The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit

Today I was roped into a theology argument with a table. A conversation about astrological signs came up and somehow this guest took that as an invitation to talk to me about our Lord and Savior.

Don’t get me wrong, I love religion and plenty of religious people. I am actually envious of them. I wish I had enough faith to believe in something without any proof. To believe in something regardless of the science, regardless of the evidence, regardless of history, regardless of what masses of people say. I want to believe in miracles the same way people of faith do. But every time I try, I know that I am lying to myself. Man cannot walk on water, turn water into wine, or heal the blind with a touch. But, this gentleman firmly believes in these things. He believes them so much that he is a youth pastor.

Fist, this conversation with the youth pastor was fine, normal. He is an overly tan man with a tattoo around his biceps, a t-shirt about one size too small, and an arsenal full of awkward pick-up lines. He drank his margarita and he ate his nachos and he did the same fake Spanish accent a lot of my tables do. He asked me to bat my eye lashes (I am not kidding, this was a real request) and he was generally funny and nice.

But then science got brought into the mix. Science is the arch nemeses to Evangelicals.  The “Big Bang Theory” was brought up, not the TV show, but the actual scientific idea of how the Universe was created. He used that to support God, which I get, minus all of his short comings in logic. Then, things took a turn for the worst.

I mentioned the dictionary definition of faith, which is “A belief system not based on proof (dictionary.com).” I used it in terms of people on YouTube or The 700 Club or whatever trying to prove the existence of God and Jesus. If the idea and religion of Christianity is based on faith and you are trying to use proof to support your beliefs, you are doing is wrong, brah. Shortly after this he started speaking in tongues. I am not kidding, he started speaking gibberish. Most of it sounded like some strange mix between Chinese and French. He admitted that he did not know what he was saying, but confirmed he was speaking to God. A person at his table asked him about his fluency and he said it was the Holy Spirit speaking through him; he could speak "1000 languages with the Holy Spirit". The girl he was with mentioned that he was speaking in tongues on command. I did not stick around too long for his response. I got the nervous face that I do when shit starts to get too weird for me and I pleasantly excused myself when the opportunity presented itself. 

It was awkward for me to go back to the table, as I was too uncomfortable to be sure I could keep a straight face…after all, this guy was just speaking in tongues. But I find it interesting that he really believes the Holy Spirit speaks through him on command. I am going to go on a limb and say if the Holy Spirit shows up in your words on command, you’re doing it wrong, brah. 

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I find it interesting that in this society a female is blamed for being in a domestic violence situation. The question is not typically put onto men. It is never about how he could do something like that, it is about what she did to drive him to the point of violence. The question is phrased to blame the female.

Rihanna is a well-known pop star that went through a very public domestic violence situation, shortly after her music changed from bubblegum-pop to racy and sexy lyrics. The lyrics started to carry a darker tone. After being left black and blue by her boyfriend, people started to turn her domestic violence into a joke, saying it was rough sex that went wrong, saying it probably turned her on, saying she wanted it.

This country has a problem with blaming victims. Tina Turner kept going back to Ike, so she was asking for it. Google+ comments about her new single say things like “I think she might be one of those girls…a couple of her songs are about S&M and ruff (sic) sex” or “honestly, with her past few albums, She deserves it.” Even a woman that works in a woman’s shelter with abused women left a comment saying “She did interviews admitting her celebrity and influence…it’s a dumb choice, and I am an asshole for it but I can’t help but [hope] it happens to her again.”


Shouldn’t we all be hoping for the idea of people being able to change? I am not saying that what Chris Brown did was a good thing. I am not supporting him. I do not think he should ever be forgiven and I wish his entire career had been ruined. Unfortunately, it wasn’t and Rihanna has found it in her heart to forgive him. So shouldn’t someone that works with women in similar situations hope that Chris Brown has changed, learned, grown? Maybe instead of hoping it happens again, it would do more good to hope it never happens again.


I do not think Rihanna’s music is a sign that she “wanted” it or liked it. That is the same logic applied to men who rape their wives. How can it be rape if they are married? Last time I checked, no still means no. If a woman tells a man to stop, he should stop. Chris Brown did not stop. He continued to hit her. That is not her fault.


The idea that a few lyrics would put the blame on a victim is saying this is a seriously messed up society.