On Christian Compassion

You know, I was going to try to keep this to homemaking topics this time around. But these problems keep coming up.

So over in Rhode Island a young woman name of Jessica Ahlquist won a court battle against her high school to have an unconstitutional prayer banner removed from her high school. Yes, folks, a public school cannot promote any given religion over any other given religion. Think of howpissed you would if that banner had been written in Arabic.

Now they didn't say destroy the banner, they didn't day shutter every church in town, they didn't say no more Christians allowed EVAR!!! They said take the banner down. It could easily be displayed somewhere else. I remember when a similar kerfuffle came up about the Nativity scene on display in my home town. It was unconstitutional to display it in front of city hall, so they donated it to the museum who displayed it on their lawn right across the street. Problem solved. So all they have to do is move the banner to, say, a display of town historical objects in the library or something and there you go.

But it has given the local Christians a chance to show off their compassion. These were some of the comments she's received. (Per Freethought blogs)

“May that little, evil athiest teenage girl and that judge BURN IN HELL!”

“yeah, well i want the immediate removal of all atheists from the school, how about that?”

“Jessica Ahlquist may have won her case, but she’s going straight to hell. #Godovereverything”

“I hope there’s lots of banners in hell when your rotting in there you atheist fuck #TeamJesus”

“If this banner comes down, hell i hope the school burns down with it!”

“U little brainless idiot, hope u will be punished, you have not win sh..t! Stupid little brainless skunk!”

“Fuck Jessica alquist I’ll drop anchor on her face”

“definetly laying it down on this athiest tommorow anyone else?”

“Nothing bad better happen tomorrow #justsaying #fridaythe13th”

“Let’s all jump that girl who did the banner #fuckthatho”

“literally that bitch is insane. and the best part is she already transferred schools because shes knows someone will jump her #ahaha”

“”But for real somebody should jump this girl” lmao let’s do it!”

“Hmm jess is in my bio class, she’s gonna get some shit thrown at her”

“I want to punch the girl in the face that made west take down the school prayer… #Honestly”

“hail Mary full of grace @jessicaahlquist is gonna get punched in the face”

“When I take over the world I’m going to do a holocaust to all the atheists”

“gods going to fuck your ass with that banner you scumbag”

“I found it, what a little bitch lol I wanna snuff her”

“if I wasn’t 18 and wouldn’t go to jail I’d beat the shit out of her idk how she got away with not getting beat up yet”

“lol I wanna stick that bitch lol”

“nail her to a cross”

“We can make so many jokes about this dumb bitch, but who cares #thatbitchisgointohell and Satan is gonna rape her.”

You can find the actual screen shots here. I don't believe they shared where someone posted her home address, the better to encourage a good beating and rape of a 16 year old girl to teach her a lesson about the true message of Jesus.

But when someone says they're really tired of hearing about Tebow they "hate Christians".

Edited to add: Oh wait, there's more.

What I did last summer, part 1

Last summer I did something I always wanted to try.

I turned this:

Into this:

Yep, 18 jars of peach jam. Not the best jam, the peaches weren't as ripe as they could have been. But still, homemade peach jam.

Sorry about the overexposure, but this one really catches the color:

Yes, it was as hot and sweaty and miserable as our foremothers used to say, and I finished them just in time to cur carbs and stop having toast at breakfast, but it was worth it. If I ever get the front burner fixed so I can process more than two jars at a time I plan to make apple butter, strawberry jam and tomato sauce in the future.

Yes, I am proud of myself.

New sewing room

Image stolen from Su Loves Sew. I lust too.

So the husband and I recently switched personal rooms. This means that I have the smaller of the two spare bedrooms as a sewing room now, which is just the right fit, while he gets to share office/den space with the exercise bike, treadmill, and litter box. Given that we had also cleaned out the garage we managed to get the 6 spare chairs that were being stored in there out as well, and he is currently using the old TV stand as a side table.

Please note the lack of complaints about the smaller space on my end.

I rather wish my room looked as Easter egg pretty as the ones up there. I can't paint, of course, and at the moment I'm working with thrift shop findings for furniture, but it's highly functional and tidy. I'm hoping this will be the year that I get a real desk and real sewing table and perhaps real armoire to store fabric. And hopefully this week-end I'll make up a valance, which ought to help.

Consider this a work in progress.

Before:

During:

Everything out in the living room.

Everything back in and being unpacked

And the current state of "done".

Hopefully better pictures to come. And maybe even some finished projects, stay tuned.

A restart for 2012

So, a restart for 2012. And why not.

Resolutions for this year:

1) To read one book of the Barnes & Noble Classics list every month.

2) To finish the Aubrey & Maturin series.

3) To knit one sock per week until I have completed seven pairs

4) To finish a sweater

5) To finish a lace scarf, three kerchiefs, new mittens, a balaclava for the husband, all technically small projects

6) To finish the Grandmother shawl and a Catkin

7) To finish three cross-stitch pieces

8) To stay on a house cleaning schedule

9) To get to the gym twice a week

10) To write 1,500 words/day at least 5 days a week

I know, good luck to me. But it's the first of the year and one has to start out with a good intent.

A humorous reply to a manefesto on pants

I have to reply to Simcha Fischer's "Pants: A Manifesto". Because it's not about morality at all. Really.

1) I live in the Pacific Northwest where anything made of cloth that comes within an inch of the ground turns into a dishcloth 80% of the year. A skirt and decent boots keeps things dry. Skirts.

2) My husband also finds pants neutral, while skirts on women affect him. However, thanks to the hormones I'm taking it's always the good time in the cycle around here. Skirts.

3) I don't have children, however I used to teach elementary school so I know from kids and floors. But I also spent 12 years in a Catholic schoolgirls uniform, where I did everything in a skirt. For me sitting on a floor in a skirt is far more comfortable, modest and natural than trying to get up and down in pants. Skirts.

4) I think most people consider teaching to be a pink collar job. That said, after my Catholic school training I had no problem lunging after little Johnny in a skirt, and never once thought about being graceful or modest. In fact, given that my body shape is the exact opposite of the average American woman, which means that even pants that fit are never cut right, lunging is harder for me in pants. If they aren't heading south they're threatening to split. Skirts

5) My life doesn't have to be hard either. Pants chafe. Skirts

6) My husband also hates shopping, combines with the above comment that most clothing isn't cut right for me. So rather than even bothering to try this utterly, faintingly, femininely "drooling idiot" sews her own. And a crotch seam is a bitch. Skirts.

7) My husband has the same vision problem, he can't see an item until it's on. And he does admire the look of a skirt on a woman. Skirts

8) I agree that it's all about control from the various church types. Which is why I'm doing exactly what I want to do, and if it happens to also be what they want, its a coincidence. Skirts.

9) I agree, anyone who worries about what I think about myself ought to ask me. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by my self-esteem and personal strength. I'll also happily tell you that I think that has a lot more to do with the medication I'm taking than the cloth hanging off my ass. And then I'll tell you what I think about you. Skirts.

10) I agree, fat butts look horrible in too small stretch pants. And I admittedly have a fat butt, so I prefer to dress it in a skirt. That said, you, you hypothetical patriocentric religious type, are still an asshole. Skirts.

Women if you want to wear pants, if they make you comfortable and you think you look good, then I think you ought to go right ahead and wear pants. I even envy you the cool, comfortable, American Country Casual look in jeans, I wish I could pull off the look.

But it's not a moral issue. At all. I utterly agree on that.

Even if you wear skirts.

Be comfortable. Enjoy your life.

But I know he's a Christian, and that's all that matters right now...

see more funny facebook stuff!

And also this one. Which comes with a language warning. Because even the most Christian of virgins will use the F-word, a lot.

Bravo

Yes, it is a joke. If you believe it then you have been had. But don't take the word of the people at Snopes, which some of you won't given that you believe they are part of the vast liberal conspiracy or some such nonsense. Instead I give you the words of my favorite translator:

This is awesome! Not only did they misspell things in their Arabic, they wrote it backwards. To top it off, that little bit under "Kenya" actually means nothing if you're trying to read it from right to left, but if you read it backwards, like the rest of it, it says, by letter, ha, ah, wa, ah, ee.. Or in words, Hawaii!

Hawaii, which has been a state since 1959. In other words, one of the United States of America.

Now do get over yourselves.

For Jane

Yea, this makes my point nicely. Thanks, but no thanks.

The Knitting Olymics 2010

I did not earn gold.

I was going to knit a pair of child's sized socks for the daughter of my high school roommate who is working on baby #2. (The roommate is working on the baby. The socks were for the soon to be big sister) However the day of the opening ceremonies, before I could even cast on I found out that friend #1 was moving two states away, and had less than a week to completely sort down a 2 bedroom house into a 1 bedroom apartment and pack it in a U-Haul AND my mother is moving back home to live near my older foster sister because I refuse to play along with her bullying games anymore AND another friend has to start chemotherapy AND I finally got on the right meds. So while we got one friend moved, got mother's garage cleaned out, a hat finished and dealt with my first cycle in a year, I never did even start the socks.

I like to think I at least got bronze for surviving it all.

Another break for current events

The study they are discussing starts here

Which reflects something I've been saying for a long time. If God is responsible for everything, if you never get credit for doing good, if in fact you get credit for doing bad and then applying to him for forgiveness, which is always granted, then why do good at all? Why be moral? Why?

Either God is a right bastard, or else this whole system was invented by people who not only wanted to get away with whatever they wanted to get away with. Not only that, but they wanted people to support it and even play along. They wanted the power, sometimes to get others to do something good, mostly to get others to do something bad.

That the business of religion continues to this day, even though we as a culture have grown more moral than the dogma can be explained in one phrase: "Touch not mine annointed." Really, if you had that much power, would you let the business go? Heck, the tax breaks alone are worth trying to flimflam as many people as possible.

I will finish my deconversion series, there are two more parts, but life is busy here this week-end so please be patient.