The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

Why is it, at least in this country, whenever someone describes another as a "Christian man," it's typically preceded by the word "good"? "Oh, that Mr. Buster Jaw is such a good Christian man." I don't think I've ever heard this kind of statement made about a person of a different religious persuasion. "Oh, Mohammad Allah is such a fine Muslim man." "Jesus Knot is such a wonderful Atheist man." "You know what? Moses Dunno is a great agnostic man!" "Tom Cruise is such a sweet Scientology man-person or whatever." "I adore her! Lucy Fur is truly a good Satanic woman." So, according to some, can a person not be good if he or she isn't a Christian? What if a person claims to be Christian but acts otherwise? What if a person misinterprets the Bible, believes they're acting Christian, when in fact they're not? Here's a thought - how about we leave religion out of the ...

Anymore, it seems like not a day passes when I don't read about a young woman who was sexually assaulted or raped on (or near) campus, and every day, this news becomes ever more disturbing. The latest such report comes via Al Jazeera, who investigated students that had been assaulted or raped at the ultra-conservative Christian school Bob Jones University. During the summer before she started attending classes at Bob Jones, Katie Landry was raped by a coworker on multiple occasions. As is commonplace among rape victims, Landry felt shameful, and due to this, neglected to report the crime(s) for several years. Her grades suffered as a direct result of this. After she finally admitted the events to both herself and others, she sought counseling, only to be told by the dean of students that, "We have to find the sin in your life that caused your rape." No, that wasn't a typo. When speaking to Al Jazeera about the matter, Landry said the following: "He confirme...

Ever since they suffered significant defeats in the 2012 election, the Republican Party has talked about "rebranding" themselves. This has been anything but successful, as for every one pro-women's or pro-minorities' rights speech they give, it seems as if they give four or five in the opposite direction. When I thought about the GOP and "rebranding" the other night, though, a thought occurred to me - the party has been quite successful with the concept of rebranding, just not when it comes to their party's image. No, the kind of rebranding I'm talking about is in reference to words. Let me run down a list of the words or concepts the GOP has seemed to successfully rebrand over the years (unfortunately): Liberal Actual definition: "Favorable to or in accord with concepts of maximum individual freedom possible, especially as guaranteed by law and secured by governmental protection of civil liberties," "favoring or permitting freed...

I saw this poem posted on Facebook by a couple of acquaintances this morning: "When I say, 'I am a Christian' I’m not shouting, 'I’ve been saved!' I’m whispering, 'I get lost sometimes That’s why I chose this way' When I say, 'I am a Christian' I don’t speak with human pride I’m confessing that I stumble - needing God to be my guide When I say, 'I am a Christian' I’m not trying to be strong I’m professing that I’m weak and pray for strength to carry on When I say, 'I am a Christian' I’m not bragging of success I’m admitting that I’ve failed and cannot ever pay the debt When I say, 'I am a Christian' I don’t think I know it all I submit to my confusion asking humbly to be taught When I say, 'I am a Christian' I’m not claiming to be perfect My flaws are far too visible but God believes I’m worth it When I say, 'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain I have my share of ...

Charisma is a "Christian" magazine, who just recently decided to become politically active in sending the following e-mail to subscribers of their newsletter: " Obamacare Just Killed its Millionth Person... Dear Concerned Citizen, The eleventh hour is upon us. In the coming weeks, the full impact of Obamacare will take effect. I've seen what's coming and it's scary. It's a lethal dose of socialism being injected directly into the heart of the American health insurance market. Heck, it's already wreaking havoc. By our estimates, Obamacare has already killed a million people by further straining an already weak healthcare system. It's NOT too late to fight back, though! In a moment, I'm going to ask you to help me repeal Obamacare before it's too late. You see, I'm petitioning Senate Democrats along with the President to kill Obamacare for good. So if you're on the side of personal liberty... Small government.....

The uber-conservative, "Christian" American Family Association is at it again. Yes, the same group that called for kidnapping children of same-sex couples has uttered more crazy talk for the world to digest. In an e-mail sent by Donald E. Wildmon to AFA members, it read: "What will religion look like in the year 2060? Conservative Christians will be treated as second class citizens, much like African Americans were prior to civil rights legislation in the 1960s. Family as we know it will be drastically changed with the state taking charge of the children beginning at birth. Marriage will include two, three, four or any number of participants. Marriage will not be important, with individuals moving in and out of a 'family' group at will. Churchbuildings will be little used, with many sold to secular buyers and the money received going to the government. Churches will not be allowed to discuss any political issues, even if it affects the church directly....

Why does "abortion" trump all other issues for many such voters it seems (along with gay marriage for some)? Are there not other issues to which we could cherry pick, regardless of the candidate or which party he or she belonged to, which we could deem as not "Christian"? What's more "Christian"? Wanting to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with attempting to work things out diplomatically with Iran or to not want to end those before-mentioned wars and seeming to be a bit more eager in adding another with regard to Iran? What's more "Christian"? Wanting each and every person, regardless of age, gender, race, orientation, creed, etc. to have an equal opportunity when it comes to education, employment and making something of themselves in this country or to place the middle- and lower-classes of Americans at the bottom of the priority ladder and the wealthiest at the very top, claiming that their wealth will trickle down to t...

At a town hall on Sunday night, Republican Vice Presidential candidate and post-P90x workout Screen Powers lookalike - Paul Ryan, said the following: "(Obama's vision is) ...a path that grows government, restricts freedom and liberty and compromises those values -- those Judeo-Christian, Western civilization values that made us a great and exceptional nation in the first place." This is funny. Paul Ryan is laying claim that Barack Obama - a self-described "Christian" - will threaten this country's "Judeo-Christian" values, yet is campaigning to become second in power to a man that is Mormon. That'd be like if a Republican Vice Presidential candidate declared that the Democratic nominee for president intended to ruin the sanctity of marriage by making gay marriage legal in all fifty states, when the Republican nominee for president had been divorced four times. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/04/paul-ryan-social-conservatives-religio...

It's always flummoxed me why so many "Christians" opt to vote for Republican candidates over any other, Democratic ones in particular. Many religious leaders have seemingly brainwashed these individuals into thinking that if they vote for a candidate who is either pro-choice or pro-gay marriage (or both), they'll be voting against God's wishes. Those have been the two issues that these religious leaders have centered their political messages around. Forget war, education, the environment, the economy, etc. It's all about abortion and gay rights. This is the reason why many die-hard Christians won't vote for Democrats. On the other side of things, since Republican politicians have generally been more outspoken about their alleged Christian faith, this has also made the Republican candidates more attractive to them than the Democratic ones. Why a candidate's spoken words that he or she is a Christian is of greater importance than he or she illustrating t...

I'm still amazed on how so many Republicans win elections just by telling people that they love God, have family values, are pro-life and are anti-gay marriage. They play the Christian "moral" card. "Vote for me. I'll be a good role model for your kids and will move this country in the manner God would want. I know, because I magically lived life back when Jesus did and wrote most of The Bible on his behalf." The reason I think this is so ridiculous is that every person makes mistakes. We can preach all we'd like that we're "one with God," yet that doesn't make it so and doesn't negate any mistakes we've made or will continue to make in our lives. Also, when we go in for job interviews, while it'd be preferable that the potential employees aren't rotten people, most all employers will be more focused on hiring people whom they feel can move the company forward from a business perspective as opposed to hiring people t...

Republican Kansas State Senate candidate Steve Fitzgerald recently told the Polish American Club that the Democratic Party has become un-Christian. When asked about this comment by The Huffington Post , Fitzgerald responded with the following: "My main point is that the Democratic platform and policies nationally are in attempt to redefine marriage in effect to say what Christ has said about marriage is a lie. Christ said marriage is between one man and one woman and the Democratic platform said that it's not true. So therefore, my point was that one cannot support the Democratic platform and be a follower of Christ. ...The contention that I said that one cannot be Catholic or Christian and a Democrat is not an unreasonable summation of what I actually said. My actual message was fix the party or leave." I'm thinking that Mr. Fitzgerald hasn't read The Bible - that or has read a different version of it. I'm guessing in this edited version, the following...

It seems that the only issue more divisive than gay marriage or perhaps homosexuality in general is abortion. One reason why Republicans have won the support of Evangelicals the past few election cycles is there stance on those two issues (an overwhelming majority). I know many die-hard Christians whom vote for a candidate based on his or her view of abortion and gay marriage. While everyone is entitled to their own opinion, typical Christian logic regarding gay marriage has puzzled me to no end. Just recently, I ran into this following article and read through the majority of comments following the article. I'll give you a chance to read it (and them, if you so choose): http://news.change.org/stories/yes-chick-fil-a-says-we-explicitly-do-not-like-same-sex-couples The two Christian die-hard in the comments section are one "LogicalBrandon" (yes, he preceded his name with "logical". Isn't that special?) and "RayCherry" (he's not quite as bad)...

Hypocritical Faith A man of love, A man of peace, A man I worship, A role model for me, Living my life through him, Intent on doing his good work, So that I may be rewarded in the end, Save others in the process, I cringe at the sight of the obese, Point and laugh at the unattractive, Disregard those in need, All in the name of Jesus, Staring at the good looking, Licking my lips time and again, Raging hormones making their presence known, Dirty thoughts rummage through my head, War is the first option, Collateral damage is of no importance, Gays mustn’t marry, Women must be silent, Tossing a soda can at a bum, Laughing in the process, On the way back from church, All in the name of Jesus.