Right now

It is kittie and Josh time.

Also, I am drinking a Baileys milk shake. By myself.
Don't judge me.


Lastly, tuesday is date night in Tacoma. Will update.



Over and out.

Their chicken sucks

This is what I have to say about the whole Chic-fil-A fiasco. What a bunch of assholes. Both sides of this are despicable assholes who force their agenda into society so much that they dichotomize the situation, further creating the chasm between two parties, dehumanizing each other and criminalizing their actions. They enforce a mutual exclusivity that cause people pick a side in an issue that is vastly more complex than either will give allowance for. Both wish to homogenize their ethos which is insane because one professes liberty and diversity for all and the "freedom to think however they want" and the other largely aligns itself with a religious community that supposedly promotes the notion that people outside of it's community should not be held up to the standard that they hold each other up to and yet they vote to exterminate all other belief systems. How unreasonable is that. What absurd hypocrisy from both parties. How dare either of them polarize themselves so much that they peg us into a camp and make a stand like this is the end of civilization. You know what is more shitty than the gay marriage situation? Almost everything in the world. Here is a list:

-Global water crisis

-Global malaria plague

-Civil war in the global south

-Aids epidemic

-State sponsored imperialism

-Vast political corruption in places like Burma and Tibet

-Decreased spending in education and increased spending in military funding

Lastly, Chic-fil-A sucks. Thats all there is to it.

How is Bill O'Riley such an unbelievable douche?

I don't know. Thats the answer.




It is not that I am drawn in by the champions of liberalism, rather, it is that I am pushed away by the champions of conservatism.

Shame on both.

1 thing great, 1 thing terrible

Lets start with the terrible. Paula Dean. She is probably a wonderful person and I am sure her food is delicious. But she is not a chef. She is like those people who buy a really fancy camera and learn some photoshop tricks and call themselves an artist.

Now for the great. My girlfriend.

Look how cute she is.

But what the heck is that. It is a towel.
That she found at camp.
That she took home.
That she does not know who the former owner was.


That is terrible.

Almost Paula Dean terrible.


But she is super cute.
She is the best.

Participation as idolotry

This week we will be talking about abortion in my sunday school class. We, I would contend more than any other country in the western world, live in an impressively unprecedented culture of death. We are surrounded by it. We are number one in the manufacturing of armaments, the only country in the western world that utilizes capital punishment (I believe), unrelenting support of Israel and their absolute terrorism upon Palestine, and retain the right for women to have an abortion. I do not find abortion to be any more morally horrifying in the least. In fact, I find it to be the least so out of those mentioned. What I do find horrifying is that we call it genocide and wish to legislate against it yet we never care about people who are a part of world wide genocide. We find it morally objectionable to have an abortion because it is murder yet we are okay with the amount of homelessness and poverty in America which is talked about just as much. Being pro-life means being an advocate for the preservation of life. In most cases, we are not pro-life, we are just anti-abortion. What I find most horrifying is that we allow things like the global water crisis and malaria to continue while we bicker if homosexuals should be considered equal in America. This is what I find most appalling. Moreover, it seems excessively hypocritical to accept all government funded killing. Thus, it would appear that the only true way to stand firm against abortion is to stand firm against all violence, adopting a stance of non-violence. Yet if we continue to participate in State matters then we cannot help but support one form of unethical action or another, causing the subversion of our Christianity and placing our allegiance to the state higher than our allegiance to Christ.

S

I love girlfriend. More than anything. And am always proud of her. She is a smarty ding dongs and so profoundly kind. I am amazed by her and love her so.

Caesar can still be my lord

Two things. First, I think it is interesting that we say Christ is lord. Lord has no meaning for us anymore as we are no longer in a feudal system. Thus, in America we should change it to Christ is my president. I think that it is after this happens that we as a Christian community can create a holistic Christian worldview that does not leave much room for politics because we will monopolize all of our time with what it means to follow Christ as commander and chief first. Which leads to numero dos. When we say render unto Caesar what is his, for the most part it is in appropriation to taxes and our sense of nationalist patriotism for our country as Christians in support of what is conceived as the "great Christian nation that is the hands and feet of God in the world." However, Dorothy Day said something to the effect of let Caesar have all his money because he created it. Who cares. What God created was humanity and that is what we should be good stewards of, not hiding. In this light, the paradigm of Christ's parable of the talents is re-imagined as we become proactive stewards of humanity and the right to life being fundamentally the possession of God as we become active advocates for life in all avenues of existence.

Why Batman is going to die in seven days

This is my exceptionally unofficial and non-expert opinion on the matter.

1. Implications in various trailers. Saying things like "there is a storm coming" implying a mass fight, though perhaps not a direct indictment of immanent death, it does pretty obviously mean all hell will break loose, which leads into other portions (the same goes for Bane claiming to be Gothem's reconing). These portions are things like Bane saying "then you have my permission to die" and most importantly, telling Catwoman that he has not given the people of Gothem everything, at least, "not yet."

2. It is pretty much common knowledge that this is the last installment of the Nolan Batman series. Nolan is no stranger to mystery and controversy, in the very least, as seen in Inception. So, it is not that far of a leap to kill off Batman in some awesomely heroic fashion. In fact, it would make sense for this to happen so that the final movie in the series would have a clean break and firmly establish an end to Batman (in this universe at least). If this is the case, it would seem most appropriate for Batman to die while sacrificing himself and killing Bane in the process.

3. Comics are not unfamiliar with death, specifically the death of the lead protagonist. Death of Captain America, Batman, Superman, Robin and generally the whole of the marvel universe in the Onslaught series. Well, thats not entirely true, it was only the Fantastic Four and the Avengers but then they were reborn from the mind of Franklin in a parallel universe and...

4. The Dark Knight Rises seems to follow pretty close to the story line of Knightfall, in which Bane unleashes all the villains from Arkham and fights Batman IN HIS OWN HOME after learning of his true identity, but is ultimately defeated by Bruce's heir and goes through a huge change of heart after kicking the ol' venom habit.

5. Lastly, and most importantly, Bane is the one who broke Batman's back. This means that Bane possesses the ability to get close to Batman, outsmart him and defeat him. There is no venom to hinder him, only apparently a disability and the gas is there to help him cope or something. However, let me reiterate, Bane nearly killed batman in the comics. This, combined with this being the final installment of the trilogy and Nolan needing a way to end the series in the form of absolutes, this would be the most convenient and perfect way to do so.

Thus, Batman has need to die. He has to die.

misc.

home sweet home

Holy cow. I cannot sleep.

All I can think about is a house.

My house.

My small house.

The home I live in is wonderful. It is big.

But I want a small house.

Well, Savannah wants a small house.

So now I want a small house.

It is all in my head. I just need the money to build it now.

I do love this house as well.

Intermission

Dope


Goes







I dig both of theses songs. A lot.


The girlfriend leaves tomorrow to be camp nurse.
Which equates to a sad boyfriend.



Oh well. Lots of reading and such.

Oh Herro!!

Whoops! I've accidentally taken over Joshua's blog while he's out buying bottle rockets (Bottle rockets in flight! Afternoon delight!).

He's pretty much the best ever.
Reasons why:



Super smart
Super hot
Super diplomatic (when he's focused on it)
Super funny
Super cuddly (and when he cuddles with me and kitty it's like the world could never be better)
Super not into using the world super a lot
Super patient when I have to talk it out
Super willing to be the driver when we go places
Super good at doing impersonations


Literally he is my favorite male in the universe.
I love him (and everyone should love him).

Why would you care about Christ?

How sad is it that Christianity has effectively failed everyone so absolutely that on the whole it is no longer seen as a viable option for anyone to be a Christian for the 35 and younger crowd. That we have created an other that is no longer a minority and ostracized ourselves is a travesty. It is not a matter of being different than society. It is a matter of trying to force our agenda onto others, legislating a morality while claiming that we will not hold up everyone else to the same standards as us.

Something that I read recently about pacifism came from (of course) Stanley Hauerwas. It is, perhaps, the most compelling argument for a pacifistic Christian ethos.
"We are pledged to extend God's peace through the care and protection of his creation. We resist one who is evil, not because life is inherently sacred, but simply because life belongs to God."

He goes on to quote John Howard Yoder in that "the gospel itself the message that Christ died for His enemies, is our reason for being ultimately responsibly for the neighbor's-and especially the enemy's- life."

I think that is what is interesting about this discussion, many times people attempt to argue one perspective or another by means of pointing out specific scripture that would support their position. However, what many people dismiss (or perhaps simply leave out and not think about) is the narrative aesthetic of our community. We say "Christ said this" or "Christ did this" but dismiss the whole of his lifestyle. We forget his message is largely eschatological in that he calls us to live in consistency with the Kingdom of God. Christ himself seemed to be radically different from the state in which he lived. Perhaps, more than anything, that is our calling. To show that being different is a viable life choice, one whose point is not to command all people acclimate to our sensibilities but that people choose to live a life that is wholly different from the one presented to them by the profane culture that we live in. That our intent is kindness, love and non-violence to the point of absurdity. That people once again see in us the joy of Christ. How else can Christianity be attractive? Certainly it will not be through a demand of moral virtue for those who dismiss our claims of legitimacy. It will be a demand of moral virtue for our own community and a commitment to right living that will garner the interest of the other.



ps. When did this become a blog on theology? Oh well.

sentimentality and wedding bells

Something that I have been thinking about lately is the sentiment of sentimentality in Christianity in America. I find it so interesting that we are expected to be different. To act different. To show Christ. To be Christ. Yet it seems that so very often, that which is paramount to American Christianity is insuring that everyone is the same. That everyone thinks and acts the same. We claim in America that we are willing to make whatever sacrifice is necessary for the cross, yet we attempt to create a homogeneous society in which it is not that sacrifice is no longer necessary but where sacrifice is impossible. We no longer want to give away our cloak. Instead, we wish to make everyone buy the same cloak.

Lately these posts have been a bit heavy, haven't they?

So in other news, tonight was relaxing.
Tranquil.


It was spent reading, drinking beer and listening to Jonsi.




Only one thing could make it better.


Tomorrow we go to a wedding.
One of my former roommates and one of Savannah's dear high school friends (they are one in the same).


Actually, I suppose we owe everything to him.