Tidying up a week of detritus

I apologize for my absence of a week, but believe it or not, I'm still fighting this stupid cold! I honestly don't feel too bad now, just tired and with a lingering cough. I tell ya, this was a sledgehammer to the head reminding me of why I quit smoking. If you recall, they told me I had the beginnings of emphysema, at the tender age of about 45. I've been generally healthy since I quit, but for some reason, this sucker really got a hold on me (and not in a good way like the cool Miracles song). My cough reminds me exactly of the cough I had when I was still smoking, and I've had to take a cough suppressant and use my inhaler a couple of times. What a drag. Anyway, I think you'll forgive me for not having a whole lot of energy lately, and I do hope to be on the mend soon.

I'll play a little catch-up here, with a few bits and pieces I wanted to mention.

It's football season! As much as I hate to see the summer come to an end, I'm always happy to be watching football again. Notre Dame's season opener was on Saturday, and they beat Purdue 23-12. I am cautiously optimistic for their season.The Colts play this Sunday, and I'm under the assumption that their 0-4 preseason record will not translate to the regular season. I don't pay much attention to preseason football anymore, other than having it on just for the sights and sounds, because I know it's mostly just a way to trim the roster. Peyton still looks awesome (I read an article a while back that made the case for him being the best athlete in sports right now, and I won't argue with that), so I'm looking forward to seeing how they do this year.

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One of my Facebook friends has published a book! Woohoo! The lovely Diana Agorio is the author of Sex Rites: The Origin of Christianity. I already have my copy (signed...thank you, Diana!), but haven't started it yet (I'm in the middle of two other books right now). Diana discusses the use of drugs, sex, and human sacrifice in ancient religious rituals, and the persistence of these elements in today's Christianity. I know that she's been working on it for some time, and her research is thorough and extensive. I look forward to reading it, and I'm certain that I'll learn a lot. Congratulations, Diana!

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The non-mosque that isn't at Ground Zero continues to make news, most notably with the recent spate of anti-Muslim violence. A mosque was damaged in Tennessee, and it was determined to be arson; a mosque and its playground equipment sustained $20,000 in damage in another fire suspected to be arson. A pastor in Florida is going forward with his plans to burn copies of the Koran. Way to win friends and influence people, dude.

Get a grip, people. We are better than this. The people running these mosques—or the children attending their schools—are not the perpetrators of 9/11. This is absolutely appalling, and the people committing this violence against innocents should be ashamed of themselves. These are nothing less than hate crimes, and it needs to stop before someone gets seriously hurt.

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On a related note, a recent poll showed that one-fifth of Americans polled think that President Obama is a Muslim. It would seem that a significant portion of our populace has lost their collective minds. This is just beyond stupid. Remember how they were all pissed off because he was a member of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's church? Not just for a little while, but for two decades? Did they forget that part? You know, at this point, I think I'd like to hear one of these people just stand up and declare, "You know what? I don't like the guy 'cause he's colored. There. I said it." It would be somewhat refreshing, and it might help them overcome the weight of denial that is crushing them as they try to come up with excuse after excuse to hate the guy. As I've said before, it's one thing to dislike his policies, although many of these people seem to not have a full understanding of what those are. It's quite another to try to brand him as "Other," whether you think he wasn't born in the United States or is a closet Muslim.

That one-fifth of Americans believes this fallacy is bad enough. The fact that the media continues to report on it without addressing the larger issue is equally as bad. Remember the No Religious Test Clause of the Constitution? Article VI states:

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.

What that is basically saying is that it is none of our fucking business as to what religion a public official is or is not. Of course, Americans being the bunch of Nosy Parkers they are, you can bet there will always be questions about a candidate's or official's private life, and that includes religion. Wouldn't it be great to hear someone say, "It's none of your goddamn business what I believe"? I would enjoy that.

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Finally, it seems that former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania is really barking up the ol' Presidential run tree. Unfortunately (for him), he has a little problem with the continued existence of the website Spreading Santorum, which was started in response to his hateful, homophobic comments. If you do a search for Rick Santorum, you'll get that site right towards the top. I feel that it is my duty to link to the site and make sure that it gets plenty of hits, staying right up there at the top of results returned on a Google search. You're welcome, Rick.