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This is one of the main reasons why I’m voting for Obama.  A return to a secular America at last…

I saw one of these while driving past the Catholic Supply in South City (no, that’s not a joke). It was prominently displayed in the window in all its plastic glory.

Target actually carries these things, believe it or not. Not only does he look awesome (and European) he talks as well (in English). He has a five out of five star rating (of course).

He has product features too. Action Jesus brings the following to the table: …read more »

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I hear a lot from religious leaders about the power of prayer. For example, we have a National Day of Prayer. Apparently our president talks to God-and God answers him; that’s who told him to invade Iraq. When those coal miners were trapped in the Sago mine disaster in West Virginia the townspeople prayed for their safe return. Initially it seemed to be working; reports were that all but one miner had miraculously survived. Joyful praise for the holy father erupted, only to be replaced by acrimonious disdain after they learned they had been “forsaken” and all but one had died. (Even the Governer proclaimed the initial reports a “miracle”. I’ll save miracles for another post.) Hell, I even received a holy hanky that was supposed to become infused with miraculous power through prayer.

The point is there are millions of people who swear by the power of prayer. I’ve always been skeptical that there’s a personal god out there listening to our wants, needs, and desires and then granting them in a seemingly arbitrary fashion. How does God answer prayers? Who gets want they want, who doesn’t, and why? No one seems to be able to answer these questions without invoking some version of the “great cop-out”: God works in mysterious ways. That’s the easy way out, essentially saying ‘I don’t know and you shouldn’t be asking’.

So after 9/11 I did a lot of thinking …read more »

I received the best letter ever today, one that I apparently have needed for some time but didn’t even know it. Turns out there’s this group called St. Matthew’s Churches in Oklahoma that knows me without even knowing my name. They’ve detected, through some kind of magic, that I need some direction in my life. They decided to loan me a letter with a bunch of cool stuff in it so I could get right to turning my miserable, useless life around and start obeying orders.

I flipped the envelope over to find even more good news:

Prophecies? Sealed prophecies? That’s Indiana Jones type stuff! And it also appeared that my time was running out …read more »