Now I’m not saying I’m a fan of Stephen King - I haven’t read any of his stuff, but I was reading an article  that he wrote about HB1423 - a bill that’s pending in Massachusetts. This bill is attempting to restrict or simply band violent video games. And he has a really interesting point.

Can parents block that [violent games] stuff? You bet. But most never do. The most effective bar against what was called “seduction of the innocent”… is still parents who know and care not just about what their kids are watching and reading, but what they’re doing and who they’re hanging out with. Parents need to have the guts to forbid material they find objectionable… and explain why it’s forbidden. “           Stephen King - Videogame Lunacy

I’m no fan of violent videogames, but why does the government feel that is has a job to regulate morality? Isn’t that a parent’s job in the first place?

What happened to parents responsibly with their kids? So many have no clue about what is going on in their kids lives. Do parents simply expect the government, schools or youth pastors to raise their children? Most complain about their children, but refuse do do anything. They won’t invest in their children because it’s too much work.

Raising kids isn’t easy, but the government making laws isn’t the answer either.

Your thoughts?

I feel like I’m hearing the same conversations and the same arguments about the same things lately. I’ve gotten ear fulls. And it’s always about the same two things. The two things that have been making me sick are: religion and politics. Needless to say, I’ve been pretty cynical lately. Then, I heard some quotes from founding father, Thomas Paine, over the radio today that only spurred me on further.

Thomas Paine on Politics:

Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best stage, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.

Thomas Paine on Religion:

All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.

So, I’ve come to these two conclusions: 1) religion and politics just don’t work and 2) there’s not much difference between the two.

They’re both about conviction, power, control and being right. Both involve pushing forward a certain dogma of beliefs and practices. The problem with both is that they’re all too human and easy to define. They both seem to boil down to “what we can do.” And the more I follow after Christ, I find out that life has less and less to do about me. It’s not about power or control, but giving those things up. The more I walk, the more I find myself being farther and farther from those two things. So I could care less about religion and politics, thank you very much.

“I am learning that my tradition includes the rabbis and reformers and revolutionaries and monks and nuns and pastors and writers and philosophers and artists and every person everywhere who has asked big questions of a big God.” - Rob Bell

So my question to you is this… have you asked God any big questions lately?

Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: You don’t give up.

Anne Lamott