Sometimes, it is embarrassing to be a Christian.

I have been a Christian my entire adult life. I grew up in a conservative Baptist church in rural Tennessee. As I have gotten older, I have become slightly more moderate in my beliefs but still hold to my Baptist upbringing. The same basic Christian values are still firmly entrenched. However,...

As I have gotten older, I have noticed that some Christians tend to be backward, ignorant and hypocritical. A recent blog by Dr Albert Mohler of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has reminded me of this fact. He teaches at the largest Baptist seminary in the world, turning out Southern Baptist ministers. For a seemingly educated man, he is fairly ignorant.

I had never head of this man until today when I was directed to his blog about "The Subtle Body — Should Christians Practice Yoga?" In his article he says, generally, I'm not quoting, that Christians should not do yoga because it requires one to become part of a spiritual movement that is contradictory. He says in his blog,

"they must either deny the reality of what yoga represents or fail to see the contradictions between their Christian commitments and their embrace of yoga."

There is no direct connection between yoga that has the elements of Hinduism and what people do for exercise. I think he is afraid of the word 'meditate.'

"these positions are teaching postures with a spiritual purpose. Consider this — if you have to meditate intensely in order to achieve or to maintain a physical posture, it is no longer merely a physical posture."

Meditation is not an evil word. Meditation is the same thing when you pray and wait, sitting quietly waiting for God to reveal an answer. Medication is another way of listening to what your body is saying or concentrating on what you are doing. I meditate all the time when I am doing things like blogging or to remember the answer to a test question. Have you ever seen some one take a death breath before doing something critical? That's meditating.

There are yoga classes that teach the fundamentals of yoga using the teachings of the 'religious' form. The yoga classes I have attended are purely physical. Yes, you have to listen to your body. I wonder what Dr Mohler thinks about martial arts? They are full of motions and exercising that have their roots in religion.

It is disheartening that Mohler talks about such things. It's embarrassing. What he needs to be talking about is how Christians need to be less hypocritical. Teach what Christ taught. Don't be adding stuff to inflate your status. That is, all he is doing.

Why Klingons are always so angry.

It just occurred to me why Klingons are always so angry. The love to fight and drink to excess. They must be what we can expect from Windows in the future.

On the other hand, the Federation is peaceful. The Federation must run on Linux.

We love our monsters

I have noticed lately that Americans, possibly the entire world, are enthralled with monsters. Not the usual bevy of dragons, vampires, werewolves and elves. I have seen at least 6 shows dedicated to the search of monsters such as Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, giant squids and the chupachabra. The History Channel has MonsterQuest, the SyFy channel has Destination Truth and Beast Legends. The Animal Planet is getting into the act with Lost Tapes. Not to mention, ghosts, while not 'monsters' are quite the hit as well. Oh, don't forget the aliens and their flying saucers. I can't count the number of different series and specials on ghosts.

Why do we have such a fascination with such. You would think that in the 21st Century, Man would have out grown the need such creatures. It must go deeper, buried in our psyche, to need to believe in things that are not part of our 'normal' experience. Not all of this need are not just crazies who see large, hairy men walking in the woods, but very intellectual, college educated people. They see something that is completely contrary to their education.

I have no real opinion on this. Some stories are more compelling than others. So compelling in fact that they seem hard not to except. I firmly believe that anything is possible. I stay open minded and hope to see my little piece of these monsters.

Governments failure to it Vets and such...

Surprised?

The government told me that I would have everything I needed to help me be a successful in meeting my educational goals. This maybe true but it is very misleading. They provide the funding that is true. But, you have to jump through hoops to get the funding. They change programs in mid-stream and when you need the funding they don't tell you until after you start a program THEN you are told about the changes. You have to start over. While you miss deadlines and either have to postpone your plans or pay out of pocket.

Wait! I'm serving in the National Guard. You would think that the National Guard would take care of its service members too. They do not help that situation either. An example, I have been taking classes in college since 2006. Yesterday, I found out that they have to approve an degree plan before I can get any more money for college. Guess what, they have been required an approved degree plan for EIGHT years. I had never heard of it until I needed money for college. Give me a break!

The VA fails to meet, in a timely fashion, the needs of some of its beneficiaries. Not only has VA failed veterans in their health care, they are also failing to meet the educational requirements of it's veterans. All the while, the VA and the Senate, House and White House pay lip service to those, same veterans they promise to help. It is a never ending cycle of failure. When is it going to stop?

Gulf Oil vs Gas Price

Did anyone notice the price of gas in relation to the amount of oil that was being lost in the Gulf? I thought it was very funny that as long as the oil was leaking in the Gulf of Mexico that the price of gas went down. Now that BP has shut the leak (?), the price of gas has been going back up.

I don't mean BP gas, I mean gas at almost all of the stations! It would make more sense if the price when up when that valuable oil was leaking. Instead, it was the opposite.

I wish I knew about the oil industry to understand this mess. It is a mess.

Turn down the heat!

I know that historically, the summer temperatures in Tennessee have reached above 100. Right now, it's 99 degrees. This has nothing to do with global warming, it is just a normal climatic trend. Yeah, I know, it is unusual for the temp to get over 100 but it's nothing to panic about.

You do need to keep a check on the elderly and family members that do not have air conditioners. Keep you pets inside as much as possible and make sure they have plenty of water. And, as they say in the Army, 'Drink water! Drink water! Drink water!'

Mrs Sherrod...Racist?

It leaves something to ponder. In the infamous video of Mrs Sherrod at an NAACP gathering, she did make some racist comments. There is no other way of looking at it. Now, the press is putting a vicious spin on this. Both CNN and FoxNews are working to get Mrs Sherrod's job returned to her. It needs to be considered that Mrs Sherrod is, if nothing else, two faced. She talks one way in front of the public and another in front of her fellow members of the NAACP.

The NAACP is not clean on this either. The NAACP was quick to throw Mrs Sherrod under the bus when the video broke. There is an issue of the NAACP holding together. Is the organization falling apart? Only time will tell.