Color me ironic

At a time when my sum contribution has been a decided lack of thought, I get tagged with a Thinking Blogger Award. Thank you very much Lori for thinking of me!

I’ve decided to dedicate this thoughtful post to a man who was quite painfully devoid of thought. A man who dedicated his life to the eradication of free thinking. This man serves as a shining example of how you can influence millions without having so much as a clue in your head. Rev Jerry Falwell died on May 15th, 2007 - and I won’t miss him. Here are just some of Jerry’s gems of anti-wisdom from over the years:

He blamed gays, lesbians, feminists, pagans and abortionists for the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, saying they weakened the country.

“I think Mohammed was a terrorist.”

“I listen to feminists and all these radical gals. … These women just need a man in the house. That’s all they need. Most of the feminists need a man to tell them what time of day it is and to lead them home.”

“I can tell you, our grandchildren will laugh at those who predicted global warming. We’ll be in global cooling by then, if the Lord hasn’t returned. I don’t believe a moment of it. The whole thing is created to destroy America’s free enterprise system and our economic stability.”

“AIDS is the wrath of a just God against homosexuals.”

Jerry helped me realize that no matter how absurd something is, millions of people can and will believe it. I never could have understood that without seeing his success. In it’s own lame way, the lesson I took from him was just how important free thought is. Everyone should be encouraged to form their own opinions on every possible topic, not adopt those of the loudest speaker. Vaya con dios, Jerry.

The way the Thinking Blogger award works is that I now nominate 5 blogs to receive the award. Shooting for some variety, here are my 5 choices:

PostSecret: Most everyone seems to know this one already, but it’s always worth mentioning. Definitely thought provoking with a teeny sprinkling of scandalous.

Dethroner: No matter what the weekly theme or topic is, I am always king.

EcoGeek: If you love technology then you’re bound to enjoy this blog. They do an amazing job of digging up eco-themed technology news.

Dilbert Blog: A comic is an unlikely source for thought provoking blog action, but it’s one of the best out there. Scott Adams is a seriously bright and interesting guy with plenty to say.

Grow-a-Brain: Quick and light these blog posts riddled with links are only as thought inspiring as what you do with them. With a different theme every day you’ll know more random stuff than you ever thought about before.

Those are my 5, I hope you enjoy them.

- shawn

[source: thinking blogger | do you realize?]