http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2012/12/18/mike-huckabee-targets-birth-control-in-school-shootings Comments On: Mike Huckabee targets birth control in school shootings by Max Brantley en-us Copyright 2013 Arkansas Times. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, Arkansas Times readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact Arkansas Times. robert@arktimes.com (Arkansas Times Webmaster) Wed, 22 May 2013 00:00:01 -0500 Wed, 22 May 2013 05:30:00 -0500 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Posted by Doc]]> Wed, 19 Dec 2012 08:15:49 -0600 Arkansas Times
Tony W. Cartledge | Blog

When words run dry

December 18, 2012

I had already posted my Friday blog and was on the road when a news alert on my cell phone said that a murderer had gunned down 20 little children and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

For the next couple of days, news media, bloggers, and social media outlets were rife with expressions of grief and outrage, speculation about the young shooter's motives and commentary on whether it's time to take another look at stricter regulations on semi-automatic weapons.

I didn't contribute a word to the verbal ocean: I didn't have any.

Other than learning the basics, I avoided the ongoing reports that outlined how horrific the scene must have been. I didn't want to imagine six- and seven-year-old boys and girls facing point-blank automatic weapons fire, or devoted teachers and administrators falling in a hail of bullets while trying to defend the little ones.

I just couldn't.

It was a form of denial, I guess. I didn't want to put my mind and heart in the shoes of those parents who had to confront the dreadful, shocking news that their sweet children had been jerked out of this world in a horrifying act of violence. I didn't want to think about the Christmas trees with presents already beneath them ...

I didn't have to imagine it: mainly I dreaded going there again. I know what it's like. The man who killed my precious seven-year-old nearly 19 years ago didn't do it on purpose. He wasn't armed with a semi-automatic rifle, but a .20 blood alcohol level and a pickup truck.

The result was no less explosive, bloody ... terminal.

One minute a beautiful child is living and laughing and learning. The next, she's a corpse, and her stunned parents learn what it is like to have their hearts ripped from their bodies, still beating.

I don't have an answer to the issue of regulating guns, though I weep for a nation of people so protective or paranoid that they feel a compulsive need to own nearly twice as many guns per capita as any other nation on earth, about nine lethal weapons for every 10 Americans.

And I don't have an answer to the question of how to make schools more secure without turning them into mini-forts: if someone with a twisted mind and ready access to an arsenal wants to kill children, he can find a place to do it.

And I certainly don't have an answer to the question every parent or child or spouse asks when a loved one is snatched away like dandelion seeds in a whirlwind. I am confident that God had nothing to do with it other than being present to receive those blessed victims into eternal care. No matter how many people mouth the folk-belief that "everything happens for a reason" or how many times they say it, it remains as bogus as the first time someone tried to make themselves feel better by imagining that their inexplicable loss is part of some divine plan.

God does not plan to murder children in gruesomely heinous fashion, or in any other way.

No God that I'd want to worship.

Pompous platitudes from self-appointed prophets have begun to emerge, as we might expect. Former Arkansas governor-turned talk show host Mike Huckabee drew a direct connection between the massacre and what he perceives as God being removed from public schools.

Any God that humans can evict from anywhere is no God, I say.

"Focus on the Family" founder James Dobson weighed in with similar comments: "I think we have turned our back on the scripture and on God Almighty and I think he has allowed judgment to fall upon us. I think that's what's going on."

Lord have mercy. People who claim to speak for God believe that the Almighty gets in a snit and kills children (or declines to protect them) to express divine displeasure that people aren't showing sufficient attention to a theocratic agenda?

If it had been their children or grandchildren lying riddled with bullets, could they still so blithely attribute that very human crime against innocents to divine irritation with the nation?

Lord have mercy, I say again; and find that's about all I can say.

Lord have mercy.

http://www.baptiststoday.org/cartledge-blo…
Posted by SkyPilot]]> Wed, 19 Dec 2012 07:54:02 -0600 Arkansas Times
This stuff confuses me. Maybe one of you amateur or professional theologians could explain it for me. I did ask, in all seriousness, a Baptist preacher (not Huckabee) once this very question. His response was that I was being sophomoric. I let it go at that since he was the expert on higher matters, not me. But yet, that answer didn't totally satisfy me.

The way I ask the question is why did God create Lucifer in the first place since he would become the master of sin, the great tempter? Of course God grants his creations the gift of free will and Lucifer betrayed him. So far, so good. One of God's attributes is said to be omniscience i. e. he knows EVERYTHING including the past, present and future. That means He knew already that Lucifer was going to betray Him and subsequently become the scourge of all mankind thus leading humanity to turn away from God and greatly increase the likelihood of all of us ending up in Hell to burn FOREVER. Yes...FOREVER!! Yet God loves us, as a matter of fact, He IS love, I'm told. Glad he doesn't hate us.

This scenario is also God's will because, also being omnipotent, He would have done it all a different way if He'd wanted it that way. He COULD change it but He won't. Therefore Christian prayers which ask God to do something for them but end the prayer by saying if Thy will be done seem silly since God is perfect and makes perfect decisions-- ending the prayer like that will NOT change His mind.

I really don't mean to offend anybody with this. I ask because I wonder sometimes exactly what I'm missing, some logic or answer which evades me. I really do respect religion in general, especially the parts about treating each other better, but otherwise it just seems to stem from a hodgepodge collection of writing assembled by a committee of mostly unknown people over a period of 4000 years or so. The universe is a strange, largely unknown entity but, from what I've seen, it works in a natural, explainable fashion. I've never seen anything happen that seemed to come from a supernatural source. I don't believe in ghosts of any kind--neither your garden-variety haints or the HOLY SPIRIT kind.

There are many other seeming contradictions about religious faith of course but I can't get past this one. If the "Devil question" makes absolutely no logical sense then it seems a waste of time worrying about whether or not I was sprinkled or submerged or if the circumcision was a major mistake. And exactly what is a SOUL anyway?
Posted by Olphart]]> Wed, 19 Dec 2012 02:14:35 -0600 Arkansas Times
Seriously, or take your whiny self back to the other boards where you can commiserate with all the other "victims."

You really like Huckabee? Says it all.
Posted by wannabee conservative]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2012 18:27:44 -0600 Arkansas Times
Thanks for your exegesis, El.

But I'm curious: If you could find Revelation 7:4 so readily, why were you unable to find Revelation 7:9?
Posted by SkyPilot]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2012 17:58:29 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by mudturtle]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2012 17:34:26 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Jabberwocky]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2012 17:24:11 -0600 Arkansas Times specialness, knowing they will stand before their god in an oxygen-free place "up there" somewhere, and will be "chosen."

Yet their supposed inerrant bible says that only 144,000 of them will be chosen. Now to Bronze Age goat herders that would have been a large number. But with an Earth populated with billions of yearning souls it's a tiny number. Must also take into account the billions who previously worshiped their god and have died, completely rotted to dust, burned to ashes or blown to bits and the billion yet to be born in the coming decade. I have a sense that shear numbers were never part of the revelation.

Who would miss a 144,000 from this crowded planet? It could well be that the Second Coming has already occurred and Donald has been "Left Behind" with the rest of us pleasure-seeking heathens.

Enjoy the "free exercise" of religion Donald.
Posted by eLwood]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2012 16:47:55 -0600 Arkansas Times It is nearly impossible, Phillips argues, for an adult to worship the conception of God that exists in the mind of a child of Sunday-school age, the "God-in-a-box" notion, limiting God to such inadequate conceptions as "Resident Policeman," "Grand Old Man," "Meek-and-Mild," and "Managing Director." As a result of these insufficient ideas of God, many people live with an inner dissatisfaction, without any faith at all.

Your God Is Too Small explores the ways in which we can find a truly meaningful and constructive God for ourselves, big enough to account for our current experience of life and big enough to command our highest admiration and respect.
Posted by Diogenes]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2012 16:44:46 -0600 Arkansas Times
Their world is a very scary one unless everyone shares their narrow, rigid beliefs.

Give Hick (I mean Huck) a break. He is nothing more than a modern day snake-oil salesman, moving down the trail in his gas-guzzling SUV and peddling his goods to make a buck. It's the only thing he's good at. The irony is he probably holds the members of his flock in total contempt for not being able to figure out his con game. He probably tells his sugar-doodle: "Muffin, I could sell an igloo to folks living on the Redneck Riviera". Then they both have a good laugh at the expense of others.

Keep on believing whatever you want to believe, Donald and Keith. It doesn't matter to me as long as you leave me to my own beliefs. Hands off!
Posted by Sound Policy]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2012 16:09:43 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by dottholliday]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2012 16:04:44 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by FullThrottle]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2012 16:01:38 -0600 Arkansas Times
That's the reason that the number of people who actually admit that they are "Christian" is below 50% because who would want to be known to be associated with the right-wing fundamentalist pablum masquerading as "christianity".
Posted by couldn't be better]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2012 15:54:58 -0600 Arkansas Times
Actually, you're just using typical boneheaded pseudo-religious logic. "I've got an ingrown toenail, Ma." "It's God's judgement on you, young'un, for not following what we tell you is his will and way."

The next time your wife gets a headache after you mention the need for a little bedroom romp, just remember that it's God punishing you for some little BS you posted on this blog.

Donald, you're a self-righteous, pain-in-the-sphincter, trying to force your twisted and wicked belief upon the decent folks of this planet.

What kind of hateful and spiteful person would tell the parent who has just lost their child that the blame for that loss is theirs and not the killers? That's exactly what you and Bro. Huckster are doing.

Guns don't kill people....God does. What a great message of hope for the world.

NOT!!!
Posted by Jake da Snake]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2012 15:06:29 -0600 Arkansas Times
“This is indeed a clash of civilizations,
not between Islam and Christendom but between reason and superstition.”
Polly Toynbee
Posted by Zatharus]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2012 14:59:44 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Donald Smith]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2012 14:33:44 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by HardHeadedWoman]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2012 14:03:08 -0600 Arkansas Times
Dear Jesus, please take your loyal servant, Mike Huckabee, home. Amen.

Now, GO HOGS!

Posted by Doc]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2012 13:39:02 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by SkyPilot]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2012 13:19:04 -0600 Arkansas Times Now, you know I'm not a believer, and you and I have bumped heads a couple of times. But without a doubt, this would be a much better society if more Christians were like you.
Posted by HardHeadedWoman]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2012 13:10:30 -0600 Arkansas Times
Keith apparently does not like being "told that the things we believe are wrong."

There are an awful lot of the rest of us who don't like being told that we are wrong *not* to believe the same things he does. Sorry. One can believe in a supreme entity without buying in to virgin births and holy ghosts. Proselytizing is not reserved for Christians.

I've come to believe that Huck doesn't necessarily believe half of what he says, but he knows who he's talking to, and the money hasn't dried up yet.
Posted by Vanessa]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2012 12:49:44 -0600 Arkansas Times
BEING AN ATHEIST

Being an Atheist is okay.
Being an Atheist who shames religions and spirituality as stupid and unreal is not okay.
Being a Christian is okay.
Being a Christian who is homophobic, misogynistic, racist, or otherwise hateful in the name of Christianity is not okay.
Being a Reindeer is okay.
Being a Reindeer who bullies and excludes another Reindeer because he has a shiny red nose is not okay.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, and best wishes of the season to non-believers,
Sky
Posted by SkyPilot]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2012 12:44:44 -0600 Arkansas Times Give me a break. What a bunch of whiny-ass babies. Your problem is you can't jam your beliefs down an entire nation's throat. And that makes you persecuted.
Maybe if so many of your leaders or mouthpieces weren't such total Neanderthals who spew virulent nonsense, others would not view you as backward-ass hicks.
Said the Christian ashamed of his fellow believers.
Posted by RazorbackArmyVet]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2012 12:35:31 -0600 Arkansas Times
I'll accept that you're well intentioned, but not that you are well informed.

As already pointed out, no one is forcing us to give up our beliefs.

But let me point out that is not OUR RIGHTS that others want us to give up. It is that others want us to stop attempting to impose OUR BELIEFS upon others by forcing them to GIVE UP THEIR RIGHTS: to marriage with partners of choice, to control over their own health and bodies (abortion), to control over their own reproduction (contraceptives covered by health insurance), to be free from listening to our prayers in tax-supported institutions, to be free from our religious displays on tax-supported property.

Don't misinterpret: I'm a practicing Christian and have had my knuckles rapped soundly on this blog for various comments in support of Christianity, churches, and ministers, so don't conclude I'm one of "them" who's attacking "you."

And I treasure my rights under the Constitution of the United States to practice my religion as I see fit--so long as it does not infringe upon the rights of anyone else.

But I don't see that the Constitution makes provision for me to impose any of my beliefs and practices upon any other citizen whose rights are protected under that same Constitution.

As for "a small number of liberals": I think you'd better get out your calculator and re-check your figures. It may have been that "small number of liberals" who just gave President Obama what pretty well amounts to a landslide election!

IMHO
Posted by SkyPilot]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2012 12:34:32 -0600 Arkansas Times
James Dobson and Pat Robertson are aging. They're old. Someone has to carry the water for the aging white, Fox News audience to whom such drivel appeals.

He can sell books in the Slave states and a few other pockets. Suck up endorsement money at election time while collecting a check from Roger Ailes for keeping a selective god alive at Rupert's profit center.

But in the end me and Huck both worship the same god, MoMoney. It levels and enlightens. It brings justice and good medical care. It cuts through the miasma of confusion wrought by the other gods. It's clear, it's plain and simple. MoMoney wins! Ask any Arkansas Republican.

And the main thing, people are talking about Huck. What's not to love. Eat your heart out Ann Coulter, you godless theist.
Posted by eLwood]]> Tue, 18 Dec 2012 12:34:15 -0600 Arkansas Times