Blogging (mostly) about theology and popular culture, media, film, television, music, politics and current events. With some stuff about whatever I want thrown in for good measure.
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Which is where I feel like I’ve been the last few days…and for the few to come.
The past few - school and work. Nonstop.
The next couple - leading a youth retreat in Paris, Ontario.
Craziness…the name of my life.
More than likely, checking out until Sunday.
File this under: We don’t want to deal with guy so ship him to Canada -
Man Convicted Of Child Abuse Sentenced To Exile In Canada
Given a choice between jail and exile to Canada, an American man chose Fort Erie, Ont. after being convicted for having sex with a 15-year-old girl.
Starting Monday, Malcolm Watson will stay out of the U.S. for three years as punishment for having a sexual relationship with the Buffalo, N.Y. student.
The sexual abuse sentence handed down by a New York State court only allows Watson to re-enter the U.S. to report to his probation officer.
Watson, 35, lives in Fort Erie with his Canadian wife and three children.
The former seminary teacher was arrested in April after a mall security guard noticed Watson and the girl sitting in a parked car for two hours.
So, let me get this straight. The guy has sex with a 15 year old student of his - in the parking lot of Buffalo’s Walden Galleria. Is caught. Is given the choice between a year in jail, or 3 years in Canada - in Canada with his wife and 3 kids.
Did I miss the punishment there?
Seems shakey on a couple of levels. First, the guy is left unpunished. Second, the court is in essence saying that we will send our child abusers to Canada, which, let’s be honest, is both arrogant and inconsiderate. Third, who said Canada wanted this guy?
Then again, Fort Erie took this guy, who deserted the US Army, and gave him safe refuge from prosecution for two years, before he decided to go back to the US, and face charges (of which there were none).
They accept all sorts here.
Tags: Malcolm Watson, US exile, Canada
From Viceland:
The fundamentals of Aghor—perhaps the most extreme religion in the world—are fantastically simple, though nonetheless repugnant to most. Repugnance, or rather the quest to overcome it, is in fact a central tenet of this belief system. Aghor is an extreme sect of Hinduism. Its adherents principally worship Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction. Aghoris live by a simple creed: 1. The gods are perfect. 2. The gods create everything: Every thought, every action, every bird and diamond, every birth and every death. 3. Since the gods are perfect, and everything is made by the gods, everything—everything—is perfect.
Since everything is perfect, being repulsed by anything or forbidding any behavior as taboo is tantamount to rejecting the gods. While this accounts for the willingness of more moderate Aghoris to work with lepers and other so-called untouchables, it also explains why some ardent Aghoris aim to overcome some of the more gruesome targets of revulsion. In my travels I’ve met Aghoris who would just as soon pluck an eyeball from a rotten human corpse and pop it into their mouths as eat chicken. He or she might carry a rotting dead dog over their shoulder for a week, or have sex with a dead cow (holy to other Hindus) or with a rotting human corpse. One Aghori in northern India ate part of the rotting penis of a bloated, vivisected corpse on the banks of the Ganges, engaging in this “sacred ritual” in full view of onlooking police. I’ve got pictures.
Read the whole thing. Interesting stuff there.
(via Hot Air)
Tags: Aghori, Aghor, Shiva, Gary Stevenson, Kapal Nath, Viceland
Tracey at Worship Naked voices what I only imagine most of us are thinking.
Show it. Don’t show it. Makes no friggin’ difference. People are offensive to Christianity every day of the week. And nobody is beheading anyone. The worst retaliation threatened, as reported in that article, is a boycott of one of NBC’s sponsors.
The real problem with this is Madonna’s poor theology. I mean, if you are going to use the crucifixion, and Jesus, to promote yourself, make gobs of money, and pretty much compare yourself to the Son of God, at least get your theology straight:
“I believe in my heart that if Jesus were alive today he would be doing the same thing.”
Yeah…if only. By “same thing” I suppose she means mock crucifixion for “raising money for AIDS research,” and shameless self-promotion.
If only Jesus were alive today, then I guess we could just ask him.
Tags: Madonna, Jesus, Crucifixion
Judge throws out case, saying that she had a right to cause her own abortion.
What the hell is wrong with people? ON HER DUE DATE.
She said her boyfriend wouldn’t pay for an abortion, so she carried her pregnancy to term.
Then she did the unthinkable.
Prosecutors say that on the morning she was scheduled to give birth, Skinner drove to an auto dealer’s parking lot, took a gun, and shot herself in the belly, killing the fetus in an act of self-abortion. Skinner was charged with carrying out an illegal abortion.
…
If someone else had pulled the trigger, he or she would be criminally accountable. Because it was the pregnant woman herself, no crime was committed, the court ruled.
And, the pro-choice answer for cases such as this:
According to Lynn Paltrow, executive director at Advocates for Pregnant Women, the way to prevent cases like Skinner’s is to provide low-income women easier access to abortions and reproductive health resources.
“The question we shouldn’t be asking is, ‘What crime did she commit?’ But, ‘Why didn’t she have access to abortion services? Why didn’t she have access to mental health services?’” Paltrow said.
“When Medicaid does not fund abortion. … It is totally inappropriate to turn to the criminal justice system to respond to these problems,” she said.
She most likely did have access to abortion, and mental health services. The article clearly states that it was unknown if she had explored such options. I will say that it is unfortunate that Virginia does not have a “safe-haven law” on the books…which allows a mother to drop off a newborn at a specified location without fear of criminal prosecution. However, I have to believe that there were other options available aside from shooting one’s self in the stomach.
Unreal. Or, maybe too real. The logical outcome of our culture’s advocacy of abortion as a form of birth control.
(via Hot Air)
Tags: abortion, pro-life, pro-choice
Not all that long ago I wrote about the Taskforce against “Islamophobia” that has been struck in Ontario colleges and Universities…the Taskforce that I am compulsorily paying for. Well, this week at the University’s campuses events are being held, sponsored by the same group (Students’ Administrative Council, or, SAC), called “Xpression against Oppression 2006: RAISE YOUR VOICE!.” One might think that if the students at U of T are standing up against oppression, that they would be standing up for all kinds of oppression. One would be wrong.
Of the events listed as taking place this week, none represent even a balanced approach to social problems. Here is a partial listing:
Canadian Premiere of “Five Factories”
Movie screening followed by a discussion on the Bolivarian Revolution and worker’s control.
5PM
Galbraith Building (35 St. George St.) , Room 248
Wheelchair Accessible
Hands Off VenezuelaPeace-keeping VS War-making: What is Canada doing in Afghanistan?
Tackling some of the most pressing questions about Canada’s role abroad.
FREE Dinner.
4PM-6PM
Bahen Centre (40 St. George St.), BA 1190
Wheelchair Accessible“Rhyme and Reason Against State Terrorism”
It is a night of intellectual responsibility and music. Come check out some of Toronto’s finest spoken word artists and MCs with Apollo, Phylle, 6th Militant, Critical Mood, Spin, Red Eyed Knights, Impact, and many more.
Doors at 7:30PM, Begins at 8:00PM - Junior Common Room (University College)
Political Hip Hop AssociationFriday October 20th
Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan: war resisters speak out!
First Canadian War Resister Paco Juarez speaks with Iraq and Vietnam War Resisters and others!
Doors at 7:00PM, Begins at 7:30PM
JJR Macleod Auditorium, Med Sci Bldg - 1 King’s College Circle
Wheelchair Accessible
TTC: Queen’s Park Station, Walk NW with the Toronto Coalition to Stop the WarGuerilla Wordfare
A Night of Spoken-Word Subversion and Revolutionary Beats with LAL, Dope Poets Society, Big Head, Emcee Third Word, and many, many more.
Doors at 8PM, Begins at 9PM - Cat’s Eye (150 Charles St. W., Wymilwood Bldg)
Cover: $5-$8/Pay What You Can
Wheelchair Accessible
GRAIN - OPIRG
And at the Mississauga Campus:
Wednesday October 25th
George Galloway Video in CCIT running constantly (CCIT) (all day)
Thursday October 26th
Mock GTMO demo: (New Library walkway) (10-12pm)
Road to Guantanamo Doc. (presentation room) (12-5pm)
War Resister Speakers from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Vietnam and the head of the Toronto Coalition to Stop the War (6-10pm)
And it all culminates with this:
Saturday October 28th
RALLY IN MISSISSAUGA & TORONTO (1pm): Canadian Day of Action, “Troops out of Afghanistan”
It all sounds very one-sided to me. But then again, what should I expect? At least we have “a night of intellectual responsibility and music,” “Guerilla Wordfare,” and, “A Night of Spoken-Word Subversion and Revolutionary Beats.” What the hell are “revolutionary beats”?
Xpression against Oppression? I don’t think so. Maybe against some kinds of oppression, or, perceived oppression. Gitmo demonstrations? What about how I am “oppressed” by terrorists who want to kill me? Equity indeed.
So, I wrote to the SAC’s VP of Equity, Ausma Malik, who is in charge of this whole shindig. The text of my email follows:
I am writing with a few questions about the “Xpression Against Oppression” events that are occuring on campus this week. Thank you for taking a moment to respond.
The events occuring this week, which I just received notice of in an email newsletter yesterday, seem to represent a very one-sided viewpoint on a number of issues. Specifically, with the “War Resisters” forum, have you invited a dissenting voice to those who have been, or who support, war resisting? Have you provided a viewpoint in support of current global conflicts? Or, is this simply a demonstration of the SAC’s solidarity with the anti-war movement? If it is, is it normally the practice of the SAC to express political and cultural bias?
Similarly, will the forum “discussing” Canada’s role in Afghanistan include representatives from multiple sides of the issue, or is it a forum designed only to criticize and denounce?
I have had concerns about the uneveness with which the SAC, of which I am a member, has been approaching issues. A further example of this is the recent announcement of a Task Force to study “Islamophobia.” It was stated in the announcement that the idea for this Task Force began with a campaign to address “Islamophobia, Anti-Semitism, and Racism.” However, the Task Force that has now been struck only seeks to address the issues of Islamic students. What happened to Anti-Semitism and Racism? Did we successfully address those issues, and are they are no longer a problem for students on U of T campuses? What is the rationale for a Task Force that leaves out broader issues of Anti-Semitism and Racism, while focusing on the very specific needs of one group of students?
Please correct me if I am wrong. As a member of the SAC, I am becoming more concerned with how the money I pay compulsorily is being used to promote a seemingly liberal agenda that does not address the needs, concerns, or issues of students with a more conservative leaning.
Thank you,
I did receive a reply, that I do not feel comfortable posting here, as, I did not tell Ausma that I would be posting her response, and did not receive permission to do so. Suffice it to say, however, that I feel as if none of my questions have been answered. Calling the series a string of “social justice events” does not preclude at least the invitation of conservative speakers, dissenting viewpoints, or war supporters. It is as if conservative voices are not qualified to express xpress social justice viewpoints. She does say that “over the years many different groups have chosen to participate.” But, this does not clear up for me whether or not they are invited to participate, or, if they are even free to participate. Finally, I am told that if I would like to know more about the events, I should attend.
Yeah, but…I am just not all that interested in hearing War Resisters speak, if there is not opposing view. I am not interested in a 24 hour streaming broadcast of anti-Israel and terrorist supporter George Galloway. Further, I cannot understand how the SAC can be both against “Anti-Semitism” and supportive of George Galloway, and his views. But hey, logic doesn’t need to track with some people.
I will continue my email quandries with Ausma Malik. And also probably the SAC President, Jen Hassum. I would just ditch the whole issue as typical University liberal crap…if I wasn’t mandatorily paying for it.
If you want to ask your own questions:
Jen Hassum, SAC President: president@sac.utoronto.ca , 416-978-4911 x228
Ausma Malik, SAC VP Equity: vpequity@sac.utoronto.ca , 416-978-4911 x237
Tags: University of Toronto, Xpression Against Oppression, Toronto
As proven and celebrated by an exibit at an Oslo, Norway, museum on homosexuality among different species of animals. Organizers claim the exibit has been a success.
Oslo Gay Animal Show Draws Crowds
Curators say a Norwegian exhibition on homosexuality among animals has been well received, despite initial indications of strong opposition.
The Oslo Natural History Museum opened the show last week and says it has been well attended, not least by families.
Organisers reported early criticism of the project, and being told by one opponent they would “burn in hell”.
But there has been strong interest in an aspect of animal behaviour the museum says is quite common.
It says homosexuality has been observed among 1,500 species, and that in 500 of those it is well documented.
The exhibition - entitled Against Nature? - includes photographs of one male giraffe mounting another, of apes stimulating others of the same sex, and two aroused male right whales rubbing against each other.
…
There has been some hostility to the exhibition. An American commentator said it was an example of “propaganda invading the scientific world”.
Petter Bockman, a zoologist who helped put the show together, admitted that “there is a political motive”.
In Norway there was a desire among publicly-funded museums to be “deliverers of truth” and to “put on display controversial subjects, things that are not said and are swept under the carpet”.
The museum says one of its aims is to “help to de-mystify homosexuality among people… we hope to reject the all too well known argument that homosexual behaviour is a crime against nature”.
Emphasis added
Tags: homosexuality, gay animals
It isn’t like Harry Potter, or anything cool like that. It makes items invisible to microwaves.
A US-British team of scientists has successfully tested a cloak of invisibility in the laboratory.
The device hid a small copper cylinder from passing microwaves in tests at Duke University in North Carolina.
It works by deflecting the microwaves around the object and restoring them on the other side, as if they had passed through empty space.
But making an object vanish before a person’s eyes is still the stuff of science fiction - for now.
The cloak consists of 10 fibreglass rings covered with copper elements. This is classed as a “metamaterial” - an artificial composite that can be engineered to produce a desired change in the direction of electromagnetic waves.
The precise variations in the shape of copper elements patterned on to the ring surfaces determines their properties.
In the experiment, the team used microwaves to try to detect the metal cylinder within the cloak.
Like light waves, microwaves bounce off objects making them visible and creating a shadow, though at microwave frequencies the detection has to be made by instruments rather than the naked eye.
Look for commercial applications to hit the latest Spring fashion line…not that you could see them anyway.
Tags: invisibility cloak, science
Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch has a great piece on Hot Air today on Moderate Muslims.
I really like his take on the issue. He says near the end that moderate Muslims deserve all of the support that anybody can give them. However, we need to stop deluding ourselves that these people are the majority of the Islamic faith. The examples he uses are from Canada…which I find even more interesting. Watch the video.
To be honest, I have no clue how many Muslims are “moderate” and how many are radical. But, if it is true that 10% of Indonesian Muslims support violent Jihad, and that number equals approximately 22 million Muslims, and Indonesia is a “moderate” country…then I have to believe majority or not, there are a hell of a lot of people out there that want to kill us.
Tags: Islam, Jihad, Moderate Muslims, Indonesia
Been out of it for about a week now. Last Thursday I left Toronto to attend a conference at my old school, Gordon-Conwell, just outside of Boston. So, a 9 hour drive on Thursday put me there. I attended the conference of the “Evangelical Homiletics Society” on Thursday evening, Friday, and Saturday morning, before another 9 hour drive home. Arrived back in TO at about 11pm Saturday night.
All I have to say is that 18 hours of driving in about a 60 hour span…is way too much driving. Although, Sirius Satellite Radio is pretty freaking cool.
So much to catch up on. So little time. I have a major paper due this week (God I hope I finish it by Monday) on Jurgen Moltmann’s Eschatological Christology, that I have put off for way too long. So, I might be hit and miss here. Not that anyone out there is waiting for my next word, or anything!
…and, in fact, it isn’t.
A study conducted by Johns Hopkins Medical Bloomberg School of Public Health, and published in the UK medical journal The Lancet, is claiming that 655,000 Iraqi civilians have died as a result of the US led invasion of Iraq.
So, all over the news today, the anchors have been urinating themselves over this study. The problem, none (except Miles O’Brien on CNN this morning, though even he was dismissive of the fact) are pointing up the fact that this study counted things such as heart attacks, deaths resulting from Cancer, and fatal automobile accidents (not the kind where a homicide bomber is involved).
655,000? Come on. I can’t believe it. Even Iraq Body Count puts the number at about 50,000.
All the bloggers smarter (and quicker)than me are all over this, so I will just point to them:
AP at Hot Air asks the pertinent question: Then, where are all the bodies?
Ace says the number is really closer to sixty-eight-bajillion.
Confederate Yankee has this:
It is quite simple: either all of the world’s media organizations are involved with a massive conspiracy with the U.S., British, and Iraqi governments for more than three years to cover up massive civilian losses roughly triple the number of those killed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki
–OR–
This study, like the one issued before it, is another statistical lie.
I’ll have to think about it.
Tags: Iraq, Body Count, Civilian Casualties, Election
Christ said that he would bring divisiveness to the world. Turning a man against his father, a daughter against her mother; a man’s emenies will be those of his own household (Matthew 10.34-36). The sword Christ talks about is not that of Isalm, where the sword is used to force conversion. It is the result of one’s decision to follow Christ - it is a figurative way of saying that at times, following Jesus brings about division, and division of a painful kind. For the most part, we in the West don’t take this passage literally - here, people don’t often kill us for converting to Christianity. Not so elsewhere.
In Australia, itself a Western nation, a 17 year-old girl is traumatized, her mother dead, and her father hospitalized, after the father allegedly attacked the girl with a kitchen knife, and the mother stepped in to protect her.
The alleged inciting incident? The girl wanted to convert from her family religion of Islam, to Christianity.
Tags: Islam, Religion of Peace, Christianity, Sharia
Last week, as the world knows by now, five Amish girls were killed, and another six were critically injured, in thier schoolhouse by a 32 year old disturbed milkman, in rural Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. One of the six injured has now been taken off of life support, and is expected to die. All of the girls were between the ages of 6 and 13. The event was a tragedy - a tragedy for both the Amish community, and the family of Charles Roberts IV, both of whom must live in the aftermath of the event.
In the wake of the already calamitous situation, the mephitic hate group, Westboro “Baptist Church” (who are neither Baptist, nor a Christian church), planned on demonstrating at the funerals of the little girls on Thursday and Friday, with signs reportedly reading “Your Daughter Is A Whore,” and “Your Daughters Are Burning In Hell.” Shirley Phelps-Roper, daughter of the group’s leader, was quoted by Fox News:
“Those Amish people, everyone is sitting around talking about those poor little girls — blah, blah, blah — they brought the wrath upon themselves,” Phelps-Roper said, adding that the Amish “don’t serve God, they serve themselves.”
Needless to say, outrage spread throughout the blogoshpere and the more traditional media outlets quite quickly. Conservative radio host Mike Gallagher decided that he wanted to try to do something about this, wanting to, in his words, “do anything in my power to stop this from happening.” Gallagher offered Phelps-Roper and her group $50,000 to not protest at the funerals, which they refused. In the end, Gallagher offered, and the group accepted, an hour of free and uninterupted air-time on Gallagher’s nationally syndicated talk-show, in exchange for their promise not to attend the funerals. During the hour, there was to be no challenge, no rebuttal, no debate. Just an hour of the Westboro group’s “message”: “God hates America. God hates Fags.” And for good measure, you can just assume that God hates you too.
Reaction to Gallagher’s actions have been varied. Some have lauded his selflessness in doing whatever he could to stop this outrage. Others have criticized him, both fairly and unfairly, for everything from using this as a publicity stunt, to giving in to the demands of hate groups in what amounts to extortion. Gallagher responds to the various accusations in his article titled, “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished.”
He states:
When I managed to convince the hateful, horrible members of the Westboro Baptist Church to call off their planned “protests” outside the funerals of the little Amish girls in Pennsylvania, I didn’t expect to get a ticker tape parade or anything. In fact, I wasn’t looking to do anything at all except figure out how to use my radio show to thwart these people from hurting the Amish mourners any further.
But getting slammed by people who are on the same side of the ideological fence as me was pretty surprising.
…
Somehow, thank God, it worked. They bought it. They came into my studios in the Empire State Building in New York and signed the agreement. They spouted off for an hour. And the debacle in Pennsylvania was averted.
I went to bed Thursday night incredibly proud of what happened here. Instead of just talking about the issues for a change, here was a case of a talk radio show that actually did some good.
It didn’t take long for the naysayers to surface.
And this is what I am torn about.
On the one hand, I appreciate what Gallagher did. It would have been an outrage to the Amish, and to the world really, if the WBC group had shown up to do their attention-grabbing dance. It would have been hurtful to many. And, Gallagher stepping up and using his influence and resources to remove this incident before it occured is an admirable thing. I appreciate and respect him greatly for it.
On the other hand, part of me wants to disagree deeply with what Gallagher did. As a Christian, and one of the Baptist persuasion, I have a special loathing for the WBC. I am in constant, uncomfortable awe that a group of less than 100 people, the vast majority of which are of one single family, have done, and continue to do, so much that taints the name of Christ and Christianity. I am sickly amazed of how often they are on television, of how many people this small sect of misanthropists manages to offend. In my mind, they are equivalent to homegrown terrorists, abusing rights and freedoms that we all enjoy in order to vomit fountains of hatred and harm upon the public. They are media-whores like no others. And, from this perspective, I wonder how Mike Gallagher, or anyone else from the media, or anywhere for that matter, could negotiate with them. It is, in essence, rewarding poor behavior. Even worse, in this case, it is rewarding the threat of poor behavior.
I wait to see the effect this has on the future behavior of the WBC. Do they now believe that they can get whatever they want by issuing a “press release” threatening to desecrate our sacred events? Will we see a concerted effort of extortion from the WBC group, like what we see from a spoiled 4 year-old who knows he has his parents licked? Just lie down, kick, scream, and cry, and you’ll get your way.
Or, will the media, and the Christian public stand up and condemn such behavior as non-Christian, as reprehensible, as disgusting, and not representative of the Gospel that we preach? Will someone step up and refuse to tolerate their hate? Will someone tell them that their tantrums do not privilege them over other, decent citizens? Maybe most effective of all, will the media choose to ignore them?
As I said, I am torn on Mike Gallagher’s actions. While Gallagher may be disappointed at some of the response he has had, feeling as if “no good deed goes unpunished,” in this case I think the opposite is at least equally true - no bad deed goes unrewarded. And there’s the rub - I am glad that none of us were subjected to witnessing these sacred events tainted by the interjection of that which is most profane. And I applaud Gallagher for making that happen. Simultaneously, however, I fear how this might have emboldened those who use hate as a means to gain publicity.
Time will tell. But, knowing the WBC, we won’t have to wait long to find out.
Tags: Westborso Baptist Church, Mike Gallagher, Amish Shootings
Note, I didn’t say Tigers win. I couldn’t care less. I am just pumped that the Yankees (scorn be upon them), lost. Allahpundit at Hot Air has video of the elimination moment.
It almost makes up for the Red Sox finishing 3rd, behind Toronto, but not quite. But, if it ain’t the Red Sox, at least it ain’t the Yankees either.
Why? Because:
Tags: Yankees Suck
Ms. Magazine’s Fall issue to be released next week will sport a cover article titled “We Had Abortions.” The article will be accompanied by a list of thousands of names of women who want the world to know that they had an abortion. (via Hot Air)
Ms. executive editor Katherine Spillar said more than 5,000 women have signed the petition so far - heeding its appeal to declare they are unashamed of the choice they made. The magazine itself had room for only 1,016 names, she said Tuesday, but all of them will be viewable online as Ms. encourages other women to continue adding their signatures.
Ms. says it will send the petition to Congress, the White House and state legislators.
It isn’t as if all of these signatories approach the issue of abortion flippantly:
Another signatory, Debbie Findling of San Francisco, described her difficult decision last year to have an abortion after tests showed that she would bear a son with Down syndrome.
“I felt it was my right to make the decision, but having that right doesn’t make the decision any easier,” she said. “It was the hardest decision I’ve ever made.”
Findling, 42, is married, with a 5-year-old daughter, and has been trying to get pregnant again while pursuing her career as a philanthropic foundation executive.
She says too many of her allies in the abortion-rights movement tend to minimize, at least publicly, the psychological impact of abortion.
“It’s emotionally devastating,” she said in a phone interview. “I don’t regret my decision - but I regret having been put in the position to have to make that choice. It’s something I’ll live with for the rest of my life.”
However, I find it interesting that our culture fosters an environment which encourages pride in abortion. I suppose it may not really be pride in the fact of having had an abortion, but pride in the exercise of one’s right to have an abortion - though, that’s just my speculation. But that doesn’t seem to be how this article pitches the project. Take this testimonial for example:
Tyffine Jones, 27, of Jackson, Miss., said she had no hesitation about signing - although she lives in a state where restrictions on abortion are tough and all but one abortion clinic has been closed.
Jones said she got an abortion 10 years ago - enduring harassment from protesters when she entered the clinic - in order to finish high school. She went on to become the first member of her family to graduate from college, and hopes at some point to attend law school.
“I wanted to do something bigger with myself - I didn’t want to be stopped by anything,” she said in a telephone interview.
That last line struck me. If one’s motivation for having the abortion is not to be stopped from accomplishing one’s goals in life, I understand that motivation. But, why is abortion portrayed as a form of empowerment?
And, abortion does not need to be the answer to that problem. As I said a couple of weeks ago, I don’t think that there is any reason whatsoever that our culture needs to promote or accept abortion as a form of birth-control. There are so many other less invasive options, less difficult, and less controversial options for birth-control. Condoms and birth-control pills are widely available to virtually every person in North America, in most cases for free. If pregnancy has occured, there is always the option of adoption. But, the abortion rate continues to rise, and will continue to rise, as long as we encourage the viability of abortion as birth-control.
Empowerment of women can come through promoting the exercise of other reporductive rights, potentially more effectively than promoting abortion as birth-control. How about a petition that says “I abstained,” or “I used a condom”? These statements also show empowerment, responsibility, and taking charge of one’s future. Articles like this have the potential to only further the idea that abortion is not even a last-option method of birth-control, but rather, a first-line defense against unwanted pregnancy.
Don’t get me wrong. My purpose here is not to judge or denigrate the signers of this article, nor anyone who has had an abortion. I just think that there is a better way. But, until we emphasize responsibility before the sexual act, rather than damage control after, things will just remain the same. Tags: abortion, birth control, reproductive rights, ms magazine
Julia Gorin at Opinion Journal proposes another petition: “I wasn’t Aborted.”
(via Newsbusters)
After a segment on CBS News’ called “freeSpeech,” in which Brian Rohrbough, father of a Columbine victim, used his time to present a conservative and religious point of view in response to the recent attacks at an Amish school in Pennsylvania, Katie Couric wrote on her blog that some viewers might have found the speech “repugnant.” Part of Mr. Rohrbough’s segment stated:
This country is in a moral free-fall. For over two generations, the public school system has taught in a moral vacuum, expelling God from the school and from the government, replacing him with evolution, where the strong kill the weak, without moral consequences and life has no inherent value.
We teach there are no absolutes, no right or wrong. And I assure you the murder of innocent children is always wrong, including by abortion. Abortion has diminished the value of children.
Suicide has become an acceptable action and has further emboldened these criminals. And we are seeing an epidemic increase in murder-suicide attacks on our children.
Sadly, our schools are not safe …
Now, I am not saying that “repugnant” describes Couric’s views on the opinion. I have no idea what she thinks. She did say that plenty of people through their letters and emails expressed that they thought it was repugnant.
There are many more things that far more repugnant than this, no matter how much you disagree with these viewpoints. If someone disagrees, that is one thing, and it is respectable. But, being outraged, and labeling it “repugnant”?
Certainly the horrendous hatred of the WBC group led by Fred Phelps and his spawn can be categorized as repugnant. And, the rhetoric of of physical violence enacted by adherents of radical Islam, which seeks to “wipe Israel off the map,” and subjugate infidels at the edge of a sword…or trigger finger of a suicide bomber - that is repugnant.
But, the fact that plenty of people write in with outrage over a guy who, on a news segment that is called “freeSpeech,” espouses a conservative viewpoint, but likely the same people remain silent over issues such as “Pope Rage” and the stiffling of free speech at the hands of political correctness, tells me that it is no wonder that things are screwed up in the world. A good portion of the population must just be ignorant of what is truely reprehensible.
Tags: freeSpeech, Couric, Rohrbough, repugnant
Everybody (well, everybody except teenagers) know that teenagers do stupid and crazy things. While at times there are things that the kids in my youth group do, or tell me that they do, that I would rather not hear about, I don’t think that they go to these kinds of extremes:
A bus past a 100 year old banyan tree, which was cut back by an Islamic youth group Sunday, still stands strong on Tuesday, Oct, 3, 2006. Muslim hard-liners chopped up a 100-year-old banyan tree in Jakarta to halt a rumor about its special powers from spreading among superstitious locals, prompting city authorities to report the attackers to police, officials said Tuesday. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)
My youth group mostly does stuff like this:
Tags: banyan tree, youth groups, vandalism
I cannot express to you how sick this man, and his so-called “church,” make me.
In the wake of a tragic shooting in Pennsylvania that has killed at least 5, with 6 more wounded, at an Amish schoolhouse, scum-bag Fred Phelps, and his hate-filled pseudo-Christian organization have said that they will set up protests at the girls’ funerals.
From a description of the shooting:
A heavily armed gunman barricaded himself in her Amish school house, dismissing boys and adults on the premises before lining up 11 girls against the blackboard and shooting them “execution style,” police said.
Despite the fact that the killer, who shot himself in the tragedy, admitted to molesting family members 20 years ago, being haunted by inner demons that pushed him to desire molesting again, Phelps’ group has arrogantly proclaimed that the shooting is the fault of Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendall. Rendall took a public stand against the Westboro group on television, and Phelps has declared that this shooting is God’s act of revenge for that “slander.”
The flyer released by the WBC can be found here. Euphoric Reality has the story.
From now on I will refer to them as others do, as the Westboro Cult. They are neither Baptist, Christian, nor a church. They are a group of hate-filled bigots. In Phelps’ latest rant, which can be seen at Hot Air today, he declares the Gospel to be: God Hates America, God Hates Fags, and Aids takes Care of Fags.
Something should be done to raise awareness of the abject nature of this group’s message, noting clearly that this is not Christianity.
Tags: Amish Shooting, Fred Phelps, Westboro Cult
Update: Ms.Underestimated has a lot more. Including:
12:18 P.M. EST - Mike Gallagher has Shirley Phelps Roper on the radio right now, and he’s offering a deal. He’s going to trade them an hour of national airtime if she promises they’ll leave those girls’ funerals alone. He first offered her and her “church” $50,000, but she wouldn’t take that. But Shirley is going to agree to the airtime, but she says only if it’s before the funerals. She said “we won’t go to the funerals.” Yeah, right…
12:38 P.M. EST - Shirley-girl is going to do it. The WBC is going to put out a press release to that effect, and that’s part of the deal. They are going to do this and in exchange, they’re promising to leave ALL of the girls’ funerals and memorials alone. The rub is Mike’s producer had to agree to let them have the hour on-air with no arguments, no rebuttals, and Mike doesn’t know if they’ll take calls. Mike said his producer took one for the team because he has to produce and sit there and listen to it. The first of the funerals, Mike believes, will be this Friday so look for that “hour of sour” sometime tomorrow. Blech.
Offering them $50,000? Or, an hour of uninterupted air-time? Now, don’t get me wrong, I think that it is a noble thing to do to try anything and everything to get these people to not do this. But, is the the equivalent with negotiating with terrorists? I mean, won’t this just encourage them to go ahead and make threats, in order to receive bribes in return?
This is not what the first amendment was meant to protect. Or, at least, it shouldn’t be.
Stop the ACLU is covering it too.
Update 2: Fox News is now covering the story. In their report Shirley Phelps-Roper, daughter of cult leader Fred Phelps, states:
“Those Amish people, everyone is sitting around talking about those poor little girls — blah, blah, blah — they brought the wrath upon themselves,” Phelps-Roper said, adding that the Amish “don’t serve God, they serve themselves.”
She also says in the Fox News interview:
the church had planned to cancel the protests if given media time on radio and television as a platform to espouse Westboro’s beliefs.
Terrorists.
I say let them protest. Let them do their damdest to get near those funerals.
Both Amish and non-Amish residents of Lancaster County — where the shooting took place — have vowed to not allow any protesters anywhere near the funeral services;
Let them try - it would be better than giving into their extortion. And, extortion is what it is.
Publicity stunt. And it has worked. Bastards.
Update 3:
I just wonder.
I used the word extortion above…and, if the WBC group actually made the threat, I wonder if this could be construed as “extortion.” And if so, I wonder if it is actionable.
From Wikipedia:
Extortion is a criminal offense, which occurs when a person either obtains money or property from another through coercion or intimidation or threatens one with physical harm unless they are paid money or property. Euphemistically, refraining from doing harm is sometimes called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime groups. The actual obtainment of money or property is not required to commit the offense. Making a threat of violence or a lawsuit which refers to a requirement of a payment of money or property to halt future violence or lawsuit is sufficient to commit the offense. The simple four words “pay up or else” are sufficient to commit the crime of extortion. An extortionate threat made to another in jest is still the crime of extortion.
In the United States, extortion may also be committed as a federal crime across a computer system, phone, by mail or in using any instrument of “interstate commerce”. Extortion requires that the individual sent the message “willingly” and “knowingly” as elements of the crime. The message only has to be sent (but does not have to reach the intended recipient) to commit the crime of extortion.
Extortion is distinguished from blackmail. In blackmail, the blackmailer threatens to do something which would be legal or normally allowed unless paid money or property.
So, they didn’t demand money or property - but they did demand something of value: media air-time. I think part of the question hinges on whether they were offered this, or, if they stated that they would back off if paid in air-time. Further, it may be blackmail, rather than extortion, as, as I understand it, their protests are legal under first-amendment rights. I would argue that their protests are a form of violence, and that, at least the way the Fox News story reports it, they demanded something of value in return for their non-action.
It would be nice if they were nailed on this. I still think that they shouldn’t be rewarded for threatening to protest at these funerals.
Mohammed Bobbleheads. The creator states:
…the bobblehead is similar to “dashboard Jesus” figurines that can be stuck with adhesive to flat surfaces. “I thought, ‘If they flipped out over some cartoons what will they do with a dashboard Muhammed?’” Ames said from his home in Hawaii.
Tags: Mohammed, Islam, Bobblehead, Free Speech
via LGF -
And you thought it had blown over…
Pakistan’s Jamaat-ud-Dawa has issued a Fatwa asking the Muslim community to kill Pope Benedict for his blasphemous statement about Prophet Mohammad. The Jamaat-ud-Dawa has declared death to Pope Benedict and said that in today’s world blasphemy of the Holy Koran and the Prophet has become a fashion.
Then again, when the dialogue looks like this…
“The pope is the spiritual and religious wing of the Crusader ideology,” Abu Saqer said. “He is totally coordinated with Bush. Through this dialogue he hopes to break the lines of unity between Muslims and polarize the Muslim world, which has some partisans who will accept this new dialogue. But true believers know Islam must rule all relations. The only dialogue we will accept is when all other religions agree to convert to Islam.”…
…it will never blow over.
In light of all of this, I have wondered where all the moderate Muslim voices are condemning such radicalism. On the one hand, this apology was encouraging for me.
However, I don’t understand why, as Lebanese journalist Brigitte Gabriel brilliantly points out, moderate Muslims are not marching in the streets denouncing such nonsense. If this is not what Islam is about, I would think that all of the moderates would be out in droves. But, hey…that’s just me. (Make sure you watch the video at TownHall, edited by MKH. Fantastic stuff there.)
Tags: Islam, Fatwa, Religion of Peace, Brigitte Gabriel, Pope
Baghdad Shiites were outraged today when they found pictures of Buddy Jesus posted around the city, and mistook them for condescending images of one of their holy figures.
(via LGF)
Tags: Jesus, Muslim, Buddy Jesus, Iraq
