Ben & Jerry's offends family...with ice cream!

In this weeks edition of offended by everything, a family is concerned about the name of a new ice cream from Ben & Jerry's called Hazed & Confused. Clearly they are the ones confused if they don't get the cultural reference to the movie but, let's move on.

They feel the name is offensive because they lost their son to hazing and they think the name is insensitive to families like themselves that have lost loved ones to hazing.

Um, what's offensive is that you are wasting time complaining about a word on an ice cream carton when you should be working toward getting changes made on college campuses to stop hazing all together.

Losing your son was a horrible experience that should have never happened but being threatened by a word on an ice cream carton is ridiculous. If you don't have any more backbone than that, I'd be embarrassed to be part of your family.

Ban everything "dangerous"! Yeah, that'll work!

This is truly a horrible story but the father's call to keep these batteries out of our homes is another knee jerk reaction that is overboard.

There will always be things in your house that could potentially harm or kill you. You can't ban everything that "might" be a danger on the off chance that something might happen.

We need to teach our children about the dangers around them so they grow up being able to make informed decisions. If you simply remove everything from their presence during their childhood, they will never learn how to think for themselves, be aware of their actions and become adults that keep safety in mind.

Eventually, they will come into contact with dangers and if you haven't already taught them how to respond to them, bad things can happen.

I can certainly understand his feelings, but people need to think logically before they just start calling for bans on things.

Deep thoughts at a funeral

It's no surprise that death makes you think about your own mortality. Sitting at my aunts funeral I began to think about my own funeral. It's only natural to think of such things at a time like this, right?

I just wondered, what would my family plan to "honor" my life? Would they pick flattering pictures of my life or just whatever they had available? I hate having my picture taken so there aren't many good shots of me out there.

Would they have a pastor come, quote bible verses and pray? Right now, I don't think I would want that. I'm at a point in my life where I'm not on the believers train. I'm not sure what I believe but I think a christian funeral might be a little awkward right now.

Will friends and family get up and talk about funny things I did, or how I impacted their life while I was alive? Then I wonder, have a really done anything worthy of such a speech? Maybe nobody will be able to think of anything good to say other than I was a hard worker. I guess that might be enough for some people but, it makes me think about what else I haven't done with my life so far.

I really need to start doing something worthwhile with my life...before it's too late and I don't even have enough of a life to fill up my obituary!

Love this idea for a headstone!

Is god just a reason to be ok with death?

Just bear with me...this might be a little different than what you're used to seeing me blog about. Your feedback is appreciated at the end. Thanks

I've struggled with faith for a long time. I was christened as a Lutheran and went through confirmation classes but quit before "graduation". I was out of church for a few years, then got back in by joining the choir in high school. Made some great friends during those years and did lots of things I'm sure our youth sponsors would be horrified to know about, if they don't already. In my 20's I was out of the church and did the usual 20's things; partying, staying out late, got pregnant, then married...you know, normal stuff. :)  Around 30 I was part of a Christian band and we did worship at several churches in our area. I'm 35 now and the mental struggle is worse than ever before.

Over the last several years I've been struggling to decide what I believe in. I loved the idea of going to a church where I could form close friendships and bond with other people that had the same beliefs. Problem is, I don't know what my beliefs are anymore. I am very pessimistic and find it hard to believe in intangible things.

Some of the stories in the bible are so far fetched that it's almost impossible to believe. There are so many churches that don't even preach what is in the bible and others that say you will all go to heaven no matter how bad you are if you repent. If that is true, then why even bother living a noble life? Just repent before the end and you still get into heaven, right? Seems like a lot of people are living by this example, doesn't it?

What am I supposed to believe? Heaven, Hell, Nothing? I begin to wonder if I only "believe" in God because knowing that I'll go to a "better place" when I die is better than believing that there is nothing after death. I must admit that when I cannot convince myself that God is real I'm terrified of what might happen when I die.

On the flip side, what if God is real, heaven & hell exist, and I've made a huge mistake? Thinking about being condemned to hell for eternity is even more horrific than thinking there is nothing after death. And what is heaven is real and I get there only to find out that the people I've left behind aren't going to get in? More importantly, what if I get there and all the annoying people I hated in life were let in because they repented at the very end? Seriously? :)

Right now, I'm looking for all opinions on the subject of religion. I'm very interested in all points of view...what you believe and why. Just keep it friendly. No attacking other people for their opinions, please.

Thanks in advance for your help in my quest for the truth.

R.I.P. Papaw - 1 Year Ago 7/27/10

My papaw was a character
You would tinker and fuss with any motor you found
Using twist ties and stockings to make things go round
Your truck was a mixture of rust, paint and steel
And you smoked a cigar when behind that big wheel

There's no way around it, you were often quite rude
But could laugh & tell jokes when in a good mood
You were grouchy and gruff and set in your ways
But you loved to watch kids from the daycare at play

An ornery cuss you became, that's for sure
But that sassiness just made me like you much more
And no matter how mean you got there at the end
You will always be papaw, fixer & friend