Izzy's shoe

    Reflections of my digital photography class

    This is a picture from Wednesday's banned book reading.  As usual, the U-Rock kids where there (the location is our usual hangout).  Interesting to hear material that at one time banned, such as And Tango Makes Three, a really cute (true) story about a gay penguin couple at a zoo and how they took turns sitting on a rock because they didn't have an egg.  It's my emotional side made me put on a big silly smile most of the story, but it was really cute  Naturally, it was banned for it's non-negative depiction of homosexuality.  I assure you, however, my children will hear that story.
    Today we worked in the theater getting some lighting setup for the fall production.  The theater has 4 new strip lights, so I put bulbs in them and set them to work.  I have some ideas for what I'd like to do and right now it's time for experimentation.

   This is actually the first comment by someone we can (presumably) refer to as a Christian.  I have little doubt Lisa is being genuine and sincere in her comments and truly means the best.  I do believe having an open mind is an important virtue--it is the best way to understand.  I believe that tolerance is vital and having an open mind is a good way to obtain tolerance.   However...
   I've completed the first 21 books of the Bible and I can say for certain that the God of the Bible is not tolerant and by no stretch of the imagination is open minded.  He (and I do mean He) is jealous, spiteful, genocidal, homophobic, sexiest, malevolent and down right mean.  God right out admits He is a jealous God (Exodus 20:5) and has zero tolerance for other religions.  The 12 plagues of Exodus are by definition malevolent.  Exodus, Leviticus, Joshua, Kings I&II and most of the rest of the old testament is full of genocide.  In Deuteronomy, God explicitly orders genocide against the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites saying "... you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally".  I hardly need to get into homophobia or sexism.
   Most people have never taken the time to actually read the Bible.  Some say it is difficult to read and I don't think they are referring to the content being dull and repetitive.  Rather, it takes a lot of work to reinterpret what is actually written in the Bible to reflect the modern world.  When you read the text as it is written, you quickly develop a picture of a iron-fist God who demands nothing but obedience.  It's not too difficult to see that those who are being untrue to the religion are those who want open-minds and tolerance.  
   The reality is that the Bible is not the word of some God, but the words of men.  It was folklore conceived and revised over thousands of years before more or less being solidified into the book we know today.  The stories are no more a reflection of reality then any of the thousands of other religious text floating around.  To paraphrase Richard Dawkins: We are all atheists about most of the gods ever to exist, from Allah to Zuse--some of us just go one god further.
   I am not a non believer simply because I lack and understanding of what Christianity is--indeed I often find myself educating those who claim to be Christians on the stories of the Bible.  It is not my intention to "convert" people to my way of thinking--my blog is a method by which I try to share my experiences with the world.  
   So Lisa Marie, while I appreciate your comments and your views are always welcome, I doubt highly that my views on religion--and particularly Christianity--are going to be swayed.  I will continue to study religion (I have some books by the Dalai Lama queued up on my reading list), but so far, everything I read/watch/learn continues to reinforce my position that all religious texts are folklore and not divine.
    Pictured is Mandy, known lovingly as "Jesus Girl".

    Last night was the first read through of the script for U-Rock's fall production of Shadow Box.  The story and script are amazing and I think our cast is going to be great.  Should be a lot of fun.

    This is an assignment for my digital photography class in which we were to interview a person and stitch a finial picture together from several throughout the interview.  This is my initial attempt and I may try to do more with this idea.  Right now, the image is spliced 8 times, but I think I might want to splice it more directly over the subject.  Something to consider anyway.

    Happy October! To celebrate the coming of fall, I've (again) changed DrQue.net to a fall theme.

    With my huge loads of homework, I've started to use OpenOffice's Draw program a little more.  This is part of an assignment for my computer programming class.  It's some kind of flow chart that displays the class/interface layout of the assignment and perhaps qualifies as UML (Universal Markup Language).
    Roni playing cards.

    Finished my audio book "God is not Great  - How Religion Poisons Everything" by Christopher Hitchens.  A good book and an interesting look at religion.
    Pictured is Nikki's eye.

    Did some work in the theater today before returning to start homework.  Three of us created a podium for use back stage.  I do enjoy working in an actual shop.  A table saw makes construction life really nice.  I'll have to take a picture of the podium, but as it stands, I forgot to before I left--running out of time and all.