Almost the end of August...give or take a fortnight(2 weeks).

What are the topics of the month?

1. California Dreaming. Arnold, Gary Coleman, and anyone with $3500 in spare change wants to be governor. The current one is, to the people, lousy.

2. The YAOI Factor. A gay bishop has infiltrated the Episcopal denomination of the Church(tm). Same sex marriages forthcoming. Heaven help us all.

3. Quatre Raberba Winner. The topic has nothing to do with Gundam Wing, but is my observation of Islam. ("Master Quatre" just happens to be Arabian, according to the writers.)

= = =

California Dreaming.

Arnold Schwarzenegger. During the Reagan Era(1983-1992), he was THE action hero. Commando, Terminator(okay, he was the villain), and a personal favorite(which also has an actual future governor in it, not to mention Apollo Creed), Predator. Dude could lift a truck, easy.

And thanks in part to Danny DeVito, he could even have a baby--while being the short, bald penguin man's icy twin. He also got to teach kindergarten. (Junior, Kindergarten Cop, Twins. The penguin gag was in reference to a tacky career move on Mr. DeVito's part; Arnold's contribution to said Batman movie franchise...made me quite angry.)

Gary Coleman. Let his parents truck him over. Gets the occassional cameo. Had horrible cartoon show with him as an angel wannabe.

Arianna Huffington: wants to dictate to other Americans what they can drive.

Larry Flynt: ...no.

Is it too late to get Optimus Prime on the ballot?

= =

The YAOI Factor

[I would have used the SHONEN-AI Factor, but it didn't have that Bill O'Reilly [no]-spin zoney flavor. Both are connected to homosexual relationships.]

The world at large is celebrating the newfound diversity and tolerance of V. Gene Robinson's place as bishop in the Episcopal branch of the Church. However, I cannot.

Because it's not up to me. It's up to God, His Son, and His Spirit--they wrote the rules to the game. In other nations, and in times past, it was/is either follow the will of [insert deity here] or be stoned/burned alive/executed in some way. Here in America, where there is no national religion, the middleman known as Diestadt has been excised in favor of a one-on-one relationship with the Triune savior--a relationship between Akito American(to co-opt a Sage Page turn) and the LORD.

Or Buddha(who never claimed to be a god). Or Xenu the Scientology alien. Or none. Or all the defunct Norse gods. In America, the individual makes the decision.

And that's the problem, as Cal Thomas(columnist of some sort) and others have observed. Robinson isn't being singled out because he's gay--though that automatically raises massive red flags throughout most of the Church faithful WORLDWIDE. ['cause the Bible has several passages of Scripture saying that homosexuality is one of many sins that was to be nailed to the cross.] No; he's wearing the scarlet letter, divorcing his wife/ditching his kids to live with his man. In either case, he's simply not qualified to be a bishop according to the Rules.

Listen. If I were to be a devout Buddhist, I have to follow the teachings of the former Prince Siddhartha as closely as I can. And if I were somehow conned into Scientology, the other Sciens would make sure I obeyed the voice of L. Ron Hubbard. So it follows that a faithul Christian(whatever denomination) will heed the doctrines of Christ.

Robinson, sadly, has failed. He valued his relationship with his lover more than his relationship with the same God he professes to teach others. And though I'm sure the love between the two men was meaningful and real, it was outside the will of the God he says he serves.

It's not a matter of me being happy. My personal opinion is irrelevant. As a Christian, I must apply Scripture to this topic. Judging from the Word of God[tm], the Rules, the Junior Woodchucks' Guidebook for Christians(that was a Duck Tales reference), Robinson is in violation; hence, he shouldn't be bishop. Nor should he cohabitate with his lover.

However, in the grand scheme, Robinson is the least of the issues. A major issue is same-sex marriages.

Now, what part of [dowd mode] "...Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it..." [normal] confuses folk? There's not a single bit of archaic Elisabethan English in there. (to give more background: Gen 1:26-28) God's obviously talking to humans, telling them to...breed.

Junior notwithstanding(and remember, unlike the RL Total Recall, that was just a movie), it is impossible for two sperm to connect for a baby; likewise for two eggs. Heterosexual reproduction is the only way to pass on your genes to the next generation; the God-ordained facilitator being monogamous heterosexual union. We currently call it marriage, and have since before a Hebrew writer put ink to parchment.

It shouldn't have to unravel because 0.5% of the US population want marital tax breaks. Even if we were permitted to allow it--and we're not allowed to change the Rules--the gays and lesbians aren't even giving the country kids out of the deal. (except through creative means)

Homosexuals can't obey two masters. If they love Christ, the homosexual nature/nurture(that's a new beast) must die. If they love their consorts, then that is their choice. But Christians cannot and should not pat homosexuals on the back for willfully breaking the rules they professed to live by when they accepted Christ.

= = =

Quatre Raberba Winner

The Factor was a rebuke. This...involves Islam. I have come to a conclusion on it, based on many elements.

Islam is evil. Period. The religion itself is wrong.

This is no mere matter of calling an Indian philosopher god; no buried schisms await a Muslim Martin Luther to expose them. No. Islam is a philosophy based entirely on self-indulgence.

The fact that the Muslims haven't destroyed themselves as well as others is a great miracle; then again, God did spare Nebuchadnezzar. (who, for all of his faults and cruelties, did manage to craft a great civilization. it was his successor that screwed up.)

The Qur'an should only be read in its original, ancient Arabic. No one can willingly convert to Islam(the hordes of afrimerican proselytes notwithstanding); they must be made to serve Allah by the sword or die. If you die slaying infidels, you go to heaven, where either seventy-two maidens or a bowl of raisins await you.

It's that last point that really made me believe...that this is the most self-serving, ego-feeding school of thought I have ever encountered. In either case, there's no spiritual transcendence of the mortal self; no joining with the supernatural--which surpasses seventy-two bowls of raisins and a whole mansion filled with virgins supplied by gubernatorial candidate Flynt himself. Rather, they receive gratification of all their earthly desires.

This is the aspiration of poor, broke, slack-jawed Muslim terrorist yokels across the globe. To get babes or raisins when they die. I find that sad.

The philosophy is just wrong from the get-go.

1. If God REALLY wanted to use you as His Prophet, you would be scared out of your earthly mind, concocting every excuse known to prophets, farmers, exiled adopted Hebrew/Egyptian princes, and zealots out to destroy His people. If you had even an ounce of your wits about you, you may have the temerity to tell your nosy friends that God will vouch for your virtue; but you wouldn't dare curse him--no matter how many of your kids died or how bad that leprosy is. The angels would have to cram prophecies down your throat.

Mohammed fits none of these qualities.

2. Kuwabara is more compassionate than Allah the Merciful, and he's a fictional HUMAN[complete with character flaws]. Everything in the universe exists to serve Allah.

It's like he's an evil Sesshoumaru, bereft of even Fluffy's bit of kindness. You can bargain with God. God wants to be your friend[and everything else]. God has a sense of humor. God has the power to obliterate and recreate mankind innumerable times over--and the even greater power to choose not to. Much like, to a far lesser extent, the US: my country could have easily carpet-bombed all of Tikrit, but it didn't, wanting to spare civilian lives. By the same token, God could have eliminated all the people building the Tower of Babel, yet he simply chose to mix up human languages.

Allah wants you to obey, like a dog or a soulless automaton. I see no kindness in this character. And unlike Jaken, there's nothing humorous about the Prophet.

And in case any think I'm giving my God too much leverage: All the polytheist elements had said deities involving themselves in human affairs; some kind, some petty.

3. Everything Islam touches crumbles to dust. Perhaps it's starting your calendar at 622 AD without resetting to zero. It's to the point that the only forces keeping the ME afloat is the faith of the West that we can stabilize a stagnant mosquito pool.

And there's more, but I'll save it for a later date.