Seriously. The entire world cannot come together to participate in what has become the Anti-gay Olympics.
Not. Gonna. Happen.
PS: I've decided to put the tag "Russian pig sty" on every Russian post. They've earned it.
Author of "Xmas Carol" trashes religion and chronicles the American decline. Plus gay stuff, science, writing, atheism, and baseball.
July 31, 2013
Sochi 2014 Olympics must be canceled
Seriously. The entire world cannot come together to participate in what has become the Anti-gay Olympics.
Not. Gonna. Happen.
PS: I've decided to put the tag "Russian pig sty" on every Russian post. They've earned it.
Dolan's hate-filled Catch-22
 |
| The evil Timothy Dolan |
We really needed his help, since the pope said only a day before, "If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?" We're far too stupid to understand a statement like that. So Timmy stepped in
TheNice start, but he went downhill fast. To fully grok his evilness, you must recall that Dolan is the Catholic point-man for attacks on gay marriage. So what did he say on TV, to "clarify" the pope's words?gay-hatinghead of the New York Archdiocese, speaking Tuesday on "CBS This Morning," praised the new pope for the "beautifully tender way" that he spoke about the issue one day earlier.
Dolan specifically reiterated the church's teaching on same-sex relationships, noting "the immorality, in God's view, of any sexual expression outside of a man and a woman in lifelong marriage."Thanks, Timmy! So let's see. Sex is only okay when it occurs within a marriage between (ahem) a man and a woman. Isn't that sweet? He reminds us that sex outside marriage is sinful -- and yet he is the honcho who opposes marriage for gays in the United States. So marriage makes sex okay -- but marriage must forever be denied to gay people: Catch-22. Timmy must be so proud of himself.
Thanks a lot, Timmy! We were confused by the pope's kind words but you straightened us out. Now we can go back to beating gay people up, killing them and making fun of them at every opportunity.
Hey Dolan, let me clarify your words for you. You're a filthy, gay-hating pig. If hell was real, it's where you'd belong.
July 30, 2013
How Great Thou Art
Oddly, I woke up yesterday with a song in my head. It was Dixie Carter singing "How Great Thou Art" (at least I think that's the name of the song). If you were a fan of "Designing Women", you might recall the episode where she sang this hymn.
It's the one where Charlene confronts her pastor about the church's inability to see women as full, valid persons. The episode included a long, sad conversation between Charlene and the pastor. He affirmed the church's position: women cannot be priests. So Charlene told him tearfully that she was going to have to leave the church. It hurt her terribly to consider doing this, but the church's misogyny was too much to bear. She couldn't be a part of that. And she figured a loving god would have nothing to do with a church that viewed women as adjuncts, helpers and servants -- but never equals.
And meanwhile, Julia Sugarbaker (Dixie Carter) worried that she wouldn't be able to hit the high notes in "How Great Thou Art", which she was to sing in church that evening.
Anyway, this episode and that god-awful song were stuck in my head when I woke up to the news that Pope Francis likes gay people. But hiding behind this news, almost unnoticed by the media, was another statement: that the door is closed to women priests. Never. Gonna. Happen.
I think that was the huge news of the day, not that the pope managed to mention gay people without throwing up, but that the church will definitely continue to view women as half-persons, invalid beings who cannot fully participate in the church, by virtue of their vaginas.
I think dog was sending me a message by sticking that song in my head. It was a presentiment, a foretelling. Dog was saying, "The popeyguy's gonna trash women today. Watch out!" And lo and behold, that's exactly what happened.
If I was a Catholic woman who held out hope that the church would finally recognize my existence, I would be terribly depressed by the pope's words. And what is his reason for denigrating women? Because it's always been this way.
That's quite a church they've got there. It's a sickening organization in so many ways. But at least we know for sure now: the Catholic church hates women.
It's the one where Charlene confronts her pastor about the church's inability to see women as full, valid persons. The episode included a long, sad conversation between Charlene and the pastor. He affirmed the church's position: women cannot be priests. So Charlene told him tearfully that she was going to have to leave the church. It hurt her terribly to consider doing this, but the church's misogyny was too much to bear. She couldn't be a part of that. And she figured a loving god would have nothing to do with a church that viewed women as adjuncts, helpers and servants -- but never equals.
And meanwhile, Julia Sugarbaker (Dixie Carter) worried that she wouldn't be able to hit the high notes in "How Great Thou Art", which she was to sing in church that evening.
Anyway, this episode and that god-awful song were stuck in my head when I woke up to the news that Pope Francis likes gay people. But hiding behind this news, almost unnoticed by the media, was another statement: that the door is closed to women priests. Never. Gonna. Happen.
I think that was the huge news of the day, not that the pope managed to mention gay people without throwing up, but that the church will definitely continue to view women as half-persons, invalid beings who cannot fully participate in the church, by virtue of their vaginas.
I think dog was sending me a message by sticking that song in my head. It was a presentiment, a foretelling. Dog was saying, "The popeyguy's gonna trash women today. Watch out!" And lo and behold, that's exactly what happened.
If I was a Catholic woman who held out hope that the church would finally recognize my existence, I would be terribly depressed by the pope's words. And what is his reason for denigrating women? Because it's always been this way.
That's quite a church they've got there. It's a sickening organization in so many ways. But at least we know for sure now: the Catholic church hates women.
July 29, 2013
Pope pretty relaxed about gays
I knew it. He just didn't seem like a crazy homophobe. Today we get confirmation of his relatively relaxed attitude toward gays.
"If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I to judge?" Francis asked.His predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, signed a document in 2005 that said men with deep-rooted homosexual tendencies should not be priests. Francis was much more conciliatory, saying gay clergymen should be forgiven and their sins forgotten.
For a pope, that's pretty damn good. (And never mind the "sin" part. Catholics are crazy; gotta remember that.)
This isn't bad, either:
Francis was asked about Italian media reports suggesting that a group within the church tried to blackmail fellow church officials with evidence of their homosexual activities. Italian media reported this year that the allegations contributed to Benedict's decision to resign.Stressing that Catholic social teaching that [sic] calls for homosexuals to be treated with dignity and not marginalized, Francis said it was something else entirely to conspire to use private information for blackmail or to exert pressure.
Repeat after me: "Pope Francis is not a crazy homophobe." And thank dog for that!
On the other hand, things don't look promising for women who want to be priests:
In one of his most important speeches delivered in Rio, Francis described the church in feminine terms, saying it would be "sterile" without women. Asked what role he foresaw, he said the church must develop a more profound role for women in the church, though he said "the door is closed" to ordaining women to the priesthood.
July 28, 2013
How Americans treat veterans
Yesterday there were several commemorative ceremonies for veterans of the Korean War. While watching a report about one of the gatherings, I heard a Korean War vet say that the public mistreated them when they came home to the states. Americans didn't seem to value their service. One fellow said he was spit on. I really didn't know much about the Korean War, so this surprised me.
It started me thinking. Vietnam veterans were also ill-treated when they returned from the war. I remember those days well. Though the American public came to value their service in later decades, at the time, returning veterans were viewed with suspicion -- almost as if they'd done something wrong. And yes, some were spit on.
And yet WWII vets were treated like saints. And today, we honor all veterans of the strange wars waged by the US in the past decade. No matter your walk of life, if you're an American you feel respect for these brave individuals.
It's odd. If the "value" of the war was the primary issue, you'd think we would treat today's veterans poorly. Most Americans see the Iraq war and the continuing Afghan military operations as virtually meaningless. To put it bluntly, the American people don't even know why the United States launched these wars. Yet we rightly go out of our way to honor every veteran who served in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Add in another factor. All those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan volunteered to fight. You'd think the "value" of the war might thus be placed on their shoulders. After all, in prior wars, people were drafted. Yet the drafted veterans who fought in the Korean and Vietnam wars were reviled upon their return. It was as if they were perceived as being personally responsible for "their" wars. The draftees!
The whole thing just seems odd, don't you think? I'm glad we value our veterans today. (Though of course, I wish the US would stop attacking random nations. But that's another post entirely.)
But the blot on our character remains. It's terrible that those who served in Vietnam and Korea were ill-treated upon their return to the states. The American public committed a sin, en masse, by reacting with hostility toward their returning warriors. I can't imagine how much this hurt those brave veterans. If you don't mind, I'll apologize for all of us:
It started me thinking. Vietnam veterans were also ill-treated when they returned from the war. I remember those days well. Though the American public came to value their service in later decades, at the time, returning veterans were viewed with suspicion -- almost as if they'd done something wrong. And yes, some were spit on.
And yet WWII vets were treated like saints. And today, we honor all veterans of the strange wars waged by the US in the past decade. No matter your walk of life, if you're an American you feel respect for these brave individuals.
It's odd. If the "value" of the war was the primary issue, you'd think we would treat today's veterans poorly. Most Americans see the Iraq war and the continuing Afghan military operations as virtually meaningless. To put it bluntly, the American people don't even know why the United States launched these wars. Yet we rightly go out of our way to honor every veteran who served in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Add in another factor. All those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan volunteered to fight. You'd think the "value" of the war might thus be placed on their shoulders. After all, in prior wars, people were drafted. Yet the drafted veterans who fought in the Korean and Vietnam wars were reviled upon their return. It was as if they were perceived as being personally responsible for "their" wars. The draftees!
The whole thing just seems odd, don't you think? I'm glad we value our veterans today. (Though of course, I wish the US would stop attacking random nations. But that's another post entirely.)
But the blot on our character remains. It's terrible that those who served in Vietnam and Korea were ill-treated upon their return to the states. The American public committed a sin, en masse, by reacting with hostility toward their returning warriors. I can't imagine how much this hurt those brave veterans. If you don't mind, I'll apologize for all of us:
As an American, I'm sorry for the way you were treated. That was wrong and it never should have happened. You did a great thing for your country. You were brave and you worked hard. For all your efforts, you deserve only praise. Today and forever, you have earned and you deserve the respect of all Americans. Please accept my apology.
July 26, 2013
The "new world of Pope Francis"
The phrase in my headline is the title of an article at Spiegel Online (Der Spiegel's English-language web site). So, is it a new world? I guess it is. He seems much different from his predecessor. Mind you, he's still down with the same abortion, celibacy, and gay marriage policies. It's not a new world for gays and women. Still, he's making huge changes, and apparently some are not pleased.
There is one odd, hopeful thing in the article. Apparently Francis appointed a prelate to check in on the Vatican Bank and report directly to him. He seems serious about cleaning up the bank. But there's concern over the prelate he's chosen for this job.
The curia is currently divided into those who are concerned that the pope is overexerting himself, and those who are afraid of the new order. "The pope is still getting warmed up," says the source from the curia. "We are crouching in the trenches, and quite a few are trembling."I guess the trembling is a good sign. But let's not forget that all Francis can offer the world is the same old fairy tale about Jesus, and the false promise of a glorious "afterlife". Religion is and always will be a magic fence surrounding nothing.
There is one odd, hopeful thing in the article. Apparently Francis appointed a prelate to check in on the Vatican Bank and report directly to him. He seems serious about cleaning up the bank. But there's concern over the prelate he's chosen for this job.
That appointment, though, could prove to be Pope Francis' first mistake. He chose Monsignore Battista Ricca, the former administrator of the Vatican guesthouse, for the job. But the magazine L'Espresso revealed last week that Ricca was transferred to the guesthouse in 2001 for disciplinary reasons, because he was allegedly living with and maintaining a homosexual relationship with a man in the nunciature of Montevideo and was beaten up in a gay bar. So does it exist after all, the "gay lobby" at the Vatican, whose members secure positions for each other? Did the curia deliberately conceal Ricca's past from the pope? These questions will have to remain unanswered for now, but the Ricca appointment could come back to haunt the pope.Something tells me the pope knows exactly who this man is. I continue to think that the pope's got a soft spot for gay people. Call me a fool, but I do. It will be interesting to see where the gay issue lands after he's been pope for a decade.
Nuns are totally cool
The one on the right is a true Braves fan. Note that she's got earbuds. She's probably monitoring the game by listening to her favorite announcers.
And don't worry about the one on the left. She's not having a bad time. She's just got a mouth full of hot dog. Seriously, I love them both.
July 25, 2013
How to fix Ike Davis
But no one's saying the right thing. He's got to change his walk-on music. For the entire two-year period, he's been using the Stones' "Start Me Up" as his song when he's in the batter's box. It's become the sound of failure. His brain hears it, knows what it means (failure) and then he strikes out. This is not rocket science. Change the song! In fact, change it weekly until he starts hitting -- and then keep the song that "worked". His brain will connect the new song to success.
As long as we're talking about baseball, look at that jersey in the photo above. Oy. They combined ORANGE and PURPLE! And yes, I yelled when I said that. I swear, sometimes it's hard to be a gay baseball fan. I got nauseous every time I saw that onscreen in last night's game (which they lost). Oy again. The MLB needs gay male advisers who can help them choose their colors. We could also send in a Beard Trim Mercy Squad to fix up all those horrid beards.
But for now, I'd settle for Ike changing his song. Someone tell him about this (in case he doesn't read my blog).
Not huggy
Hugging means waiting for someone to let go of me. That's how I see
it. No, I do not want to hug you. No, I do not want you to hug me. But
people do it. You just can't stop them.
I think I inherited this attitude from my mother, who was a curiously unhuggable woman. Mind you, she was a sweet, good person. But she didn't like to be hugged. If despite her wishes, you hugged her, she would put her arms around you without touching you. She'd keep herself at least an inch away from the actual, you know, person.
If I was lucky enough to be in position to see her face as someone hugged her, I saw boredom and a grudging willingness to put up with it. This always made me laugh. I could almost hear her thinking, "I know you need this, honey, but I don't". Ever polite, she waited for the hug to end, put a smile on her face and made believe it never happened.
Mind you, there's a time for hugging. If someone receives horrible news while in my presence, I hug them. But if there's no major tragedy in the air, I keep my distance and hope the other person will do the same. Doesn't always work out.
Hugging. It's not for everyone. Where do you stand on the hugging spectrum?
I think I inherited this attitude from my mother, who was a curiously unhuggable woman. Mind you, she was a sweet, good person. But she didn't like to be hugged. If despite her wishes, you hugged her, she would put her arms around you without touching you. She'd keep herself at least an inch away from the actual, you know, person.
If I was lucky enough to be in position to see her face as someone hugged her, I saw boredom and a grudging willingness to put up with it. This always made me laugh. I could almost hear her thinking, "I know you need this, honey, but I don't". Ever polite, she waited for the hug to end, put a smile on her face and made believe it never happened.
Mind you, there's a time for hugging. If someone receives horrible news while in my presence, I hug them. But if there's no major tragedy in the air, I keep my distance and hope the other person will do the same. Doesn't always work out.
Hugging. It's not for everyone. Where do you stand on the hugging spectrum?
July 23, 2013
Blogging (and life) update
I know, I know: I haven't been trashing the Vatican as much as you'd like. But I'm busy writing the next book -- and that's exactly what I should be doing.
Anyway, the Vatican has turned into a cartoon. Earning "indulgences" for following the pope's tweets? How can you make fun of something so dumb? You don't need satire here. It's enough to know that the church is offering people a way to shorten their stay in Purgatory by...clicking on something on their computer or phone.
And the pope's ludicrous arrival in Brazil yesterday! What can I say? The man must want to be killed (and I assure you there are many in the Curia who would love to do the deed). I like his focus on poverty, but offering Jesus as a constructive way out of this dilemma is ludicrous. Let's see this pope sit down with the IMF and straighten them out. That might mean something.
Look, all churches are based on nonsense. There's nothing sensible about any religion. Belief in gods is, quite simply, a scourge upon humanity. In the end, I truly believe that religion will bring about humanity's extinction. I'm sure some of you think this remark is over the top. But once you let nonsense into your mind -- like the idea of living after death, and the very existence of gods and angels -- your mind is open to any sort of idiocy. And that is the road to ruin.
We need a rational approach to our global problems. But as long as religion continues to delude most of mankind, we'll never get to the point where we can come to grips with our problems. After all, why bother? Jeebus will fix everything -- and it really doesn't matter, in the long run. After all, we're all going to heaven, where everything is pink and fluffy and faaaabulous. Why worry? Sigh.
As for me, I've been easing myself back into fiction-writing mode. Little by little, it's happening. Not only am I writing the new book; I'm also thinking about the story as I walk, shower, watch baseball, and live my life. That's the most important trick: creating a place in your mind where the story can blossom. The game is on, kids. The new book ("The Worlds") is happening.
So hang on. When I've finished the book I'll return to blogging full-time. And at that point, I promise I will bash religion relentlessly, day after day. But for right now, I'm busy. And thank dog for that.
PS: I think they should name the Royal baby "Nit".
Anyway, the Vatican has turned into a cartoon. Earning "indulgences" for following the pope's tweets? How can you make fun of something so dumb? You don't need satire here. It's enough to know that the church is offering people a way to shorten their stay in Purgatory by...clicking on something on their computer or phone.
And the pope's ludicrous arrival in Brazil yesterday! What can I say? The man must want to be killed (and I assure you there are many in the Curia who would love to do the deed). I like his focus on poverty, but offering Jesus as a constructive way out of this dilemma is ludicrous. Let's see this pope sit down with the IMF and straighten them out. That might mean something.
Look, all churches are based on nonsense. There's nothing sensible about any religion. Belief in gods is, quite simply, a scourge upon humanity. In the end, I truly believe that religion will bring about humanity's extinction. I'm sure some of you think this remark is over the top. But once you let nonsense into your mind -- like the idea of living after death, and the very existence of gods and angels -- your mind is open to any sort of idiocy. And that is the road to ruin.
We need a rational approach to our global problems. But as long as religion continues to delude most of mankind, we'll never get to the point where we can come to grips with our problems. After all, why bother? Jeebus will fix everything -- and it really doesn't matter, in the long run. After all, we're all going to heaven, where everything is pink and fluffy and faaaabulous. Why worry? Sigh.
As for me, I've been easing myself back into fiction-writing mode. Little by little, it's happening. Not only am I writing the new book; I'm also thinking about the story as I walk, shower, watch baseball, and live my life. That's the most important trick: creating a place in your mind where the story can blossom. The game is on, kids. The new book ("The Worlds") is happening.
So hang on. When I've finished the book I'll return to blogging full-time. And at that point, I promise I will bash religion relentlessly, day after day. But for right now, I'm busy. And thank dog for that.
PS: I think they should name the Royal baby "Nit".
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)