Stuff to look at Sepember 2012 to May 2013 – part 1

So if you’re my friend on Facebook you’ll know that I post stacks and stacks of links. These are blogs posts, videos I find interesting, news stories, funny pictures… really, anything. But links frequently get lost in the maelstrom that is the Facebook news feed, so I’m going to put all of my posts from the last – well, however long I want, in this blog post. Which will just be another link I post on Facebook (lol, the irony!). This is the first of these posts. I’m not sure how many there will be. Continue reading →

Is mental illness a major story?

RANT AHOY

Consider yourself warned.

I’m doing a unit this semester called Journalistic Inquiry. It’s a first year unit and frankly the worst I’ve ever had the misfortune to have to complete – and seeing as I’m doing a degree that is made up entirely of writers, that’s saying something. I will definitely be writing a post of some description about it later on this year (probably when I finish it) so keep an eye out for that. Or don’t, it’s up to you.

Anyway. I’m one assignment off finishing the unit and never having anything to ever do with journalism ever again (THANK GOD, and I mean that). The last assignment is worth 20% of my grade and (I think) is due on Friday. I haven’t started it yet, but that’s ok, interviews are quick and frankly, in the real world (if I were remotely interested in being a journalist) I would have WAY less than a week to write the damn thing. As our lecturers keep saying. Because they think we’re stupid.

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On leaving a church, part 2

Welcome back! This is part two of a two part series on why I’m not longer a Lutheran. You can find part 1 here.

In part 1, I explored my reasons for disliking Lutheran doctrine. I showed how the church adds to the authority of the Bible by saying that Luther’s writings and the historical creeds are “true expositions” of God’s word. I also detailed why I think that they have an unhealthy emphasis on baptism and communion. I finished off by saying that this alone was not enough to push me out. I could live with the failures in theology. No system of thought is totally correct; that’s the downside of our sinful nature. What really made me leave was the attitude of many members toward each other, toward outsiders, toward the world, and most of all, toward God. Continue reading →

On leaving a church

When I was young I was adamant that to be a Lutheran was to be absolutely Biblical and correct. I was proud of my Lutheran heritage; I would tell people that I was a Christian when they asked, but I would immediately add that I was a Lutheran. In fact, I tried to convert my Evangelical friend (Daryl) to Lutheranism. I even worked for the church. So suffice to say, I was a dedicated Lutheran.

Then I started reading the Bible.

Now, over three years after I met Daryl, I have completely left my Lutheran days behind and have joined the Reformed, Calvinist stream of theology. After a lot – a lot – of thought, I’m going to write about why. This is the first part – the second will be up tomorrow.

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What is love?

If you’re like me, you will have started singing this song by now. But I’m not talking about Haddaway. That’s the title of a chain email I’ve received twice this week. It’s your typical wishy-washy “Isn’t this sweet” type of email. Basically, a stack of kids are asked what they think love is and they reply very cutely. At the end is a prayer that you’re supposed to pray for the person who sent you. All in all, seems like a really harmless, cute email, right? One that’s good to send on?

Well, no.

I’m going to include the email behind the cut.

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Ramblings

I’m warning you here and now. This post is going to have no structure. I’m just going to be writing briefly about things that have been bothering me.

Journalists are biased (what a surprise): As most of you should know, I am avidly pro-life. I’m also a little bit of a conspiracy theorist. So when I read this article by the “Get Religion” people, and this one, one could say that my spidey senses began to tingle. This article tells the basics of the case, but for those who I know won’t actually click on the link this is the story: an abortion doctor who sucked at his job is on trial for the murder of eight people, specifically a Nepalese woman named Karnamaya Mongar, and seven babies who survived abortion attempts only to have their spinal cords cut by this evil little man. Being in Australia, obviously I don’t expect to see/read much about trials happening in the US in our local or even national news, but this is about a genuine serial killer. We heard about the Sandy Hook massacre as soon as it happened; I heard about this tragedy through a blog. In both, little children were killed. In both, lives were destroyed by one deranged individual. So why the radio silence in the media?

But don’t you want to do something meaningful with your life?: When I was younger I had just three aims in life. They were:

  1. Get married.
  2. Have a family.
  3. Get published.

Well, I no longer want to be published, and since I’m married now, I have but one goal left. Surprise surprise, though, people think that I am selling myself short by wanting to have children, to stay home with them and dedicate my life while I can to raising them. This view is really well shown by Donna Pinciotti of That 70s Show when she says, “Maybe I want to do something more meaningful with my life than just staying home and having children.” Now, I am all for women being equally accepted in the workforce. We are intelligent beings and are just as capable in most jobs as any male. HOWEVER, women are maternal. That’s just the way it is. WOMEN are the ones whose bodies are able to grow another human inside them. It’s a fact of life. And what could be more important that bringing up the next generation? People today complain about the rudeness of the younger generations, about their lack of respect, about their behaviour, but how in hell are children supposed to know how to act if no one teaches them? Children are not born knowing how to act and what to think. That’s why God created the family unit, to bring up a child to be God glorifying and a useful, responsible member of society. School can’t do that. TVs and computers can’t do that. Their friends certainly can’t do that. So if both Mum and Dad are at work, who will raise the child?

Hold tight to your beliefs (as long as they’re moderate): There’s a push from liberal Christians, nominal Christians, almost everyone really, for evangelical Christians to stop taking their beliefs so seriously. We’re told that it’s not ok to hold to our beliefs, that we should cave to what society deems as “normal” or “good”. Well, until someone shows me how Jesus was moderate when he persisted in doing what was right in God’s eyes – even while he was being tortured and crucified – I’m going to persist in holding my beliefs and fight against lukewarmness. Jesus said in the letter to Laodicea:

“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.
“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

The belief that moderation is ok in Christianity is deadly. On the last day Jesus will say to you, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” Moderation is deadly.

Anyway. That’s what comes to mind at the moment. In the coming days you’ll read about why I hate denominations and why my kids won’t watch sitcoms, and I’ll also link to some fabulous articles on homosexuality.

God bless you and keep you.

Link

What’s the deal with Lent?

My husband has written about an issue that’s been bothering him for a while. I think it’s a really great post. I could be biased. But I do completely agree with what he has written. 🙂

I don’t really understand how this is meant to work. How does denying oneself a worldly object result in spiritual health or show we have spiritual health? This is really what Lent is trying to achieve. It is trying to be a visual medium that shows our spiritual health and a reassurance medium for ourselves that we really can give pleasures up for God. The problem is that it doesn’t work.

The arms of the ocean, so sweet and so cold…

This is an exceedingly depressing post. You have been warned.

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I went through a stage not long ago of being totally obsessed with Florence and the Machine, in particular with Never Let Me Go. It was at a particularly down part of my life, and since then I’ve returned to it whenever I have been unhappy. It’s part of a number of songs that I listen to when the black cloud of depression closes my eyes to the good in the world, in me, and most worryingly, in God. I think that it is a beautiful song, and it conforts me as only beautiful music can when I’m inconsolable.

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My Addiction

I’m a big believer in the evil of secret-keeping. I think that if an action or belief or similar is worthy of being kept under wraps, then it probably should be exposed. And I thoroughly believe that a kept secret has a hold over the keeper. Obviously, some secrets are good – surprise parties, for example. But a secret, like an addiction, shames the keeper into believing that they are the only one suffering, and the longer one hides it the harder it is to tell.

So I am writing this today to tell you about my secret: I am addicted to pornography. Continue reading →