Confessions of a Recovering Pharisee

[The Spec]

Bill Clinton made a plea yesterday for a new emphasis on monogamy as a key element in the battle against AIDS. The former U.S. president, not noted for his ability to keep his own marriage vows, said it was very important to change people’s attitudes to sex.

In an interview with the BBC, recorded in Africa, Clinton told his interviewer that increasing support for monogamy was not just a problem for the continent worst hit by AIDS, but for the world.

“To pretend we can ever get hold of this without dealing with that — the idea of unprotected sexual relations with unlimited numbers of partners — I think would be naive.”

Read more here.

[From me]

Mr. Clinton I find it refreshing that I agree with you.  I’m glad you came to that conclusion.  You could make quite an impact on so many people.

What do you think?

[From Washington Post]

Would “Casablanca” have been rated XXX?

Depictions of smoking in movies will now be a factor when deciding what a film’s rating will be, possibly making a PG-13 movie R-rated, the Motion Picture Association of America said yesterday. The policy affects only new movies.

Along with violence, depictions of sex, adult language and other content considerations, ratings organizations will examine new releases to determine if they glamorize smoking or if it is pervasive through the films, even among adults. Underage smoking has always been considered when rating a film.

Read about it here.

[From me]

I certainly don’t like smoking. It kills people and is a bad habit. But you have to be kidding me! So if a movie like Atlantis shows that lady saying “we’re all going to die” with the cig in her mouth it gets an “R” rating?

Why don’t they go after the real ills of our country like immoral sexual content and perversion? Hollywood just doesn’t get it.

What do you think?

Christian men are yearning for a more macho alternative to traditional worship and the message in some churches of a gentle robed Jesus, say organizers of a new style of men’s spiritual event called GodMen coming to Nashville this weekend.

At the daylong GodMen event, men will be able to cuss, smoke cigars, watch videos of football pileups and car crashes, listen to specially composed Christian rock songs such as “Testosterone High” and attend workshops on how to fight pornography addiction.  Read about it here.

I think any event that helps people in their walk with Christ is great.  I just wonder about some of this event.  I don’t mean to be a prude, but why does cussing make you a man?  Just wondering?

What do you think?

A new Catholic prayer book aimed at teenagers includes a prayer for God’s help to avoid talking rubbish when drunk.

“Lord, if in an unsober state, and under the influence of those around me, I say something stupid, please give me strength to retract my words. Protect me against senseless bravado and pride,” reads the prayer.

Father Jedrzejewski stands by his work. He said:

“This book will make it easier for young people to meet with God.”

Read about it here.

Oh my. Why not have a prayer that they don’t get drunk in the first place?

What do you think?

The president of the Vancouver chapter of the Hells Angels says people have been rude to him and his feelings have been hurt since the group was ruled a criminal organization by an Ontario judge last year.

In an affidavit filed in B.C. Supreme Court, Rick Ciarnello lists a number of public snubs including a couple in a restaurant who asked to be moved because they didn’t want to sit next to him after he walked in wearing Hells Angels colours.

He also claims he has been treated rudely by his local supermarket staff, and he says many people are no longer friendly toward him, and instead fear him or avoid him altogether.   Read about it here.

I sure don’t want to offend a member of “Hells Angels,” but is this a new, kinder, gentler Hells Angels?  Have they been watching too much Oprah?  Maybe they have been to sensitivity training.  Truth is stranger than fiction!

What do you think?