Called on to Renounce Religion

Mitt Romney was recently called on by Rev. O'Neal Dozier to renounce his Mormon religion because, as he asserts it is a "racist" religion.  I want to assume for this entry that whatever the reverend says is correct.  Aside from the assumptions that Mormonism is racist due to its the timing of allowing African Americans to receive the priesthood, and that racism is bad, the reverend must also assume that people should not affiliate with organizations or entities that are racist.  I say this because without that assumption there would be no logical connection between his assumptions about the church and his call for Mitt Romney to renounce his religion.

So, since I am making all the same assumptions as Rev. Dozier, I would have to request that everyone who is associated with anything that ever was racist, must renounce that organization.  Which would mean that every single American should renounce our nation.  Why?  Because our nation was racist.  African Americans were counted as property, they were slaves.  Since, to Rev. Dozier, people should not affiliate with organizations that were racist, nobody should be affiliated with the United States.

Does that seem right?  No, it doesn't.  Not to me at least.  As the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints  has commented, there is no identifiable reason for why the church did not permit African Americans to have the priesthood until 1978.  I do not believe the church is racist, so I think the reverends request is absurd, but I also think that his request is absurd because it doesn't make sense, as described above.

Physical Activity

This week has been intense.  I played church basketball on Tuesday night, flag football practice on Wednesday night, intramural basketball Thursday night, and flag football Friday night (tonight).  What I have found interesting is that all of the activity is not making me any more tired.  In fact, right now, an hour after finishing the game, I find that I have tons of energy and a frame of mind set on being productive.  Normally, on Friday night, I would just sit and browse the web.  Instead, I am writing in my blog and I want to do homework after watching a tv show with my wife.

The takeaway is: if you want to do more, include physical activity in your daily routine.  Hopefully, you will have more energy and more focus.

Rules On The Fly Rule

I see an interesting phenomena among children, childlike adults, and members of church league sports.  That phenomena is players making up rules as you go.  Just a few weeks ago, a couple of adults were arguing about who got to take the ball to start the next basketball game.  

Man 1: We get the ball because the team coming in gets it.

Man 2: Why would we do that?  We've never done that.  The winner always gets the ball.

Man 1: We've always let the team coming in get the ball.

Man 2: (Louder) No we haven't

...

I'm gonna stop there because I think you get the gist.

Sometimes this phenomena can be annoying, but today I saw my kids do it and I thought it was great.  Their mother made, and their grandmother taught them how to play, hopscotch.  Each time they hopped down to the end (number 9 on ours) they would run to the end of the room and then come back.  I thought this was great, because it meant more exercise, less fighting, and more diversion.  

So the take-away for this entry is: Making up rules on the fly can be a good thing, unless you are annoying.  Learn which one you are and act accordingly.