Category: Religion

The Good Thing About Mitt Romney….

On By WinstonIn Politics, Religion, Society, U.S. Election 2012, Uncategorized, ValuesLeave a comment

Anyone who reads this blog knows I’m not a Mitt Romney fan. His comment about the “47 percent” didn’t make me like him any more. It also didn’t make me feel all warm and fuzzy about him possibly being the next President of the United States. I have however found something to make that idea at least a little more palatable.

He’s not Rick Perry. If you are all finished shouting “Thank you Captain Obvious!”, let me explain. While Mitt may be slightly richer than Croesus (look it up), at least he isn’t as scary crazy as Governor God-Botherer, from Texas.

Rick Perry is one of those special people who believe that everyone should live the way they want them to. In Scary Perry s world, everyone would live under Old Testament law. His latest gem was the declaration that the separation of church and state was an act of the devil. Here I thought that was an idea cooked up by the founding fathers.

You see, that’s a big part of what gets up my nose with Governor Slack-Wit and his ilk. They talk about how America was founded on “Christian” principles, then say the bits they don’t like are the work of the devil. The founding fathers were probably not wearing shiny black robes and sacrificing small animals when they agreed the country should be run by its people, and not by the church. It’s more likely they were thinking of the mess they left behind in Europe where church was intimately tied to the states.

A continent where heads of state were allegedly chosen by God and endorsed by the church. Where freedom and justice were determined by what a church backed Monarch felt like allowing, rather than constitutionally guaranteed rights determined by an elected and accountable government.

It would be so much easier for Governor Perry (is a nut-job) to push his hate and fear-driven agenda if his church was running the country. But that’s the problem with his church and state idea. He’s not talking about a moderate Christian church, or a Muslim church, or Hindu, Wiccan or (ironically) the church of Satan. Nope. He’s talking very specifically about his preferred brand of God-Bothering Evangelical Christian faith. That’s what the United States should be guided by.

Now you see why I prefer the stupidly rich guy. Sure he’s got problems with his brain to mouth filter, but at least when he says stupid things its a gaffe not his campaign platform. He may be okay with most of the nation drifting into unemployment and grinding poverty as long as he and his campaign contributors can continue to grow their wealth like literal cash crops, that’s fine. At least so far he hasn’t gone all Blues Brothers… You know… “We’re on a mission from God”.

Give me Mitt “Cash is King” over Rick “The Bible Psycho” any time. That’s the good thing about Mitt Romney….

Cheers, Winston

Chuck, Gena And The Essence Of Hipocricy

On By WinstonIn Personal, Politics, Religion, Society, U.S. Election 2012, Uncategorized, ValuesLeave a comment

I’m a Chuck Norris fan. I have enjoyed many of his movies over the years and have nothing but respect for him as an action star. Politically however….. not so much.

You see, Chuck and his wife Gena just did a Republican PSA to get out the evangelical Christian vote come election time. That’s actually perfectly okay with me. They are entitled to endorse any party they want to. That’s one of the perks of living in a free and democratic society. The problem is their terminology. They talk about how President Obama getting re-elected will lead America into “a thousand years of darkness”. That little Reagan quote is in addition to a remarkably passionless spiel about how their great and free country is under attack.

So which freedoms are under attack by those evil Democrats. The right to love and marry whomsoever ones heart desires? Nope, that’s the Republicans. A woman’s right to make her own reproductive health choices? Ummm…. nope also Republicans. How about the right to learn science instead of theology in public schools? Oops… Republicans again.

All of that is mildly annoying, but no more so than anyone else I don’t happen to agree with. What really set me off is the truly EPIC scale of their evangelical hypocrisy. You see, Chuck has made a mountain of cash and an entire public career by glorifying violence and murder. Furthermore, his recent appearance in “The Expendables 2” seems to indicate a serious failure to repent and change his ways.

Now I don’t claim to be the most devout Christian. I’m still working at sorting some things out with God, but other things are pretty clear. Since the Norrises quoted Reagan, I guess I’ll have to settle for quoting the other guy. “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”. Not sure who I’m talking about? Let me try a quote from his Father, “Though shalt do no murder.” Still stumped? How about my personal favorite from the Son again? “A new commandment do I give unto you that you love one and other. Even as I have loved you, that you also love one and other.”

I don’t remember too many of those ideas coming through in Mr Norris movies. Maybe he missed the idea of being Christian. In case he did, here’s a tip. You’re supposed to live your faith in all aspects of your life. All aspects. Even if it means you don’t get millions and millions of dollars for glorifying violence and murder.

Until that happens, Chuck and Gena will remain the very essence of hypocrisy.

Cheers, Winston

Fundamentalist Yes, Christian; Not So Much

On By WinstonIn Personal, Politics, Religion, Society7 Comments

Welcome Brethren, Sisters, one and all. Are you confused by all the people claiming to do God’s will? Do you look at what they are doing and wonder if you misunderstood it all like they claim? Do you feel the call of the Fundamentalists? Well, worry no more. I am here to help!

Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and Girls! Good citizens of the blogosphere! Welcome to Brother Win’s Traveling Miracle Tent And Christian Values Revival! Step inside and I will reveal to you: The TRUTH! That’s right folks. They claim it, I’ve got it. Have a seat right up front here, we’ve got plenty of room.

When a sitting US senator says that homosexuals and unwed mothers shouldn’t be allowed to teach, they talk about Christian Values. When people want to cut social programs, they talk about Christian Values. Others say non-Christians shouldn’t hold public office, or that the debt crisis is God’s punishment for (you guessed it) declining Christian Values. All these people talk about Faith and how God hates this group or that group, and they quote the Bible. That must mean they’re right, right? Wrong!

They are absolutely wrong, and I’ll tell you why. They are slow readers. That’s the whole of it. They’ve been reading that Book for years, but they’ve never got more than half way through it. They read the part where it says an adulteress should be stoned to death. They never got to the second half of the Bible. That’s where Jesus says, “Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone.” They read the bit about unclean acts, but they missed the chapters on forgiveness in the second half.

That’s right folks, everyone who talks about hate totally missed the New Testament. Well not totally, they just skipped ahead to Revelations. All of them read Revelations. Do you want to know why? The answer my friends is fear. That’s what the Old Testament has in common with Revelations, they are all about fear. Their message is, “Do what we say. Or else.”. That’s the perfect message for people who hate. It’s perfect for people who want power. People who like to tell others what to do, they love that message of fear. But it’s not what Jesus taught!

Jesus taught people not to fear. He taught people to hope. His message wasn’t one of fear, but of love. I can hear what the “Fundamentalists” are saying right now. “Jesus said He didn’t come to change the Law.” That’s absolutely true. He didn’t come to change it, He came to take our punishment for every sin we could ever commit. The Old Testament was a huge list of “Do”s” and “Don’t”s. The list in the New Testament list is a little shorter. “Believe in me and you shall be saved.” That’s it. One simple rule. Do this, and you’re in. Regardless.

There are a couple more of his teachings that I’ve always liked. When Texas Governor Rick Perry rented a football stadium for his blatantly political Day of Prayer he definitely hadn’t gotten to the second half of the Bible. If he had, he might have remembered this line. “Be not like the Pharisees and the Sadducees who pray loudly in the streets. Go instead into a dark room, lock the door and pray there. In context it means, stop trying to look righteous and start being righteous. That’s not something Gov. Perry or ANY of those like him want to hear. If people can’t see them being “righteous” there’s not much point for them. People aren’t going to go along with your hate-fueled personal agenda if they don’t see how “righteous” you are.

Then there’s my personal favorite. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one and other. Even as I have loved you, that you also love one and other.”. If you follow this one rule, the other ten are automatic.

The other day, a man named Jack Layton passed away. He wasn’t a mass murderer, or a brutal despot. Still, a person of “Faith” posted this when wishing his friend a happy birthday. “Jack Layton died… Great Birthday present.”. I guess they didn’t get more than halfway through either.

Now you know The TRUTH! Next time someone tells you that God Hates this, or God Hates that, feel free to tell them The TRUTH. “God so loved the world that HE gave HIS only begotten SON to die for our sins.” They won’t hear you, but don’t let that stop you. If we don’t speak up, people will only hear their voices.

Now rise up my Brothers and Sisters! Leave my humble tent and go out into the world. Take The TRUTH with you, for it Shall make you free.

Cheers, Winston