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Life's Small Pleasures
By:Unworthy Servant
Date: Sunday, 5 February 2006, 8:55 am

I was thinking this morning about the protests that Muslims are making against the Dutch for publication of a cartoon showing their revered prophet Muhammed at the door to paradise telling the suicide bombers there are no more virgins left as a reward for martyrs.

In the U.S., this story is being run as suppression of the right to free speech by intolerant Muslims. My sympathies pretty much lay in the area of free speech, and ordinarily I'd question the faith of someone being so sensitive to criticism that outrage & violence is provoked at the slightest hint of deviation from orthodoxy.

I said "ordinarily." One of the many thoughts that have crossed my mind since reading the Mosquito Queen's "Expressions of Ecstacy: Whispers of Love between Jesus & His Bride" is this: Too bad it isn't a crime to blaspheme the Christian faith in this way. Well, that's just a fleeting thought, because I strongly believe in the rights & responsibilities of free speech. There are religious teachings held by people on this board I don't agree with, and some of these beliefs seem downright hateful and scarey to me, but I can always choose what I'm going to read & react to, and there are moderators of this forum to remind people about the rules of civility.

Still, I wonder when is enough and enough, and how do I exericise my right to free speech by protesting something as vile as "Expressions of Ecstacy"--? I'm not the type of Christian who wants to live in a theocratic state where someone's strict interpretation of the God's laws are imposed; in fact, I'm lean very much toward libertarianism with regard to issues of personal liberty. When it comes to sexuality, my position is that people can live any way they want as long as it doesn't impinge on my liberties. If it offends God, that's their problem, not mine. I refuse to judge the conscience of another person in the sight of God.

I suppose "Expressions of Ecstacy" doesn't impinge of any of my rights, but it sure as hell offends me. I didn't have to read it, but at least by reading it and admitting I would support burning Karen Zerby at the stake for heresy, I got a little more in touch with the limits of my own tolerance. I also understand a little better the deep fear that gets stirred up by perversion and disrepect for things that others hold sacred. When there are no limits, the world of men appears to descend into chaos. People need something unchanging and sacred to hang onto in times like these.

What to do? THANK GOD FOR SUPERBOWL XL! The world may be a mess where the sacred is profaned at every turn, but THANK YOU JESUS for the Pittsburg Steelers and the joy the life's small pleasures in the midst of an otherwise uncertain existence!!!!

Any Hawks fans on this website? Get ready for a rumble!

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