Some Christian Wants Jesus To Dismantle This Blog

"Why are the posters here not asking Juli the real question... Juli, what is your religion and who do you worship? (Just check out her profile). Posters, why are you arguing with the enemy? Exercise your authority! I just prayed to Jesus Christ for Juli to know Him as Rescuer and Lord and if she rebelliously refuses for Him to dismantle her blog! btw & fyi... I stumbled on to this blog looking for more info on the man in the spotlight as he was in our church recently and we are proactively taking the steps to protect our children, in addition to the background checks and interviews that are already administered diligently and liberally. "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea. Jesus Christ from Mark 9:42"

 

This was sent to me from someone who read this post, about a man named Hugh Cranford, who used to be a vicar at a Lutheran Church in Topeka, Kansas, but who is now charged with sexual crimes against children. While I laud this reader's efforts to protect children, I am a bit puzzled that I am somehow labeled "the enemy" in the reader's comment! What did I do??? I thought Hugh Cranford, the Christian minister who likes little boys, was the enemy here, not yours truly!

 

Let me take this statement by statement, if I may: I am NOT the "enemy". I never was; I never will be. What "authority" should the good Christians exercise? I merely offered a commentary on the behaviors of certain Christian leaders, (this seems to happen more and more often in church) from the perspective of someone who is not a Christian. What, pray tell, is the problem here? Jesus Christ did not "rescue" me at any time during my life when I needed to make unusaul choices, and if he exists, he left me to my own devices many times and insisted that I learn to defend myself and make my own choices. Why would "Jesus" suddenly "rescue" me now, and from whom?

 

As for "rebellious"........you don't know the half of it, reader. But then, Jesus, if he existed, was rather rebellious, wasn't he? Just ask the mainstream Jews of his time! I come from a long line of revolutionary thinkers, and none of us are about to stop now. But seriously, is alerting the community about a dangerous Christian pastor really that revolutionary or rebellious? As soon as the vicar is convicted, the "rebellious" sex offender registry will do the same!

 

If Jesus is real, he will not dismantle my blog, or anyone else's blog. In this country, we have what is called "freedom of speech", which is covered by the first amendment of our country's Constitution. I can look at stuff in the news and blog about it, if I so choose. I also do not have to represent your viewpoint, or anyone else's. This goes to the heart of the reason I will never convert to a religion like Christianity. The Christian church, as a whole, thrives on conformity, and members who are good at pleasing their leaders. That is one of the reasons that people like Hugh Cranford are able to get away with sexual abuses of children. Anyone who blows the whistle on a pastor is held in contempt by the sheeple of the temple, and anyone who cannot blend in with the masses is often targeted for abuse and hate. Did you not just prove that by sending me such a mean spirited comment?

 

I am myself. I will always be myself. Jesus would certainly never ask me to stop being who I am. In fact, he would hate it if I stopped being who I am. I am a good person, and would have to drop at least sixty IQ points in order to attend a Christian church happily, and no diety with whom I have ever worked would ever ask me to do a thing like that. No one asks me about my religion, or who I "worship", because it is not relevant to the post you read. In fact, those things are not relevant to most of the things I write. They would only be relevant to someone looking for a reason to hate me, encourage others to hate me, and possibly burn me at the stake.

 

By the way, I have never encountered a diety who desires "worship". Such an action is counterproductive to healthy relationships.

 

 

Very Silly Backlash

This last couple of weeks on this blog has certainly been interesting. Usually, when people just disagree with me, all they do is disagree. It's no big deal........I like Chevrolet, someone else, usually not someone I consider terribly smart, likes Ford. Or I like cinnamon basil tea, someone else I know and love enjoys diet Mountain Dew. Or.......I think the Drake Equation does not take time into account in a way that could make it valid, some eccentric out there probably does. We may debate and discuss, but still walk away as friends. Perhaps I demand more proof of a religion's authenticity before I consider buying into it's ideals and philosphies; the most intelligent and educated followers of any religion will always respect me for that, and never have a problem with my introspection and demand for proof. And then, if I can see that the ideals are valid, I still have the respect of the wise and brilliant when I back away and say, "this won't work out for me". Not so much the average and brainwashed; they have a tendency to love having everyone agree and run right over a cliff with them, like lemmings. I guess if evolution is using peer pressure to eventually weed out stupid people, since so many of them seem to have been born in the midwest, I will not argue with it. But gee.........can we drink a little less koolaide when it comes to child safety?

When I first started this blog, I had gotton involved in some volunteer efforts on behalf of a couple of missing children. Then someone told me about a missing child named Kyron Horman, who went missing from his school. No one thought anything like that would ever happen in their community or in their school, but it did. You see, this is the stuff that people who write arguementative comments disagree with me about......child safety! Many of the people who want to fight with me or prevent child safety measures from taking place in their neighborhoods either have children or are children, yet they are foolish enough to tell me that I am crazy, evil, devil worhipping, wrong, ect. ad infinitum......someone even called me a socialist and a terrorist because I think the school has too many employees who keep their heads in the sand about child safety issues. Wake up, folks! You have no control over who uses the highways around here! Why are you letting teachers drop your kids off by themselves? Or perhaps it's just my kid. Maybe your kids are "specialer" than my kid. Guess what.....some stranger driving by, who may actually BE crazy, evil, or a terrorist isn't gonna care whose kid it is. That person's just gonna see an opportunity. Call me all the names you want, dumbasses; I'm still praying that there will never be a tragedy because of your stupidity.

Some of you, and you know who you are, seem a little upset that I have time for a blog. Waaaaaaa! Suck it up. I've earned every minute. And I also taught two undersocialized six year olds how to talk, something no one else in this goofy little town could do. Was I slacking when I did that? I don't think so. As for the suggestion that I home school my children, whether I do that or not is none of your business. I have every right to send my children to the public school closest to their home, and expect them to get a quality education. When my standards are not met, I have every responsibility to speak up. Even after my children are grown, I am not going to go away. Even if I do move away, I will still not go away. I know enough about your town and the risks you take with your children and mine, and also about other odds and ends many of you do that aren't exactly the acitivities of law abiding folk to fill a book, and I may do that one day. I will not shut up about child safety. You can whine about me behind my back, write nasty, insulting, ANONYMOUS comments until the cows come home if you wish, but I am not going to go away. Any employment or volunteer position I DO take on in the future will be to counteract some of the stupid and destructive things you do here. And........anyone who harasses my children, any of them, will hear from my attorney. If you dislike me, dislike me quietly. Don't take it out on them in school. Or attempt to undermine our family. This "Jesus" you keep preching about out of the other sides of your twisted little mouths doesn't like people who undermine families. He also doesn't like people who thumb their noses at the laws of the land.

Back to agreement and disagreement. This is the only place I have ever lived where it isn't okay to disagree or not conform. Gosh........it isn't even alright to LOOK different around here. None of you act like individuals in any way. My Dad saw this coming, I guess. When I was little, he refused to let me have coloring books, giving me crayons and paper to draw my own pictures, instead. He thought that if I colored within the lines, I would learn conformity. He wouldn't let me play with Barbies, because he thought I would grow up thinking I had to be 5'9", have a disproportionately huge rack, and blond hair. I think he was smarter than anyone else I have met so far. You all should really stop forcing your kids to color within the lines. That's just ridiculus. If I happen to disagree with you, I simply happen to disagree with you. That's all. You don't have to be nasty about it. Now; if you really feel as defensive as so many of you seem to feel, maybe there's a reason for that. Other than the writer of this blog being somehow in the wrong. Maybe I have touched a sensitive nerve, and you guys (you all know who you are, too) should really consider growing up.

School Uniforms In Kansas?

I read a commentary written by Ric Anderson for cjonline about dress code and schools this morning. In it, he ponders, because of gang identities conveyed by fashion choices, if it is time for Kansas to consider uniforms. He also states that anyone who does not think that Topeka has problems with gangs probably still believes in the Tooth Fairy. I should just ignore that, but instead, I am going to state that Topeka, and the rest of Kansas, really don't have problems with gangs, unless one considers the Methodist Church a gang.

For other reasons than gangs, the article seemed to kick up a lot of defensive sounding comments from readers who would not want uniforms as a dress code in their childrens' schools. I remember resisting such things as a kid, but I don't think uniforms really hurt me, or my siblings. In fact, one year, when Dad was in the hospital, toward the end of his life, and my sister needed a uniform to start school, no one had gotton a chance to shop with her, and about a week before the first day of school, all the local stores were out of uniforms and white blouses that went with uniforms in my sister's size. My stepmother begged me to pull out my sewing machine and make her a jumper. I did, thinking it would look horrible, but to my surprise, it looked great, and she was the "belle of the ball" on the first day of school! I don't think any of us missed the teasing and "fashion bullying" that often goes on in schools, either. But people who have never worn uniforms for any reason seem to think that all individaul identity fades away when kids attend schools that have dress codes and uniforms.

No uniform can really rob a person of personal identity, any more than a party dress can give a spoiled brat a personality. What clothing can do is establish professionalism. I take myself seriously, therefore I dress as if I want you to take me seriously, too, when I am at work. Apparel can also convey respect; if I am going to be in your office for some reason, I will dress like I take you and your work seriously, not as if I am on a picnic. Hopefully, you will pick up on the cue and treat me with respect, as well. But a polieman's unform, a soldier's uniform, or a judge's robes do not make any of them alike. Students will not necessarily be turned into conformists, either, if they have dress codes, and (gasp) even other rules...................

People also bellyache about the cost of school uniforms, but how many of you have been shopping for teenage girls lately? I have two teenage girls and one ten year old girl, so I think I am a pretty good authority on the subject of the prices of fashion for school aged girls. I also know that uniforms would be a lot less expensive.

So........as a Kansas parent, I would not mind if schools had stricter dress codes or uniforms. It would not bother me in the slightest if my children were forced to express their individuality by getting the best grades, or creating the best art, producing the best music, or starting up the most needed volunteer efforts while in school, instead of insisting on the latest fashions, which, in my opinion, is just another boring form of lazy conformity.

Oh; here's Ric Anderson's article.