J.L. Chestnut, Jr.: Alabama's Taliban: "December 2, 2005
Judge Roy Moore, Preachers and Dixie Hypocrisy
...
Moores antics are hardly new in Alabama. Some years ago, poor white residents in a trailer camp (at Priceville) and a few homeowners all in a rural section of Madison County tried to carve a new town out of the trailer camp and rename it Brooksville. The only law would be the Ten Commandments. There would be a volunteer mayor but no other town official. Every adult citizen would have a gun or a pistol and they would protect each other. Of course that unconstitutional theocratic and religious idea never got off the ground. How could it?
There is really no distinction between a failed attempt to transform a trailer camp into a theocracy and Moore's theocratic designs for the whole state of Alabama. Religious dogmatists have been trying for years to take over mainstream institutions and government. If you get a big belly laugh out of religious fundamentalists trying to transform an Alabama trailer camp into a theocratic religious township, please consider that such people control school boards, regularly defeat and elect politicians of all kinds, including George W. Bush who placates them with words about "being born again." Being seen as standing up for the Ten Commandments is as politically potent in Alabama as hollering "nigger, nigger, nigger"!
...
J.L. Chestnut, Jr. is a civil rights attorney in Selma, Alabama. He is the founder of Chestnut, Sanders and Sanders which is the largest black law firm in Alabama. Born in Selma and, after graduating from Howard University Law School, he began practicing law in Selma in 1958. ...
Sunday, December 04, 2005
Sunday, November 27, 2005
America is caught in a conflict between science and God ... Three-quarters of Americans still do not accept what Darwin established ...
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | America is caught in a conflict between science and God: "A new exhibition on Darwin's life and work is a defiant gesture against US biblical literalism | Martin Kettle | Saturday November 26, 2005 | The Guardian
But organisers of the museum's terrific new exhibition on the life and work of Charles Darwin acknowledge that theirs is an explicit gesture of defiance towards an anti-scientific Christian fundamentalism that is again running fast and deep in contemporary America.
Article continues
New York's Darwin exhibition - which will reach London for the Darwin bicentenary in 2009 - is a model of its kind. It takes you comprehensively and fascinatingly through the great scientist's life story. But it is the exhibition's deeper message that matters most in modern America. It asserts without shame, fear or compromise that Darwin's theory of evolution is, quite simply, true. In other modern democracies this is an uncontroversial statement. In modern America it is an act not without bravery. That is why, for instance, corporate sponsors have run a mile from a £1.7m event that elsewhere would have them queueing up for the privilege. It is why this exhibition - unlike, say, the Fra Angelico show on the other side of the park at the Metropolitan Museum of Art - is reported on the news pages of US papers as well as the arts and leisure pages. It is why Newsweek magazine's US edition this week has Darwin's picture on the front cover, while Newsweek's international edition, addressing a more relaxed readership perhaps, opts for a cover on John Lennon.
Reflect on this. Only one out of four Americans believes life on earth today has evolved through natural selection. Three-quarters of Americans, in other words, still do not accept what Darwin established 150 years ago. Just under half of all Americans believe the natural world was created in its present form by God in six days as described in Genesis. They believe, incredibly, that the earth is only a few thousand years old.
But these people are not content to disagree with Darwin and the scientists. They are up for a fresh fight with them. The notion that the scientists had won the argument in America after the reaction to the Scopes trial 80 years ago, when a Tennessee teacher was convicted of breaching a state ban on the teaching of evolution, has faced many reality checks in recent years. School boards and education authorities in several parts of America have mounted a series of anti-evolution challenges. These have often come under the guise of putting "intelligent design" - the conceit that the complexity of the natural world can only be explained by the intercession of a supreme being - on a par with evolutionary theory. This claim, advanced on spurious grounds of fairness to different theories, is utterly without any scientific validity, yet a Pennsylvania court will rule on the matter early in the new year. ...
But organisers of the museum's terrific new exhibition on the life and work of Charles Darwin acknowledge that theirs is an explicit gesture of defiance towards an anti-scientific Christian fundamentalism that is again running fast and deep in contemporary America.
Article continues
New York's Darwin exhibition - which will reach London for the Darwin bicentenary in 2009 - is a model of its kind. It takes you comprehensively and fascinatingly through the great scientist's life story. But it is the exhibition's deeper message that matters most in modern America. It asserts without shame, fear or compromise that Darwin's theory of evolution is, quite simply, true. In other modern democracies this is an uncontroversial statement. In modern America it is an act not without bravery. That is why, for instance, corporate sponsors have run a mile from a £1.7m event that elsewhere would have them queueing up for the privilege. It is why this exhibition - unlike, say, the Fra Angelico show on the other side of the park at the Metropolitan Museum of Art - is reported on the news pages of US papers as well as the arts and leisure pages. It is why Newsweek magazine's US edition this week has Darwin's picture on the front cover, while Newsweek's international edition, addressing a more relaxed readership perhaps, opts for a cover on John Lennon.
Reflect on this. Only one out of four Americans believes life on earth today has evolved through natural selection. Three-quarters of Americans, in other words, still do not accept what Darwin established 150 years ago. Just under half of all Americans believe the natural world was created in its present form by God in six days as described in Genesis. They believe, incredibly, that the earth is only a few thousand years old.
But these people are not content to disagree with Darwin and the scientists. They are up for a fresh fight with them. The notion that the scientists had won the argument in America after the reaction to the Scopes trial 80 years ago, when a Tennessee teacher was convicted of breaching a state ban on the teaching of evolution, has faced many reality checks in recent years. School boards and education authorities in several parts of America have mounted a series of anti-evolution challenges. These have often come under the guise of putting "intelligent design" - the conceit that the complexity of the natural world can only be explained by the intercession of a supreme being - on a par with evolutionary theory. This claim, advanced on spurious grounds of fairness to different theories, is utterly without any scientific validity, yet a Pennsylvania court will rule on the matter early in the new year. ...
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Bush was told that U.S. intelligence community had no evidence linking the Saddam Hussein to the 9/11 ... 10 days after 9/11
NATIONAL JOURNAL: Key Bush Intelligence Briefing Kept From Hill Panel (11/22/05): "By Murray Waas, special to National Journal
� National Journal Group Inc. | Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2005
Ten days after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, President Bush was told in a highly classified briefing that the U.S. intelligence community had no evidence linking the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein to the attacks and that there was scant credible evidence that Iraq had any significant collaborative ties with Al Qaeda, according to government records and current and former officials with firsthand knowledge of the matter.
The information was provided to Bush on September 21, 2001 during the "President's Daily Brief," a 30- to 45-minute early-morning national security briefing. Information for PDBs has routinely been derived from electronic intercepts, human agents, and reports from foreign intelligence services, as well as more mundane sources such as news reports and public statements by foreign leaders. ...
� National Journal Group Inc. | Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2005
Ten days after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, President Bush was told in a highly classified briefing that the U.S. intelligence community had no evidence linking the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein to the attacks and that there was scant credible evidence that Iraq had any significant collaborative ties with Al Qaeda, according to government records and current and former officials with firsthand knowledge of the matter.
The information was provided to Bush on September 21, 2001 during the "President's Daily Brief," a 30- to 45-minute early-morning national security briefing. Information for PDBs has routinely been derived from electronic intercepts, human agents, and reports from foreign intelligence services, as well as more mundane sources such as news reports and public statements by foreign leaders. ...
Corporations Scared To Sponsor Natural History Museum's Evolution, Darwin Exhibition...
Corporations Scared To Sponsor Natural History Museum's Evolution, Darwin Exhibition... | The Huffington Post: "The Telegraph | Nicholas Wapshott | Posted November 23, 2005 02:30 PM
An exhibition celebrating the life of Charles Darwin has failed to find a corporate sponsor because American companies are anxious not to take sides in the heated debate between scientists and fundamentalist Christians over the theory of evolution.
The entire $3 million (�1.7 million) cost of Darwin, which opened at the American Museum of Natural History in New York yesterday, is instead being borne by wealthy individuals and private charitable donations. ...
An exhibition celebrating the life of Charles Darwin has failed to find a corporate sponsor because American companies are anxious not to take sides in the heated debate between scientists and fundamentalist Christians over the theory of evolution.
The entire $3 million (�1.7 million) cost of Darwin, which opened at the American Museum of Natural History in New York yesterday, is instead being borne by wealthy individuals and private charitable donations. ...
Thursday, November 17, 2005
it is injurious, and unneighborly, when zealots try to compel public education to infuse theism into scientific education....
Grand Old Spenders: "By George F. Will | Thursday, November 17, 2005; Page A31
The storm-tossed and rudderless Republican Party should particularly ponder the vote last week in Dover, Pa., where all eight members of the school board seeking reelection were defeated. This expressed the community's wholesome exasperation with the board's campaign to insinuate religion, in the guise of 'intelligent design' theory, into high school biology classes, beginning with a required proclamation that evolution 'is not a fact.'
But it is. ...
...
"It does me no injury," said Thomas Jefferson, "for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." But it is injurious, and unneighborly, when zealots try to compel public education to infuse theism into scientific education. The conservative coalition, which is coming unglued for many reasons, will rapidly disintegrate if limited-government conservatives become convinced that social conservatives are unwilling to concentrate their character-building and soul-saving energies on the private institutions that mediate between individuals and government, and instead try to conscript government into sectarian crusades. ...
The storm-tossed and rudderless Republican Party should particularly ponder the vote last week in Dover, Pa., where all eight members of the school board seeking reelection were defeated. This expressed the community's wholesome exasperation with the board's campaign to insinuate religion, in the guise of 'intelligent design' theory, into high school biology classes, beginning with a required proclamation that evolution 'is not a fact.'
But it is. ...
...
"It does me no injury," said Thomas Jefferson, "for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." But it is injurious, and unneighborly, when zealots try to compel public education to infuse theism into scientific education. The conservative coalition, which is coming unglued for many reasons, will rapidly disintegrate if limited-government conservatives become convinced that social conservatives are unwilling to concentrate their character-building and soul-saving energies on the private institutions that mediate between individuals and government, and instead try to conscript government into sectarian crusades. ...
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Food and Drug Administration who expressed more concern about the moral views of religious conservatives than the questions of health and science
Morning-after, months later - Los Angeles Times: "November 15, 2005 | EDITORIAL
EVERYBODY KNEW IT ANYWAY, but it's worthwhile to have a respected government office make it official: Anomalies surrounded the decision to refuse over-the-counter status to the morning-after pill. All of them point to top managers at the Food and Drug Administration who expressed more concern about the moral views of religious conservatives than the questions of health and science that are supposed to guide their decisions.
In a report released Monday, the Government Accountability Office probed the FDA's May 2004 decision on the pill, marketed as Plan B. It found that the ruling deviated from agency practice and was highly unusual in many respects.
Forty studies and 15,000 pages of documents, reviewed and approved by FDA staff, made Plan B's safety and effectiveness clear. Yet Dr. Steven Galson, then the acting director of the agency's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, focused instead on whether easy availability of Plan B would make younger teens more promiscuous or more likely to have unprotected sex. In rejecting over-the-counter status, Galson overruled advisory panels and sub-directors of FDA offices. ...
...
Religious conservatives consider Plan B a form of abortion, and abstinence to be the only acceptable form of contraception for teenagers. The first belief conflicts with studies that find no evidence the pill interferes with a fertilized egg. Its effectiveness lies in preventing fertilization. Further, restricting Plan B probably just leads to more abortions — women who might have used the drug to avoid a pregnancy are forced to terminate it later. And the notion that abstinence trumps birth control conflicts with the reality of how many teens behave. ...
EVERYBODY KNEW IT ANYWAY, but it's worthwhile to have a respected government office make it official: Anomalies surrounded the decision to refuse over-the-counter status to the morning-after pill. All of them point to top managers at the Food and Drug Administration who expressed more concern about the moral views of religious conservatives than the questions of health and science that are supposed to guide their decisions.
In a report released Monday, the Government Accountability Office probed the FDA's May 2004 decision on the pill, marketed as Plan B. It found that the ruling deviated from agency practice and was highly unusual in many respects.
Forty studies and 15,000 pages of documents, reviewed and approved by FDA staff, made Plan B's safety and effectiveness clear. Yet Dr. Steven Galson, then the acting director of the agency's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, focused instead on whether easy availability of Plan B would make younger teens more promiscuous or more likely to have unprotected sex. In rejecting over-the-counter status, Galson overruled advisory panels and sub-directors of FDA offices. ...
...
Religious conservatives consider Plan B a form of abortion, and abstinence to be the only acceptable form of contraception for teenagers. The first belief conflicts with studies that find no evidence the pill interferes with a fertilized egg. Its effectiveness lies in preventing fertilization. Further, restricting Plan B probably just leads to more abortions — women who might have used the drug to avoid a pregnancy are forced to terminate it later. And the notion that abstinence trumps birth control conflicts with the reality of how many teens behave. ...
Sunday, November 13, 2005
Robertson tells Dover, PA citizens, after the election: “Don’t turn to God if you need help”
People For the American Way - Right-Wing Outrage: "A Regular Look at the Worst from the Right brought to you by PFAW Foundation | Robertson tells Dover, PA citizens, after the election: “Don’t turn to God if you need help”
On today’s 700 Club, Rev. Pat Robertson took the opportunity to strongly rebuke voters in Dover, PA who removed from office school board members who supported teaching faith-based “intelligent design” and instead elected Democrats who opposed bringing up the possibility of a Creator in the school system’s science curriculum.
Rev. Robertson warned the people of Dover that God might forsake the town because of the vote.
Pat Robertson“I’d like to say to the good citizens of Dover. If there is a disaster in your area, don’t turn to God, you just rejected Him from your city. And don’t wonder why He hasn’t helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I’m not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that’s the case, don’t ask for His help because he might not be there.” ...
On today’s 700 Club, Rev. Pat Robertson took the opportunity to strongly rebuke voters in Dover, PA who removed from office school board members who supported teaching faith-based “intelligent design” and instead elected Democrats who opposed bringing up the possibility of a Creator in the school system’s science curriculum.
Rev. Robertson warned the people of Dover that God might forsake the town because of the vote.
Pat Robertson“I’d like to say to the good citizens of Dover. If there is a disaster in your area, don’t turn to God, you just rejected Him from your city. And don’t wonder why He hasn’t helped you when problems begin, if they begin. I’m not saying they will, but if they do, just remember, you just voted God out of your city. And if that’s the case, don’t ask for His help because he might not be there.” ...
Sunday, November 06, 2005
"groups in opposition to our policy positions on church-state separation than ever before. Their goal is to implement their Christian worldview"
Haaretz - Israel News: "ADL's Foxman warns of efforts to `Christianize America'
By Shlomo Shamir
NEW YORK - Institutionalized Christianity in the U.S. has grown so extremist that it poses a tangible danger to the principle of separation of church and state and threatens to undermine the religious tolerance that characterizes the country, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman, warned in his address to the League's national commission, meeting in New York City over the weekend.
'Today we face a better financed, more sophisticated, coordinated, unified, energized and organized coalition of groups in opposition to our policy positions on church-state separation than ever before. Their goal is to implement their Christian worldview. To Christianize America. To save us!' he said."
By Shlomo Shamir
NEW YORK - Institutionalized Christianity in the U.S. has grown so extremist that it poses a tangible danger to the principle of separation of church and state and threatens to undermine the religious tolerance that characterizes the country, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman, warned in his address to the League's national commission, meeting in New York City over the weekend.
'Today we face a better financed, more sophisticated, coordinated, unified, energized and organized coalition of groups in opposition to our policy positions on church-state separation than ever before. Their goal is to implement their Christian worldview. To Christianize America. To save us!' he said."
Thursday, November 03, 2005
Former aide to Rep. Tom DeLay; "The wackos get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the internet and telephone trees,
Salon.com News | Abramoff-Scanlon School of Sleaze: "By Michael Scherer
Wednesday's Senate hearings yielded more scandalous revelations about how the dynamic lobbying duo bilked American Indian tribes out of millions and used the money to win elections for their Republican clients.
..
Up-and-coming Republican hacks would do well to watch closely the ongoing Senate investigations of superstar lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his former business partner Michael Scanlon. The power duo stand accused of exploiting Native American tribes to the tune of roughly $66 million, laundering that money into bank accounts they controlled and then using it to buy favors for powerful members of Congress and the executive branch.
...
Consider one memo highlighted in a Capitol Hill hearing Wednesday that Scanlon, a former aide to Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Tx., sent the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana to describe his strategy for protecting the tribe's gambling business. In plain terms, Scanlon confessed the source code of recent Republican electoral victories: target religious conservatives, distract everyone else, and then railroad through complex initiatives.
"The wackos get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the internet and telephone trees," Scanlon wrote in the memo, which was read into the public record at a hearing of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. "Simply put, we want to bring out the wackos to vote against something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them."
Wednesday's Senate hearings yielded more scandalous revelations about how the dynamic lobbying duo bilked American Indian tribes out of millions and used the money to win elections for their Republican clients.
..
Up-and-coming Republican hacks would do well to watch closely the ongoing Senate investigations of superstar lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his former business partner Michael Scanlon. The power duo stand accused of exploiting Native American tribes to the tune of roughly $66 million, laundering that money into bank accounts they controlled and then using it to buy favors for powerful members of Congress and the executive branch.
...
Consider one memo highlighted in a Capitol Hill hearing Wednesday that Scanlon, a former aide to Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Tx., sent the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana to describe his strategy for protecting the tribe's gambling business. In plain terms, Scanlon confessed the source code of recent Republican electoral victories: target religious conservatives, distract everyone else, and then railroad through complex initiatives.
"The wackos get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the internet and telephone trees," Scanlon wrote in the memo, which was read into the public record at a hearing of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. "Simply put, we want to bring out the wackos to vote against something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them."
Vatican: religion risks turning into "fundamentalism" if it ignores scientific reason ... John Paul: evolution was "more than just a hypothesis."
Vatican: Faithful should listen to science - Boston.com: "By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press Writer | November 3, 2005
VATICAN CITY --A Vatican cardinal said Thursday the faithful should listen to what secular modern science has to offer, warning that religion risks turning into "fundamentalism" if it ignores scientific reason.
..
The Vatican project was inspired by Pope John Paul II's 1992 declaration that the church's 17th-century denunciation of Galileo was an error resulting from "tragic mutual incomprehension." Galileo was condemned for supporting Nicolaus Copernicus' discovery that the Earth revolved around the sun; church teaching at the time placed Earth at the center of the universe.
"The permanent lesson that the Galileo case represents pushes us to keep alive the dialogue between the various disciplines, and in particular between theology and the natural sciences, if we want to prevent similar episodes from repeating themselves in the future," Poupard said.
But he said science, too, should listen to religion.
...
"The faithful have the obligation to listen to that which secular modern science has to offer, just as we ask that knowledge of the faith be taken in consideration as an expert voice in humanity."
Poupard and others at the news conference were asked about the religion-science debate raging in the United States over evolution and "intelligent design."
Intelligent design's supporters argue that natural selection, an element of evolutionary theory, cannot fully explain the origin of life or the emergence of highly complex life forms.
Monsignor Gianfranco Basti, director of the Vatican project STOQ, or Science, Theology and Ontological Quest, reaffirmed John Paul's 1996 statement that evolution was "more than just a hypothesis."
"A hypothesis asks whether something is true or false," he said. "(Evolution) is more than a hypothesis because there is proof."
VATICAN CITY --A Vatican cardinal said Thursday the faithful should listen to what secular modern science has to offer, warning that religion risks turning into "fundamentalism" if it ignores scientific reason.
..
The Vatican project was inspired by Pope John Paul II's 1992 declaration that the church's 17th-century denunciation of Galileo was an error resulting from "tragic mutual incomprehension." Galileo was condemned for supporting Nicolaus Copernicus' discovery that the Earth revolved around the sun; church teaching at the time placed Earth at the center of the universe.
"The permanent lesson that the Galileo case represents pushes us to keep alive the dialogue between the various disciplines, and in particular between theology and the natural sciences, if we want to prevent similar episodes from repeating themselves in the future," Poupard said.
But he said science, too, should listen to religion.
...
"The faithful have the obligation to listen to that which secular modern science has to offer, just as we ask that knowledge of the faith be taken in consideration as an expert voice in humanity."
Poupard and others at the news conference were asked about the religion-science debate raging in the United States over evolution and "intelligent design."
Intelligent design's supporters argue that natural selection, an element of evolutionary theory, cannot fully explain the origin of life or the emergence of highly complex life forms.
Monsignor Gianfranco Basti, director of the Vatican project STOQ, or Science, Theology and Ontological Quest, reaffirmed John Paul's 1996 statement that evolution was "more than just a hypothesis."
"A hypothesis asks whether something is true or false," he said. "(Evolution) is more than a hypothesis because there is proof."
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Debate rages on use of cervical cancer vaccine / While almost 100% effective, some contend use condones teen sex
Debate rages on use of cervical cancer vaccine / While almost 100% effective, some contend use condones teen sex: "Rob Stein, Washington Post | Monday, October 31, 2005
...
Because the vaccine protects against a sexually transmitted virus, many conservatives oppose making it mandatory, citing fears that it could send a subtle message condoning sexual activity before marriage. Several leading groups that promote abstinence are meeting this week to formulate official policies on the vaccine. ...
...
Because the vaccine protects against a sexually transmitted virus, many conservatives oppose making it mandatory, citing fears that it could send a subtle message condoning sexual activity before marriage. Several leading groups that promote abstinence are meeting this week to formulate official policies on the vaccine. ...
Sunday, October 30, 2005
When religion is a litmus test
When religion is a litmus test: "When religion is a litmus test | Sunday, October 30, 2005 | By Dennis Roddy
On her way to becoming the battered spouse of America's conservative movement, Harriet Miers underwent a litmus test so bizarre it seems possible only in an era when church leaders vet judges and the president lists Jesus Christ among the references on his resume.
The particulars are this. On Oct. 3, President Bush nominated Ms. Miers, the White House counsel, to fill a seat on the Supreme Court being vacated by Sandra Day O'Connor.
Through Karl Rove, the president sent word to Dr. James Dobson, a leader in the Christian right, that Ms. Miers was a foursquare gal who attended the deeply conservative Church of Christ back in Texas. The message Dr. Dobson was invited to take home was that with Justice Miers there would be no O'Connoresque backsliding on abortion, gay rights and school prayer.
The Rev. Rob Schenck, head of the National Clergy Council, a small Christian right group with surprising access to power players in Washington, swung a brief meeting with Ms. Miers. He described it as 'pastoral' in nature. Rev. Schenck asked her about her faith, her prayer habits, her beliefs in whether God directly intervenes in this world.
'We just talked generally about prayer,' he said. 'She said that it was extremely important to her. She asked for our prayers, which I assured her she would have -- and she's had all along. We talked about the importance of her knowing the will of God for her life, for the court, for the nation. She said that was of utmost importance to her.'
Were a senator to ask such questions, it would trigger a meltdown at the hearings. Rev. Schenck agrees with this if only because vetting court appointees for religious orthodoxy is his job." ...
On her way to becoming the battered spouse of America's conservative movement, Harriet Miers underwent a litmus test so bizarre it seems possible only in an era when church leaders vet judges and the president lists Jesus Christ among the references on his resume.
The particulars are this. On Oct. 3, President Bush nominated Ms. Miers, the White House counsel, to fill a seat on the Supreme Court being vacated by Sandra Day O'Connor.
Through Karl Rove, the president sent word to Dr. James Dobson, a leader in the Christian right, that Ms. Miers was a foursquare gal who attended the deeply conservative Church of Christ back in Texas. The message Dr. Dobson was invited to take home was that with Justice Miers there would be no O'Connoresque backsliding on abortion, gay rights and school prayer.
The Rev. Rob Schenck, head of the National Clergy Council, a small Christian right group with surprising access to power players in Washington, swung a brief meeting with Ms. Miers. He described it as 'pastoral' in nature. Rev. Schenck asked her about her faith, her prayer habits, her beliefs in whether God directly intervenes in this world.
'We just talked generally about prayer,' he said. 'She said that it was extremely important to her. She asked for our prayers, which I assured her she would have -- and she's had all along. We talked about the importance of her knowing the will of God for her life, for the court, for the nation. She said that was of utmost importance to her.'
Were a senator to ask such questions, it would trigger a meltdown at the hearings. Rev. Schenck agrees with this if only because vetting court appointees for religious orthodoxy is his job." ...
O'Reilly: closing public schools for Muslim hol ... [Media Matters]
O'Reilly: closing public schools for Muslim hol ... [Media Matters]:
On the October 27 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly called the idea of closing public schools for the observance of Muslim holidays "absurd in a Judeo-Christian country." O'Reilly made this remark during a discussion with Hillsborough County, Florida, commissioner Brian Blair, who opposed the Hillsborough County school board's decision to keep public schools open on Yom Kippur and Good Friday during the 2006-2007 school year, a departure from the school district's earlier practice of closing schools on those days. In December 2004, Hillsborough County Muslims, with the backing of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, asked the school board to close schools on the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Instead of giving students the day off on Eid Al-Fitr, the school board voted to keep schools open on Yom Kippur and Good Friday during the 2006-2007 school year, reasoning that the school district could close schools on days when a substantial number of students would be absent but could not close schools specifically for the observance of religious holidays. The school district will continue its practice of allowing students to take days off on religious holidays, although schools will remain open.
...
O'REILLY: So a Muslim wanted a Muslim holiday, which is absurd in a Judeo-Christian country. I mean, we can't be having Hindu and Buddha. I mean, come on. I mean, this country is founded on Judeo-Christian traditions. ...
On the October 27 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly called the idea of closing public schools for the observance of Muslim holidays "absurd in a Judeo-Christian country." O'Reilly made this remark during a discussion with Hillsborough County, Florida, commissioner Brian Blair, who opposed the Hillsborough County school board's decision to keep public schools open on Yom Kippur and Good Friday during the 2006-2007 school year, a departure from the school district's earlier practice of closing schools on those days. In December 2004, Hillsborough County Muslims, with the backing of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, asked the school board to close schools on the Muslim holiday of Eid Al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Instead of giving students the day off on Eid Al-Fitr, the school board voted to keep schools open on Yom Kippur and Good Friday during the 2006-2007 school year, reasoning that the school district could close schools on days when a substantial number of students would be absent but could not close schools specifically for the observance of religious holidays. The school district will continue its practice of allowing students to take days off on religious holidays, although schools will remain open.
...
O'REILLY: So a Muslim wanted a Muslim holiday, which is absurd in a Judeo-Christian country. I mean, we can't be having Hindu and Buddha. I mean, come on. I mean, this country is founded on Judeo-Christian traditions. ...
Thursday, October 27, 2005
"Republican Party fairly recently has been taken over by the Christian conservatives ... that it's divisive for the country"
Danforth Criticizes Christian Sway in GOP - Yahoo! News: "By DANIEL CONNOLLY, Associated Press Writer Thu Oct 27,12:23 AM ET
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Former Sen. John Danforth said Wednesday that the political influence of evangelical Christians is hurting the Republican Party and dividing the country.
Danforth, a Missouri Republican and an Episcopal priest, commented after meeting with students at the
Bill Clinton School of Public Service, a graduate branch of the University of Arkansas on the grounds of the Clinton presidential library.
"I think that the Republican Party fairly recently has been taken over by the Christian conservatives, by the Christian right," he said in an interview. "I don't think that this is a permanent condition, but I think this has happened, and that it's divisive for the country."
He also said the evangelical Christian influence would be bad for the party in the long run. ...
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Former Sen. John Danforth said Wednesday that the political influence of evangelical Christians is hurting the Republican Party and dividing the country.
Danforth, a Missouri Republican and an Episcopal priest, commented after meeting with students at the
Bill Clinton School of Public Service, a graduate branch of the University of Arkansas on the grounds of the Clinton presidential library.
"I think that the Republican Party fairly recently has been taken over by the Christian conservatives, by the Christian right," he said in an interview. "I don't think that this is a permanent condition, but I think this has happened, and that it's divisive for the country."
He also said the evangelical Christian influence would be bad for the party in the long run. ...
Monday, October 24, 2005
Judiciary Panel May Ask Dobson to Testify ... Evangelical Leader Says He Has Been Privy to Miers's Views
Judiciary Panel May Ask Dobson to Testify: "By Charles Babington | Washington Post Staff Writer | Monday, October 24, 2005; Page A05
...
The Senate Judiciary Committee is likely to summon a leading conservative Christian to explain the private assurances he says he received from the White House about Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, the committee's chairman said yesterday.
Testimony by Focus on the Family founder James C. Dobson would heighten the political and religious overtones of the already-high-stakes confirmation hearing for Miers, scheduled to start two weeks from today." ...
...
The Senate Judiciary Committee is likely to summon a leading conservative Christian to explain the private assurances he says he received from the White House about Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, the committee's chairman said yesterday.
Testimony by Focus on the Family founder James C. Dobson would heighten the political and religious overtones of the already-high-stakes confirmation hearing for Miers, scheduled to start two weeks from today." ...
Salvation Armny money came from American taxpayers, many of whom are not Christians ... workers were fired for refusing to pledge allegiance to Christ
AlterNet: Welcome to Faith-Based America: "Welcome to Faith-Based America | By Stephen Pizzo, News for Real. Posted October 22, 2005.
...
What's wrong with this picture?
As part of President Bush's "faith-based initiative," US taxpayers gave the Salvation Army's children services division $47 million this year -- 95% of its total budget. Several Salvation Army employees refused to take the Salvation Army's pledge "proclaiming Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord," reveal which church they belong to or identify gay co-workers -- and were summarily fired.
Let's parse this event out. The money came from American taxpayers, many of whom are not Christians. Nevertheless the workers were fired for refusing to pledge allegiance to the Christian prophet. They were also fired for failing to disclose their own religious affiliations, if any. And finally, they were fired for refusing to rat out their co-workers.
Sounds like something that would happen in Communist China, doesn't it? And, if it had happened in China, and it was Christians getting fired, you can bet your sweet bippy the Bush administration and America's Christian right would be screaming bloody murder about it. ...
...
What's wrong with this picture?
As part of President Bush's "faith-based initiative," US taxpayers gave the Salvation Army's children services division $47 million this year -- 95% of its total budget. Several Salvation Army employees refused to take the Salvation Army's pledge "proclaiming Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord," reveal which church they belong to or identify gay co-workers -- and were summarily fired.
Let's parse this event out. The money came from American taxpayers, many of whom are not Christians. Nevertheless the workers were fired for refusing to pledge allegiance to the Christian prophet. They were also fired for failing to disclose their own religious affiliations, if any. And finally, they were fired for refusing to rat out their co-workers.
Sounds like something that would happen in Communist China, doesn't it? And, if it had happened in China, and it was Christians getting fired, you can bet your sweet bippy the Bush administration and America's Christian right would be screaming bloody murder about it. ...
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
BostonHerald.com - Local / Regional News: Divine intervention axes school station
BostonHerald.com - Local / Regional News: Divine intervention axes school station: "By Jaclyn Pelletier/ Beacon Villager | Wednesday, October 19, 2005 - Updated: 01:55 PM EST
Today's lesson: Don't cross Christian broadcasting.
Maynard High School's radio frequency, 91.7 FM, is being seized by a network of Christian broadcasting stations that the Federal Communications Commission has ruled is a better use of the public airwaves.
``People are furious,'' said faculty adviser Joe Magno.
Maynard High's WAVM, which has been broadcasting from the school for 35 years, found itself in this David vs. Goliath battle when it applied to increase its transmitter signal from 10 to 250 watts. " ...
Today's lesson: Don't cross Christian broadcasting.
Maynard High School's radio frequency, 91.7 FM, is being seized by a network of Christian broadcasting stations that the Federal Communications Commission has ruled is a better use of the public airwaves.
``People are furious,'' said faculty adviser Joe Magno.
Maynard High's WAVM, which has been broadcasting from the school for 35 years, found itself in this David vs. Goliath battle when it applied to increase its transmitter signal from 10 to 250 watts. " ...
Saturday, October 15, 2005
idea of people on the federal payroll going out or telephoning other Americans to explain what Ms. Miers' religious views ... is truly repellent
Editorial: God's White House / Using government employees to talk about faith: "Saturday, October 15, 2005 | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
President Bush's statement that White House officials are conducting an 'outreach effort' to reassure his supporters about Supreme Court nominee Harriet E. Miers' religious beliefs is astonishing and, possibly, inconsistent with the First Amendment's stricture on separation of church and state.
White House officials are public employees whose salaries are paid by the American taxpayer. The idea of people on the federal payroll going out or telephoning other Americans to explain what Ms. Miers' religious views are -- to tell them not to oppose her because her church affiliation and beliefs make her almost certainly anti-choice on abortion -- is truly repellent.
It approaches a case of the U.S. government promoting particular religious beliefs. Let us imagine that President John F. Kennedy had lived, had sought a second term and had faced questions about his Catholicism, as he did in the 1960 campaign. Would he then have used White House officials to explain to any Catholics with reservations about him -- or to people of other faiths -- that they shouldn't be worried about his religious convictions?" ...
President Bush's statement that White House officials are conducting an 'outreach effort' to reassure his supporters about Supreme Court nominee Harriet E. Miers' religious beliefs is astonishing and, possibly, inconsistent with the First Amendment's stricture on separation of church and state.
White House officials are public employees whose salaries are paid by the American taxpayer. The idea of people on the federal payroll going out or telephoning other Americans to explain what Ms. Miers' religious views are -- to tell them not to oppose her because her church affiliation and beliefs make her almost certainly anti-choice on abortion -- is truly repellent.
It approaches a case of the U.S. government promoting particular religious beliefs. Let us imagine that President John F. Kennedy had lived, had sought a second term and had faced questions about his Catholicism, as he did in the 1960 campaign. Would he then have used White House officials to explain to any Catholics with reservations about him -- or to people of other faiths -- that they shouldn't be worried about his religious convictions?" ...
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
A RELIGIOUS TEST? Does this president have even a rudimentary respect for the separation of church and state?"
www.AndrewSullivan.com - Daily Dish: "A RELIGIOUS TEST?
If we are to construe that part of the rationale for the Miers nomination is her religious faith, then the nomination does indeed appear to be unconstitutional. An added irony is that the woman she would replace would be among the most opposed to such a test, as an alert reader has pointed out. In her concurring opinion in Wallace v. Jaffree, 1985, Sandra Day O'Connor wrote
'In my view, the Religion Clauses - the Free Exercise Clause, the Establishment Clause, the Religious Test Clause, Art. VI, cl. 3, and the Equal Protection Clause as applied to religion - all speak with one voice on this point: absent the most unusual circumstances, one's religion ought not affect one's legal rights or duties or benefits. As I have previously noted, 'the Establishment Clause is infringed when the government makes adherence to religion relevant to a person's standing in the political community.' Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38, 69 (1985) (O'CONNOR, J., concurring in judgment).'
My emphasis. Didn't the president just make 'adherence to religion relevant to a person's standing in the political community'? Does this president have even a rudimentary respect for the separation of church and state?"
If we are to construe that part of the rationale for the Miers nomination is her religious faith, then the nomination does indeed appear to be unconstitutional. An added irony is that the woman she would replace would be among the most opposed to such a test, as an alert reader has pointed out. In her concurring opinion in Wallace v. Jaffree, 1985, Sandra Day O'Connor wrote
'In my view, the Religion Clauses - the Free Exercise Clause, the Establishment Clause, the Religious Test Clause, Art. VI, cl. 3, and the Equal Protection Clause as applied to religion - all speak with one voice on this point: absent the most unusual circumstances, one's religion ought not affect one's legal rights or duties or benefits. As I have previously noted, 'the Establishment Clause is infringed when the government makes adherence to religion relevant to a person's standing in the political community.' Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38, 69 (1985) (O'CONNOR, J., concurring in judgment).'
My emphasis. Didn't the president just make 'adherence to religion relevant to a person's standing in the political community'? Does this president have even a rudimentary respect for the separation of church and state?"
Bush cites religion as reason for picking Miers - The Changing Court - [Advise and consent from Religious Right ...
Bush cites religion as reason for picking Miers - The Changing Court - MSNBC.com: "Court nominee attended anti-abortion fund-raiser, advocacy group says | Updated: 7:38 p.m. ET Oct. 12, 2005
WASHINGTON - President Bush said Wednesday his advisers were telling conservatives about Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers’ religious beliefs because they are interested in her background and “part of Harriet Miers’ life is her religion.”
“People are interested to know why I picked Harriet Miers,” Bush told reporters at the White House. “They want to know Harriet Miers’ background. They want to know as much as they possibly can before they form opinions. And part of Harriet Miers’ life is her religion.
...
He spoke on a day in which conservative James Dobson, founder of Focus on Family, said he had discussed the nominee’s religious views with presidential aide Karl Rove.
WASHINGTON - President Bush said Wednesday his advisers were telling conservatives about Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers’ religious beliefs because they are interested in her background and “part of Harriet Miers’ life is her religion.”
“People are interested to know why I picked Harriet Miers,” Bush told reporters at the White House. “They want to know Harriet Miers’ background. They want to know as much as they possibly can before they form opinions. And part of Harriet Miers’ life is her religion.
...
He spoke on a day in which conservative James Dobson, founder of Focus on Family, said he had discussed the nominee’s religious views with presidential aide Karl Rove.
White House Briefing: Reporters Hit Hard on Role of Religion in Miers Pick
White House Briefing: Reporters Hit Hard on Role of Religion in Miers Pick: "By E&P Staff | Published: October 12, 2005 5:05 PM ET
...
Q Do you think Harriet Miers' religion is being emphasized more by this administration than Chief Justice Roberts' was?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, Harriet Miers is a person of faith. She recognizes, however, that a person's religion or personal views have no role when it comes to making decisions as a judge....
...
Q So if her personal views and ideology have no bearing on the judicial decision what relevance does it play in a conversation between Karl Rove and James Dobson? Why would he bring it up, even?
...
Q Also that she's a member of a very conservative church.
...
Q Back to Miers for a moment. When you say that Ms. Miers understands that religion has no role in the business of the Court, at the same time the President has said he knows her heart, her beliefs, her character; he talked today about people wanting to know about her life and, therefore, her religion. How are we not to interpret that her religion was one of the factors in his selection?
...
Q If personal views don't have a role to play, then why would anybody from the White House talk about what church she goes to and what the beliefs are of the people in the church?
MR. McCLELLAN: It's part of who she is. And faith has played an important part in her life. But she recognizes that religion and personal views and ideology don't have a role to play when you're a judge, but people want to know who she is. And that's been an important part of her life.
Q Scott, was she a member of Texas Right to Life?
MR. McCLELLAN: Not that I'm aware of. I think she attended some events.
Q Well, Dobson said that Karl Rove told him that she was a member of Texas Right to Life.
MR. McCLELLAN: I think she attended some events. ...
...
Q Do you think Harriet Miers' religion is being emphasized more by this administration than Chief Justice Roberts' was?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, Harriet Miers is a person of faith. She recognizes, however, that a person's religion or personal views have no role when it comes to making decisions as a judge....
...
Q So if her personal views and ideology have no bearing on the judicial decision what relevance does it play in a conversation between Karl Rove and James Dobson? Why would he bring it up, even?
...
Q Also that she's a member of a very conservative church.
...
Q Back to Miers for a moment. When you say that Ms. Miers understands that religion has no role in the business of the Court, at the same time the President has said he knows her heart, her beliefs, her character; he talked today about people wanting to know about her life and, therefore, her religion. How are we not to interpret that her religion was one of the factors in his selection?
...
Q If personal views don't have a role to play, then why would anybody from the White House talk about what church she goes to and what the beliefs are of the people in the church?
MR. McCLELLAN: It's part of who she is. And faith has played an important part in her life. But she recognizes that religion and personal views and ideology don't have a role to play when you're a judge, but people want to know who she is. And that's been an important part of her life.
Q Scott, was she a member of Texas Right to Life?
MR. McCLELLAN: Not that I'm aware of. I think she attended some events.
Q Well, Dobson said that Karl Rove told him that she was a member of Texas Right to Life.
MR. McCLELLAN: I think she attended some events. ...
'People are interested to know why I picked Harriet Miers,' ... 'Part of Harriet Miers' life is her religion.' [... signs of Theocracy?]
Attytood: The President's day: One high crime and two misdemeanors: "
Since Attytood is now officially a 'liberal journalist' according to Slate.com, we feel it's our duty to report that many on the farther left have been agitating in recent days for the impeachment of President Bush, primarily on the grounds of deliberately lying to the American people about Iraq. But why stop there. Just today alone, Bush committed at least one 'high crime' and two 'misdemeanors,' by our casual tally.
Let's review:
The act: President Bush said Wednesday that Harriet Miers' religious beliefs figured into her nomination to the Supreme Court as a top-ranking Democrat warned against any 'wink and a nod' campaign for confirmation.
'People are interested to know why I picked Harriet Miers,' Bush told reporters at the White House. 'Part of Harriet Miers' life is her religion.'
Misdemeanor No. 1: In using religion as a key basis for offering Miers a job, the president would appear to have violated the spirit, if not the letter, of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. According to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Title VII of the law 'prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.'
Misdemeanor No. 2: More specifically, one could make the case that Bush's actions are also in violation of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, which specifically covers federal employees. According to the same EEOC primer: 'The CSRA prohibits any employee who has authority to take certain personnel actions from discriminating for or against employees or applicants for employment on the bases of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age or disability.'
High crime: As you might expect, the 'high crime' here is more serious, and is also the area where it's hardest to argue that the president did not cross the line. We are referring to Article VI, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution, which states that 'no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.'"
Since Attytood is now officially a 'liberal journalist' according to Slate.com, we feel it's our duty to report that many on the farther left have been agitating in recent days for the impeachment of President Bush, primarily on the grounds of deliberately lying to the American people about Iraq. But why stop there. Just today alone, Bush committed at least one 'high crime' and two 'misdemeanors,' by our casual tally.
Let's review:
The act: President Bush said Wednesday that Harriet Miers' religious beliefs figured into her nomination to the Supreme Court as a top-ranking Democrat warned against any 'wink and a nod' campaign for confirmation.
'People are interested to know why I picked Harriet Miers,' Bush told reporters at the White House. 'Part of Harriet Miers' life is her religion.'
Misdemeanor No. 1: In using religion as a key basis for offering Miers a job, the president would appear to have violated the spirit, if not the letter, of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. According to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Title VII of the law 'prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.'
Misdemeanor No. 2: More specifically, one could make the case that Bush's actions are also in violation of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978, which specifically covers federal employees. According to the same EEOC primer: 'The CSRA prohibits any employee who has authority to take certain personnel actions from discriminating for or against employees or applicants for employment on the bases of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age or disability.'
High crime: As you might expect, the 'high crime' here is more serious, and is also the area where it's hardest to argue that the president did not cross the line. We are referring to Article VI, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution, which states that 'no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.'"
Monday, October 10, 2005
Christian Exodus seeks followers ...goal of moving up to 12,000 conservative Christians to South Carolina to establish a government
The State | 10/10/2005 | Christian Exodus seeks followers: "By CHRISTINA LEE KNAUSS
Group aims to move thousands to S.C. to set up government based partly on biblical principles
The Exodus is off to a slow start.
Christian Exodus, a Texas-based group, has a goal of moving up to 12,000 conservative Christians to South Carolina to establish a government formed strictly on the Constitution and biblical principles.
So far, only five families have made the move, all to the Upstate. But organizers hope to increase that number significantly after holding a three-day planning meeting beginning Friday in Greenville." ...
Group aims to move thousands to S.C. to set up government based partly on biblical principles
The Exodus is off to a slow start.
Christian Exodus, a Texas-based group, has a goal of moving up to 12,000 conservative Christians to South Carolina to establish a government formed strictly on the Constitution and biblical principles.
So far, only five families have made the move, all to the Upstate. But organizers hope to increase that number significantly after holding a three-day planning meeting beginning Friday in Greenville." ...
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
House Passes Bill Allowing Government-Funded Religious Discrimination
Press Releases - Interfaith Alliance: "House Passes Bill Allowing Government-Funded Religious Discrimination | September 22, 2005
Today, The U.S. House of Representatives passed an amendment and a bill to allow government-funded religious discrimination
The School Readiness Act (H.R. 2123), a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the Head Start program, was passed 48-0 in committee. However, during floor debate Thursday, Rep. Charles Boustany Jr. (R-LA) added an amendment allowing Head Start providers to exercise religious discrimination in choosing teachers and volunteers. As a result, the final vote on the bill (231-184) was stripped of the unanimous, bipartisan support displayed in committee.
"The Interfaith Alliance is very disappointed in the members of Congress who insist on reacting to one crisis by beginning another one," said the Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, President of The Interfaith Alliance. "The Boustany amendment is a prime example of political opportunists taking advantage of a national tragedy to institute policies that are unconstitutional and have been previously rejected by the Congress."
...
"In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the levees protecting religious liberty are being breached, and the wall between church and state is cracking," Gaddy said. "If those in Congress who seek to repeal religious liberty safeguards are successful, thousands of children, teachers and parent volunteers who have dedicated themselves to this program could find themselves no longer welcome at religiously-affiliated Head Start programs because they are of a different faith than the sponsoring organization."
Today, The U.S. House of Representatives passed an amendment and a bill to allow government-funded religious discrimination
The School Readiness Act (H.R. 2123), a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the Head Start program, was passed 48-0 in committee. However, during floor debate Thursday, Rep. Charles Boustany Jr. (R-LA) added an amendment allowing Head Start providers to exercise religious discrimination in choosing teachers and volunteers. As a result, the final vote on the bill (231-184) was stripped of the unanimous, bipartisan support displayed in committee.
"The Interfaith Alliance is very disappointed in the members of Congress who insist on reacting to one crisis by beginning another one," said the Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy, President of The Interfaith Alliance. "The Boustany amendment is a prime example of political opportunists taking advantage of a national tragedy to institute policies that are unconstitutional and have been previously rejected by the Congress."
...
"In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the levees protecting religious liberty are being breached, and the wall between church and state is cracking," Gaddy said. "If those in Congress who seek to repeal religious liberty safeguards are successful, thousands of children, teachers and parent volunteers who have dedicated themselves to this program could find themselves no longer welcome at religiously-affiliated Head Start programs because they are of a different faith than the sponsoring organization."
Thursday, September 22, 2005
House OKs Faith As Head Start Hiring Issue - Democrats blasted that idea as discriminatory.
House OKs Faith As Head Start Hiring Issue - Yahoo! News: "By BEN FELLER, AP Education Writer Thu Sep 22, 6:09 PM ET
WASHINGTON - The House voted Thursday to let Head Start centers consider religion when hiring workers, overshadowing its moves to strengthen the preschool program's academics and finances.
The Republican-led House approved a bill that lets churches and other faith-based preschool centers hire only people who share their religion, yet still receive federal tax dollars.
Democrats blasted that idea as discriminatory. ...
WASHINGTON - The House voted Thursday to let Head Start centers consider religion when hiring workers, overshadowing its moves to strengthen the preschool program's academics and finances.
The Republican-led House approved a bill that lets churches and other faith-based preschool centers hire only people who share their religion, yet still receive federal tax dollars.
Democrats blasted that idea as discriminatory. ...
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Faith-based disaster: only two secular organizations to which FEMA's Web site urged that contributions be made; all the others were faith-based.
Faith-based disaster: "David L. Kirp | Monday, September 19, 2005
That the Federal Emergency Management Agency mismanaged the Hurricane Katrina relief effort is old news. But there's more to FEMA's failure than simple bungling. The Bush administration's core belief that faith-based organizations can do the job better than the government or experienced nonprofits has compounded the problem.
Immediately after the hurricane, there were only two secular organizations to which FEMA's Web site urged that contributions be made; all the others were faith-based. What's worse, in at least some instances, FEMA relied on faith-based charities to spearhead the emergency-relief effort, regardless of whether they had expertise. Case in point: Tulsa, Okla.
...
An estimated 1,500 to 2,000 hurricane survivors were indeed bused from New Orleans via Houston to Camp Gruber, a nearby National Guard facility. But in deciding which Tulsa agency to turn to, FEMA chose Catholic Charities -- which wasn't part of the coalition, had no relevant experience with long-term placement of disaster victims and whose mission is "bringing Christ's merciful love to people who suffer in our midst."
FEMA was so intent on relying on a faith-based group that it neglected to look at the state map: it initially contacted Catholic Charities in Oklahoma City, 123 miles away from where the storm victims were being housed. FEMA also shipped hurricane survivors to a youth camp for Southern Baptists in a remote corner of the state, a site described by the faithful as "the most prayed place." Meanwhile in Tulsa, because Catholic Charities lacked the necessary personnel for the assignment, local fire departments were enlisted to help in doing the job. While firefighters are trained to do many things, they don't know how to help victims of natural disaster start a new life.
This lack of expertise made the resulting failures entirely predictable. ...
That the Federal Emergency Management Agency mismanaged the Hurricane Katrina relief effort is old news. But there's more to FEMA's failure than simple bungling. The Bush administration's core belief that faith-based organizations can do the job better than the government or experienced nonprofits has compounded the problem.
Immediately after the hurricane, there were only two secular organizations to which FEMA's Web site urged that contributions be made; all the others were faith-based. What's worse, in at least some instances, FEMA relied on faith-based charities to spearhead the emergency-relief effort, regardless of whether they had expertise. Case in point: Tulsa, Okla.
...
An estimated 1,500 to 2,000 hurricane survivors were indeed bused from New Orleans via Houston to Camp Gruber, a nearby National Guard facility. But in deciding which Tulsa agency to turn to, FEMA chose Catholic Charities -- which wasn't part of the coalition, had no relevant experience with long-term placement of disaster victims and whose mission is "bringing Christ's merciful love to people who suffer in our midst."
FEMA was so intent on relying on a faith-based group that it neglected to look at the state map: it initially contacted Catholic Charities in Oklahoma City, 123 miles away from where the storm victims were being housed. FEMA also shipped hurricane survivors to a youth camp for Southern Baptists in a remote corner of the state, a site described by the faithful as "the most prayed place." Meanwhile in Tulsa, because Catholic Charities lacked the necessary personnel for the assignment, local fire departments were enlisted to help in doing the job. While firefighters are trained to do many things, they don't know how to help victims of natural disaster start a new life.
This lack of expertise made the resulting failures entirely predictable. ...
Thursday, September 08, 2005
soliciting cash: Robertson's $66 million relief organization, Operation Blessing, prominently featured on FEMA's list of charitable groups
Pat Robertson's Katrina Cash: "by MAX BLUMENTHAL | [posted online on September 7, 2005]
Every cloud has a silver lining. Hurricane Katrina has devastated New Orleans, leaving thousands dead and hundreds of thousands homeless, and plunging the entire city into chaos. In the hurricane's wake, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and its director, Michael Brown, forced out of his former job at the International Arabian Horse Association, with no credentials in disaster relief, have become targets of withering criticism. Yet FEMA's relief efforts have brought considerable assistance to at least one man who stands to benefit from Hurricane Katrina perhaps more than any other individual: Pat Robertson.
With the Bush Administration's approval, Robertson's $66 million relief organization, Operation Blessing, has been prominently featured on FEMA's list of charitable groups accepting donations for hurricane relief. Dozens of media outlets, including the New York Times, CNN and the Associated Press, duly reprinted FEMA's list, unwittingly acting as agents soliciting cash for Robertson. 'How in the heck did that happen?' Richard Walden, president of the disaster-relief group Operation USA, asked of Operation Blessing's inclusion on FEMA's list. 'That gives Pat Robertson millions of extra dollars.'"
Though Operation USA has conducted disaster relief for more than twenty-five years on five continents, like scores of other secular relief groups currently helping victims of Hurricane Katrina, it was omitted from FEMA's list. In fact, only two non-"faith-based" organizations were included.
Every cloud has a silver lining. Hurricane Katrina has devastated New Orleans, leaving thousands dead and hundreds of thousands homeless, and plunging the entire city into chaos. In the hurricane's wake, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and its director, Michael Brown, forced out of his former job at the International Arabian Horse Association, with no credentials in disaster relief, have become targets of withering criticism. Yet FEMA's relief efforts have brought considerable assistance to at least one man who stands to benefit from Hurricane Katrina perhaps more than any other individual: Pat Robertson.
With the Bush Administration's approval, Robertson's $66 million relief organization, Operation Blessing, has been prominently featured on FEMA's list of charitable groups accepting donations for hurricane relief. Dozens of media outlets, including the New York Times, CNN and the Associated Press, duly reprinted FEMA's list, unwittingly acting as agents soliciting cash for Robertson. 'How in the heck did that happen?' Richard Walden, president of the disaster-relief group Operation USA, asked of Operation Blessing's inclusion on FEMA's list. 'That gives Pat Robertson millions of extra dollars.'"
Though Operation USA has conducted disaster relief for more than twenty-five years on five continents, like scores of other secular relief groups currently helping victims of Hurricane Katrina, it was omitted from FEMA's list. In fact, only two non-"faith-based" organizations were included.
Saturday, September 03, 2005
"If you don't get your ass out of here, I'm going to break your motherf---ing jaw." ... frontier justice had been captured for posterity ...destroyed
TheStar.com - New Orleans on a hair-trigger: "Sep. 2, 2005. 02:19 PM | TIM HARPER | WASHINGTON BUREAU
Star duo caught in crossfire between police and gunmen
'Stop the car right now,' reporter told. `Back up, or I'll shoot'
...
His welcome to the besieged city came the second he left the vehicle when three shots rang out — a quick "pop-pop-pop." Oleniuk stumbled behind a lamppost for protection and began shooting photos.
In seconds, as many as 40 officers sped to the scene, most in marked cars — but one in a Kinko's van — some of whom set up behind Oleniuk, their guns aimed over his left shoulder.
Others, guns drawn, shouted at me to get out of the way.
Realizing he was in the line of fire, Oleniuk raced for cover behind a cruiser and worked alongside a group of police as they fired into the building.
After 15 minutes, the last of more than 350 images shot by Oleniuk depicted officers delivering a fierce beating to the two suspects, an assault so fearsome one of the suspects defecated.
Realizing their frontier justice had been captured for posterity, the police turned on the photographer, one ripping a camera from his neck with such force it broke its shoulder strap.
Another grabbed a second camera and, somewhere in the melee, Oleniuk's press pass was ripped from his neck.
The officers fumbled with the cameras, finally pulling out the memory cards with the photos.
Oleniuk pleaded for the return of his cameras, was rebuffed, then, after retreating about a block, approached them again and asked for his cameras back.
One of the officers who had been hunkered down with Oleniuk during the 15-minute shootout said he could have his cameras, but when he asked again for his pictures, he was gruffly told: "If you don't get your ass out of here, I'm going to break your motherf---ing jaw."
Star duo caught in crossfire between police and gunmen
'Stop the car right now,' reporter told. `Back up, or I'll shoot'
...
His welcome to the besieged city came the second he left the vehicle when three shots rang out — a quick "pop-pop-pop." Oleniuk stumbled behind a lamppost for protection and began shooting photos.
In seconds, as many as 40 officers sped to the scene, most in marked cars — but one in a Kinko's van — some of whom set up behind Oleniuk, their guns aimed over his left shoulder.
Others, guns drawn, shouted at me to get out of the way.
Realizing he was in the line of fire, Oleniuk raced for cover behind a cruiser and worked alongside a group of police as they fired into the building.
After 15 minutes, the last of more than 350 images shot by Oleniuk depicted officers delivering a fierce beating to the two suspects, an assault so fearsome one of the suspects defecated.
Realizing their frontier justice had been captured for posterity, the police turned on the photographer, one ripping a camera from his neck with such force it broke its shoulder strap.
Another grabbed a second camera and, somewhere in the melee, Oleniuk's press pass was ripped from his neck.
The officers fumbled with the cameras, finally pulling out the memory cards with the photos.
Oleniuk pleaded for the return of his cameras, was rebuffed, then, after retreating about a block, approached them again and asked for his cameras back.
One of the officers who had been hunkered down with Oleniuk during the 15-minute shootout said he could have his cameras, but when he asked again for his pictures, he was gruffly told: "If you don't get your ass out of here, I'm going to break your motherf---ing jaw."
Hurricane was sign of divine wrath, fundamentalists say ... sent to punish New Orleans, a city known for Mardi Gras and other raucous festivals.
World Crises | Reuters.com: "Hurricane was sign of divine wrath, fundamentalists say | Fri 2 Sep 2005 6:10 PM ET | By Andy Sullivan
WASHINGTON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - As religious and political leaders offered prayers for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, some Christian fundamentalists suggested the storm was the work of an angry God bent on punishing a sinful nation.
In news releases and Internet chat rooms, some fundamentalists said the hurricane was sent to punish New Orleans, a city known for Mardi Gras and other raucous festivals.
Others said the disaster, which may have killed thousands in Louisiana and Mississippi, was revenge for the United States' support of the removal of Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip.
"Whenever this country encourages Israel to give up any part of their rightful God-given land we have suffered the consequences," wrote a discussion-board participant on the Web site of the Christian Broadcasting Network.
..
"We must not forget that the citizens of New Orleans tolerated and welcomed the wickedness in their city for so long," said Repent America director Michael Marcavage. "May this act of God cause us all to think about what we tolerate in our city limits."
...
A small number of Christians believe that the United States needs to support Israel in order to bring about the return of Christ, said William Lawrence, dean of the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
"Those who hold such a view would tend to see any cataclysmic act as a sign of punishment, but much more responsible theologians would argue that that's far too mechanical a notion of the way God operates," he said.
WASHINGTON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - As religious and political leaders offered prayers for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, some Christian fundamentalists suggested the storm was the work of an angry God bent on punishing a sinful nation.
In news releases and Internet chat rooms, some fundamentalists said the hurricane was sent to punish New Orleans, a city known for Mardi Gras and other raucous festivals.
Others said the disaster, which may have killed thousands in Louisiana and Mississippi, was revenge for the United States' support of the removal of Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip.
"Whenever this country encourages Israel to give up any part of their rightful God-given land we have suffered the consequences," wrote a discussion-board participant on the Web site of the Christian Broadcasting Network.
..
"We must not forget that the citizens of New Orleans tolerated and welcomed the wickedness in their city for so long," said Repent America director Michael Marcavage. "May this act of God cause us all to think about what we tolerate in our city limits."
...
A small number of Christians believe that the United States needs to support Israel in order to bring about the return of Christ, said William Lawrence, dean of the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
"Those who hold such a view would tend to see any cataclysmic act as a sign of punishment, but much more responsible theologians would argue that that's far too mechanical a notion of the way God operates," he said.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Hannity blamed 'anti-war left' for protest at soldier's funeral actually organized by anti-gay church
Hannity blamed "anti-war left" for protest at s ... [Media Matters]: "Hannity blamed 'anti-war left' for protest at soldier's funeral actually organized by anti-gay church
On the August 30 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Fox News host Sean Hannity falsely blamed 'the anti-war left' for a protest at the August 28 funeral of Sgt. Jeremy Doyle of Indianapolis, who was killed while serving in Iraq. Hannity read excerpts of an article on the website of Indianapolis TV station WISH describing the protest, adding, 'I guess this is just another example of how the anti-war left supports our brave troops.' In fact, as The Indianapolis Star reported, the protesters were not anti-war liberals but, rather, members of Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) in Topeka, Kansas, who claim that the deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq are inflicted by God to punish the United States for its acceptance of gays and lesbians."
On the August 30 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Fox News host Sean Hannity falsely blamed 'the anti-war left' for a protest at the August 28 funeral of Sgt. Jeremy Doyle of Indianapolis, who was killed while serving in Iraq. Hannity read excerpts of an article on the website of Indianapolis TV station WISH describing the protest, adding, 'I guess this is just another example of how the anti-war left supports our brave troops.' In fact, as The Indianapolis Star reported, the protesters were not anti-war liberals but, rather, members of Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) in Topeka, Kansas, who claim that the deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq are inflicted by God to punish the United States for its acceptance of gays and lesbians."
FEMA Directing Donations To Rev. Pat Robertson : front operation for the radical, pro-assassination televangelist
FEMA Directing Donations To Rev. Pat Robertson : Sploid: "SPLOID EXCLUSIVE: FEMA is directing Katrina donations to none other than the Rev. Pat Robertson …
Millions of Americans and people around the world have rushed to donate money to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, which is shaping up to be one of the worst U.S. disasters in history, if not the worst.
FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is the lead federal agency in the rescue & recovery operation at work in New Orleans and the Mississippi gulf coast.
FEMA has released to the media and on its Web site a list of suggested charities to help the storm’s hundreds of thousands of victims. The Red Cross is first on the list.
The Rev. Pat Robertson’s “Operation Blessing” is next on the list.
“It’s an outrage,” said privacy watchdog Bill Scannell, who alerted Sploid to the FEMA / Robertson scam. “Operation f**cking Blessing? And it’s right underneath the Red Cross link!”
...
The front operation for the radical, pro-assassination televangelist and Republican power broker is also based in the Rev. Pat’s headquarters, Virginia Beach.
Robertson’s shell organizations have already collected more than $25 million from the federal government under various “faith based” federal-handout programs. And with millions of distraught citizens looking to FEMA for help in finding reputable organizations to help Katrina survivors, Robertson stands to profit magnificently from the horror that has fallen on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.
Millions of Americans and people around the world have rushed to donate money to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, which is shaping up to be one of the worst U.S. disasters in history, if not the worst.
FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is the lead federal agency in the rescue & recovery operation at work in New Orleans and the Mississippi gulf coast.
FEMA has released to the media and on its Web site a list of suggested charities to help the storm’s hundreds of thousands of victims. The Red Cross is first on the list.
The Rev. Pat Robertson’s “Operation Blessing” is next on the list.
“It’s an outrage,” said privacy watchdog Bill Scannell, who alerted Sploid to the FEMA / Robertson scam. “Operation f**cking Blessing? And it’s right underneath the Red Cross link!”
...
The front operation for the radical, pro-assassination televangelist and Republican power broker is also based in the Rev. Pat’s headquarters, Virginia Beach.
Robertson’s shell organizations have already collected more than $25 million from the federal government under various “faith based” federal-handout programs. And with millions of distraught citizens looking to FEMA for help in finding reputable organizations to help Katrina survivors, Robertson stands to profit magnificently from the horror that has fallen on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
According to Abbas ... Bush said: "God told me to strike at al Qaida and I struck them, then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did
Haaretz - Israel News - Article: "`Road map is a life saver for us,' PM Abbas tells Hamas | By Arnon Regular
Selected minutes acquired by Haaretz from one of last week's cease-fire negotiations between Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and faction leaders from the Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular and Democratic Fronts, reveal some of the factors at play behind the scenes in the effort to achieve a hudna.
...
He explained to the faction leaders that with regard to the first phase of the road map, there was an agreement with the Americans that "the Palestinians would speak publicly about their commitments according to the map and then the Israelis would do the same thing." From there, he moved on to describe what happened at the summits. He said that Bush told the Arab leaders that he is fully committed to a solution based on his vision speech from June 24, 2002 and is ready to move forward "if there is help on your part."
"The Arabs supported him and I said we are ready to fulfill our commitments as they appear in the map," said Abbas. He said the discussion of the start of the implementation of the map dealt with Gaza, where he said that Palestinian Authority institutions "are 75 percent destroyed, while in the West Bank they are 100 percent destroyed."
...
He emphasized that at that stage he made clear to the participants at the Sharm summit that "we need time and capabilities to stand on our feet. And I explained that I had already spoken with Ariel Sharon about reaching a hudna between all the Palestinian factions." According to Abbas, "Bush exploded with anger and said `there can be no deals with terror groups.' We told him that they are part of our people and we cannot deal with them in any other way. We cannot begin with repression, under no circumstances, and I made clear to Bush that Sharon already agreed with that.
...
Abbas said: "We were asked what we need if Israel withdraws and we said `that there not be raids, chases, assassinations or house demolitions, because that kind of activity will destroy everything.'"
...
Abbas said that at Aqaba, Bush promised to speak with Sharon about the siege on Arafat. He said nobody can speak to or pressure Sharon except the Americans.
According to Abbas, immediately thereafter Bush said: "God told me to strike at al Qaida and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East. If you help me I will act, and if not, the elections will come and I will have to focus on them."
Selected minutes acquired by Haaretz from one of last week's cease-fire negotiations between Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and faction leaders from the Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular and Democratic Fronts, reveal some of the factors at play behind the scenes in the effort to achieve a hudna.
...
He explained to the faction leaders that with regard to the first phase of the road map, there was an agreement with the Americans that "the Palestinians would speak publicly about their commitments according to the map and then the Israelis would do the same thing." From there, he moved on to describe what happened at the summits. He said that Bush told the Arab leaders that he is fully committed to a solution based on his vision speech from June 24, 2002 and is ready to move forward "if there is help on your part."
"The Arabs supported him and I said we are ready to fulfill our commitments as they appear in the map," said Abbas. He said the discussion of the start of the implementation of the map dealt with Gaza, where he said that Palestinian Authority institutions "are 75 percent destroyed, while in the West Bank they are 100 percent destroyed."
...
He emphasized that at that stage he made clear to the participants at the Sharm summit that "we need time and capabilities to stand on our feet. And I explained that I had already spoken with Ariel Sharon about reaching a hudna between all the Palestinian factions." According to Abbas, "Bush exploded with anger and said `there can be no deals with terror groups.' We told him that they are part of our people and we cannot deal with them in any other way. We cannot begin with repression, under no circumstances, and I made clear to Bush that Sharon already agreed with that.
...
Abbas said: "We were asked what we need if Israel withdraws and we said `that there not be raids, chases, assassinations or house demolitions, because that kind of activity will destroy everything.'"
...
Abbas said that at Aqaba, Bush promised to speak with Sharon about the siege on Arafat. He said nobody can speak to or pressure Sharon except the Americans.
According to Abbas, immediately thereafter Bush said: "God told me to strike at al Qaida and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East. If you help me I will act, and if not, the elections will come and I will have to focus on them."
Monday, August 29, 2005
Air Force Bans Leaders' Promotion of Religion - after complaints that evangelical Christians leaders were using their positions to promote their faith
Air Force Bans Leaders' Promotion of Religion - New York Times: "By LAURIE GOODSTEIN | Published: August 30, 2005
The Air Force issued new religion guidelines to its commanders yesterday that caution against promoting any particular faith - or even 'the idea of religion over nonreligion' - in official communications or functions like meetings, sports events and ceremonies.
The guidelines discourage public prayers at official Air Force events or meetings other than worship services, one of the most contentious issues for many commanders. But they allow for 'a brief nonsectarian prayer' at special ceremonies like those honoring promotions, or in 'extraordinary circumstances' like 'mass casualties, preparation for imminent combat and natural disasters.'
The Air Force developed the guidelines after complaints from cadets at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs that evangelical Christians leaders were using their positions to promote their faith."
The Air Force issued new religion guidelines to its commanders yesterday that caution against promoting any particular faith - or even 'the idea of religion over nonreligion' - in official communications or functions like meetings, sports events and ceremonies.
The guidelines discourage public prayers at official Air Force events or meetings other than worship services, one of the most contentious issues for many commanders. But they allow for 'a brief nonsectarian prayer' at special ceremonies like those honoring promotions, or in 'extraordinary circumstances' like 'mass casualties, preparation for imminent combat and natural disasters.'
The Air Force developed the guidelines after complaints from cadets at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs that evangelical Christians leaders were using their positions to promote their faith."
No man who publicly advocates cold-blooded murder for political reasons can claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ
Not a Christian by Charley Reese: "
Pat Robertson, host of 'The 700 Club,' is not a Christian. No man who publicly advocates cold-blooded murder for political reasons can claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Robertson did that on his television show, saying it would be cheaper to murder the president of Venezuela than to overthrow him with a war.
The president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, is a frequent critic of President George Bush and the United States. He is also democratically elected. It's funny how many people in the American elite who profess to advocate democracy tend to change their minds when the results of democracy don't suit them. Nowhere is it written that a free and democratic election will produce a leader whom we like. That should be obvious from the outcomes of our elections. Sometimes we like the winner, and sometimes we don't. The essence of a democratic society, however, is that when we don't like the winner, we put up with him until the next election.
For a long time, I've not believed that Robertson is a Christian. I have this old-fashioned idea that rich preachers are incompatible with Christianity. If you don't already know this, most of the televangelists spend an inordinate amount of their time and efforts fundraising and living in the lap of luxury. I assume darn few of them will squeeze through that eye of the needle that Christ spoke of in regard to a rich man getting into heaven.
Robertson is a politician who uses Christianity as a source of income and as a cover for his political goals. ...
Pat Robertson, host of 'The 700 Club,' is not a Christian. No man who publicly advocates cold-blooded murder for political reasons can claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ. Robertson did that on his television show, saying it would be cheaper to murder the president of Venezuela than to overthrow him with a war.
The president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, is a frequent critic of President George Bush and the United States. He is also democratically elected. It's funny how many people in the American elite who profess to advocate democracy tend to change their minds when the results of democracy don't suit them. Nowhere is it written that a free and democratic election will produce a leader whom we like. That should be obvious from the outcomes of our elections. Sometimes we like the winner, and sometimes we don't. The essence of a democratic society, however, is that when we don't like the winner, we put up with him until the next election.
For a long time, I've not believed that Robertson is a Christian. I have this old-fashioned idea that rich preachers are incompatible with Christianity. If you don't already know this, most of the televangelists spend an inordinate amount of their time and efforts fundraising and living in the lap of luxury. I assume darn few of them will squeeze through that eye of the needle that Christ spoke of in regard to a rich man getting into heaven.
Robertson is a politician who uses Christianity as a source of income and as a cover for his political goals. ...
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Pat Robertson is Not a Christian
Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler: Pat Robertson is Not a Christian: "August 23, 2005 | The Preacher's Fatwah on Chavez | By Rev. GRAYLAN SCOTT HAGLER
Pat Robertson suggested this past Monday that the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, be assassinated by operatives of the United States government. Though his comments are newsworthy because of his following in the 700 Club and his political stature and role in the political religious right, his comments however are out of synch with everything that has been handed down to us from the teachings of Jesus Christ. What I am suggesting here is that Pat Robertson and individuals of his ilk are not practicing or preaching Christ but have become adherents of a political movement in this nation that attempts to use Christianity towards their own narrow political ends. I believe that there is a role for Christianity in the events of the world, but the teachings of Christ leads us to love one another, strain and stretch to understand each other, and dare to know each other enough that we come to an understanding of one another and from that create a world that is not built on might and winning but on understanding and unity. Clearly the comments of Robertson defy the framework we find in the gospels of Jesus Christ." ...
Pat Robertson suggested this past Monday that the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, be assassinated by operatives of the United States government. Though his comments are newsworthy because of his following in the 700 Club and his political stature and role in the political religious right, his comments however are out of synch with everything that has been handed down to us from the teachings of Jesus Christ. What I am suggesting here is that Pat Robertson and individuals of his ilk are not practicing or preaching Christ but have become adherents of a political movement in this nation that attempts to use Christianity towards their own narrow political ends. I believe that there is a role for Christianity in the events of the world, but the teachings of Christ leads us to love one another, strain and stretch to understand each other, and dare to know each other enough that we come to an understanding of one another and from that create a world that is not built on might and winning but on understanding and unity. Clearly the comments of Robertson defy the framework we find in the gospels of Jesus Christ." ...
In the oil-rich Arab countries of the Gulf, September 11 is increasingly being seen as the event that kicked off a galloping economic boom
CNN.com - 9/11 factors boost Gulf economies - Aug 21, 2005: "Sunday, August 21, 2005; Posted: 12:01 p.m. EDT (16:01 GMT)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- In the United States, the September 11 attacks are seen as the catalyst for a period of fear, war and economic worry.
But in the oil-rich Arab countries of the Gulf, September 11 is increasingly being seen as the event that kicked off a galloping economic boom -- and prodded investors to pull their money out of a United States perceived as hostile to Arabs, and instead invest it at home.
Since late 2001, economies in the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries have soared, with stock markets up a collective 400 percent. During the same period, investments from those countries into the U.S. slowed to a trickle.
In Saudi Arabia, birthplace of 15 of the 19 terrorists involved in the September 11 attacks, gross domestic product rose 37 percent between 2001 and last year. In the Emirates, home to two of the terrorists, GDP jumped almost 50 percent. ...
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- In the United States, the September 11 attacks are seen as the catalyst for a period of fear, war and economic worry.
But in the oil-rich Arab countries of the Gulf, September 11 is increasingly being seen as the event that kicked off a galloping economic boom -- and prodded investors to pull their money out of a United States perceived as hostile to Arabs, and instead invest it at home.
Since late 2001, economies in the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries have soared, with stock markets up a collective 400 percent. During the same period, investments from those countries into the U.S. slowed to a trickle.
In Saudi Arabia, birthplace of 15 of the 19 terrorists involved in the September 11 attacks, gross domestic product rose 37 percent between 2001 and last year. In the Emirates, home to two of the terrorists, GDP jumped almost 50 percent. ...
Federal Funds For Abstinence Group Withheld
Federal Funds For Abstinence Group Withheld: "By Ceci Connolly | Washington Post Staff Writer | Tuesday, August 23, 2005; Page A05
The Bush administration yesterday suspended a federal grant to the Silver Ring Thing abstinence program, saying it appears to use tax money for religious activities.
Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services ordered the group to submit a 'corrective action plan' if it hopes to receive an expected $75,000 grant this year. ...
...
The action comes three months after the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against HHS, accusing the administration of using tax dollars to promote Christianity. In documents filed in federal court in Boston, the ACLU alleged that the activities, brochures and Web site of Silver Ring Thing were "permeated with religion" and use "taxpayer dollars to promote religious content, instruction and indoctrination."
Teenage graduates of the program sign a covenant "before God Almighty" to remain virgins and earn a silver ring inscribed with a Bible passage reminding them to "keep clear of sexual sin." Many of its events are held at churches.
In filings with the Internal Revenue Service, the organization describes its mission as "evangelistic ministry" with an emphasis on "evangelistic crusade planning." ...
The Bush administration yesterday suspended a federal grant to the Silver Ring Thing abstinence program, saying it appears to use tax money for religious activities.
Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services ordered the group to submit a 'corrective action plan' if it hopes to receive an expected $75,000 grant this year. ...
...
The action comes three months after the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against HHS, accusing the administration of using tax dollars to promote Christianity. In documents filed in federal court in Boston, the ACLU alleged that the activities, brochures and Web site of Silver Ring Thing were "permeated with religion" and use "taxpayer dollars to promote religious content, instruction and indoctrination."
Teenage graduates of the program sign a covenant "before God Almighty" to remain virgins and earn a silver ring inscribed with a Bible passage reminding them to "keep clear of sexual sin." Many of its events are held at churches.
In filings with the Internal Revenue Service, the organization describes its mission as "evangelistic ministry" with an emphasis on "evangelistic crusade planning." ...
Saturday, August 20, 2005
Frist Urges theory of intelligent design: "scientific theories must be falsifiable" -- Princeton.EDU
Frist Urges 2 Teachings on Life Origin - New York Times: "By DAVID STOUT | Published: August 20, 2005
WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 - Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, the Republican leader, aligned himself with President Bush on Friday when he said that the theory of intelligent design as well as evolution should be taught in public schools.
Such an approach 'doesn't force any particular theory on anyone,' Mr. Frist said in Nashville, according to The Associated Press. 'I think in a pluralistic society that is the fairest way to go about education and training people for the future.' A Washington spokesman for the senator, Nick Smith, said later that the report was accurate.
The theory [?! "a theory that explains scientific observations; "scientific theories must be falsifiable" .. "An explanation supported by many tests and accepted by a general consensus of scientists." ed.] of intelligent design holds that life is too complicated to have developed through evolution and that a higher power must be involved. Critics say intelligent design theorists are trying to supplant science with religious beliefs."
WASHINGTON, Aug. 19 - Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, the Republican leader, aligned himself with President Bush on Friday when he said that the theory of intelligent design as well as evolution should be taught in public schools.
Such an approach 'doesn't force any particular theory on anyone,' Mr. Frist said in Nashville, according to The Associated Press. 'I think in a pluralistic society that is the fairest way to go about education and training people for the future.' A Washington spokesman for the senator, Nick Smith, said later that the report was accurate.
The theory [?! "a theory that explains scientific observations; "scientific theories must be falsifiable" .. "An explanation supported by many tests and accepted by a general consensus of scientists." ed.] of intelligent design holds that life is too complicated to have developed through evolution and that a higher power must be involved. Critics say intelligent design theorists are trying to supplant science with religious beliefs."
Friday, August 19, 2005
Fundamentalist Christianity, a dangerous force when it denies rational, scientific thinking
AxisofLogic/ Featured: "Fundamentalist Christianity, a dangerous force when it denies rational, scientific thinking | By Lee Salisbury | Aug 11, 2005, 19:58
Religious leaders hate rival sources of authority. 18th Century European Enlightenment thinking with its concepts of rationalism and science provided religious authoritarianism with that rival. America’s founding fathers, products of the Enlightenment, had the audacity to effectively say to Christianity, 'worship all you want, but our Constitution does not need your influence!' Roman Catholic traditionalists and Protestant Christian bible-based fundamentalists still seethe over this rejection.
Then as now, zealous Catholics and Protestants claim to speak for God versus Enlightenment thinkers who boldly experiment with new ideas independent of Christian dogma. Today's clergy shudder if their members hear the Thomas Edison's of this world, whose invention catapulted America to prosperity, exclaim as he did that, 'religion is all bunk!'
The International Herald Tribune's June 22 edition carried an article by Peter Watson entitled 'The Price of Fundamentalism.' It made highly pessimistic observations about nations under the influence of religious fundamentalism and America's present trends.
Religious fundamentalism in Israel, the Roman Empire, China, and the Islamic world had very destructive results. Israel BCE was consumed with religious zealotry and alienated itself from its surrounding Greek and Roman civilizations. Israel's zeal for God got its reward in 70 CE. The Romans annihilated Israel.
The Roman Empire's unlikely demise came three centuries later. Edward Gibbon, author of 'The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire', blames Rome's fall in part on the ascendancy of Christianity.
Buddhist fundamentalism in China resulted in centuries of chaos until the 9th Century when the Song renaissance restored the Chinese civilization.
Islam's early success was spectacular. It produced many intellectuals and scientists until fundamentalism gained the upper hand in the late 11th Century leading to a millennium of backwardness, which still afflicts the Islamic world.
Christian fundamentalism has gained political ascendancy in America. Under President George Bush, science takes a back seat to his right wing religious ideologues. In August 2003, the Government Reform Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives assessed the treatment of science and scientists by the Bush Administration. The report, "Politics and Science in the Bush Administration" found many instances where the Administration manipulated the scientific process and distorted or suppressed scientific findings.
Former President George H.W. Bush a decade earlier stated, "Now more than ever, on issues ranging from climate change to AIDS research . . . government relies on the impartial perspective of science for guidance." The current Bush Administration has skewed this impartial perspective, generating unprecedented criticism from the scientific community and prominent Republicans who once led federal agencies. ..
Religious leaders hate rival sources of authority. 18th Century European Enlightenment thinking with its concepts of rationalism and science provided religious authoritarianism with that rival. America’s founding fathers, products of the Enlightenment, had the audacity to effectively say to Christianity, 'worship all you want, but our Constitution does not need your influence!' Roman Catholic traditionalists and Protestant Christian bible-based fundamentalists still seethe over this rejection.
Then as now, zealous Catholics and Protestants claim to speak for God versus Enlightenment thinkers who boldly experiment with new ideas independent of Christian dogma. Today's clergy shudder if their members hear the Thomas Edison's of this world, whose invention catapulted America to prosperity, exclaim as he did that, 'religion is all bunk!'
The International Herald Tribune's June 22 edition carried an article by Peter Watson entitled 'The Price of Fundamentalism.' It made highly pessimistic observations about nations under the influence of religious fundamentalism and America's present trends.
Religious fundamentalism in Israel, the Roman Empire, China, and the Islamic world had very destructive results. Israel BCE was consumed with religious zealotry and alienated itself from its surrounding Greek and Roman civilizations. Israel's zeal for God got its reward in 70 CE. The Romans annihilated Israel.
The Roman Empire's unlikely demise came three centuries later. Edward Gibbon, author of 'The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire', blames Rome's fall in part on the ascendancy of Christianity.
Buddhist fundamentalism in China resulted in centuries of chaos until the 9th Century when the Song renaissance restored the Chinese civilization.
Islam's early success was spectacular. It produced many intellectuals and scientists until fundamentalism gained the upper hand in the late 11th Century leading to a millennium of backwardness, which still afflicts the Islamic world.
Christian fundamentalism has gained political ascendancy in America. Under President George Bush, science takes a back seat to his right wing religious ideologues. In August 2003, the Government Reform Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives assessed the treatment of science and scientists by the Bush Administration. The report, "Politics and Science in the Bush Administration" found many instances where the Administration manipulated the scientific process and distorted or suppressed scientific findings.
Former President George H.W. Bush a decade earlier stated, "Now more than ever, on issues ranging from climate change to AIDS research . . . government relies on the impartial perspective of science for guidance." The current Bush Administration has skewed this impartial perspective, generating unprecedented criticism from the scientific community and prominent Republicans who once led federal agencies. ..
Sunday, August 14, 2005
Under George Bush, it looks like history is repeating itself. They will gladly lead our nation down fundamentalism's proven path of destruction
AxisofLogic/ Featured: "Fundamentalist Christianity, a dangerous force when it denies rational, scientific thinking | By Lee Salisbury | Aug 11, 2005, 19:58
Religious leaders hate rival sources of authority. 18th Century European Enlightenment thinking with its concepts of rationalism and science provided religious authoritarianism with that rival. America’s founding fathers, products of the Enlightenment, had the audacity to effectively say to Christianity, "worship all you want, but our Constitution does not need your influence!" Roman Catholic traditionalists and Protestant Christian bible-based fundamentalists still seethe over this rejection.
Then as now, zealous Catholics and Protestants claim to speak for God versus Enlightenment thinkers who boldly experiment with new ideas independent of Christian dogma. Today's clergy shudder if their members hear the Thomas Edison's of this world, whose invention catapulted America to prosperity, exclaim as he did that, "religion is all bunk!"
...
Religious fundamentalism in Israel, the Roman Empire, China, and the Islamic world had very destructive results. Israel BCE was consumed with religious zealotry and alienated itself from its surrounding Greek and Roman civilizations. Israel's zeal for God got its reward in 70 CE. The Romans annihilated Israel.
The Roman Empire's unlikely demise came three centuries later. Edward Gibbon, author of "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", blames Rome's fall in part on the ascendancy of Christianity.
Buddhist fundamentalism in China resulted in centuries of chaos until the 9th Century when the Song renaissance restored the Chinese civilization.
Islam's early success was spectacular. It produced many intellectuals and scientists until fundamentalism gained the upper hand in the late 11th Century leading to a millennium of backwardness, which still afflicts the Islamic world.
Christian fundamentalism has gained political ascendancy in America. Under President George Bush, science takes a back seat to his right wing religious ideologues. In August 2003, the Government Reform Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives assessed the treatment of science and scientists by the Bush Administration. The report, "Politics and Science in the Bush Administration" found many instances where the Administration manipulated the scientific process and distorted or suppressed scientific findings.
...
Fundamentalism's anti-science attitude pervades society. The science journal Physical Review reported in May 2004, that scientific papers published by west European authors exceeded those by U.S. authors in 2003. In 1983, there were three American authors for every one west European.
The percentage of patents granted to American scientists has been falling since 1980, from 60.2 percent of the world's total to 51.8 percent.
In 1989, America trained the same number of science and engineering PhDs as Britain, Germany and France combined. In 2004, the United States is 5 percent behind. European scientists now outnumber American scientists in citations awarded.
America is behind in cloning and stem cell research, now led by South Korean, Italian and British scientists. American fundamentalists seek to outlaw stem cell research on the arbitrary and totally unproven premise that "life begins at conception," a recent concept contrary to the teaching of St. Augustine and the allegedly infallible Roman papacy for some 1,500 years.
..
President Bush's recent endorsement of teaching "Intelligent Design" perpetuates this same denial of science. ID proponents have never had an article on ID published in any peer-reviewed scientific journal. They do not conduct experiments that would prove or falsify their hypothesis.
...
... Religious fundamentalist's objectives have never changed; they seek vindication for their rejection and want America's obeisance. Under George Bush, it looks like history is repeating itself. They will gladly lead our nation down fundamentalism's proven path of destruction, all in the name of their God
Religious leaders hate rival sources of authority. 18th Century European Enlightenment thinking with its concepts of rationalism and science provided religious authoritarianism with that rival. America’s founding fathers, products of the Enlightenment, had the audacity to effectively say to Christianity, "worship all you want, but our Constitution does not need your influence!" Roman Catholic traditionalists and Protestant Christian bible-based fundamentalists still seethe over this rejection.
Then as now, zealous Catholics and Protestants claim to speak for God versus Enlightenment thinkers who boldly experiment with new ideas independent of Christian dogma. Today's clergy shudder if their members hear the Thomas Edison's of this world, whose invention catapulted America to prosperity, exclaim as he did that, "religion is all bunk!"
...
Religious fundamentalism in Israel, the Roman Empire, China, and the Islamic world had very destructive results. Israel BCE was consumed with religious zealotry and alienated itself from its surrounding Greek and Roman civilizations. Israel's zeal for God got its reward in 70 CE. The Romans annihilated Israel.
The Roman Empire's unlikely demise came three centuries later. Edward Gibbon, author of "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", blames Rome's fall in part on the ascendancy of Christianity.
Buddhist fundamentalism in China resulted in centuries of chaos until the 9th Century when the Song renaissance restored the Chinese civilization.
Islam's early success was spectacular. It produced many intellectuals and scientists until fundamentalism gained the upper hand in the late 11th Century leading to a millennium of backwardness, which still afflicts the Islamic world.
Christian fundamentalism has gained political ascendancy in America. Under President George Bush, science takes a back seat to his right wing religious ideologues. In August 2003, the Government Reform Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives assessed the treatment of science and scientists by the Bush Administration. The report, "Politics and Science in the Bush Administration" found many instances where the Administration manipulated the scientific process and distorted or suppressed scientific findings.
...
Fundamentalism's anti-science attitude pervades society. The science journal Physical Review reported in May 2004, that scientific papers published by west European authors exceeded those by U.S. authors in 2003. In 1983, there were three American authors for every one west European.
The percentage of patents granted to American scientists has been falling since 1980, from 60.2 percent of the world's total to 51.8 percent.
In 1989, America trained the same number of science and engineering PhDs as Britain, Germany and France combined. In 2004, the United States is 5 percent behind. European scientists now outnumber American scientists in citations awarded.
America is behind in cloning and stem cell research, now led by South Korean, Italian and British scientists. American fundamentalists seek to outlaw stem cell research on the arbitrary and totally unproven premise that "life begins at conception," a recent concept contrary to the teaching of St. Augustine and the allegedly infallible Roman papacy for some 1,500 years.
..
President Bush's recent endorsement of teaching "Intelligent Design" perpetuates this same denial of science. ID proponents have never had an article on ID published in any peer-reviewed scientific journal. They do not conduct experiments that would prove or falsify their hypothesis.
...
... Religious fundamentalist's objectives have never changed; they seek vindication for their rejection and want America's obeisance. Under George Bush, it looks like history is repeating itself. They will gladly lead our nation down fundamentalism's proven path of destruction, all in the name of their God
"My own feeling is they are giving American Christians a bad name around the world." ... "They see God as mean and having to be appeased"
Not all Christians back 'Justice Sunday' - Saturday, 08/13/05: "Saturday, 08/13/05 | By JEANNINE F. HUNTER | Staff Writer
Organizers of Justice Sunday II, a program designed to draw attention to the Supreme Court and how Christians may influence its jurists, say the live 6 p.m. simulcast at Two Rivers Baptist Church remains on course. The program, titled Justice Sunday II — God Save the United States and this Honorable Court, features House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, among other speakers.
...
"My concern is the way the religious right and this administration are turning the courts into a political battlefield," said Rita Brock, director of Faith Voices for the Common Good, an interfaith organization based in Oakland, Calif. "They are now declaring that they are taking over the third branch of government."
...
"My own feeling is they are giving American Christians a bad name around the world. People now think this is Christianity, what they say it is."
...
Knox said events such as Justice Sunday "offer a very narrow view of my faith and other faiths."
"I see God as unconditional. They see God in a different way. They see God as mean and having to be appeased, which may cause people to think God might not love them if they have a certain status. … I felt, as a person of faith, that it was important to act out of my concern," said Knox.
Organizers of Justice Sunday II, a program designed to draw attention to the Supreme Court and how Christians may influence its jurists, say the live 6 p.m. simulcast at Two Rivers Baptist Church remains on course. The program, titled Justice Sunday II — God Save the United States and this Honorable Court, features House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, among other speakers.
...
"My concern is the way the religious right and this administration are turning the courts into a political battlefield," said Rita Brock, director of Faith Voices for the Common Good, an interfaith organization based in Oakland, Calif. "They are now declaring that they are taking over the third branch of government."
...
"My own feeling is they are giving American Christians a bad name around the world. People now think this is Christianity, what they say it is."
...
Knox said events such as Justice Sunday "offer a very narrow view of my faith and other faiths."
"I see God as unconditional. They see God in a different way. They see God as mean and having to be appeased, which may cause people to think God might not love them if they have a certain status. … I felt, as a person of faith, that it was important to act out of my concern," said Knox.
Millions dead since 1945 ... yet Americans are convinced they are the emissaries of peace and good will.
The flag won't protect you; it's in the wrong hands: "By Luciana Bohne | 08/13/05 'ICH' -- --
Across my lawn, I can see an American flag waving in my neighbor's backyard. Mr. Smith (not his name, of course) is a nice man but he's 95 years old, and I can't take issue with him. I can't tell him that the sporting of the flag, at this time, is tantamount to saying, 'I am a fool. Traitors run the country in our name. They are taking our money from the treasury and spending it on a shortcut to world domination through war.
...
Since 1945, a conservative death count for US adventures abroad can easily tally up to 6 million. Easily! Circa 3 million in Vietnam alone; then there's Indonesia, Haiti, Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala, Chile, just off the top of my head. Plenty of torture, too: Argentina, Brazil, Egypt. Oh, you know the sad litany.
...
And yet, these Americans are convinced they are the emissaries of peace and good will. Pretty staggering delusion all things considered—pathological, one might say. What is the cause of this megalomania? Perhaps it's that radical branch of Protestantism called Puritanism? A kind of Anglo equivalent of Wahabbism? I mean, that weird theology that grants Americans the status of Elect, All-Good, Ever-Just. Certainly the New England writers of the 19th century thought so.
...
"What have you got against Puritans?" says I to my newly-wed, American professor-of-literature husband some 30 years ago. "Hypocrites," says he, laconically. And cryptically, I thought until now. But he's gone. And I can't share his wisdom with a conspiratorial smile. This God of theirs is indeed a God of Hypocrisy, for He bestows on their remarkable aggression and love of war a unique affection. You could call Him Mars—but then we know we make our gods in our own image. ...
Across my lawn, I can see an American flag waving in my neighbor's backyard. Mr. Smith (not his name, of course) is a nice man but he's 95 years old, and I can't take issue with him. I can't tell him that the sporting of the flag, at this time, is tantamount to saying, 'I am a fool. Traitors run the country in our name. They are taking our money from the treasury and spending it on a shortcut to world domination through war.
...
Since 1945, a conservative death count for US adventures abroad can easily tally up to 6 million. Easily! Circa 3 million in Vietnam alone; then there's Indonesia, Haiti, Panama, El Salvador, Guatemala, Chile, just off the top of my head. Plenty of torture, too: Argentina, Brazil, Egypt. Oh, you know the sad litany.
...
And yet, these Americans are convinced they are the emissaries of peace and good will. Pretty staggering delusion all things considered—pathological, one might say. What is the cause of this megalomania? Perhaps it's that radical branch of Protestantism called Puritanism? A kind of Anglo equivalent of Wahabbism? I mean, that weird theology that grants Americans the status of Elect, All-Good, Ever-Just. Certainly the New England writers of the 19th century thought so.
...
"What have you got against Puritans?" says I to my newly-wed, American professor-of-literature husband some 30 years ago. "Hypocrites," says he, laconically. And cryptically, I thought until now. But he's gone. And I can't share his wisdom with a conspiratorial smile. This God of theirs is indeed a God of Hypocrisy, for He bestows on their remarkable aggression and love of war a unique affection. You could call Him Mars—but then we know we make our gods in our own image. ...
Christians Unite to Burn Harry Potter Books - [Book Burning ... now how's my history?!]
Christians Unite to Burn Harry Potter Books - Opinion & Commentary News from Send2Press Newswire Wed, 3 Aug 2005: "Published: Wed, 3 Aug 2005, 05:21 EDT | Edited by Carly Zander | Staff Writer, Send2Press.com
Burning Books - Extreme Reaction or Proof of Uncompromising Devotion to God, asks Bob Miller
FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. - August 3 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- Author and Gospel singer Bob Miller (bobmillerwrites.com/articless.htm), a registered Republican, said today that it was not carved in stone that President Bush will meet with Rev. T.D. Turner Sr. of the Jesus Non-denominational Church, Greenville, Michigan and others who have burned or advocate the burning of Harry Potter books. Rev. T.D. Turner Sr., a church bishop, said the congregation 'will burn Harry Potter books and other witchcraft items to let the world know that there are true followers of Jesus Christ who will not call evil good.' ...
Burning Books - Extreme Reaction or Proof of Uncompromising Devotion to God, asks Bob Miller
FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. - August 3 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- Author and Gospel singer Bob Miller (bobmillerwrites.com/articless.htm), a registered Republican, said today that it was not carved in stone that President Bush will meet with Rev. T.D. Turner Sr. of the Jesus Non-denominational Church, Greenville, Michigan and others who have burned or advocate the burning of Harry Potter books. Rev. T.D. Turner Sr., a church bishop, said the congregation 'will burn Harry Potter books and other witchcraft items to let the world know that there are true followers of Jesus Christ who will not call evil good.' ...
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Bush’s neocon friends shocked as he backs the Darwin-doubters - “To impose it on the teaching of evolution is ridiculous.”
Bush’s neocon friends shocked as he backs the Darwin-doubters - Sunday Times - Times Online: "August 07, 2005
THE theory of intelligent design, which emphasises the role of a creator in the development of the universe, has received a boost from President George W Bush. He has called for it to be taught alongside evolution in schools, writes Sarah Baxter.
While Bush’s conservative Christian fundamentalist base is delighted by his pronouncement, it has opened a split with neoconservatives and other secular allies on the right.
In Texas, where the president likes to spend August reconnecting with his heartland, Bush said last week: “Both sides ought to be taught . . . so people can understand what the debate is about.”
...
Some of the president’s greatest supporters in the war on terror are shaking their heads in disbelief at his remarks. Charles Krauthammer, a neoconservative commentator, said the idea of teaching intelligent design — creationism’s “modern step-child” — was “insane”.
“To teach it as science is to encourage the supercilious caricature of America as a nation in the thrall of a religious authority,” he wrote. “To impose it on the teaching of evolution is ridiculous.”
...
... “It is very clear to me that he is sincere about this,” Krauthammer said. “He is not positioning.”
THE theory of intelligent design, which emphasises the role of a creator in the development of the universe, has received a boost from President George W Bush. He has called for it to be taught alongside evolution in schools, writes Sarah Baxter.
While Bush’s conservative Christian fundamentalist base is delighted by his pronouncement, it has opened a split with neoconservatives and other secular allies on the right.
In Texas, where the president likes to spend August reconnecting with his heartland, Bush said last week: “Both sides ought to be taught . . . so people can understand what the debate is about.”
...
Some of the president’s greatest supporters in the war on terror are shaking their heads in disbelief at his remarks. Charles Krauthammer, a neoconservative commentator, said the idea of teaching intelligent design — creationism’s “modern step-child” — was “insane”.
“To teach it as science is to encourage the supercilious caricature of America as a nation in the thrall of a religious authority,” he wrote. “To impose it on the teaching of evolution is ridiculous.”
...
... “It is very clear to me that he is sincere about this,” Krauthammer said. “He is not positioning.”
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
6 months after his science adviser said that 'intelligent design is not a scientific theory,' Bush says it 'ought to be properly taught' in school
Wash. Post overlooked apparent Bush administrat ... [Media Matters for America]: "Wash. Post overlooked apparent Bush administration contradiction on intelligent design | 8-3-2005
Six months after his own science adviser said that 'intelligent design is not a scientific theory,' President Bush stated on August 1 that the concept -- whose proponents claim that life is so complex that only an intelligent guiding force could have created it -- 'ought to be properly taught' alongside evolution in public schools. Yet, unlike reports by the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, an August 3 Washington Post report on Bush's remark failed to address the statement of the adviser, John H. Marburger III, even while citing conservative claims that intelligent design is, in fact, scientific.
An August 3 Los Angeles Times report noted that Marburger's statement 'seemed to differ with the president.' Similarly, a New York Times report the same day pressed Marburger to explain the apparent discrepancy.
But the Post article, by staff writers Peter Baker and Peter Slevin, noted that '[m]uch of the scientific establishment says that intelligent design is not a tested scientific theory' without mentioning that Bush's own science adviser is among that contingent. Similarly, the report neglected to include Marburger's assessment that intelligent design is not 'scientific' even while reporting claims by Bush and several other advocates of the theory suggesting that it is:"
Six months after his own science adviser said that 'intelligent design is not a scientific theory,' President Bush stated on August 1 that the concept -- whose proponents claim that life is so complex that only an intelligent guiding force could have created it -- 'ought to be properly taught' alongside evolution in public schools. Yet, unlike reports by the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, an August 3 Washington Post report on Bush's remark failed to address the statement of the adviser, John H. Marburger III, even while citing conservative claims that intelligent design is, in fact, scientific.
An August 3 Los Angeles Times report noted that Marburger's statement 'seemed to differ with the president.' Similarly, a New York Times report the same day pressed Marburger to explain the apparent discrepancy.
But the Post article, by staff writers Peter Baker and Peter Slevin, noted that '[m]uch of the scientific establishment says that intelligent design is not a tested scientific theory' without mentioning that Bush's own science adviser is among that contingent. Similarly, the report neglected to include Marburger's assessment that intelligent design is not 'scientific' even while reporting claims by Bush and several other advocates of the theory suggesting that it is:"
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Bill prohibits University of Wisconsin campuses from prescribing, dispensing and advertising all forms of birth control and emergency contraceptives.
Minnesota Daily : Protecting women’s reproductive rights on college campuses: "July 27, 2005 | By Kristina Shaw
Minnesotans should be wary of Wisconsin’s ban on birth contol on its university campuses.
College campuses have emerged as the latest battlefield in the nation’s war on women’s reproductive rights. Wisconsin has passed a bill entitled UW Birth Control Ban-AB 343. This bill prohibits University of Wisconsin campuses from prescribing, dispensing and advertising all forms of birth control and emergency contraceptives. Wisconsin State Rep. Dan LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, introduced this bill based on the belief that “dispensing birth control and emergency contraceptives leads to promiscuity.” In reality, full access to all birth control options — including emergency contraceptives — has no effect on the level of women’s promiscuity. Instead, birth control and emergency contraceptives help prevent more than 35,000 unintended births and 800,000 abortions each year.
The bill denies thousands of women essential health-care services and reproductive choices and affects their lives and futures in many ways. With this bill, rape victims will no longer be able to turn to campus health services to obtain emergency contraceptives to prevent an unwanted pregnancy, or receive postrape counseling and education — adding even more stress to a traumatic event. Students who want birth-control prescriptions, emergency contraceptives or even information about preventive birth control are forced to seek out these services at off-campus clinics. This poses a problem not only for students who attend rural Wisconsin university campuses and might not have a clinic nearby but also for many students who attend urban campuses but do not have access to transportation, money, insurance or time to travel to an off-campus clinic. "
Minnesotans should be wary of Wisconsin’s ban on birth contol on its university campuses.
College campuses have emerged as the latest battlefield in the nation’s war on women’s reproductive rights. Wisconsin has passed a bill entitled UW Birth Control Ban-AB 343. This bill prohibits University of Wisconsin campuses from prescribing, dispensing and advertising all forms of birth control and emergency contraceptives. Wisconsin State Rep. Dan LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, introduced this bill based on the belief that “dispensing birth control and emergency contraceptives leads to promiscuity.” In reality, full access to all birth control options — including emergency contraceptives — has no effect on the level of women’s promiscuity. Instead, birth control and emergency contraceptives help prevent more than 35,000 unintended births and 800,000 abortions each year.
The bill denies thousands of women essential health-care services and reproductive choices and affects their lives and futures in many ways. With this bill, rape victims will no longer be able to turn to campus health services to obtain emergency contraceptives to prevent an unwanted pregnancy, or receive postrape counseling and education — adding even more stress to a traumatic event. Students who want birth-control prescriptions, emergency contraceptives or even information about preventive birth control are forced to seek out these services at off-campus clinics. This poses a problem not only for students who attend rural Wisconsin university campuses and might not have a clinic nearby but also for many students who attend urban campuses but do not have access to transportation, money, insurance or time to travel to an off-campus clinic. "
Monday, August 01, 2005
"an error-riddled Bible curriculum that attempts to persuade students and teachers to adopt views [of] conservative Protestants"
Bible Course Becomes a Test for Public Schools in Texas - New York Times: "By RALPH BLUMENTHAL and BARBARA NOVOVITCH | Published: August 1, 2005
HOUSTON, July 31 - When the school board in Odessa, the West Texas oil town, voted unanimously in April to add an elective Bible study course to the 2006 high school curriculum, some parents dropped to their knees in prayerful thanks that God would be returned to the classroom, while others assailed it as an effort to instill religious training in the public schools.
Hundreds of miles away, leaders of the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools notched another victory. A religious advocacy group based in Greensboro, N.C., the council has been pressing a 12-year campaign to get school boards across the country to accept its Bible curriculum.
The council calls its course a nonsectarian historical and literary survey class within constitutional guidelines requiring the separation of church and state.
But a growing chorus of critics says the course, taught by local teachers trained by the council, conceals a religious agenda. The critics say it ignores evolution in favor of creationism and gives credence to dubious assertions that the Constitution is based on the Scriptures, and that "documented research through NASA" backs the biblical account of the sun standing still.
In the latest salvo, the Texas Freedom Network, an advocacy group for religious freedom, has called a news conference for Monday to release a study that finds the national council's course to be "an error-riddled Bible curriculum that attempts to persuade students and teachers to adopt views that are held primarily within conservative Protestant circles." ...
HOUSTON, July 31 - When the school board in Odessa, the West Texas oil town, voted unanimously in April to add an elective Bible study course to the 2006 high school curriculum, some parents dropped to their knees in prayerful thanks that God would be returned to the classroom, while others assailed it as an effort to instill religious training in the public schools.
Hundreds of miles away, leaders of the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools notched another victory. A religious advocacy group based in Greensboro, N.C., the council has been pressing a 12-year campaign to get school boards across the country to accept its Bible curriculum.
The council calls its course a nonsectarian historical and literary survey class within constitutional guidelines requiring the separation of church and state.
But a growing chorus of critics says the course, taught by local teachers trained by the council, conceals a religious agenda. The critics say it ignores evolution in favor of creationism and gives credence to dubious assertions that the Constitution is based on the Scriptures, and that "documented research through NASA" backs the biblical account of the sun standing still.
In the latest salvo, the Texas Freedom Network, an advocacy group for religious freedom, has called a news conference for Monday to release a study that finds the national council's course to be "an error-riddled Bible curriculum that attempts to persuade students and teachers to adopt views that are held primarily within conservative Protestant circles." ...
Bush endorses teaching `intelligent design' theory in schools - Yahoo! News
Bush endorses teaching `intelligent design' theory in schools - Yahoo! News: "By Ron Hutcheson, Knight Ridder Newspapers Mon Aug 1, 3:01 AM ET
President Bush waded into the debate over evolution and 'intelligent design' Monday, saying schools should teach both theories on the creation and complexity of life."
In a wide-ranging question-and-answer session with a small group of reporters, Bush essentially endorsed efforts by Christian conservatives to give intelligent design equal standing with the theory of evolution in the nation's schools.
...
Scientists concede that evolution doesn't answer every question about the creation of life, but most consider intelligent design an attempt to inject religion into science courses.
Bush compared the current debate to earlier disputes over "creationism," a related view that adheres more closely to biblical explanations. As governor of Texas, Bush said students should be exposed to both creationism and evolution.
...
The
National Academy of Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science have both concluded that there's no scientific basis for intelligent design and oppose its inclusion in school science classes.
"The claim that equity demands balanced treatment of evolutionary theory and special creation in science classrooms reflects a misunderstanding of what science is and how it is conducted," the academy said in a 1999 assessment. "Creationism, intelligent design, and other claims of supernatural intervention in the origin of life or of species are not science because they are not testable by the methods of science."
Some scientists have declined to join the debate, fearing that amplifying the discussion only gives intelligent design more legitimacy. ...
President Bush waded into the debate over evolution and 'intelligent design' Monday, saying schools should teach both theories on the creation and complexity of life."
In a wide-ranging question-and-answer session with a small group of reporters, Bush essentially endorsed efforts by Christian conservatives to give intelligent design equal standing with the theory of evolution in the nation's schools.
...
Scientists concede that evolution doesn't answer every question about the creation of life, but most consider intelligent design an attempt to inject religion into science courses.
Bush compared the current debate to earlier disputes over "creationism," a related view that adheres more closely to biblical explanations. As governor of Texas, Bush said students should be exposed to both creationism and evolution.
...
The
National Academy of Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science have both concluded that there's no scientific basis for intelligent design and oppose its inclusion in school science classes.
"The claim that equity demands balanced treatment of evolutionary theory and special creation in science classrooms reflects a misunderstanding of what science is and how it is conducted," the academy said in a 1999 assessment. "Creationism, intelligent design, and other claims of supernatural intervention in the origin of life or of species are not science because they are not testable by the methods of science."
Some scientists have declined to join the debate, fearing that amplifying the discussion only gives intelligent design more legitimacy. ...
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Who's taking blame for Christian violence? horrified by Janet Jackson's bare nipple — but drawn with considerable relish to violence in the same media
TheStar.com - Who's taking blame for Christian violence?: "Jul. 26, 2005. 01:00 AM | CALVIN WHITE
Now that imams in Britain and Canada are standing up and publicly condemning terrorist acts as anti-Muslim and against the teachings in the Qur'an, I wonder if pressure might be put on Christian leaders to take a similar stand.
Contrary to what some might like to insist, Christianity is not the religion of 'an eye for an eye' but it is the religion of Jesus, who refined those earlier directions and distilled the ten commandments into two. One was to 'love thy neighbour as thyself.' Pretty definitive isn't it? As is the edict of turning the other cheek.
Jesus expected to be betrayed. He expected to be arrested by the authorities. There was no exhortations to prepare for battle. There was no bloody attempt to stop the proceedings.
Even as Jesus was brutalized while carrying his own crucifixion cross and being nailed onto the timbers, there was no violent counterforce from his disciples. Not even an outcry.
No matter where one reads in the accounts of Jesus, the only conclusion one can come to is that Jesus was about love.
So where are the Christian leaders when it comes to violent actions by our Western leaders? Where are the televangelists, who every Sunday take over the airwaves to trumpet the message of Jesus, when it comes to taking on bunker busting bombs and mass carnage?
Where are they when it comes to the death penalty prevalent in the majority of American states?
When President George Bush insists that billions of dollars need to continue flowing to the war effort in Iraq which leads to more American body bags and Iraqi graves, why is there no outcry? Why don't the Christian leaders stand up and challenge those decisions, and passionately assert that Jesus would have sought another way of solving the problems?
...
Interesting, isn't it, that polling clearly indicates the Christian right in America is emphatically against bad language on TV and in the movies, horrified by Janet Jackson's bare nipple — but drawn with considerable relish to violence in the same media.
In this time when Christianity is on the rise all over America, when there is a growing surge in extolling Christian values, why is it that when the born-again Bush says it's better to fight 'them' over there than on American soil, no concerted group of leaders stands up and yells that he's got it wrong?
Like Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair is also born again.
Yet, their combined leadership has been responsible for excruciating death and injury to innocent civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq.
They both claim a righteousness in their policies of destruction. They were even counselled by their secular allies not to resort to the carnage. Where was the equal pressure from the Christian leadership?" ...
Now that imams in Britain and Canada are standing up and publicly condemning terrorist acts as anti-Muslim and against the teachings in the Qur'an, I wonder if pressure might be put on Christian leaders to take a similar stand.
Contrary to what some might like to insist, Christianity is not the religion of 'an eye for an eye' but it is the religion of Jesus, who refined those earlier directions and distilled the ten commandments into two. One was to 'love thy neighbour as thyself.' Pretty definitive isn't it? As is the edict of turning the other cheek.
Jesus expected to be betrayed. He expected to be arrested by the authorities. There was no exhortations to prepare for battle. There was no bloody attempt to stop the proceedings.
Even as Jesus was brutalized while carrying his own crucifixion cross and being nailed onto the timbers, there was no violent counterforce from his disciples. Not even an outcry.
No matter where one reads in the accounts of Jesus, the only conclusion one can come to is that Jesus was about love.
So where are the Christian leaders when it comes to violent actions by our Western leaders? Where are the televangelists, who every Sunday take over the airwaves to trumpet the message of Jesus, when it comes to taking on bunker busting bombs and mass carnage?
Where are they when it comes to the death penalty prevalent in the majority of American states?
When President George Bush insists that billions of dollars need to continue flowing to the war effort in Iraq which leads to more American body bags and Iraqi graves, why is there no outcry? Why don't the Christian leaders stand up and challenge those decisions, and passionately assert that Jesus would have sought another way of solving the problems?
...
Interesting, isn't it, that polling clearly indicates the Christian right in America is emphatically against bad language on TV and in the movies, horrified by Janet Jackson's bare nipple — but drawn with considerable relish to violence in the same media.
In this time when Christianity is on the rise all over America, when there is a growing surge in extolling Christian values, why is it that when the born-again Bush says it's better to fight 'them' over there than on American soil, no concerted group of leaders stands up and yells that he's got it wrong?
Like Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair is also born again.
Yet, their combined leadership has been responsible for excruciating death and injury to innocent civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq.
They both claim a righteousness in their policies of destruction. They were even counselled by their secular allies not to resort to the carnage. Where was the equal pressure from the Christian leadership?" ...
America is simultaneously the most professedly Christian of the developed nations and the least Christian in its behavior.
The Christian Paradox (Harpers.org): "The Christian Paradox
How a faithful nation gets Jesus wrong | Posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2005. What it means to be Christian in America. An excerpt. Originally from August 2005. By Bill McKibben.
Only 40 percent of Americans can name more than four of the Ten Commandments, and a scant half can cite any of the four authors of the Gospels. Twelve percent believe Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife. This failure to recall the specifics of our Christian heritage may be further evidence of our nation’s educational decline, but it probably doesn’t matter all that much in spiritual or political terms. Here is a statistic that does matter: Three quarters of Americans believe the Bible teaches that “God helps those who help themselves.” That is, three out of four Americans believe that this uber-American idea, a notion at the core of our current individualist politics and culture, which was in fact uttered by Ben Franklin, actually appears in Holy Scripture. The thing is, not only is Franklin’s wisdom not biblical; it’s counter-biblical. Few ideas could be further from the gospel message, with its radical summons to love of neighbor. On this essential matter, most Americans—most American Christians—are simply wrong, as if 75 percent of American scientists believed that Newton proved gravity causes apples to fly up.
...
And therein is the paradox. America is simultaneously the most professedly Christian of the developed nations and the least Christian in its behavior. That paradox—more important, perhaps, than the much touted ability of French women to stay thin on a diet of chocolate and cheese—illuminates the hollow at the core of our boastful, careening culture.
...
In 2004, as a share of our economy, we ranked second to last, after Italy, among developed countries in government foreign aid. Per capita we each provide fifteen cents a day in official development assistance to poor countries. And it’s not because we were giving to private charities for relief work instead. Such funding increases our average daily donation by just six pennies, to twenty-one cents. It’s also not because Americans were too busy taking care of their own; nearly 18 percent of American children lived in poverty (compared with, say, 8 percent in Sweden). In fact, by pretty much any measure of caring for the least among us you want to propose—childhood nutrition, infant mortality, access to preschool—we come in nearly last among the rich nations, and often by a wide margin. The point is not just that (as everyone already knows) the American nation trails badly in all these categories; it’s that the overwhelmingly Christian American nation trails badly in all these categories, categories to which Jesus paid particular attention. And it’s not as if the numbers are getting better: the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported last year that the number of households that were “food insecure with hunger” had climbed more than 26 percent between 1999 and 2003.
...
Despite the Sixth Commandment, we are, of course, the most violent rich nation on earth, with a murder rate four or five times that of our European peers. We have prison populations greater by a factor of six or seven than other rich nations (which at least should give us plenty of opportunity for visiting the prisoners). Having been told to turn the other cheek, we’re the only Western democracy left that executes its citizens, mostly in those states where Christianity is theoretically strongest. Despite Jesus’ strong declarations against divorce, our marriages break up at a rate—just over half—that compares poorly with the European Union’s average of about four in ten. ... Teenage pregnancy? We’re at the top of the charts. Personal self-discipline—like, say, keeping your weight under control? Buying on credit? Running government deficits? Do you need to ask?
How a faithful nation gets Jesus wrong | Posted on Wednesday, July 27, 2005. What it means to be Christian in America. An excerpt. Originally from August 2005. By Bill McKibben.
Only 40 percent of Americans can name more than four of the Ten Commandments, and a scant half can cite any of the four authors of the Gospels. Twelve percent believe Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife. This failure to recall the specifics of our Christian heritage may be further evidence of our nation’s educational decline, but it probably doesn’t matter all that much in spiritual or political terms. Here is a statistic that does matter: Three quarters of Americans believe the Bible teaches that “God helps those who help themselves.” That is, three out of four Americans believe that this uber-American idea, a notion at the core of our current individualist politics and culture, which was in fact uttered by Ben Franklin, actually appears in Holy Scripture. The thing is, not only is Franklin’s wisdom not biblical; it’s counter-biblical. Few ideas could be further from the gospel message, with its radical summons to love of neighbor. On this essential matter, most Americans—most American Christians—are simply wrong, as if 75 percent of American scientists believed that Newton proved gravity causes apples to fly up.
...
And therein is the paradox. America is simultaneously the most professedly Christian of the developed nations and the least Christian in its behavior. That paradox—more important, perhaps, than the much touted ability of French women to stay thin on a diet of chocolate and cheese—illuminates the hollow at the core of our boastful, careening culture.
...
In 2004, as a share of our economy, we ranked second to last, after Italy, among developed countries in government foreign aid. Per capita we each provide fifteen cents a day in official development assistance to poor countries. And it’s not because we were giving to private charities for relief work instead. Such funding increases our average daily donation by just six pennies, to twenty-one cents. It’s also not because Americans were too busy taking care of their own; nearly 18 percent of American children lived in poverty (compared with, say, 8 percent in Sweden). In fact, by pretty much any measure of caring for the least among us you want to propose—childhood nutrition, infant mortality, access to preschool—we come in nearly last among the rich nations, and often by a wide margin. The point is not just that (as everyone already knows) the American nation trails badly in all these categories; it’s that the overwhelmingly Christian American nation trails badly in all these categories, categories to which Jesus paid particular attention. And it’s not as if the numbers are getting better: the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported last year that the number of households that were “food insecure with hunger” had climbed more than 26 percent between 1999 and 2003.
...
Despite the Sixth Commandment, we are, of course, the most violent rich nation on earth, with a murder rate four or five times that of our European peers. We have prison populations greater by a factor of six or seven than other rich nations (which at least should give us plenty of opportunity for visiting the prisoners). Having been told to turn the other cheek, we’re the only Western democracy left that executes its citizens, mostly in those states where Christianity is theoretically strongest. Despite Jesus’ strong declarations against divorce, our marriages break up at a rate—just over half—that compares poorly with the European Union’s average of about four in ten. ... Teenage pregnancy? We’re at the top of the charts. Personal self-discipline—like, say, keeping your weight under control? Buying on credit? Running government deficits? Do you need to ask?
Sunday, July 24, 2005
Why, then, are so many ...persuaded that the Qur'an is a manual of hate - compared to the Judeo-Christian scriptures, it is very tame stuff
Guardian Unlimited | Guardian daily comment | Fundamentally speaking: "Giles Fraser | Saturday July 23, 2005 | The Guardian
Muslims who preach hate are to be deported and subject to new restrictions, Charles Clarke announced in the Commons on Wednesday. So what would the home secretary have to say about stuff like this: 'Blessed is he who takes your little children and smashes their heads against the rocks'?
Or this: 'O God, break the teeth in their mouths ... Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime; like the untimely birth that never sees the sun ... The righteous will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.' No, this is not Islam, it is the Bible. And there is a lot more where that came from.
Why, then, are so many commentators persuaded that the Qur'an is a manual of hate - compared to the Judeo-Christian scriptures, it is very tame stuff indeed. More disturbing still for Christians and Jews, the nearest scriptural justification for suicide bombings I can think of comes from the book of Judges, where Samson pushes apart the structural supports of a temple packed with people. "Let me die with the Philistines," he prays, just before the building collapses.
...
The truth, however, is that rigid fundamentalism is the modern fake. Most belief systems have huge and historic recourses of self-criticism. The gospels contain some of the most biting attacks on pathological religiosity; the Hebrew prophets are involved in a constant campaign of subversion against the misplaced theology of narrow sectarianism. As Isaiah has it: "When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen, your hands are full of blood."
Muslims who preach hate are to be deported and subject to new restrictions, Charles Clarke announced in the Commons on Wednesday. So what would the home secretary have to say about stuff like this: 'Blessed is he who takes your little children and smashes their heads against the rocks'?
Or this: 'O God, break the teeth in their mouths ... Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime; like the untimely birth that never sees the sun ... The righteous will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.' No, this is not Islam, it is the Bible. And there is a lot more where that came from.
Why, then, are so many commentators persuaded that the Qur'an is a manual of hate - compared to the Judeo-Christian scriptures, it is very tame stuff indeed. More disturbing still for Christians and Jews, the nearest scriptural justification for suicide bombings I can think of comes from the book of Judges, where Samson pushes apart the structural supports of a temple packed with people. "Let me die with the Philistines," he prays, just before the building collapses.
...
The truth, however, is that rigid fundamentalism is the modern fake. Most belief systems have huge and historic recourses of self-criticism. The gospels contain some of the most biting attacks on pathological religiosity; the Hebrew prophets are involved in a constant campaign of subversion against the misplaced theology of narrow sectarianism. As Isaiah has it: "When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen, your hands are full of blood."
Saturday, July 23, 2005
demented killers lining up to murder ... In the name of God: [the state] can encourage the moderate but it must not appease religion.
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | In the name of God: "Polly Toynbee | Friday July 22, 2005 | The Guardian
Blair has appeased and prevaricated. Now, as the death cult strikes again, he must oust religion from public life
... This time no deaths but a savage reminder of the unknown waves of demented killers lining up to murder in the name of God. ...
...
All religions are prone to it, given the right circumstances. How could those who preach the absolute revealed truth of every word of a primitive book not be prone to insanity? There have been sects of killer Christians and indeed the whole of Christendom has been at times bent on wiping out heathens. Jewish zealots in their settlements crazily claim legal rights to land from the Old Testament. Some African Pentecostal churches harbour sects of torturing exorcism and child abuse. Muslims have a very long tradition of jihadist slaughter. Sikhs rose up to stop a play that exposed deformities of abuse within their temples. Buddhism too has its sinister wing. See how far-right evangelicals have kidnapped US politics and warped its secular, liberal founding traditions. Intense belief, incantations, secrecy and all-male rituals breed perversions and danger, abusing women and children and infecting young men with frenzy, no matter what the name of the faith.
Enlightenment values are in peril not because these mad beliefs are really growing but because too many rational people seek to appease and understand unreason. Extreme superstition breeds extreme action.
...
It is time now to get serious about religion - all religion - and draw a firm line between the real world and the world of dreams. Tony Blair has taken entirely the wrong path. He has appeased, prevaricated and pretended, maybe because he is a man of faith himself, with a Catholic wife who consorts with crystals. But never was it more important to separate the state from all faiths and relegate all religion to the private - but well-regulated - sphere. ...
...
All the state can do is hold on to secular values. It can encourage the moderate but it must not appease religion. The constitutional absurdity of an established church once seemed an irrelevance, but now it obliges similar privileges to all other faiths. There is still time - it may take a nonreligious leader - to stop this madness and separate the state and its schools from all religion. It won't stop the bombing now but at least it would not encourage continued school segregation for generations to come. And it might clear the air of the clouds of hypocrisy, twisted thinking and circumlocution whenever a politician mentions religion.
Blair has appeased and prevaricated. Now, as the death cult strikes again, he must oust religion from public life
... This time no deaths but a savage reminder of the unknown waves of demented killers lining up to murder in the name of God. ...
...
All religions are prone to it, given the right circumstances. How could those who preach the absolute revealed truth of every word of a primitive book not be prone to insanity? There have been sects of killer Christians and indeed the whole of Christendom has been at times bent on wiping out heathens. Jewish zealots in their settlements crazily claim legal rights to land from the Old Testament. Some African Pentecostal churches harbour sects of torturing exorcism and child abuse. Muslims have a very long tradition of jihadist slaughter. Sikhs rose up to stop a play that exposed deformities of abuse within their temples. Buddhism too has its sinister wing. See how far-right evangelicals have kidnapped US politics and warped its secular, liberal founding traditions. Intense belief, incantations, secrecy and all-male rituals breed perversions and danger, abusing women and children and infecting young men with frenzy, no matter what the name of the faith.
Enlightenment values are in peril not because these mad beliefs are really growing but because too many rational people seek to appease and understand unreason. Extreme superstition breeds extreme action.
...
It is time now to get serious about religion - all religion - and draw a firm line between the real world and the world of dreams. Tony Blair has taken entirely the wrong path. He has appeased, prevaricated and pretended, maybe because he is a man of faith himself, with a Catholic wife who consorts with crystals. But never was it more important to separate the state from all faiths and relegate all religion to the private - but well-regulated - sphere. ...
...
All the state can do is hold on to secular values. It can encourage the moderate but it must not appease religion. The constitutional absurdity of an established church once seemed an irrelevance, but now it obliges similar privileges to all other faiths. There is still time - it may take a nonreligious leader - to stop this madness and separate the state and its schools from all religion. It won't stop the bombing now but at least it would not encourage continued school segregation for generations to come. And it might clear the air of the clouds of hypocrisy, twisted thinking and circumlocution whenever a politician mentions religion.
Friday, July 15, 2005
Adoption Agency Rejects Catholic Parents - recieves funds from government Choose Life tags, a special plate that motorists can obtain with extra fee
Adoption Agency Rejects Catholic Parents - Yahoo! News:
Fri Jul 15, 3:30 PM ET
JACKSON, Miss. - A Christian adoption agency that receives money from Choose Life license plate fees said it does not place children with Roman Catholic couples because their religion conflicts with the agency's 'Statement of Faith.'
Bethany Christian Services stated the policy in a letter to a Jackson couple this month, and another Mississippi couple said they were rejected for the same reason last year.
"It has been our understanding that Catholicism does not agree with our Statement of Faith," Bethany's state director Karen Stewart wrote. "Our practice to not accept applications from Catholics was an effort to be good stewards of an adoptive applicant's time, money and emotional energy."
...
Bethany is one of 24 adoption and pregnancy counseling centers in Mississippi that receives money from the sale of Choose Life tags, a special plate that motorists can obtain with an extra fee.
Of $244,000 generated by the sale of the tags in 2004, Bethany received $7,053, said Geraldine Gray, treasurer of Choose Life Mississippi, which distributes the money.
Fri Jul 15, 3:30 PM ET
JACKSON, Miss. - A Christian adoption agency that receives money from Choose Life license plate fees said it does not place children with Roman Catholic couples because their religion conflicts with the agency's 'Statement of Faith.'
Bethany Christian Services stated the policy in a letter to a Jackson couple this month, and another Mississippi couple said they were rejected for the same reason last year.
"It has been our understanding that Catholicism does not agree with our Statement of Faith," Bethany's state director Karen Stewart wrote. "Our practice to not accept applications from Catholics was an effort to be good stewards of an adoptive applicant's time, money and emotional energy."
...
Bethany is one of 24 adoption and pregnancy counseling centers in Mississippi that receives money from the sale of Choose Life tags, a special plate that motorists can obtain with an extra fee.
Of $244,000 generated by the sale of the tags in 2004, Bethany received $7,053, said Geraldine Gray, treasurer of Choose Life Mississippi, which distributes the money.
Sunday, July 10, 2005
FBI investigating apparent arson at Bloomington mosque
FBI investigating apparent arson at Bloomington mosque: Bloomington, July 9 (AP) -
The FBI is investigating an apparent arson at a mosque in Bloomington as a possible hate crime, an agency spokeswoman said.
A burned Quran was found outside the mosque, said Nathan Ainslie, president of the Islamic Center of Bloomington. ...
The FBI is investigating an apparent arson at a mosque in Bloomington as a possible hate crime, an agency spokeswoman said.
A burned Quran was found outside the mosque, said Nathan Ainslie, president of the Islamic Center of Bloomington. ...
United Church of Christ Congregation In Virginia Set On Fire; Vandals Leave Anti-Gay Hate Messages
Chuck Currie: United Church of Christ Congregation In Virginia Set On Fire; Vandals Leave Anti-Gay Hate Messages: "Saturday, July 09, 2005
MIDDLEBROOK — A small fire was set in St. John’s Reformed United Church of Christ this morning and anti-gay graffiti was painted on the side of the building.
The outside of the church was vandalized with anti-gay messages and a declaration that United Church of Christ members were sinners. The graffiti’s message appeared to be a reference to the national church’s decision earlier this week to endorse gay and lesbian marriages.
The United Church of Christ’s General Synod voted Monday in Atlanta to approve a resolution that is accepting of gay and lesbian marriages but is not binding on local congregations."
MIDDLEBROOK — A small fire was set in St. John’s Reformed United Church of Christ this morning and anti-gay graffiti was painted on the side of the building.
The outside of the church was vandalized with anti-gay messages and a declaration that United Church of Christ members were sinners. The graffiti’s message appeared to be a reference to the national church’s decision earlier this week to endorse gay and lesbian marriages.
The United Church of Christ’s General Synod voted Monday in Atlanta to approve a resolution that is accepting of gay and lesbian marriages but is not binding on local congregations."
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Gov. Bush touts Christian-based program for schools ... It also encourages Bible reading."
Gov. Bush touts Christian-based program for schools: "By Dara Kam | Special to The Palm Beach Post | Wednesday, July 06, 2005
TALLAHASSEE — Just before Father's Day, Gov. Jeb Bush announced that he wanted every public school in Florida to host a Christian-based program designed to increase fathers' participation in their children's lives.
The program, All Pro Dad, combines a biblical foundation with the draw of popular professional athletes to promote the belief that 'the father is the head of the household' and that men should rely on God to help them be better parents and keep their marriages intact. It also encourages Bible reading."
TALLAHASSEE — Just before Father's Day, Gov. Jeb Bush announced that he wanted every public school in Florida to host a Christian-based program designed to increase fathers' participation in their children's lives.
The program, All Pro Dad, combines a biblical foundation with the draw of popular professional athletes to promote the belief that 'the father is the head of the household' and that men should rely on God to help them be better parents and keep their marriages intact. It also encourages Bible reading."
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Debate over evolution shuts down IMAX film
Debate over evolution shuts down IMAX film (July 5, 2005): "July 5, 2005 | By CONOR BERRY | STAFF WRITER
WOODS HOLE - It seemed innocuous enough: a 40-minute movie about underwater volcanoes that briefly mentions life on Earth may have arisen from the sea.
But the 2003 IMAX film ''Volcanoes of the Deep Sea,'' whose producer consulted with scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and used its Alvin submersible to film the underwater volcanoes, has been banned by some theater owners and managers in the Bible Belt because it briefly mentions the theory of evolution."
WOODS HOLE - It seemed innocuous enough: a 40-minute movie about underwater volcanoes that briefly mentions life on Earth may have arisen from the sea.
But the 2003 IMAX film ''Volcanoes of the Deep Sea,'' whose producer consulted with scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and used its Alvin submersible to film the underwater volcanoes, has been banned by some theater owners and managers in the Bible Belt because it briefly mentions the theory of evolution."
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Santorum, Ireland and sex abuse: There was no “plague of cultural liberalism”; there was no liberalism at all! It was almost a perfect Catholic State.
www.AndrewSullivan.com - Daily Dish:
"'Senator Santorum proposes an interesting hypothesis regarding the sexual abuse of children by Roman Cathoic clergy based on his experience in the USA. I live in Ireland where we have had an equally serious problem, but in a society which was, until very recently, Roman Catholic in everyway the Senator could wish for. Yet the sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy was rampant here during the period when Catholic moral teaching was universally accepted by the general population, and enforced by the state through its civil and criminal law. When I moved to the Republic of Ireland in 1990 contraceptives were illegal – with the exception of condoms, these being available to married couples at the discretion of their family doctors. Girls who had babies out of wedlock were commonly incarcerated in Church-run 'Magdalen Laundries' for the rest of their lives, and their children adopted or kept in children's homes were they were easy prey for pedophile priests. Homosexuality was so thoroughly driven underground that I know people my age (now 41) that had never heard of it, and the Irish language had no word for it. 99% of schools were Catholic, 90% of the population were weekly mass goers and monthly confession was the norm for the majority. Divorce was banned by the constitution. There was no “plague of cultural liberalism”; there was no liberalism at all! It was almost a perfect Catholic State."
Yet the physical and sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy was rampant. Indeed it has been the exposure of these crimes that has revolutionized Irish society in the course of 10 years. In the past 10 years the Catholic Church’s standing in Ireland has totally collapsed. Now the state-run TV service carries adverts encouraging contraception. Homosexuality is now legal, gay couples are common and unremarkable, the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) is a separated man who lives with a woman he is not married to. This is not remarkable to anyone. Mass attendance though still high by international standards, has plummeted, and there aren’t enough seminarians in the country to fill a booth in my local 'Eddie Rocket’s' diner. Irish society has never been so open, liberal, pluralistic, and so safe for our children. Senator Rick Santorum could not be more wrong. Liberalism has been good for Ireland culturally and economically, our children are well educated, confident and much much less likely to suffer sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests."
"'Senator Santorum proposes an interesting hypothesis regarding the sexual abuse of children by Roman Cathoic clergy based on his experience in the USA. I live in Ireland where we have had an equally serious problem, but in a society which was, until very recently, Roman Catholic in everyway the Senator could wish for. Yet the sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy was rampant here during the period when Catholic moral teaching was universally accepted by the general population, and enforced by the state through its civil and criminal law. When I moved to the Republic of Ireland in 1990 contraceptives were illegal – with the exception of condoms, these being available to married couples at the discretion of their family doctors. Girls who had babies out of wedlock were commonly incarcerated in Church-run 'Magdalen Laundries' for the rest of their lives, and their children adopted or kept in children's homes were they were easy prey for pedophile priests. Homosexuality was so thoroughly driven underground that I know people my age (now 41) that had never heard of it, and the Irish language had no word for it. 99% of schools were Catholic, 90% of the population were weekly mass goers and monthly confession was the norm for the majority. Divorce was banned by the constitution. There was no “plague of cultural liberalism”; there was no liberalism at all! It was almost a perfect Catholic State."
Yet the physical and sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy was rampant. Indeed it has been the exposure of these crimes that has revolutionized Irish society in the course of 10 years. In the past 10 years the Catholic Church’s standing in Ireland has totally collapsed. Now the state-run TV service carries adverts encouraging contraception. Homosexuality is now legal, gay couples are common and unremarkable, the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) is a separated man who lives with a woman he is not married to. This is not remarkable to anyone. Mass attendance though still high by international standards, has plummeted, and there aren’t enough seminarians in the country to fill a booth in my local 'Eddie Rocket’s' diner. Irish society has never been so open, liberal, pluralistic, and so safe for our children. Senator Rick Santorum could not be more wrong. Liberalism has been good for Ireland culturally and economically, our children are well educated, confident and much much less likely to suffer sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic priests."
Monday, June 27, 2005
Recent sex scandals in Catholic chruch: seminaries share cultural liberalism plaguing our secular universities ... [calls on] Opus Dei etc.
Catholic Online - Featured Today - Fishers of Men: "7/12/2002 - 3:30 PM PST | By the Honorable Senator Rick Santorum
Like most American Catholics, I have followed the recent sex scandals in the Church with profound sympathy for victims, revulsion over priests who prey on minors and frustration at the absence of hierarchical leadership. Unlike most, I have been visited by the gift of hope; for I see in this fall an opportunity for ecclesial rebirth and a new evangelization of America. This 'new evangelization,' advocated strenuously by Pope John Paul II, has the potential for restoring confidence in the priesthood while empowering all American Catholics.
The most obvious change must occur within American seminaries, many of which demonstrate the same brand of cultural liberalism plaguing our secular universities. My hope was rekindled last week as our American Cardinals proposed from Rome an 'apostolic visitation' of seminaries emphasizing 'the need for fidelity to the Church's teaching, especially in the area of morality.' It is an arduous task. However, the Pope made it clear last week that he expects the strong appeal of the Cardinals to be followed by decisive Episcopal action.
It is startling that those in the media and academia appear most disturbed by this aberrant behavior, since they have zealously promoted moral relativism by sanctioning 'private' moral matters such as alternative lifestyles. Priests, like all of us, are affected by culture. When the culture is sick, every element in it becomes infected. While it is no excuse for this scandal, it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm. "
...
... A new hierarchy must similarly fight against an array of "isms"-moral relativism, cultural liberalism-inside and outside of the Church. ...
...
Even now we witness this "new evangelization" through many ecclesial lay movements such as Opus Dei, the Neocatechumenate, Focolare, Regnum Christi, Communion and Liberation....
Like most American Catholics, I have followed the recent sex scandals in the Church with profound sympathy for victims, revulsion over priests who prey on minors and frustration at the absence of hierarchical leadership. Unlike most, I have been visited by the gift of hope; for I see in this fall an opportunity for ecclesial rebirth and a new evangelization of America. This 'new evangelization,' advocated strenuously by Pope John Paul II, has the potential for restoring confidence in the priesthood while empowering all American Catholics.
The most obvious change must occur within American seminaries, many of which demonstrate the same brand of cultural liberalism plaguing our secular universities. My hope was rekindled last week as our American Cardinals proposed from Rome an 'apostolic visitation' of seminaries emphasizing 'the need for fidelity to the Church's teaching, especially in the area of morality.' It is an arduous task. However, the Pope made it clear last week that he expects the strong appeal of the Cardinals to be followed by decisive Episcopal action.
It is startling that those in the media and academia appear most disturbed by this aberrant behavior, since they have zealously promoted moral relativism by sanctioning 'private' moral matters such as alternative lifestyles. Priests, like all of us, are affected by culture. When the culture is sick, every element in it becomes infected. While it is no excuse for this scandal, it is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm. "
...
... A new hierarchy must similarly fight against an array of "isms"-moral relativism, cultural liberalism-inside and outside of the Church. ...
...
Even now we witness this "new evangelization" through many ecclesial lay movements such as Opus Dei, the Neocatechumenate, Focolare, Regnum Christi, Communion and Liberation....
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Two conservative Christian groups are attacking two prominent businesses for taking a high-profile role in the 20006 Gay Games in Chicago
Illinois Family Institute: "6/6/2005 7:14:00 AM | Kraft, Harris Bank hit for Gay Games support | By Lorene Yue | Tribune staff reporter | Published June 6, 2005
Two conservative Christian groups are attacking two prominent businesses for taking a high-profile role in the 20006 Gay Games in Chicago.
The American Family Association of Tupelo, Miss., and the Illinois Family Institute of Glen Ellyn are sharply criticizing Kraft Foods Inc. and Harris Bank for each contributing $25,000 to the athletic competition and now want the companies to take a less visible role by removing logos and banners from the event."
...
"We are standing behind our sponsorship," said Alyssa Burns, a Kraft spokeswoman. "It's something we want to support."
The company has declined to comment further on the opposition to its stance.
The City of Chicago, which lobbied to be the host city, also isn't deterred by the criticism.
"We haven't gotten any pressure to take back the games at all," said William Greaves, Mayor Richard M. Daley's liaison to the gay community. "We're fully committed. It's a sporting event and the city is known for putting on world-class sporting events."
Harris Bank also is not wavering in its sponsorship.
"Harris supports a wide variety of community events across a diverse spectrum," said Jen Dillon, a bank spokeswoman. "We are happy to join many other companies in the city's goal with these games."
With Kraft and Harris Bank refusing to budge, the conservative groups want their protests to serve as a warning to other prominent businesses considering sponsorship roles. ...
Two conservative Christian groups are attacking two prominent businesses for taking a high-profile role in the 20006 Gay Games in Chicago.
The American Family Association of Tupelo, Miss., and the Illinois Family Institute of Glen Ellyn are sharply criticizing Kraft Foods Inc. and Harris Bank for each contributing $25,000 to the athletic competition and now want the companies to take a less visible role by removing logos and banners from the event."
...
"We are standing behind our sponsorship," said Alyssa Burns, a Kraft spokeswoman. "It's something we want to support."
The company has declined to comment further on the opposition to its stance.
The City of Chicago, which lobbied to be the host city, also isn't deterred by the criticism.
"We haven't gotten any pressure to take back the games at all," said William Greaves, Mayor Richard M. Daley's liaison to the gay community. "We're fully committed. It's a sporting event and the city is known for putting on world-class sporting events."
Harris Bank also is not wavering in its sponsorship.
"Harris supports a wide variety of community events across a diverse spectrum," said Jen Dillon, a bank spokeswoman. "We are happy to join many other companies in the city's goal with these games."
With Kraft and Harris Bank refusing to budge, the conservative groups want their protests to serve as a warning to other prominent businesses considering sponsorship roles. ...
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