Today will suck because I'll have to hear about the stupid "Super" Bowl all day long. I despise football. It's boring. I'm sure this statement of fact will outrage my readers and perhaps I'll be inundated with hate mail, but at least I will have elicited a response. Look, I enjoy violence as much or more than the next person, but football is caveman-ish. Hike the ball; throw the ball; run; stop timer; talk about what you're going to do next; repeat. Oh, I know, I've heard it all before: it's strategy blah blah blah. Well, football fanatics can't see the strategy in baseball, thus I cannot see it in football. However, there is a silver lining in the dark cloud of "hey man did you see that play in the fourth quarter where the guy did that one thing and then ran and the other guy then did that one thing and it was so cool and then that one commercial where that guy did that one thing" day: football season is over and I can now enjoy the work ups to baseball season, the only real sport besides killing things.
The mayor of Atlanta (I think) recently converted to Islam citing his desire to practice the faith that his ancestors practiced before being brought to America in the slave trade. His ancestors hailed from Senegal. I'm not sure if he's aware, but Islam was not widespread in Senegal until the conversion of the Damel of Cayor (basically the king of the kingdom covering what is now Senegal) in 1861, although it may have had a representation in Senegal as early as the 11th century. Since the importation of slaves to America ceased in 1808, I find it hard to take the good mayor's word at face value. To me, it sounds like he's making an excuse for his conversion. Why not just say, "I like Islam better, it answers more satisfactorily more of my questions than Christianity." I understand wanting to return to your roots and understand who your ancestors were, and it's likely that his ancestors were not Christians when they were brought to America (whether they were forcibly converted or converted over time or integrated "pagan" beliefs into Christianity is hard to say). It's more likely that his ancestors were animists or some other "pagan" religion. I just wonder how deeply the man looked before hand, I mean, if getting closer to his roots were his motivation. Heck, I'm sure my ancestors in the BCE age were not atheists (or Christians) so I might as well become a pagan and sacrifice bulls to Mars Ultor in order to get closer to my ancestors. However, I'd be viewed as insane and forbidden from doing the bull sacrifices. This guy will draw some criticism for converting while in office (his constituents didn't vote for a Muslim I presume) but all in all, everyone'd be okay with it. Seriously though, what's wrong with converting because the new religion speaks to you? I'm sure it does to him, but why the need to qualify it?
Big trend in Seattle: coffee shops with scantily clad women serving drinks with names like Wet Dream (coffee with caramel and white chocolate). Apparently, there are a number of shops like this. I guess when Starbucks comes from your town, you need to do something to stand out.
Word of the Day: Missive (noun): a written message; a letter.
On This Day in History: Henry of Navarre converts to Catholicism in order to ensure his right to the throne of France (1576). See, now that's a reason to convert. It's nice to know his religious heart was in the right place.
"Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint." - Mark Twain
No comments:
Post a Comment