Christianity.caca

Check out this little gem on Christianity.ca, in which it is postulated (make that pustulated) that God doesn't want us to be thin (or attractive)! Oh, but first—you guessed it—comes the “science”:

Before embracing solutions, listen carefully: Much that we hear on the subject of obesity is myth—often a dangerous myth. For example, the claim that obesity kills 400 000 Americans per year has been debunked; careful research offers 25,815 as a realistic death rate.

“Listen carefully!” Well, I'm reading, but I don't hear a thing. Uh, so were those other 374,185 not dead, then, or what? If they're dead, what did they die of? Being so fat that they accidentally got in the way of all of the bullets? (But that's another American problem.)

As our society abandons a Christian worldview, it replaces the classic issues of Christian moral teaching (like gluttony, sloth, and giving way to anxiety) with materialistic obsessions, such as slimness.

“Giving way to anxiety?” Oh, right—we're not supposed to worry about anything, since God is in charge, so don't work on your appearance (as opposed to just your health), because it's a sin to give anyone a charge. Look, I don't have a problem with happy overweight people, but if they're unhappy, and they change their appearance (not just their health), what's the problem? I was unhappy about my appearance, once. This sort of mentality smacks of the “who do you think you are” techniques used against scientists by creationists.

http://www.christianity.ca/faith/weblog/2005/8.24.html

Well, I would “embrace the solution” if I could get my damn arms around it. So, okay—assuming that active overweight people are in all cases as healthy as active thin people, I have to ask, active doing what? Oh, no, no—not that!

Taliban Oafdom: The Masses aren't Asses

In 1990s Afghanistan, the Taliban took over the city of Mazar and appointed an illiterate (natch!) man by the name of Mullah Shah Mohammad as the new mayor. Mullah Shah Mohammad ordered a new stamp to be created in his honor. But when Mullah Shah Mohammad saw his municipal stamp, he threw a fit and snarled, “Look at our big municipality, and look at that small stamp! Make a big one!”

The clerk returned to the engraver and informed him that the ignoramus new mayor wanted a big stamp for his big new municipality. In utter contempt, the engraver made a form from a donkey shoe, with this inscription inside:

“In a city ruled by asses,
Shah Mohammed is the undisputed mayor.”

This new “seal” was submitted to Shah Mohammed, who loved his “big” stamp, and had it placed on all official documents. Shah Mohammed did not have a clue about the insult until days later, when someone else pointed it out to him. Enraged, Shah Mohammed went to kill the engraver—but the man had already fled the town, and the documents bearing the donkey seal had already reached the governor’s desk!
[source: RAWA]