HokiePundit

A Rousing Accomplishment

My new web page about World Impact in Chester, PA is up.

NOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Quick question: not to be judgemental or anything, and assuming that the story is true, is Marcus Vick the dumbest human being alive?

That sound you just heard was the collective "oh [no]!" of Hokie Nation. It was probably very closely followed by a sigh of relief from our starting and third-string quarterbacks.

Everyone here who had heard the news was talking about it, but, interestingly enough, no one was really shocked. Michael Vick had a reputation for being, ahem, a ladies' man, and the word is that his brother is just as bad. Basically, the mood was "Did you read the CT today? Marcus is really a dumb[butt]."

Basically, in case you haven't read the article yet, Marcus Vick, brother to the legendary St. Michael Vick of Blacksburg, was accused by two girls (aged 14 and 15) of having sex with their 15-year-old friend after plying all three of them with alcohol at his apartment. Yes, I know that as a redshirt Sophomore, he's probably 19 years old and has no business having alcohol (he doesn't really have any business having his own apartment, an Escalade, or many other things, but I'm not going to begrudge him gifts from his family).

Let me put it this way: if you were the heir-presumptive to the throne of Hokie Starting Quarterback, were likely to be drafted into the NFL for millions of dollars so long as you weren't absolutely terrible, and probably had dozens of girls of legal age on campus who'd love to sleep with you, would you have drunken sex with a 15-year-old? For that matter, unless it was your sibling, cousin, or family friend, would you be hanging out with someone that young at all? This girl is probably a Freshman or Sophomore in high school. Compare and contrast: Bryan Randall is a member of Athletes in Action (I'm told he's President), has to deal with being viewed as a squatter in the Inter-Vick Era, and by all reports has been extremely mature and responsible in helping Marcus Vick when it appeared that Randall would be benched.

Personally, I feel sorry for Marcus. I hope he didn't do it, and if he did, I hope he repents. I mean, to have done something so incredibly stupid, you need pity more than scorn. Sheesh.

DOUBLE UPDATE: My friend Emily contends that Michael Jackson has the crown for dumbest man alive. I have a hard time arguing with that. Also, I've been informed by a friend with contacts that Vick, Mike Imoh (kick returner and possible starting RB next year), and another guy I didn't recognize were kicked off the team today. Wow.

Orange You Glad I Didn't Say Banana?

Mark Butterworth has an interesting story about Christian charity and the sense of entitlement some people feel. Check it out!

Previews!

In the next few days, I'll be posting on Evangelicalism and Anglo-Catholicism, along with something on fear. Be alert.

Provincial? Who's Provincial?



create your own visited states map

Of course, given that there are fifty states, I don't completely understand how sixteen states makes thirty-one percent, but...

We Are the World



create your own visited country map

I've been to Canada, Britain, and Belgium in recent memory, though I went to France, Sweden, East Germany, and West Germany (now reunified, of course) when I was very little and my dad was stationed in England. Since I can remember at least part of one castle in West Germany, I figure I can count all of them.

(link via William Sulik)

Note: I couldn't figure out what all the little random dots were at first, but then it dawned on me that they were (mostly) US and UK possessions, such as Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Diego Garcia.

Song Lyrics

I don't usually post lyrics here anymore, but the lyrics to Relient K's song I Am Understood are just so good that it would be a disservice not to. I know people don't usually read when people post their poetry or song lyrics, but take the time to look these over. We all have times where we feel like God's not there for us, and this song captures that feeling beautifully.

"Sometimes it's embarrassing to talk to you,
To hold a conversation with the only one who sees right through
This version of myself
I try to hide behind;
I'll bury my face because my disgrace will leave me terrified.

And sometimes I'm so thankful for Your loyalty,
Your love, regardless of the mistakes I make, will spoil me
My confidence is, in a sense, a gift You've given me
And I'm satisfied to realize You're all I'll ever need.

You looked into my life
And never stopped,
And you're thinking all my thoughts;
You're so simple but so beautiful.
And you recite my words right back to me,
Before i even speak,
You let me know I am understood.

And sometimes I spend my time
Just trying to escape.
I work so hard, so desperately, in an attempt to create space
'Cause I want distance from the utmost important thing I know.
I see Your love, then turn my back, and beg for You to go

You looked into my life
And never stopped,
And you're thinking all my thoughts;
You're so simple but so beautiful.
And you recite my words right back to me,
Before i even speak,
You let me know I am understood.

You're the only one who understands completely.
You're the only one who knows me yet still loves completely.

And sometimes the place I'm at is at a loss for words,
If I think of something worthy, I know that it's already Yours.
And through the times I've faded and you've outlined me again
You've just patiently waited, to bring me back, and then

You looked into my life
And never stopped,
And you're thinking all my thoughts;
You're so simple but so beautiful.
And you recite my words right back to me,
Before i even speak,
You let me know I am understood."

These Boys Get That Syrup in Them and They Get All Antsy in Their Pantsy

This article is dead-on. It's long, but well worth your time if you want to understand the way young men act today.

Just Like the Falklands War...

The Yeti Penguin-Swatting game seems to be making the rounds right now; let's see how everyone's doing:

Kevin Holtsberry: 320.5
Mark Byron: 323.4
Chris Johnson: 320.something
HokiePundit: 588.3

I am all that is man.

Links? We Get Links!

Thanks to the Web Elves over at the Classical Anglican Net News for linking to me yesterday (scroll to the last entry). I appreciate it!

Memo

If a church is not the seat of a bishop (that is, if it does not have an episcopal throne), then it is not a cathedral. I don't care how big it is. If Rowan Williams decided to set up shop in a local pub, Canterbury Cathedral would become Canterbury Church and the pub would become something like "Cathedral of The Green Man and Shilling." If your denomination doesn't have bishops, you cannot possibly have any cathedrals. Those of the Roman Communion, Anglican Communion, Eastern Patriarchates, United Methodist Church, and several other groups can have cathedrals. So far as I know, Baptists and Presbyterians cannot have cathedrals. Whether or not the various small, generally Charismatic, denominations where the minister is called "bishop" count is an open question. Nonetheless, a cathedral is not determined by the size of the church, but by the presence of the seat of the bishop.

Thank you, that is all.

Call Me Cynical, But...

What do you think the odds of an assault charge would be if it had been Rush Limbaugh who had done this?

Movie Alert!

That's right folks, be on the lookout for Jesus 2: Pentecostal Boogaloo!

Mini-Rant!

You know, until a little less than a year ago, I was a very different person. If you named any political issue, I could tell you who supported it and why, what the pros and cons of it were, the history and importance of the issue, and maybe even which side would likely prevail, and when. Now, I honestly just don't care, and I think I may finally have figured out why.

I feel betrayed.

Congress doesn't appear to do anything besides spend on pork, do stupid things like go on taxpayer-funded "fact-finding" missions to places like Iraq, and send several of their number to run for President every four years. These candidates always lose. I mean, get a clue, people; who was the last person to go directly from Congress to the Presidency?* Meanwhile, I still don't see any ban on abortion. Nearly everything done is either half-[donkey]ed or extremely short-term. It's nice that they pass occasional resolutions congratulating people on birthdays, on raising big watermelons, and such, but couldn't this be done a lot cheaper? I mean, the Representatives don't seem to have much desire to actually, you know, represent, and the Senate is full of wannabe-nobility who think that they should be the next President.

And, now it's time to savage Bush. Don't get me wrong; I think he's far-and-away better than anyone the Democrats will ever offer as competition. I'll probably hold my nose and vote for him in November, hoping that at least Republican administrations won't erode civil liberties and encourage libertinism as quickly as the Democrats will (and do). However, a lot of what Bush has been doing or proposing has been unconscionable. I have to say that unless we eventually get evidence that the Patriot Act has been doing a darn fine job of protecting, rather than harassing, us, I'm going to be mightily upset. I have absolutely no idea why someone calling themselves a conservative would advocate amnesty for illegal aliens. I can sort-of understand trade barriers, but not done stupidly and with poor timing (talk about restrictions on outsourcing and you've got my attention; talk about restrictions on steel and you've lost your marbles). I honestly don't know whether the prescription drug plan was a serious idea or just designed to embarrass the Democrats. If the former, then it was an extremely irresponsible thing to do. If the latter, it was smart yet also disheartening, as it showed the Democrats to be even more hypocritical than previously supposed. I will say that I'm disappointed that WMDs haven't been found in Iraq yet, though I don't doubt that Hussein at least believed that he had them. The war certainly was justified in that Iraq broke the ceasefire agreement, and thus was the aggressor. Instead, this entire thing has been largely premised on WMDs and the idea that Iraq was an imminent threat to the US. Since either our intelligence was faulty (no way!) or the goods have been hidden very well (or taken abroad), we look like fools, even though we did the correct thing.

It increasingly seems to me that all either side does is propose ideas and then never follow through on them. People are interested in things like immigration, Social Security, guns, drugs, and abortion. If you effectively close the issue, then what will you run on next time? The sad thing is that I see no better option than the Republicans. The Democrats would be bad, but there might be enough sane members to prevent an all-out hemorrhage of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. The LibertineLibertarian Party would probably be pretty good for trade and disastrous in everything else, which would eventually affect the economy. I think we all know what would happen if the Greens ever took control (Armageddon/Gotterdammerung/Ragnarok is my guess). Thus, we're faced with a situation where our only hope seems to be the whomever is least-worst.

And people wonder why I tend to favor amillenialism...

I mean, what other hope is there? Obviously, all things are possible through God, and so postmillenialism can't be ruled out, but you may have noticed that Christ didn't come when the Hebrews had finally shown that they could live by the Law and had brought about a Golden Age. So few among us can even master their own lives (and that's with God's help) that it seems unreasonable to think that we can actually create a society worthy of Christ. Instead, every good thing is perverted to serve the Enemy. Hospitals give way to abortion clinics and euthanasia. Charity gives way to supporting groups like the Irish Republican Army (incidentally, the IRA is disliked by the people in the Republic of Ireland) and Hezbollah. Music is taken over by groups singing about sex and drugs. Books give way to pornographic magazines and mind-rot such as Cosmopolitan. The One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church splinters into Rome, the Eastern Patriarchates, Canterbury, and a whole host of small Protestant groups. None of these groups do an especially good job of presenting the Gospel, ensuring their own purity, and glorifying God. True, some can do one or two of these fairly decently, but eventually their deficit catches up with them and they have to deal with the consequences of their actions.

Just as the Law was intended to show the Jews that they cannot be Saved by their own actions but rather only by faith in God, I wonder how much of what goes on is designed to show us the very same thing. I see no reason why the Old Testament cycle of God doing miraculous things followed by the Israelites rejecting Him and then God needing to come and save the day again should be over. Christ has come, meaning that we know how it will end, but yet we still persist in our errors. I say we, because I know I sin all the time, though I like to think that I'm slowly bringing it down. Why can't we trust in Christ, when it's the obvious thing to do? Are the hollow pleasures of the world so tempting that we choose them, even though we know they won't quench our thirst?

Sadly, even the most faithful of us fall into this trap occasionally, while the rest of us do it a lot more than occasionally. How are we tricked into thinking that a GameCube, a nice car, or holding high office will make us happy? Probably the most tempting thing for guys out there is girls (I have no idea if the reverse is true). After getting frustrated in dating, I finally realized my problem: I'm simply not ready yet. I would expend a lot of effort to finally ask a girl out, and one of two things would happen. Sometimes I'd get shot down, in which case I felt as thought I'd wasted a lot. If she said yes, though, I noticed that I almost immediately lost interest in her. It was as though, having been affirmed by someone I found attractive, she was no longer necessary. This might be the Christian equivalent of how guys often change once they've finally managed to sleep with their girlfriend; I don't know. Whatever it is, it obviously was shameful, and I've quit doing it. As I already knew, I'm not ready yet, and so I should spend my time working on myself (my family has a history on both sides of marrying relatively late, so I'm not inclined to freak out about not being already engaged).

What's the point of all this babbling? Well, I think I'm just...tired. There's a lot of sin out there, and I may finally be seeing the scope of it. Knowing will help me out in the long run, but it's going to take a while to regroup and come up with a way to properly follow Christ and make my way through it all.

*the last person to go directly from Congress to the White House was JFK

The Answer Was There All Along

The Fearsome Pirate has girls figured out.

Yeah, what he said.

Sigh

HolySmoke.org is a sad, sad site. Open any random file, and you'll see what I mean (I especially recommend "Christians in the Hood). Small mistakes are easily understandable, but when someone asserts that the majority of Christians share Fundamentalist beliefs, that's simply wrong. The author's typical pattern seems to be to find something he doesn't like about Christians or Christianity, write his thoughts on why Christians and Christianity are wrong, and then not make an exceptionally good argument. In the thought I linked above, he castigates Christians because an apparently deranged homeless woman lied to him, then claimed that she wasn't lying because she was a Christian. News for you, buddy: not all who cry "Lord, Lord" will be recognized by God. When I was up in Chester, some guy asked me for spare change. I randomly asked him if he attended chuch, and, after he said he did, asked which one. He pointed directly across the street and said "that one!" I may be gullible, but I'm not stupid.

A Moment of Clarity?

There have been a lot of complaints lately about Bush "stiff-arming" Pro-Lifers. I wonder if this might have any bearing on explaining that. Excerpt:

"Stephens also states that later in the evening Mr Bush had been embarrassed by his wife. Laura Bush had made it clear that her views on abortion were a great deal more liberal than his. "

If Laura Bush is Pro-Abortion (Pro-Choice is a lie; you had your choice before, and it's necessary to realize that choices have consequences), then Dubya would obviously be reluctant to strongly denounce abortion.

Let me be clear. I think that abortion is pretty close to the most evil thing in the world today. I don't think I would ever vote for an openly Pro-Abortion candidate. Mark Shea has several excellent takes on this subject, calling the Democrat party (yes, I know what I'm doing with capitalization) the "Evil Party," with its GOP counterpart being known as the "Stupid Party. The former is because of their support for abortion, while the latter is...well, shouldn't it be fairly obvious? It's hard to think of a group that has held more power and done so very little with it than the contemporary Republican Party. He also compares abortion to the worship of Moloch, which is actually a startlingly apt metaphor (if it's even a metaphor). For those who don't know, some of the ancient peoples the Israelites ran into had a tradition of throwing their babies into the fire in order to obtain Moloch's blessing on themselves. Sound familiar?

Update!

So I've survived my first week of classes. For those curious, I'm taking:
MASC 1044 Computer Science for Liberal Arts
GEOG 1104 Intro. to Physical Geography
ECON 2005 Microeconomics
PSCI 2056 World Politics and Economy
MUS 3314 University Symphony Band
HIST 5914 Comparative Race and Slavery

The first five are going to be fairly easy, and I'm taking them either to fulfill my core requirements or to meet pre-requisites for my Master's program. The History course is going to take a lot of work, especially reading. I had to buy fourteen books for it, and my professor wanted us to have read the first 440 pages of one of them by last Monday (I got back into town late on Saturday, so I ended up skimming...). The professor himself seems like a fairly decent guy, despite having gone to the other university in the Commonwealth. Oddly enough, I think I also have almost as many female teachers this semester as for the past seven semester combined. The Geography professor and the GTA instructor for MASC are both girls women chicks, as is my recitation leader for PoliSci. In band, I made first chair again, which is nice. My second chair is a grad student whom I haven't met before, while the third chair is a Freshman and the fourth chair hasn't played since high school. It should be interesting. However, we're playing "American Overture for Band," which I've played before and really like.

Incidentally, I'm sick of the gratuitous Bush-bashing by teachers here. At least twice in the past year, there's been a day where every single professor I had that day said something stupid (and usually ignorant) about Bush. Has Bush done some (maybe even a lot) of things wrong? Sure. Do you really think Gore would have done or any of the current candidates will do any better? I sure hope you don't. I also like it when people with deep country accents make fun of the way Bush talks, since they never realize how stupid it makes them sound. Also, the vote to halt the recount in Florida was decided by a margin of 7-2, not 5-4. It was the decision that the recount could not be completed in time that was close. You may also notice that in the 5-4 decision, the two George H.W. Bush appointees cancelled each other out. And, of course, when liberal papers such as the Washington Post and New York Times did their own recount, they discovered that, lo and behold, Bush won the majority of votes in Florida. So, for those who can't seem to keep their whiny traps shut about the past election, please at least learn your facts before shooting your mouth off.

DJ HokiePundit

Guess who finally got his turntable working again?

When I'd packed it for the trip down to Tech, the belt had slipped off, and I had absolutely no clue how to put it back on. After several days of unsuccessful experimentation, I showed it to my roommate for his view. He didn't have any more success, but he did figure out that the way I'd been doing it was all wrong. Finally, I had my eureka moment, and it's working perfectly now.

My grandfather started a radio station (WXGI in Richmond), and both my parents had pretty decent record collections which they don't use anymore. Thus, I had a lot to pick through. I'm pretty sure I've got the entire works of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, and a fair amount of Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass. I've got several Elvis LPs, the Beatles' first album, and plenty of stuff by Queen and other 70s-80s bands. I had one really cool-looking clear single by NOFX, and found several good finds at the used music store in town, including one by the Toasters, a Benny Goodman compilation, and several excellent classical recordings.

Unfortunately, some of the records aren't playable right now, as they 45rpm adaptor has gone missing, and I don't have a 78rpm setting, since it's recent-model Sony PS-LX250H. Still, there's something about listening to vinyl that CDs, tapes, and MP3s can't duplicate. I'm not sure what it is, but perhaps that it sounds a little more "live," compared the the often-overproduced sound of CDs. Also, I tend to listen to faster-paced songs in my car, but when I'm at home/apartment, I prefer slower, more relaxing stuff.

My friends, many of whom have IPods, MP3 players, and other high-tech audio equipment, seem to think that having a turntable is just about the coolest thing ever. Other than one friend who DJs, I don't know of anyone else (my age, at least) who's got one.

Random Thought

Whenever people talk about Rome and Canterbury reuniting, it always concerns me a little bit. I mean, we haven't got nearly the resources to take in millions of Roman Catholics! We've got virtually no presence in continental Europe, or in large swathes of the US. If this is going to happen, folks, we've got to get cracking on establishing more parishes and putting balconies in existing churches.

Mini-Rant

An occasional theme here is how much I hate it when women are taken advantage of. Let's face it: a lot of guys are jerks most of the time, and even nice guys have occasional flashes of jerk. And the sad thing, I think, is that guys don't even have to do the work when it comes to abusing women. All the supposed victories of the sexual revolution have come from women, and at the expense of women. Instead of "Curses! Now women have equal rights!" the response from men (at least the abusers) is more typically "Sweet!" Let's take a few examples.

Women: "I will no longer be bound by wearing a bra!"
Men: "Sweet, why did we come up with those things in the first place?"

Women: "I will no longer be forced to live chastely! I will have sex with as many men as I like!"
Men: "Sweet, now I don't have to try so hard or wait so long."

Women: "I demand that you stop paying for dates, holding the door, and buying me flowers and candy!"
Men: "Sweet, more money for me."

Women: "I demand the ability to have an abortion whenever I choose!"
Men: "Sweet, sex without consequences."

There's a reason that there's starting to be a backlash against Women's Lib. Girls have given up their right to dignity so that a few insecure women will give them affirmation. What guy would respect a girl who doesn't even demand that the guy make sacrifices? Girls have a lot more to lose, and yet many seem intent on risking everything for some affection. Have girls been starved of affection to such an extent that they'll trade anything for it? Maybe. I don't doubt that divorce and absent fathers play a role. I also don't doubt that the media, which often focuses on girls who crave attention, plays a role by encouraging girls to look up to women who are deeply troubled. Girls have hardly any role models. TV and movies say what's cool and rarely show consequences. Our culture is sick, and needs healing.

Anglican Thoughts

As I was driving to church yesterday morning, a thought struck me. Previously, I had been so outraged by the consecration of an openly heterodox priest and other similar shenanigans by the Episcopal Church (ECUSA) that I'd merely been biding my time, waiting for a chance to leave with a like-minded group of congregations. ECUSA had fallen, and I didn't want to risk being tainted. My church had been raped.

Then it occurred to me: why should I be running? If I were married and my wife had been raped, I wouldn't divorce and leave her. I would stay with her and try to help heal her and help her move on. If orthodox Episcopalians run away, then it's open season on denominations. Will anyone expect orthodox Methodists and Lutherans to stay when the United Methodist Church (UMC) and Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) do similar things? As soon as the enemy has breached the other wall, will we give up the keep? I say no. A spiritual battle is being waged, and we must rally our defenses. I'd read of and heard from several Episcopal leaders who had argued for staying within ECUSA, and hadn't understood it at the time. Now I think I get it. I don't know the demographics of the Episcopal Church, but I do know that the Evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics have a lot more of the money than do the Liberals, along with immeasurably greater backing among the Anglican Communion. They also have more of the kids. Within twenty years, the only Liberals will be middle-aged and older and sitting in half-full churches, at best. The Anglo-Catholic parishes I've attended have had decent-sized congregations, and the Evangelical ones were full to bursting, mostly with people about my age.

What we need is to be mild as doves, but wise as serpents. If the conservatives (Evangelicals and probably most Anglo-Catholics) leave, then the liberals (Liberals and some Anglo-Catholics) can declare victory, sell off the parish buildings formerly belonging to the conservatives, and thrash about before the media finds its next flavor-of-the-month. However, we can stay in, bide our time until we're ready, and wreak havoc in the meantime. I don't mean that we should vandalize or anything like that, but that some civil disobedience may be in order. At Church of the Good Shepherd, in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, the parish clergy and the Bishop of Pennsylvania, who denies that the Bible is God-inspired, had a feud, with the result being that the church itself remains in the diocese while the clergy themselves are variously part of the Diocese of Pittsburgh or the Province of Kenya. Quite a few parishes have ceased sending money to their diocese or the national church.

My friend Kyle, now a missionary in Japan, has told me several things, each of which tends to not make much sense at the time but sink in exactly when I need it. Over the summer, he had helped coordinate a trip by a dozen Japanese students to the East Coast. The coordinator was a Japanese Christian living in America, and while some of the tourists were interested in religion, most were typical college-age kids. At one point he took two of them down to Virginia Tech to show them around, only to be recalled mid-way through his trip with the news that man in charge of the visit, whom I'll call Sato, had stolen most of the money and locked himself in his bathroom with a razor blade while threatening to commit suicide. Kyle rushed back with the two he had, and attempted to do what he could. The man returned to Japan, but the money was gone and the students were leaning towards going home. Kyle, being connected with Sato, was in their eyes, also not trustworthy. However, he had gotten to know the two students he'd taken down to Tech, and they eventually convinced the rest of their group to stay and trust him. There was a lot of talking about religion, and they asked Kyle if Sato was really a Christian. They'd seen the way he'd acted, and were not impressed. Kyle told them that he didn't know, but labored to set as good an example as possible. Finally, a little while before they left, one of them asked why he was going to Japan to be a missionary. The reply was basically that he wanted to learn from them, and share the joy he'd found. The person who'd asked, having seen Kyle in action over the summer, told him that he finally knew what a Christian was.

In this way, we need to set in people's minds what an Episcopalian is. We need to win the PR war. Previously, we were the country-club denomination. Now we're the flaming liberal denomination. If we were to be known as the rock solid denomination that helped the needy and liked our candles and fancy churches, I'd be happy. We need orthodox Episcopalians to proclaim their church, so that when people think of Episcopalians, they think of people like Christopher Johnson, William Sulik, and Ben Domenech, and not Frank "Forcefield" Griswold, Charles "Not-God-Inspired" Bennison, John "Bible?" Spong, Neff "Planned Parenthood" Powell, Jane "Fear My Wrath" Dixon, or Gene "I Am" Robinson. Our church is diseased, but not dead. We can't give up on it so easily.

Dos Vidaniya

I thought I'd pass on a story told during the sermon at church yesterday. This obviously isn't word-for-word, but I've done my best to tell it the same way as the minister did.

Several years ago, when the Soviet Union still existed, there was a small Christian congregation in a town just outside Vladivostok. There were about a hundred people there, and they'd just started their service when the doors burst open and a Soviet officer strode in, accompanied by armed soldiers. These men immediately cocked and raised their weapons, aiming them at the congregation as the service suddenly stopped.
"You are not allowed to meet here. You are enemies of the state. You are worthless, and are what is holding the Soviet Union back. You will all be shot in a few minutes," the officer barked. "However," he said with his best Marxist smile, "we know that not all of you really believe this, and that you may have been misled. Therefore, anyone who does not truly believe in Christianity may leave."
To this, there was a scramble, and about half the congregation left. As the last one left, a sigh of resignation came up from those who remained. Suddenly, all the soldiers put their safeties on and lowered their weapons. The officer turned to the priest, and said "I'm sorry we had to do that, but we needed to get the informers out. My men and I would like to worship with you, if you'll have us."

How to Lose an Argument

The following is a paraphrase of a discussion my dad had many years ago with a colleague. After hearing what his co-worker had to say, my dad basically realized that there was no possible answer. FYI, my dad is a Lutheran and his co-worker was a Baptist.

Co-worker: "The Catholic Church has never done a good thing. If not for Protestants Christianity would've died."
My dad: "Well...I don't know. I mean, they've done some pretty good things before..."
Co-worker: "I don't believe that for a second. They are a plague on true Christians."
My dad: "Yes, but they were the first Christians. They've got almost two thousand years of experience!"
Co-worker: "They weren't the first Christians."
My dad: [startled] "What do you mean? Who was the first Christian, then?"
Co-worker: "John the Baptist."

Another Quiz!


You are Ashley Wilkes. Your world is a fantasy. You
lose yourself in books and other types of
fiction and fail to recognize most reality.
You fear social rejection and hide your true
feelings if you can even figure out what they
are.


Which Character from 'Gone With The Wind' are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

(via TS O'Rama)

Football!

Side note: I still haven't really decided what the proper technique for linking. I mean, if I refer to a piece by another blogger, obviously I should link to it. If I'm citing an article, blog piece, or something like that, I probably ought to do so, though I suppose I could get away with "so-and-so said such-and-such." For things like sports scores, though, I don't know if I really need to. I mean, you can find ESPN or CBS' Sportsline without my help. If I tell you that one team beat another team, it's probably not unreasonable to expect you to believe me. That said; football!

It's been football-O-rama here at HokiePundit Lair. Unfortunately, Virginia Tech got beaten 52-49 by Cal. You see, if we had either a kicking game or a pass defense, we would've won. When you're going with a running game and an underperforming run defense, you kind of leave yourself open. Tech has won every other bowl game for a while now. In reverse order, we lost to Cal, beat Air Force, lost to Florida State, beat Clemson, lost to Florida State, and beat someone in the Music City Bowl. What does this mean? It means that we're going to win the national championship next year. I absolutely guarantee it.*

I saw Wisconsin lose to...um...Arkansas? I don't really remember. Michigan got stomped by USC, Miami eked past Florida State, Boston College beat...some Mountain West team (they all seem alike to me). Boise State, whom I dislike, beat another school I don't remember. Tonight, Ohio State edged past Kansas State. KSU's quarterback, recently accused of "sexual assault," seemed very off for most of the game. If this accusation turns out to be nonsense, KSU really got shafted. Memo to KSU quarterbacks: the night before playing OSU, watch out for girls with Ohio accents.
On Sunday, LSU and Oklahoma play for half the national championship (USC having already essentially clinched the other half). After that, college football is over for me until Virginia Tech plays USC in Washington, DC this coming August.

I'm undecided as to whether or not to do marching band next year. On one hand, it's a lot of fun, I get to travel for free, and it's nice to see us win. On the other hand, the band is getting increasingly declasse (yes, I know; it's my blog, and I'll speak the way I choose) and vulgar, it's very time consuming and I'll be taking 15 graduate hours, and I'll be one of the oldest people there. We'll have to see.

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