John Masters, Author at Deep Something

Republicans Resort Again to Swiftboating

July 25, 2015July 25, 2015 B. John 614 Views 0 Comments Hero, John McCain, John Kerry, POW, Donald Trump, Swift-boating, Max Cleland, Saxby Chambliss

“Swift-boating” is a neologism used pejoratively to describe an unfair or untrue political attack. We started using it during the 2004 presidential campaign when an astro-turf group, Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, set out to wreck John Kerry’s campaign based on their false claim that he hadn’t earned a purple heart he had received. Now, Donald Trump has taken on the mantel of swift-boater in attacking John McCain’s status as a Vietnam War Hero. It’s a sad state that the preferred attack in this country, when you’ve not bothered to serve yourself, is to attack people who have sacrificed and served. But it has a long history. More sad is that fact that it seems to work, and voters buy into it, all while claiming to “support the troops.”

Featured Religion Society Right Wingnuts

The Literal Inerrant Bible

July 22, 2015September 29, 2018 B. John 666 Views 0 Comments Bible, Evangelical, Mike Huckabee, Old Testament, Chronicles, Hebrew Bible, Inerrancy, christian

As the teacher of an Adult Sunday School for a few years now, I’ve had to do a lot of study, and while I’m not biblical scholar, there is one things I am absolutely certain about…the Bible is not literal nor is it inerrant. There, I said it. It doesn’t mean I don’t respect the Bible as Holy Canon, but it could not be applied to our lives today were it to be taken literally. A video by Mike Huckabee makes that point.

Society Gay Issues Methodism Featured Religion

Letter to Bishop Kiesey of the Michigan Area

July 20, 2015July 20, 2015 B. John 1730 Views 1 Comment Bruce Toms, Ken Carter, Rev. Benjamin Hutchison, Deborah Lieder Kiesey, Palma Ceia United Methodist Church, Michigan Area Annual Conference, Cassopolis United Methodist Church

This entry is in the series Daily Douche-Bag

Recently, a small church in Michigan, Cassopolis United Methodist, had their church Pastor, Rev. Benjamin Hutchison, taken away from them. Was it because of poor attendance, hardly, he had quadrupled the membership since being appointed. He saved the church from dying according to many members. His crime, he was in a long-term committed relationship with another man. Just after that, nearly 30 United Methodist pastors joined in a celebrating a wedding ceremony for Rev. Hutchison and his husband, and now, to further hammer home her distaste for love, Bishop Deborah Lieder Kiesey has picked out nine of them for prosecution under church law. Here’s my letter to Bishop Kiesey:

Featured Society Crime

National Box Cutter Association

June 26, 2015 B. John 1173 Views 0 Comments Gun Control, NRA, Box cutters, Charleston, 9/11

I find common ground with the Ammosexuals as they try to use a snarky graphic, and all it does is make the point in favor of reasonable gun control.

Culture Featured Society

A Brief Comment on Rachel Dolezal’s Story

June 16, 2015June 16, 2015 B. John 555 Views 0 Comments Race, Rachel Dolezal, Catlyn Jenner, Gender

Talk about one’s 15 minutes of fame. This Rachel Dolezal has created quite the discussion, and perhaps it is a worthwhile discussion. I heard one African-American woman say that Dolezal wasn’t qualified to be a leader in the black community, because she hasn’t “lived the life.” Well, most certainly she didn’t live the life of an African-American in her early years, but it seems she’s identified as African-American for some time, and did so well enough to fool pretty much everyone. So, perhaps she does have some experience in that life.

Right Wingnuts Featured Religion Society Gay Issues

An Open Letter to Franklin Graham

June 15, 2015September 29, 2018 B. John 724 Views 0 Comments Franklin Graham, Robert Jefress, Tony Perkins, Maggie Gallagher, Brian Brown, Bryan Fischer

It’s time we had a little talk, you and me. I know this whole idea that gay people (and all the LBT rest of them) might be starting to get some equal rights bothers you tremendously. I can’t figure out any sort of leap of logic that makes this such a big issue for you, unless, of course it somehow affects you directly. At some point, you’ve got to meet God halfway. You can’t create him in your image, nor imbibe him with your character flaws. If God hates all the same people you do, you have created a god in your own image, and are not worshiping the God of Abraham.

Society Gay Issues Featured

Another Cause of Homosexuality Unveiled

June 14, 2015June 15, 2015 B. John 1470 Views 3 Comments Immunizations, evangelicals, LGBT

This entry is in the series Causes of The Gay

Based on a comment in response to a Facebook post, ” There are those who think it is a side effect of some childhood immunizations or combinations thereof.” This has to be one of the most unique I can think of. Let’s start with a number of problems with this, from the most recent working back into time.

Movies

Movie Review – Fox Catcher

June 7, 2015June 6, 2015 B. John 1694 Views 0 Comments Sienna Miller, Drama, Biography, Mark Ruffalo, Sport, Steve Carell, Bennett Miller, E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman, Channing Tatum

Based on true events, Foxcatcher tells the dark and fascinating story of the unlikely and ultimately tragic relationship between an eccentric multi-millionaire and two champion wrestlers. When Olympic Gold Medal winning wrestler Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) is invited by wealthy heir John du Pont (Steve Carell) to move on to the du Pont estate and help form a team to train for the 1988 Seoul Olympics at his new state-of-the-art training facility. This is one to watch if you haven’t already.

Culture Movies

Movie Review – Mad Max: Fury Road

June 7, 2015 B. John 730 Views 0 Comments Hugh Keays-Byrne, Action, Josh Helman, Adventure, Nathan Jones, Sci-Fi, Zoe Kravitz, Rosie Huntingon-Whiteley, Tom Hardy, George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, Nick Lathouris, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult

An apocalyptic story set in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and almost everyone is fighting for the necessities of life, especially water. I was surprised at how much I actually liked it. I was set for the disappointment that sequels usually bring. However, Mad Max: Fury Road is a visually stunning work by George Miller.

Movies

Movie Review – Ex Machini

June 6, 2015June 6, 2015 B. John 535 Views 0 Comments Alicia Vikander, Drama, Sci-Fi, Oscar Isaac, Corey Johnson, Alex Garland, Domhnall Gleeson

Caleb, a 26 year old coder at the world’s largest internet company, wins a competition to spend a week at a private mountain retreat belonging to Nathan, the reclusive CEO of the company. But when Caleb arrives at the remote location he finds that he will have to participate in a strange and fascinating experiment in which he must interact with the world’s first true artificial intelligence, housed in the body of a beautiful robot girl. Watch this movie, it’s weird, it’s claustrophobic, it will suck you in, and it will make you stop and think.

Culture Movies

Movie Review – Interstellar

June 6, 2015 B. John 585 Views 0 Comments Mackenzie Foy, Adventure, Matt Daymon, Sci-Fi, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway, Christopher Nolan, Matthew McConaughey, John Lithgow, Jonathan Nolan, Ellen Burstyn

In the near future, Earth has been devastated by drought and famine, causing a scarcity in food and extreme changes in climate. When humanity is facing extinction, a mysterious rip in the space-time continuum is discovered, giving mankind the opportunity to widen its lifespan. A group of explorers must travel beyond our solar system in search of a planet that can sustain life. I watched this one afternoon a few weeks ago on Amazon Streaming. I would like to have seen it in iMax. It was a very good movie. Well worth watching.