Tim Wise is awesome

A God with Whom I am Not Familiar

Tim Wise says everything I would have said about New Orleans and Katrina in this essay, and far better than I could have.

Just for laughs

I went to the local Barnes and Noble today and perused the science section. To my delight, there was only a single dumbfuck creationism "intelligent design" book mixed in on the evolution shelf.

I moved it back to humor, of course.

Pastor Bush

President Bush has declared September 16 a national day of prayer for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Leaving aside my usual objection to the president of the country making theological declarations from the White House, my question is, "Why?"

Are there any religious people in the country who aren't already praying for the hurricane victims? Are there any churches that, this past Sunday, didn't encourage their members to pray? More to the point, is God waiting for a certain threshold of prayers to be received before he will take pity on the victims or allow those already deceased into Heaven?

It's the problem I always have with prayer. God is omniscient, he knows what's going on. He knows exactly who is where and what they need. It's all part of his plan! So there is absolutely no need to tell him to do anything. If he's going to help people get through this, he'll do it whether they ask him to or not. And if he doesn't, he's a collossal douche bag. Do the religious really think that God is hanging around, biding his time, letting people suffer, and won't lift an omnipotent finger to help anybody in need unless they beg for it?

What bullshit.

With nacho cheese

I was at Taco Bell (I know, I know, but I can't argue with an $0.89 burrito) and as I waited for my food to be assembled I caught the people behind me placing their order. It was a man and his wife, and I choose to phrase it that way deliberately. See, the wife appeared to believe she was invisible to all but her husband. She would say, "I'll take a number six," and then her man would repeat to the gentleman behind the counter, "She'll take a number six." "With nacho cheese." "She'll have nacho cheese." At one point she was asked directly if she wanted some modification or the other, and she looked at her husband and nodded, after which the husband said, "Yes, she'll have that." At no point was the wife speaking too quietly for anyone to hear.

What is wrong with these people? Is the wife so emotionally beaten down that she has to filter her entire output to the world through her husband? Is the man so utterly full of masculine vigor that he wouldn't dare allow his wife to be in communication with another y-chromo that might try to plant his seed in her? Or do they really believe that she is invisible, a woman in a man's world? I can understand if one partner told the other what they wanted before hand, so as to save time, but this was real-time instant replay action.