The Hammer is About to Drop

Remember this post?

I am about to reveal who the person is. 

The victim had come forward and will share their story shortly.  It will come in short installments which will be easy to read.

Evil must be brought to the light. 

Thank you,

I. C.

The Obligatory 100,000 Page-Hit Thank You Post

Unlike all other bloggers, I will not be posting a thank you about my 100,000th page hit, which happened today.  I will not be thanking you, my readers, for bringing your eyeballs and hearts back here over and over again.  I will not tell you how grateful I am that you actually give a rat's rear end about anything I have to say.

I will not thank you for laughing with me, crying with me, raising an eyebrow at my words and letting me have it with both barrels.  I won't be telling you how grateful I am for your continued presence throughout my journey out of Christianity.  Finally, I won't tell you how much I love you and how much of a desire and motivation you give me to keep coming back and writing for you.

It's just too cliche.

Letters From Mama: An Expert on Love

At the beginning of our marriage - okay, for the first six years - I felt that it was my Christian duty to visit Mama and love her with my simple presence.  The visits were excruciating for Kristine.  Mama was very good with the condescending comments and seemed to whip them out at will at the worst times.  Kristine would cry on the way home some days.

It was worse for the children.  Mama had a cupboard full of toys.  So many toys, a large commercial daycare would be entertained for a month.  But my kids were only allowed to take out one toy at a time and play with it.  Then, before they could play with something else, they had to put the toy back.  That ruined all the fun.  Every parent knows that a kid hasn't had any fun unless every toy and non-toy is strewn all over the floor, in the sink, and flushed down the toilet.  Sure, they have to learn the responsibility of cleaning, but, gosh durn it, the kid has to have fun!

Then the floor to ceiling, full wall length, bookshelf in the dining room.  It was full of kids books and other books for any age.  Picture books galore, piled up to the ceiling.  A child's paradise.  But, again, one book at a time.  And if one of my kids grabbed two, they lost the book reading privilege altogether.

One day, with all of this love, we received the following note from Mama, in reference to one of our visits:

*****

Dear Joseph and Kristine! :)

[Addressing this note to Kristine was big deal.  Mama would just as soon forget that she existed than have to speak to her in a cordial manner.]

Thanks!  Thanks!  Thanks!  for the gracious day yesterday!  Even enjoyed the humor-filled, love-filled talking about your arguments and will keep you lifted up to [God] that He would, in the midst of them, ever so graciously keep you reminded of His helps in His Word so that even in private you will be able to have them infused with humor and agape love! :)

[So glad that sentence ended.  I was losing my breath just reading it. 

What does she mean by the word "even"?  I find it a little odd to have it placed in the position it is placed.  It's almost as if Mama was saying that she normally didn't like talking about marriage with me.  Unfortunately for her, I flaunted all of it.  My joys, my faults, my fights, my kisses, my flowers.  Every bit of raw humanity that made up the intimate love I felt for my bride, I threw it at her. 

Come to think of it, I think I did it purposefully.  I hated how she beat my dad and kicked him out of the house to sleep behind a bank sign night after night.  I hated the yelling matches they had at night.  I hated how she burned into my heart, a seething hatred for the man he was, which I discovered later, was nothing but a pack of lies.  I wanted her to see the beauty of real love in all its chaotic color.

And it obviously backfired.  She used everything against me, positioning herself to be the "counselor" for Kristine and I.  She had the audacity to imagine that she held the keys to a perfect marriage.  I knew her keys and they were fake.  They only worked as long as it meant she was the one being worshiped.  If not, they were not keys at all, but firebrands to be thrown in the eyes of her enemies - which happened to be her little children.]

So sweet was the attention from your daughters.

[Mama.  They hated going to your house!  They were miserable!  They gave you attention so they could get you to give them more toys!  And you blew it.]

Hugs and kisses and love, 

 

Mama :)

*****

Some days, I hate myself for subjecting Kristine and my children to her antics. 

A Daddy's Mistake

Memorial Day, 2012 started out as all Memorial Days for our family.  Kristine and I woke up and listened as the kids rattled around in the kitchen getting themselves breakfast.  We heard the bowls hit the table, the milk spill, boxes of cereal fly all over the floor, then silence.  Children eating is a beautiful sound.  That is, until they want seconds and try to determine, like a flock of rabid hens, who should get how much and what kind of cereal was fair, should the inventory be getting low.

Groggily, we made our way down the stairs and viewed the damage.  There wasn't much a day of cleaning couldn't take care of and we were pretty well refreshed from a long night of sleep.

Then, Kristine announced that she was going out with a friend - all day - to go clothes shopping.

Now, to be fair, she had mentioned this fact to me about fifty times over the course of the previous several weeks, but it never really hit home until the time came for her to leave and I looked at the massive cleaning job that was our house.  But, like a good husband, I pouted, complained, kissed her goodbye and watched her leave my life for a day.

I didn't want to clean and I knew the kids didn't either, so I yelled out orders for them to get dressed with socks and tennis shoes, grab a swimsuit and a towel, and off we went.  We drove to a grocery store, picked up some vittles, stopped at a park to eat, then drove into Wisconsin to travel the two lane country roads, stopping at small town parks along the way to do nothing but enjoy the sunshine and slides.

We stopped in a small hovel called St. Joseph.  They had a town hall backed up against a really cool park.  Off the park was a grass path that dipped down into a grassy area and disappeared over a small rise.  We could see the path come back from the other direction and figured that it was a circle. 

I thought, "Small town.  Small path."  So, off we went.

About a half mile into the path, the sun was hot, I was carrying two kids, Renaya was carrying one, Laura was holding one by the hand, and everyone was sweaty and miserable.  I looked over the vast grassy plain and realized that we were only about halfway around the circle and tried valiantly to get the kids excited about anything - just anything.

"Jack!  Look!  A butterfly with black wings!  Isn't that cool!"

"I don't wike buttofwies.  I'm tieahd.  I hot Daddyeeeeeee," Jack wailed.

"Ok, I'll carry you."

And on it went.  Jack laying his sweaty face on my shoulder, making me pour with more sweat.  The path went below sea level and began to fill with puddles of water.  That interested the squirts for a while and the sprinkling splashes of water from their kicking feet felt refreshing.  But we still had a few hundred yards to go and I was losing the rest of the kids.

We came around a bend, and stopped dead in our tracks.  We could see the park that we started from.  I could hit it with a baseball if I gave it everything I had.  But, right in front of us, the path had flooded completely over.  The water was running over what used to be grass and came up to my knees.  We were stuck.

For a fleeting instant, I thought about walking all the way back around but quickly tossed that idea when I surveyed the kids' faces.  So, I whipped off my shoes and socks and carried them across the water, one by one, like sacks of potatoes, to their squealing delight.

They forgot all about the heat.  No longer were they tired or sweaty.  Fun was now in season.  I carried all the kids across except for Felicity and then quietly told everyone to wave at her and I yelled, "Goodbye Felicity!  Have a great day!"

She giggled.  I went back across, picked her up, gave her a wet, sloppy smooch, and finished the job.

To the person who built the path with the water running across it - you're a pure genius.

When Life Seems to Forget You Have Needs - A Plea for Help

From time to time, I ask for donations for needy people on this blog.  This is one of those times.  In the commentary below, I will tell you about a couple that have become dear friends of mine, who I have watched grow in love and physically, as a family.  They have an open-ended need for just that little bit that will help them get over that bump in the road of life.  Any amount will help.  At the bottom of the post, you can click on the Chip-In link to give.

*****

When Kristine and I were married, I worked as a salesman for Sears, selling maintenance agreements..er...appliances.  Kristine worked as the second shift manager of a 24-hour daycare.  We determined that we could live off of my income and so she quit to be a stay-at-home wife and mother.  I promptly lost my job.

I quickly got a job as a car salesman, selling Saturn vehicles and made about $2000 a month.  One night, Kristine called her parents, weeping, telling them that at the end of the month, we would be $350 in the hole with no end in sight.  And we had nothing.  We didn't have cable or even internet.  No cell phones.  Nothing. 

Her parents went to work and in fifteen minutes, our family doctor called and put us up for six months in a trailer on his farm for $300 a month, all utilities paid.  With this gift, we got ourselves on our feet and moved forward in our lives.  Ten years later, we are alive and well.  Those rough months at the beginning turned into a few rough years while I wallowed in sales and then banking, finally going back to school for a new career.  We are comfortable now.

Everyone doesn't have Dr. Al Clark with a trailer on the back forty. 

Scottie and Anne Moser are some dear friends of mine.  Some of you may know Anne from her blog, The Eighth and Final Square.  They are in just that position in life where that little bump will get them over the hump and onward toward success in life.

The birth of their daughter was not covered completely by insurance and they now have $5000 in medical bills to pay.  Scottie has a Flexible Spending Account that will cover at least $1000 of this bill and a maximum of $2500, should a mix-up in paperwork get ironed out.

When Scottie and Anne moved out of their apartment, they had been told that their initial months rent covered the last month of their lease.  But, when it came time to move out, their landlord told them that their understanding was flawed.  So, they had to pay their last months rent from already earmarked funds.  Those funds were meant to cover vehicle taxes and licensing fees for 2012 as well as a car payment and the electric bill.

They do have two small credit cards but they have been used to cover other needs.

In Scott's own words, he says that an extra and immediate $500 - $1000 will get them over this hump and push them toward freedom.

And that I completely understand.  Many people struggle for many years just because they don't have that extra $500.  And they handle money well otherwise.

Can you help?  Even a few dollars?

Thank you.

I. C.

Chip-In for Scottie and Anne Moser

Breathe the Free Air - Guest Post by Christen Lofland

Letting go of God is terribly difficult and wrenching. It is kind of like trying to just let your appendix go. You didn't put it there, it doesn't particularly want to be there, it just is and the only impetus to "let it go" is the pain that it starts causing. It is hard to explain to someone who is quite happy with their appendix just why you don't want yours. In the end, it takes painful intervention, and it might even require outside help.

But then what? What is it?

Letting go of religion is inexplicable freedom!

Freedom from what you ask?

Why. The freedom is from why. Because just like the spoon, there is no why. It just is. And when you can stop asking why then everything just is.

Before I always wanted to know why, because everything had a purpose. Everything was caused by, or at least overseen by, some greater power.  That greater power had a purpose and if I could know it, I could profit by that knowledge. On the flip side, my failures to succeed could be traced to being out of sync with that purpose.  It was a constant battle in my life to understand why this and why that. What was the greater power trying to tell me? What was I supposed to do? What was this or that made for? How did I fit in?

Then, I finally wrenched free of it, and hallelujah! I was free to just be whatever and free to explore the universe as it is without needing to ascribe meaning to it or anthropomorphizing matter and energy.  

Now don't confuse why with how. There is how, and that is a wonderful question with no end of new questions that come with each answer.

Why, though, for me, proved to be a tyranny. I wonder if this perhaps is not true for many people? The "search for meaning" is presented in movie intro monologues constantly as the chief goal of humanity. That is logical too, because our brains apparently produce narrative and "logical" reasons for everything we encounter. Our brains do this constantly, sub consciously and without our control. However, just because my brain has a habit does not mean that my conscience self needs to be a slave to it. Imagined meanings can be dismissed as easily as the more obvious hallucinations brought on by drugs. Just because I saw a pink elephant does not mean I need to accept its existence.

So, I am open to the idea that some people, due to their personality, are driven to find meaning. However, I am also convinced that we make meaning up so readily that separating invented meaning from true meaning is difficult at best. And personally, I find that deep need for "meaning" to actually be a tyrant which I find great freedom in rejecting.

I love my wife

That is all.

Name me one LGBTQA person you know

Normally, when people become friends with someone they disagree with, their views toward that person's beliefs or values soften.  I am convinced this is one of the reasons why people in the United States are becoming more accepting of LGBTQA individuals as time marches onward.

In the comments below, name one person you know who is part of the Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender-Questioning-Allies community.  Also, if you care to share, tell us how they have shaped your views on the matter.

Love,

I. C.

Facebook Page to Call for Sean Hannity to Resign from BOND Board

Go and like this page, then share it.  Let's see if any allies of Jesse Lee Petersen, anyone, will do what is right, and stand up for decent human beings.

Sean Hannity, resign from BOND board.

Jesse Lee Petersen: Why are his allies quiet?

It has been six days.  Six days since Kirsten Powers "hijacked" the Sean Hannity show on Fox News to make a valiant attempt at confronting Jesse Lee Petersen and his idiot rant on his misogynistic beliefs - in a sermon, no less.  Yes, it has been six days since Sean Hannity was confronted with the issue on his show, right under his nose. 

Six days of silence. 

Well, not really silence.  Hannity, at 10:38PM EST that evening posted a short transcript of the confrontation and yet focused exclusively on the "hijacking", rather than the content of Kirsten's words, especially what she was referencing.  Jesse Lee Petersen and his allies at bondaction.org posted their own version of the events, painting Kirsten Powers as a liberal-minded woman who savagely attacked the innocent lamb, Petersen.

Nothing is farther from the truth.

The fact that Kirsten Powers had to do the deed makes me ill.  Sean Hannity, as has been reported elsewhere, was dredging up an old partisan head-fake, attempting to get the guests to argue about the fact that Obama does not deserve credit for the death of Osama Bin Laden.  Out of the blue, Kirsten confronted Petersen and Hannity, understandably, looked like a deer in the headlights. 

I understand the nature of fast segmented discussion shows and that Hannity was trying to save his show from going off the rails.  To the casual observer, it appeared that Powers had a personal vendetta against Petersen and I suspect this may have been what Hannity focused on, though his judgement was severely clouded by the fact that he sits on the board of Petersen's BOND organization.  The fact that Hannity did not dig into the accusations on his show is not at issue here. 

The problem is the six days of silence.

Worse yet, Petersen posted this misogynist rant on his own YouTube channel on March 5, 2012.  That was a full two months before he appeared on the May 1 show.  Does Fox News, especially the show that is going to be using this man as a credible pundit, not vet their guests before each and every appearance? Also, why have Sean Hannity or his handlers not done their due diligence and researched what Powers was referring to?

Or have they?

Forget about Sean Hannity for a minute.  What about others on the conservative side?  Anyone!  I don't care who steps up to the microphone and simply distances themselves from Petersen's beliefs.  But strangely, every one of his allies are silent.

When Hilary Rosen coughed up a gaffe on a news commentary show about Ann Romney not having worked a day in her life, the allies of Ann Romney were there to defend her in 3.2 seconds.  For two weeks, it was all Fox News could talk about.  Does this mean they only defend stay at home mom's (women in their rightful place, according to Jesse Lee Petersen, that is, as long as the husband is telling her what to do)? 

And a finer point, Jesse Lee Petersen is a liar.  He stared at Powers with a smirk on his face and tried to spin his words from March 5, 2012, pretending that he was only referring to "liberal" women.  That is a lie from the pit of hell.  If you watch his sermon there are many quotable quotes to catch him at his lie, but let me grace you with one of the better ones:

"I think that one of the greatest mistakes that America made, was to allow women the opportunity to vote.  We should have never turned it over to women." (8:29)

Yes, he was obviously just talking about liberal women.

Will Sean Hannity stay on the board of BOND and stand behind his man?  Will he stand up for every woman that has ever lived, who have worked so hard to become equals in society with men?  Will others yell from the rooftops and give two weeks of programming to decrying the words of Jesse Lee Petersen?  I'm not speaking of P.Z. Myers, Libby Anne, Vyckie Garrison, and many more who already disagree with Jesse Lee Petersen in other areas.  I'm referring to his allies.  Those that call him friend and expert commentator.

Why are you silent?

Jesse Lee Petersen Misogyny Video Transcript and Commentary

I recently wrote out most of the transcript of Jesse Lee Petersen's March 5, 2012 rant on how much he hates women - all women - not just liberal women, as he is trying to spin it now.  You can read the commentary and transcript "Society is Headed for Destruction because Women are in Charge" at the following links:

Page 1

Excerpt: "I realize that one of the primary reasons that it is over for America is because women are taking over." - Jesse Lee Petersen

Page 2

Excerpt: "One thing I know, without a doubt, is that women cannot handle power.  It's not in them to handle power in the right way.  They don't know what to do with it." - Jesse Lee Petersen

Page 3

Excerpt: "It's unfortunate that men are so weak that they allow these women to just run wild, and screw up everything, including their souls, and their children.  And if you speak up about it, Satan got it set up, through the women, that you're going to be punished in some way." - Jesse Lee Petersen

Page 4

Excerpt: "Because God knew that [women] would have control over these things.  They would use it to intimidate you because they don't have good on their side.  So they have to use physical things to control you.  And if you're not of God, you will allow yourself to be controlled with physical things.  The fear of losing something material.  A friend or family member, a house or car or job." - Jesse Lee Petersen

Page 5

Excerpt: "Another big thing - I think I might have mentioned this before - is to put women in power, these positions, these businesses and jobs, because they can't handle the stress.  They can't handle anything. You walk up to them with an issue, they freak out right away.  Especially if they can't get the problem handled right away.  I've seen them go nuts at airports, at post offices, everywhere." - Jesse Lee Petersen

Page 6

Excerpt: "If you doubt me, all you have to do is open up your eyes and see it for yourself.  It's not hard to see anymore.  Look at every place that women is in control - maybe not all, not all, but most - and you see nothing but confusion.  There is no good in it all all.  None." - Jesse Lee Petersen

There you go.  Make sure you take the batteries out of the smoke alarms in the house.  Your sleeping children will thank you for not setting them off with all the nefarious clouds escaping from your ears. (Yes...I meant 'nefarious'.)

Society is Heading for Destruction because Women are in Charge - Page 6

Go to Page 5

Jesse Lee Petersen starts off with a sweet story of his grandmammy.

"I remember when my grandmother would do stupid stuff and I would talk to my granddaddy about it and he would say, "Yeah, you're grandmother crazy!  Every woman is crazy."  And he would straighten the situation out for us." (9:40)

So, Jesse's grandpappy said women were crazy.  That's good enough for him.

"But you can't go to dad and tell him about mom and stuff, because dad is afraid of mom.  He won't deal with her." (9:50)

There you go dads.  Remember when Petersen said that you would be held accountable for your little girls going off and killing babies, controlling men, and doing what they wanted, due to the freedom we enjoy as a society?  Remember how he said that you better worry?  The fear he tried to instill in you?  Well, you can breathe a sigh of relief.  It's not your fault.  You can't do anything about it because your wife controls you.  Sorry sap.

"It's so unfortunate, but this is how evil is coming in.  It's coming through the woman.  it really is and I know y'all don't want to hear it, but it's the truth so help me." (10:00)

Evil does not come through men.  It's the truth.  He says so.

"If you doubt me, all you have to do is open up your eyes and see it for yourself.  It's not hard to see anymore.  Look at every place that women is in control - maybe not all, not all, but most - and you see nothing but confusion.  There is no good in it all all.  None." (10:10)

Don't quote me on this but, with the recent financial crisis and the lost decade we are currently living in, were any women in charge of the banks and Wall Street firms that caused it to happen?  Frankly, I think that the fact that women haven't been in positions of leadership in government and business historically, this effectively shields them from Jesse's ignorant argument.  But, it isn't the case that men are the problem either.  Whenever there is a failure or a mistake, it's because people were human and they did it.  It has nothing to do with their sex.  Nothing.

"This is how homosexuality came to the forefront.  Now they have this gay marriage thing coming to the forefront.  I want you to wake up.  I think somebody said we going to be hiding behind rocks.  We're losing our right to bear arms, our freedom of speech.  They shut you down from freedom of speech." (10:30)

Huh?  Really?  Women are causing us to lose these freedoms?  Wait, Jesse, aren't you saying stuff against these women right now?  You still have freedom of speech.  Also, these evil women have freedom of speech too, right?  They can say whatever they want and it's alright, right? 

"And freedom of speech only means freedom to speak truth." (10:55)

Ah.  I get it.  And I guess you hold the true truth, right?  Yep.

"If you're speaking the truth, they're going to shut you down.  But if you go along with it - lie about it - speaking lies, then your freedom is fine.  Don't worry about your freedom.  And it's happening.  It looks like it can't be stopped.  Because women are in a position of power.  You can look at their homes, you can look at their businesses, their communities, their schools - wherever women are taking over, evil reigns."

And that's it.  His "sermon" ends.  No proof, nothing. He says to look around me.  Well, I see a finely run home by my beautiful wife.  I see her running circles around male students and professors.  I work for a company that has more women in departmental leadership (including a rock star of a General Manager) than men.  I see cities with women mayors, states with female governors, countries with women leaders.  Businesses run by women are very successful.  Go ahead and replace "women" with "men" in the paragraph and everything still applies.  All institutions of society can be run by the most qualified individuals - regardless of what gender they are.

I gladly stand behind a woman.

Society is Heading for Destruction because Women are in Charge - Page 5

Go to Page 4

Jesse Lee Petersen keeps talking:

"Another big thing - I think I might have mentioned this before - is to put women in power, these positions, these businesses and jobs, because they can't handle the stress.  They can't handle anything. You walk up to them with an issue, they freak out right away.  Especially if they can't get the problem handled right away.  I've seen them go nuts at airports, at post offices, everywhere." (7:30)

And now we know.  Jesse Petersen saw a woman or two throw a fit and decided for himself that all women are emotional wrecks.  Interesting.  Speaking of post offices, exactly 100% of those who "went postal" and murdered their co-workers or bosses, were men.  But, let's dispense with the stupid examples.  Petersen plays his hand here that he is simply a clueless sexist.  He hates women and thus thinks his god hates them too.

But wait.  Let's see why women do this, according to Jesse.

"They have no patience because it's not in their nature.  They have no love.  They don't have love." (7:40)

Huh?  Really?  Come on!  Even the casual observer should be walking away shaking their head.  Women have no patience?  No love?  Hang on for a second.

Mwahahahahhahahahahahhaa!!!  Bwahahahaahahah!   Tee hee hee hee!  ROTFLOL! (literally).  LOLLOLLOOOL.  And, in a  shout out to my friend Wendy Blake, HAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAAHAHA!!!

Okay.  Got the laugh out of the way.  That's the only response this idiot needs.  Women don't have love?  Patience?  Wow.  And men do.  Unbelievable.

And the proof to back it up Sir Jesse?

"And women who know that I'm right, you gotta speak up about this.  You're going to have to stand alone because you won't find a bunch of people that will agree with you.  But God is with you.  Satan is having his way.  And the way things are going, it's going to end in destruction." (7:54)

Oh.  His proof is that he says it so it's right.  Of course.

"It's not like good is happenin'.  Evil happenin'.  You see what evil do to you when you're just allowed to do what you want.  This is bad folks, what's happening." (8:25)

What does that have to do with women and evil?  Don't both men and women have the ability to do what they want and many do naughty stuff?  Or, are men perfect when allowed to do anything they want?  Who is going to disallow them their freedom? 

Not only does Jesse Lee Petersen hate women, he also despises freedom.

And now, we get to the meat of the problem.  I'm sorry that it took this moron almost 8.5 minutes to get us there, but he finally did.  So, Jesse, why is it that our nation is on the path to destruction?  What have women done that has shown us that they are evil?

"I think that one of the greatest mistakes that America made, was to allow women the opportunity to vote.  We should have never turned it over to women." (8:29)

Yep.  Women being allowed to vote is the problem.  Damn women.  The minute we allowed them to vote, we turned the country over to them.  My god!  Why did we do that?!  Everything was so perfect before their stupid hands got into the voting booth!  This argument is so stupid at face value, mere sarcasm will do the trick to refute it.

"Right now, 50% of the voting population are women.  Did you know that?  There are more women that are voting than men out there now, because there are more women than men." (8:56)

Wait.  What?  Oh no.  This isn't good.  A man, Jesse, that sits at the same table as other, more reputable pundits, runs an organization that supposedly helps people and has high standards, claims that he has truth and does not lie, cannot add.  Let me help him.

50% + 50% = 100%.  If the voting population is 50% women, how can there be more women than men?

And what solution?  Genocide?  Should we reduce the population of women severely so we can control them?  No.  That wouldn't work.  We would have more homosexuals - well, maybe not.  Women in power have given us homosexuality, thus we wouldn't have them.  Yeah, that's the ticket.  mass murder of women.

Why Jesse?  Why should women not be allowed to vote?

"And these women are voting in the wrong people.  They are voting in people that are evil.  That are voting this way, that will take us down this path of destruction.  And this probably was the reason why they didn't allow women to vote when men were men.  Men in the good ole' days understood the nature of the woman.  They were not afraid to deal with it.  They understood that, if you let them take over, this is what would happen." (9:09)

If only men were the only ones allowed to vote, we would vote in the right people.  Damn women.

Continued on Page 6

Society is Heading for Destruction because Women are in Charge - Page 4

Go to Page 3

Jesse finally gets to some Bible to prove his point - sort of:

"This is why God said, 'Seek first the kingdom of God, his right way, and all will be added.  Don't worry about what you're going to wear, what you're gonna eat, where you're gonna live, where your friend is, you know.  You gotta be carin' about the truth more than anything else and he'll take care of you.'" (6:00)

I didn't say it, so stop looking at me to explain that sort of Scripture reference.  I have absolutely no idea how it applies.  I don't.  It makes no sense at all.  And guess what, it's all the Bible Petersen uses in this speech.  Every last bit of it.  This is all the Biblical proof to his hatred of women that he can muster.  Wow.  Let's move on.  He works really hard to try and explain his point here.

"Because God knew that the world would have control over these things.  They would use it to intimidate you because they don't have good on their side.  So they have to use physical things to control you.  And if you're not of God, you will allow yourself to be controlled with physical things.  The fear of losing something material.  A friend or family member, a house or car or job." (6:20)

What?!  So, if we let women lead, they take away our houses, our cars, our families.  Yeah, I'm scared.  I don't want that to happen.  The obvious conclusion would be to agree with Petersen.  But wait, look around you.  Have you lost your house, your car, a family member, because evil women were in charge? 

Kristine was telling me about the Aztecs of old who worshiped the sun god.  They believed that this god was always warring with the stars and the moon in order to rise every morning.  The sun god needed the blood of humans in order to provide him with power to win the nightly war.  Thus thousands upon thousands of innocent people met their sacrificial deaths.  What if one person, just one, had stood up and said, "Yo homeys!  I've given it a bit of thought.  It appears the sun pretty much comes up at the same general time every morning and goes down to the same tune.  Let's try not killin' for a day.  Maybe we're wrong."  It's probably good he didn't.  He'd be the next sacrifice.

But we need not worry.  Telling this man he is wrong will not get us killed. 

"And it's happening because Christians are not connected to truth - not all, but most, are not connected to God.  They are only Christian in namesake." (6:43)

Only the few REAL Christians get it.  They know the truth because they're connected to God.  Also, Petersen tosses in the "not all".  Some Christianity this guy portrays.  He stands on God's truth, unless something contradicts it, then he throws in the "not all" clause so he can wriggle out of a tight spot.  Anytime you are proven wrong in something you stand on, stop falling back on clauses and revisit your perceived truth.  More than likely, it isn't truth at all, but simply a fear or prejudice.

"A whole generation of little girls is into this.  They think it's right and don't think it's wrong." (6:58)

But boys are perfect.

"We going to have hell to pay in America. And the parents are not going to get away from this.  You going to suffer for allowing your children to be turned over to the world like this.  Don't think you're going to get away from this.  You won't.  Nothing good is going to come of this." (7:00)

More fear.  Parents, it's your fault.  You will suffer for your children's sins.  Wait, wouldn't it just be the moms?  Yes, he covers that later after telling us an endearing story about his grandmammy.

Continued on Page 5

Society is Heading for Destruction because Women are in Charge - Page 3

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Jesse Lee Petersen then says:

"All these women having sex out of wedlock.  Women would not have done this in the good ole' days.  There would have been a sense of shame about it." (3:40)

Are the women having sex with women out of wedlock?  Or, do they have sex with men?  As Petersen later reveals, gay marriage and homosexuality are also the fault of women, he must be talking about women having sex with men outside of marriage.  Since this is the case, who is having sex with whom?  Are the men laying there as uninterested parties?  Do the women force the man to have sex with them at knife-point?  Do they drug the men and then carnally use them?

Jesse seems to miss a simple fact.  Having sex between a man and a woman actually take a MAN and a woman.  So, if this is the case and he is berating sexual perversion in society, why the hell does he lay it all at the feet of a woman!?  This is ludicrous and should be treated with disrespect.  This is pretty typical in the religious community that preaches modesty though.  Men are victims of slutty women who flash their goods.  We, as men, have no choice but to lay down and take it.  It's laughable.

And what of the good ole' days?  The days where we bought and sold wives?  The days where a woman was essentially a property transfer to enrich the father of the bride?  The days when there were no shelters available for abused women?  The days when people who didn't want large families, were ridiculed, no, publicly shamed, for merely asking for birth control?  It is that shame that forces a teen girl who has had sex, maybe even date-raped, to refuse to talk to her parents about it for fear of being ostracized, thus having an unwanted baby, then being ridiculed by all facets of society - parents, government, community, etc.

"How did we get to a point where women think that we should pay for them to have sex?" (4:15)  "I haven't heard men ask us to pay for stuff they use."  (4:55)

I don't even need to respond to that.  The stupid is dripping from his mouth.  This man hates women.

"They use one word to get us to shut-up: Women." (5:10)

If they say "men", should we keep talking?  What is so bad about women?  Really, what does Jesse Lee Petersen have against women?

"It's unfortunate that men are so weak that they allow these women to just run wild, and screw up everything, including their souls, and their children.  And if you speak up about it, Satan got it set up, through the women, that you're going to be punished in some way." (5:40)

Throw in Satan for good measure, with nothing to back it up and you have a Christian case.  No proof, no nothing.  Petersen has nothing.  We can see it.  Why is his congregation not chasing him from the pulpit with pitchforks - the men leading the way.  This would be one time that I would say a woman should NOT be in charge.  A man needs to step up and throw this guy out of the church and out of any organization this man is a part of or in charge of.  He needs to apologize to 50% of the population.

If you continue with his logic, Satan does not work through men.

On Page 4, we'll take a look at the only Scripture Petersen uses.  And it's pathetic.  It makes absolutely no sense.  Watching this man is like watching a drug addict have a breakdown while in rehab.

Society is Heading for Destruction because Women are in Charge - Page 2

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Jesse Lee Petersen goes on to say:

"One thing I know, without a doubt, is that women cannot handle power.  It's not in them to handle power in the right way.  They don't know what to do with it." (1:23)

Huh?  Do we have examples?  Oh wait, he's going to qualify what "power" really means.  Let's listen in.  He might get to examples later.

"Secondly, it's not real power anyway.  Power that the world gives you is not real power.  It's all ego building.  The real true power come from God.  And God is the one that gave man the power and authority over the wife and to spiritually guide the world in the right way to go." (1:35)

Ah.  Now he comes out and says what he really means - men were usurped of power by women (all women, not just non-logical ones), but not just power, true power!  Real powers comes from God and fake power is wielded by women in charge.  They can't have real power because, for women, it's all about there egos.

Yes, men have never had egos.  All men are soft spoken, logically minded, and make no mistakes in any of their decisions - ever.  Jesse Lee Petersen must believe that all of life was utter perfection before women slapped men down and jumped up onto the throne.  Does he?

"I realize that men made mistakes in the past..." (2:00)

Oh good!  He acknowledges that men are not perfect.  Men, who have been granted the mantle of "true power", directly from God, have screwed it up too!  Maybe, we can blame those mistakes on their wives whispering in their ears.  It HAS to be that way since men have no egos and egos are what brings fake power.

"...but most men did not make mistakes in the past, and when men were in charge, things were tougher, you know, and more solid.  And it's not like that anymore." (2:00)

Oops.  We gave Mr. Jesse too much credit.  According to him, if it wasn't for Hitler, we could look back on all of history and see that a good society always has a man in charge.  If it wasn't for the millions of men in the Crusades.  Had it not been for the hundreds of thousands, no, millions,  of male soldiers that "just followed orders" in hundreds of pointless conflicts.  Had it not been for men in charge of religious institutions, wielding evil power, torture, and death over those that didn't swear allegiance to those religious institutions.  Wait.  Maybe more than just a few men made some stupid decisions.  Hmmm...

But it was tougher back then.  So it's alright that they made mistakes. 

Peterson, please give us some concrete, irrefutable examples of why women in charge is bad.  We need charts, graphs, stories, history.  Better yet, give us something to point to where we can say, "it was this day in history that women grabbed the reins of society and we began to decline."
He doesn't.  Instead, Jesse begins to go on a tirade against Sandra Fluke, the graduate student who provided testimony before the United States Congress about college students need for better access to birth control.  Jesse calls her a slut (4:10), agreeing with Rush Limbaugh by name.  He also claims that women want to kill babies in the womb.

Then, as if it wasn't weird enough, Jesse Lee Petersen says something about the government that has no basis in reality.

"The government is trying to force the Christian community - the Catholic Church - to pass out morning after pills." (3:30)

That is a lie.  The Obama Administration was actually changing some rules so that religious institutions would be required to provide free access to birth control in their health plans.  When that was fought against by the religious community, the Obama Administration changed the policy to say that the insurance industry that provided the health plans for these religious institutions were required to provide free access to birth control.  As most know, the Catholic Church, which is militantly against birth control, even as simple as disallowing condoms, was against that (in my opinion, this has contributed to poverty in many backwards and developing nations, not to mention rampant sexually transmitted disease rates in Africa).

Never did the Obama Administration write any rules that stated that anyone was required to pass out morning after pills.

Continued on Page 3

Society is Heading for Destruction because Women are in Charge - Page 1

Jesse Lee Petersen is a preacher and a "biblical" politician/pundit, appearing on Fox News, CNN, among other networks, as well as radio programs, to speak about his view of black America and other issues.  Recently, he gave a sermon at his church and spoke about the impending downfall of America.  I was alerted to this video from Libby Anne of Love, Joy, Feminism.

Before I jump into my critique of this work, I must say that I don't like the America portrayed by Mr. Petersen.  When I see division (women vs. men, black vs. white, rich vs. poor, politicians vs. the common folk), I feel as if nothing was accomplished during the Civil War and more recently, during the Civil Rights movement, not to mention the women's suffrage movement, as well.  My vision of America is one where we can disagree on issues and not section ourselves off into artificial camps based on race, gender, creed, etc.  Thus, I do not appreciate anyone who attempts to drag us back to where we came from.

Now, to the Jesse Lee Petersen and his rant.

Jesse opens this talk by saying the following:

"Goodby America.  It's over.  My America is gone.  Short of God intervening, I don't see any turnaround." (0:22)

He says all this by the 0:22 mark of the 12:03 video.  By this time, I have my Bible open, sitting on the edge of my seat, ready to refute everything this gentleman will say, proving that what he says God said is irrelevant to today or, more in line with much of what is spouted from pulpits today, patently false.  But what he said next made me fall out of my chair. (Don't worry, I'm okay.  They were able to save the left side of my brain.)

"I realize that one of the primary reasons that it is over for America is because women are taking over." (0:39)

Yep.  He said that.  America is falling apart because women are in charge.  Surely he has irrefutable data to back that up, right?  Wrong.  Let's lean in and listen.  Keep all firearms away from arm's reach.  I'm sure your computer screen is expensive.

What proof does he have?

"They are in so called powerful positions, running companies, making decisions." (0:45)

Jesse has to stop there because he gets some blow back from the look of a woman in the crowd.  He catches himself and says "Not all, not all, not all..." (0:50)

Oh good!  I was thinking he meant it was a principle that was undeniably inarguable where women were inherently unable to lead.  As we'll see later, his qualification of "not all" is completely meaningless.  He does mean all women.  He just says "not all" to placate the women in the crowd that might disagree with him.  I say "women in the crowd" while hoping beyond hope that most men disagree with his ideas.

Petersen gets more specific about those women that can lead.

"There are a few out there - logical women - that can make sound decisions.  Most cannot." (1:03)

So, the only women that can be in charge are those that make logical decisions.  Women are not logical.  If you're at all familiar with this line of thinking, the antonym of "logic" is "emotion."  Nothing makes me angrier to hear this line of thinking.  Oh wait...I'm not supposed to be getting angry.  That clouds my logic and makes me effeminate - ineffective in making sound decisions.

You see how stupid that idea is?  If anyone removes emotion from their decision-making paradigm, first, they are lying to themselves that they are even capable of doing such a thing, and second, I want no part of the ramifications of their decisions.  Have you ever spoken to an emotionless being?  They are boring!  And an oxymoron at the same time.  I've never met one and you never will, either.

Men will make good decisions and men will make bad ones.  So will women.  Positions of power are open to those that are the most qualified.  If that happens to be a woman, then a woman it is.  Looking at the pockmarked history of the world, a preacher would be better off standing in front of a crowd, railing against MEN being in charge.  After all, in the "good ole' days", as Petersen loves to say, all positions of power were held by men.  And we have many black spots in the storied history of male dominated humanity. 

Continued on Page 2

When Was the Cut-Off for Death as the Punishment for Sin

Picture this:

I'm a teenager, rebellious as all get out.  I can't stand my mother because all she does is sit in her room, doing her nails, twirling her hair, and complaining to my dad that she doesn't have enough powder on her puff.  On the other hand, I love my dad and feel sorry for the way she treats him.  He works hard for the family and yet gets zero credit for the woman he loves.  And he loves her deeply.  He's told me so.  Her shenanigans fall off his back like water on a duck.

But I'm not going to say anything.  I'm Jewish and the year is 31 CE.  I am well aware of Jewish law which states that, should I give my parents the evil eye, they can drag me down to the temple and have me stoned while they watch.  I want to live.

But something is curious about this point in history.  I hear there is this man named Jesus, traveling the countryside, winning converts to this new way of thinking.  Everyone around here is Jewish and we all think alike except for the weird Pharisees who do everything over the top.  Basically, if the Rabbi at the temple says something is so, then it is so.  You don't argue.  He is the mouthpiece of God, who we fear with great fear and trembling.  I should know.  All of our religious holy days have everything to do about death.  And the death is always Jehovah killing us or killing someone else.  Death is never far from the forefronts of our minds.

This man Jesus, though.  The rumor is, he's talking about life.  Sure, it's kinda weird, but he seems to say that we don't have to worry about this dangerous God anymore.  He says that we can come to him and be cleansed and have all of our sins forgiven.  I know sin.  I can't go three minutes without thinking of sin.  It's all we're about in this god-forsaken land, full of Roman soldiers, who our Rabbi tell us is a curse upon god knows who.  It's not like I did anything bad.  Why should I have to suffer?

But I get that.  After all, Adam screwed it up for me.  Because of his stupidity, we have to suffer.  We have to worry about appeasing the anger of this horrible God who, frankly, I just want to get rid of so I can LIVE!  But I can't.  If I speak my thoughts, I will be stoned.  Rebellion against God is worse than rebellion against your parents.  But you end up the same way for either, really - dead.

And then I hear the rumors again about Jesus.  He says that our thoughts make us sinners as much as our actions.  I don't really like that idea, but I like the fact that he says, if we follow him, we don't have to worry about God's wrath anymore.  That is really intriguing to me.  I can tell my mother what I really think of her without fear of getting my brains bashed in by a large rock.

But, how does this work?  Do I have to wait until the Jewish leaders accept this new religion?  Who is Jesus?  Some say he says he is God.  That is disappointing to me.  Saying stuff like that gets you killed around these parts.  Others say he is just a great teacher.  But if he is, why does he not worry about God killing him for saying we don't have to follow the law anymore?  Or does he say we do?  I don't know.

Another thing.  If he is God and he means what he says, can I tell my mother off now?  He's here, right?  Could I tell my mother what I really think when he came as a baby?  Or was it only alright when he began his ministry?  When?  I want to be safe here.  I don't want to make a mistake, rebel, and get stoned, just because I got it wrong.

Oh, I don't know.  Dad, I feel so bad for you.  Maybe I'll wait a few more years until Jesus really gets popular.  Maybe his ideas will catch on and I can do what I feel is right and not get killed for it.  Yeah.  I'll just wait. 

*****

So when was it?  At what point in Jesus' life was the line crossed where this teen could tell his mother what for and not get stoned?  Was it when Jesus was a baby?  Was it when he was twelve?  When he began his ministry at thirty years of age?  Was it when he died and the temple curtain was ripped?  Was it when he rose from the dead?  Was it when he ascended into heaven?  At what point could the rebellious teen do what was right and tell his mother that she was doing something naughty and be good before God? 

When did that line get drawn where God said, "Today, your life is required of you for your actions...wait...what?  Oh...my bad!  Jesus did what he needed to do and the line has been crossed.  You're good!"

Even more complex, why did Jesus, as God, transcend all of time, past, present, and future, as a living God, and yet, had no ability to transcend his action of forgiving all sin throughout all time?  Why did millions of people have to die, as in Noah's flood, while they begged for God to send the Messiah to save them?  Why did God require the sacrifices and force all of humanity to get his law just right in order to be blessed and not to be murdered by the deity (except when you just got screwed by God when he didn't follow his own rules, as in the case of Job)?  Why?  Why is humanity after Jesus' point in time, whenever it was, where we no longer were judged by that awful law, so special?

I don't think the answer is difficult.  Ancient cultures maintained order by fear.  Fear was wielded through religion.  In the old days, God was a deity to be feared.  You explained all sorts of phenomena by saying "God did it."  As knowledge increased and people started to think and study, that sort of God had to die.  And yet we still keep him around and even pretend that somehow, murdering 2.3 million people throughout his holy book, for no other reason than he was a jealous, immature, being, somehow, just somehow, he is defined by the word "love".

College is for Adults, Not Child-Students

Elizabeth Esther wrote a piece on the growing knowledge of the suppressive atmosphere at fundamentalist Christian schools like Bob Jones University.  In her article, she lists various rules and regulations and the disciplinary actions for breaking them, found in the BJU Student Handbook.

As you read through the list, you notice the petty nature of most of the bullet points.  Most of it has to do with outward appearance - how you look, dress, act, drink, eat, associate with others, spit, and even how to barf over a toilet bowl properly.  Ok, that last one isn't true, but judging from the nature of the rest of the handbook, I wouldn't even bat an eye had that been included, as well.

Nothing in these rules and regs has anything to do with assisting the student in learning.  Isn't that what college is for?  Don't we, as adult students going to college, expect to leave its hallowed doors, ready to attack the practical world with its hard knocks, using the book-learning from years of secondary education?  Why not prepare the child-students for this by treating them like adults!?

When I was in school, I would bristle whenever a professor took attendance.  I found this act quite invasive.  What did the college care if I paid them good money to attend a class and flunked out of it?  At least they got my money! I understand the professor had his reasons and most of them I agree with, but no way would I, an adult, have subjected myself to the sort of petty baloney sausage spewed forth in handbooks at Fundy U's across this great land.  How pathetic!

Students of Bob Jones University.  Leave now.  In fact, students of any college that requires you to act like a child in order to stay in good graces, leave now.  Go to a university or any secondary school that actually trusts you to find yourself and do what is right for YOU!  A college that provides tutors to assist you in becoming the excellent graduate you are capable of, is a much better choice than the institution that provides copious  hall monitors that make sure you stay 8.75 inches away from the opposite sex.  Finally, go to a college that is accredited, where the degree is worth something once you graduate.

I trust you.  Go make me proud.

And thank Elizabeth Esther for being one of the excellent voices that exposes this crap.

Someone Else Noticed that Slavery is Problematic for the Bible

I wrote a very popular piece a few weeks ago titled, Christians Should Love and Accept Homosexuals.  In that article, I made a connection with how slavery has been completely rejected in the common era despite the fact that the Holy Bible encourages the act, never condemns it, and even sets up rules for how to do it correctly, including the notion that a slave's life is worth less than your cow's.

Well, someone else made the connection, as well. 

Of course, as Steve Wells points out in his critique of the Dan Savage speech, Dan Savage talks about a few other items in the Bible that the men who wrote it got flat wrong. We have more knowledge than the people who wrote the Bible.  We know that being jealous enough of our importance in the lives of those that should respect us is never a good reason to split their pregnant bellies open with a sword or feed them uranium laced chocolate chip cookies to give them tumors and heavy menstrual bleeding.  Why would we even consider loving or worshiping a god like these men wrote about?

We look at tribes in Africa and wonder at how backwards their thinking is.  We raise an eyebrow at how they attribute everything natural to "the gods".  And yet, we hold dear the writings of a hunter/gatherer clan that tried their best to write the same ideas on a page.  We just don't give that god credit for it anymore like they used to.  We know better.  We have science, knowledge, history...proof!

We watch as religion evolved in the Bible from polytheism to monotheism.  From monotheistic hateful god that must be worshiped regardless of the abuse rained down on the worshiper.  David's Psalms make me think of the housewife's "glow after the blow", where she falls madly and deeply in love with her abuser after he beats her and then wildly loves her.  It's a psychological phenomenon that has always fascinated me and we get to watch it in living color throughout the Bible, especially the Psalms.  We watch as the New Testament unfolds and reveals the newest evolution of religion - the movement out of hunter/gatherer god/s and into whatever it is the new religion was, borrowing from the pagan traditions of the area - much like the Catholic Church did to bring much of their conquered lands under the umbrella of the church.  Religion became more palatable with the masses.  It could now be argued on an intellectual level with the brilliant Greeks, rather than discarded as old fodder for humor.

Knowing what I know now about history, reality, logic, a bit of science, and how humanity works, I look at the evolution of religion in the Bible and walk away from it, gleaning what I deem profitable and discarding almost all of the rest.  I challenge the reader who attempts to prove that there is only one interpretation of religion, basing that view upon the Bible, to reconsider what that book really is.  Once you do, it is impossible to know what is truth and what is not.

Once you realize this, you will notice how it isn't possible for a god to condemn anyone to eternal hell because they didn't "get it right".  Unless of course, that god does require us to get it right.  Then again, since he hasn't made it clear, do you really want a part of that god?

I know I don't.  And I feel really good about it.

Today, I Turn 32

I have gray hair, a beautiful house, a gorgeous wife who is smart, sassy, and loves me, six children I am still getting used to, and wonderful friends.

I hope this is the year that the Minnesota Twins make me happy again, my grass dies in the yard so I can quit mowing, I sign a writing gig and make some serious cash writing, and Frederic begins to read novels.

I love my life.

But, I cannot have gotten here with my writing without all of you readers.  I watch as you hit my blog, comment on my posts and articles, cry with me, laugh with me, ridicule me, and everything else you all do to keep me doing this.  I love you all so much.  I wouldn't do this if it wasn't for you.

Love,

I. C.