Category: Religion

A gurgling stomach is "one of the signs" of My Lunch's imminent return

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First of all, some big news: my oldest brother is now engaged!!! Everybody pop over to his blog and say congratulations to TimmyD and She Who Must Not Be Named.

Needless to say we’re extremely happy for both of them. We adore SWMNBN, and love how happy she makes my big brother, so we couldn’t be more pleased. Huzzah!

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We tried a new place for Winterlicious last night: The Savoy. T-Bone joined us once again, along with her friend AS. We had a MUCH better experience this time than we had at 1055. My wine (can’t remember what it was…something Tuscan) was really good, my starter salad was excellent, my mushroom risotto wasn’t bad (I don’t like mushrooms, but even then…pretty decent) and my creme brulee was just right. The service was also very good, and best of all our table was in an enclosed booth, so the four of us felt very private and cozy during our meal. To top it off, it was actually cheaper than the typical ‘licious meal — $25 instead of $35 — so we definitely felt like we got our money’s worth.

The Savoy could very well become a neighbourhood joint once we move into our new place.

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I seem to have buggered up my knee somehow. Tried to run on it Sunday afternoon and had to hobble to a stop after 45 seconds. This happens occasionally; hopefully a day with the knee brace should fix it up. But of all the weeks not to be able to exercise: Winterlicious week. Deadly.

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This post on the Showcase Sideshow blog makes an interesting observation: the quality of Mexican directors right now is pretty impressive. It’d be pretty tough to find a better trio of films than Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo Del Toro), Children Of Men (Alfonso Cuaron) and Babel (Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu) in theatres right now.

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Holy blessed mother of hotpants, this Washington Post story takes climate change denial to a whole new level of silliness:

Hardison, a parent of seven here in the southern suburbs of Seattle, has himself roiled the global-warming waters. It happened early this month when he learned that one of his daughters would be watching “An Inconvenient Truth” in her seventh-grade science class.

“No you will not teach or show that propagandist Al Gore video to my child, blaming our nation — the greatest nation ever to exist on this planet — for global warming,” Hardison wrote in an e-mail to the Federal Way School Board. The 43-year-old computer consultant is an evangelical Christian who says he believes that a warming planet is “one of the signs” of Jesus Christ’s imminent return for Judgment Day.

His angry e-mail (along with complaints from a few other parents) stopped the film from being shown to Hardison’s daughter.

The teacher in that science class, Kay Walls, says that after Hardison’s e-mail she was told by her principal that she would receive a disciplinary letter for not following school board rules that require her to seek written permission to present “controversial” materials in class.

Seriously…if you’re the school how can you discipline a teacher for that? You’ve opened the door for teachers to be disciplined for discussing anything, since there’s always some nutbag parent who’ll get their knickers in a twist. Teaching evolution? Sex ed? Geology? Astronomy? Prepare to be disciplined. Hell, if a kid’s parent works for Verizon they’re even likely to complain about the math.

[via Cinematical]

[tags]engagement, savoy restaurant, winterlicious, climate change, inconvenient truth, frosty hardison[/tags]

Jesus Camp

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Two nights ago we saw Jesus Camp (imdb | rotten tomatoes) at the Bloor cinema, part of Doc Soup. Though it’s been out in the US for a while, these were (I believe) the first screenings in Canada. It was a look at how a few factions of the evangelical movement in America are indoctrinating (I honestly can’t think of a more accurate — or less loaded — word there) their children. The sight of kids & their parents speaking in tongues, convulsing with the holy spirit and praising president Bush had predictable results, given the crowd & locale, but the filmmakers did a remarkable job of staying balanced. Personally, I swung from mild amusement (natural, any time you point a camera at someone, especially kids) to laughing incredulously, to completely disgusted. The scene where the minister condemns Harry Potter, saying that warlocks would have been executed in the old testament, was absurd. The scene where the home-schooled kids (75% of home-schooled kids are evangelicals) are taught that God is the only answer that makes sense was mind-boggling. The scene where the children are given a tiny fetus figuring and made to chant, “Righteous judges! Righteous judges!” was disturbing. The scene where Ted Haggard calls a little boy “cute” was just creepy.

However, as one of the filmmakers pointed out afterward, these people have the right to teach their children whatever they like. There are reportedly tens of million evangelicals in the US, so this is hardly a fringe movement, as bizarre as it seems. The kids are doing what they feel is righteous, and the minister featured in the film is doing what she feels will help the children she works with. However far away their views may be from my own, I can’t begrudge them following a cause they believe in. What did bother me was the feeling I couldn’t shake that these kids were being a) exploited and b) deceived. The minister herself admitted that she went after the kids precisely because they’re so impressionable and easily led. And while, as I said before, parents have the legal right to deceive their children, I think it’s their moral responsibility to ensure they’re not doing so. By letting their kids be co-opted for a political cause (regardless of whether you consider evangelicals aligned with the Republican party) I felt they’d betrayed their kids.

My mother is a dedicated member of her church, even acting as a member of the presbytery in her province. She’s as committed to doing good through the church as anyone I’ve met (who isn’t ordained). And yet, I truly believe that if my mother were to watch this film she would weep.

[tags]jesus camp[/tags]

Guide dogs, polar bears and cats…oh my!

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I watched most of the world junior semifinal hockey game between Canada and the US today (thanks, TSN broadband!), and watched overtime and most of the shootout in the TV room with a bunch of colleagues. It took the 7th round of a shootout for Canada to finally complete the comeback win. It just kept going on and on; I actually yelled at the TV once, “Do they not realize I have a 1:00 meeting?!??!” before Jonathan Toews finally put it away and Carey Price (Canadiens draft pick; natch) stopped the final American shooter.

I went from nearly having a heart attack to running down the street for a meeting.

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Pat Robertson has either gone senile or just hasn’t gotten enough press lately. To wit, he’s claiming that God spoke to him about some terrorist attacks. I don’t believe there is a God, but if there was, he sure as shit wouldn’t waste time talking to Pat Robertson.

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Nellie talks about all the donations made in our names this year (in lieu of xmas gifts, as per our request). There’s some great stuff on there: animal protection, environmental concerns, anti-poverty, education…good stuff, all. Makes us feel warm and fuzzy.
[tags]hockey, world junior championship, pat robertson, terrorist attacks, charitable donations[/tags]

Hello, bigoted pot? This is retarded kettle calling. You are black.

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The best part about this CNN story regarding the imminent gay marriage ban in Massachusetts: the colossal irony of the accompanying picture.

[EDIT: I suppose it could be an opponent of the gay marriage ban carrying this sign, which would kill both the irony and my witty subject line. Therefore, I choose to stick with my original interpretation: the man holding the sign is a weenie.]

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The Economist’s Free Exchange blog has yet another thought-provoking post, this time about the decline of violence in recent decades and the 20th century overall (despite what the news might suggest). Being the Economist’s blog, the topic is tied back to factors like wealth and trade, and to the question of whether economic prosperity reduces violence; my opinion is that it does, but the writer himself points out one of the most common arguments against such an opinion:

“Increasing trade has made it harder to go to war without at least temporarily doing violence to one’s own economy. Of course, I believe this argument was once advanced as a reason that World War I was impossible.”

By the way…cat-burning? I couldn’t have lived in the 16th century.

[tags]gay marriage ban, massachusetts, economist, free exchange blog, decline in violence, cat-burning[/tags]

"Geysers of Old Faithful: Nostrils of Satan"

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Today is day of 1 of being a vegetarian. Last week’s Farewell To Meat tour was a tasty, if overindulgent, last hurrah. Anyway, we’ll see how long I last sans meat.

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My first run in two weeks (during which I ate huge amounts of bad food): un peu difficile. I was out of shape, my shoulder hurt ’cause I slept on it funny and my right eye’s been watering all day. And I had to pee. It was one of those runs you just cut off at 1.5 miles ’cause you know you’re gonna pull something or take a header onto the console.

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WFMU’s top ten Orwellian moments of 2006. Scary.

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Also scary (if true) is this news release from Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility:

“Grand Canyon National Park is not permitted to give an official estimate of the geologic age of its principal feature, due to pressure from Bush administration appointees.”

[Hat tip: Dino]

[tags]vegetarianism, treadmill, orwellian moments, peer, grand canyon[/tags]

"Two long-bearded guys spreading ideas that make people lose their faith"

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As much as I dislike the practice of marketing in general, I firmly believe that there is a special, absurdist place in hell for brand managers.

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Speaking of hell, I think it’s inside my throat. Never have I been so tempted to claw out my own windpipe.

OK, maybe I have once before.

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Kansas has one thing going for it: it’s more rational than Turkey.

“The root of the terrorism that plagues our planet is not any of the divine religions, but atheism, and the expression of atheism in our times (is) Darwinism and materialism.”

Riiiiiiiiiight.

[tags]marketing, brand, cough & cold, turkey, muslim creationism[/tags]

Casting stones

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While I don’t like to revel in people’s misfortunes, I admit to feeling a tiny bit of satisfaction that Ted Haggard has been caught showing the very human tendencies that he calls sins.

Because Haggard was so active in the political arena, the accusations against him have political ramifications. I’ve seen interviews with the man, including his infamous dust-up with Richard Dawkins, heard his claims that he speaks personally with President Bush on matters of religion and morality, and read about his track record on trying to prevent gay marriage. By being caught practicing that which he definitely does not preach, he may weaken the cause of the so-called evangelical movement. This, ironically, may be the most Christian thing he has ever done.

The accusations of drug use and hiring a gay escort haven’t been proven; even if they are, they’re generally regarded as minor offenses if anything. Again, more irony: the fact that he may enjoy gay sex is not that big a deal to many people, but was made into a greater sin in the public eye by Ted Haggard and people just like him.

[tags]ted haggard, gay marriage[/tags]

What's the Deal With the Hulk's Pants?

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Via Cinematical we learn that Bill O’Reilly is very concerned about horror movies. What delicious irony; most of the world thinks that Bill O’Reilly is a horror movie.

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Seen Reading is a very cool little blog written by Julie Wilson, set here in Toronto, where she spots what people are reading and writes about it online. I’ve found a new favourite morning read. [via Torontoist]

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My brother points out why you should always read more than just one newspaper. Bonus: if you stick around for the comments, you can see him flick a narrow-minded Ontarian in the ear. Metaphorically, of course.

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Right, off to dinner.

[tags]cinematical, bill o’reilly, seen reading, julie wilson[/tags]

(3 x 0.4) + (3 * 0.08) = 1.44

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

We watched a movie called Layer Cake (imdb | rotten tomatoes) last night. It was pretty good; I described it to T-Bone as a movie Guy Ritchie would make if he was off speed. Not that I have evidence of Guy Ritchie doing speed; it was just an apt description.

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Sir Nicholas Stern’s report on the economic impact of climate change reminded me of a story CB told us on the weekend. She described a conversation she’d had with someone else where she was told, because she’s both an atheist and very passionate about environmental causes, that environmentalism is her religion. I don’t think the person who said it was pulling a Hugh, though I don’t think it was said in a malicious way either. I wish I’d been there; I’d have pointed out (’cause I love a good debate) that the statement was backward. Environmentalism is the opposite of religion; it’s how we conduct ourselves in response to a set of facts and theory based in science, as opposed to faith in a fictional work. Passion, zeal, overreaction…these reactions are common to environmentalists and depletists just as it does to atheists and theists, but the basis and foundation for religion and the basis for environmentalism couldn’t be further apart. The “_________ is your religion” canard is just a way of deflecting rational debate. And, sadly, we usually fall for it.

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Today in line at the grocery store we were behind a guy buying candy for Hallowe’en. I don’t think he’d done it before, though, ’cause he’d just filled a plastic bag with chocolate bars. Not the bulk treats you can buy, mind you, but the full-sized versions. They weren’t in any order, and he didn’t know how many he had, so the cashier had to scan each one of them individually. Well, she didn’t have to; she could’ve scanned one kind several times, but she was a kid, so she shouldn’t have had to figure that out. Anyway, after 50 bars or so she finally finishes up…and the guy starts arguing about the price. He claims that they were on sale — 3 bars for $1.44 — but the cash register said $0.48 each. The cashier may have failed speed-checking, but she knew enough math to explain that $0.48 cents is the right price. The guy persists and goes to fetch a flyer. Finally, between the cashier, her supervisor and the withering glares coming from my wife, myself and the poor woman in front of us who only had a pear and some cheese, he got the message and paid. Then my wife decided to get her funny on:

cashier: Hi there. Double bag?
dan: No, that’s ok, we can put everything in our backpacks.
nellie: By the way, we also have 40 loose chocolate bars.
cashier: [cold look of fear]
nellie: Just kidding.
cashier: [nervous laughter; color returns to face]

[tags]layer cake, sir nicholas stern, global warming[/tags]

"My two lovely friends"

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It’s true: Deal Or No Deal is the dumbest game show ever. It’s so dumbed-down, and requires so little brainpower from both contestant and viewer, it makes Wheel Of Fortune seem like a Mensa chapter meeting.

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Speaking of the addle-minded, I have a new name for Leafs forward Darcy Tucker: SuperPussy. On Tuesday he was so pissed about his team getting crushed (final score: 6-2) by Ottawa that he started beating on Patrick Eaves, who’s probably never fought in his life. Happily, Ottawa didn’t retaliate tonight by going after Kyle Wellwood or some similar non-combatant; instead they blasted the Leafs 7-2. Between that and Montreal’s last-second (well, almost…they scored with 1.2 seconds left) win over Boston, I’m a happy guy.

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A co-worker pointed out last night something I would never, ever have guessed: many of the Popeye’s Chicken & Biscuits outlets here in Toronto serve halal chicken. When she first told me I thought she meant the entire chain, and I thus deemed her insane. But in fact, it appears to be true, so…yeah. That’s pretty weird. Of all the places I expected to serve halal meat, Popeye’s isn’t one of them.

[tags]deal or no deal, mensa, darcy tucker, patrick eaves, leafs, senators, popeye’s, halal[/tags]