SPH OD November 2000 ->

November 2000 -

Bible Study for skeptics - 11/1/2000

Here is an interesting passage on virgins, marriage and the death penalty (by
stoning)

Deuteronomy 22:13-30

13 "Suppose a man marries a woman and, after sleeping with her, changes his
mind about her and falsely accuses her of having slept with another man. He
might say, 'I discovered she was not a virgin when I married her.'

15 If the man does this, the woman's father and mother must bring the proof of
her virginity to the leaders of the town.

16 Her father must tell them, 'I gave my daughter to this man to be his wife, and
now he has turned against her.

17 He has accused her of shameful things, claiming that she was not a virgin
when he married her. But here is the proof of my daughter's virginity.' Then
they must spread the cloth before the judges.

[wtf??]

18 The judges must then punish the man. 19 They will fine him one hundred
pieces of silver, for for he falsely accused a virgin of Israel. The payment will
be made to the woman's father. The woman will then remain the man's wife, and
he may never divorce her.

20 "But suppose the man's accusations are true, and her virginity could not be
proved.

21 In such cases, the judges must take the girl to the door of her father's home,
and the men of the town will stone her to death.

----------

source:

http://biblestudytools.net/OnlineStudyBible/bible?passage=de+22:14&version=nlt&
context=1&showtools=1

Also, I did some interesting research using the above bible search tool. I
searched for the word "destroy"
and found 354 results.

Then I searched for "compassion" and found 30

Misc --

more on catholic - husband needs to learn to listen to feelings. she told him she
was raped and he didn't know what to say, so she didn't say anything more.
huge problem!! big red flag.

wow she has so many issues. poor thing. seems like a neat person -- overly
responsible type.

has irrational thoughts- like she is responsible for the rape. doesn't feel worthy
of love, but says husband loves her.

but how does she define love if not emotional support. she doesn't believe she
deserves to be held when she cries. she is afraid of rejection if she "falls apart"
she believes she must be strong and happy to be worthy of his "love"

hmmm

on the road - 11/8/2000

i am on the road- left Quebec a few days ago. am in south carolina now....

not the same writing from libraries...

but wanted to let people know where i was and why i haven't written.

have been sleeping in the car... need a shower and a haircut!

death of a 19 year old - 11/21/2000

thinking about the girl who died on the ninja motorcycle - father was rasied in
catholic home. father was drinking 24 bottles of beer a day trying to numb the
pain. still not sleeping at night. angry at bf. trying to get kawasaki to stop
putting two seats on the ninjas.
brother invalidated his effort.
guy in a bar said he was a lousy father and that is why his daughter died. he
attempted to fight the guy, but was stopped by the bartender.
guy has own drilling business, travels 11 months of year. spoiled daughter with
material things. seems bf was dealing crack.
father used to take daughter on bike rides. daughter was fearless. loved speed.
bf's father was encouraging his son to speed, it seems.
week before cops had arrested on of them for speeding (there were three ninjas
that night - one stopped when cops turned on lights)
cop the week before said "I don't know why you stopped- we aren't allowed to
chase anyone at those speeds.
fear of big trouble contributed to death. overzealous cops- over-punitive fines,
etc. father and brother were talking about killing bf or having him killed.
two dykes on bikes said they would take him out if the father wanted.
father almost started to cry once. i regret not saying it is okay to cry, or
moving my chair next to his and putting my arm on his shoulder.
forgot to mention grief support groups, helpline.
guy thinks he needs medication.
calls his ex the wicked bitch of the west.
she told the daughter, at about 14, that she wanted to have an abortion and was
on the way when the father stopped her by coming home early. father said that
broke daughter's heart.
father was in the marines.

mothers - 11/21/2000

today i heard a child crying. i looked over to see a mother dragging a toddler
by the arm. she growled "stand up and walk!"

I watched her continue to drag him out the door, his feet barely keeping up with
her as she hurried to the car carrying a box of documents she had just picked
up from the Kinkos in Pensacola, Florida. I thought I recognized the model of the
car, but I walked outside to be sure. Yes. It was a Mercedes.

She picked him up and roughly put him into the special child seat in the back.
I thought that what he really needed was protection from his own mother.

I said nothing to her, but she was very aware that I was watching her as they
drove away. I could only hope that she would take a second look at how she was
treating him. But I didn't feel optimistic.

Later in the day, I was at another Kinkos, this time in Mobile, Alabama. (Kinkos
are handy because they usually have a phone line where I can plug in my laptop
and get on the internet.)

I saw a fashionable young mother come in with her toddler. She sat down next
to her husband to see how he was coming with his work on the computer. I
couldn't overhear everything, but I heard her say to her daughter: "Don't touch
that." Then, shortly after, she said in a threatening tone: "Do you want to go sit
in the truck?"

I thought: what kind of a question is that? Of course the child doesn't want to
sit in the truck! Why can't you just say "Honey, I am afraid if you touch the
computer it will mess up Daddy's work." Or why couldn't she just gently move
back away from the computer?

How does a child feel when the mother says "Do you want to sit in the truck?"
What does it think? What kind of a child does this kind of parent create?

Maybe it creates the kind of child who turns into a teenager who rides on the
back of Ninja motorcycles at 100 miles an hour as the driver, her boyfriend,
attempts to go around a 25 mile an hour curve.

Freedom of speech? - 11/27/2000

"Loud abusive or profane language will not be tolerated in this office. Any
infraction of this rule will be prosecuted by the Department."

--
Some questions:

who defines loud
who defines abusive
who defines profane

what about freedom of speech which is supposedly protected by the US
Constitution?

are the police officers that insecure that they can't handle a little negative
feedback?

how can the campus intellectuals sit back and accept such restrictions on free
expression?

if a person is upset, don't they need someone to listen to them, not threaten and
control them?

This entry could also be titled: Another reason to leave the USA

My best friend, The rising star - 11/27/2000

I was just thinking of my best friend, Sarah. Last week she was calling herself
a fallen angel. I told her that to me she was a rising star, not a fallen angel.
She asked why and I said because with all her pain she is growing and
developing and learning. She is a fast learner, she catches on quickly. She is
going places in life if she can just fight off the suicidal feelings when they come
till she gets away from her psychologically and emotionally unhealthy
environment.

Anyhow, the other day when we chatted I noticed she had changed her instant
message nick name to "The crazy teen - From now on a rising star."

Is that cool or what?

Yay, Sarah. You rock! Believe in yourself, my best friend. Always keep believing
in yourself!

If you ever doubt it, go write in big letters on the blackboard again. LOL

In Oz - 12/23/2000

Well I am on my land in Oz. Sitting on a tree stump out side. I have no house
here. Just a van and a tent! It is fun. But the mosquitoes - they call them
mozzies here- are eating me.

So bye for now.

Thanks for leaving me notes :)

Steve