Born Again, Being Saved and the 10 Commandments

Recently I read a comment by a woman who considers herself "born again", in which she stared how hard it is to live with a spouse who isn't "saved".  This got me thinking.  What makes you "born again" is it getting baptized again?

Why do the "born again" consider themselves truer and more devoted than those who never faltered, the "always was" Christians? They preach their interpretation of the bible, a version that fits them better than the original. Not all, but a large portion of them argue that Catholics are not Christians. They also hate openly in the name of religion. They hate anyone who isn't like them. They hate other religions, the LGBT community, other nationalities, yet they swear, smoke, drink, take drugs, have affairs - while openly criticizing everyone else.

One such woman commented on a religious video, how she has tried for years to save her husband and hasn't been successful so far. This woman thanks God for giving her and her husband the chance to make their relationship right and keep them together after years of turmoil, yet she openly disrespects him for not being "born again: or as devoted to their religion as she is.

This got me thinking about being saved or born again. If you're in need of saving you must have broken at least one of the commandments. So I decided to double check the Ten Commandments and see what would qualify someone to need saving.

1.   You can't have any other God
2.   You can't make or idolize an image of anything in heaven, on earth, or in the waters. If you       do, God will punish you and your children for 4 generations. But if you obey this commandment,     God will love your family for 1,000 generations.
3. Don't use God's name in vain.
4. Keep the Sabbath holy
5. Honour your father and mother
6. Don't murder
7. Don't commit adultery
8. Don't steal
9. Don't be a false witness against anyone
10. Do not covet anything that belongs to others

Clearly, even if someone isn't breaking any of these rules but doesn't go to church and doesn't push religion down everyone's throat, some religious zealots would consider this person in need of saving.

Breaking Amish (non)Reality TV?

Breaking Amish is a reality based program that follows the lives of one Mennonite and four Amish people who leave their respective communities for life in New York.  A Facebook page was created that claims the show is not telling the truth.

Christian Post wrote, " one claim is that Kate, an Amish bishop's daughter, sent photos to a modelling agency..... For the Amish, photography of any sort is deemed a sin, as it promotes vanity.  If the claims were true, Kate would surely have been punished, possibly shunned for her behaviour".  The New York Daily News and others, reported there have been misrepresentations by the shows participants and possibly by TLC (The Learning Channel) itself.  As a result, the show has removed the phrase "leaving the community for the first time" and replace it with a statement that they all have left (their communities) before the show.  TLC also released the following statement, "There is a lot of information floating around about the group on 'Breaking Amish.'  Much of it is not truth, but some of it is--and is addressed in upcoming episodes."

I've only watched one of the two shows that aired. I'm not sure if I'll spend any more time trying to figure out truth from Hollywood style exaggerations.  I guess I can continue watching or satisfy my curiosity about these communities, by reading about Rumspringa  instead.  Either way, it's a fascinating topic.

  

Sharing Music: The Adele Effect

I heard Adele's "Rolling in the deep" while we were visiting Seattle... fell in love with the song. Fast forward a bunch of months and I heard more of her music. "I found a boy", "Someone like you", "Set fire to the rain" quickly became favourites and I bought them through iTunes. So far in less than a couple weeks, I have heard them 37 times through iTunes, probably at least that many times through my ipod and an equal number in the car.

I have an old friend who liked a mellow playlist I have, so I sent him the YouTube links to two of the songs and expressly told him not to read anything into the lyrics. Now I'm not even sure if I shoud've sent the links at all....

He has sent me links to songs and tells me if they have any sentimental meaning - usually they do, I sent him links to songs - mosty stuff I like that (mostly) have no relevance to our friendship. I sent him Saudis in Audis, a funny song.
I feel funny about these songs or rather how they may be interpreted. I think I may never share music with him again.

Someone like you http://youtu.be/qemWRToNYJY
I found a boy http://youtu.be/_yEVYJjpac8

Success in Business: An Observation

Hard work, excellent workmanship and attention to detail will make your business flourish

- unless you're a paying member in a networking group that will promote you even if you are a half-wit with nothing but a half assed idea and zero drive to succeed.

Gigi Gorilla

My friend Gigi gorilla, is a sweet quiet girl. She's always with me. Shares my happy days and consoles me when I'm sad.

Everyone told me she was mean and dangerous.
Everyone teased her. Poked at her. Made fun of her and were very mean to her.
For years they made her feel bad about herself and laughed at everything she said or did. This made her sad and she cried often.
This went on for years and years until one day, Gigi stood up, bared her teeth and let out an enormous roar. She had had enough of this abuse and lashed out at her abusers.

They ran away but her behaviour reinforced what they had said all along - that she is mean and dangerous.

The moral of this story is, if you abuse someone long enough, they will attack back and live up to what you made them out to be in the first place.
~ Author unknown





I can't remember where I found this.
If you are the writer or you know who is, please let me know so I can give proper credit.

Dangerous Attractions: Thy Neighbors Husband

Friend or Foe

Murder Suicide and Facebook Popularity

Man, Woman Dead in Murder-Suicide at Michigan College Fox News - April 10

"The bodies of Asia McGowan, 20, of Ecorse, and Anthony Powell, 28, of Detroit, were discovered inside a classroom at a Henry Ford Community College building after police responded to an emergency call of an assault and shortly afterward reports of a shot being fired on campus, said Dearborn Deputy Police Chief Gregg Brighton." ~ Newsday

It's sad this sort of thing happens and I feel really bad for the families involved but the reason I'm blogging about this tragedy is because of a T.V. news broadcast. They showed some YouTube video of the victim dancing and also showed video of the gunman ranting and venting whatever was on his mind at the time. Based on the small video clips, he obviously seemed angry and crazed - if that wasn't enough to convince the viewer, they announced that he had only three or four facebook friends; the victim and object of his obsession, was one of them. Whereas, the victim had friends that numbered somewhere in the high eight hundreds.

This is the part that bothered me. Facebook is full of spammers and trolls that add people randomly. It's also full of innocent people that don't say no to friend requests. I'm guessing the victim, Asia McGowan, was one of those nice people who was popular and friendly with many people but not necessarily friends with everyone on her list.

My question is: How does the Facebook "popularity" of the victim and her killer, factor into this?

Grow up already!

When acquaintances grow horns and cause trouble...

About two years ago, I met a couple that I can honestly say, I didn't like. She's touchy feely and becomes even more uninhibited and hands-on the more she drinks (and ingests etcetera's ...), and he's a short guy that suffers with masculinity issues.

Something about them bugged me right from the start.
Maybe it's the way she throws herself on all the men, touching, kissing, gyrating or maybe it's the way they are clingy and needy creatures that demand all your attention, like a couple of kids going through the terrible two's. Quite possibly it's their gossipy giggly need to spread rumors and destroy relationships for the sheer pleasure of watching the process of collapse in their friend's relationships, that bothers me the most.

I've had to tolerate them because they are friends of friends. I've had to watch and listen to them complain, brag, whine, have hissy fits, lie and snicker. All along grinding my teeth behind my fake smile. Realistically, I wouldn't normally put up with that for as long as I did, but I really felt like I was obligated to until, they decided to include me in their most recent fight with a friend.

The woman sent an email to the female half of the couple we are friends with. It was a nasty bit of email. She made accusations and waited for the sparks to fly. By the time it was over, I was receiving copies of all the correspondence between them because she said she was trying to "protect" my husband and I from our friends. None of what the emails contained were of any concern to us nor did any of it pertain to us; she simply wanted to forward email to start trouble.

This time her target was us and here's a little bit of the reason behind her jealous fit and outrage ...

Several weeks ago, we went away overnight with our friends (couple A) but the problem couple (we'll call them couple B), got all bent out of shape over it. They (couple B) don't like anyone getting close to their friends (couple A) even though we had been friends with couple A, about a year longer than couple B had been, we didn't want to cause trouble so we kept our distance. Cautiously optimistic that we can maintain our friendship with couple A, without ruffling feathers. At that time, we were being much more guarded because we knew couple B would attempt to cause trouble, all that remained to be seen was the how and when.

The when, apparently is now; the how, is by trying to destroy the credibility of couple A, and planting seeds of doubt about their loyalty.

When I received the emails, I read through them carefully for any reference to myself or my husband and sent a simple response and clarification to a statement she had made -- with that, I have heard no further from either the husband, nor his wife.


So, I no longer need to babysit and monitor their behavior or share my evenings out with them. I feel a sense of relief as though a heavy nagging weight has been lifted from my shoulders...
I say, goodbye, so long and good riddance.

That was yesterday ... and how was your day ?