Going Against the Pope

Maureen Dowd had an intersting Op-Ed article on NYTimes today about how the Catholic church is seemingly falling apart under this abuse scandal and what should be happening as a result. I believe that the priest who have been abusing kids should be punished under the fullest extent of the law, but at the same time, you shouldn't punish the Pope. He is a head of state, and loved my probably billions at this point, and charging him with a crime he has a vague connection to is wrong.

Suicide in Mass Leads to Outrage

The New York Times wrote this interesting, yet at the same time, frightening, article about a girls suicide in a Massachusetts High School. Phoebe Prince, a Irish immigrant was bullied so harshly, she committed suicide, and this has led to a charges against 9 students and an investigation into bullying around the state.

It's terrible how people can bully an innocent girl so much and cause he to kill herself, and I think its about time that those who have caused so much psychological harm towards the girl should get punished. At the same time, I also don't think the programs to combat bullying should stay in the Bay State. Every state could use a program to combat bullying, to prevent something like this. And while I think bullying lessens the older you get, the girl herself was 15, prime age for when the bullying occurs. Lets just hope this is seen as one of the last suicides over bullying and people finally start to fix the problem.

Sikh in the Army

I found this on NYTimes.com and I was glad i did. The article is about the first Sikh man ever to complete Army basic training with out losing his faith. I really think this is a great example of how Church Vs State can be accommodated in certain situations, especially something like serving your country. Hopefully we will continue to see this happen more and more often and not exclude so many.

Mental Health Break....Supersize!

Funny Funny Funny. Just as bad as the Knicks are at basketball.

Catholics Take A Hit

It seems the Pope has failed in containing the Irish Sex Scandal. Reported on by MSNBC earlier today, it seems that the Catholic church had in fact known about the Catholic abuse scandals for a long time, yet failed to do anything about it. And to make matters worse, this happens while people are accusing the Pope, who ran the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, of alerting the public even less about potential child molesters in their local clergy. I just hope the Catholic church can step up and fix this problem as quick as possible before they take even more blows that they can't recover from. Otherwise, not just the Catholic Faith, but the rest of christianity will suffer in the process.

BFD!!!!

Yes America, this is a Big F***** Deal. While i know its wrong to swear on camera, the fact that healthcare passed is just amazing, and when the conservative wing just jumps on this as proof that Obamacare is wrong, their really just digging themselves a bigger hole. I just hope a republican slips up soon and instead of blowing it out of proportion, the Dems ignore it, and shut out the highly negative aspects of the GOP.

Teabaggers and their Slurs

Once again, the fringe of the republican party strikes a blow that hurts their party as a whole. How can you take a political party seriously when they resort to slurs to protest healthcare. I can only hope they get their act together and just ignore the teabaggers, because while i am not a republican, i would hate to see the democrats run the show entirely either.

Mental Health Break....Released!

A New Textbook in Texas

The New York Times had this quite frightening article that essentially will be mixing facts and opinions into school systems in Texas. According to the article, the changes will include,

"Stressing the superiority of American capitalism, questioning the Founding Fathers’ commitment to a purely secular government and presenting Republican political philosophies in a more positive light."

I really cannot see anything positive about this. Teaching kids essentially skewed facts is just so wrong. Not only are you pushing an agenda in school, your requiring kids to accept your version to pass. And even according to this article, also on NYTimes.com, there deciding not to focus on Ted Kennedy, a pivotal figure in American politics, and have more focus on an organization such as the NRA. There even trying to push religion as a major part of the education. I just hope someone finally speaks out against this, or lord knows it will happen elsewhere.

Sen. Alexander on Obama

No no no no no. Saying Obama's push for some kind of healthcare legislation is in the same league of Watergate is just silly. Sen. Alexander is blatantly saying they will try to block any kind of changes the House wants to make to the bill, which i think people just find down right wrong, and try to make Obama and the Democrats seem like the bad guys. It just amazes me that people like him are still elected.

A New Public Option

Matthew Yglesias had this really great article about a new version of the Public Option introduced by Rep. Alan Grayson. Essentially, the key is that it pays for itself, no need for tax dollars to fund it. Will congress except this, probably not, but its still a great idea that should be considered. If people actually find this as a viable idea, and congress still passes by it, people are seriously going to start getting angry about the lack of doing in congress.

Oh Boy...I got this article of of Andrew Sullivans The Daily Dish and i must say, this is scary. What she is praying for is downright censorship of the media, something guaranteed by our constitution to never happen. I mean does she really understand what she is saying at all? The "Christian Broadcasting Corporation"? Its saddening to think that people agreed with her as well.

Mental Health Break....Assault

Compliments from over the lake.

Democratization of Finding God

Ross Douthat, a NYTimes Op-Ed columnist, had a great article whether the mysticism has gone mass-market and against what it should be, or that religion in general has just evolved. And while he plays both sides of the argument well, when he says

"By making mysticism more democratic, we’ve also made it more bourgeois, more comfortable, and more dilettantish"

He seems to be throwing the ball towards the other side, which I completely agree. Religion is really not meant to be something you insert into your life when its convenient, and if thats a problem, you accommodate. Anything else would just distance yourself from the true meaning of the religion, no matter which one it is.

Mental Health Break...GO!!!!

Rick Reilly's great article. Read an enjoy.

Time.com had this really great article on a surge in the studying of religion on state-affiliated campuses. I think this is exactly the thing needed to not only revitalize interest in religion, but to also keep it from tearing itself apart. With more people having a religious base background, it seems there less likely to preach the wrong message, or even create their own version of church doctrine.

The C Street Center

The NYTimes website had this really interesting Op-Ed article about the C Street Center. For those that don't know, this place is inhabited by conservative christian politicians. What is wrong with this picture is that it counts as church, and has extremely large tax breaks. While other problems surround this place, what i view as wrong, and according the article, many other church officials do as well, is that it continues to receive tax breaks when its in fact not a church. In general, tax breaks for religious establishments is wrong. Its essentially setting up a way for anyone to just claim there business or operation as a religious establishment and receive cheap tax breaks. Hopefully, the C Street Center will be made an example of, and along with them, anyone who fakes to receive the breaks.