On that subject, the BC NDP are in a bit of a fix because their new leader must be a woman due to quota rules, and all their candidates are men. At this point I would usually talk about the negative social effects of ruling out great candidates due to the rather irrelevant fact that they are men, but I won't. It might, actually, cause me to rethink my stance on gender quotas. Because honestly a bad leader for the NDP doesn't really make my list of negative social outcomes. What fate more just then to fall upon the rocks of their own bigotry?
The first American Baby Boomer has turned 65. Welcome to the new world. Hope you like it. This seems to me like the perfect moment to resurrect one of my older posts (that had people questioning my emotional stability, caused a local scandal, and resulted in people wishing violence against me. So I knew it was pretty good.)
To continue the first half of my post some days later.
My Mother has been "encouraging" me to put up a Paypal donation button on my blog. I resist on the grounds that I do not blog often enough or well enough to justify anyone paying me. But on the slight off chance that I am wrong and I do have devoted fans who would love to support me, you can check out this little thingamajig. It is a reminder of an important, if too often overlooked, period of history, sometimes called a civil war, but having a rather one-sided outcome (let's just put it this way, their numbers today are still half what they were in the 16th century). The Huguenots, my ancestors among them, were discriminated against, forcibly converted, massacred (70,000 in the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre), driven into exile. But those fortunate ones who managed to escape France alive were immensely influential in the spread and foundation of much of Protestant Christianity (John Calvin being perhaps the most famous example). One beautiful symbol, immensely rich in meaning, that they left us is the Huguenot Cross (aka the Protestant Cross)
The cross as the universal symbol of Christianity.
The base is a Maltese cross, because we are soldiers of Christ.
It is also a lily, symbol of purity and of France.
The four petals/arms symbolize the four gospels.
The eight points symbolize the beatitudes.
The hearts are to symbolize that our hearts are to be centered on Christ, and they are connected to John Calvin's seal.
The fleur-de-lis represent France, again.
The 12 petals of the four fleur-de-lis represent the 12 apostles.
The ring of points represents Christ's crown of thorns.
The dove represents the Holy Spirit. In times of persecution it was replaced by a dove, symbolizing tears.
(I know, minus several hundred points for tact, alienate all my Catholic readers and still hope to build my readership. But I do love the Huguenot story, and the Huguenot cross, and it deserves to be told. After all, bloggers aren't into political correctness right?
CBC and Kathryn Joyce may believe that "The Demographic Winter" is a piece of racist, anti-women, Christian, etc (you know the list) propaganda, but the million dollar question is this, will their ideological purity preserve them if Canada eventually goes Europe and starts seizing private retirement savings in order to boost public pension funds? H/T RuralRite
And a little late, but none the worse for that. The New York, oops sorry The New Jerusalem Times has a cover story on the birth of Jesus. Best headlines in my opinion. "Planned Parenthood's Success Story: Herod's administration implements ultra-late-term post birth (up to two years or 8th trimester) abortion regimen" and "Who Killed the Dead Sea? Large Roman-made chariots most commonly blamed for the disaster".
Posts
When I was studying calculus as an undergrad, I literally cried because it was so hard. I remember my Dad being very distressed about what he had got me into... It's good to do difficult things, though.
ReplyDeleteLook Ruthblog linked to you:
http://www.ruthblog.org/2011/01/07/growing-up-marriage-is-a-great-motivator/