Religion

Bits and Pieces — April 15, 2023

Fandango16 Comments

Just a few bits and pieces that I thought I might share with you today.

Number 1 in the Nation

Mississippi Christians have erected a 14th giant cross. The latest cross — 120 feet high and 64 feet wide — towers over the town of Aberdeen, and cost $240,000 in private donations. Mike Rozier, whose company is putting up the massive crosses, says it’s money well spent, despite Mississippi’s very high poverty rate. “People say Mississippi ranks 49th or 50th of 50 states in various categoies,” Rozier says, but “we’re proud to say we’re number 1 in the number of crosses.”

The Check is in the Mail

Only 70 percent of mail intended to be delivered by the U.S. Postal Service within three to five days arrived on time last year, an 11 percent drop from 2022. A $40 billion overhaul of the system ordered by the Trump-appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has caused widespread disruptions, and state and federal officials are voicing concerns about the possible impact on mail-in ballots in the 2024 presidential election.

A Lot of Work to Do

Atmospheric concentrations of the three most potent greenhouse gases rose to new record levels in 2023, highlighting the failure by world leaders and industry to curb carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide emis-sions.

While the increases in each did not quite match the record jumps of recent years, the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and livestock farming have brought the world’s CO2 levels 50% higher than they were before the onset of the Industrial Revolution.

“As these numbers show, we still have a lot of work to do to make meaningful progress in reducing the amount of greenhouse gases accumulating in the atmosphere,” said Vanda Grubisi, director of NOAA’s global monitoring laboratory.

This Should be Funny…

Fandango14 Comments

…but it’s not.

Why not? Because it’s too close to the inexplicable truth that most evangelical and fundamentalist Christians actually feel this way. Yet Donald Trump is one of most un-Christian-like human beings in America.

I would love for someone to explain to me how this makes any sense.

WDP — People Bore Me

Fandango32 Comments
Daily writing prompt
What bores you?
View all responses

Well, okay, not all people. Just certain types of people.

For instance,

  • Trump supporters who try to persuade me that Trump is the second coming of Jesus Christ and that his election is the only way to save America.
  • Democrats who complain that Joe Biden, who is only four years older than Trump, is too old to seek reelection. Yes, he’s old, but would you rather have an old man who behaves like a vindictive, narcissist and a petulant child in the White House or an old man who is sane, thoughtful, and cares more than just about himself?
  • Religious people who tell me that, as an atheist, I am condemned to eternal damnation if I don’t accept Jesus Christ (and/or Donald Trump?) as my personal savior so that I can experience salvation and be saved.
  • Most Repugnican politicians whose unenlightened self-interests and quest for power and wealth surpass any desire on their part to help out their constituents.

There are probably a few other types of people I could include on this list, but I’m getting bored and I’m sure you must be too.

The Absurdity of It All

Fandango49 Comments

The Alabama Supreme Court ruled Friday that frozen embryos are people. The court ruled that anyone who mistakenly drops and destroys frozen embryos could be held liable in a wrongful-death lawsuit, writing that it had long held that unborn children are “children” and that that was also true for frozen embryos, affording the fertilized eggs the same protection as babies under the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act.

So the destruction of a frozen embryo that resides not in a woman’s womb, but in a freezer in a fertility clinic in Alabama is now punishable in that state in the same way that causing the death of a child is. Yikes!

This ruling comes as at least 11 Repugnican-controlled states have broadly defined personhood as beginning at fertilization in their state laws.

Alabama’s Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Parker quoted the Bible as he examined the “sanctity” of unborn life. “Human life cannot be wrongfully destroyed without incurring the wrath of a holy God, who views the destruction of His image as an affront to Himself,” Parker wrote. “Even before birth, all human beings bear the image of God, and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory.” Double yikes!

So let’s take a closer look. Most of these frozen embryos belong to couples that are attempting to have a baby through a process called in-vitro fertilization, or IVF. IVF is a medical procedure in which doctors extract eggs from ovaries and fertilize them with sperm outside the body, forming embryos that can subsequently be moved to the uterus.

To give a patient the best chance at a pregnancy, multiple embryos are created in the hopes that a patient can try again if an attempt at a pregnancy fails. As a result, as many eggs as possible are often fertilized and kept frozen. There are hundreds of thousands of patients who depend on treatments like this each year and countless embryos are frozen each year.

Think of all of the socio-economic and political implications that this ruling has. If frozen embryos are children, then…

  • should frozen embryos be counted in the Census Bureau’s population count for purposes of each state’s representation in Congress and for distribution of federal funds to the states?
  • should frozen embryos be considered to be dependent children for which parents can use the child deduction on federal and state taxes?
  • should parents be able to establish a tax-advantaged college savings account for each of their frozen embryos?
  • should parents fill out preschool applications for their frozen embryos?
  • should parents set up playgroups for their frozen embryos?
  • if IVF is successful and results in a pregnancy, if the new parents destroy their other fertilized embryos, are such parents serial killers?

These are just some of the questions that this decision by the Alabama Supreme Court raises that must be addressed.