Howie Luvzus

One of my students turned 21 today. Here’s how she celebrated!

My students did a group project yesterday. Here are a few pics:

Obviously, there were some difficult vocabulary words!
Category Three: Those Damn Words!

I’m so proud!

Steve asked some great questions in his reply to my last post that I want to address.

What is the difference between his ‘hate’ and yours?

Painting a broad swath of people with a broad brush stroke, based on what news channel they watch, is just as bigoted as anything that news channel may put out.

I could be wrong here, but here’s my justification.
1. A lot of prophets including Jesus engaged in name-calling, but they restricted it to the hypocrites and folks who were self-righteous. I don’t think I’m better than anyone and I’m open to criticism. I have never been described as self-righteous. Those who know me can testify to that. Pointing out errors within the “Christian” community is not hate.
2. Christians who cannot see how offensive and hate-filled the Fox News folks are are idiots. Sorry. That’s just how it is. Folks who call themselves Christians and are racists are idiots too since they don’t see how racism is inconsistent with the message of Jesus.
3. Idiots aren’t necessarily bad people. I was raised in a very racist context. When I was a kid, I told jokes about persons from various ethnic backgrounds and didn’t think anything of it. However, as I grew up and became more reflective about the message of Jesus, I realized that what I had done was sinful and I needed to change. I realized that I was a sinner and an idiot.
4. I think Christians who watch Fox News and are not offended by the hatred and bad behavior of the folks on the air are idiots. God still loves them and I do my best to love them too, but they’re still idiots.
5. When folks on the other stations start telling people to “Shut up!” and cut their microphones off, then I’ll find them offensive too. Why can’t Christians see this is wrong?
6. When CBS or NBC or any other “news” station refers to Michelle Obama a “baby momma,” I’ll find that offensive too. Why can’t Christians see this as racist?
7. Would real networks joke about a terrorist fist jab? Is this really Fair and Balanced? If you think it is, then you’re an idiot.
8. I could go on, but these ought to be enough. If it’s not, you might be an idiot too. I’m not saying that you’re a threat to America that needs to be stopped (But I probably should.) and I would never use violent terms such as “war against” or other terms that might be used to justify violence against idiots.

Here’s a link to an open letter to Sean Hannity from a former co-worker of his. It seems that, Jim Adkisson, the man who killed two people, wounded five others, and left an entire Unitarian Congregation in Knoxville and country shaken by his actions testified in his own written notes, that the rampage was fueled by Hannity’s words in the book, Let Freedom Ring.

In the article at Religion Dispatches, Candace Chellew-Hodge chronicles Hannity’s hatred of homosexuals and his bitter paranoia.

“If the Left succeeds in gaining and retaining more power, the well-being of future generations will be at greater peril. I fear (our children) will inherit a nation that is less free and less secure than the nation we inherited from the last generation. It is therefore our job to stop them. Not just debate them, but defeat them.” — Sean Hannity

Stuff like this is exactly why I will not stop “Kicking Against the Pricks.” Folks like Hannity, O’Reilly and the Fox News folks and the idiots who listen to them are the real threat. Funny how Christians were quick to condemn Marilyn Manson for the Columbine shootings but I haven’t heard anyone trying to get Hannity off the air! I sure hope the gun used wasn’t from some Baptist church gun give-away!

They are not Christians. They do not speak for Christ. They hurt the cause of Christ more than anyone else I can think of.

The Christ of Scripture speaks of a God who welcomes all to the banquet. This Christ calls us to love our neighbor, love our enemies and turn the other cheek. This Christ slams self-righteous religious folks and demands that we be humble, meek, and loving. I see none of those qualities in the Fox folks or those who watch that crap.

Once again, I call all Christians to boycott Fox. Read Chellew-Hodge’s article. It’s very touching. Here’s one more excerpt:

The sad irony here, Sean, is that if Mr. Adkisson had gone to that Unitarian church and told them he was out of a job and his food stamps had just ended, they would have helped him. They would have fed them from their food pantry and used their network of friends to help find him a job. Not because they’re liberal socialists, but because they understand that it’s not “us” against “them.” Instead, what made this country great is that we pull together in times of crisis—we bear one another’s burdens and put aside our differences in order to be of service to one another. They would have reached out to Mr. Adkisson without asking him if he was Democrat or a Republican or a liberal or a conservative. Labels don’t matter when someone is in need—or they shouldn’t.

I saw this banner at one of my favorite sites: Unreasonable Faith. My son introduced me to this blog and I’ve really grown to enjoy it. Here’s Daniel’s response to the banner:

Is it really surprising there is a market for this kind of book, since unanswered prayers are the only kind that exist?

I feel sad for people who are stuck thinking their prayers are unanswered because their technique is bad or because they don’t know “God’s secrets” to prayer.

By the way, since I’ve stopped praying, I’ve noticed I still get the things I want… about 50% of the time. Same as before. And think of all the time I’ve saved!

The other day, there was also this interesting quote on the site:

24,000 children died today from starvation. What makes you think God will answer your prayers?

—Atheist bumper sticker (via William Lobdell)

Daniel raises some tough questions for Christians. I welcome his perspective. The above quote has changed my prayer life quite a bit!

I know this is a strange question but I’m doing a little research.

What happens to a dead person that has no relatives or friends?

Is there a funeral? Who pays for it? If there is no funeral what happens? If there is a funeral, how do you find a preacher? No I’m not looking for extra income.

Your help would be most appreciated.

I’ve recently opened a Facebook account. No, not under Howie. It’s pretty cool because I’ve been able to connect with a lot of old friends. One thing I noticed was that a lot of my old Seminary buddies are no longer in ministry.

I’d like to propose a few theories as to why that is so and see what my Baptist buddies think. Here goes…

1. They really weren’t that spiritual to begin with (that’s why they were my buddies).
2. Ministry is terribly difficult and drives out a lot of good folks.
3. The Baptist emphasis on getting “people saved” really doesn’t encourage folks to serve God outside the church. There’s no emphasis on serving God in one’s vocation because committed Christians only do real ministry. It seems that every video they show at my church about folks who got serious about their faith become missionaries.

You might be able to guess my view. What do you think?

Now for something completely different!

Sell my clothes I’m going to heaven!

EthicsDaily is reporting that Codex Sinaiticus is going online tomorrow!

Here’s the link (It’s not working yet).

For you non-Bible Geeks:
Codex Sinaiticus is a Greek manuscript of the Old and New Testaments, of the greatest antiquity and value; found on Mount Sinai, in St. Catherine’s Monastery, by Constantine Tischendorf.

I’m sure Homan and the Bible Dudes are going to be thrilled. Looks like I’ll need to dust off my Greek grammar text.

I have not written about my work in the recovery efforts because I don’t want to give some knucklehead from Houston ammo to use against New Orleanians, but here goes…

After watching Lee Zurich’s report about NOAH and the corruption there I was very impressed with Karen Gadbois’ contribution to the story. Great work you guys!

However, this story forced me to have a flashback related to a job I had after Katrina. I was not working for the city, but the group I was working with had to work with city employees. We were supposed to be helping persons impacted by Katrina. In some small way, I think some of us did, but I still feel guilty about having to be a part of an effort that in many ways was demoralizing and many times simply exploited those who really needed help. Sure, my efforts resulted in a hundred or so folks getting refrigerators and beds and washers and dryers, but what they had to go through to get them was pretty awful. I still have nightmares about the people I dealt with. Sometimes it’s simply remembering their horrific stories of suffering during the great flood, but mostly they are about their suffering post-Katrina.

We “worked” with three city employees that ran the center. The leader, “Reverend LowDown,” as my colleagues called him was a local minister. He wore some great suits and always had some really cool shoes. He showed up about 10 or 11 am every day, left for a long lunch soon after and usually left early as well. There was a lady about my age that showed up to work on time most of the time and did a fairly descent job. Then there was a young lady that was the niece of one of Nagin’s top brass. She openly bragged about getting paid about $30,000 a year to “sit on her a$$ and do nothing.”

She probably left before noon about half of the time to go take care of her baby. She was never on time. Once, one of my colleagues joked about how she got away with murder. Her response was, “They can’t fire me! I may not make too much money, but I don’t do sh*t, and nobody can say anything about it!”

The biggest problem was that in order to do our job, the city employees had to do their job. When clients came to us without the proper documentation (which the city employees were supposed to tell them about), we could not process the requests. Any time we complained to our bosses, they would try to speak to Reverend LowDown, but it would sometimes take two days to locate him. Then they would get all defensive about it. Nothing was ever done. You can’t expect city employees to do their job. There’s no accountability. I do think that most of the very attractive clients we had got taken care of very well. I became known as someone who was pretty efficient so the Rev would bring them to me and say, “Hey Doc, take care of this nice young lady for me. She really needs our help.” When the did not receive the refrigerator or whatever in a timely manner, the Rev would come to me and say, “Our girl hasn’t gotten her frig yet Doc. You know how bad she needs it.” It was interesting that they had his cell number.

One day, a poor old client of ours just broke down and began to cry. It was her third trip to the center. She had sat in freezing weather for two hours to wait on a bus to get to the center. When she was asked by one of our folks if she had brought her paperwork, she said that she brought what the young lady told her to bring. Unfortunately, we couldn’t process her request. She had to make another appointment. She was escorted to the city employee to set up another appointment. As she walked toward the exit after setting up her appointment, the city employee said so that everyone could hear, “I told that stupid bitch what she needed to bring. It wasn’t my fault.”

The client, probably in her 90s, stopped in her tracks and began to cry. One of my colleagues noticed her and went to comfort her. Unbelievably, the client came back a few days later and hopefully got what she needed.

The city employee was never reprimanded. Reverend LowDown told our boss that he couldn’t say anything to the young employee because it might tick off her Aunt and he’d lose his job.

That’s why I might leave Orleans Parish. My tax dollars are spent on crap like that. And on crazy cops salaries. And on and on and on…

Eyewitness News reporter Juan Kincaid has confirmed that the New Orleans Saints have acquired Jeremy Shockey from the New York Giants for a second and fifth round draft pick.

I’m not sure what to think. He’s a nut job. I’m not sure he’s that great. We’ll see.

I think the preferred spelling is either education or edumucation, but not eductaion.

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