Does Jesus go to Jesus Camp?

I just watched a documentary called "Jesus Camp". It's about a woman who started a charismatic camp for kids in one of the Dakotas(sorry, I can't remember which one!). The premise of the film is to expose the evangelical fundamentalist indoctrination of kids going on across the United States. This documentary disturbed me on many levels:

1. The documentary seemed to be somewhat sloppy in its presentation and editing, resulting in the people in the film appearing more kooky and irrational than they realistically probably are(because let's face it, whether you are a non-Christian or a Christian that runs from any association with fundamentalism, no one is going to give them the benefit of the doubt in a film like this!)

2. As the audience in the theater was laughing and ridiculing the devout woman, I cringed to realize they would probably do the same for me, were I to state forcefully what I believed.

3. Even though I related to some of what the woman said, she was a tad extremist for my comfort levels. Some highlights that made me squirm in my seat? Well, apparently global warming is a liberal agenda and there is nothing really wrong with our environment. Besides, we know that Jesus is coming back any time, so why do we care about the earth? Also, the reason for all the problems our nation is having with morality etc. is a result of removing prayer from the schools. One more? What really disturbed me is these passionate kids espousing an inextricably woven mission of both Christianity and nationalism. We could be in trouble, folks.

Yes, I would suggest seeing the film, but you may not want to wear your "I love Jesus" pin to the theater.

Last Saturday's Game

Results of Last Saturday's Game:

A-Town Players - 54
Chicks- 39

As you can see, we lost, but it was an extremely competitive game and we were not too far behind. We are definitely getting better. We received some comments in this week's flag football power rankings:

Others Receiving Votes: A-TOWN PLAYERS, CHICKS (AFTER A NEARLY 100 POINT SHOOTOUT, THESE TEAMS WARRANT SOME CONSIDERATION)

Unfortunately, I don't really know what this means, but at least we were mentioned!

My personal game highlight: I scored a touchdown in the first play of the game by running the ball all the way up the field. It was an incredible feeling. I think I have more sympathy for Napolean's Uncle Ricco now, living in his football glory of the past.

Semi-presumption

Last night, while driving home from school, I was broadsided by a gas semi-truck. It was quite shocking. I am completely unharmed, but Shamarack may never be the same. Let's just say the passanger door will never open again. My insurance agent said that if my car had been newer, it probably would have crumpled. But thankfully, Shamarack is well made, tough and even ripped half of the truck's bumper off. Even amidst the emotionally charged situation, the cops and I were very impressed with that. Things ended relatively well; the driver and I shook hands and wished each other well.

Ode to the Return of Summer

These L.A.ers
are a crazy bunch
With 355 days of sun
they pine on those 10 days
when the clouds' soothing presence blankets the city.
"It's not smog," I say,
"Why the glum faces?"
"Will we ever see the sun again?" they moan.
"How long must the winter of our discontent last?"

Today they walk confidently
a joyous spring in their step
The world is their oyster
once more.
Today the heat of summer's sun
causes the sweat to ooze
down my face
my face turns red
my disposition crabby
as I realize
the delicious coolness
of the previous days
was not fall,
merely a commerical break
from summer.

So on this October 20
as I look ahead
to a hot Halloween
a blazing Thanksgiving
and a sweltering Christmas,
I once more
thank God
for air conditioning.

The Mighty Chicks

So I've had two football games thus far. Last Saturday's, albeit my out-of-control nervousness, went pretty well. We scored four touchdowns to the other teams' seven touch downs. Not bad for a bunch of Chicks(that's our team time...I know, kinda corny).

The game this past Saturday, however, was more competitive and serious. In fact, the quarterback was the guy who believes there should not be an all women's team, if you remember my previous blog entry regarding the patriarchal system. They are also rated #2 in the league right now and slated to win the championship. So, what happened? Well, if this were a Disney movie, I could say that despite all odds, our team rallied and put up a formidable fight, beating the champions by a hair's breadth in overtime, amidst the roaring of the crowds. Did that really happen? It did in my dream the night before. Actually, we pretty much got slaughtered although we did score two touchdowns and had one inspiring interception. My job on defense was to rush the famous quarterback and try to pull his flag before he threw it. I actually didn't find out until half- time that this was the quarterback who had such strong opinions regarding women and sports. All of a sudden, I felt the power of a thousand track stars in my legs. Lining up on the line, eye to eye with the QB, there was one raging thought in my head: "I must get that flag!" The whistle blew and I charged forward. Leaping and ducking, he danced away from me and I hurtled my body towards his flag. Unfortunately, I missed by a fraction of an inch and ended up face down in the mud(it rained that morning). More unfortunately than even this, my tumble caused my cleat sole to become unnailed(the shoe glue did not work so I had to resort to nailing my shoes).

Sorry my story is somewhat less than heroic and inspiring...however stay tuned next week, because our loyal male fans who have been following our progress tell us that we are improving! Go Chicks!

Don't "Sweetie" me.

This morning at work nearly put me over the edge. Why? Because for whatever reason, people feel inclined to call me "sweetie". Now, this wouldn't be so bad if most of the people doing this were my parent's age or over. However, most times, and particularly this morning, it was coming from women that were years younger than me! Today, this pet peeve of mine has just moved up into the #1 spot.

"What's the big deal?" you might ask. "Isn't it a term of endearment?" Grrrr....don't even get me started. It feels extremely condescending when someone 10 years your junior is calling you a "term of endearment". So, if you are now wondering when you can properly use this term, here are the new rules I have developed. It is perfectly okay to call someone "Sweetie" if they are at least 2 decades younger than you. This two decade time gap also makes it multi-gender appropriate(although I guess there are only two genders...bi-gender appropriate?). Here is the rub...you better be sure that the "sweetied" person is indeed a card-carrying youth, otherwise he/she may develop what I suffer from right now: sweetie-rage.

What should I do with this sweetie-rage? Well, thankfully, I have my first flag football game tomorrow morning. I plan to expend my rage bolting past the guys with the football under my arm. This, of course, will only be possible if the soles of my cleats stay on the bottom of my shoes. They fell off the other day at practice which really hindered my running. The final sweetie-straw on the camel's back came as I was purchasing the shoe glue which I hope will help my situation. The cashier lady swiped my shoe glue and said, "I'm going to need to see some I.D. Are you 21?"

"I'm 31", I answered testily, "and I'm not going to sniff the shoe glue."

Shocking quote

I love my professor of my "Women, Church, and the Bible" class. He has incurable cancer and sits in the front of class speaking in his frail voice. However, his mind and his wit are incredibely sharp. Half the class we spend laughing at the wry way in which he tells stories. Yesterday, he quoted something that Elizabeth Elliot wrote a few years ago that was really quite shocking. She wrote, "Every feminist is ultimately a homosexual." This is particularly shocking considering the meaning of the word feminist, which simply means "equal rights for women." Of course, words often become distorted and misused, and carry with them a wealth of connatations, but I am beginning to realize that it is not necessary to reject the word, rather it is very important to define the word that you are using. Does Elizabeth Elliot still think this? I wonder if she votes.