Quote of the Day, 10/16/08

10/16/2008, 7:00 am -- by Bweinh | No Comments

“Cats and monkeys; monkeys and cats; all human life is there.” — H. James

Live-Blogging the Last Debate!

10/15/2008, 7:17 pm -- by Bweinh | 2 Comments

Click below to read our live blog of the third and final presidential debate!

Quote of the Day, 10/14/08

10/14/2008, 7:00 am -- by Bweinh | 1 Comment

“Death is a dialogue between
The spirit and the dust.
‘Dissolve,’ says Death. The Spirit: ‘Sir,
I have another trust.’

“Death doubts it, argues from the ground.
The Spirit turns away,
Just laying off, for evidence,
An overcoat of clay.” — E. Dickinson

Tract II: the Answer.

10/13/2008, 2:00 pm -- by Steve | No Comments

What got the ladies into witchcraft?

If you picked “Harry Potter,” you’re a winner!!

Yes or no, turkey?!

Toyota Pre Runner

10/10/2008, 3:51 pm -- by David | No Comments

I got behind a Toyota Pre Runner today in traffic. Is that like a Four Runner that hasn’t hit puberty yet?

Quote of the Day, 10/10/08

10/10/2008, 7:00 am -- by Bweinh | No Comments

“The glory of God is man fully alive; moreover man’s life is the vision of God: if God’s revelation through creation has already obtained life for all the beings that dwell on earth, how much more will the Word’s manifestation of the Father obtain life for those who see God.” — St. Irenaeus

Bweinh! Goes to the Movies — Religulous

10/10/2008, 1:42 am -- by Steve | 2 Comments

I’m going to make a documentary. I’ll line up a friend with a camera to follow me around; maybe a boom mike too, for effect. I’ll get people to sit down and have a conversation with me, just two folks trying to understand each other — only once I edit the footage, I’ll make them look as stupid as I can: cutting them off before they finish, cutting in some vacant stares, maybe throwing in a nasty caption or two. And if I can’t think of the perfect smarmy comeback immediately, that’s okay! It’ll come to me in the editing room, and I’ll splice it right in!

I think I’ll call my film “Maheronic.” Too derivative? Well, why don’t you sit down and tell me why you think so? Don’t forget to look directly into the camera — no, not the one I set up on the floor behind you so you look like a naughty student in the principal’s office. Look at the other camera, the one behind me with the zoom set on “Nose Hair.” Don’t worry, I’ve been taping you while you were confused. And yes, if I really hate you, I’ll use that part too. Don’t pick your nose!

How will I start? Oh, by giving away the ending — namely, that I think Bill Maher is an insufferable, swaggering dunce. But then I’ll quickly explain that I’m making this movie to explore whether I’m right, which I am, because no rational human being could possibly disagree with me. Then I’ll move on to anecdotes from my past that no one cares about. Would you like to meet my mother? She’s feisty!

But enough about me (only for a few minutes) — what I need now are opponents to misrepresent. I’ll open with those my audience respects the least: my hero Maher went with truckers, so maybe I should pick actors. At least truckers can drive a stick shift. I’ll confuse them by mixing what they actually believe with my odd hallucinations about what they believe, then demanding they defend the whole mixture. “So you really think Bill Maher is a comedian, and an actor, and the capital of Peru?? Can you seriously believe that? Are you totally stupid or just completely wrong?”

After they stammer through, I’ll switch gears (trucker lingo, sorry) to the other extreme. This requires a new strategy — like Maher with Dr. Francis Collins, I’ll let experts talk, but then cut them off, editing their words so they either agree with me or agree to nonsense. There’s no middle ground, and if they talk longer than three seconds at a time, I’m screwing up! Documentaries are no place for complete thoughts! And sometimes, when I need to, I’ll just straight-up lie: blatantly false captions, unsupportable assertions, added sound effects, it’s all good!

Who’s gonna know? My opponents are simpering idiots, remember?

My superiority assured, I’ll tell my new “friends” all about how great I am. Loathing Bill Maher is a luxury, you see: I’d like him too if I was from Hollywood, which is like prison, just with different implants. Out in the real world, I don’t need to rely on a crutch. Besides, did you know a lot of really bad people like Maher? It’s true. Fred Phelps likes him; they were even in a movie together, called Religulous! Who hangs out with a guy like that?? Someone with a neurological disorder! I’ll even find a scientist to say those words, to make it seem like he agrees with me!

I’ll bang these gongs for a bit, with the occasional detour into the odder iterations of Maher fanhood (that valentine of a Wikipedia page doesn’t update itself), until — in the ultimate triumph of hyperbolic reductionism — I tie all my opponents together in one unhinged, foaming rant of conclusion. This is where the medium of film comes in really handy. Just think: a shot of Bill Maher, a shot of Osama bin Laden, the one, the other, back and forth, back and forth! The sound of his voice over visions of exploding bombs and the corpses of innocent kittens! His head on the body of every member of the Village People! He! Is! Evil!

But if you dare disagree with me? You’re an enabler. A “mafia wife.” You’re guilty of all of the crimes of all of the people who ever lived and agreed with you about anything ever, in all of recorded history. Even if you only like him a little, you need to know: that solace and comfort comes at a terrible price.

Grow up — by which I mean pledge allegiance to my rigid, stilted worldview — or die.

Fade to black.

That’s how I’ll make my propaganda film.

I give Religulous no letters on our scale.

Where Do They Come From?

10/9/2008, 5:08 pm -- by David | No Comments

I saw a guy today walking at an angle, employing aÂ quick and purposeful stride that brought him off the shoulder of the road and out into the path of my car. Seconds before I got there, he looked up at me with shock and horror — as though he had never before encountered an automobile in any of his previous forays out into the world.

He stepped back and watched in utter amazement as my car and a pickup truck sped by; he stood and watched us for the longest time as we drove on. Where did he come from? Was he raised by wolves? How could he not be expecting traffic on a busy road in the middle of the day?

People like that puzzle me.

Three Links (Vol. 7)

10/9/2008, 11:20 am -- by Steve | No Comments

— How does a mother give a show and tell presentation that ends with all the kids touching a dead bat? At least she offered them a sanitary wipe — but now they’ll all need six shots. Bet her kids are going to be popular this week.

— In a finding that will surprise absolutely no one who follows politics, business, or education, narcissistic people are most likely to become leaders, out of a desire for power.

“Many people have observed that it takes a narcissistic person to run for president of the United States,” said the study’s lead author, adding that such people “tend to have volatile and risky decision-making performance and can be ineffective and potentially destructive leaders.”

— How about some delicious . . . cat?!

One More Song

10/9/2008, 9:30 am -- by David | No Comments

I\’ve had a song stuck in my head for a long time now. It\’s an old song — I don\’t know how old, maybe 4,000 years or so. It\’s from the Bible, Psalm 137, and it was written by a Jew carried away captive by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. I’ve never heard the tune and I don\’t even know all the words, but every time I read the Psalms, it catches me again, like a burning bush, an enigma I cannot turn away from.

It’s about a musician among the captives who sat down by the river and wept when he reached Babylon. The Babylonian soldiers taunted him, asking for a song about his homeland Zion, but he flung his harp into a willow tree along the bank of the river and refused to sing. All he could think about was his devastated life and revenge toward the ones who had hurt him. He was in no mood to sing.

But somehow, with it all so fresh in his mind, he managed to write one more song.

In that song, he simply poured out his anguish and anger, with one bright spot: “If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! If I do not remember you, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth ”” if I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy.” In the midst of his anger and bitterness, his complete brokenness, he reaffirmed his destiny. His purpose — his whole reason to exist — was bound up in Jerusalem, and he could never forget that.

I read that in 1948, when Israel won its independence, Jewish refugees streamed into the new nation by the thousands, fleeing the horrors of the Holocaust and the persecution that had followed them throughout Europe. They came by train, by boat, by plane; when they arrived at the coast, they took whatever transport they could find to get to Jerusalem. One convoy of rusty trucks rolled into Jerusalem with that verse on the front bumper of the lead vehicle: “If I forget you, O Jerusalem…” If that man’s words, written some 4,000 years before, could still inspire the hopeless in those times, it’s no wonder that they can still reach me on this dark, rainy Alabama day in early October, 2008.

How can we read that psalm and fail to understand that what we do matters? Every time we pick up a pen to write, or post to a blog or a journal, or pick up a guitar to play and sing, we must surely know that whatever we do for God’s kingdom is eternal! Even if all you can do is recount the grief of your last setback, and affirm that nothing will keep you from God\’s plan for your life — do it! Whatever it is that you do in the Kingdom, it matters for eternity.

Pick up your pen; write another post. Pick up your guitar. Sing one more song.

Joke of the Day, 10/9/08

10/9/2008, 7:00 am -- by Bweinh | No Comments

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson went camping. They pitched their tent under the stars and went to sleep. In the middle of the night, Holmes woke Watson up and said: “Watson, look up at the stars and tell me, what do you see?”

Watson replied: “I see millions and millions of stars.”

Holmes said: “And what do you deduce from that?”

Watson replied: “Well, if there are millions of stars, and if even a few have planets, it’s quite likely there are some planets like Earth out there. And if there are a few planets like Earth out there, there might also be life waiting for us to discover it.”

And Holmes said: “Watson, you idiot, it means that somebody stole our tent.”

Tract: by Chick.

10/9/2008, 12:20 am -- by Steve | No Comments

{democracy:302}

Bible Discussion — Acts 15-16

10/8/2008, 2:30 pm -- by Bweinh | No Comments

This week, Bweinh.com moves on to the next two chapters of Acts.

PREVIOUS DISCUSSIONS:
Genesis: 1-4 | 5-9 | 10-14 | 15-18 | 19-22 | 23-26
27-29 | 30-32 | 33-36 | 37-39 | 40-43 | 44-46 | 47-50
Exodus: 1-4 | 5-8 | 9-11 | 12-14 | 15-18
19-22 | 23-26 | 27-30 | 31-34 | 35-40
Romans: Ch. 1 | Ch. 2 | Ch. 3 | Ch. 4 | Ch. 5 | Ch. 6 | Ch. 7 | Ch. 8 (I)
Ch. 8 (II) | Ch. 9 | Ch. 10 | Ch. 11 | Ch. 12 | Ch. 13 | Ch. 14 | Ch. 15-16
Luke: 1:1-38 | 1:39-2:40 | 2:41-3:38 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10
11 | 12 | 13 | 14-15 | 16-17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24
Esther: 1-2 | 3-5 | 6-8 | 9-10
Acts: 1 | 2 | 3-4 | 5 | 6-7 | 8 | 9-10 | 11-12 | 13-14

INTRODUCTION:
David:
In Chapter 15, the church tackles the Gentile question, but in chapter 16, Paul still feels compelled to have Timothy (of mixed race) circumcised to avoid Jewish criticism. Then Paul visits Troas and the narrative changes to first-person, giving us a clue as to when Luke physically joined the group.

Connie:
In this corner, Peter, the leader of the Jews, overpressured by the masses over silly doctrinal annoyances. And in the white trunks, Paul coming out to fight for the Gentiles. We all know who’s going to win; we just wonder what all the fuss was to begin with. Peter should’ve been able to handle this in his sleep.

SOMETHING YOU’D NEVER NOTICED BEFORE:
Josh:
Luke slips into the first-person plural perspective. I wonder how much he experienced firsthand, how much he witnessed, and how much was passed on to him. In chapter 16, “we” were met by the slave girl, but after Paul drives out the spirit, “they” were arrested and flogged. That\’s the way to do it, I suppose.

Steve:
Some men from the Jerusalem area set out on a long journey for the express purpose of trying to convince the new Gentile churches that their circumcision was required by the Law of Moses. Seems like a pretty clear-cut case of misery loving company.

Connie:
Paul wasn’t afraid of a fight. Once he got into it with Peter and won, it was all gravy after that. The next chapter begins with another argument, this time with Barnabas. It must’ve been a lonely time.

BEST BAND NAME FROM THE PASSAGE:
Steve: Thyatira
Connie: Council at Jerusalem
Josh: Things Strangled
David: The Residue of Men

Continued here!