Why Jesus Gets Migraines

Please activate the John McLaughlin voice filter:

Issue one: Over the weekend, Brit Hume said on the air on a Fox News show that Tiger Woods should convert to Christianity for redemption, forgiveness, and to get his wife back. It should be noted that one of Mr. Hume's children committed suicide because of Mr. Hume's rejection of him on grounds of his sexual preference, it is said.
Issue two: Uganda has drafted anti-gay legislation. As in capitol offense anti-gay legislation. Three evangelical leaders who were giving presentations on "homosexuality's threat to families" and "preventing recruitment of children" last summer have distanced themselves from the movement.

For more information on both stories, please visit http://pamshouseblend.com

    Jesus and Mary Magdalene admonished their students to "do unto others as you would have done unto you" and "love thy neighbor." Nowhere in the Gospels does it say different about LBGT people.
The hatred and fear of LBGT people came about due to the writings of Leviticus, a cranky homophobic Old Testament prophet, and Apostle Paul being an equally cranky homophobic New Testament prophet.
    It also doesn't say anything about a free ride to salvation if you do something like 21(according to some sources) women during your five-year marriage.  I don't hear anything from them about adultery by a certain terminally horny pro golfer shredding his children's lives. Or about Gov. Mark Sanford, R-SC, lying to his staff about hiking the Appalacian Trail when he'd actually gone to South America to see his mistress.
    While I personally believe that the Bible was divinely inspired, I have one question for those who see it as inviolate: who paid for the translation that you use?

Can We Please Cut China Loose?

    He made an appeal for his life, a long, rambling one as people suffering from bipolar disorder are prone to do.
     The judge laughed, and the execution went ahead.
     No, this is not from some ancient tale. It happened yesterday in China, per BBC News. Akmal Shaikh, a UK citizen, was put to death for smuggling heroin. Dealers in Poland took advantage of his vulnerability, telling him they'd make him a pop star in China if he would just...
    The UK government, his family, forensic psychiatrists all offered strong evidence that Mr. Shaikh had no way of really knowing what he was doing. The Chinese government told the UK, in essence, to grow up or else.
    Yeah, manufacturing is dirt cheap over there. The burgeoning middle class makes China a desirable trade partner. But at what cost? The US has entered into a state of economic codependency with them, making trade decisions based on placating them rather than taking into account the true cost of business on their terms:

• How many children worldwide have suffered from the effects of cheap toys manufactured there?
• How many of their children were hurt when melamine was added to milk to artificially bulk up protein levels?
• How many pets have died, both in 2007 and this year's cat food recall, again because of melamine?
• How many more human rights violations must we sponsor before we say enough?
  

      I know it's hard to do, and I'm doing my best not to myself. But can we include buying as little as possible manufactured in China this year, and perhaps drop President Obama a line at http://whitehouse.gov to let him know what's on your mind?
    
    

I Lit a Candle Today

    I lit a candle today. 

    Before I struck the match in the darkness, I paused and thought about the places that need light. May its glow extend to nations where the violation of basic human rights is a way of life. May all people be fed; may all know freedom.

     For a few moments, I thought of three women whose lives have been touched by cancer. One holds her own in the face of an inoperable pancreatic tumor. The second lives with the knowledge of the inevitable on the horizon, and with fatigue as her companion, wraps up her business on this side of the veil. The third will be starting radiation treatments as soon as the incisions to remove her lesions have healed. I have only crossed paths with one of these ladies in this realm, yet my heart is with them all. May their healing bring them to a place of peace, a place of knowing their wholeness. 

    Wouldn't it be wonderful, I asked myself, if those who observe the holidays that are stacked on top of each other at this time of year, if they could remember that it's not about competition for spending the most or throwing the biggest party, but celebration? That families make an effort to behave for the sake of the children involved?  Maybe it's a lot to ask, but even petty squabbles need a break in the name of peace. May we regain our perspective, gifting one another with memories of our best sides.

    That's why I lit a candle today.