Religion – Page 37 – Politics Plus

A Nation Ruled by God?

Posted by TomCat at 1:42 am Politics, Religion

Jul 072011

To the best of my knowledge, there has never been a nation ruled by God. There have been Theocracies, but they have invariably been nations ruled by people, purporting to be acting in God’s behalf, and, more often than not, lining their own pockets in the process. Fortunately, our nation’s founders had the wisdom to foresee that we could not maintain our freedom if ruled by Theocons, and they guaranteed against the establishment of a state religion in the 1st Amendment. Republican supply-side pseudo-Christians reject that wisdom, and would impose their beliefs on everyone.

Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) is a gigantic ass. There, I just saved you a few paragraphs of reading. But if you care to know more, here it is:

On the Fourth of July, many lawmakers set aside partisan disagreements in favor of sweeping tributes to American freedom. But not Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA), who couldn’t keep his abhorrence of Americans who disagree with his political views out of his invocation at a barbecue hosted by the Cobb County GOP. […]

U.S. Rep. Paul Broun (R-Athens), who delivered the invocation, warned about the future of the U.S.

"We’re standing on the precipice, staring down in the deep chasm of socialism and total government control," Broun said. […]

There are those who wish to destroy the U.S., Broun said, citing radical Islam and "progressives."

"Father, there are many who want to destroy us from outside this nation," Broun said. "Folks like al-Qaeda and the radical Islamists. But there are folks that want to destroy us from inside, the progressives and the socialists, who want to make this nation a nation that’s no longer under you, under God, but a nation that’s ruled by man."

I think spending the 4th of July at a GOP-sponsored barbeque while offering a prayer to God against progressive Americans who are like al-Qaeda is quote possibly the most awesome God-fearing and flag-waving thing I can think of. The only thing it lacks is that Rep. Broun should have been wearing a giant red-white-and-blue painted crucifix, and he should have been riding in a pickup truck that was jumping a pit full of flamethrower-wielding lions, and the pickup truck should have a picture painted on the tailgate of Jesus and Ronald Reagan high-fiving each other… [emphasis original]

Inserted from <Daily Kos>

Don’t get me wrong here. I consider myself a man of faith, and hope you will honor that, as I honor your faith, whatever it may be. What I will not honor is any attempt to impose faith of any kind, any attempt to control others, racism and bigotry under the guise of faith, any attempt to seek personal gain under the guise of faith, and any attempt to legislate piety codes.

If we allow religion to interfere with government, it guarantees something even worse. Government will interfere in religion.

Oh Those Atheist Islamists!

Posted by TomCat at 2:02 am Politics, Religion

Jun 042011

Republican politicians love to hate, but there is something they enjoy more: to lie. They often get away with it, because their sheeple use only one information source, the Republican Ministry of Propaganda, aka Fox. There, ludicrous statements are either ignored or repeated as “fact” by a dozen goose-stepping pundits. However, at times, they say something so absurd that credulity seems impossible. Consider this beauty from Newt.

…Preaching in March from the pulpit of Cornerstone Church, a mega-congregation in San Antonio, Gingrich warned: “I have two grandchildren — Maggie is 11, Robert is 9. I am convinced that if we do not decisively win the struggle over the nature of America, by the time they’re my age they will be in a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists and with no understanding of what it once meant to be an American.”… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Washington Post>

Now, that is so incredible that it’s hard to believe he said such a thing, but don’t believe me. Don’t believe the Post. Believe your own eyes and ears.

Doesn’t this fool realize that atheism and Islam are mutually exclusive?

Planning a CAMPING Trip? Poof!

Posted by TomCat at 1:19 am Editorial, Politics, Religion

May 212011

Rapture Day

I trust all are aware that Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christian, Harold Camping, has predicted that today the rapture will occur, and that all Christians will disappear, caught up to heaven by God, while the rest of humanity will be left behind to endure God’s wrath. With that in mind, I have two predictions of my own. First, the rapture will not take place today, if ever. Second, if I am wrong and the rapture does occur today, the Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians will still be in their churches perverting Christianity tomorrow morning, unaware that they are the ones who have been left behind. Here we will look at Camping’s delusional claims and their probable motivation, examine the rapture, both historically and Biblically, and end with a pair of videos certain to give you a chuckle or three.

For Camping’s claim, Lawrence O’Donnell, covered it well with New Testament Professor, Barbara Rossing.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

That’s right! Camping has $70 million reasons to persist in this hokum.

The very notion of a rapture is new to the theological scene. I vaguely remember a passing reference in the third of fourth century, but cannot find it. The concept disappeared until the 16th century. According to Wikipedia, the term “rapture” was first used by Phillip Doddridge and John Gill, late in the 16th century. Several authors mentioned it over the years, but it never enjoyed any significant following, until popularized by John Nelson Darby in 1827. The point is, Christianity survived without the rapture as the doctrine of any major sect for the first 1800 plus years. It is most useful for Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christian dogma, because sheeple can be ordered to think and do as told or suffer the great tribulation.

Biblically, rapture doctrine is a virtual minefield. Bible references contradict each other.

For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so it is through Jesus that God will bring back with him those who have died. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have died. With a shout of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of God’s trumpet, the Lord himself will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. [1 Th 4:14-17 ISV]

Also consider:

For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there’s a body, there the vultures will gather." "Immediately after the suffering of those days, ‘The sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of heaven will be shaken loose.’ Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn when they see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’ with power and great glory. He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet blast, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to another." [Mt 24:27-31 ISV]

Moreover:

The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some people understand slowness, but is being patient with you. He does not want anyone to perish, but wants everyone to come to repentance. But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that day the heavens will disappear with a roaring sound, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be exposed. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, think of the kind of holy and godly people you ought to be. [2 Pe 3:9-11 ISV]

Note that these references describe a noisy event. Compare it with verses also used as a primary reference to support the rapture.

For just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be when the Son of Man comes. In those days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage right up to the day when Noah went into the ark. They were unaware of what was happening until the flood came and swept all of them away. That’s how it will be when the Son of Man comes. At that time two people will be in the field. One will be taken, and the other will be left behind. Two women will be grinding grain at the mill. One will be taken, and the other will be left behind. "So keep on watching, because you don’t know on what day your Lord is coming. [Mt. 24:37-42 ISV]

In this description the left behind continue in their daily lives after a quiet disappearance, and the world is not immediately destroyed. Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christians try to weasel out of this contradiction by proposing two separate second comings. It has no basis except as a desperate attempt to fit a square peg in a round hole.

So, given the limited historical and Scriptural evidence, added to Jesus’ statement that we cannot know when the end will be, I’m confident that we will take no CAMPING trips today.

Therefore let us celebrate the day with levity. In the first a Theocon gets left behind.

In the second, Margaret Cho mocks this as only she can.

Once again, if I’m wrong, I’ll see y’all in heaven, including my friends of the atheist faith, where Teabuggery is not allowed, tomorrow. 😉

Plan to Kill Gays Fails, for Now

Posted by TomCat at 2:50 am Politics, Religion

May 172011

Republicans and very few Democrats involved in The Family and C-Street have been working overtime to implement a social engineering experiment in Uganda, perhaps as a trial for future use here, to apply the death penalty to gay people. I’ve posted several articles. Just search for Uganda here at PP. Because the Ugandan Parliament adjourned without voting on the measure, it has failed, for now. But the reprieve may be short lived.

Jay, a 27-year-old lesbian in Uganda, touches the scar tissue starting to form between her nose and lip. The tall, sturdily built woman was attacked last week outside her gate by two men she believes followed her home from a bar. They punched her repeatedly and when she tried to get away they said, “Come back; we’re not finished with you. You are spoiling our children!” she recalled.

Since the October 2009 introduction in parliament of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, a proposal that called for the execution of some homosexuals, enduring accusations of “recruiting” the nation’s youth and suffering physical attack “is what it takes to be a lesbian in Uganda,” said Jay.

On May 13, the speaker of parliament in this small East African nation suspended the legislative body without allowing MPs a chance to discuss the proposed anti-homosexuality law. Ugandan gays and lesbians say that while they are relieved the legislation is off the table for now, they fear it will be re-introduced when parliament reconvenes.

As she was being beaten, said Jay, “I kept thinking, what will happen if the bill is passed? So today, [since it was dropped from the agenda] I am one of the happiest people.”… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Trust Law>

David Bahati, the author of the bill, is also a member of the Family. Jay’s treatment shows the love that followers of Republican Supply-side Jesus (not the real Jesus) have been trained to adopt. Sadly, Bahati has an excellent chance to become Uganda’s next Minister of Ethics. The Family? Ethics?!!? This measure is likely to return next year.

On October 31, I posted what I think is Rachel Maddow’s first segment on this subject. To refresh your memory, here it is again.

This is the end result of Republican hatred against the LGBT community. It is beyond redemption.

Why Theocons Hate America

Posted by TomCat at 2:47 am Politics, Religion

May 162011

For people who claim to be patriots, religious-right Republicans, certainly seem to hate this country. Many keep threatening secession. Many raise bogus issues of states rights that have been dormant since the civil war. Many threaten violent overthrow of our government unless their candidates win at the polls. Most want to ignore major parts of the Constitution. Rob Boston wrote an excellent piece listing ten things that give these Theocons fits.

Religious Right groups and their frequent allies in the Tea Party talk a good line about respecting American values, but much would change if they had their way. They seek not to restore our country to some Golden Age (that never existed anyway) but to recreate it – in their own fundamentalist image.

An America rebuilt along Religious Right lines would be a very different place. And to get there, the theocrats among us first have to tear down some features of American life – some of which are longstanding. Here are ten things about the United States that drive Religious Right groups crazy:

1. Our history debunks Religious Right mythology: American history stands as a rebuke to the Religious Right. America’s founders established a secular government with freedom of religion and its necessary corollary, separation of church and state, built into the First Amendment. A “Christian nation” was not what the founders sought. How do we know this? They said so. Think about it: If an officially Christian nation had been the intent of the founders, the Constitution would prominently include that concept. It doesn’t.

And those Religious Right claims that separation of church and state is a myth? They’re a crock. As James Madison put it, “Strongly guarded…is the separation between Religion and Government in the Constitution of the United States.” Madison ought to know. He’s considered the Father of the Constitution and was one of the primary drafters of the First Amendment.

2. We support science: While polls show some confusion over issues like evolution, most Americans are big fans of science and are quick to rally around the latest medical breakthroughs and cutting-edge technology. Many religious people in America long ago reconciled their faith with modern science. But the Religious Right remains stubbornly insistent that any science that conflicts with its literalist interpretation of the Bible must go.

Religious Right activists hate science because it casts doubt on their narrow worldview – a worldview that teaches that all answers are found in a rigidly fundamentalist interpretation of an ancient religious text. To the Religious Right, evolution and the Bible can’t co-exist. They refuse to read the scriptures in a metaphorical or symbolic context. Since, to the Religious Right, evolution undercuts the Bible, evolution should not be taught in public schools.

3. America has a tradition of tolerance: Yes, we’ve fallen short of complete tolerance from time to time, but at the end of the day, most Americans believe in treating their fellow citizens decently, even if they have different religious or philosophical beliefs. But to the Religious Right, tolerance is entrance ramp on the highway to hell.

The idea that religions should strive to get along is dangerously close to the idea that all religions are on equal footing. This is bad, so says the Religious Right, because it leads people into “error” – that is, an embrace of any religion that’s not fundamentalist Christianity. Tolerance is ridiculed because it dares to suggest that a Unitarian, Buddhist, Jew, Hindu, Pagan or atheist might have an equal claim on truth alongside a fundamentalist… [emphasis original]

Inserted from <Alternet>

Please note that I only listed three of the ten items. I encourage you to click through to the article. The best is there.

For those of you who do not know me well, I have no objection to Christianity, or for that matter, to any other faith. I am a Christian myself. I do object to those who pervert their beliefs through hatred and intolerance for others. As such, today’s theocons are the spiritual heirs of the Pharisees and Sadducees of the first century. Jesus berated them often.

No Faith, No Freedom!

Posted by TomCat at 2:12 am Politics, Religion

May 112011

This June, most Republican Presidential hopefuls are gathering to kiss the ring of one of the most foul, corrupt individuals in US political history. A Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christian, thoroughly disgraced and justly so, he is trying to resurrect himself through his latest creation, the Faith and Freedom Coalition. But Ralph Reed represents neither faith nor freedom. Instead he represents a total perversion of both, as a close examination of his political activity clearly shows.

First here he is as spun by the main stream media.

Add Mitt Romney to the growing list of probable 2012 GOP presidential candidates speaking at a major social conservative conference early next month here in the nation’s capitol.

The former Massachusetts governor and 2008 Republican White House hopeful will address the Faith and Freedom Conference and Strategy Briefing on Friday, June 3rd, according to an early Monday morning announcement on the organization’s website by Ralph Reed, the founder of the Faith and Freedom Coalition. A Romney adviser also confirmed the appearance. In recent months Romney’s beefed up his campaign staff, and last month he formed a presidential exploratory committee.

Last week Reed announced that Donald Trump will speak at the conference on June 4. The billionaire businessman, real estate mogul, and reality TV star says he’ll announce by June whether he’ll make a bid for the GOP nomination.

Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, and former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania are the other probable White House contenders speaking at the two day gathering.

The Faith and Freedom Coalition is an influential social conservative organization… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <CNN>

I understand Gingrich just joined the mix as well.

Now, lets step back to January, 2006, and see just what his campaign brought to light.

Fox News has nothing if not, as former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright might say, "cojones." Perhaps never more so than on Sunday, when its Big Story Primetime show featured Republican lobbyist and strategist Ralph Reed offering analysis on the Jack Abramoff scandal:

1:00am Big Story Primetime [Faux Noise delinked] Abramoff Ripple Effect? Republican strategist Ralph Reed speaks out on the wide-spread impact of the disgraced lobbyist’s scandal.

Who better that Reed to provide insight and context into the exploding Republican scandals on Capitol Hill? As Perrspectives reported back in September, Reed is quite familiar with the ethical quicksand that is consuming Tom Delay, Bob Ney, Jack Abramoff and his minions such as David Safavian:

The Safavian web also entangles Ralph Reed, formerly of the Christian Coalition and Bush’s southeastern campaign chairman. Reed was on those golf outings with Safavian and Abramoff. Like Abramoff, Reed also feasted on native Americans to the tune of $1 million in fees for casino lobbying. Interestingly, Reed also worked for Bill Gates in 2000, lobbying then candidate and Reed ally George W. Bush regarding the Department of Justice against Microsoft.

As the Washington Post reports today, the taint of the Abramoff scandal may yet swallow Reed, the one-time Christian Coalition wunderkind and current GOP candidate for lieutenant governor of Georgia…

Inserted from <Perrspectives>

He was right at home in and actively involved with the corrupt web of Jack Abramoff and GW Bush. He was duping ignorant Christians into supporting and financing his greed by misrepresenting issues as matters of faith when they were not. But that;s nothing compared to his activities involving the Marianas Islands. This article is from May, 2006.

In August 1999, political organizer Ralph Reed’s firm sent out a mailer to Alabama conservative Christians asking them to call then-Rep. Bob Riley (R-Ala.) and tell him to vote against legislation that would have made the U.S. commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands subject to federal wage and worker safety laws.

Now those seven-year-old words are coming back to haunt Reed, the former executive director of the Christian Coalition and a candidate for the Republican nomination to be Georgia’s lieutenant governor.

"The radical left, the Big Labor Union Bosses, and Bill Clinton want to pass a law preventing Chinese from coming to work on the Marianas Islands," the mailer from Reed’s firm said. The Chinese workers, it added, "are exposed to the teachings of Jesus Christ" while on the islands, and many "are converted to the Christian faith and return to China with Bibles in hand."

A year earlier, the Department of the Interior — which oversees federal policy toward the U.S. territory — presented a very different picture of life for Chinese workers on the islands. An Interior report found that Chinese women were subject to forced abortions and that women and children were subject to forced prostitution in the local sex-tourism industry.

It also alleged that the garment industry and other businesses set up facilities on the Northern Marianas to produce products labeled "Made in the USA," while importing workers from China and other Asian countries and paying them less than U.S. minimum wage under conditions not subject to federal safety standards… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Washington Post>

Reed was supporting turning fourteen year old girls into sex slaves. I guess that’s how Republican pseudo-Christians bring people to Supply-side Jesus (not the real Jesus).

Rachel Maddow exposes this Republican dirt-bag and discusses his current assault on financial reform with Barney Frank.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Now, most Americans have absolutely no idea who this guy is, but political insiders know all about him. You can be sure that Mitt Romney, Donald Trump, Michelle Bachmann, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, and Newt Gingrich know exactly who he is and what he does. And since they do, what does their pilgrimage to him tell you about them?

Would Churches Care for the Poor?

Posted by TomCat at 4:10 am Politics, Religion

Apr 252011

According to many Republican politicians and pundits, caring for the poor is the job of the churches, not the government. Now Franklin Graham, son of the famed evangelist, is claiming that churches no longer care for the poor, because government stole that role from them. I lave a load of that to fertilize the front lawn!

I can’t help wondering why Franklin Graham isn’t preaching an Easter Sunday revival instead of showing up on Christiane Amanpour’s show to make political statements, or to be more accurate, pronouncements. Some pronouncements, however, should not be allowed to stand unchallenged, and the following is one of them.

AMANPOUR: We in this country and around the world are living in very dire times right now. Dire financial times, economic crisis, the gap between rich and poor is growing, not only here, but all over the world.

What can the church do to fill that gap and to step into that gap?

GRAHAM: Christiane, a hundred years ago, the safety net, the social safety net in the country was provided by the church.

If you didn’t have a job, you’d go to your local church and ask the pastor if he know somebody that could hire him. If you were hungry, you went to the local church and told them, "I can’t feed my family." And the church would help you. And that’s not being done.

But the government took that. And took it away from the church. And they had more money to give and more programs to give, and pretty soon, the churches just backed off.

And as a result, now you have generation after generation of pastors in churches that have not done that. And you would have to teach them again how to do it.

Well, Reverend Graham, that is somewhat true but mostly not, because of course, churches rely upon the gifts of their congregation. Churches, like everyone else, suffered the effects. Many had debt obligations on their church buildings and were forced into default as offerings fell away, causing them to have to close the doors entirely… [emphasis original]

Inserted from <Crooks ans Liars>

Here’s the video. After the statement above, it’s mostly a rehash of religious right dogma.

Now, lets get to the lie. It is mostly true that, at one time, churches fulfill that rose, and some still do. However, for the vast majority of American churches, especially the pseudo-Christian of Republican Supply-side Jesus (not the real Jesus), the focus switched to foreign missions that created more notches on soul belts, churching the unchurched, and catering to rich congregants to help build cushier churches. Helping the poor fell by the wayside without government help. Added to that, the prosperity doctrine became popular that wealth is God’s blessing for piety, while poverty is God’s punishment for sin. The poor became the new lepers. Government stepped in to help provide a safety net, because the churches were not taking care of the poor. There is no credible evidence to support the idea that, if government steps back, the churches will step forward to care for the poor. For Graham to imply otherwise is a lie. Government is not at fault for Republican Supply-side pseudo-Christian greed.

That said, to those authentic Christians, who do all they can, thank you. This does not apply to you.

Republican Hate Monger Claims Rights Violated

Posted by TomCat at 2:46 am Politics, Religion

Apr 242011

Republican Supply-side Jesus (not the real one) must be very disappointed that a Dearborn, MI jury denied him a permit to demonstrate the hatred Republican pseudo-Christians have for other faiths at the local Mosque. Nevertheless, the case involves some critical issues.

The Rev. Terry Jones said he intends to return to Dearborn, Mich., this week to protest outside City Hall against what he called a violation of his First Amendment rights. The Quran-burning pastor from Florida was briefly jailed by Dearborn police Friday after a trial stemming from an unusual complaint filed by Wayne County prosecutors.

"It was a total violation of our constitutional rights," Jones said Saturday from Detroit Metro Airport, where he waited for a flight to Florida. "It was a mockery of the judicial process."

He’s considering suing Wayne County and Dearborn authorities, he said, and he plans a rally Friday.

County prosecutors filed a complaint Friday to keep Jones away from the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, saying his plans would breach the peace. A jury sided Friday with prosecutors, and Jones was led to jail and ordered not to appear at the mosque for three years.

"I was shocked," Jones said. "I was horrified."

"We were arrested and had not even committed a crime. … It was clearly influenced by the mosque."

Dearborn Mayor John O’Reilly Jr. said the constitutional right to free speech cannot interfere with public safety, which was his concern if Jones protested at the mosque… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <The Star-Telegram>

On a personal level, I could not be more pleased to see the evil this man and his Republican minions intended fail. That he foolishly refused to pay nota $1 peace bond and went to jail for it brings a smile to my face.

However, there is the First Amendment it consider. On the one hand, it is not an absolute right. I like to say, “My rights end at the tip of your nose.” Free speech does not cover libel, defamation of character or perjury. I may not yell “fire” in a crowded theatre. During the 2004 and 2008 Republican conventions, I complained vehemently that protestors were relegated to free speech zones, far from the action and press coverage. As badly as I personally want Jones so treated now, how can I support it without being a total hypocrite?

What about the right of Muslim citizens? Don’t they have the right to worship free from harassment brought on by Republican hate?

This is a new issue, as it is the first time in my lifetime that a major political party has actively endorsed hatred and recruited individuals and groups that practice it. Twenty years ago, people like Jones cowered and kept their mouths shut, not wanting to face public outrage from all quarters. But that’s before the Republican Party made hate socially acceptable.

I wish I had a solution. I need to think on this some more.

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