8 Ways to Sunday

Today’s quote was inspired by the yard work I did early this afternoon:

There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.

— Henry David Thoreau

When it comes to weeds, I have to admit that I’m a branch-hacker rather than a root-striker. It’s just too much trouble to pull the weeds out by the root when they make up about 60% of my yard. Besides, if you mow the lawn down close enough it’s hard to tell the difference between the grass and the weeds.

No doubt Thoreau and his transcendentalist cohorts would find my approach lacking in moral and intellectual rigor.

“God has no religion.”

— Mahatma Gandhi

Can’t we all just get along?

My previous post — about David Miscavige’s alleged comparison of Tom Cruise to Jesus Christ — drew some interesting comments. Perhaps inevitably, some of those comments focused on the controversial beliefs of Scientology.

I said that the belief system of Scientologists doesn’t bother me at all, but I find the policies and practices of the Church of Scientology (the organization itself) disturbing. One of the other commenters followed up with a statement that was interesting enough to explore in a separate post:

‘Wackos’ says Elizabeth. Why? because of their beleifs? look at Jesus’ story. isn’t it nuts?

This is an excellent point. Is Scientology’s legend of Xenu, the alien overlord, pretty weird? You bet. But what about the symbolic ritual cannibalism that Christians practice every time they take Communion? I mean, that’s a doozy! (more…)

“Blessed are the couch-jumpers, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.”

When I started this blog, I never expected to be offering continuing coverage of weird Tom Cruise–related shit. When the news gets this strange, however, I just don’t have any choice.

According to British tabloid The Sun, Scientologist leader David Miscavige has described Cruise as having a Christ-like role for the cult:

Like Christ, he’s been criticized for his views. But future generations will realize he was right.

Miscavige can say whatever he wants, but I’m pretty sure Jesus never promised to eat a placenta.

Here’s Keith Olberman with more point-by-point comparisons between Jesus Christ and Tom Christ Cruise:

(Props: SF Gate, LAist)

Updates

• 2/24/2007 — Karin Pouw, Public Affairs Director for the Church of Scientology, has officially denied that Miscavige ever compared Tom Cruise to Jesus Christ. The denial was issued in the form of a letter to the Boston Herald (and probably many other newspapers) that had run the story in their gossip sections. Thanks are due to Greg, who informed me of the denial in one of his comments.

  This denial may or may not mean that the story is bogus. The Sun isn’t exactly the Wall Street Journal, of course. On the other hand, famous people say stupid things — then retract, deny, or apologize for them — all the time. What the official denial tells me is that Miscavige may not have made the Christ comparison, but that if he did he sure wishes he hadn’t.

• 2/24/2007 — I’m happy that the comments up until today have been generally courteous, even when people disagreed with each other. Unfortunately, I just had to delete an obscenity-laden screed from some trolling jerk and another commenter’s angry follow-up (which was less rude, but now totally without context). Read the rules before you comment. This is my blog, and I will delete you with extreme prejudice if you act like an asshole.

Today’s word has a split personality: it’s capable of being both horny and pious.

concupiscent

– adjective

1. lustful or sensual.
2. eagerly desirous.

Yow. I think it’s the “eagerly desirous” part that puts this one over the top.

Interestingly, the Catholic Church has its own definition of concupiscence that is both more general and more nuanced. More about that on Wikipedia, too.

Updates

• 1/7/2007 @ 5:50 PM — Seems I’m not the only one who thinks this word is awesome. Somebody is selling t-shirts on CafePress that read, “DANGER: CONCUPISCENT IDEATION.”