November 5 2012

Show opening and sponsor reads

A host introduces the show from the Pathway Studios in Johnston, addresses Mike by name, and reads sponsor copy for Valley Services Cleaning (new-construction and residential cleaning, valleyservices.net, fifth cleaning free if you mention the show) and On Purpose Promotions (Jared, onpurposepromos.com, for t-shirts, mugs, frisbees), with a joke about paying someone to clean so you can kiss your spouse.

Episode lineup preview

The hosts preview the episode: proof 24 of the God-is-Imaginary series ('ask why religion causes so many problems'), advice letters for Dear LFTP, a three-question quiz to tell undecided listeners who to vote for the night before the election, the Secular vs. Solomon game, and this week's Pope-style advice. They also mention the show's Twitter and Facebook pages.

Secular vs. Solomon: rounds 1-8

The hosts play Secular vs. Solomon, judging whether each proverb is Biblical or worldly and naming a country of origin for worldly ones. Rounds: a Danish 'act in the valley' proverb; Proverbs 31:6 (give strong drink to the perishing); Proverbs 17:14 (the beginning of strife is like letting out water); Proverbs 17:27 (a cool spirit); an Italian 'choose neither a woman nor linen by candlelight'; Proverbs 15:17 (dinner of herbs vs. fattened ox, with a story about an eggplant wedding sandwich); a Kenyan 'he who does not know one thing knows another'; an English 'a hungry man is an angry man'. The ESV is used for Bible references.

Secular vs. Solomon: work, friendship, and game closeout

The game continues: Proverbs 14:23 ('in all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty'), which a host illustrates with a story about his construction-business father-in-law who just starts doing the work while everyone else plans. Then a Russian proverb, 'an enemy will agree, but a friend will argue,' sparks a discussion about true friendship in Christ: the most unloving thing is watching someone self-destruct and saying nothing. The game closes and a station break for KTIA listeners begins.

Bonus content: Wren Collective concert announcement

During the station break, the internet stream gets bonus content: a plug for the Wren Collective Experiment, playing Davenport on the 10th and Ames on the 11th while supporting 10th Avenue North. The band previously played with Jesse Anderson at First Federated, and the show has been doing some of their songs at church.

Three-question election voter quiz

• Who should I vote for in the election?

The night before the election, the hosts offer a comedy quiz to tell listeners who to vote for: three questions (basketball or skiing, chili or granola, dog or horse) map to Barack Obama or Mitt Romney. The questions come from a kindergartner's 'meet the candidates' worksheet, where Obama was listed with basketball, chili, and his dog Bo, and Romney with skiing, granola, and horses. The segment closes with 'Vote Jesus.'

God is Imaginary proof 24: does religion cause problems?

• Does religion cause more social problems than it solves?
• Why do kids who grew up in church leave it around age 18 and come back in their late twenties?

The hosts take on proof 24 from godisimaginary.com: 'ask why religion causes so many problems,' citing a Journal of Religion and Society article correlating religious belief with homicide, STDs, teen pregnancy, and abortion. They note the site's source link is broken, then rebut the premise: empty belief in a creator is not following Christ, and the listed harms are consequences of human fallibility, not of obeying God. The discussion moves into why kids raised in church leave at 18 and return later (rules taught without grace), the Bible as a character study of God, and Satan's one trick of convincing people God is not who he says he is. Next week: proof 25 on evolution and abiogenesis.

Station break: Dear Abby teaser

Back from the second station break, the hosts tease the upcoming Dear Abby-style letters: an irritating coworker who makes sensual noises and misspells her own name, plus a tangent about a sexual-harassment seminar at a preacher's meeting. They remind listeners of the Monday 10pm live show, the Saturday KTIA 99.3 broadcast, and lifefromthepath.org.

Dear LFTP: the moaning, misspelling coworker

• My cubicle coworker misspells her own name 20 times a day and makes seductive noises; should I record her and play it back?

A listener writes in about a cubicle coworker who spells her name wrong to customers 20 times a day and makes seductive moans, asking whether to record her as proof. The hosts conclude she is bored and joking to get through the day, and that the letter-writer is a busybody who should focus on her own work: talk to the coworker directly, use HR if it is genuine harassment, or just get earphones. They also read 'Secular's' advice on the letter.

Dear LFTP: can a man be too good to a woman?

• Can a man be too good to a woman?

A listener asks whether a man can be too good to a woman: he dated a woman for four years, they never disagreed, and she left saying he treated her too well. The hosts say no real disagreement means an intimacy problem, and that honesty needs friction: a bend-over-backwards partner just marries themselves, while the machismo Ephesians-5 'head of the household' reading runs a dictatorship, not a marriage. True marriage complements like Christ and the church. They also read 'Secular's' advice on the letter.

Pope-style advice: let your yes be yes

This week's Pope-style advice is based on Matthew 5:37, 'let what you say be simply yes or no.' A host confesses to overcommitting out of good intentions, illustrated by a story about promising a ministry worker he would review a pamphlet that day and delivering it a week later. Parenting parallel: a first 'no' that is not enforced is not a no. The advice closes: talk slow, mean what you say, don't promise what you won't do — mind your words.

Outro and next-week preview

The show closes: live Mondays at 10pm Central at lifefromthepath.org, Saturdays at 10pm on 99.3 KTIA. Next week musical guest Bethany Joy Johnson will be in studio to perform. Final sponsor sign-off: Valley Services Cleaning.