Confessions of a Recovering Pharisee

[Today on NBC]

This is from an article by Sandra Tsing Loh

Sadly, and to my horror, I am divorcing. This was a 20-year partnership. My husband is a good man, though he did travel 20 weeks a year for work. I am a 47-year-old woman whose commitment to monogamy, at the very end, came unglued. This turn of events was a surprise. I don’t generally even enjoy men; I had an entirely manageable life and planned to go to my grave taking with me, as I do most nights to my bed, a glass of merlot and a good book. Cataclysmically changed, I disclosed everything. We cried, we bewailed the fate of our children.

Read the article here.

Watch the video below too:

iv>

[From me]

First, I’ve been blessed to be married 21 years so my answer is no. But as I read the article by Sandra Tsing Loh, I was struck by a few things. First it is obvious that both she and her husband care about their careers more than their marriage. Two, she is saying marriage doesn’t work after she had an affair. Is that her husbands’ fault? She claims that we don’t need marriage because it was for women before they got equal rights. That sounds like a business decision.

I didn’t get married to have someone take care of my children and put food on the table. I got married because I wanted to spend my life with a person I love. I know people who have been through divorces for many reasons. Most of them get remarried because they do believe in marriage and they never wanted a divorce. Marriage is hard work and some people don’t want to work at being married. If one partner says I’m done there isn’t much the other can do. Is marriage obsolete? Only if you want it to be.

What do you think?

[Examiner.com]

Newtown Square mom brings church to kindergarten class in an activity called “All About Me Week.” One of the options for the lesson was for the child’s parent to come in and read from the child’s favorite book. Little Wesley’s mom, Donna Kay Busch, chose to read from the Bible. The school principle asked her not to read from the Bible on grounds of the risk to separation of Church and State.

Donna Kay Busch has sued and has lost her case twice. Now it may be heading to the Supreme Court. This case it not as black and white as one might normally think. On the one hand, this was not a teacher reading to the class which would be akin to endorsement, but it is a kindergarten class and clearly little Wesley could not find the Bible to be his favorite book. He would be a super genius if at kindergarten age he had actually read the entire Bible, understood it, and believed it to be his favorite book.

Read more here.

[From me]

This is a hard one. The Bible is what her life is about so is it wrong for her to read from it? But what would Christians have said had it been the Koran?

What do you think?

[Orlando Sentinel]

Holy Land Experience doesn’t want you to know when it schedules its required free day each year out of concern over a possible “uncontrollable situation.”

At least that’s the conclusion to be drawn by a letter the religion-based theme park sent to the office of Orange County Property Appraiser Bill Donegan. Donegan asked the park for documentation of its free days after I reported earlier this month that the park gave out conflicting information about the day.

Holy Land, owned by Trinity Broadcasting Network, is required to drop its normal $35 ticket price and offer free admission one day each year in exchange for a property-tax exemption that saves it about $300,000 annually, according to a 2006 state law designed to guarantee the exemption.

Read more here.

[From me]

The park looks interesting despite who owns it. What does $35 a ticket go for? I saw on their website they take donations. Can you imagine Disney World asking for donations? Why would a theme park be tax exempt? I hope it doesn’t go to furnish the TBN studios.

What do you think?

[Contact Music]

JERRY SPRINGER is baffled his U.S. TV show has stayed on air so long – because it is “awful”.
The 65 year old has hosted The Jerry Springer Show since its debut in 1991 – but he’s mystified as to why viewers are so hooked.

He says, “We’ve been doing this show for 19 years now and I’m really sorry for that. No one had any idea that it would last all these years.”
And Springer can’t help but cringe when he watches back his very first episode: “That was pretty pathetic but it’s not as if it’s got any better, it’s still awful.”

Read article here.

[From me]

We’ve all known this for years. I wonder what took Jerry so long to realize it.

[WCCO]

he Pride Festival kicked off in Loring Park Saturday. There were live bands, food and thousands of people. It’s now the third-largest gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender celebration in the country.

But there was some trouble there Saturday night.

Minneapolis Police arrested three people from Hayward, Wis. for trespassing. An amateur photographer named Aaron Bogle gave WCCO-TV video of a father, mother and son being arrested.

For 11 years, Brian and Doris Johnson have passed out free Bibles at the festival.

This year, they were not allowed to have a booth. Pride paid to rent the whole park and that gave them the right to choose which vendors they allowed in.

The Johnsons said they are born-again Christians and they believe homosexuality is a sin.

Read more here.

[From me]

They did break the law. I sure they knew something like this would happen if they showed up. Isn’t breaking the law a sin? Does protesting a something a person believes is a sin by sinning themselves make it right? Just wondering.

What do you think?