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Sunday, October 21, 2007

I Chose to Lie

I found a stray dog yesterday near my house in Minneapolis and brought it to the nearest animal shelter which is in St. Paul.

When they asked me if I found the dog in St. Paul I said "yes" without hesitation because I knew that if I said "no" they would send me away. I needed to get to work and didn't have time to drive across Minneapolis to the other animal shelter.

So my mind quickly weighed the options regarding the welfare of the dog and of my job and I chose to lie.

Back when I was a hard-core christian I would have either answered the question truthfully or currently be racked with guilt about lying. While, I don't feel guilty about my decision it still feels slimy to admit that I chose to lie. However, I really do think that sometimes it's OK to lie - am I a bad example perpetuating the stereo-type of the immoral atheist?

The truth of the matter is it's not about truth. It's about morality. And sometimes lying can be the moral thing to do or, at the very least, not immoral. And frequently it's a wash. Yesterday, the moral thing to do was to rescue the dog. Was it moral to lie to the animal shelter about where I found the dog? Perhaps. My other choices were to let the dog go loose again (to me not a moral choice) or be late for work and potentially lose my job (not a option I was willing to choose).

Frequently, there are times when the morally or socially correct thing is not to tell the truth. Look no farther than answering common greeting of "How are you?" For more examples, here is one blogger's list of the 15 most common white lies.

This blogger argues that all lies are immoral in response to a Today Show psychotherapist's list of when its OK to lie. I disagree entirely with him. The slippery slope argument is, as usual, ridiculous and none of the lies I have told have "plant[ed] a seed of corruption that will eat at [my] very soul."

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Jewish? Here's a card expressing my sympathy and encouragement.


I felt like a real crackpot giggling in the sympathy card section of the gift store, but tucked between all the cards labeled "sympathy" and "encouragement" was a stack of cards labeled "Jewish." There were no other religious, or birthday, or other holiday cards in that entire row! Just lots of "I'm Sorry" and then that one "Jewish" card.

(Note: this post is not anti-Semitism, I would think it was funny if it called out the name of any group -christian, atheist, scuba divers... its the juxtaposition that's funny.)

Sorry the photo is crappy - I took it with my cell phone.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

One Year Anniversary!

This October marks my one year anniversary for blogging. Yay!

My 5 most read posts:
From Jello to Jesus
Minneapolis Tornado
Arabella B. Buckley
Hag Syndrome
Crazy Mammoths

Odd choices by you readers - but I'm glad your reading!

My favorite part of this blog so far has been the Daily Dose Project. It was a very valuable exercise in becoming aware.

About you:
There have been 242 peeps hanging out here on and off;

From all over the world but mostly from the US and Canada (also from the UK, Australia, Belgium, Spain, Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands);

You check out a page or two, for a minute or two each on average, and then move on;

and you don't like to surf the web in the morning - most hits are at lunch and after work.

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Friday, October 12, 2007

Halloween = Witnessing Opportunity!

A co-worker frequently finds chick tracks entitled Are Roman Catholics Christians? on the Wabasha Street Bridge in St. Paul and gave one to me for a laugh today. And it is very funny - especially on the last page where you are asked if you take Jesus as your savior Check Yes or No.



So, after checking "No," I went to the Chick Publications website and found a great place for hours of side-ache inducing entertainment!

On the homepage I was greeted with this message:
"Every Halloween, a parade of children stream to your door asking for a treat. By dropping a Chick tract or two (along with some candy) into their bags, in one night you can give the gospel to lots of kids (and their families)...all without leaving your home."


Then I discovered that all the tracks are online for our viewing enjoyment!




My favorite is their new "black track series" because it is soooo wrong. Excerpts below:




Which one is your favorite?

What should you do if you find an atheist?



(Anyone know where this is from?? It was emailed to me with no reference to its origin.)

Monday, October 08, 2007

Crazy Mammoths!

Photos on Foat


My husband and I did a couple photo shoots for Foat fashion design over the summer. They just finished their new website using a smattering of our photos.

My husband and I did the shoot with the white background (see couture section for examples) and I did the shoot taken in the industry ruins (see the first four images on the categories page for examples.) Check 'em out!

Sunday, October 07, 2007

Arrrrgh!

Minneapolis Pirate Pub Crawl 2007

Last night was the second annual Minneapolis Pirate Pub Crawl.

Jesus again descended for the event - apparently he can't resist an opportunity to show off his stigmata and dress like a pirate!

The St. Paul Pioneer Press wrote a great article with pirate moi on the cover. (It's in the photo slide show - Ben Garvin was the photographer.)

More photos by my hubbo.