Friday, March 25, 2011

Hey.....

Another Friday is here and I've nothing to say.

Here are some things I've been thinking about lately but haven't had the energy/interest/heart to blog about.

1. New Evangelization
The Pope created a whole new office for this purpose. Still it's not active and no one seems to really know the goal except to focus on revitalizing faith. Just cause we're the oldest (and original) Christian faith doesn't mean we should drag our feet to this extent.

2. Japan
How bout that? Boat in whirlpool, dolphin in rice paddy, nuke plant doing poorly. God help them and thank God I don't live there.

3. Libya
Are the journalists covering this shit awesome or retarded? Some dude pretty much got shot at while reporting for the Today show the other day. They're everywhere on the rebel front line, they're getting beaten by Ghaddfi's folks and still going back. I am impressed.

4. Matt's blog
I really want to write something about this, but I'm a little BLAH lately.

5. Dungy's blog
Just want to say I really liked the recent entry.

6. Work

7. It's too freakin hard to find a cheap car.

8. How I'm the only person at work not watching the NCAA tournament, which really is pathetic of me.

9. Red's opening day
It's coming.

10. YMCA
I joined one. Work pays for it. Worked out. Might blog progress, probably not.

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Maybe next Friday will be better. Thanks for stopping in.

Friday, March 11, 2011

My sincere apologies

My gross incompetence at work has left me unable to blog today. I've got too much to do because apparently I am either blind or stupid.

I'm really not being sarcastic either. I proof pages, and boom there are still huge mistakes.....really don't understand how that keeps happening.

So barring a miracle of some kind, no profound blog today. Let's tentatively schedule this blog for Monday...but that's a busy day too so who knows.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Good news for some, bad for my ego

So as Lent has arrived on this Ash Wednesday I am going to tell you all what I'm giving up for Lent, well some of it. Some of it has no place on the blogosphere.

I will tell you this though. I will not blog more than once a week (this blog and Friday notwithstanding) for the next 40 days. My plan is to blog on Fridays, the topics will be almost exclusively religious in nature and they will be thought out as opposed to quick hitters.

Also I'd just like to point out to a few folk that this season is called Lent, not Lint. It is about sacrificing something that we have attached to and giving that attention to God, it is not a self-help time though that can be an added benefit. It is not a time where we "earn" heaven or anything else.

It is about sacrifice and repentance, acknowledgment of of our mortality and getting closer to God.

So say goodbye until Friday, then bring your big kids pants because it might get intense. I also invite all believers to join the ever present discussion between myself and my two atheist friends that are always commenting. Or, non-believers join them. It's fun.

Happy Lent everyone

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

A God worth worshipping

A friend of mine has been dealing with an attempt to reconnect with her faith in God lately and as I've recently renewed my faith as well I felt I'd offer some thoughts on (the Christian concept of) God and why he is worthy of our worship.

(Disclaimer: I'm Catholic so my ideas likely flow from that belief system that I hold too 100 percent but I put this blog out there in good faith that it is my belief alone, not representing the Church, even if it's beliefs are often congruent with the Church)

I'll break it down into a few sections and if you're looking for high intellectual pursuit this is not the blog entry you want. This is more just my musings that I think could be beneficial for my friend.


1. Power
Almost all things on this earth are based on power. The more powerful wolf leads the pack, the more powerful man or woman leads the nations (or these days the multi-national corporations).
Think of the most powerful man or woman that ever lived. Think Alexander the Great, Ceasar, Cleopatra etc. Combine all their power and set it next to the capability of God....it wouldn't even register.

God created existence. There was nothing, he spoke, and then there was. Think about that. You might be able to say "call home" and get your phone to obey you but God spoke existence into being.

There is nothing that is above God's power.

2. Love
In the list of powerful people I named before there weren't any who were always loved by their subjects. They had power that made it a smart call to follow them if you wanted to stay alive.

But they didn't have love for their people as God does. No ruler can meet that standard of course. God on the other hand sent his only son from paradise to earth to be beaten, abused, ridiculed and executed to pay the cost of sin.

There is no justice in that, mind you. We did nothing to deserve such love, such kindnesss. All we did (as a people) was F things up in the garden and disobey God time and time again. But God so loved us that he sent Jesus to get us square with him again.

And it's not just the cross of Jesus that shows this love but the gifts he's given us on earth. God didn't leave us out in the cold to wonder and muse on our own if anyone is up there to hear us when we pray. He gave us the Bible and the Church to pass this message on through the centuries.

3. Mercy
God could have done a lot of things with us when we fell as a species. But rather he gave us this world that and the blessing of free will. He does not appear in the sky and say here I am, worship me, because there would be no gain for us in that. Faith is a good in itself and it is something that God in his mercy allows us to find on our own.

We don't all have the same amount of time of opportunities to do so. Some of us grow up in environments conducive to faith and some of us grow up in the opposite. But God charges us to seek him and come to know him and to love him as he loves us.

Lastly, through the Bible and the Church God showed us the path to everlasting life in paradise. He knows we are sinners, he knows we have failed him before and still he gives us a shot at eternal paradise with him.

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I cannot from any reasonable point of view convince a deist, agnostic or other loose theist that Christianity is correct and while I also don't espouse the theory that one should choose a religion based on what one wants rather than the truth, I must say that when I look at God as Catholics and most Christians claim him to be, I see a God worth worshiping.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Full disclosure

As my good friend Dungy has pointed out to me on more than one occasion, people might think I use something, something, reason when really something, bla, bla faith, when they read this blog.

I think I should clear up any confusion.

As such I've decided to write a blog offering full disclosure into the insights of this blog's author -- me.

First the facts.
Name: John Michael Stegeman (Confirmation saint: St. George)
Birthplace: Cincinnati, Ohio
Marital Status: Married (Kelli Stegeman)
Current Residence: Lexington, Kentucky
Religion: Roman Catholic
Income: Less than $35,000

Education
High School: Elder 1999, Western Hills High School 2000-2002
College: Shawnee State University
Degree: B.A. English, minor in journalism

Basic Career info
Current job: Project Manager, IMG College
Last job: Sports Editor, Portsmouth Daily Times
Other: Worked at Kings Island, Media Play, Riley's Furniture and the SSU Library.

For the record my favorite color is blue, shrimp is my favorite food (crab legs is second) and I enjoy a good nap.
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If anyone wants to read this blog they may do so, in fact I encourage it. But you should know the point of view of the writer, why he is writing, and what his interests are.

I blog a lot about religion (my top interest) and politics (No.2). Sometimes sports (No.5ish) will creep in but more likely when it isn't one of the top two, it will just be something I find funny or interesting.

The reason I blog now is because I no longer have a writing job. I like my new job, but I don't like not writing. I have an ego as a writer and I like to have an audience. This blog's following, no matter how small, provides that.

I hope one day (years away) to narrow the focus of this blog, maintain and gain more readers and maybe transfer the blogging success into something else (Book deal, writing job, etc.)

If I am writing on politics I will often attempt to see both sides of the story but let's face it I'm a conservative. Consider that when reading political entries.

More than political affiliation I am a Roman Catholic. I'm not very good at living the life but I know a lot about the Church and I believe it to be the one true Church of Jesus Christ. On that note I'm not all about bashing people over the head with that and you may find I'm quite ecumenical. Still it is my belief and you should consider that when reading religious entries.

Also I think Cincinnati is a an awesome city and talk it up more than I should, I actually miss living in Portsmouth, Ohio sometimes despite it's awfulness, I was raised by Catholic parents in what you might call lower middle class surroundings and Twix bars are among my favorite candies. I like beer, whiskey, rum and a good cigar (hell even a bad one sometimes).

I don't know what else to say but in the interest of full disclosure I should just add that this blog isn't journalism, it's a blog. Never trust a blogger implicitly, even one like me who used to be a journalist. Fact check what I say and if you want call me out when I'm wrong. That sort of this can be fun.

So that's the gist of it. Please come back tomorrow and the next day and tell your friends to do the same. After all, what's a writer without readers?

Friday, March 4, 2011

One of the millions of moments sports didn't matter

Most of the time, the minutes preceding someone's sudden death are ordinary. Men are shoveling snow when BAM heart attack. A woman can be driving her kids to school and BOOM, car wreck.

Very rarely are the moments preceding a sudden premature death the subject of news footage. Wes Leonard however fits that bill.

The junior, who happened to be his high school's quarterback during football season, led Fennville to a come from behind victory over Bridgman High School, sealing the deal with a game winning layup. The win gave his team a perfect 20-0 season

You can watch that here and read a news story.

Athlete dies after hitting game winning shot

But as the name of the link implies, those happy moments were the last of that young man's life. He collapsed shortly after during the celebration and could not be resuscitated.

We've all been in some situation where we were really happy and then some kind of hammer dropped to ruin everything, and that's awful.

For fans of that school, this was like that times 10. For his friends and family, it was like that times infinity.

I don't know the boy, know nothing about him outside the 4 or 5 stories I just read, but it's a shame when someone dies that young, even if he likely died happy.

As sudden death often does it reminded me of the bible verse "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour." Which after looking up I know is Matthew 25:13.

And that's true across all faiths. We don't know when we will die. So if you're concerned with worldly or spiritual things, I suggest to all the importance of keeping your affairs in order.

I recommend Catholics to go to confession as often as possible (a task I'd do well to follow) and for everyone of my friends to not hold grudges or leave off angry with people you care about. This crappy notion on TV of I just want to be mad for a while is garbage, you may not have a while.

A protestant evangelist came by the house the other day while I was at work and asked Kelli, "If you died today are you 100 percent sure you would go to heaven?"

I think such a claim is a bold imposition of our judgment for ourselves on God but that's not the point. A similar question to an atheist or agnostic would be "If you died today could you be 100 percent sure you left things they way you'd want them?"

Tell the people you care about how you feel, follow God's commandments and remember that no one knows the day or the hour.

Scary stuff I guess, but it's life.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

I have nothing to say

Ok so in the interest of keeping the daily blog daily I'll just mention the funniest name of the day that we just came across here at work.

Phil Moenkedick.

Phil Moenkedick is a national champion wrestler from Concordia College...the Cobbers.

I'm sure the name isn't pronounced the way it looks, but I just thought it was fun.
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Funniest statement on facebook today came from friend and former classmate of mine John Burns who wrote:
"Until Glenn Beck is executed for treason on air by Eric Holder don't try to tell me that we're under the oppressive rule of a tyrannical dictator. Saying crap like that is just as bad as comparing anyone to Hitler. I get it, you didn't vote for the guy but believe it or not there are other people in America than the few you know and see on television."

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And one more time for the road just know there is a Cobber out there somewhere named Phil Moenkedick.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Thank God the WBC can say we're all going to hell

Before we dive into the meat of this, let's talk for a moment about the role of governments and morality.

Part of the Christian worldview includes that we wish the whole world to be Christian, but importantly we wish for the world (each individual) to come to that conversion on their own. This can occur with help, but not under duress or force or it is meaningless.

On that note, one cannot legislate belief or forced participation in a religion (at least the Christian religion) or it has no foundation and is meaningless.

On the other hand, a society stained by sin (or if you like because of human nature) cannot when left to anarchy, function.

Therefore a compromise is struck. We make crimes out of acts against persons and property with the public good in mind.

In a free nation, part of maintaining and promoting the public good is maintaining a culture that allows for people to come to their own beliefs on all matters, not just religion, and perhaps the most important bit of law ever written is the first amendment of the United States Constitution. (Footnote 1).

(Some things here are listed as footnotes at the bottom of this blog entry. I put them down there so you don't have to read through everything if you don't want too.)

Today we're talking about free speech. It's listed second, but without it none of the other freedoms would be particularly relevant.

Recently the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 (Snyder vs. Phelps) in favors of Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church against the father of a slain solider that the WBC had the right to protest when and where they did and that funeral protests are pretty much legit. (Footnote 2)

I think it goes without saying that almost all people of almost all faiths (or none) can get together in morally condemning the actions of the WBC. Showing up at the funeral of an 26-yr old soldier who died in the service of his country to assault his sexuality without grounds, claim he is in hell, and express support for his killers must be terribly traumatic to the family.

But here's the thing my friends, the WBC and it's nutty views are entitled by law to have them and share them. They notify law enforcement in advance, the observe existing laws, the do not (physically) incite violence and do not start altercations. Legally speaking, they are peaceful demonstrators and they are exercising the rights that our soldiers fight and often die for.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion:

"Speech is powerful. It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and - as it did here - inflict great pain. On the facts before us, we cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker. As a Nation we have chosen a different course - to protect even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate. That choice requires that we shield Westboro from tort liability for its picketing in this case."

And he's right. The WBC is crazy to you and me, but in a lot of ways my beliefs are crazy to an atheist. The north's views on abolition of slavery sounded crazy to the south and Scientology sounds crazy to everyone.

But whether right or wrong the freedom speech and exercise thereof is one of our most treasured rights and we should not give that up even if it becomes the source of great pain.

I hope the WBC one day realizes they're probably evil, but I hope no one ever tries to stop them from exercising their rights as Americans. The freedom of speech is the main essential element in a free culture and it is needed in the secular and religious world because without it, no beliefs or views or ideas could be properly explained, debated and accepted.

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Footnotes

from online supreme court documents
Footnote 1: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Footnote 2: The funeral was, conducted at St. John's Catholic Church in Westminster, Maryland. Defendants' acts included picketing as members of the Westboro Baptist Church and carrying signs that Defendants contend simply expressed their religious 570*570 points of view. The signs expressed general points of view such as "America is doomed" and "God hates America." However, the signs also expressed more particularized messages, to wit: "You are going to hell," "God hates you," "Thank God for dead soldiers," and "Semper fi fags." Defendants' acts also included posting an "epic" entitled "The Burden of Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder" on the church's website, www.godhatesfags.com, in the weeks following the funeral. The publication on the church's website of "The Burden of Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder" expressed Defendants' view that Lance Cpl. Snyder had been "raised for the devil" and "taught to defy God." It was undisputed at trial that Defendants had never met Matthew Snyder or any members of his family.

2b: As an initial matter, Defendants have repeatedly argued that their actions were entitled to absolute First Amendment protection. (See, e.g., pro se Defs.' Mem. Supp. Post-trial Mots. 2; Church Defs.' Mem. Supp. Post-trial Mots. 5.) Their defense implicates both the Free Exercise Clause and the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment.

2c: (Blogger: The plaintiff's case is not so simply put but it claims severe and significant injury, invasion of privacy and civil conspiracy.)

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

The Sheen of mental illness

Today we're talking mental illness and we'll start off with perhaps the most amusing Charlie Sheen quote of the day:

"I am on a drug. It's called Charlie Sheen. It's not available, because if you try it once, you will die and your children will weep over your exploded body. Too much?"

That was fun but all kidding aside, 26.2 percent (That's more than 1-in-4 in case you're a bit slow) of all Americans suffer from a diagnosable mental illness each year.

Mental illnesses are rarely understood by the public at large and one of the biggest hurdles (Ahem, see Charlie Sheen) in getting a victim of mental illness help is their acknowledgment of the issue. When a person thinks they are sane, but they are not, they're more likely to believe the whole world has gone nuts then get the help they need.

Here are a few signs of mental illness in adults and to keep things fun, we'll relate each one to Charlie Sheen and determine whether or not he meets the criteria.

-Withdrawal from social activities
Not met: Sheen's got his show effectively canceled but the hooker parties are still on.

-Confused thinking and negative reasoning
Not met: Sheen can properly explain to his sons not to run into thing. “They run around and they’re as fun as you can imagine. They say ‘Dada’ and run into walls. And Dada is cool, but when they run into walls I say, ‘Don’t do that, that’s retarded.’”

-Continuous irritability and long-lasting sadness
Undecided: Sheen is clearly irritated, but hardly sad. It's hard to be sad with millions of dollars and at least two hot girls on your arm. We'll check back when the money runs out.

-Excessive mood fluctuations (high and low)
Met: In one breath he whimsically calls himself a warlock, in another, he threatens untold violence.

-A significant change in eating manner and sleeping habits
Met: When Charlie Sheen recently evolved into a demigod, he lost the need for sleep or food. He now is fueled only by cocaine, attention and sex.

-Hallucinations or delusions
Met: "I'm tired of pretending like I'm not special. I'm tired of pretending like I'm not a total bitchin' rock star from Mars."

-Lousiness and failures to face daily responsibilities and challenges
Met: He was asked by CBS president to chill out...then went on radio and bashed the network.

-Continuous thoughts of suicide and death
Irrelevant: Charlie Sheen is either an immortal or slated for death by spring.

-Continuous drug abuse and alcohol usage
MET: MET MET MET MET MET MET Hell he IS a drug.

-Fear and anxiety
Not Met: Fearless

Also Sheen claims Mel Gibson called him to offer support.....that's just..I mean... c'mon!

I stole this off a website:
Confronted with footage of an appearance by the two (father Martin and brother Emillio) on Sky News in the U.K., during which they expressed their concern, Sheen said: "They tried. But I said, you know, I'm not ready, I'm not interested in your rhetoric right now. I appreciate your love, your compassion, if that's what you wanna call it. But I'm 45 years old, and I'm not interested in people treating me like a 12-year-old."

If Sheen is really ok and has just decided to be a character, that's one thing. But I doubt it hopefully he steps up, realized the world hasn't changed but that he has and gets help.

For multi-millionaires though you're not crazy, you're eccentric. For most people though, getting help is a better option than granting interviews.