Samantha Pierce

I don't know if this is part of the Christian symbolism series or not but it's really interesting. "The Second of February (variously called Candlemas, Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and Presentation of the Lord), 40 days after Christmas, is the old end of the Christmas Season and marks the day when the the Virgin Mary received the Jewish purification ritual and presented her firstborn Son to God in the Temple of Jerusalem."

Here's an update I recieved last week from a mission in Sri Lanka (the same one I mentioned here ). Greetings from Sri Lanka, All is well here on this one month anniversary of the tsunami -- can't believe that much time has passed. We have developed a nice routine -- our Sri Lankan brothers and sisters in Christ have been hosting a men's Bible study and children's "VBS" in the late afternoon as the clinic is winding down. JC has been overseeing the public health teaching for the camp, and over 100 people showed up. We are trying to prepare the camp for our departure next week. Each evening we all -- Sri Lankans and Americans-- have supper together followed by devotions and prayer. We are planning some home visits in the camp during the remainder of our time here. We saw quite a few people from the camp on Monday and Tuesday, but today most of the patients were from neighboring towns, which so far is not presenting problems but has the potential t...

I probably shouldn't touch this with a ten foot pole but I've been known to do things that I shouldn't. Christians are some of the most contentious people I have ever met. I don't quite get the current fire-storm take a look and maybe you can figure it out. These are just a few of the posts involved in this mess (there are trackbacks too). World Magazine: heresy by implication (1/26/05, I think this started it) Delinking (1/27/05) Blogrolling Backlash (1/29/05, illustrated) Christian factions in the blogosphere (1/29/05) Herding Cats- The explosive movement in Evangelical blogosphere (1/29/05) I really don't care one way or the other. I consider myself to be at the fringe of the Christian blogdom. Given this mess I am happy to remain there. But one thing I must address. At some point someone complains about the new Decablog *. The implication seems to be that there is some favouritism or exclusionary action going on here. The secret to the Decablog li...

What's that you ask? Well click here to find out. Hubby and I are trying to figure out how we can get there and what to do with the kiddies if we both go. Since we are in blog poverty I may have to put up a tip jar or something and start blegging. The idea of the GodBlogCon is about a week old but it's picking up steam.

I'll add my voice to those of these fine folk in saying that complaining about the coat Dick Cheney wore this week during the holocaust remembrance ceremony at Auschwitz was bloody stupid. Peg at what if? has a great post about the matter. It is not for those who are easily shaken by the horrors of the holocaust. Honestly, there has got to be something wrong with you to carp about someone's clothes at an event like that. When confronted with reminders of Auschwitz , Dachau , Buchenwald , and countless other places the last thing I think of is who wore what when.

Vatican praises woman who died after refusing cancer treatment that required abortion VATICAN CITY – The Vatican on Tuesday praised an Italian woman who died after refusing cancer treatment that would have required her to have an abortion. Rita Fedrizzi was died this week, three months after giving birth to a baby boy. "She was aware that if she gave birth she wouldn't have had any hope of surviving," the Vatican newspaper wrote. "Despite that she went through with her choice, the choice of welcoming new life even at the cost of her own death." I would make the same choice in a heartbeat. Pray for this woman's family as they grieve over her loss and celebrate the gift of life she gave to her son. Via World Magazine blog

Alright here we go. Slacker that I am I forgot to do this last night. Lately I've been thankful for: Warm clothes and lots of them. Being one day closer to spring. The humidifier. Friends who lend a helping hand. The grace and mercy of omnipotent God BadgerMum is also thankful . What are you thankful for?

I never bother to talk about evolution because people on all sides of the issue tend to get real twitchy when you start to question whatever theory they adhere to. Veins start bulging, the nervous eye ticks start going, and well, things just generally get ugly. So I don't discuss theories of evolution with Christians, theists, agnostics, or atheists. People just can't seem to behave themselves when talking about it. Some Christians seem to go off the deep end arguing that the earth is only a few thousand years old, all references to days in the Genesis creation account mean 24 hour periods, and anyone who doesn't believe likewise isn't really Christian. Don't get them started on carbon and radiological dating. Then there are the insultingly smug scientist/philosopher wannabes who carry on about dumb bible thumping fundies afraid to come out of the woods and what not. Always ready with the canned assumptions and accusations of ignorance and wanting to take everyone ...

One of the bloggers on World Magazine's blog made this unfortunate remark about the TNIV translation of the Bible, "Considering the TNIV’s gender-inclusive language, Rolling Stone’s anti-Christian agenda may yet realize some fruit." We *are* only talking about a translation. Is it really wise to make the claim that a mere translation of God's word somehow goes against Christianity? I don't think so and neither does hubby .`

Hello loyal readers! I've a post in the works about evolution prompted by this and this . Should be done by tomorrow evening.

I received this email last week. Names of people and places have been omitted because I'm just paranoid. Encourage your friends and family members and those within our churches to pray specifically for the electoral process. Historically, the previous totalitarian regime would not allow individual citizens to vote. Democracy will not be realized in Iraq if intelligent and competent officials are not elected to those strategic leadership positions within the emerging government; freedom will not have an opportunity to ring throughout this country if the voting process fails. Announce this prayer request to your contacts throughout your churches, neighborhoods, and places of business. Those with leadership roles within the local church post this message in as many newsletters and bulletins as possible. There is unlimited potential for God's presence in this process but if we do not pray then our enemy will prevail (See Ephesians 6:10-17) A prayer vigil prior to the end of ...

Is up at Sidesspot . There are a few posts in it marking the upcoming anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade decision.

Via Instapundit . Blogger Ali responds to Boxer's repeating of the trollish supposition that he may be a CIA agent among other things. Very classy. I'll be adding him to my blogroll. (previous Instapundit posts about this are linked to here .)

" This is a fun one, because it tends to disturb the squeaky-clean "niceness" that has unfortunately become identified with modern-day Christianity. " Uh huh, freaky.

It's been a long day. I think I'll have to start writing these posts up on Wednesday night and post them in the morning before I run out the door. Anyway, I'm thankful for: Not crashing the car in the snow (there's at least 6 inches on the ground now). The anti-lock brakes and traction control that helped keep me from crashing the car in the snow. Getting to bible study early enough to get a parking spot in the driveway. Chocolate and almond biscotti with semi-sweet dark chocolate on the bottom and hot orange tea. The best breakfast I've had in a long time. Hot gooey brownies. Friends to share a cup of tea with. A working furnace. The chance to sit in on Ethan's class today. Ethan's teachers and therapists. This exchange as reported by one of Ethan's teachers. Teacher: Oops! I dropped your jacket! Ethan: It's a coat. Internet access! The chance to wander around the grocery store all by myself . I got this post published on ...

Blogger keeps having brain farts. It has eaten every post I've tried to make today. I just got done reconstructing my last one. We'll see what it does to this one. Figures. This is the first one that went through on the first try all day. But the update didn't. I guess I'll be backing up everything I write today in a separate file. Grrrr.

Instapundit has been following yet another mainstream media scandal. One Sarah Boxer of the New York Times wrote an article in which she speculated that some Iraqi bloggers might be CIA operatives. Here's what Instapundit has so far. The one that started it. The next one. Some fall out. More fall out. Instapundit's most recent post. Arthur Chrenkoff round up. Claiming that Iraqi bloggers that are not anti-American must be CIA operatives or part of some elaborate psy-ops scheme is not new. When I first started reading Iraqi blogs more than a year ago someone would make the claim at least once in every other post I read. It was usually trolls looking to stir up trouble who made such claims. (They also said things like, "Your English is too good to be an Iraqi!") After a few months the accusations got pretty tired. That a journalist would repeat such claims...well, that's not really very surprising any more.

I was too timid to call Senator Barbara Boxer a partisan hack after her performance at Dr. Rice's confirmation hearing yesterday but La Shawn Barber wasn't . I don’t like Barbara Boxer, and not because she’s a liberal. That can be excused. I don’t like her because she’s a misinformed, envious partisan hack who hates the country that allows her the freedom to run for political office despite being a misinformed, envious partisan hack. I’d like to see Dr. Condoleezza Rice and Boxer in a real debate, not what passes for one in the halls of the United States Congress. Rice would intellectually eviscerate and pulverize her. What are the ethical implications I wonder of first saying that an individual is qualified for a particular job and that you have no doubt that that person will get that job and then proceeding to accuse that person of being unethical? I'm convinced that the real test of a person's appropriateness for public office these days is how well a person manag...

Fr Jim Tucker of Dappled Things has started a new series describing some of the symbols we find in Christianity. His post announcing the series is...well read it for yourself . It has been fascinating to read so far. I think it helps to flesh out the faith of any Christian who is not already familiar with the symbols he highlights. Christian Symbolism 1: The Fish Christian Symbolism 2: IHS Christian Symbolism 3: The Pelican Christian Symbolism 4: Alpha and Omega (I knew this one.) Enjoy!

From Healing Iraq The United Iraqi Coalition is almost frantic in its election campaigning. Their posters and banners are all over Baghdad which makes me wonder how it is in the south. Their slogans are scrawled on every wall in town, and of course you have the obligatory picture of Sistani stamped on every poster with the words: "vote for the choice of the Marji'iya . The fatal mistake of boycotting the elections by Sunni Iraqis is going to make that easier. The Sunnis have been acting like spoiled unhappy children when things don't go their way. They start breaking up things and threaten to mess everything up. 'Either I play or I burn down the playground,' as we say here. The threat of civil war and factional violence is a very real one. No matter what government results from elections, Sunnis would deem it illegitimate and the violence or the 'burning down of the playground' will continue. Two Shi'ite mosques have been attacked over the last ...

From our church bulletin this Sunday: The Sri Lankan community near Syracuse University is organizing efforts to build housing for the 1 in 12 people in Sri Lanka who are homeless. You can help financially or prayfully. Please contact David Parkinson at davidparkinson-AT-ieee-DOT-org, visit syracuseforsrilanka.org . One of the missionaries my church supports is also heading to Sri Lanka as part of a disaster relief team. Email me for details if you would like to help.

My score summary reads: 24% scored higher, 1% scored the same, and 75% scored lower. What does this mean? Your nerdiness is: Mid-Level Nerd. Wow, it takes a lot of hard nerdy practice to reach this level.

(Until I can get the image right take a look at it here .) I have to admit, I thought this was funny. I know people like this. I had a friend in college who refused to stop wearing shorts until the temperature was consistently below 40 degrees fahrenheit. After years of living in what sis 2 considers to be the frozen tundra I could be considered one of those people. Whenever she comes to visit during cold weather we always have a discussion about this. Me in jeans, tee shirt, and a fleece and she in thermal underwear, wool socks, tee shirt, sweater, hat, scarf, gloves, and wool coat. I wouldn't go running in the snow if you paid me but I have been known to take the trash out in my pjs. My sisters and I also get together to laugh at southerners who fall out and shut down their cities over the occasional inch of snow that falls in the south. The one thing that really gets on my everlasting nerve though is talk of "reverse racism" or "reverse discrimination....

Booker Rising reports, " Atheist Loses Presidential Prayer Protest ." Good. Rassafrassin' knuckle head needs to know just because he's an atheist doesn't mean the rest of us have to act like we are too. Hopefully his other lawsuit will be shot down as well. PJ of Reading, Writing, and Ranting comments , "Gee. If you don't want to listen, watch on TV and flick on the mute button during the prayer. If you're there in person, bring along earplugs or stick your fingers in your ears. Sheesh."

Okay, so I watched the first two episodes of BSG last night. I want more. The characters so far are interesting. Gaius Baltar is so messed up you almost feel sorry for him. But only almost. Mostly you just want to wring his scrawny neck. Not that the actor has a scrawny neck but his portrayal of the character exudes scrawny necked-ness. His self centeredness puts every one else around him in danger. Boomer seems to have multiple personalities that are competing against each other. You can already see some soap opera-esque machinations trying to cover up the results of her internal conflict. What a tangled web we weave.... The humanoid cylon models so far seem to have split personalities or something. They haven't quite got the knack to being human. The back and forth between the rest of the characters we've been introduced to is fun to watch. A friend of mine says that President Roslin reminds her of her mid-wife. Interesting observation. That's all I can remember of my fir...

My women's bible study group has been studying the book of Acts since last spring, I think. We take time off for school holidays and summer break so I don't remember any more when we actually. We're only up to chapter 20. So far I think the working title of the book could have been, "How to Start a Riot, Get Yourself Beaten Up, and Get Thrown Into Jail All In a Day's Work." Or it could have been called, "The Unstoppable Power of God." Acts details the exploits of Peter, Paul, and a host of others. What really strikes me about the book so far is the utter futility of trying to stop the spread of the gospel. (I wrote a bit about this here .) Everywhere the apostles went someone reacted violently to the spread of the gospel. When those threatened by the preaching of the gospel tried to stop it the end result was more people coming to Christ. It's a reminder to relatively comfortable and prosperous western Christians what real persecution looks li...

What I'm thankful for: People seem to think that I look like I can fit into my pre-baby jeans. Hubby's got lots of new jeans that I can "borrow" until I actually can fit into my pre-baby jeans again. Baby smiles. Baby's first laugh. Being able to go outside in January in central New York dressed like it's May in New York city. (The weather's going back to normal tomorrow, pray for us.) Bible study started up again today. We're up to chapter 20 in Acts. (Comments on the book thus far are forthcoming.) The men and women fighting in Iraq and the mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers who patiently and faithfully wait for their return. Sci Fi Friday. (I proudly wear the label of Sci Fi Queen in my family.) This email message from one of the missionaries my church supports: Praise God that: ·Our local church held a Christmas dinner at the jail. ·We collected the names and addresses of the children of the prisoners and delivered Christm...

I'm watching the new Battlestar Galactica miniseries for the third time. It's the original Sci Fi channel uncut version. The 3 hour version aired on NBC the other night cut out a lot of dialogue that gave some enticing flesh to the skeleton of the story. Of course they left in all of the sex, feh. Any way, so I'm watching the show and I keep thinking about a line that was cut from the 3 hour version of the show. President Roslin remarks to Commander Adama something along the lines of with less than 50,000 of the human race left they needed to get down to the business of having babies to help preserve the race. In this new version of the late 1970s show two of the main characters, namely Starbuck and Boomer, are now women. In the world of Battlestar Galactica women are fully integrated into the military. They do everything the boys do. Presumably in the civilian arena women do everything the men do as well. So what I keep wondering is, now that humanity is in a position...

Been catching up on sleep and household chores the last few days. I'll be back soon. Here's a quiz for you. Your Element Is Air You dislike conflict, and you've been able to rise above the angst of the world. And when things don't go your way, you know they'll blow over quickly. Easygoing, you tend to find joy from the simple things in life. You roll with the punches, and as a result, your life is light and cheerful. You find it easy to adapt to most situations, and you're an open person. With you, what you see is what you get... and people love that! What's Your Element? Pretty much saw that one coming. Via Dappled Things .

Are up on hubby's blog .

Here are the letters I mentioned in the previous post. The one that started it (I'm guessing these letters were written after the show's first airing at the end of 2003): Galactica Needs More Diversity The problem I had with Battlestar Galactica was there were no major and very few minor African American characters. There were no Black men in the show at all or if they were, they had virtually no screentime. In the original series, Boomer and Tigh were both played by African American actors. In this rendition of Battlestar, those characters were played by Asian and White actors. In the Caprica city, there no African American extras. On the Galactica's bridge, there was only one African American actress. Another Black actress could be found playing a religious official that swore in the new President of the colonies. This was very troubling to me. Do you not want African Americans to watch your show? Do you want to project the idea that African Americans are not part of the ...

From my site meter referrals: Yahoo search "46 year old black men with the pimp mentality" Google search "no african americans in Battlestar Galactica" This one caught my attention because I've seen to original series and the remake. Both most definitely had black actors in them. The first few links were to letters to the editor of Science Fiction Weekly complaining that there weren't enough black characters and extras in the show and a couple of letters pointing out that ethnic diversity or lack there of has little or no bearing on whether or not a show is any good. I just skimmed the letters. I'm going back now to look for some postable bits. Another Yahoo search "a poster of uncle sam saying if your parents don't have money ask uncle sam"

What I'm thankful for: All of the people who recommended that I switch to Firefox as my web browser. So far so good. The 50th and 51st Christian Carnival and all of the previous ones too. Snow day today. There really isn't all that much snow though. Someone else to shovel the snow. It cost five bucks but I can live with that. Dancing with the kids. That I'm not up for any position that requires facing a senate firing squad confirmation committee. What are you thankful for?

With all of the great minds that Christianity has to offer why, oh why, did Joe Scarborough have to chose Pat Robinson to speak on the question of why God allowed the earthquake and tsunami? A meteor will be the end of us all? At least Joe shows a better understanding of the Bible with his response to Robertson's theories about the end times, "Like a thief in the night." Referring to the second coming of Christ. The following debate about the question wasn't very impressive either. The lady from American Atheists? I'm gon' pray for her. The woman who was supposed to represent Christianity in the debate wasn't a very good representative of Christianity. And the Jewish gentleman just seemed angry. The whole thing just seemed like a shouting match between three bitter people.

I have discovered the Diplomad ! I've seen the site referenced by others (most recently Instapundit ) in the last few days and finally got around to taking a look. OOW WEE! They are currently raking the UN over the coals (and rightly so) for its behaviour in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami in south east Asia. Here's a sample : Well, dear friends, we're now into the tenth day of the tsunami crisis and in this battered corner of Asia, the UN is nowhere to be seen -- unless you count at meetings, in five-star hotels, and holding press conferences. Aussies and Yanks continue to carry the overwhelming bulk of the burden, but some other fine folks also have jumped in: e.g., the New Zealanders have provided C-130 lift and an excellent and much-needed potable water distribution system; the Singaporeans have provided great helo support; the Indians have a hospital ship taking position off Sumatra. Spain and Netherlands have sent aircraft with supplies. The UN continues ...

Like a bad case of mildew He's Back . Tongue Tied reports that your friendly neighbourhood atheist Michael Newdow is out to make sure that no poor atheist has to be confronted with the fact that some of their fellow citizens have faith in God. He's resurrecting the suit to have the phrase "under God" removed from the Pledge of Allegiance and as if that wasn't enough, "Newdow says he also filed suit in a Washington district court to try to stop clergy from uttering prayers at President Bush's Jan. 20 inauguration. He said in the filing that such prayers make him feel like a "second-class citizen." May I be so bold as to suggest that Mr. Newdow seek medical help for his inferiority complex? The Beliefnet article reports that: In the new case, Newdow has been joined in the suit by three families who include atheists and claim they are offended "to have their government and its agents advocating for a religious view they each specifically ...

Alright, that does it! I've had Internet Explorer seize up on me one time too many. I'm going shopping for a new web browser. Any suggestions?

In light of the current debate raging about the "stinginess" of the United States, I would like to put this question out there: Which would be the better situation? A. To have immeditately pledged a large sum of aid to the relief effort and then been seen as brash, rash, and a show off? OR B. To have waited to make a pledge to the relief effort and then be seen as stingy, uncaring, and thoughtless? Is one scenario really better than the other? Let the discussion (notice I said 'discussion' NOT 'argument') begin! -The Tenant. Baldilocks is asking, " Who Ya Gonna Call? " Who indeeded. -The Cabin Master Sam

I heard about this story on the news last night and went looking for more information on it this morning. The thing that struck me about this whole thing is that with all of the information that this guide gives not once does it mention how to enter the US legally. Mexico publishes guide to assist border crossers "This guide is intended to give you some practical advice that could be of use if you have made the difficult decision to seek new work opportunities outside your country," the book says. The book is being distributed as a free supplement to El Libro Vaquero , a popular cowboy comic book, in five Mexican states that send many migrants to the United States: Zacatecas, Michoacán, Puebla, Oaxaca and Jalisco. The government plans to print 1.5 million copies. The book comes with a yellow disclaimer saying it does not promote undocumented immigration, and it repeatedly warns against crossing illegally. But it gives no information about the steps for seeking a U.S. visa. ...

As is inevitable when something unfortunate happens people have started asking where was God when the tsunami happened and why did God let it happen. This commenter from Evangelical Outpost has a pretty good answer. Some of my chums in the police academy asked me about my opinion on the tsunami from a christian perspective. They wanted to know if I thought these were the end times or was God punishing muslims or just what was the reason behind this unspeakable tragedy? I told them that I believe one thing and one thing alone caused the tsunamis: plate tectonics. It was, to put it indelicately, random bad luck. Where God really shows himself is in the response of the world: People are rallying to help poor strangers in a far-away land. I live in the suburban paradise of Yorba Linda, CA, surrounded by my Playstation 2, my multitude of professional wrestling DVDs, my internet connection, and my TiVo. And yet, I can't get this stinkin' story out of my head. Many Americans ...