Christian Agnostic Closing

Hey all, I'm closing down this blog. I'm blogging regularly for Religion Dispatches now so this place has become a ghost town.

Go here for my blog posts on RD.

Go here to check out all of RD - it's an amazing site!

See you over at RD!

Candace

Great Moments in Forgiveness

Remember when John Lennon said the Beatles were bigger than Jesus? Well, the pope finally gets it.

"The remark by John Lennon, which triggered deep indignation mainly in the United States, after many years sounds only like a 'boast' by a young working-class Englishman faced with unexpected success, after growing up in the legend of Elvis and rock and roll," Vatican daily Osservatore Romano said.

No shit, Sherlock. That's what he meant in 1966 and if the church could get it's collective head out of its ass it could have seen that 42 years ago.

And people wonder why the Catholic leadership is becoming obsolete.

Here's the story: http://music.yahoo.com/read/news/61898954

On another front - Bob Jones University - the rabidly conservative Christian college in Greenville, SC has apologized for its racist policies that forbade interracial dating and admitting black students. They didn't admit black students until 1971.

The apology reads, in part:

"For almost two centuries American Christianity, including BJU in its early stages, was characterized by the segregationist ethos of American culture. Consequently, for far too long, we allowed institutional policies regarding race to be shaped more directly by that ethos than by the principles and precepts of the Scriptures. We conformed to the culture rather than provide a clear Christian counterpoint to it. In so doing, we failed to accurately represent the Lord and to fulfill the commandment to love others as ourselves. For these failures we are profoundly sorry."

My suggestion to BJU is keep that statement for a template when they apologize to gay and lesbian people in another 50 years. Here's a taste:

"Like any human institution, we have failures as well. For almost two centuries American Christianity, including BJU in its early stages, was characterized by the HOMOPHOBIC ethos of American culture. Consequently, for far too long, we allowed institutional policies regarding SEXUAL ORIENTATION to be shaped more directly by that ethos than by the principles and precepts of the Scriptures. We conformed to the culture rather than provide a clear Christian counterpoint to it. In so doing, we failed to accurately represent the Lord and to fulfill the commandment to love others as ourselves. For these failures we are profoundly sorry."

Ah, one day we'll be reading that statement from BJU - but not anytime soon. If it took them this long to repent of racism, homophobia will probably take even longer.

But, there is always hope.

Here's the BJU story:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27844969/

Comedy relief

Because we all need a good laugh:


more animals


more animals


more animals

It's Not Gays vs. God in Marriage Debate

When my partner and I got married about 6 years ago, we had a preacher preside over the ceremony and we invoked the name of God on many occasions, asking that our union be blessed by the Higher Power we both believe in.

As California moves to overturn the state Supreme Court's decision to allow same-sex marriage, Karen Ocamb at Alternet notes that the argument is increasingly turning to the false dichotomy of "gays vs. God."

For the proponents of Prop. 8, however, the battle is "spiritual warfare," with religious freedom and the nation itself at stake if same-sex marriage is allowed to survive and spread beyond California's borders.

"If sexual freedom is the ultimate liberty, then you have to rewrite the Bill of Rights," Chuck Colson, founder of the Prison Fellowship Ministries, says on a Yes on Proposition 8 video produced by the American Family Association for distribution to pastors and Christian activists. "This vote on whether we stop the gay marriage juggernaut in California is the Armageddon. We lose this -- we're going to lose in a lot of other ways, including freedom of religion."

First, "sexual freedom" is not what anyone is asking for in the right to marry. Sex is not the basis of my relationship with my partner and I doubt it's the basis of most heterosexual relationships. If the ability to have sex were taken away from us by illness or other tragedy, I would stay with my partner. We are together because we love one another and want to pursue a life together. We simply want that commitment recognized by the state and federal government so we can enjoy the more than 1,000 rights that married couples get like inheritance, health insurance, and Social Security benefits. Those are not really sexy topics – but they are all important in the security of our union.

Secondly, what about MY freedom of religion? I practice Christianity – a liberal form of Christianity that is most often the target of persecution by Colson and his cohorts. If I had a dime for every time I've been called a "false Christian" or a "heretic" by those who practice a more conservative form of Christianity, I wouldn't need the government to financially secure my relationship. I'd be a millionaire a million times over by now. Those who crow most about "freedom of religion" merely mean freedom for "their" religion – not the forms of religion they dislike.

Unfortunately, this spiritual fervor against same-sex marriage seems to be changing the opinion of those polled who are now showing a majority favoring this odious discrimination amendment.

Those who oppose this amendment need to be hammering home the fact that these are civil rights we're seeking – not religious rights. The religious question is not the other side of this issue any more than flat earth believers are the other side of the global warming issue. Allowing these people to place a religious frame around the issue is dangerous and must be stopped.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, has the right argument that needs to be made loud and clear:

"I vow to vote No on Proposition 8 because I believe our civil society demands that we uphold -- not eliminate -- these fundamental rights. I believe all Californians deserve to be treated equally. And I believe that government exists to protect individual rights, not to undermine them," Villaraigosa said in a statement released by the Courage Campaign.

To that I say, "Amen!"

Give me a freakin' break!

The "ex-gays" are now whining that they need their "special rights" like those nasty gays and lesbians.

The support group for so-called "ex-gays," PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays), has brought suit against Washington, D.C.’s Office of Human Rights for not including "ex-gays" as a protected group under laws that bar discrimination based on sexual orientation, according to a PRNewswire-USNewswire story posted at Yahoo.com.

The executive director of PFOX, Regina Griggs, was quoted in the story as claiming, "The ex-gay community is the most bullied and maligned group in America, yet they are not protected by sexual orientation non-discrimination laws."

In Washington, D.C., discrimination based on several categories is banned, including "sexual preference," "sexual orientation," "gender identity," and "gender expression," the article noted.

"Ex-gays" are not distinguished from heterosexuals by the law and are not included in the protected categories.

Of course they're not "distinguished from heterosexuals." If you "ex-gays" think you're no longer gay then you are HETEROSEXUAL! Get used to it. Now you have all the rights and privileges we gay and lesbian people are denied - and yet you still complain.

Some people are never pleased - even when they change God's gift of sexual orientation in order to get those special heterosexual rights.

Quit your bellyaching and get on with being the heterosexuals you say you are - unless, perhaps, you're not ...

Palin Pals With Her Own Home-Grown Terrorists

It's no secret that Sarah Palin has had an abusive past in her relationship with facts – but as I learned in the newsroom, it's never wise to let the facts get in the way when there's a good story to tell.

Palin's latest fact-light charge is that Barack Obama is "palling around" with terrorists because of a tenuous link to William Ayers, founder of the violent Weather Underground in the late 1960s.

News reports pointed out that Obama was eight years old at the time of Weather Underground bombings and that the two men do not know each other well although they live in the same Chicago neighborhood, have served on a charity board together and Ayers hosted a meet-the-candidate event when Obama first ran for state office in the mid-1990s.

The dictionary defines "terrorism" as "the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes." A terrorist is one who employs these tactics to reach their own goals.

Given that definition, I think the charge of "palling around" with terrorists fits Mrs. Palin much better than it does Obama. The American people have been subjected, in just the past few weeks, to an endless assault by our own domestic terrorists like Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, and President George W. Bush. They appeared on our screens with their hair on fire warning that "" unless we grant $700 billion dollars of corporate socialism to the Wall Street fat cats who partied too hard.

"Without immediate action by Congress, America can slip into a major panic." If Congress fails to approve the rescue plan, the nation could face a "long and painful recession," Bush said.

The fear emanating from the screen was palpable. People on that fabled Main Street began to worry if their money was safe in the bank or if a spot under the mattress might be preferable. Congress, too, (including, sadly, Obama) heard the siren song of terror, acted on that fear, and rushed into a deal that no one knows whether will help or not. What we do know is that we've leveraged our country's future on a sucker's bet, and we should have known better. With the bailout our home-grown terrorists have won their final battle – cleaning out the last of the pennies in our national treasury.

No buildings fell, no planes were crashed – but a deadly bomb has exploded on Main Street – detonated by the very people elected to protect that cherished street.

Sarah Palin – these are your pals.

Remind me who the sexist is?

So, McCain thinks Obama is sexist with his whole "lipstick on a pig" comment.

Well, at least Obama doesn't publicly call his wife horrible names. And if he did, I'd bet money Michelle wouldn't stay with him long - yet, Cindy McCain stands by her man, flying him in her jet, housing him in several lavish homes ... hmmm, gotta wonder about these things. Just sayin' ...

Christ Quits Christianity

Well, it was really only a matter of time:

...the Christ himself has come forward to announce that he is leaving Christianity, effective immediately. The reasoning: The 2008 Republican Platform. Reached for comment at a West Hollywood coffee shop, Christ said that he couldn’t deal with a world that so misinterpreted his words and actions.

I've honestly wondered why it took Christ so long to leave Christianity. The Crusades weren't enough, but the last straw is the Repubs? Well, they do have their own crusade going on these days to strip America of every last shred of dignity and intelligence.

The piece above is worth a full read. Some of my favorite, LOL, passages:

“John McCain has made it clear that he will not speak to or about Jesus Christ until Christ shows him the respect he deserves,” said Davis. “John McCain was a POW and deserves respect. Jesus obviously can’t understand the kind of sacrifice John McCain made.”

And ...

“Seriously, let him go,” said Hannity to co-host Alan Colmes on the popular show “Hannity & Colmes” on Fox News. “If he doesn’t have the courage to face up to the Republican platform, how can he ever stand up to Osama bin Laden. This is a partisan attack, plain and simple.”

In response, Colmes vehemently disagreed with Hannity.

“But, but, but … , ” said Colmes.

Again, read the whole thing. It's brilliant.

Blood on Their Hands

Bill O'Reilly, Michael Savage and Sean Hannity, if they had any sense of morality - or souls - should be hanging their heads in shame today - or arrested. They are direct accomplices in the deaths of two decent people. Two people died yesterday because some man twisted by their idiotic worldview that "liberals" are responsible for the sorry state of our Republican run world got himself a gun and opened fire on a group of people who would have welcomed him with open arms.

Adkisson targeted the church, Still wrote in the document obtained by WBIR-TV, Channel 10, "because of its liberal teachings and his belief that all liberals should be killed because they were ruining the country, and that he felt that the Democrats had tied his country's hands in the war on terror and they had ruined every institution in America with the aid of media outlets."

Adkisson told Still that "he could not get to the leaders of the liberal movement that he would then target those that had voted them in to office."

Adkisson told officers he left the house unlocked for them because "he expected to be killed during the assault."

Inside the house, officers found "Liberalism is a Mental Health Disorder" by radio talk show host Michael Savage, "Let Freedom Ring" by talk show host Sean Hannity, and "The O'Reilly Factor," by television talk show host Bill O'Reilly.

It is their continued language of violence against so-called liberals that put this man over the edge. He could not find a job and he blamed that on liberals - a group of people that has been effectively out of power for the last 8 years. It's not liberals who have shipped off jobs overseas and sought to destroy the middle class. It has not been liberals who cut off this man's food stamps. Liberals came up with this excellent ideas, and the Republicans who are now in charge, cut him off.

This continued ranting about some damn liberal media irks me to no end. Believe me when I say there is NO liberal media. There is CORPORATE media - and by it's nature it's very, very, very conservative. They are in love with John McCain and will do all they can to get him elected because they know their corporate tax lives depend on it. They don't want to pay more taxes under an Obama administration, so they'll fight it tooth and nail. Liberal media my left butt cheek. It does not exist. I worked in that field for 25 years and I know what I'm talking about.

I also know the gospel truth is that Sean Hannity will sleep like a baby tonight, untroubled by this news - simply glad this poor dolt shelled out the dough to buy his book and make him a little bit richer. It's just dead liberals, after all! I worked with Sean at WGST in Atlanta right before he hit the big time. He has no heart. Don't worry about him losing sleep over this. He'll blame the liberals for their own fates. If they were smart, they'd be selfish corporate Republicans too!

::deep breath::

This makes me angry. I know it's not obvious or anything. The violence of the language these right wing bigots spout caused this act. They are directly responsible for the deaths of these two people and the wounding of five others. They should be held responsible.

Odd Moment

Sitting in church yesterday morning, I had an odd and ominous feeling come over me. Service had already begun, we were probably about ten minutes in, when I heard our front door open and close and someone came in. Another late arrival - no big deal. But, just as the sound of the door closing hit me - so did one word: "Gunman."

As I sat in service I realized how easy it would be for someone with bad intentions to just walk in and set in on us. There are two doors to the outside on either side of the sanctuary. Too far for me or the choir to reach in time - there's no place for us to go at the back of the sanctuary.

It stunned me that the thought crossed my mind. I shook it off. Of course, it wasn't a gunman at our church - just someone running late. But, within the same time frame of my thought, a gunman did enter a Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, killing two and wounding several others.

Police are now saying the liberal stance of the church is what set the gunman off. Our church, along with the UU congregation here in Columbia, are probably the most liberal congregations in town. Our church has repeatedly been the target of vandals who have broken our front door windows, broken the fountain on our property, shot out the passenger window of one of our parishoners, and threw a brick through the back window of another.

I didn't read about the attack in Tennessee until late yesterday - well after my own thought about a church gunman crossed my mind. I told a good pagan friend of mine about my experience, and she told me I should continue to pay attention to those feelings, and not shake them off. My gunman premonition (had in the same time period as this actual attack) is evidence of our universal connection to one another, she told me. Somehow, my intuition knew a gunman was going to attack, or was in the process of attacking, kindred spirits - fellow human beings simply seeking to open God's arms to everyone, regardless of human labels or prejudices.

Some days the depth of human hatred stuns me - other days it doesn't. Today it stuns me, simply because after experiencing this deeply empathic moment across a time zone and state lines, I grieve that we cannot feel those moments of universal connection all the time. I grieve that we shake them off as nothing more than odd moments - then go right back to our feelings of disconnection. Being disconnected certainly feels safer - we're not responsible for anyone else when we disconnect. But, I think if we practiced that emphatic connection with all living beings - we would experience the freedom of love. We are responsible for one another. Instead of being afraid of that - and letting that fear fester and turn in to violence - we need to embrace that, heed those feelings of connection and continue to reach out - even if we only receive scorn and violence in return.

I hope this UU congregation can feel that connection to this disaffected gunman and find it in their heart to see their own failings in him, and forgive him.

Pimping My New Book

My book, Bulletproof Faith: A Spiritual Survival Guide for Gay and Lesbian Christians got a great review from Publisher's Weekly - not something all books get. My sales numbers at Amazon.com improved for a little while.

If you haven't gotten your copy - do so now, please. Help me become a well-fed writer.

Also, check out the official site for the book where I'll be posting all the news that is news (and even some that isn't news) about the book.

Just another &*!#ing politician

I've never had warm, fuzzy feelings for Barack Obama. I never quite understood the fuss about him, but of course, given my contrarian nature, anything wildly popular is immediately suspect in my book. Aside from that, in my gut, I've always had a nagging bad feeling about him - that he's not what he appears to be.

(For full disclosure - in the primary, I had the historic chance to vote for a black man or a woman and I voted for the white guy. John Edwards has always been my first pick - since Kucinich has no chance in hell of ever being nominated.)

Too bad I've been right about Obama all along. I would have loved to have been proven wrong, but it seems Obama is just another &*!#ing politician like the rest of them. He'll say what you want him to say when you stand him up at the podium but when the rubber meets the road, he's just like any other disappointing politician these days, voting for FISA, talking about expanding Bush's idiotic faith based initiatives, backtracking on Iraq, and generally retreating to the middle where all political cowards meet.

The only thing that keeps me in his voting column is the Supreme Court. Despite all my misgivings about this man, I'd still want him picking justices over McCain - who is a complete guarantee of Bush's third term.

I simply can't understand why Obama is pandering to the 29% who still love the president-select. Poll after poll shows that the public is fed up with Bush, his economy, his war and his idiocy. We know we're headed to hell in a hand basket and we want someone who has the cajones to move us in a different direction. Apparently, the "change" Obama touts is just a code word for "more of the same."

Meet the new boss - same as the old boss.

I'm disappointed, but I'm not surprised. No one of integrity can get nominated as a presidential candidate and that is a sad state of affairs for a once great nation.

Update: For more on how Obama's support of faith based initiatives hurts poor GLBT people, check out Irene Monroe's excellent column here.

In Memory of George Carlin

Carlin was one of the greats, and one of my favorites. Here's one to remember:

"The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the end of it? A Death! What's that, a bonus? I think the life cycle is all backwards. You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you live in an old age home. You get kicked out when you're too young, you get a gold watch, you go to work. You work forty years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement. You do drugs, alcohol, you party, you get ready for high school. You go to grade school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities, you become a little baby, you go back into the womb, you spend your last nine months floating...

...and you finish off as an orgasm.

Amen.

Snow in June? Oh, Yeah ...

We're currently relaxing at the condo in Big Sky, Montana. The plane ride? Hated it. Went smoothly, but still hated it. The pilot landed like it was his first landing - very rough, very scary. Hated it.

Montana? Love it! It's beautiful here. Here's the view from the condo.

We're planning horseback riding, a trip to Yellowstone and just doing a lot of nothing. Time is weird here - it seems like the days are as endless as the sky. That can be good and bad. I miss my animals terribly, especially my cat, George, who, I swear is just a little person in a fur coat.

But, I'm enjoying my first vacation in a long time - even though I had to go through the terror of a plane ride to get here. I'm anticipating the terror of the return flight, but in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy myself.

We went to a UCC church in Bozeman yesterday. Very beautiful sanctuary. The preacher was a bit ponderous for me and my vacation mates. He took about 25 minutes to tell us that no act of kindness, mercy or sympathy is ever wasted. There ya go - a sermon without all the odd, out of place illustrations.

So, now we're communing with God at the condo, amazed at some of Her best work.

It's in the 40s here this morning. Probably won't get above 60 degrees. Enjoy your heatwave East Coasters! :)

Back to relax mode ...

How Not to Use Your Faith

When I first moved to South Carolina, I was distressed and amazed at how much religious material - let me clarify, Christian material - there was displayed in places like doctor and dentist offices. After living in Atlanta for many, many years, I never saw such public displays of Christian faith in professional areas. I know that Atlanta is in the South, where proselytizing is akin to breathing, but as the "international city" it prides itself in being, such passive proselytizing in a professional atmosphere would never fly.

At a dermatologist's office several years ago in South Carolina, I saw a derogatory editorial cartoon about gays in the military posted in the waiting room. I finally snapped. When the doctor came in to the office (he was an old codger on the verge of retiring), I commented on the cartoon. I told him, "I find that cartoon in the waiting room offensive. I know many gay and lesbian people who have served this country with integrity and pride and they ought to be able to do it openly."

He grumbled something I couldn't quite understand before shoving a prescription slip in my hand and trundling out of the office. This is the same "Christian" office where I witnessed the rough treatment of an older lady. The receptionist (a sour lady if I ever met one) gave her the HIPPA forms to read and sign. The lady told the woman she couldn't read and the receptionist barked, "I haven't got time to read it for you," and slammed the glass window shut.

I sat down with the woman and read the form to her and helped her understand what she was putting her mark on. It was a stark reminder that though many say, "Lord, Lord," they have not a clue how to behave as a follower of Christ in this world.

I ran across an interesting example of this clueless and cowardly form of public proselytizing over at the Ragan.com site (a site for PR junkies like me). A blog post by Mark Ragan recounts his time in South Carolina and the endless number of, "Have you received Jesus as you personal Lord and Savior?" questions he was asked at inappropriate times.

He presents a video from a St. Louis television reporter, who is interviewing a public officials who shamelessly uses Jesus as a shield to avoid answering some tough questions. Have a look:



That wall of separation between church and state is about as thin as the walls in an old apartment building I used to live in. Sad.

At Least it's Not the Gays Fault This Time

Apparently our economy has gone to hell because of abortions. No, seriously, we're paying more than $4.00 a gallon for a tank of gas, the housing bubble has burst, people are losing their homes and jobs and consumer confidence is lower than Bush's approval rating, but our leaders and their selfish choices have nothing to do with it. Abortions. That's the cause.

This according to John McCain endorser John Hagee:

If you do not accept the blessing of children, and [you] do as America has done, is to curse the children through abortion, you will bring the judgment of God on your society.

The liberal mental midgets protesting for abortion-on-demand are too brain-dead to see that they have brought the judgment of God upon America’s economy. Why are America’s major universities right now recruiting students from abroad? Why? Because we killed ours.

How's that for some "God Damn America"???

Where's the media on this one, calling Hagee "McCain's pastor problem"? Hello? I'm waiting.

Like I've said before, everyone with half a brain understands that abortion isn't the reason the economy is in the toilet. It's the leadership wasting billions on an illegal war and allowing war profiteers to raid the national treasure that has busted the economy. Corporate greed and stagnant wages for workers ... all the choices of those in charge. Abortion has nothing to do with it. Abortion isn't even prohibited in the Bible - show me chapter and verse and prove me wrong, please.

This is why the loonies like Hagee get ignored - everyone knows he's full of shit. But, when Jeremiah Wright speaks the truth about America's ills - our selfish culture of greed and neglect of the poor - he gets trampled. You see, he's speaking the truth and people get pissed when someone speaks truth to power. We roll our eyes when idiots like Hagee make stupid statements, but take up arms when someone questions why we treat the poor and outcast horribly in the home of the free and the land of brave.

So, don't expect the mainstream media to make much of Hagee - they know he's just a nut. Wright is truly dangerous, because he's pointing out the truth of America's sins and it has nothing to do with abortion or gay people.

Go West, Gay Lovers

Time to book that plane ticket to California - where the Supreme Court has opened full marriage rights to gay and lesbian people.

"It's about human dignity. It's about human rights. It's about time in California," San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, pumping his fist in the air, told a roaring crowd at City Hall. "As California goes, so goes the rest of the nation. It's inevitable. This door's wide open now. It's going to happen, whether you like it or not."

The good news is that California doesn't have residency requirements like Massachusetts, so it's time to book that exorbitant plane ticket and get hitched!

Hopefully the judges won't stay their own order until after the elections in November like the bigots want them to. If they don't, gays and lesbians can get married within the next 30 days. As Massachusetts has proven, gay and lesbian marriage does not harm anyone else's marriage and has not yet brought the downfall of human society. Instead, it has help MA earned the distinction as the state with the lowest divorce rate in the nation. So there, right wing whiners.

This is not a question of "morality" or "sin." It is a question of whether or not in a free society adults can choose who they want to spend the rest of their lives with and share their love and property with. Marriage is a civil contract between two people and should be open to anyone, regardless of the gender mix of the couple in question. This is a matter of law, not religion - and the California court understands that - thank God.

The right wing is screaming about "judicial activism" but the court merely understood that California's constitution demands equality under the law. This is the correct ruling, creating equity for all couples, despite the gender configuration of said couple. Bravo!

The wingnuts will launch their constitutional amendment drive - and we must make sure they do not succeed. Voters defeated such an amendment in Arizona, so it can be done. Let's support California as it seeks to beat back the darkness of bigotry.

Support Equality California.

I wish I was a lesbian

A little Friday afternoon fun:

Contemplating Death

Hey everyone, I've been a bit shaken up today after my partner came home and told me that she almost died in a traffic accident last night. Construction had traffic stopped on the interstate around 10 p.m. last night when a tractor-trailer crested the hill at a high rate of speed heading right for my partner's car. She said the truck slammed on his brakes and fish-tailed down the hill before finally coming to a stop off the road right beside her car.

I held her a little tighter after she told me this - terrified that my night could have been very different with police showing up at my door instead of my love.

I've had trouble letting it go today, running the scene over and over in my head of how devastated I would be today if that trucker had been unable to avoid a collision. Surely she would have died or been seriously injured.

I've said before I'm not afraid to die and I still think that about myself - but what of those I love? I realize I'm terrified of them dying - especially my partner. Not just because my life would be devastated without her, but because of the legal fights that could possibly follow despite our wills, powers of attorney or body disposition papers.

How do you all cope? Have you lost loved ones before?

My partner watched her husband die a few years back and still misses the man she considered her best friend (even though she knew all along she was a lesbian - she still loved him a great deal). I just don't know how I would go on if my partner died suddenly.

Not to be a downer, but this has just been bugging me all day. I can't wait to get home tonight and hug her again and again and again. All we have is the present moment and I want to make all of them with her very special so I don't regret anything if the unthinkable should occur.

Love now, friends, because it's the only time we have to do it.

Hope I die before I get old ... um ...

Well, I don't think this is what Pete Townshend had it mind when he wrote My Generation, but then I remember, Pete could be one of the geezers in this video. It's a hoot. Check the old lady doing the Pete windmill and oh, the destruction at the end!!