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...]
Some Final Thoughts on Indoctrination…Maybe
One of the things that my co-host Jason and I had to come to an agreement on in episode 13 before we could have a productive conversation about indoctrination was what was meant by the word itself. As it turns out, any dictionary will give you some form of what is clearly expressed in the Merriam-Webster definition of indoctrinate: “to teach (someone) to fully accept the ideas, opinions, and beliefs of a particular group and to not consider other ideas, opinions, and beliefs.” Most other dictionaries have similar definitions. For example, Dictionary.com defines indoctrinate this way: “to instruct in a doctrine, principle, ideology, etc., especially to imbue with a specific partisan or biased belief or point of view.” The feedback I’ve … [Read more...]
A Fundamentalist Christian Overcomes Halloween
As a kid, Halloween always made me nervous. In the typical, fundamentalist Christian home, there’s an (often unspoken) order to the holidays. Christmas and Easter vie for top spot. Should Easter be more important? That’s celebrating Christ’s resurrection, and what could be more important than that? Well, how about Christmas, which celebrates Jesus being born? If he’s not born, then he can’t die. If he doesn’t die, then he can’t resurrect. So there’s no Easter without Christmas. Ok, good, Christmas is the most important then! Just remember, don’t enjoy the presents and the Santa Claus stories too much. That’s not what it’s about. It’s about Jesus. He’s the reason for the season. Hey! Are you listening to me? That’s enough Jingle Bells! Let’s … [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...]
Game of Pulpits: Politics and Power at Calvary Chapel
Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa—indeed the movement as a whole—is in a state of disarray. The late Chuck Smith, former pastor of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, has an 85 year old brother named Paul who recently posted a video on YouTube titled “My brother’s succession plan for Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa.” (Based on his ramblings in the video about computer hacking and viruses, my guess would be that someone else actually posted it for him.) Paul claims to have spent the last few months of his brother Chuck’s life living with him and discussing the future of Calvary Chapel and has decided that now is the time to reveal the content of their conversations. A quick bit of backstory… For the last decade or so of Chuck’s life, there was no shortage … [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...]
Happy Columbus Day!
I have a hard time believing that people are still celebrating Columbus Day. For whatever reason, it’s still officially a federal holiday. Not a “you get a paid day off of work” national holiday, but a “there won’t be mail in your mailbox” national holiday. With the spread of knowledge as to what really transpired in 1492 and thereafter, it seems inexcusable that Columbus Day would still be a national holiday or even more surprising that people are attacking the "politically correct" movement to change Columbus Day to Indigenous People Day. (Although, I do think we can come up with a better name.) I can only imagine that, for those people, “In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue...” is about the extent of their … [Read more...]