Merit-bound Alley

The Catholic church as finally sent the message that beyond a shadow of a doubt, the faithful must finally take seriously God’s charge to be the stewards of the earth. It would seem that the catalyst for this is the new pope, Darth Benedict, who according to Vatican sources is “is far more engaged in the green debate than John Paul.” The Dread Lord Benedict was heard to say, “If we let global warming destroy the earth, what will I test my Death Star on?” He then cursed the Rebel Alliance and fell down into the reactor core.

All joking aside, I am happy that the church is starting to take it’s responsibility to the welfare of the earth seriously. It will be nice to see them use their lobbying power for a positive goal, rather than it’s medieval distaste for birth control.

Thanks to TPN for the heads-up!

Oh, and Wiccans can now have pentacles on their military graves.

Wicca is a fairly new religion in the grand scheme of things, and centers on a nature-based view of the world. It has gained a pretty large following in it’s 50 or so years, and is pretty fun to practice, if you like chanting and drums.

If you know any Wiccans in the military, congratulate them. It was a hard-won battle for them to get the same respect that is afforded to every other religion in the world (not including wacky cults like the New Heavens Gate and Scientology), and it was a deserved win.

And Bush is a giant asshole.

Liberalgeek over at Delaware Liberal says I’m on the brink of obsolescence. This may be the case, but it is for a couple of good reasons. One, I myself have had a new addition to the family as many of you are aware. Two, the work schedule has kept me too busy or too tired to spend time on the abyss that is American politics. Thirdly, I’m spending some of my free time trying to prepare myself to finally go for a degree.

In the meantime, expect posts to be sporadic and about the events that move me the most. You will not see a continuation of the apparently unceasing coverage of what Mr. A.A.tkins has had for breakfast. You won’t see theories about where the GOP is headed except for one, down the shitter. My mind right now is filled to the brim with family, algebra, and astronomy.

I really am sorry if I’m not covering the things that you folks want to read, as I like having readers to entertain. However, that has never been what MB-A was about. It’s about me learning things and putting my thoughts out there.

Rest assured, I’m not done here. I’m just continuing the slight hiatus that I’ve mentioned in previous posts. When time allows me to prioritize MB-A higher, there will be more posts, when it doesn’t there will be less. That’s just the way it is.

Check back as often as you want, and I’ll post as often as I can. Either that, or you can bitch in the comments here and I’ll give you the finger.

All day yesterday, and likely through the next week or so my mind has been dominated by thoughts of the tragedy occurred at Virginia Tech. I think about the students and faculty that have been wounded and killed, about the families and friends of the victims, and about the killer. It’s completely senseless and horrific, and will remain so even after we get the explanation of how it happened. We’ll never know why, and there will never be a satisfactory explanation of events like this. I think of the terror and loss and I feel hollow. It’s just too much.

A lot of people will turn to god to find comfort, or will explain it away as part of his unknowable plan. To me, this is unhelpful and vaguely insulting. This tragedy happened to people and that is where comfort should be sought. To say that is is part of god’s unknowable plan is to say that it is ultimately good that it happened, and shows an effort to dismiss what happened, rather than come to terms with it.

As an alternative to seeking comfort in prayer, I offer this: instead, hold your wives or husbands, play with your kids, talk to family and friends that can respond, sympathize, and feel. You may find that better comfort can be had in someone right in front of you, who may be sharing you fears and grief.

My thoughts are with the friends and families of the victims. May they find solace and strength in those that are with them.