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| Frankly, you either get this picture or you don't. |
I'm not gonna lie to you. I've always been a skeptical sort. I didn't have any traumatic experience with the church, but even at an early age I remember having doubts about the Big Bearded Guy in the sky. I remember vividly at the age of six being alone and having these doubts, but then trying to cover my tracks I would use my internal monologue to say in my brain "I do believe in God. I do believe in God," just in case the Big Guy was up there paying attention. As the years wore one, I became less and less cautious as it became clearer and clearer to me that this whole religious stuff was all a bunch of hooey.
However, I have respect for the religious. Growing up Lutheran, I can tell you that it was nothing but a good experience. Pastor Rockwood taught me everything I need to know about nuanced and intelligent public speaking and story telling. I met many good friends both young and old through the church. I sort of consider myself, like many "secular jews" a "cultural lutheran". When I listen to A Prairie Home Companion, I laugh because those are
my people. But I'm about as atheistic as they come.
But I also like a fair and strong fight. Last year, notorious raconteur (and Cancer patient (we're pulling for you Hitch!)) Christopher Hitchens battled ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair on the question of whether or not Religion was a force for good in the world. Quite frankly it was a one sided blood bath. Tony Blair put up a pretty weak defense and Hitchens danced circles around his opponent. Far more interesting is the heated and significantly more nuanced debate author Sam Harris and Rabbi David Wolpe had concerning the existence of God, which they conducted two years earlier.
It's a long discussion, and there's not much to be gained by
watching it. I do though highly recommend playing the video and doing something else as you
listen to these two go at it with intellect and vehemence. Forewarned, Rabbi Wolpe takes a decidedly Jewish slant on the issue, but it's a fascinating discussion all the way around.
When I first say down to write the first play of this competition, I was really worried that with the short amount of time I'd have to write each of these scripts I wouldn't be able to wrap them up very well. So I came up with an idea of ending each and every script with the stage direction [ Character X Exits, Pursued by a Bear], the insane stage direction made famous by Shakespeare in his play The Winters Tale.
Okay, so just like last week we had two puzzles. One without any words and another consisting entirely of words. Also, my very first acrostic which I think I mentioned before how obscenely long it took me to make it. I wish I could find a way to better present those kind of puzzles online, because really if you wanted to solve it, you'd really have to print out both the clues and puzzle picture and do it by hand, and my God people we live in the twenty-first century! You should be able to solve acrostics on your laptop while you zip through the air in your fully automated flying car as your personal robot butler massages your feet. Well, one out of three ain't bad. Anyway, the answers to all of your questions, including life the universe and everything (42) after the jump!
