Quote du Jour

"The national government will maintain and defend the foundations on which the power of our nation rests. It will offer strong protection to Christianity as the very basis of our collective morality.

Today Christians stand at the head of our country. We want to fill our culture again with the Christian spirit. We want to burn out all the recent immoral developments in literature, in the theatre, and in the press - in short, we want to burn out the poison of immorality which has entered into our whole life and culture as a result of liberal excess during recent years."

--Adolf Hitler (My New Order, The Speeches of Adolf Hitler, 1922-1939", Vol. 1, pp. 871-872, Oxford University Press, London, 1942.)

Douche Bag of the Week: Arizona Senator (R) Sylvia Allen

Transcript:

"I can't say enough how it's time that we get beyond and start focusing on this technology we have and move forward into the future so that our grandchildren can have the same lifestyle we have.

This Earth's been hear 6,000 years -- and I know I'm going on and on and I'll shut up -- it's been here 6,000 years, long before anybody had environmental laws, and somehow it hasn't been done away with.

We need to get the uranium here in Arizona so this state can get the money from it and the revenues from it. It can be done safely and you'll never even know the mine was there when they're done.

So I am for this."

Hmmmm... Where to start with such a grotesquely stupid statement? First, assuming the Earth is only 6000 years old, Uranium wasn't discovered until 1789 so that makes your statement only 5,780 years retarded by your dating standards. Second, we know the Earth is much older than that by measuring the radioactive decay of elements like Carbon 14, Rubidium, and URANIUM!!! Third, Uranium is normally found in low concentrations, and it only becomes a biological threat when mined in mass, increasing it's concentration, which if introduced to the water table is hazardous to life forms including the grandchildren and their quality of life you supposedly speak for. This is why creationists like you are dangerous and shouldn't be put in charge of making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, let alone representing the state of Arizona.

So congratulations Senator Allen, your are this week's winner of the Douche bag Awards.

Rick Warren's idea for a "radical" Christianity

After the passage of Proposition (H)8 many people were rightly perturbed by Obama's selection of Pastor Rick Warren for his Inaugural invocation due to Warren's high profile involvement in the civil right shredding travesty. I for one really didn't care too much because:

1. I knew that the amendment was unconstitutional (a blatant violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and as a result, will ultimately be overturned.

2. The proposition won by an extremely narrow margin (2%).

3. I knew Barack Obama was only offering this spot to Warren as an olive branch for the batshit crazy religious right.

Admittedly, while miffed that my so called "progressive" state had once again succumbed to the mind set of simple minded shit kicking bumpkin "values", I didn't really think much of Obama's olive branch pick of Warren. That is until I got wind of his agenda for his particular brand of Christianity...

"In 1939, in a stadium much like this, in Munich Germany, they packed it out with young men and women in brown shirts, for a fanatical man standing behind a podium named Adolf Hitler, the personification of evil.

And in that stadium, those in brown shirts formed with their bodies a sign that said, in the whole stadium, 'Hitler, we are yours.'

And they nearly took the world.

Lenin once said, "give me 100 committed, totally committed men and I'll change the world." And, he nearly did.

A few years ago, they took the sayings of Chairman Mao, in China, put them in a little red book, and a group of young people committed them to memory and put it in their minds and they took that nation, the largest nation in the world by storm because they committed to memory the sayings of the Chairman Mao.

When I hear those kinds of stories, I think 'what would happen if American Christians, if world Christians, if just the Christians in this stadium, followers of Christ, would say 'Jesus, we are yours' ?

What kind of spiritual awakening would we have ?"

--Pastor Rick Warren April 17, 2005

I tell you what kind of spiritual awakening we would have... the TOTALITARIAN KIND!!! You sir, are a power hungry scary son of a bitch, and I hope Obama wises up to you sometime soon."

Palin's pastor asking Jesus to protect her from all forms of witchcraft.

No, seriously. It is amazing that in a time where we have put men in space, decoded the human genome, and made cookies and cream into an ice cream flavor, that we can have a candidate belong to a church this crazy and still be politically viable. But it is even worse than you might imagine: Sarah Palin's pastor, Thomas Muthee, is a witch hunter... Excerpted from The UK Times:

According to the Christian Science Monitor, six months of fervent prayer and research identified the source of the witchcraft as a local woman called Mama Jane, who ran a “divination” centre called the Emmanuel Clinic.

Her alleged involvement in fortune-telling and the fact that she lived near the site of a number of fatal car accidents led Pastor Muthee to publicly declare her a witch responsible for the town’s ills, and order her to offer her up her soul for salvation or leave Kiambu.

Says the Monitor, “Muthee held a crusade that “brought about 200 people to Christ”.” They set up round-the-clock prayer intercession in the basement of a grocery store and eventually, says the pastor “the demonic influence – the ‘principality’ over Kiambu –was broken”, and Mama Jane fled the town.

So here we stand at the crossroads of history and the sign post reads "21st Century & the Salem Witch Trials."

Speaking of witchcraft, isn't weird how his voice changes 13 seconds into the video?

33 Pastors Flout Tax Law With Political Sermons

Excerpted from the Washington Post:

The Rev. Ron Johnson Jr. told worshipers that the Democratic presidential nominee's positions on abortion and gay partnerships exist "in direct opposition to God's truth as He has revealed it in the Scriptures." Johnson showed slides contrasting the candidates' views but stopped short of endorsing Obama's Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain.

Johnson and 32 other pastors across the country set out Sunday to break the rules, hoping to generate a legal battle that will prompt federal courts to throw out a 54-year-old ban on political endorsements by tax-exempt houses of worship.

The ministers contend they have a constitutional right to advise their worshipers how to vote. As Johnson put it during a break between sermons, "The point that the IRS says you can't do it, I'm saying you're wrong."

No, the fact that you still have your tax exempt status is wrong. You can't have it both ways.

Iraqis claim Marines are pushing Christianity in Fallujah

Excerpted from McClatchy:

FALLUJAH, Iraq — At the western entrance to the Iraqi city of Fallujah Tuesday, Muamar Anad handed his residence badge to the U.S. Marines guarding the city. They checked to be sure that he was a city resident, and when they were done, Anad said, a Marine slipped a coin out of his pocket and put it in his hand.

Out of fear, he accepted it, Anad said. When he was inside the city, the college student said, he looked at one side of the coin. "Where will you spend eternity?" it asked.

He flipped it over, and on the other side it read, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16."

"They are trying to convert us to Christianity," said Anad, a Sunni Muslim like most residents of this city in Anbar province. At home, he told his story, and his relatives echoed their disapproval: They'd been given the coins, too, he said.

Apparently "freedom" isn't the only thing we are bringing to Iraq.

Soldier Sues Army, Saying His Atheism Led to Threats

Excerpted from The New York Times:

Complaints include prayers “in Jesus’ name” at mandatory functions, which violates military regulations, and officers proselytizing subordinates to be “born again.” After getting the complainants’ unit and command information, Mr. Weinstein said, he calls his contacts in the military to try to correct the situation.

“Religion is inextricably intertwined with their jobs,” Mr. Weinstein said. “You’re promoted by who you pray with.”

Specialist Hall came to atheism after years as a Christian. He was raised Baptist by his grandmother in Richlands, N.C., a town of fewer than 1,000 people. She read the Bible to him every night, and he said he joined the Army “to make something of myself.”

“I thought going to Iraq was right because we had God on our side,” he said in an interview near Fort Riley.

Emphasis by editor.

US National Academy of Sciences defends the teaching of evolution

Excerpted from The LA Times:

Creationism confuses students about what constitutes science, a report says, and it should not be taught.

From Reuters
January 4, 2008

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. National Academy of Sciences on Thursday issued a spirited defense of evolution as the bedrock principle of modern biology, arguing that it, not creationism, must be taught in public-school science classes.

The academy, which operates under a mandate from Congress to advise the government on science and technology matters, issued the report at a time when the theory of evolution, first offered in the 19th century, faces renewed attack by some religious conservatives.

The report says creationism, based on the explanation offered in the Bible, and the related idea of "intelligent design" are not science and, as such, should not be taught in science classrooms at public schools.

Peggy Noonan: The Republican Party has become too Religious

Excerpted from The Wall Street Journal:

The Republican race looks--at the moment--to be determined primarily by one thing, the question of religious faith. In my lifetime faith has been a significant issue in presidential politics, but not the sole determinative one. Is that changing? If it is, it is not progress.

[snip]

Christian conservatives have been rising, most recently, for 30 years in national politics, since they helped elect Jimmy Carter. They care about the religious faith of their leaders, and their interest is legitimate. Faith is a shaping force. Lincoln got grilled on it. But there is a sense in Iowa now that faith has been heightened as a determining factor in how to vote, that such things as executive ability, professional history, temperament, character, political philosophy and professed stands are secondary, tertiary.

When you got a right wing hack like Noonan saying the Republican Party is becoming too backwards... Well, that's a little scary.

Americans United Urges South Carolina School District To Discontinue Biased Bible Class

Excerpted from Americans United for Seperation of Church & State:

The elective at Fort Dorchester High School is based in part on two textbooks that Americans United charges promote a mostly Christian interpretation of the Bible The Bible and Its Influence published by the Bible Literacy Project and material produced by the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools.

“The purpose of public school classes should be education, not indoctrination,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director. “Some of the material being proposed for classroom use in South Carolina reads more like a Sunday School lesson than objective academics.”

[snip]

...portions of the curriculum produced by the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools have already been ruled unconstitutional by a federal court, and use of the group’s materials is currently being challenged in a federal lawsuit in Odessa, Texas.

It also points out that academic experts have criticized the Bible Literacy Project’s The Bible and Its Influence for pushing a Christian perspective, lacking rigorous scholarship and relying on writers and editors who are not biblical scholars...

The argument long held by apologists who endorse teaching a course on the Bible has always been a plea for balance and education, yet everytime they offer an elective to do so they use unqualified hacks instead actual scholars who have spent their academic lives studying the matter. Why is that?

Editor's note: Emphasis added by editor.

The Pentagon Sends Messengers of Apocalypse to Convert Soldiers in Iraq

Excerpted from: Alternet

With the endorsement of the Defense Department, OSU is mailing "Freedom Packages" to soldiers serving in Iraq. These are not your grandfather's care packages, however. Besides pairs of white socks and boxes of baby wipes (included at the apparent suggestion of Iran-Contra felon Oliver North, according to OSU) OSU's care packages contain the controversial Left Behind: Eternal Forces video game. The game is inspired by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins' bestselling pulp fiction series about a blood-soaked Battle of Armageddon pitting born-again Christians against anybody who does not adhere to their particular theology. In LaHaye's and Jenkins' books, the non-believers are ultimately condemned to "everlasting punishment" while the evangelicals are "raptured" up to heaven. Read article...

What separation of church and state? I'm going to go drink now...

Update: Apparently the netroots shut this plan down by exposing it enough so that ABC took notice. Still, you have to be concerned that our government is willfully endorsing video games like this to be sent to our troops:

Milking a church cash cow

Excerpted from Media Transparency

Dr. James W. Holsinger, President George W. Bush's nominee for Surgeon General has been a controversial figure in the United Methodist Church (UMC) for decades (Berkowitz, 2007; Clarkson, 2007). He was elected through the efforts of a well-organized group of activists (Swecker, 2005), along with two other conservatives, to the church's Judicial Council ("supreme court") in May, 2000, which gave the Council a rightwing majority (MFSA Plumbline, 2004). Holsinger has been the President ("chief justice") of the Judicial Council since 2004. During the years that Holsinger has been on the Council, a number of unprecedented and divisive rulings have been made (Astle, 2007; Matthews, 2005).

The litigation involved the sale in 1995 of a 330 bed UMC hospital in Lexington, Kentucky, to a for-profit corporation and the disposition of the $20 million realized from the sale (Commonwealth of Kentucky Court of Appeals, 2005). The hospital's trustees refused to hand over the proceeds to the rightful owners, the Kentucky Annual Conference (KAC) of the UMC (Mistler and Guilfoyle, 2006). Instead, the self-appointed trustees placed the $20 million into a fund under their sole control in an undisclosed location. Then the trustees proceeded to form six corporate subsidiaries, including one (www.charityball.Inc - a non-functioning URL) that was incorporated in Alaska (Alaska Department of Law, 2004) and Wisconsin (Wisconsin Department of Regulation & Licensing, 2007). Additionally, in direct conflict with the stated values of the UMC (UMC, 2004a;b) the trustees engaged in gambling fund-raising ventures, one of which lost $27,500 (GuideStar, 2007).

[snip]

A nomination by the President to be Surgeon General is a high honor. The first Surgeon General was appointed in 1871. The holder of the office is often given the moniker, "America's Doctor." A Surgeon General is our chief health educator, overseeing the work of the 6,000-member U.S. Public Health Service (Office of the Surgeon General, 2007). It is an important position that requires the highest ethical standards and personal conduct. Before Holsinger is confirmed, the Senate must ask serious questions about his ethics, especially regarding a seven-year-long lawsuit against his church during which he served as "chief justice" of the UMC's "supreme court."Read article...

So what we have here is Bush appointing another crony with an unethical past and an all too friendly relationship with the religious right... Is anyone suruprised here?

Christiane Amanpour-God's Warriors: Christian Warriors

IRS Should Investigate Partisan Political Activity Of Southern Baptist Church In Calif., Says Americans United

Excerpted from Americans United for Seperation of Church and State.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Pastor Used Church Resources To Endorse GOP Hopeful Huckabee As God's Candidate In Violation Of Federal Tax Law, Says Church-State Watchdog Group

Americans United for Separation of Church and State today urged the Internal Revenue Service to investigate the First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park, Calif., for possible violation of federal tax law barring electioneering by non-profit groups.

“Federal tax law is clear,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, “Churches and other non-profits may not endorse candidates, if they want to keep their tax exemption. I am confident that the vast majority of Americans do not want to see their houses of worship politicized.”

Continue Article

Intertwining Religion & Government: David Kuo speaks out about Bush Administration's manipulation of the Christian Right

Keith Olberman reports on David Kuo's revelations about Bush Administration's cynical manipulation of the Religious Right. David Kuo was once the second in command in Bush's own Office of Faith Based Initiatives, but became disenfranchised by Bush's underfunding of the office Kuo once held. Kuo repeatedly lays out example after example of broken promises and quote after quote from numerous high powered Republicans who held nothing but contempt for Evangelical leaders, calling them "nuts," "goofy," and "out of control."

In a related story, the Religious Right's leaders that David Kuo is trying to protect are rabidly turning on him for speaking out.

Surprise, surprise...

Congressman can't name the Ten Commandments he wants in courthouses.

Pathetic, yet amusing.