Erudite Redneck, B.S., B.S., M.A.

UPDATED!!! ORIGINALLY TITLED "Lee, Jonathan and Billy's flat in ERland"

First, to repeat ...

xxxxxx

I thought I'd give the ER Roadhouse resident UK atheists their own place. It's to the left, at the top of my blog roll.

Juat this once, I'll give all three of 'em the bloglight right here: !! ER's Resident UK Atheists.

But, remember they're there. They're quite the hoots.

Cheerio and all that! :-)

xxxxxx

Ah, but then, a word from the Lord came. Or a brain fart. Hard to tell the difference sometimes.

I propose we lump all non-nelievers, athiests, scientism adherents (different than scientists) into one pool and judge them. That's what they seem to do with all theists, deists, Christians, Muslims and anyone else who dares have a faith tradition.

RESOLVED: Atheism is a threat to society, all societies, and atheists need to be exposed for that.

Now, I'm not talking about people who haven't made their minds up, or who aren't sure they've heard the call of God, or are agnostic even. There, are, despite EL's objections, Christian agnostics -- otherwise known as honest Christians who honestly doubt and whgo are honest about it.

I'm talking about "evangelist" atheists, those as fundamentalist as any religios fundamentalist, and I think, after having engaged them sone, that these guys fit that.

Of course, I really don't want them wiped from the face of the earth, and I don't think they want all Christians, Muslims, Hindus and what-have-you wiped out, either. But I'm pretty sure they would prefer that Christianity, Islam et al., be done away with.

Fair enough. I feel the same way about atheism.

I'll start (and maybe finish, who knows? My obsessions are not all y'alls', I know):

"Settle it therefiore in your mind, as a maxim never to be effaced or forgotten, that atheism is an inhuman, bloody, ferocious, system, equally hostile to every useful restraint and to every virtuous affection; that leaving nothing above us to excite awe, nor round us to awaken tenderness, it wages war with heaven and earth: its first object is to dethrone God, its next to dethrone man."

-- the Rev. Robert Hall, in "Modern Infidelity Considered, with Respect to its Influence on Society: in a Sermon," preached in Cambridge, Mass., in The Works of the Rev. Robert Hall, A.M., Vol. 1 (New York: J&J Harper, 1832.)

Y'all next. G'head, g'head! Try it. Feels good to me, actually.

--ER

Not my actual car. Mine is "copper red mica" -- kind of a blood color.

"Mazda 3"

--ER

Dr. ER got up with the chickens for an early flight and was in Houston by 7:30 a.m., on her mission to rescue one juvenile domestic shorthair kitty.

Subject name: Eames.

Return flight tomorrow!

Yes. She's wack.

The saga to date:

God gives us another cat.

Meet Eames.

"Happy Cat Day!"

Poor titty tat.

Over and out.

--ER

Sigh. I'm posting this because I think it a fair example, a snapshot, of garden-variety "thinking" on the wars. Someone I love who cannot possibly agree with this confused rant forwarded it in teh e-mail.

Read it, but hold on tight! Expect whiplash from contradictions and inconsistencies. How much can someone get mixed up? Oh, and the "Jesus" thing at the end, after the writer spilled so much bile, is hilarious and sad and pathetic all at the same time.

Lord help us.

xxxxxxxxxx

Letter from one "Angry Woman"

"Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001?

Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan, across the Potomac from our nation's capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania?

Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they?

And I'm supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was "desecrated" when an overworked American soldier kicked it or got it wet? ... Well, I don't. I don't care at all.

I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11.

I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere possession of which is a crime in Saudi Arabia.

I'll care when these thugs tell the world they are sorry for chopping off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling slashed throat.

I'll care when the cowardly so-called "insurgents" in Iraq come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques.

I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide.

I'll care when the American media stops pretending that their First Amendment liberties are somehow derived from international law instead of the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights.

In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave marine roughing up an Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this: I don't care.

When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners who have been humiliated in what amounts to a college-hazing incident, rest assured: I don't care.

When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank: I don't care.

When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat, and fed "special" food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being "mishandled," you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts: I don't care.

And oh, by the way, I've noticed that sometimes it's spelled "Koran" and other times "Quran." Well, Jimmy Crack Corn and -- you guessed it -- I don't care!!

If you agree with this viewpoint, pass this on to all your E-mail friends. Sooner or ater, it'll get to the people responsible for this ridiculous behavior!

If you don't agree, then by all means hit the delete button. Should you choose the latter, then please don't complain when more atrocities committed by radical Muslims happen here in our great Country!

And may I add: "Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. But, the Marines don't have that problem" -- Ronald Reagan.

I have another quote that I would like to add AND ... I hope you forward all this.

"If we ever forget that we're One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under." Also by Ronald Reagan.

One last thought for the day: In case we find ourselves starting to believe all the Anti-American sentiment and negativity, we should remember England's Prime Minister Tony Blair's words during a recent interview. When asked by one of his Parliament members why he believes so much in America, he said: "A simple way to take measure of a country is to look at how many want in, and how many want out."

Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you:

1. Jesus Christ
2. The American G.I.

One died for your soul, the other for your freedom.

YOU MIGHT WANT TO PASS THIS ON, AS MANY SEEM TO FORGET BOTH OF THEM.


Gag.

Discuss.

--ER

OK, so now I'm thinking: Keep the truck. Because as my Brudder, who minces words even less than I do, said: "You know yer gonna get raped on the trade-in."

He's right. So, I'm thinking of keeping the truck, trading the 13-year-old Mazda, such as it is -- for somethin' that gets good mileage. I think I could live through three months with two car payments.

So, I plan to drive a Honda Accord, a Mazda of some kind, and a Dodge Caliber.

But I'd sure like to check out a Subaru. Problem is they're in Norman, which is plumb at the other end of the city from me.

--ER

Blast from the past ...

On today's Focus on Certain Kinds of Family radiotelephone "broadcast," Doctuh James Dobson updated listeners on last week's outrageous decision by the United States Supreme Court to redefine freedom, in Brown vs. Board of Education.

"It was a breathtakin' overreach by a co-urt and one that has fah-reachin' implications, not only fah Kansas, but fah the country and the family at la-arge," said Doctuh Dobson, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family.

The court struck down Plessy vs. Ferguson -- a fine, ah say, a fine a piece of legislatin' as evuh come from the bench, you know, the kind we'uns like -- thus legalizing "inter-racial" edu-ma-cation.

Joining Doctuh Dobson on the "broadcast" were Tony Perkins, president of the Family Citizens Council; Tom Minnery, senior vice president of gubment and public policy at Focus on Certain Kinds of Family Action; and Pastuh Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel of Chino Hills, Calif.

"Judicial activism is back in this country with a vengeance," Perkins said. "They completely overstepped the Congress and established public policy. This is a judicial shotgun weddin'. A salt-and-peppuh weddin' Next thing you know, why, they'll be lettin' homo-sexuals git married and divorced. And dogs and cats'll be livin' together. Where will it end?"

Minnery said the ruling makes state separate-but-equal amendments absolutely essential.

"Schoolin' means schoolin' for white young'uns ovuh heah, and schoolin' for colored young'uns over theah," Minnery said. "It’s always meant that."

One more thing:

Pbththth.

Read the real thing from FOTF.

--ER

Here's y'alls' -- the Prayer of Confession today at church:

Lord of Life, we are surrounded by the distractions of ego, and the bonfire of the vanities. We seek out our 15 minutes of fame, forgetting that in the eyes of God we are all extraordinarily ordinary. We allow ourselves to enjoy the thought that we deserve our lives of privilege, and that others have brought on their own misery. But the good news is not that the poor might someday be just like us; rather that we might recognize among the poor our twin brother or sister. After all, what good does it do to be first in line, if God starts serving at the back of the line? In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, our Teacher and Lord we pray, Amen.

That kind of hit me right where I needed to be hit this morning.


Now, y'alls' turn:

Dr. ER lost someone very dear to her today. One of those larger-than-life, but loved-you-just-as-you-are peeps, the kind that are too, too rare. Not a "matriarch," but something like that.

We knew it was near, but ... you know. It always feels like it comes out of the blue.

Dr. ER is driving in from Boulder on Monday. We'll head to Texas one day this week. Prayers, karma, peaceful thoughts, the vibes of the Comforter and peace that passes understanding, please, for us both, but mostly for Dr. ER, Sister Dr. ER and Bird.

--ER

Uno. Why would anyone give up hope? If that's all there was left to hold onto? I don't get it. I don't think anyone every actually *does* give up hope. I think they just get weary, and they lose their grip on it. That is *not* the same thing as giving it up.


Two-o. Latest thinking on the veehickle front: I trade what's left of my poor truck for a Honda Accord coupe (best mileage of the large-car class), and later I buy a used 4WD Ford Ranger. Whattayas think? That gets the four things I require: Good gas mileage and relative safety (in the Accord), and a pickup and 4WD (in the Ranger). ... If you can suggest something comparable to the Accord in both safety-size and gas mileage, please do. :-)


Three-o. OSU-OU Bedlam Baseball (first game in Tulsa, tonight and tomorrow in OKC is, crap, in, like, less than two hours. I will be there. Ticket bought. Check, Friday. Ticket cared for and kept up with. Check, since then. Ticket dropped in the damn toilet? Yes! &%$%**^%! Don't ask. Thank goodness for e-mailed printable tickets! :-)


Four-o. Fred Craddock preaches at church tomorrow. Cool. I've heard nothing but good things about this servant of the Lord, the Rev. Dr. Fred Craddock, who is a Christian (Disciples of Christ) preacher. (DrLobojo, do you know of him? Consider yourself invited). I aim to get there early to get my regular seat. (Square in front of the pulpit, six to 12 rows from the front.)

Five-o. Meeting my in-laws for barbecue at Jakes's at Chickasha, OK, tomorrow afternoon. I love 'em. A belated mother's day-father-in-law-birthday thing. :-) They are good peeps.

Six-o. Then, I'll go drivin' around southwest Oklahoma with two camaras, my digital as well as my old Pentax K-1000, since it's the one with all the lenses, lookin' for cool long-lens pix of wheat (growing fast, and it's tall and green around here), and combines (prolly too early since spring has persisted for so long); and pix of other things for official publication. Because, since -- did I mention? -- I have commandeerered a company car, a PT Cruiser, for the day, so I have to justify it with "work." :-) :-) (Not to diminish the time it takes to take good pix; but it's fun, is all I'm sayin').

Off to the game!

--ER

God bless Chris Matthews.

Who is Kevin James?

Ignorance gone to seed. Perfect representative of right-wing talk radio.

--ER

A little thank-God-it's-Friday levity and frivolity, y'all.

--ER

I just now learned that Dottie Rambo died in a bus crash the other day. The Rambos were major hot in the Southern Gospel music world when I was a teenaged Southern Gospel radio announcer.

I unabashedly love Southern Gospel music to this day. Here's a sample of Dottie.



--ER

Congrees votes to toss bucket of water on raging forest fire.

To wit:

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate late Wednesday approved and sent to the White House legislation directing President Bush to temporarily halt oil shipments into the government's emergency reserve, hoping to lower energy prices.

Final approval came without debate after Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada received assurances from other senators, including Republicans, that no one would object.


Your suggestions, please, for dealing with the energy situation -- not just the gas price situation, although they're Siamese twins.

Let gasoline hit $10 a gallon -- it'll cripple the economy, and then both gubment and bidness types who have been tiptoeing around this for 35 years will come to some agreements that matter, unlike messing with the emergency oil reserve, and some conclusions.

On the horizon is the national catastrophe Brother Jimmy Carter, prophet, warned us about 30 years ago. (Tip o' the Resistol to Dan at Payne Hollow.)

--ER

Tried on each of these this morning ...








a Toyota RAV4, a Dodge Dakota and a Jeep Wrangler ...





... and my inner redneck WANTS THE JEEP!

No rush, as long as the '95 Mazda (Bird's college car) holds out.

--ER

This is just a cool story. Yer family cookin' and eatin' tales, please.

--ER


By Bella English
Boston Globe

CHOCOWINITY, N.C. - My Aunt Lil died last summer, and besides missing her dearly, I miss those big, southern Sunday dinners she had been fixing for half a century. After church, the extended family would assemble at her table for a feast: ham, roast beef, or fried chicken, green beans, black-eyed peas, okra, a platter of tomatoes and biscuits, all washed down with tea so sweet it would make your teeth ache. Then on to pound cake - chocolate for special occasions.

Loosen yer belt and read it all.


The longest lead I ever wrote on a feature story was 100-plus words, one long but not run-on tantalizingly scrumptious sentence describing in detail what was going on a plate as someone filled it from a buffet line at a Texas family get-together. The paragraph put you right there, and made anyone who read it hungry. :-)

--ER

Y'all start.

Some fodder: "Original Sin" from Wikipedia.

An unorthodox Christian view: "Original Blessing" and Creation Spirituality (Matthew Fox), from Wikipedia.

--ER

Must've needed to be taken down a peg.

Got a rejection e-mail on a Denver job Friday, and got a rejection letter in the mail on another Denver job Saturday.

Yesterday's vehicle trouble was just the beginning.

I got two blocks from the house on my way to church this morning and what I thought was smoke started pouring out of the tailpipe. I came back immediately and saw that it was steam, and water was dripping from the exhaust.

A bad sign. A very bad sign, especially with the knocking that precipitated it.

So, I've been surfing, sort of stunned, and continuing blog-commenting correspondence with a couple of new atheist blog pals, Jonathan at Musings of a Strange Mind and Billy at Billy's Occasional Blog.

And looking at new cars and trucks online, trying to decide whether to trade now or continue the plan to pay the truck off, then buy something new and small that gets good mileage.

And, I listened to a couple of sermons I've missed lately, which I commend to y'all.

"Breakfast of Compassion." (April 20)

"Is Jeremiah Wright or Wrong?" (March 30)

--ER

Gasoline prices have finally hit ER right where it hurts.

My Shell card is full (mostly because I just learned that Jiffy Lube takes Shell cards, and I had about $500 worth of service done on my truck [113,000 miles], but still: Full is full.)

And I found out it was full AT the Jiffy Lube, which caused me to have to put a radiator flush-and-fill on a non-gas card (I should have paid cash or used a debit card, but I was caught by surprise and just grabbed another card).

And, of course, the truck was on fumes. So I did use a debit card (same as cash, ouch!) to fill it up: almost $79 bucks.

And now the radiator is leaking from the reservoir bottle: $69 at the dealership, plus labor, and if I was totally positive I could do it myself, today, I'd do it, but I'm not, and I have a dinner date with my in-laws tomorrow at Chickasha, about 100 miles away, and I don't want to put them off.

I could drive the Mazda formerly known as Bird's car, but I'd need to pay cash to put gas in it for the trip, and I don't wanna do that.

So, I reckon ...

Wait a dang minute. If I'm gonna have to pay cash for something, and I'm gonna have to, I'd rather pay cash for a part than for gas.

So, hmmm. I think I will take the Birdmobile to go buy the truck part, and at least see if I can install it myself today. If I can't, well, then I'll put some gas in the Birdmoble and take it to Chickasha tomorrow.


It's not that huge of a gamble. I've got the tools. My R needs shined upsome anyway -- and I did already buy a Haynes manual because I've got three more payments on the truck and it's mine. The elimination of the $508/month payment will help me afford gas for the behemoth.

--ER

The Apostle Paul suggested we are to be "fools for Christ" -- not total morons.

Various branches of the faith have taken what probably was a not-well-thought-out quip by the Apostle Paul in the first place and institutionalized it, like everything else. (See "Foolishness for Christ.")

I Corinthians 4:10: "We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised." (KJV)

First, this remark comes amid something of a rant in the letter to the unruly bunch of Christians in Corinth. Paul seems exasperated in Corinthians 4.

"Fools" there is from the Greek moros. which Strong's says means "dull or stupid (as if shut up), i.e. heedless ... blockhead, (appar.) absurd. ... prob. from the base of musterion,, from a der. of muo (to shut the mouth); a secret or "mystery" (thought the idea of silence imposed by initiation into religious rites) -- mystery."

Like so much else, it takes some thinking to get at what Paul meant -- even if it was actually an offhand remark.

There are so many morons for Christ, it makes me wonder.

Moron: One deficient in judgment and good sense: ass, fool, idiot, imbecile, jackass, mooncalf, nincompoop, ninny, nitwit, simple, simpleton, softhead, tomfool. Informal: dope, gander, goose. Slang: cretin, ding-dong, dip, goof, jerk, nerd, schmo, schmuck.

Discuss!

BTW, to any who hadn't noticed, these two posts have had extended lives, with very interesting, although tedious, threads.

Amazimg Grace Notes

And especially,

"No more blood for guilt"

--ER

(Thump, thump). Mic check! Mic check! Is this thing on?? ...

Ahem. Teh Internets have been down at my house.

I raced a tornado -- and won!

That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it, although there is some discussion as to whether the strong storms that whupped Oklahoma City yesterday evening had tornados.

I say they did. I was in the middle of it, listening to the local expert TV weather gurus and spotters simulcasting on my truck radio. They don't make stuff up, although those boys do get excited. 'll bet they call it an EF0 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

But hey, hearing a spotter say "lowering" is good enough for me. Especially when it's raining sideways. I was heading north as it was heading north and then east and our paths crossed but just missed each other.

For people who know Oklahoma City: I was leaving work as the sireens went off, heading north 10 miles to the house. A miles north, Mike Morgan (TV weather guru) was saying possible tornado at Warr Acres. The next mile over Lake Hefner. The next mile over Quail Springs mall, and now bearing east more than north.

I was at Memorial and Broadway and it was coming fast from the mall area. Cloudy and foggy, big rain, but the front edge of the thing was boiling. Very cool. At 33rd and Kelly in Edmond, Mike Morgan is yelling by now, "Edmond! Edmond! Edmond! Get to your palce of safety NOW. This is serious, etc."


I'm thinking; Well, it's pretty cool out; if it's a tornado it's a small one, and fickle; if the glass breaks, from hail or debris, that'll suck, and if some idiot fraks out and drives into me, that could suck; but the most the thing itself might do is roll the truck a few times, and I've got my seatbelt on and air bags. Rock on.

Mike Morgan says the hook had just crossed around Memorial Road/Kilpatrick Turnpike area at Broadway Extension. And I'm, by now, about a mile north and a little west of there. So, the thing has passed behind me. Cool.

Then it got dark in an instant. The wind picked up. It was raining sideways already, but now visibility was about gone, except foe tail lights right in front of me. I race on, worryin' about the dogs -- sireens still blarin' and Mike Morgan and the spotters still yellin' on the radio.

Only once did I think, I might have to slip it 4WD and go around these people, when stuck at a light (rush hour) Only once dd I think, I might have to slip it in 4WD and push these little cars the hell out of my way.

I was racin' home to get to the dogs to put 'em in the house. Within a half-mile of my neighborhood, the traffic is slowed to a crawl and I am trying hard not drive over the car in front of me. OK, sure, you couldn't see -- but hey, I could get the house by feel from this point.


Finally whip into my neighborhood and I can see nothing but fuzzy shapes that I know are houses and cars parked in the street. I sped on, slowing only to turn onto my street, and then to slide into my driveway. It's about 10 feet from where I get out of my truck to the front porch. I busted it to get there -- and got so wet I had to change clothes.

First, I ran to the back yard and hollered at Riker and Bailey. They were like, "Yessir! Go into the sunroom? Absolutely. Glad to do it. Yessir!" No barking, not bitching to be fed. They were quiet, and they laid down in the floor and looked at me with thankful eyes.

Ice-T was on the back of a couch, sort of nervy, quiet and stiff.

Turned the TV on, ran to change clothes. Grabbed a flashlight and made sure the was nothing in the way of me and all the critters congregatin' in the bathroom in the middle of the house.

But before long, the main storm had passed, about an hour and 10 minutes after it spun up.

Most fun I've had with weather since I lived in Texas. :-)

--ER

Dr. ER directed me to D.C. Cabbies Talk Politics, a story by CNN. I totally concur. I've had some of the best conversations with cabbies in D.C.

--ER

Man! If studyin' the Bible and figuring out how it fits modern life and the Christian faith were easy, everybody would be doing it. :-)

--ER


Liberating word
The power of the Bible in the global South

by Philip Jenkins

Gatherings of the worldwide Anglican Communion have been contentious events in recent years. On one occasion, two bishops were participating in a Bible study, one from Africa, the other from the U.S. As the hours went by, tempers frayed as the African expressed his confidence in the clear words of scripture, while the American stressed the need to interpret the Bible in the light of modern scholarship and contemporary mores. Eventually, the African bishop asked in exasperation, "If you don't believe the scripture, why did you bring it to us in the first place?"

Read it all.

Discuss.

--ER

Poor Eames didn't take too kindly to gettin' her front feets declawed, and had to become a conehead!

Pic by Bird via cellphone, at the clinic where Eames will remain incarcerated until Dr. ER can retrieve her. First, Dr. ER has to go to ^*$%^ Hawaii for work! :-(

--ER

That'd be the "Beautiful Indian Territory" as promoters used to call it, Sequoyah County particularly. (Yes, they were referring to I.T. before Oklahoma Territory was carved out to the west; but this is my story and I'm stickin' to it).

(Actual history: Indian Territory, and Oklahoma Territory.)

It's been right at a year since I was home. Big Brudder says Sunday is Decoration Day at the cemetery where Mama ER, and about everybody else in my clan, rest in peace.

And there's my oldest goodest buddy K.Kat to see, and Charlie's Chicken in Sallisaw, which, oddly, has the best dang ribs in the country (and only this Charlie's Chicken sells 'em! Weird.) Good time to go. Adios.

--ER

20-plus years ago!

Thurman Thomas does Tailback U proud.

And: Happy birthday to me. I'm 44 &*$#@^&! years young. Sh-t. Gift to myself: A drive to Stillwater to watch my 32-11 Oklahoma State baseball Cowboys start to close out a great season against Utah Valley.

Maybe, ahem, a side stop of Willie's, and George's, two old friends of mine. :-) I still have a fancy rocks glass I swiped from Willie's a generation ago. :-)

--ER

First, I retract any bitching I have ever done about county-based weather warnings; I bitched a year ago because the tornado sireens went off in my town with an almost clear sky because there was a tornado in the exact opposite end of the county from here, about 25 or so miles way.



Ha. This evening, me and the dogs were on the patio smokin' a cigar, havin' a drink and readin' a book when the sireens went off. I said, "WTH?" and came in and saw Mike Morgan, meteorologist star of KFOR-TV, tell me that there were tornados on the ground some 10 or 15 miles southeast of me.

I. Had. No. Clue.

Tornado sireens good. Mike Morgan and KFOR-TV weather, and their copter jockey Jim Gardner, better.

Damn. There's one on the ground in Pawhuska. Redneck Tornado Alley prayers aloft!

Oh, the house is drywall-repaired and painted and the instant yard is installed. Yay.

--ER

OKC is OK. (Denver, too).

Okies: Spread the word.

--ER

Click and click and listen. Very cool. --ER

Some people say there's no such thing as "the black church." Some people are wrong. They are ignorant of history and blind to reality. And some are supremacists of one kind or the other.

Wouldn't it be just like God to speak to America through the voice(s) of American blacks -- those who, in our history anyway, have been the most marginalized and spat upon, and misunderstood? The ones most likely to have gotten Jesus's attention?

--ER

I love this. Tip of my Resistol to Alan.



Conditional love can't be Godlove, because that would make it humanlove, which either means that God is human, or we are God -- and if *that's* true then ... We humans should have mercy on us all.

Which, really, is Jesus's marching order ... for ... us ... humans.

A gloss on theories of atonement.

I personally tend toward the Moral Influence view of atonement.

But in the wee hours, I admit, I adhere to the Gaitherian view. Let those who will mock, mock.

--ER

New record! I just put up the Christmas decorations! The tree came down quite a while ago. But the other stuff just stayed put, more or less.

Drywall-paint guys actually are coming today. Next: Take down photos and art from walls. I took pictures first, for posterity I might not put the stuff back up, since, you know -- ha ha ha -- I'm supposed to be movin' to Colorado, ha ha ha.

--ER

Prayer of Confession this morning at church:

Lord of Life, we like to think of ourselves as modern, progressive and civilized. But the old religion of the altar, blood sacrifice, and an angry God continue in new guises. Why do we still believe that we must offer up something in order to earn credits with God? Why do we continue to link violence with the divine, and death with the holy? The God of all creation is not far from us, but neither is this Great Mystery to be confused with our shrines, our passions or our love of privilege and comfort. We need not bargain. We need only serve. In the name of Jesus of Nazareth who opened the heavens we pray, Amen.


Scripture reading (one of my favorite passages):

Acts 17: 22-31

Cool:

God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'

--ER

It's my neighbor Dough's fault. He and his young'un, who's about as tall as half a hoe handle, were settin' out 'mater plants yesterday afternoon.

As whupped as I was from mowin' the front yard, edging the way the Good Lord intended (with a half-moon edger at the end of a handle), hoein' the back yard (not kidding: dandelions 3 and 4 feet tall, and I ain't lyin'), and stackin' the dandelion carcasses in a corner, then mowin' and hitchin' the mower up and mowin' again, this after makin' two runs to the Ace, and one run to the Tractor Supply, and havin' not eaten anything much but an egg and bacon sandwich from the Sonic because I was saving up for the ham steak, redeye gravy, butter beans and biscuits I did eventually have for supper ...

Despite all that, Dough and his own little Biscuit inspired me to make yet another run, to Lowe's, which was a goldarn pandelirous madhouse, to buy 'mater plants. But dadgum it, I wish I could find some Rutgers transplants. Best cultivar, an old one, for flavor and texture. Period. What I got was Homestead (which I saw someone described as "Rutgers for Florida" [it was developed in Homestead, Fla.]; we'll see), Better Boy, which comes too big for my personal taste, and, ha, a variety called Patio, which makes a dwarf plant and fruit that probably are too small for my tastes. But hey, with four containers, I've got big 'uns, little 'uns and my preferred size of love apples on the way.

--ER

I tiptoed around the tum-tum all week. Then last night, I welcomed it back to the land of the fully livin' by test drivin' one of the new all-you-can-eat tickets at the RedHawks game.

Two Tecates with salt and lime at Maker's to start. OK, OK! Yes, with a tequila shot per.

Then, at the ballpark:

One huge 3.2 beer (beer not included in all-you-can-eat ticket), and, over the course of the game, one order nachos with "cheese" product and jalapenos; two standard-issue hot dogs with mustard-relish-ketchup; one bag hot peanuts in the shell; one cotton candy for dessert; three Pepsis of the size that used to be considered large but now seem small, but are plenty.

No harm. No foul.

I did notice that I dreamed last night for the first time since I took ill last weekend.

I dreamed that a rainbow coalition, all colors and creeds and economic persuasions, were walkin' by smilin' big, carryin' signs for Obama and chantin' "Yes, We Can." I caught one of 'em in the eye and said, "Si, se puede."

Actual dream.

--ER

I mean ... Awww!

"Happy Cat Day!" Bird said when she called. Eames has spent the required 10 days awaiting her mommy or daddy to come rescue her from the pet rescue place where she lives, and no one showed uo for her.

So, it's official: The ER's have an auxiliary cat.

Ice-T, primary cat, is not going to know what hit him.

--ER

Awesome glimpse, perhaps, of the kinds of abilities we all were supposed to have!

--ER



(Tip of the Resistol to new ER visitor Doc, of Day of the Doc (clever dude this Doc.)

I reckon this is about right.

What do y'all think? I think my favorite region is up around the Dakotas.

--ER

Oh, man. These are my now my favorite online rednecks! Other than my own self, I mean. Red State Update.

--ER

Of course Hillary won Pennsylvania! Snakehead (James Carville) was right when he said Pennsylvania was "Philadelphia and Pittsburg separated by Alabama" or something like that -- but he meant white Alabama.

Dang it. I was hoping she'd lose mainly so the rest of the way people'd vote for Obama to end the drama, as they say. But she didn't. So, rock on, y'all.

The truest test of the party's character -- gasp, spit even I have to laugh at the very idea of either party having anything approaching "character" -- will be how they handle the superdelegate issue.

My inner partisan and stident of government and history says parties can handle their internal affairs however they want to -- and delegate selection, and what the delegates do, is a party function.

But, perception is reality, and the reality is if they do anything to shortcircuit what people think, rightly or wrongly, is a function of their God-given democratic rights, there will be hell to pay in November, if not in the dang streets in Denver this summer.

Etc.: I already routinely smell of tobacco and Old Spice, occasionally mints, and whiskey. And now Bengay. I need to be somebody's grandpa. Bird! YankeeBeau! :-)

--ER

OK, this video made me uncomfortable the first time I saw it. But I got over it.

I can see how people could be offended it, I think. I mean, if they worship Hispanic actors who depict a gay Jesus dancing to a Gloria Gaynor tune and getting hit by a bus. Those people should be mortified.

But, really! To confuse this harmless parody with the reality of the Risen Christ! Y'all who are freaking out can just keep yer Little Bitty Helpless Jesus.

(BTW, can someone explain to me the complex subtexts here? Or it is just a silly video?)

Why it's an issue.

An example of someone bearing false witness about it, and the real reason he's twisting the truth, ironically, in the name of Christ (he's a pastor; if everything he does and says isn't in the name of Christ, he needs to hang up his robes): "There should be enough dirt on Obama to keep him well away from 1600 Pennsylvania Blvd."

The facts.

--ER

The low-register growl of a lion.
Slow-draining bathtub.
Glass packs.
Jake brakes.
Somebody spitting through a gap between their front teeth.
Ice-T the cat's kitty version of a big cat's growl.
Big taller-than-a-kid yard ball bouncing.
Water hammer.
Large rain stick.
Small rain stick.
Grease gun.
Juicer.

Those lovely sounds and more have emitted from my G.I. system, but trapped inside my bod, since Saturday night! Takes bein' sick to appreciate bein' well, I reckon.

The worst passed, so to speak, between 2 and 5 a.m. today -- worst stomach pain I've ever had. I kept thinking I was the cow in the corn and was prayin' for the farmer to come stick a knife in my side to let the air out. Oof.

I lived. Yesterday and Sunday are a blur. I can't believe it's Tuesday! Off work today, too. I'll work tomorrow from home. I went to Walgreens for provisions earlier and it like to wore me plumb out.

Sucking down the Gatorade today. Had a tunafish sammich and some Fritos for lunch. I think it's time for a nap.

--ER

No connection with the previous post, 'cause neither of the wimmins is illin' but good Lord I feel like I have one of these critters in my innards tryin' to get out.

Good thing I made them patties extra large, 'cause I have had 7-Up, ginger ale, a cup of crackers in milk and a little chicken noodle soup since Saturday night. Ugh.

--ER