The Contemporary Fundamentalist

   Hanging of the Green was tonight, and it was one of the most warm, moving Christmas services I've ever participated in!

   I was asked to give a short reading |actually, Deb and I were asked, but her stage fright kicked in| and I enjoyed it immensely!

   We're truly blessed to finally be a part of a Church that truly welcomes so quickly and warmly!

I love living in Alabama - the nice weather, the fertile soil, but having to cut the grass because you're having the family for Thanksgiving is just wrong.

I finally completed a set of antique toys I've been working on for YEARS:

These are the PlaySkool "Old Woman in the Shoe" figures produced in 1966 (same year I was!), There were eight male figures plus the old woman. Each set came with the shoe, the old lady and three random figures. This set has each of the figures - the only such set known to the rather extensive group of weird folks I communicate with who collect such antiques.

OK, now y'all know my weird little secret.

   Today, before lunch, I was visited by both a pair of Mormons AND a carload of Jehovah's Witnesses!

   As I was in a grumpy mood and Jon is still under the weather, I thought it best not to let them in and witness to them.

   The last time the Mormons were here I sat on the front porch and talked to them - I did the talking, they listened. This is why you shouldn't send polite little boys out to do your witnessing!

   Of course they may not have been so quiet were I not polishing my shotgun at the time. Ah well.

   Last time the JW's came to the door, it was a bad time.

   I was cooking, and had the oven, three burners, and a crock pot running full speed. The nice lady insisted she could talk to me while I worked. This was strike one - I'm a fundamentalist, and as such I work to avoid all APPEARANCE of impropriety. In other words, the only women I'll be alone with in my house are my Wife, Mom, and Sister. And Mom can only be here if the shotgun is handy. Those of y'all who know her will understand.

   About this time my Pit Bull came around to see who was at the door. I got the distinct impression the nice lady was a bit Cynophobic. Her spiel turned from "can I come in" to "can I leave these pamphlets with you" instantly. She slipped her foot out of the screen door, and closed it firmly. She then started to slip her tracts in the screen, saying I could call the number and someone would come back out. I told her if I opened the door to get the tracts, I couldn't guarantee the dog wouldn't get out. She took the tracts back, got into her car, and left - stopping to put the tracts in my mailbox. I was suitably impressed.

   I get at least one Mormon, JW, or Crosspointer (folks who go to the MegaChurch near here, and yes - I group them all together in the same slow boat to Hell) a month. That's some eighty or ninety visits since we moved here. This, balanced by two actual Baptist visits - and I had to go to their church first. I do want to give props to one of those - the one from my current church, Angel Grove Baptist. They came twenty-odd miles to convince me they're good folks. It worked.

  Anyway, I hear all kind of reasons that our good Baptist Churches are dying. The Economy. Flashier MegaChurches. Failing Morals.

   Horse apples.

   Here, in an area saturated with good churches and not one JW or Mormon congregation for miles, Baptists count for about 1% of the folks who knock on my door. THAT is why your Churches are dying, folks! I drive past a good dozen Baptist Churches, including the one I was attending until earlier this year, to get to one twenty miles away to find a congregation that truly welcomes me and thinks of me as more than a number on the tote board.

   Wake up, folks. You don't have to go door-to-door (though you really should every once in a while). Ask the guy who works next to you. Ask the woman juggling four kids at the grocery store. Heck, ask the clerk who seems a bit - soft. He needs Jesus and a good Church home as much as you do. Look around next Sunday at the empty spaces - and think of the folks who could fill them. Bring your kids' friends to Church. One of the strongest Christian families I know was saved en masse after their youngest son received Christ and came home to share it.

  When you see a person so beaten down by the world they make you want to throttle them try inviting them to Church instead of giving them that dirty look.

   While I'm on the Us-V-Them vent, I have another fun thought:

   I am a member at an Militant Atheist website (I'm the token Christian). One of the things they rejoice in doing is posting their intentional "blasphemings of the Holy Spirit" on the front page of the site.

   These usually go "The Holy Spirit is >insert foul references here<. I was asked what I thought of this by the site owner, looking for a fight. I pointed out that as they all started with "The Holy spirit is" the silly ramblings only reinforced my belief that there are no true Atheists. To truly Blaspheme, you must believe in the Deity you are Blaspheming.

   He hasn't spoken to me for the month or so since then.

Matthew 5:43-48

 

43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

   If you want to show you believe this, it's easy. Invite the person you hate to your Church. You could be surprised at the results.

I gotta lay off the politics and get back to the reason I'm here . . .

We Read:

Jesse Jackson: 'You can't vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man'
By Mike Soraghan - 11/18/09 05:42 PM ET

The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Wednesday night criticized Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.) for voting against the Democrats’ signature healthcare bill.

“We even have blacks voting against the healthcare bill from Alabama,” Jackson said at a reception Wednesday night. “You can’t vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man.”

The remark stirred a murmur at the reception, held by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Foundation as part of a series of events revolving around the 25th anniversary of Jackson’s run for president. Several CBC members were in attendance, including Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who’d introduced Jackson.

Davis, who is running for governor, is the only black member of Congress from Alabama.

He is also the only member of the CBC to have voted against the healthcare bill earlier this month.

Davis referred to Jackson’s 1988 run for president in a statement, issued through his office, that said he would not engage Jackson on his criticism.

“One of the reasons that I like and admire Rev. Jesse Jackson is that 21 years ago he inspired the idea that a black politician would not be judged simply as a black leader,” Davis’s statement said. “The best way to honor Rev. Jackson’s legacy is to decline to engage in an argument with him that begins and ends with race.”

Jackson said later that he "didn't call anybody by name and I won't."
 

He added that he wasn't saying that black lawmakers must vote a certain way. Instead, they should vote the interests of the people in their districts, and he said the healthcare bill would help Alabama because it's one of the poorest states in the country.

"The poorest people need healthcare protection," Jackson said. "They have the highest infant mortality and the lowest life expectancy. They're dying from lack of access."

Other members of the CBC found no fault in Jackson's words. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) was in the audience. He called Jackson's criticism of Davis "accurate," but said he did not hear Jackson say "You can’t vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man."

"If it is an issue that disproportionately impacts black folks, race has to be considered," Cleaver said. Jackson, he added, "is expected by his constituency to call balls and strikes."

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) called the remarks "vintage Jesse Jackson," but said Davis's vote against healthcare was consistent with a voting record more conservative than many CBC members.

"Artur Davis has a more conservative constituency," Waters said. "Since he's running for governor of Alabama, he reflects an even more conservative constituency."

Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas) said each man was doing what he considered the right thing.

"People have a right to vote their constituency, and people have a right to speak their conscience," Jackson-Lee said. "Both happened."

Davis’s Democratic primary opponent, Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks, highlighted Davis’s status as the lone African-American vote against the bill.

“He was the only Black Caucus member to vote against it. I don’t get it,” Sparks said last week, according to The Associated Press. Sparks is white.

Davis said he voted against the healthcare bill because "House leadership's approach is not the best we can do." He said he preferred a version passed by the Senate Finance Committee because it reduces subsidization of the healthcare industry, taxes high-value health plans instead of wealthy people, and is more effective in getting employers to help with health coverage.

Davis has countered that Sparks' position on healthcare has changed over time, saying he’s being “deliberately dishonest.”

The primary will be June 1. All of the GOP candidates for governor have been critical of the healthcare legislation, according to the AP.

This story was updated at 9:55 p.m.

Source:

   I think almost as little of Artur Davis as I do Jesse Jackson - but Mr. Davis does seem to think for himself (unless Obama says different). Jackson may be about to find out what happens when folks mess with friends of Obama.

   This also shows how stupid Mr. Jackson thinks his people are - he claims innocence because he didn't mention the one person who falls into the category by name.

   I gotta wonder how many of the folks in Alabama who think both Jesse Jackson and Artur Davis can walk on water will find themselves walking around in circles come election day!

We Read:

Hoffman 'unconcedes' in N.Y.-23 House race
By Jordan Fabian - 11/16/09 06:34 PM ET

Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman has "unconceded" in New York's special House election after reports that the vote margin narrowed between him and Rep. Bill Owens (D).

Hoffman conceded the race on Election Night after learning he trailed Owens by 5,335 votes. But the Syracuse Post-Standard reported last week that the margin had shrunk to 3,026 votes after recanvassing.

Hoffman appeared on conservative commenatator Glenn Beck's radio show this afternoon. Beck asked the him if he would "unconcede."

"Yes, if I knew this information at the election night, I would not have conceded," Hoffman said. Beck asked him again if he was "unconceding" and Hoffman replied, "If that’s possible, yes."

Officials in the upstate New York district are still counting over 10,000 absentee ballots, which also had Republican nominee Dede Scozzafava's name on them. Scozzafava dropped out of the race three days before Election Day, citing poor fundraising and polling returns. She subsequently backed Owens.

Owens was sworn into Congress on Nov. 6, just before House Democrats voted on the healthcare reform. Should Hoffman come away with more votes, a highly unlikely possibility, Owens would have to be removed from office, according to the House clerk.

Hoffman would have to take over 65 percent of the absentee ballots in order to eclipse Owens. In the interview, Hoffman admitted his victory would be a "long shot."

Source

   I looked up "unconcede" at dictionary.com, and got this:

unconcede - no dictionary results

   Also note that as I type the word "unconcede" into my editor that squiggly red line shows up underneath it.

   That is, of course, because the word doesn't exist. In simple terms, if you can undo it, then you didn't really concede. and if you concede, then you have no way to take it back. It's over, done, Finito.

   Take what Al Gore did back in 2000. He "conceded", then took it back, and proceeded to hamstring the electoral process.

   Concession means that the candidate has seen enough of the results to conclude he has lost, and he has given up. To come back and say that he made a mistake only shows that he is not sharp enough to hold the office anyway.

   It pains me further to see a Republican do this - Republicans should know better.

   It also bothers me that folks will (rightly) expect the guy running the register at the Quickie Mart to speak English, but will vote for a man who makes it up as he goes along.