It seems that CBS approved an ad from Focus on the Family, a Christian organization, that seems to portray an anti-abortion slant, featuring Tim Tebow and his mother. She talks about her decision to ignore a doctor’s advice and carry tim to term, despite health risks. I personally have not seen the ad yet, and I’m not entirely sure anyone has. But many groups have decided that they do not like the message one bit.
“An ad that uses sports to divide rather than to unite has no place in the biggest national sports event of the year — an event designed to bring Americans together,” Jehmu Greene, president of the Women’s Media Center, said in a statement.
Well. Although I can’t find a direct quote, I can remember that I heard one woman from a similar organization call the commercial a “message of hate.” She said that it was wrong for the group to only present it’s point of view as the correct one. Well, I have a problem with that.
Everything presents an opinion. Watch any commercial. Do you hear “Buy our product, but the others are just as good?” No. Anyone with any message comes an opinion. It is ridiculous to believe that any one message can be banned for not supporting it’s detractors. Some may take another route, however, and claim that CBS’ decision to not air ads from the Church of Christ and PETA show obvious favoritism. Short answer- they recently changed there practices regarding ads. Long answer- THEY RECENTLY CHANGED THERE PRACTICES REGARDING ADS. There. I said it. Now everyone, shut up and watch the Super Bowl.
It seems that our friends in Britain have declared a fatwa against Islamic extremism. For those who don’t know, a fatwa is essentially an official statement by an Islamic ulema, a kind of religious legal expert, that someone or some practice violates the law of the Koran. This specific case is probably surprising to many people, especially those who view Islam as a religion of violence.
The document, written by Dr Muhammed Tahir-ul-Qadri, a former minister of Pakistan and friend of Benazir Bhutto, declares suicide bombings and terrorism as “totally un-Islamic”. It is one of the most detailed and comprehensive documents of its kind to be published in Britain.
The fatwa, which was released in Pakistan last month, uses texts from the Koran and other Islamic writings to argue that attacks against innocent citizens are “absolutely against the teachings of Islam and that Islam does not permit such acts on any excuse, reason or pretext”.
What many people (Including many Christians!) seem to forget is that Islam is, to most of it’s followers, a religion of peace. But that news is hard to bare with the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, where Islamic extremists are seen as our one enemy. Truth be told, Islamic extremists are more than likely the most common, if not only enemy we face. But this fact has led to a horrible increase in anti-Muslim sentiments across the western world. What these leads to is- to put it bluntly, horrible cases of hypocracy.
Most Christians today seem to be getting uptight and generally paranoid about the government forces that they see as being “unfair”, “anti-religious”, or “prejudiced”. But how can we complain about our own treatment when we harbor such hatred against others? Have we forgotten the Golden Rule? Or maybe we just think it only applies when we are treated unfairly? Maybe what we need to remember is- fairness applies to everyone, and we are ORDERED to love everyone as we love ourselves. So instead of passing the blame for our misfortunes around, maybe when we begin treating others fairly we will get the blessings we want.
A cat came drifting onto my porch from the outside cold
and with eyes closed, drinking warm milk from my bowl,
thought:
“nobody hears me!(nobody hears me) I crept in so soft!
and nobody sees me!(nobody sees me) as I watched six steps off.”
like the peacocks wandering the walkways of the zoo
who have twice the autonomy the giraffes and the tigers do,
saying:
“no one can stop me,(no one can stop me)
no one clips my claws! now everyone watch me(everyone watch me)
scale these outside walls!”
you took the pious and profane,
turned around the praise and blame,
said “a glass can only spill what it contains”
To the perpetually plain and the incurably inane
a glass can only spill what it contains
what new mystery is this?
what blessed backwardness??
the Immeasurable One is held and does not resist!
struck by wicked words and foolish fists of senseless men
the Almighty One does not defend!
I was halfway listening to what she thinks she knows
We’re like children dressing in our parents’ clothes, saying:
“Nobody knows me,(nobody knows me)
no one knows my name,
No, nobody knows me,(nobody knows me)
nobody knows me…”
I half-heartedly explained
but gave up peacefully ashamed
as a glass can only spill what it contains
we went to Portugal and Spain
and in her mind the entire time it rained!
a glass can only spill what it contains
what new mystery is this? in overflowing emptiness
the Invisible is seen among the shadows and the mist,
before my doubting eyes the Infinite appears in time-
the Unquestionable is questioned but makes no reply!
what new mystery is this(x5)?!
“my Rabbi!”
my lips betray with a kiss
what new mystery is this?
What powerful lyrics. mewithoutyou, a Philadelphia based experimental rock band, has always made me think twice, but this song really amazes me. I’ll break it down into two parts. First, the lines that involve the seemingly egotistical animals. (Wow, what a strange sentence.) These phrases tell about a problem that many people don’t really recognize- this is God’s world. What gives us the right to march around, saying what we will and will not do, acting like no one can stop us and we are masters of our own fates. How proud! Like God is some distant figure, looking the other way as the little ants march around, sneaking little sins while he shakes his head, unable to stop them. What we (myself included) need to figure out is that GOD IS WITH US. He is watching you, waiting for you to make your choice to do what is right. When we become the peacock, proud of our power and ability to do anything, we slowly start to lose our respect for God and his boundaries.
Next are the other sections that describe the crucifixion- or, more accurately, the betrayal, along with one of the most baffling moments in the Bible. During the betrayal at the garden, the Lord of the universe is bound in human form and beaten by his own creations. Imagine his disciple’s fear! This man, who says he is God, is now “held powerless and does not resist!” Even now, as we see the whole story, we seem to have missed out on quite a bit of the meaning by skipping the various trials before the actual crucifixion. How could the “Immeasurable One” allow himself to be struck down by his own foolish creations? The necessary love is absolutely mind-boggling. We should realize this and give more (if it’s possible) weight to the terrible suffering Christ endured.
