Dr. Laura

I have to preface this with this fact: sometimes, she seems to make sense. It's usually NOT when she's spouting biblical principles or something though. But in most ways, I really despise Dr. Laura - although it can be funny to listen to her show. It's also very funny to listen to other conservative radio shows - it's like, education in what conservatives believe and despite the fact I tend to get really annoyed, I also think it's good for me - to at least hear the other point of view.

Dear Dr. Laura,

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and I try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind him that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate.

I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the specific laws and how to best follow them.

a) When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord (Lev 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

b) I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

c) I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev 15:19-24). The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

d) Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

e) I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?

f) A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an Abomination (Lev 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this?

g) Lev 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?

h) Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev 19:27. How should they die?

i) I know from Lev 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

j) My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? (Lev 24:10-16) Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help.

Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.

Your devoted disciple and adoring fan.

Check out this new blog

My dad (and family) have actually been talking about some of this stuff for years. I may not agree with all of it - as it's a new blog/reading material I haven't read all of it - but it's definitely interesting. And it has nothing to do with abortion or religion or politics (I don't think.) So check it out and let me know what you think, if anything.

http://freerangekids.wordpress.com/

Thoughts...

I have a day off today. Well, yesterday I also had a day off, but I spent the morning voluntarily getting up early (which is weird for me, I tend to savor those days because I know eventually I will not be able to sleep in anymore!) to go to a storytelling workshop: Native American Storytelling for the Non-Native. It was pretty interesting; found out some techniques and also first-hand knowledge of something Jerry always tells me (and his classes): there are a LOT of different viewpoints regarding things in the Native world. Which I knew intellectually, but nor personally. Anyway, the speaker was good, very interesting. Don't know if it will help me with my storytelling in class, but I think it was mostly worth it. Made me miss Jerry quite a lot though.

So today I have to get ready for the week: I'm regretting not going to the grocery store yesterday because I know today will be majorly crowded and I hate that: I tend to do the impulse buying when I'm standing in line. I also have to start my whole spring-cleaning process, now that it's starting to get nice out. I honestly LIKE spring cleaning, as long as I can have the windows open and music going. It'd be more fun with someone else here, but I'm still basically a loner, so I doubt I'd make friends quick enough or close enough to do spring cleaning. Plus, if I had someone here besides the cats, I couldn't sing along to Mamma Mia! which right now is my favorite sing-along music while I clean.

The interview on Thursday went pretty well. Don't know if I got it, although I really want it - it's a pretty amazing job, even as a lowly office assistant there's some great opportunities. But don't know if I got it and trying not to think about it. I wonder if maybe I blow my interviews and am thinking of going to whatever workshop I can the next time they have one and practice.

This week is already going to be the best week: Nick will be visiting, and I'm ready to see him. Plus, I don't have to work at 5am for two mornings, so I won't be sleep-deprived for the week, like last week. I DO have to pay my tuition soon - it's more expensive this semester which makes me very nervous, but I guess it's worth it for that teaching certificate. If nothing else, they will always need teachers: I'm planning on being certified in whatever I can be so I have that to "fall" back on - plus, despite being somewhat terrified with public speaking, I kind of LIKE teaching.

I exorcised some past demons and tried to let go of some of my anger regarding my ex-husband this week too: I got rid of a lot of photos and such that I didn't want anymore, but kept hanging onto out of some misplaced sense of loyalty or something. Not only are my closets/photo albums cleaner, but I feel a little better. I still wish I had my childhood things, but I'm trying really hard not to let it get to me, because there are people around me who have things I can use for memories, if that makes sense, and I don't want to be bitter which makes more sense. Also, I went for a run/walk yesterday. I emphasized walking, which was good -I am majorly out of shape! I felt like I was dying, and I only ran for one song. I did better the second run, once I'd been warmed up. I can't wait for spring to get out there. Still somewhat intimidated to go to the rec center alone, but as soon as I get into more of a schedule, I'm going to do it. Even if it's just on my days off or something. I'm also thinking of taking a kayaking course that they're offering there in April - does anyone think this is crazy? I think it would be fun, I love water and any kind of water sport, and it's good exercise. Plus, it's something different, a new skill. Unless it's really expensive, I'm planning on doing it. I also want to learn rock climbing.

I know this post was pretty boring and uncontroversial. I just didn't want to get into politics today - I could, of course, with the Republicans being so recalcitrant on the Stimulus bill, but well, it's my day off. Maybe tomorrow. Ta-ta.

First February Post

So I'm basically blogging for the sake of blogging. I'm actually at school, wasting some time before I go to an interview. Amazingly, I am not at all nervous about this interview, mainly because to get nervous would be to get my hopes up and I don't want to do that. It's not a fantastic position, but it looks interesting, different, somewhat challenging, and I'd be working at school, so that's good. I'm also hoping it will pay more than my other jobs, but who really knows?

My storytelling class went really well today - I actually managed to tell the story I picked out without ruining it, and my professor (who is a professional storyteller) actually complimented me - he only did that after certain ones (although he complimented everyone at the end of class of course!). I think this class might really help me with my public speaking skills and it's one of the few times in my life I can remember being excited about getting up in front of people and talking. I just get all tongue-tied. I'm hoping to attend a workshop this weekend that's being taught by a Native American storyteller. At the very least, I'm planning on going to his performance, so it should be a busy/fun weekend. Classes this semester are actually a lot of fun. I'm only slightly behind in my educational psychology course because of my work schedule, but I should be able to make it up this weekend. And my other classes are so interesting and almost fun that it's hardly difficult to stay on track because I want to - which proves that good teaching and making subject interesting/exciting, really works!

I am quite exhausted this week and very excited to be done with it and get on to next week - when Nick visits!!! It's been more than a month since we got to spend any time together and that totally sucks. Plus, by next week, I will hopefully have all of my taxes finished and my financial aid forms in so I can breathe some relief about that.
In other news, Justice Ginsberg was hospitalized today for cancer. Kind of scary. I'm interested in the whole supreme court dynamic now that we have a Democrat as president and more Democrats in office in general. I'm not as scared as I was when I thought that Bush would be appointing another Justice if one died or retired. I realize that technically, judges don't (or aren't supposed to) have political leanings, they're supposed to be impartial. But it's good to know that politicians ARE and can appoint judges who can interpret the laws differently. And yes, I do mean interpret, NOT create.

Also, they found out that "Dr.Death" one of those escaped Nazi war criminals is dead - did anyone read about this in the New York Times? Pretty interesting story. And while reading it, I was off on a tangent in my head - because they mentioned in the article that they never caught Dr. Mengele, which is interesting, because I thought they did...

So that's all for now. Have an interview to go to, so wish me luck!