Football Player Blames God For Dropped TD Pass

I was at a restaurant tonight that had sports channels on all their TVs, and I saw this story, even though the volume was off on all the TVs. There was a football player, Steve Johnson of the Buffalo Bills, who dropped a perfect pass right in the endzone. They played the dropped pass clip on ESPN maybe eight or nine times right in a row.

Then they had a tweet from Mr. Johnson on the screen that said: "I PRAISE YOU 24/7!!!!!! AND THIS HOW YOU DO ME!!!!! YOU EXPECT ME TO LEARN FROM HIS?? HOW???!!! ILL NEVER FORGET THIS!! EVER!!! THX THO..."

I had no idea that had anything to do with God -- I just wondered who he'd be praising 24/7 -- but a few minutes later I glanced over at one of the other TVs and the headline had him blaming God. They even showed a clip of him doing a religious type of gesture, like, "God, here's to ya!", before a play, perhaps this play.

I read a later story online since I got home that he's walking back some of this, saying: "No I Did Not Blame God People! Seriously??!? CMon! I Simply Cried Out And Asked Why?" And "I AM HAPPY & THANKFUL 4 YESTERDAY! w/out Sunday i Wldnt have grew closer w/The Lord!!"

It does seem like if you say, "I praise you 24/7 and you did me dirt" essentially, that you were expecting some kind of quid pro quo for all the praising.

That's a silly way to think.

Aqua Buddha

What is Aqua Buddha anyway? I never heard of him till this year. But it seems Aqua Buddha is the name of the god that Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul (R) worships, or something.

I'm not one to get in the way of someone's religion. If that's what he worships, of course that's his right as an American citizen and human being. I will defend anyone's right to worship whatever they want, be it rock, steel, a chunk of plaster, a flea they picked off their dog, anything. When I say I will defend their right to worship it, of course I'm hoping it doesn't come to a fist fight or weapons. I mean I will speak up if I feel they're being wronged in some way.

But that doesn't mean I won't make fun of it, because of course that's my right. I mean, picking a flea off a dog and worshiping it? To me, that's ridiculous. In my opinion, fleas aren't worthy of worship. They're worthy of a swift and painful death. But they're relatively tough to kill.

And to worship a chunk of plaster, that's also ridiculous. Which is what a lot of these Buddhas are. I sold some of them on eBay a few years ago. I had some Buddhas, swamis, etc., made of plaster. One of them got to the guy with its head broken off, so I had to refund his money. But I let him keep it, since what do I want with a severed head statue? So I suppose he kept it ... enjoyed his money back ... and got a lot of good worship in.

Was it Rand Paul I sold it to? I don't have any records of my sales from those days -- just my memory, and I couldn't say it was Rand Paul, and I couldn't say it wasn't. I hadn't heard of him back then. Even if it was him, it didn't ring any bells. But it doesn't seem likely, you know, in the total scheme of things. Although obviously he needs to get them somewhere, so it could've been me.

So I'm not a hypocrite, just because I sold a few of these, because I'm not making any judgments here. If that's what he wants to worship, like I said ... it's fine with me.

Now, what is the Aqua part of Aqua Buddha all about? It could be the statues out by the koi pond, or in the koi pond. I've seen Buddhas under water before, like in aquariums. It keeps the fish very zenned out, one assumes.

Sri Tamasananda

I follow the teachings of Sri Tamasananda, a very holy man.

He teaches me that to have self-realization and find enlightenment, I should eat as much pork products as I can. Not when I'm not hungry or anything. But when I have the opportunity and desire, eat bacon, bratwurst, pork chops, side pork, ham, etc. And eat my fill.

It makes a lot of sense to me and I feel like I'm practically there already. I think I am. Today I had four slices of bacon for breakfast and a couple fried brats for dinner.

There's just something about the pig to take away your ascetic blues. Forgoing pork might be some people's path, but to Sri Tamasananda and me, it's the other path.

The Funniest Line Heard At Church Today

A friend was talking about her 11-year-old niece, who was in church one Easter hearing about Jesus' death and resurrection. She asked, "Isn't he the same guy who died last year?"

A Billion Year Contract?

I just heard on MSNBC that Scientologists sign a billion year contract that they'll be loyal, faithful, and true to their organization. And if they should try to finagle out of it -- say with most of the billion years left -- then they owe some big time money for "counseling." The case they told about on the news owed $40,000 for "counseling."

First, anyone who would consider joining such a lunatic religion probably needs counseling, but counseling from outside that particular organization. That's insane.

I was just looking online to see if there's any other links to this billion year contract topic. And there's plenty. So I guess I'm the last one to hear about it. Plus you can find lots of other information about this organization, including enough to make you want to get a really good crucifix to hold up if they ever come around! Or some wolf bane for the doorpost.

If you're really looking for a religion, try one of the normal ones.

Tom Coburn Prays For Robert Byrd's Death

In this season of love and lights -- of peace on earth, good will toward men -- it's so in keeping with the spirit of things that Sen. Tom Coburn (Republican scoundrel from Oklahoma) prayed on the Senate floor for the death of Sen. Robert Byrd.

Why this sudden dire entreaty to the Almighty? Because Sen. Coburn opposes health care reform so much, to him it's a terrible travesty that the elected representatives of the several states would gather in a democratic way and vote for legislation. Never mind that we voted for health care reform when we elected Democrats and President Barack Obama. Why should the country ever get what it voted for?

Why these cretins, the Republicans, can't think before they open their foul yaps, is anyone's guess. If I'm busy misusing my religion to pray for the death of people, I'd be ashamed (first), then I'd hope no one noticed, so that perhaps I might repent and be back on the straight and narrow path. More would be the pity if I did it right on the Senate floor, where comity and good will are supposed to reign. Isn't that the place where you say "My most distinguished good friend from Virginia" right before you stick in the knife?

Sen. Byrd is over 90 years old. He deserves more from his colleagues than that.

Of course it's hard to come up with a one-to-one way of judging prayers and their results, since the Almighty is nothing if not inscrutable. But we can't help thinking perhaps God rejected Sen. Coburn's prayer and must favor some sort of health care reform in this country. Or maybe God just wants a better quality of prayers from His so-called followers. Like praying at football games that our team might win!

R. Crumb's "The Book Of Genesis"

I saw this mentioned somewhere one day and immediately ordered it at Amazon. They said there it wouldn't be shipped for maybe two months. But then I got a note that it would be available earlier. So it came yesterday.

It's R. Crumb's "The Book of Genesis," a beautiful big book of cartoon illustrations of all 50 chapters of the first book of the Bible.

I have to say I love it. This is the way the Bible needs to be illustrated, with all the grittiness of real life right there before you. I think reading through it slowly is a devotional experience and I say that truly.

Maybe the most famous thing about the book, which has to be mentioned, is that the sex stuff of Genesis is illustrated. And even then it's not so much in your face, but just shows what the text says. It's before you but even then it's still nicely reserved. Anyway, to see Adam and Eve, Abraham, Lot, etc., in the buff is a good thing, illustrating these holy stories in a great way.

I think Crumb did a masterful job and was very reverent about the whole thing. I'd love to see what he could do with Ezekiel, but that one might be not quite as popular. I'm sure he could do some stunning esoteric things with it though!

I read through the story of Judah and Tamar last night. How beautiful it is. Tamar pretended to be a cult harlot in order to raise up seed for her dead husband. She wasn't just horny and wanting to get it on with Judah. It's great to see her resolve illustrated there and the way she takes Judah's things which she later uses to identify him as the person she had sex with. She's about to be killed for having played the whore, but suddenly it's obvious to Judah what she had done and how honorable she was.

Today I started at the beginning and read about the Creation. I love seeing God as this radiant, beard-flowing wild-eyed mystic deity. When He's searching for Adam in the garden, it's very powerful. "WHERE ARE YOU?"

I looked at other things too and got the same impression. It's stunning and a great book.

Catholic Books -- Full Authority

I'm not a Catholic but I dabble in religious matters, kind of a hobby.

The other day I needed to look up something about the Catholic faith, about some of their understandings of the Mass, what it's supposed to be all about as it relates to the sacrifice of Christ, etc.

I have the official catechism book that I got a long time ago. So I looked it up. Emphasis on the word official.

One thing about Catholic books, they let you know right up front if they're approved by the folks in charge. There's an imprimatur that says, I guess, that some higher up people in the know have read it word for word and it squares with everything they believe. So, the way I take it, it has authority. At that point it's not just someone's opinion. (Or it could be, in some cases, that it doesn't conflict with Catholic teaching, which, now that I think of it, is just another way of saying the same thing.)

This particular book, a big thick catechism, has the last pope's signature, meaning either that he read it and approved it, or, more likely, took someone else's word for it and signed it.

I saw in there that some of the credit in the putting together of the book went to Joseph Ratzinger, who is now the current pope. So presumably he stands behind everything in the book as well.

It's not like other faiths, though, where it's every many for himself. Your opinion is as good as someone else's and no one's really in charge. I actually prefer that, but if you want the official word on a subject, the strictly hierarchical faiths obviously have the edge.

The Assembly of God

I definitely agree with Pat Buchanan that it is a REAL MISTAKE for the liberals and liberal shows, like Keith and Rachel, to go after the Assembly of God church. I couldn't believe that I heard that on two MSNBC shows right in a row.

I mean, please! That they speak in tongues, that they believe in the Rapture, that they think God hears and answers prayers. Believe it or not, these are not far-out looney ideas. I don't know precisely what circles Keith and Rachel travel in, but these are actually very mainstream, ordinary ideas. Especially that God hears and answers prayers. For pipelines, for whatever.

It seems to me that Keith and Rachel don't know this, and would probably lump the Assembly of God together with snake-handlers and people who let their children die instead of getting a doctor, those kinds of things that actually are extreme. It's nothing like that. We need people on our side (liberals) who know the difference between the various religious groups, and aren't making the mistake of ridiculing the religion of average Americans.

Where Was All The Rain, Dobson?

Dobson and his phony cronies prayed fervently for rain to wash out Obama's speech.

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. The prayer of Dobson availeth nothing.

McCain's "Divine" Ad Is a Disaster

I'm putting a McCain ad here! Because I think it is a disaster...for McCain.

Anyone who's trying to appeal to a conservative, religious base should not be mocking religion, using religious symbolism and suggestions to make a humorous, nasty political point.

As anyone knows, as from the Huckabee ad, if you're using religious themes, make sure you're doing it in a reverent way. To me, this is a very boneheaded move on McCain's part. He's using religious themes to belittle someone!

Obama actually doesn't come across half bad in the ad, which is remarkable in itself. The place where he's talking about 'lights coming down' was obviously in jest, as you can see the people around laughing and, as I recall, it was some self-deprecating moment.

If you took it at literal face value -- that Obama is chosen by God to be president -- it makes the point at the end rather facile. If he is "the one," then whether he can "lead" or not should not be in dispute. (By the way, why did McCain support Bush in two elections? He was a completely failure.)

What do you think of this, Dobson? Your Republican candidate thinks religious is just a big joke, something in which he can attribute messianic imagery to his opponent in order to mock him and, in the process, mock the very idea that God could ever be trying to help us.

John McCain mocks religion.

To Protect Glory

Here's an interesting religious posting, "Do We Take Heresy Seriously?"

The upshot is that heresy should be taken seriously. The writer, Steven Douglas, presents this as "a musing" on the subject. He makes the case for executing people for heresy.

First, he gives a definition of heresy, "the denial of substantiated doctrines of the church, even after attempted correction." Then the penalty, excommunication from the body of believers and the loss of communion with Christ. Is this a loving response? Yes, he says, for several reasons: 1) protects the honor of Christ; 2) protects the church from error; 3) does as the Bible directs.

He distinguishes between heretics, those who simply believe false doctrines, then those who actively spread heresies. These last ones, because they are "recruiters," they will be leading possibly millions to hell. Examples: Arianism, Sabellianism, Gnosticism and Open-Theism. "If we believe that hell is real, then we must see these proponents of heresy as mass-murderers, far more deadly than Hitler or Stalin ever were. To have executed them might have staunched the flow of their ideas."

Was Calvin wrong for executing Servetus? Maybe not. Because, "The reality is that God and much of the world take ideas seriously. Heresy is serious and deserves serious consequences. This may include, in some cases, execution. Execution is never glorious in itself, but I would say that it may sometimes be necessary to protect glory."

Now that's a extreme point of view! But I don't know where to begin. There might not be any good place to begin, since it's so removed from our normal thinking. It's almost heretical to the values we've had over centuries now. We might start with the Bible, because that seems to be a point of contact that hasn't been lost. Perhaps Jesus saying let the wheat and tares grow together till the end. The disciples' wanting to call down fire from heaven on the Samaritans, but Jesus forbidding it. Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord, I will repay. The suffering of the martyrs in Revelation, without them counseled to fight back. The example of Jesus going to the Cross for the world. Saying take up your cross and follow me.

And if the Bible examples aren't good enough, try common sense.

Or maybe do some comparative religious study. Do you endorse other religions' right to execute people -- including you -- for not believing what they say is true? Is this ability to execute based on the truth as you see it limited to a particular faith? I can see all kinds of difficulties. What if the rest of us don't want to be executed? Since there's a conflict, and we don't want to be executed, couldn't we turn and execute our opponents as well? That would have to be OK, because it's the principle that counts!

Of course I know it's all hypothetical. No church is going to get very far by executing people. Basically a ticket to extinction for themselves.

Progressive Christian Lectionary Blog

Kairos CoMotion Lectionary Dialogue

Comments on the texts of the Revised Common Lectionary from a Progressive Christian perspective.

Archives going back a few years.

Warnings From Heaven

I always find apparitions, visions, and prophetic warnings interesting, even if I'm not all that convinced that they're coming from beyond. I guess I'm not convinced really at all. But that there are things in the highest consciousness bubbling down from our heads and being filtered through our lower quadrants, including the shadow, ego, and mental faculties, I believe that's true. Such as how you remember, conceive of things, fantasize, and come up with inspirations.

The whole business of moods still presents a few mysteries in terms of behavior and what we're capable of. Like the guy who suddenly goes beserk and becomes a mass murderer. Or quick conversions from evil to good. Or clowns who proclaim their perversity loud and clear -- a cry for help? -- before acting it out. (I like clowns. I don't know that I'd like to be alone with one without a clear means of escape.)

Prophecies, though, tend to have a way of not happening. Then when they don't happen, there's some good reason, such as the repentance was sufficient to stem destruction. It's the destruction that happens, then is interpreted that is a lot handier; because it's obviously easier to attribute a reason for what's happened than to say what will happen and here's why.

Prophets, a word from heaven, even from the highest authorities... All this is interesting, fascinating really...

That said, here's a blog -- Apocalyptic Messages of Our Lady and Jesus -- that claims to bring the word from the Virgin Mary about what will happen, or maybe could happen, unless. We've all heard of apparitions of the Virgin. In those apparitions, she often has something to say. I've never studied it in an in-depth way, but I think the warnings have a basic pattern: There's sin, get rid of sin or else. Some of it's cryptic, some of it's in your face. This blog looks like it is filtering politics and political positions through the Virgin's declarations.

Today's declaration, "The end of this era is near at hand." The blog goes on to prophesy destruction for San Francisco over gay marriage. So, we shall see.

Critical Culture

Hmm, this blog also has a post about Brigitte Bardot and Muslims. I guess I've been hopelessly out of touch. It says she's been in court again for hating Muslims -- her fifth time in eleven years! Do we get this news in America? Which page is it on?

The blog is called Critical Culture.

Notes on Religion

This looks like a noteworthy blog, Notes on Religion. It has an emphasis on Islam, it would appear. But it has a wider range, with some of the tags being Christianity, church, education, God, women, and others.

The top post right now is one on Brigitte Bardot being found guilty of racial hatred against Muslims! Now there's something! I had no idea, since I haven't seen her name in the news in years. Hmm.

A couple posts down is the third installment in a series of articles by invited authors, this one by David Nancekivell, on the Christian view of Jesus.