I’m Off To See the Wizard, Blasphemous Woman!

Tags

bible, Bill O'Reilly, environmentalism, flu shots, global warming, God, Michelle Bachmann, swine flu

If you had seen me this morning, you might have questioned my, shall we say, collection of marbles? My brains in other words. My capacity to logically move from place A to B without swerving off to F. Got that?

I’ve been assaulted this week with certain adjectival and nounish bullets that would put a less well put together psyche down. Not to worry, I have a strong constitution (no not the “we the people” stuff), and an army of disparate fellow travelers who encourage me, and reassure me regularly. I am not crazy, and I’ve said that before. It’s time you took that as a given.

I must say, it does dawn on me often, that I should question my own sanity. Others certainly do. I mean I don’t ask for much, just a reasonable logical explanation of things. This I often do not get, and thus the worry that all is not so well upstairs in the attic of my flashing neurons.

Reading the following, I seriously questioned once again whether I was legally able to fulfill the duties of citizen of planet Earth. It seems that one Billy O’Reilly, Foxy blatherer extraordinaire, suggests that Ms. Bachmann’s detractors are just jealous of her good looks. Yes indeed, Billy Bob Boob, that’s the reason all right. We are jealous cuz she is lovely to be behold. Now that takes care of the lesbians, what about the rest of us straight women? Huh?

Sorry Uncle Bill, but I still find her intellectually bankrupt and morally absurd, or intellectually absurd and morally bankrupt.

Which brings up the whole ugly issue of intelligence. I was recently, or my brains were, compared to a piss-ant. Imagine that? It was also suggested that it was a modern marvel that I could walk and breathe at the same time. This from the paternalistic/defender husband of a woman who told me that I hated Jesus since I couldn’t believe in her wacko notions of creationism.

 I can of course consider the source, and move from this personal assault on intelligence, noting that for some uneducated persons, “common sense” is vastly more important and doesn’t require any actual work. It comes naturally, like the wisdom just there for the asking from God.  No matter that just perhaps, God might have thought books could be a way to acquire wisdom. No we shouldn’t go there. One remembers the man who drowned, waving off all boats because he trusted that “God would save him.”

Some months ago, I started a forum thread about the environment. The environmental catastrophe we are flirting with is something like evolutionary theory, so well known worldwide as to not really be in question any more. Even the Bushites, playing it down of course, grudgingly admitted that it appeared true.

Anyway, my question was, if you claimed there was no environmental climate change, did you base this on scripture or something else. To a person, all claimed that their doubts stemmed from a general conservatism which somehow translates into suspicions about science and scientists in general. Why they don’t have the same suspicions about oil companies and other polluters is not known. In no case did anyone claim there was a spiritual reason.

But now we have one. I have recently seen a FaceBook entry which cited the bible, specifically Genesis for the proposition that we need do nothing regarding the environment. The verses are Gen. 8:22.

As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,
summer and winter, day and night,
shall not cease.”

From this we are to deduce (if we so self-interpret) that the earth will remain until such time as God in his good pleasure decides otherwise. Well, I think that’s a pretty big stretch, and even if so, it makes no claims as to the condition the earth will be in “as long as the earth endures.” Frankly, I find it as meaningless as the claims by some Catholics that “go forth and multiply and be fruitful” is God’s direction against contraception. But no matter.

It’s pretty flimsy evidence upon which to bargain the life of one’s children and their children and theirs on. At least as I see it.

 

Speaking of which, I saw another set of links to UTube, you know that academic land of excellence, wherein parents were warned not to let their kids get flu shots this year. Given that people are DYING from swine flu, and that the target groups are the very young (who can’t decide for themselves) and pregnant women, who can, I’d say it’s pretty irresponsible to invite people to make up their minds based on UTube.

Particularly so, when the link has to do with mercury being in some flu shots. Actually the truth of the matter is that some shots are stabilized with thimerosal. I know about this since I am allergic to it. This is easily solved by asking for the vaccine without the preservative. Simple. It is not wrong to raise some concern, but surely the way to do that is to direct people to their physicians? rather than UTube?

But then again, some folks have no sense of “sourcing.”  Bad sources make for much laughter. But in the hands of the wrong trusting people, they can lead to tragedy. Beware giving advice when you have zero in the credential field.

So it just goes to show you, that if you are crazy enough, you ensure that I am sure that I am not. I don’t need no stinkin’ shrink for that!

Just sayin’.

Short Takes on the Day, 04/27/09

Tags

conspiracy theories, divorce, Health & Human Services, Health care, John McCain, medicine, pandemics, Pope Benedict, swine flu, torture, waterboarding

Well, yesterday’s post must have concerned God, since he went to some efforts to make me feel better about missing church yesterday. Later in the morning, I developed a definite fever, and felt lethargic. Rut-row, was the swine flu coming my way? We had been in a hospital for goodness sakes only Friday, and you know that everybody gets sick when you go near those places!

It didn’t last long. After I ate, I felt quite a bit better and the “symptoms” disappeared. So I started to feel a bit justified in my choice. Turns out though that it was never to be.

Today, which cooking up a storm, I finally got to sit down and turn toward my daily office practices. I happened to gaze out the window, and you guessed it, a solidly flat tire met me. Given that with all the rain, something like four inches total, nothing was getting down the lane but the Bronco, I was never going to church yesterday anyway. So I figure God was telling me it was okay, that I sorta fudged on “not being able to get out.”

***

John McCain continues to fascinate me. His daughter has come out in favor of gay rights and is taking plenty of pot shots at Karl (slight of hand) Rove. But the old man continues his shameful crap. He’ s more than willing to accept that waterboarding is torture and we shouldn’t do it, but thinks we should “move on” and not prosecute the slime balls who have ignored the Geneva Conventions and well, defend the practice on unproven claims that “it worked.” McCain remains the candidate who cuts corners on ethics to continue stroking the base. Word is  that he’s getting a real run for his money by an ultra conservative in Arizona, who is beating him over the head about his immigration policy (which of course, McCain no longer wishes to even speak of.)

***

Speaking of the new swine flu, and we were, how’s come we keep getting diseases from animals? I mean this seems always the case doesn’t it? Do they ever get sick from us? Other than getting murdered for food and tested for cosmetics and such? I mean that’s enough to be really mad at us I guess. But I haven’t seen any pigs sneezing. Is that a sign? I yell at one of our cats, Kate. She sneezes all the time, and never covers her nose, but that’s another story.

I’m just wondering if this is some massive conspiracy by the animal kingdom to do us in. I can understand why they might think it a good idea, but really our menagerie of spongers are way to lazy to work for their supper or pay any rent. They need us, like it or not. So enough with giving us all this darned illness! (You know this might have something to do with birds committing suicide by flying into jet engines……just thinkin’.)

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Oh and while we are still talking about the flu, and we still are cuz I said so. Just wanted to give a nice shout out to the Rethugs for their help. Not only did they insist that money allotted to “pandemic disease” control be taken out of the stimulus package because it somehow didn’t create jobs, but they are blocking the appointment of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius for HHS. You know, it’s to the point where you almost have to think there is a satanic force at work making sure the GOP is on the exact wrong side of everything these days. (Shall we reload in our circular firing squad boys and girls, and continue to off each other faster than a Democrat can win an election against ya?)

***

It seems that all was atwitter for nothing much. Lots of speculation was afoot that things would not go well when Charles and Camilla had a private audience with his Holiness Benedict XVI.

First of all, it was expected that the Pope would be chastising the couple, since both are divorced, which is not kosher in the Vatican (I love mixing religions like that). It was also theorized that Benedict would present the couple with a facsimile of Henry VIII’s request for annulment. Neither one happened.

Apparently the meeting was quite chatty. This of course leads to new speculation that the Vatican is thinking about relaxing the divorce prohibition for its flock. Camilla was married to a Catholic, although Charles was not (actually it’s against the law for a royal to marry a Roman Catholic under current Acts of Secession). The pope we understand did want that dropped.

I’d not place too much emphasis on his meeting the two and not wagging his finger at the couple for “living in the sin of adultery” though. It would take some mighty fancy foot work to change the Church’s stance on divorce without a whole lot of other dogma threatening to collapse. When you make claims that the Church is prevented from error by the Holy Spirit, it is a big no no to suggest said Spirit in error.

Course, there are ways around this, but who is gonna be big enough to say they “misinterpreted” the Spirit? So don’t look for any change soon. So far the willing martyr has not been found. Swords are being readied perhaps for the inevitable falling upon though.

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that’s all folks!