Dana Mathewson

You may have seen this on Fox News. Todd Starnes skewers the atheists who thought this one up.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2017/11/17/bird-brained-atheists-sue-shelter-over-blessing-animals.html

I particularly liked his comment about how his Southern Baptist relations bless their animals, usually along with gravy and BBQ sauce.

Earlier this year the church where Martha works invited people to bring in their pets for a blessing on St. Francis' Day. I took Bijou in -- showed up a few minutes late, uncharacteristically (can't remember why). Photo below. I was concerned about Bijou's possible behavior because he does not usually tolerate other dogs, but I remembered that if there are number of other dogs around, he generally lapses into submission. And Martha would be there, and he'd be able to sit with her when she wasn't on the piano bench.

Well, he was fussy at first, partly because his paws could get no traction on the highly-polished marble floor. And as he smelled many (not THAT many) other dogs, his senses went into high gear. But he stayed quiet, as did all the others. At one point in the (mercifully short) service, one dog barked ONCE.

The priest intoned the blessing while we all held our own dogs -- or laid hands on them if they were too large to pick up and hold. (Yes, there may have been a cat or two present.) And there were some huge ones indeed. A couple of German shepherds that looked like archetypical wolves -- beautiful beyond all description. Two or three other dogs of various sizes that were also beautiful. A couple of scruffy non-beauties. Various others. We all exited to the parking lot where there were doggie treats to be handed out, and of course there the noise began, as each dog rang in with his or her version of "I've been blessed. LOOK AT ME!" And each dog wanted to greet every other dog with a kind of "And bless YOU too, brother or sister" sort of camaraderie that I'm sure would have had a different dynamic in a different setting. They all seemed to understand what it was all about.

I really believe all dogs DO go to Heaven, at least if they've been properly trained. And Bijou was quite high-strung for the next three days.

I wonder if there are any atheists among dogs?

A word from Jack Kemp:

I once went to the Mormon Center in the West 60s in Manhattan to check out my grandparents ancestry and also the ancestry of a woman friend I knew. The Mormons keep the best records on this. I also know that they "baptize" every name entered into the Mormon Church - including deceased people. I figured as long as they weren't digging up graves or changing government records or sending me letters asking for money as "a fellow Mormon," I could let them have their fun. I don't think my late grandfather would have been a fan of the Osmonds.

And I didn't organize a protest in front of the Mormon Center.

This from Dana Mathewson:

A few summers ago we had, in this neighborhood, a couple of young Mormon "elders" riding around here on bicycles -- guys were in their 20's, which I though funny if you were going to call them "elders;" church must be having a hard time recruiting -- trying to find people to talk to. I'd be walking my dog and telling them I really couldn't concentrate on what they wanted to discuss, but didn't want to appear hostile (Mormons are about the most gracious folks you'll ever encounter, with the possible exception of waitresses in the diners in their small towns). I'd see them day after day and wish them good afternoon, and they REALLY wanted to talk, but I'd gently wave them off. Didn't want to tell them they'd been gulled by a cult, but would they like to come in for a glass of brandy? NO? Cup of coffee, perhaps? Naturally, I would NOT do that. After about three months they were gone, and they didn't show up the following year.

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