Katie Burke sent me THE LANDLORD and i laughed until milk came out my nose. then i realized i don't drink milk. when something is so funny it makes my nose lactate, it's worth doing a sequel.
plus brandon and alley were married at the beginning of june!!! i don't think i've mentioned that on here. great wedding!a big post is upcoming! until then bloggateers!
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Seven Nation Army Couldn't Hold Me Back
Yeah that's right!! Lotsa good stuff goings on here. I just went in front of the Potomac Association to become "in care" and got it! What this means is that after I graduate in 3 years from seminary, the Association will ordain me if I so choose the route of pastoral care. Right now it seems that that's what I'm heading for.
Some interesting questions posed such as:
"What parts of the Bible are you not familar with?"
Pretty much Old Testament after Deuteronomy. We covered a lot in ol' Catholic religion class but it was just the first 4 texts of the old testament.. with a few prophets thrown in so they can say "jesus is coming, jesus is coming, JESUS IS COMING!" and then BANG! New Testament, he's here. We learned up until Acts and then a little revalations thrown in for some doom and gloom. I'd love to tackle the whole darn book and see what i find now.
"Where do you see yourself? What's your ministry about?"
I see myself as a pastor of a church and I hope to target people ages 20 to mid to late 30s. When i tell some of my friends that i'm going into the ministry they're like "that's nice but you know how i feel about religion" (to call them out, mainly OU Ken and The Famous Mister Edwards). I agree with them whole heartedly. Christianity has been taken over and defined by the crazy fundie right-wingers just as Islam has been branded in much the same way. Religion is HARD. It's about loving people for who they are, not who they're supposed to be. Jesus didn't hang with prositutes and tax collectors to guilt them into a better life. He loved them for where they were, and that love caused them to realize that God loves them just as much as anyone else. That asshole that cuts you off in traffic, the rival team that constantly beats your fav. team (i.e. Yankees, Spurs, and Ravens/Steelers), and even that homeless guy you pass everyday, God loves them just as much as He loves you. That's a hard call to answer. Religion isn't easy, it isn't supposed to be. But great things happen to ppl once they're out of their comfort zone.
"What gifts to you bring to the ministry?"
Well half way through my sermon, I'll break for a commercial sponsered by some corporation. PLUS! I'll integrate their product seemlessly into my ministry. Here's an example of what i'm talking about:
I feel a great need to rally the younger generation. We need to mobilize against this onslaught of political corruption, religious bigotry, and social elitism. America needs a gut check, and I hope to be in a position to work towards a better tomorrow through my ministry and UCC affliation.
I can't wait to get to Lancaster PA (not OHIO, sorry Ali!) and start down this road. AND one of my fav. senior high students will be up there! I'm looking forward to hanging out with MALICE and catching up and also see'n what music she's into. Girl has like 600,000 some odd songs from her iTunes and 5,000+ points on the ever so addicting iLike music challenge (which i'll beat her on).
And now, the coolest heckler joke:
Rule of Three:
Book- I AM A STRANGE LOOP
MUSIC- Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (thanks Kim!)
MOVIE- Firefly Full Collection
Some interesting questions posed such as:
"What parts of the Bible are you not familar with?"
Pretty much Old Testament after Deuteronomy. We covered a lot in ol' Catholic religion class but it was just the first 4 texts of the old testament.. with a few prophets thrown in so they can say "jesus is coming, jesus is coming, JESUS IS COMING!" and then BANG! New Testament, he's here. We learned up until Acts and then a little revalations thrown in for some doom and gloom. I'd love to tackle the whole darn book and see what i find now.
"Where do you see yourself? What's your ministry about?"
I see myself as a pastor of a church and I hope to target people ages 20 to mid to late 30s. When i tell some of my friends that i'm going into the ministry they're like "that's nice but you know how i feel about religion" (to call them out, mainly OU Ken and The Famous Mister Edwards). I agree with them whole heartedly. Christianity has been taken over and defined by the crazy fundie right-wingers just as Islam has been branded in much the same way. Religion is HARD. It's about loving people for who they are, not who they're supposed to be. Jesus didn't hang with prositutes and tax collectors to guilt them into a better life. He loved them for where they were, and that love caused them to realize that God loves them just as much as anyone else. That asshole that cuts you off in traffic, the rival team that constantly beats your fav. team (i.e. Yankees, Spurs, and Ravens/Steelers), and even that homeless guy you pass everyday, God loves them just as much as He loves you. That's a hard call to answer. Religion isn't easy, it isn't supposed to be. But great things happen to ppl once they're out of their comfort zone.
"What gifts to you bring to the ministry?"
Well half way through my sermon, I'll break for a commercial sponsered by some corporation. PLUS! I'll integrate their product seemlessly into my ministry. Here's an example of what i'm talking about:
I feel a great need to rally the younger generation. We need to mobilize against this onslaught of political corruption, religious bigotry, and social elitism. America needs a gut check, and I hope to be in a position to work towards a better tomorrow through my ministry and UCC affliation.
I can't wait to get to Lancaster PA (not OHIO, sorry Ali!) and start down this road. AND one of my fav. senior high students will be up there! I'm looking forward to hanging out with MALICE and catching up and also see'n what music she's into. Girl has like 600,000 some odd songs from her iTunes and 5,000+ points on the ever so addicting iLike music challenge (which i'll beat her on).
And now, the coolest heckler joke:
Rule of Three:
Book- I AM A STRANGE LOOP
MUSIC- Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (thanks Kim!)
MOVIE- Firefly Full Collection
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
The Problem with Herzog
The last year the Ohio University Post has done something very commendable by having it's own conservative collumnist Ashley Herzog. I say commendable as the media has an obligation to present both sides of an argument to creative constructive debate in a opinion column. I say Opinion column as the media has no obligation to either side, just the facts when it comes to delivering the news (a fact that more and more news organizations seem to be forgetting as battle lines are drawn).
My buddy OU Ken got me reading her articles every Tuesday on the Post online magazine. Needless to say OU K was outraged by every single word Ashley put on the paper and wanted my opinions on the majority of them. Upon reading her columns I saw what offended OU K so much as Ashley was challenging most of his unquestionable tenants of liberalism i.e. Abortion, Iraq War, and Feminism. My belief is to question everything. Hit a belief from every angle to see if it holds up. This stems from the Buddhist saying "Believe nothing true you find in books, hear from friends or wise teachers. Take nothing on faith. But believe what you yourself have tested and found to be reasonable, and conform your conduct thereto."
What I did disagree with was Ashley's Ann Coulter style of an us-v.s.-them pandering towards one's base tactics as well as twisting facts to meet her arguments. The grosses example was her article on the gender paygap (wiki definition here). She argued that women don't get paid as much as men because of their job choices which is a valid point but the study already compensated for this. So i wouldn't caulk it up to a twisting of the facts than a rookie mistake and seeing what you want to see, as mistake we've all done, libs, repubs, conservs, and dems alike.
This was the only article I disagreed with 100% as the logical foundation of the argument was flawed. But I must admit I've only read the articles from this past quarter not ones before February 2007, so I might retrack this statment.
My biggest point is her fire-brand US v.s. THEM! tactics. Broad generalizations and mud slinging at 'Liberals' really eskew her good points, and she does have good points. Such as why do feminists seem revel in promiscuity? where's the line between sexual liberation and a new form of sexual serfdom? why can't one be a conservative feminist and be accepted? All these arguments are lost by her Coulter-esque bashings and most ppl feel so poked in the eye that they will either toss out her whole argument like OU K did or just not read anything she writes.
I'm really sick of the libs v.s. conservatives. I consider myself a liberal, such a liberal infact that i see both sides of the argument reguardless of party affliation. But the muckrackers like Coulter, O'Rielley, Rush, Stern, and several others do no good to fostering an intelligent debate on Iraq, Abortion, or any other issue. We really need to realize that America has progressed as it has not on the sole policies of any liberal or conservative administration, but from a mix of both. If we were completely conservative like Ashley wants, we would never progress anywhere nor would we rationally debate anything.
Now this next statement is speculation and a generalization as well but please forgive me as i try to prove a point. If we were completely liberal like OU K would be we would have no measurements or finacial indicators to show how a certain program or policy is working. We need both! Liberals for new ideas for progressing and considering the welfare of those effected by the laws and conservatives to put in a business mindset to see if programs are working and efficent. There is no us v.s. them is just an US. We need to realize this and work forwards.
OU K is right that Iraq is a complete disaster and the war on terror is unwinable how we are currently fighting it. He's right that our school and most social systems need overhauled. Ashley is right that Abortion is a terrible thing to go through and should be used only in drastic circumstances and not for birth control.
OU K and Ashley agree on more than they realize. But the mudslinging and cheap shots have to stop for us to gain any clarity so we can move forward together and get us out of this mess that we made (yes WE meaning bush for the war and those idiots who voted for it!).
So my plea is for OU K to remember that we do need to consider how to measure our success and that we need to continually question ourselves as liberals do not have a hold on the truth alone. My plea to Ashley is to continually listen and not try to KO the otherside as they have valid points.
My buddy OU Ken got me reading her articles every Tuesday on the Post online magazine. Needless to say OU K was outraged by every single word Ashley put on the paper and wanted my opinions on the majority of them. Upon reading her columns I saw what offended OU K so much as Ashley was challenging most of his unquestionable tenants of liberalism i.e. Abortion, Iraq War, and Feminism. My belief is to question everything. Hit a belief from every angle to see if it holds up. This stems from the Buddhist saying "Believe nothing true you find in books, hear from friends or wise teachers. Take nothing on faith. But believe what you yourself have tested and found to be reasonable, and conform your conduct thereto."
What I did disagree with was Ashley's Ann Coulter style of an us-v.s.-them pandering towards one's base tactics as well as twisting facts to meet her arguments. The grosses example was her article on the gender paygap (wiki definition here). She argued that women don't get paid as much as men because of their job choices which is a valid point but the study already compensated for this. So i wouldn't caulk it up to a twisting of the facts than a rookie mistake and seeing what you want to see, as mistake we've all done, libs, repubs, conservs, and dems alike.
This was the only article I disagreed with 100% as the logical foundation of the argument was flawed. But I must admit I've only read the articles from this past quarter not ones before February 2007, so I might retrack this statment.
My biggest point is her fire-brand US v.s. THEM! tactics. Broad generalizations and mud slinging at 'Liberals' really eskew her good points, and she does have good points. Such as why do feminists seem revel in promiscuity? where's the line between sexual liberation and a new form of sexual serfdom? why can't one be a conservative feminist and be accepted? All these arguments are lost by her Coulter-esque bashings and most ppl feel so poked in the eye that they will either toss out her whole argument like OU K did or just not read anything she writes.
I'm really sick of the libs v.s. conservatives. I consider myself a liberal, such a liberal infact that i see both sides of the argument reguardless of party affliation. But the muckrackers like Coulter, O'Rielley, Rush, Stern, and several others do no good to fostering an intelligent debate on Iraq, Abortion, or any other issue. We really need to realize that America has progressed as it has not on the sole policies of any liberal or conservative administration, but from a mix of both. If we were completely conservative like Ashley wants, we would never progress anywhere nor would we rationally debate anything.
Now this next statement is speculation and a generalization as well but please forgive me as i try to prove a point. If we were completely liberal like OU K would be we would have no measurements or finacial indicators to show how a certain program or policy is working. We need both! Liberals for new ideas for progressing and considering the welfare of those effected by the laws and conservatives to put in a business mindset to see if programs are working and efficent. There is no us v.s. them is just an US. We need to realize this and work forwards.
OU K is right that Iraq is a complete disaster and the war on terror is unwinable how we are currently fighting it. He's right that our school and most social systems need overhauled. Ashley is right that Abortion is a terrible thing to go through and should be used only in drastic circumstances and not for birth control.
OU K and Ashley agree on more than they realize. But the mudslinging and cheap shots have to stop for us to gain any clarity so we can move forward together and get us out of this mess that we made (yes WE meaning bush for the war and those idiots who voted for it!).
So my plea is for OU K to remember that we do need to consider how to measure our success and that we need to continually question ourselves as liberals do not have a hold on the truth alone. My plea to Ashley is to continually listen and not try to KO the otherside as they have valid points.
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