0dds & Ends for National Senior Health and Fitness Day

(Hey all you seniors, "Get Moving... Start Improving!" )

 

1
Yahoo publishes its private key during fumbled browser release.

I understand how things like this can happen, but this is really a monumental oversight, of the sort that removes any incentive at all for considering this browser.

2
MSNBC: More workers are opting out of company health plans. You know why? Because they can't afford it.

Fact is, until the indigent sick are left to die, you and I will always bear the cost. How about we face that fact and start caring for each other now.

 

3
That's Not Good Enough

In one day, approximately an hour apart, on two different Christian radio stations, I heard ministers say that the baby steps some Christians need to take are not good enough.

One said just believing in God isn't good enough, even the demons believe.

The other said just believing in Jesus isn't good enough, you have to believe only in Jesus and no one and nothing else.[1]

This is a common rhetorical strategy among ministers, and I liken it to a fishhook. Once you have a fish interested in your hook, you tug a bit. It embeds the hook a bit deeper; if the fish is only nibbling, the tug will sometimes give the impression the bait is trying to get away, which interests the fish more.

I think preachers do the same thing. If you happen to be nibbling, they want you to take a bigger bite; it's a gentle tug, but one that lacks sensitivity, and not everyone responds well to it.

I don't.

In Fundamentalist circles, this approach is often delivered in a stern, low, soft voice, lips close to the microphone and serious eyes scanning the sanctuary: "Now brothers and sisters, I want you to get serious with Jesus this morning. You know who I'm talking to."

That may fill a stringer with emotionally vulnerable Christians, but the thoughtful ones will get away. Emotional decisions don't make for long-term commitment; thoughtful ones more often do.

If you don't want thoughtful Christians in your pew, keep it up.

[1]
It's not the message, it's the presentation. (Obviously spiritual journeys have steps toward greater enlightenment.) Try this next time: "If you're here today and just beginning to think Hey, there's something to this, or I'm with you so far, then come with me a little further, I've got something to show you."

Take my hand. Leave the hook in the tackle box.

Started: 2012-05-26