I have just launched a Go Fund Me, and put a link to it in the menu bar here above.
This one:
At the risk of engaging in TMI:
About two years ago, I cashed in all my life insurance policies, and I’ve been living on those proceeds ever since. They are now exhausted … and I am going to need support beginning in the next few days.
A new thread at Messiah Truth.
This is most emphatically not Jewish teaching. I expect it correctly to be condemned as not-Jewish. I also expect it to be condemned, correctly or not, as just plain wrong.
The point is to facilitate understanding of what motivates belief in the Christian myth.
Sunday was Palm Sunday. The appointed “Gospel” text this year was Luke 22:14-23:56, which covers from the beginning of the Last Supper up to Jesus’ burial.
The pastor normally reads the “Gospel” lesson. Pastor’s voice quavered throughout this reading, which I found hard to figure since his beliefs are similar enough to mine. We waded through all the problems in the text, e.g. the impossible trial at the High Priest’s house on Pesach. But I also got re-acquainted with why Christians believe so fervently in this text.
Several posts are in the pipeline, and will appear on their scheduled dates.
Otherwise, however, I must suspend all Net activity, including this blog, until I’ve obtained transitional housing.
I will continue to try to check my e-mail daily. And moderate any comments here. And there’s a contact form on the “My Resume” page.
In the meantime, here are a couple categories folks might like to explore:
Until we meet again …
WT
An orthodoxy is a system of ideas that adherents insist one must accept without question. In other words, a set of dogmas.
Every media outlet has one. It may be implied or explicit; flexible or rigid; narrow or broad; but it’s there. It defines what ideas that media outlet will allow to be expressed. In publishing media, it determines what will and won’t get published.
An obstacle facing me in my hopes of getting published, is that I seem somehow always to run afoul of a given media outlet’s orthodoxy.
When I hang out at Dunkin’ Donuts in the morning, I have a prescribed spot, in a corner, by the door.
This morning this woman came in scowling. She was deeply resentful about something. Once she got her order and began to head out, it became clear that the something had changed. Whatever she’d been resentful about before was no matter; what she resented now was my skin color.
Transference is the removal of emotions, normally negative, from connection with one idea or situation, and attaching the same to a different idea or situation. This incident this morning was an epiphany for me of how easily it happens, and how evil it can be.
It’s common for allies to tell people of color, “I don’t see race.” Despite possibly good intentions, this denies the unique experiences of people with racial differences and important aspects of their identities. ***
Instead of ignoring race completely, you can say something like, “I wish race didn’t have an impact on the way people are treated.” This acknowledges that racial differences do exist and affect how people navigate the world, while still expressing your belief that everyone should be treated the same.
It’s one thing to admit that the color line has not vanished from society. It is another thing to insist that it never can; in fact, that it cannot be allowed to. It is yet another thing to deny the extent to which it has vanished, for some people.
The late Brian Williard quizzed me several times as to the racial makeup of my congregation. I couldn’t give him an answer. I honestly can’t answer the same question now.
If you were to ask me to name several white members of my congregation, or several black members, I wouldn’t be able to answer right away. I’d have to sit down and think about it.
If race is the first thing you notice about a person, that’s on you, not me.
And I feel sorry for you.
Reblogged 2023-06-08.
I have no issues with abortion.
I do have issues with those who murder babies.
The Homeless Blogger 