The London Bus Saga Continues

Hello all, I apologize to all four of my readers for the hiatus in blogging. I got busy doing stuff.

In any case, the London Bus Saga has inspired me to write once again.

For those of you who have not been keeping tabs on this story it is relatively simple:

Atheist and agnostic groups in London have bought ads that read, "There's Probably No God. Now Stop Worrying and Enjoy Your Life"

I get how these could be seen as mildly offensive but I would like to point out that:

1. The ads say "probably". No one is claiming to definitively know whether or not there is a God.
2. These are ads on the side of a bus. It is unlikely that religious people are going to experience a crisis of faith as a result of large orange and pink letters stating that there may or may not be a God.
3. The expression of an idea that you do not agree with is not an attack on your ideals or your faith, it is simply an alternate point of view. We live in a pluralistic society where more than one view can be seen as valid.

That being said, religious groups have decided to fight back. The Russian Orthodox Church has purchased bus ads that will go up this month that state, "There is a God. Don't Worry. Enjoy Your Life!" This is a great ad. It takes the subtle implication of the previous ad, that life can only be enjoyed if there is no God, and turns it around. It expresses an idea held by many. It is a humorous counter-point to the previous ad.

However, one religious group seems to have missed the mark. In stark opposition to its tongue in cheek predecessors, The London's Trinitarian Bible Society will be running an ad that reads, "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God." A quote from Psalm 53. This ad seems both intolerant and hypocritical. This Christian group claims that the original bus ads attacked their way of life, when in reality they were merely expressing a different view that the Trinitarian Bible Society was threatened by. But if the Bible Society was correct, and the agnostic ads were attacks on Christianity, how do they justify their own ad? They call all those who do not believe in God fools. They are not debating an idea, they are attacking a group of people that holds a different view.

Attacking those who do not share your views is intolerant, petty, and not worthy of a Church that does a great deal of good in the world.

Web-comic Wisdom

Ah, the wonderful wisdom of XKCD. During my bored-at-work internet browsings I got stuck hitting the random button on XKCD.com for about half an hour. Twas time well spent.

This comic was the last one I read for the day. It is simple and pure and hilarious and fits well with what I had in mind when I started Average Intentions. The idea of mustering the courage to kiss someone is not a unique concept. There is nothing groundbreaking about it. In fact, its overwhelming commonness is what makes it a powerful idea. And yet, so many seconds that could contain first kisses are let go. Moments go unseized. Many intend to take the leap of leaning forward, eyes closed, lips puckered; but few actually do.

There are always a million reasons not to do something. Exciting things happen when you ignore the pesky “what-ifs” of this quickly fading existence, close your eyes, and jump.

7 Things...

Yes. It is cheesy and overdone. Thank you for pointing that out. I really had no idea. Now that you've brought it my attention...I'm writing it anyway. (I was tagged people! Tagged! You don't just go around messing with "the tag")

#1. I might have superpowers.

They haven't appeared yet, but I am still fairly convinced that they will emerge soon, and emerge with vigor. I have been harboring this vague sensation that I am destined to fly and wear a cape for some time now.

#2. I thoroughly enjoy "girl-rock"

I like it when women vocal artists sing angrily. Angry-girl-rock. Pink, Avril, Kelly Clarkson when she's pissed, you get the idea. Recently became a fan of Paramore for this very reason. I could pretend to be slightly embarrassed, but if you can't enjoy a decent, estrogen-laced, volatile rock out session, then you're the one that needs to make some adjustments in your life.

#3. I really enjoy grocery shopping.

This is not hurried, I need to pick up some milk shopping trips we're talking about there. I hate those as much as the next person. However, late night meanderings up and down the aisles searching for various ingredients for my favorite meals or discovering ridiculous new promotional foods, mocking them, and then tossing them into the cart is soothing to me. I have yet to find an explanation for this.

#4. I like board games.

My affinity for board games includes, but is not limited to: Monopoly, Clue, Risk, Cranium, Scene-It, and Scattergories (is that a board game?). Anyone who says they don't like Monopoly because it takes forever is simply not playing it right. My brother, sister-in-law, which ever fourth player we have conned into joining us, and myself can knock a solid game of Monopoly out in roughly one hour. It just takes focus.

#5. I take multi-tasking to a weird place.

I despise inefficency. I really enjoy the idea of accomplishing more than one thing at once. The prime example of this is laundry. Obviously we all do other things while the washer is going, but I get a weird sense of accomplishment knowing that my clothes are washing and drying at the same time while I complete a host of other menial domestic tasks. Once the dryer buzzer goes off I like to take account of what I've accomplished in the last hour and experience a bizzare sense of ultimate satisfaction.

#6. I enjoy movies, regardless of actual "quality"

I know The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was amazing. I understand that it is a beautifully acted, wonderfully written, and masterfully directed. I appreciate it, in all its greatness. But sometimes you just need to watch Bring it On ya know? Or Wanted. Wanted will rock your face off. People have told me these movies were a "let-down". Which begs the question: What exactly were you expecting from a movie about cheer competitions or fraternal assassin organizations? I expected to see Kirsten Dunst accomplish her goals with a cheesy romantic sub-plot, and I expected McAvoy and Jolie to shoot people. A lot of people. Cinematic snobbery gets in the way of having actual fun while watching a movie.

#7. I feed the monkeys at the zoo.

I know I'm not supposed to, but its fun! I only feed them grapes, so I'm fairly certain I am not poisoning them. There's this one big monkey who clearly dominates the cage. So, in order to get grapes to the other monkeys you have to distract the alpha monkey by holding a grape just out of reach. As he reaches through the bars to get the grape, you can throw a handful of grapes past him to the other monkeys. If I was ever trapped in the monkey cage I would stage a coup and bring an era of peace and prosperity to the primate cage as their benovelent, grape-bearing leader.

Mac Journal!

Test Run:

I just got Mac Journal software and it is pretty rad thus far. Right now I’m just testing it and making sure everything is linked to my blogspot account.

It lets me add pictures, videos, sound bites, etc with ease.

Hopefully this will make for a more interesting blog...

Real Progress

"What Barack Obama failed to address in his remarks, however, is that some political disagreements are real — grounded in principle, or differences in judgment, or varying emphasis on different priorities, or the inescapable fact that human beings have different preferences. This is why it can never be the case, unless there is a war so terrible that our very existence is immediately threatened, that the country is going to join together in unanimity to address what ails us." - Conor Friedersdorf

To think that the only force that can unite Americans is a massive war or an impending attack may be one of the most cynical ideas ever put into words by people. This is the problem at hand. People who, mere hours into the Obama Presidency, begin to cut down not a policy, not a position, but the very idea of national unity as unreachable, naive, and misguided.

The problem is not divergent political ideologies. The problem is that people in every party believe that our differences are so great that compromise is not even feasible let alone attainable. They forget that most simple of American precepts: that which unites us is greater than that which divides us.

Our differences are real. We disagree on issues both important and immediate, which is why intelligent, patient, and reasoned debate is needed. National consensus is impossible, but compromise is always within our grasp.

Instruction Manual

I found this video on localfruitandveg's blog, updates of which can be seen via the RSS feed on the left side of this page. I felt it was definitely worthy of re-posting.

This video is so simple, but it has a wonderful message about acceptance of differing views. You can have religious or moral views that are dear to you without becoming angry and closed off. We can discuss our various stances and opinions without malice. We can instill values in our children without teaching them to harbor prejudices against those who have alternate points of view.

We can be who we are without demanding conformity from others.

NewsMap

This thing is pretty cool. It maps various news stories and color codes them based on category. It also sizes them by what I think is importance. Larger stories are clearly headlines, etc.

Anyway, you guys should check NewsMap out. It is flippin' sweet.