I try to go to the grocery store a few times per week. That way, produce doesn’t go bad, and I can grab anything that I may have forgotten the first time around. In the last few weeks, I have noticed that food prices are rapidly increasing. I made two trips this week, and both tabs came to around 70.00 +. So that’s almost 150.00 for two adults who eat mostly produce and grains, no meat, and very little processed food. I have all but given up soda. A 12 pack of Pepsi products is almost five dollars! I do buy the cheap stuff for a treat, although I know I am probably better off without any of it. At any rate, I cannot imagine how people who are trying to feed large families are surviving. What about people who are struggling to make it on minimum wage?
I don’t claim to understand the ins and outs of the economy, but I am comfortable arguing that the decline of our dollar and the price of oil are directly related to the fact that our economy is in the tank. This article explains it nicely. I think we all know who and what we have to thank for the current state of our economy. Oh, and supply and demand plays into it, too. People continue to drive around in modified tanks (Hummers and Expeditions, to name a few) and then complain about gas prices.
We have talked for years about starting an organic garden, and this year I think we are finally going to do it. I am tired of paying exorbitant prices for produce that is soaked in pesticides and rots in a few days. I ordered a book from the store to help us get started, and I will be posting the progress here.
So, have you noticed the soaring grocery prices lately? What are you doing to save some cash on food bills? Any tips on organic gardening?
So last night, I caught a documentary I had been wanting to see on A&E. (I know, who thought A&E showed actual documentaries anymore?) The film was called Jesus Camp. It is about a summer camp called “Kids on Fire” for Pentecostal children in North Dakota. I was shocked at the absolute brainwashing and indoctrination that goes on in these camps and in these kids’ homes. The pastor, Becky Fischer, says, “I want to see them as radically laying down their lives for the gospel as they are in Palestine, Pakistan and all those different places,” Fisher said. “Because, excuse me, we have the truth.” Because that has worked so well for them, or what?
I am an agnostic, in part because of people like this. There is nothing Christ like about brainwashing children to force them to believe in your radical religion. I find religious fundamentalism dangerous and frightening, and these people are the perfect example of why.
My mother and I had a conversation about this just a few weeks ago. It seems to me that religion preys on the vulnerable, weak and impressionable - particularly people who are lacking something in their personal lives and have a hole to fill. It is predatory in nature. This particular group preys on children.
The Documentary follows three particular children–Levi, Victoria and Rachael. Levi is the young mega-church pastor in the making, Victoria is the dancer who prefers heavy-metal Christian rock and avoids “dancing for the flesh.” Rachael is the strangest of the three, who witnesses to complete strangers on the street. There is a scene at the very end - after approaching three black men in a park, she walked away and said “I think they were Muslim.” Jesus Camp must have taught her how to decipher a person’s religion by looking at him!
Throughout the film, Becky Fischer and others claim that they have no political motivations. Then, towards the end, they dragged out the life size cardboard cutout of old G. Dubya. They kids prayed and actually spoke in tongues over it in the hopes of influencing Bush to elect a judge who would overturn Roe v. Wade. Soon after, another preacher came in to talk to the kids about abortion, and they each got their own little plastic fetus. No political undertones in that. No doubt it was made by a five year old in a sweatshop in China. How very Christian of them.
Some of my favorite highlights:
The “Pledge of Allegiance” (And I use that term very loosely)
The speaking in tongues.
Harry Potter should be put to death!
The Nestle water to “cleanse” the evil little sinners.
The G.W. cardboard cutout.
The plastic fetuses.
Ted Haggard bashing homosexuals (Ted “secret gay sex and crystal meth” Haggard)
The film is a frightening example of how people, children in particular, are being brainwashed by these right-wing, evangelical cults. At the end, the pastor, Becky, says that liberals ought to be shaking in their collective boots. Well she’s got that right. This movement is frightening, and it seems to be growing at an alarming pace.
Here is a video with the highlights from the film. Check it out:
These kids are so impressionable, and clearly willing to do anything to please their parents and the other adults who are running the show. How is this any different from David Koresh or Jim Jones? Simple - it’s not. This is abuse. If those adults told the kids to”drink the kool-aid,” I believe that they would do it.
So, if you have seen the film or even read about it, what are your thoughts?
