Chick Fil Who the Hell Cares.

Mood: Calm

Listening to: Hindi music videos

Disclaimer: I am whipping out my soap box for this post.

So. Unless you pull ostrich moves for a living, you’ve probably been unable to get away from this entirely ridiculous chest thumping and grandstanding about Chick Fil A. I almost left this issue lie; but then again, sometimes I can’t help myself. Sigh. I do occasionally fall for troll issues. I hate jumping on moving trains of opinions that people have already gotten moving and jumped on en masse – it just seems…like you need attention. That’s not my motive here. I’m sick of hearing about Chick Fil A. What I’m even sicker of is hearing every god damned opinion on earth about whether Dan Cathy is a hero or a douche canoe.

You know what folks? It really doesn’t matter. He’s neither. He’s a man who happens to have an opinion on something. Just like every other Tom, Dick, Jessica, and Heather in the country. The fact that he runs a restaurant chain is also irrelevant. That doesn't make you a moral compass for anything. It's an economic choice a person made. The choice not to operate on Sunday is also not something to get in a lather about. If Chick Fil A see the loss of Sunday sales as a reasonable price for a principal they have, so be it. Since Mr. Cathy started the company, he can base it on whatever principals he deems to be correct. That’s his right as an American; he's not violating any laws with his opinion.

The genius of America (even if it is painful for those who don’t agree) is that you are free to think whatever you want. For the most part, you can say whatever you want. You are free to believe whatever religion/philosophy you want.  A bigger part of this genius is the capitalistic system. I know that some people say that it’s impersonal, soulless, and dangerous, but that’s simply not true.  Your dollars are the only true power you have to change anything in the US. Realistically, you can vote, but you will not change the system through voting.  If you so choose that you don’t like a business, just don’t go there. If enough people feel the same way, the business will go out of business. If not, you can use your dollars to support other things you do believe in or feel strongly about.

As much as it pains me to say it, Mayor of Boston, cut that shit out. I agree with your sentiment, but the answer to intolerance is not fascism. Boston is an amazing city full of people of all shapes, sizes, colors, etc. Let them vote. If people don’t want that kind of attitude and intolerance, they will vote and the restaurant won’t be able to stay open in Boston. If Chick Fil A feels that making a public stand on a religious/political issue is worth whatever economic backlash/support that comes from it, let economic voting take its course.

There’s absolutely no need to jump on the moral superiority wagon because you have an opinion or believe a certain way. I personally feel that intolerance for difference has no place in the world today, but more than that, I feel that the right to believe/stand up for what you believe in is an innate right. I would never think to tell someone like Dan Cathy that he can’t think that way or say things like that, even if I believe he’s dead wrong. It’s his innate right to have his opinion, no matter what I think of it.

Look folks, for me, the heart of this issue comes down to not being a dick to other people and letting them live life as they see fit. Ever action has a consequence, either good or bad. The misplaced desire to save people from these consequences is not beneficial for anyone. If I am going to go to hell because I believe that marrying someone from outside of my own race (just as an example) is alright, I really don’t need to be convinced I came to that decision wrongly and that I need to be saved. I’m a big enough person to think through my own decisions and take whatever consequences come along. I did not ask you to be a parent figure for my soul. It was not requested and definitely isn’t wanted.

For me, you are welcome to believe whatever you’d like, but that does not excuse you to be a dick to others. I have cousins on Facebook that make me wince every time I log on because they are so abusive in their comments about anyone who doesn’t believe the same that they do. I know that these remarks aren’t aimed personally at me (I’m not even sure if they realize this type thing may be offensive to me), but the vehemence in them bothers me. I respect their right to have a different opinion than mine, but I don’t think it’s ok to be condescending to people who don’t share the same religion/philosophy/political views/opinions on sweet potatoes as you. Everyone finds their own truth. Acting superior because you think yours is the best view or the only correct one isn’t going to convert anyone, it’s just going to make you look like an asshole.

At the risk of sounding like a hippy, live and let live people. If someone’s philosophy on something isn’t harming you, butt the hell out.

Becky

I’m Watching You Slovenia – Always Watching You

Mood: Pretty Damn Chipper

Listening to: IPL talking heads

So….my happy mood. The wonderful Lady in Red gave me a Liebster award over at my Masala blog. Please go check her out. Once again, much obliged. This made my week. I also just had a bowl full of butterscotch ice cream. Let me explain butterscotch ice cream for those not familiar. Indian butterscotch ice cream is not actually butterscotch flavored. It is cupcake frosting flavored (no joke, you can’t eat more than a small scoop it’s so sweet – well, I can’t anyhow) and has random….crunchies in it. I’m not sure what they are, but it’s yummy.  

IPL stands for Indian Premier League. It’s cricket time bitches. I have been converted. Not too happy to see Mumbai get spanked by Calcutta, but I’m a Bangalore gal anyhow, so it doesn’t matter.

Last weekend I went to my sister in laws house with the husband and monkeys to spend some quality family time. I disconnected myself from my laptop with much pain and suffering and left it at home.  When I came back, my Outlook kept being ridiculous about sending and retrieving emails. This is nothing new – my outlook officially hates me, possibly because it has to load so many blogs every day. I love me some reading blogs. When I tried to log on to Google mail online, I was told that my account was targeted by a hacker in Slovenia and I should definitely get on the changing my password thing.

Good save Google, much appreciated. I hate spammers. So glad I wasn’t made into one. Slovenia – I’ve got my eye on you.

The G is headed off to Sri Lanka for a week. I may or may not have time to update this blog this week. Check out the link above for my blog about life in India (Masala). There will be descriptions of Sri Lanka, along with pictures. Hopefully lots of them, I do love my camera. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go finish packing. Packing procrastination is my favorite kind of procrastination

Becky

P.S. 10 points for anyone who recognizes the reference in the title.

Asshat of the Week – Sean Harris

Listening to: Swing Swing – All American Rejects
Mood: Pissed.

If you don’t associate the name with the story/are an ostrich, this asshat is the pastor that advised punishing your effeminate sons and forcing your daughters to look pretty.  Yes, it’s an oversimplification of the situation, but it’s just so you get the gist of it.

Watch out ladies and gentlemen, I am whipping out the soap box again. I don’t want to be a blogger who just rants about stupid stuff I don’t agree with all the time, but I feel like this is one of those situations where you can’t just sit quietly and not say anything.

Pastor Harris (and I say that only out of years of it being drilled into me that the only proper way to address a minister is Pastor, even if you can’t stand them), may I ask you a question? Do you have an effeminate son? Do you have a tomboy daughter? If your answer is no, please shut the hell up right now. Even the very best parents among us wish for a training manual. Talking about a child rearing situation you have no personal experience in makes you a douche at best. Absolutely no one should listen to you spout off such damaging practices about things you don’t know about. Seriously.

If your answer is yes, you have my sympathy. Not because you have a sissy as a son or a boyish daughter, but because they will doubtlessly end up with a pretty deep seated disgust and anger at you not accepting them as they are. If I may remind you of a few small things: 1. You are a parent first and foremost in your life. Your job is to love and cherish your children. There are no guarantees that you will end up with the same life views as your child. Don’t waste a beautiful, natural relationship with your child over who they are. Your job is to love the hell out of that child and raise him or her to the best of your ability. 2. There is absolutely nothing in the bible about shaming your child for being different. I’m not even arguing the religious views on homosexuality. God specifically said love one another – this goes 6 fold for your family. Buck up and be the man your family needs you to be; a Godly one.

What this comes down to folks is religion. Now I’m not knocking religion – it definitely has a role to play for people with spirituality and human needs. What I really strongly object to is the sense of righteous morality that makes people judge others based on their singular view of the world and feel better about themselves. I’m not going to go into homosexuality in this post beyond a touch, because this issue could apply to almost any of the other Christian sins – homosexuality just seems to be a hot issue right now.

I am so tired of listening to people spout off a view that they know is ill informed or will stir up controversy for the sake of argument. You don’t talk to an atheist about how God requires us to pray in a church once a week unless you want an argument. Look, we’re all entitled to our own views on religion and existentiality. Everyone arrives at their own truth sooner or later. It is egotistical in the extreme to figure that you have thought more or arrived at a more correct conclusion than anyone else. You simply cannot make anyone else subscribe to your brand of religion.  Nor does your brand make you more righteous, spiritual, or moral.

I understand that labeling and sorting things into convenient parameters helps humans to deal with the world. It’s a scary, confusing, chaotic place. This is not an excuse to dehumanize those who are different than us. We need to call out this fear and start seeing things for what they are and start remembering that in spite of it all, we are all humans. If you feel the need, use religion to meet your spiritual needs, but do not for one minute think this makes you different or special in relation to the rest of the human race. Having a belief system does not in any way excuse you from respecting humanity. Belief systems and religion are a way for you to conduct yourself, not impose arbitrary rules on those around you.

Children are people too. Being children they need a lot of guidance, but they also need love, respect and acceptance too. It is criminal in my mind to tell a child that they are wrong in whom they are and that they should put on an act to be something else. How can you raise a secure, happy child if you can’t accept that they are who they are? It may work to subvert a child’s natural self when they are young, but it will come out with a vengeance when they get a little bit older and rightfully start thinking for themselves. They will then resent the fact that they never got acceptance from the only people in the world they have a right to expect it from and will think that there is something inherently bad with themselves that they had to be something else. The world is a brutal, nasty place. Helping your child to accept who they are and be proud of it is one of the best things that you can do for your child in order for them to be confident enough to navigate life – no matter whom or what they are.

What are your thoughts? Is it acceptable to do this for a lesser degree for other issues? For example, we use behavior modification to stop tantrums. Where do think the line is between changing who they are and helping them function in a society?

Becky

S is for Stupid

Listening to: Kun Faaya Kun from Rockstar

Mood: Calm and collected – for once

As much as I wanted to use sex for my S entry, I think I’ve been preoccupied with this enough. It’s story time boys and girls. This will be outlining one of the stupidest things I have done. For sure, there are plenty.

I am such a wimp, it took me until I was 12 to be able to go sit in the chair at Claire’s at the mall an get a set of holes punched through my ears. My mom didn’t do it when I was a baby and I had a phobia for pain when I was younger. Seriously – my mom had to sit on me in order to have my shots done. It’s funny thinking about having to sit on a 12 year old for shots now. It was mainly traumatic back then.

Anywho. I do have a point here – I’m getting there. I got my first set of earrings at 12 and it wasn’t really that bad. When I was 16, I decided I wanted the cartilage at the top of my ear pierced. The thing was, I was afraid to go and get it done. So what does this genius do? That’s right boys and girls, I was stupid and did it myself. With a needle and an icecube. The piercing itself wasn’t that bad. The infection that followed was bad. My mom’s reaction when she found out was bad.  It did end up clearing up after being infected for weeks. It took me that long to figure out that the cheap nickel filled earring I was using didn’t help at all. At the time, I should have bought stock in Peroxide and Neosporin cream.

When I turned 19, I decided that I wanted set number 2 of earrings in my ears. Using a bit of common sense, I went back to Claire’s and got them done. It hurt a bit more than when I did the first ones, but they healed pretty seamlessly.

On to the peak stupidity. Right after I turned 22, I decided that I wanted to be a badass and pierce my nose. I was ghetto fabulous people. I lived in a bad part of town, had a low end job in a fast food restaurant, was hanging around with all the wrong people, and had an attitude problem the size of Texas.  I went and saw 8 mile and decided that a nose ring would definitely help me be a badass. Yes, this post is about stupidity – I freely admit it.

I was pretty sure Claire’s didn’t do nose piercings and there was no way I was going to Roger’s (the local tattoo parlor/piercing spot) and letting one of those people near me with a needle.  So. A needle and an icecube. It hurt like a son of a potato. Seriously. There was lots of pain in spite of the ice. The infection that followed lasted months, even though I used a real earring this time. My then boyfriend was so mad at me he didn’t talk to me for a week after that. If you look, you can still see a bit of grossness on my nose that was still there when I got married. That shit was infected for a long time. I went through the pain of piercing it, there was no way I was taking it out again. My bosses both had a fit. I started having to wear a piece of band aid over it as to not offend the people I was serving food to. Yep. Ghetto fabulous with the band aid on her face.

I stuck with it though. It completely healed up a few weeks after we got married.  I absolutely love it and wouldn’t get rid of it for the world now; for completely different reasons. I am no longer ghetto. It’s just become a part of my face and I’m just used to seeing it in the mirror. For me, not having it would be like waking up without an eyebrow. Something wouldn’t be right.

Many people have asked me about it over the years and I freely tell them it was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done. Not getting my nose pierced – doing it myself. It has now been relegated to a party story my husband tells to amuse people.  And the man does tell almost every single person we know or meet that his wife pierced her own nose. I keep telling him it makes him look bad because he made the choice to marry a crazy lady, but he still tells it. It’s right up there with visiting the chicken shop. Legends boys and girls, I have them.

I have been threatened with life limb or divorce should I choose to put any more holes in my head (I have 4 sets in my ears, 1 in the cartilage, and 1 in my nose), whether by my own hand or at Claire's, so I think I'm done. I wish I had my belly button done when I was younger, but I'm sure popping out two kids would have ruined it anyways. 

What are some of the stupid choices you made when you were young? Do you regret them? Would you do them all over again?

Becky

N is for Nose Nonsense

Listening to: November Rain – Guns N Roses

Mood: Incredulous

Skipping to N, because there was no way I was letting this one by.

I was flipping through the news today and noticed a story about a bride who went on a nose tube diet before her wedding. For those not familiar, a tube is inserted through the nose into the stomach and food is pumped directly into the stomach, strictly controlling consumption. It’s supposed to help you lose weight fast.

Ok. What the Sam Hell. Ladies and gentlemen, sanity has left the building. This is one of the most ridiculous ideas I have ever heard.

 Can we please just stop with the twig envy for 2 minutes? A woman is supposed to be getting ready for the happiest day of her life (whatever!) and to spend the rest of her life with her fiancé and she’s so worried about being fat she resorts to feeding herself through a tube. Argh! The true kicker was, this lady didn’t even look overweight to me. At all.

800 calories a day. I want to know what doctor is helping this woman with all of her medical apparatus. I don’t know any credible doctor that will tell you that 800 calories a day is a sane plan. It’s just not sustainable for your body. This woman stopped picking her kids up from school because she was afraid of scaring the other children. What about your own kids you silly broad? What messages are you sending them about their own bodies and weight? People thought she was dying. 

I’m all for being healthy. If you are overweight, go for it. Lose it the healthy way. Get your butt moving and reduce your portion size to help you reduce calories slowly.  Why in the world have we not yet learned that losing weight too quickly is both not good for you and probably won’t stick. It reeks havoc on the body. If you have an event that you want to look awesome for, start a few weeks earlier and do it the healthy way.

Ladies and gentlemen, people are willing to stick a tube up their nose and walk around like that to lose weight for an event. Words fail me.

Becky

J is for Just Eat It

Listening to: Total Eclipse of the Heart – Bonnie Tyler

Mood: Meh

I have a thing about picky people. I’m not talking about a person who doesn’t like sausage and asks for pasta without it, or someone who has a religious objection to eating pork. I’m talking about the people who ask for a detailed list of salad ingredients and then ask for half of them to be left out.

I’ve never really understood it at all. There are very, very few things that I don’t like and just plain won’t eat. Very few.  I just can’t understand why people just don’t eat whatever it is they don’t like anyways.

I have been blessed with a picky child. Indian food involves lots of spices – some of them whole for flavor. We use black mustard seeds, which are the same size and color as poppy seeds. They really do not taste like much of anything. For some inexplicable reason, this bothers my youngest to a ridiculous degree. She will sit and pick every single last blasted seed out of her food. Same for cilantro leaves, spinach, and anything else resembling something that grows outside on a bush.

This girl has fought me about what she will and will not eat since she was born. Most days I just want to pry her stubborn little jaw open and shove the food in. But child services looks down on that, so I have to resort to trickery/bribery/hell/high water. It’s challenging for my patience at best.

For the love of a Sweet Baby Yam. Do not go out to eat if you’re picky. Stay home and just make it yourself. Don’t torture the waitresses son, it’s just bad manners.

Seriously. Stay home or Just Eat It.

Becky

From the Archives: The Name Game

Mood: Content and Happy – it’s cool and sunny again yet disgruntled at the direction the US is headed

Listening to: Two Steps Behind by Def Leppard and Sponge Bob Square Pants

So there have been some amazing things happening in the news lately. And by amazing – I don’t mean in a good way. I was rather surprised that many of the books I have been reading and reviewing have come into (glaring) relevance lately and have given me some perspective on the lunacy.  As usual, I have been listening to quite a bit of Guns N Roses. Specifically, Civil War.  It’s been helping me to organize my thoughts of disbelief and rage over said lunacy.

The Armenian Genocide:

As you may or may not be aware of, the Turkish/Armenian genocide has been in the news for the past half a week. For some perspective, read my blog on An Extraordinary Evil – or better yet go read the book. Recently, congress has decided to grow some balls and pass a resolution actually naming the conflict as genocide. Up until now, it has not been recognized as such anywhere in the world. In fact, you get thrown in jail in Turkey for mentioning it as such.

Now this happened about, oh, 90 years ago. It’s hard to believe that anything other than guilty consciences is preventing it from being called as it is. Even the US can admit that we wiped out a massively wrong amount of American Indians in our pursuit of becoming a nation.

As a reaction to the proposition, Turkey has threatened to remove support of the US and restrict our access to the military bases we have in Turkey. You may be thinking – so what? We aren’t attacking Turkey any time soon (someone knock on wood please!) why should this stop up?  Turkey is a major launching point for all of the foolishness we have been undertaking in Iraq, and possibly Iran in the future, but more on that idiocy later.  I was so excited when I heard that congress was trying to pass this resolution as I find it important to publicly recognize tragedies such as this as they are. I then saw our “Decider” in boots stand up and announce that this wasn’t the correct response to the issue.

Um, what? I think I need to turn up my hearing aid. I thought I heard you say it wasn’t appropriate recognize the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of people as it happened. Oh. You did say that.  You did just publicly slap the entire Armenian population (both living and the memory of those who died). Because you have an agenda (of which the legitimacy is more than a little questionable) that would be threatened.   La Dee Frickin Da.

I’ve heard some rumblings that the democratic congress has been pursuing this resolution as a punishment to Bush for all of the Iraq nonsense.  Uh, so what? It would be fantastic if all political and legislative incidents occurred from honorable intentions, but that is just not reality. This resolution carries so much importance beyond bothering Bush, I’m willing to not care if it’s a blow for the plan in Iraq. (I’ll cover more on what the hell the plan actually is in Iraq later too) Most of us agree that the whole Iraq situation is beyond ludicrous anyhow. Why not make something positive out of it?

President Bush, we need this resolution. It is SO critical to recognize history in an honest way, I cannot even stress this enough. I know it’s an overused cliché, but it’s true  - Unless we study and learn history how it happened – it will repeat itself. I don’t know about you, sir, but I value human life over political agendas. You have got to start looking beyond your own power and agenda and recognize that sometimes you have to take a hit for the good of humanity. I would love to hear you explain how exactly this would threaten the security of our sacred nation. Then again, I have enough reasons to be disgusted with you – don’t give me another one.  As Pink so aptly said it – How can you possibly hold your head up high after voicing an opinion like this? I hope Laura is kicking your ass in private!

What happened to the huge support for Never Again? How can we promise Never Again if we can’t even label an event as it really happened? Ladies and gentleman, stand behind congress on this. I don’t care if you’re a Democrat, Republican, Alien, or a bath mat. We should all be able to recognize and fight for the value of human life over rhetoric. The sacrifices in this instance are completely outnumbered by the benefits of taking a stand on this issue.  I know very few people who would want a horrific event like genocide to reoccur. Those that would do not mind sacrificing people for political agendas and power. (Sound familiar?)

I don’t mean to roast GWB/the administration on a spit, but recognition is such a huge part of education and our president got stuck being the mouthpiece for the administration on this issue.  Write your congressmen and women. Give them your support. Urge them of the importance of what they are doing and thank them for having the courage to value human life.  Write the president and tear him a new one for not having the balls to have some integrity on this issue. Get involved. If we just sit here, they get to do whatever they want, and we’ve seen how well this has turned out.

To anyone reading who is Armenian:

 

I know there isn’t much for me to apologize for. I’m not Turkish. I did not participate in the genocide.  Hell, I didn’t even vote for Bush. However, I still want to apologize to you. It cannot be easy for you to watch the leader of the most powerful, influential nation in the world deny what happened to you. I hope it makes you feel marginally better that many of us here consider him a Grade A ass hat.  Keep your head up.  There are plenty of those here who would fight for recognition, even if it means the alienation of the Turkish government. We have the freedom of expression here to fight for the truth. I sincerely hope we can help you gain the recognition and support that is so crucial to your people after what happened. You are in our thoughts.

Becky

From the Archives: Near Misses

(2007)

Listening to: Nitty – Nasty Girl

Mood: Apathetic

So I had an inspiring event today that has inspired me to sit up long enough to blog. I know it’s been a while. Cut a hugely preggo girl some slack.  I’m sure you read about my recent (as in 1 year ago) acquisition of my new 2007 Hyundai Accord. Now you may be thinking, so what?  It’s a Hyundai, not a Benz. Why are you so excited? Well girls and boys, this has been the closest thing to not having a junker EVER for me. And it’s a nice car to drive. I don’t waste money on cars, so having a new one is a big deal for me – even if it’s not a particularly fancy or expensive one.  I was catering to a Taco Bell craving after retrieving my daughter from preschool today when I saw god. Well, almost.  I was driving about 35 (yes, I was within the speed limit) when some douche bag ass hat decided that it was a good idea to turn left from oncoming traffic in front of me. When I was about 40 feet away.  40 feet is really a joke when you’re going 35 MPH. To top it off, this person did not turn quickly, he gradually turned, until he noticed me barreling towards him at a very rapid speed. This left me slamming my breaks and praying that I wouldn’t T-Bone this protégé of idiocy. Did I happen to mention that it was raining today also? So throw some wet pavement in the mix just for giggles. 

The brakes were actually grinding in an effort to stop my car from blasting this little Toyota joke into oblivion. Hyundai cars are a little on the heavy side (at least my Sonata is), so stopping on a dime isn’t really a strong point.  Good thing the breaks are relatively new. I kid you not, even with the slamming on of the breaks, I still came within 2 feet of the back end of this car.  I swear on all that is good, and righteous, and chocolaty, if I had hit this joker, I would have gotten out of the car and manually finished him or her off with my bare hands. I’m pretty sure my new car would have been totaled (full frontal hit) and the other car would have just had a smashed in side.  It’s not been a particularly good week for me and I am having blood pressure issues thanks to something to do with my unborn child. I cannot think of a better excuse to let loose some rage and frustration than an unnecessary totaling of my new car. I seriously would have hauled my huge pregnant self out of my car and proceeded to give this person a personalized ticket to the afterlife.  Whew. 

I’m extremely grateful that I didn’t have to see what would have happened if this occurred. I really would not need that right now with a baby so close to arrival. I’m also very thankful that I didn’t let loose with the sailor talk that was running through my brain with my daughter in the back seat. It would have been rather hard to explain to my mother when my daughter decides to share her new knowledge (and you know she would….) with a few choice words when my mom comes to visit in December.   Drive carefully folks. You never know what kind of crack other people are ingesting. And how much.

Until next time,

Becky

From the Archives: Look Ma, I'm a Televangelist!

(2007, probably)

Listening to: Boston – More than a Feeling

Mood: Incredulous

I was reading Time Magazine last night and came across an article that just blew my mind. Now I’ve always had quite a bit of healthy skepticism about television preachers. Since I became an atheist later in my life, my skepticism has extended to preachers in general – but that’s a whole different blog. This article was focusing on a network of televangelists and a Senator who was investigating their use of money. All of these individuals are part of a nonprofit organization and thus should sink almost all of the money received in donations back into the ministry, or at least social services for the community.  A major benefit of being a nonprofit is some major tax savings.  The senator did not launch a major investigation into this, he simply sent them a questionnaire and a request for some information.  Wait, what? Because we can’t really be sure the donations were abused?  Let’s play the PC game? All the featured preachers were uber rich to begin with? All right. Let’s stop the lemming and sheeple parade. Almost all of the featured televangelists had either private planes or multiple very, very expensive cars and lived in what can only be described as mansions. One of the women featured had a 23,000 dollar toilet in her office.  Um, hello? Reality calling? Last time I checked, a toilet costs no more than $100 at Menards or Lowes. And, uh, it isn’t obvious that this money had to come from somewhere, and it probably wasn’t from a trust fund? It’s ok. I’m sure they’ll answer the questionnaires in a totally honest, open manner. After all, they’re God’s folk. Sorry for all the overt sarcasm, but this really bothers me for a few reasons. Let me elaborate.

1.         Preachers are supposed to, but virtue of their calling and the nature of religion, to be servants of the people/their congregation. Somehow, because of the 18 years of religious teaching (or brainwashing – take your pick) it just seems extremely unsavory to me to think that the “servants of the lord” are looking to serve themselves. How can people possibly follow a leader who has such flagrant disrespect for the use of donated money? Churches do a lot of good in the world. They help the poor. There are so many good uses in the world for money. How can a preacher possibly justify a private plane to his or her congregation? I’m not saying you should live in poverty, but for cryin out loud, have some shame.

2.       The people who are funding this idiocy and greed are those who really have hope that their money will be used to further the cause of the church. They don’t have much to send and they truly have faith that their money will make a difference. Otherwise they wouldn’t send it, right? This really sticks under my nails. It’s like a double whammy. These aren’t rich people to which a $50 or $100 dollar donation counts as pennies in an ocean, these are honest, hard working folks who most likely don’t have much to begin with. How can you possibly sleep at night in your mansion knowing this? The sheer guilt would drive me insane – and trust me – I don’t feel guilty about much, but this would do it.

3.       Senator, I admire you for bringing this issue into the light – I really do. Even as an atheist, I care about the human condition and people abusing others in the name of greed. Even if it’s in the name of religion. I’m glad I read this article so that I can spread the word. However. A questionnaire? You have got to be kidding me. Where are your balls at Senator? Asking some benign questions is not going to solve this problem.  Asking preliminary questions leads to offshore accounts popping up all over the place. People may be broken hearted that their money was abused, but if you go after the abusers, perhaps a little bit of faith can be restored. Who cares if you piss off the religious right?  It’s so much more important to do the right thing and stop these people from using power to abuse others.

People, it’s important to know where your money is going. If you choose to donate to any organization (and I highly encourage supporting your legitimate church/charity of your choice), make doubly sure you know who is receiving that money and how it is being used. I’m pretty sure that none of the people who donated to these corrupt televangelists meant to finance their mansions, vacations, or Mercedes. There are plenty of organizations that exist to better the human condition worldwide. It’s very much worth investigating first. Faith is well and good as long as it’s backed up by facts.  Donations aren’t like taxes. You really, honestly, freely give to someone else. You have not only the say in where that money goes, but the responsibility to investigate the receiver as well.

Good night, and good luck.

Becky