Bye Bye, Oklahoma Theocracy

Now for some less depressing news, reminding us that there is a bright side, and that life is not always one long sigh: after a Supreme Court ruling over two years ago stating that the statue of the ten commandments at the Oklahoma state building needed to be removed, the eyesore was finally taken away from public property on Monday. It was "re-homed" at the Oklahoma Counsel of Public Affairs, which is an organization that advertises Republican candidates for various offices and lobbies for policies that favor theocracy, christian theocracy, and threaten the constitutional rights of everyone. At least the statue is on private property.

No one should think that a demand was made by the people to remove the ten commandments. All that was desired by non-christian citizens, such as The Satanic Temple, was equal space for icons and symbols that favored The Satanic Temple, alongside the ten commandments. It was the Supreme Court that told Oklahoma to remove the eyesore from its front lawn. Thomas Jefferson would agree. No religion should cram government space with icons. Neither should a religion attempt to rule any segment of America's population. It would have been a lot of fun to attend the unveiling of the statue of Baphomet on the lawn of the Oklahoma state building, however. But all is not lost; a letter was sent earlier this week by The Satanic Temple to the state of Arkansas, concerning a similar eyesore at the state capital building in Hope.

Oklahoma

Marysville Area Community Theater will present Oklahoma at Marysville High School, in Marysville, Kansas. The show opens Thusday, July 23, at 7:00 PM and runs through Sunday, with a matinee at 2:00 PM. Lots of great singing....come see it!

It's The End Of The World As We Know It

And now, for the end of the world as some folks know it, we have a Supreme Court ruling that the Christian icon, the statue of the ten commandments at the state capital building in Oklahoma, must come down. There have been previous rulings in lower courts that the statue could stay, but only if joined by Baphomet. Since nasty and selfish religious folk in Oklahoma persisted in blocking this, it became evident that coming into compliance with the law is beyond certain individuals there, so we now have a ruling from the Supreme Court to remove all religious debris from government property.

This blogger would have preferred that the statue of Baphomet sit alongside the other statue, but that would have augured the end of the world as some folks see it.

Flying Spaghetti Monster Rules Oklahoma

Oklahoma has gotten quite subversive in the religious choices of the alternative crowd! Shawna Hammond, of Enid, Oklahoma, just had her license renewed wearing the official symbol of her creed: a spaghetti strainer in tribute to her deity, the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

In 2005, a man named Bobby Henderson wrote a letter to the good-for-nothing Kansas State Board of Education to protest the ridicules and irresponsible teaching of creation, a`la Christianity, in public schools. He offered, as an alternative to the imaginary dude in the sky, the lordship of an all-powerful Flying Spaghetti Monster. Because Spaghetti is made of pasta, all of the Faithful are, naturally, Pastafarians. This religion, postulated in desperation to make a point to a state school board that lacks skills and value of any kind, has actually gained popularity and devotees worldwide. Once again, thank you very much, Kansas! (your writer growls sarcastically, here. Kansas seems to always be the cause of such exasperation)

This is a sign of the times, in case anyone here in the Midwest is paying attention. In a case such as this, it is probably as safe assumption that for every one young person such as Shawna Hammond, who does not mind standing up for her opinion of the silliness we call organized religion, and getting her picture for her drivers license taken with a spaghetti strainer on her head to prove a point; there are at least half a dozen others who feel the same way but are more subdued. Oklahoma, Kansas, and the entire Midwest should become more aware of what's it's people want, and who these people are. Especially the young: they really do represent Tomorrow. 

In Case You Weren't In Church This Sunday

If you missed church this Sunday, don't worry; you can still be in Oklahoma City on September 21 for a planned event hosted by the Angra Mainyu Satanic Temple in the civic building. As the autumnal equinox is a Sabbat, this is no big surprise. While the choice of the civic building is interesting, no complaint or issue should arise as long as the congregation meets all of it's obligations to the city, connected to the use of the building. No problem, right? Wrong! Many of the Christian folks in Oklahoma, the ones who want Neil Degrasse Tyson's show banned from Oklahoma's airwaves, would like to ban this church from conducting it's services. Fortunately, Oklahoma City remembered that it is part of America, and told the nice Christian morons to find something else to do if they were not involved in ritual on September 21. Apparently, that advice was not good enough for them, because a narcissistic  Catholic priest who thinks the world revolves around him and his religion decided to file suit against Angra Mainyu. Since the lawsuit, by itself, had no merit, the reverend made up an untrue story about the church being in possession of stolen property. The court went ahead and accepted this, but refused to deny the Angra Mainyu congregation it's civil right to gather in the civic building, which is what the reverend really wanted. In order to pacify the archdiocese and the crybaby reverend, some wafers that had been ordered by the Angra Mainyu from the internet were delivered to the archdiocese. Now the lawsuit has been either dropped or dismissed, and hopefully, the Sabbat ritual will proceed with no further headaches.

While it is beautiful that any church can practice it's beliefs and teachings in Oklahoma, as per our nation's Constitution, it is disturbing that the Angra Mainyu were required to give what amounts to a de facto payment to a bunch of Christian thugs in order to practice their religion in peace.

False Arrests And Perversion

While on the subject of abusive cops, here's one whose picture everyone should see. His name is Daniel Holtzclaw, and a couple of weeks ago, he was in Oklahoma City, chasing down speeders, arresting drunk drivers, eating doughnuts, and raping women; and in general, just doing normal cop stuff. Most of the women he assaulted are black, by the way. Now that his crimes are under investigation, it appears that his choice in victims was a pattern.

One of his victims recently complained. She did not expect anyone to listen to her, but was surprised when someone did. She was further surprised when Officer Holtzcreep was arrested and charged. A few more women have also come forward. One even stated that he threatened her with arrest if she did not cooperate with the sexual assault! So this is what law enforcement in Oklahoma City needs from anyone with more information about Holtzclaw or his criminal activities: everyone who has been one of his victims to come forward. It's a very big challenge to come forward and testify about a crime of that nature, but being quiet about it is the equivalent of writing this creep a ticket to continue this behavior in the future.

In Case You Missed Church On Sunday

Ah yes, Oklahoma, the ten commandments, and the impending erection of Satan! Well, Baphomet.....Satan and Baphomet are two entirely different entities, but the point being made by the Satanic Temple is still very valid. In 2012, Oklahoma inserted the ten commandments on the lawn of their capital building, showing obvious favor to Christianity. When asked about displaying symbols of other religions, Oklahoma refused. The state also refused to remove it's statue of the ten commandments. Now, with a win in the Supreme Court, assisted by the ACLU, Lucien Greaves, of the Satanic Temple, commissioned the creation of a statue of Baphomet to also sit on the lawn of the capital building in Oklahoma. If the ten commandments does not disappear, the statue of Baphoment, according to the court's ruling, must also be given a place. Since the ten commandments is still there, Greaves has announced that the statue is nearly complete, and that there are copies of it in case Oklahoma Christians do that Christian thing of which so many of them are fond, and vandalize the statue. It's comforting to know that the Satanic Temple has our backs when state governments try to decide which church we should all attend, and it's nice to know that the ACLU is still willing to go on the defense for us, even in the Midwest, which seems to be the land of misplaced ethnocentrism.

In Case You Missed Church On Sunday

In case you missed church on Sunday, there is still a lawsuit on the table against the state of Oklahoma, concerning their offensive affirmation of a preference for one religion over another at their state capital building, in the form of a statue bearing the biblical ten commandments. The Satanist Temple, headquartered in New York, came to the assistance of Satanists in Oklahoma with a blueprint for a statue of Baphomet to grace the same building. The matter has yet to be decided.

The drawing of the proposed statue is quite attractive. I like it. The only thing that bothers me a little bit is that Baphomet and Satan are two distinctly different entities, but the message of the Temple of Satan is still valid. In fact, there are two messages here: first, it is acceptable and admirable, from a spiritual standpoint, to think logically and love one's self; second, it is legal and appropriate to demand equal representation, both inside the state building and outside of it. Christians everywhere should pay close attention to this.

If this is finally settled by building the new statue, rather than removing the offensive christian motif; I intend to make the trip to Oklahoma for the unveiling. It will be a unique experience for my children to photograph and write about in school.

Kidnapping Gone Wrong

Never turn your back on your baby while in public. Here is a story about a mom in Midwest City, Oklahoma, whose child was sitting in a shopping cart while she shopped in Walmart. It only took a minute for a loony toon to grab her daughter, hold a knife to the child's throat, and start making unreasonable demands involving phone calls to a Texas police station!

At about 3:12 in this video, you can see how easily the man simply removes the child from the shopping cart. Had he decided to keep on going, and leave the store with her, instead of ranting about fanatical Christian dogma, this situation could have ended much differently, and not in a good way.

Westboro Baptist Church Chickens Out

 

Amazing. Oklahoma City gets an F-5 tornado, and the very best Westboro Baptist Church can do is pull out their signs and threaten to picket. Gotta love Christianity in Northeast Kansas......NOT! Fred Phelps and Company threatened to picket in Oklahoma today, insisting that "God" sent the tornado to kill people because of Jason Collins's relationship choices. They apparently did not show, frightened away by the patiently waiting bikers.

 

 

When is Northeast Kansas gonna get off it's Christian kick?

 

 

 

Dust Storm Causes Traffic Hazards

This hazard, featuring almost no visibility on route 35 in Oklahoma and Kansas is remniscent of the Dust Bowl of the 1930's. The very dry soil left over from this summer's drought, coupled with yesterday's windy conditions, caused at least three dozen cars to wreck yesterday.

"Also, the timing is bad because a lot of those farm fields are bare. The soil is so dry, it's like powder. Basically what you have is a whole bunch of topsoil waiting for the wind to blow it away. It's no different from the 1930s than it is now."

Steve Austin, a Kay County commissioner, said visibility was terrible.

"It looked like a huge fog was over the city of Ponca City," he said. "We've had dust storms before, but I don't remember anything of this magnitude in years."......Yahoo News

Cloud of dust in 1930's.

 

The Message On The T-Shirt

Young Cooper Barton wore his favorite Michigan "Big House Stadium" shirt to kindergarten in Oklahoma the other day, and his teacher made him wear it inside out! It seems that the only state in Oklahoma public schools that can be advertised on a shirt is Oklahoma! If I were the teacher, I prolly would have been too busy teaching class to notice the infraction! Kindergarten may also be a little young to start teaching children how to be biased.

 

In Case Ya Didn't Go To Church Today

The Midwest experienced tremors this weekend; the epicenters were about forty or fifty miles east of Oklahoma City. Nothing terribly serious, mostly 4.2 to 4.7, with a bigger quake registering at 5.6. The 5.6 quake was felt all the way up here, in Northeast Kansas. A few people in this area are unaware, for some outrageous reason, that they live near the New Madrid faultline.  There are also several smaller faultlines that affect this part of Kansas. Everyone who lives here should be more aware of this, and when I initially moved to Kansas, I was much more concerned about tremors than I ever was about tornados. But that's just me, I guess. All of yesterday's tremors were mild, as tremors go, and did nothing more that shake a few pictures, move the furniture a little bit, and create some windchime music. But some people, ahem, think that earthquakes are a sign of "god's" wrath..............(were's the eye-rolley when I need it?)

I knew there was an earthquake when I felt the Earth moving in what felt like a dance. I could hear her Voice, in a whispering, medium-pitched, almost happy growl. For reasons I cannot place, I was happy, listening to Her. She felt alive to me, in that instant, and I enjoyed the interaction with Her. I also knew that the epicenter, wherever it was, was at least three or four hundred miles away from the place my feet were dancing with Her. And I knew, this time, that She was only dancing.......I have not seen any reports of deaths or injuries, so I will not blame myself for the moment of inexplicable joy I felt.

If you missed church today, I really don't think you missed anything. If we paid more attention to the Earth, and less attention to hypocrites and liars, perhaps we could be more prepared for the way Earth moves, instead of ASSUMING that everything will always meet our sillyassed expectations. Perhaps. But....if you missed church and want to see some sillyassed Christian leaders, here ya go!

                                            

The Price Of Child Abuse

On January 20, 2009, a little girl in Oklahoma, Naomi Whitecrow, died of injuries consistant with child abuse. The person found responsible, Amy Holder, was found guilty in court and....dig this......fined $5,000 for it. That's amazing.......for a mere $5,000, one can buy the right to murder a child in Oklahoma. One other amazing thing, that is very telling of even bigger problems in Oklahoma, is this article, from KFOR-TV, describing some of the outcry for this. Not once, in several paragraphs, does the aricle state that Naomi was in foster care. Yes indeed.......a FOSTER PARENT, righteously chosen by Big Brother, murdered a small child. But why would KFOR-TV ignore this fact in reporting? It seems rather pertinent to this blogger. Anyone remember Adam Herrman, just a few miles north, in Kansas?

Is Oklahoma protecting child "protective" services, or is there are there people who just don't matter as much in the Midwest as others? I, for one, would be interested in an honest answer.

Update On Shaun Bosse

Update: they caught Shaun Bosse's sorry ass. He was hiding in some tall weeds beside a pond near where he grew up. He dumped the police car he stole in Blanchard, and a witness, who was LISTENED TO by police was able to tell police which way he took off. They flew a helicopter to the spot and found him. Of course, they are running an investigation concerning how, on earth, an inmate could overpower not one, but two deputies. Maybe weight training, boxing, and yoga will become part of a maintenance program for cops in Oklahoma, who knows?

Tornados In Oklahoma

At least six are dead now, because of the storm damage in Oklahoma as I type this, and many more are missing. Several tornadoes just ripped through several eastern counties there. Here's a link:   I am sure there will be more information tommorrow.

This is what the sky looked like as the storm moved in:

It's enough to give one a whole new respect for Mother Nature.