The Gospel According to Hate

Biblical Marriage & Traditional Christian Values

2011-10-11T08:36:00.000-07:00

How can one argue with what's in the Babble?

Come on, conservative Christians, let's stick up for "traditional" values and legislate these religious beliefs:

I came across this chart on Facebook.

Hiatus

2011-09-17T10:08:00.000-07:00

Dear Readers,

I apologize for being away for so long. I thought a few months ago that I would be posting regularly again, but life through a few curve balls. Good ones. One was that my Super Husband Extraordinaire (SHE) and I finally went back to Iowa to make our marriage official. The wedding was fantastic. So in a handful of states, we are now equal citizens.

Also, I'm working on a project that has a completely different voice than this blog, so I've needed to distance myself from the blog's voice while I finish the project. I do hope to return at some point to continue to challenge hypocrisy veiled in religion.

Until then, I remain your happy heretic.

FCKH8.com Confronts Opposite-Sex Marriage Double Standards & Raises Money for Marriage Equality in Minnesota

2011-07-14T09:56:00.000-07:00

Dan Savage and Keith Olbermann Get to the Heart of the Hatred Involved in Religious Homophobia

2011-07-11T10:32:00.000-07:00

In the video below, Dan Savage and Keith Olbermann get to the heart of how religion conditions gay persons to hate themselves. So much of what Savage says speaks true to my past experience of being trained to hate myself as "God created me."

An example of this is in an Advocate article by John Becker, a married gay man, who went undercover and experienced the "ex-gay therapy" offered at Michelle Bachmann's husband's "clinic." So much of what they told Becker is what I was told in Catholic seminary "formation." I'm so grateful that I escaped.

Back to Savage and Olbermann. Savage is brilliant at turning homophobic arguments on their heads. (The first half of the interview is about the Tony-winning The Book Mormon and marriage equality in New York.) Start the video at minute 11:00 to get the point about the homophobia preached by many religions, Christianity in particular.

Here's a little bonus video: "I Believe" from The Book of Mormon.

A Response to Archbishop Dolan's "Afterthoughts" and "Apology" Concerning the Same-Sex Marriage Battle in New York

2011-07-09T10:30:00.000-07:00

Hello, readers. I apologize for the long absence. For my own well-being, I had to take a break from confronting the hatred out there. That said, much has happened in New York where same-sex couples will now enjoy the state-level civil rights that opposite-sex couples enjoy.

Image Credit: CBS News/Mike Segar

Archbishop Timothy Dolan just posted his "Afterthoughts" on his experience of being the mouthpiece for the anti-gay side of the New York marriage equality battle of the past few months. In the response, which you can read in full here, he compares himself to John the Baptist and Thomas Moore, who were both beheaded. He also "apologizes" to any gay persons who may have been offended by anything that he said. (If you recall, he compared same-sex couples marrying to marrying his mother and that polygamy would follow gay rights.)

Here is my response.

Dear +Tim,

You are correct about one thing: "Finally, last point, for us in the Church, not much changes." Exactly, because in the U.S.A. there is a separation of church and state. You can discriminate as much as you want to in your churches and sacraments. That's what you purchase with your tax exemption. But know this: when you come after people's civil rights, you give up your claim to tax exemption. We will continue to fight you to retain our civil rights.

Those of us who are fighting for equal civil rights for LGBT persons are not "theophobic" or anti-religion; we're anti-theocracy. We don't care about your sacramental rights or rites.

I would think you would be anti-theocracy as well, since that's the real reason Thomas Moore was beheaded--he lived in a state where the King believed he was the hand of his god and not the pope's god. World history and your Old Testament show that there is a great danger marrying church and state; it always ends very bloody.

As for your "apology" to those of us who were "unintentionally" hurt by your "defense" of marriage, now you just dilute yourself. You said so many things that were based on unscientific, outdated and historically-abused stereotypes about homosexuals (i.e. the way you linked same-sex marriages to incest, polygamy, and such). You calculated your responses to hit below the belt and to stir the fears of your followers. You stoked hatred against LGBT persons who have been historically repressed and even tortured and murdered (see the Inquisition) in the name of your church.

Your "apology" is as hollow as the arguments you made against marriage equality. How do you look yourself in the mirror in the morning? How do you look gay priests and youth in the eyes? Do you have any idea how hurtful, demoralizing, and harmful your characterizations of homosexuals are? Your "apology" shows how out of touch you are with the virtue of compassion.

Yours outside of Christ,

Heretic Tom

Postscript: In case you forgot, +Tim, here's what the church did to gays in the Inquisition.

Source: Woodcut. Published in the 'Speculum in oculis Domini abominatium' by Franziscus Grotius, Leipzig,1474. Reproduced in 'Inquisition torture instruments from the Middle Ages to the Industrial Age, "Qua d'Arno, Florence, 1985.

Jesus Was Just as Wrong about the Rapture as Quack Harold Camping

2011-05-22T10:38:00.000-07:00

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

Albert Einstein

Fundamentalist Christian and multi-millionaire Harold Camping's doomsday prophecy was wrong. Again.

We're still here. As if there was any doubt.

The BBC reports on the reaction:

Robert Fitzpatrick, a retired transportation agency worker in New York, said he had spent more than $140,000 (£86,000) of his savings on advertisements in the run-up to 21 May to publicise the prediction. After 1800 passed and nothing had happened, he said: "I do not understand why... I do not understand why nothing has happened. I can't tell you what I feel right now. Obviously, I haven't understood it correctly because we're still here."

"I had some scepticism but I was trying to push the scepticism away because I believe in God," said Keith Bauer, who travelled 4,830km (3,000 miles), from Maryland to California, where Mr Camping's Family Radio is based, for the Rapture. "I was hoping for it because I think heaven would be a lot better than this Earth," said Mr Bauer, a tractor-trailer driver, who took the week off work for the voyage.

Other followers said the delay was a further test from God to persevere in their faith.

[Camping] has predicted an apocalypse once before, in 1994, though followers now say that only referred to an intermediary stage.

How did other "mainstream" Christians respond? According to the BBC, "Many Christian groups however dismissed Mr Camping's ideas, with some describing him as a 'false prophet.'"

Here's the thing. The "god is testing our faith" and "false prophet" arguments have been used by Christians for two-thousand years to justify the delay of the parousia -- $140,000 word for "the rapture," Armageddon, Apocalypse Now (and Later), Judgement Day, the end of the world, eschatology or whatever you want to call it.

Mainstream Christians--you know, like Catholics--much like some of Camping's followers, believe that the world is in an "intermediary" stage. But the Catholic Church has a fancy two-thousand-year-old "Tradition" to pimp up its explanation with "accepted" and "scholarly" theology.

Catholics believe in an "already, not yet" realization of their god's "Kingdom" here on earth. Let me dust off my Master of Divinity from the oldest Catholic seminary in the United States to explain this.

Jesus, his disciples, and Paul believed that the end of the world was going to happen in their lifetimes. They instructed people to leave their jobs and families, to stop marrying and having children, and to give away all possessions. This is in the scriptures --"the Kingdom of God [sic] is at hand," "Anyone who does not leave father, mother, sister and brother behind has no place in my Kingdom," and so on. Harold Camping's doomsday claims were a time-tested Christian incentive to trick vulnerable people into draining their bank accounts and children's college funds or to leave their fishing boats rotting on the shores.

Early Christians believed that the world would end within a generation of Jesus' death. But, when it didn't, they had to revamp their eschatology. The shock and fear of this realization is evident in the New Testament, as "believers" struggle to understand and accept the not-so-immanent coming of the "Kingdom." Over the centuries the Catholic Church developed it's "already, not yet" understanding of the coming of the "Kingdom." When Jesus died and "rose" from the dead, the "Kingdom" was made known in the world, but was not yet fully realized. That will happen when Jesus "comes again" and the end of the world.

There will be "false prophets" who will predict the end of the world, but believers should not give into the temptation to believe them. (It seems the Church learned from the mistakes of its founders.) All of this is one big "god is testing our faith" argument.

But today's mainstream Christians call Camping crazy. They are revolted by these modern day quacks who predict the end of the world. They need to take the "Kingdom come" plank out of their own eyes and look at the failed predictions of their Jesus and saints.

Christianity has been wrong for two millennia about the end of the world. One reason that Harold Camping made headlines is to justify the denial that Christians have about the inconstancies, fallacies, and failure of their own scriptures and savior. If Harold Camping is a quack, then so was Jesus of Nazareth.

I feel sorry not for the adults that were scammed by Camping, but for their children. Frightening your children into believing the world will end, now that's child abuse.

Perhaps instead of Harold Camping and his saved followers disappearing, it's time that the world's many gods disappeared.

For Harold Camping...

2011-05-21T13:02:00.000-07:00

Postscript:

The world didn't end and guess who's millions of tax-exempt dollars richer?

CNN reports:

At the center of it all, Camping's organization, Family Radio, is perfectly happy to take your money -- and in fact, received $80 million in contributions between 2005 and 2009. Camping founded Family Radio, a nonprofit Christian radio network based in Oakland, Calif. with about 65 stations across the country, in 1958.

REM Music Tribute to Harold Camping's Homophobic End of the World "Prophecy"

2011-05-20T10:21:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed the billboards around the world? Be afraid! "Judgement Day" is upon us.

Again.

I'm not talking family-values politician Arnold Schwarzenegger's spousal termination and judgment day.

Tomorrow, May 21, 2011, is going to be the start of the five-month Christian "apocalypse." The Christian making this absurd prediction is Harold Camping of Family Radio.

Don't forget to purchase your celebratory t-shirt.

Of course, Camping long ago discovered the lucrative nature of rapturous merchandising. He wrongly predicted the end of the world to happen back in 1994. Why anyone continued to follow him is beyond me. I guess you just gotta "have faith."

Guess which minority is being scapegoated as bringing on the "end times." Ding. Ding. Ding. Went the bell. You guessed it: Gay Pride. (Evil laugh.) Check out homophobic Mr. Camping's incredible document, "Gay Pride: Planned by God as a Sign of the End." Don't be surprised if FamilyRadio.com has crashed. What an omen that would be.

If you are a heretic, who will be left behind after the rapture for five months of unattended sin-time, don't worry. You can join the half a million hellions who are attending the "Post Rapture Looting" party on Facebook. Tonight, I'm camping out on Rodeo Drive.

Schwarzenegger, the GOP, & "Family Values" Hypocrisy

2011-05-18T14:12:00.000-07:00

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

Correction to Yesterday's Post, Martin Luther King Jr. Quote Is Not Completely Accurate But Is Still as Scathing

2011-05-03T11:16:00.000-07:00

The quote attributed to Martin Luther King Jr. that I used in yesterday's post and that is being disseminated in the wake of Osama bin Laden's death is not completely accurate.

Image via Detroit Free Press

A Facebook user posted her own thoughts followed by King's quote. Somewhere in the electronic game of "Telephone" that is social media, her original introductory sentence and the actual King quote were combined into a single quote. Those little things called quotation marks make a huge difference. (See Eats, Shoots & Leaves for more on the importance of proper punctuation.)

The actual quote is from King's book Strength to Love, page 53. It reads:

Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence.

From Maschable.com:

The Detroit Free Press reported that the first sentence — the part referencing “thousands” supposedly comes from Twitter user Jessica Dovey, who tweeted this morning at Jillette: “I am the original author of the ‘MLK’ quote. Somewhere my words got mixed with his.” Jillette then retweeted her tweet containing the admission.

Even if the entire quote didn't come from King's lips, it doesn't devalue the meaning of what's being disseminated. The unblemished King quote is stronger because it doesn't devalue the feelings of relief and redress belonging to those who lost loved ones in the 9/11 attacks. Also, the actual quote is more universal and just as scathing of the condemnatory religious comments by Mike Huckabee, etc. and the actions of those who are boasting.

While America Rejoices in the Death of Osama bin Laden...

2011-05-02T16:06:00.000-07:00

"Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."*

--Martin Luther King, Jr.
*See Correction

If only we as a nation could show that kind of intelligence and control. Instead, the likes of preacher-turned-politician-turned-FOX-personality-turned-politician Mike Huckabee continue the jihad of hatred by welcoming Osama bin Laden to hell.

What happened to "love your enemies and pray for your persecutors"?

   Along with usury, caring for the poor, protecting children, and reaching out to those on the margins, many Christians in the U.S.A. have forgotten their scriptures. The hatred spewing forth across the nation under the guise of celebration will only breed more hatred for the truly ugly American.

   Am I relieved the world is free of one more religious fundamentalist determined to kill in the name of his god? Yes.

   But will I rejoice and boast? This atheist will not.

   Get some class, America.

A Response to Donald Trump's Racism and Disregard for the Dignity of Every Black American

2011-04-28T10:27:00.000-07:00

Baratunde Thurston's heartfelt response to the undying Gospel According to Hate and Racism that fueled the release of President Obama's birth certificate to Donald Trump's Tea Party.

One Cost of Christian & Mormon Homophobia in the Defense of Marriage Act

2011-04-26T15:10:00.000-07:00

Visual Aid: If Marriage Equality Becomes a Reality What Will Happen?

2011-04-13T09:08:00.000-07:00

Here's visual aid concerning all those nasty claims and myths from right wing Christians, Catholics and Mormons concerning same-sex couples' civil-marriage rights courtesy of Political Ironing at the PBH Network.

Will Right-Wing Christians Go after Interracial Marriages Next?

2011-04-10T09:44:00.000-07:00

Public Policy Polling recently released a poll of Republican primary voters in Mississippi. Here's the most shocking result:

46% of these hardcore Republican voters believe interracial marriage should be illegal, while 40% think it should be legal.

No, this isn't 1966 when interracial marriage became legal in Mississippi. This is 2011.

But who are these "hardcore Republicans"?

AOL News shed some interesting light with this tidbit from the polling data:

The PPP poll also revealed that [Sarah] Palin has more support among voters who believe interracial marriage should be illegal than among those who are OK with it. Mitt Romney's numbers reveal just the opposite. He has a higher favorability among Mississippi Republicans who want interracial marriage to remain legal.

Interesting.

One thing I hear all the time from well-intentioned supporters of marriage equality is "Just be patient. The next generation is more accepting. Things will change in another ten or twenty years." Well check out this result from the poll:

Yes, the 18-29 bracket is nearly as racist as the over 65 crowd. How's that for all are created equal? Maybe we should cut billions more from education, fire tens of thousands more teachers, and give more corporations tax cuts, so that more and more of our young never learn about the radical nature of their nation's Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and history of civil rights that deplore such racism, bigotry, and hatred. Dog bless America.

Plural Marriage, Racism, Homophobia, and Armageddon for "Big Love"

2011-03-20T10:51:00.000-07:00

   Tonight is the series finale of HBO's polygamist-family drama Big Love.

   Here's a clip in honor of Bill Henrickson and his "true" Mormons:

   Because the other "true" Church of Latter Day Saints knows about the sanctity of marriage:

Some LDS claim plural marriage is an immutable pillar of their faith. Others have spent millions of dollars on smear campaigns against same-sex couples in an attempt to prove the Mormon church believes marriage is, has been, and always will be, as their God commanded, between one man and one woman. But they are hypocrites. LDS teachings are mutable.

Or do they still believe the once-immutable teaching that African-Americans and other persons of color are the cursed descendants of Cain? Polygamist Brigham Young did. Here's a Young quote from a Utah State University Secular Humanists, Atheists, and Free Thinkers article, entitled, "Why I Don’t Believe: Racism in Mormon History and Doctrine:"

Shall I tell you the law of God in regard to the African race? If the white man who belongs to the chosen seed mixes his blood with the seed of Cain, the penalty, under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so. (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Volume 10, page 110)

Tonight, as I say goodbye to the Henricksons, I can only hope that someday the Mormon church will say goodbye to its homophobia as it did to its racism.

Image via Entertainment Weekly

PS. If gays were as dominant in football as African-Americans, would the LDS drop its teachings condemning homosexuals to improve BYU's chances of winning a national championship?

Lawrence O'Donnell Blasts FOX's Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck for Their "Concerns" about Japan

2011-03-17T23:35:00.000-07:00

Here's Lawrence O'Donnell's reaction to Bill O'Reilly's claims that the news media is falsely "hyping" the tragedy in Japan, while O'Reilly's FOX compatriot Glenn Beck invokes Revelation, "these days," and the end of the world as we know it. Beck's god "may or may not be" punishing Japan with the earthquake/tsunami and "may or may not be" coming to eradicate the human race. O'Donnell blasts Beck's fear-driven eschatology and hate-based theology. How refreshing to see reason over religion on the news!

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

Non-Believers Giving Aid -- Disaster Relief Fund for Japanese Earthquake; Glenn Beck Attributes Disaster to His god

2011-03-15T11:08:00.000-07:00

If you would like to contribute to a relief fund for those devastated by the Japanese earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster, but do not want to donate to a religious organization that might use this tragedy as an opportunity for proselytism, click here: Non-Believers Giving Aid. Why? Because this is the only world and only life that we and those harmed in Japan have got.

This is a link to the most overwhelming photos that reveal the level of total destruction that I have seen. These folks need our help.

Meanwhile, Glenn Beck continues to proudly display his ignorance and prejudice by attributing the tragedy to God and wielding fear to control and convert viewers to their versions of Christianity. The Washington Post reports:

Glenn Beck is already speculating on the disaster’s divine message: “I’m not saying God is, you know, causing earthquakes,” the conservative pundit said on Monday’s show. But Beck added that he’s “not not saying that, either.”

“Whether you call it Gaia, or whether you call it Jesus, there’s a message being sent and that is, ‘Hey, you know that stuff we’re doing? Not really working out real well.’ Maybe we should stop doing some of it.”

Beck later referenced the Ten Commandments, and sugested that following them is an antidote to global chaos. “What do you say we start doing those things?” he asked. “Because the things we are doing really suck. And they’re not getting better.”

I'm sure that Beck's god appreciates Beck's use of the work "suck" in his preaching.

As for the "I'm not saying but I'm not not saying double speak," Mr. Beck, I leave you with the words of your Jesus: "Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No.' Anything more is from the evil one." (The Sermon on the Mount, Mt 5:37).

Gay Military Veteran and Other Marriage Equality Protesters Denied Entry to Speaker John Boehner's Office

2011-03-15T10:32:00.000-07:00

Wisconsin, Michigan, Washington, Public vs Private Sector, Salaries, Unions, Tax Cuts, Corporations, Greed, Religion, Hypocrisy, & the Republican Jesus Christ of the Upper Class: David Koch -- A Lament for Our Time

2011-03-12T01:03:00.000-08:00

Good Christian white rich men rejoice! With ~~heart~~ and ~~soul~~ and voice! If Calvin was right and the Prosperity Gospel is true, then you are on your way to heaven. Only, you may not want to stay long as your Jesus will be hanging out with the poor people who's rights, benefits, and livelihoods you've crushed.

You say it's the middle class and public employees that are bankrupting America, especially those money-hoarding teachers, power-hungry nurses, and lazy road-construction workers. You hypocrites! You forget, that we are the poor souls are paying your salaries.

Gov. Scott Walker's Tax-Funded Housing

Public employee Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin (Republican/Baptist), who with his Republican congress broke Wisconsin state open-meeting law to strip workers of their right to unionize, receives a state-provided salary: $137,092 (This was also his starting salary.) Those greedy public school teachers that you, good Baptist Walker, accuse of being overpaid, what do they make? The starting salary for a school teacher in Wisconsin is $25,222. The average salary of a Wisconsin public school teacher is $52,644. Why are you complaining, Walker? That's a deal, as the teachers and other public workers aren't provided with the same benefits as you, like a governor's mansion. If you really want equality, then every public employee of Wisconsin should have his/her housing paid for, like you. Hypocrite. (For more fun salary statistics see the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.)

Gov. Rick Snyder's Tax-Funded Housing

Public employee, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder (Republican/Presbyterian), who is pushing for his GOP-controlled legislature to pass a bill that will allow him to appoint an "emergency manager" in "financial emergencies" with the power to throw out the state's publicly-elected officials and replace them with private workers of his choice, has the third highest salary of any governor in America: $177,000--before the mansion. Those GOP legislators in Michigan each make $71,685. I wonder, dear legislators, if that would be enough pay were you stuck all day in classroom of thirty clueless kindergarten students or cleaning bedpans for a patient with a highly contagious disease in a state hospital? Oh, and you wouldn't get your $12,000 expense account for shlepping actual fecal matter.

Speaker of the House John Boehner (Roman Catholic), who is fighting like a saint to cut programs that serve the poor and middle class, while extending and expanding tax cuts to large corporations and the upper class, is paid a salary of $223,500 of those middle and lower class' tax dollars. Boehner's left hand, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Baptist), makes $193,400; his right hand, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (Jewish--Okay, so they're not all Christian hypocrites), $193,400. The current salary for "rank and file members" of the U.S. legislature is a measly $174,000. But you, six-figure politicians, demonize snowplow drivers, waterworks employees, firefighters, postal workers, and police officers for draining the nation's resources. (And let's not forget, that we tax payers are buying you anti-government-provided-healthcare Republicans the best government-supplied healthcare our tax dollars can buy, even though many of us don't have jobs that provide us with health insurance benefits.) Speaker Boehner, next time you get teary eyed talking about how horrendous the recession has been on the American people, I will personally bite my thumb at you and your Bush-Obama tax breaks for the wealthy, you members of congress, who during the first year of the recession saw your median personal fortunes rise from $785,515 to $911,510. Yes, you really do know what it's like to walk in my middle class shoes.

So, why don't all of you Tea Party/Republican politicians put your money where your mouth is and lower your wages, benefits, and expense accounts to the average made by your fellow public workers? In Wisconsin, you would drop to a salary of $50,774; in Michigan, $58,801; and in Washington, DC, $82,607 (which is only $457 more than DC's private sector workers. Hmm. I wonder if the immense cluster of elected public officials and their six-figure salaries have anything to do with DC leading the nation's average public-sector salary?). Or better yet, you should all work for free. When you each average nearly a million dollars in personal wealth, why should we be paying you?

But the public money that the Scott Walkers and John Boeners of the world are being paid is peanuts compared to the billions their benevolent benefactors are making thanks to unprecedented tax cuts, courtesy of the political lobbying and campaign donations bought and paid for by multi-billionaire heir David Koch (Roman Catholic) and the like.

Mister Koch--Or shall we refer to you as "Master"?--you might want to catch up on the social ethics of your own precious Holy (Dysfunctional) Mother Church, who has supported the right of workers to join unions and collectively bargain, not to mention a just wages, universal healthcare, taxation of the rich, and service to the poor, alien, and ill. Of course, Mother Church is still giving you and your Speaker Boehner communion, which makes her a hypocrite, as well.

Oh, America, when did you become so ungrateful? Oh, Middle Class, when did you become so ignorant, so easily duped? When will you wake up and see that the problem is not that public workers are paid too much but that private workers, whose corporate overlords are stuffing their pockets via tax loopholes they've bought and secured with your votes, are paid too little! You are fighting over the difference of a few thousand dollars, while the upper class of our nation, Wall Street thieves, and corporate hoarders are transferring wealth from the middle class to the upper 2% at unprecedented proportions. The Forbes 400, the richest 400 individuals in the nation, have no amassed more wealth than a combined 155 million Americans.

Yes, 0.0001% of the American public holds 50% of the nation's wealth. Don't believe me, take it up with Forbes and simple math (although I had to get out my old scientific calculator to divide 400 by 310,964,000). Trickle down economics--the warrior's cry of the Republican politicians of my youth--has shed it's grace on thee, upper 0.0001%.

But still, the GOP wants to extend tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans at the expense of the poor and middle class. This chart from the Center for American Progress says it all:

If faced with such an immoral disparity, what would Jesus do?

Apparently, the Jesus of the United States of America would take back the loaves and fishes he'd given to the middle class of Wisconsin, shake the snow from his sandals, and walk across the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers to Wichita so he could hand-feed David Koch.

Farmers Join Wisconsin Public Labor Protests

I've heard the middle and lower classes despairing on Facebook and in the streets, "What can we do?" "We're helpless." "We don't have the money to influence politicians like the corporations and billionaires do." Well still have the votes, although the upper class is working pretty hard to take those away from us too. We have the numbers. It's time to STRIKE! If every public employee in this nation stopped working for one or two days, the nation would come to a standstill. And even David Koch couldn't save the upper class then.

Postscript: In my years as a Catholic school student, seminarian, and priest, I never once heard a private sector/Catholic school teacher or parish employee, who was making between twenty and forty thousand dollars while trying to feed a natural-family-planning family of four or five children, ever say, "You know, I'm making just the right amount of money for what I do." So, let's not blame the state for being too generous to school teachers, when it's the private sector who refuses pay its workers a just wage.

Hug a teacher!

Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia Suspends 21 Priests for Sexual Abuse, Is It 2002 Again?

2011-03-09T10:59:00.000-08:00

Here's the NPR report from Philadelphia (My comments are interspersed.):

The archbishop of Philadelphia has suspended 21 priests connected to allegations of child sex abuse, the latest in a series of actions by the archdiocese to deal with findings in a disturbing grand jury report released last month. The grand jury report accused a monsignor, three priests and a parochial schoolteacher of abusing kids or failing to prevent abuse by others. It also said that as many as 37 priests remained in active ministry with allegations or reports of inappropriate behavior or sexual abuse of minors...

I'm relieved that these 21 abusive priests in Philadelphia have been removed from ministry and will not have access to children. But it's been over nine years since this iteration of the sexual abuse scandal in the Roman Catholic Church broke into national headlines from Boston. What took Philadelphia so long to act?

Cardinal Rigali, Serious about Pedophiles

NPR continues:

Cardinal Justin Rigali said in a statement that he's sorry for the harm done to the victims of sexual abuse and is determined to work for a solution that deals effectively with the issue in the church. Rigali added that he knows many people's trust in the church has been shaken, and that he prays that the efforts of the archdiocese to address these cases and re-evaluate how it handles such allegations will help rebuild that trust in truth and justice.

It's been nine years since Boston and nearly 30 years since the media started widespread reporting of Catholic priests sexually abusing children in the early 1980s. The church has had thirty years to, as Cardinal Rigali stated, "work for a solution that deals effectively with the issue in the church." They have failed miserably.

The Dallas Charter, which the US Catholic Conference of Bishops promulgated in June 2002, was touted as to be the church's greatest response to prevent sexual abuse, remove abusive clerics from ministry, and prove to the nation that they were trustworthy. Since its implementation, this charter has been consistently ignored and violated by bishops throughout the nation.

So today, when a story breaks that the Archdiocese of Philadelphia has suspended 21 more priests due to allegations of child sexual abuse while leaving "as many as 37 priests with allegations" in active ministry, why anyone, Catholics included, would believe that the church is effectively protecting its children is beyond me.

Here's a bit more more the NPR article:

The archdiocese's move is a "long overdue and welcomed step," says David Clohessy, the executive director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP. But "it's only a very partial first step. It would be incredibly naive for anybody to think that a mere suspension of these men somehow signifies a new day in the archdiocese," Clohessy says. "Anytime a credibly accused child molester is publicly identified or suspended, kids are safer. However, it's crucial to remember that the grand jury found widespread fault and deceit and recklessness by church officials."

But Patrick Wall, a former Roman Catholic priest who is now a canon lawyer in California, says the grand jury report and the moves by the archdiocese mark a historic moment. "This report takes it to another level because they go after the vicar for clergy — that person who has the authority of the Archbishop Justin Rigali to handle priest affairs and priest assignments, and that person now is being called to justice," says Wall, who has worked on priest sex abuse cases across the country. He says the situation in Philadelphia could have ripple effects on litigation nationwide. "It really does change the face of things, because not only can we look to the bishop or the religious superior, but now we can specifically look at how different lower, midlevel managers could be charged with child endangerment," Wall says.

We can only hope that some of the "princes of the Church" will finally face the criminal charges they deserve.

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Anti-Gay Christian Fundamentalist Rev. Grant Storms Arrested for Masturbating in Public Park while Watching Children

2011-02-28T16:19:00.000-08:00

Hypocrisy alert: Rev. Grant Storms, another outspoken, hate-spewing, anti-gay Christian cleric, goes down in a sex scandal involving children.

The Times-Picayune reports:

The Rev. Grant Storms, a Christian fundamentalist best known for his bullhorn protests of the Southern Decadence festival in the French Quarter, was arrested for allegedly masturbating at a Metairie park Friday afternoon...Storms told deputies that he was merely having lunch at Lafreniere Park, 3000 Downs Blvd., in his van when he decided to relieve himself using a bottle instead of using the restroom, an incident report said.

But two witnesses said they saw Storms through the open windows of his van masturbating himself while watching children on the playground, the report said.

Armed with bullhorns, Bibles and picket signs, Storms and a group of followers in 2003 protested against Southern Decadence, the gay three-day festival held over Labor Day weekend in the French Quarter. Storms' efforts prompted the New Orleans City Council to ban megaphones and other amplification devices.

And we gays are the ones they're calling pedophiles.

Rev. Storms, Masturbator,

and Possible Pedophile

The Taliban and the Tea Bagger, Part MMMDCCLXIII: Loving Christian Republicans Laugh at Town Hall Question, "Who Is Going to Shoot President Obama?"

2011-02-25T09:49:00.000-08:00

Here's a follow-up to yesterday's post.

Salon reports:

Here's the latest evidence that nothing has changed in post-Tucson America: A person at a Tuesday town hall with Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga. [Baptist], got up and asked, "Who is going to shoot President Obama?"

The exact wording of the question is not clear because, the Athens Banner-Herald reports, there was a lot of noise at the event. Perhaps more significant than the question was the response of the crowd and Broun, who is a member of the Tea Party Caucus and one of the most right-wing members of Congress.

The question prompted a "big laugh" from the crowd, in Oglethorpe County, Ga., according to the Banner-Herald. Broun, for his part, did not object to the question. [Click here for the rest.]

This comes on the heels of Indiana's Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Cox calling for the use of deadly force against the teachers, nurses, police officers, fire fighters, other public servants, who are protesting for their long-held (and once bipartisan-supported) right to collectively bargain. Thankfully, Cox was fired for encouraging such terror and violence.

So much for any post-Tuscon civility. On average, 34 Americans die from guns every day. If you are looking for gun laws to change and a way to help bring down the statistics, check out Mayors Against Illegal Guns. They are a bi-partisan coalition trying to do something about this gun-inflicted terror raging within our nation.

As for the anti-union, anti-healthcare reform, anti-government GOP myth, how quickly they have forgotten their party's history. Look at what a little bit of history reveals about Presidents Reagan, Eisenhower and Nixon (from the San Francisco Chronicle's article about the California Assembly recognizing President Reagan a few weeks ago):

"Eisenhower supported unions, and Nixon advanced health care reform that was more ambitious than what President Clinton proposed and certainly more than what President Obama got," he said. "President Reagan was a member of a union. He was the first president to allow a black couple to spend an evening at the White House. And he even imposed taxes when he was the governor of California. He created the welfare program in California, and he did it not only as a Republican but as a patriot. It's important to recognize his contributions."

The speeches prompted one Democratic staffer at the back of the chamber to quip, "Who's this left-wing nut job they're talking about?"

The answer: someone they would threaten to shoot, were he president today.

"Highlights" for Adults: the Tea Partier and the Taliban

2011-02-24T10:23:00.000-08:00

Here's a simple exercise reminiscent of the ones I completed in Highlights as a child, but this one is for adults. What happens when a tea partier and a Taliban run into each other?

Via BuzzFeed:

President Obama Finally Comes Out Against the Defense of Marriage Act & Refuses to Defend It in Court

2011-02-23T12:39:00.000-08:00

This is a huge and long-fought victory in the fight for marriage equality and to repeal the hateful discrimination that is the Defense of Marriage Act. The National Journal reports:

President Obama believes that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional and will no longer defend the 15-year-old law in federal court, the Justice Department announced today. The decision, which stunned and delighted gay-rights activists, means that the administration will withdraw its defense of ongoing suits in two federal Appeals Courts and will leave it to Congress to defend the law, known as DOMA, against those challenges. It will remain a party to the lawsuits. The law itself remains in effect. DOMA, signed by President Clinton in 1996, allows states not to recognize same-sex marriages preformed in other states and provides a federal definition for “marriage” that excludes same-sex couples.

In a statement, Attorney General Eric Holder said, “After careful consideration, including a review of my recommendation, the president has concluded that, given a number of factors, including a documented history of discrimination, classifications based on sexual orientation should be subject to a more heightened standard of scrutiny”. . .

The decision means the Justice Department will cease to defend two suits brought against the law. The first was a summary judgment issued in Gill et al. v. Office of Personnel Management and Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. United States Department of Health and Human Services last May by the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts. The plaintiffs challenged the constitutionality of the law’s definition of “marriage” as a legal union between a man and a woman.

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