The Modesty Writers Guild

recently i have been thinking a lot about the legislation of morality. meaning: how can any government (all inclusive) tell a human what he or she cannot do. i understand that laws are set up so that the society as a whole will survive. for a survival instance: if the law of that particular government said that murder was not a crime and was socially acceptable, i question how long that society would last. not murdering could be understood to some as innate, in the sense that when you do something wrong no matter what upbringing, or culture, you were raised in one would feel 'guilty' or some sense of wrongdoing. here is where i have the problem; because china's government is set up around an atheistic principled governmental system called communism it does not allow the free pursuit of a higher being or any other religious beliefs. now i am not saying religion is moral, but religion usually connotes a pursuit of morality in most case's. but this is not simply an

so. here i sit at my little coffee shop in winter haven, florida. the hurricane completely missed us except for a couple rainstorms, a little wind, and a lackluster sunset. needless to say as i was sitting here re-reading wendy shalit's "a return to modesty," (which i will dedicate an entire post to later) i received an email from my friends from in ohio. this is one of the highest compliments and something i am very proud of. this is cadence, named after anberlin's song on blueprints for the blackmarket. his father runs shield and buckler skateboards, and i have had the privlidge of meeting him once before. i feel very honored to vicariously be apart of their lives for many many years to come.

Stephen Christian acoustic w/ Louis DeFabrizio (the kick) and Anna Becker 10:30pm Christian Study Center Thursday, October 27th www.christianstudycenter.org for directions www.purevolume.com/stephenchristian

lorreta lux, from germany, is by far my favorite photographer of all time. i first discovered her on a haphazard trip to the chicago museum of art. her pictures were in the far right corner, and could have easily been looked over. but the mint green and dark amber red's was burned on my brain forever. the children could either be from a fantasy make believe world, or your darkest nightmare. either way, lorreta lux is a photographer everyone needs to know about.

i will be speaking @ an FCA meeting Wednesday October 26, 2005. Wednesday night at 8:30pm, in Gainsville, FL. For more information about UF FCA visit their website at www.uffca.org. direction's: once you are @ the University of Florida campus: You will come to the corner of campus at Gale-Lemerand Drive (formerly North-South). Turn right – Ben Hill Griffin Stadium will be on your left now, and the O’Connell Center on your right. You can park in the O’Connell center parking lot on the right. UF FCA is located in Touchdown Terrace in the north endzone of the Stadium. Walk to the front of the stadium facing University Ave. Take the large winding ramp to the left of the main entrance – this will lead you up to Touchdown Terrace. There will be signs about to direct you.

"It is the Law that any difficulties that can come to you at any time, no matter what they are, must be exactly what you need most at the moment, to enable you to take the next step forward by overcoming them. The only real misfortune, the only real tragedy, comes when we suffer without learning the lesson." -- Emmet Fox

Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny. - Ralph Waldo Emerson,

Hey Stephen. I, myself, somewhat fall under the same category as you. I don't believe in organized religion at all. I don't think you should put "one day" of the week aside for church/praise/etc. ?'s -Are you completely against using "curse" words altogether? People (Christians) say it's a sin, and that I'll go to hell for dropping some occasional f-bombs, but I disagree. They are just words, yes? They're not even universal...like, if I went to Spain and started dropping f-bombs, they wouldn't know what I was saying. It's just the English language that says these are "bad" words. I don't think God changes the definition of "sin" from country to country. -Do you think that Christians are the most hypocritical of all religions? Just a simple "yes" or "no" answer would be fine with me. I'm just asking, because, a lot of them (most of the ones I hang out with, anyway)

over australia 7.28.05

"stephen, personally, i hate organized religion, i was never baptized or had communion or been confirmed yet when I was younger I went to chruch every Sunday and my parents and grandparents are very religious and at a time in my life I really did want to get baptized but I think that is only because I was scared that I NEEDED a religion in my life, now I know you may disagree with a lot of the reasons why I don't like organized religion but I wish that you would not judge me for my beliefs because there is no way I would ever judge you for yours, I think too many people use religion as a way to get out of things, I know many people who can mess up so badly (cheat, lie, have premarital sex, not go to church, don't pray) yet they think that God will forgive them for everything if they just say they are sorry, to me that seems like bullshit, I just cant fathom the fact that you can do so many bad things in your life but you can be relieved of all of that if you confess, I

boston, mass. 10.10.04