News Today: Nags, Catholic Scandal, Meaty Sludge Shaped Like a Hot Dog & Missing Link

The View & Glenn Beck:

I heard that Glenn Beck got ripped into on The View. It doesn't surprise me. I am a woman so I don't say this lightly about the women of The View - a bunch of criticizing nags harping all at once so you can't understand a word they say. They probably brought him on just to rip into him for their ratings. Seriously, what was the point on arguing over who approached who to talk to in the past? Didn't they have anything better to ask him about with all that is going on in this world? Oh, that's right, they don't want to hear opposing views which is why they only have one co-host who has opposing views to theirs and they've been known to rip into her as well.

They really need to even it out on that stage. It is one against the rest of them. They need to make it a more even playing field. All that harping just turns me off of their show.

The Catholic Church:

I was raised Catholic though I don't consider myself Catholic anymore. The church has a lot to fix. I remember the church I attended as a child, the priest ran off with his secretary (who was married!). With all the child abuse accusations the past several years, and now the report coming out about serial abuse in Ireland by Catholic run organizations, it's another black eye.

For me, religion (I prefer "faith") is personal. The Catholic Church seemed more like business than a place for a religious experience for me personally. My faith isn't about a large brick building or confessing sins to somebody else. I feel closer to Deity walking through the woods with a one-on-one relationship - no go betweens for me. I don't want a church official telling me that somebody else's religion is wrong (like I heard while attending the Catholic Church...and others after that). Nobody's religion is "wrong" if it is right for them. I don't think I have the right to say what is wrong and what is right for other people or dictate what they should believe in or what they should or shouldn't do. I don't have the right to try to convert others. It's a personal choice. I, personally, wouldn't allow my son unsupervised by me in a Catholic Church at this point, however, I also don't allow them unsupervised with any adults that I don't know, not just priests. I know they all aren't riddled with scandal but I don't take chances with my kids' well-being. The scandal aside, Catholicism wasn't right for me personally. It is right for others and that's their choice.

Missing Link:

I've read the story about the 47 million year old fossil being found, about the size of a cat, that is being called the missing link by some. I've also read that some people are saying it's not. From what I've read so far, I don't believe so either. It's a great find, don't get me wrong, but I don't think it's the missing link.

Oscar Meyer:

Oscar Meyer is giving away up to one million in hot dogs today. Really gross. I can down a hot dog now and then but not regularly. I'd yak. If you'd like a coupon for free meaty sludge shaped like a hot dog, click here. They'll mail you a coupon after you register.

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Jehovah's Witnesses are Back

With the nicer weather comes the Jehovah's Witnesses knocking at the door. They were out walking our street yesterday knocking on all the neighbor's doors, including ours,

I have nothing against other religions. I think it is a personal choice and that everybody has the right to choose the religion/faith they choose to. However, I don't think it gives other religions the right to knock at my door every month to talk about their religion, hand out things, or try to invite themselves for dinner in the hopes of gaining new members for their church! When they catch my children outside playing and talk to them to go get mommy/daddy, that REALLY pisses me off. They're STRANGERS. They have no business going near my kids!

Maybe if I post this on my door, they'll stay away:

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Separation of Church & State

I am angry at my children's school. I believe they have violated the doctrine for the separation of church and state. They've teetered on doing so a few times that I've seen in the last few years and because this town is SO heavily Mennonite/religious, dry town, etc., everybody thinks it is OK to do so I guess. Up until now, it has bothered me but I have kept quiet about it because they've teetered but didn't jump over the line. Notice I said "until now" though.

The school (elementary and middle school) handed out pamphlets for a basketball and cheerleading program to all of its students. The pamphlet says it is offered through a Church but a lot of churches host activities that aren't necessarily religious for the community so I didn't think a whole lot about it. Then this pamphlet was also handed out to the kids at basketball practice at the school last week in the event they didn't make the team played at the schools, that this "great program" was an option for them so I looked further into it and contacted the League Director of the program to find out if this was purely sports related or if there were any religious elements to the basketball and cheerleading program. I was interested in enrolling my son and two daughters into their basketball (son and oldest daughter) and cheerleading (middle daughter) program if it wasn't religion-based.

Here is the response I received via email back from the League Director:

"During the practices, the coaches will stop and give a short devotion that has been prepared and written by *removed for privacy*. Every where in the USA that *removed for privacy* is taking place, they will be doing the same devotion. They will get a scripture learning card each week as well."

Why is the public school handing out pamphlets for a born again christian church activity to students? In my opinion, this violates the separation of church and state and seriously ticks me off. All the tottering they do with Halloween every year I overlooked even though it irritated me and my kids missed out on the fun of Halloween parades through classrooms that other schools in the area do (Halloween is "evil" didn't you know? *sigh* Halloween is one of this heathen's favorite times!). This thing with the pamphlets at the church I don't think I can overlook and am considering how exactly to approach the Superintendent or Principals.

I did respond back to the email from the church:

"Thank you for the information. While I want my daughter to play basketball, we don't attend/practice a church of God church and are not comfortable with practice devotions or weekly learning cards."

I believe this is a violation. What do you think?

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Faith

I was raised Catholic, though I no longer consider myself Catholic. I did communion, confirmation, catechism, church, confessions...all of it. I was miserable being told what I was to believe and what I was or was not to do. I was miserable having all these questions about what I was being told and nobody giving me satisfactory answers. The fact that our priest drove a black Firebird and ran off with his secretary had nothing to do with my opinion of Catholicism by the way.

I want my children to choose for themselves what they feel in their heart is right for them. I don't want to force any religion on them, like I felt it was for me for many years. I want them to come to their own beliefs out of their own need to learn and feel connected to something universal rather than force something on them and then they come to resent it. (That obviously didn't work for me.) I don't think it is up to me to tell them what they are supposed to believe or feel in their souls. Faith is a personal choice and I didn't like anybody deciding it for me!

I prefer "faith" to "religion" myself.

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What Happened to Halloween?

What happened to Halloween?

What happened to Halloween? You know, the costume holiday that little kids look forward to, that a majority of parents participate in with their children?

First, as a kid, you have to decide what you want to be for Halloween. Kids plan with their friends what they will all dress up as, look through catalogs, check out their favorite video and cartoon characters and then announce what they will be for Halloween to the parent just waiting with held breath to know.

Second, said parent checks out every halloween store because chances are, the costume your child picked isn't going to be at Wal-Mart. You search and search, compare prices, and then find the size you wanted is sold out. If you're lucky, you will find a store that sells the size you want (and even pay the extra shipping to get it here on time if its from an online store). If you're not lucky, or if your child is not lucky, lol, you have to buy the costume one size too small and squeeze them into it.

Then, the child starts looking forward to big day. Not only is there trick or treating as soon as it gets dark for hours, but the school has a costume party too. Get to wear them twice? Yeah!! Kids love to dress up with their friends and parade through all the classes, around the school, showing everybody their costume. Then there are the classroom parties with lots of goodies and even a goody bag to take home.

Finally, you go home and wait until it is time to get back into your costume for the real fun. You're so excited. It is getting dark and you can't wait for your parents to take you door to door to yell "trick or treat" with the rest of the kids. Most of the time, you get a treat but sometimes you get the goof who gives you a trick. You can go out for a few hours, fill up one pillowcase, maybe even two of them.

What happened to those days? If you call it "Halloween" at some public schools (and note I did say PUBLIC), you get reminded clearly that it is NOT a Halloween party...it is a Harvest party. (Halloween is an evil pagan holiday don't ya know?) Harvest party? Why is the school, and some parents behind it I suspect, turning this children's funtime into something different in order to differentiate it from "Halloween"? I could understand if this was at the parochial private schools, but not the public school system.

If the overenthusiastic religious members actually researched, they would realize that the pagan sabbat (known as Halloween for mainstream) is widely known as Samhain. They would also find out that Samhain is celebrated as the last harvest. They would also find out its other meanings, which aren't evil by any means, but to educate themselves and show some religious tolerance - BAH! By trying to change "Halloween" so it isn't so "pagan-like" they have called it what it is to pagans. Harvest! Can we all say "DUH"?

It's not just the change in terminology. Most of the teachers won't have any type of classroom Halloween party (oh, excuse me, harvest party). I thought church and state were supposed to be separate and changing traditions decades old because of the religious controversy over Halloween isn't keeping it separate! Why can't the adults just back off and let the kids celebrate this the way it has been celebrated in the previous generation? Let them have their fun and keep the tradition going. These little kids aren't dressing up to worship a pagan god or goddess. They're doing it for loads of candy and fun.

Let's talk about the other changes now. Where we live, they don't even have "trick or treat" on Halloween. It is ALWAYS on one particular day of the week on the week BEFORE Halloween. God (and/or goddess if you happen to be pagan) forbid kids go out on the evil night of Halloween and trick or treat! OK, we can deal with that (and maybe hit the next town over where they aren't so uptight on the REAL Halloween for two nights of fun).

"But mom and dad, it isn't even dark yet."

You're only allowed to be out for a short time from 'this time to this time' and that is it. Lights start flipping off everywhere at 7:30 p.m. You can watch them all go off down the block. Huh?

"But mom and dad, we only got to go a few blocks."

What is disappointing is that on those few blocks, a majority of the houses have their lights off - no trick or treaters welcome. Nice. I am sure some of those houses have kids and they are out trick or treating as well. That's understandable. You know what? They can't ALL have kids and there are just too many dark houses anymore.

Our town, and the town we lived in before this (that wasn't as bad but not much better either), is lucky that "Devil's Night" isn't anything like what we knew of Michigan's "Devil's Night." Otherwise, houses everywhere would be getting tp'd and egged city-wide by little ghosts, princesses, and super heroes everywhere.

Why are the adults changing Halloween like this? Just let the kids have a few hours to dress up, beg for candy, get tummy aches from eating too much, and have a few good memories of going trick or treating with mom and dad. Don't turn it into a religious controversy for the kids.
All that being said, this close-mindedness does give some parents, like me, the opportunity to answer their children's questions about these changes in traditions decades old, the religious intolerance of others, and the fears of some people based on uneducated views of different faith-based beliefs because only one (theirs) can be right, right?

Amen and Blessed Be!

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