It’s The Thought That…

     Senator Rick Santorum, Republican, Pennsylvania, is having a difficult time getting re-elected.  He’s fighting a hard race against someone who has more moderate views.  I’m not altogether thrilled with his opponent, either, but Mr. Santorum–who has now taken the tactic of showing the people of Pennsylvania that they should vote for him because he can bring federal money to the state–is a banner emblem for the fundamental problems of the Republican Right.  Lest we forget what he’s all about, I remind you that he is a social conservative who doesn’t Approve.

Doesn’t approve of much of anything representative of a liberal society.  Let me here pick on one of the things as example of his mindset.

Homosexuality.

(As a point of debate, let me state up front that my issue with this has nothing to do with my own sexual orientation.  My support of gay rights is a bit broader than that.  I am not gay–but I am a sexual being, and one of the major points that gets overlooked in these debates is that when the specific proclivities of one group of consenting adults is attacked, all groups are attacked, because what is being attacked is a variation.  While there is only one “natural”  way to procreate, there is no single “natural” way to indulge in sensuality.  Note, most laws in this country that have sought to limit homosexual behavior have in the past not stopped there, but have gone on to enumerate specific actions for illegalization, actions with …

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Use of “fat” fashion models causes a ruckus in Australia

Here are some of the bad things that can happen to you if you are a fashion designer who dares to use non-anorexic models in your fashion show. Putting “fatties” in her show (woman who were sized 8 – 12) actually got designer MaraJoara blacklisted by Vogue Australia.  Here’s coverage…

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The War of Terror vs. the War on Drugs

It appears that the War on Terror is shaping up to be as decisive, efficient and effective as the War on Drugs: “Mission Accomplished since 1933”. The enemy is hard to define, hard to detect, and there is no exit strategy (see bureaucracies, below) in the unlikely case of a declared win.Terror is a state of mind, a reaction to extreme and unexpected negative events. Those Saudis who attacked on 9/11/01 (using materials and training acquired in the U.S.) set off a chain of events that is turning our country into a Police State. This is a win for them.

Here are some signs of a gathering Police State.

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Sizing up Karen Armstrong’s Spiral Staircase

A friend recently handed me a copy of Karen Armstrong’s 2005 Bestseller, The Spiral Staircase. 

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Armstrong entered the convent in 1962 at the age of 17.  These were very difficult years for her, due to the rigid religious dogma that permeated her training.  She ultimately renounced her vows at the age of 24.  Armstrong has written numerous books on religion since that time, focusing on all of the major monotheistic religions.  She makes regular appearances on NPR. The Spiral Staircase was Armstrong’s account of her own struggles with regard to her personal beliefs. 

As I read passages of The Spiral Staircase, I was intrigued by my own difficulty of categorizing Armstrong. I wondered why she would cling to traditional notions of worship at the point when, intellectually, she had already reduced “God” to a all-but-abstract principle.  Though she seems to be a fence sitter, she’s firmly there.  She refuses to allow any atheist or theist knock her off.  See, again, how should one describe her? Is she a Christian, a sympathizer of Islam, an agnostic, an atheist, a Buddhist or something else?  She admits that she was, at one time in “an agnostic, perhaps an atheist.”  (Page 272).  Is she now really a freelance monotheist?: 

I usually describe myself, perhaps flippantly, as a freelance monotheist I draw sustenance from all three of the faiths of Abraham.  I can’t see any one of them as having the monopoly of truth, any one of them as superior to any of

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Proof of God #387: by motorcycle jumping through wall of fire

A friend from Wyoming recently sent me this newspaper clipping from the Sept. 9-10, 2006 Jackson Hole Daily. As you can see, a devout man will prove his faith by jumping his motorcycle through a wall of fire.   Here is the note my friend sent along with the clipping: dear e:…

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