steve anderson really likes peeing standing up ‘like a man’

I feel bad for the editors of the New King James and New International Version of the Bible, who according to Pastor Steven Anderson of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe Arizona, are ‘males’ and not ‘men’ because they ‘pee sitting down’ rather than ‘pissing against a wall’ like real ‘men’ (like the KJV says to in 1 Sam. 25:22; 25:34; 1 Kings 14:10; 16:11; 21:21; and 2 Kings 9:8)!

Indeed, the church’s website is correct when it describes Pastor Anderson thusly:

“He holds no college degree but has well over 140 chapters of the Bible memorized word-for-word, including approximately half of the New Testament.”

(I’m guessing he took the easy way out and memorized them in English.)

There are so many things wrong with this fundy’s logic (or lack thereof) that it’s difficult to know where to begin. Obviously to this guy, the English KJV is the only ‘inspired’ version of the Bible (although it was written originally in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, and an intimate knowledge of these three languages will always better inform the reader of the text than a translation).

Second, he obviously has male superiority complex, as he has completely bypassed the ‘male vs. female’ debate that confounds so many fundamentalists, and has skipped to arguing ‘man vs. male,’ where ‘male’ is apparently more effeminate than a real (English) ‘man.’ And God help the poor German men (see the 2:17 mark).

But perhaps the best example of this man’s skewed logic is this fact: according to him, R. Kelley (as spoofed by Dave Chappelle) would be the ultimate man.

I shake my head at fundamentalists of any religion.

HT: RL

getting bigger: maclaren december 2011

nap time



Nap time.

rest in peace christopher hitchens

Rest in peace, Christopher Hitchens. Thank you for making us all think a little harder about what we know, what we believe, and the difference between the two. Thank you for your intellect, your wit, and your commitment to the pursuit and defense of knowledge. May you rest in peace.

Christopher Hitchens

what santa SHOULD look like

just sayin’…

epic taekwondo battle: equivalent of intellectual battle between rick perry and herman cain

You absolutely must watch this epic Taekwondo battle between two fierce combatants.

This just may be the next big viral video.

It’s the Taekwondo equivalent of an intellectual battle between Rick Perry and Herman Cain.

they took the above video down, but there is a mirrored site below:

HT: Jim West

Thanksgiving MacLaren pix

Pictures from San Francisco, Thanksgiving in Pismo Beach, California, and early December in Iowa City.

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using religion for political gain: a response to rick perry

There are few things that piss me off more than those who use religion for political gain. I especially despise those who use faith in one interpretation of a religious belief as a wedge to marginalize a believer of a different interpretation. And, I particularly hate (yes, a strong word, but i HATES it) those who use religion to discriminate against others who do not share their particular religious belief, and to suppress their civil rights.

This is why everything that Rick Perry is bugs me. And now, his most recent political ad is nothing other than a political wedge ad simultaneously targeting Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith (about which he is usually (and rightly) silent, as it should not be a political issue in a secular nation where matters of church and state are to be separate) and Newt Gingrich (whose Baptist turned Catholic faith also receives little discussion from Gingrich). So, Rick Perry is out to capture the Evangelical Christian vote, and in doing so has produced one of the most ridiculous ads in history:

Now, in response to this ad, I must choose one of two routes: I can rail against folks who simply make stuff up. For instance, can kids really not pray in school, or can they not do so in an organized, school-sponsored fashion, as if they were in a private Christian school? And, are students really not allowed to celebrate Christmas, or are they taught to acknowledge that maybe not all kids in a public school profess the same Christian faith their parents have taught them to profess so proudly in class? (UPDATE: For rules about praying in public schools, read Dr. Paul Flesher’s article on the Religion Today blog entitled, “It’s OK to pray in Your School.” – see comments)

In his anti-gay political ad touting his religious faith, Rick Perry sports a jacket quite similar to the one worn by Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain.

The other route of criticism would chastise Rick Perry for being upset that gays are not openly discriminated against in the military. Apparently, the ever-faithful Rick Perry believes that some Americans, who happen to believe differently than Rick Perry, should be disqualified from offering their lives in service to this nation precisely because they differ in religious belief from Rick Perry. (UPDATE: And is it coincidence that the jacket worn by Perry subconsciously matches the one worn by Heath Ledger in Brokeback Mountain? HT: Al Schlaf – see comments)

I shake my head.

However, methinks I shall ultimately choose to fault Rick Perry for making things up, like falsely claiming that a president who doesn’t pander to the Evangelical right is somehow engaged in a ‘war on religion.’ Because that is precisely how you use religion as a weapon in a political campaign: you claim that anyone who does not believe precisely the same interpretation of Christianity as you do is engaged in a ‘war on religion.’ In doing so, Mr. Perry makes himself the Christian equivalent of the leader of an Islamic state, who believes the laws of their religion’s holy book should be the law of the land. Rick Perry is a sharia Christian (if such thing can be said to exist).

So, Dear Mr. Perry, this is why your numbers are tanking, and this is why people think you’re not qualified to be President (or speak the English language for that matter). You will never be President because you use your faith as a political wedge against your opponents, as a tool to discriminate against others, and as a weapon against those who don’t agree with you.

So, with a tip of my hat to Emory University Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible, Dr. Jacob Wright, for pointing me to this video, I offer you the perfect response to Rick Perry’s most recent exploitation of religion. This video by Rabbi Jason Miller makes the point, makes you think, and makes you laugh. Enjoy!