Categories
Slice of Life

If megachurches were honest

I’m a graduate of Catholic school and grew up going to Catholic church, so my first visit to a Hillsong-style megachurch left me deeply unimpressed:

  • The ministry felt less like the lives of the saints and more like The Suite Life of Zack and Cody,
  • There was a strong “making up as we go along” feel to the preaching,
  • The Jesus they presented was most certainly not an itinerant Israeli carpenter who was intentionally homeless, apolitical, friend of prostitutes and told religious leaders to pay their dang taxes, but some kind of weird amalgam of Ronald Reagan, Rambo, Tony Robbins, and “Karen”,
  • My Asian appearance led a couple of congregants to ask if I would denounce the false teachings of Buddha (they asked no such questions of the other strangers, who were white), because they knew jack shit about the Philippines or that thing about “the stranger in your midst”,
  • and as for the music, I’m 100% behind Hank Hill:

So when Cracked posted their latest video, If Megachurches Were Honest, I had to watch:

One of the reasons that it’s so spot-on is because it was written by Jordan Breeding, who writes:

Cards on the table I (the guy who wrote this episode), was a Music Director at a (non-mega) church, and, in fact, my wife and I still lead music there regularly FOR FREE as well as attend. But that doesn’t mean I don’t believe there aren’t things deeply wrong with the way megachurches and possibly just America generally have twisted things.

If you found the video interesting, you’ll probably enjoy the podcast The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill.

Categories
It Happened to Me

The story of my life

I’m fine with that. After all, Doug Henning was…

For those of you who weren’t following Canadian politics in 1992, when Doug had that ill-advised stint in politics with the Canadian branch of the Natural Law Party, you may want to check out this campaign video, and especially his bit at the 3:01 mark:

Categories
Florida The Current Situation

And now, a few messages from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis

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Communist" Ron DeSantis: ShitLiberalsSay
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Categories
Stranger than Fiction

Sunday, August 8 is “Sneak some zucchini into your neighbor’s porch day”!

According to the National Day Calendar, August 8th is Sneak some zucchini into your neighbor’s porch day.

The site tells you how to observe this very special day:

Sneak some zucchini into your neighbor’s porch. Don’t be surprised if your gift delights the recipient, either. Those who have none in their garden are usually excited to have some fresh zucchini, especially if they didn’t have to grow it themselves. To alert others, use #SneakSomeZucchiniIntoYourNeighborsPorchDay to post on social media.

I’m simultaneously hoping that “sneak some zucchini into your neighbor’s porch” is and isn’t some kind of euphemism.

Thanks to Renee Frigault for the find!

Categories
America Florida

I got my “JohnnyCare” Instant Care Kit!

I’m one of the 5,000 lucky Floridians who was able to sign up for JohnnyCare, the fake health care sharing ministry created by John Oliver and the people at Last Week Tonight for this recent episode:

Health care sharing ministries are a uniquely American kind of organization where members — who share common religious or ethical beliefs — contribute to a pool of money that covers their health care costs. It sounds good in theory, but as the video above and this New York Times article show, it’s a little different in practice.

Unsurprisingly, the standards for setting up a health care sharing ministry in Florida aren’t terribly high. This is why John Oliver and Last Week Tonight were able to set use Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption, the tax-exempt church that they were able to set up back in 2015, to set up a spin-off church, Our Lady of Perpetual Health, in Florida, which allowed them to create a health care sharing ministry, JohnnyCare, also in Florida.

For a mere US$1.99, I provided another member with the JohnnyCare Instant Care Kit, complete with “not one, not two, but three” band-aids. In return, another member paid the same amount to buy me this one:

It came with this packing slip:Only 5,000 JohnnyCare kits were made. As required by law, since JohnnyCare is a health care sharing ministry registered in Florida, only residents of Florida — of which I am one — were eligible to get one.

Hopefully, I won’t need those band-aids anytime soon. In the meantime, I think I’ll stick with what passes for healthcare here: Neo-feudalist employer-provided health insurance.

Categories
It Happened to Me Tampa Bay

Anitra and I read “Where the WIld Things Are” on “Storytime with Daniel Tiger”

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As I mentioned a few weeks back, Anitra and I spent part of one Sunday morning at the Glazer Children’s Museum (where Anitra is on the board) recording a reading of Maurice Sendak’s classic children’s story Where the Wild Things Are to Daniel Tiger of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood fame, who now has his own show, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.

The video’s ready now, and you can either watch it on the Storytime with Daniel Tiger section of the museum’s site, or check it out below. Enjoy!

Categories
Geek The Current Situation

“Make that THREE to beam up.”

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“Captain’s log, stardate 2021.0804. Our mission to planet Florida requires us to beam down. The landing party will consist of myself, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, and Ensign ButMahFreedoms.”