kjstjohn's Comments (614)

“I like secular Christmas.
Most Americans under 15 and over 30 need more parties, not fewer.
Secular Christmas, despite its excesses, is one big (mostly) happy party.

Spiritual Christmas is a different story.

Spiritual Christmas should be a war on the sappiness that currently passes for Spiritual Christmas.

Jesus was not a sweet soul. He commanded love but the love he advocated (e.g., for the unclean and for enemies) was painful and unnatural. He was not a domesticated family man. He was not a patriot. He did not value physical or economic security. Or self-sufficiency. Or piety.
Jesus was dispossessed. He was scandalous. He was seditious. He was executed because of the foregoing.

If Spiritual Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus, let it honor what Jesus was about: convoluting the world. Turn off Faith Hill's Christmas special. Turn off the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Turn off all the shiny people. Honor, instead, the spirit of discontent that impregnates our souls with truth and defiance. Praise the angry. Praise the impatient. Praise the alienated. Praise the cynics.
And if you love Jesus with abandon, perhaps even give your heart utterly and completely (as I have) to an atheist.”

“I presume you mean you are sorry you voted for Obama in the primaries because the thought that the Republican ticket would have performed better than Obama during the last ten months borders on ludicrous.

I agree that the focus on employment has been inadequate.”

“Cosign”

“A superb analogy.”

“Prove either of your assertions and I will eat that cigarette your avatar is smoking.”

“I do not read Greek but I have read that in the phrase "the kingdom of heaven is within you," the word "you" is plural, not singular.

I wonder if you have not hit the nail on the head, KO. There are not enough life-enhancing female friendships for too many women. When we are young, our husbands and children and colleagues fill our needs to such an enormous extent. By middle age, most of us have drifted far away from the girl friends who shared our lives in high school and in college. And, if we work, we are probably not close to our women neighbors.

I found myself at age 50 wanting to reconnect with my old friends and to form new friendships now that I actually have the time to maintain them.

I look forward to seeing what answers are proposed. Probably, my answer is not the correct one because it is not sufficiently cross-cultural.”

“Hi, Min. I enjoyed the post as well.”

“I have wonderful memories of visiting a Catholic girl friend's home. That was the first time I ever ate potato tacos or hot dogs wrapped in a corn tortilla and deep fried. Yum.

I did not accept Catholicism based on the kindness of my friend's family.

The loss of your Catholic friend must have been truly hurtful but I think your rejection of religion had bases other than the unkindness of the grandmother.”

“Of course I see a problem with the government taking over GM. But it you study history, and in particular WWII history, you will also see a big problem with the nation losing a significant part of its manufacturing capacity--which would need to be devoted to tanks and other vehicles in the event of another widespread conflagration.

As for the banks, I see a problem with that too, but as a non-economist is it not better to rely on the consensus of economic experts who say that if we did not act as we did, the world would plunge into a depression? I understand that the minority view (which disagrees with the common wisdom) may be right, but as a non-expert, why should I trust them more than the majority of experts?”

“Thus far, our constitutional jurisprudence has prohibited the criminalization of status. For example, it is unconstitutional to criminalize the mere status of being a drug addict or an alcoholic.

I suspect your suggestion is not serious as it is horrific.”

“You are right, greatanger. The one thing I left out of my list of advantages above is that I have a normal metabolism. That is almost certainly the most important advantage of all.”

“Black women have about twice the obesity rates that black men have. You think the men are more virtuous than the women?”

“Absolutely. So many people compare the cost of good food to the high price of potato chips. The poor people I know eat Ramen noodles and $1 double cheeseburgers, not potato chips.”

“I can see it now. Thousands of women who gained weight during their pregnancies, not losing fast enough and struggling with post-partum depression, and the government slaps a tax on them. Millions more, going through menopause, feeling completely out of whack and eating to compensate, and the government slaps a tax on them. Why not just slap a tax on women and call it a day?

I think I have a better idea. How about funding community pools, parks, and bicycle and walking paths? How about putting calorie and fat information next to every menu item on menus? How about involving nutritionists in people's healthcare, not just doctors who prescribe pills? How about incentivizing employers who provide exercise opportunities for employees?

I control my weight through hard work but I also have advantages. I belong to a gym. I live close to a beautiful river walk. When I am rushed or exhausted from my work-out, I have enough money to buy a $7 low-fat meal of mostly vegetables, rather than a $3 meal of a burger and fries. I live close to grocery stores that are abundant in fresh fruits and vegetables. I am not depressed. I am not a care-giver. And, I am well educated.

So get off this idea that slim people are more virtuous than fat people. Nobody wants to be fat. Nearly everybody would rather have a more healthful lifestyle and possess the motivation to take good care of him- or herself.”

“What a fascinating article. For some time, I have been creating a fictitious female character in my mind whom I would like to be an evolving serial character within a spiritual setting. I do not know why but I imagine this character as homely--perhaps even ugly.

Female beauty is, for most women, such a psychic trap--whether it be the trap of angelicism, the trap of the predatory sexual vixen, and/or the trap of the sexual object. My homely female character is so refreshingly free of these cultural(?) snares.

Also interesting is that I imagine my character as childless and divorced. And, to a certain extent, lonely and sublimating not just her libido but also her maternal and uxorial urges and, as a result, developing an ever-growing sense of fraternity / sorority.

Perhaps that is the blessing of aging--to be freed from the limitations of female beauty and maternity in order to realize ones humanity more completely.”

“Wow, where is your sense of compassion for Jessica45? Or for any of these parents trying to find answers for their sick children?”

“Isn't it sad I had to diagnose something as basic as a food intolerance myself? (I did not take my daughter to an "alternative medicine" doctor. I read about how to do an elimination diet in a book.)

Considering that my daughter had stomach problems since infancy, why didn't her pediatrician advise me about diet? I talked to my brother (also a pediatrician) about my daughter. He said, "It is extremely rare for a child to have problems due to an environmental cause." I asked him where he learned that. He said, "Med School."

I don't know anything about autism but I have to ask myself, "what in the world is going on here?"”

“You make some excellent points but concerned parents don't always have the time for the medical community to come to a consensus.

I am very grateful that none of my children were autistic but one did have symptoms when she was young such as stomach aches, constant whining, and poor attention span. Visits to her doctor for years did nothing. When my daughter was six, I finally went the route of "alternative medicine" and I did so based purely on anecdotal evidence. I did an elimination diet and determined through repeated experimentation that whenever she had corn syrup she was, within a few minutes, writhing in pain. I cut out all corn syrup in her diet and all of the symptoms that she had suffered since infancy disappeared. She went from being a below average student in kindergarten to being an above average student in the first grade. She is now a senior in college.

Had I waited for peer reviewed studies to inform my daughter's pediatrician about how to diagnose and treat my daughter, she may have had a very different life.”

“The Salon article does not seem responsive to Dr. Hyman's key argument that many intractable diseases and disorders such as autism are systemic in nature. I would expect a balanced review of Dr. Hyman's work to address both the positive and the negative aspects of Dr. Hyman's treatment philosophy.”

“IA quick review of a few internet articles revealed that there are credible scientists who say more research is needed to rule out the link between vaccines and autism. My review also indicated that the MSM is not reporting credible information that might cast doubt on the current thinking.

Furthermore, I discern a huge financial reason why the federal government would not be in favor of complete clarity in this matter. If a link were proven, the federal government would have to pay billions of dollars to children who have been injured by vaccines.

A court has found that vaccines contributed to autism in a child who had certain genetic predispositions. How in the world have vaccines have contributed to austism in ANY child if there is NO link? It appears that there is a link--at least for some children.

I think that it is in the country's best interest for children to be vaccinated until there is more information about why certain children may be at risk from vaccines but I see a risk that penetrating research and analysis in this area of medicine will be discouraged if not suppressed. I also see a risk that decisions will be made "in the best interest of the country" without taking care of the individuals who are harmed in the process.”

“Your post about the walnut tree reminded me of the hazelnut of Julian of Norwich. Also Saint Francis who prayed with birds.

You are in good company among Catholics such as Julian of Norwich and Saint Francis. You were not in good company with your so-called "spirituality" group.”

“I am so sorry for the people whose hopes have been falsely raised, and pockets who have been emptied, by false cures. Also tragic is your statement "Unfortunately, standard medicine ignores autistic children largely."”

“I have an intellectually bright nephew who did not respond well enough to treatment for ADDHD to be successful in a traditional classroom. I always wondered why the district did not try (for willing parents) to put such children in a setting involving intense physical activity.”

“Hey, MNmommy. It is good to hear that your children are doing so well. :-)”

“I think it is natural and normal for parents to try to do whatever they can to try to help a sick child. I understand the argument that resources need to be allocated wisely among all of our children be they special needs, normal, or gifted. But my heart goes out to the desperate parents of desperately disabled children.”