A bit of my past

Those few of you who come here with any degree of regularity will have noticed that I am not writing as much as I used too. I have sort of reached a place in the process here where I feel like I am repeating myself a lot and am pretty much screaming into the void while I do it. There are a few folks who think like I do and a lot who sort of go “Oh god, not again!” when I write. It doesn’t help that it is clear to me where things are going and what the end result is going to be. Oh well.

So, I will go in an entirely different direction today.

While writing that last post I recalled an incident of my earlier life. Way back in the early 80’s when I was in my first year or so of college I had a very good friend named M who was gay. ( I actually still consider myself to have him as a friend even though we haven’t been in touch with each other for several years.) M and I met each other very early in my freshman year of college, like the first two days, and we sort of stuck. We both got in a play, chatted a lot, hung around many of the same folks and generally got along very well. It was some time later that M told me he was gay which I had figured out myself but didn’t really care. This isn’t all that big a deal except in the mind of certain folks because I was (and am) a member of a rather conservative Christian (according to us at least) denomination that had a track record for not accepting homosexuality at all. I had never really thought about it until this event occurred. It was M’s birthday and we, he, I, his boyfriend, and another friend of theirs were going to Savannah to watch a movie and eat. (if you care to know exactly which year this was we saw Something Wicked this Way Comes) while riding around in the car the friend, whose name I cannot recall at all, (who was also gay) was ranting about various issues and brought up the topic of religious intolerance towards gays and specifically mentioned my denomination and said something fairly derogatory about us. M glanced at him and said “they aren’t all like that.” and pointed out that I was one. The friend said I must not be a very good one then which led M and his boyfriend to defend my religiosity fairly strenuously. The friend then expressed amazement that he had finally found a member of that faith that accepted homosexuality at which point M again interrupted him and said that that wasn’t true. He said “Exmi doesn’t accept homosexuality, he just accepts homosexuals.” Needless to say this led to a long discussion that winded on through dinner and afterwards (at which time I got my first visit to a gay bar where I thought I handled myself quite coolly and M said I looked like I was about to jump out of my skin.) As we were winding our way home later that night the friend looked at me and said “I know you are straight, but if you ever want to try gay, please call me first.” At which point M nearly wrecked the car. I think he thought I was going to scream and leap from the car window. I didn’t of course; I just told the guy that I would keep that in mind but not to hold his breath.
I have periodically had similar conversations in my life with different people who all want me to explain why I seem so different from the image they and others have of my church. My answer is always something like this. Yes, the church teaches and I believe that homosexuality is a sin. But so is heterosexuality if acted upon prior to marriage. In fact, so is drinking alcohol and smoking. So if I locked myself away from people who sinned I would have a pretty small damn circle of friends. In point of fact, “homosexuality” per se isn’t a sin (in my mind). By that I mean being attracted to members of your own gender. Acting on it though falls into the pre-marital sex thing since the church does not (and never will I strongly suspect) accept any form of gay marriage. So one can be a homosexual, one just can’t have sex outside the bonds of recognized marriage. Which is frankly no more odious for a gay person than it is for a straight person who hasn’t gotten married.

Well, now you know a bit more about me. Conjure with it what you will…..

How to get in trouble on a plane......

You just have to love Neal Boortz.......


To: HOW TO HANDLE IRRITATING SEATMATES

If you are sitting next to someone who irritates you on a plane or
train follow these instructions: (and maybe say goodbye!).

1. Quietly and calmly open up your laptop case.
2. Remove your laptop.
3. Start up
4. Make sure the guy who is annoying you, can see the
screen.
5. Close your eyes and tilt your head up to the sky.
6. Then hit this link


With thanks to my sister for sending this to me in an email.

Does anyone else see the similarity?

I recall the rage in many of the American left as they spoke of the hypocrisy of the "Christian conservatives" when those people said they "loved the sinner but hated the sin" (i.e. loved homosexuals but hated homosexuality)

And now the left says they love and support the troops in Iraq but not what they are doing.

I'll leave the rest for some comments that troops in Iraq made to Richard Engel of NBC

Engel relayed how "troops here say they are increasingly frustrated by American criticism of the war. Many take it personally, believing it is also criticism of what they've been fighting for."

First up was 21 year old junior enlisted man Tyler Johnson, whom Engel said was frustrated about war skepticism and thinks that critics "should come over and see what it's like firsthand before criticizing."

"You may support or say we support the troops, but, so you're not supporting what they do, what they're here sweating for, what we bleed for, what we die for. It just don't make sense to me," Johnson said.

Next up was Staff Sergeant Manuel Sahagun, who is on his second tour in Iraq. He complained that "one thing I don't like is when people back home say they support the troops, but they don't support the war. If they're going to support us, support us all the way."

Next was Specialist Peter Manna: "If they don't think we're doing a good job, everything that we've done here is all in vain," he said.

Lawer radio....

Allow me to preface this post by stating that in general I HATE legal
call in radio shows. the hosts sound like glib semi celebrity wannabes
and the callers are whining crybabies who refuse to hear an answer they
don't like.

Now, that being said, on WLAC 1510 AM out of
Nashville is my exception to the rule. Legally
Speaking is a legal show I not only listen to, I enjoy it. It
feature 4practicing attorneys from Nashville. Part of the appeal is these gentlemen's voices. I disliked looking at the web page and seeing what they really looked like because as you hear them talking images of smart Southern lawyers from movies fill your head. They do not look at all like the pictures in my head. One of the benefits of this program is that while they take callers they really
don't get very many. They spend most of the show discussing the LAW.
They review cases that are up before the Supreme Court, or interesting
cases that have been decided aroudn the country and what appeals have
been upheld and what are overturned and why this can affect people.
When they do get callers they are quick and on the point. They not only
give general advice they will cite case numbers, precedents, and
current cases of a similar nature. If you call these guys with a
question your should have a pencil or pen in hand and be ready to take
notes. I have heard them tell people to stop talking on the air at
once, that they will speak to them off the air about their situation.
They take no guff from callers.
In addition to this, during their show they will often discuss various aspects of culture and life in the south. Last night they were discussing various folk remedies for ailments and people would call in and talk about what they "know" works. (WD40 applied to the skin for arthritis pain, chewing tobacco for bee stings, and Preperation H for something that I missed in a big burst of static.) To top it off, they will often have a live Bluegrass band in the studio with them that will play their bumper music and join in the conversations. The lawyers have been known to join in and sing or play the mandolin (?!) on air too.

It
is an altogether enjoyable and informative 3 hours. Should you find
yourself withing their 32 state listening area on a Saturday night
between 7-10 (central)tune them in and enjoy.