Just random stuff
OK, I'm going to start out by saying some things that coming from me might sound hypocritical so I'm going to tell you about my day first.
I was going to go to Salt Lake to buy a cake. There's a little bakery I know about that makes really good cakes, but they're in Salt Lake and I wanted some cake. I hopped in the car and was on my way when something just kinda told me I needed to not do that. Hey, interesting things happen when I have that feeling so I turned around and went back home.
I sat around for about an hour doing nothing. June came home and we talked about what she might want for dinner. She suggested pot roast. I told her I was thinking about dutch oven ribs with bbq. sauce, baked beans, and potato salad. That's what we agreed on. Because I didn't have all the stuff to make it, that meant a trip to the grocery was a necessity.
I went to the Commissary. I really do appreciate that benefit. On my way there, I just happened to notice this car next to me. OK, what I noticed wasn't the car, but the license plate that read, and I'm not making this up, SMBAGRL. That could mean a lot of things to a lot of people. I know what it meant to me. (RIP Simba)
I had to tell you that story to tell you this one. Given the time of day, there was some children's programming on BBN so I switched to another radio station that plays more contemporary Christian music. I really like some of that music and it was a nice alternative to what was on at that particular moment on the other radio station. This plays into the story. Bear with me.
After shopping, when I got back in the car, the first song on the radio, after a second or two for dramatic pause was, and I kid you not, I'm Not Who I was. I forget the artist, but I really like the song. The first time I heard it was when I saw a link on someone's Facebook page (see the first story for a clue as to whose it was) several months ago.
That was my day. A then B then C then, well, you tell me...
Anyway, I had to bore you with all of this to talk about what I want to.
The point is that I'm not who I was so my attitudes toward things have changed. The following story would be a case in point.
It's not a shock that the Catholic Church does not condone contraception. It's not something they came up with last week. It's also no shock to the Catholic Church that it's not an uncommon practice among Catholics to use contraception (at least in America). We have this thing called the Constitution, which some folks seem to forget about (you know, the thing that lets us keep guns). It also keeps us from having the "Church of the United States of America" and lets folks worship as they please, as long as it's within the boundaries of following the laws of the country.
If you work for an organization like that (I know someone in this situation), you kind of understand there are going to be things in your workplace that may not represent your private views. You might have to make some sacrifices to work there. I'm just sayin' that when you take a job like this, you understand up front what the deal is. They shouldn't have to acquiesce to your personal desires. (this goes for gay marriage, too)
It shouldn't come as a shock to anyone that most churches have some pretty specific ideals about sex. Those come from the Bible. Church, Bible, sex outside of marriage: sinful. Homosexuality: sinful (actually the Bible uses some stronger words than that). Believers can't condone it. Please don't ask us to. I realize I never used to feel this way. I was wrong. That's what I mean about sounding a bit hypocritical. Having the Government come out the way they did and say that organizations that don't condone the use of contraception having to pay for it for their employees is wrong. (un-Constitutional?)
Equally wrong is vilifying a young woman for speaking out in favor of some sort of mandate for insurance companies to provide contraception coverage by calling her names is wrong. Plain wrong.
What Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reiley said about this young woman today is outrageous and any decent network would suspend or outright fire these men. Look what Don Imus said and rightfully lost his job. This vitriol has got to stop and has to stop with us. It's not Christian to destroy the messenger because you don't like the message. This poor woman just spoke up and shared her side of the story with folks that wanted to hear it. Does that make her a "slut" or a "prostitute"? Hardly. Calling her this makes Mr. O'Reilley and Mr. Limbaugh something there's a word for but I don't use that kind of language anymore. I fully support a boycott of any advertiser that will buy time on his show and refuse to watch Fox News until they act.
Look, sex outside of marriage is wrong. It took some very hard lessons at the hand of the Almighty to come to be able to say it. Just because we can prevent pregnancy doesn't mean it's a green light to sin. I can tell you I believe it's a sin. I can live my life in accordance with my beliefs (I do, by the way, these days). I can try to get you to read the Bible (why aren't you reading your Bible?) But I can't force you to accept that. Only you can make that choice for you.
Two more things: I work for the government. Before I made the choice to jump out of the gene pool, my ex used 'the pill', while we were married, and subsidized by you, the American taxpayer, through premiums paid to my insurance company on my behalf as part of my benefits package. They, in turn, subsidized the purchase of this perfectly legal prescription drug. We used 'the pill' for family planning purposes. If I followed Mr. Limbaugh's logic to its natural conclusion, government workers who also use contraception prescribed by a physician should be recording and posting online their most intimate activities. After all, he's entitled because he's subsidizing government workers' healthcare.
The real answer to this problem is this: Get rid of this foolish and antiquated notion that our healthcare system should be employer-based. Universal coverage paid for by all of us into one pool; essentially Medicare for all; would have prevented the rule that prompted all the uproar in the first place. The institutions in question would not have to provide something they don't agree with in the first place. It would be up to each person's own moral choices.
And we could still keep our guns!
I was going to go to Salt Lake to buy a cake. There's a little bakery I know about that makes really good cakes, but they're in Salt Lake and I wanted some cake. I hopped in the car and was on my way when something just kinda told me I needed to not do that. Hey, interesting things happen when I have that feeling so I turned around and went back home.
I sat around for about an hour doing nothing. June came home and we talked about what she might want for dinner. She suggested pot roast. I told her I was thinking about dutch oven ribs with bbq. sauce, baked beans, and potato salad. That's what we agreed on. Because I didn't have all the stuff to make it, that meant a trip to the grocery was a necessity.
I went to the Commissary. I really do appreciate that benefit. On my way there, I just happened to notice this car next to me. OK, what I noticed wasn't the car, but the license plate that read, and I'm not making this up, SMBAGRL. That could mean a lot of things to a lot of people. I know what it meant to me. (RIP Simba)
I had to tell you that story to tell you this one. Given the time of day, there was some children's programming on BBN so I switched to another radio station that plays more contemporary Christian music. I really like some of that music and it was a nice alternative to what was on at that particular moment on the other radio station. This plays into the story. Bear with me.
After shopping, when I got back in the car, the first song on the radio, after a second or two for dramatic pause was, and I kid you not, I'm Not Who I was. I forget the artist, but I really like the song. The first time I heard it was when I saw a link on someone's Facebook page (see the first story for a clue as to whose it was) several months ago.
That was my day. A then B then C then, well, you tell me...
Anyway, I had to bore you with all of this to talk about what I want to.
The point is that I'm not who I was so my attitudes toward things have changed. The following story would be a case in point.
It's not a shock that the Catholic Church does not condone contraception. It's not something they came up with last week. It's also no shock to the Catholic Church that it's not an uncommon practice among Catholics to use contraception (at least in America). We have this thing called the Constitution, which some folks seem to forget about (you know, the thing that lets us keep guns). It also keeps us from having the "Church of the United States of America" and lets folks worship as they please, as long as it's within the boundaries of following the laws of the country.
If you work for an organization like that (I know someone in this situation), you kind of understand there are going to be things in your workplace that may not represent your private views. You might have to make some sacrifices to work there. I'm just sayin' that when you take a job like this, you understand up front what the deal is. They shouldn't have to acquiesce to your personal desires. (this goes for gay marriage, too)
It shouldn't come as a shock to anyone that most churches have some pretty specific ideals about sex. Those come from the Bible. Church, Bible, sex outside of marriage: sinful. Homosexuality: sinful (actually the Bible uses some stronger words than that). Believers can't condone it. Please don't ask us to. I realize I never used to feel this way. I was wrong. That's what I mean about sounding a bit hypocritical. Having the Government come out the way they did and say that organizations that don't condone the use of contraception having to pay for it for their employees is wrong. (un-Constitutional?)
Equally wrong is vilifying a young woman for speaking out in favor of some sort of mandate for insurance companies to provide contraception coverage by calling her names is wrong. Plain wrong.
What Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reiley said about this young woman today is outrageous and any decent network would suspend or outright fire these men. Look what Don Imus said and rightfully lost his job. This vitriol has got to stop and has to stop with us. It's not Christian to destroy the messenger because you don't like the message. This poor woman just spoke up and shared her side of the story with folks that wanted to hear it. Does that make her a "slut" or a "prostitute"? Hardly. Calling her this makes Mr. O'Reilley and Mr. Limbaugh something there's a word for but I don't use that kind of language anymore. I fully support a boycott of any advertiser that will buy time on his show and refuse to watch Fox News until they act.
Look, sex outside of marriage is wrong. It took some very hard lessons at the hand of the Almighty to come to be able to say it. Just because we can prevent pregnancy doesn't mean it's a green light to sin. I can tell you I believe it's a sin. I can live my life in accordance with my beliefs (I do, by the way, these days). I can try to get you to read the Bible (why aren't you reading your Bible?) But I can't force you to accept that. Only you can make that choice for you.
Two more things: I work for the government. Before I made the choice to jump out of the gene pool, my ex used 'the pill', while we were married, and subsidized by you, the American taxpayer, through premiums paid to my insurance company on my behalf as part of my benefits package. They, in turn, subsidized the purchase of this perfectly legal prescription drug. We used 'the pill' for family planning purposes. If I followed Mr. Limbaugh's logic to its natural conclusion, government workers who also use contraception prescribed by a physician should be recording and posting online their most intimate activities. After all, he's entitled because he's subsidizing government workers' healthcare.
The real answer to this problem is this: Get rid of this foolish and antiquated notion that our healthcare system should be employer-based. Universal coverage paid for by all of us into one pool; essentially Medicare for all; would have prevented the rule that prompted all the uproar in the first place. The institutions in question would not have to provide something they don't agree with in the first place. It would be up to each person's own moral choices.
And we could still keep our guns!
BTW, the artist who sings the song in the post is named Brandon Heath.
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