As close as I get to religion most days

Orison

Bright Lady, hear me
fill me with Your love
banish the chill from my soul
Bless me with the warmth of Your embrace
Mother, I have need of Your bounty
Grandmother, grant me Your wisdom
Maiden, impart t0 me Your courage
Sweet Goddess, heed my pleas
lend Your ears to my prayer
Your child wails in darkness
Grant me the light of Your presence.

naming God (as an accomplice)

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a problem with religion. It's not that I don't believe in God or that I hate all religious stuff. I just don't like the way most religious groups preach one thing and do another. Like tolerance. Saying "love thy neighbor" doesn't mean a whole lot when you are bad mouthing the neighbor because they aren't "real" christians.
Part of my problem is that I just have no appreciation for fanaticism. Whether it's of the tight-lipped, judgemental kind or the wild-haired, eye-rolling martyr type, I pretty much lose interest about the point some yahoo tells me they heard it straight from God's mouth. Somehow I have a hard time believing God is all that interested in talking to some freeze-dried whackaloon.
Reading the news this morning, I ran across this article. Basically, this little 11 year old girl in Wisconsin died because her parents believed it was better to pray over her than take her to a doctor. She had a treatable form of diabetes, which apparently went undiagnosed. Even though she had been showing signs of serious illness for over a month according to family and friends, her parents thought they should just hold fast in their faith and everything would be okay. I read the article and even watched the video. During the video, pieces of two 911 calls are played. The one from the aunt was awful. The aunt seemed sure the mother would fight EMS over taking the daughter to the hospital. Then I read this article, which was an interview with some so-called man of God about his interaction with the family. He had apparently spoken to the parents as they rode behind the ambulance transporting their comatose daughter. I'll just paste the bit that pissed me off:

In the call Sunday, "they told me that she had stopped breathing and asked if I would pray that The Lord would spare her and raise her up, which I did," he wrote. "I called on our prayer ministers and elders to pray for her too. "The next thing I heard from them was that they were being investigated,which is sad since they don't investigate the people who put their trust in doctors whose family members die by the hundreds of thousands from medical mistakes every year, according the AMA's own admission. "We know that the doctors do the best they can with what they have and we do not condemn them. We would like the same consideration."

Umm, excuse me?? This moron is comparing his mouthing of pleas and platitudes with the work of a doctor who knows how to treat the disease the girl had. How on earth these dummies think their prayers are on the same level as actual treatment just floors me. Sorry, prayers and faith are great but THEY ARE NOT AN ACCEPTABLE SUBSTITUTE FOR REAL MEDICAL INTERVENTION! Pray all you want while the doctors are giving your kid medicine. Just don't leave out the part where you take the kid to the doctor. As far as I'm concerned the parents are guilty of criminal negligence, that freak preacher is guilty of encouraging (or demanding, depending on his preaching) same and now the adults who should have been taking care of this kid are trying to blame God. That's right, I said blame. None of them are taking responsibility. None of them are saying "Yes, I decided not to take Madeline to the doctor when she got sick. I decided she didn't need medicine, just prayer. I denied Madeline medical care and she died because I decided to pray instead of use my God-given common sense." Not one of these adults has stepped forward and admitted their decisions were this little girl's primary cause of death. Nope, instead they are all saying "We prayed for her" "We did the best we could do" "We stayed fast in prayer" "Our lives are in God's hands" . So, in other words, they are saying it isn't their fault this little girl died from a treatable condition (diabetes), she died because God wanted her to. Somehow, I have a problem believing that. God gave us brains and brains are for thinking, not filling up the space inside your skull to keep down the echoes. As far as the last sentence in the preacher's statement, about receiving the same consideration as doctors, I call BULLSHIT! He doesn't deserve any consideration, he deserves at the least a foot in the ass. He and the parents did not do the best they could, they didn't do anything (the parents weren't even the ones who called 911). Why should they receive any consideration, why does he think that his efforts were on par with what a doctor could have done? A doctor could have actually treated Madeline for diabetes. Instead, Madeline dies at the ripe old age of 11 and her parents and preacher pat themselves on the back for keeping the faith. That's not a miscarriage of justice, that's an abortion of truth. How much you wanna bet her parents are pro-lifers committed to saving unborn children? Too bad Madeline was already past the fetal stage.

Does the first post of the year set the tone?

In my case, probably not. Unless you count random thoughts and silliness. Anyway, I'm semi-recovered from the holidays. Now if Boss Lady will just stay in town and come in to the store occasionally, I'd be just fine.
Since I haven't posted in 2 weeks, I've got all sorts of stuff whirling around in my head. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a way to work everything in under a single topic. Owls, T, presents, barbarians, and theft. Just for starters. Nope, I just can't see a way to do it. So, before somebody starts making wild stories up to cover all those, I'll go ahead and throw it at ya.

Theft isn't usually amusing, especially to someone in retail. We really, really hate shoplifters. And of course, the holidays are wonderful opportunities for the sticky-fingered. Boss Lady was pissed, steam coming out of her ears, when she realized someone had stolen a couple of hardback books the Saturday before New Year's. I just tried very hard not to laugh, since I didn't want Boss Lady to go off on me. But really, it struck me as funny. This woman stole Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Commentary and Halley's Bible Handbook. Somehow, I don't think reading religious material you stole will win you any points with Jeebus. "For it is written, vengeance is mine; I will repay saith the Lord." Hey, is that ozone I smell? Just kidding!

Presents are good. I love getting presents. My Christmas present from T came in early and since he's the impatient type, I got it a few days before Christmas. Which left me without a Christmas present to open on Christmas Eve. T decided that needed to be fixed, so this is what I found when I came home from work Dec. 24th: Note to self: Don't let T play with the camera anymore.

Owls. Now where was I going with owls? Oh yeah, the owl incident. If you look back a bit, you'll see pics from my ride to work. Obviously, I'm out in the boonies. Coming home after dark on these back roads is always great fun. Deer, raccoons, opossums, rabbits and the other night an owl. It was late, I was going slow (for me anyway) and got the hell scared outta me. I came around a sharp curve, headed across a little bridge and thought a deer was about to run out of the bushes. Instead a HUGE frickin' owl swoops out of the trees on one side, down into the middle of the road and back up into the trees on the other side. My first thought: Oh shit, brakes!!! My second thought: What was THAT? A fucking pterodactyl? Boys and girls, real owls do not look like Big Mama from The Fox & The Hound! So, lesson learned, no more doing 75 m.p.h. at night on curvy little country roads.

Lastly, barbarians. I took the local members of the Horde their presents the day after Christmas. Everybody liked their books, even the mini-barbarian. Of course, little Genghis used his books to beat on the floor, his sister's head and any other handy surface. But, hey, what's a holiday without a minor concussion for your nearest and dearest? I wouldn't know how to handle it if we didn't have to take someone to the doctor every year.

That's little Genghis. Cute little monster, but of course I could be a wee bit biased. The arm belongs to his older brother, Porkchop. (And yeah, that's my voice, are ya happy now? You know who you are!) This vid may not stay up long, if I can figure out how to move the other one from the camera to the computer I intend to replace it. Enjoy it while it lasts.

OK, enough for me now. I'm tired and I have 5 more very long days to get through before Boss Lady gets back to town.

update - One would have been enough

There wasn't supposed to be any speculating. Apparently, there was no need to speculate:
More on the rubber suit wearing Baptist preacher from Alabama
This is supposed to be the unsanitized version of the medical examiner's report.

One would have been enough

Alabama, Baptist preacher, rubber, bondage
but no speculating!

I tried, but...

I've been more scatter-brained than usual this week, so random thoughts it is.

Crime and Punishment:
I have very mixed feelings about capital punishment and the prison system. On the one hand, I think anyone who has been proven,without a doubt, to commit a crime should be punished. Crimes like premeditated murder, child molestation, and rape should be punishable by death, at the least. On the other hand, I don't automatically believe everyone who has been convicted of a crime is a waste of skin, scum of the earth, etc. I knew the author of this story very well, and I considered him to be extremely intelligent, generous and compassionate. He was also a stubborn, arrogant SOB. People commit crimes for a wide variety of reasons, so maybe we should all be a little less inclined to judge people on their pasts.

Religion:
I had another one of those "Yikes!" moments today. This one occurred when a customer invited me to "meet with a cell of like-minded individuals" at a local church. The phrase "cell of like-minded individuals" made me think of Klan meetings and milita groups. Since I seriously doubt the man has any idea what my beliefs actually are (I don't discuss my religious beliefs at work, since I mostly like my job), I just thanked him for the invitation, and redirected the conversation.

Politics:
Wouldn't you just know it? I got home one day last week, and I was really looking forward to a hot shower. I mean, really looking forward to it. So much so that there was a trail of clothes from the front door to the bathroom. Just as I found a clip to pin my hair up, somebody knocks on the door. By the time I threw on shorts and shirt and opened the door, the knocker had gone. But he left me a political flyer stuck on my door. Right under the "No Soliciting" sign. I guess everyone around here thinks the word soliciting only has to do with prostitution. Even if that were true, it would still apply in this case, since in my opinion, all politicians are whores anyway.

Sex:
I don't understand why people get so uptight about sex. It's the most enjoyable, and funniest, thing a person can do to or with another (or more, whatever rings your bell). That doesn't apply to non-consensual sex or child molestation, which are sick. But between consenting adults, of whatever gender and number, well, have a ball (or two)! Too many people worry way too damn much about others' sex lives. I pretty much don't care, if I am not the person sleeping with you, then it's none of my business. So, I would appreciate the same courtesy in return. Unless I'm among friends, and then, it depends on just how close we are. Feel free to tell me a raunchy joke or two, I love 'em!

There, I think I've hit most of the taboo subjects. Don't take it so serious, I don't.

funny, in a creepy sort of way

One of the regular customers at the store rushed in today, a little agitated, and talked to the owner. Since I was standing there, I got to hear the following conversation:

Bluehair Zealot: I came to tell you, you have to take all
of Grisham's stuff off the shelves! Right now!!

Boss Lady: Why?

Bluehair Zealot: Because I heard he had a fundraiser. And

it was for Hilary Clinton! So you have to get rid of his stuff!

Come on, I'll even help you! You just can't sell books by someone who supports Hilary Clinton!!!

Boss Lady managed to steer the bluehair into talking about where Hilary and Grisham are from, and then distracted her by showing her the new arrivals in christian fiction. At first, I was sort of amused, but thinking about it later, the incident gave me the willies. Banning a book because the author supposedly hosted a fundraiser for a political idiot? (I didn't bother to find out if he did or not, I couldn't care less.) That mentality scares me, and reminds me of the reason religious fanatics should be avoided.