Wordless Wendesday

Because sometimes, there just aren't any explanations.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Things I love

I found this idea on Pinterest today, and it's intended for the Project Life type fancy journaling, which I do not do. At all. Don't have the time, energy, or organization for that. Instead, I blog sporadically.
Much better, right?

So, here are 100 things I love (in no particular order):

1. My husband
2. My daughters
3. My parents
4. My sister and her family
5. Caffeine
6. Internet
7. My friends
8. Texting
9. Snapchat
10. Dark Chocolate
11. Naps
12. Our new sofa and love seat
13. Writing
14. Reading
15. Books
16. Kindle
17. Netflix
18. Hulu
19. My dogs
20. Beautiful clothes
21. Shoes
22. Bags
23. Tea
24. Cookies
25. Ice cream
26. Fruit
27. Sherlock
28. Supernatural
29. The Blacklist
30. Joss Whedon
31. Family time
32. Fanboy Expo
33. Feminism
34. Sunshine
35. Bodies of water
36. Nature
37. Sleep
38. Music
39. Pinterest
40. Office supplies
41. Art
42. Jewelry
43. Makeup
44. Quinoa
45. Beyonce
46. Forehead kisses
47. Spontaneous kid love
48. Doctor Who
49. Harry Potter
50. Warm weather
51. Stripes
52. Autumn
53. The scent of the flowering tree outside our front window
54. Color
55. The Whole Nine Yards
56. Sims 3
57. Red
58. Vacation days
59. Weekends
60. Peace
61. Equality
62. Understanding
63. Compassion
64. Improvicooking
65. Sharp cheddar
66. Cities
67. Museums
68. Parks
69. Snuggles
70. Pearls
71. Traveling
72. Exploring
73. Turkey, apple, cranberry, and brie paninis
74. Broccoli
75. Carrots cooked with butter and nutmeg
76. REM
77. Classical
78. Jazz
79. 90s music
80. Learning
81. River Song
82. River Tam
83. Pasta
84. Sarcasm
85. Quirkiness
86. Anything caramel
87. Facebook
88. Washi tape
89. Much Ado About Nothing (also this one)
90. Jennifer Coburn books
91. Toby Neal books
92. The Moonstone
93. Beautiful architecture
94. Warm cozy socks
95. Dinner made by someone else
96. Secret smiles
97. Knowledge
98. Baby snuggles
99. Laughter
100. The Princess Bride

Pick-and-choose Christianity

The biggest objection to gay marriage right now is the religious, Christian argument of “The Bible says it’s wrong! In Leviticus, God calls it an abomination!” 

A few weeks ago, my teenage daughter mentioned wanting to get a tattoo when she turns 18. She’s also talked to me about wanting mother-daughter tattoos. My father used another Leviticus reference to admonish her for wanting a tattoo. 

This morning, while sitting in church, I started flipping through Leviticus trying to find the first reference, about homosexuality. Silly me, wanting to know the entire verse and context. I never found it, but I did find the verse my father was referencing. The exact same verse says men shouldn’t cut their hair or trim their beards. 

You see, I grew up in the Christian church, but as an adult, I’m turned off by the arrogance of many Christians who want to force their own rules on all Americans, even those of other religions or no religion at all. The very reason America was established by the early settlers was to escape the religious oppression of the Church of England – the “do it our way or else” mentality that is taking over our society today.

So, here’s a list taken directly from the frequently-referenced book of Leviticus of rules for society (by the way, these are not even rules for Christians – this was thousands of years before the birth of Jesus. I have yet to hear any of these from the New Testament.)

Things you SHOULD be doing:

• ·         Animal sacrifices out of both guilt (for penance) or for praise
• ·         Women who have given birth have to be hidden away for 33 days if the baby was a boy, 66 days if she had a girl. Then make an animal sacrifice at the sanctuary to be allowed back in.
• ·         Two weeks out of every month women are “unclean” – the week of menstruation and seven days after. Anyone who touches her or her clothing, furniture, anything she dared to sit on, is also unclean. On the 8^th day of after the second week, make a sacrifice.
• ·         Have extramarital sex with a female slave
• ·         Pay hired workers (employees) daily
• ·         “The foreigners residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself.” (Gives new meaning to immigration reform, huh?)
• ·         Execute anyone who curses at their parent.
• ·         In the case of adultery, execute both parties.
• ·         Burn prostitutes to death, if their father is a minister/priest.
• ·         Marry a virgin
• ·         Every seventh year, plant nothing. (Sorry farmers)

Things you absolutely cannot do:

• ·         Eat rabbit, pork, birds, shellfish, calamari, anything from the ocean that does not have scales
• ·         Cannot eat the harvest of your fruit trees for five years
• ·         Eat blood sausage, blood pudding, rare steaks – nothing with blood at all.
• ·         Gather your entire harvest of crops.
• ·         Show preference to either the poor or the wealthy (that knocks out most politicians, right?)
• ·         Mate different kinds of animals (Liger? Mule? Wolf-dog hybrids? Turkins? Bueller?)
• ·         Plant two different kinds of seed in the same field (so much for companion planting – or household gardens)
• ·         Wear clothing of two different kinds of material (cotton/lycra blends? Wool blends? Tshirt and jeans?)
• ·         Mistreat foreigners
• ·         Marry a widow, divorced woman, or someone from another country.
• ·         Work on the Sabbath.
• ·         Cut your hair
• ·         Trim your beard
• ·         Shave your head
• ·         Get a tattoo or pierce the skin

All of these are found in Leviticus. If the whole “homosexuality is a sin” argument is valid, why aren’t these? Why do modern Christians give more weight to one thing than the others? And before anyone references the instructions of “go into the world and make disciples of all men” – that does not mean forcibly make them follow your religious rules. “But Jesus was the fulfillment of the law, so those rules don’t apply to Christians!” So why pick and choose some to still try to force on others?

 I legitimately don’t understand. How is gay marriage an attack on marriage? How does it threaten marriage? And since in the US, marriage is a LEGAL contract not a RELIGIOUS contract, it shouldn’t even be an issue. If you don’t want gay marriages performed, what’s next? Atheists can’t get married? Jews can’t be married? (Jews are not Christians, by the way) Buddhists, Sikhs, Taoists, Native Americans practicing native religions, Hindus, agnostics? Why not then ban weddings performed at City Hall, in gardens, at home, on boats, in orchards, in any venue other than a church? 

Or, better yet, why not remember that God loves everyone and the commandment “love your neighbor as yourself.”

Subtext

I wore a sleeveless top to work today.

We live in the South, and it's hot and humid. Temperatures are already in the mid-80s every day. It's just plain hot.

So, I wore a sleeveless top.

I examined myself in the mirror. Do my boobs look to big? Does my belly look big? My dress pants aren't very forgiving, either. I'm a little bit round in the middle. Is it really okay to wear this to work? Should I put on a longer top that covers my stomach and butt? But it's really hot, I'd be roasting. What about my arms? They're not toned at all. I have a bruise from a rambunctious dog.

Do I look fat in this outfit?

But then -

Screw it. I'm NOT skinny like I used to be, years ago before birthing babies and age making my metabolism slow down. I have boobs, a belly, and a butt. I'm human.

So much subtext goes into dressing ourselves each morning. We have to look professional (or at least presentable) to be taken seriously, or at the very least avoid the "Oh my, are you feeling okay? You don't look so good" well-meaning if backhanded remarks. We can't show too much skin, because heaven forbid we acknowledge that we have arms and legs and middles. Every inch of our bodies are scrutinized for criticism - too much makeup? Not enough? Every hair in place? But not too overdone? Clothing is perfect, even though we might be bloated that day? Shoes are pretty? But not too high, because apparently heel height has correlation with promiscuity. What about accessories? Can't be too flashy, because that's just showing off.

I wore the sleeveless top to work today.

Hi.

Hi again.

Yes, I know. It's been a while. Life happens. And keeps happening. And I have to Adult, which makes me tired. So after I Adult, I don't always have the ability to form coherent thoughts here. I think them, just can't quite express them.

So anyway, allow me to reintroduce myself.
(Yes, there's a purpose for this.)

See? Big baby.

I am a wife.
I am a mother of daughters.
I am a daughter.
I am a dog-mom. I hate that term, but basically it's true. We have a giant baby who sheds. A lot.
I am a feminist.
I am pro-choice.
I am pro gay marriage.
I am an employee.
I am a dreamer.
I am an optimist.
I am a bookaholic.
I am addicted to caffeine.
I am a friend.
I am quiet.
I am chatty.
I am not too many steps from vegetarianism.
I am frustrated.
I am fed up with the discord in our nation.
I am irritated by parroting of news commentators.
I am eclectic in my musical tastes.
I am a watcher of geekery.
I am also a Penny.
I am a lover of Pinterest.
I am achy.
I am loved.


So tell me about you! Bonus points if you use no physical description. We are not our bodies.