An Intelligent Christian.. NO F@#$in' WAY!

I suppose that this is a weird topic to come back blogging about after so long a break, but its what came to my attention when I decided to return. I have currently been working through a site titled the Skeptical Christian which has been created by a person of the Christian faith who...well just read his statement," The notion that Christianity is based on a “leap of faith” rather than an intellectual commitment of mind and soul to God is widespread in today’s culture. At The Skeptical Christian, this mistake is addressed head on. Christianity is *not* a worldview for the weak-minded and it is *not* based on a blind leap of faith.

The Skeptical Christian was designed with discussion in mind. Any article on this site can be commented on, and any suggestions, critiques, or alternative perspectives on any of the writings are welcomed and encouraged."

Pretty solid right? Whatever anyone's belief is, I always find it degrading (no offense, but usually by people who are "open minded") to myself and others far more brilliant then me (C.S. Lewis, Chesterton, William Lane Craig, etc.) to thrust Christianity as a world view into that of the nonsensical only to be humored by the weak minded (aka blathering ignorant white trash red necked Republicans (I would like to state I am NOT a Republican thank you but they're hardly ultimate evil in any case)) or the desperate (aka they are too sheep minded to figure out what to do with their lives so they subscribe to religiousity). I have met people who believe this. I have heard people talk who believe this is true (Bill Maher is one of those people. I think he's pretty darn funny and has insightful views on our government but I am a bit confused as to why he loathes Christianity so much.) In any case, you can hardly go to this site and leave without at least acknowledging that thought DOES go into Christians and their own attempts at understanding, reconciling their beliefs with real world facts (aka philosophy, science, you get the picture).

Point is, you may not agree with what is on the site (debates, arguments, reviews of both Atheist and Christian literature, etc.), but you have to be real prejudiced to allocate the arguments and positions to unthinking sheep mentality, or even "absolutely unreasonable arguments". Although, you would have to look at the site yourself, but it is easy to see he is an intelligent man.

In any case, it is unreasonable that Christians are viewed with contempt because they are idiots or misguided or haven't done enough research into their religious text or science or philosophy. Let me tell those who care that yes, there has been thought put into our belief and while people are at different levels of knowledge and understanding, there are real, reasonable, logical, fact based arguments in support of our belief. At least look into them before you start mocking the belief.

P.S. By the way...since when did being a Christian make you a Republican and vice versa. If you read the first four gospels of the New Testament, you will see that Jesus obeyed the government in place but wasn't overtly concerned with it. Matthew 22. In fact, Jesus life and teaching moved beyond mere politics. He was a complete radical. That our culture has associated the religion with the party is quite sad. A Christian would be labeled as such if they are following or earnestly trying (we all make mistakes and have different weaknesses) to follow the actions of Jesus. Nothing else. If a person's life does not look like that and said person claims such a title, he lies not just to the other person the claim is made too, but himself.

For Grandpa

Well readers, I just received the news that my Grandfather Leonard "Bob" Hertz passed away. My cousin wrote a small note in his honor and I think it really does my Grandpa justice so I'm putting it up there. I also had cheese with my Apple Pie because as you all know, "A pie without cheese is like a hug without a squeeze". Here is the email given to the family by my cousin Eric:

I just learned about the death of my Grandfather, Leonard B. Hertz, this morning. I wanted to write a little post-mortem praise, maybe some anecdotal evidence and tell some others about who he was. The best word to describe him is Ornery: stubborn but with a purpose. The G-Kids called him Grandpa Bob, and he was funny. Never passing up a chance for his cheese filled jokes, slick inserts into conversations, or long booming laugh. We called him Bob because he decided that as his grandkid base kept growing he might forget a name or two, so he started calling every Grandkid by incorrect names at all times. Oh he knew our names, as every good disciplinarian needs to when you've got trouble makers like me around the house, but he mis-named us out of love (and with a never hesitant crooked smile). This doesn't seem to matter quite as much as it was fun, and the back and forth from us and the scowls from Lorraine, my grandmother, always kept things light.

He had a storied life and I get to hear little bits of it from my Grandmother now and again, but lets say this, he fought in WWII, where he was in a Foxhole for 90 Days at Anzio, had his foot almost blown off, decided to go into horticulture. Worked on specialties of apples and berries for many years as the Extension Horticulturist at the University of Minnesota. Check that out, he wrote about berries and stuff, (attached) and now they go in my Oatmeal.

The important thing is that Leonard, (Bob), is probably where I get my sense of humor. Of course you have to be smart to make fun of people all the time while conveying love to them, as much as my mother Linda or my Grandmother admonished him while doing it "Now, Leonard!...". I can still hear my Grandma's sigh as he puttered around with anything and everything. Putter is a good term to how he was always involved in things, well, as long as Bonanza wasn't on. More than once I saw him yelling at the TV for the boys to "GET 'IM, GET 'IM!"

Yes, I like to think I'm funny, nay, comical. But he got people laughing early, and he might have just picked up a Trombone whilst doing it. (I used the "whilst" cause he was smart and whilst sounds smart, it's a respect thing). Bob's gone now but I heard one of the recent things he said was make sure Grandma's not out in the Wilderness, (he probably pictured her forging for berries). He was a caring man and loved Lorraine all his life. Probably in his "Swooping Bald Eagle under a Full Moon" sweatshirt and red flat-billed trucker hat. Truth being, I think he kept the Wilderness going, and I'm sure Bear Grylls will consult this guide if ever he does an episode in the Land of ten thousand lakes. There's lots of things to say but I think this is what I liked most.

I just wanted to share a bit. Yes he probably knew my name, but he also knew how to make us all laugh. He's totally riding off into the Bonanzan Sunset right now.

EP

Thanks Eric!

CEO

Just a short story I wrote quickly. Inspired by my political science class...

The Board of Directors wanted to speak to him again, but they were a bunch of juvenile asswipes and he didn’t want to go to the meeting. Not when his wife had just declared she was a lesbian and was going to suck his account dry and run off to live with her faggot of a partner. But that’s what a guy got if he didn’t get a prenup signed. If he had been who he was today he would have made that lesbo propose to him; and that wasn’t meant in the ‘when I got into big business I became an asshole’ sense. It was because she was untalented and unintelligent compared to him. Of course he had known that she was going to spend his money even as he made it, but at the time it had seemed...charming in a way. “Oh what the hell....,” CEO Kail Gordon muttered. His phone was going off. Couldn’t they let a guy have a peaceful lunchbreak for once? Flipping the Blackberry open he said, “Gordon here. What do you want?”

“Look Gordon, it’s nothing personal allright? Revenues are down and they’re down after we implemented some of your designs. It’s only natural that we stage a review, right?”

“Look Phil, you and the rest of those soul-sucking boys on the board are looking to get rid of me and don’t pretend you’re not.” Kail growled back. He took his container full of soggy inauthentic Chinese food and threw it away. He wiped his greasy hand on his Armani suit.

“Look here Kail, a lot people cautioned you about those plans. I cautioned you about them don’t--”

“Oh shut the fuck up Phil,” Kail nonchalantly said. He hung up. Purposefully walking across the street to the Target across from the shitty Chinese place, his fingers twitched itchily as he whistled. He wasn’t going to do it today. He was just going to look around a bit. Look and see how the middle class was living.

In the store, he walked down the main aisle and turned down a side one with a bunch of drugs in it. Cold. Allergies.Vitamin D and A and B and sleeping pills. Sleep pills. He stared vacantly at them for a moment when his phone went off again. The lesbo was calling him.

“What do you want Karin?”

“Look Kail, I don’t know why you think you’re in the right by leaving me with nothing but--”

“Shut up Karin. We’ll settle this in court okay?” His fingers were sweaty in his pocket so he took them out. He wiped the sweat on the Armani.

“I called because I just want to tell you that I’m taking Bobo.”

What!? What the hell Karin...it’s MY dog!”

“We bought him together Kail, and guess who spends more time with him and feeds him and takes him for walks.”

“You bitch!” Kail swore and his fingers clenched tightly together.

“That dog deserves more love then you can give him Kail, and Laura and I will see that he gets it. It’s for his own good. I think it’s best if you leave this out of all the agreements and just give him to me. I would like him here by tonight if possible.”

“Karin...I am NOT giving you that dog!” His arm swung towards the pills and he plucked one of the bottles and held it in his iron grip.

“Kail...I’m letting you know this now because it’ll be better for you if you give me the dog. I want him Kail, and I’ll make you look like more of an ass then you already will if you don’t. So tonight then okay? Make sure you ring the doorbell twice.”

“Karin--listen for a second!”

“TONIGHT Kail! Got it?”

Kail shoved his hand in his pocket with the sleeping pills in it. Later, after he’d chucked his phone into a trashcan, he walked out of the store.

Glee is hardly Gleeful

If you want to read why this particular show is terrible, please browse this website. I would give a review of the show myself but I would be biased because of my love for the vast majority of original songs that the show butchers. This site will provide ample reasonable evidence as well as witty commentary. What more could you want?

http://gleesucks.com/about/

P.S. For those who are insulted by this opinion, I don't fully understand you but.....nope, I just don't get it.

World War Z by Max Brooks

To start off, I strongly felt the need to review this book. After all, no one takes me seriously when I tell them that a book about zombies slowly taking over the world is a fantastic read. But I don't blame them. After all, when we have gory zombie movies coming out at least once a year, and when the world seems to be infested with a strong love of vampires (particularly those that sparkle and can produce children even though they are technically the undead), who can blame the average person from shying away from the least loved and romantic supernatural creature? The Zombie is a brain munching creature villain with virtually no way to romanticize it. Imagine for a moment trying to create even a semi-credible romance story between a male/female and a brain-dead mostly decaying creature. But I digress; the point is that in this book I found zombies and an alternate world so believable, I would catch myself thinking about how I would fend off zombies should they start taking over my country. Perhaps a bit sad on my part, but strong evidence for what a good read this book is.

This book's genre is, as it would seem, almost obvious; a post-apocalyptic horror novel. Written with a collection of individual accounts that are given to the reader as a first-person anecdote instead of the normal grand overview following the thoughts of a single character, this book manages to suck you in and make the events that take place that much more believable. In the novel, Brooks plays the role of an agent of the United Nations Postwar Commission who published his report on the zombie war a decade after the fact. The interviews that Brook records and writes about are from the view point of many different people of various nationalities, classes and backgrounds. The personal accounts also describe the changing religious, geo-political, and environmental aftermath of the Zombie War. Meaning, this is about a Zombie War, but its perspective on what the war does to people and places during and after the fact give it an eerie believability. Max Brooks takes current international/national affairs for countries in this modern era and simply lets their very real histories affect their futures within his Zombie scenario. Sadly enough, I actually learned some interesting cultural facts from this book which means the book has that gritty edge of reality as well as that I must read up more on my world affairs.

If you want a fast-paced read with a good dose of horror (the intelligent kind, not simply the bloody kind, though there is that in here as well) and an interesting look at people and cultures in the middle of an extreme crisis, then you will enjoy this read. Its journalistic nature makes it hard to put down and I would actually challenge those who don't think its their cup of tea to try to borrow it for free and try out the first few chapters and see if they could put it down. Kudos to Brooks for a great read, that is exciting and entertaining as well as surprisingly thought provoking
at certain moments. This is a book that redefines the Zombie genre and sets the standard for those authors who want to write about fictional creatures.

Here is the official teaser,
We survived the zombie apocalypse, but how many of us are still haunted by that terrible time? We have (temporarily?) defeated the living dead, but at what cost? Told in the haunting and riveting voices of the men and women who witnessed the horror first hand, World War Z is the only record of the plague years.

A C.S. Lewis Quote

Something that we should all consider before we seek to question why following God seems to be more painful than doing whatever the crap we want...
"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself."
— C.S. Lewis (Mere Christianity)

Opening Blog

I suppose I will open up by saying I'm not particularly clever, nor exciting or witty. I don't have an adventurous life by which to dazzle the average reader and I can't even say that the few clever thoughts I've had in my life are very original. In fact, if you're reading this you're probably a close friend. Despite that, I've decided to make a blog and post my thoughts. This will include passing observations to book reviews to anything else that catches my attention. So be warned. You are about to read the thoughts of a strictly average being. I hope I will be so lucky as to entertain you with the strange amusement that the undistinguished person can elicit.