Pat Roberson Loves the Snow

Posted by TomCat at 10:58 am Plus, Politics, Religion

Dec 282010

Given the comparative shortage of hard news stories at this time of year that are not everywhere else, Andy Borowitz has a fantastic piece on Pat Robertson’s love for the LGBT community. The irony here is that, funny as he is, Andy cannot hold a candle to Robertson’s own extreme antics.

VIRGINIA BEACH (The Borowitz Report) – Rev. Pat Robertson sparked controversy in today’s broadcast of his 700 Club program when he claimed that God created the blizzard currently battering the Northeast "to punish Americans who were planning to drive to do something gay."

Explaining his theory, Rev. Robertson said, "Because of the bad road conditions the Almighty has made, any gay activities that people were planning on doing will have to be postponed by a day or two."

Additionally, he argued, God shut down major airports in the New York area "so that people who were hoping to fly to do something of a gay nature would have to take a train or a bus, so it might be days before the gay thing they were going to do could occur."

As for the millions of straight people in New York City who were also grounded by the bad weather, the televangelist said, "I think God probably wonders, if these people are really straight, then what are they doing in New York?"…

Inserted from <The Huffington Post>

I can’t help but remember the time Robertson prophesied that God would strike Disney World with a hurricane to punish them for ending their discrimination against hiring gay employees. The next hurricane made landfall at Virginia Beach and damaged Robertson’s own headquarters. Doesn’t God have a great sense of humor?

What Supply-side Jesus Says

Posted by TomCat at 1:41 pm Politics, Religion

Dec 202010

Part of the problem with religion in America is that we have an extra Jesus. Of course there is an original Jesus, the real one, the one who was crucified and who taught care for the poor, healing for the sick, acceptance for the outcast, etc. However, Republican leaders don’t like that Jesus. He contradicted Republican ideology. So they invented their own fake version. Al Franken dubbed him Supply-side Jesus years ago and I stole the term without hesitation. Supply-side Jesus teaches war, hate, fear, greed and intolerance to match Republican ideology. A couple weeks back a misunderstanding with a reader, led to an email exchange. We discovered that we really have a lot in common, even though I am a Christian (not Supply-side) and he, an agnostic. He shared this list with me and it’s too good not to pass on, with his permission.

10 THINGS JESUS WOULDN’T SAY AT

A HEALTH CARE TOWN HALL MEETING

10. Yea, though I walk through the valley of death, I shall make out no living wills or advance directives.

9. I’ve got mine! To Hell with all the rest of you peons!

8. You should always serve two masters. Me and Rush Limbaugh.

7. The least among you are scum. For God’s sake pull yourselves up by your bootstraps!

6. Let he who is without sin start cheating on his wife and soliciting prostitutes.

5. I can heal you, but there will be a $500 deductible and a $50 co-pay.

4. He who yells the loudest shall inherit the earth.

3. Only a rich man can get to the kingdom of heaven. The rest of you paupers can forget it!

2. To Hell with peace. Bring your guns!

1. Take two aspirin and call me in the morning!

DEFENDING JESUS

Rob Moitoza July 3, 2006

Although the real Jesus would not say these things, they are exactly what Supply-side Jesus says.

Republicans Sue to Teach Hate in Oregon

Posted by TomCat at 3:23 pm Politics, Religion

Dec 122010

Republicans love to teach their hate-filled Theocon brand of pseudo-Christianity disguised as education. They almost got away with doing just that, teaching hatred for Muslims, at a Lane Community College here in Oregon. The school learned of their deception and pulled the plug. Now Pat Robertson’s legal group is suing the school.

Barry Sommer was supposed to teach a non-credited class at Lane Community College in Oregon entitled "What is Islam?"

But that was before the Council on American-Islamic Relations alerted them to the fact that Sommer was the president of an Oregon chapter of the anti-Islam group "ACT! for America," started by Brigitte Gabriel to save [hate group delinked] Western Civilization from the "authoritarian values of radical Islam, such as the celebration of death, terror and tyranny" and that he had a history of making anti-Islam statements.

So Lane College dropped the class, for which not even one student had signed up, and Sommer was out the $160 he would have been paid for teaching it … and so, of course, Pat Robertson’s American Center for Law and Justice has taken up the case is the threatening to sue Lane College if it doesn’t let Sommer teach this course:

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) said today it is demanding that an Oregon community college rehire a teacher fired after the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) complained about a class he was scheduled to teach about the religion of Islam. The ACLJ, which represents the instructor, contends that Lane Community College (LCC) in Eugene, Oregon violated the contractual and constitutional rights of the teacher by firing him and canceling the class because of pressure from CAIR.

… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Right Wing Watch>

By misrepresenting the character and content of the course to the college, this Republican hatemonger voided the contract himself. He has no constitutional right to teach religious propaganda at a state funded school. While a religious survey course is legal, one that pushes a single religious point of view violates the establishment clause.

The Hate Group Hates "Hate"

Posted by TomCat at 12:58 am Politics, Religion, Uncategorized

Nov 292010

Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council has his panties in a bunch, because the Southern Poverty Law Center labeled the FCRC a hate group. That must be particularly embarrassing for a pseudo-Christian organization that falsely claims love as the driving force behind their faith. I see it as imperative that authentic believers take the lead in promoting acceptance of and coexistence with others, rejecting the path of intolerance, hate and violence promoted by the Republican religious right.

The Family Research Council is angry after being labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The Family Research Council is a Christian fundamentalist organization that has a long history of demonizing members of the gay and lesbian community.

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is a nonprofit civil rights organization dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry, and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of society. Founded by civil rights lawyers Morris Dees and Joseph Levin Jr. in 1971, the SPLC is internationally known for tracking and exposing the activities of hate groups.

The conservative Christian hate group Family Research Council (FRC) has long been an outspoken and vicious critic of the LGBT community. Recently the FRC has been a major critic of anti-bullying programs meant to protect gay and lesbian youth.

The SPLC’s recently released report added some of the nation’s leading Christian conservative groups, including the Family Research Council, Concerned Women for America, the National Organization for Marriage, the American Family Association, and the Traditional Values Coalition, to its registry of hate groups, groups like the Ku Klux Klan.

Not suprisingly, the Family Research Council doesn’t like being lumped together with the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups. The FRC launched a strongly worded response [hate group delinked] to the SPLC, calling the action a "slanderous attack"

However, while Tony Perkins, leader of the FRC, and other leaders of the Christian hate movement may deny it, it seems clear that their demonization of homosexuals plays a role in fomenting the anti-gay violence, hatred and bullying that is present in society.

The Family Research Council is perhaps the most prominent voice in conservative social politics and their dehumanizing rhetoric around the gay and lesbian community is nothing short of despicable… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <The Portland Examiner>

It’s really quite simple. When people regularly practice hatred claim to be Christian, they aren’t.

The Next Third Party?

Posted by TomCat at 3:17 am Politics, Religion

Nov 092010

in As a rule, I have a problem with third parties, although I often agree with their goals. Historically, they have tended to help Republicans achieve elected office, and Republicans often finance their inclusion on the ballot to split the lefty vote. So I would not vote for a third party candidate, unless first, I support their candidate’s positions, and second, either the candidate has a solid chance to win, or the Democrat in the race is just to heinous to support. Here’s a third party that could never get my vote, but that I would love to see formed.

Today, Cindy and Mike Jacobs of Generals International held a webcast to discuss the meaning of last week’s elections and Cindy proclaimed that despite the Republican wins, the nation would see the rise of a third party based on God’s righteousness that will be led by people like Marco Rubio as proof:

I have to admit that I had not noticed that, but Jacobs is correct…

Inserted from <Right Wing Watch>

Aren’t third parties that split the right-wing vote a great idea?

An Expert Republican View

Posted by TomCat at 1:05 am Politics, Religion

Oct 312010

Republicans claim to have the solutions, even if they usually won’t say what they are. Here’s an expert view on America’s current state by a former Undersecretary of Defense. Be sure to have a bag or trash can handy. This blogger will accept no responsibility for damage to your screen or keyboard from stomach contents.

This is Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Jerry Boykin, who was the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence under Donald Rumsfeld until video emerged of him explaining that we were engaged in a spiritual war against Islam that the US would eventually win because our God was bigger than their God.

Shortly thereafter Boykin retired and aligned himself with fringe Religious Right leaders by teaming up with the likes of "Christocrat" Rick Scarborough and Dominionist Janet Porter and even sharing the stage with professional anti-gay activists like Peter LaBarbera.

He also sits upon the board [fascists delinked] of Rick Joyner’s "The Oak Initiative" along with people like Porter, Lou Sheldon, Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, and Cindy Jacobs and he recently recorded this video for the organization explaining how his years of Special Forces training in fighting Marxist insurgencies enables him to identify the plot underway to take over America through a variety of means, including President Obama’s attempt to create an army of Brownshirts loyal only to him though the passage of Health Care Reform… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Right Wing Watch>

Here’s the video:

Now the scariest thing here, is that this guy is going to vote. And fools who believe him are going to vote. They’re excited about it!

And (H/T to Color of Change) these people are voing to vote too!!

With that in mind, don’t you think you’d better tell everyone you know to

Vote!

Republican Victory in Uganda?

Posted by TomCat at 1:04 am Politics, Religion

Oct 312010

The the Theocon and InsaniTEA wings of the Republican party may be on the verge of a win in their quest to foment a final solution for Uganda’s gay population. I have previously documented Republican efforts to that end here and here.

Homosexuality may soon be a capital offense in Uganda. David Bahati, Ugandan member of Parliament, and sponsor of Uganda’s notorious "kill the gays" bill, told CNN in a recent interview that the controversial anti-gay bill will become law “soon.”

Once the bill becomes law it will punish homosexuality with life imprisonment or execution.

The law would impose a minimum sentence of life imprisonment to anyone “convicted” of having gay sex: life imprisonment to punish anything from "sexual stimulation to simply touching another person with the intention of committing the act of homosexuality.”

If the accused person is HIV-positive or a serial offender, or a “person of authority” over the other partner, or if the “victim” is under 18, a conviction will result in the death penalty… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Portland Examiner>

The tie in is the C-Street ministry, infamous for providing extreme legislators with cut-rate luxury housing, helping Republican legislators cover up sex scandals and ethics violations, and this. Here’s an old Rachel Maddow video that ties up the lose ends.

If that’s what Republicans think is good for Uganda, what wil;l they do here if they take power?

Vote!

Are Christians At Fault for Gay Abuse?

Posted by TomCat at 1:35 am Editorial, Politics, Religion

Oct 112010

The violence and emotional abuse that I anticipated when the Theocon and InsaniTEA wings of the Republican party ramped up their hate speech against the LGBT community is not coming to fruition at unprecedented levels. Naturally, there has been a reaction from the left to blame Christians for this. On one level, I agree. But if we dig a little deeper, it can be demonstrated that Christians are not at all at fault.

Are Christians responsible for anti-gay bullying? Does religion sanction homophobia?

With gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans-gendered (GLBT) youth often tormented by bullies, one is forced to consider whether or not Christian rhetoric is not at least partially responsible for the bullying behavior.

Christian conservatives assert that homosexuality is a moral disorder. Such assertions create a cultural climate that tacitly legitimizes the stigmatization of gay young people, making them obvious targets for harassment and abuse.

Conservative Christian leaders oppose federal hate-crimes protection for the gay and lesbian community. Focus on the Family, a large and influential body of Christian conservatives, was one of several large and influential Christian groups that gave vigorous opposition to the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, named for a gay man killed for his sexual orientation in Wyoming… [emphasis original]

Inserted from <The Portland Examiner>

The author goes on to complete a compelling case that the religious right is at fault, and I have no argument against his position. I agree with it 100%. My disagreement stems from categorizing the Theocons and InsaniTEAbaggers as Christian.

Jesus said that many would claim to be his followers who are not, so I base my definition of a Christian as one who follows Jesus’ example. On the subject of sexual orientation, whatever he may have said has not been passed down, so we draw a blank there, but we can follow the example of how he treated other people that the religious hierarchy labeled as outcasts. He met them at the point of their need and treated them with kindness and compassion. The only people who he condemned, were the Pharisees and Sadducees. They were the ones who tried to force their own ideas of piety on everyone else, while seldom living up to those codes themselves. They lifted themselves up with their hateful condemnation of others. Does this sound like anyone we know? If you answered Theocons and InsaniTEAbaggers, give yourselves a gold star.

Were Jesus walking the earth today, we would find him helping those who are suffering. He would be in prisons, under bridges, in hospices and AIDS clinics. He would not be in the churches of the religious right. They would not welcome his friends or his teaching.

So I conclude, that the real Christians today follow Jesus’ example by opposing the hatred and intolerance under discussion here, and that those who are responsible for it, are not Christians.

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