I was listening to Morning Edition this morning when they played a story on HumanLight. For those too lazy to click on links, HumanLight is a Humanist (secular) winter festival that celebrates reason, hope and compassion. It is an attempt to include agnostics, atheists and humanists into the “holiday season.”
I hate this season, and I am constantly looking for new traditions to replace the ones I’ve lost since my parents passed away. So I listened to this report and found myself saying, “hell yeah, this could totally be it!” when I heard the song from the story. It was Tom Waits meets Ellis Paul singing seventh grader poetry. I found my interest in the festival waning.
I like the idea of a non-religious festival celebrating humanistic ideals. I do not like the idea of soppy poetry with gruff lyrics. My favorite Christmas Song, Fairytale of New York, is not your typical “holiday song” but it has more meaning to me than Silent Night.
So while I search for replacement traditions, fill me in on your own: When do you open presents? What kind of presents do you give and receive? How does your family celebrate this season?
Personally, I think the BlagoScandal is the news of the month, closely followed by the Big Three Bailout. What are the other stories that should be featured in the blogosphere?
I am two steps removed from Rod Blagojevich. My cousin, Jack, was playing basketball at DePaul when Rod was running laps. In typical Murphy fashion, Jack approached the govenor, introduced himself then called him to account for cutting funding for the Golden Apple Scholarship Program. According to Jack, the Governor was, “polite but he didn’t answer my question directly.”
I’ve not been a fan of the Governor in quite some time. He vetoed a measure that would have helped my clients, plays politics with key issues and blames the legislature for all of the State’s woes. There are rumblings from his office that’ll resign tomorrow. That would be, by far, the best thing he could do for everyone.
Writing, be it blogging, non-fiction, or fiction, is not a chore for me. My chores are the following:
Filing
Cleaning the Bathroom
Cleaning the Kitchen.
In order of preference:
Kitchen
Bathroom
Minor tasks
Filing
I cannot stand filing. It is the worst damn chore I have. At least when you clean a bathroom, you can remark at how the fruits of your labor for a few days. With filing, unless you do it multiple times a day, the “Clean Desk” lasts for roughly 8 hours.
Over the past few days, in between groups, phone calls, treatment planning and filming clips for a retirement party, I’ve managed to file all of my paperwork for my clients. I still need to finish all of my treatment folders, but for the kids that are my direct responsibility, all of my papers are in order.
The filing, however, has kept me from blogging fully. This is why, for the first time in 41 days, I missed a blog post. Granted, I was writing other things (stories that I won’t post on my blog), but I missed a day.
Sorry about that.
I have been the phone for ten minutes canceling my “High Speed Internet Service” from MDU Communications. I have never been this happy to cancel service before in my life.
All told, the conversation was less than a minute. I was on hold for 12 minutes 28 seconds. They did not ask why I canceled my service. They tried to get me to disconnect my TV service–the one provided by the insanely high assessment–which does not make sense unless they know what I know; namely, that their service is shit.
We have some sort of satellite system. It is expensive, we don’t get HD Service anymore (even though we did with RCN) and the technical support is just like the first season of the IT Crowd. “Turn the Modem off and on.” That was their solution to everything.
In the end, I owe them $1.35. I over paid last months bill. I’ll be sending them a letter with the reason why I disconnected my service, which I’ll include when I mail them the modem.
We went with AT&T. Currently, we’re getting 2.6 kbps/second on a wireless N network. It feels wonderful. Oh, and thus far? Their tech support has been exquisite. Now if they just stop spying on their customers….
I used up all my energy at work today. Instead of coming up with a post, I’m opening up the floor to answer the following questions:
Define Nerd. Then tell the world what is the nerdiest thing you have ever done. is it also the geekiest thing you have ever done?
Enjoy.
Yesterday’s post set up some homework for today: Listening to the This American Life episode about Heretics. Specifically, Revered Pearson, an evangelical preacher who preaches the Gospel of Inclusion. Pearson doesn’t preach about hell.
Now, I grew up believing in hell. Kinda. It never made much sense to me. God, who loves us humans so much, is going to have us burn for eternity? Does that doesn’t make sense. He cannot be all forgiving and have you burn. Even if you reject Him, He’s supposed to be a font of love and compassion. He’ll forgive that too…
One can ask for forgiveness or it can just be given. I’m pretty sure God can forgive people, even without them asking for it.
The establishment of Hell seems to be a method of control. “Do what we say or you burn. Follow our rules or your soul is forfeit.” It is my understanding that Evangelical’s replaces “our” with “God’s;” however the Bible itself has been translated and re translated by other parties, typically those in authority, that “God’s word” has been replaced by, “divinely inspired author, who just happens to be paid by the Royal Bank.”
My dad** believed in more than just Hell. He flat out believed in a pervasive evil force in this world. I also think he believed that individuals are inherently good; however, the evil force corrupted people and their intentions. Hell, and the Devil, gave him the wiggle room to keep both thoughts in his head.
He wasn’t an idiot, nor was he zealot. He was religious, but he could curse better than any sailor I’ve ever met (well, nuclear sub tech). He was liberal and religious. I mention my dad in this only because he had an idea of Hell, and evil, that doesn’t sit well with me either. I don’t think that God can be the most Benevolent if he lets people who’ve been seduced or influenced by evil, burn for eternity.
If God isn’t benevolent, then why should I praise Him? Why should I live a Christ Like Life if he’s going to turn his back on individuals who don’t follow His (or, really just the Evangelical) way? And if God’s going to let people who have 11th hour conversions into heaven, but keep out Atheists who do a lifetime of good work, then God’s neither benevolent or omniscient. He becomes a spoiled brat who takes his ball and goes home when people don’t follow his rules.
So give me your views of hell and damnation. Why do (or don’t) you believe in hellfire?
**If you’re new to the blog, you should realize that my dad wasn’t stupid. He was a lawyer, a public defender, and he worked in the homicide task force. He defended the people that most other individuals would be hard pressed to talk to. It was his job to ensure that they received the full protections enshrined int the Constitution. Before he died, he was certified to try Death Penalty cases in the State of Illinois and sworn in before the US Supreme court (I have the coffee mugs they give you as mementos).
**Edit: I published this yesterday after Shannon left for the hawks game. It didn’t publish, it’s saved. Sorry about that. I’m only publishing this now, with the right date, for my records. Not for Nablopomo
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