I grew up around evangelicals in Alabama. They know this shit happens–in homes, on the street. In churches. Let me tell you what they do: They blame the girls. https://t.co/jQBm3o1ptO — Donna (@totallydonna) November 9, 2017 Do you know how many women I know, who told their fathers? Who told their mothers, their friends, a “trusted adult” that they were being hurt or had been hurt? Do you know how many of these people, who have daughters, did nothing? Homeless shelters are full of girls and boys whose parents chose their abusers over them. It happens every day. Hey @tedcruz. … Continue reading If She Was Your Daughter
This isn’t how God works: President Donald Trump has increasingly infused references to God into his prepared remarks — calling on God to bless all the world after launching strikes in Syria, asking God to bless the newest Supreme Court Justice, invoking the Lord to argue in favor of a war on opioids. That … isn’t finding religion. It’s finding a sales pitch. For, let us be clear, war, war and more war. “I’ve always felt the need to pray,” Trump said in that late-January interview. “The office is so powerful that you need God even more because your decisions … Continue reading Even For Politico This Is So Gross: Happy Easter!
This is dedicated to all my Jewish friends alive and dead; especially Mrs. Rosenberg and Harry Danning who taught me so much when I was young. Continue reading Sitting Political Shiva
One of the best parts about writing for this blog is the diversity of thought and experience of the readership. That’s not me blowing smoke. It’s true. I have found that I learned a lot about my own position on this big blue rock from hearing of the positions of others here than I learned anywhere else. Agreement, disagreement, whatever. It comes down to people coming at an idea I have from a variety of angles. Never more is this true than in the field of religion, where not only do people come from various faiths, but various positions on … Continue reading A fart in church
For my own sanity, I’ve been staying OUT of this election so far. I just don’t have the mental bandwidth to deal with this shit show. So last night when I stopped into the crack van (just to say hi, I wasn’t watching the debate) was the first I’d heard of Mike Pence’s stance on mandatory funerals for miscarried fetuses. Horrified, I mentioned a story then that I didn’t want to take over the crack van to explain, but I’ll tell it now. I went to Catholic high school during the early 2000s. George W Bush was newly-elected President, and … Continue reading On Mandatory Miscarriage Funerals
This is a sitting governor, guys, so talk to me some more about how Trump is such an outlier. “I want us to be able to fight ideologically, mentally, spiritually, economically, so that we don’t have to do it physically,” the tea party politician said in a Saturday speech at the Values Voters Summit, an annual gathering of religious conservatives. “But that may, in fact, be the case.” Bevin said he was asked in a recent if the nation could “survive” a Clinton presidency, and he responded that it would be “possible” but at a great “price.” “The roots of … Continue reading Trump Lives in Our America
It was diabolically hot last month in New Orleans: the hottest July in recorded history. August has followed suit thus far. What can a poor boydo? Huddle in my study, which is the smallest room in our house, and luxuriate in the air-dish and ceiling fan. We’re all big fan fans here in the Big Sweaty, especially when it’s not fit for man or beast outside in the heat. That’s life in the big city, y’all.
I’m not into to the whole Pokemon Go thing but many people are. So much so that a guerilla artist put a fiberglass statue of Pikachu at Coliseum Square here in New Orleans. My friend Jessica tweeted about it:
— Festival Season is coming (@maenadjess) August 1, 2016
It’s a great picture. I’ll just have to forgive her for all the vexatious exclamation points. Twitter makes many people excitable. In my case, it tends to make me irritable, but what do I know from Pokemon? I never played the original game unless it was Pikachu peek-a-boo or some such shit.
I bent my rules with this week’s theme songs. I’m using different songs with the same title but they’re by artists, Squeezeand Van Morrison, I’ve already featured on the Saturday post. I make no apologies because they fit one of my themes of the week. Every time a prominent Republican says they’re voting for Hillary Clinton I say: Another domino tumbles.
We’ll begin with Squeeze since Chris Difford’s lyrics use the image of falling dominoes to make the song’s point:
Now that we’ve gone “down like a domino,” it’s time for some free-association word play from Van the Man:
Van just wants to hear some rhythm and blues music on on on the radio. Who can argue with that? If you care to, let’s duke it out after the break.
We are unkind, right now: There are relatively few dedicated Muslim cemeteries around the country, so many Muslim communities use sections of other cemeteries to bury their dead. In Dudley, the proposal from the Islamic Society of Greater Worcester has been met with angry comments at local meetings. “You want a Muslim cemetery? Fine. Put it in your backyard, not mine,” Daniel Grazulis said during a zoning meeting in February, drawing a round of applause. Jason Talerman, a lawyer for the Islamic Society, said he believes the opposition is rooted in Islamophobia. “They like to say it under the guise … Continue reading A Place to Rest in Their Own Damn Country
Charlie: Before beginning, and in fairness to the good people of Menomonie, Wisconsin, whose voting record we examined earlier Tuesday afternoon, let us remember that Texas is the home office for climate denialists among our elected representatives. It begins at the top with Tailgunner Ted Cruz, who’s been spouting the stupid on this subject heavily for the last few weeks. It runs down through Governor Greg Abbott and indicted attorney general Ken Paxton. And it runs deeply through the Texas congressional delegation, which includes some leading intellectual giants like Lamar Smith and Louie Gohmert, although, to be fair to those other worthies, … Continue reading On Fighting For Those Who Fight Against You
Posted on 4/14/2016 1:16:18 PM by C19fan
Via BuzzFeed, I’m going to be bold and pronounce this the single Trumpiest thing he’s said since the campaign began. Really! Trumpier than him goofing on McCain for being taken prisoner in Vietnam, Trumpier than him goofing on his fans by claiming they’d stick with him even if he shot someone in broad daylight. I’m a lapsed Catholic turned nonbeliever so I’ll let the faithful among our readers correct me, but isn’t this … one of the worst possible answers that a Christian could give to this question?
An “eye for an eye” does appear in the Bible, true, but it’s Old Testament; it was specifically repudiated by Jesus himself in the gospel of Matthew in favor of “turn the other cheek,” as John McCormack notes. The whole point of Christianity, I thought, is to resist vengeance and embrace forgiveness, and it’s captured nowhere more succinctly than in the rejection of “an eye for an eye.”
So here’s Trump, who’s been half-heartedly pandering to evangelicals since last summer, deciding that the lesson from the Bible that sticks with him is the one about, um, revanchism, which Jesus instructed his disciplines to ignore. It’s like naming Baal your favorite member of the holy trinity.
1 posted on 4/14/2016 1:16:18 PM by C19fan
.
Let’s see :
Freeper (more often than not) = evangelistic Christian. The “holier than thou” wars at Freeperville have been going on since I started observing them, and show no signs of letting up.
.
Also:
Freeper (overwhelming majority) = Trump-humper.
Are these two trains on a collision course in this thread?
.
To: C19fan
Is that in Four Corinthians or Two Exodus?
2 posted on 4/14/2016 1:18:49 PM by nickcarraway
“mkjessup” (whose namesake went to military prison for the rest of his natural life, if I recall correctly) is here to quote from the Gospel Of Charlie Daniels :
To: C19fan
From the book of Daniels, CHARLIE Daniels …
“Well, you know what’s wrong with the world today People done gone and put their Bibles away They’re living by the law of the jungle not the law of the land The Good Book says it so I know it’s the truth An eye for and eye and a tooth for a tooth You better watch where you go and remember where you been That’s the way I see it I’m a Simple Man.”
WORKS FOR ME.
3 posted on 4/14/2016 1:19:22 PM by mkjessup (The GOPe IS the “Enemy Within” !!)
“Simple” doesn’t even begin to cover it. “Drooling Moron” comes closer.
To: nickcarraway
Is that in Four Corinthians or Two Exodus?
It’s from St. Donald’s letter to the Coloradans.
4 posted on 4/14/2016 1:20:22 PM by DoodleDawg
.
To: dragnet2
Mock Cruz and his faith all you want, but Trump’s favorite verse of what to do is where Jesus is telling us not to do. Obviously, Trump has no understanding of the context.
33 posted on 4/14/2016 1:46:13 PM by 5thGenTexan
To: C19fan
That is at least from scripture, and not some bogus prophecy from a cult.
11 posted on 4/14/2016 1:22:55 PM byPsalm 144(What are mere facts to a Dominionist Constitutionalist, small government-globalist tool?)
Uh oh. Here we go!
To: 5thGenTexan
Mock Cruz and his faith all you want,
At least Trump refers to the bible rather than pushing some Seven Mountains Dominionist garbage that Terd Snuz believes in.
49 posted on 4/14/2016 2:07:16 PM by The Iceman Cometh (Ted Cruz polls great with young females, or is it he likes young females on a pole….I get confused)
Medieval Killer Rabbits and Snail-monk via The Poke.
Spring has sprung in New Orleans at last after a brief cold snap. I should say cool snap because the lows were in the mid-forties but that’s chilly for us in March. We ran the AC one day and the heater two days later as we rode on the NOLA weather rollercoaster. So it goes.
The Fox network was in town on Palm Sunday. They filmed a half-assed modern musical version of the Passion Play complete with crappy recent pop songs. I didn’t go downtown to gawk and have only watched thirty minutes of The Passion, but it’s a stinker. It did, however, attract something of a sideshow as the procession weaved through the streets of the Quarter. Anyone shocked? I thought not. Here’s how Advocate music writer Keith Spera described one heckler/riffer who lacked the wit of Tom Servo or Croooow:
Turning onto Canal Street, the procession encountered an interloper who was clearly not an angelic host. He wore red devil horns and pulled a wagon with a boom box. Gyrating provocatively, he was intent on making a nuisance and/or spectacle of himself by mocking the march. The dancing devil tried to pull his wagon into the procession; a police officer quickly shooed him back to the sidewalk. Undeterred, he donned a kitschy cape bearing an image of Jesus.
He stopped to film himself writhing in front of the Golden Wall Chinese restaurant — and dropped his camera phone. The case shattered on the pavement.
Divine retribution, some might say.
That’s not what I’d say, I might go Ray Charles on their asses though:
One good thing about the unintentional comedy that came to town is that it put me in a Jethro Tull frame of mind. Ian Anderson is well-known as a religious skeptic but Tull recorded an album called-you guessed it-A Passion Play during the heyday of prog-rock. I hadn’t heard it for years but enjoyed it when I gave it a spin last week:
Not only was Tull’s A Passion Play, uh, passionate; it has a storytime-style segment about non-lethal rabbits, hares, what have you. Here’s the video they used in concert way back in 1973:
I hope the poor bastard found his spectacles without making a spectacle of himself.
It just occurred to me that the makers of the 1933 Hollywood version of Alice In Wonderlandmissed a pun opportunity by not casting Fredric as the March Hare.Perhaps they were worried that he’d show up for work as Mr. Hyde but if that were the case he could have been renamed the March Hyde.
The Story of the Hare Who Lost His Spectacles is NOT this week’s theme song. That dubious honor goes to a tune from the very next Tull LP, War Child.Skating Away On The Thin Ice Of A New Day has an insidiously catchy melody and also features a seasonally appropriate reference to a rabbit on the run. At some of their live shows, some poor bloke was obliged to dress up in a bunny outfit and scamper across the stage. The version below is bunny-free, alas. I asked the March Hare to show up since it’s March but he/she/it declined while muttering something about March madness. Fucking lazy fictional bunny.
Speaking of rabbits, I’ve always been somewhat baffled by the merger of pagan fertility rites with Easter. It’s part and parcel of our habit of “secularizing” even the most solemn religious holidays. Easter is about a crucifixion, not Cadbury Creme Eggs although I prefer the latter to the former. I have sensitive hands, y’all. Better still are a local delicacy, Elmer’s Gold Brick Eggs, which are all chocolaty and pecanny. They used to be made on Magazine Street not far from Adrastos World HQ. It filled the air with lovely aromas, which beat the hell out of stale beer and bus exhaust fumes. Elmer Chocolate, however, moved to the burbs quite some time ago. So it goes.
Since this has been Mott the Hoople week here at First Draft, let’s roll away the stone before the break:
I went looking for this, this week, for a friend, and it seemed to apply to this holiday: At the end of the line, where enjambment sings: zero’s the number of the Fool, the shape of the storm. It’s the beginning and the end, depending on where you start counting. It goes around and around … God has to wear masks because you’re not prepared for a faceful of infinity, but that’s not the secret. The secret is: how many masks. The “war on Christmas” nonsense makes me tired. Not outraged. Not angry. Not defensive. Tired. I am not interested in … Continue reading Worse Things Than Poetry
We should listen to our spiritual leaders, always, unless they’re advocating something that would take us out of power, in which case they should just talk nonsense like angels and blessings and “prayers up” and shit: Still, some of those who were listening took issue with his reference to issues Congress considers in its purview, such as climate change. Inhofe, a leading voice denying climate change exists, says that programs to control carbon emissions would hurt the poor with rising energy costs more than they would save the planet. And Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., warns that the pope might have … Continue reading Everyone In Their Own Box: Pope Francis and U.S. Politics
Despite the whole Equinox thing, it’s still summer in New Orleans. I’ve been sweating like Orson Welles in The Long Hot Summer, my Paul Newman days are long gone. In other news, we had our umpteenth boil water order of the year, which means a lot of literal-minded folks didn’t bathe. I’m married to a microbiologist and we, well I, spit on that portion of the order. Even worse than stinky people, the boil orders bring out the same, inane jokes on social media. I wish I could bribe them to make it stop but I can’t. This one, by a crony of mine, is actually not bad:
Dr. A loves the Autumnal Equinox because one can stand an egg upright on the counter. Here’s an old picture of our late, great Torti Window and an egg:
As you can see above, some things never change: our messy housekeeping and the red plastic Proteus cup. Let’s move on to weightier topics.
Pope Frank is visiting America for the first time this week. He may be one of the few people to NOT get booed in Philadelphia unless, that is. some Republican politicians show up there. I’m not a Catholic but Dr. A was raised in the church. Like most sentient American Catholics, she has reservations about the church’s stance on many social issues. The genius of Pope Frank is that he has done what polite people do when there’s an ongoing, onerous discussion: he’s changed the subject. In this case to subjects more congenial to American liberals: poverty and the environment. He hasn’t changed the church’s stands on social issues but he’s signaled that he’s more tolerant and flexible. It’s worked thus far but the most important thing is his warm and pastoral nature. He’s managed to charm this atheist into thinking there’s some hope for the Vatican, after all.
Pope Frank is nothing like Jeremy Irons as Pope Alexander VI aka Rodrigo Borgia who posed the eternal question, “Turds? You brought me turds?”
They were cigars from the New World, not turds. But “Turds? You brought me turds?” became a catch phrase in our house after we binge watched The Borgias on Netflix. In the end, Pope Alexander became a turd/cigar addict. I guess it beats the hell out of being a Cameroonian pigfucker…
This week’s theme song is inspired by both Pope Frank’s visit and the first item after the break. The connection is Paul Simon who wrote The Obvious Child after Pope John Paul conducted mass at the songwriter’s personal shrine: Yankee Stadium,
Crosses in the ballpark, crosses in the ballpark. Why deny the obvious child?
We’ll start with the official video:
Dr. A and I saw the Rhythm of the Saints tour when it came to New Orleans. It was a spectacular show. Here’s Simon and his crack band playing The Obvious Child in Central Park:
I made my peace many years ago with the fact that, as much as I admire him as an artist, Paul Simon is not a very nice man. He’s also a very short, vain man. In the live clip, he’s wearing boots with high heels and a toupee. He stopped wearing the rug about 10 or 15 years ago. I’m not sure if it had anything to do with this:
We go from toupees on the table to crosses in the ballpark. Why deny the obvious child? Something else is obvious at this point, it’s time for the break. See you on the other side of this life.
Go read all of these right now. They just keep drawing the circle smaller and smaller, like the point is who you keep out. A. Continue reading ‘God is Not Angry Daddy’
I’m not feeling particularly destructive this week but the heat is getting to me. We’re on target to break a record that nobody wants to break: consecutive days of highs of 90+ degrees. We’re at 48 days and counting and the record is 51. I’m just trying to stay cool, which is why I posted Stuart Davis’ Swing Landscape. Ain’t nothing cooler than that, y’all.
In other local news, some knucklehead tried to move a house in Uptown New Orleans and it got stuck for several days on General Pershing Street between Camp and Magazine, which is not far from Adrastos World HQ.
Photo by Jennifer K. Lloyd.
It’s half a shotgun house sliced lengthwise, which was being moved to another lot where it was to rejoin its woody mate, replacing a circa 1970’s house. I believe the other house was demolished, which brings us to this week’s theme song. Make that theme songs, 3 different tunes with the same title: Wrecking Ball. We begin with a Wrecking Ball written by Neil Young and recorded by Emmylou Harris as the title track of an atmospheric album she made with producer Daniel Lanois in 1995:
Our second song reflects another theme this week, Wrecking Ball as album title. This more political song was written and recorded by some guy from Jersey:
Our final Wrecking Ball is wielded by Joe Walsh. It comes from Joe’s fine 2012 album, Analog Man, which was co-produced by Jeff Lynne. I guess that’s why it sounds like the James Gang meets ELO:
Please follow the bouncing wrecking ball after the break.
Behold, a massive jerkoff sits at the controls of the North Mississippi Daily Journal: I don’t write a column often, but as publisher and CEO of the Journal there are times when I feel a responsibility to share my thoughts on a subject and ensure our company is not misunderstood based on our job to report the news and share both sides of a story. I’ll also preface the following thoughts by saying if you don’t believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God and the source of authority that trumps all others, you’re not likely to agree with … Continue reading Gospel of Athenae 1:1-15: Fuck This Guy
Cartoonist, political satirist, and curator of Binkley’s closet of horrors, Berkeley Breathed, has announced Bloom County’s return to the funny papers. I have a funny feeling that the billionaire blowhard’s candidacy might have something to do with it. Trump looks as if he’s wearing one of Bill the Cat’s hairballs on his head, after all. This post is an excuse to post one of my favorite Bloom County strips. It requires a set-up. For many years, quite by accident, I lived near the domiciles of religious cults. In San Francisco, I lived on Bush Street a few doors down from … Continue reading Bloomin’ Good News
I’m not sure whether Pat Robertson is descending into senility or if he’s becoming an absurdist comedian. In either case, bless his heart: Televangelist Pat Robertson said on Monday that marijuana users and drinkers are “enslaved to vegetables.” Speaking on his Christian Broadcasting Network television show “The 700 Club,” Robertson said that addiction is contrary to God’s will, because man has dominion over “all the vegetables.” Robertson continued: “Cocaine is the product of a vegetable, alcohol is the product of a vegetable, marijuana is a vegetable. And yet, people are enslaved to vegetables.” “Why would you become a slave to … Continue reading Call Any Vegetable
I’m back to that whole in the Carnival bubble thing, which I actually like. It means that one doesn’t have to spend too much time thinking about the outside world, but there are a few things on my mind and as J Danforth Quayle once said, “a mind is a terrible thing to lose.”
But before I natter on after the break, here’s a musical interlude from Paul Simon:
Bobby Jindal’s deeply silly attempt to transform his image from dorky butt ugly technocrat to manly butt ugly culture warrior continues. He tried out a new-ish look at last weekend’s Hate Group Prayerpalooza in Red Stick. Note the cowboy boots, tight jeans and Garth Brooks type headset. The only thing missing is a ten gallon hat to complete his transformation into a Bollywood shitkicker. But don’t call him that because he’s ashamed of his Indian heritage and/or doesn’t want to be a so-called “hyphenated American.” I don’t get it. There’s *nothing* wrong with being proud of your ethnic heritage. It’s the … Continue reading PBJ Unbuckles The Bible Belt
Probably not, but a few people asked why I wasn’t blogging this week when so much funny shit was happening. It’s not down to Krewe Du Vieux even though that’s eaten my month. According to my ISP “another entity” cut the cable serving my house and other users. My money is on the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board. There was a crew working way after dark Tuesday and they’re not known for their competence. I’ll be playing catch-up for a few days and then return to the Krewe Du Vieux bubble at the end of the week. I should post … Continue reading Back By Popular Demand
Hearing another’s voice will hurt you: “While it might seem an odd juxtaposition to have the adhan chanted in the same tower from which bells toll daily (and twice on Sundays!), it is actually in keeping with the university’s commitment to fostering the spiritual development of all students,” Sapp wrote. “The chanting of the adhan communicates to the Muslim community that it is welcome here, that its worship matters, that these prayers enhance the community and that all are invited to stop on a Friday afternoon and pray.” By Thursday afternoon, the university had reversed itself. “Duke remains committed to fostering … Continue reading What We Are Afraid Of
