In Repair » Brian

The Real Enemy

Brian — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 02:50:32 +0000

Many years ago, I remember waiting anxiously for Sinead O’Connor’s performance on Saturday Night Live. A coworker had loaned me a cassette tape of her album titled I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got a while earlier, and I had been hooked ever since. The bald head, the enormous doe eyes, the quivering but powerful voice; this appearance in front of a huge national audience would certainly solidify her place in pop history. Moments later, I was dumbfounded as she sang of child abuse and angrily exclaimed, “Fight the real enemy!” while ripping a photograph of the pope to shreds (video). The deafening silence that greeted her as NBC faded to commercial was an ominous glimpse of what was to come. In less than four minutes, Sinead had plummeted from superstar to one of the most reviled pop singers in the world.

The fallout was still evident days later when she was scheduled to perform a tribute to Bob Dylan. As Sinead took the stage to sing “I Believe In You,” a song about faith, she was booed for several minutes (video). In a chill-inducing gesture of defiance, she again launched into “War.” This was clearly a woman on a mission.

Now, some eighteen years later, it seems that the singer once labeled “blasphemous” knew what she was singing about. We have been bombarded month after month by stories of sexual abuse and coverups by the largest Christian denomination on earth. The Catholic church has paid out billions of dollars to settle cases with alleged victims, and the efforts to keep said cases under wraps seems to have went as high as the Vatican.

In a recent posting on her website, Sinead addressed a papal letter that instructed Catholics to return to the Church.

The Pope’s letter repeatedly suggests that for the the healing of victims and our nation, we should return to the church, and claims the church is the only avenue through which we may be in a relationship with Christ, which is a blasphemy in my opinion.

Why should we remain or return to a relationship with an organiation which has so little respect for its victims or the rest of us, that it keeps lying to our faces and treating us like half-wits, which we are if we let them get away with it?

We are in an extremely dysfunctional relationship with an organization which is actually still abusing all of us.

Three weeks ago we were told by the bishop of Ferns, that it was our “God given duty” to help them pay their legal bills and compensation to victims!

We were told it would be “unchristian” of us not to do so.

We were told it would be “in the interests of the future welfare of children” for us to cough up, along with all our little old ladies and gentlemen.

This is abuse.

The only way the victims or the rest of us will get that confession is by boycotting them in order to bring them to their knees. And not go back unless they fully confess.

If they don’t confess they are finished. It is only a matter of time.

Confession is their one slim chance of survival.

The fact is, we don’t need them to get to God, or to have a relationship with Jesus.

We never did need them.

And the beautiful position we are now in, is that they need us.

We should illustrate this fact, all caring catholic people, by boycotting them until they confess and show palpable remorse.

I believe Sinead was a prophetess sent to reveal an ugly truth, and much like the prophets of old, she was ridiculed, mistreated, and maligned for her honesty. It’s a shame that more of us weren’t listening back then when it might have made a difference.

Attitude Is Everything

Brian — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:29:34 +0000

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home.

“The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you… we are in charge of our attitudes.” – Charles Swindoll

Just As I Am

Brian — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:30:08 +0000

I have long loved the hymn “Just As I Am.” Although it was often overused at the Christian school that I attended as a child, I loved the simplicity of the melody and the message. As we sang the lyrics this past Sunday during worship, one of the verses jumped out at me, and I was surprised that I hadn’t noticed the refreshing honesty in the words before.

Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt
Fighting and fears within, without
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

It’s unusual to find such conflicted feelings about faith tucked inside an age-old hymn, but it immediately connected me with the writer (Charlotte Elliott). Despite all of my shortcomings, it’s comforting to know that Christ accepts me just as I am.

Michael Jackson’s Final Day

Brian — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 16:57:04 +0000

Last night, while searching for images of Michael Jackson, I stumbled across this one taken shortly before his death. He was being fitted with part of the costume that he would be wearing during his scheduled “This Is It” tour. It is easy to see how unhealthy he was, which is why I am often amazed by those close to him claiming that he looked and acted like he felt great. It’s a tragedy that no one intervened to save him from himself.

The Associated Press has created a timeline of Michael Jackson’s last day. Here are the highlights:

Wednesday, June 24, sometime in the afternoon
Michael Jackson came downstairs and joined his children for their last meal together. His chef, Kai Chase, had prepared a light meal of seared tuna, organic salad, and juice, because Michael wanted something light before his planned rehearsal later in the day. According to Chase, Michael was in a great mood, looked well, smiled, joined in a prayer, and said, “Thank you, God bless you.”

Wednesday, June 24, 7pm
Michael left his rented mansion in an Escalade driven by his bodyguard and traveled to the Staples Center, where he reheared several songs, including “Billie Jean,” “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” and “Smooth Criminal.” He also rehearsed “Thriller” in full costume for the first time. Everyone involved said he was in good shape physically and very excited about the technical aspects of the shows that he would soon be performing in London. Rehearsal ended around midnight. Michael hugged his dancers, thanked everyone, said, “Good night” and “God bless you.”

Thursday, June 25, shortly after midnight
Jackson’s bodyguard remembers seeing Dr. Conrad Murray’s car parked in the driveway as he returned Michael to the mansion. After being escorted to the foot of the stairs, he began complaining of fatigue and saying he needed sleep.

Thursday, June 25, 1:30 am
Dr. Murray claims in a police affidavit that he had been concerned about Michael’s addiction to propofol, and had not given him the drug for two nights. He continued this approach by giving Michael a 10-milligram tablet of Valium.

Thursday, June 25, 2:00 am
Because the Valium had provided no apparent effect, Murray administered 2 milligrams of lorazepam intravaneously.

Thursday, June 25, 3:00 am
Michael still wasn’t able to sleep, so Murray gave him a 2-milligram dose of midazolam.

Thursday, June 25, 5:00 am
Jackson remained awake, so Murray administered 2 milligrams of lorazepam.

Thursday, June 25, 7:30 am
Because Michael was still unable to sleep, Murray injected another 2 milligrams of midazolam. He lay restlessly on his bed, surrounded by several oxygen bottles and a porcelain doll.

Thursday, June 25, 10:40 am
Murray finally relented to Jackson’s repeated demands for propofol, and injected 25 milligrams of the white liquid drug into the IV drip. Murray claims that he remained by Michael’s bedside for 10 minutes, then went to the bathroom. When he returned two minutes later, he found Jackson not breathing.

Thursday, June 25, 11:18-11:51 am
Phone records show that Murray made at least three different phone calls – one to a friend, a patient, and his Las Vegas clinic.

Thursday, June 25, 12:13 pm
Murray left a message with his personal assistant, saying, “Call me right away, call me right away.” When Williams returned his call, he said, “Get here right away. Mr. Jackson had a bad reaction.”

Williams called a security guard, who rushed upstairs to find Jackson lying on the bed with his eyes and mouth open and his arms outstretched. Murray was administering CPR with one hand.

Michael’s two oldest children, Prince and Paris, entered the room and began crying before being quickly escorted outside.

Murray instructed the security guard to pick up vials with rubber tops and place them in a bag. After completing this task, Murray told the guard to call 911.

Thursday, June 25, 12:27 pm
Paramedics arrived and noted that Jackson had no pulse and wasn’t breathing. Murray claimed that he could still feel a pulse in Michael’s upper thigh area, but no one else was able to feel it.

After unsuccessfully completing two rounds of resuscitation attempts, the paramedics wanted to discontinue treatment. Murray insisted that it continue in the ambulance.

Thursday, June 25, 1:07 pm
Jackson was driven to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where doctors went so far as inserting a balloon pump into his body to circulate blood.

Thursday, June 25, 2:26 pm
Jackson was pronounced dead. Murray began crying, told Michael’s children that their father had died, and asked to return to the house. Michael’s security team advised against it, but Murray indicated he would take a cab.

Source

I Believe…

Brian — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 15:19:55 +0000

I believe the human mind is incapable of comprehending God or the universe, and religion is our (often) pathetic attempt to package what we don’t understand in order to make it fit for human consumption. God is LOVE, so any religion that doesn’t have LOVE as its core focus will never elevate the human race or . . . → Read More: I Believe… Related posts:

Robyn – ‘Dancing On My Own’ Official Video

Brian — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 01:55:16 +0000

Gay guys love dance songs for some reason, which probably explains why I am currently in love with the new single from Robyn. I still have a CD that she released in the 90′s, and I remember listening to it constantly and wondering how a white chick from Sweden could sound so much like a girl from the ghetto.

Blah, Blah, Blog

Brian — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 23:39:56 +0000

Just realized that I’ve been blogging for four years. Holy mackerel.

Related posts:Long Time, No Post After All And . . . → Read More: Blah, Blah, Blog Related posts:

Hiding Behind The Bible

Brian — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:07:29 +0000

LZ Granderson currently has an article featured on CNN titled “Anti-gays hide their bias behind the Bible” – a very interesting look at how many Christians pick and choose which sins are worthy of stones. One paragraph in particular struck me as I read, perhaps because I feel exactly the same way.

I am never ashamed to say I follow the teachings of Christ, but I am not always proud to say I am a Christian. That’s because I am bothered by the continual mutilation of my religion’s basic principle of love by the extremists in my religion who construct a hierarchy of sin — which does not exist in the Bible — for no other reason than to protect their own prejudices.

Read the entire article here.

P.S. I really, really wanted to post this on Facebook, but I’m always concerned with offending someone on my friend list. And I use the word friend loosely.

Michael Jackson Quote Addressing Gay Rumors

Brian — Fri, 28 May 2010 15:40:13 +0000

“I know it’s not true, so it doesn’t bother me. I’m sure we must have plenty of fans who are gay. That doesn’t bother me in the slightest, but I’m not gay.” – Michael Jackson in an interview with Steven Ivory, 1978

*Not that it matters either way, I just find this stuff really interesting. ;)

Life Needs An ‘Undo’ Button

Brian — Mon, 24 May 2010 19:32:05 +0000

Life Needs An “Undo” Button By Brian

If life had an “undo” button Oh, how easy it would be To never have to worry About which path was right for me.

I could leap without looking; Never consult with an advisor. I could make mistakes so freely And no one would be the wiser.

If I messed up, if I flubbed up, If I screwed up royally, I’d . . . → Read More: Life Needs An ‘Undo’ Button Related posts: