Some Birthday Reflections

• My sister's cat sees the gate to keep him out of my old room as a hurdle, not a barrier.
• You may think abortion is evil, but there is no question about shooting and killing someone IN A CHURCH.
• I don't know how I'm going to eat half a birthday cake by myself before it goes bad. Anyone want to visit some evening this week and help?
• Ninety-eight years to the day after the Titanic was launched, its last known survivor dies.

Okay, so my twenty-fourth birthday was relatively uneventful. It's probably for the best. Eventful birthdays have not turned out well for me in the past.

Some of Our Churches are Failing (Part 2.1)

So, it appears that Liberty University disbanded their chapter of the College Democrats. The reason is that the group "stood against the moral principles" of Liberty University. In other words, they seem to be saying that one cannot be Christian and a Democrat.

At the same time, I wonder how one can be a Republican and a Christian, sometimes (okay, it is reasonable on some issues).

Liberty does have every right to do this, although I wonder how much state and federal funding through grants and scholarships for students they stand to lose. I also wonder if the IRS is interested in all of this.

Yes, some of the right-wing "Christian" groups seem to have abandoned Christ's teachings. Remember, Jesus spent a lot of time with people the religious establishment called outcasts. He also saved his harshest criticism for the religious authorities of his day. Maybe those lessons have been lost.

Some of Our Churches are Failing (Part 2)

A few weeks ago, I ranted how a study showed that evangelical "Christians" were more likely to support the use of torture than other religious groups. Well, some of their leaders weighed in, and their comments are not encouraging. Read them here.

So some evangelical pastors say that there are cases in which torture can be justified. One argument is that Christians are supposed to submit to the government, provided it does not force them to do something against God's teachings. The problem with this argument is that the United States is a republic. Thus the people are the government. So Christians have the moral responsibility to contact their representatives to stop the torture. These actions may not be successful, but the attempt must be made.

If you do find yourself in a "church" whose minister gives defense to torture, get the church council to replace the minister, or find another church, as the Word of God is not being taught there.

Freedom (For a While, Anyway)

I am now officially finished my first year of graduate school. The last final was taken this morning, and the grades and paperwork for my students have been submitted to the undergraduate office. So for the next week or so I will not do much work. I will head home at some point this week to see my family and take care of a couple of things. Other than that, I will catch up on some reading and rest (I still haven't recovered from the weekend at St. Mary's yet).

So, if any of you who also do not have anything to do over the next week want to stop by the apartment, feel free to (just let me know so that I will actually be here).

After the rest, it's off to studying for qualifying exams.

Oh, and congratulations to those of you who graduated, and best of luck as you go to graduate school or join the workforce.

Beware the Hypocrites

Well, today is the so-called "National Day of Prayer." I'm sure that it was created with noble intentions, but recently, the actions of those supporting it have not been so noble. In fact, they have countered Christ's own teachings.

When President Obama said that he would not have the ceremony in the White House that the previous president had for the Day of Prayer, some in the religious right had a bit of a problem. This makes me think (yet again) that they missed part of the New Testament.

"And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you." (Matthew 6:5,6 NSRV)

So this is my problem with the Day of Prayer. Some in the religious community want the president to make a show about it. Even though Jesus says clearly that we are NOT to do so. So when President Obama says that he wants his prayers to be a private affair, which they should be, not something paraded in front of the press, the religious right has a problem. Well, if they want to make a show out of praying, I say let them and notice them. At least that way they will get their reward. However, I suggest not making a statement by praying. This is a conversation with God, too sacred to use for increasing political power.

And on another note, I have yet to get the take-home exam I was supposed to get on Tuesday.

Things Are Looking Up?

Well, the car is in good shape after Friday's incident. The scratches on the rear bumper are the only damage. So, no work needs to be done.

On another note, I was supposed to get a take-home final today. It has yet to be posted to the website. (Granted, this is the same professor who has not given us any assignments this semester.) But I did finish the last assignment for one of my classes. One down, two to go.

On that note, May 18th will be fun. I have my one final that is after the last day of classes at 8 a.m. At 10 a.m., we have a course meeting to pass back exams and set grade lines. Then I have two hours to put the exams together, total the scores, get grades submitted, and turn all the paperwork into the undergraduate office. If it were a Friday, there would definitely be some drinking with friends that night.

And since all of this goes down on the 18th, I will (provided no snafus occur) be down for graduation at St. Mary's on the 16th (and the night of the 15th). It'll be a respite before the storm.

And don't forget the shuttle launch of Atlantis this coming Monday. It is the last Hubble mission. And the last time two shuttles will be on launchpads at the same time (Endeavour is on rescue-mission standby).

Under Construction

I apologize for the changing formats to this blog. I'm trying to find a template I like. The plain black-and-white one is too Spartan, even for me.

Sadly, my St. Mary's trip for the weekend was aborted. Someone rear-ended my car Friday evening as I was going to get groceries. So tomorrow, I get to take the car up to my parents so that they can have the shop look at it. I only saw some scratches (hard to see ones at that) on the rear bumper, but I do want to make sure there is no frame damage or anything.

However, it does appear that I will be able to make it to graduation at St. Mary's, provided my numerical analysis final is not that weekend. So there may be one last trip after all.

Oh, could we please stop the hype about H1N1? So far, more schools have closed in the United States than there have been confirmed cases of the virus. More people are going to get sick stressing out about this than are actually going to get the virus if this keeps up. If you get it, see your doctor, get the antivirals, and recover, like everyone else from the United States.

So please, no panic. I already have enough stress with the end of the semester coming up. Although, I did get an email this morning saying that my study plan was approved. So that's one bureaucratic hurdle down on the way to a PhD.