Christians and the Problem of the FLDS Church April 30, 2008
Posted by TimTheFoolMan in Blogging, Christianity.Tags: age of accountability, FLDS Church, sexual abuse
9 comments
From ABC news coverage:
Outside the courthouse, where satellite trucks lined the street, a man who said he was an FLDS father waved a photo of himself surrounded by his four children, ranging in age from an infant to about 9.
“Look, look, look,” the father said. “These children are all smiling, we’re happy.”
As I read this, my reaction was “I bet slave owners in the South said the same thing to people in the North.”
:quality(75)/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/2c625b50a1f0432fe8eea5c6b6763b9b/BD%20INC%20Mormon%2014%202012)
The events at the polygamist FLDS compound in West Texas have haunted me, and for several reasons. First, it haunts me that parents would allow their children to have their minds and hearts twisted the way that they have. However, I’ve also been haunted with questions about what Christians do that parallels some of the FLDS parents’ behavior in disturbing ways.
(more…)How to Know it’s Going to be a Crappy Day April 29, 2008
Posted by TimTheFoolMan in Humor.Tags: bathroom humor, plunger, toilet
5 comments
It’s 5:30 AM, and nature calls. However, as you enter the bathroom bleary-eyed, you note that the toilet is clogged. This is your first sign.
After a quick trip to another toilet to deal with the most immediate problem, you locate the plunger. Even in the stupor of less than 5 minutes of consciousness, you’re able to inspect the plunger and see the crack in the rubber that will render it completely useless. This is your second sign.
Not to worry, you have a “backup plunger” (a backup to deal with… uhm… backups). You grab the backup device, return to the scent of the crime, and begin plunging. Unfortunately, the backup device is slightly inferior in design to your primary plunger (which is why the other, now defective plunger, was the primary tool). As such, it turns itself inside-out periodically, and requires a bit of “toilet rim gymnastics” to get the rubber edge flipped right-side-out again.
And so you plunge away, and pause to pull and rotate the handle, flipping the business-end of the plunger back into the correct shape. But the final pull seems too easy, and that’s when you have the third and final sign that it will be a crappy day: (more…)
What is My Job as a Parent? April 28, 2008
Posted by TimTheFoolMan in Blogging, Parenting/Children.Tags: parental role
2 comments
One of my friends puts it this way:
My role as a parent is to make myself unnecessary.
Is that really my role? I have to admit, it’s hard for me to argue with that, even though my heart wishes it were otherwise. I certainly want my sons to continue to talk to me, but if I don’t teach them to operate in complete independence, am I crippling them for life? What will their lives be like when the day comes that I’m gone?
At the time of this writing, my oldest son is 20 years old, and my youngest is 17. If something were to happen to me today, both of them have enough basic life skills to survive in the society that exists today. In that regard, I could probably claim that my work, as a parent, is finished. (more…)
Reading to Small Children April 22, 2008
Posted by TimTheFoolMan in Parenting/Children.Tags: Love, reading, Stupidity, young children
6 comments
Yesterday, I saw a mother reading a story from children’s book to her young son. This reminded me of the hours I spent (and a few I didn’t) reading to my sons.
There are many fond memories I have of my sons’ childhoods. Reading to them is near the top of that list. (more…)
Why You Don’t Want a Honda S2000 April 19, 2008
Posted by TimTheFoolMan in Cars.Tags: Driving, S2000
38 comments
I love to drive. More specifically, I love to drive fast. Because of this, and because I was 40 years old at the time, I bought a bright-yellow 2001Honda S2000.
If you have read my blog for any length of time, you’ve been assaulted with pictures of me behind the wheel, mugging for the camera like some drug-crazed lunatic. I do not apologize for such behavior, because driving this car is a mind and mood altering experience, on par with any drug I’m familiar with.
However, this car is not for everyone. In fact, many of the attributes of this car that make it so attractive to me, are likely to be the very things that would cause others to walk away (stiff suspension, low to the ground, and so on). What if these attributes are attractive to you too? Does that mean you should rush out and snap up an S2000 from the nearest Honda dealer? Not necessarily.
Here is a quick review of what I believe to be this car’s weaknesses. Based on my discussions with other S2000 owners, I’m not alone with these complaints. Read on, and you can decide for yourself if the short list of annoyances is enough to push you toward a different car. (more…)
A Fool and his Words are Soon Parted 