June 10, 2006

The Use of Satire

sat·ire
n.

1. a. A literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit.
b. The branch of literature constituting such works. See Synonyms at caricature.
2. Irony, sarcasm, or caustic wit used to attack or expose folly, vice, or stupidity.
{from Dictionary.com}

There are many people who think that satire is unfitting for Christian use. Perhaps that is because satire is so often used against us (the good folks at the Landover Baptist website, for example) that we don't want to use it ourselves. But when you've got such Christian heavy-hitters as G. K. Chesterton and C. S. Lewis doing satire, it's hard to ignore the thought that humor, especially scathing humor, is very useful in getting a point across.

A month or so ago, the Reformation21 blog had several posts on just this topic. Of course, the root of the matter is Carl Trueman's posts, which are often a bit satirical, or are at the very least parodies. I particularly appreciated this wuote (from May 5th):

After all, sin is absurd; sinful human pretension is absurd; and while it is indeed tragic, it is also, in its pompous claims for itself, ridiculous in the true sense of the word.
Phillip Ryken also notes in that blog that there are many times when satire or sarcasm are the methods used by the Old Testament prophets (in a post that promises an ESV Literary Bible, which I am eagerly awaiting).

We have to be careful how satire and sarcasm are used. We seem to live in a world of Ford Prefects, who cannot understand sarcasm unless they are really paying close attention and looking for it. People may miss our point alltogether if we're not careful. But without sarcasm and satire, we would be without passages like this, when Paul is lamenting those Judaizers who want to require new Christians to be circumcised:

Galatians 5:12-15 (ESV)
12 I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!

13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another.


But what really brought this topic back to my attention was Doug Wilson's post today, concerning satire and sarcasm in Christian discussion. And HE says
As we read through Scriptures carefully, without a pietistic set of blinders, we find that satire, mocking, godly taunting are routine weapons of choice whenever God's people confront idolatry.
I like satire. I have a warped enough sense of humor that I really enjoy reading satire, whether it's Swift's "A Modest Proposal" or C. S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters, or even just enjoying the latest edition of The Sacred Sandwich or Lark News. I'm not skilled enough to wield this weapon properly, unfortunately, though it doesn't keep me from trying. It's my hope that what we cannot correct by using more direct means (vast petition drives, boycotts, occasionally preaching and teaching) we might be able to address and correct through humor -- especially satire. By showing people how ridiculous they are acting, we can show them that they need to change.

And change is a good thing. Really.

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SBC Convention Time

So it's that time of year again. The Southern Baptist Convention is meeting in Greensboro next week -- Pastor's Conference starts on tomorrow evening, and the main convention starts on Tuesday.

And I'm stuck at home.

I'd planned on going this year, because I think that there are going to be some important votes come up. I really wanted to go to the Pastor's Conference this year, because there are some outstanding sessions being held (including the Mohler/Patterson discussion on Calvinism and Arminianism). But finances won't allow me -- we can't afford to miss work to go down, especially with a baby on the way.

There are plenty of Southern Baptist bloggers headed down that way, though not all of them will be blogging the convention. I'll have links to what they have to say, and as I have a chance to watch the streaming video of the convention, I'll have my own comments, too.

I think it's a great reflection on the SBC that we've got three men running for president this year, each supported by some very distinguished SBC members. This year's election will be more than just rubber-stamping a candidate that "everyone knows will win." I think that's one thing that has always bothered me with the SBC elections -- it never seemed like there was a real choice.

The fact is, Southern Baptists are pretty unified in their basic theology. We have disagreements about peripheral issues, but we all start with the basic premise of the inerrancy and infalibility of the Bible, the sovereignty of God, and the sufficiency of Christ's atonement. We agree on (dare I say it?) the "fundamentals." But that doesn't mean we agree on everything. Our biggest problem right now is making sure that we don't make the peripherals into hills on which to stand (or die). We can agree to disagree, and still work together.

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June 02, 2006

Quote Of The Day

Your are not educated if you don't know the Bible. You can't read Shakespeare or Milton without it, even if there was nothing else of it. And with the schools now, that's what I hate about secular relativism. It's afraid of insurance liability. They don't even teach it as a document. They stay out of the whole thing to avoid controversy. So the kids can't quote the King James Bible. That's terrible. And I quite understand Christian parents who want protect their children from a nihilistic solution where there's no way of knowing what's been discussed.
Al Mohler? Jerry Falwell? George W. Bush? Nope. more...

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May 31, 2006

Godblogcon 2006

The site is up, the date is set. August 3-5, 2006 at BIOLA.

Now, I think it's great that BIOLA is sponsoring the thing again this year. But I have the same problem that I had last year -- it's too far away for me to travel. I can't get there -- again.

My suggestion is that we have some type of rotating system where the conference changes locations every few years, so that people can actually attend one every so often. Couple years at BIOLA, (west coast) couple years at Southern (midwest), then pick a location in the north or northeast, and a location in the south. This thing is big enough that it could be done, and more bloggers can actually attend. Godbloggers are all over the nation (and the world, for that matter -- maybe we need to hold the thing in England and continental Europe as well!), not just on the West Coast.

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May 29, 2006

By Semi-Popular Demand

I've had several search-engine hits from people looking for a review of Artemis Fowl. I never posted one here, though I've referred to the books before. I've read the entire series, though, and reviewed it at Blogcritics. So you don't have to leave, and to keep from disappointing any more visitors, here's the review. It's a bit brief, but it gives a good overview of the series.

more...

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May 25, 2006

It's Been Five Years...

Five years ago today, my life changed.

It was about 7:40 in the morning. My wife and I had just arrived at the school we both were teaching at, and I was signing in. Someone in the office came running back and told me I had to call my mom, right away.

At the hospital.

My dad woke up complaining that something didn't feel right. He wanted to go to the doctors. Anytime Dad wanted to go to the doctor, there was a problem. Mom wanted to call 91, but he wouldn't let her. They hopped into the car and took off for the hospital.

Dad didn't make it there.

When Mom called, it wasn't official, though it was already over. We left school and before we could get clothes thrown into a suitcase to head down, my sister called to let us know he was gone.

My wife was pregnant at the time -- in only three more months, she would give birth to our first child. I've gone from being a manager at Lowes to teaching to preaching. I've gone from barely finishing my undergrad degree to attending seminary. I can only speculate about what Dad would have thought, though I know that he'd have been shocked at the idea of me getting my masters, and actually wanting to do it.

In a lot of ways it was my own trying to deal with his death that led me to seriously consider seminary. I wanted answers. There was a part of me that was mad that God would take him before he got to see his granddaughter. I could have either rejected God entirely (as I've seen some do) or try to find out the answers to the questions I had.

Five years later, the only thing I've really learned is that I'll never learn enough. But I know enough to realize that there are people out there with questions, and they need someone to provide the answers. Someone to point them to the Answer. And I figure that's my job.

And now, five years later, my wife is expecting our second child. We just found out that it will be a boy, and he's due on September 25 -- the day after my Dad's birthday. And I think that's pretty cool.

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May 23, 2006

And WHat Brought You Here This Evening?

Since I haven't exactly been prolific lately, I got to wondering what brought people to the site. o I looked at the searches people have been typing in to get here. Here are a few of the more humorous ones, a la Parableman.

failures of evangelical christian homeschooling statistics: This person is either looking for statistics on homeschooling failures, or information about bad statistics, or something. Unfortunately for them, the failures are far outweighed by the successes.

staurofilakes: From my review of The Last Cato. In fact, two of the results point to my review -- one at this site, and one at Blogcritics. Looks like most of the sites in the search are references to that book, too. Probably someone who, as I was, is interested in the super secret group of Cross protectors.

where the baptist faith went wrong: Well, since I'm a Baptist, I would say that it hasn't in any way that is meaningful or substantial (though I'm sure there are areas where we can do better). Quotation marks would have helped you out here...

the current events today affect the creation of israel: HOW can events today affect the creation of the state of Israel almost 60 years ago? Where are you hiding that time machine?

sex and the teengager mind: what are kids do when we aren: I'm assuming this is an incomplete sentence, and it refers to a book. Quotes REALLY would have helped this one out a lot -- that and spelling 'teenager' right.

And finally:

A wishes with want some thing from God........God wished to A ok you will get it is done..... God told your brother B i: huh??? That's all I can say about this one.

{minor edit for some gramar/spelling that I was wrong on}

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My DaVinci Code Post

OK, so somewhere in the job description for "Godblogger" it says that I have to post something here about the DaVinci Code movie. I wasn't going to, since I haven't read the book and don't plan on going to the movie -- no, not because I'm afraid of being challenged. It's not the kind of movie I really want to see. My wife might go see it, and if she does, I'm sure I'll hear all about it. I thought that my review of The DaVinci Codebreaker would count, but evidently not. So here goes.

The one comment I keep hearing is "What's the big deal? It's a fictional book! It's fiction! Enjoy it as a fictional story!" And I agree, in a way. I really do feel sorry for people who get their worldviews and their history from fiction. They probably thing The Patriot and Braveheart were both documentaries. People who are that gullible have more problems than The DaVinci Code anyway.

The problem is that to so many people, it's not fiction -- at least, the history involved isn't fiction. And one of those people is Dan Brown himself. Back in 2003, Brown was interviewed on the NPR program Weekend Edition and was asked about the fiction/fact issue:

LINDA WERTHEIMER: How long does it take you to research a book like this? I assume that, among other things, you would hear from the world if youÂ’ve got anything wrong. (why yes, Linda, he has. He just ignores us.)

Mr. BROWN: Certainly. And it takes me about two and a half years to entirely research and write a book like this. Before I even started writing a page, I’d spent a year in research, and a lot of the research for “Angels and Demons” that I did in Vatican City played into this book, as well as my art history training in Seville.

WERTHEIMER: YouÂ’re trying not to get too fictional with the facts here?

Mr. BROWN: Absolutely. The only thing fictional in “The Da Vinci Code” is the characters and the action that takes place. All of the locations, the paintings, the ancient history, the secret documents, the rituals, all of this is factual.


So for all of those people yelling at Christians that it's all just fiction, you might want to let Dan Brown know. And then you might want to find out how bad the research he did really is.

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May 22, 2006

This Just In ...

DATELINE: Obscurity, USA.

The Dixie Chicks, realizing that nobody remembered them, have taken it upon themselves to remind us all that they don't like the president.

Not satisfied, apparantly, with the rebuke of country music radio the last time, Natalie Maines and Company have released their latest single, "Not Ready," an apparant message to President Bush that they're not ready to make nice, especially since his approval rating is down.

When informed of this development, President Bush reportedly wept uncontrollably for about an hour, then changed his party affiliation and hired Al Gore to be his image consultant. Dick Cheney reportedly commented "It was those Dixie Chicks. George has always been a fan, and the last stab at him hurt him bad. He was hoping that they'd forgiven him -- he wanted them to play at the GOP convention in '08. He was crushed when he heard the song -- he knew it was aimed at him."

First Lady Laura Bush was unavailable for comment, though rumor has it that she was out having her hair bleached and cut when we attempted to speak with her.

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Book Review: He Said It! I Did It!

When you get a book that's subtitled "Lessons From My Father on Mastering Personal Finance" and see that it includes Bible study questions at the end of each chapter, you think many different things. The first thing I thought when I saw this book and read the press release that came with it was "prosperity gospel."

Thankfully, that is not the case with this book. Charles Buffington III has written this book as a guide to managing your finances with a goal in mind -- and the goal is to use the wealth you get to help others. Wealth is not an end unto itself -- it is a means to an end. The book is really, first and foremost, about stewardship: putting the resources that you have been entrusted with to the best use possible not just for yourself, but for others.

Buffington recognizes that for the average American, debt is a huge problem. In fact, debt has a power to enslave people -- we are stuck in jobs we hate because we have bills to pay. How many of us have ever sat back and said "If I just had these bills paid off, I would..." But unlike so many other writers, he also recognizes that some debt is not avoidable. He breaks debt down into two categories -- constructive debt and toxic debt. Constructive debt is your home mortgage, or your business loan. Toxic debt is the payments on that new plasma TV, or the even bigger car. Constructive debt should be minimized; toxic debt should be avoided.

So many of these "get out of debt and stay that way" books have a very preachy tone. Reading many of them, I feel like I'm in college again, and my father is lecturing me about using and abusing credit. In He Said It! I Did It!, we learn with Buffington, from his father. Each chapter begins with a conversation with Charles Buffington II, where we get an overview of what the chapter is going to teach us. This makes it a lot easier to read -- we know that the author isn't a know it all, because he had to learn these lessons, too, just as we are.

Many of the lessons in the book are common sense: stay out of debt, live below your means, save, invest, etc. We all know that we should do those things. Where the book becomes most valuable is in its example. We see someone who, just like most of us, has heard the lessons but not lived them. He's in the same boat we're in. But he applies these lessons, and ends up better off. He's able to do things for people because he's got the means to do it. He sets a goal, and achieves it by applying the lessons his father teaches him. And those lessons are lessons his father also learned the hard way, so we have two people with whom we can identify. That encouragement, that knowing that these things really do work, is where the book is the most valuable.

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Check The Temperature ...

... because hell might be getting ready to freeze over.

Al Mohler and John Shelby Spong agree on something. And I agree with them, too.

Spong said "Unity is a virtue in the church, but not the supreme one. Truth is higher." Mohler agreed. So do I.

Now, when you read the rest of Spong's interview, you'll find plenty to disagree with, as did Dr. Mohler, and as do I. But I think it's interesting, and enlightening, that even an arch-heretic like Spong realizes the importance of truth. Now if only he could actually see the truth.

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May 16, 2006

Explanation

Light blogging lately (as if you didn't notice). This time of year is really hectic for anyone in education. Students are preparing for and taking exams, and getting ready to graduate. Teachers are writing exams, grading papers, and bracing themselves for the grading mayhem that follows. Substitute teachers are scouring the classifieds looking for their summer employment.

I'm a sub. SO you know what I've been doing.

I've got a bunch of stuff in my "Blogging fodder" folder, so hopefully I'll have some time -- possibly this Thursday, maybe this weekend. I've got a couple podcasts to produce, and some resumes to fax out.

While you're waiting for me, check out the newest gizmo from our good, non-evil friends at Google -- the Google Notebook. I think this is going to be getting a workout on the desktop AND the laptop.

Oh -- unfortunately, you have to be on a Windows or Linux machine, unfortunately. I figure a Mac version will be coming soon.

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May 12, 2006

A Translation ...

Real Networks CEO Rob Glaser said some pretty serious things recently about Apple, iPods, and those of us who use them.

If you want interoperable music today, there is a very easy solution: it's called stealing. The average number of songs sold for the iPod is 25, and there are many more songs on iPods than 25. About half the music on iPods is music obtained illegitimately either from an illegal peer-to-peer networks or from ripping friends' CDs, which is illegal. But it's the only way to get non-copy protected, portable, interoperable music.

Now, notice he never gives any sources for this information. And he ignores the fact that you can rip your own CDs and put them on your iPod. I got to thinking -- he's either incredibly uninformed, or there's another motive. I refuse to believe that he's that dim, so I've provided what I think is a pretty good translation of what he said:
You can't play Real media files on iPods. Apple got to the portable MP3 market before we did, and Rhapsody isn't catching on. We were too short-sighted to see that people would want to take their music with them, and not we're in trouble because people are using iTunes rather than our software. So I'm going to bash Apple and iPods. Maybe someone will feel sorry for us.

I've currently got 141 songs on my iPod, and a bunch of podcasts. They're all legal. I'd LOVE for someone to show me where he got that 25 songs number.

The whole interview with Glaser is at the Guardian site.

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May 06, 2006

Media Note

From the "Why haven't I blogged about this already?" file:

I was interviewed by Stacy Harp, the brains AND brawn behind Mind and Media/Active Christian Media. We talked for 40 minutes (her podcast is normally only half that, if that long!), and you can listen to it here. But if you REALLY want something worthwhile, you'll just subscribe to the podcast -- head over to her site for details. It's a fun interview, even though I wouldn't shut up and let her play parts of my podcast!


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May 02, 2006

Book Review: The DaVinci Codebreaker by James L. Garlow

Whenever you read anything about The DaVinci Code, for or against, you are going to be bombarded by buzzwords and jargon. Often, these buzzwords are used by different authors in different ways, which can lead to some serious confusion. Historical references are also made that they just didn't cover in your high school World History class.

more...

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May 01, 2006

Study of Mark: Mark 9:1-13

And he said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power."

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah." For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is my beloved Son; listen to him." And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.
(Mark 9:1-8 ESV)

more...

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April 24, 2006

iTunes Fun

Got this meme from Songstress. Fired up iTunes and here are my results:

HOW MANY SONGS? 841, including a LOT of podcasts and a 35-part lecture series on church history. Seriously -- I've got something like 428 podcast episodes right now -- I need to go through them and get rid of most. I keep the dramatic podcasts that I listen to (like Dr. Floyd) and burn them to CD later, so I need to do that, too. But I've got CDs to rip, so the actual total will probably go up.

SORT BY SONG TITLE: (I filtered out the podcasts for this one)
First: A Balynure Ballad by Christopher Lynch, from an Original Irish Tenors CD I reviewed.
Last: Your Lies by Silas, a Chrisitan indie band that I'm going to play on an upcoming Pewcast.

SORT BY TIME: (again, leaving out the podcasts, some of which are over an hour long)
Longest: Parable Guy by ApologetiX (8:21) (parody of American Pie)
Shortest: Winter Wonderland by Steve Taylor (2:02)

SORT BY ALBUM:
First: Back Home by Eric Clapton
Last: Wide Eyed and Mystified by downhere. NOT the whole album (it's not out until the end of May), but I got the single to play on the Pewcast.

TOP 5 MOST PLAYED SONGS:

"Say Yeah," "The Best I Have to Offer," "A Song About Nothing," and "In Jesus Name" by Three Cord Wonder, and "I Will Sing" by Jamie Rowe. What can I say, Three Cord Wonder is a great band. You can hear them on ... well, you know.


FIRST SONG THAT COMES UP ON SHUFFLE:

Poor Rich Folk, "Leaves Like Eve's." Guess where I've played that one ....

SEARCH FOR: (left the podcasts in for this one)
Sex - 1. A report on turning in sexual predators from Stacy Harp's podcast.
Death - 1. "Death Danced at Midnight" -- a Red Panda Adventure from Decoder Ring Theater.
Love - 23. I'm not listing all of them!

If you want to do this one, knock yourself out -- just hit me with a trackback!

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April 21, 2006

Book Review: The Last Cato by Matilde Asensi

It's very tempting for me to write a scathing review of this book. I could rant about The Da Vinci Code-esque revisionist church history, and incite Christians everywhere to protest the book. But I won't, for a few reasons.

One - like I could get more than a dozen Christians to actually listen to me, much less do what I want them to. Two - the book's good.

The premise: there is a secret society -- similar to the legendary Grail Knights -- tasked with protecting the True Cross, on which Christ was crucified. They have infiltrated every part of the Church all over the world, protecting the fragments of the Cross that have been strewn all over Christendom, with one goal: To bring them all back together, under their control.

The book begins with a series of robberies, and a mysterious corpse. Pieces of the True Cross are being stolen, and the corpse is one of the thieves. He bears intricate body art -- ritual scarification, the result of his induction into the mysterious group known as the Staurofilakes -- the protectors of the Cross.

Vatican paleographer Ottavia Salina is called on to help investigate the crimes, and bring the Staurofilakes back into fellowship with the Catholic Church - by force, if need be. Accompanied by a member of the Swiss Guard and an atheistic professor, she begins her investigation. Aided by clues provided by Dante's Divine Comedy, they move closer and closer to the mysterious group - even as they receive the very same ritual scars as the dead thief.

There is a growing sub-genre of religious fiction - the skeptical, gnostic-based thriller novel. The Da Vinci Code is, of course, the most famous example of this genre, and is responsible for its popularity today. The Da Vinci Code, though, was originally published in 2003, though -- The Last Cato was originally published in 2001, in Spanish. So this is not an example of an author jumping on the bandwagon. It's a wonderfully written story, with healthy doses of skepticism toward religion. The skepticism is not heavy-handed -- in most cases, it's mentioned in passing, with no 'proselytizing' as Dan Brown tends toward in his book. Readers would be well-advised to get a copy of The Divine Comedy as a reference as they read this book, but the important passages are quoted in the book, so that's not essential. You'll never read Dante the same way again, I can promise you that.

Characterization in the book isn't overt or heavy-handed, but by the end you feel like you really know these three people. You sympathize with Ottavia's struggles and her anguish over the direction her life seems to be taking her. By the end, you're pondering the irony in her statement that "Life doesn't drag you along if you don't let it."

One minor quibble with the book, or actually the translation. Latin names are often mishandled, it seems. Eusebius is left Eusebio, for example, almost as if the Spanish name had been left alone, rather than being translated to the proper Latin name. A minor detail, at best, but it did grate on the church historian in me to see familiar names rendered incorrectly.

One reason I would start a protest over the book is that the result of such action seems clear - people will read the book to see what all the fuss is about. And this is a book that deserves to be read. And it didn't borrow anything from Holy Blood, Holy Grail. That in itself deserves high praise indeed. I didn't read The Da Vinci Code, but if this is the type of book publishers are picking up because of Dan Brown's success, then we owe him thanks. Just remember that the book was written two years before Brown's book, and you'll enjoy it even more.

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April 19, 2006

NHL Playoffs -- MY Kind of Bracketology!

I don't do college basketball, though I paid more attention to it this year than I have before. I'm a hockey guy, and even though the cable deal the league got with OLN assured me of rarely getting to watch the game on TV, I paid attention this season. Now it's playoff time, and it's time for my predictions: more...

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April 18, 2006

Cheney Tax Crisis!!

Recent reports show that 'Deadeye' Dick Cheney gave away 80% of his income to charities. These reports have been met in different ways by different people.

Democrats are demanding to know what happened to that other 20%. Republicans are considering revoking Cheney's membership card unless he can prove he used at least half of what was left over to buy stock in multi-national corporations.

Ha.

OK, seriously for a minute -- the man donated close to seven million dollars to charity. Now he's getting a HUGE refund on his taxes, and people are mad. Get over it, people. When YOU donate 80% of your income to charity, you'll get a hefty tax refund, too.

In related news, I'm announcing the formation of the Warren Kelly Foundation. Tax-deductable donations will be accepted through the handy PayPal link to the right...

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