Just in case you missed it, The Anchorage (Alaska) Daily News endorsed Obama yesterday. Oh! And the Casino bosses endorsed John McCain.
(Thanks, Dad-eee-O!)
Break out the fossil collection! But, and I add this only as a caution, look out for the snags.
For one, in the very same Bible, in John 8:7, Christ himself says, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone.” So before we pick a starting hurler, we have to sort out anyone who has committed one or more of the other abominations, and who, if sincere, will take their rightful place inside the circle with the bishop.
What other abominations does the Bible specify? Of course, adultery (Lev 18:20), sex with animals (Lev 18:23), remarrying one’s wife after she’s had another husband in between (Deut 24:4), or approaching any woman and humming “Strangers in the Night” during the time of her “uncleanness” (Lev 18:19). Cross-dressing is out (Deut 22:5), and that includes Halloween costumes, slacks on women, bib overalls on little girls, or a wife wearing her husband’s favorite Oxford buttondown. And more on buttondowns in a moment.
Other abominations include tarot readings, glancing at your horoscope, trimming one’s beard, and getting a tattoo, even if it says, “Mom” (Lev 19:26-28). Haughty eyes (Prov 6:17) and telling lies (Prov 6:17, 12:22) are big abominations. Being untruthful also includes false weights and measures (Prov 11:1), or any other dishonesty in business. “Everyone who acts unjustly is an abomination to the LORD your God” (Prov 11:16).
What do abominators have for dinner? Rare steaks off the grill (Lev 17:10), Lobster Newburg at the Krebs and crab cakes in Baltimore (Lev 11:10), a rack of ribs at the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que (Lev 11:7).
But abominations are not just about bodily functions. Charging or paying interest are abominations. Bankers and anyone with a mortgage, car loan or credit card debt will be unavailable to throw the first stone, regardless of the interest rate (Psalm 15:1-5, Jeremiah 15:10).
Graven images of other gods are an abomination (Deut 7:25). Thus the Happy Buddha on my dresser and my postcards of the Great Buddha at Kamakura would excuse me from taking the lead in rock throwing, if I hadn’t already fallen by the wayside.
My personal favorite abomination is wearing blended fabrics. Deuteronomy 22:11 forbids wearing a material made of wool and linen, but Leviticus 19:19 says it’s an abomination to wear any blended material, period. Hence a woman in a man’s buttondown can be doubly abominable if it’s a no-iron, easy care blend of cotton and polyester.
Of course, when confronted with such information, there are people who will tell you that the blended fabrics abomination is really just a symbolic warning that Jews should not mix with other cultures, and that the dietary laws were set aside for Gentiles at the Council of Jerusalem, and that these “other abominations” were about self-preservation, hygiene and just for Orthodox Jews anyway. In short, when something they do is shown to be an abomination, many abominators become instant anthropologists, Biblical scholars and historians as well.
So why do active abominators continue to refer to the Bible when condemning homosexuals? Are such men and women unaware of their own abominations detailed in the same scriptures? Or are they simply counting on their audience being unaware?
For myself, I am sure that people of integrity, once informed of their own abominable behavior, will step into the circle and accept for themselves whatever punishment they were going to hand out to others. “Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) That’s the verse I recall whenever someone uses the Bible to justify their own pet bias.
[source]
photo credit: World Economic Forum
In a predictable, yet weird, turn of events, George W. Bush’s former Secretary of State, Colin Powell, has endorsed Barack Obama for President of the United States of America. Powell, of course, is the guy that lent his credibility to George W. Bush’s argument that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, and all but assured the buildup to war in Iraq was politically feasible. So far, Bush has not yet repaid Powell for that loan, and I’m sure that Powell is PISSED OFF!!! He probably feels lied to. But, as one of the chief propagandizers of the Iraq War, Powell’s endorsement should be thrown in with the likes of Bill Ayers‘ endorsement. That is, both endorsements come from people with little credibility on matters of national politics.
Ummm… Remember that phrase that President Bush butchered: “Fool me once…Fool me twice…”
Sarah Palin set up a phone interview with a bunch of reporters in which she allowed one question from each reporter with NO follow-up questions. So, even though a bi-partisan report from the Alaskan legislature implicated her in this looming “Troopergate” scandal, she still reported that she “very much appreciating being cleared of any legal wrongdoing or unethical activity at all.” This is ridiculous. Either:
A) Sarah Palin doesn’t realize that the report explicitly singled her out as acting unethically.
B) Sara Palin is ignoring reality.
The fact that she is unfit to take over the Presidency is becoming more and more clear. Listen to the actual audio interview here.
Barack Obama went to a neighborhood in Ohio and knocked on some doors today. I love this. Why? Because it’s the first time I have ever heard of a Presidential candidate, in the midst of a Presidential election, knocking on doors. I also used to do this for a living, which probably explains my affection for the practice. Maybe Obama just did it for some free television coverage, or maybe he wanted to take a break from the ridiculousness of the campaign bubble. Either way, it’s good to see a guy in his position go out there and really mingle with people in an unscripted manner.
I have never voted for a Democratic candidate for President before, but this gentleman from Illinois is inching closer and closer to gaining my support.
As if all of John McCain and Sarah Palin’s references to ACORN and William Ayers (rather than actual issues) weren’t evidence enough of McCain’s desperation in this Presidential race, one can also sense a desperation amongst the Republican faithful. Check out this video of some of the most fervent McCain/Palin supporters:
It’s taken me a while to come to this position, but I sincerely believe that we should stop saying, “That’s so gay” or any variation of that phrase. I have guessed for a while that it might be offensive to the gay community, and it seems that my intuition served me well.
John McCain and Sarah Palin are trying to shift the focus of news coverage from the ailing economy that their no-regulation policies helped to create to…Barack Obama’s Ties with a Terrorist??? WTF? This is PURE POLITICS and reeks of desperation - Don’t buy it! I am reminded of this old political tale from Lyndon Johnson’s first Senate campaign:
In 1948, during his first race for the U.S. Senate, Lyndon Johnson was running about 10 points behind, with only nine days to go. He was sunk in despair. He was desperate. And it was just before noon on a Monday, they say, when he called his equally depressed campaign manager and instructed him to call a press conference for just before lunch on a slow news day and accuse his high-riding opponent, a pig farmer, of having routine carnal knowledge of his barnyard sows, despite the pleas of his wife and children.
His campaign manager was shocked. “We can’t say that, Lyndon,” he supposedly said. “You know it’s not true.”
“Of course it’s not true!” Johnson barked at him. “But let’s make the bastard deny it!” [source]
According to a friend of mine who works in the financial sector, the economy is really really really in the shitter. He told me last night that the politicians and newspeople are underestimating the impact of the looming economic disaster. That’s a scary thought.
I just got back from watching the Vice-Presidential debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden. It is clear that Joe Biden knows his stuff. He is bright, articulate, and has a smile that could cure cancer. Sarah Palin, though clearly well-versed in politics, played a caracature of herself, basically imitating Tina Fey imitating Sarah Palin. She didn’t express any command of domestic or international politics, with the exception of oil and natural gas drilling and transportation, which she seems to know a lot about. Palin dodged more questions than my brother did when he got caught playing hookie from school. At tonight’s debate, Palin refused time-and-again to answer questions relevant to current events, and regularly retreated to hide behind campaign-sponsored catch phrases and extreme hyperbole. Unfortunately, the format of the event allowed her to avoid important questions completely.
Now, she might get away with it. I hope she doesn’t. As a citizen in a democracy, I believe we deserve the right to straight answers about political positions from our politicians.
While national politics often leaves a lot to be desired, I don’t believe that we should
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