What next?
By Clara Young, Box 313, Avon - 01/22/08
I strongly feel that we of Christian faith should not purchase anything that has reference to our Christmas or Easter celebrations, such as decorations or cards, that are made in China.It is a country that persecutes Christian believers. Shame on us for letting a foreign nation make our national flag and other emblems.Also, who made the decision to remove “In God We Trust” from the front of the new gold dollar and put it in a insignificant place? What will be removed next?
Clara,
First of all, it's all religions the Chinese reject not only the Christian faith, and by the way there are churches in China.
They only moved the unconstitutional phrase "In God We Trust" from the front of the new gold coin to the rim.
It should be removed completely and replaced with the original motto "E pluribus unum . For those who don't know what it means , it's "Out of Many, One"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_pluribus_unum
Jan 22, 2008
Jan 21, 2008
Search & Rescue
Avalanches have killed at least 22 people across the West since Dec. 2. The national average for avalanche deaths is about 25 a year, according to the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.
Between lost & shot hunters, snowmobilers/ATV riders, and skiers How much are taxpayers spending on these people who kill or hurt themselves playing around? Just wondering. And don't forget the rock climbers.
Between lost & shot hunters, snowmobilers/ATV riders, and skiers How much are taxpayers spending on these people who kill or hurt themselves playing around? Just wondering. And don't forget the rock climbers.
Jan 18, 2008
An Atheist in the Pulpit
An Atheist in the Pulpit
Public identity and private belief are never more at odds than when a preacher loses his faith.
By: Bruce Grierson
James McAllister, a 56-year-old Lutheran minister in the midwest, was working on his sunday sermon one Thursday afternoon last summer. It wasn't going well. The reverend wasn't suffering from writer's block—in fact, he was crafting quite an elegant parable about "the importance of making our whole lives a prayer." No, the problem was bigger than that. The sermon skated around a private truth that McAllister could no longer deny.
McAllister has learned that you can tell inspirational stories, grounded in social justice and tolerance and peace, without having to bring God into the picture—and this sermon was a masterful case in point. A woman in his congregation had recently dropped everything to care for her cancer-stricken daughter, and that selfless commitment was sacred in its way. "You can see how I cook the books a little bit to make it easier to look in the mirror," he says of his sermons. "But there are times when I get that sort of empty feeling in my stomach, like I'm a fraud."
Three months ago, McAllister, who is presented pseudonymously here, took his crisis to the bishop. He'd lost the faith, he explained, and he wanted out.
"Oh you're not quitting," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "You haven't lost your faith."
"Um, yeah I have," McAllister said. "This is for real."
The bishop shook her head. For the church elders, McAllister's revelations simply did not compute.
"They're either in complete denial," he says, "or they're completely comfortable with the idea that they have a pastor who's a fraud, as long as he puts asses in the seats."
McAllister took the issue up with his psychiatrist. "It emerged that she was a devout Christian herself," he says. "To her credit, she tried to be professional." Where she had once begun and ended their sessions with prayer, she stopped when he asked her to. "But I could see she was squirming. You know, she was sitting with a man of the cloth who had lost it. She had problems with that."
To be a clergyman struggling with God in 2008 is to reside at the center of a great battle. At a time when the tension between faith and doubt arguably defines the distance between people more than does gender or race or even politics, the Doubting Priest bears witness for the defense and the prosecution. (Mother Teresa's grave spiritual doubt, as revealed last fall in her letters, means one of two things: Either the closest thing to a modern saint was a phony, or her trials actually make her religious life more meaningful, a poignant example of faith not as a certainty but as a required test that leads to a more profound commitment.) The spiritual struggles of ministers and priests and rabbis remind us that, amid encroaching fundamentalism, atheism is also on the rise. The neo-atheist movement is fueled by outspoken academics and intellectuals including Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and others who bombard the airwaves and bestseller lists with their calls for deconversion. You can now send your kid to an atheist summer camp or get yourself certifiably "de-baptized." (Britain's national Secular Society offers the service: "Liberate yourself from the original mumbo jumbo that liberated you from the original sin you never had.") There are hundreds of college-campus groups devoted to secular humanism. The Atheist Alliance International reports "so many speaking requests that leaders of national atheist groups can't keep up."
Like what you see? Subscribe to Psychology Today to read more!
Psychology Today Magazine, Jan/Feb 2008Last Reviewed 28 Dec 2007Article ID: 4493
Public identity and private belief are never more at odds than when a preacher loses his faith.
By: Bruce Grierson
James McAllister, a 56-year-old Lutheran minister in the midwest, was working on his sunday sermon one Thursday afternoon last summer. It wasn't going well. The reverend wasn't suffering from writer's block—in fact, he was crafting quite an elegant parable about "the importance of making our whole lives a prayer." No, the problem was bigger than that. The sermon skated around a private truth that McAllister could no longer deny.
McAllister has learned that you can tell inspirational stories, grounded in social justice and tolerance and peace, without having to bring God into the picture—and this sermon was a masterful case in point. A woman in his congregation had recently dropped everything to care for her cancer-stricken daughter, and that selfless commitment was sacred in its way. "You can see how I cook the books a little bit to make it easier to look in the mirror," he says of his sermons. "But there are times when I get that sort of empty feeling in my stomach, like I'm a fraud."
Three months ago, McAllister, who is presented pseudonymously here, took his crisis to the bishop. He'd lost the faith, he explained, and he wanted out.
"Oh you're not quitting," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "You haven't lost your faith."
"Um, yeah I have," McAllister said. "This is for real."
The bishop shook her head. For the church elders, McAllister's revelations simply did not compute.
"They're either in complete denial," he says, "or they're completely comfortable with the idea that they have a pastor who's a fraud, as long as he puts asses in the seats."
McAllister took the issue up with his psychiatrist. "It emerged that she was a devout Christian herself," he says. "To her credit, she tried to be professional." Where she had once begun and ended their sessions with prayer, she stopped when he asked her to. "But I could see she was squirming. You know, she was sitting with a man of the cloth who had lost it. She had problems with that."
To be a clergyman struggling with God in 2008 is to reside at the center of a great battle. At a time when the tension between faith and doubt arguably defines the distance between people more than does gender or race or even politics, the Doubting Priest bears witness for the defense and the prosecution. (Mother Teresa's grave spiritual doubt, as revealed last fall in her letters, means one of two things: Either the closest thing to a modern saint was a phony, or her trials actually make her religious life more meaningful, a poignant example of faith not as a certainty but as a required test that leads to a more profound commitment.) The spiritual struggles of ministers and priests and rabbis remind us that, amid encroaching fundamentalism, atheism is also on the rise. The neo-atheist movement is fueled by outspoken academics and intellectuals including Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and others who bombard the airwaves and bestseller lists with their calls for deconversion. You can now send your kid to an atheist summer camp or get yourself certifiably "de-baptized." (Britain's national Secular Society offers the service: "Liberate yourself from the original mumbo jumbo that liberated you from the original sin you never had.") There are hundreds of college-campus groups devoted to secular humanism. The Atheist Alliance International reports "so many speaking requests that leaders of national atheist groups can't keep up."
Like what you see? Subscribe to Psychology Today to read more!
Psychology Today Magazine, Jan/Feb 2008Last Reviewed 28 Dec 2007Article ID: 4493
Jan 17, 2008
The Couple chose Montana
This article was of interest due to my being a Humanist Minister. I have sent the article to the American Humanists.
Its interesting how each state has different laws concerning Marriage. I forsee a future where this will be taken to the Supreme Court and turned into federal law. Since people are moving around so much and people marry in different states.... The gay marriage issue is fought state by state. They need to change the law were each state is required to accept all ceremonies no matter where they got married and to whom and (who performed the ceremony)
The Feds did the same thing with commerce why not this. The right to vote .....many other examples.
States rights? Still relevant in a shrinking world?
United a world apart
By ALANA LISTOE - Independent Record - 01/17/08
George Lane IR staff photographer - The media talks with Spc. Barbara Hines and Sgt. Ryan Thompson, who are on cell phones, before the start of their proxy wedding. Spc. Hines is stationed in Afghanistan and Sgt. Thompson is stationed in Qatar. Major Garth Scott is holding the cell phones.
Spc. Barbara Hines wasn’t wearing a dress for her wedding late Wednesday morning.
There were no fresh flowers, no bridesmaids, and the only guests were military personnel and members of the media.
Hines, of Dothan, Ala., married Sgt. Ryan Thompson, of Riverview, Fla., by double-proxy at the Canyon Ferry Mansion near Townsend.
There were no members of the couple’s family in attendance as neither have any Montana connections. The couple attended via cell phone in a short service, organized by mansion owner Sandy Rose and presided over by Montana National Guard Chaplain Ken DuVall.
Hines and Thompson are deployed active duty soldiers and hope their official union will allow them to become stationed in the same area through the Army’s Married Couples Program. Hines, 29, is stationed in Afghanistan and Thompson, 25, in Qatar.
“It’s something I’ll always remember,” Hines said via speaker phone.
The proxy stand-ins were Sgt. 1st Class Michael Anderson and Capt. Tracy Anderson of Helena. The Andersons have never met the couple and, until Wednesday, didn’t even know their names.
The Andersons have been married for 14 years, and both have been in the military the entire time.
“It was a nice way to honor a couple serving our country that wants to be together,” Tracy said. “We are here standing in for them, and if this helps get them together, it will make it more special.”
Tracy said holding hands with her husband saying vows brought back the memories of their wedding day at the Cathedral of St. Helena so many years ago.
The couple chose Montana because it is the only state that allows this type of ceremony.
Thompson said he found out about the Montana law and the Canyon Ferry Mansion through Google.
This is the second time around for the couple as they were married once before.
After years of talking, they worked to reconcile their relationship. The couple has a 5-year-old son, Daniel, who is living in Alabama with Hines’ sister. They don’t expect to see each other until May and are hoping to be stationed together in Germany by February of next year.
“I love you,” Thompson told his bride over the phone outside the church. “This is for real, it’s not a joke, it’s for keeps. I love you, Mrs. Thompson.”
“I love you, Mr. Thompson,” Hines said.
This is the first time the Montana National Guard has been involved in a double-proxy marriage, said Maj. Garth Scott, public relations officer.
“It’s quite an opportunity for our chaplain and the Guard to show this kind of support for our active duty brothers and sisters,” Scott said.
DuVall said the ceremony was the most difficult he’s ever performed. He organized the service through e-mails with the couple.
He suggested the couple keep “three C’s” in mind for a successful marriage: communication, commitment and church.
Communication, he said during the service, is something couples can’t do enough of; and because men and women are different, they need to talk, talk and talk.
Commitment ensures that the couple never gives up, he said, and church nourishes their spirituality.
Thompson credits Rose for making the event come to fruition.
“She ran with it,” he said. “She deserves all the credit. It wouldn’t have happened without her.”
Rose was tickled to get the call just a week ago from Thompson asking for her assistance.
“It’s the best thing to happen since they put a man on the moon the day my son was born,” she said.
Reporter Alana Listoe: 447-4081 or alana.listoe@helenair.com
Its interesting how each state has different laws concerning Marriage. I forsee a future where this will be taken to the Supreme Court and turned into federal law. Since people are moving around so much and people marry in different states.... The gay marriage issue is fought state by state. They need to change the law were each state is required to accept all ceremonies no matter where they got married and to whom and (who performed the ceremony)
The Feds did the same thing with commerce why not this. The right to vote .....many other examples.
States rights? Still relevant in a shrinking world?
United a world apart
By ALANA LISTOE - Independent Record - 01/17/08
George Lane IR staff photographer - The media talks with Spc. Barbara Hines and Sgt. Ryan Thompson, who are on cell phones, before the start of their proxy wedding. Spc. Hines is stationed in Afghanistan and Sgt. Thompson is stationed in Qatar. Major Garth Scott is holding the cell phones.
Spc. Barbara Hines wasn’t wearing a dress for her wedding late Wednesday morning.
There were no fresh flowers, no bridesmaids, and the only guests were military personnel and members of the media.
Hines, of Dothan, Ala., married Sgt. Ryan Thompson, of Riverview, Fla., by double-proxy at the Canyon Ferry Mansion near Townsend.
There were no members of the couple’s family in attendance as neither have any Montana connections. The couple attended via cell phone in a short service, organized by mansion owner Sandy Rose and presided over by Montana National Guard Chaplain Ken DuVall.
Hines and Thompson are deployed active duty soldiers and hope their official union will allow them to become stationed in the same area through the Army’s Married Couples Program. Hines, 29, is stationed in Afghanistan and Thompson, 25, in Qatar.
“It’s something I’ll always remember,” Hines said via speaker phone.
The proxy stand-ins were Sgt. 1st Class Michael Anderson and Capt. Tracy Anderson of Helena. The Andersons have never met the couple and, until Wednesday, didn’t even know their names.
The Andersons have been married for 14 years, and both have been in the military the entire time.
“It was a nice way to honor a couple serving our country that wants to be together,” Tracy said. “We are here standing in for them, and if this helps get them together, it will make it more special.”
Tracy said holding hands with her husband saying vows brought back the memories of their wedding day at the Cathedral of St. Helena so many years ago.
The couple chose Montana because it is the only state that allows this type of ceremony.
Thompson said he found out about the Montana law and the Canyon Ferry Mansion through Google.
This is the second time around for the couple as they were married once before.
After years of talking, they worked to reconcile their relationship. The couple has a 5-year-old son, Daniel, who is living in Alabama with Hines’ sister. They don’t expect to see each other until May and are hoping to be stationed together in Germany by February of next year.
“I love you,” Thompson told his bride over the phone outside the church. “This is for real, it’s not a joke, it’s for keeps. I love you, Mrs. Thompson.”
“I love you, Mr. Thompson,” Hines said.
This is the first time the Montana National Guard has been involved in a double-proxy marriage, said Maj. Garth Scott, public relations officer.
“It’s quite an opportunity for our chaplain and the Guard to show this kind of support for our active duty brothers and sisters,” Scott said.
DuVall said the ceremony was the most difficult he’s ever performed. He organized the service through e-mails with the couple.
He suggested the couple keep “three C’s” in mind for a successful marriage: communication, commitment and church.
Communication, he said during the service, is something couples can’t do enough of; and because men and women are different, they need to talk, talk and talk.
Commitment ensures that the couple never gives up, he said, and church nourishes their spirituality.
Thompson credits Rose for making the event come to fruition.
“She ran with it,” he said. “She deserves all the credit. It wouldn’t have happened without her.”
Rose was tickled to get the call just a week ago from Thompson asking for her assistance.
“It’s the best thing to happen since they put a man on the moon the day my son was born,” she said.
Reporter Alana Listoe: 447-4081 or alana.listoe@helenair.com
Jan 4, 2008
Free PDF of new Pro-Evolution Book
Pro-Evolution Book in the news
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/22502251#22492296
Copies of SCIENCE, EVOLUTION, AND CREATIONISM will be available from the National Academies Press; tel. 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242, or on the Internet at www.nap.edu/sec, for $12.95; a PDF version is FREE. Reporters may obtain a copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contact listed above). In addition, a podcast of the public briefing held to release this publication is available at http://national-academies.org/podcast. The NAS' evolution resources Web page, http://national-academies.org/evolution, allows easy access to books, position statements, and additional resources on evolution education and research.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/22502251#22492296
Copies of SCIENCE, EVOLUTION, AND CREATIONISM will be available from the National Academies Press; tel. 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242, or on the Internet at www.nap.edu/sec, for $12.95; a PDF version is FREE. Reporters may obtain a copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contact listed above). In addition, a podcast of the public briefing held to release this publication is available at http://national-academies.org/podcast. The NAS' evolution resources Web page, http://national-academies.org/evolution, allows easy access to books, position statements, and additional resources on evolution education and research.
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