Here’s an awesome rabbit hole for all you nerds: the Princeton University online lecture series. From discussions on the writings of Jane Austen and the presidency of John Adams to racial injustice in America and the art and science of the motorcycle, this site is full of material that will get you thinking.
James Dobson is accusing Sen. Barak Obama of “distorting” the bible and saying that he also makes “fruitcake” interpretations of the constitution.
Let’s review a few things that James Dobson has said in the past:
Exhibit A: Rep. Mark Foley, R-FL, caught making sexual passes at pages. Dobson said, “As it turns out, Mr. Foley has had illicit sex with no one that we know of, and the whole thing turned out to be what some people are now saying was a — sort of a joke by the boy and some of the other pages … By midafternoon yesterday, a rumor emerged that in fact Mark Foley had been pranked by the House pages. It is the first plausible thing I’ve heard in seven days…”
According to Dr. Dobson, when a Republican is caught being a closeted homosexual pedophile, it’s just a joke. I mean, really, what’s a little gay sex between a man and an under aged kid if we all can’t laugh about it?
Exhibit B: Spongebob Squarepants is shown holding hands with Big Bird in a video about tolerance. James Dobson called it, “shocking homosexual brainwashing.” But if Big Bird were a Republican, it would just be a joke.
Exhibit C: Colorado Right to Life tells James Dobson to stuff it. Personally, I think they are both wrong, but it’s just fun when one far right-wingnut calls another out for not being Jesus-enough.
Exhibit D: Dobson encourages father’s to shower with their sons. “He can even take his son with him into the shower, where the boy cannot help but notice that Dad has a penis, just like his, only bigger.” Maybe that’s all Mark Foley was trying to do.
Exhibit E: Dobson believes that gay marriage is worse that Al-Queda. “There is no issue today that is more significant to our culture than the defense of the family. Not even the war on terror eclipses it.”
Exhibit F is for fuck off. I could go on all day but I have a life.
Recently, the Gospel of Judas has been getting more publicity than a Paris Hilton video. Overall, the author’s of the Gospel of Judas recast the image we know of “the traitor” into one of Jesus’ favored apostles.
But I never understood why Judas was considered a traitor, with or without the information in the Gospel of Judas.
Here is what I’m curious about:
If Jesus went back to Jerusalem knowing he was going to die, then wasn’t Judas just fulfilling divine will? Why would that be considered to be bad?
If the basis of Christianity is that the death and resurrection of Jesus is what cleansed all sins, then couldn’t one say Judas did a good thing?
And, if Jesus was so feared by the Roman’s, then why did they have to pay Judas to identify Jesus?
I went to a private, Christian high school. When I would bring up questions like that, I’d often hear, “it’s not our place to question.” Personally, I took that as, “I don’t know, so stop pointing out that much of this doesn’t make sense.”
Is there anything more awkward than when someone walks up to you and says, “I’d like to talk to you about Jesus”?
The problem with this question is two-fold:
1. It implies the person being asked the question is a heathen. I recall something about “thou shall not judge” or something like that.
2. It implies that they could be the shining example of good living in their religion, yet it’s still not good enough because it’s not Christianity.