Bush Says He Tried to Avoid War 'To The Max,' Explains How God Shapes His Foreign Policy: "By E&P Staff | Published: April 24, 2006 4:45 PM ET
...
Bush also explained, in unusually stark terms, how his belief in God influences his foreign policy. "I base a lot of my foreign policy decisions on some things that I think are true," he said. "One, I believe there's an Almighty. And, secondly, I believe one of the great gifts of the Almighty is the desire in everybody's soul, regardless of what you look like or where you live, to be free.
"I believe liberty is universal. I believe people want to be free. And I know that democracies do not war with each other."
A new CNN poll released today shows Bush with his lowest approval rating in any poll so far, at 32%. ...
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
FDA grilled about Plan B contraceptive -- Newsday.com
FDA grilled about Plan B contraceptive -- Newsday.com: "BY KATHLEEN KERR | Newsday Staff Writer | April 24, 2006
Attorneys for a New York women's group plan to grill Food and Drug Administration officials this week about their failure to decide whether an emergency contraceptive pill called Plan B may be sold without a prescription.
...
Simon Heller, one of the attorneys, plans to quiz Woodcock about a March 23, 2004, staff memo suggesting she was concerned Plan B might lead to teenage promiscuity.
The FDA is only supposed to consider the safety and efficacy of drugs.
In the memo released by the FDA during the discovery process, Dr. Curtis Rosebraugh, an agency medical officer, wrote: "As an example, she stated that we could not anticipate, or prevent extreme promiscuous behaviors such as the medication taking on an 'urban legend' status that would lead adolescents to form sex-based cults centered around the use of Plan B."
Rosebraugh indicated he found no reason to bar nonprescription sales of Plan B.
"This was the level of scientific discourse, so to speak," Heller said in a phone interview, referring to concerns attributed to Woodcock. "I find it very odd that these people who are supposed to be responsible scientists and doctors are making up wacky reasons." ...
Attorneys for a New York women's group plan to grill Food and Drug Administration officials this week about their failure to decide whether an emergency contraceptive pill called Plan B may be sold without a prescription.
...
Simon Heller, one of the attorneys, plans to quiz Woodcock about a March 23, 2004, staff memo suggesting she was concerned Plan B might lead to teenage promiscuity.
The FDA is only supposed to consider the safety and efficacy of drugs.
In the memo released by the FDA during the discovery process, Dr. Curtis Rosebraugh, an agency medical officer, wrote: "As an example, she stated that we could not anticipate, or prevent extreme promiscuous behaviors such as the medication taking on an 'urban legend' status that would lead adolescents to form sex-based cults centered around the use of Plan B."
Rosebraugh indicated he found no reason to bar nonprescription sales of Plan B.
"This was the level of scientific discourse, so to speak," Heller said in a phone interview, referring to concerns attributed to Woodcock. "I find it very odd that these people who are supposed to be responsible scientists and doctors are making up wacky reasons." ...
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
“That is why federal agencies reject scientific reports ... sponsor not only faith-based social relief, but faith-based war,..science,...medicine"
AxisofLogic/ Featured: "George Bush’s Faith Based Thinking Has Proven Delusional and Divisive | By Lee Salisbury - Axis of Logic | Apr 12, 2006, 13:41
Bill Moyers, well-known producer of PBS’s NOW series, observed,
'One of the biggest changes in my lifetime is that the delusional is no longer marginal. It has come in from the fringe, to sit in the seat of power in the Oval Office and in Congress. For the first time in our history, ideology and theology hold a monopoly of the power in Washington.”
Is Moyers equating ideology and theology with the delusional? How ironic that a long time Baptist who believes in orthodox Christian doctrine would consider “ideology and theology” delusional as it relates to governmental influence.
Moyers mirrors the concern of many religious and non-religious people. To embrace religion on a personal level is one thing. It is an entirely different matter to demand that particular religious beliefs dictate policy, legislation, and judicial appointments. Today, one cannot discuss politics apart from religious belief and faith. Moyers’ concern is about religious right clergy getting to impose their doctrinal beliefs on pliant politicians.
Northwestern University History Professor Gary Willis speaks of a, “fringe constellation of Republican interest groups.” He explains, “That is why federal agencies reject scientific reports on ecology, stem cell, contraceptive, and abortion issues. They sponsor not only faith-based social relief, but faith-based war, faith-based science, faith-based education, and faith-based medicine.”
Bill Moyers, well-known producer of PBS’s NOW series, observed,
'One of the biggest changes in my lifetime is that the delusional is no longer marginal. It has come in from the fringe, to sit in the seat of power in the Oval Office and in Congress. For the first time in our history, ideology and theology hold a monopoly of the power in Washington.”
Is Moyers equating ideology and theology with the delusional? How ironic that a long time Baptist who believes in orthodox Christian doctrine would consider “ideology and theology” delusional as it relates to governmental influence.
Moyers mirrors the concern of many religious and non-religious people. To embrace religion on a personal level is one thing. It is an entirely different matter to demand that particular religious beliefs dictate policy, legislation, and judicial appointments. Today, one cannot discuss politics apart from religious belief and faith. Moyers’ concern is about religious right clergy getting to impose their doctrinal beliefs on pliant politicians.
Northwestern University History Professor Gary Willis speaks of a, “fringe constellation of Republican interest groups.” He explains, “That is why federal agencies reject scientific reports on ecology, stem cell, contraceptive, and abortion issues. They sponsor not only faith-based social relief, but faith-based war, faith-based science, faith-based education, and faith-based medicine.”
Americans must take a hard look at what the religious right’s faith-based input produces.
- The religious right’s middle east pro-war stance accommodates Tim LaHaye’s Left Behind vision--Armageddon- Jesus’ second coming, rapture scenario-- regardless of the cost or how many Americans and Iraqis are killed or maimed in the process.
- Reproductive choice is opposed because of an arbitrary, non-scientific religious definition of when life begins. Regardless of the fact that:
- the bible says Adam did not become a living soul until after he took his first breath,
- St. Augustine taught that a soul could not inhabit a formless body (zygote), and
- the Roman Catholic church endorsed St.Augustine’s pro-choice position for over 14 centuries, the religious right now seeks legislation criminalizing all who participate in abortion.
- The anti-gay marriage amendment, based solely on a few bible verses and religious bigotry, discriminates against the homosexual minority.
- End of life decisions, as in the Terry Schiavo case, would be regulated by law instead of by the individuals concerned and/or family because the religious right deems it a sin to accelerate death for the terminally ill.
- Pharmacist’s religious conscience determines whether a woman can purchase a doctor-prescribed morning after pill. Following this logic, what would happen if a pharmacist were a Christian Scientist?
- President Bush’s promise of $15 million for AIDES prevention to African nations remains denied to those nations which, contradictory to pro-life doctrine offer family planning and/or contraceptives.
- American youth receive the failed “abstinence only” program instead of comprehensive sex education because the religious right fear young people cannot make intelligent choices about sex.
- Science is demeaned because its evolutionary theory contradicts the bible.
- In spite of the Constitution’s Article VI that “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust,” today’s candidates for office must prove their religious credentials as if religion were a test.
- President Bush’s funding of faith-based initiatives contradicts the Constitution’s 1st Amendment prohibition against the establishment of religion and America’s longstanding separation of church and state
Monday, April 10, 2006
The religious right aims to overturn a broad range of common tolerance programs: diversity training that promotes acceptance of gays and lesbians,
Christians Sue for Right Not to Tolerate Policies - Los Angeles Times: "By Stephanie Simon, Times Staff Writer | April 10, 2006
Many codes intended to protect gays from harassment are illegal, conservatives argue.
ATLANTA — Ruth Malhotra went to court last month for the right to be intolerant.
Malhotra says her Christian faith compels her to speak out against homosexuality. But the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she's a senior, bans speech that puts down others because of their sexual orientation.
Malhotra sees that as an unacceptable infringement on her right to religious expression. So she's demanding that Georgia Tech revoke its tolerance policy.
With her lawsuit, the 22-year-old student joins a growing campaign to force public schools, state colleges and private workplaces to eliminate policies protecting gays and lesbians from harassment. The religious right aims to overturn a broad range of common tolerance programs: diversity training that promotes acceptance of gays and lesbians, speech codes that ban harsh words against homosexuality, anti-discrimination policies that require college clubs to open their membership to all.
The Rev. Rick Scarborough, a leading evangelical, frames the movement as the civil rights struggle of the 21st century. "Christians," he said, "are going to have to take a stand for the right to be Christian." ...
Many codes intended to protect gays from harassment are illegal, conservatives argue.
ATLANTA — Ruth Malhotra went to court last month for the right to be intolerant.
Malhotra says her Christian faith compels her to speak out against homosexuality. But the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she's a senior, bans speech that puts down others because of their sexual orientation.
Malhotra sees that as an unacceptable infringement on her right to religious expression. So she's demanding that Georgia Tech revoke its tolerance policy.
With her lawsuit, the 22-year-old student joins a growing campaign to force public schools, state colleges and private workplaces to eliminate policies protecting gays and lesbians from harassment. The religious right aims to overturn a broad range of common tolerance programs: diversity training that promotes acceptance of gays and lesbians, speech codes that ban harsh words against homosexuality, anti-discrimination policies that require college clubs to open their membership to all.
The Rev. Rick Scarborough, a leading evangelical, frames the movement as the civil rights struggle of the 21st century. "Christians," he said, "are going to have to take a stand for the right to be Christian." ...
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Republican Party has become first religious party in U.S. history.: Southern-dominated, biblically driven Washington GOP represents rogue coalition
How the GOP Became God's Own Party: "By Kevin Phillips | Sunday, April 2, 2006; Page B03
Now that the GOP has been transformed by the rise of the South, the trauma of terrorism and George W. Bush's conviction that God wanted him to be president, a deeper conclusion can be drawn: The Republican Party has become the first religious party in U.S. history.
We have had small-scale theocracies in North America before -- in Puritan New England and later in Mormon Utah. Today, a leading power such as the United States approaches theocracy when it meets the conditions currently on display: an elected leader who believes himself to speak for the Almighty, a ruling political party that represents religious true believers, the certainty of many Republican voters that government should be guided by religion and, on top of it all, a White House that adopts agendas seemingly animated by biblical worldviews.
...
Over a quarter-century of Bush presidencies and vice presidencies, the Republican Party has slowly become the vehicle of all three interests -- a fusion of petroleum-defined national security; a crusading, simplistic Christianity; and a reckless credit-feeding financial complex. The three are increasingly allied in commitment to Republican politics. On the most important front, I am beginning to think that the Southern-dominated, biblically driven Washington GOP represents a rogue coalition, like the Southern, proslavery politics that controlled Washington until Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860. ...
Now that the GOP has been transformed by the rise of the South, the trauma of terrorism and George W. Bush's conviction that God wanted him to be president, a deeper conclusion can be drawn: The Republican Party has become the first religious party in U.S. history.
We have had small-scale theocracies in North America before -- in Puritan New England and later in Mormon Utah. Today, a leading power such as the United States approaches theocracy when it meets the conditions currently on display: an elected leader who believes himself to speak for the Almighty, a ruling political party that represents religious true believers, the certainty of many Republican voters that government should be guided by religion and, on top of it all, a White House that adopts agendas seemingly animated by biblical worldviews.
...
Over a quarter-century of Bush presidencies and vice presidencies, the Republican Party has slowly become the vehicle of all three interests -- a fusion of petroleum-defined national security; a crusading, simplistic Christianity; and a reckless credit-feeding financial complex. The three are increasingly allied in commitment to Republican politics. On the most important front, I am beginning to think that the Southern-dominated, biblically driven Washington GOP represents a rogue coalition, like the Southern, proslavery politics that controlled Washington until Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860. ...
Republican Party has become first religious party in U.S. history.: Southern-dominated, biblically driven Washington GOP represents rogue coalition
How the GOP Became God's Own Party: "By Kevin Phillips | Sunday, April 2, 2006; Page B03
Now that the GOP has been transformed by the rise of the South, the trauma of terrorism and George W. Bush's conviction that God wanted him to be president, a deeper conclusion can be drawn: The Republican Party has become the first religious party in U.S. history.
We have had small-scale theocracies in North America before -- in Puritan New England and later in Mormon Utah. Today, a leading power such as the United States approaches theocracy when it meets the conditions currently on display: an elected leader who believes himself to speak for the Almighty, a ruling political party that represents religious true believers, the certainty of many Republican voters that government should be guided by religion and, on top of it all, a White House that adopts agendas seemingly animated by biblical worldviews.
...
Over a quarter-century of Bush presidencies and vice presidencies, the Republican Party has slowly become the vehicle of all three interests -- a fusion of petroleum-defined national security; a crusading, simplistic Christianity; and a reckless credit-feeding financial complex. The three are increasingly allied in commitment to Republican politics. On the most important front, I am beginning to think that the Southern-dominated, biblically driven Washington GOP represents a rogue coalition, like the Southern, proslavery politics that controlled Washington until Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860. ...
Now that the GOP has been transformed by the rise of the South, the trauma of terrorism and George W. Bush's conviction that God wanted him to be president, a deeper conclusion can be drawn: The Republican Party has become the first religious party in U.S. history.
We have had small-scale theocracies in North America before -- in Puritan New England and later in Mormon Utah. Today, a leading power such as the United States approaches theocracy when it meets the conditions currently on display: an elected leader who believes himself to speak for the Almighty, a ruling political party that represents religious true believers, the certainty of many Republican voters that government should be guided by religion and, on top of it all, a White House that adopts agendas seemingly animated by biblical worldviews.
...
Over a quarter-century of Bush presidencies and vice presidencies, the Republican Party has slowly become the vehicle of all three interests -- a fusion of petroleum-defined national security; a crusading, simplistic Christianity; and a reckless credit-feeding financial complex. The three are increasingly allied in commitment to Republican politics. On the most important front, I am beginning to think that the Southern-dominated, biblically driven Washington GOP represents a rogue coalition, like the Southern, proslavery politics that controlled Washington until Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860. ...
Santorum: Europe is Dying - [xenophobia? religious arrogance?]
Santorum: Europe is Dying - Santorum Exposed: The Blog: "Saturday, April 1. 2006
Rick Santorum spoke to the conservative Pennsylvania Leadership Conference last night. During his address he spoke about faith in the United States and compared it to the role of faith in western Europe. Here's what Rick claims is happening to western Europe because of secularism, 'Those cultures are dying. People are dying. They're being overrun from overseas... and they have no response. They have nothing to fight for. They have nothing to live for.'
On the other hand according to Rick, 'More people go to church on Sunday in America than go to all of the sporting events in America held in a year combined.' We're not sure where that statistic comes from or what it means, but Rick seems to find it reassuring. "
Rick Santorum spoke to the conservative Pennsylvania Leadership Conference last night. During his address he spoke about faith in the United States and compared it to the role of faith in western Europe. Here's what Rick claims is happening to western Europe because of secularism, 'Those cultures are dying. People are dying. They're being overrun from overseas... and they have no response. They have nothing to fight for. They have nothing to live for.'
On the other hand according to Rick, 'More people go to church on Sunday in America than go to all of the sporting events in America held in a year combined.' We're not sure where that statistic comes from or what it means, but Rick seems to find it reassuring. "
Saturday, April 01, 2006
UK: do not believe in a god to be 40% ... 5% of the US population feel that a god does not exist
Atheism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "
Atheism in the United Kingdom
A poll in 2004 by the BBC put the number of people who do not believe in a god to be 40%[10], while a YouGov poll in the same year put the percentage of non-believers at 35% with 21% uncertain.[11] In the YouGov poll men were less likely to believe in god than women and younger people were less likely to believe in god than older people.
In early 2004, it was announced that atheism would be taught during religious education classes in the United Kingdom.[12] A spokesman for the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority stated: 'There are many children in England who have no religious affiliation and their beliefs and ideas, whatever they are, should be taken very seriously.' There is also considerable debate in the U.K. on the status of faith-based schools, which use religious as well as academic selection criteria.
Many prominent Britons are atheists, including scientists and philosophers such as Richard Dawkins.
[edit]
Atheism in the United States
A Gallup poll in 2005 showed 5% of the US population feel that a god does not exist.[13] A poll in 2004 by the BBC showed the number of people in the US who don't believe in God to be larger, at 10%.[10]
Atheists are ostensibly legally protected from discrimination in the United States. They have been among the strongest advocates of the legal separation of church and state. American courts have regularly, if controversially, interpreted the constitutional requirement for separation of church and state as protecting the freedoms of non-believers, as well as prohibiting the establishment of any state religion. Atheists often sum up the legal situation with the phrase: 'Freedom of religion also means freedom from religion.'[14]"
Atheism in the United Kingdom
A poll in 2004 by the BBC put the number of people who do not believe in a god to be 40%[10], while a YouGov poll in the same year put the percentage of non-believers at 35% with 21% uncertain.[11] In the YouGov poll men were less likely to believe in god than women and younger people were less likely to believe in god than older people.
In early 2004, it was announced that atheism would be taught during religious education classes in the United Kingdom.[12] A spokesman for the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority stated: 'There are many children in England who have no religious affiliation and their beliefs and ideas, whatever they are, should be taken very seriously.' There is also considerable debate in the U.K. on the status of faith-based schools, which use religious as well as academic selection criteria.
Many prominent Britons are atheists, including scientists and philosophers such as Richard Dawkins.
[edit]
Atheism in the United States
A Gallup poll in 2005 showed 5% of the US population feel that a god does not exist.[13] A poll in 2004 by the BBC showed the number of people in the US who don't believe in God to be larger, at 10%.[10]
Atheists are ostensibly legally protected from discrimination in the United States. They have been among the strongest advocates of the legal separation of church and state. American courts have regularly, if controversially, interpreted the constitutional requirement for separation of church and state as protecting the freedoms of non-believers, as well as prohibiting the establishment of any state religion. Atheists often sum up the legal situation with the phrase: 'Freedom of religion also means freedom from religion.'[14]"
Americans rate atheists below Muslims, recent immigrants, gays and lesbians and other minority groups
Atheists identified as America’s most distrusted minority, according to new U of M study : News Releases: UMNnews: U of M.: "Who: Penny Edgell, associate professor of sociology | Contact: Nina Shepherd, sociology media relations, (612) 599-1148 | Mark Cassutt University News Service, (612) 624-8038
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (3/28/2006) -- American’s increasing acceptance of religious diversity doesn’t extend to those who don’t believe in a god, according to a national survey by researchers in the University of Minnesota’s department of sociology.
From a telephone sampling of more than 2,000 households, university researchers found that Americans rate atheists below Muslims, recent immigrants, gays and lesbians and other minority groups in “sharing their vision of American society.” Atheists are also the minority group most Americans are least willing to allow their children to marry.
Even though atheists are few in number, not formally organized and relatively hard to publicly identify, they are seen as a threat to the American way of life by a large portion of the American public. “Atheists, who account for about 3 percent of the U.S. population, offer a glaring exception to the rule of increasing social tolerance over the last 30 years,” says Penny Edgell, associate sociology professor and the study’s lead researcher.
Edgell also argues that today’s atheists play the role that Catholics, Jews and communists have played in the past—they offer a symbolic moral boundary to membership in American society. “It seems most Americans believe that diversity is fine, as long as every one shares a common ‘core’ of values that make them trustworthy—and in America, that ‘core’ has historically been religious,” says Edgell. Many of the study’s respondents associated atheism with an array of moral indiscretions ranging from criminal behavior to rampant materialism and cultural elitism."
...
The researchers also found acceptance or rejection of atheists is related not only to personal religiosity, but also to one’s exposure to diversity, education and political orientation—with more educated, East and West Coast Americans more accepting of atheists than their Midwestern counterparts.
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (3/28/2006) -- American’s increasing acceptance of religious diversity doesn’t extend to those who don’t believe in a god, according to a national survey by researchers in the University of Minnesota’s department of sociology.
From a telephone sampling of more than 2,000 households, university researchers found that Americans rate atheists below Muslims, recent immigrants, gays and lesbians and other minority groups in “sharing their vision of American society.” Atheists are also the minority group most Americans are least willing to allow their children to marry.
Even though atheists are few in number, not formally organized and relatively hard to publicly identify, they are seen as a threat to the American way of life by a large portion of the American public. “Atheists, who account for about 3 percent of the U.S. population, offer a glaring exception to the rule of increasing social tolerance over the last 30 years,” says Penny Edgell, associate sociology professor and the study’s lead researcher.
Edgell also argues that today’s atheists play the role that Catholics, Jews and communists have played in the past—they offer a symbolic moral boundary to membership in American society. “It seems most Americans believe that diversity is fine, as long as every one shares a common ‘core’ of values that make them trustworthy—and in America, that ‘core’ has historically been religious,” says Edgell. Many of the study’s respondents associated atheism with an array of moral indiscretions ranging from criminal behavior to rampant materialism and cultural elitism."
...
The researchers also found acceptance or rejection of atheists is related not only to personal religiosity, but also to one’s exposure to diversity, education and political orientation—with more educated, East and West Coast Americans more accepting of atheists than their Midwestern counterparts.
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