What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it.
Father Barron
Posted by bpopp @
09:06 PM - 99
reads.
I saw this clip of a catholic priest named Father Barron on Reddit the other day. Reddit wasn't too excited about what he had to say (of course), but I was really impressed with the guy. He's very eloquently criticizing this new Harris/Dawkins-led Atheist "movement" that is all the fad right now. At the end he uses CS Lewis' argument (which he unfortunately doesn't site) that people seem to have a hard-wired need for God (or a god) which perhaps wouldn't be there unless there was God. Ie. we get thirsty-- there is water. We get hungry-- there is food. We get horny-- there is sex. It not an argument that is going to convert anyone from their disbelief, but it is an interesting observation.
Tonight I started listening to some of his other stuff and I really like him. It's very odd (and refreshing) to see a catholic priest reviewing "No Country For Old Men" and saying "I'm a big fan of th..
Intolerance Should be a Sin
Posted by bpopp @
02:06 PM - 122
reads.
A few months ago the Department of Homeland Security put out a document that basically classified certain groups of people as potential terrorists. One paragraph reads:
Quote: Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.
When this came out, I started getting lots of emails from conservative friends and family complaining that Obama was unjustly "targeting" them as terrorists for their conservative belie..
Memnock the Devil
Posted by bpopp @
01:05 PM - 50
reads.
I'm listening to Anne Rice's Memnock the Devil again. It's such a great book. It's part of her vampire series, but really has very little to do with the rest of the books. The vampire protagonist, Lestat, meets the devil and God and is forced to pick between them. You'd think this would be a relatively easy decision, but the devil presents a very different story of the struggle between heaven and hell.
In his account, he and his followers rebelled against God because they couldn't accept the suffering and brutality of the physical world God had created. They watched in horror as simple organisms evolved into god-like humans who's life depended on the death and decay of everything around it.
It's such a great story because she intertwines all these stories from the Bible and Catholic theology. For example, when God first casts Memnock out of heaven, he and his minions, in order to better understand humanity, take human form and began living amongst the tr..
It's insane to me that with all the stuff we have going on in the world, this woman would pick this to get up and talk about to Congress. If you really care, talk about it in church. The founding fathers were pretty clear and their reasoning was sound: when you mix government w/ religion you corrupt them both. When people like Bush and Backmann use their government-mandated position of power to promote their own personal religion, they are turning droves of people away from God.
The Divide
Posted by bpopp @
01:04 AM - 376
reads.
I have never been able to understand how a Civil War could happen in a country like the United States, but lately, it's making a lot more sense. Anyone that knows me well knows that I love to argue, but even I am to the point where I just want to cry mercy, disconnect my internet connection, turn off the TV, and go live in the woods somewhere (preferably up North). I get at least 15 politically motivated emails a day from friends, coworkers, and relatives.
Religulous and the Religion Backlash
Posted by bpopp @
02:02 PM - 302
reads.
Depending on the circles you run in, you may not have noticed, but religion is dying. The younger generations especially are turning against religion in droves. If you read any of the technology news websites like Digg or Reddit for any period of time, you will quickly and unequivocally pick up on this. Maybe it's always been this way and I just didn't notice it when I was younger. Maybe I'm just becoming that old man on the park bench grumbling about "kids today", but it just seems much more pervasive than I can ever remember.
Last night Steph and I watched Bill Maher's movie, Religulous. You've probably heard really bad things about this movie, but I thought it was a good documentary. Bill Maher is a sharp guy and is surprisingly knowledgeable about religion. He's also consistent with his attacks against all religion, unlike Harris and Dawkins who often liberally portray Buddhists and Muslims ..
Hermann Goering on War
Posted by bpopp @
10:02 PM - 284
reads.
Hermann Goering was a high ranking Nazi in Hitler's Third Reich. He was sentenced to hang at the Nuremberg trials, but took his own life instead hours before his scheduled execution. When it was suggested to him that most people in the world did not share his excitement regarding war and conquest he replied:
Quote: "Why, of course, the people don't want war," Goering shrugged. "Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship."
Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration. 