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Tuesday, 17 June 2008

  • Ban on a naked beach.

    This doesn't have anything to do with Christianity, but it sure bugs me a lot.

    WESTMORE, Vt. - From the beach of Lake Willoughby's Southwest Cove, the sheer cliffs of Mount Pisgah tower over the deep, frigid water. Across the narrows, Mount Hor's peak completes the look of a Scandinavian fjord.

    In the summertime, the beach offers a different view: naked sunbathers. Southwest Cove is one of the most famous nude beaches in the country, but there's a move under way to make people put their suits back on.

    For decades, people have come to visit the beach, which is listed in nudist guides and on Web sites. All are welcome, naked or not, while cameras without permission and sexual behavior are forbidden.

    The beach is on public land that isn't visible from the highway. The state — which has no laws banning public nudity — advises visitors with a sign at a trail head leading to the beach that warns "be advised, you may encounter nude bathers."

    But some Westmore residents want to be able to use the beach without having to worry they or their kids will confront a naked person. They're pushing the town to pass an anti-nudity ordinance.

    'Common public decency'
    "For me, it's about common public decency — getting families and kids and people and Westmore back down to what they all talk about as being the most beautiful place, and they don't go there any more," said Tony Strange, who lives about a half-mile from Southwest Cove and helped circulate a petition asking the Select Board to enact the ordinance.

    Regulars say the nude beach is an accepted part of the area that doesn't cause any trouble.

    On a recent hot Saturday afternoon, about 15 people were at the beach. Other than the absence of swimsuits, there was nothing to distinguish it from a traditional beach: People brought beach chairs and coolers, some paddled canoes, others just sunbathed.

    "We try to make it clean, safe and enjoyable for everyone, that includes families with children, that includes anyone from anywhere, and yet we're being accused of dominating the area," said David Timson of St. Johnsbury, who has been going to Southwest Cove for 20 years. He is head of a newly formed organization called Friends of Southwest Cove.

    Westmore, about 20 miles south of the U.S.-Canada border in northeastern Vermont, has a year-round population of 319, which jumps to about 1,000 in the summer.

    Town Clerk Greg Gallagher said the three-member town Select Board has been asked to deal with the issue of nudity before but chose not to. "They didn't see how they could enforce it," he said.

    Enforcement remains a question
    Enforcement remains a question, though the board is due to consider the issue again at its June 23 meeting.

    Vermont has long been known for clothing-optional swimming holes, some clandestine, others semipublic. Southwest Cove, which is part of Willoughby State Forest, has had a reputation for being nude friendly for about a quarter-century.

    Several years ago, the state Department of Forest, Parks and Recreation looked at the issue and decided to leave the situation as it was.

    The only problem at the beach stems from visitors clearing it too much, said Forest and Parks Commissioner Jonathan Wood. By removing driftwood and vegetation, the users are interfering with natural processes.

    "The front of the beach is getting undermined. We're losing beach," Woods said. "I don't care who's using it or what they're wearing, when you utilize public land you need to utilize it in a responsible manner."

    'Fat old men like me'
    Bob Drew, a summer resident who lives in Knoxville, Tenn., and is president of the 350-family Westmore Association, said the group's 11-member board was split 6-5 in favor of the nudity ordinance.

    "We all have our personal feelings about it. I just don't go down there," said Drew, 75, "Most of them are fat old men like me. Who wants to see them?"

    Raymond LaFountaine, 41, of Magog, Quebec, and his wife travel to Westmore several times a summer to camp nearby and relax nude at Southwest Cove.

    "I think it's a privilege because it's such a beautiful place, such a peaceful place, we can enjoy that little beach," LaFountaine said.

    Strange said he and his family would also like to enjoy the beach.

    "All we're looking for, you know, is no nudity on the public beach," he said. "You want to be naked in private, fine. ... I just don't want you to prance around like a puffed up chicken in front of my kids and think it's OK."


    I wish people would stop trying to push their conservative views on other people. If you don't want to see the same thing you'll see in the mirror everyday, then go somewhere else and stop complaining. If they are nice enough to only be in one place, a "nook" (which is another name for cove -- look it up.) Then you should be nice enough to respect them and don't cause problems.

    People are idiots, plain and simple.

    Source




Saturday, 14 June 2008

  • Further Proof that most Christians are a joke.

    I stumbled across this article today, it's fairly recent and reading it made me think that people are so arrogant beyond words. The original link is here and my personal comments throughout the article are written in bold so read on and see what is becoming on the human brain.

    About 30 people gathered for a regional revival Friday night that included a book burning as a statement to reach out to local residents.

    "It is allowed for Harry Potter to be taught in our schools, but not the Bible," Okay, never in my entire life have I gone into a classroom where the teacher said "Okay class, today we are going to learn how to act like Harry Potter!" Plus, J.K. Rowling admitted on several occasions that Harry Potter is fiction. International House of Prayer pastor James Crawford said during the Shreveport Regional Unity of Faith Revival.

    That is one reason pastors from several denominations and races ripped pages from "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone." Those and pages from a pornographic magazine were put into a burn pit and set afire as praises bellowed from the congregation. Way to be late, people were doing that ten years ago when the first book came out. Plus, what is burning the books going to really occomplish? All you're doing is wasting paper, recycle them if you really want to do anything that is actually helpful.

    "As I tore the pages, I felt a generational curse of immorality and perversion breaking off my family," Adriane Banks said. "I felt it."

    The book burning was a statement to reach out to people in Shreveport-Bossier City against sin, Crawford said.

    "This is powerful. God looks down and sees humble hearts. That is the reality of what we're doing." Burning books is humble? I think what you are truly feeling is your bowel movement, not the power of God coming down and patting you on the back.

    Crawford said recent natural disasters are a wake-up call. Natural disasters have been happening for thousands of years, plus weather patterns have only been documented for the last two hundred years or so, so how can you truly know that all of these disasters are something new?

    The ministers also have been fasting for three days and have monthly revival meetings.

    "We need healing. We've got pornography, abortion, murder, violence on the rise in Shreveport," Crawford said. "The focus is making sure we can do everything e can for our city as ministers."

    "I am not a doom and gloom preacher, I am a truth seeker. But we are at the threshold of dark days," Crawford told the congregation.

    The book burning and revival also marked the meeting of a diverse group of ministers, including Elliot McPhatter, of Total Deliverance Church, Young Doo Kim, of the Shreveport-Bossier Presbyterian Church, and John Valdez, of Bossier City Four Square Church.

    "We are not concerned with the cultural standard. This standard keeps our congregation holy and our city clean. ...," Valdez said. "We have a supernatural enemy, and we need to be unified to fight. ... We have the same mission."

    Stupidity at work, folks.

Tuesday, 10 June 2008

  • Children choosing their paths.

    I got to thinking today about how my mother always told me that she was a religious woman, Bible and all, but never imposed religion on me. I also wondered about why she never went to church, and even though I know it has a lot to do with her husband -- who deserves a whole blog to himself about why he drives me up the wall. I remember all of the times I ever went to church while I was growing up. There was once, back in first through second grade where my best friend came from a devout family of Christians. Everyone down to their two year old son David was a Christian, and professed their love for Jesus Christ. I bet even their dog read the Bible (I don't even remember if they had a dog). But, in all retrospect they were the perfect, magazine cover Christian Family.

    Even as a child, I wondered if my seven year old best friend counterpart really understood what it meant to be a Christian, sure she would gasp if I accidentally let the word "damn" slip every once in a while and went to church every Sunday, but I am a firm believer that children can not truly understand what it means to have a relationship with God. In fact, I didn't learn until I was much older what it truly meant. But, there was no shame in her voice when she and her two year old brother proclaimed their love for Jesus Christ, but more power to them.

    But, her and her family were determined to "save" my seven year old self, so to speak. So, as any young child looking to hang out with their best friend outside of class would do, I agreed to go to church with them every Sunday up until the day she parted ways from me forever -- she moved out of state. For over a year I sat in stiff, ugly dresses waiting for the time when we could go back home and play. I remember that the month after she moved, she called me and asked me if I had found a new church yet. Obviously, being a seven year old I couldn't go back to the church they took me too, and my family wasn't exactly God's advocate. So until I turned fourteen, God had disappeared from my life forever.

    By the time I reached my double digits (ten and beyond) I had become a firm anti-believer. But, when I was fourteen and in my freshman year of high school, I began to date a boy who to this day drives me crazy. He was a grade older than me, and the most annoying Christian person I had ever met, but at one point I was able to look past that and love him for who he is. Too bad that the boy could never offer me the same respect and set out to change me into an ever loving Bible Clone that the rest of his family and church was made up of.

    So what did a naive fourteen year old girl do to impress her first real boyfriend?
    She went to church and youth group with him, diligently every week. Even as a fourteen year old, I was pretty smart and enjoyed learning about different religions. So, might as well kill two birds with one stone by impressing this new boy and expanding my knowledge. Sounds like a good plan, yes?

    We dated for a year and two months, and by any high school standard that is a really, really long time. And after the fifth month when he banned every form of physical contact since I was "Getting between him and God," I was miserable. Now, I understand if he didn't feel comfortable with hugging, kissing, and the farther but it really hurt me when he refused to take my feelings into consideration. There was no talking about it, just he pulling me aside one day on his back porch at night when he told me there was no touching between us anymore -- that it was a sin. That's how it was with this boy, everything was his way or the high way.

    We had conflicting views about everything.
    To be honest, we had nothing in common. At all.

    Several times he threatened to break up with me because I supported abortion, because I supported gay marriage, because I liked to cuddle and kiss, because I liked metal music, and I felt a little annoyed with him because he picked and choose the sins that he followed and the ones that were banned. And nothing annoys me more than Christians who only follow things when they are convenient.

    The biggest fault that he had was judging people. Anyone and everyone who showed a little bit of skin, didn't have a Bible under their arm and didn't go to church the way he did was someone he would not hang out with, and even his parents would claim that whenever they saw a gay couple, it would physically disgust them. And as far as I know, the only person who can pass judgment on anyone is God.

    But, let's not get lost in details.

    I dated this boy for far too long, and even one point in February after our one year anniversary (which he did not care to celebrate in a heartfelt manner) I felt that I really had accepted Jesus into my heart. For the longest time I knew I only went to church to please him, but at that time I felt that I had been changed. I told the youth pastor, and he and his wife actually cried with delight when they heard. But, a few months later I was told by this boy that I was a "bad influence on him" and that we were "too different" and I "was tearing him away from God," and the like. So, after a year and two months, we broke up.

    I was miserable for about three days until he started dating my best friend, whom I later figured out that he had been confessing his love to, begging to kiss, hanging out with at the lake in the wee hours of the morning, etc. Some Christian, right? Well, the hurt turned to anger but that passed. I am glad he is out of my life, and I now know that I will never get romantic with someone who pushes me away on account of God.


    ... My romantic life in high school is not the point of this blog, I promise.

    So anyways, I got to thinking about my mom who never pushed religion on me and the families who were forced into religion and going to church by their parents. I was wondering that, whenever I finally get pregnant and have kids, would I let them choose their own way as I have been allowed? Would a devout Christian family allow their children to choose their own way, even if it disagrees with their own? Would my fiance, who grew up Catholic wish the kids to be Catholic (even though he dislikes the Catholic church)?

    What would you folk do if your children wished to go a different way that conflicted with your own personal views? I personally would invite them to learn about the path they chose, and support them in all ways that I can.

    So I didn't intend for this blog to be about my friend, and the boy I dated back in high school but I suppose it forms a firm idea of what I knew of God when I was a child. I guess it provides insight to how I fell in and out of religion but I'll get more into that later when I have more time. Until then, wish me luck on finding a new job. For I hate my current one!

Saturday, 07 June 2008

  • Why must religion supress?

    The biggest problem I have with most organized religion is their candid fascination with their ideas that suppressing other people, forcing their morals on others, and downgrading anyone who isn't exactly the same as their close knit little church group. I've been there, done that, and even brought back a handful of post cards. I guess I'll just have to give you a self exclamatory picture of exactly where I live.























    Image source: Godhatesfags.com


    I live in Topeka, Kansas. It is not a secret, I have no worries of stalkers coming up to my front door. I live not too far from these ever popular fellows, and I pass their houses far too often. Their banner with their website -- "God Hates Fags!" plastered for all to see whilst they marinate behind their fence, the pimple on the face of the world. When I hear about people forcing beliefs down someone's throat -- these fellows come right into my head. I know people who have been affected by the church, go to school with their kids, work with the church 'leaders'. Notice in several of the pictures are children holding the signs.

    I have absolutely no respect for ANYONE, Christian or not, who speak illy of homosexual couples. If you have your beliefs, good for you. But they are personal morals, so keep them to yourself. I will not deny that, in fact in the Christian Bible it says multiple times that homosexuality is a sin, do not lay with another man, etc. I've actually read up on what I feel strongly about. But, even if it is printed does not mean people have to act like monsters trying to prove their points. Homosexual couples deserve exactly the same rights as everyone else does.

    In all my years of existence, I have never heard a good, honest argument as to why gays do not have the right to marry as they see fit. Gay marriage decays families? Oh for heavens sake, get off your pedestal. I'm pretty sure that families can decay themselves, and that being gay won't affect that. Seriously, some of the families I've seen that beat, sexually, and verbally abuse their kids are from perfectly, "respectable" straight and traditional marriages. Men and women come home from work, worship their bottle, drink and gamble themselves out of house and home and people have the audacity to say that gay couples will decay families?

    I worry about the future of the human race.

    So what about gay marriage leading to polygamy?
    As far as I knew, I've never heard of a polygamist gay colony out there! All those wonderful Mormon branch churches are traditional families, with lots and lots of wives. (Plus, isn't polygamy in certain branches of religion now a days anyways? I know Mormons denounced it, but it's still alive and kicking somewhere I'm sure!)

    When our children are in school, will they have to be taught about homosexual marriage? Nope, I thought they were there to learn about preparing for the future, so shouldn't relationships be the least of anyone's problems? Back when I was in school, I learned math and how to turn a penny into gold, not about marriage!


    God loves everyone. No matter their race, gender, age, no matter if they are disabled or depressed, anorexic or overweight, gay or straight, tall or shot, poor or rich, blonde, brunette, or redhead. I was always taught that God loves everyone, so how is it that all of a sudden, God doesn't love the fags?

    I rest my case. I am going to work. =]


    Remember, hate the sin, but not the sinner!
    Don't push your morals on others, and most of all
    LET PEOPLE LIVE THEIR OWN LIVES.

Thursday, 05 June 2008

  • It would seem like xanga has been branching out to try to catch up to the ever popular facebook, and the continuously dying myspace. Why doesn't that surprise me? Anyways, it would seem to be that I have created yet another blog (I believe this is my fourth -- three are currently active.) Well, I suppose I shall introduce myself. I am not a Christian, in any way shape or form. Though I do believe there is a God, I do not believe that humans have anyway to know anything about him (even a gender is nearly impossible -- any maybe not even in existance! Just saying 'him' is easier though, bare with me). I figured that this presumably tight knit community could use an outlandish believe system, so as soon as I think of anything relevant I'll be sure to post it.

    Only thing that I've got today is that we were supposed to have some pretty nasty storms, like the ones that happened in good old 1974 with thirty nine or so tornados but nothing really happened here. I guess that's a good thing, though I know many native Kansans were rooting for some dangerous weather! I should go to sleep soon, because I have to wake up early for work. At least I got a morning shift, I hate working in the evenings when everyone wants to bring a pizza home for dinner.

    I'll be around, be ready for some hubub.

kaaady

  • Visit kaaady's Revelife Site
    • Member Since: 6/5/2008

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