Posted on May 19th, 2008 by Nate.
Categories: Rants, Towering Intellects.
Those of you who watch a lot of political news (which used to be not-me before Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert made it funny and therefore worth my time), you are no doubt familiar with Bill “Papa Bear” O’Reilly. By way of disclaimer, let me first say that I have no intention of getting into an ideological or political discussion here. No, my intent is to point out the fact that Bill O’Reilly, as a person, is a total douchechbag.
I’ve had this sneaky suspicion for a while. I think it started the first time I ever saw him scream down a guest. “This is not the act of a rational man,” I thought to myself. Don’t know what I’m talking about? just type “Bill O’Reilly” into YouTube and watch one of what must be thousands of videos of Bill O’Reilly losing his cool in an attempt to win an argument by pure pugnacity. Great debating strategy, Bill. Way to show respect for others’ viewpoints and intellectual abilities.
Maybe he’s just passionate, you say. I thought the same thing at first. But then I saw this clip where he had a problem understanding the words on the teleprompter and lost his cool. (Caution: he uses a few R-rated words, surprise surprise.) The best part wasn’t watching him explode (see the link in the aforementioned paragraph if you’re not tired of those antics yet). No, it was seeing that “Papa Bear” O’Reilly’s egocentric and petulant douchebaggery comes through even in a completely non-political arena.
In conclusion, I’m naming Bill O’Reilly to Towering Intellect’s Invisible List of People I Despise. I learned to stop throwing temper tantrums when I was six. Why didn’t you, Bill?
Tags: billoreilly, douchebag, insane, despise
Posted on April 11th, 2008 by Nate.
Categories: Rants.
I know I haven’t written for a while, and it’ll be a few weeks yet before I can do any regular posting, but I had to throw this up because I feel pretty strongly about it.
It’s always fun for me to cruise through my friends’ blogrolls to see who they read and link to. I’ve found some great blogs that way. Tonight, however, I came across a blog post that bothered me, and though I generally just troll new blogs, I had to leave a comment on this one. And by comment I mean essay.
Anyway, by way of background, the post deals with the recent statement that Brigham Young University has made regarding homosexuality. They clarify and update “the university’s policy against homosexual behavior among students rather than homosexual orientation. . .Now the written policy more clearly states that gays can attend BYU without concern that the Honor Code Office will take action against them because of their sexual orientation.” Read the news release here.
Let me first say that I applaud this clarification by BYU. I will admit that in the past I have been guilty of intolerance, but as the years have passed and I have become more independent in my point of view, I have become much more tolerant of those espousing different points of view. Perhaps that’s what made the blog post I came across so disturbing to me. The author basically stated his shock and disappointment with BYU’s decision to publicize a more tolerant approach towards homosexuality, and then proceeded to engage in a vitriolic and closed-minded (I thought) diatribe against anybody with any kind of inclination towards homosexuality. It was exactly the kind of intolerant attitude that makes me hate living in Provo. What was even more worrisome was the cloud of back-slapping support for the sentiment in the comments. At that point, my inner activist flared up and I penned typed the following response:
I’m going to have to disagree with you, my friend. I have a couple of issues with what you’re saying.
First, let’s talk about this statement: “Entertaining thoughts is behavior.” Now, you had better hope to God that this is not true, because if it is, you and I are in far worse trouble than we realize. Fortunately, we have it on good authority that this isn’t the case: “The distinction between feelings or inclinations on the one hand, and behavior on the other hand, is very clear. It’s no sin to have inclinations that if yielded to would produce behavior that would be a transgression. The sin is in yielding to temptation. Temptation is not unique. Even the Savior was tempted.” -Dallin H Oaks
Granted, you did kind of edge away from this hard-line definition as you proceeded, but the fact is, you’ve based this entire post on this faulty statement.You also mention how “they think it’s only “fair” that they be allowed to do whatever they like, since the hetero students can.” First let me address the obvious. Heterosexual students at BYU absolutely CANNOT do whatever they want. There are handfuls of students that are expelled from BYU for sexual misconduct each semester. The BYU Honor Code is very specific on this point. The point being if they do indeed feel entitled to do whatever they want, then they’re every bit as free to be expelled as heterosexual students with the same opinion.
The broader issue at stake here is your presumption that you know what all these individuals are thinking. Sure, there are some people who miraculously experience the healing power of the atonement and have the bitter cup taken from them. But for every instance of such miracles, there is another instance of the Lord allowing the individual to continue to labor under the burden of temptation. Notable examples include Paul (2 Cor. 12:7-10) and even the Savior (Luke 22:42).
In this light, your willingness to mete out judgment in behalf of the Lord based only on your own personal experience is troubling.Finally, I have a comment relating to your insinuation that the church is caving to political and social pressure. Remember that the prophet and members of the 12 are on the board of directors for BYU. Also keep in mind that this attitude is the same attitude that led to the foundation of the FLDS church. They apostatized because they felt that polygamy had been abandoned by the church in response to outside pressure. I leave the conclusion up to you.
Here’s some additional reading on the topic, along with a snippet to support what I’ve said:The Atonement also gives us the strength to endure “pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind,” because our Savior also took upon Him “the pains and the sicknesses of his people” (Alma 7:11). Brothers and sisters, if your faith and prayers and the power of the priesthood do not heal you from an affliction, the power of the Atonement will surely give you the strength to bear the burden.”
“He Heals the Heavy Laden,” Dallin H. Oaks.Anyway, thanks for letting me hijack your comments to share my thoughts and feelings on this subject.
Nate Kartchner
And now I feel a little bit better. Man, I need to move.
Tags: rant, mormonism, homosexuality, tolerance, byu
Posted on March 20th, 2008 by Nate.
Categories: Towering Intellects.
Tags: graffiti, awesome, yourmom joke
Posted on March 4th, 2008 by Nate.
Categories: General.
Preface: So I was up all night last night writing a massive amount (totalling 100 lines) of poetry. Needless to say, after slogging my way through rondeaus, sonnets, and kyrielles, I was about to my limit. My solution? Start making crap up. Anyway, this poem provides a revealing and some might say frightening look at my sleep-deprived psyche.
Pure Nonsense (With apologies to Lewis Carrol)
The thadrury thinder sat thickening long
And looking all thatchy from leafy-long prong.
A flea-flicking finnerer flitted and flong
From the finstering flannigands to said leafy prong.
The glommering glibtruck grabbled along
Gibbering glibly and glinging a gong.
A ruby-red rimring relinquished his song
To the ringing and ranging and rung of said gong.
And a hurrying howlinger hobbled and hrong
Hergething, hamming, and horking a hwong.
Whilst a wheeling whitebearder wheezed wizelong
Wooting a whirlybird into said gong.
So the glommering glibtruck she glibbered right twong
And glommed onto Gooey, that son of a kwong.
And zip ziffer zoodah and zimmery zan,
The zeebles and zeepas all zlop-zlop and span.
Tags: poetry, nonsense, jabberwocky
Posted on February 7th, 2008 by Nate.
Categories: Towering Intellects.
Posted on January 31st, 2008 by Nate.
Categories: Reviews.
I read a lot of stuff online, and most of it is pretty good, but not incredible. But every now and then I come across a blogger who is so eloquent, so engaging, so entertaining, that I have to keep reading. I can’t hit the “next” link fast enough, it seems. The last blogger I ran into that engaged me that fully was Dooce. Until today.
I Stumbled upon WaiterRant.net, and after reading this post, I was hooked. By way of warning, the language (and occasionally the content) isn’t always family-friendly, but the writing is lively, the posts are often wryly humorous, and occasionally the waiter-writer drops a gem of a post that gives you some serious food for thought. Personality blogging at its best. So bon apetit.Tags: waiterrant, blog, amazing
Posted on January 29th, 2008 by Nate.
Categories: Rants.
One of the bad parts of getting into a routine is that it becomes just that: routine. There’s just something about the mundaneness of the same old-same old that feels like motionless motion. Days come and go, days check off the calendar, and the weather changes (unless it’s cold and snowy. Then that weather seems to stick around FOR EVAR), but the mechanics of life stay the same. It feels like there’s a lack of progress. It’s the same problems, the same hangups, the same stressors. Same job, same classes, same faces. After a while, the sameness will drive you crazy, grinding you down to nothing. And this, my friends, is the bane of January. It’s the long haul. It’s the stretch of icy-cold boringness that seems to stretch into forever. There’s little of note on the horizon, no major holidays (Valentine’s Day is NOT a major holiday), no exciting anything. Just grayish whiteness.
And in case you’re wondering, yes, it snowed again today. Spring just needs to get here. ASAP.
Anyway, I’ve posted a poem that’s related to all this. Enjoy.
Posted on January 28th, 2008 by Nate.
Categories: Towering Intellects.
“So you’re saying that girls are more emotionally gropative?”
-Scott Wilkes, Roommate Extrordinaire
Posted on January 27th, 2008 by Nate.
Categories: Towering Intellects.
I feel like I’ve known President Gordon B. Hinckley all my life. My earliest memories of General Conference are of him, and I’ve always felt a special bond with and appreciation for him. I loved his humor, his wit, his confidence, and I’ve often aspired to be like him. I’ve read his books, watched his interviews, listened to his talks. And I can stand here today and tell you that surely, this was a man of God.
Posted on January 25th, 2008 by Nate.
Categories: General.
Friends of the blog (all two of you) might have noticed that the blog was down for a bit this evening. Don’t even worry about it, it was just me banging on some stuff under the hood so that I could announce that I’m officially running on the latest version of Wordpress. That’s right, I now have all the bells and whistles and hacker-proof-ness that my fellow Wordpress users have been enjoying for MONTHS! Yeah, I know, it’s been a while. Now we return you to your regularly scheduled programming.
Tags: wordpress, upgrade, hallelujah