Supporting the Separation of Church and State
Archive for March, 2008
Preachers Say the Darndest Things pt1
Categorized: Religion
Tagged: Christianity, Hypocrisy, Religious Freedom, Reverend Wright, Tolerance
By this time I am sure you are at least somewhat aware of the media created “controversy” surrounding Barack Obama’s pastor Reverend Wright. There have been those on the right who have been perpetrating the myth that Barack Obama, on virtue of being a member of Trinity United Church of Christ, is a black racist.
This charge is mostly based upon short out of context sound clips and the fact that Trinity Church serves a black congregation and deals with issues facing the black community. Being totally unfounded and thoroughly debunked I have been expecting the liberal media to shoot this story down. However as always I am disappointed by our liberal media, (why do they always attack the liberals?) so here I am writing about a non-issue instead of something that matters.
Before I get further into this post I want to present the two most commonly seen sound bytes in their original context. Please try to keep an open mind and watch these in full. I believe you will find that while potentially inflammatory the statements made are not at all racist, and only mildly anti-American. By anti-American of course I mean that in the Bush Administration, no accountability, no personal responsibility, for us or against us kind of way.
My primary problem with these stories is the inherent hypocrisy of our media, and by reflection on us as a nation. Religious leaders have a long history of making statements that are offensive and divisive and the statements made by Reverend Wright are nothing out of the ordinary. In fact I would argue that in they pale in comparison to statements made by highly regarded leaders of the religious right. Here are a few quick examples before we move on.
These videos clearly show the depth of conservative religious intolerance and hatred. This filth is significantly worse than the impassioned speech of Reverend Wright, yet the conservatives embrace their leaders while attacking Reverend Wright. In fact these conservatives value the opinion of their hateful religious leaders so much that in order to be a viable Republican candidate you must win their approval. A task that McCain is working desperately to do.
So having accepted that there is an undeniable bias for the conservative religious leaders you must then ask the question of why. Why is Barack Obama being attacked so often that even Chris Wallace is crying foul for attending the Trinity United Church of Christ while John McCain is getting a free pass for pursuing the endorsement of anti-catholic pro-apocalypse Hagee? There are a few theories on this and I will be presenting them tomorrow.
For today I would like to hear your thoughts on the apparent hypocrisy of the media in how they cover conservative religious leaders verses how they are covering Reverend Wright. Please keep comments focused on the difference between how the media and the candidates are treating these two groups. I have no patience for comments about “black racism” and this is absolutely the wrong forum for that conversation. Thanks!
Read the Rest of this Series Here
Monday Morning Funnies
Categorized: Politics
Tagged: John McCain, Just For Fun, McCain Girls
I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend celebrating the spring holiday of your choosing. We had a great time hanging out with family, even managing to get some fishing and dancing in. All in all a great weekend. Sadly though its Monday morning and time to get back to work. So I thought to help us all get going again I would start us off with some funny stuff I came across this weekend.
First.. This humorous Sex Scandal Cheat Sheet. I found this via Crooks & Liars, who in turn found it at mattbors.com. I figured with the never ending stream of sex scandals this may be a good thing for everyone to familiarize themselves with.
Democracy Every 4 Years
Categorized: Republicans
Tagged: 2008 Election, George W. Bush, John McCain, Republican
The other day Vice President Dick Cheney, the 4th branch of the government, responded to the statement from Martha Radatz that “two-thirds of Americans say” the Iraq war “is not worth fighting.” With a blunt “So?”. Now some people found that troubling. Considering the White House’s disdain for the common people I would have been surprised with anything else. Even though the White House may not care, I did assume that public opinion and living in a democratic country still counted for something.
Well, seems I was wrong about that and I bet you were too. The Bush administration is under the assumption that the American Democracy is on a four year cycle. Every four years we enjoy a short period of democracy when our opinion counts, then its right back to living under an oppressive dictatorship. I don’t know how you all feel about this but it seriously pisses me off.
This administration has spent the past 7 years acting like dictators. They have lied and stolen and cheated and bullied their way through every obstacle between them and whatever it is they want to do. In that time they have shredded the constitution, violated the rights and protections due to every American, and broken domestic and international laws at a level that is completely unheard of. In his prime Nixon wasn’t half as corrupt and dishonest as our current administration which is the worst presidency ever.
Well you know what, they may be right about us not having a say until election time. Impeachment is off the table because our Democratic leaders are spineless cowards. Luckily for us though our four year cycle is right around the corner and we not only have a chance to send the Republicans home, but we can show them the door en mass. We started the clean up in 2006 by getting more and better Democrats in office, I say we keep up the cleansing until we once again have a government to be proud of.
I have no assumptions that this administration will ever be held accountable for the crimes it committed, but we don’t have to forget what Republicans do when in power. If your under the delusion that McCain will be somehow better than Bush your living in a fantasy land. McCain has all the bad qualities of Bush but worse. Even the Republicans are having a hard time supporting McCain because of his temper and spiteful nature. A vote for McCain is a vote for a third term for Bush.
I am not saying that the Democrats are wonderful, we all have our flaws. However I would much prefer a President who will come in and try to clean up the mess the Republicans are leaving for us than one who will be just 4 more years of the same. The current mess that our country is in is a direct result of this dictator mentality that Republicans bring. I don’t know how everyone else feels but I am tired of living in a dictatorship so this Fall I will be voting for the party of hope. I don’t think I could explain anything else to my children.
Who Would Jesus Vote For?
William
Happy Spring Holiday
Categorized: Religion
Tagged: Religious Freedom, Tolerance
First off I want to wish all of you a happy Vernal Equinox and/or Easter celebration. I hope that whatever faith you follow and whatever your plans this weekend you have a fun and safe time. Spring is by far my favorite time of year, and the Vernal Equinox is always a big deal in our household. So if your an atheist or don’t have a holiday this weekend enjoy the transition back to Spring.
Every morning we listen to talk radio as we make our commute and this morning I was flipping through stations trying to find one talking about something interesting. One of our local stations was talking about Easter and their plans for the weekend. All in all pretty standard morning radio stuff but it did catch my attention when they started pondering on the odd custom of painting eggs and the connection between Jesus and rabbits.
For those of you who don’t know, there is no connection between these traditional easter symbols and Jesus. The egg and bunny are pagan symbols of fertility and (re)birth and are tied to the original pagan celebration. Easter, like every Christian holiday was appropriated from older pagan beliefs and celebrations. Long before Christianity virtually every civilization on earth celebrated the end of winter and the Vernal Equinox, Easter is simply another ripped off pagan holiday complete with pagan traditions and symbolism.
Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Christianity or their use of the Pagan holidays, traditions, and beliefs. In fact it works out well for many people who can celebrate Easter and Christmas with their families despite differences in religion. My concern is that a large number of Christians do not know the basic history of their religion. Belief without understanding is not faith, its slavery.
So please take the time to do some research on the pagan history of Christianity. I highly recommend this resource on the pagan origins of Easter from ReligiousTolerance.org and this quick primer on pagan history. Not only will you learn a little more about why Christians do many of the things they do, but it will shed light on the natural peace and beauty of the older pagan religions as well. Please don’t blame me though if you discover that not only Easter but every aspect of the Christian religion all the way down to Jesus can be found in much older religions and mythology.
Thanks and have a great weekend!
Who Would Jesus Vote For?
William
P.S. Even though the ecclesiastical vernal equinox is a set date on March 21st the real astronomical vernal equinox was yesterday. Its also important to note that obviously these are reversed for the southern hemisphere who had their autumnal equinox as they make the transition from Summer to Fall.
March Madness
Categorized: Miscellaneous
Tagged: Just For Fun
Okay, there are some stories I have been working on, but its the start of the NCAA tournaments and I wanted to post my picks for the final four. Also since Barack Obama posted his bracket I wanted to see how much better I can do. Actually as far the final four goes were 100% in agreement.
William’s Bracket
Summer’s Bracket
I know some games have been played at this point, but I promise I haven’t had a chance to check scores and edit my bracket. Considering my skill at picking winners I’m sure that will be obvious. I’ll get Summer to post her bracket this evening since she made one up yesterday at work. I havn’t seen it yet so it will be interesting to see who does better.
Feel free to consider this an open thread for discussion on the tournament. Also feel free to mock my selections, though I feel good about my bracket. I may want to take that back after I see todays scores though. I’ll be updating this thread through the tournament so look forward to hearing me gloat when KU wins it all!
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