holaolah

Change Is Good

Lots of exciting stuff happened today. It restores some of my lost hope in politics.

It took Fred Phelps and his loony antics to remind me that I can be very patriotic

These bikers make me proud to be an American. Seriously.

"When a total stranger gets on a motorcycle in the middle of winter and drives 300 miles to hold a flag, that makes a powerful statement."

Cue the Lee Greenwood. Just Kidding.

Here's the story in question: Bikers Roll to Soldier Funerals To Drown Out Protesters - February 16, 2006 - The New York Sun - NY Newspaper.

If you'd like to do more research on Fred Phelps and scratch your head and wonder if Hell will have a special battalion of demons and evil creatures just for his damnation case, check out this wikipedia article on him. What a wack-job.

I was unable to view Fred's site from work because it was blocked due to websense's determination that it contains hate speech. Really? Are you sure? I just got a look at it. More whacked stuff. Here's a little recap of one of their recent missions to protest at a dead soldiers funeral:

We made our way to the site of the memorial service (absent a body) for Army Sgt. First Class John D. Morton, he lately of Stanton, Kentucky and more recently (and currently) of Hell. We had a nice location to display the precious seed – just as the road curved to reach the memorial service site (at the First Church Of Baal) – so display it we did. As the family and “friends” of Morton came around the curve, slowing to take in the sight and then to turn into the service, they had full view of these messages, held aloft by the banner carriers:

God Hates America
God Hates Fag Enablers
God Hates Fags
God Hates the USA
God Hates You!
United You’ll Fall
Too Late To Pray
God Blew Up The Troops
Fags Doom Nations
Don’t Worship The Dead
God Is America’s Terrorist
Fags Are Worthy Of Death
God’s Rod (photo of airplane striking Twin Towers)
You’re Going To Hell
Thank God For Dead Soldiers
God Is Your Enemy
America Is Doomed
God’s View (picture of uncle Sam in cross-hairs of God)
Numerous American flags on the ground and held upside down

On a final note, in case you're looking for a righteous crusade against Fred and his family, the following fuckfredphelps domains are available for you to use. Godspeed!

Coming Soon...

to a Mega Church near you: Justice Sunday III. Are you ready to rock?

Hey, I was right

Lisa did decide to fill us in on a little more of the story of Jim Wallis' visit to Lancaster. I've also included a link to the Lancaster Intel's write up of the event so you can get the "official" story. Oh, and I also borrowed a picture of Lisa's Dad from her (hope I don't get sued). If you read her post, you'll know why he gets major props from me. What a cool dude and a great example to young bucks like me. Godspeed Sir!

Jim Wallis Rocks LMH

My buddy Andrew and I attended a lecture by Jim Wallis, the author of God's Politics : Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It. It was an inspiring event and I think I'll have more to share on it after a good night's sleep. The main point was that since last year's election and the release of Jim's book, a conversation has been taking place all across the US about how the christian faith politicians (read: Bush & Co.) and TV preachers present to the world is not the same faith that folks like me subscribe to. So despite what you read, there are people who call themselves evangelical Christians and Roman Catholic who think the war is shady like a lady with a mustache and that their God has been co-opted for less than godly purposes. There are also christian folk out there who vote with more than just abortion and gay marriage on their hearts and minds. He was basically preaching to the choir in the crowd thick with anabaptists, but it was good to be reminded that I'm not alone. I know that Lisa was in the house so hopefully she'll scoop me on the rest of story.

The talk was held at Lancaster Mennonite High, my high school alma mater. It was the first time I've been in that chapel in about 10 years. In other alma mater micro-news, tomorrow night I am visiting a class at HACC, my  community college alma mater. I'll be part of a "success panel" to let current students know that there is life after community college. This will be the third time that I've done this kind of panel for her and I still get a chuckle that I am sharing my success story with others. As far as I am concerned, it's still a work in progress and my page is still blank. I promise I'll try and give you some more in-depth coverage sometime soon (that's a veiled message to you Kyle).