tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post3495962607475407101..comments2023-09-29T05:32:04.308-07:00Comments on StrangePegs: "I'd rather die standing..."Andrew Leonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-25888569687038664072015-02-03T12:14:16.821-08:002015-02-03T12:14:16.821-08:00Eva: When I was a little kid, my favorite was Yose...Eva: When I was a little kid, my favorite was Yosemite Sam, but I also came to love the Wile E. and Marvin. I used to be able to do a great Marvin.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-65860813252641147572015-02-02T20:53:17.017-08:002015-02-02T20:53:17.017-08:00First of all....I love the Bugs Bunny cartoons! Wh...First of all....I love the Bugs Bunny cartoons! When I was a kid they were on on Sunday nights...."..brought to you by Kraft.."...my favourite character was, and is Foghorn Leghorn. I love that guy! I hope that's not offensive to southeners! lol! <br />I agree that political correctness has gone way too far, and I found the whole discussion of churches really interesting. I don't think that churches, or religion do anything but steal and lie (at the least) and they do it not only with a straight face, but a cheesy grin. I used to go to church, many years ago, and at this point it would not only be meaningless to me, but actively annoying. E. M. Prokophttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12395951217528199963noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-12075111173532374822015-01-22T12:03:26.705-08:002015-01-22T12:03:26.705-08:00Alex H: Yeah, I agree. It's a bit like being f...Alex H: Yeah, I agree. It's a bit like being forced to apologize for something you're not actually sorry for. Sometimes, it is exactly having to apologize for something you're not actually sorry for. I suppose the thinking is is that if you have to do it enough then you will come around to that way of thinking, but I don't know if that works.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-65523213579111616312015-01-21T20:52:00.915-08:002015-01-21T20:52:00.915-08:00I think my comment got eaten. :/
Anyway, I was sa...I think my comment got eaten. :/<br /><br />Anyway, I was saying that I agree with you, and I think one the worst ways PC corrupts is that by its very definition, people say things in a certain way only to not offend, when instead it should be a "human" reason... something that is said a certain way because we feel that party deserves the respect. Alex Hursthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05556334141936498897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-53936739992610037102015-01-17T12:07:18.620-08:002015-01-17T12:07:18.620-08:00TAS: Or riots. Evidently, there is rioting taking ...TAS: Or riots. Evidently, there is rioting taking place in places in the Middle East, right now, over the new issue of Charlie Hebdo. The officials are trying to mollify the populace by explaining to them how us Westerners love our freedom of speech.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-90721028998353478992015-01-17T08:17:07.277-08:002015-01-17T08:17:07.277-08:00Bill Clinton once said in an interview with Jon St...Bill Clinton once said in an interview with Jon Stewart that satire is essential to democracy - and he was saying it in reference to people like Stewart lampooning him. Even if people are offended by the cartoons, there are far better ways to address that offense than murder.The Armchair Squidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10739833215220853127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-29037019680610660172015-01-16T12:33:13.531-08:002015-01-16T12:33:13.531-08:00Lexa: Well, see, that's why you read fiction. ...Lexa: Well, see, that's why you read fiction. You can trust fiction, because you know right at the start that someone made it up.<br /><br />There wasn't much coverage about the school that got attacked in Pakistan, either, another topic I'll be covering soon.<br /><br />(And, yeah, I saw a thing about the pork stuff. It's ridiculous.)Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-43606895111854234422015-01-16T12:13:59.825-08:002015-01-16T12:13:59.825-08:00Briane: Hey, someone has to post about cookie butt...Briane: Hey, someone has to post about cookie butter, and I'm not likely to be the one to do it, so you're just filling a needed gap.<br /><br />And, yes, unfortunately, people don't realize a lot of stuff. Just last night on FB, someone was posting about how it was really Charb's and the other cartoonists' faults that they got killed. You know, if you didn't want to get mugged or raped, you shouldn't have walked down that street.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-60514668867487790792015-01-15T21:18:01.916-08:002015-01-15T21:18:01.916-08:00And I just came across this. Being "pc" ...And I just came across this. Being "pc" has definitely crossed the line of common sense.<br />http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jan/14/oxford-university-press-warns-authors-not-to-write/Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07735576044552810103noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-68191472390937623292015-01-15T20:18:49.194-08:002015-01-15T20:18:49.194-08:00I also think being pc has gotten a bit crazy, as h...I also think being pc has gotten a bit crazy, as have those who over-zealously defend free speech and right to privacy and other rights, to their dying breath. Everyone now identifies themselves with a group or lobby and go after their "due," and to hell with everyone else. <br /><br />I was raised in the 60s/70s when we had great reporters like Walter Cronkite and Eric Sevareid. I felt that generation really tried to be fair and honest. Last week I realized just how far we'd fallen. On nearly the same day as the Paris killings, almost 2000 people were murdered in Nigeria, mostly women, children and old people who couldn't run fast enough to get away. Did anyone cover it? No. The journalists were too busy covering their "fallen brothers" instead, waving the flag of how this little paper's victims were martyrs. There wouldn't have been nearly so much news coverage if the 17 had been employees of a plumbing company or a bakery. So now, journalists have become a lobby/special interest group and lookout for #1 - themselves, and what sells the most. I don't trust anything I read anymore...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07735576044552810103noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-40449002836549861912015-01-15T17:36:15.761-08:002015-01-15T17:36:15.761-08:00Also, way to make me look bad. While you are here ...Also, way to make me look bad. While you are here posting great thoughts on the essential quality of liberty of expression, I am posting about cookie butter.Brianehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01616494058636881575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-63755714016459769652015-01-15T17:35:44.677-08:002015-01-15T17:35:44.677-08:00Very well said.
I didn't come up with the sen...Very well said.<br /><br />I didn't come up with the sentiment, but I recall hearing, and still profess, that a God who can't stand to be ridiculed isn't much of a God. That goes for any great ideal, god, religion, or prophet. While nobody should mock just to mock, nobody should die (or be punished) for mockery. Satire is mockery with a purpose, but even if you are just a kid drawing ugly crude figures of Jesus or Mohammed with no greater purpose than being a dumb kid, that ought not punished, especially by death.<br /><br />I think you've hit the nail on the head: most people don't care, or don't think about it enough. People don't realize that even if the mob never turns on you, we still all benefit from a free exchange of ideas -- including reprehensible or risible ones. <br /><br />People don't realize a lot of stuff.Brianehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01616494058636881575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-268583158636023602015-01-15T13:44:55.986-08:002015-01-15T13:44:55.986-08:00dolorah: I have frequently said that it will take ...dolorah: I have frequently said that it will take an alien invasion to unite humans as humans.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-90185458144097980392015-01-15T13:43:44.589-08:002015-01-15T13:43:44.589-08:00angryparsnip: Thanks for coming over!
I think it&#...angryparsnip: Thanks for coming over!<br />I think it's probably a good thing that anvils are heavy. I have to admit, they do tempt me. And safes. And pianos.<br /><br />Hmm... Now, I'm curious about religions that have not said you need to die if you're not a "believer."Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-11979939168590883612015-01-14T21:38:08.861-08:002015-01-14T21:38:08.861-08:00Intolerance for others has become the norm. And us...Intolerance for others has become the norm. And using terrorism to make make statements of intolerance has become the norm. Violence is just so accepted, from bullying, law suits, to organized terrorism. Religion is especially intolerant.<br /><br />Why does so much of the world claim to be Christian, yet it is not ok to say Merry Christmas? And why is it not ok to be proud to be an American, yet we must identify immigrants as -whatever American?<br /><br />I don't know, I just wish the alien's would hurry up and arrive for refuge and tell Earthlings it is offensive for us to not consider their feelings prior to blowing us up.dolorahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08715849844092553699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-71943145246370602052015-01-14T20:37:06.621-08:002015-01-14T20:37:06.621-08:00Came over from The Squid. Great post today.
I so a...Came over from The Squid. Great post today.<br />I so agree with you, religion+ money and political correctness drive me crazy.<br />Living in California the ground zero of political correctness, is not called La La Land for nothing. I loved where I was living but had to leave.<br />I have a sad/funny story about doing a "Christmas" design for the grade school 35 years ago that had to be taken down because it might offend someone.<br />As for Charlie Hebdo pretty sure I would have never read it but I stand by their right to print. <br />I have lots to say about a religion that says if your not a believer then you need to die, sharia law, education, health care, violence again women, so much more... ack !<br />Plus I love Looney Tunes and I have never dropped an anvil on any ones head. <br /><br />cheers, parsnip<br /><br /><br /><br />angryparsniphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17236094827257446781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-56334098618440407552015-01-14T19:35:08.212-08:002015-01-14T19:35:08.212-08:00Jo: I agree with that. As long as we are pointing ...Jo: I agree with that. As long as we are pointing out skin color or anything to do with it, we are pointing out skin color and anything to do with it. We don't, for instance, say "Irish Americans," although at one point in time being an Irish American was a pretty bad thing to be.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-25905116861110410442015-01-14T17:46:24.181-08:002015-01-14T17:46:24.181-08:00I don't agree with you but I support your righ...I don't agree with you but I support your right to say it. That has been a guiding principle for me. But yes, we are all afraid to give offense. I hadn't realised before how pernicious this all was. I was discussing about African Americans and do we call them African Canadians (not that I have heard anyway). Why can't they just be Americans and Canadians so we don't give offence all the time. People are so thin skinned these days and it takes very little to offend them. Like with offensive TV. Turn it off.Johttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14087140585742801854noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-16607272361570617422015-01-14T15:50:53.654-08:002015-01-14T15:50:53.654-08:00Jeanne: It's also (and I think mostly) people ...Jeanne: It's also (and I think mostly) people hurting others for doing things or thinking things that they don't agree with. It's one thing to be upset because someone isn't letting you eat chocolate; it's another thing entirely to shoot someone for eating chocolate just because you believe people shouldn't eat chocolate.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-78205118855539554172015-01-14T15:48:49.407-08:002015-01-14T15:48:49.407-08:00Lee: In that case, I will say that your church is ...Lee: In that case, I will say that your church is the anomaly; there aren't many of those around.<br />And by business model, I don't just mean paying the light bill, etc. The motivating force in business model churches (nearly all protestant churches, at this point, at least in the US) is to fund the salaries of the staff and fund their yearly raises. The pastor, then, becomes focused on the church meeting its budget goals so that he can be paid rather than any services he could be doing instead. Also, "pastoring" has been left behind in the vast majority of churches, in favor of just "preaching." Rather than tending his flock, the "pastor" spends his week preparing a WHIZ BANG POP sermon to make the congregation feel good. That's what the modern church in the US has become.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-89876226257533464592015-01-14T15:10:52.728-08:002015-01-14T15:10:52.728-08:00I agree that people should be hindered by the fear...I agree that people should be hindered by the fear of offending someone, but that doesn't mean there shouldn't be more sensitivity in the world. Sometimes a person can't even suggest something might be offensive without being attacked or even threatened for it. So it's not political correctness gone mad. It's just people hurting others when they don't get their way.J E Oneilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09780097298061829471noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-91186878035329598962015-01-14T14:55:41.513-08:002015-01-14T14:55:41.513-08:00Actually I'm a long time board member of our a...Actually I'm a long time board member of our administration council at our church and monitor the sermons, etc very closely so I know what is said and money has never been an emphasis at our church. We don't have many people who attend any more but I partially attribute this to the fact that our focus is on a gospel message and not the happy prosperity message that people like to hear. Our few members manage to sustain the church somehow and we have a bi-vocational pastor who does not take a salary and is very committed to trying to see growth in the church. <br /><br />I think my church experience has been different in that I screen them carefully and don't stay when money is the big issue. I have been in those churches like you describe but only as a visitor and that has given me a good perspective on how our church stands in relation to others. I've been a member at my current church for over 20 years now and haven't seen any reason to look for anything else.<br /><br />As far as the "business model" a church is in a sense a non-profit business so the business model does make sense for operations. Plus we have to report to the state and federal governments so there does have to been some kind of structure. Maybe you are thinking more in turn of the mega churches where it's growth at any cost and lots of money is needed to do that. I do think there are many churches much like the one I belong to. And we can't overlook the fact that operating something like a church can be very expensive with big utility bills and outreach programs that have to be funded in some way. But I agree that the message should not be to fill the plate and send more later. This is especially wrong when the message is the more you give the more you'll get back. There might be a Biblical truth to that, but if that's what the giver expects to happen then in the end they are probably going to feel betrayed and eventually reject the institution. Those churches are doing a great disservice to God and to the people who are looking to feed their spirits.<br /><br />Lee<br /><a href="http://tossingitout.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow">Tossing It Out</a><br />Arlee Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11663942782929929334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-68612948358161627472015-01-14T13:09:57.890-08:002015-01-14T13:09:57.890-08:00Pat: My kids' school can't acknowledge Chr...Pat: My kids' school can't acknowledge Christmas because it's a "Christian" holiday. It's a "winter festival" during which it's okay to mention any other religious holiday, but Christmas may not be mentioned.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-31614160804590282162015-01-14T13:08:21.994-08:002015-01-14T13:08:21.994-08:00Lee: Unless every church I've been in is an an...Lee: Unless every church I've been in is an anomaly, I have to disagree. And I've worked in or been involved in more than a handful of churches across several denominations in three different states, and they have all been the same. The money comes first or, even, it is only about the money. I suspect that if you got behind the scenes in your church, you might find the same thing is true. Most churches put on a good face, but I'd be willing to guess that your church spends some amount of time -every- Sunday talking about money and giving, and I'm not talking about "passing the plate," I'm talking about the speech that goes along with it, the speech that wasn't necessary when I was a kid, because my church, then, hadn't yet switched to being just about the money, a shift that happened pretty much across the board in the 80s when churches adopted a business model of being rather than holding a spiritual model.<br /><br />America has become the most censored nation on the planet. It's all self-censorship, but that doesn't change what it is. Thank you 50s and Joseph McCarthy.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-56960211443189738392015-01-14T12:58:25.309-08:002015-01-14T12:58:25.309-08:00Alex: I agree. It's too bad that every church ...Alex: I agree. It's too bad that every church I've worked in has had the same basic view of teenagers.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.com