New posts on Infidelis Maximus
Infidelis Maximus
Secret Verses: Having a period is sinful
Christian women would probably be surprised to learn that God considers their monthly cycle to be sinful. I’m not sure how they are supposed to avoid sinning (hysterectomy, perhaps?), but rules are rules. Read the article.
Site of the Week: Bitchasaurus
This week’s Site of the Week is Bitchasaurus, Lady Monchhichi’s blog. Unlike last week’s site, it’s not the layout or aesthetic quality that makes Bitchasaurus so great. It’s the insightful—and usually hilarious--commentary that keeps me reading. Lady M. often lets some of these zingers go where you least expect it—right in the middle of an article about oil well drilling, you’ll stumble over a one-liner that’ll make you bust a gut. It’s an unusual writer who can cover deep technical detail and still manage to work in a fair amount of humor. Read the article.
Churchopoly—Playing Monopoly by House (of God) Rules
The original board game that is now known as Monopoly was invented by a woman named Elizabeth Magie in 1903. Her patent for The Landlord’s Game was granted on January 5, 1904. Lizzie Magie was a Georgist who believed that property rental enriched property owners and impoverished tenants. Feeling that people would have trouble understanding the concept, she invented a board game to illustrate. Read the article.
I have a question for everyone now so adamantly sure we should never have invaded Iraq: would you think that way if the war had really been over when George W. Bush said it was on May 1, 2003, the date of his ill-advised and much-derided “End of major combat” proclamation? If the war had actually ended then, barely six weeks after it started, and Iraqi suicide bombers weren’t as much a fixture on the nightly news as Katie Couric’s perky opportunism, would you still be outraged? Read the article.
Infidelis Maximus
Twainian thoughts on Iraq
“There have been lies; yes, but they were told in a good cause. We have been treacherous; but that was only in order that real good might come out of apparent evil. ...we have invited our clean young men to shoulder a discredited musket and do bandit's work under a flag which bandits have been accustomed to fear, not to follow; we have debauched America's honor and blackened her face before the world; but each detail was for the best. We know this. The Head of every State and Sovereignty in Christendom and ninety percent of every legislative body in Christendom, including our Congress and our fifty State Legislatures, are members not only of the church, but also of the Blessings-of-Civilization Trust. This world-girdling accumulation of trained morals, high principles, and justice, cannot do an unright thing, an unfair thing, an ungenerous thing, an unclean thing. It knows what it is about. Give yourself no uneasiness; it is all right.”
The Fate of George W.
Today’s entry is a poem I wrote some years ago. The title is “The Fate of George W.” Yes, I know it’s not a great poem, and I know the rhyming and what-not is off a bit. I actually started to write it without any rhyme at all, but fell into a half-done rhythm and rhyme as I wrote it. It was just something I came up with in the heat of the moment after seeing a blurb on the news. Please excuse the beginner gaffes and apparent self-importance – as poets go, I’m a rank amateur, if that even.
Post a note here if you think you know who the poem is about (it should be obvious). I’ll talk more about all this later this week.
Malfeasance
Webster’s defines malfeasance thusly:
Function: noun
Etymology: mal- + obsolete feasance doing, execution
: wrongdoing or misconduct especially
by a public official
George W. Bush’s original projected cost of the war in Iraq? $50 billion. Current tab? Over $400 billion. What do you call an official responsible for a public budget overstepping the budget by a factor of 8?
Agnostos Theos: A god for agnostics
According to Acts 17, when the Apostle Paul visited Athens, he found an altar on Areopagus (Mars’ hill) to the Unknown god (agnostos theos in Greek). He went on to deliver one of the most stirring sermons of the New Testament and explain to the Greeks how their Unknown god was in reality the Christian God:
Infidelis Maximus
Pythagoras in the Gospel of John?
Do you know what this figure is? I’ll give you a little hint: it might very well come from the Bible. How so? Consider this passage:
Infidelis Maximus
By Faith
Webster’s defines superstition thusly:
Function: noun
1 a : a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the
unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation b :
an irrational abject attitude of mind toward the supernatural, nature, or God
resulting from superstition
2 : a notion maintained despite evidence to the contrary
Many unbelievers would say that faith is a synonym for superstition. “A notion maintained despite evidence to the contrary”—sounds exactly like faith, doesn’t it? If Christians believe…
Site of the Week: Debunking Christianity
This week’s site of the week is John W. Loftus’ Debunking Christianity blog. Thanks to the recent controversy surrounding my interview with Acharya S, John’s site traffic surged as people from all quarters raised all kinds of hell over…
The Way of The Borg
There’s a new storm brewing over Greg Epstein’s continued use of the term “atheist fundamentalist” to describe outspoken atheists like Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and Richard Dawkins. Epstein intends his idiotic epithet to equate fervent atheism with religious fundamentalism, especially that of the Christian or Islamic variety. Ironically…
Secret Verses: Watch those stones!
As if he didn’t have enough troubles already, poor John Bobbitt might have a little trouble getting through the Pearly Gates. Why? Check out this…