass skits from MTV and the first Jackass movie, this movie is totally juvenile. It also had a few scenes that caused me to laugh so hard that I … [Read more...]

Have you heard what Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell said in the aftermath of 9/11? While a guest on Robertson's show, The 700 Club, two days after 9/11 the two had this conversation:Falwell - "What we saw on Tuesday, as terrible as it is, could be miniscule if, in fact, God continues to lift the curtain and allow the enemies of America to give us probably what we deserve."Robertson - "Well, Jerry, that's my feeling. I think we've just seen the antechamber to terror, we haven't begun to see what they can do to the major population."Falwell - "The ACLU has got to take a lot of blame for this. … [Read more...]

There's something magical about music. A person could stand on a stage and say the exact same words as the lyric of a song and it'll do nothing to me. But add to those lyrics a melody and some music, and all of my defenses go out the window. I'm not sure if it's embarrassing to say this, but good songs more than just about any other thing can turn on my waterworks.Here are two examples, one old and one new, that are evocative and powerful poems for me. And as I mentioned before, they poetry is one thing but hearing them sung takes me to an entirely different level altogether. I'm particularly … [Read more...]