One thing I like about not being a paid minister who has to preach week in and week out is that I can have a week of mental rest without going on vacation. For the life of me, nothing is coming to my head this week that inspires me to write a spiritual article. So you are left again with random ramblings of a mad man.
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I found an interesting website the other day. It has an incredible story about a scammer who gets the scam turned around on him. The site encourages wasting scammers time and trying to reverse the scam. They have all the correspondence of the time they really did it. It is hilarious. I recommend going to check it out.
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I wrote this in the GLCC Alumni Forum at some point regarding John Lennon's lyrics in Imagine.
"Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace..."
It all depends on what you mean by religion. I think John Lennon was meaning Christianity and not just religion. He was meaning, especially in the song Imagine, anything that divides. Being a good Christian sometimes divides.
Here is the first definition of religion from dictionary.com:
1. a. Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers
regarded as creator and governor of the universe.
b. A personal or institutionalized system grounded in such belief and
worship.
2. The life or condition of a person in a religious order.
3. A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a
spiritual leader.
4. A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious
devotion.
So, by some of the definitions, I am a proponent of religion. Actually, if you take out the phrase "or institutionalized system," then I am would say that religion is a good thing. The only problem I have with religion is when it is an "institutionalized system." I think John Lennon had a few more issues with it.
One of my Catholic aunts is devoutly religious (in a good way) and doesn't understand Protestants who say they are anti-religous. It doesn't make sense to her. I don't know if it really makes sense to me either. However, I am devoutly anti-institutionalized system. That belief probably helped spawn the house churches. However, I don't think they would've been successful without all of the great people involved. I am forever grateful. (That's serious. Not just corniness. Okay, it might still be corny, but I mean it.)
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One thing that baffles me is all the political talk about how the Democrats can appear religious enough to win over the hearts and minds of those of us in religious America. If you're worried about appearing religious, then you aren't.
John Kerry said during the Second Presidential Debate:
"First of all, I cannot tell you how deeply I respect the belief about life and when it begins. I'm a Catholic - raised a Catholic. I was an altar boy. Religion has been a huge part of my life, helped lead me through a war, leads me today. But I can't take what is an article of faith for me and legislate it for someone who doesn't share that article of faith, whether they be agnostic, atheist, Jew, Protestant, whatever. I can't do that. But I can counsel people, I can talk reasonably about life and about responsibility."
We in religious America cannot seperate our faith from any part of our lives. We actually believe faith shouldn't be compartmentalized. Can only my secular beliefs influence politics? If I am a person of faith, I shouldn't have any secular beliefs. All my actions, including my political actions, are to be holy.
You cannot trick religious America by quoting Scripture and by acting holy. It might take us a while, but we will see through your masks. Okay, maybe not all of religious America. There is the branch of us that keeps some phonies in business, but the majority of us can see through fakeness.
Mr. Liberal, everything you turn into legislation is a result of your beliefs. You can't discount a belief because it stems from religion.
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I sent two articles into the editior of the Christian Standard tonight. It's out of my hands now.
If you know of a magazine that slants towards my crazy way of thinking or would possibly publish my ravings, please let me know. I'm trying to be an aspiring writer. I figure I can't even call myself an aspiring writer yet because I still have a job and don't have to live off of Ramien Noodles. Not that I could, anyway, with my wheat allergies.
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Some day I'm going to publish a photo journey of my ride to work. There are some really neat things that I drive by every day. Well, not every day. It depends on what way I take to work.
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Watch out for the potholes.
