The Real Thing

If Reality TV, and specifically Contest-Type Reality TV, has it's way with America, soon there will be no free time to leave the 63-inch HD set and go to the bathroom. The recent season premieres of several popular shows proves my point. "Tune in to watch the 3-night season premiere of Dancing With The Stars!"

Wow! 3 nights to view the return of a show, followed by the mind-numbing, butt-widening 2-3 nights weekly of the same show, for the next several months.

It's entirely possible, especially with the magic of DVR, to watch reality TV 24 hours a day, on any possible topic your mind could conjure. I'm pretty sure I know some people who are testing that theory, give or take a few side-trips to McDonalds and StuffMart!

We started watching American Idol during the CLAY SHOULD HAVE WON 2nd season. Due to moves and various other activities, we missed episodes and, some years, entire seasons, but still managed to mostly stay in the loop through relatives and entertainment news. We saw Daughtry get booted when he shouldn't have. Tom accurately predicted during auditions that Taylor Hicks would land the top spot. For the life of me, I couldn't tell you the current Idol.

A friend told us about Dancing With The Stars, so we tuned in to that midway through the 2nd season. Waaaay cool, Savannah and I both loved it. It didn't take long, though, for me to start pondering the whole concept of DWTS. Yes, it's a competition, albeit with a cheesy trophy for the winner. Yes, it's fun. Yes, it's beautiful. But many of the other things that it is go directly against who I am as a Christian wife and mother.

If it's true that people are influenced by what they see on TV, (we are - bought anything you've seen advertised on TV lately?) then it stands to reason that might include negative influence. Call me crazy, but it doesn't seem logical to teach my daughter to be ladylike, and then let her watch Cheryl and Drew grind all over each other to "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy". It doesn't make much sense to talk to my boys about respecting women, when the TV set is showing Edyta and Karina's attempts to recover from their costume malfunction.

While a once-in-a-while viewing most likely won't corrupt the kids' minds, a steady diet of skimpy clothing and often overtly sexual dance acts does not reinforce our values, and does nothing to honor God. So, where do I draw the line? What is ok to watch, what is questionable and why, what is a possible learning experience, and what is definitely off limits? It isn't just my kids that need the limits, either. I, like my children, am vulnerable to letting something ungodly impact my life, and therefore affect my relationships. Can I continually watch DWTS, where the women are all put together, have gorgeous bodies, and can turn a man on with their dancing, and not compare myself to that? Probably not. In my head, I KNOW my value is not based on how I look, but society tells me otherwise, and I sometimes fall for that lie.

I do not attempt to shelter my children from all situations that could be construed as negative influence. Children need opportunities to make choices, right or wrong, when consequences are small, to help prepare them for making (hopefully) right decisions when the stakes are higher. I don't tell my children "we shouldn't do THAT" without giving them explanations WHY we shouldn't do whatever it is we're discussing.

I don't think dancing is evil. (If you know how I was raised, you'll find that comical.) Actually, one of my secret (until now!) fantasies has, for years, been for Tom and I to take ballroom dancing lessons. It is beautiful, and extremely sexy. If I could convince him to accompany me, I would put myself through the pain and torture. Not to be on display for other people, but simply for us.

Over the past 2 years, changes in our family lifestyle and budgeting issues have forced us to be out of the house during Primetime Television on many nights. What I've discovered - well, it hasn't been so much of a discovery as it has been a confirmation - is that we're just plain not missing all that much.

So while I appreciate the offer, ABC, I'm going to have to pass on this "Television Event of the Season". Your reality is just So. Not. Mine.

Conservatives Not So Much

Why do we as parents spend our lives dedicated to teaching our children right from wrong, always doing the right thing no matter what everyone else does, obeying the rules...and then vote for people who don't model those same principles? I must confess that I've not always voted with a clear and accurate picture of the candidates.

But...

I am disgusted at the Christians I hear lamenting how Obama is going to bring destruction to our country. John McCain is no less a monster than Obama.

It might be wonderful to have a real conservative Christian in the White House. But I'll take a Constitution-abiding atheist over a lying neocon "Christian" anyday. At least he would respect my right to believe in God, and wouldn't sail into a position of authority by merely claiming to be Pro-life.

I recently read an article here
that included this quote: "I am certain that it would be better for Christians to stand in solidarity with compassionate atheists and agnostics, firmly resolved against injustice and cruelty, than to sing "Amazing Grace" with the heroic masses who cannot tell the difference between the cross and the flag."

I couldn't agree more -

Deanna
----------------

Below is an article from Chuck Baldwin -


That Barack Obama trounced John McCain last Tuesday should have surprised no one. In fact, in this column, weeks ago, I stated emphatically that John McCain could no more beat Barack Obama than Bob Dole could beat Bill Clinton. He didn't. (Hence a vote for John McCain was a "wasted" vote, was it not?) I also predicted that Obama would win with an electoral landslide. He did. The real story, however, is not how Barack Obama defeated John McCain. The real story is how John McCain defeated America's conservatives.
For all intents and purposes, conservatism--as a national movement--is completely and thoroughly dead. Barack Obama did not destroy it, however. It was George W. Bush and John McCain who destroyed conservatism in America.

Soon after G.W. Bush was elected, it quickly became obvious he was no conservative. On the contrary, George Bush has forever established himself as a Big-Government, warmongering, internationalist neocon. Making matters worse was the way Bush presented himself as a conservative Christian. In fact, Bush's portrayal of himself as a conservative Christian paved the way for the betrayal and ultimate destruction of conservatism (something I also predicted years ago). And the greatest tragedy of this deception is the way that Christian conservatives so thoroughly (and stupidly) swallowed the whole Bush/McCain neocon agenda.

For example, Bush and his fellow neocons like to categorize and promote themselves as being "pro-life," but they have no hesitation or reservation about killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people in reckless and unconstitutional foreign wars. By the same token, how many unborn babies were saved by six years of all three branches of the federal government being under the control of these "pro-life" neocons? Not one! Ask the more than eight million unborn babies who were killed in their mothers' wombs during the last eight years how "pro-life" George W. Bush and John McCain are.

As a result of this insanely inconsistent and pixilated punditry, millions of Americans now laugh at the very notion of "pro-life" conservatism. Bush and McCain have made a mockery of the very term.

Consider, too, the way Bush and McCain have allowed the international bankers on Wall Street to bilk America's taxpayers out of trillions of dollars. Yes, I know Obama also supported the Wall Street bailout, but it was the Republican Party that controlled the White House for the last eight years and the entire federal government for six out of the last eight years. In fact, the GOP has won seven out of the previous ten Presidential elections. They have controlled Supreme Court appointments for the past thirty-plus years. They have appointed the majority of Treasury secretaries and Federal Reserve chairmen. They have presided over the greatest trade imbalances, the biggest deficits, the biggest spending increases, and now the worst financial disaster since the Great Depression.

Again, the American people look at these so-called "conservatives" and laugh. No wonder such a sizeable majority of voters yawned when John McCain tried to scare them by accusing Barack Obama of being a "big taxer." How can one possibly scare people with a charge like that after the GOP has made a total mockery of fiscal conservatism? That's like trying to scare someone coming out from a swim in the Gulf of Mexico with a squirt gun.

Then there was the pathetic attempt by the National Rifle Association (NRA) to scare gun owners regarding an Obama White House. Remember that John McCain is the same guy that the NRA rightly condemned for proposing his blatantly unconstitutional McCain/Feingold bill. McCain is also the same guy that tried to close down gun shows. He even made a personal campaign appearance for a pro-gun control liberal in the State of Oregon a few short years ago. In fact, the Gun Owners of America (GOA) gave McCain a grade of "F" for his dismal record on Second Amendment issues. Once again, Chicken Little-style paranoia over Barack Obama rang hollow when the alternative was someone as liberal as John McCain.

But the worst calamity of this election was the way conservatives--especially Christian conservatives--surrendered their principles for the sake of political partisanship. The James Dobsons of this country should hang their heads in shame! Not only did they lose an election, they lost their integrity!

In South Carolina, for example, pro-life Christians and conservatives had an opportunity to vote for a principled conservative-constitutionalist for the U.S. Senate. He is pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, and pro-traditional marriage. He believes in securing our borders against illegal immigration. He is against the bailout for the Wall Street banksters. His conservative credentials are unassailable. But the vast majority of Christian conservatives (including those at Bob Jones University) voted for his liberal opponent instead.

The man that the vast majority of Christian conservatives voted for in South Carolina is a Big-Government neocon. He supported the bailout of the Wall Street banksters. He is a rabid supporter of granting amnesty and a pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens. In fact, this man has a conservative rating of only 29% in the current Freedom Index of the New American Magazine.

Why did Christian conservatives support the liberal neocon and not the solid pro-life conservative? Because the conservative ran as a Democrat and the neocon is a Republican. I'm talking about the race between Bob Conley and Lindsey Graham, of course.

Had South Carolina's pastors, Christians, evangelicals, and pro-life conservatives voted for Bob Conley, he would be the new senator-elect from that state. In fact, Bob was so conservative that the Democratic leadership in South Carolina endorsed the Republican, Lindsey Graham! No matter. A majority of evangelical Christians in South Carolina stupidly rejected Bob Conley and voted for Graham.

Across the country, rather than stand on principle, hundreds of thousands of pastors, Christians, and pro-life conservatives capitulated and groveled before John McCain's neocon agenda. In doing so, they forfeited any claim to truth, and they abandoned any and all fidelity to constitutional government. They should rip the stories of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego out of their Bibles. They should never again tell their children, parishioners, and radio audiences the importance of standing for truth and principle. They have made a mockery of Christian virtue. No wonder a majority of the voting electorate laughs at us Christians. No wonder the GOP crashed and burned last Tuesday.

Again, it wasn't Barack Obama who destroyed conservatism; it was George W. Bush, John McCain, and the millions of evangelical Christians who supported them. And until conservatives find their backbone and their convictions, they deserve to remain a burnt-out, has-been political force. They have no one to blame but themselves.

And since it is unlikely that the Republican Party has enough sense to understand any of this and will, therefore, do little to reestablish genuine conservative principles, it is probably best to just go ahead and bury the scoundrels now and move on to something else. Without a sincere commitment to constitutional government, the GOP has no justifiable reason to ever govern again. Therefore, put a fork in them. They are done. Let a new entity arise from the ashes: one that will stand for something more than just "the lesser of two evils." As we say in the South, That dog just won't hunt anymore.

(c) Chuck Baldwin
This column is archived at chuckbaldwinlive.com

Creative Torture Correction

*** Update since original post***
The accompanying video is no longer available on youtube - all the hits musta done 'em in. Sorry 'bout yer luck, but I could probably direct you to a church or two from my childhood that could show you similar talent, minus any reference to dancing, which was of the devil, of course. That is, if yer innerested.




Growing up in a legalistic - oops, I meant conservative holiness - environment, the music choices that were allowed to reach our impressionable ears were a wee bit limited. We had copies of our church hymnal on our piano. We could tune in to the classical radio station if we were inclined. In Michigan, we could listen to Family Life Radio, which was mostly programs like Focus on the Family and Back to the Bible. In Ohio, we could usually listen to WPOS. WPOS was southern gospel. The Cathedrals, Gold City Quartet, Kingsmen - you haven't lived till you've sat on the front row of a Cathedrals concert, let me tell ya! Boy, when ol' George Younce rared back with his throat growling those low notes on Beulahland - you felt like you got your $5 worth!

(You might think I'm being my typical sarcastic self here, and while you're correct, I actually do have a soft spot in my heart for a few southern gospel groups, including the Cathedrals. Every once in a while, I'll listen to a song or two, if only to remind myself of some of the hilarious days my best friend Annette and I had in high school.)

My music tastes have evolved over the past twenty or so years, and while Jesus Christ doesn't change, the style in which I prefer to celebrate His constant presence in my life most assuredly has taken a different direction.

Anyone who knows me in the smallest way most likely is aware of my intense dislike of emotionally-charged religious experiences, including crummy church signs and pithy lyrics to Christian songs. I just have a horrible time tolerating these two issues, for some reason. They bring out the worst in me - they blind me when I'm driving - they cause me to yell unkind words at the inhuman object, which most people refer to as a radio, in my dashboard - they make my kids howl with devious laughter if they hear an inane song or view an unacceptable sign before I do, because they know it's going to cause me to look for the nearest cliff and ponder jumping. (We live in Northwest Ohio - I haven't been successful with the cliff thing yet.)

But!!

Every once in a while, Tom and I will make use of our local southern gospel radio station. (He more than I, because it isn't good for my blood pressure to be listening very often to somebody wailing' about Recalling the Dinner Bell Mama Used to Call Them for Supper as it Relates to Being Called to Glory in the Great Beyond Someday GloryHallelujahPraisetheNameofGuawwwdD.) This station isn't WPOS. WPOS was at least the Upper Class of southern gospel. When this station says "local", they mean "local". It's Bro. Hardy and Sis. Hicks. It's whiny. It's twangy. It's bad country music, on steroids. It's anyone who has an acoustic guitar, a pin-striped suit, a bad haircut and Jesus. And it works wonders for convincing your kids that you've done gone and lost your ever-lovin' mind!

One of our children - and we'll mention no names - had an attitude problem one day. S/He had to take a ride with Dad, in Dad's poor little tri-toned, dented, bumper-stickered Ford Festiva. When Dad and said child returned home, Dad said "I made him/her listen to the southern gospel station full blast the whole time." This station is so southern gospel, I even felt sorry for the little mite.

But!!

Today, I found an even better way to let our light shine! After happening upon this little gem, I shared it with Tom. We then shared it with Bucky. The three of us then shared it with Preston and Savannah. In all seriousness, we told them that we had received an email from our pastor saying that our praise and worship team at church was going to be changing the format of our services, and we would now be participating in this type of song programming. Our friend Mark would be the leader. The pastor was inviting us to attend a seminar to learn how to perform. We were convincing enough that Savannah declared an instant demand to relocate to another church, and Preston just gaped at us..."WWWHHHYYYYY???!!??" followed by "I'll walk to Mars before MARK would ever do that!!"

So it is without further ado, that I present to you - a concept I learned of via a Crummy Church Signs link to Ragamuffin Soul. (For further interesting reading, google The Way International - I'll stick with my church, thank you!)

Target the Witness

So, here's a couple of recent conversation topics with which I have challenges.

One:
An acquaintance who has two elementary age children made a comment about these children inviting friends from school to their church - "They're doing their best. School is a mission field in itself."

Choke - swallow...OK, the whole mission field thing just bothers me! I never have been able to comprehend sending a 5 year old to do spiritual battle with an atheist 52 year old playground supervisor! And don't point out "A little child shall lead them" - I'm not convinced that applies to public schooling!

Two:
People not understanding that having a "quiver full" of children, as referenced in the Bible, doesn't necessarily mean producing children at every available ovulation opportunity. I learned something from Preston this week. (Preston learned this from a non-traditional approach to schooling, not a boring textbook.) A "quiver" can hold different numbers of arrows, depending on what purpose the arrows will serve. For instance, apparently hunters had good enough aim that they only needed a couple of arrows. Warriors carried several more. Conclusion drawn? A man who was providing food for his family wouldn't have as many weapons as a man who was protecting his family, tribe, or nation. Hrm...

The doctor is in and open to discussion.....

Just a Few Points to Make - or Not

So today's sign prompted a short discussion with Tom -

The sign:
I desire mercy, not sacrifice. - Jesus

???

Tom thought maybe it might possibly tie in to "To obey is better than sacrifice". But he couldn't figure out how...??

I, of course, typically ranted a bit. "What about the whole Take Up Your Cross and Follow Me and Greater Love Has No Man idea?" Doesn't that require sacrifice? And why does Jesus want mercy? For us, or for Him?
Why would He need mercy? He showed us mercy...

So I'm thinking...what is the deeper meaning I'm supposed to be getting here, and failing miserably to grasp? Is there something slightly Biblical here?

Or am I not getting it because it's yet another dumbed-down, simple-minded, pot-of-(fool's)-gold screwy view of what Christianity is?

Yesterday morning on the drive to church, a "worship" song was being played on the radio that about sent me over the edge. {According to the kids, I was over the edge.} It included something along these lines: when it floods, will you be there when my face is in the mud ...
First, the group singing this song does have the occasional song I don't mind hearing, although I'm hard-pressed, currently, to name one. But when I went searching for the actual lyrics, which I couldn't find, I was able to find many of their other songs - I wasn't much impressed with the lyrics of any of them!

Nearly anyone can rhyme a few words together, but that doesn't mean the words need to be accompanied by an acoustic guitar and an American Idol wanna-be worship leader wailing his heart out about wondering if God sees his muddy face! I KNOW people feel alone, and that no one cares, no one hears, Yes! I know that! But wouldn't you think that someone who's writing songs used in "praise and worship" (term used loosely, for various reasons I don't have time to discuss tonight!) settings would at least have a smidgen of knowledge that God WILL be there for them, dirty face and all?

Then again, if that person is spending more time reading the latest Joel or Joyce book instead of looking to God's Word for encouragement, maybe they DON'T know that God loves filthy people! They probably know that God wants them to have the best of everything NOW, but they might not realize He's here to enjoy it with them! (Yep, that's facetiousness you detect)

Hint: The Bible says "I am with you always, even to the end..."

Note: The above reference to questionable worship leader practices is not meant in any way to reflect on our very own worship leader, a wonderful guy for whom I have great respect.

Of interest: I have an adversarial, slightly off-kilter friend who's philosophy on life offers an often comical viewpoint on odd names of musical groups - this includes his dislike of groups who's name is a repeat of itself. I'll defer to his opinion of the above-referenced (without actually referencing) band. I'll go a step further by saying I agree with him.

And now I'm done.

The Name Says It All

WARNING! Please read blog description - note use of words "spout, rant" - proceed with caution, take 2 aspirin and call your doctor in the morning.

Seeing as how my blog's address is nochurchsignsallowed, and I've been blabbing around here for awhile, it's more than high time I explained why I went that route.

Bear with me and follow my train of thought. (good luck!)

What first sparked my general discontent with signage was an incident known to few people, until now anyway. Several years ago, I was under tremendous stress of the vice-grip variety: miscarriage, birthing 4 children in 5 years, metabolic disorder and Angelman Syndrome diagnosis for Gabe, discontent with our church and non-helpful pastor, moving, extended family issues, marriage issues, depression issues, financial issues, basically I was one big issue!

In the midst of all this mess, my doctor was attempting to help me with medication, but we were having a hard time (issue!) finding the right med/dose, blah blah. I had been referred to a specialist, but it would be months before I could get an appointment. After one particularly screwy day, facing the possibility of months more of the same old stuff, I admitted my problems were more than I was willing to handle and admitted my problem self to a stress unit.

There you have it folks - I've been in the looney bin. Should I ever decide to run for political office, please refer all interested parties to this website so that there will be no question as to the presence of skeletons in my closet - I reveal those dry bones with no reservations.

However, let me point out - I did not do this because I was suicidal. I wasn't. I actually kinda like myself, when I'm feeling good. I just knew I couldn't wait for months of guinea pig-edness just to find out that...nope, THAT medicine wasn't working either. The result was, I wound up seeing the doctor I had been referred to, but much quicker. He figured out what I needed, and after some quite helpful counseling, and a few experiences witnessing what...ok, I have to stop here and tell you about a few of those, simply because I find humor in most situations...

Unless you've been in the looney bin (and I use that term with great jocularity, at my own expense) you can't fully appreciate what happens in such places. Once I had been oriented to the stress unit (they let you keep your own clothes, ya know! You don't even have to wear a bum-revealing stained hospital gown! Who knew!) I was presented with my first meal. With plastic ware! Having worked in a hospital that sometimes placed patients on "suicide watch", I knew what the plastic fork really meant! Hello! If I'm going to kill myself, it won't be by stabbing myself with a fork!! As I haven't planned out my death, I don't actually know how I'd kill myself, but it sure enough wouldn't be with a fork, people! That much I can tell you! But since I was in new surroundings where people might misinterpret my sarcasm as "threatening behaviour" and create an instant lock-down situation complete with leather straps, Haldol IV drips, and electrical stimulation, and that's all before the standard lobotomy, I bit my tongue and dutifully used my Special Cutlery to eat my tasteless macaroni salad.

Something else I learned while I was there was that it's pretty standard for many patients to be there more than one time! There were 3 other women about my age that I spent time talking to, and each of them had been in-patients more than one time, and utilized out-patient services numerous times as well. Amazingly, they didn't seem to make the connection that maybe, just MAYBE, watching Lifetime Television might have something to do with their depression! Hello! Lifetime TV = Children being molested, women being abused, sons wanting to be daughters, and how all men are all evil. If you watch that channel, don't whine about being depressed! You should firmly attach a sledge hammer to the television screen if that's what it takes to eradicate your addiction! It just might save your marriage, and your life. (puts soap box away)
I told one of the other women "It's no wonder you're depressed! Quit watching that crap!" - she didn't even stab me with her fork!

ANYway, obviously I survived the 4 day stay in the hospital, and the ensuing month long outpatient follow-up counseling. During the drive to counseling one day, my trip took me past a church that had a sign in the front yard. You know the type - "try to preach using one liners cleverly disguised as well-meaning uplifting messages intended to point out a truth while making you feel good about yourself because after all you're special to everyone you just don't know it yet so we're going to point it out to you in the hopes that you'll believe us and come see what all the hullabaloo is about next Sunday". Now I should point out that this particular church was occasionally attended by a friend of mine, whose mother, a judgemental, critical person in general, was a regular attender and quite possibly responsible for this sign.

This sign's message:

"We're too blessed to be depressed".

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!! You have NO idea how close I came to doing an instant illegal U turn and hunting down this woman to personally put my new found "you really shouldn't contemplate plucking people's eyebrows as torture" skills to the test. Do these people not refer to the Bible, the Holy Word of God, before they put their stupid signs on display? Have they never heard of Job? Jonah? Paul? Mary? David? Do they not know that people sometimes have problems they have to struggle through? Life happens? Blessings don't equal no bad times?

I am fully aware that we often create our own problems. I have plenty of my own making! I can also attest to the goodness of a gracious God who forgives my biggest sins as well as the seemingly insignificant mistakes I make on a daily basis. But to glibly spout off Christian-ease and imply that if I would just "let God handle it" all would be ok is stupid at best and downright wrong at worst! And trust me, I have had numerous mis-informed Christians tell me my "depression is just Satan speaking into my head". Give me a break! It isn't Satan! It's the lack of sleep, poor eating habits, the last disagreement with my husband, the argument with my mother, my sick child, the unbalanced checkbook, the latest electric bill, the nasty clerk, the price of gas...

Sure I know I could change some of those things. IF I WAS PERFECT! Newsflash: I'M NOT!! I also know that while God gives us brains, He doesn't ignore us when we don't use them properly. So if I create a problem that was just plain dumb, God isn't going to say "Guess what, idiot? You can get yourself outta this one! Maybe you'll learn your lesson this time!" That's human tendency, not God's. I've had the BLESSING of learning much through being severely depressed, the biggest lesson being that God is with me always, and I can depend on Him when everyone fails me. I'd much rather just be able to believe that without the struggle, but God knows me better than I do, and apparently He sees things I don't.

So all this leads me to today - a church-sign dis-liker of great measure. Along the path of my resistance, I've seen some dandy lines:

EGO - Edging God Out
Have you downloaded Jesus to your heart-drive?
Join us to battle truth decay
This church is prayer-conditioned
God chooses what we go through - we choose how we go through it
God is madly in love with you
If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it
Ch__rch What’s missing? UR
Don’t make me come down there - God
Download your worries - get online with God

I will not give my opinion of each of these, but I think we have a problem when we start reducing Christianity to mere T-shirt slogans and catchy one-liners. God is Holy, and to try to fit Him into our lifestyle via the current most popular technology lingo, romantic notion, or various household appliance debases what He did for us on the Cross.

Don't get me wrong, I've had my share of fairly tasteful Christian-esqe T-shirts, because I'm not ashamed to let people know I'm a Christ-follower. I just think the idea of a drive-by sermon is questionable, especially when I can get the follow-up in front of the Donut Shop and the 3rd in the series at the gas station!

As for your fears that perhaps I should have stayed medicated longer, rest assured: I'm as much of a sound mind as I'm ever gonna get. I'm now drug-free. My down days are generally weather-related. I have never experienced road rage. (Considered it several times, but the idea of prison isn't as appealing as entrance to the sanatorium) And while I believe church signs should serve the purpose of telling the public the times of Sunday services, if your church participates in producing witticism from afar, I won't hold it against you - unless you tell me it's all in my head!