Assorted and A Sundry Rants

Random Rants:

Genetically engineered plants are now being reported to having cross-pollinated with weeds creating what some experts are calling "unforeseen challenges" to the ecosystem. "Unforeseen" Really? Monsanto and their ilk are out there changing the genetic coding of plants (in some cases adding animal genes to the genetic code of plants) and no one, no one, thought about the bees and winds carrying pollen from their "Frankinplants" into the surrounding fields?! Holy Shit... what else are these rocket scientists not thinking about?

Alex Rodriquez hits his 600th Major League home run and this is news? It's the genetically engineered plant thing in human form. He's "modified" himself through the use of illegal substances and we applaud his effort? Smiles and nods to all those who think he "earned" these runs.

Idiots in Elected Office are turning off street lamps (see Colorado Springs), tearing up roads they cannot afford to maintain and replacing them with gravel, firing teachers / closing schools / drastically shortening the school year (see Hawaii) and we're arguing that we cannot allow the tax rate on the wealthiest Americans rise to the levels found in the halcyon days of the Clinton era? Really? We're not talking about making the obscenely rich pay the 70% they did before Saint Reagan took office... we're not talking the 90% the richest 2% paid following the 2nd World War... we're only talking taking the rate up to 38% from it's current level of 35%. Keeping the Bush-era welfare to the rich is costing the nation $70 Billion (yes, that's a "B") in revenue per year... actually $1.5 Trillion (yes, that's a "T") in the first 2 years of the cuts. So F*** the street lights, the roads, the crumbling infrastructure, the school... make certain the wealthy get their welfare funded by Chinese capitalists and F*** everyone else.

ACC

Brain Rot

I was lunching today with a lady who was gushing at how her 3-year old grandson was using her iPad to watch youtube videos. "Oh, he was so cute," she bubbled, "he would watch a few seconds of one and then move onto another."

I smiled and nodded. (Years ago someone I looked up to told me the best way to handle someone who's insane is to just smile and nod.)

Are you kidding me?! We're proud of our grandson because he can touch the icon for a video? Three years old and he's still shitting his pants, but we're proud of him because he can navigate a web page that's geared to the tykes IQ. Tell me that you've got your child potty trained at 2 and I'm impressed. Tell me that he can sit in his own filth and make the images on your iPad change... you get the smile and nod treatment.

I'm reading an interesting book entitled, "The Shallows: What the Internet is doing to our brains" by Nicholas Carr. It's a well-researched treatise into how our brains are getting softer and softer the more we are exposed to the constantly changing stream of "information" found on the internet. Our attention spans have gotten to the point that English Literature majors in college admit that they cannot read a book. Carr says that these students no longer read from left to right, up to down... they are just scanning a page looking for key words. And get this... these morons believe that what they're doing is gleaning more information than reading would have given them. Smile and nod...

In a few short generations (perhaps quicker... but hey, I'm an optimist) our children will not be able to repair the machines previous generations created. Their little boxes will no longer blink. Water will no longer flow from faucets. The hum of machinery will grind to an exhausted halt and silence will pervade. Our scions will sit quietly in their own filth, staring into the darkness and slowly starve to death. Perhaps a few plucky kids from Papua New Guinea will still be hunting and living off the land... they can carry the gene pool forward.

I'm not impressed that anyone's grandson can push buttons. Show me a 3-year old who can build a computer and I'll be very impressed. Otherwise it's just all smile and nod.

ACC

Tired of Raising Your Children For You.

What is it with children now days? I'm not a parent but I don't believe that disqualifies me from speaking about them.

Since when has it become fashionable to allow children to do whatever they want without any consequences? Since when has it become more important to develop a child's "self-esteem" than it has to develop their sense of duty to society?

I appreciate that the oft-spoken "children are meant to be seen and not heard" rule seemed unreasonable to my 5-year old brain when I was growing up in the 50's - but that's the point, isn't it? Since our frontal lobe is not fully developed until we're in our early 20's, a 5-year old (or 12-year old for that matter) won't understand - and they don't need to. They need to shut-up, sit quietly (at least while adults are talking) and stay out of trouble.

And if they get into trouble (i.e., violate any rule as established by those who are old enough to have fully developed frontal lobes) there ought to be consequences for their violations. I'm not suggesting have the little buggers be drawn and quartered, but a swift swat to the meaty part of their behind with the soft portion of the palm of the hand might be what it takes to get them to behave.

I recall the utter terror in the thought that my father would embarrass me with such a swift swat while in public. It was not fear of the swat - my father, though a large man, would not have struck at us kids in an effort to inflict either pain or injury - the fear of being embarrassed in front of family/friends/strangers - the fear of being seen as something other than a "good kid" was enough to induce panic.

Today's children know that there are no consequences. They know that any threat their Gen-X parents make will be an empty one. They know that the worst thing that will happen to them is being sent to their room which houses their computer, TV, iPod, refrigerator and microwave. Out of fear that we will damage their precious "self-esteem" we've created a generation of children who will never grow up into mature, thinking adults who can care about anyone other than themselves and their own immediate pleasure.

By treating children like little adults and saying asinine things such as, "You know, Bobby, when you throw things at Mr. Johnson you hurt his feelings." You aren't helping them grow. They don't have the mental capacity to understand and they certainly don't care what someone else feels. Of course, doing their homework for them isn't helping them learn to think anyway.

You want to help your children grow? Let them fail. Let them crash and burn on occasion so that they can learn to understand that failure stinks. Perhaps they'll try a little harder the next time. Treat them like children - tell them what to do and expect them to do so. Stop hovering over them like a fleet of anxiety-ridden helicopters - leave them to play; expect them to behave and give them fair but firm consequences when they don't. And maybe you'll help them learn that those "things" that move around them making noise are actually other people who matter as much - if not more - than they do.

If you can't do that - don't have children. The rest of us are tired of having to try to raise your children for you.

Dressed to the 3s

As difficult as this is to admit; today's wedding was actually pretty decent. Most of those who attended acted like they had been in a church before and there was not one young woman who was dressed like a street-walker.

Maybe it's just the part of the country where I live - perhaps it's happening everywhere... but, young, single women attending weddings have gotten into the habit of wearing almost nothing. I swear my grandmother wore silk scarfs with more fabric than many of these girls have on. I'm no prude - I'm a married guy and have seen everything there is to see... but some of these girls seem to be more than willing to show theirs to anyone willing to look. (Marketing 101: place the product in attractive packaging).

Back when I was a pup my mother would look at a well-dressed lady and say of her, "she's dressed to the 9s." If that was true then, than many of today's "ladies" have only managed to dress to the 3s.

ACC

Those Damn Red Curbs

Who would have thought that the bright RED curb in front of the Church wasn't meant for you to park your Porsche Cayenne? And when you found the pastor leaning against your outward display of consumption (after you had returned from wherever you'd wandered off to) you might have considered making eye contact with him and acknowledging that you were in the wrong... not making an excuse, "I'm only here to pick up my parents."

Really? You're only here to pick up your parents? Why the H weren't you inside with them? Or do you become uncomfortable when you remember that the Lord said it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to get into heaven? Or that Jesus told the rich young man to sell all he had if he planned on becoming a disciple.

Having money does not give you the right to inconvenience other people. Having money does not make you better than others. Having money, according to the Lord, puts you in the position of having to care for others who are less fortunate than you... If you bothered to put your ass in a pew instead of a Porsche, you may have learned that.

Asshole.

Atheists

What is it with atheists (deliberately not capitalized). I don't care if you don't care. I don't lose sleep because you don't look at the Universe and see God working. It's your choice - period. You can stand before God at your judgment and have him say, "I don't believe in you, either."

In my years of ministry I've welcomed dozens of people into the faith. These are people who have chosen to join the Church and be baptized. In those years I've never knocked on doors, sent e-mail messages to strangers, or called people on the phone to endeavor to enlighten their puny little minds. But this is exactly what atheists do.

Today's atheists feel not just compelled, but obligated, to attempt to show Christians (Jews and Muslims fall here, too) the error of our ways through the employment of loud voices and name calling. The best form of the old atheism displayed great depth of thought. You could talk to an atheist. The worst form of the old atheism (those like Madeline Murray O'Hare) was marred by intolerance and a lack of table manners.

What I'm calling “today's atheism” is really nothing more than the triumph of the jerks. Unsubtle, unlearned (but pretentious), unreflective (but persistent). The shrill tones of today's atheism have been amplified because we live in a society that believes:

Loud wins.
Stupid and loud is even better.
Outrageously stupid and loud is best.

Again today I'm called a charlatan and a thief (anonymously as always) for leading people astray from the athiestic viewpoint. "Charlatan" would indicate that I don't believe what I preach. Let me firmly state that I truly do believe and teach what I believe. As for the title "thief" let's just leave it at this... I must be the worst thief in the history of mankind: My family lives off of the table scraps of society so that we can witness to God - who promised not earthly rewards but rather treasure in heaven.

In my best curmudgeon manner, let me answer the kind soul who felt it necessary to call me names via anonymous e-mail (whose link didn't work to respond personally), I will proudly stand before the Lord our God and point to those I've brought with me. You can stand before Satan and proudly boast of those you won for him.

ACC

Be Safe!

"Be Safe!" I don't know how many members of my congregation told me that as the left services yesterday morning.

"Be safe." What kind of holiday greeting is that? We're enjoined to have a "happy" New Year and a "merry" Christmas. Many wish each other a "blessed" Easter and a "good" Thanksgiving. But when it comes to Independence Day we recommend each other "be safe."

Of course, Independence Day is now called the "4th of July" and I'm certain that the majority of my fellow citizens no longer connect the events that led up to the American Colonies severing ties with Great Britain and the holiday which is celebrated.

Today the "4th of July" is associated with overindulgence in food and alcohol (mostly alcohol) and the desire to blow the living crap out of something. Great combination that. I don't profess to any understanding as to why blowing shit up is so damn attractive to people whose IQ may well be below the sum of the combination of their shoe size and age - but damn if it isn't.

Apparently there's enough common knowledge that the combination of alcohol and things that blow up isn't good that the Federal Government has the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) But that knowledge doesn't seem to extend to the multitude of "rocket" scientists who sent themselves and/or their children to Emergency Rooms around the country last night while having attempted to entertain themselves with inexpensive alcohol and illegal rocketry.

I'm fairly certain that most of the explosive devices I heard my neighbors exploding last night could not legally have be purchased in the state in which I live. A couple of the window-rattlers probably aren't legal in the USA at all - so these people of below average intelligence (who probably could have been as entertained by an evening of 'wrastlin' on TV or an old episode of the Jerry Springer Show) made interstate trips (perhaps international expeditions) to procure shit that explodes.

I'm certain that many of these fine citizens would call upon their "right" to do what they'd like without any knowledge of where those rights came from and the duties those rights call us to. The events that led to the Declaration of Independence stirred the souls of men of character to act - knowing that by pledging their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor they were sacrificing their lives and fortunes for the benefit of others.

Those, who 234 years later think that the signers of the Declaration gave them the right to be stupid, would benefit from a short history lesson - if they weren't too ignorant to comprehend that from those to whom much has been given much is expected. Few in this world have been given the gift that the signers of the Declaration have given us.

Finally, God shed his Grace not just on the United States, but on all the nations of the world. We are not superior - if anything the actions of my neighbors last night touts our inferiority.

Be safe.
AFF