From the Associated Press:
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WASHINGTON - Some Democratic senators say they don't feel a need to accept all of their churches' teachings.
Dick Durbin of Illinois, who's Catholic, told reporters that he believes it's more important to follow his conscience than church doctrines on issues like abortion and birth control.
Durbin and New Mexico Senator Tom Udall, who's Mormon, both say they're comfortable remaining members of their churches despite doctrines they don't believe and would like to change.
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So what I hear these guys saying is that their churches are not true, that they teach some principles of truth but overall, their church is just another church amongst a bunch of others who teach some good things but not everything they teach is true. Is that what they mean to say? If that's the case, they should rescind their membership in their church and find something they do believe in. When it comes to God, you're either all in or all out. And if this report is true, these two are not in.

Atheist Nonsense

Here's a story that appeared 7/17/10 on the Newscore website:

U.S. Atheists Reportedly Using Hair Dryers to 'De-Baptize'
American atheists lined up to be "de-baptized" in a ritual using a hair dryer, according to a report Friday on U.S. late-night news program "Nightline." Leading atheist Edwin Kagin blasted his fellow non-believers with the hair dryer to symbolically dry up the holy water sprinkled on their heads in days past. The styling tool was emblazoned with a label reading "Reason and Truth." Kagin believes parents are wrong to baptize their children before they are able to make their own choices, even slamming some religious education as "child abuse." He said the blast of hot air was a way for adults to undo what their parents had done.
"I was baptized Catholic. I don't remember any of it at all," said 24-year-old Cambridge Boxterman. "According to my mother, I screamed like a banshee ... so you can see that even as a young child I didn't want to be baptized. It's not fair. I was born atheist, and they were forcing me to become Catholic."

Besides the sheer stupidity of this, there are a couple of obvious questions that come to mind. First, if baptism means nothing, why do you need to 'symbolically' dry it up? If it means you just got wet, why do you feel the need to reverse that? Calling this move 'Reason' simply cracks me up. It certainly tells me a lot about this Kagin knucklehead.

And what about Mr. Cambridge Boxterman? You were born atheist?? Really. I didn't know you could be born atheist, I thought it was a decision one made after careful consideration. Tell me, can you also be born a Democrat, a Liberal, a left-wing looney? And the fact that, as a baby, you cried when you were baptized is certainly a sure sign that you didn't want to be baptized, just like you cried when you were fed, had your diaper changed, were given a bath or put to bed. You obviously didn't want those things either, right? That evil mother of yours forced these things on you.

Living on earth and not believing in God is like driving an F150 pickup but denying the existence of Ford.

The NEA ..... Again

Last year about this time, I blogged about the stupidity of the NEA and how they spend their time. This year they were in New Orleans and over the past year they have gotten even stupider (is that a real word?). This year they have recognized a new caucus - The NEA Drag Queen Caucus. Yes, that is a real caucus. Check it out at:
http://www.nea.org/assets/docs/nea-handbook-recognized-caucuses.pdf
Of course, this caucus joins other valuable caucuses within the NEA like:

Bourbon Caucus
Caribbean Caucus
Campers Caucus
Gay & Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Caucus
No Cocktail Left Behind Caucus
Princess Caucus

Yes, all valuable groups within the NEA who are addressing pressing problems within the education world. Ya, right. NEA, how 'bout you start this caucus:
God-fearing, America-loving, child-caring, traditional-family-believing Caucus.
Oh, I forgot. You'd actually have to have someone in your group that believed in these things to start the caucus. Oh well, it was a nice thought.

Moments

Life is simply a stream of moments.

Some moments are more important than others.

Take this moment for instance. How important or consequential is what I'm doing right now?

What about what I'm listening to, what I'm watching, all the things going on around me?

I think I'm just a collection of moments, all added up to make me who I am.

So is any moment really wasted? Maybe it was just less important.

What happens when we get "caught up in the moment"? Or when we do something on a "moment's notice"? Are these moments more important than others?



By the way, how long is a moment? Can a moment be several hours or does it, by definition, only last seconds? How many moments are there in a day? Simply writing this seems to have taken a few moments. Was it worth my time? Time? Do a bunch of moments equal a certain amount of time? Seems I've heard there are moments in time.



Oh, yes, the moments of life are so, so important. I wish I could say I used every moment wisely, that I took advantage of every moment in my life. But I don't. In fact, I waste an awful lot of good moments. And something else to remember: a lot of good or a lot of bad can be done in a single moment. Usually if I have to decide quickly, in a moment or so, I make a bad decision. I'm not good at quick decisions. If I take my time and deliberate a while, I'm far more likely to experience a good moment. But that's just me.

Some of life's most important events take only a moment (or maybe a few moments). And what about those decisions that we make, that take only a moment, but we realize later made a huge difference in our lives. Can you think of some of those? I can.

So if life is simply a stream of moments, maybe life is just about controlling our moments. Good luck with that.

Don't Go There

This one set me off:
http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/article-11647-gay-students-vs-byu-honor-code.html

The url pretty much says it all, kinda' like calling a movie, 'Snakes on a Plane,' you don't need to wonder what it is about. There are lots of comments to the article but the bottom line is this - you know what the rules are before you get there, you sign a document that says you will follow the rules, you break the rules, you leave - end of story. You can be gay and still go to BYU just as long as you don't act on those tendencies, just as if you were an alcoholic - as long as you don't act on your tendencies, you're fine. Act out and you're history. Why is this so difficult for people to understand? I'm just tired of the gays and the whole LGBT agenda being crammed down our throat. In this case, there are hundreds of other universities in this country that welcome gays with their same-sex arms open, so go there. Just because some people can't live up to BYU's standards doesn't mean BYU should lower its standards.

I hate to say I told you so but.....

... Lebron James has really blundered. I'm not usually a fan of Yahoo! news but this sports wrtier nailed it. Check it out at:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-lebrondecision070910
Happy reading.

I love Sports

I really do. If given the opportunity, I'll watch just about any sports competition. But lately, the whole sports world seems to have lost its collective mind. Here's a few of the problems I see.

> Baseball All-Star Game. Stop already. Stop trying to cram this game down my throat. Quit telling me I need to vote. When the whole voting process is conducted like a Chicago election, I don't think my vote will really mean a hill of beans anyway. I really just don't care. I'm just so sick and tired of the hype. Now they'll stop the season for a few days and we'll be subjected to the home run derby and all kinds of ridiculous interviews. I'm all for skipping this altogether.
> Soccer. Who gives a rip?!?! The game is totally un-American and should be limited to ages 12 and under or those who just can't help themselves. For one thing, I don't like a game where you can only score one point at a time. Make a two-point or three-point line. Have more free shots. And not being able to use your hands? Come on now, there's got to be times when the hands get involved. I like whole-body sports: Baseball (the best), football, basketball. And doesn't the whole idea of being 'offsides' seem weird?
> LeBron James. Just go play, make your billions, and go away. You're overpaid, spoiled and making a joke out of the whole free agent process. I heard they were going to hold a special on ESPN for him to make his announcement. Seriously? There's one I won't be watching.