Please take a moment to visit Tammy’s blog and lend her your support as her grandma passed away today.

Thanks.

It may be old news by now, but I wanted to get this out and see if anyone knows more about it.

The soon to be released movie, “The Golden Compass” has raised the ire of many Christian groups. Despite the impressive star-power and production values this movie boasts, the story behind it seems pretty nefarious. The movie is based on the first book of a trilogy written by secular humanist and staunch atheist Philip Pullman. Pullman’s trilogy, “His Dark Materials”, was written in response (or perhaps retaliation) to C.S. Lewis’ Christian allegory, “The Chronicles of Narnia”. It is Pullman’s attempt to, “kill god in the minds of children”.

Snopes puts it this way in their article on “The Golden Compass”:

Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy of children’s books [is] a series that follows the adventures of a streetwise girl who travels through multiple worlds populated by witches, armor-plated bears, and sinister ecclesiastical assassins to defeat the oppressive forces of a senile God.

“Compass” is the first, and least offensive of the books, designed to pull in readers. Reports are that the movie is a “dumbed down” version of the book (but really, what movie isn’t) to increase it’s appeal and mask it’s anti-religious theme. Later in the trilogy, the protagonist kids fight against the church, referred to as the “Magisterium”, in order reach and kill God, referred to as “Yahweh”.

I don’t consider myself a rank-and-file religious nut. Instead, I try to be a careful, thoughtful, truthful religious nut, basing my beliefs on facts rather than hearsay. I’m not planning to see “Compass” but that was established long before I heard about all this hubbub. I haven’t seen any of the recent fairy tale movies, like “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “The Last Mimzy”. They just don’t appeal to me. Maybe I’ve just had enough of Hollywood’s pseudo-philosophy that seems to drip from the genre. Or maybe I’m actually growing up a little. … Nah! That can’t be it.

Anyway, I wanted to stir the pot a bit on this one and see what percolates. I would love to have some comments from anyone more familiar with the subject. Maybe someone who’s actually read the books. If I had time, I’d find them at the library and read them myself, but that seems unlikely.

I await your thoughts.

Oh what fun it is to waste time on the internet!!

At ElfYourself.com, use any old JPG image of someone to create a jolly old elf version of that person which will dance merrily around your screen. You can have up to four elves, but I’ll give you this warning: The first face you enter ends up on a female body. Boy, that was embarrassing!

Check out the Trint and Tammy Elves! (Notice the Trint elf has absolutely no rhythm. How’d they know?!)

You can also go ScroogeYourself! (Hey, it’s not dirty! Get your minds out of the gutter, people!) I used a picture of myself in “evil Pharisee” stage make-up. It’s scroogeriffic!

My distaste for Wal-Mart is well documented. I need not go into detail. (If you haven’t read about it, use the search form on the right to find the posts.)

But even more powerful is my distaste for (nay, my steadfast resistance to) the campaign by a powerful, vocal minority in this country to establish, embrace, and glorify a culture of sexual immorality in the United States.

If you don’t go to Wal-Mart for your Frisbees and hair dryers, where do you go? Usually, Target is the next option. But Target has made some decisions that bug me too. They made a big media splash a couple years ago when they kicked out the Salvation Army bell ringers. And just recently I’ve learned that Target offers homosexual “couples” the same benefits as married spouses.

So now, I’m caught between two evils. Do I take my money to Wal-Mart and finance the communist, atheist, super-power of China or do I shop at Target and line the pockets of a corporation that embraces a destructive sub-culture against which I have serious moral objections?

Fortunately the decision has been made for me.

The Human Rights Campaign, the largest gay lobby in the U.S., has called for a boycott of Wal-Mart because Wal-Mart does not offer “domestic partner benefits”. (That’s a very politically correct way to say that Wal-Mart refuses to pay for Chuck’s doctor bills just because he’s shacked up with their employee Larry.) The HRC is calling on all homosexuals and their friends to take their money to Target instead, because of Target’s “gay friendly” employee benefits.

Now, it seems pretty obvious to me that Wal-Mart would make this decision. Never mind the fact that it’s bad logic: If we give benefits to a shacked up Chuck and Larry, what’s stopping a shacked up (and unmarried) Chuck and Mary from getting the same benefits?! Beyond that, Wal-Mart has never been the champion of workers rights anyway. Why should this be any different.

Regardless, the HRC has thrown down a gauntlet of sorts. They have challenged the “religious right” to put up or shut up. If Target’s sales go up noticeably and Wal-Mart’s correspondingly go down, they will claim victory for their cause undoubtedly causing big waves in the media. On the other hand, if the numbers are reversed, or, for that matter, if there is no impact at all, there will be no victory and no media frenzy. Yes, that’s right. Even if Target’s number go down, there will be no media coverage, I assure you.

And so, when I am forced to choose between the turn-coat communist and the openly pro-gay, I must make a moral choice rather than a political one.

This issue is very important to me because I work with youth and I have seen first hand what the culture of tolerance has done to our kids. I can not stand idly by while our society degrades to the point where homosexual activity in the bathrooms and locker rooms of our middle schools is overlooked and accepted. (Yes, middle schools. I’m talking about 13 year olds. And yes, it’s really happening.)

So who’s with me? <MyBestRedNeckAccent>Let’s all go down to the Wal-Mart</MyBestRedNeckAccent>.

Read the USA Today article about the boycott.
Read the AFA alert for more info that was not included in the article above.

In the spirit of the holidays, this week’s white board quip is about capital punishment*.

Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?

* For those of you who “don’t get it”, that wasn’t supposed to make any sense. It’s humor, see? Ha ha, and all that.

I absolutely love this endorsement ad in which *THE* Chuck Norris endorses Mike Huckabee.

Other Huck Endorsements:
Founder of American Family Association (AFA) Donald E. Wildmon
Author and motivational speaker Zig Ziglar
Author and Moody Bible Institute board member Jerry Jenkins
Author of “A Purpose Driven Life” Rick Warren
and many many more.

(Thanks Dave M. for the link.)

Good ol’ Huck was all over the news this morning for his surge in the Iowa polls.

According to one media poll, he’s in a “statistical tie” with Romney for first place. That is to say, he trails by less than the margin of error.

What’s even more striking about Huck’s Iowa surge is the apparent durability of his support. According to the same poll, 59% of Republicans admitted that they may change their mind about who they’ll vote for, but a staggering 98% of those who say they’ll vote for Huckabee also say that they will not likely change their vote (using the poll’s words, they either “Definitely Support” or are “Very Enthusiastic” about Huck as opposed to “Good Chance of Switching”).

You can read more about Huck’s Iowa surge at:
Huck on FoxNews
Huck in the Washington Post
Huck on CNN

New York City now has a training academy for Jedi’s. No, seriously. (Pause it and let the video load before you watch it. It’s kind of slow.)

I love the quote near the end of the video. I love even more that it comes from a girl! A girl who is actually, somewhat attractive. It’s the geekness trifecta: Extreme geekness, estrogen, AND tolerable appearance. That just never happens.

It’s not about nerds trying to best each other. It’s about nerds trying to better each other and make their lives better through the dorkiness that makes them great.

Continuing my “have you ever wondered” theme…

Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor and dish washing liquid made with real lemons?

Intercepting my dad’s comment: Better living through chemistry!

It’s earlier than usual this time around, but the year of presidential politics has begun. You may have noticed I added some links in my sidebar for Huck. I’ve met Mike Huckabee personally when he visited my church. Our pastor grew up in Arkansas and he and Huck “go way back.”

I’ve also been following Fred Thompson’s campaign and I get regular emails from them. Mostly “rah rah” stuff and requests for more money. Fred didn’t make the big splash I (and probably he) expected. I prefer Huck, but if he falls behind in the primaries before I get to vote, I may switch to Fred. Fred strikes me as the more electable of the two.

I got the following from an email that Fred’s campaign sent out:

It’s “Tax Penalty” Day in Massachusetts

Mitt Romney says his government-mandated health care plan is one of his most important accomplishments as governor. But what does his plan really accomplish, and is this the kind of health care plan YOU would want to be forced to pay for?

Today, November 15^th, Massachusetts residents who fail to register with the government and show proof of health care coverage will be slapped with a tax penalty for this year!

For individuals, the amount will be on average $219 this year and they will receive a punitive fine as much as $2,000 over the next year.

Small business owner? It’s even worse; you’ll be fined $295 per employee who isn’t enrolled in Romney’s government-mandated health care plan!

So what sort of services does Romney’s health care plan provide?

Per the state website: $50 co-pay for abortions

While court mandate requires Massachusetts to cover “medically necessary” abortions in state-subsidized health plans, Mitt Romney’s plan covers ALL abortions – no restrictions.

After it passed, Romney vetoed dental care for Medicaid recipients from his health plan, but did nothing to prevent coverage of abortion on demand for a mere $50.

Romney has tried to distance himself from his Hillarycare-type plan, but you can watch the video where he takes full credit. There’s nothing conservative about Mitt Romney’s health care plan. It’s a government subsidized health care plan that requires citizens to register with the state, slaps working people with tax penalties, and provides $50 abortions on demand.

And what’s really scary to is that Mitt is more conservative than Rudy and somehow, the two of them remain high in the polls. Does anyone really know what these two guys stand for? If you call yourself conservative, you can’t possibly support Mitt and Rudy.