Coming Soon

I am relaunching my blog soon. Probably within the next month. I am going the whole 9 Yards and having it hosted and publishing it via WordPress. It will incorporate pictures and music and be as snarky as the law will allow.

You will be able to find it at WorldofSarcasm.com

Find me here....

Click here to see what I'm writing now... WDFN

Discourse Closed

Quick notes: Project runway is almost on...

Taken from the comments in the previous post...

Oh, and if someone could please answer... which of the three branches of government does the public school system fall under?

Is that supposed to be some kind of argument? Those three branches govern our nation as a whole by laying down the laws. Those laws are guidelines on how schools can be run and funded by the government. Case closed.

so my kids for example... come home with 'ok, wait... so God DIDN'T create the earth? God DIDN'T create animals? All this started from a WHAT?'... how is that NOT subjecting them to a different belief system?

It's called teaching science in a science class. Private school or home schooling are your alternatives. If you are so offended by the teachings of an actual science then use those.

You can't go back to letters from a president and *DRAFTS* of letters from presidents and politicians to find the original meaning of the amendment and then not seek the original intent when it doesn't suit your cause...

So you believe that letters they wrote didn't reflect their true feelings? Were they lying to themselves when they wrote the letters or wrote the constitution?

I've been studying the bible and commentaries and differing translations and books about books about books for a LONG time... there's NO sustained argument supporting your suppositions. (period).

Men wrote the bible. Men are fallible and susceptible to slanting things towards their own view. Several books of the new Testament were believed to have been written/transcribed/etc in the 60s or later, decades after Jesus had died. She also referenced the Apocrypha. No one in the Bible disagrees and says he isn't Christ, but my point and argument has been that maybe people had doubts and were unwilling to accept someone so quickly and saw him as nothing more than a philosopher.

You (in a general, non-direct sense) are so busy thinking about how to protect yourself from Christians that you don't stop to think how deeply you're encroaching upon their lives... But why would anyone care about all that? Someone does. Lots of people do. That's how idiots like George W Bush get elected... because Christians feel violated and like they need someone to protect them.

The plight of the poor persecuted minority...oh wait. Christians make up far and away the majority of religion in this country so that argument doesn't fly. You want to talk about secularists encroaching on the rights of Christians and your major battles are God in public schools? Or the Ten Commandments in the building of a state legislature? Your rights as Christians are hardly even being dented.

No one is telling you how to preach.

No one is telling you how you should live your life.

No one is standing in the way of what YOU do with your body.

No one is telling you that you cannot get married because a 2000 year old book says so.

You're getting off easy. You referenced gay marriage. Tell me how that is making your life worse. Are homosexuals knocking on your door and having sex right in front of you? Are they passing out leflets telling children how it's cool to be gay? Can you give me one instance where two loving homosexuals getting married has made your world a worse place to live?

This country has about a 50% marriage success rate for heterosexual couples and you pitch a fit over homosexuals wanting to tie the knot and at the very least allowed the same advantages with insurance/taxes/etc that regular couples do?

Jesus taught love and acceptance. But all I hear is intolerance and that isn't God's word. Love thy neighbor, but only if that neighbor has never had an abortion, gotten a divorce or is straight. The problem with many people in all religions is that they pick and choose what to believe from their holy books. You either see the messages for what they are or you believe it all. For that there is no grey area.

Steve it seems to me that you have no problem with other religions as long as it's your beliefs that are reflected in the laws. You are a hypocrite.

The world isn't getting worse because of "tolerance and acceptance." The world is getting worse because of ignorance and Intolerance from religious zealots of all faiths and bastards in general. If everyone accepted people as they are, be they gay, straight, black, white, christian, jew, muslim, European, American wouldn't the world be a better place? By accepting everyone, you go a long way to eliminating conflict, hatred and anguish.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, Jesus/Moses/Confuscius/Mohammed all said that or a version of it. Why would you break that rule to encroach upon the rights of others and treat them poorly? That's not very Christian.

I've had enough.

And Lindsay, I'm glad you have come around to the wonders of the iPod. They are spendid.

Ah, Discourse!

The Madison letter wasn't meant as an article against teaching creation. None of them were. It was another point for the separation of church and state. Teaching Creationism in schools (in a science class) would be in violation of that ideal as a de facto endorsement of one religion by a state funded institution. That's what Madison believed and that was the driving force behind that portion of the first amendment.

Also; Regardless of political turmoil, that is what Jefferson believed. And there is nothing to indicate that Jefferson ever waivered in his opinion.

Steve, I am curious as to why it is so important to have Creationism taught in public schools? If it's being taught in Sunday School and in non-secular private schools, then why is it necessary?

To suggest that there is no grey area regarding Jesus is not right. Before his time and afterward there were many false prophets. Not everyone had the benefit of witnessing one of his miracles. I'm sure there were many that believed him, those who didn't and some that didn't know if he was the Son of God or not. I am in the third category. I believe He existed, but as of now I don't know if He truly is the Savior. I do know that his teachings were beautiful and if everyone followed them this world would be better off. As I have said, I am not yet ready to make the leap from Jesus being an excellent philsopher to him being Christ.

Redundancies

I could've cited many quotes, but chose not to. Since you aren't satisfied, here are others:

Thomas Jefferson in a letter to the Danbury Baptists:

I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.

James Madison in a letter to Robert Walsh:

The Civil Govt, tho' bereft of everything like an associated hierarchy, possesses the requisite stability and performs its functions with complete success, Whilst the number, the industry, and the morality of the Priesthood, & the devotion of the people have been manifestly increased by the total separation of the Church from the State.

The Treaty of Tripoli, Article 11 as ratified by the Senate and signed by John Adams:

As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion...

Are those quotes more to your liking? How about the notion that the main reason the Pilgrims came to America from England was that they disagreed with the Church of England? They wanted religious freedom without the imposition of a state church.

You are correct in asserting the inaccuracies of carbon dating...but we aren't talking about the Shroud of Turin here. We're talking about coal, oil, diamonds, fossils, etc. These things have taken millions of years to reach their current state. Do you deny the existence of Dinosaurs?

As for my own beliefs, it was an oversimplification. Religion, for me, is more complicated than that. I'm more of a show me type person. I have a hard time making a leap of faith for something that I cannot quantify. I want to believe...I do believe that there is a higher power and that Christ is likely our savior, but I am still developing my faith. I agree with the principles of most religions. The parallels between Buddhism and Christianity are interesting. With many overlapping teachings, it has been a struggle to find a particular faith. I might not ever, but until then, I'll continue to live by my own standards; by my own ideals and morality without feeling bad about myself.

As a parting shot regarding Evolution...sometimes cartoons can explain it all. Click on it to read it more easily...

Response to a comment

My previous blog had a comment and I have a reply that is just to huge to fit there. So I moved it to here.

I have no problem with schools acknowledging Creationism. If they want to teach it in a comparative religions class or a theology class, then I am perfectly fine with it. I have no issue. But to present it as an alternative to evolution is silly. The earth is far older than 4-5k years due to the existence of coal, fossils, etc. The finches on the Galapagos are evolving, various skeletons found of prehistoric man...that can be proven. Show me the existence of God. Prove to me the existence of god. It can't be done. And therefore has no place in a science class to be presented as an alternative to evolution. I'm not saying that this isn't all god's plan, complete with evolution, I'm just saying that there is no scientific way to show it. That hasn't stopped me from believing in a higher power...I suppose you could call me an agnostic with Christian leanings.

As far as church and state, there is no specific provision in the Establishment Clause prohibiting creationism to be taught in schools. It is more the ideal and reason the bill of rights was written as such. If a state funded school presents Creationism in a science class that could be considered an endorsement of that particular religion. And that is against the 1st amendment. The primary writers of the amendment (Madison and to a lesser extent Jefferson) expressed the need for the separation of church and state. Madison went as far to say

"practical distinction between Religion and Civil Government is essential to the purity of both, and as guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States"

Admittedly it is open to interpretation, but rulings by the US Supreme Court and State Supreme Courts have ruled in favor of the separation.

And Steve you have a terrific singing voice.

Thank You Jeebus

Sometimes there comes a point in your life when you unequivocably realize that there is a high power. That moment came about 2 minutes ago. In this heated Michigan Governors race, one of hte candidates needed to do something that separated his/herself from the other. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Dick DeVos, failed gubernatorial candidate..

Dick has announced that Intelligent Design should be taught alongside of Evolution in Michigan Public Schools. Un-freaking-likely. He wants the students to discern the facts among the different theories. And just how many facts are there from the Bible? No, I'll wait, go ahead and find me some.

“I would like to see the ideas of intelligent design — that many scientists are now suggesting is a very viable alternative theory — that that theory and others that would be considered credible would expose our students to more ideas, not less,” DeVos told the Associated Press this week during an interview on education.

Yeah, there's this little thing called science and another little thing called religion. Not exactly on equal plateaus. Oh and that little bit about the separation of church and state might just be in the way.

Thank you, Dick DeVos, I appreciate all you've done for this state. Now get the fuck out of politics.

Cut and run?

The US is reducing its diplomatic presence in Syria after the terrorist attack on the US Embassy in Damascus. If this administration has taught us anything, something like this only emboldens the terrorists. In fact, some might say something like this lets the terrorists win.

This cannot be real...

TV weatherman freaks out because of a cockroach...twice.

A bad day at McDonalds

So Lions defensive line coach Joe Cullen got pulled over for driving in the nude. He was busted after going through a drive thru.

Can you imagine that exchange?

Cullen: Um, I'll have a Big Mac, an apple pie and a large shake.

Attentdant: Um, you want pants with that?

Dude, this is your first job in the NFL and you mess it up even before the regular season begins. Ooops.