Christians and PETA

Should Christians be involved with PETA? I hadn't thought much about that until I picked up the current issue of HM: The Hard Music Magazine(it's a magazine for the Christian hard music scene, for those not in the know).

HM has a new feature called Causes. In each issue, a cause is reviewed and readers are asked to find something good in the cause for 60 days, until the next issue comes out. This month's cause is PETA, and a couple of the bands--or band members-- featured in the issue are PETA supporters. Stretch Arm Strong and Emery are two of the bands that come to mind. I'm not sure how I feel about this.

I like animals. I'd never intentionally hurt one, and I don't think there's anything wrong with Christians caring about them. However, PETA carries the idea of caring about animals to a level I feel no Bible- believing Christian can accept. PETA believes that animals are equal to humans, that they have the same intrinsic value; you know, the whole " a rat is a pig is a boy" idea. Consequently, PETA people believe that harming or killing animals, for any reason, is as morally wrong as harming or killing people; and on the other side, NOT harming or killing animals is as compassionate as not harming or killing people. The cornerstone of PETA's philosophy is that kindness to animals is the epitome of morality and compassion. Bible-believing Christians simply can't believe this.

First, the Bible, in the very first chapters of its very first book, clearly establishes Man's superiority over the animals. Man, and Man alone, is created in God's image. Immediately afterward, he's given dominion over the animals. The God of the Bible is no animal rights activist. In fact, He is the first animal killer, killing a beast to make--gasp!--fur clothes for Adam and Eve after they were expelled from the Garden of Eden for eating the apple. It only gets worse for the Christian PETA fan.

While vegetarianism seems to have been the original plan for Man's nourishment, meat is allowed after the Flood. In fact, meat eating was probably going on before the Flood because animal sacrifice was going on before the Flood. Remember the rivarly between Cain and Abel? Cain was jealous because God wouldn't accept his vegetable offering, but did accept Abel's animal sacrifice. Surely, if pre-Flood people killed animals to sacrifice to God, it's logical to assume that they ate them, too. And God didn't have a single problem with it.

Thousands of years later, in the time of Moses, God still hadn't seen the PETA light. In the Mosaic Law, He forbid the Jews to eat certain animals, but not all animals, and He required animal sacrifice to cover their sins. Yes, the Bible does praise kindness to animals here and
there, but it's never the centerpiece of its morality. The Bible is concerned with Man's relationship to God, and with Man's humanity, or lack thereof, toward his fellow Man.

But that's the Old Testament, some Christians will argue. Surely the New Testament is more enlightened and loving. Not so. Whatever PETA activists claim Jesus said about eating meat and the like, the Bible shows He didn't mind it at all. In fact, to get the Jesus they want, PETA folks go to extrabiblical sources which have no authority for the orthodox Christian. The Bible is the Christian's only authority for what Jesus did, said, liked, and disliked; and the Bible never records Him saying or doing anything against eating meat, wearing fur, etc. Indeed, in one of His sermons, Jesus reminds His audience that if God will take care of the birds, He will also take care of them because they are worth more than the birds. Shocking! Jesus actually said people are worth more than animals?! Yep. Get over it.

Some people might have a hard time with this because they've bought into PETA's claim that you must believe in animal rights to be moral. Finding out that Jesus didn't believe in animal rights might seriously shake their faith in Him. These people need to understand that Jesus's morality--the whole Bible's morality--is above PETA's. Think about it. PETA asserts that it's morally wrong to kill animals, even if it's done painlessly, because all life is sacred; yet, how many PETA activists fought for the life of Terry Schiavo? If all life is sacred, shouldn't that "all" include disabled human beings? If it's wrong to painlessly kill animals, shouldn't it also be wrong to kill disabled people, even if it's done painlessly? And what about abortion? Unborn babies are living things. Shouldn't they be protected? PETA activists can't use the "they're not human life" argument to justify abortion because they don't think that life has to be human in order to have value. Their lives revolve around protecting nonhuman life. So, if unborn babies really are subhuman, that's all the more reason why every PETA activist should be pro-life.

Of course, most PETA activists aren't pro-life. In fact, humans are the only life form whose demise doesn't offend them. So Bible-believing Christians should think hard before subscribing to PETA's moral worldview. It's contradictory, it devalues human life in the name of uplifting animal life, and it doesn't make you a good person. Remember, Adolph Hitler was a vegetarian; Jesus wasn't.

A Little Nepotism*

Hi friends! I just wanted to clue you in on my nephew's COOL website. It's got something for just about everybody. My nephew's a good artist and a great writer. Check out his drawings in the photo album, then read his hilarious article, "Lets All be Black". Browse through his other articles, too. He's got stuff to make everyone mad! Join in the forums, read his hate mail, and just have an all around good time cruising his site. Get owned, and be glad you did!

www.nessitopia.com

Out For a While*

Hello friends. Well, it looks like I'm going to be out for a while. The bill's due on the phone and dsl and I only have enough to pay the minimum. I'll pay that Monday which'll keep my phone on, but I don't know if that'll be enough to turn my internet connection back on. I'll post when I can, from where I can(right now, I'm posting from the good ol' public library). Hopefully, things will be back up at my house Monday. Bye!

PoorGrrl

What Is a Liberal?

A liberal is someone who feels sorry for the Menendez brothers because they're orphans.

A Kick Ass Website

Hey friends! I found this amazing website while surfing the net a couple of nights ago. When I looked around the site, it blew me away! It's run by two young guys which is great because I didn't think there were any young people out there who think like these guys do. All the young people you see on tv and in magazines are all liberal, like they've been subjected to mind control. It's great seeing two guys who aren't scared to think against the grain. When you go to the site, try out the store first; it's got some t-shirts and bumper stickers that liberals would ban if they could. Next, read the mission statement and the manifesto, then just have fun looking around. I'm sure you'll be as amazed as I was. Enjoy!

www.protestwarrior.com

The Evil Eye?*

Have you ever wondered if you're cursed? I have, and I'm beginning to believe it's true.

As you know, I've had alot of bad luck lately. Actually, just one BIG bout of bad luck. I was fired from my job in August and have been struggling financially ever since. Well, I've been struggling for a long time, but I didn't start thinking about the curse thing until my best friend, Miss R., went to see a tarot reader.

Now I don't really like the idea of going to tarot readers or any other kind of psychics because the Bible commands us not to, but Miss R. really believes in it and even dabbles in it herself. I've acutally had her read my palm a couple of times just to see if there was really any power to it. I didn't see any spectacular results so I never did it again; plus, I felt guilty because of the Bible thing. But since I got fired I'm really staring to wonder if someone or something as it in for me.

See, when Miss R. came back from the tarot reader she didn't look so good. She looked scared. I thought the reader had told her that someone she loved was going to die or something and I asked Miss R. if that was the case. Miss R. said that the reader didn't say anything like that but that she did know things about Miss R. she shouldn't have known. One of the things the reader said was that Miss R. had the evil eye on her. Someone was very jealous of her and wanted her to fail; that was why she always had obstacles in her life and had to struggle for everything she had. When Miss R. said that a light bulb went on over my head. That's the way I've felt all my life!

All my life has been one long struggle: a struggle against obesity; a struggle against feelings of worthlessness; a struggle against constant lonliness even though I have loving friends; a struggle against fears of all kinds; a struggle against constant dissatisfaction; and, perhaps the worst one of all, a struggle against constant failure. No matter what I do, it never comes out right in the end. My last job is a prime example. I've been behind on my rent almost constantly since my Dad died. I was so looking forward to Friday, September 9, because that was pay day and I would finally be able to get caught up on the rent. It was going to be a happy day. I wouldn't have to live in fear and shame over my rent problem. Then bam! My boss fires me on August 22. No paycheck coming on September 9. So now I'm reduced to begging on yahoo boards and my blog for charity from total strangers, and even that's a bust. No one seems to care enough to help. But I have a feeling if I was someone else I would have charity out the yazoo, or better yet, I wouldn't have gotten fired in the first place. It's like the universe or God or someone has put a spiritual or psychic scarlet letter on me to keep good luck away. Which brings us back to the evil eye.

I don't know if I believe in it completely or not, but it does explain alot of things. Now that I think about it, my sister and I used to joke that our whole family was cursed because we're so dysfunctional. Maybe we were on to something and didn't know it. And some Christian preachers talk about generational curses, the idea that some habitual, unrepented, ancestral sin could cause a chain reaction of destructive behaviour that flows from generation to generation. And the Hindus, of course, have the famous doctrine of karma, which says that you pay in this life for the sins of previous lives(if that's true, I must've been a real asshole in my past lives).

Of course, all this speculation on the evil eye and curses may be just a way for me to try to cope with my financially and emotionally difficult situation. I think I'm just trying to find some ray of hope, but every hope of a solution to my problem gets dashed. I really thought that asking for money on the net would bring in at least a little money to tie me over, but it's been a total failure. I've tried payday loans, but I never qualify. I called Catholic Charities this morning, but the line stayed busy; and yesterday, I called a charity called Community Action Partners, and wouldn't you know it, they don't help with rent anymore! Hmmmm, I wonder if they stopped helping with rent just when I needed help? The evil eye again!

So, what am I going to do now? I really don't know. I would say I'd pray, but God has turned a deaf ear to me so far, so I don't expect any divine intervention. I feel totally helpless and hopeless. Maybe I'll try creative visualization, you know, mentally send out my needs to the universe and know they'll be met because the universe is naturally wired to give. Yeah, right.

A Little Something Good*

I've been feeling really down lately. As you know, I was fired from my job and I'm in danger of losing my apartment. I have a page on savemesites.com, which is a site for people to ask for help, but no one as helped me, except one person who donated $1. I've asked for help from the blogosphere, but no one's responded from there, either. I was beginning to think that there were no kind people out there in the world, then two things happened: hurricane Katrina, and car keys.

Hurricane Katrina, as devastating as it was, showed that most people really are good-hearted and will help if they realize that there's a real disaster. Last I heard, billions, yes, billions, of dollars had been donated by the American people to help the victims of that terrible storm. Texas has taken in the lion's share of Katrina refugees, and everywhere I go I see churches, apartment complexes, businesses, you name it, all offering their services to the evacuees. It's so heartwarming. The only fly in the ointment was that none of that goodwill was benefitting me. I know, that's a very selfish thought; but as desperate as I am, and as long as I've been asking for help and getting ignored, I have to admit that I'd been feeling rather jealous of the Katrina victims. I thought, is the only way to get help from people is to lose everything but the shirt off your back? What about people who just need a little help to keep from getting evicted from their home before they can find a job or get the paycheck from the job they already have? I didn't find an answer to that problem, but I did get a little good fortune myself.

Last Wednesday, I locked my keys in my car in front of my friend's antique store where I work. I was heartsick. I had just bought lunch and was looking forward to munching my food while I worked in the store and listented to talk radio. I had the image clearly in my mind. Then that happened. There I was: keys in the car, no way to get into the store, no cell phone to call for help, and no money to afford a locksmith. I felt like crying. I cursed God. It seemed like just a little thing, but with everything else going wrong in my life, I truly didn't need this!

I decided to ask the store owner next door, Marci, if I could use her phone. Well, she only had a cell phone, and at first it wouldn't work. Then, when it started working, she called a locksmith and he wanted $35 to open the door. I didn't have $35! And neither did Marci! What the hell was I going to do? Then Marci asked her helper, Jeff, to see if he could get the door opened with a coat hanger. So Jeff went over and started working on my car. Then, out of the blue, a Hispanic boy and his girlfriend pulled into the parking lot and asked what was wrong. These people were total strangers, and they stopped to help me! The boy got out of his truck and starting helping Jeff to open my car. They worked for an hour--the boy's truck running the whole time--then the boy managed to get my keys with the coat hanger and pulled them through the opening he and Jeff had made by pulling the car window back a bit. I was elated! My keys were out, and I didn't have to pay a dime!(I did give Jeff and the Hispanic boy $5 a piece for their trouble).

After the ordeal was all over, and I was able to get into the store and eat my now-cold lunch, I started thinking. Marci didn't have to call the locksmith for me. Jeff didn't have to help me. The Hispanic boy didn't have to help me. All of them helped me because they wanted to be kind people. They wanted to be kind to me. Maybe I wasn't cursed, as I often suspected. Maybe there was some good luck for me in this world after all. I just hope I can find more of it.

(The asterisk by the title means that this is a post dealing only with my personal issues. From now on, that's how I'm going to distinguish personal posts from social commentary.)

Some More Hotties

Hello people! Have you been wondering where I was? Well, since I'm poor and no one has donated to my savemesites.com page, I couldn't pay for my phone and dsl connection. Actually, I did make a $60 payment to the phone company but they didnt' post it to my account in time to keep some of my service from being suspended. I called the phone company Wednesday and told them that I had made that $60 payment, and that apparently worked, because my internet access is back on. Yippee! I'm not going to write a long post because it's getting late and I have to go to work in the morning. I'm just going to post a shorty so my faithful readers will have something new to read until I get back to in-depth blogging. Here are a few hotties who didn't make my top ten list. I like them all; maybe I'll revise my top ten list and add some of these dudes to it. Enjoy!

Some More Hotties

Leland Chapman(Puppy Dog!)
Jared Leto(Weird but wonderful!)
Gavin Rossdale(Move over Gwen!)
Robert Mitchum(d., Oldie but goodie!)
Kirk Douglas(Another oldie but goodie!)
Jackie Chan(Yes, Jackie Chan)
Ryan from The O.C.(Don't know his real name, just know his bod!)

That's all, folks!

Good Night!

Some Thoughts on Taxes

There are many things in this life I'll never understand. One of them is liberals' love affair with taxation.

For as long as I can remember, liberals have been in love with the idea of government taking our money. I think that they believe that the state taking our money and using it for social programs is what compassion is all about. Indeed, Howard Dean, speaking before a group of Baptists, said the Republicans ought to forego abolishing the estate tax because the "rich" didn't need that break in the wake of hurricane Katrina. I think Mr. Dean's statement has some wrong assumptions that might explain why he and his fellow leftists are such devotees of the tax man.

First, Mr. Dean(and all liberals) completely misunderstands the nature of compassion. Think about it. If someone or something bigger and stronger that I am takes my money and gives it to you, how is that compassionate on my part? I didn't give you the money directly and, more importantly, I didn't give it to you voluntarily. The essence of compassion is freedom. I must be free to not give you my money for my giving to be an act of charity. If I give under duress, then I'm doing it just to avoid personal pain, not out of concern for your welfare. And when the state takes money through taxation, it's forcing people to "give" under duress. Nor is the state itself compassionate when it takes from some to give to others; rather, the state is simply being a bully and a thief. The state can't take your money without the implied use of force if you don't comply. The threat of jail or forfeiture is that force. This causes many hard working folks to resent the less fortunate, despise government, and/or become expert liars to keep more of their money for their own families. So, in the name of compassion, the state becomes a bully, a thief, and fosters animosity towards itself and, worse, between its citizens. But Mr. Dean and friends don't get that.

The second wrong assumption is that taxes are good for poor people. Liberals like to claim that taxation helps the poor by "sticking it to the rich". But that's not true. No one has ever been lifted out of poverty by taxation; indeed, taxes can keep people poor by making products more expensive while cutting workers take-home pay. For example, if you earn $600 gross every two weeks, but bring home only $500, you're short $100; that's $200 a month, $2400 a year! You have $2400 less each year to spend yet, because of taxes, a $0.99 Coke actually costs $1.08. Other products are also higher than they need to be. The poor have to pay higher prices with less money but are supposed to believe that taxes "stick it to the rich". Guess who's really getting stuck.

Now for the third wrong assumption. This is the "social justice" idea. Liberals believe that it's inherently unjust for some people to have more money than others. So, to rectify this "injustice", government must take wealth from the rich and redistribute it to the poor. This idea is just plain wrong! It's not inherently unjust for some people to make more money than others.

Income is often, if not always, the result of people's choices. Some people make choices that cost them financially. A high school dropout will make less money than a college graduate. Is that the fault of the college grad? An unwed, teenage mother will make less money than a married, twentysomething mom. Is that the fault of the married mother? It's not unjust that choices have consequences; that's life. Demanding that government save you from your wrong choice(s) by taking wealth from those who made better choices is the real injustice. Think about that the next time some liberal politician tries to woo you into his love affair with the taxman. Tell him that real justice is treating everyone the same; that lower prices, not higher taxes, help the poor; and that aid freely given, not coerced by the state, is true compassion. Hopefully, if he's as open-minded as liberals like to say they are, he'll ditch the taxman and have a love affair with his voters instead. After all, that's the way it's supposed to be.

Top 10 Hotties

Just wanted to share something a little lighthearted with all this serious stuff going on. Read and drool!


PoorGrrl's Top 10 Hotties

1. Russell Crowe(Now that's what I call a kiwi!)
2. George Clooney(I hate him personally for making fun of Charlton Heston having Alzheimer's, but physically, he's damn hot!)
3. Keifer Sutherland(From "The Lost Boys" to "24", he's still got it!)
4. Orlando Bloom(Legolas lives!)
5. Hayden Christensen(He can Darth my Vader anytime!)
6. Lars Ulrich(Bang those drums, man!)
7. Richard Gere(Gray and gorgeous!)
8. Timothy Hutton("Taps" really started something!)
9. Sean Connery(Shaken, not stirred!)
10. Elijah Wood(Yes, Elijah Wood!)

The Color Of Looting

Why do Black people always seem to do the dumbest things at the "wrongest" time?

I was appalled, like most people, to see the devastation wrought on New Orleans by Mother Nature. I was outraged, though, to see the human animals worsening nature's destruction with violence and lawlessness. And the worst part about it was that vitually all the people doing the looting and violence were Black.

I know that crime and violence are sensitive subjects for most Blacks and White liberals to discuss. No one wants to appear racist so the hard truth, that Blacks commit more crime than any other race in America, is glossed over or "explained" as the result of years of oppression at the hands of Whites. But who was oppresssing the Black looters and thugs in New Orleans? The Big Easy, after all, has a Black mayor.

Sure, some of the violence and looting is simply desperate people reacting desperately to a desperate situation. That explains some of it, not all of it.

Personally, I think alot of Black people commit crime becasue they know they can always blame it on racism if they get caught. And most White liberals will go along with that idea to prove their enlightenment and compassion. Of course, playing the race card usually doesn't mean Black criminals get off scot free. No, they are VERY likely to end up in jail for quite a while. But even that can be blamed on racism. And class. Still, the sterotype of the Black criminal--you know the one, that practically every Black male is a predator--stalks the mind of most Whites, even liberal ones. And that's why the behaviour of the New Orleans thugs was so dumb, and sad.

Whether they know it or not, care or not, the New Orleans thugs confirmed every White person's worst fears about Blacks. White racist magazines and websites are going to have a field day reporting on the Black "savages" who ran amok after Katrina struck. It'll take as long to undo the damage to Blacks' collective reputation as it will to rebuild the city.

You'd think that Blacks would've figured out years ago that they must strive extra hard to be law-abiding and civil. You'd think that the LAST thing they'd want to do was prove the White racist right. You'd think that Blacks would strive to instill in their children a strong work ethic and respect for education that many Asian Americans have. The work ethic and respect for education that made many immigrant Asians valedictorians and successful businessmen. You'd think that, and you'd be dead wrong.

I'm sure that Black pundits are lined up to give the official, politically correct explanation for the anarchy in New Orleans. And White liberals are lined up to shout Amen! And while these two groups spread the party line, the ordinary Black male has to walk around with the weight of the stereotype on his shoulders. No one will tell him the only way to be free. No one will dare say that Blacks, individually and collectively, must stop making excuses for their criminals and demand righteous behaviour of themselves. Only when Blacks are known for strong families, hard work, academic achievement, and unfailing honesty will the stereotype die.

Blacks have it in them to achieve greatness. Instead, they seem hooked on glorifying the lowest elements in their community. Only when they abandon this habit will they soar. America's not holding them back. Whites aren't holding them back. They're holding themselves back. It's time they admit that and get on with the business of success.

NOT!

Life's peachy--NOT! I'm sooooo down that I don't know what to do.
I'm really starting to feel desperate. I'm tired of playing by the rules and getting no where! Does anyone out know what I mean? I work three years at one of the most stressful jobs you can get--child care-- and I get fired for having an "attitude" when the young girl with the perky boobs can dress however she wants and talk to the director like she's a piece of shit, and she still has a job????? Go figure!!!!!!! So, I've decided to become a shameless self promoter.
I need money, people. I have a page on the cyberbeg website http://www.savemesites.com and I need as many of you as possible to go there, find the page titled PleaseHelp, and donate. I'm through asking nicely. I've tried that on my other posts and nobody gave a damn or a donation. Listen people, I'm not trying to scam anyone and I'm not trying to get out of working. I've worked all my adult life and I was still working until 10 days ago, and I'm working now. I'm working for my best friend in her new antiques store, and I even have some of my crocheted bears in my friend's other store. The problem is I'm only making minimum wage at the store and the bears aren't selling like I thought they would(they're so cute!). And even if I was making $10 an hour, the check wouldn't come soon enough to pay the rent.
I now that people are really focusing on the post-hurricane disaster in New Orleans, Mississippi, and Alabama. I'm not trying in any way to take away from that. In fact, I donated to disaster relief out of my meager means. I gave a dollar, and I'm asking ANYONE out there in bloggerland to donate just a dollar to me. I know that millions of people read blogs and I believe that if I can just reach enough of them I could get enough money to pay my rent for September. That way, I'd have the major expense taken care of and I can start saving for next month's rent with the money I'm slowly making now.
Please people, I need help! Do you know what it's like to have that cold feeling in the pit of your stomach? That's how I feel right now. I'm scared. I can't relax. I have no peace of mind. I'm constatly worrying and wondering what am I going to do. Asking for help from the people out in cyberspace is the ony answer that I know. I need $700 by September 9. I know that's alot. It's definitely more than I could ever come up with on my own. But if 700 people from cyberspace donated just $1 I'd have my rent paid.
Oh won't somebody out there help? I'm desperate. I don't want to keep using my blog to ask for money but I can't seem to get any response from any compassionate people. I only want to get my rent taken care of so I won't be evicted. Is that so hard to understand? Is $1 so much to ask? I donated $1 to disaster relief even though I really don't have it. Surely there're some people out there for whom $1 is nothing to give. If I can give that much, so can you. Please help out a fellow American and human being. I'm down, I don't want to be out, too. Please help. PoorGrrl