Brian On _______

"Truth has nothing to fear from conflict."
- Thomas Jefferson

"SMALL, LOCAL, OLD and PARTICULAR are almost always better than BIG, GLOBAL, NEW and ABSTRACT."

A Christmas Carol for the Year of Our Lord (Anno Domine), 2007

On this night of hope and salvation
One child lies embraced in a dream
Where each man regardless of station this night can now be redeemed

Where every man regardless of his nation, ancestral relation
On this night the past can fly away
And that dream we've dreamed most
That every child is held close
On this night that dream won't be betrayed

All as one! Raise your voices! Raise your voices!
All as one! All! Raise your voices!Raise your voices!
All rejoice! Anno Domine!

I hate lying.
I hate scheming.
I hate false naivete.
I hate deception.
I hate battingling egos.
I hate feigned modesty.
I hate conspriracy.
I hate innuendo.
I hate wolves in sheeps clothing.
I hate half-truths.
I hate intentional ommissions of fact.
I hate witch hunts.
I hate it when people automatically assume the worst about actions and motives.
I hate it when people knowingly twist the truth.
I hate clandetine attempts to gain personal glory or fame.
I hate lying.

I'm not a theologian and I do not claim to be able to correctly interpret John 8:32. Still, I'll take my best shot at "You will know the truth and the truth shall set you free."

I've always thought this an excellent verse to live by as a journalist. One of my fellow jouralism majors at OBU told me that here truth was metaphor for Jesus (after all, Jesus does refer to himself as "the way, the truth and the life" (John 14:6) and Jesus can set us free). I maintain the "truth" refers to the Gospel and God's Word and therefor I think it applies to all truth in general, since the Gospel is literally nothing if not true. Therefor as a Christian and journalist, I should strive for nothing less that 100 percent prime choice USDA certified grade-A TRUTH.

All that to restate my first point. I hate lying. Truely (ha!), honesty is the best policy according to God. Not only is lying the direct opposite of honesty, it's explicitly forbidden by the ninth commandment. Is it any wonder Satan is somtimes called "The Deceiver?"

It's sad day when people you know cling to lies with grips so firm their mental knuckles turn white and they begin to sincerely believe their own lies. It's even worse when they've been decieved (by Satan or something less malevolent) and they velieve they know what is best for leading Kingdom work.

There. I said it. It's not too well thought out or organized but you get the picture.

I HATE LYING!

It is widely accepted among theologians that among God's better (yet more unknown) gifts to mankind is... 2-in-1 Shampoo + Conditioner.

To ask for anything more would be ungrateful and potentially blasphemous.

But lo, God, in His infinite wisdom, has deemed mankind ready to handle...

I don't know if I can wait until 2016 for my Richard Nixon coin.
Seriously.

Happy Trails, Curly

Jack Palance, one of the best character actors cinema has ever known, died this weekend. He was 87. He was a man, and by "man" I mean MAN.

He had a tremendously smoky voice that just oozed that Western American version of machismo. How much of a man was he? When he won his one and only Oscar in 1992, he accepted his award, put in down the stage, dropped to the floor himself and amazed the audience with 20 one-armed pushups. HE WAS 73!

Oddly my first and most vivid memory of Jack was in a commercial for Skin Bracer aftershave. Actually, I remember it more becuase it was the first time I'd ever heard the word "sexy." And no, there's nothing gay about making that association.

"Confidence is very sexy... don't you think?" (go about 3/4 down to "skin bracer").

Yes, Jack. I do.