under normal circumstances, i dont focus or write much about religion. i read about it and i visit many religious websites and blogs, but i generally tend to distance myself from the institution.
today, that will change.
this started actually in the comment section of a blog i subscribe to on my sports blog-cells bells. when the authors featured sports (specifically, baseball)-themed tattoos. i commented that although i'd like to get a tattoo myself and have nothing against body art, my religion prevented me from doing so. that comment opened the floodgates into the world of orthodox christanity. since one of the authors made an inquiry about my faith, and there was more room here on this blog to discuss it than in the comment section of that other blog, i decided to dedicate a few entries here on this blog to describe the orthodox church and what it stands for.
the first thing you need to know about the orthodox church is that while we are called a variety of names, the mission remains the same. we have been called the byzantine church, but since the catholics have a byzantine division, my church is referred to now as the "eastern orthodox christian" church. however, it is most commonly abbreviated as simply "orthodox church".
we in the orthodox church trace our roots all the way back to the time of jesus and his disciples. it was our religion that the roman empire adopted and later made official. while the history books refer to the early church as "catholic", the meaning was not the same as today, for the roman catholic and orthodox churches were once united. the term "catholic" was basically and encompassing term for early christians. as a result of this shared history, the roman catholic and orthodox christian churches do share some saints, most notably some early ones such as john the baptist, st. jude (yes, that one-the patron saint of lost causes), st. nicholas, and st. augustine of antioch (i also think we share st. augustine of hippo, but im not sure on that one).
before the split in 12th century, the roman emperor constantine convened a church council in the city of nicea in around the 10th century. this meeting basically established the orthodox church as we know it today-who the saints were, what procedures were to be done regarding communion, prayers, and the most well-known remainder of this meeting was the nicene creed.
more to come later.
tamtam
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
the iranian revolution
ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
while this whole protest is going on in iran, i'd best put my 2 cents in.
as we all know, last week was iran's elections. the leading candidates were mahmoud ahme-nutjob and his opponent, mir-hussain moussavi. moussavi was touted as a reformer, while we all know ahme-nutjob's role as a holocaust denier who is looking to wipe israel off the map.
we also know that ahme-nutjob won, but moussavi is calling his victory a fraud because it was known that ahme-nutjob's private goon squad went out and practiced voter intimidation. voter fraud was widely suspected as well. heh, we in chicago know all about voter fraud-how else did more people vote for a candidate than were registered as living in a certain area? hell, barry-o's ACORN made voter fraud their specialty service!
so after a week of protests between the supporters of both candidates, the leader, ayatollah khameini (not the same as ruholla khomeini-the guy who led the first iranian revolution in the 70s) told the people to accept ahme-nutjob as their leader, or else bad things would happen to them. but while tehran becomes a divided city, the fact is that most of iran is sick and tired of the ayatollah's. most of iran's population is under the age of 30, and in this day and age of computers, cellphones, and global interconnectivity (youtube helps), they see how miserable their lives are under the mullahs.
young ladies like to wear makeup and dress nicely-something they can't do in iran without serious consequences, and young men like electronics, computer games, and sports-most of which are forbidden by the mullahs. plus, kids these days, if you cut off their electronics (cellphones, computers, etc) they get MAD!!
threats and intimidation will only go so far-and unless the ayatollah's are prepared to go so far as to kill everyone who opposes them (which i hope doesnt happen given that most of the population is young people, but then again, islam is not a religion known for achieving its goals through peaceful means), iran will seal its own fate. hell, i heard that the mullah's are sending in russian mercenaries to help out the iranian police force disperse the riots!
down with the dictators!
tamtam
while this whole protest is going on in iran, i'd best put my 2 cents in.
as we all know, last week was iran's elections. the leading candidates were mahmoud ahme-nutjob and his opponent, mir-hussain moussavi. moussavi was touted as a reformer, while we all know ahme-nutjob's role as a holocaust denier who is looking to wipe israel off the map.
we also know that ahme-nutjob won, but moussavi is calling his victory a fraud because it was known that ahme-nutjob's private goon squad went out and practiced voter intimidation. voter fraud was widely suspected as well. heh, we in chicago know all about voter fraud-how else did more people vote for a candidate than were registered as living in a certain area? hell, barry-o's ACORN made voter fraud their specialty service!
so after a week of protests between the supporters of both candidates, the leader, ayatollah khameini (not the same as ruholla khomeini-the guy who led the first iranian revolution in the 70s) told the people to accept ahme-nutjob as their leader, or else bad things would happen to them. but while tehran becomes a divided city, the fact is that most of iran is sick and tired of the ayatollah's. most of iran's population is under the age of 30, and in this day and age of computers, cellphones, and global interconnectivity (youtube helps), they see how miserable their lives are under the mullahs.
young ladies like to wear makeup and dress nicely-something they can't do in iran without serious consequences, and young men like electronics, computer games, and sports-most of which are forbidden by the mullahs. plus, kids these days, if you cut off their electronics (cellphones, computers, etc) they get MAD!!
threats and intimidation will only go so far-and unless the ayatollah's are prepared to go so far as to kill everyone who opposes them (which i hope doesnt happen given that most of the population is young people, but then again, islam is not a religion known for achieving its goals through peaceful means), iran will seal its own fate. hell, i heard that the mullah's are sending in russian mercenaries to help out the iranian police force disperse the riots!
down with the dictators!
tamtam
Sunday, June 21, 2009
volunteers
no thanks to obama and his "stimulus", i haven't been able to find a job. well, my dad has me working at his office as a secretary, but that's a family business, so that doesnt count. also, it doesn't help my case that for my intended major, currently listed as pre-pharmacy, i need 60 hrs of community service PLUS 30 hrs of behind-the-counter work.
since the economy is tanking, collectivism is the new black, and while my mom traditionally sent me and my brother off to summer school in the past, i can't go now cuz im 3000 miles away from school to have anything count! so to get me out of the house, my mom made me go out to volunteer. as of today, june 21, i volunteer for 1 hour at the northfield township food pantry in glenview, IL for 1 hour on thursdays, and come tuesday, i'll be volunteering almost full-time at a greek nursing home in wheeling, IL.
the greek nursing home is actually not bad. i was actually looking forward to working there cuz the environment is happy and the locality is clean and smells good (unlike most other nursing homes). plus, im orthodox christian too. even though im a different breed of slav and i don't know a word of greek, at least we have the same religion.
the food pantry, on the other hand, is almost the opposite. its located in an office building, but because its a government building, the inside is dingy and depressing. the food area itself holds alot of food-mostly canned and boxed (or bagged) stuff. there is a row of industrial fridges that hold milk, dairy (including yoplait yogurt, which is $2 a carton where i live!), eggs, some fruits and vegetables, and stuff like that. there is also a big freezer that holds frozen foods, as well as ice cream.
but the biggest shock came when i opened the freezer to put stuff in, and there, sitting in neat columns in the back, was lou malnatti's pizza. lou malnatti's is a chicago-area pizzeria that makes the BEST sausage deep dish in the country, but it's not cheap. the large pizzas usually run about $25, whereas the little ones are like $10. i couldnt believe the sight of that expensive pizza in a food pantry. while i heard the lady in charge saying to some kids that walked in that all the food in the pantry was donated or purchased with donated money, i couldn't help but think what leeches the recipiants of food pantry items are. why should i be forced to buy cheap, preservative-filled crap that could potentially kill me because it saves money, when those indigants-many of whom are able-bodied-get name brand expensive stuff for free?! i was sorely tempted to take a box of lou malnatti's and hide it in my purse (i have kinduva big purse), but i didn't. it would have started to melt and a wet purse would look suspicious.
the poor in this country get treated better than the poor everywhere else in the world. that said, i don't wanna hear them bitching about how we as a society don't do enough to help them.
tamtam
since the economy is tanking, collectivism is the new black, and while my mom traditionally sent me and my brother off to summer school in the past, i can't go now cuz im 3000 miles away from school to have anything count! so to get me out of the house, my mom made me go out to volunteer. as of today, june 21, i volunteer for 1 hour at the northfield township food pantry in glenview, IL for 1 hour on thursdays, and come tuesday, i'll be volunteering almost full-time at a greek nursing home in wheeling, IL.
the greek nursing home is actually not bad. i was actually looking forward to working there cuz the environment is happy and the locality is clean and smells good (unlike most other nursing homes). plus, im orthodox christian too. even though im a different breed of slav and i don't know a word of greek, at least we have the same religion.
the food pantry, on the other hand, is almost the opposite. its located in an office building, but because its a government building, the inside is dingy and depressing. the food area itself holds alot of food-mostly canned and boxed (or bagged) stuff. there is a row of industrial fridges that hold milk, dairy (including yoplait yogurt, which is $2 a carton where i live!), eggs, some fruits and vegetables, and stuff like that. there is also a big freezer that holds frozen foods, as well as ice cream.
but the biggest shock came when i opened the freezer to put stuff in, and there, sitting in neat columns in the back, was lou malnatti's pizza. lou malnatti's is a chicago-area pizzeria that makes the BEST sausage deep dish in the country, but it's not cheap. the large pizzas usually run about $25, whereas the little ones are like $10. i couldnt believe the sight of that expensive pizza in a food pantry. while i heard the lady in charge saying to some kids that walked in that all the food in the pantry was donated or purchased with donated money, i couldn't help but think what leeches the recipiants of food pantry items are. why should i be forced to buy cheap, preservative-filled crap that could potentially kill me because it saves money, when those indigants-many of whom are able-bodied-get name brand expensive stuff for free?! i was sorely tempted to take a box of lou malnatti's and hide it in my purse (i have kinduva big purse), but i didn't. it would have started to melt and a wet purse would look suspicious.
the poor in this country get treated better than the poor everywhere else in the world. that said, i don't wanna hear them bitching about how we as a society don't do enough to help them.
tamtam
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
a funny joke
in the spirit of good humor and keeping some light in this dark world of ours, here's a joke-courtesy of patrice lewis over at "rural revolution".
Katie Couric, Charlie Gibson, Brian Williams and a tough old U.S. Marine sergeant were captured by terrorists in Iraq. The leader of the terrorists told them he'd grant each of them one last request before they were beheaded and dragged through the streets.
Katie Couric said, "Well, I'm a Southerner, so I'd like one last plate of fried chicken." The leader nodded to an underling who left and returned with the chicken. Couric ate it all and said, "Now I can die content."
Charlie Gibson said, "I'm living in New York , so I'd like to hear the song 'The Moon and Me' one last time." The terrorists' leader nodded to another terrorist who had studied the Western world and knew the music. He returned with some rag-tag musicians and played the song. Gibson was satisfied.
Brian Williams said, "I'm a reporter to the end. I want a tape recorder so I can describe the scene here and what's about to happen. Maybe, someday, someone will hear it and know that I was on the job till the end." The leader directed an aide to hand over the tape recorder and Williams dictated his comments. He then said, "Now I can die happy."
The leader turned and said, "And now, Mr. Marine, what is your final wish?"
"Kick me in the behind," said the Marine.
"What?" asked the leader, "Will you mock us in your last hour?"
"No, I'm NOT kidding. I want you to kick me in the behind," insisted the Marine.
So the leader shoved him into the yard and kicked him in the behind. The Marine went sprawling, but rolled to his knees, pulled a 9 mm pistol from inside his cammies and shot the leader dead. In the resulting confusion, he emptied his sidearm into six terrorists, with his knife he slashed the throat of one with an AK-47, which he took, and sprayed the rest of the terrorists killing another eleven.
In a flash, all of them were either dead or fleeing for their lives. As the Marine was untying Couric, Gibson and Williams, they asked him, "Why didn't you just shoot them all in the first place? Why did you ask him to kick you in the behind?"
"What!?!" replied the Marine, "and have you three report that I was the aggressor....?"
while blogging about the election on myspace, i wrote this comment: in 2008, journalism as a respectible profession, died and left a rotting, stinking carcass behind.
i hope they all go under...>:[
tamtam
Katie Couric, Charlie Gibson, Brian Williams and a tough old U.S. Marine sergeant were captured by terrorists in Iraq. The leader of the terrorists told them he'd grant each of them one last request before they were beheaded and dragged through the streets.
Katie Couric said, "Well, I'm a Southerner, so I'd like one last plate of fried chicken." The leader nodded to an underling who left and returned with the chicken. Couric ate it all and said, "Now I can die content."
Charlie Gibson said, "I'm living in New York , so I'd like to hear the song 'The Moon and Me' one last time." The terrorists' leader nodded to another terrorist who had studied the Western world and knew the music. He returned with some rag-tag musicians and played the song. Gibson was satisfied.
Brian Williams said, "I'm a reporter to the end. I want a tape recorder so I can describe the scene here and what's about to happen. Maybe, someday, someone will hear it and know that I was on the job till the end." The leader directed an aide to hand over the tape recorder and Williams dictated his comments. He then said, "Now I can die happy."
The leader turned and said, "And now, Mr. Marine, what is your final wish?"
"Kick me in the behind," said the Marine.
"What?" asked the leader, "Will you mock us in your last hour?"
"No, I'm NOT kidding. I want you to kick me in the behind," insisted the Marine.
So the leader shoved him into the yard and kicked him in the behind. The Marine went sprawling, but rolled to his knees, pulled a 9 mm pistol from inside his cammies and shot the leader dead. In the resulting confusion, he emptied his sidearm into six terrorists, with his knife he slashed the throat of one with an AK-47, which he took, and sprayed the rest of the terrorists killing another eleven.
In a flash, all of them were either dead or fleeing for their lives. As the Marine was untying Couric, Gibson and Williams, they asked him, "Why didn't you just shoot them all in the first place? Why did you ask him to kick you in the behind?"
"What!?!" replied the Marine, "and have you three report that I was the aggressor....?"
while blogging about the election on myspace, i wrote this comment: in 2008, journalism as a respectible profession, died and left a rotting, stinking carcass behind.
i hope they all go under...>:[
tamtam
Monday, June 15, 2009
Obama's sculpted face heads to Mt. Rushmore park
Obama's sculpted face heads to Mt. Rushmore park
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oh boy, here we go again. once again, barry-o thinks that he's good enough to belong with the likes of teddy roosevelt, jefferson, and washington on the famed mount rushmore. expect the media to have a field day with this!
tamtam
Shared via AddThis
oh boy, here we go again. once again, barry-o thinks that he's good enough to belong with the likes of teddy roosevelt, jefferson, and washington on the famed mount rushmore. expect the media to have a field day with this!
tamtam
Friday, June 12, 2009
ED ANGER: DAVID LETTERMAN = DAVID BITTERMAN! | Weekly World News
ED ANGER: DAVID LETTERMAN = DAVID BITTERMAN! Weekly World News
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Posted using ShareThis
my favorite op-ed writer ed anger has his say on that ridiculous feud between sarah palin and david letterman. as for my take, letterman went too far cuz as far as im concerned, no one should ever joke about sex with a minor. that is just plain crass. although, i never really found letterman funny, i wouldnt be surprised if his ratings dropped because of this whole debaucle.
peace!
tamtam
Thursday, June 4, 2009
ED ANGER SAYS: I HATE PEREZ HILTON! | Weekly World News
ED ANGER SAYS: I HATE PEREZ HILTON! Weekly World News
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Posted using ShareThis
another funny, but kinda old ed anger post. look for more in the coming months cuz after all, we could all use a laugh :)
tamtam
ED ANGER SAYS: MEXICAN PIGS ARE TRYING TO KILL ME | Weekly World News
ED ANGER SAYS: MEXICAN PIGS ARE TRYING TO KILL ME Weekly World News
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Posted using ShareThis
read this. i thought i'd post something humorous as opposed to my usual doom-and-gloom politics. ed anger was a columnist for the now defunct tabloid "weekly world news" (still on internet though!). he's known for his sharp satire of current events, AND he's right-wing, so its even more fun!
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
a moslem nation?!
here's a story that will have anybody with a brain see red.
as we all know, barry-o has returned to the middle east. today he paid a visit to the saudi princes in riyadh, saudi arabia. no reports of him bowing to the saudi king this time around (we all know what really happened there).anyway, in a speech to the princes, obama announced "if you count all the moslems in the united states, we are a moslem nation". when i heard that, my jaw dropped. there are approximately 2.3 million moslems in the US. our entire population is something like 300 million. this means that moslems make up less than 1% of the population.
we have caught our president in a lie-and a big 1 at that! america is a CHRISTIAN nation!! most of our population is christian, not moslem! it also doesnt help barry-o's case that 46% of people don't have a favorable view of the moslem world. but that doesnt matter, at least not to the state-controlled media (who, by the way, accepted the saudi rules on journalism during their stay-dont leave your hotel unless you are going to cover the meetings btwn the saudi princes and barry-o, and dont report on anything else you see or else you will be arrested and detained in a saudi prison). and to go in this vein, CBS has crowned barry-o the "titular head of the islamic world" because they are putting their "hopes and dreams on 1 man" and newsweek confirmed this by calling osama and al-quaida "has-beens". notice that the "hopes and dreams" part is left conveniantly vague-what is the moslem world hoping of barry-o? that isreal be wiped off the map? that they will forcibly impose on us their way of life like sharia law?
because of this whole matter, i'm mad as hell!! not only am i a right-wing christian who's gov't has painted a target on her back, but obama and his cronies are bending towards people who want to send us back to the 7th century!! and they will stop at nothing until they rule the world-whether by outbreeding us or killing every non-moslem they see. i mean, with george tiller's murder, the media and left were quick to blame the entire christian religion when it was clearly an isolated case. but on the other hand, some army recruiter was recently killed, and another one seriously injured when their recruitement booth or outlet was attacked by a young moslem fanatic IN THE NAME OF ISLAM!!! yet, the media dismisses this as an isolated incident, since looking at actual data on this kind of issue tells a completely different story.
im tired of this shit.
maybe i should run for president. i think i'd do a better job running the country than this shmooklan!
tamtam
as we all know, barry-o has returned to the middle east. today he paid a visit to the saudi princes in riyadh, saudi arabia. no reports of him bowing to the saudi king this time around (we all know what really happened there).anyway, in a speech to the princes, obama announced "if you count all the moslems in the united states, we are a moslem nation". when i heard that, my jaw dropped. there are approximately 2.3 million moslems in the US. our entire population is something like 300 million. this means that moslems make up less than 1% of the population.
we have caught our president in a lie-and a big 1 at that! america is a CHRISTIAN nation!! most of our population is christian, not moslem! it also doesnt help barry-o's case that 46% of people don't have a favorable view of the moslem world. but that doesnt matter, at least not to the state-controlled media (who, by the way, accepted the saudi rules on journalism during their stay-dont leave your hotel unless you are going to cover the meetings btwn the saudi princes and barry-o, and dont report on anything else you see or else you will be arrested and detained in a saudi prison). and to go in this vein, CBS has crowned barry-o the "titular head of the islamic world" because they are putting their "hopes and dreams on 1 man" and newsweek confirmed this by calling osama and al-quaida "has-beens". notice that the "hopes and dreams" part is left conveniantly vague-what is the moslem world hoping of barry-o? that isreal be wiped off the map? that they will forcibly impose on us their way of life like sharia law?
because of this whole matter, i'm mad as hell!! not only am i a right-wing christian who's gov't has painted a target on her back, but obama and his cronies are bending towards people who want to send us back to the 7th century!! and they will stop at nothing until they rule the world-whether by outbreeding us or killing every non-moslem they see. i mean, with george tiller's murder, the media and left were quick to blame the entire christian religion when it was clearly an isolated case. but on the other hand, some army recruiter was recently killed, and another one seriously injured when their recruitement booth or outlet was attacked by a young moslem fanatic IN THE NAME OF ISLAM!!! yet, the media dismisses this as an isolated incident, since looking at actual data on this kind of issue tells a completely different story.
im tired of this shit.
maybe i should run for president. i think i'd do a better job running the country than this shmooklan!
tamtam
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