tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-194257052012-01-22T11:33:25.636-08:00Push button for revelation.<br> Or <a href="http://runningfromelevators.blogspot.com/2005/11/taking-stairs.html">take the stairs</a>.Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.comBlogger1341100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-13348037595257465362011-11-02T11:38:00.000-07:002011-11-02T13:19:06.285-07:00

I recently came across the following statement in an online discussion on the topic of religion:"I secretly dream for all religions to be eradicated so that one day we will be able to construct a bullshit free society and be able to do scientific research without being interrupted. [Religious groups] oppress, brainwash, burn for millennia, [and then say] 'We're a religion of peace now.' "My

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-12461372544840053682011-08-28T22:02:00.000-07:002011-10-17T15:33:10.418-07:00

I recently came across a question on the Internet that I found very interesting. To paraphrase: Why did Rebecca Black become so much more viral of an Internet phenomenon as a bad singer (supposedly; remember some people do like her) than Jenna Rose (whom I had never heard of until a few days ago), CathyMay15, or Final Placement, any of which are arguably far worse than Rebecca Black?I suspect it

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-24924440509680689182009-01-30T22:04:00.000-08:002010-03-30T16:01:22.565-07:00

A lot of my ideas for things to write about come to me when I'm in the shower for some reason. most of the time it's random, but occasionally, it actually has to do with the act of showering. There I was scrubbing away at my stomach and chest and thinking about something I read in an article somewhere about how essentially our bodies are a horrid mess of bacteria from our navel to our knees

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com41tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-6784882342684391132009-01-20T14:38:00.000-08:002009-01-20T14:41:29.810-08:00

The Bloggess on going to an inauguration party: It just occurred to me that this could be some sort of sting, like when they tell wanted felons that they won a boat and then when the felon goes to pick it up it’s all police dogs and mace. If I don’t update this post it’s probably because all of this is some sort of elaborate set-up. And then when the police arrest me John McCain jumps out and is

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-66426659064369045222009-01-20T10:05:00.000-08:002009-01-20T11:28:48.331-08:00

From Obama's inauguration speech: "This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath."Actually, oddly enough, Obama's father

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-84902383986285812992009-01-19T13:19:00.000-08:002009-01-19T18:52:58.394-08:00

We've still got quite a ways to go. Pardon my pessimism, but it seems to me that there are a lot of people who are looking to the inauguration of Barack Obama as the realization in Dr. King's dream, and don't get me wrong, I think it shows we've made great strides, but we're not "there".A lot of people are talking about the inauguration as though it's this moment in time that is an inflection

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-84200545340839927442009-01-18T07:14:00.000-08:002009-01-18T07:20:09.239-08:00

There is a family at my church who's been going through a crisis. I'll probably get the details wrong because I don't know them personally, and I've only heard the story second-hand, but it doesn't matter so much. See, this family has a child, a boy slightly younger than two years old, who right around Christmas time started acting rather strange. Kids that age don't tend to do much anyway, but

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-78001622376490255402009-01-17T06:22:00.000-08:002009-01-17T06:22:00.728-08:00

I suppose I ought to file a followup report, so to speak. I decided to break down and finally join Facebook.I gotta say, it's been fun. I just signed up less than two days ago, and I already have 51 "friends". Now, none of these people are strangers, but admittedly a few of them are people that I probably wouldn't have shed a tear over not getting to contact again someday. (I won't mention who,

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-73256229626154581212009-01-16T15:08:00.000-08:002009-01-20T08:10:52.090-08:00

I remember a time many years back, I think it was before I was a Christian (seems likely, I don't remember many of the details except the dialogue), when I was with a group of guys who were talking about sex. In particular, the topic under discussion was the morality and legality of sex with an underage partner. "Who would be stupid enough to have sex with a fifteen-year-old?" somebody asked. I

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-73263826272471445612009-01-12T09:08:00.000-08:002009-01-14T10:28:58.919-08:00

Ah, I said I wasn't going to do it, sice my mp3 player is mostly Beatles stuff, but I ended up getting a surprising amount of Sting, and all from one album. I don't have an iPod, I have a Samsung Juke, and unlike apparently a lot of others who've done this meme, I've not given it a name. I also don't believe I am forced to interpret these responses, so I simply present them without much comment.

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-91375478261450284942009-01-08T21:26:00.000-08:002009-01-08T21:48:26.139-08:00

Strange how hard it's been to write lately. I don't know if it's that inner editor that always tells you that what you're writing isn't good enough or what, but something seems to have slowed me down.I've made a few attempts, and some of them pretty good efforts. I had a column by Anna Quindlen making the standard comparison between same-sex marriage and miscegenation laws, which I went on at

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-53416803829222342242008-12-11T14:09:00.000-08:002008-12-15T11:15:28.481-08:00

Dangit, Marauder has tagged me again, this time on his livejournal page, which I should have known better than to read.Place in bold things you have done, and italics things you would like to do.1. Started your own blog2. Slept under the stars3. Played in a band4. Visited Hawaii5. Watched a meteor shower6. Given more than you can afford to charity7. Been to DisneyWorld or other Disney theme park8

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-77408393778499389972008-11-25T20:18:00.000-08:002008-11-25T21:13:33.048-08:00

I'm worried about the Internet. I'm starting to wonder what effect it's having on us as a global society. That is to say, the Internet seems to have made us into a global community, but is that a good thing or not?I still remember after all these years that night I managed to hear Timothy Leary talking about the great wonder that the World Wide Web would be, and how it would allow us to all come

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-39053492026332484602008-11-10T04:54:00.000-08:002008-11-10T05:19:47.821-08:00

I bring it up for a quick comment more as a matter of my penchant for ironic statements rather than strong disagreement (although I do disagree). Anna Quindlen writes a column this week in which she states, concerning Obama's election: "It is impossible to overstate what that means to this nation."Uh, Ms. Quindlen? I believe you just did.

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-82440478559977568322008-11-07T21:33:00.000-08:002008-11-07T22:43:55.370-08:00

On a very different note, what is it with the letter G?Seriously. I've always been interested in typefaces, and it's fascinating to me that there are some serious differences from one font to another, and yet at the same time, there's a great deal of similarity overall in the way each individual letter is displayed across all typefaces. Think, for instance, about the vanilla simplicity of the

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-44284011773513013012008-11-06T20:48:00.000-08:002011-10-10T16:25:44.152-07:00

I've got some news for you, and you may be shocked. You see, Barack Obama's our President.No, really.I'm not sure whether you heard it or not, since it was hard to make it out over all the shouts and sounds of celebration. It may have been an election of epic proportions, as it seems a large portion of the population would be gathering along Pennsylvania Avenue to spread palm branches in his path

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-57387161768819033642008-11-04T00:01:00.000-08:002008-11-06T04:37:23.421-08:00

Dear God,This is election day.I already voted via mail, and I prayed that I would make the right decisions concerning my vote. I prayed that I would vote according to Your will, and that I would have a clear conscience about it, whatever Your will might be. I also know that You love us and care about what we feel, and I want to ask You for your grace and mercy on this, democracy's Holy Day.Lord,

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-48595457926898082222008-10-27T20:09:00.000-07:002011-10-10T16:47:24.943-07:00

In one chapter of Isaac Asimov's autobiography, he talked at length about the sorts of letters he gets from readers, and in particular, there was one type of letter that he always thought strange. As a life-long atheist, he often would get letters from people who had something to say about his spiritual state. Some would inform him that they would be praying for him, to which he simply shrugged

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-28269358069406806572008-10-24T12:33:00.000-07:002008-10-26T09:47:35.034-07:00

Finally, after noticing that many people are finding my blog looking for the "nine real differences between marriage and domestic partnerships", and lamenting that I could not supply the answer, I did some digging, and turned up this document (you have to download the rather large pdf from a link). I quote from foot note #241 in italics below.Nine differences have been identified: (1) common

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-60271210367364234602008-10-24T05:18:00.000-07:002008-10-24T12:56:51.275-07:00

Well, let's just have one last talk about Proposition 8, but then that's it. (At least until after the election; then I'm sure I won't be able to resist.)I've said it many times, both in conversation and in writing that I realized long ago I simply can't retain my sanity and get involved in certain discussions. Politics and religion, those general topics that many people say ought to be avoided

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-57191563764975861822008-10-23T05:05:00.000-07:002009-08-27T11:48:14.229-07:00

Today, another rant about a Newsweek column; this time, it's not Anna Quindlen, but the topic is definitely strongly related to feminism.Sharon Begley, Newsweek's science columnist takes a moment to speak up on a subject near and dear to my own heart: sexism and stereotypes about learning ability. ("Math is Hard, Barbie Said") See, just in case you're not aware of it, American girls have a hard

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-79275351099432971082008-10-21T05:22:00.000-07:002010-07-20T12:18:52.949-07:00

So, now I get to commute to my new job via train. I like it, to some extent, but in some other ways, it represents a certain loss of innocence. There's a magic to trains that can very easily get lost.I don't know where this magic comes from. I do think I'm not imagining it, however. Think of a movie like The Polar Express, in which a train takes children away to meet Santa Claus, or various

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-7370235778235787132008-10-15T13:28:00.000-07:002008-11-03T04:43:36.822-08:00

Feminism can be a tough issue, especially for a fundamentalist Christian. I've noticed that among my kind, feminism can be a dirty word, but it doesn't have to be. Strictly speaking, feminism is simply the belief that women are equal to men in value, and I would hope that's not something that many people in my church would dispute, at least when put that simply.In the world at large, it's a lot

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-64457065229051226702008-10-15T12:56:00.000-07:002008-10-15T14:13:10.820-07:00

I had to take a train to go to a job interview. It was just far enough away that taking the train made more sense than driving my own car. It might have actually cost a little less in fuel costs than the ticket ended up being, but who wants to deal with L.A. traffic? So train it was, and the interview went reasonably well. I just might get the job, actually.The thing that turned out to be the

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-7317266043326045992008-10-13T23:55:00.000-07:002008-11-03T04:51:53.274-08:00

Let's revisit Proposition 8, shall we?As is usual in my writing, I don't think the real point I'm trying to make is going to be right here in the beginning. Whether or not Proposition 8 should be passed or not is not really the main issue, but really, it's sort of a sub-issue, if you will. Shortly after I last wrote about Proposition 8, I had someone tell me that all good Christians should, as a

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-86261671866467766842008-10-02T11:38:00.000-07:002009-08-10T15:20:47.132-07:00

Tuesday night, Bill Maher was on The Daily Show to promote his new documentary Religulous. Based on what I know of Maher, it's probably going to be a very entertaining movie, but it's probably, no make that definitely going to be extremely offensive to a lot of people. As is often customary for such talk show appearances, his visit was preceded by a showing of a clip from the movie.In the clip,

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-42780659553275887652008-09-26T13:12:00.000-07:002008-11-03T05:03:01.597-08:00

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." -Arthur C. ClarkeI think I've finally figured out the problem with science. That is to say, I think I know what the real issue is with the public perception of science, and what it is about it that makes the average layman surprisingly loath to trust it. Let's face it; every day we're going to open the newspaper and find

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-91734864343902945282008-09-25T17:03:00.000-07:002008-10-15T23:05:24.040-07:00

I've started to realize that while I am often loath to comment directly on political issues, I revel in the chance to comment on political commentary. That being said, just because I carefully tread a line along the edge of a minefield doesn't mean lack of careful choosing of my words and who to share them with won't cause me to stumble and fall right in.Yesterday, as I was sitting and enjoying

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-5361468765109686822008-09-24T12:09:00.000-07:002010-01-22T08:26:19.431-08:00

I suppose after having spent so much time and energy expounding on the state of legalization of same-sex marriage in Colorado, I ought to at least take a moment out of my busy schedule of doing nothing of value to give my thoughts on the state of the legality of same-sex marriage here in my own state of California. I was actually thinking I'd put in a longer rant covering all of the full dozen

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-14383416792326831162008-09-19T09:11:00.000-07:002009-08-31T19:43:29.064-07:00

The thought should have comforted Bobby but it didn't. He found himself thinking of what William Golding had said, that the boys on the island were rescued by the crew of a battle-cruiser and good for them...but who would rescue the crew? ...[T]he words still haunted Bobby. What if there were no grownups? Suppose the whole idea of grownups was an illusion? What if their money was really just

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-34083704628631844772008-08-01T12:18:00.000-07:002008-12-19T09:21:16.824-08:00

I've been a lifelong Democrat (although earlier this year I tried to register Republican in order to vote in the GOP primary, but that doesn't count for much, especially since my registration didn't go through as far as I am aware), but I'm obviously not so taken with partisan politics as many people are in this country. In particular, I recall back in the day thinking that there was something

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-84362807597023811752008-07-22T12:19:00.000-07:002009-08-28T11:11:15.531-07:00

Sometimes, no make that all the time, I think we're bound to be surprised by what God has in store for us. Just when you think God is finished with His work, it may turn out that God was only just beginning.My friend and associate in crimes against orthodoxy, Marauder, has recently been posting links to me, and I was considering it might be kind to post links back, but I was in the middle of this

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-87026397060990227932008-07-21T12:20:00.000-07:002009-08-28T11:08:52.411-07:00

This was a hard series of essays to figure out, at least for me. I sort of like these odd little series that take off on a theme and see where it goes. Initially, when I wrote the "Book of genesis" one, my thought had been merely how interesting it was that Darwin was actually so little-known in a very personal way; what with his works being considered far more important to the modern secularist

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-5509023340413716552008-07-16T06:32:00.000-07:002009-08-28T11:02:10.441-07:00

I remember many years ago, a couple of people came knocking at my door. I seem to recall they were Jehovah's Witnesses, but I may be remembering wrong; it's not important."Do you know what the most popular book in history is?" they asked me, their way of starting up a conversation. This is the sort of conversation I enjoy greatly; not the theological conversation, which I also enjoy and of course

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-48884337879552899572008-07-09T09:31:00.000-07:002009-08-28T11:00:13.055-07:00

I'm sure I've mentioned it to everyone who knows me, and yet, I never feel like anyone knows, because in a sense, I don't even know it about myself: I am Jewish. Or am I?See, my father was (and still is) Jewish, but my mother is not; at least not in the technical sense. For most people, this implies that I also am not in the technical sense. Yet I was raised by my father to believe that I was a

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-20294950172500807602008-07-03T08:31:00.000-07:002009-08-28T10:52:49.049-07:00

So I got fired. Actually, it was about a week ago, and I considered writing about it. I actually even considered blogging about it fully in a new, separate blog chronicling my experience with unemployment, something I've been lucky enough to go about ten years without having to experience. I'm not sure I really understand the blog concept, though, even after having my own for some time. Really

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-63188702971141388702008-07-02T05:38:00.000-07:002009-08-28T10:50:21.879-07:00

I realized something this morning that for some reason struck me as funny. Skeptics of Christianity have often pointed out (quite rightly, mind you) that despite the fact that the world is full of people who claim to be Christians, it's surprisingly uncommon to find a Christian who has actually taken the time to read the Bible. How many of them know the Ten Commandments, which they claim to

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-14535663407394833592008-06-17T06:29:00.000-07:002008-10-15T23:40:34.336-07:00

So today begins in earnest the legalization of same-sex marriage in California. We can all expect to see a lot of footage on the news of same-sex couples standing and facing each other with big smiles while people stand at a distance with placards reading a variety of messages, the most common word probably being "sin". It's an odd day in California for me in particular, because nominally, I'm a

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-1163543382475283522008-03-31T18:05:00.000-07:002008-03-31T18:14:14.484-07:00

I came across an interesting article in the newspaper this weekend. It was in the comics section, actually, as one of the local papers carries a section in the middle of the comics that's like a miniature newspaper for kids; you've probably seen them before.Apparently, various species of frogs are going extinct at an alarming (to whom?) rate. According to the article, "Experts believe half of all

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-73792959097091405652008-03-28T07:14:00.000-07:002008-11-07T21:42:41.532-08:00

I was thinking last night about blogging. I was thinking about what it is that appeals to me. Thank heaven that it's not the publicity, because among the few hits I do get on this blog, the majority of them still seem to be looking for penguin sex.See, I've always done this, even before the world wide web existed. I used to journal. You know, I'd get one of those little books with blank pages,

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-37071683479944131882008-03-05T08:11:00.000-08:002010-01-22T08:22:33.454-08:00

Many years ago, I had a pastor that was giving a series of sermons on hot topics of the day. Of course, many of those topic are still big, not least of which is the topic of abortion rights. You can probably guess what side of the issue he came down on, but many people might be surprised how he approached it.Rather than simply standing up and blasting the opposition to his personal view, he took

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-89588636606395963422008-02-29T07:32:00.000-08:002008-02-29T08:18:27.369-08:00

I can't resist the odd siren call of posting on Leap Day. However, I can't think of a post topic that is apropos.And maybe that's the topic?When I was very young, I guess I must have been about eight, I remember being introduced for the first time I recall to the concept of leap years. I was born in a leap year, as of course were many of my friends throughout school, being roughly the same age.

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-92122455573735032032008-02-26T08:03:00.000-08:002008-02-26T08:11:13.241-08:00

Many years ago, I had an opportunity to serve on a jury. I really do view it as an opportunity, too. I don't understand why so many people bitch and moan when a jury summons appears in their mailbox; for the average person, serving on a jury is the only chance we'll ever have to hold public office. Really, let's not forget that: Chances are about zero that you'll ever be President, probably less

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-41283508996458143022008-02-20T08:06:00.001-08:002009-01-20T07:54:37.126-08:00

Sometimes when I write these posts, I mull over a subject for a few days, and then commit my thoughts to the blogosphere, where surely few will read them, but at least they're out of my brain for a while. Today, I'd like to rant on something that either has occupied my mind for less than an hour (I was sparked into considering this subject by something I caught on television less than an hour

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-25318483543092864722008-02-14T08:39:00.000-08:002008-02-14T08:39:20.351-08:00

...he'd be clawing desperately at the lid of his coffin. Man, that one never gets old.I'm going to try (no doubt in vain) to make this one brief, because, as they say, brevity is the soul of wit. To quote from a fellow blogger (who is an atheist) whose blog I enjoy, some people, such as Mike Huckabee have claimed that the Constitution needs to be amended to make the U.S. a Christian nation as our

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-42152681225649471782008-02-13T13:23:00.000-08:002008-02-13T13:25:14.667-08:00

By the way, don't forget Valentine's Day!

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-66023886173546961972008-02-13T08:10:00.000-08:002008-02-13T08:13:31.985-08:00

I spend a lot of time thinking about things that atheists say about the world and how so often it doesn't seem to me that it makes sense to me. Case in point, something that I love to bring up is the question of how evolutionary theory (that is, of the sort that claims humans evolved from "lower life forms", that's the interesting stuff, right?) is often claimed to have solid basis in scientific

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-85761436502852624382008-02-06T06:50:00.000-08:002008-02-06T08:07:42.626-08:00

So yesterday was our so-called "Super Tuesday" here in America, the day that most of the country has its preliminary round of voting before the official election. Often, it's a day that campaigns make final decisions as to how far they are going to be run, and candidates can either make a definitive statement that they fully expect to be the official candidate for their party, or they drop out

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-56536415408754388992008-01-31T12:46:00.000-08:002008-01-31T12:53:25.220-08:00

Voting is a funny thing. Don't get me wrong. In the midst of all I have to say here, I am certainly not trying to say that voting is a bad idea. The democratic process is vital to a free society, it's just that it can be confusing trying to figure out what the results mean.Back in 1991, there was a funny thing that happened in the world of voting outside of politics: Rolling Stone magazine had

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-14896064532942620322008-01-16T11:59:00.000-08:002008-01-16T12:17:06.459-08:00

So, tonight's the big night that the new season of "American Idol" starts (or maybe last night, by the time I get this posted), and everyone will be tuning in to see wave after wave of people who really want to be stars. I seem to recall that I attempted to write about this topic at the beginning of last season, when a young woman came on the tryouts with (like so many) virtually no singing

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-70497237240581099912007-12-31T11:59:00.000-08:002007-12-31T12:31:17.509-08:00

So, tomorrow is New Year's Day, right? This may not be a rhetorical question.Within the year commonly referred to as 2008, Jews will celebrate the beginning of the year 5769 on September 29th. Many people in Asia will mark February 7th as the beginning of the year of the (Earth) Rat. For Muslims, the year 1429 starts on January 10th, and the year 1430 starts on December 29th. This can conceivably

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-52509577564072725022007-12-24T07:30:00.000-08:002007-12-31T15:53:24.138-08:00

It's interesting to me that here in the United States of America, a land that is built on a foundation of religious freedom, we have a national holiday to commemorate the birth of a great religious leader. I mean, have no doubt, he was a great man, and although he was not understood by so many in his own lifetime. He was martyred while he was still young, but in the short time he walked this

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-54314833635243532772007-12-10T13:02:00.000-08:002007-12-10T13:24:11.501-08:00

I decided not to make this have a clever title, nor to drone on about my own opinion here for overly long because I wanted to mainly drop a simple question out for consideration.I know Mitt Romney in particular has a few personal quirks that someone might not like to see in their presidential candidates, like the fact he's waffled on a few issues, but set those aside and ask the generic question.

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-68017266794146675822007-11-19T12:51:00.001-08:002007-11-19T13:28:57.213-08:00

So after some difficulties this morning and over the preceding weekend, I finally got into my e-mail this afternoon and found that I'd actually received quite a bit of electronic correspondence over the last few days. Interestingly enough, I really don't get a lot of spam, and this time was no exception. Emails giving me information that I had actually asked for, notes from family and friends,

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-33180814045436567672007-11-13T12:47:00.000-08:002007-11-13T13:06:49.545-08:00

Hmph, more like 42, if you ask me. Marauder has once again tagged me for one of these things because he knows I often reply against my better judgment.1. What were you doing 10 years ago?I had recently gotten married, and was working for a mortgage company, which I considered to be my first "real job". It was one of those magical times that people talk about where we lived in a small apartment

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-34765518641235005012007-10-26T13:02:00.000-07:002007-10-26T13:04:53.774-07:00

A couple months ago, my boss was having me research info on fire safes. As with a number of businesses, we back up the information on our servers to a tape drive, and put the tapes in a small safe to protect them from fire and/or theft. If you're not familiar (which I'm guessing most people are not), fire safes are typically given ratings of one-hour, two-hour or three-hour, which is more or less

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-71075290593413647922007-10-02T08:06:00.000-07:002008-10-02T22:35:18.916-07:00

"In our world," said Eustace, "a star is a huge ball of flaming gas.""Even in your world, my son, that is not what a star is but only what a star is made of."-Voyage of the Dawn Treader, C.S. LewisI'm sure what I have to say here is a reiteration of what others have said hundreds of times if I cared to search through literature and what passes for it on the Internet, but perhaps it stands to be

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-13361772269977289512007-09-28T08:19:00.000-07:002009-08-28T14:20:02.508-07:00

Years ago, when I used to frequent online discussion groups and had no blog, I had a rather interesting experience in a discussion group on atheism. Being open about the fact that I was a Christian, I got a bit of hostility from the other posters, as is to be expected. I did reassure everyone that I was not there to preach unless asked to, as I was sure they received more than enough people

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-32319321616423724382007-09-14T17:35:00.000-07:002007-09-14T17:42:35.188-07:00

BTW, as a quick side note that I've been meaning to mention, I remembered the other day that the movie Rat Race has an instance of "running from elevators". At a point somewhere around fifteen minutes into the film, most of the main characters are standing in an elevator lobby near the top of a tall building, waiting for the elevator to come up. One by one, they decide in a panic to take the

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-60108392845420222007-09-14T07:15:00.000-07:002009-09-23T09:49:03.313-07:00

YORK, Pa. (AP) - September 12, 2007 - A York County judge says a man ordained over the Internet can't perform a legal wedding in Pennsylvania. That's because the Universal Life Church minister doesn't have a congregation that he meets with regularly or a place of worship. The church is planning to challenge the ruling. A church official says accepting some ministers but not others is arbitrary

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-44252588402128772362007-09-12T08:05:00.000-07:002007-09-12T08:10:24.666-07:00

I suppose I spend a lot of my spare time and energy arguing that faith is a good and rational thing. Heck, it's essentially the point of my other blog, if not expressly stated, then at least in fairly obvious subtext. I have a hard time sitting back while I hear people disparage (more or less) faith by describing it as something like "belief in that which has no evidence". I'm sure I've railed on

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-74545324142839498172007-07-17T07:16:00.000-07:002010-07-20T18:24:16.938-07:00

Rather than reposting the whole discussion--which wasn't long, but why bother--I offer up a link to a post I made on Goosing the Antithesis some time ago. It's a subject that, in a way, I've been thinking about a lot more in the last few weeks, ever since the Skeptic's Annotated Bible actually managed to surprise me. Is the SAB the red pill or the blue pill?What if reality was not what you

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-43594339464292565382007-07-06T16:36:00.000-07:002007-07-13T12:15:00.776-07:00

There's something I love about irony.If you ask an evangelical protestant Christian why they are not Catholic, they'll probably have a short list of things that they perceive as being somehow wrong with the Catholic Church. Now, I don't have a source for much of what I'm going to say here, only personal experience from having now lived a fair portion of my life among Protestants, you'll just have

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-8967097988712305322007-06-13T19:31:00.000-07:002009-09-14T09:37:40.009-07:00

(Note: This blog entry has prerequisite reading, a short essay to be found here.)My grandmother used to have a peculiar habit of collecting rocks. Collecting rocks in itself is not weird, most people have done it at one time or another, but most people do it because the rocks they collect have either a certain physical beauty or perhaps they came from a place that has sentimental value to them.

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-13964754145568833752007-05-25T16:06:00.000-07:002007-09-27T07:54:28.368-07:00

For those still keeping count (which is probably just me), we are now at 246 out of 292 hits on this blog being people looking for pictures of sexy penguins. (The unlikely phrase "bashemath's husband" has now been used twice to find this blog.) That's about 84% of my traffic.But that's not the reason for this post. The reason for this post is that I was jokingly looking up info on the mating

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-84955978945212674062007-05-24T14:56:00.000-07:002007-05-24T15:59:15.178-07:00

I don't believe I mentioned it here, but I recently got a new job doing IT support in an office. This week, the main IT guy is on vacation, so I'm on my own for the first time, and today I got my first support call."Hey, can you come figure out why such-and-such program isn't launching for me?" co-worker says to me, so I go to her desk. I fiddle about for a minute, checking out whether her

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-75398644224047807112007-05-11T08:03:00.000-07:002007-09-14T07:20:09.580-07:00

So in the ongoing saga of the sexy penguins, I decided to check out Google today (I would have done it earlier, but I was having technical difficulties) and found out that sure enough, a Google image search for "sexy penguin" pulls up a link to this blog as the #2 match. For those who might care about the numbers other than myself, I'm trying to keep a running total, and I've presently got 126

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-64491841472939873792007-04-24T07:33:00.000-07:002009-05-14T16:04:51.284-07:00

Okay, it's not funny anymore. Or maybe it is, but I'm getting sort of tired of it.In the last week, this blog has had 36 hits, and 33 of them were from people doing a Google search for pictures of sexy penguins. That's about 92%, for those of you who are into percentages. (Great, in the midst of a post essentially complaining about Rule #34, I'm contributing...) I've got sexy penguin seekers from

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-18033932576796978212007-04-13T08:41:00.000-07:002009-05-14T16:02:10.716-07:00

There's been a lot of buzz around the Internet about a piece of stolen artwork, and it's growing. Not just the buzz, but the scope of the theft.Todd Goldman, an "artist" and online purveyor of pop-art T-shirts was holding an art exhibit of his works and somebody noticed a similarity between the art on one of the canvases and a webcomic drawn by Dave "Shmorky" Kelly in 2001. Fans of Shmorky

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-64232695777681805822007-04-06T09:42:00.000-07:002010-03-16T13:01:37.270-07:00

Although I think I noted in the past that there's almost something clichéd about a Christmas post, I don't think that it may be so for an Easter post. Perhaps I'm wrong, I don't know. The thing is, though, while I wanted to make a post for the Easter season, I was having a hard time figuring out what it was exactly that I wanted to say about the holiday. Then it hit me: in a way, I'd partially

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-66359460741965143322007-04-04T07:56:00.000-07:002010-03-16T13:03:07.091-07:00

I had a few other topics I was considering blogging on, including the lovely but somewhat unusual seder I went to last night, the death of Anna Nicole Smith (which ought to be old news by now, but you'd hardly tell it by watching television) and actually something strange I recently saw at McDonald's; but I had something that really touched my heart in a surprisingly special way in the last 24

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-8762766274241953552007-04-03T08:10:00.000-07:002009-08-28T16:07:12.178-07:00

I've been too busy lately with my new job to post much, but I thought I could throw together a quick post on a topic that continues to entertain me. My traffic stats. Now while I've been trying very hard to push myself as the leading authority on Complete Crap, but sem to have slipped a bit in the ranking somehow, there are certain things that I can be proud of.People all over the Internet are

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-55302551699762845992007-03-28T08:17:00.000-07:002007-04-03T17:05:11.765-07:00

So my friend Marauder tagged me to post about my five favorite quotes. I don't know why I'm responding, as it's just going to encourage him and others to keep doing things like this, but well, here I am. Here are five quotes I'm rather fond of, in no particular order: "From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God." -Jonah 2:1I might as well start with my favorite verse from the Bible,

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-1702883263630499522007-03-20T15:32:00.000-07:002011-08-03T19:48:31.715-07:00

It's an odd sensation to pick up the newspaper or, in my case, a magazine, and find out for the first time about the death of a family member. Not that it was a close family member, nor that I was unaware of the fact that they were dead. Actually, the real news was the former: the fact that they were not as close a relation as I had been led to believe.Of course, as I'm sure you realized the

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-34749750283890935312007-02-25T01:12:00.000-08:002007-02-25T02:07:01.728-08:00

So, I was on the way home this evening and got in a crash. It's depressing, and it's weird.I don't know if you've ever been in an accident, fair reader, but it's sort of a surreal experience. It's a bit of cliche, but we never think accidents will happen to us, and so when they do...you don't quite mentally accept it. Sitting on the freeway tonight, looking at the crumpled hood of my car bowing

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-84780040064636833132007-02-14T12:00:00.000-08:002007-02-14T12:33:00.779-08:00

So last night, I was looking at the cheesy little Valentine's Day cards my kids got for their class. You know the ones, probably, little cartoon characters giving cheesy holiday greetings in a pack of twelve? They're goofy, not really deep in the sentiment they express, and every kid loves them. They come in Strawberry Shortcake, Spongebob Squarepants, Pokemon, He-Man, Lord of the Rings, you name

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-1170650142706984332007-02-05T08:35:00.000-08:002007-02-20T17:26:29.850-08:00

So, as I start to write this, I have just finished watching Superbowl XLI. I've got big rants about pro sports, but I'm just looking to share a few odds and ends that flashed through my mind as I watched.Nothing against Cadillac in particular, all companies do this, not even just car companies, but is it just me that gets just a little disturbed with giving the MVP a new car? I'm far from the

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-1170141114679680102007-01-29T23:11:00.000-08:002009-08-28T14:18:49.391-07:00

I may be a Christian, but actually, I do think that God has a sense of humor, and when I die, I do expect to find Him laughing. (And Depeche Mode is a pretty decent band, too.)So, I was reading that an interesting trend has exploded on the Internet scene, and I said, "Wow, that's going in the blog for sure!" What is it? Well, in case you missed it, it's the Blasphemy Challenge! The site explains

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-1168650543234260902007-01-12T17:08:00.000-08:002007-11-01T07:41:19.006-07:00

I have another post I've been working on, but I put it aside for this. This post is dedicated to one of my biggest fans, who posts quite often on my other blog, and even occasionally here: Anonymous. This guy is great, not so much that he's always the kindest comment poster or deepest thinker, but I am flattered that he takes time out from all his poetry writing, clever quipping and police

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-1166468465336231232006-12-18T12:00:00.000-08:002007-03-20T17:14:38.984-07:00

I briefly considered titling this one "He doesn't look a thing like Jesus, but he talks like a gentleman, like you imagined when you were young", but I decided it would be a bit too long. Santa Claus is a fascinating subject to examine in relation to Christmas, mostly because of the cultural impact of this mythic figure on Western culture. While Jesus is supposedly the reason for Christmas (after

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-1164916474732820442006-11-30T08:44:00.000-08:002007-03-21T13:04:18.492-07:00

Love that title? I thought it would be an attention-getter. Don't judge too harshly before you read, but do know that this may get a PG-13 rating if not worse. I started to write this entry on Monday, and as so often seems to happen, I get a fair way into a bit of clever writing and somehow manage to do something to screw it up and lose it. In this case, I shifted in my seat and kicked the

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-1163200190318362822006-11-10T12:52:00.000-08:002007-04-09T16:59:14.801-07:00

I don't know if I've expressed it here in this blog before, but despite the stereotype of evangelical Christians, I am actually a registered Democrat. Not that my official party registration necessarily means much, since I didn't vote for any Democrats in 2000, and the next time I voted Democrat was in the California gubernatorial recall election (is that the proper way to say that?) in which I

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-1162398645192739592006-11-01T07:55:00.000-08:002006-11-01T08:30:45.516-08:00

Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, "Because I bore him in pain." And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, "Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!" So God granted him what he requested. -1Chron.4:9-10 (NKJV) Prayer

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-1159999501294590032006-10-05T11:36:00.000-07:002007-03-21T13:24:50.028-07:00

Something happened recently in the news that I'm sure hundreds of people are blogging about. Republican Congressman Mark Foley was recently accused of being a pedophile, and the evidence looks pretty damning, I guess. (I haven't been following the story in great detail.) In addition to the damning fact that he was propositioning teenage boys online, there was the ironic fact that he was a

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-1159811688407246762006-10-02T15:35:00.000-07:002009-05-14T16:17:40.263-07:00

About a week ago, I came across a sappy little Family Circus cartoon involving an angel. I'm not sure whether this is supposed to be cute or inspirational or what, but there it was in the paper, and thank goodness that Thel was attentive when that angel tapped her on the shoulder, or little PJ would have had a very bad day indeed. But you know, the whole thing bothered me, and it bothers me in

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-1158352738739472982006-09-15T11:29:00.000-07:002010-03-13T21:15:41.525-08:00

I recently came across some material on another site trying to point out the old argument that there can't be a loving, omniscient, omnipotent God and suffering at the same time. It's an old argument that many far wiser heads than I will ever be have argued from either side, so I won't delve into the full argument, mostly to save space. (I dip into it in a later post anyway...)The thing is, I

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-1156961945377537242006-09-14T10:45:00.000-07:002007-03-21T13:53:31.261-07:00

I had been rolling around the idea of a post about the recent downgrading of Pluto from "planet" to "dwarf planet" in the back of my mind, but I wasn't sure it was worthwhile. Last night, I was reading the letters section of Newsweek, and there were many, many letters from people responding to a recent article about Pluto, and what I thought was funny about the letters was the manner in which so

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-1157999916527072662006-09-11T09:11:00.000-07:002007-04-09T16:26:36.868-07:00

What happened five years ago on September 11, 2001 means something different to everyone, but for just about every American, it was a life-changing moment in time.The people of my generation were told that we would remember 9/11 vividly the way a previous generation would remember the assassination of President Kennedy. I do actually remember fairly vividly many of the details of that morning. I

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-1147125786871944412006-08-28T15:02:00.000-07:002010-03-16T10:56:58.158-07:00

Two dogs are having a conversation. One of them says to the other, "Woof!" The other replies, "Moo!" The first dog is perplexed. "Moo? Why did you say moo?" The other dog says, "I'm trying to learn a foreign language." I was planning to eventually do another piece on homosexuality, and my opinion on what the Bible says about the prospect of "reforming" homosexuals. I was putting it off since it

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-1156206857241868512006-08-21T11:41:00.000-07:002007-04-09T17:21:05.492-07:00

I'm going to take a moment to go back to the comments of both Zondo Deb and Jono, and continue to expand on a concept I touched on in part I of this series of posts.What if there was found in nature a message that unambiguously pointed to a higher power? Call me naive, but I still think there is. It's a message found inside every living thing on the planet, and it's called DNA. Now I admit I'm no

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-1155947478654178872006-08-18T11:13:00.000-07:002007-04-09T17:13:55.408-07:00

Back from my short vacation (or maybe longer one from the Internet if I don't finish this until Monday) I resume my commentary on the responses to my "atheist challenge" inspired in part from my posting on Goosing the Antithesis.I might as well address the response given by Sharon, who, although not an atheist, is very close friends with one who makes an interesting suggestion that God might

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-1155677032325397392006-08-15T14:09:00.000-07:002007-04-09T17:07:40.670-07:00

Well, as I may have hinted in my last post, I have a number of subjects on deck, so to speak, and just haven't gotten around to polishing them up and posting them due to them being not up to my usual quality (insert self-deprecating blog humor here). In particular, let me foreshadow that I had a few things to say about the evolution vs. creation debate that I think will be thought-provoking, but

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-1155084862554156252006-08-10T06:31:00.000-07:002007-04-09T16:32:20.045-07:00

After complaining about my own lack of consistent posting in my other blog, I've now gone over a week without posting at either of my blogs. It's not like I have a big enough audience of regular readers that I really need to explain myself, but I guess I personally feel the need. Plus, it gives me a chance to vent and complain, which we all really enjoy don't we? Or is it just me? (I noticed a

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-1154464252104357262006-08-02T17:20:00.000-07:002010-03-16T12:44:35.755-07:00

There is a question that has plagued people for all of history, in one form or another: What is the soul? I thought I'd take some time to muse on the topic, not that I necessarily have some great insight into the matter, but simply that it was on my mind this morning for some unknown reason.Firstly, I'd like to lift from a comment I left in Hellbound Alleee's blog (italics are H.A.'s words):

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-1154477278068421392006-08-01T13:35:00.000-07:002007-04-09T17:00:04.764-07:00

Today over lunch, a friend of mine mentioned that today is the 25th anniversary of MTV. He joked, "I wonder how many people know that MTV stands for something?"Of course, what he meant is that MTV is an abbreviation of "Music TeleVision". Most people know that MTV stands for something, although it's not always clear exactly what. The point that the "M" stands for music seems like it ought to give

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-1153773114224283712006-07-24T11:47:00.000-07:002010-01-07T13:38:00.064-08:00

So I'm back from a long weekend that included a trip to the San Diego Comic-Con. I was very pleased with my visit, not in a small part due to the fact that I wasn't expecting to see much there that I really was looking forward to. Granted, the SDCC is just so darn large that you certainly won't get bored, it's just that I didn't know of too many artists that I was looking for there that I hadn't

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-1152801173368377892006-07-13T06:37:00.000-07:002007-04-09T14:07:39.034-07:00

There are a handful of phrases that seem to really set me off, and there's one in particular that I'd like to include in this series. "You can't legislate morality." The phrase seems to be brought up most often in the context of debates on homosexuality and legal matters tied thereto, but it can crop up in regard to any issue that is perceived by non-Christians as a Christian issue. Generally, I

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-1152761612302001032006-07-12T13:21:00.000-07:002009-05-14T16:12:42.322-07:00

So, as you may have guessed from my previous posts, I'm pretty much in favor of the separation of church and state. So does that mean I think religion has no place in government at all? No.I think something needs to be said about the whole controversy over public displays of nativity scenes and monuments to the Ten Commandments. While I think there was a much bigger outcry over the issue this

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-1152215768847588422006-07-06T12:42:00.000-07:002007-04-09T12:54:54.135-07:00

Those who settled in America in the colonial years have a lesson to teach us. It's a lesson that I'm afraid some people have forgotten, and it's really too bad, because it's shown itself time and time again throughout history in one form or another. Religion and political power don't mix well.As I've so often admitted elsewhere, and maybe a few times even here in this blog, history was not one of

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19425705.post-1152142666867954872006-07-05T11:10:00.000-07:002007-04-09T12:49:50.768-07:00

What with this being the closest I am going to come to posting on American Independence Day, I was planning to cover the topic of separation of church and state. There's a lot to be said in that area, and if I manage to do well in discussing the topic, I should have enough material to offend everyone.There is a prevailing bit of conventional wisdom among Christians that America is, was, and

Bruckerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08445755788968924719noreply@blogger.com0