The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

I often times regret studying psychology in college, because it's led to me having a tendency to over-analyze everything, and not only that, but ten years after I graduated, I've yet to utilize the degrees I earned a great deal. However, once in a while, what I learned through the course of college, especially in the field of psychology, pays its dividends, where I'll have an "ah-ha!" moment and think to myself, "Now, if I hadn't have studied psychology, I probably wouldn't have thought of that." Such was the case when recently thinking about the Indiana RFRA law (Religious Freedom Restoration Act) and how many Christians positively reacted to it.  It really befuddled me to hear Christians say such things as the following in response to the passage of the bill and the backlash it received:  - "We're not discriminating against anyone! Liberals are discriminating against us for our beliefs!" - "What these liberals want...

It's being reported that shock rocker Marilyn Manson will soon be making the most shocking move of his entire career and releasing a gospel rock album. According to Manson, the man who was once self-described as the "Antichrist Superstar," he'll be putting a different spin on some classic hymns. When we talked to him about it during a recent interview, he said this: "I've done heavy metal, space rock, punk and goth rock, classic rock, and even blues rock. I've shocked through my lyrics and onstage antics, but that shock has lost its luster through the years. So, I thought to myself, what would shock people more than anything right now? Releasing a gospel rock album! That would f**king shock the sh*t out of them!" When asked, Manson also added that the album will be called, "The Helly Bible: King Manson's Version," and will include the following songs: - "Amazing Lace" - "I Philander All" - "Onward Dr...

In light of the tragic elementary school shooting, which ended with twenty-six casualties (excluding the shooter) - twenty of which were 6- and 7-year old kids - most of the country has tried figuring out who or what to blame. This is extremely common when tragedies strike. When the Columbine school shootings occurred, the media was quick to blame violent video games and musician Marilyn Manson. There was little to no evidence to suggest this, especially with regard to Manson, since it was later discovered the two shooters didn't even like his music. However, it made the nation feel some sense of collective relief, in being able to solve the riddle, as well as push responsibility as far away from themselves as was possible. Following the Friday shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, there have been three main areas of blame: 1) Lack of mental health services/funding 2) Lack of gun regulation 3) Violent video games Those have been the main three areas of focus, especially for liber...

That sounds bad, doesn't it? ANOTHER man? Yeah, I already know what you're thinking. But, it's meant to be tongue-n-cheek and no, don't even take that expression literally. When I went in for an interview a while back regarding a book of mine, my gut instinct told me not to get into any discussions about politics. I came to find out that day, as usual, my gut was correct and thank God I didn't talk or debate politics during the interview. A name the interviewer kept bringing up was that of James Dobson. She asked me if I had heard of him and I hesitated, thought for a moment, and then nodded and responded with a yes. That summed up my knowledge of the guy. I had heard his name before, but didn't know much about him. Oddly enough, I started hearing his name more and more over the following couple weeks and it always seemed to be something involving politics. At the time, I resided in the fourth most conservative state in the country, Nebraska. The only stat...