ANTI-SCIENTIFIC ATTITUDE BY BIGOTED CHRISTIANS.

It is correct to assume that Christian attitudes have harmed our country and our way of life. How could this happen?

We have a situation of the  growing polarization of America, into two different cultural and political camps, each with almost diametrically opposing worldviews and contradictory sets of facts. One  possible reason  is schools.
Consider the following claims, from the A Beka Book and Bob Jones University Press fundamentalist textbook lines used in Christian schools now subsidized with state tax money in over a dozen states across America:

- Only ten percent of Africans can read or write, because Christian mission schools have been shut down by communists.
- "the [Ku Klux] Klan in some areas of the country tried to be a means of reform, fighting the decline in morality and using the symbol of the cross... In some communities it achieved a certain respectability as it worked with politicians."  
- "God used the 'Trail of Tears' to bring many Indians to Christ."
- It "cannot be shown scientifically  that man-made pollutants will one day drastically reduce the depth of the atmosphere's ozone layer."
- "God has provided certain 'checks and balances' in creation to prevent many of the global upsets that have been predicted by environmentalists."
- the Great Depression was exaggerated by propagandists, including John Steinbeck, to advance a socialist agenda.
- "Unions have always been plagued by socialists and anarchists who use laborers to destroy the free-enterprise system that hardworking Americans have created."
- Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential win was due to an imaginary economic crisis created by the media.
- "The greatest struggle of all time, the Battle of Armageddon, will occur in the Middle East when Christ returns to set up his kingdom on earth."

The following claims are from the Accelerated Christian Education textbook line, also used in state-funded Christian schools:

- Science Proves Homosexuality is a Learned Behavior
- The Second Law of Thermodynamics Disproves Evolution
- No Transitional Fossils Exist
- Humans and Dinosaurs Co-Existed
- Evolution Has Been Disproved
- A Japanese Whaling Boat Found a Dinosaur
- Solar Fusion is a Myth

 Louisiana is the latest front in the expansion of government funding of religious schools that use fundamentalist textbooks filled with dubious, factually incorrect, politically tendentious, and racially and culturally insensitive material.
Excerpt:

This 2012-2013 school year, thanks to a bill pushed through by governor Bobby Jindal, thousands of students in Louisiana will receive state voucher money, transferred from public school funding, to attend private religious schools, some of which teach from a Christian curriculum that suggests the Loch Ness Monster disproves evolution and states that the alleged creature, which has never been demonstrated to even exist, has been tracked by submarine and is probably a plesiosaur. The curriculum also claims that a Japanese fishing boat caught a dinosaur.

The downward spiral of American Culture is apparently not going away anytime soon. And, we have to pay for it?  Be careful when you vote. LIES A GREAT COUNTRY, DO NOT MAKE. 

JIMMY CARTER TAKES ON RELIGIOUS MALFEASANCE.

This picture of former President Jimmy Carter was taken by Louise Grubb of the Carter Center.

Jimmy Carter is 90 years old and making a positive contribution to society. Here are quotes from an article entitled, "Losing My Religion For Equality " by Leslie Salzillo. I don't read major Newspapers. I have no idea whether this has been aired nationally, but it should. I'm pleased to see that such a devout Christian is questioning Christian beliefs, as I do. I'm always appalled by avowed Christians who are filled with vitriol and hate for others.

Over the years, Jimmy Carter, a devout Christian, has become a very strong proponent of women's rights, to a point where he has spoken out against the falsehoods and extremism we see within the 'religion' of Christianity today. In 2009, he penned an open letter, severing ties with the mega SBC/Southern Baptist Convention, after being a member of the Convention for 60 years. Carter said the decision was difficult and painful, yet 'unavoidable,' after the Convention leaders chose to take bible verses out of context and claim 'Eve' was responsible  for 'original sin,' and thus all women must be subservient to men. In Carter's aforementioned open letter, he expands on his reasons and concerns:

This discrimination, unjustifiably attributed to a Higher Authority, has provided a reason or excuse for the deprivation of women's equal rights across the world for centuries.
At its most repugnant, the belief that women must be subjugated to the wishes of men excuses slavery, violence, forced prostitution, genital mutilation and national laws that omit rape as a crime. But it also costs many millions of girls and women control over their own bodies and lives, and continues to deny them fair access to education, health, employment and influence within their own communities.

The same discriminatory thinking lies behind the continuing gender gap in pay and why there are still so few women in office in the West. The root of this prejudice lies deep in our histories, but its impact is felt every day. It is not women and girls alone who suffer. It damages all of us.
Carter states "Subjugation was not always part of Christianity."
The carefully selected verses found in the Holy Scriptures to justify the superiority of men owe more to time and place - and the determination of male leaders to hold onto their influence - than eternal truths

I am also familiar with vivid descriptions in the same Scriptures in which women are revered as per-eminent leaders. During the years of the early Christian church women served as deacons, priests, bishops, apostles, teachers and prophets. It wasn't until the fourth century that dominant Christian leaders, all men, twisted and distorted Holy Scriptures to perpetuate their ascendant positions within the religious hierarchy.

"The truth is that male religious leaders have had - and still have - an option to interpret holy teachings either to exalt or subjugate women. They have, for their own selfish ends, overwhelmingly chosen the latter. It is time we had the courage to challenge these views."

THANK YOU JIMMY CARTER.

RETURN OF THE RAMBLIN MAN.

Jim arrived at my house late in the day on April 22nd, only to find me embroiled in projects unfinished and little time to spend together, other than finally having dinner together. On Thursday, it was more of the same. He walked, did fix-ups on his Bronco and I didn't even know he was gone. For now, that  is just the way it is.
Doug, came by to pick up a kitchen counter I had had built locally and went over paperwork and indoor paint choices and sku numbers for flooring I picked locally that he will  look over when he returns to Oregon in the same chain store.
I gave him a belated birthday present, a rug that I made him 30 years ago was damaged by his cat and needed repair. After six years, the same number of years Jim and I have traveled together, I finally fixed his rug.


The job was much harder than I figured, cutting out old pieces without cutting into the lacing that holds the whole thing together and then adding new wool to old wool for a new border. Lumpy in places, but it will flatten with use.  Lacking  blue wool I used black and then went to a thrift store and found a beautiful blue wool skirt and was able to add some of the right color. It's useable and in better shape now. I know he treasures that rug.
We don't normally give birthday gifts. But, while rummaging through my stuff as I try to downsize the junk I've collected, I found a greeting card my sister gave Doug at his graduation from High School.



It was the biggest greeting card I had  ever seen.  He  got it twice, once from her and now from me.
He is on the road to Oregon this morning as I write. I won't need to make a return trip  until May 8.

In the meantime, the projects never end. I'm pleased to announce that Mark Miles got my well running and the drought will be much more manageable. It is impossible to know how much water is left in the well, thus I will  be using it judiciously. Today, I have a helper coming to prune trees that should have been pruned in March. And, so it goes. The march of the responsible home owner.
 But, I do have wisdom at my finger-tips:
Life is short-Live it.
Love is rare-Grab it.
Anger is bad-Dump it.
Fear is awful-Face it.
Memories are sweet-Cherish them.

Bye, for now.

TAX DAY IS OVER, SORT OF.

We tend to think of taxes as our own personal burden. But,  tax accountants routinely give extensions to people so tax day can be different for some people. Good for them, because their work is so concentrated in three months, it is hard to get the job done. And it gives us a bit of extra time to gather our paperwork as well.
This poem has been around a lot. It has no attributable author and is presumed to be in the public domain but it kind of expresses most of the pain of paying our taxes.

Tax his land, tax his wage,
Tax his bed in which he lays.
Tax his tractor, tax his mule,
Teach him taxes is the rule.
Tax his cow, tax his goat,
Tax his pants, tax his coat.
Tax his ties, tax his shirts,
Tax his work, tax his dirt.
Tax his chew, tax his smoke,
Teach him taxes are no joke.
Tax his car, tax his grass,
Tax the roads he must pass.
Tax his food, tax his drink,
Tax him if he tries to think.
Tax his sodas, tax his beers,
If he cries, tax his tears.
Tax his bills, tax his gas,
Tax his notes, tax his cash.
Tax him good and let him know
That after taxes, he has no dough.
If he hollers, tax him more,
Tax him until he’s good and sore.
Tax his coffin, tax his grave,
Tax the sod in which he lays.
Put these words upon his tomb,
“Taxes drove me to my doom!”
And when he’s gone, we won’t relax,
We’ll still be after the inheritance tax.

As for me, I don’t mind paying as much as I mind the process because I’m not very mathematical and I hate DOING my taxes. I only met one man who claimed not to mind paying his taxes. His parents were immigrants from Portugal and he claimed to be ever grateful to live in a country like ours that provides us enough opportunity to earn a good living and pay taxes. He is unique. He is a friend gone, now. And I salute  his memory every year at tax time.  Larry Santos, a deputy sheriff from Alameda County.

Related

POETRY AND TAXESIn "entertainment"

TAXES AND DAMN TAXESIn "crapper"

VIOLENCE TAXIn "bullying"

Posted by 2gadabout

Filed in Uncategorized ·Tags: opportunity, poetry, tax accountants, taxes | Edit

Leave a Comment »

Leave a Reply

GIFTS TO TREASURE.

Two nights ago, I awoke to a star filled sky, the milky way clearly in view with a small moon and the fresh night air. I walked out on my deck and drank it in. Then I saw a shooting star and thought about a star dying and remembered that a friend gave me a packet of star dust. And, I treasure that gift that he worked so hard to extract from a fallen star. I began to think of gifts I treasure.
Friendships and family are always high on my list, and friends are a gift to be sure.

Imagine having your family members sitting on your table, each and every one a  gourd. It gives me joy every time I look at them.  They were painted by my daughter-in-law Laurie.


My friend Kendra came Sunday and brought a quilt of her's that I admired. I quilted with her for the year it took her to make it and asked her for the pattern, called jewel box. She couldn't find the pattern so we plotted the pattern from her quilt, measuring and gageing the somewhat complicated construction to produce strings of "jeweled" squares on point. I treasure time spent with her and it pleases me that little scraps of rescued material can turn into make something bigger and beautiful, and useful, too.


Another gift I treasure is this crystal bottle with a silver lid filled with the sand, given to me by my neighbor Jan Stewart,  upon my husband's death. An ode to time and assurance that I would find myself and be grounded again some day without him.

There are other gifts, polished glass my grandsons brought to me from glass beach.  A batik stamp my daughter brought me from another part of the world. I treasure her letters and writings from Egypt. Greeting cards from both my son's and things they made for me over the years. A kaleidoscope necklace from my oldest daughter but more than that, her unique ability in rescuing others, people and animals.

I spent two days weeding in the yard to the sound of chirping birds, the smell's emanating from the soil and the sun beating down on my head. Heaven.

It kind of amazes me when I think about the things I treasure. Most of them have no great value. See what a few moments in starlight  can trigger? The poets call it magic. But, I can hear "corny" emanating from my machine.

SAFEGUARDING OUR DRINKING WATER

 Let me see if I can clearly outline the problems Californian’s  face over water.  We’ve established that California is a relatively dry state to begin with. Damming and holding water in  reservoirs has been the answer, which destroyed fishing, and negatively affected the animals and plants that depended on river water. It also negatively affected downstream users where farmers planted crops and suddenly found salt water backing upstream as less fresh water flowed to the ocean.

Under governor Pat Brown, (Governor Jerry Brown’s father) a massive canal was built that took  water from the north to benefit the south. And, in the 1800’s San Francisco sealed their right to water by building Hetch Hetchy which drained Lake Mead.  I think it is safe to say that anytime man tries to overcome nature, they create more problems.

The fixes were moving along quite well. The reservoirs were full, the fish once again migrating upstream. The Water Control Board is mandated by federal law to keep enough water in rivers to allow salmon to migrate and reproduce. Salmon are not only food for people, eagles and animals, fish are part of the tourist  economy  as sports fishermen come to the mountains for fishing derbies and recreation.

The Board allowed the spring pulse, water poured out of Mellones Reservoir for the salmon, but the officials controlling (man made) Lake Tulloch, below Mellones,  refused to allow the water through. They are in defiance of the law. How can they get away with such maneuvers?

Downstream  San Joaquin Co. secured rights to a defined amount of acre feet of water from Mellones when it was full and water seemed ever plentiful. Now, regardless of how little there is to share,  they insist they shall have it and it better be delivered or they will sue.

Representative Tom McClintock and Frank Bigelow  convinced the water board to relax the flows. But downstream, that allows more salt intrusion which affects farmers in the delta. The water control board maintains they have enough water for a year with conservation measures, let’s not panic. Not a word from anyone about the millions of gallons used by frackers, nor funding a salt water conversion plant.

 Unfortunately you can’t manufacture water.

Or can you manufacture water?  According to the fracking industry you can. They like to use euphemisms like “stimulating well production”  when they inject water and chemicals deep into the ground. And this statement came from Don Drysdale’s email:

“Not all of the water used for hydraulic fracturing is freshwater. Some portion is from produced water that is cleaned. Produced water comes to the surface from oil and gas operations but is not suitable for drinking or agricultural use.”

I had never heard of “produced” water and I began to wonder where all this dirty water is located and how they have access to it and did they dirty the water to begin with? And, how was it cleaned?

Guess what? Produced water is waste water from fracking with no good disposal options. This “produced” water contains fracking chemicals, dissolved solids and radioactive material from underground. Conventional waste water treatment plants are not equipped to deal with this waste and efforts to treat it  pose problems for communities downstream. Injecting it back into the ground is what has triggered earthquakes in Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Where are the California wells located?  In Southern California along the San Andreas fault. Now that IS scary.

They claim they use “relatively  little water”. What exactly is relatively little water?

From Don Drysdale’s email: “On the basis of reporting for 2014 the total amount of water used for hydraulic fracturing was 214 acre-feet. This equates to approximately 100,000 gallons on average per stimulated well” How many wells? There are 5 in Southern California.

Okay that doesn’t sound like much, but that is fresh water. But in the same email, Drysdale’s figures say:

“1 Acre-foot of water = 325, 851 gallons of water” but 214 acre feet equals 100,000 gallons? Now which one of his figures is right?

A 2011 study sponsored by the California Department of Water Resources estimates that the average annual water use by a household is .4 acre-feet (131,400 gallons annually, 360 gallons per day.) That is 4 tenths of an acre foot?

So which figure is right? 

And how much produced water are we talking about?

“Total produced water from oil and gas production:  3 billion barrels or 387,000 acre-feet.

Of that, two-thirds is put back into the aquifers from which it came or is used for “enhanced oil recovery” (water flood, steam flood, cyclic steam.)”

The oil and gas  industry is rushing to push fracking at an amazing pace throughout the United States. Methane creates heat and is leak prone stored in concrete tanks. The crude oil is expected to net six million barrels a day. The process is putting our drinking water in peril across the United States. It is typical of the oil industry to make a mess and then let we taxpayers pay to clean it up. For instance, the Deepwater Horizon Spill in the Gulf of Mexico has still not met standards for clean up.  With fracking,  it may not be cleanable. It is a disaster in the making.

I’m for banning fracking nation wide.   In California here are the names and addresses of the people who need to hear from you if you agree:

Tom McClintock, 8700 Auburn-Folsom Rd. Ste 100, Granite Bay, CA, 95746. Call 916-786-5560.  In Washington, 202-225-2511.

Barbara Boxer, 2500 Tulare St. Ste 5290, Fresno, CA, 93721. In Washington, 202-224-3553

Dianne Fieinstein, 2500 Tulare  St.,Ste 4290, Fresno, CA. 93721. In Washington, 202-224-3841.

Other communities can find their representative’s and city councils names in the front of their phone book. Do it.

Local measures against fracking are beginning to make an impact across America.  There are 41 measures in the connected states of Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware. 18 in New York, 4 in West Virginia, 10 in Virginia, 35 in North Carolina, 2 in Florida, 37 in Ohio, 1 in Indiana, 7 in Illinois, 21 in Michigan, 5 in Wisconsin, 1 in Iowa, 2 in Minnesota, 1 in North Dakota, 4 in Texas, 3 in New Mexico, 10 in Colorado, 1 in Wyoming, 23 in Northern California, and 1 in Hawaii.

You can reach Food And Water Watch at: http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org. E-mail: info@fwwatch.org. Phone 202-683-2500. They are mailing petitions to sign.

FRACKING ENDANGERS OUR WATER AND AIR.

Hydraulic fracturing involves injecting millions of gallons of water with sand and chemicals under high pressure down and across as far as 10,000 feet below the surface. The mixture causes rock layers to crack and open and allow the oil to penetrate the sand particles  so the natural gas from the fracture can flow up the well. Natural gas is cleaner than other fossil fuels like coal and oil, but not by much. It is mostly methane and it traps heat, it leaks readily and like the residents of Dish, Texas complained, "We have unexplained headaches and sickness in  people and animals since the drillers came to town". Air quality tests showed high benzene pollution in the area.

But, the big danger is water well contamination  and earthquakes. Thanks to intensive lobbying from then Vice-President Cheney under President George W., Big Oil and Gas is exempt from critical statutes in all major environmental protections, The Safe Drinking Water Act, The Clean Water Act, The Clean Air Act and laws governing the disposal of toxic waste. Pretty Cushy if you are in the oil and gas business, right? And, frackers are allowed to keep secret what chemicals they are pumping into the ground.
How can that be? It's true.

Now let's talk about groundwater, supposedly it belongs to everyone. Like the air we breath, it is a life necessity and no one can buy our air and make us pay for it, and so far, we've managed to prevent corporations from buying control of our water. They've tried, though. In California, we think of our groundwater as a water savings account. We can always get water, right? That too, is beginning to change with high water crops, walnuts, pistachios, almonds draining away mega amounts of water.


The Western United States is typically dry. Our water supply is used from reservoirs because very few natural lakes exist in California. Reservoirs are man made. We've kind of kidded ourselves, or the powers that be have, by damming rivers and reducing them to a trickle. Holding water back worked but it  proved to be the wrong way to treat our rivers. And depending on a pipeline that steals water from the north to make the desert bloom in the south, was then and is now a questionable practice. The truth is that California groundwater would always save us in a drought. Now, that water is in big danger, we need to rethink that.  Fracking is only part of it. But, it is the most dangerous part of it.

More tomorrow.

WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW CAN HURT YOU.

This photo is from Reuters Media.

Right now in Calaveras County, and throughout the state,  people are shocked and concerned about water usage;  their reservoirs are drying up. They are concerned for their future in a globally changed climate with an estimated 10 year drought.  In the worst drought on record, the California Sierra snow pack was at 27 inches. It is now at 2 inches. That is scary.

There is an urge locally to dam up all the water so we can to keep it. But damming doesn't bring more water.  It is frightening and people are scared. But solutions have to protect people, fish, agriculture and the environment as the river serves many areas over miles of its flow. I wondered if there was a bill in our state to ban fracking?

Several states have banned fracking with good reason. Imagine waking up to find your tap water bursting into flames, or your horses going blind, and cows dropping dead. Admittedly, that is what happened in Arkansas, and is a worse case scenario where the entire town had to be evacuated.

The latest news from a peer-reviewed study by the Colorado School of Public Health and Brown University found an association between the density and proximity of  gas wells within a 10 mile radius of a maternal residence showed a prevalence of congenital heart defects as well as possible links to defects in the brain and spinal cord.

With a 25% mandatory water reduction, I began to wonder about fracking in California? I called Governor Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom our Lt. Governor. No one would or could  give me a direct answer about anything having to do with fracking. Newsom put me in touch with the Water Control Board. Everyone was in meetings. But an aide  put me in touch with The Division of Oral Gas and Geo Thermal. Their public relations person, Don Drysdale could not or would not answer questions directly but he emailed me.

More on this subject tomorrow.

WE NEED A RAINY DAY...

There's a song that starts I LOVE A RAINY DAY, ... Well it's cold and wet and miserable today, especially since I turned the pilot off on my heater and cleaned up my wood stove for warmer weather.

I can't say I'm loving this rainy day, but we definitely need it. And, there is comfort to hanging out in your robe and slippers for half a day, to work on a project set aside and waiting. For me, a couple of unfinished rugs and one needing repair. And a chance to slog through saved scraps for quilts and begin another while other blocks lay forgotten and tucked away.

I took the time to read some poetry and I like this one enough to share. It is in the public domain.

Loveliest of Trees, The Cherry, Now

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.
Now, of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.
And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.

By A. E. Housman

And, another:
I normally don't like poems that don't rhyme, but this one reminded me of journey's I've had on trains and it was just as described in this narrative poem.

The Dining Car of the Southern Crescent, By John Campbell

The Southern Crescent
snakes its way through
the rolling fog shrouded
piedmont landscape;
a young man on spring break,
returning home from
college, crosses the creaky
passageway that leads from
Pullmans to the dining car.
Breakfast smells give rise to
an ambitious order of fresh coffee,
country ham with red eye gravy,
grits, scrambled eggs and
biscuits with blackberry jam.
The waiter, agile and accomplished,
dressed in a white starched apron,
steadies himself against the swaying
motion of the train; with serving tray
in hand and balanced, he places the
piping hot breakfast on a table decked
with a linen table cloth, pewter
creamers, thick silverware, coffee
cups and saucers and plates etched with
a crescent moon insignia; a small
bundle of daffodils sit in a crystal
vase near the window.
The young man with the vittles before him,
relishes a feeling of adult composure
and delight. "How could life be this good?"
A breakfast fit for a king, waiters
eager to please, railway views of
rural Carolina: tenant shanties,
grazing black angus, abandoned junkyards,
brownstone depots and sleepy towns.
He, still unfamiliar with the niceties
of the wealthy elite, or even the
acquired dignities of his college
professors, avows, while pouring
coffee from a silver carafe into
a Syracuse China cup, that the
dining car of the Southern Crescent
is a place of utmost refinement.

John Campbell's poem was delivered to my mailbox by A Poem A Day, that I subscribe to. His poem is available framed from Poem A Day, and is not in the public domain.

ACCOMPLICE.

For a small community, Murphys offers great Little Theatre. The Black Bart Playhouse used to be the home of the Black Bart Players. My husband and I were theatre buffs and at one time belonged to the Fremont Players.  George and I both had acting roles and behind the scenes roles in Fremont and I did a play for the Newark Players, and George did a season with Oakland Reperatory Theatre.  Those were great times and great memories and great friendships made. It was a natural to become supporters of the Black Bart Players when we moved here. We have attended hundreds of theatrical productions, both professional theatre in San Francisco, Santa Clara and even New York City. One of the the best plays I've ever seen was God's Favorite, right here in Murphys by the Black Bart Players when they performed at the old Native Son's Hall. I no longer remember his name, but the male lead was a local teacher. His performance was stellar and made the play memorable.

The Accomplice is the product of Murphys Creek Theatre Company and was directed by Maryann Curmi. This twisting, turning plot is full of surprises and comedy and kept me and son, Ken, and daughter-in-law Laurie enthralled to the end. No slapstick, real comedy.

A comfortable lobby with snacks, beer and wine for sale, makes a night of theatre even more enjoyable. Having been so occupied with my new building in Oregon, I've not been to a play in many months.

Don Bilotti, Maryann Curmi, Paul Del Gatto and Celeste Fiory all have professional theatre credits, so talent is oozing out of this cast and it shows. Not to short the rest of the cast, Joe Conn, Graham Green, and Michelle Low have had gobs of theatre experience from Joe, an East Coast transplant and both Michelle and Graham local work of renown. What I was most impressed with is the number and variety of projects the Murphys Creek Theatre Company employs. Just read the schedule for 2015. There is something for everyone. And, whatever you do, don't miss ACCOMPLICE. More than a play, its an experience.

The ACCOMPLICE runs Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through April 26th. What a blast. Don't miss this one.
For tickets you can call 209.728.8422. You can also go to their website-www.murphyscreektheatre.org. 

KILLING PEOPLE.

KILLING PEOPLE

April 2, 2015

A total of 111 people were killed by police in the United States in March of 2015. Since 1900, in the entire United Kingdom, 52 people have been killed by police.
Don’t bother adjusting for population differences, or poverty, or mental illness, or anything else. The sheer fact that American police kill TWICE as many people per month as police have killed in the modern history of the United Kingdom is sick, preposterous, and alarming.

In March:
Police beat Phillip White to death in New Jersey. He was unarmed.
Police shot and killed Meagan Hockaday, a 26-year-old mother of three.
Police shot and killed Nicholas Thomas, an unarmed man on his job at Goodyear in metro Atlanta.
Police shot and killed Anthony Hill, an unarmed war veteran fighting through mental illness, in metro Atlanta.

There are many more.


This has to end.

ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE...

Indiana recently passed a law under Christian Governor Mike Pence that businessmen have the right to refuse service to anyone because of their religious beliefs. It is aimed at gays. It isn’t really about religion, its because they feel gays are “icky, or threatening, or weird”..  It’s dishonest behavior. Daily Kos put together some religious passages to help Christian Businessmen make better decisions:

“Dear Valued Patrons.Due to my sincerely held religious beliefs, and in light of the RFRA, recently signed by our Dear Leader Pence, I will no longer be doing business with the following persons; nor permitting them in my establishment:

1.  Divorcees.  Matthew 19:9: “And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another, commits adultery.”

2.  Anyone who has ever read their horoscope or called a psychic hotline.  Leviticus 20:6: “As for the person who turns to mediums and to spiritists, to play the harlot after them, I will also set My face against that person and will cut him off from among his people.”

3.  Anyone with a tattoo.   Leviticus 19:28 “You shall not make any cuts in your body for the dead nor make any tattoo marks on yourselves: I am the Lord.”

4.  Anyone born illegitimately.  Also, anyone who, back to ten generations, is descended from someone born illegitimately.  If you can not PROVE, using appropriate church sources, that ten generations of your family were born in wedlock, I will have to err on the side of caution and not serve you. Deuteronomy 23:2 “No one of illegitimate birth shall enter the assembly of the LORD; none of his descendants, even to the tenth generation, shall enter the assembly of the LORD.”

5.  Anyone who makes a practice of praying aloud, or in public.  Matthew 6:5-6  “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”

6.  Any woman with braided hair or gold jewelry.  Just to be on the safe side, NO jewelry at all.  1 Timothy 2:9 “Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments.”

7.  Any man who has ever, by accident or not, had his genitals damaged.  (Current interpretation of this scripture is under debate, so just to be safe, if you’ve had a vasectomy, or testicular cancer, I can’t serve you.  I apologize for the inconvenience but I am worried for my soul.)  Deuteronomy 23:1 “A man whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off may never join the assembly of the Lord.”

8.  Please don’t bring your kids in if they have a bowl cut.  Leviticus 19:27 reads “You shall not round off the side-growth of your heads nor harm the edges of your beard.”

For those of you complaining that some of these scriptures are from the Old Testament, and that Jesus came to redeem us from these laws, I refer you to Matthew 5:17-19, where Our Savior himself says:  “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18″For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19″Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven”

Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.  It’s nothing personal, “love the sinner but hate the sin,” and all, but I simply can’t serve anyone who would blatantly disregard God’s sacred law in such a fashion.

Jesus had dinner with prostitutes and tax collectors and sinners of all types.  Get over it. And, remember, God is perfect and he allowed gays to be born that way.