What do you call a man who over-prepares for everything?
Justin Case.
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Leviticus 18:22 “You shall not lie with a man as a woman, that is an abomination.”
Leviticus 20:13 “If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.”
Romans 1:26 – 1:27 “Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men,and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.”
So that’s only three times when you’re told in The Bible that homosexual inclinations are immoral. Now, the majority of Christians living today do not follow every single rule in The Bible, their viewpoint is, I imagine (I don’t know all that much about it), that there are several true and important moral laws given by God in the Bible, but that they’re lost amongst some laws of ancient peoples which no longer apply. Since the Leviticus quotes come from so close to one another, you could easily count them as being a single thing, you basically only have two points where it is suggested homosexuality is wrong. Two references hardly seems enough for this rule to have any significance. If two references was the amount needed for something to be identified as ture moral laws, eating figs would be even more immoral:
Romans 1:26 – 1:27 “The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.”
Jeremiah 29:17 – “yes, this is what the LORD Almighty says: “I will send the sword, famine and plague against them and I will make them like figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten.”
Matthew 21:18 and 21:20 – “Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. 19 Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.
20 When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.”
I wish I could say I’d made this observation myself, but this point is not my own. Another thing which is definitely not widely accepted by Christianity is God’s lack of omnipotence, though following the idea that two mentions means it’s true, God certainly does have one very big weakness:
Judges 1:19 “And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron.”
Joshua 17:17 – 17:18 “. But the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong.” (which isn’t explicitly saying that God cannot defeat them, but Joshua seems to be mentioning the fact that God had previously had a problem with iron chariots).
So, as you can see, it’s rather hard to understand why some Christians have an issue with homosexuality. This seems especially true when you consider that God seems to condemn all kinds of sexual activities that do not directly produce babies, which the majority of heterosexual intercourse does not, yet there isn’t such large objections to any of that. Indeed the Bible even features the characters David and Jonathan, two people who’re very close indeed, often telling each other how much they love each other, kissing, hugging etc, and several people believe that these people are supposed to be gay, but there relationship is not once condemned. So if God’s hate of figs, God’s iron chariot weakness, the command to kill all people who do not worship God and to kill those who work on Sunday (I apologise for not quoting these, but this is already a fairly long entry and the quotes are hard to find) are all ancient laws which no longer apply, why is God’s hatred of homosexuality still believed today? It seems to me that The Bible seems to reveal things about those who read it, a good person might read it and become very kind, charitable and try and follow all the rules for loving other people, while a bad person might read it and harass all the groups of people The Bible disagrees with.
Unfortunately, it seems that Shakespeare’s plays all have the reputation to being uninteresting to anybody who isn’t a scholar, but this is definitely not the case with Richard III. The story features easily understood humour and is an enjoyable read.
The story is mainly just the true story of Richard’s rise to the throne and then what he did during his reign as king. While this may not be the most historically accurate piece of writing, it still gives you a rough view of Richard’s life (or, at least, a rough view of the main events in his life). The character Richard is definitely the main appeal of this play, while all the other characters are rather unintelligent and worrisome; Richard is portrayed as somewhere between the lines of an evil villain and an anti-hero, loosely similar to Blackadder in a way. While the morals of the historical Richard are somewhat ambiguous at best, the way he is portrayed here is very amusing; his rude remarks to people he dislikes are really quite funny. There’s also a touch of paranormal thrown into the play, something which, obviously, there is no evidence of occurring in real life, but this should be read as something to be enjoyed first and something to learn from second.
On the whole, this was a good read. Although, a couple of times, the archaic language did make a couple of the events hard to understand and mean that a couple of pages had to be reread (which is never very fun) it’s mostly easy to understand with humour throughout… despite being a historical tragedy.
I give it an 8/10.
Alex
He’s my pen pal from China. This may seem bad, but I don’t actually know his last name and hence he’s only listed here as Alex. The first male on Omegle to keep in contact with me who wasn’t some raging pervert and somebody who I can always be sure to have a nice interesting conversation with. I also get to learn about something about life in China which I’d otherwise never know. Despite not being totally fluent in English, he’s still taken the time to read this blog, which is very kind indeed.
Naomi Brennan
Initially somebody I would call a ‘friend of a friend’ at university, but now I’d quite happily say that they were my friend! She had the quite ingenious idea of creating a private work shopping page for writing on Facebook, a place where several of these blog entries have taken shape! Also always very generously gives useful writing feedback to pretty much anyone and I doubt that many would dispute generosity as a virtue!
Tonicha Cottle
For just over a year, I worked at The Corsham School as an MDSA. Sure, during my time there children took my money, rubbed snotty tissues on me and other such playful pranks, but none of that particularly bothered me. The best thing about working there was that I befriended Tonicha, somebody who’d always stop and have a nice quick little chat with me, something which was greatly appriciated on the busy, less fun, days. The fact that she always seemed so happy was very good too; it’s always great to talk with a jolly person! Thanks to the internet, I still get to talk with Tonicha from time to time and she very generously takes the time to read some of my short stories every now and then.
Devna Desai
One of the few females I met on Omegle who was kind enough not to take off all her clothes. Always seems to be full of a very bubbly optimism, something which I think is a very good trait! I get to learn more about the average teenager’s lifestyle in America from her, and also several facts about Hinduism (she’s a Hindu) and since I’m very interested in religion, I’m also rather interested in what she has to say. I’m also quite amused that my somewhat bizarre blog appeals to a perfectly normal American teenager who doesn’t know me in real life.
Elti
My first pen pal, and the person who introduced me to the Baha’i Faith, a religion which I’d never even heard of before and one which I’m finding very interesting each time she gives me a little nugget of information about it! Other than that, I think all I can say is that she seems to be a very kind person, since my first email to her, she’s always given me long and interesting things to read, and always very enthusiastically too, So it’s always a pleasure to see a message from her sitting in my inbox!
Elliott Egan
A good friend of mine, somebody who I became especially close to during my time in The Corsham School’s Sixth Form (a pretty wickedsick time altogether actually!). If you regularly read this blog, you might have noticed that he’s the person who I mention the most frequently (he’s in around 1/10 of all my posts on here). He very kindly allows me to write about his drunken antics on here and is just generally a very good humoured and laid back person, both of which are qualities to be praised quite highly!
Davey Hamlen
My oldest friend (not physically, he’s the oldest in the sense that I’ve known him the longest). I’ve known him since around the start of my time in primary school, and I have to say, I’m really very happy that the pair of us have managed to remain friends for such a long time. He’s an intelligent person with a good sense of humour; it’s always nice to see him again during university holidays.
Mairi Mac Arthur
A person who started out as an internet friend and then became a real life friend! Several years ago I joined some website or another where strangers add you and I put in my description that I was only interested in adding people who’d be interested in reading my writing. While Mairi is a very busy person (she’s usually revising for exams, doing charity work, diving or other such self-enriching activities) but from time to time she’s still able to read my stories and blog entries and to give me useful feedback. Plus, she showed this website to her Mum, who also read an entry or two, which is pretty cool. Oh and she’s kind of crazy too, which is nice.
Dalfino Madrigal Keyte
The person responsible for the existence of this blog! I remember the day quite well, I was just sitting next to Dalfino in the school’s computer room and then he said “Hey, you should start a blog” and so I made this right on the spot. After a few days I thought I’d probably give up soon, but that was nearly a year ago! I have to thank Dalfino for asking me to start a blog, without that prompt I never would have, and updating this thing is something I get a lot of joy out of. He’s a kind and artistic person and, like Mairi, he’s also kind of crazy (I sometimes wonder who’s crazier, I can never decide). He’s also the person who’s most consistently kept in touch with me after sixth form finished, which is something I’m very pleased with.
Luke Mallison
Now, I have to say, I don’t really know very much about Luke Mallison (having only spoken to him three times), but I can tell you he’s a polite and funny person. Just the other day he approached me, a virtual stranger, just to compliment my blog writing skills and anybody who’d do that must be nice!
George Moore
My second oldest friend who I’ve also known since primary school. For quite a large number of years he, Davey and I would always hang around in a little team of three and get into all kinds of mischief… Heh heh heh. Well, not mischief, but we’d climb into a bush and other dastardly things. Since most people went away to university he’s one of the few people left in Corsham with me, though I still, unfortunately, don’t get to see him all that often, though I still enjoy the times when I do.
Mum
She’s my Mum, so, she does loads of stuff like cleans my clothes and makes my dinner, things I should always be very thankful for. She’s always very encouraging with my writing, being a fairly regular reader of this blog and even willing to read a 50,000 word story I had, which was very kind! She also introduces me to a lot of television programmes and musical artists which I probably otherwise wouldn’t ever have noticed, most significantly, The Waltons, which otherwise I’d probably not even heard of!
Nozomi
A person I met on ChatRoulette over a year ago and have spoken to fairly regularly since. I must admit, she’s another person I don’t know the last name of, but I still enjoy chatting with her. She’s always interested to hear about the goings on in my life and will always politely listen to what I have to say. She’s another person who kindly reads this blog without being fluent in English.
Mike Riches
He’d been somebody I’d known of for a long time, but I didn’t really befriend him until sixth form history lessons. He, along with my good friend Rory, made the boring hours fly by much faster. He’s a very friendly person, he always seems to chat happily with anybody, always very upbeat and often with a rather humorous story about the latest crazy party he’d been too. A generally all round likeable person who anybody could happily chat with.
Bruna Schmitz
She’s another person I don’t know directly; she’s an internet friend of Elliott Egan’s. She left me a very polite comment on my blog and I was quite surprised that she’d taken the time to read it, but the fact that she did, I think, reflects quite well on her.
Matt Smith
A friend of mine who quite sadly moved away to Saudi Arabia. I think he’s back in England now, but I’m not quite sure where… He always gives me interesting little anecdotes about life in Saudi Arabia which I’m always very happy to hear about. Several years ago the pair of us sat next to each other in science lessons, these were always very fun. We’d spend the time secretly calling our teacher a troll. Well… It wasn’t that secret I suppose (huge pictures of trolls are rather conspicuous) but it was all a lot of fun (even for the teacher) and are times I look back at nostalgically.
Stacey
The first friend I made when I started university. Actually, if it weren’t for this blog, I might never have met Stacey, she first contacted me via a comment on my blog which was a very kind thing to do considering I was a stranger. Since then the pair of us have become very close, she managed to persuade me not to stop writing this blog several months ago (when I was considering doing that) and her own polite behaviour and interesting fictional writing are both inspiring to me.
David Tubb
Holy sheesh, imagine Sherlock Holmes in real life. Now imagine Sherlock Holmes in real life with a great sense of humour, and then you have David Tubb. I think I might go to so far as to say he’s the most intelligent person I know. He can do all kinds of clever magic tricks which I can never figure out and seems to have an almost perfect memory. I’m quite glad to have met him, which was also a day when the pair of us saw a magical lute man.
Ben Wood
A very good friend of mine during the majority of my time in school. He always seems to have a kind of jolly disposition, and is very enthusiastic about the majority of things he does. A very kind person, and somebody who I actually used to do some writing with, it was always very fun to write about the bizarre adventures of a pair of eccentric billionaires… Unfortunately though, he, like many others, is somebody I don’t get to see that often due to university, but it’s always nice to meet up during the holidays. He was one of the few encouraging people during the early days of my blog.
There are actually over 147 people who read this blog, so I have definitely missed some people. If I’ve missed you, please tell me and I’ll update this list so that you’re on it too! I feel terribly bad at the thought of missing people out but I know I will have!
What they are:
Nightclubs are places where lots of people go to have dance parties. They play very loud music there, so youâll have to be careful not to hurt your ears (guidelines for ear protection will be given shortly.) Usually you have to pay to come in, and sometimes they’re underground.
What People do There:
Like I said before, people like to go to nightclubs in order to have dance parties. Dancing can be a bit embarrassing though, so you might want to try what I call âThe Gentlemanâs All Purpose Dance Procedureâ which goes as follows: first bend your knees so you go down a little bit, and then unbend them so you go up a bit. This will make it look like your dancing and itâs suitable for any type of music that plays in nightclubs, making you look both hip and cool.
Another thing people like to do in nightclubs is to make new friends. With so many people dancing around, itâs very easy to go up to somebody. Iâve not tried it myself, but I think the best thing to do is to go up to a stranger and say âHello, can we be friends?â some of the lads like to go a step further than this, often hoping to get hugged by some of the girls there.
Finally, people also like to drink a certain kind of drink called âalcoholâ they say it makes their visit to the nightclub more enjoyable.
What itâs Like:
Because there are always so many people in a nightclub, it often feels very crowded. If you take a trip to the dance floor, while following through with your dance procedure, the place will become so crowded that youâll struggle to leave. When there are so many people, it gets very hot in there; you might even have to take off your jacket. Also it is very loud, so maybe bring earplugs or something like a deerstalker cap to cover your ears.
The Risks:
Some people in nightclubs are very dangerous and are not there to make new friends at all. These dangerous individuals at must be avoided at all costs. For example, if you wander out into the middle of the dance floor and start your dance procedure, a strange female might suddenly wrap her arms around you and give you a very tight hug indeed. If this does happen, keep calm and try not to panic. While youâre definitely more scared of her than she is of you, you can still escape this sticky situation. There are two things you can do in this situation. The first is to pretend you didnât notice her, maybe take a Game Boy out of your pocket and start playing Tetris or something.
Unfortunately, this technique doesnât always work, if this is the case itâs time to move to step two. In stage two what you have to do is start shaking around like youâre having some kind of seizure and then the female predator will let go of you to see what youâre doing. Once you are free of the femaleâs grasp you have a brief window of time to escape, the best thing to do is to simply run away as fast as you can to the other side of the club.
But, aside from the predators, another problem can be alcohol consumption by either yourself or your associates. What you may not realise is that alcohol causes a very strange process to happen: Your logical, rational mind is separated from your body, which is then taken over by a destructive, clumsy, fooligan. Once a certain amount of alcohol has been consumed, all you can do is watch through your eyes and despair as your body says and does things you would never naturally do. This can be very dangerous indeed and many scholars would describe it as something akin to a demonic possession, and unfortunately there is nothing at all you can do. You should perhaps find a friend who doesnât consume alcohol and politely ask them to restrain you if you happen to lose your mind.
Conclusion:
Nightclubs may occasionally be fun, but they’re also very dangerous. For a more enjoyable evening you might consider inviting some friends to your house so you can watch a Doctor Who DVD.