Hey all! This is definately a good idea, and I applaud you, Alysia, for dragging my butt into the blogging world (I have been fastidiously avoiding it thus far).

Other than avoiding blogs, lately I've been singing many nonesense songs to the tune of "The Farmer In the Dell" (Insert favorite topic/holiday and repeat) While I'm a little afraid that my brain will turn to mush and leak out of my ear, I'm kind of enjoying my new job as an itinerant pre-school teacher. I'm living in St. Louis and working for the county library system, trying to get over the fact that I'm on salary and have weekends off (what? people do that?)

Laura, your question about torture is a really difficult one. I was thinking about it recently as well. On the whole, of course, the church shouldn't condone torture. But is it okay when there's people who have the information to save lives, but won't tell? I honestly don't know how to answer that one. There's obvoiously a line somewhere, but where is it? Is our cultural abhorrance of torture/interrogation due to the fact that comfort is our first priority? And is that okay? In my limited experience, discomfort and pain have been the catalyst to change and growth, so maybe pain is necessary to life. Does that ligitimize torture? It would be an interesting question to pose to a Chinese Christian who has been tortured for their faith, don't you think?