10 items to consider Pt. 3

Part 3:

Apply Spiritual Filters - We should apply two filters when we consider church or family activities:
(1) Does the activity draw us closer to Christ?
(2) Does the activity bless and strengthen families.

Well, first off, number 1 relates back to item number 1 of the letter. This "Christ-like" behavior is, by societal stands, despicable at best. Let's look at some examples of some of the things Christ said or approved of:

Families will be torn apart because of Jesus (this is one of the few "prophecies" in the Bible that has actually come true). "Brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death." Matthew 10:21

In the parable of the unforgiving servant, the king threatens to enslave a man and his entire family to pay for a debt. This practice, which was common at the time, seems not to have bothered Jesus very much. Matthew 18:25

Jesus will reward men who abandon their wives and families. Mark 10:29-30

Jesus says that everyone in heaven is single. Does that mean that married people can't go there, that they must get a divorce once they arrive, or what? Luke 20:35

If you want to be a disciple of Jesus, you must abandon everything, including your family. Luke 14:33

That's just 4 of a MULTITUDE of examples I can get. So it's obvious that in order to be closer to Christ, I should abandon my family, tear them apart (I'm sure me being an atheist alone will do that), and be perfectly cool with slavery O_o *thinks* Yeah...I'd rather be closer to my computer...at least if I tear it apart I can rebuild it as often as I want.

Now, number 2 of these activities. How in the hell is being closer to Christ supposed to bless and strengthen families when we saw just above in Matthew 10:21 that families will be torn apart. So obviously we're not strengthening the family...as far as blessing it...the ONLY way I can this being a blessing is if it's an abusive family (rape, beatings, etc.).

This, again, shows that the person who wrote this letter knows absolutely nothing about the bible, let alone Christ. The sad part is, I'm sure if I showed them these rather contradictory Christ-like attributes, they would probably either dismiss it as a lie (even though it's in the bible) or even say something along the lines that it's being taken out of context. I don't know how "For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law." can be taken out of context as that's pretty cut and dry.


Tomorrow, part 4 - Share the Gospel.

10 items to consider Pt. 2

So the next item on the list is this:

2) Work Honestly - We have a duty to employers to work honestly and provide quality. Particularly in these economically challenging times, we should work with gratitude; earning an "honest day wages".

The thing here is that this is a double-edged sword. While we as employees have a duty...no, duty is too strong of a connotation, the better word here is expectation to work honestly and provide quality, the same goes to the employer in that they should also be providing all the tools that are needed to perform at an employees best. You wouldn't tell a computer system admin to work without a computer...

Ultimately what this comes down to is nothing more than the golden rule "Treat others as you wish to be treated". Religion thinks they are the purveyors of this thought when it's much older than bronze aged fiction.

As to the issues of earning an "honest days wages", this almost comes across as a hypocrisy. Why am I calling this a hypocrisy? Well, for those that don't know, the Mormon church asks that all their members give 10% of their earnings back to the church. The hypocrisy here is that the Mormon church hasn't done an honest day of working to receive this money. Instead they manipulate their believers and get them to believe that by handing over 10% of their earnings, this some how makes them look better in the eyes of God, Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith (considering most of them regard Joseph essentially as a god...not bad for a liar and a thief).

So, overall, I'm to be an honest and hard worker and being told to do so by an organization that's built upon lies and taking innocent suckers money...wow...P.T Barnum would be proud, plus he said it best "There's a sucker born every minute" (Yes, I know that it can't be tracked to him directly but he's never denied saying it either)

Yay, more moronism....I mean mormonism

So today I had another visit with home teachers (with those unfamiliar with mormonism, home teachers are 2 guys they send out to talk to male members of the church and are required to do so once a month, even if it means giving that person a call to talk to them and see how they're doing and to give a testimony) today. In true mormon tradition, they showed up late and then went on about something church related. then one of them handed me this envelope with a letter inside. Neither the letter or the envelope were addressed to me, just a general letter.

One side goes on about how there was just the "opportunity" to have a stake conference recently and how the stake president gave 10 items to "consider in the days ahead". So, the next 10 days (with today being number 1) will be spent disseminating these 10 items. All of them are being typed verbatim from the letter.

Item #1 "Be Christ-like - We have a great responsibility be more like Christ - in language, in attitude, in a spirit of caring. Our language must be above reproach. We cannot swear. We cannot make demeaning comments. We should avoid cynicism."

First and foremost...I sure hope that's not how the talk was given cause that one bit of missing grammar makes it sound...stupid.

Secondly, FUCK THAT! Oh, wait, wasn't supposed to swear >_> Then again, the "swear words" to me are nothing more than something I'll use in my vocabulary as an adverb or an adjective (where applicable) throughout my daily life. So if someone says to me "Fuck you" I'll just look at them and say something about how I'd rather not with them or ask them where at. It just doesn't insult me. The same thing goes with flipping me off, it's just a finger, not something to be all O_O over when you see it. Am I desensitized to it...not really, cause I don't view it in the same societal standards as everyone else.

Thirdly, they want me to be more "Christ-like". So, I should:

"Jesus says that he has come to destroy families by making family members hate each other. He has "come not to send peace, but a sword."Matthew 10:34-36"

or "Jesus is criticized by the Pharisees for not washing his hands before eating. He defends himself by attacking them for not killing disobedient children according to the commandment: "He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death." (See Ex.21:15, Lev.20:9, Dt.21:18-21) So, does Jesus think that children who curse their parents should be killed? It sure sounds like it. Matthew 15:4-7"

or "Jesus had no problem with the idea of drowning everyone on earth in the flood. It'll be just like that when he returns. Matthew 24:37"

So...to be "Christ-like" I should be destroying families, have a giant stoning of all the children who cursed their parents (and everyone has at one point, even if out of anger), and agree that drowning all but 8 people on the entire planet is perfectly acceptable behavior. >_> Well then sign my up for the first family now and I'll start there.

No making demeaning comments and avoiding cynicism...uh, yeah, no, a LOT of people just don't get it unless you demean them, and I don't know a single person who DOESN'T use cynicism on a daily basis.  I think cynicism is just part of our daily culture and I sure as hell am not planning on changing that anytime soon.

So, just the fact that they're saying they want everyone to be all nice and loving, proves they know NOTHING about their sky daddy and his son....cause they're both super confusing...I have less time being confused about what to wear with the gender issues than they are.

So, coming tomorrow, item # 2 "Work Honestly"

Testicles...God's perverse attractions

First and foremost, I want to say that I am in NO means a bible scholar or anything near that. I do my research like anyone else who isn't an expert in the field, I use Google and what it finds (like Wikipedia). So the following is just a random search of something I've heard happening in Christianity before (I believe it was just Roman Catholic, but I'm not sure).

Today, I'm going to talk about people known as Castrato. If you don't know what a Castrato is, you can read more on the Wiki page. I will get into the section labeled "Castrati in the European Classical tradition".

First and foremost, these are men who have lost their testicles. This does not mean getting something as simple as a modern day castration where they just snip one of the 2 tubes connecting the testicles to the rest of the body, this is the full removal of the testicles from the male body.

What does this mean for the prepubescent boy who has gotten this done (more than likely with parents approval or forced)?

Their limbs will grow longer and their chest cavities will be bigger allowing for an increased amount of air being introduced into the lungs (something I will touch on in a min). It also keeps their vocal cords at the prepubescent stage (that part where it makes young boys sound like young girls).

So, what is my point in all this? Well, to start, the castrati were used during the Middle Ages as individuals in choirs in most churches of the time. This was due to the fact that women were not allowed to be part of the choir. As such, they needed males who could sound like females...and not just by replacing prepubescent boys every year or so (not that this has stopped the bishops and cardinals anyways).

However, here is the part that starts to make me wonder. Not just about the churches practicing this, but in their god in general.

King James Bible
He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD.

Wait a second...those that are "wounded in the stones"? That's the castrati. Obviously god doesn't like them so much that they can't hold offices of any sort (depending on your interpretation of the interpretations of some Bronze Aged fairy tales), but even if you have been mutilated, you can at least sing pretty to the people of the church?

O_o Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!!!!

Now has that for something truly messed up. Though, I guess I should be surprised, the first 4 commandments are just god being a rather vain asshole...so wanting some boys to remain girls (something that he obviously didn't do or make) so he could have some pretty music waft up to heaven seems rather worse in comparison.

Of course, I am transgendered so I find very little use of them to begin with (the body still produces sperm, but, it's as useless as a screendoor on a submarine), however...if I was told at the age of like 6 or 7 that I was going to have them removed so I could be a choir singer...I'd have 2 simple words and some actions to follow:

FUCK YOU!!! t(=_=t)