Thank you! That's very nice of you to tell me what he said.

In reply to this comment by xxovercastxx:
From about 8:20 on...

When I'm walking into my bedroom I turned around and I heard him say, "Hang on." and I turned around and he looked at me and said, "Look, um, I've got another job on in about a month's time and, uh, if you're free I could use the help."

I couldn't hear the last few words he said because my computer speakers suck, and I can't find my headphones. Now I'm frustrated.

Indeed.

In reply to this comment by gwiz665:
More choral goodness http://www.videosift.com/video/Eric-Whitacre-conducts-choral-masterpiece-Cloudburst

My choir did this one. Eric Whitacre is cool, yo.

Thank you! It makes me happy that at least a few discerning people appreciate this kind of thing.

In reply to this comment by Fusionaut:
*quality

Joseph Jennings, the creator of Chanticleer, used to work with my choir, so I got the opportunity to usher at one of their concerts. We sat on the balcony by ourselves, where the acoustics were best. When they sang this piece, I cried through the entire second half of it. I have never been so moved by music. The live experience is, of course, MUCH more powerful. One of the tenors in this performance isn't blending as well as he might, and the group takes a long breath near the end that detracts from the climax. If you really want to hear it at it's best (live performances excluded), listen to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVBsNUXg_YM

The sound quality isn't great, but it's still achingly beautiful.

Gwiz, are you suggesting that I have friends?

I always feel bad about asking people to use their power points for little old me.

>> ^gwiz665:
Excellent sift. It's too bad that stuff like this needs so much begging to get through.

Pro-tip, ask a friend you suspect will love it to quality it instead, that will make it fly out.

The concept of war is both terrible and fascinating to me. There are thousands of ways to settle disputes, but certain things are so important to us as people and nations that we can only come to a resolution by taking and sacrificing life. To me it is a testament to the sanctity of life. It is the most precious thing we can offer. Ironically, it is also a testament to how cheaply we value life, especially if our causes aren't just.

One of my dear friends was in Afghanistan and was ordered to open fire in a home, reportedly full of hostile, armed civilians. When he entered the house, he saw that the people were children holding guns. They aimed their weapons at him, and he had no choice but to shoot them. He later found out that the children had been holding water guns, spray-painted black. If the man in this video is haunted by that one memory, I can't imagine what thousands of veterans and soldiers must go through every day. My friend has terrible PTSD and his life is falling apart because of it. It kind of pisses me off.

^Hear hear!

Wow. I can't believe that I can't get this sifted. *beg

Thanks for the promote!

In reply to this comment by kulpims:
*promote

*beg

Where's the culture?

*beggin'

Really? You honestly haven't heard that? I've heard it many times, especially when I lived in California. Sometimes, if Atheists or Agnostics are bothered by the outcome of some morally significant legislation, they pull the "separation" doctrine out like it has some type of relevance. I'm too lazy to find a source, but I promise that I'm not making this stuff up.

In reply to this comment by entr0py:
>> ^thepinky:
I am very much in support of people who are gay, but I am slightly sick of hearing that when people make voting decisions based on their beliefs, they are somehow violating the "separation of church and state" doctrine.


Really, you've heard people make that argument more then once? Enough times to make you sick of it? If you can find some example that would be awesome, because it seems like a straw man to me.

Very cool of you to say so. Thanks.

In reply to this comment by lullaby_lune:
Hey there,
I'm in and out of the Sift, so I'm just now taking a look at some of the comments on my Dr. Seuss Bible post. I wanted to thank you for your comment (about a month ago, now) mentioning how very unfunny a Crucifixion Machine actually is.

The video definitely has some dark humour.. that I wasn't quite sure how to take myself. (You might have noticed my caption) So I mostly preferred to present the video as-is and let other people decide for themselves how they were going to take it.

I love seeing the different styles and methods people use to retell stories - and yes, that includes sacred texts. Sadly, as you said, some people are too "eager to mock Christianity" to notice the cruelty in what was being presented. While I'm certainly glad a lot of people appreciated the humour in the video, I'm equally glad someone spoke out about the cruelty of it too.

So thanks!