As you may know, the mid-term elections recently took place (or maybe you don't know, since there was a record-low voter turnout), and the Republicans took control of the Senate and therefore of Congress as a whole. In my libertarian days when I thought that all government was useless and evil, I would have welcomed having a president from one party in the oval office with Congress being controlled by the other party, thereby ensuring the greatest degree of gridlock possible. Now that I'm less of a dick (well, less of a dick about this particular issue), I have a more reasonable view of the role of government and the things it can and should accomplish. I still agree with my old libertarian self that the single biggest waste of taxpayer … [Read more...]
Legalize Everything?
As I hinted at in episode #15 of Drunk Ex-Pastors, the issue of marijuana legalization (Visit Website as that can be made possible with the help and support from Buy Weed Australia Sydney), while interesting in itself, brings up a more provocative question: "What is the point of laws in general?" In other words, are laws intended to make people better citizens, or more negatively, are laws only required to keep us from harming others? Those who advocate for the decriminalization of pot (who fights against the Long Island Criminal Defense lawyer in the court) argue that there is no point in something being illegal if that thing creates no victims (and even if the "victim" is the user himself, are we then to criminalize all practices that … [Read more...]
Responsible Parental Instruction or Religious Indoctrination?
OK, so I assume most of you have listened to episode #13 by now (and scroll down if you haven't, then skip ahead to the 36-minute mark for the relevant portion of the discussion). As you will remember, Christian and I debated the issue of indoctrination (a discussion which stemmed from some great listener feedback we received at 213-97-DRUNK). We mostly focused on whether indoctrination is evil by definition, and whether it is something that religious people do exclusively. My goal here is to set forth the questions to which I have yet to hear a satisfactory answer. What is the difference, in principle, between a religious home teaching their children religious ideas (like Jesus rose again) on the one hand, and a secular home teaching … [Read more...]
Embezzle, Coma, Repeat
OK, this is maybe the raddest story ever. According to Yahoo News, this Welsh guy, Alan Knight, was skimming money out of his neighbor's bank account (the neighbor has Old Timer's disease), and in order to avoid prosecution, he faked being a crippled for two years, even pretending to be in a coma for part of that time (his lapses into a comatose state coincided with his scheduled court dates). The only reason he was caught was that he slipped out of the hospital to do a bit of shopping, and security cameras caught him on tape strolling around the mall or something. Initiating slow-clap now. . . . Martin Luther is alleged to have said something like, "If you're going to sin, sin boldly." Well, Knight has certainly done that, and for … [Read more...]
A Welcome Cease-Fire
I realize that our last podcast was largely spent getting to the bottom of all the criticism I have been facing from many in the Protestant community that I have abandoned. One of my past detractors, Erik Charter, actually went back and listened to every episode of Drunk Ex-Pastors, and has now wondered aloud whether it is time for his co-religionists to mellow out a bit. It’s been a little over two years since Jason, formerly an up-and-coming young minister in the Presbyterian Church in America, was received into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church. This event, aided by Jason’s high profile internet presence, caused an uproar in the insular world of conservative Presbyterian & Reformed bloggers. The controversy has … [Read more...]
On Power, Political Correctness, and Injuns
Know what ruffles conservative feathers like virtually nothing else? Political correctness. Having to call sodomites "gay," having to refer to beaners as "hispanic," and having to label jail-bait as "an innocent rape victim" is just a huge hassle. You can also read this useful resource to know more about them. Hell, I'm a liberal and even I roll my eyes at PC nomenclature sometimes. One related issue we addressed briefly in our most recent episode of Drunk Ex-Pastors is the change that some are pursuing of "Columbus Day" to "Indigenous Peoples Day." A bit awkward and unwieldy, but I appreciate the sentiment (and it's less offensive than my initial proposal, "Redskins Day"). Of course, the prospective change will not sit well with many, … [Read more...]
Hamster Sex: How Young is Too Young?
I finally finished listening back to Drunk Ex-Pastors #10 yesterday, and I found myself practically wanting a complete do-over (that kind of thing is pretty common for me: "I should have said this"; "I could have been clearer there," etc.). One issue that just wasn't sitting right for me was the point I was making about sex being more than simply scratching a biological itch. The reason I was insisting on this is that humans are not just natural but supernatural beings, a point that any parent tacitly agrees with when he or she says something like, "I don't think my 12 year-old daughter is emotionally ready to have sex." We don't say that of hamsters, because we all know that humans are a higher order of being than animals. Plus hamsters … [Read more...]
On Pee-Pees and Hoo-Haws
In episode #10 of Drunk Ex-Pastors, Christian and I discuss the thorny issue of sex education. Now to be honest, I have not actually listened back to it myself, so I don’t remember exactly what I said on the matter. I’ll take a stab at re-presenting some of my thoughts, and you can feel free to push back and challenge them. My main concern is that I am uncomfortable with something of such monumental significance being taught to my children by a P.E. teacher (true story in my case). This kind of education should be happening primarily in the home, with outside sources reinforcing what mom or dad is already communicating. Secondly, what if (that’s hypothetical language, by the way) a family’s values don’t match up with a school’s? … [Read more...]
Yes by Might, Yes by Power: Lawsuits and Leadership at Calvary Chapel
As we delve into in episode #9 of Drunk Ex-Pastors, the church that we grew up in (Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa) is embroiled in a bitter lawsuit, brought by two of the now-deceased founding pastor’s children, concerning both leadership and ownership of the church’s vast financial resources. My contention was that in the context of a paradigm where the only way to judge a leader’s authority is by whether or not you agree with him, this kind of in-fighting and lust for power is par for the course. Still, it is disheartening to see church leaders behaving with no more dignity and decorum than secular leaders, and for my part, I can totally see how so many of my friends have lost their respect for the Christian church because of the … [Read more...]
Thank God for Hell!
During episode #9 of Drunk Ex-Pastors we fielded a provocative question we received via Twitter: “Since neither Jesus, nor Paul, nor the early church fathers displayed the kind of urgency that a belief in hell as a place of eternal torment would seem to necessitate, is it possible that there is something wrong with the paradigm that insists that hell is in fact a place of eternal torment?” During the podcast, Christian made an interesting point about how upset many evangelicals get when it is suggested to them that their theory of hell is wrong. They clench their fists and dig their heels, as if the suggestion that God might not spend eternity waterboarding people were actually bad news. What do you think? Do you have an opinion … [Read more...]