Carl Harry Carlson

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About Carl Harry Carlson

  • Birthday 05/19/1947

Helpful Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Marital Status
    Married to Candi
  • Location
    Michigan

Friendly Details

  • Interests
    Religion; Politics; Professional Acting; Real Estate; Old cars; Cooking; Santa Claus.
  • Doctrine /Affiliation
    Universal Life Community Church, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan

Other Details

  • Occupation
    Actor; Business owner; Real Estate broker-developer-investor; Minister

Carl Harry Carlson's Achievements

Divine Being

Divine Being (12/17)

  1. I read about the applicable VA statute. Virginia discriminates between ministers that do have an actual church and those who don't. If you have proof of your ordination and "regular communion" with your religious society or some such language, you go to a circuit court and get "authorization" to perform marriages. Here's the quote from the website: Marriage Ceremony: Who may perform? - A minister of any religious denomination must be authorized by a circuit court to celebrate the rites of matrimony. To obtain such authorization, the minister must produce proof of his ordination and regular communion with the religious society of which he is a reputed member. Here's the link to the webiste: http://virginia.usmarriagelaws.com/#ceremony
  2. Yeh, me too, Bro. I think it's interesting that the site places all of the presidential candidates, including President Obama, very close together, right of center economically and high on the "Authoritarian" scale.
  3. Someguitarist, I am legal in Michigan with just the ULC but some people questioned it so I went ahead and filed an "ecclesiastical corporation." (That requires 3 people as "Directors" in MI.) Then I held a meeting of the "Board" and the 3 of us signed a 1 page resolution authorizing me to be the minister of the church and to perform any and all ministerial functions or some such language. So I have written evidence I'm a minister legal in Michigan. It cost me $60 bucks plus it costs $15 bucks a year for the annual report. Plus refreshments for my "Directors." Maybe that will work for you in VA. A friend of mine performed a legal marriage in one state with nothing more than a notary certification. Go figure.
  4. If you want a good general idea of where you stand politically, this is a really interesting site: http://www.politicalcompass.org/ Not only does it show you where you are on a scale from "Left" to "Right" but it also has "Y" axis ("up and "down") that shows you where you are compared to others on a Libertarian vs. Authoritarian scale. it's based on a lot of political economic and social opinion multiple choice questions. Enjoy. Compare.
  5. Thanks, Corey, I'd forgotten how much fun that flick is. Man, I'm gonna rent "Beetlejuice" again soon. I came home from that movie and told people to remember the name Winona Ryder: That teenaged girl is gonna be a star. She owns every scene she is in.
  6. S-B, Your other thread got wiped out by the server this afternoon. That's just as well I think because both were sorta on the same education topic. Nick, I probably am going to disagree with S-B in a few more postings, as usual, but I'd like to hear what the man has to say. Finland, by the way, is a country about 1/60th the size of the United States. It has a largely homogenous population by race, religion, culture, and a more closely grouped income range. Finland does not have the huge urban (and elsewhere too) social ills and poverty issues we have. The situation here in the U.S. is vastly different. We have a vastly different set of issues.
  7. . . . "there is a technology of study and it works every time it is tried." Keep going, S-B. I am reading and listening to everything you wrote. So far you are making a lot of sense. I'm not going to quibble at this point, I'm loving it. You made my mouth water with the tantalizing phrase above. What is it? Keep going.
  8. I'm thinking of all the wisdom that was lost. And all the foolishness that will now also be forgotten.
  9. I dunno, hyper. If a megachurch has a celebrity minister who has a big media ministry, and they pay him a huge salary, and he files a tax return like everybody else and he pays taxes on that salary, where is the problem? To me it's only a problem if the trustees of the church are breaking their trust with the donors and paying the preacher more than he deserves and taking church resources that burden the members unfairly or prevent the church from doing its mission. And that's a judgement call. That's why the church is supposed to have trustees. If the trustees are in the pocket of the minister and don't have to report to the flock, well, abuses can happen. I didn't/don't know that/if the IRS has guidelines on this, or if violating the guidlines could jeopardize 501( c ) (3) status. Doesn't affect my ministry, that's for sure. Sounds to me like the Covenant is pretty successful. I wonder at what point it can be considered a business. And how generous, I wonder, are the expense accounts, untaxed, for expenses incurred by the minister? It becomes a fair issue for us to debate when the church has an IRS 501 ©(3) status, which most churches do, because some of our lost tax revenue is going to that big salary. True. A lot of our lost tax revenue goes to charitable causes I would disagree with. If a church doesn't have the 501©(3) then it it truly a private matter and none of our business. But as long as we have charitable deductions, I guess we have to give a lot of latitude to the trustees of the charities to "do only what is right." P.S. Dmn website computer keeps changing ( c ) to © unless you remember to fool it by putting a space in.
  10. Hey I just thought of an idea . . . Why not print this thread and send it to him and ask him what he thinks you should do?
  11. Hello Atwater, Interesting lesson. Question: You mention that Pagans tend to believe in several dieties, gods, and goddesses. Do you or most other Pagans view these dieties as "real" or more as a way of humanizing an abstract concept like, say, Spring? Do you invent new dieties or use traditional ones? Best Regards.
  12. As I mentioned somewhere else, I tell people that I'm happy to perform the service and as a minister I don't charge a fee, but an "honorarium" is gratefully accepted ! Even if you don't care about the money, most people feel a need to give you something. They realize you are performing a service for them. They want to show you their gratitude. They want to do the right thing and not feel they are imposing or taking advantage. Accept the payment. What you do with it, whether you give it to charity or your local barkeep, is your own business. I wouldn't diminish their contribution by telling them you will give it to charity. In a way that's telling them their offering to you gives you no enjoyment. In my view. ( I have only done a few weddings. It's an honor and a privilege for me. I really don't care if I get paid or not. The first one I ever did, the father of the bride paid me $100. Unbeknownst to me, my wife gave the bride a gift of $100. I told my wife, "How are we ever going to make a racket out of this if you are going to give it back?! The minister's wife isn't supposed to give a gift!" We laughed. )
  13. It's so difficul to undue a bad first experience with a new neighbor. It is always very helpful when the first encounter with a new neighbor is pleasant, especially when the current resident welcomes a new one. OK, that didn't happen, and your first encounter was negative. So now you need to do relationship repair, if you wish to have a friendly relationship with your neighbor. And, you want to reach a suitable resolution of the dog tresspass issue. Sorry, everyone, I don't agree with several of the postings that suggest what are essentially retaliatory tactics that will not only not solve the problem, they will create more simmering anger between you neighbors. Remember that everybody tends to assume that they are not at fault, it's always the other guy who is. You can bet it's your neighbor who thinks you are the unreasonable people. You've disturbed his daily routine. He obviously feels he is justified to let his dog defecate on your garden without, I presume, scooping it up. Maybe he's never had to scoop poop before. This is where some new testament biblical advice is in my opinion most effective and practical: Respond with kindness. Send your neighbor a gift, like a bouquet of flowers with a note saying something like, "I hope we can be friends first, we'll talk about any problems after we get to know one another." Or some other very friendly, non-sarcastic words that canot be misinterpreted as hostile. Then keep being friendly. Permanently. Both of you, not "good cop - bad cop." Even if they aren't. Even if they keep disrespecting your territory. Remember, every unfriendly thing you do will verify in their minds that you don't deserve courtesy. Or, perhaps you could knock on their door ands ask them if they will do you a favor, like, will they accept a delivery from the UPS guy until you get home, or will they pick up your newspaper while you are away (tell them they can keep it). Once one of you has done a favor for the other, you have a chance to break down barriers. And in the meantime, definitely check the local ordinances. You probably have the law on your side, if it comes to that. And even if you involve the law, you still need to be polite. (When I'm being Santa, I keep telling siblings, "Just because your sister is being a jerk, doesn't give you permission to be a jerk back!" Or I say, "Never play the game called, 'I can be a bigger jerk than you!' ") This is where a neighborhood network can come in handy. In my old neighborhood, we used to have an annual homeowner's meeting at someone's house. Meeting people in a polite, friendly setting makes it easier to resolve disputes later. Sometimes a neighbor has a barbeque or beers on the patio or a superbowl party or some social event and invites a few neighbors and that helps build relationships. You are, after all, neighbors. You don't have to be friends, but neighbors do (in my view) owe one another some obligation to civility and mutual security. You'd forget your anger and call the fire department if you saw their house on fire, or call the police if you saw their house being robbed, wouldn't you? Of course.
  14. You just reminded me of that famous quote from Will Rogers: "I'm not a member of any organized political party. I'm a Democrat."
  15. Thank you for your very thoughful and kind posting, Von. Of course there will always be debate among people who believe in these things. "The devil is in the details."