You're Kidding Me

We at Table 54 know that most everyone out there has a pet peeve or three.  We'd like to take a short moment to air out our ill will toward the following.

Mayhaps you've seen commercials on television for ChristianMingle.com.  You know the one.  They swear on their comic book that if you join their group, you will "Find God's match for you."  How important is that phrase to them?  They've registered it.  They're serious and they mean business.

The Greatest Story Ever Sold

The story of Jesus is the largest myth ever perpetrated on humanity.  Imagine, some 2,000 years ago 30 or so people (no one knows who they were or how many there were) told stories by word of mouth of a man who came back from the dead.  The stories were generally accepted by the superstitious populace who added to the Jesus stories other long believed supernatural sagas such as a virgin giving birth, miracle healings and the resurrection of the dead.
 

It's Time to Remove The Special Tax-Exempt Consideration For Churches

Want to bring down the National Dept level quickly without sacrificing Medicare, Social Security, Education or Healthcare?  What to fix the money crunch that forces States and Local Communities to fire policemen, fireman, teachers, and other essential individuals?  Simple.  Remove the special tax-exempt consideration for churches and other religious organizations.

Who Wrote the New Testament Gospel of Mark?

Here at Table 54 we know that many people hold the Bible to be the inerrant Word of God, authored by Him through others, controlled by Him and given to his people without corruption.  This is a statement made about no other written work in the history of the world.  Is there evidence to back up such a belief?  If not, what does that say about the underlying source of Christian beliefs?  I'd like to take a look at the historical authorship of the four Gospels and Paul's letters to see if history supports this claim.  Since the Gospel of Mark is alleged by Church history to be the oldest of the four Gospels, it seems a good place to start.

The Burning Times

One of the most bloodthirsty of Gods known to mankind issued a decree for Moses to pass on to his chosen people saying, "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live."  This commandment is found at Exodus 22:18 in the King James Bible.  What has been the consequences of this edict?

An Answer To Chris (Townsend2.Xanga.Com)

This post is in answer to questions and statements  asked/made by Chris (Townsend2.Xanga.Com) both on this blog and on his own.  His questions deserved thoughtful answers and I've tried to be as honest and forthright in replying to them as I could.

The Bible and The Book of Mormon

Are the New Testament and Book of Mormon really that much different?  Not if you're comparing the eyewitness testimony to Jesus' resurrection and the eyewitness testimony to the gold plates Joseph Smith used to translate the Book of Mormon.

The Talking Toilet Paper Fiasco

Like most retirement communities there is no tipping allowed to servers, cooks, maintenance people, the people who clean our apartments, the bus driver, or the entertainment coordinator.  In fact, the rule applies to all hourly personnel  who work at our abode.

There is, however, one time of the year set aside for residents to show their appreciation to our staff for the services they perform for us.  For a period of approximately 30 days, tenants and other interested parties (friends, relatives, etc.) are allowed to give money to a fund that will be divided among the non-management staff after it is collected.  The money is collected and dispersed by a resident committee made up of approximately four people.  This year J and Y from Table 54 volunteered as well as D and M.  J was the nominal head of the committee.

Would You Buy a Bushmaster AR-15 for Your Kid?

Want to know where the NRA and gun manufacturers are targeting their firearms this year?  How about to your children!  Imagine a full color ad in the October issue of your favorite magazine showing a beautiful Christmas tree and three young kids pulling the wrapping paper off their new assault rifles.  The ad reads: 

"Maybe you'll find a Bushmaster AR-15 under your tree some frosty Christmas morning!"

God, Children, and Abortion

Tuesday, January 22nd was the 40th anniversary of  landmark Supreme Court case known as Roe v Wade. We at Table 54 haven't discussed the public's reaction to this yet but today seemed like a good time to air facts and feelings.

The main objection to legalized abortion seems to be the Christian belief that God condemns the killing of children (if, indeed, you believe that a fetus is somehow a living child - an argument for another time and place).

This is nothing less than an outright LIE.  God not only hasn't condemned infanticide, in the past he has actually ordered it to take place:

Just In Case...

Well folks, the flu/virus hysteria has hit our retirement community big time.  Two residents have called in sick and management is falling over each other with ideas to nip the problem in the bud.  It all goes back to last year when we did have a virus sweep through the community causing a lock down for thirteen days.  This is how it works here.  If the number of sick cases reaches ten, the home goes into quarantine.  This means that residents can't come out of their apartments and visitors can't come into the building.  All activities cease.  Meals are brought to your room by servers wearing latex gloves and surgical masks.  The largest threat to the spreading of a virus is residents touching things that other residents have touched.  This happens frequently in the dining room.

Does God Pick and Choose?

John W. Loftus published a set of articles by various authors under the title of The Christian Delusion.  One of these articles was authored by Valerie Tarcia, PhD called Christian Belief Through the Lens of Cognitive Science.  In case you're wondering, Wikipedia describes cognitive science as, "the interdisciplinary scientific study of the mind and its processes."  Under the heading, "So You Think You're Rational," Valerie asks the question, "How can tourists who've escaped a hurricane or plane crash believe that a god intervened while letting others drown or burn?"

The Cat Came Back

J brought us a New York Times press clipping today about Holly, a four year old housecat who was lost in Daytona Beach in early November.  She turned up a mile from her owners home on December 31.  Happy New Year.

A Day In Our Retirement Community

One of the questions frequently asked is what's a typical day like in your retirement community?  Well, we'll try and answer that for you.

People wake up at all different hours.  They go through the same morning routines that they've practiced all their lives - not that much different from yourself, I would imagine.  They shower, shave, dress, fix their hair, take out the dogs, watch a little TV, dose their insulin plus their other meds and then, around 7:50, they head down the hall to the dining room for breakfast.

Casey Anthony, Again?

Table 54 is all a-buzz.  Tonight the Lifetime channel is going to rehash the Casey Anthony trial.  Obviously we didn't get enough with the month long trial itself.  Obviously we didn't get enough of Nancy Grace and her loyal gang of lawyers (who can have no opinion other than Nancy's). But tonight we get Prosecuting Casey Anthony, a Lifetime original movie based on the book by Chief Prosecutor Jeff Ashton.  But that's not all.  After the movie informs us that Casey Anthony should have been found guilty - hands down, we are going to be blessed with a Lifetime Special - Beyond the Headlines: Prosecuting Casey Anthony that will, we are told, fill in the blanks on how the jury reached its decision. Unfortunately, Nancy Grace's verdict of guilty (which she hammered into her audience for two years before the trial even started) didn't pan out in the American court system which requires proof of guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

Young Republican Gunslingers at UT, OH

The world we live in gets crazier and crazier every day.  Watching Toledo News Now on channel 11 last night I learned that a group of students belonging to the Young Republicans organization of the University of Toledo is planning to submit a resolution to the University's student senate to convince the Ohio State Legislature to change state law to allow students at the school to carry concealed weapons on campus.

An Enlightening Discussion

A rather enlightening discussion at Table 54 today.  I shared with my table-mates a new blog I found while searching for atheist blogs on the internet.  The author is Greta Christina who I found to be one of those truly open souls that blogs about many of the subjects we talk about here at Table 54 (Atheism, sex, politics, etc.).  The article I read, On Writing Kinky Porn In A Rape Culture, deals with Greta being concerned about writing fantasies of sexual non-consent in a way that doesn't glorify actual, real-world consent to have at it.  She's obsessing about her fantasy writing being used as a sort of a how-to guide by real life sexual predators.

Kitchen Delemma

Before I get into the nitty-gritty with this post I have to make one thing perfectly clear - all three of us at Table 54 truly love our retirement community.  When you find the place where you're going to spend the remaining years of your life (it doesn't matter if that means two months or twenty years) it has to be exceptional in every way.  For all the wondrous perks we enjoy here, (see What Is Independent Retirement Living?) the dominating factor that led us to choose this community over others we toured can be explained in three words - breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Standing In The Doorway

We received the news today that one of our residents has gone to Hospice.  Since I've joined our community in July of 2011 there have been nine of our family who've passed on, including one former member of Table 54.  You expect this, living in a retirement community, but it usually comes as a surprise.  Not that a person has died, but that they're gone today in a very final way.  There is nowhere else you'll ever live where the specter of death invades the unspoken thoughts of people on a daily basis like it does here.  We are all very aware of its existence whether we acknowledge it or not.

Miracle?

I saw an interesting news story on TV yesterday that I brought to the table at lunch.  It involved two children from two different families.  While zipping through the countryside the car they were in was T-boned by a driver that ignored a stop sign.  Both children went to the hospital with severe injuries.  After 24 hours passed, doctors reported to the families that one child was going to make it but the other wasn't likely to live.  After a week, the first child was released and allowed to go home.  The second, however had lapsed into a coma and the outlook seemed very grim.  Doctors told the parents he would not last out the week.