It was the summer of 2001, the summer after my freshman year of college.  I was 18, studying Russian in Estonia for a month (weird, I know).  I took a side trip with my teachers, Svetlana and Tatyana (Sveta y Tanya in the familiar, konyechno!), to a monastery, somewhere in the Estonian countryside.  It was Russian Orthodox, literally in the middle of nowhere… I’m sure I still have my journal from that month abroad (it’s probably in the room full of boxes that I’ve still to unpack, 7 months later).

Anyway, it was a hot day.  I wore a long skirt, necessary to maintain propriety in such a holy place, but incidentally also black as to be slimming.  So I looked thin and sweaty the entire time.  My teachers led me through a field to a sacred stream to watch baptisms and cleansings.  Little did I know that “visiting” the stream would lead to my being dunked, buck ass naked in front of three other buck ass naked women, into freezing cold water.

But that’s where I was headed.

We walked into a wooden shed in a group, purposefully waiting until the women in front of us had completely clothed and exited.  Tanya shut the door behind us, leaving me with three quickly disrobing Russian women (the identity of the third escapes me now) and not nearly enough darkness for me to feel comfortable.

“You want me to do what?”
“Get een zee stream.”
“Naked?”
“Da.”

One by one the women took the plunge and one by one I stripped off another layer of clothing, relegating myself to the inevitable.  Soon enough, it was my turn.  I stepped carefully on the wooden slabs leading into the stream, which was moving faster than I expected and felt BALLS OUT COLD (I know, I’m in school for writing, I should think of a more eloquent description, but this so fits).

The women looked at me expectantly.  Now or never.

“Odin, dva, tree!”

I took the plunge.  Fully underwater, hair and all, arms crossed over my chest.

Naked.

Breathing came with some difficulty when I emerged.  Everyone was smiling.  I was smiling.  Refreshed.  Clean.  Naked in a stream in the middle of the Estonian countryside.

We dried off and got dressed, not really talking, but not ignoring each other either.  We sat in a field next to the monastery, warming ourselves in the sun.  Idyllic, yeah, totally.  But honestly, I remember feeling completely at peace in a foreign land, under the spell of a semi-foreign religion, after experiencing a foreign – and temporally unique – event.

Something tactile about tonight’s shower reminded me of that day.  It reminded me of home.Similar articles that might also interest you:

• Sleeping naked is not only comfy, it’s good for your health
• Do You Download TV Shows?
• Delightfully Controversial Russian Lesbots
• Breast cancer awareness month and the pink madness
• Russia – no free music, just aliens.

So… what is going on? Is this a gigantic hoax? An incredible scam for money and fame? Are these 13,000 people a night so desperate to believe that they can be healed that they are blind to facts? What ARE the facts? What do YOU think?

The nightly meetings stream online here at the ministry website (low quality) beginning at 7PM ET (4PM PST) The healing portion generally follows the worship, falling around 8:30 ET (5:30 PST) Also here at the God.tv website (Short sign-up procedure, painless, high quality) beginning at 8PM ET (5PM PST) healing portion 9:30 ET (6:30 PST). Replay begins around 1AM ET (10PM PST).

Two of my mother’s friends are going to visit the ‘revival’, one in hopes of being healed of terminal cancer, as the preachers claim others have been cured of terminal diseases. I will get back to you after I talk to them upon their return.Similar articles that might also interest you:

• Winners who didn�t win
• Trader Joe’s phases out Chinese food products
• Word of the day: Arachibutyrophobia
• Bonnaroo, Day 1
• Nikon D90 real world video footage

A new twist on the old saying, Holy shit. Available from Gnr8.comSimilar articles that might also interest you:

• EBay cuts listing fees, raises final sale fees
• Gumball 3000 canceled after two die; 70 drivers cited for speeding
• Broad Street 2.0
• Book review: The Dip by Seth Godin
• eBay’s Hidden Categories: Weird Stuff, Slightly Unusual, Really Weird & Totally Bizarre

I’m all for guerilla marketing, but leaving a business card like this in a retail store is pretty tacky, from what I’ve been told, this has happened several times. Intrigued by it, I fell into the trap and went to the website.

The website starts off fairly harmless and asks questions that you answer. If you are honest, you’ll start to see some really nice bible quotes to your yes or no answers. Half way through the test, the website is telling me,

By your own admission and the standard of God’s law, the Ten Commandments, you are a lying, thieving, blasphemous, murderous, adulterer at heart.

And you have to face God on judgment day!

Wow. OK, clearly I am dealing with some bible toting person who is out to set the record straight on what he or she feels is the black and white issues of life. A half dozen more questions into the test and what seems to be endless quoting of the bible, I am taken to a page for questions and comments as well as a link to a bible study coarse which goes to a local Baptist church. This seems pretty out there for a church to back this sort of site, especially since there is no other advertising of anything church related on it, with the exception of what appears to be a church / god movie press release.

More troublesome, there is no solid contact information other then a form to fill out. No email address, phone number or name associated with the site. Being the clever people my co-worker and I are, we looked up the whois information on the site. If you are as interested as we were to who runs the site, you can find out here.

I’m not a religious person, being American I have that choice to make, on my own. Being a grown man in my late 20’s I have had more than enough opportunity to look into several forms of religion and have chose none, as a fellow American, I expect others to respect that choice. Likewise, I respect anyone who has chosen a religion that they feel suits their life, makes them feel complete or gives them the hope that they need. Do not however think that you have the right to force your choices, morals or opinions down my throat, our founding fathers fought for the right to believe in what they wanted to, I respect and honor that. While I do enjoy casual debate about God, religion and other similar subjects among close friends, it is not something I will accept or respect from a total stranger, much less one hiding behind a website that is trying to judge me.

Similar articles that might also interest you:

• How Long Will You Live?
• AES doesn�t want me to link to them
• Meat Cards
• Design inspiration
• Islamic school uses books that call Jews apes

She contacted me from British Columbia (Canada) to invite me to her wedding and after several more communications, to ask me to be her maid of honor. I was absolutely thrilled by the idea and booked a flight directly after my last college final in order to make it there less than 24 hours before the wedding.

About a week later I received the formal invitation in the mail and, upon opening it and scanning its contents I realized� she was marrying a woman.

It seems such unions have very recently been made fully legal in Canada, meaning, same sex partners are entitled to all the same benefits, taxes, laws, shared health care, etc. etc. as opposite sex partners, legal equality, regardless of one�s sexual preference. This was interesting enough in itself, but my true fascination lay with her and her experiences because of this marriage and our shared religious history.

For those of you who have not been raised in such religious tradition, homosexuality is referred to repeatedly in the bible as �abomination�, though, granted, these passages are often taken out of context, the basic Christian Institutionalist belief in the �sin� of same sex relations remains.

I arrived in Victoria and was immediately swept up in the flurry of pre-wedding preparations including, picking out bouquets and even assisting in the choice of lingerie. I was simultaneously honored by the value placed on my opinions and overwhelmed by the weight my old friend was willing to place on me when we had not truly spoken in almost a decade. Then I realized, I was the only one. Her best friend had declined to be her maid of honor or even attend for religious reasons, her family, also, were not attending. I was the single solitary representative from her past in California.

She began the remaking of our friendship with a statement of absolute freedom, �ask me anything�, she said, and I did. �Am I the only one?� I asked, and she nodded. I paused and pondered that for a moment, then asked, �You�ve cried a lot haven�t you?� She twisted her head around to look at me in the back seat and I caught a glimpse in her eyes of the accuracy of my statement. �You have no idea,� she said.

She spoke of some of the communications she has received from her past, from old friends and previous churches condemning her marriage and her love of a woman and I began to see the enormity of what she was undertaking, or rather, what she was willing to endure. A short while later I had the pleasure of meeting her fianc�, and her fianc�s two children. They were two beautiful spunky little blonde girls of the ages of 6 and 9 whom my old friend would be adopting symbolically through the marriage while simultaneously working to legally adopt them. My friend is the same age as I�. 24.

And her belief in God, and Christianity remains, as does her fianc�s (now wife�s) similar beliefs.

I had a short afternoon with my friend�s (now) wife where I was privileged to hear the story of their relationship from her eyes. She had been married previously to a man and had always considered herself �straight�. Her and my old friend were good friends for a year or more before any expression of romance was exhibited. They both had been in relationships with solely men previously, and both were under the religious perspective of homosexuality. �When she expressed her romantic love for me I wanted to protect her, didn�t want to �lead her into sin� and considered the fact that she might just be confused,� said my friend�s wife. My friend expressed to me is a separate conversation that, speaking those words of romantic love took her a long time and when she did, she did so with absolute certainty.

�Kissing her that first time�� my friend�s wife summoned the memory and all the emotions that went along with it, ��the room spun�, she said. She had never felt such passion, such magic before. Neither of them had.

A guest at the wedding and I engaged in a perspective discussion of same sex marriage as, he also professed Christianity. �Well, I realized that the most important thing I could do was just love them,� he said, �but, I mean, it is a sin.� I nodded my religiously structured agreement and moved off to other activities, but I could not get that statement out of my mind. It played over and over in my head� and I felt myself start to get angry. I felt protective, like a she bear over this newly wedded lesbian couple, and I found my mind demanding to know how he dared to make a statement such as that. I found him later on in the festivities and verbalized these thoughts to him. How can you say that? How can you know that? How can you stand in a place of judgment like that over strangers, much less your friends� those you love??? And as I continued my inquisition I realized I was not asking him these questions, I was asking myself. It was at that moment that all my previous conceptions and ideas about the religious �correctness� or �right� or �wrong-ness� of homosexuality fell to pieces. I realized I didn�t know� anything really, and how dare I stand in a place pretending like I do.

Their older daughter came up to me while I was sitting on the computer in their home and handed me a photo frame that still contained the generic opposite sex wedding photo with which it came. She asked me if I wanted to get married and I stuttered an uncertainty, she then asked me, �If you got married would it be to a boy or a girl?�. I was floored by a consideration I have never previously entertained and, looking into her bright young, non-judgmental eyes I was forced to respond truthfully, �I don�t know.�

Similar articles that might also interest you:

• Wedding Season for the Bachelor
• The Corpse Groom
• How not to hire a wedding photographer
• iMessage Forces Hands
• Top 5 Things To Do When Twitter is down

What is so unique about this particuliar Jesus sculpture? He is made of 200 pounds of milk chocolate. Furthermore, unlike many of the sculptures of Jesus, he is displayed without a loincloth. Making the Son of God naked. The chocolate figure is six feet in length and features outstretched arms.

But word of the confectionery Christ infuriated Catholics, including Egan, who described it as “a sickening display.” Bill Donohue, head of the watchdog Catholic League, said it was “one of the worst assaults on Christian sensibilities ever.”

Angry phone calls, death threats and emails were said to be sent to the artist, Cosimo Cavallaro. The artist is best known for his artwork using food.

The hotel claimed that in fear of their own safety they decided to cancel the show.

To see actual chocolates that can fit into an Easter basket go to Religious Chocolates.

Source: USA Today Similar articles that might also interest you:

• 5 Misconceptions About Veganism
• Top Five Romantic Picnic Foods
• Diet Kong Rocks Philly Tonight!!
• Jesus Loves Myspace
• All Time Low

“Forget the masses,” I thought to myself as I pulled into the parking garage. I don’t have a ton of faith in humanity as it is; the important question here was “What does this mean to Andy.” After referring to myself aloud in third person, I pondered if my actions that morning had sealed my fate. How would I explain what I had done?

“My dear child. Welcome to heaven, where eternal peace and happiness await all who enter.”

“Thank you, keeper of the gates of Heaven. It truly is an honor to be standing here before thee,” I’d say while secretly wondering if sinful pleasures such as masturbation are allowed within the hallowed gates.

“Andrew, it fills my heart with great sadness to inform you that I cannot let you enter at this time.”

My mind would race: It is because of the cat I skinned when I was 8? Was it that double-anal scene I did in college to help pay for tuition? How was I supposed to know you weren’t supposed to jerk-off to the Golden Girls?

“My child, I must decline your entry into Heaven for, while you were more than happy to add ’69GoatFucker’ to your Myspace, you declined the friendship of the Lord and therefore, have declined all that is holy.”

As my body passed through infinite space, quickly falling into the arms of hell, I’d wish I could turn back time and hit the “accept” button. Choose your friends wisely and be careful who you decline to be a friend.Similar articles that might also interest you:

• MySpace to add Amber Alerts as early as today
• MySpace getting sued by angry parents
• MySpace now showing Amber Alerts for your local area
• MySpace implements Captcha technology, sometimes
• One Laptop Per Child?

Signs are posted on around most of the graveyards in the city that it is not a public pissing ground for dogs, however its hard to drive pass at anytime during the day and not see a dog owner standing by while his or her dog drops a deuce.

When was the last time you visited your grandparents� grave? When was the last time your parents visited their grandparents� grave? How much does a marker in the ground really mean after 2 generations?

I don�t have a solid answer as to what should be done; I�m not an overly religious person either and do belive that everyone has the right to belive what they want and respect his or her decisions, but I am still baffled. Baffled by this wasted land that empty beer bottles end up in, dogs use for a place to go potty and if left to become overgrown, become eye sores in the community. Digging up and disposing of the coffins is not a viable answer, at least I don�t think it is, so what else can be done?

We as humans have created more waste in the last 150 years then just about any other time frame in the history of walking man. We recycle nearly everything these days, cars are more fuel efficient and emit less harmful gases into the ozone yet we still allow someone who has existed a few decades to take up several square feet of land forever.Similar articles that might also interest you:

• Matchmaker, matchmaker make me a match…for my pet
• Starbucks overload?
• Grapes and raisins poisonous in dogs
• Reminder: Life is precious
• The “5 Second Rule” Gets Upgraded

The UK is slightly different with its laws, but they are still very westernized, all with the exception of an Islamic school.

The principal of an Islamic school has admitted that it uses textbooks which describe Jews as “apes” and Christians as “pigs” and has refused to withdraw them.

Again, one needs to accept the bad with the good, but for moldable young minds, it is often in how you present this information to them.

These books have good chapters that can be used by the teachers. It depends on the objectives the teacher wants to achieve.

Religion is a fierce topic in public schools, here in the US and on the other side of the pond in the UK, walking a fine line especially in tight knit communities. Out and out name-calling, or as it could appear to be, to children and young adults could lead to preconceived notations later in life.Similar articles that might also interest you:

• Parent angry over child�s required summer reading book list
• Help the Arts Where it Starts!
• Are you a good person?
• The Best of the Gold is at the Bottom of Barrels of Crap
• Why Paradox = Life: Top Five