The Personal Blog of Frank Frisina - Writer/Poker Player

Is the bible the word of god? Is it a true representation of god’s character? Should it be taken literally or figuratively? And how do we know which parts are to be taken as such?

These 2 clips (below) contain a phone call between a christian and an atheist. As usual when confronted with basic logic, believers tend to resort to that comfortable circular argument, OR they are left dumbfounded and speechless much like the caller becomes. It is no shock that the average atheist knows more about the bible and a particular religion than it’s avg follower. In fact I don’t think I’ve met a christian outside my grandmother who actually read the bible. It’s surprising to me considering the bible is the base of their beliefs. People do more research into the kind of car they are going to buy than they do their given religion.

Part I

Part II

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It does seem though that most (intelligent) believers don’t necessarily believe the bible is an accurate portrayal of god , but is more of a collection of stories by man meant to give lessons and help people lead moral lives. Stories are not meant to be taken literally.

The problem is that the bible sets up the foundation of christianity through literal interpretation. Without literal belief, you have no Jesus. I tend to think there was no Jesus period and that historical data backs that up. BUT that is a whole nother blog.

Christians who don’t believe that the bible is the literal word of god, don’t seem to understand that if the bible is not accurate than their religion isn’t either. The story of Adam & Eve, Joab, Noah, and similar outrageous tales are normally dismissed by reasonable intelligent christians as just tales.

Christianity is solely based on the idea that the story of Adam and Eve is legitimate. Without the original sin story , there is NO Jesus. He is afterall sent here to resolve this issue specifically. Isn’t he?

It’s pretty simple. Christians believe that Jesus is the son of god and that he was sent here to die for our sins. His death resolves the problem of original sin. It is this Jesus story that makes the old testament OK. Original sin is by bible accounts what Adam & Eve did in the garden of eden. Since all men and woman descend from these 2 people, we inherited the hereditary guilt.

Christians CANNOT dismiss the Adam and Eve story without dismissing the fundamental basis of their religion. Or can they??

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Today is my mother’s birthday. The big 60… “the golden years” … and Loreal assures it!

I love you mom. I don’t know what I would be without you.  I am very proud to call you mom AND friend.

Thank you.

She may be getting up there in years, but is just as fun to be around as always.   There is nothing old about her.  She enjoys online poker, some video games, & is loving her new iPod.  There is no bigger fan of Life’s A Bluff either.

So here’s to ya MA! - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

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If you have been paying any attention at all, you will know that the hot topic in the news right now is Gay Marriage and what has happened with California’s prop h8te.

In case you don’t know… California voters just changed their Constitution to take away CIVIL rights of a minority group.  This is unprecedented and should be considered another black eye in this country’s racist & sexist history.   Issues such as this should NEVER be put to a popular vote.   In some states if you were to put segregation on the ballot it would pass.

It used to be against the law for two people of different races to marry. Something like 70 percent of Americans at that time were against it and it was outlawed in a good number of states. Thank jeebus for the courts because it was the courts that granted the right. It would have been a crime for Barack Obama’s parents to marry. WOW.

So.. I do think what happened in California should be and will be overturned.

The arguments against are tired and outdated.  This idea that somehow by letting gay people marry it is going to destroy the fabric of society is ridiculous at best.

Back during my intolerant Republican days I used to have a somewhat sour opinion of the gay lifestyle.   My arguments included the whole “marriage is defined as a union between MAN and WOMAN”, “god made Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve”, “what’s next? man and beast?”, etc. etc., blah blah blah.   I would suggest that children raised by gay people would see it as another life choice to make.   This was before I figured out my religion was bullshit and there was no god.   At least not the god religious groups talk about. I realized that what other people do and how they live their lives, is not of my business. OR IS IT YOURS. Who are you to regulate society?

Once I dropped religion… all my judgments of others went away. All my prejudices and preconceptions went out the window. I started to put myself in others shoes and thought, would I want someone telling me who I can marry or if I should carry a child to term. How would I feel if I were raped and became pregnant only to realize that I was living in a state where it was against the law?

All of these are morality issues created by religious ideals. Morality should NEVER be legislated. Keep your religion out of my politics. Separation of Church and State remember? These are the fundamental principles of AMERICA. ALL men are equal. There are hundreds of gods throughout history and just because ONE god, your god, says one thing, doesn’t make it true.

Until the day the sky opens up and miracles are performed and I hear A god lay down the law…. I am not going to take your word for it. That is YOUR fantasy, YOUR boogie man, not mine. Hell… if that ever happened there STILL would be people would would argue.

But for the sake of argument, if god is so against gay people, why are there gay people?   Don’t you think this is one mistake he wouldn’t have made?   Oh… being gay is a choice… riiiiiight. Why would anyone choose to be different and risk intoleration by fellow members of society?    It’s becoming more and more the trusted opinion that a person is born gay and when they find the gene and/or prove through DNA that people are born this way… there are going to be a bunch of people who need to apologize and should feel ashamed of themselves. I am sure it will feel to them much like it felt to those who learned that the earth was indeed, ROUND.

But even if it were a choice… WHO CARES!? Don’t we have the freedom to make our own choices? Just as you have the freedom to worship whatever you like.

But you know… none of that matters because it is all about basic civil rights of a minority group now.  And again,  public policy regarding a group of people should NEVER be left to a vote by the people.    I have faith though that times are changing and people will have no choice but to let gay people have EQUAL rights OR the courts will decide for them.  There is no way that our system as it is set up will allow for people to be discriminated against. I hold that hope.   This thing in California just awoke the sleeping beast and gay people are not going to take this shit anymore.  I hope that we look back at this prop h8te as the straw that broke the camel’s back.

While I am at it…  The Mormon Church should have their tax exempt status revoked.   I heard they put up 20 million dollars to pass prop h8te and were making robo calls telling people how to vote.    Let me get this right… the MORMON church is taking a morality stance…  the mormon church?!?!   This from a group of people who think marriage is defined as a man and ten women. A group who’s fundamentals are based on the word of ONE guy stumbling through the woods finding some plates (that only he could see) which gave him (only him) the word of god. How retarded are you people? Seriously…. people are born gay just as you were born stupid. Thank god!

How come these hot button issues always have religion at the root? And it always seems to come from the bible thumping non-thinkers who cherry pick obscure passages to validate their beliefs, YET at the same time ignoring more prominent passages that talk about everything from murder to incest. How come you pick and choose?  Doesn’t bother you though that Noah and his offspring would have come as a result of incest?   “Of course not silly…  the story of noah is just a metaphor. “   Cherry picking bible thumper.

If you are religious and read this blog… please try and explain your position to me…. and explain it as if I were a child. Why does it bother you so much if two people who love each other, commit to each other? Who really cares of marriage is “redefined”?? How does this affect or hurt you?

But please don’t give me this crap about “redefining” marriage because it’s a 5000 year institution… or gods will. Marriage has been redefined so many times throughout history by straight people already. There used to be a time when marriage was a tool to acquire land and was left up to the father to trade his daughter away. If left up to gods will, Mormans would continue to marry ten wives regardless of their ages.

Gay marriage will only strengthen those families not harm yours. Children have grown up in gay households and they don’t turn gay. There are millions of unwanted children who could be adopted by loving families… gay families… Why is this wrong? Please explain to me as if I were a child.

It can’t be because children should have both a mother AND a father. I think we all would agree that ideally that is the best situation. A child should have it’s father or mother around. But that’s not real life. Real life we have single mothers, fathers, aunts & uncles, grandparents, all raising children. Remember… it used to take a village to raise a child. Even if it is the village people. ;)    The only absolute truth is that YOUR marriage has less than a 50 percent chance now of making it.   As the lead video suggests there is more of an argument to ban divorce than there is to ban gay marriage.   Your divorces are harming society!!

And these “Civil Unions” are not good enough.  There are basic rights being left out of civil union status.  They don’t want more rights or new rights…. just the SAME rights.   But you know… had there been proposal that made civil unions the SAME as marriage except in name, people would have no problem and this would be a non-issue. Instead you had to make this about religion and your arguments are outdated and flawed.  And now I think, it’s too late. You religious people could have had that…. now your position is going make sure that marriage cannot be defined as between man and women because you cannot deny or take back rights.  I think this prop h8te will turn out to be the best thing that ever happened for gay rights.

It cannot be said enough, you cannot grant a people a right, and then take it away. You cannot amend a constitution to discriminate. Again, this is unprecedented and the rule of law will prevail.

Gay people should have just as right to be miserable as the rest of us.

I could really go on all day but I could never say it as well as this,

Now how do you feel?

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First things first….  Thank you to every man and woman (and children of soldiers) for their bravery and continued sacrifice.   It is an honor to share a country with these amazing people.

So I was watching the View today and YES… I watch the View…. sometimes….. anyway the subject of Vets came up and Joy Behar mentioned something about the daily cost and the Republican blond jumped all over her.  Quacking something about this being the Vets day and we should honor that and not talk about the war…. Or something along those lines.    That they were off fighting for our freedoms…. etc….

There is something though that bothers me about the idea of war and fighting men/women.    I cringe every time I hear someone say the soldiers are fighting for our rights to say what we say and/OR our freedoms.    Maybe this is the wrong day to bring this up but I don’t think there is ever a good time to bring it up.

The War in Iraq has NOTHING to do with my freedoms.  Neither does the war in Afghanistan, or did the first Gulf War, Vietnam, Korea, Indian, Mexican,  etc.   Whether we win or lose I will still be able to gripe and bitch on my blog.   For that right I thank the men and women of the Revolution and our founding fathers.    Maybe there is an argument to be made that would include the Civil War and WWII.    Fine.    But the idea that our freedom rests solely on the shoulders of fighting men and woman just irritates the shit out of me.

Americans constantly talk about being the best in the world at everything.    Well guess what folks.   We aren’t the best in the world in a lot of areas.   We rank near the bottom of charts (industrialized countries) when it comes to education, health care, & most other major social issues.    Having the #1 Army means nothing when your people are 18th in education. (out of 24 nations)   And I am not so sure we even have the best military anymore.   Afterall we are fighting one of our longest wars in our history with CAVEMEN!

The future of this country and it’s place in the world rest solely on the shoulder of its citizens NOT the power of its armies.    What good is it to have a strong army when your people can’t compete in any other category?    Should America ever cease to exist….  it won’t be through warfare.  Its people will be responsible for the downfall.

What would happen if a foreign army reached the shores of New York and invaded our main land?   We would ALL fight.   Our citizens would secure theses “freedoms” and we would fight to the death for generations.   America is what it is BECAUSE OF it’s citizens not its government or armies.

I am sure there are those of you who would say….  We fight wars on foreign soil so that we DON”T have to fight them here.    I disagree.  Sure a powerful army is of course a deterrent but nothing can take the place of heart and desire for liberty.   Just look at history and it is filled with stories of small armies holding off or defeating much larger.  All it took was a cause noble and greater than themselves.  We all know the story of the 300.  The small armies that have won, seem to have a common theme among them. They were either fighting for basic freedoms, existence, or a god.

You know…..one of the main reasons we dropped the bomb on Japan was because we were afraid that we would have to fight every Japanese man, woman, and child should we invade the mainland.   It was NOT an option.  The world knows that should America ever be invaded, no army in the world would win.   Because every man, woman, and child would fight.    We would secure our own freedom just as we once had.

Freedom throughout history comes as a result of revolutions lead by people, not invading other countries spreading ideals or defending armies.    This same idea is why we won’t win against religious fanatics.  Today our men fight for paychecks…. The enemy fight for “god”.

Another thing worth mentioning is the disproportionate numbers of minorities and poor who join the military.  I am not sure the exact numbers but the one I hear most often is roughly 30 percent of our country is minority…  Yet the military is made up of almost 40 percent minorities and more than HALF come from poor households.     It is no secret that our inner city schools see more recruiters than rich neighborhoods.  Or that most recruits are coming from rural areas rather than cities.   It’s no secret that a large portion of the soldiers joined out of necessity & lack of options rather than a desire to secure our freedom. The military works the same way tobacco companies work.   Get em young and stupid or you won’t get them at all.

I am not at all trying to disrespect our men/women in uniform or to diminish their need.   I have nothing but the greatest respect for these brave people and the sacrifice they and their family continue to make.   I admire everything about them.   I come from a long line of service.    My ancestors have fought in every major conflict since the birth of this nation.   My grandfather (mother’s father) received a Purple Heart and Bronze Star in WWII.    I thank everyone who has ever served and I am glad we honor them.

My point of all this is I guess this notion of blind patriotism and that being an American makes me or you any more special than other people….. is wrong.   It is my opinion that this kind of patriotism is part of our problem.   People around the world don’t hate us because of our freedoms, they hate us because of our arrogance.

America will only cease when we destroy ourselves from the inside….

I ask this…  If our Vets are so important why are they among some of the least paid?  Why do they make up a huge percentage of homeless? Why aren’t they getting the medical treatments they need?   How come the suicide rate are so high?   They come home after some of the most traumatic experiences any person could face and our country lets them suffer.    We can bail out greedy companies but we can’t make sure every soldier is taken care of?

Put your money where your mouth is.

We should change the entire way we go about providing for soldiers.  Would anyone object to giving a solder who has fought in a war a wage and pension he/she could retire on at any age?   We would provide free housing and food allowance to any and all for the life of the soldier.   Vets who are homeless would be able to get the services and help they need and deserve.   Mental illness is a big problem within the military.  A lot of them suffer from post traumatic stress and it takes a long time to get over.  Yet we expect GI Joe to come home and get right back to his old job at UPS….  That is if where he/she worked will take them back.

Did you know that when a soldier returns from battle there is little to no evaluation for mental trauma.  I heard they don’t even ask if the person has killed anyone OR seen any death.  Yet when a Astronaut returns from space they go through all kinds of examinations.  Soldiers are just expected to leave the war where they fought it.   Shouldn’t each soldier get checked both physically and mentally by a good doctor?

Now we wouldn’t expect them all to sit on their ass and collect a check.  These are proud people.   BUT so what if they did? Who cares… they have earned it.  They give more back to the country in 1 year than we give in our entire lives.

Family members of fallen soldiers will be taken care of as well and for the rest of their lives.  This means immediate family and includes college educations for all.   A reasonable amount and adjusted for inflation.  A check every month for the rest of a spouse’s life and up until 18 for the children.  However at 18, children would have the chance at college should they desire.

There is plenty of land in this country that can be made into military communities.   OR instead of new land we could take back 1/4 of our golf courses.  I mean golf is an elitist ridiculous activity anyway.  The men who play on the biggest courses in the world don’t have any children in the military.  They can sacrifice too.

We can find the money to do this and do it right.  OR we could create the programs, colleges, space,  and jobs to do it.  I know I would be willing to pay my share.   I don’t know a thing about economics and government budgets…. but it sure sounds like we can take that bailout money and do everything I suggest and MORE.   Imagine would this would do for retention and recruitment.. let alone morale.

For people we honor and attribute our freedoms to….. we sure treat them like shit.    These people have made the greatest sacrifice an American can make.   What do we do for them?   How many times have you given a dollar to that guy on the highway off ramp holding the cardboard sign?   “Nah.. he will just go blow it on booze.”   Instead next time…  wonder if he might be a vet.

This is Veteran’s days and just like Memorial Day it is more of a day for selfish relaxation and/or BBQs… Oh and furniture sales!

This day should be like Christmas for soldiers.  Every enlisted man or woman should get a $500-$1000 bonus today.

Considering the military makes up about 1 percent of our population, all this would be a drop in the budget bucket.  And the majority of these proposed benefits would be for soldiers who have seen battle.

But until the day comes when a majority of our citizens believe it is our duty to help our fellow man in need, things will continue as is.   Nobody wants to pay higher taxes.  And anything regarding welfare of any kind forget it!

So happy Vets day everyone!  ….. for what thats worth.

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This is my LaB post from late last night;

With a tear in my eye and a lump in my throat I watched Barack Obama become the 44th President of the United States. I have been speechless most of the night but I think I can finally put to words what I am feeling….

All my life I have read about or seen in film great strides in American history. My mother’s generation grew up in a time of extreme change. Witnesses to Vietnam, the civil rights movement, woman’s rights, men on the moon, and countless tragedies & movements that have shaped this country. My grandparents suffered through the depression and a World War. But when it came to our generation nothing compares to tonight. Sure we witnessed a Gulf War victory and September 11th, but this election ranks (in my eyes) in the top 10 greatest American moments. I honestly thought I would never see the day.

Now I know what it must have felt to watch the first steps on the moon OR gaining the right to vote. I am very proud of this country and it’s people. My faith in the collective intelligence has been restored. Obama wins by (I think) the biggest margin in my lifetime. It is an OVERWHELMING mandate/statement by the American people that we have had enough! It is time to restore our image and reputation in the world.

Suddenly the future looks much brighter…..

Again I leave you with this quote,

“Rosa sat so that Martin could walk.

Martin walked so that Barack could run.

Barack is running so that our children can fly.” -unknown
======================
EDIT: I forgot to mention the different measures I was pulling for…..

California Prop 8 - Ban on Gay Marriage. with 91 percent reported, it looks like it passed 52% to 48. Nice job California voters. IDIOTS. When are people going to stop legislating morality? Not all of us believe in your fairy tale gods and/or ridiculous judgments. Gays deserve every right to be just as miserable as the rest of you.

Cali -Prop 4 - Abortion Limits - 91% reported - voted NO 53% to 47

Colorado Amendment 48 - Human life from moment of conception - overwhelmingly NO 73% to 27. Thank jeebus!

Colorado Amendment #50 - Expanding gaming. PASSED. Stakes increase from max $5 to $100!! & expanded hours! YAAAY! I am most happy!

South Dakota Initiative 11 - Abortion limits - NO 55% to 45

Colorado goes blue for the first time since 92.

We have come along way America…. but so far to go….

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I really never thought I would ever say this….. but there is finally a politician who makes George Bush look like a Mensa member.

Sarah Palin is a complete idiot. No other word is better. Not only is she not qualified for the office in which she seeks but I don’t think she is even qualified for the position she currently holds.

This isn’t about a mistake made by a staff member or a gaffe by Palin. This isn’t something that can be passed off as … “could happen to anybody”. I’ve hung up the phone on legitimate phone calls in less time because they sounded even just a little off. Had I received this phone call it would have been seconds. Maybe she was star struck because she clearly wasn’t really listening. For Palin not even to blink when the Nailin’ Palin reference was made says more about her ability to hold basic conversation let alone read a person and adjust. If she couldn’t figure this out a minute into the convo scares the shit out of me.

What happens when she is talking to a REAL head of state and REAL issues are on the line? How are we to believe that she is capable of reading a person’s body language, judging tone of voice, adjusting her own tone, or any of the basic people skills we expect a politician to have?

They have talked about her looking towards 2012 and her future in national politics but I am going to say it now, after November 4th her career in politics IS OVER. It is television or back to Alas-KAH.

I will finish with…. I voted for Barack Obama by mail in and my ballot has been counted. I have been registered Republican up until this election. I live in Colorado and I take pride in the idea that my vote will help bring this state BLUE for the first time in a very long time.

I am VERY proud to have played a small part in the process.

”

Rosa sat so that Martin could walk.

Martin walked so that Barack could run.

Barack is running so that our children can fly. “  - unknown?

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