Trapped in a Tale

Are christians just trapped in an old crappy soap opera?

Think of all those you know who are glued to the television when their favorite series comes on. They talk about the characters as if they are real, and even after you mention that they are talking about fictional characters, and they agree with your assessment, ten minutes later they once again refer to a character as if, someone real. They watch their favorite shows over and over. They laugh, they cry and they live with these fictional characters. 

Books the same. I have read many novels more than once, just because of the enjoyment it brings. Wrapped up in a story line that interests, or maybe just makes you feel an emotion.

Those stories that embellish man, that show him to be, possibly, something that should, or could, be attained, are commonplace. Maybe the story is about wizards. How cool, mumble a few words and shit happens. Maybe it is the meek evolving into the brave or other wishful thinking. Maybe it puts man on a pedestal for some virtuous act that most will never even contemplate emulating in real life. 

A good story has a powerful effect on us, we love stories. Being a science fiction reader when young, I have wondered if scientology is just a "good" story for those who enjoyed that genre so much that reality and fantasy melded into a religion. It is painful nonsense developed by a below average writer, yet still enthralls those who are caught up in that story. 

Christians love their stories. Horror stories of astounding proportions. Where cruel acts and intentions are warped into moral actions.

Is that why christians pick and choose? Maybe just concentrating on the parts they love, that they are trapped in. I mean, the bible does have something for everyone. If you are a harmless being, there are many passages that call to you. If you are a vengeful person, again many passages that agree with your demeanor. Are you angry? Are you a warrior? Are you meek? You've found a friend, a book that encompasses all acts of man, one that is sure to have at least one story that binds you to the adventure.

Trapped.

Two Bucks a Pound

I listen to family and friends whine about either their own lives or the lives of their children. Someone is sick, someone has money problems and some just aren't that bright. The stories of personal lives go on and on.

You don't need a televised reality series to be immersed in the sometimes dramatic, sometimes created drama, of those who surround you. 

I listened recently to a story about how a grandmother's daughter was ill and managed to plug up the toilet. As you can already tell by the subject, this isn't going to end well. The grandmother goes in and tries to plunge the waste down, instead she ends up with a fountain of shit that ends up covering everything, and seeps through the floor into the basement, etc. That's enough when it comes to details, but really, do you need to watch soap operas all day?

All you have to do is look around you. Love and friendship, hate and anger, drunken foolishness, all on display everywhere you look. The sinister, the honest, the good, the crazy; all spinning on the carousel waiting for you to jump on. Life is good.

I've been thinking about what could possibly be worse than what some people have to contend with. There are real problems, real terror and real pain. There are those who focus on food to survive, those who run from war and those who hide who they are. Some cringe from public humiliation, some wait for punishment that the religious will bring, some die because of the hate hiding in the seeming serenity of mankind. 

There are plights that I can never understand, being lucky enough to have been born in a land that opportunity, at one time, existed. It is an easy exercise, want to feel good about yourself, there's always someone who has it worse.

I have come up with one thought that could possibly be worse for all, and that would be if your only value was determined by how much the local butcher could charge for you. 

Your only value being a market commodity, your only value a dollar sign. Eating swill, living in cages, disease ridden and only knowing fear.

Two bucks a pound is the ultimate insult.

Abortion Doctors Wanted Posters Revisited

Last October it was being reported that wanted posters featuring doctors were being distributed around Charlotte, NC. These were similar to ones that were being passed around during the 90's.

Wanted posters were put out showing abortion doctor's home and office addresses, the cars they drove and their personal appearance.


These are some from the 90's.






Dr. Tiller also received the treatment:



That was just before he was shot in the 90's. The insanity has started again. All the above "wanted" doctors are dead.


New wanted posters do the same. They give addresses, vehicle information including license plates and physical descriptions.

I know these are fringe groups, but they have the supposed dignity of religion behind them. This is a part of christianity. This encourages killing, as it did in the 90's, of doctors who are performing legal medical treatments. How many women's health providers will there be in the future if the threats keep coming?

Update. The posters are once again being distributed:


"Rachel Maddow posed that question last week as she reported from Kansas on the escalating campaign of threats, harassment and terror against Dr. Mila Means, who recently announced her plans to provide abortions in Wichita.


Abortions have not been available in the city since the murder of Dr. George Tiller in May 2009. Means has now become the target of an aggressive campaign led by anti-abortion extremists. WANTED-style posters featuring Means’ photograph and address are being circulated in Wichita and online, and about a dozen anti-abortion zealots stalked the physician at her rural Wichita home."


This is chilling as well:


"But no legal actions have yet been taken against the protestors. (A previous Kansas attorney general, Phill Kline, currently facing ethics charges, not only failed to prosecute those who threatened and stalked Tiller but used his public office to launch an inquisition against the doctor.) On the other hand, the disruptive protests outside Means’ family practice office precipitated a lawsuit against her from her landlord, and now she is not allowed to perform abortions at that office.

The anti-Means protestors include some of the same anti-abortion extremists who used to protest against and stalk Dr. Tiller. As Amanda Robb pointed out in her investigation of Tiller’s murder for Ms. last year, those who have murdered abortion providers–such as Tiller’s assasin, Scott Roeder–operate within a network of extremist advocates rather than being “lone wolves"

The new article appears here.


It is one of many reasons that I do not accommodate theists, it gives them courage.