Reclaiming Halloween

 

Well, the above is a picture of my crew at work and me. A great crew it is - one of the best it has been my pleasure to lead. We accomplish much as a team and accomplish it with panache. We had fun today on our job in celebration of Halloween. Left to right there are Devin, Josh, Kathy, the old "Ref" yours truly, Lori, Kristi, and Brandon. Some of the other workers kidded me that, with my team, I should wear that outfit everyday!

 

I go to bed very early because I arise so early, so it will be impossible for to partake of more Halloween festivities. Maybe next year when it falls on Friday again I can take in a party of go trick-or-treating.

 

Did I ever tell you that I was twelve years old before I went trick or treating for the first time? Among members of the Church of God that thing was generally frowned upon (at least back when I was a child; I really can't say how they view the matter now).

 

My parents weren't so nutty, religiously speaking, that they thought it was such a big deal. But when you are members of a certain community, you tend to follow along and not make waves. Yes, we believed in a literal devil and had an interesting demonology as part of our overall theology. But we were separated from "the world" and just didn't partake of such "questionable" amusements, especially if they had bad connotations. (Although all of my family loved horror movies from way back.)

 

However, after my parents split up and the church excommunicated them because of it, things were different. My mom bought costumes for me and my little brother for the first time and we were allowed to go out trick-or-treating with our friends.

 

I was a skeleton that first time. Scary! And back then we always waited until dark before we went out. Those were simpler times, and safer, too, overall, I believe. We stayed in our own neighborhood and knew most of the folks we visited. 

 

But when I think back, we were allowed to watch all the Halloween specials on television. And when our school put on Halloween plays or had Halloween-themed activities, my parents had no objection whatsoever to our participating. I even recall Mom always making sure she had candy on hand for the neighborhood kids - which I was allowed to pass out even when I didn't "officially" participate. 

 

Now that I'm older I enjoy the folklore and pagan history of the holiday. Paganism has a certain earthy appeal to me. Just wait until next year!

Is It Just Me?

Senator Ted Cruz has been all over the news in recent weeks. That's him on the left. On the right is the infamous Senator Joseph McCarthy. Right from the start when I saw Cruz on television I was reminded of McCarthy - visually, I mean.  

 

I'm not going to get all political here. I'm fairly disgusted with the matter, and the recent government shutdown debacle only underscored all the repulsiveness I feel. So I'm not really making a political statement. Not really. Then again, deeper down maybe I do see more than visual resemblance.

 

I'm getting perhaps a bit less ideological the older I get. But I still have a great distaste for self-serving grandstanding, especially among public servants.

Kissing The Devil's Butt

The news is so often so depressing I have to ignore it. Then there are those times when something I read or hear just cracks me up. I'm certain the story I'm about to write about was far from funny at the time for those poor folks involved - but this is goofy. Perhaps the offender was on drugs or alcohol or maybe he is mentally ill.

 

At any rate, a deluded soul was in a convenience store in nearby Dalton, Georgia arguing about the merits of the Christian religion when he accused one of the patrons of loving Satan and kissing the devil's butt. Deluded Soul (hereafter referred to as DS) was yelling and carrying on. Another patron suggested DS wasn't acting very Christianly, whereupon he turned his rage upon that patron and even spat on a child. DS then witnessed to the child about Christianity. And then as if to emphasize it all, DS dropped his pants and walked bare-bottomed out into the parking lot.

 

Now DS was on a roll ranting not only about devil worshippers but also homosexuals, illegal immigrants, and "Tennessee trash" (as a certain class of persons). He was eventually apprehended by police at a Walmart.

 

You can read the entire article about this man's escapades by clicking this link. There is even a color picture of the smiling man's mugshot. Among the charges DS faces are two counts of battery and two counts of disorderly conduct.

 

Well, as I suggested, maybe this guy is mentally ill. If so this is sad and I hope he gets the help he needs. On the other hand, I suspect he was either drunk or on drugs. In which case I think he needs to get real and start walking the walk instead of just talking the talk. You would be surprised - or then again, maybe you wouldn't - how many drunks and drug addicts I know who, condemned by their own conscience, get into a frenzy and rail on and on about the very things they find themselves mired in.   

 

Being a former Christian myself, I know a little about how all that is supposed to work. And this isn't it! In fact, I'm not interested in hearing about anyone's religion that doesn't make one a better person, especially in regard to how one treats his/her fellow humans.

 

In my humble opinion, being a jerk is metaphorically kissing the devil's butt and loving Satan. 

Another Local Flap With The Freedom From Religious Foundation

Most emphatically I am not a Theocrat. I believe in a practical separation of church and state. But I'm also something of an accomodationist when it comes to religion - just as so many of our nation's founders were and its 44 presidents have been.

 

The atheist movement has become more and more vocal in recent decades - which I think is fine, by the way - and have brought attention to several church/state issues that needed to be addressed. Mandatory prayer in public, taxpayer funded schools, is a good example. However, it seems to me that sometimes these folks get a little nit-picky.

 

Here is a story near my home that is developing:

 

Our local media has given much coverage recently to a local pastor who was invited to speak at a 9/11 memorial service that was being held at a local high school. Check out one example of the coverage here.

 

Someone complained to the Freedom From Religion Foundation and within weeks foundation attorney Andrew Seidel became involved:

 

Essentially preaching a sermon to the children you know he quoted Luke 13:4 and the power of prayer, Jesus's response to 9/11, there's not much grey area here there's clearly a religious message and it's at a school sponsored event, therefore unconstitutional.

 

Church sponsored, but not mandatory as part of the curriculum, by the way.

 

As for whether or not this was a sermon (or merely a sarcastic characterization) I really can't say. Another report (see here) informs us that Pastor Alan Stewart mentioned "one bible verse and the word "God" six times" according to a transcript. I haven't access to that transcript and wasn't there so I really can't say a lot.

 

The Bible verse, quoting Jesus, was evidently Luke 13:4:

 

Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?

 

That seems to me to be more of a philosophical than a purely religious text; but, to quote Attorney Seidel again, "Pastors only speak about religious issues for the most part" - which seems to make about as much sense as saying that attorneys only speak about legal issues for the most part.

 

What troubles me about these oft-repeated brouhahas is this: if teachers and students can't so much as mention God or religious concepts in the course of the education process, what makes it appropriate for our nation's legislatures and presidents to do this?

 

Okay, all this is boggy ground. And in response to this latest flap the school system has begun a retraining effort to hopefully avoid needless conflicts in the future. The FFF seems satisfied with that response. So now everybody is happy - except those who feel their right to free speech is being compromised.

 

I have e-mailed Pastor Stewart in an effort to get a transcript of what he actually said. I'll revisit this again if I am able to get that.