What do you think?

Hi Everyone;


Reading your comments to the below post, I had to wonder; is it the tool or the user? Is it that some tools, as you said Sammy, have really only the one use and opportunity seems to find a place, much like owning a hammer brings about an abundance of things needing hammered? My father, when I was about 7, gave me my first hammer. I soon went out and destroyed our front steps - I felt the corners needed rounding. What sort of idiocy would I have done with a shotgun?

Nikki, you believe we really should outlaw guns, as it is the gun that is the problem.

On the other hand, the hammer, and in reality also the gun, are really not able to operate themselves. Can we blame the hammer that I am an idiot? Well, perhaps in hindsight, giving a 7year-old a hammer is foolish - is it equally foolish to give an immature person a gun?  How do we differentiate between the mature and the idiot without destroying simple human rights?

Scottie, you noted that the mindset that sees violence as cool is well developed and cultivated in America.

Which begs the question; if it isn't the gun - or in my case, the hammer, what other piece of foolishness would I have chosen?  What would be used then, for someone bent on killing people.... a bomb?  It just seems like there are some who are so very determined to hurt others.

What do you think?

Gunman Kills 12 at Batman Premiere in Colorado

And, that's all I'll say about him.  I don't say that to say he is not worthy of talking about, that he is worthless, that his crimes place him on the fast track to hell.  None of that is what I'm wanting to say; what I want to ask is if protecting one's rights to automatic modifiable weapons is necessary?  If seeing violence, cheating, stealing, using and abusing on television and in other media daily, yet classifying public nudity as a sex offense at all makes sense in any of this world?  Lone gunman in a movie theater is a horrible thing, losing sight of what is simple and natural in life is an unmentionable tragedy.
  My humble sympathy to the families of all involved.

Scotland: Catholic Church declares ‘war on gay marriage’

by Dan Littauer for PinkNews.co.uk
8 July 2012, 6:55pm
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/07/08/scotland-catholic-church-declares-war-on-gay-marriage/

The leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland and the most senior Catholic in the UK has declared “war on gay marriage” pledging to spend another £100,000 in its campaign against equal marriage rights for same-sex couples in Scotland.

Speaking in today’s Sunday Times, Cardinal Keith O’Brien warned the Scottish Government that it will face an “unprecedented backlash” from the Catholic Church in Scotland if it goes ahead with plans to legalise same-sex marriage, claiming “marriage is under threat and politicians need to know the Catholic Church will bear any burden and meet any cost in its defence.”
The Catholic Church says it will spend an additional £100,000 on an advertising campaign against the plans, on top of the £50,000 it has already spent against marriage equality in Scotland.
The Equality Network, the LGBT equality charity that campaigns for equal marriage, slammed the move as “aggressive, undemocratic and unchristian” and urged the Scottish Government to “stand up for equality” rather than “give in to threats”.
The Equality Network says that the leadership of the Catholic Church in Scotland has a wider “anti-gay agenda” pointing out that in addition to opposing same-sex marriage the Church previously ran expensive campaigns against the equal age of consent, the repeal of Section 28, civil partnerships, and same-sex adoption.
Previously Cardinal O’Brien has described same-sex marriage as a “grotesque subversion”. In December, he said the introduction of Civil Partnerships had been a mistake, arguing the law should never ‘facilitate’ same-sex relationships; “These measures were not in the best interests of our society. The empirical evidence is clear, same-sex relationships are demonstrably harmful to the medical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing of those involved, no compassionate society should ever enact legislation to facilitate or promote such relationships, we have failed those who struggle with same-sex attraction.”
Tom French, Policy Coordinator for the Equality Network, said; “For the Catholic Church to spend another £100,000 fighting LGBT equality in its self-declared ‘war on gay marriage’ seems to be an aggressive, undemocratic and unchristian thing to do. At a time of financial crisis, when poverty and deprivation are on the rise, surely there are better things that this money could be spent on. We know that two-thirds of Scots, and a majority of Scottish Catholics, support same-sex marriage. We trust that the Scottish Government will make its decision based on democratic principles and the evidence, and not who can spend the most money. We urge the Scottish Government to stand up for equality and not give in to threats.”
The public consultation on same-sex marriage closed in December with over 50,000 responses. The Scottish Government is due to publish the results and announce its decision this month.
In June the Equality Network announced that a majority of MSPs had signed its Equal Marriage Pledge, committing themselves to voting in favour of same-sex marriage. 74 MSPs have now said they will vote in favour, whilst just 9 remain opposed.
Opinion polls have shown consistent public support for same-sex marriage in Scotland. The most recent poll was conducted in mid-June by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the Equality Network. It showed record support with 64% of Scots in favour of a change in the law, and just 26% opposed. Separate polls conducted over the past two years by Populus, YouGov, Angus Reid, and the Scottish Social Attitudes Survey, have all shown similar levels of support.
The Scottish Social Attitudes Survey also showed that a majority of Scottish Catholics support same-sex marriage with 57% in favour and just 25% opposed.


Hello Friends;
 
So, the Scottish Catholic Church has decided to spend £150,000 on "The War on Gay Marriage".  How interesting.  Well, doubtful I am that the guy with the funny hat reads my blog, but just in case - I've put together a small bit of scripture for you to view this issue in context.  Hope you enjoy it:

34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.


So, please help me to understand this, Mr. Funny Hat Guy; where does Jesus declare spending money on halting personal freedom and equality is more important than, say, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, treating the sick and visiting those in prison? 
  Or, better yet, could you please define for me - for whom do you work?

Today's Shame

Give her the Dunce Cap!

  I've known folks who were mentally disabled my entire life.  A neighbor is now in her 60's - physically.  Mentally, closer to 8.  Spiritually, she's an angel.
  Oh, we all know kids who are terrors, and "adult children" can be just the same.  Still, there is a special quality, a special grace given to those who never grow up.  Innocence is a way of life, and joy in so many of their experiences.  My neighbor would grow bored, as many of us do, but she found such joy in very simple things and left me with the understanding that wisdom hides itself in very interesting places.
  When I was young, just graduating from high school and entering into college, I applied for a position working with disabled people.  I did work with the Emotionally Impaired, and the Mentally Impaired, and did some work with Autistic/Mentally Impaired - which is a huge challenge.  But, topping the list of it all were those listed as Severely Mentally Impaired.  I just didn't have enough heart for that group, and hold nothing but respect for those who do.
  But, what do we say when we allow someone, who I will grant has done likely the best she could, to simply dump an adult child by the side of the road?  Did she panic and seek freedom at the moment's whim?  Did she plan this?  When a parent/guardian takes on the responsibility of a child, no matter the age or challenges, then some certain expectations do come along.  Chief among them:  don't leave the child along the side of the road at a bar!

Shame on you, miss!

An interesting issue does arrive:  How do we define "adult"?  Is an adult a person 18 years of age or greater?  Shouldn't there be a certain level of self-sufficiency to establish 'adulthood'?  How about those who are 18 chronologically, but much much younger in all other ways?  For that matter, we are now charging kids as young as 11 as an adult if they do something so irresponsible and unthinking as commit a crime, while at the same time telling anyone under 16 that they can't have sex; telling anyone under the age of 18 that they can't buy smokes; telling anyone under 21 that they can't have alcohol - and yet calling an 11 year old that he's now an adult!   Bah!   Only the government can be this stupid!

(CNN) -- An Illinois woman who left her mentally disabled daughter outside a Tennessee bar cannot be charged with a crime, police said Tuesday.     (video and story available at this link)

http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/10/us/mother-abandons-disabled-daughter/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Police in Caryville, Tennessee, said the daughter is 19 and not assigned to a legal guardian.

"As terrible as it is, unfortunately there is nothing we can do," Assistant Police Chief Stephanie Smith said. "There is no doubt we need a law for mental health rights, but pending this investigation, we just don't know what else to do."
According to police, Eva Cameron stopped at the Big Orange Bar in Caryville on June 28 when her daughter, Lynn, needed to use the restroom.
The mother left Lynn by the side of the road and returned to her home in Algonquin, Illinois, according to Smith.
"(Lynn) didn't know her age, she didn't know her address, she didn't know her phone number and she didn't even know her name," Smith said.
Eva Cameron told the Northwest Herald newspaper in Illinois that she brought Lynn to Caryville because of its concentration of Baptists and because Tennessee has the "No. 1 health care system in the United States of America."
The young woman's identity was unknown until Caryville police received an anonymous tip on Monday, having released a picture and requested information from the public.
At their request, Eva Cameron had a brief meeting with Caryville police on Tuesday. She signed a statement saying that Lynn Cameron was now a ward of Tennessee, officials said.
"She basically said, 'I don't want her and I don't want to take her.' Then she got in her car and she left," said Smith.
When reached later Tuesday by CNN, Eva Cameron said, "We understand she lost her ID card and that's how the situation has turned into what happened. She's already an adult. I just have to leave it at that."

Eva Cameron would not answer further questions.

Authorities took Lynn Cameron to a hospital, where she was discovered to have only a basic vocabulary of 30-40 words, according to Smith.
A Campbell County Chancery Court order in the case described Lynn Cameron as a "severely disabled adult, suffering from profound mental deficits, and is unable to care for herself or her personal needs."
According to the court, the mother stated "she could not and would not care for Lynn Cameron."
Eva Cameron said that she has another disabled child and that caring for both was too much to handle, according to the Northwest Herald.
Authorities said Lynn Cameron is being cared for at a facility in Roane County.

When asked how the young woman is doing, Smith replied, "Lynn is doing fantastic."

In the Very Same Way