A classic from theTerri Schiavo Christian fiasco

This is one of my favorite pictures from the protests that took place just prior to Terri Schiavo's death. It speaks volumes...

Thankful? You bet!

So today is thanksgiving. In between the all-you-can-eat Thanksgiving Buffet at the Fiesta Henderson, and the Egg Bowl, I thought I'd post a bit about what I am thankful for.

I am thankful for science. For without science I could not eat turkey without wondering if I was going to die of food poisoning.

I am thankful for Christians (really, I am!). For without Christians persecuting other Christians so viciously, this country would never have been born (or even discovered for that matter). Thank you Christians for that insuppressible appetite to eat your brethren. For without you, dissidents would not have been borne and fought for religious freedom.

I am thankful for elitist. Elitist dole out only what they want to us, but they give us a reason to strive, and learn. I also include Christians as well, for they give us a reason to continue to fight tyranny in our very own country.

Turning to more practical thanks, I wish to thank Juan Cole, Bartholomew's Notes on Religion, PZ Myers, My compatriots at Sadly, No!, The General, and last but certainly not least, all the gang at my favorite Christian web site (because they actually let me post comments there), The Narrow ....

An honorable mention goes out to those wild and crazy (white) guys over at Answers in Genesis for providing me with so much material over the years to prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that by ignoring reality, anything is possible.

Oh, and how could I leave out William Dembski? His ego is larger than God's; anyone who disagrees with him in his "comments" section is placed in the (his) blogosphere's version of hell..... (Go ahead, try it just for fun, just say something like "there are other currently living mathematicians today who are more insightful than Dembski" and Bill will remove your comment. Now that is EGO!


Anyway, I hope this little trollop through my thanksgivings helps a little. It certainly reminds me of what I find stimulating in this world.

Religious Freedom? Ya Gotta be Kidding!

Greetings,

The State Department recently released its 2005 report on International Religious Freedom. If one were to bother actually reading it, the information contained within gives us all the usual suspects; China, North Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc. They all legislate out opposing religions and actively discriminate against its participants.

Does any of this sound familiar? Well it should if you pay attention to the religious right of our very own country. Those countries already have and practice what conservative Christians of this country desperately want: Religious dominance.

Consider just a small sampling of the proclamations of the leaders of the conservative Christians. "This is a Christian nation." "This country was founded on Christian principles." "All our forefathers were Christians, and they intended for this to be a Christian Nation." What they say is pretty much what they want to happen; that is turning our great country, founded on the basic human right of liberty, into a Christian Iran. They want all non-Christian Americans to be taught Christian principles sin school, have Christian prayers forced upon them when they pledge allegiance to this country, proclaim Christian holiday slogans when they don't believe in them, and their ultimate goal:

To have all non-Christians, or even Christians with differing doctrines, be treated as second class citizens.

What evidence do we have of conservative Christians fighting for a Christian Iran?
1. It is vile and evil for store clerks to say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas"
2. Christian prayers are to be recited in school, at sporting events, during governmental proceedings. And not just any Christian prayers; Catholics, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Mormons, need not bother with trying to pray their prayers.
3. Evolution is right out. No science that contradicts the Bible is allowed. Biology is the conservative Christian's primary target, but physics is not far behind. (Physics supports the anti-biblical notions that the earth is not flat, not the center of the universe, that the universe is about 14 billion years old, and that it all began in a "big bang"). Math, too, is a target, as math teaches such anti-biblical things such as the value of pi -- the Bible teaches it is 3.0 (see 2 Chronicles 4:2).
4. Human sexuality (we will discuss homosexuality in particular in the next point) is to be tightly controlled. Teens will not be taught facts, instead only taught the "chained and locked Chastity Belt" method. Pregnancy is to be carried to term for teens, And most importantly, any sexually transmitted disease is to be taught as a punishment from God.
5. Gays get out. No homosexual tolerance is allowed. Gays can either pretend to act "straight" or leave the country. If any person is caught in any "gay act" imprisonment ensues. Gays certainly are not allowed to marry, as that would make them equal with straight marriages. And equality is a sin.
6. Niggers and sand niggers get out (unless you work as a servant to a white person). Need I really say more about this one? This is a "whites only" country.
7. Down on your luck? Starve or get out! Christians only help when you're on your way to becoming wealthier than Bill Gates. If you're just a hard working, yet poorly educated person, then you deserve what you get.
8. Money begets education. No money, tough luck. The government does not provide public education or higher education except unless you're wealthy. (Just try spending a $2,500 school voucher for a $5,000 private education, if you have no extra money.)
9. Jobs, schmobs... It is the worker's fault if their job is sent overseas because they were demanding too much money for salary because they had the insane notion of sending their kids to a better education -- and feeding them.

And finally number 10...

10. Have I mentioned that if you're not the "right" kind of Christian, you might as well not even be Christian? United Church of Christ, they're looking at you!

Does any of this ring familiar? Yes it does, these are all things that Dobson, Robertson, Falwell, Santorum, Bush, Frist, et al. have stated as their goals at one point or another. This is not even touching on all the things they want banned, like dissent, books, and thought and reason. When you put all that in one place and then look at the "sins" of China or Saudi Arabia or Iran, the only difference is the name.

Oh, and have I mentioned that if Christ were alive today, he'd be waterboarding Muslims just like Cheney wants?

Pat Robertson and Sanity

Greetings,

By now we have all heard or read that Pat Robertson enlightened Dover, PA residents as to their fate concerning natural disasters and God. Apparently, because Dover residents voted out Republicans and replaced them with Democrats, Democrats who don't support Intelligent Design, that they have been forsaken by God. (Recall that just a few short weeks ago, our boy Pat also suggested we assassinate Hugo Chavez as well.)

We also have resident badboy Bill O'Reilly advocating the destruction of an American city -- that being San Francisco.

I just have one question to all you conservatives/Christians out there.. So when conservatives advocate or push for destruction of American cities and towns, when they call for God's wrath via natural disasters on individual Americans, that is defined de facto as patriotism; yet when liberals fight to protect the rights of minorities, the sexes, races, religious minorities, the poor, etc. who are quite clearly Americans, they are labeled as unpatriotic?

I guess calling on terrorists to destroy an American city is the new patriotism; calling forthe biblical destruction of an American town is the new patriotism (and Christianity as well).

Who knew that killing Americans was the best way to show patriotism?

Girlfriend Blogging

mel manning her cart

MY girlfriend wanted me to put up a picture of her so she could link to it. I thought I'd help out and see how this works out....