VirusHead

More excerpts from the Blog Against Theocracy blogswarm. Here’s my own post.

46) Hullabaloo: “Theocracy, however, is not religious, but political expression. Privately, and within his church and congregation, Joe Morecraft is entitled to worship (or not) as he sees fit. However, Morecraft is not entitled to immunity from criticism, let alone tolerance, when – as will become quite clear – he heaps contempt on American democracy, distorts American history, and openly advocates the overthrow of the US government and its replacement with a sadistically violent totalitarian state. When he does so by appropriating biblical iconography and texts – which he arbitrarily and perversely interprets as providing him and his pals with a monopoly on the truth of God’s will – it is Joe Morecraft, not I, who deeply insults all Christians.”

47) Not Soccer Mom: “Every day my son is mandated to repeat the Pledge of Allegiance in school. I object to the words “under GOD” in the pledge. I base my objection on the fact that there should be no GOD in a public school. No “under GOD,” no singing “GOD Bless America,” no “GOD bless you.” But in fact, there is. So far, I’ve “just” done what my mom did for me: told the teachers that my son will not be saying that part of the pledge, but will remain silent while those two words are chanted.”

48) The Neo-Skeptic: “But Bob Ellis’ ability to reason is clouded by his mistake that being religious makes him “right”. … Religion is Good. Politics is Good. Religion in Politics is Bad. … I practice the intellectual restraint to keep my spirituality separate from my political beliefs. Why can’t you? Are you that weak-minded?”

49) Ordinary Girl: “The chinks were there: the history of the compilation of the New Testament and the books destroyed in the process; the Sumerian and Babylonian myths that were so close to the early Old Testament myths, yet were written down long before; the fact that I had to be subservient because I was a woman; and many more. But the fact that I had faked much of my spirituality lay locked up inside me. I didn’t think about it until much, much later.”

50) Blast Off!: “I consciously departed from organized religion not so much because I became disenchanted with my tautological belief system, but rather because religion had become indistinguishable from politics in much the same way that Reese’s cups happened when peanut butter became indistinguishable from chocolate. In short, the impending theocracy drove me away from religion, because I believe wholeheartedly in the constitutional separation of church and state. And so I see “neurotheology” from a unique perspective, as one who tried to find a cognitive rationale for religion and, finding none, finally accepted that religion rests wholly on faith, which cannot be truly rational.”

51) Recovering Liberal: “I can see a key chapter in our version of a holy book, being dedicated to the words of John Lennon; specifically, “And in the End, The Love You Take Is Equal to the Love That You Make”. This line, while often forgotten in the intervening years since it was sang thirty plus years ago, is worthy of a book all to itself. One of these days, perhaps, we will write this book, or else, as they say in the trade, cause it to be written. As to the rest of our dogma, and this word, to be honest, gives me the creeps, I can see a Wiki approach, where any of the faithful, so inspired, are encouraged to share their thoughts with the group, who will then decide what to keep and what to retool.”

52) Blue Gal: “Jesus of Nazareth was nailed to a tree by the political and religious CONSERVATIVES of his day because they mistakenly thought they had power and that he threatened that power. ANY Christian, myself included, who thinks they would have rescued Jesus from the cross, that certainly WE wouldn’t have gone along with Pilate and Judas and abandoned him like Peter, are just kidding themselves. And those right-wingers who think they’re really serving the cause of Jesus by electing Republicans, or working to make America a “Christian” nation? … Here’s the deal about Christians, though. We’re not all Pat Robertson, and I refuse to allow the Religious Right to define what Christianity is, for me, or for my readership.”

53) Club Lefty: “We see it in the volunteer, and the prison minister. In the soup kitchen and the person who gives his time for the less fortunate to better themselves. We normally don’t see it in the windy politician who makes the greatest show of faith. The sad fact is that those most likely to be the noisiest in their public displays of faith these days are most likely the least Christlike amongst us, being filled with pride and self importance, and forwarding policies which do not reflect the teachings of Jesus. Let him without sin pass the first law which condemns a transgressor to death. Let him without sin start the next war which kills people by the thousands. I rather suspect the truly Christlike amongst us are not passing laws. They are minimally concerned with the massive political issues of our times and are neck deep in helping those Jesus helped in his day.”

54) VirusHead: Here’s my own favorite bit (besides the thing about dominionists as “when Jehovah’s Witnesses attack”). “Whatever your religious tradition or inclination, I would ask you – please – to take a moment or two to reflect upon the nuggets of spiritual insight that you may have collected and found to be valuable and wise. Consider whether any of them involve hatred, domination, or control over others. It is an insecure (and I think inauthentic) kind of faith that cannot stand on its own merits and inspire others with its goodness. It is pure spiritual arrogance – hubris, really – to believe that anyone has the whole truth about God, or that they must impose it on everyone else. We are human. To target fellow humans simply because they do not subscribe to one fallible interpretation of what God may want of humanity is profoundly anti-religious. To do so at the level of government is anti-American. And to do so under the mantle of a claim of divine authority may be the closest thing I know of to blasphemy.”

55) Progressive Historians: “These are the fruits of theocracy. Theocracy made it ok to terrorize my sisters — and no three people you could ever hope to meet are less deserving of such treatment than they. Theocracy made it ok to force the one openly gay kid in my high school to run away from home, to flee for his life. Theocracy made it ok to keep the friend I went back to rescue under the total control of her abusive parents even when she was nearly 28 years old. Theocracy made it ok for people I knew to try to kill me just because I didn’t adhere to a certain warped version of Christianity.”

56) Flatus the Elder: “Our founders were quite sure that they did not want to be controlled by government sponsored religion and wanted to provide protection against governmental interference in the practice of different faiths. The first amendment to the constitution clearly provides freedom of and from religion. We have come to a point in time when the Christian faith has been so corrupted and defiled that the separation of church and state is the one constitutional tenet that can stop the destruction of our American Democracy. Jesus is no longer the embodiment of God’s love for all mankind.”

57) Letters to Theo Cracy (Robert Colgan): “Her daughter’s death was a blow to everyone. The government program that would have provided medical help for her to cease an unwanted pregnancy —after the rape– was stopped when you refused to allow doctors to treat women because the church canon law forbids any such procedures. She died of hemorrhage.”

58) Laughing Goo: “Right now, ultra-right-wing conservatives wish to continue their attempts at creating a dictatorship in this country; A dictatorship where the GLBT & Pagan communities will be treated as second-class citizens… or worse. They wish to limit free speech to only those who agree with them. Workers rights will be but a distant dream thanks to the more republicanised christian supremacists. Women will be designated back to being property & brood mares.”

59) Blue Wren: “Here in America, you are free to believe all of it, or some of it, or a little of it. You can also believe in Allah, live your life according to Taoist teachings or celebrate Beltaine with an earthy pagan ritual. You can believe in Santa Claus, elves and UFOs. And in America, you are free to choose not to believe in any of it, but base your view of life on science, wonder and the joy of being alive. You can celebrate Easter as a religious holiday or celebrate it as the return of spring and an end to the cold, harsh weather and desolation of winter. You can choose not to celebrate anything. What you are not free to do in America is force me to believe like you do. A theocracy is a government ruled by or subject to religious authority. It’s political, not spiritual. Theocracies smash the single, universal Golden Rule observed by nearly all decent people all over the world, no matter their religion or lack of it: Treat others as you would like to be treated.”

60) Liberal Street Fighter: “The fake certitude of religion periodically pulls societies toward extremism, toward abandoning the very things which more moderate believers claim to support. This culture, awash in greed, a violent nation within and without, lacking in forgiveness or redemption, a nation of torturers and bullies and brutes. This “Christian” nation worships power and death. This sad truth, this terrible flower, has sprouted from the manure of belief, and moderates have watered its growth by stopping the rest of us from washing it away.”

More of my favorite excerpts from the Blog against Theocracy blogswarm. The VirusHead post is here.

31) Creekside: “If there’s no Chocolate God, then who is looking after Chocolate Heaven? Huh?”

32) Action Skeptics: “If you cannot do it on September 11, you might as well not do it any other time. Other times it’s easy to speak against violation of the separation clause. When it’s being actively and maliciously violated on a large scale by ignorant and belligerent power brokers, it’s the easiest thing in the world to shout and rally against them, and you’ll have many on your side. When it’s being quietly and benevolently violated in a moment of emotional turmoil, when you know you’ll be the lone voice of dissent with two dozen eyes shooting daggers at you as you violate the sanctity of their understandable rage and anguish, when you risk the greatest offense by placing the sanctity of the individual over the sanctity of collective mourning, that is when you must stand up and say something. That moment, right then.”

33) God Vs. Darwin: “Separation of church and state is under threat as it has been like no time in recent history. Don’t even make me mention Terry Schiavo. As a non-believer, this has always given me pause, but the reality is that even believers should be concerned about this too. Separation of church and state protects you guys as much as it does me. There’s a reason that not only was this right included in the ole bill o’ rights, but was put out there as NUMBER ONE! The founders (and yes, most of them (though not by any means all) were very religious) knew how important this was. They’d seen what happens when the church and state are one and the same and it ain’t pretty. We know this mixing is a bad idea when we see it in places like Iran? Why can’t more people see that it’s still a bad idea?”

34) At Center Network: “The Federal Government is soliciting bids for a contract. They want to pay someone to set up rehabilitation programs for prisoners. Rehabilitating prisoners is important, and it’s hard to do, so you might think the government would want to give the contract to whoever could do the best job. But a lot of competent people aren’t even going to be allowed to bid on this contract, because in order to get this contract, you have to use a faith-based approach to rehabilitation. In other words, you have to preach religion to the prisoners. When the Bush administration announced it would allow faith-based organizations to provide government funded services, it might just have seemed that parochial schools would be allowed to rent their gyms for after-school basketball programs just like the public schools did. Now we see what Bush really had in mind, which is to rig the contracting process so that religious organizations are the only ones that can get the contracts.”

35) Dog Emperor: This one is a must-read, no excuses. “To people who say ‘It can’t happen here’…well, at least in Central America, it has happened before, not once, but twice–in coups supported by dominionists here in the States, and being frightening proof (especially in the second case) that even a democratically elected government can all too easily turn into the Republic of Gilead in “real life”. We forget Guatemala’s history of dominionist horror–far more recent than the era of the conquistadores but dating more from the 50’s onward, and being especially flagrant in the 70’s and 90’s–at our gravest peril. Guatemala’s hell shows all too easily how it can happen.”

36) Americans United Blog: Another must-read. “In his announcement, which included a new Web site and a series of seminars nationwide, [Alberto] Gonzales released a 43-page document purportedly showing the DOJ’s hard work on behalf of religious freedom. Civil liberties groups were quick to point out that the DOJ has some odd ideas about what constitutes religious liberty. Its lawyers included in the report the DOJ’s support for religious school voucher subsidies and backing for religious discrimination in hiring in government-funded faith-based projects – both stances at odds with true religious liberty.”

37) Feminists Don’t Bake Bread: “YO EVERYONE! If you’re going to quote something in the Bible, can you please try and remember it’s socio-political background and take that into account when attempting to sort out its meaning? Thus, the statement ‘Turn the other cheek’ does not mean ‘walk away from a problem’. Not in the context in which Jesus said it, not in that place, in that time. It doesn’t mean ‘Let them hit you again until they stop’, either, which is what used to be told to some women who complained about domestic violence to some pastors and some priests.”

38) I Speak of Dreams:

39) Half Nixon: “I think religion, whether sincerely believed or cynically invoked, is part of the shroud in which a deceitful administration have long successfully wrapped themselves. And yet, I don’t want to offend people and especially family who haven’t been able to resist the coercive force of youthful brainwashing. This is at least partially in fear of pious villagers with torches, pitchforks, and other implements of destruction storming my Frankenstein castle. I think a million opportunities to ease the grip of religious fundamentalism are missed in a similar fashion by rational people everywhere, everyday.”

40) About Kitty: “I accept that military chaplains serve a purpose of allowing for freedom of religious expression (with limits) to members of the military. Can anyone provide any good reasons (other than ‘historical tradition’) why taxpayers should be paying for a chaplain for a group of state employees (who happen to be working in the legislature), and not other employees?”

41) Atheist Revolution: “It is clear that many Christian extremists seek an American theocracy. It is equally clear that this is a threat to our democracy. With Bush in office, we have seen an erosion of democracy, a substitution of science with faith as a basis for policy, and a recasting of the world in terms of good and evil.”

42) Everything and more: “Paying a mother $500 not to have an abortion, is of course madness. The $500 does not even cover her cost for food during pregnancy. This bribe would appeal very much to drug-addicts, resulting in even more kids born with challenges. A few months ago, I met a teenager whose mother was a drug-addict, so he was placed with his grandmother after numerous foster homes failed. He was mistreated in a number of the foster homes. I met him after he had been placed with his grandmother. It was very obvious that the grandmother was addicted to drugs (crack cocaine maybe?). She hit the kid, yelled at him, curse at him, and was paranoid. If he so much as looked at her, she started yelling that he was stealing from her, and that he hit her. She did not think it was necessary for him to go to school. The poor kid. He seemed to be a good enough kid, but how can you possibly turn out right having to live in an environment like that. A few days after I met him, he was sent back to his mother. I wonder what his life is like now.”

43) An American in Melbourne: Same post as #33 above… hmm.

44) A Blog Around the Clock: “Inventing new frames is not easy (and Lakoff is notoriously famous for being bad at it). At first, the new phrase will jar. Remember when the “death tax” phrase was first used? Everyone stopped in their tracks and thought and talked about it – what it really means. But now, when you hear it, you don’t stop to think about it. It evokes a conservative anti-tax frame without any conscious effort on your part. You cannot use new frames in short-term battles – you just baffle people. New frames have to pounded and pummeled into the public discourse for several years before they move from consciousness to subconsciousness.”

45) Mock Paper Scissors: “Now imagine applying for a job there and being asked who your minister is, or which church you belong to. You might be the best medical tech in the ER, but the local faith-funded clinic would not hire you if you did not match their faith profile, and it is perfectly legal. Welcome to Chimpy McStagger’s America.”

More to come…

More favorite bits from the Blog Against Theocracy blogswarm. In case you want to see it, my post is here.

16) Vagabond Scholar: One of my favorite posts. Don’t miss the comedy videos. “What I find wonderful about Freedom of Religion, the First Amendment and the separation of church and state is the multiplicity of viewpoints it allows. Socially, America has its cultural pressures, but legally, it can be viewed as both pro-religion and pro-atheist (or at least, neutral). One person might see providence in the fall of a sparrow, but another may see a dead bird (and a cat may see lunch). I know devoutly religious people who are among the most original, independent thinkers I’ve ever met, and I know atheists who are among the most moral. As a religion teacher I heard once put it, ‘There are many paths up the mountain.’ Many of those paths involve some sort of spirituality, some involve religion, and some involve atheism or agnosticism. I believe in a path that appreciates comedy. I believe in reverent irreverence.”

17) Clyde the f-ed up cousin of Jimmy Dean: “It’s all about control. Those who are genuinely spiritual don’t need to control others. The streaming spiritual center within them creates a satisfaction that needs nothing more. For those who blocked-ly are stuck in the superficial, that search for satisfaction creates a sense of bewilderment and disorganization, frustration. By attempting to organize –to control– their world and all who live in it, they are also attempting to reach a level of satisfaction that will in their view only happen when everything is perfectly lined up and placed in exactly the right spot. It’s not unlike a key making all the tumblers within a lock reach the opening alignment. By controlling and aligning others they are trying to reach their own spiritual core. But you can’t control others except through massive attempts to generate fear, through physical and psychological intimidation, through manipulation by legislating, through imposing rules governing “proper” behavior. Or by trickery: Lies, Deceit. The sense that people are free to choose for themselves how they wish to live is NOT part of this script. And the more superficial types there are, the greater the chance that their control efforts will succeed.”

18) The Shikon Jewel: “Despite all of this, I still believe there is something out there. I cannot classify it; nor do I want to try. But it is there perhaps interacting, but certainly watching us. Whatever it is, it does not come with instructions, rules, or accepted behaviors attached. Why should there be anymore rules than there already are, anyway? Just for some God to control how I act? To me, that makes as much sense as what I was told when I was younger, ‘Because I’m the mother and I said so.’ And what happens when I grow up? What happens when that no longer holds any merit?”

19) The Springy Goddess: “It amazes me and saddens me to see the truly nonsensical debates on issues that were supposedly put to rest centuries ago. To see disdain for scientific method in a country that claims Ben Franklin and Thomas Edison and adopted Albert Einstein as its own. To hear the ravings of public figures who think blind obedience is a virtue and who view the world through a simplistic us-versus-them lens. To watch helplessly as theocrats dismantle the work of Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony, Thomas Jefferson, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, John Dewey, Margaret Sanger. And I worry about you. But I know, and history shows time and time again, that you have the will to take back your birthright. May you safely emerge from this nightmare with even greater strength and resolve.”

20) The Stormy Days of March: “Just because one particular religion is more popular, does not mean it should be upgraded to legal status. This is not only stupid, it’s shortsighted. In order for a society to adapt and grow over time, it has to be free from populist constraints. What is popular now, may not be popular 20 years from now. Which could translate into all sorts of frivolous changes, like which type of meat is bad. Is it bacon today? Or is it beef? Oh but religion isn’t populist? Really? It’s not? So how come people are flocking to all sorts of new “evangelical” churches in the states, and the good old fashioned Roman Catholic church is experiencing a drop in North America? Couldn’t be populism at all!”

21) The Spiritual Humanist Blog: “The most prominent recent successful actions undermining separation of church and state is the faith-based initiative President Bush has put in place and the politicizing of the judicial system. The first is using millions of dollars of taxpayer money to promote Christian values without the checks-and-balances the secular system has in place. The second is an attempt to institute faith-based laws by overloading the judicial system with judges who base their decisions on the Bible instead of the Constitution and rational thought.”

22) Chris Rodda: “In this installment of my series on historical revisionism from the National Council On Bible Curriculum In Public Schools (NCBCPS), I’ll be looking at a few misquotes of letters written by John Adams, and how, through the deceptive wording of a sentence following a discussion of the founding fathers, the NCBCPS curriculum implies that certain government acknowledgements of religion from the McCarthy era date back to the time of the founders.” Analysis follows.

23) Mauigirl’s Meanderings: “What about a theocracy makes it inherently detrimental to the country? The answer came to me: Power. Any time one point of view gets all the power, bad things happen. This applies in other countries, and it applies here in the United States. And when these bad things happen, they would affect all of us.” Scenarios follow.

24) From Sorghum Crow: “America is a melting pot, but there’s no real way to blend everyone together and come up with some sort of religious alloy. It’s all about faith and belief. My faith is better than your faith, my right is righter than your right, my one true way is truer than yours, and besides my god can kick your god’s (gods’) butt(s). The religious right seems to be more about controlling thoughts than Xristian values. I presume religions have a right to control or at least guide the thoughts of their adherents, that’s what religion is all about. If there are thoughts or actions that offend you, don’t think or do them. But please stay the heck out of my government, my head, my bedroom, my womb(if I had one), my doctor’s office, my pharmacy, etc., etc., etc.”

25) Reconstitution: “In much the same way as the Nazis crept into power by largely avoiding talk about the agenda Hitler laid out in Mein Kampf, the Dominionists try hard to not reveal too much of their true intentions to wide audiences. But their intentions are on the record, for those who want to do a little research. Let’s hear what some of them have to say about what they want.” Go read the quotations. More: “Features of the Jesusistan that these guys envision include-abrogation of the Constitution in favor of Jesusistani dogma, relegation of women to subservient, second-class status, criminal penalization of gay people (up to and including the death sentence,) the absolute abolition of most forms of BIRTH CONTROL (NOT just abortion,) the expulsion of non-“Christians” from all levels of public service (and they will decide who is a “Christian,”) the roundup and detention of Muslims, athiests, and (in some cases) Protestants not in tune with their agenda…. and these are only the high spots of the Jesusistan agenda. As Kennedy said, they intend to relegate every aspect of your life. This is not a “Christianity” that Christ would recognize, and there are no examples of theocracies that weren’t notable for outright brutality.”

26) Facilitate Wonder: “The difficulties of teaching about evolution in the United States are grounded in the confluence of three sets of misconceptions:
1. Misconceptions about evolution and the nature of science.
2. Misconceptions about religion and the nature of religion.
3. Misconceptions about the nature of our constitutional democracy.
Misconceptions within any one of these three classes can effectively hang up teaching and learning about the core ideas. Put two of them together and you’re screwed. And, I think most Americans, including most teachers (and perhaps even including myself) hold some fairly substantial subset of misconceptions in these categories.”

27) The Largest Minority: “(William) Donahue is an ultra-conservative who’s president of the Catholic League, a group founded to protect Catholics from the longstanding history of “defamation and discrimination” in America. However, Donahue is ironically doing more to defame Catholics than any other person. As a Catholic myself, I find it especially offensive that Donahue unleashes his ignorance and hate under the guise of Catholicism and Christianity in general. And that ladies and gentlemen is why I was so happy to see Mr. Donahue in the latest South Park episode. The episode examines the relationship between Easter and the commercialized celebration of it by inventing one. Donahue appears first at about 8:40 and for the rest of the episode after the 13:20 mark. His unchristian nature is made very apparent as he even goes against Jesus to defend his fascist ideals.” Check out the video of Donahue and Cosimo “chocolate Jesus” Cavallaro. By the way, I love the work – it’s beautiful.

28) Bibilioblography: “From the Federal Marriage Amendment (an effort to codify an ‘institution’ they feel is completely theirs) to the invasion of Iraq (which was once Babylon, something not lost on those of us who have some idea as to how these people think), from the Faith-Based Initiatives the Chimp-in-Chief has put in place (in clear violation of the Establishment Clause) to the obvious political clout that these wild woosters of wee-hee-hee (paraphrased from Firesign Theater) wield, from the revisionism of American history to the invasion of Creationism into our school systems, it is painfully evident that a theocracy is not only being plotted, but subtle mechanisms have been planted over the last few decades. And there is no being rational with the irrational, no reasoning with the unreasonable. My firmest hope is that we can do battle with words and paper, and if enough of us raise our fists and bellow to the skies our discontent, it will be heard: that the bleeding wounds of fanaticism can be staunched with logic.”

29) Frank L. Cocozzelli: “It seems that Donohue and his Catholic League cannot handle the supposition that a Catholic artist would express his ideal of Jesus in a manner very different from his own. Why? Because Cavallaro had the nerve to cast Jesus in chocolate, crucified in the nude (as the Romans actually carried out such executions). Another Bill Donohue dust-up that is designed more to create anger and hatred for the freedom of expression rather than to further an ethic of self-discipline, charity and tolerance that signifies Catholicism at its finest, just as its Founder meant it to be. The self-styled Grand Inquisitor, once again, failing to see the forest for the trees. ‘Give me their names.’ These are chilling words that have echoed throughout history. It is the age-old demand of agents of authoritarianism.”

30) Rascality: “And yes, of course, if you want to get technical, both theocracy and fascism stem from the same root cause, namely fear. The fear of divine retribution if you don’t believe in an omnipotent celestial male monarch (or judge). The fear of Big Brother coming to get you if you protest the present government’s policies too loudly or visibly (you’ve really got to go see this movie if you haven’t already). The fear of social scorn if you’re not goose-stepping for the war OR the Republican party like your neighbors.”

Thought I’d collect my favorite bits. I’ve gone from the first posted to the last, and taken my favorite piece from each. Yeah, this is going to take a while. Why 15? No reason, really, just a good chunky number. And no, I won’t be attempting to keep up with tags – sheesh. Here’s my own post, but I’ll excerpt my favorite bit later (grin).

1) Peace, order and good government, eh?: A recipe for hot cross buns, and this. “It was people of faith – often people of persecuted faiths — who understood most deeply why freedom of conscience matters and how serious an offence to conscience any state-authorized view of religion is. To those people of faith we all owe the most important clauses of our bills and declarations and charters of human rights and freedoms. Thought is free, and your mind is your own.”

2) Fitness for the Occasion: “The last thing we need as a country is to have one interpretation of one religion forced upon the rest of us. There is no need to force creationism into our schools, or to force homophobia into our marriage laws. There is no need to restrict a women’s privacy and her choices to those sanctioned by religious authorities. Laws that forbid commerce on certain days of the week, or that forbid certain sexual practices have no place in modern America.”

3) Rad Robin: “Well, just because I am pissed that you have been used by some very bad people and the consequences to humanity and the earth are devastating does NOT mean I hate your religion or you. Nothing could be farther from the truth. But it is incumbent upon me to say, WTF? Start thinking. Cause you are going down in the same ship that I am. I am responsible for not participating in a more organized way to stop the Christian movement. But you are responsible in aiding, funding, and espousing it. And I ask, when will sanity and a commitment to humanitarian goals that Jesus espoused return to this country? What would Jesus do today?”

4) Coffee Messiah: “No religious discrimination.
PRO End-of-Life Care (no more Terri Schiavo travesties)
Reproductive health decisions made by individuals, not religious “majorities”
Democracy not Theocracy
Academic Integrity
(like, a rock is as old as it is, not as old as the Bible says)
Sound Science
(good bye so-called “intelligent” design)
Respect for ALL families
(based on love, not sexual orientation. Hellooooo.)
And finally,
The right to worship, OR NOT.”

5) We Are All Giant Nuclear Fireball Now Party: Travelogue and photos! “The free ride for the dinosaurs would come to an end at about 65 mya setting events in motion culminating in the rise of the mammals and such wonders as the British invasion, hockey (threw this in as tribute to Chairman for Life Bérubé), TV dinners, Brittany Spears, sliced bread, Enron, beer and me throwing out my sleeping bag on a small patch of Earth shaped by titanic forces through millennia to be awakened before dawn by the coyote’s howl. So far the southwest was looking pretty good.”

6) Thoughts in a Haystack: “Thus, by mostly different routes, premillennialists and postmillennialists came to share the goal of dominion over the civil state and began to make alliances. One of these, the Coalition on Revival, brought together Rushdoony, North, creationist Duane Gish, D. James Kennedy, Donald Wildmon of the American Family Association and the above-mentioned LaHaye. Other familiar names associated with the movement are David Limbaugh (Rush’s brother), former sitcom star Kirk Cameron, Chuck Colson and Tom DeLay. Howard Ahmanson, savings and loan heir and major funder of the Discovery Institute, the primary advocate for the Intelligent Design movement, has also been linked to Christian Reconstructionism. … Of course, many of those [76% self-identified American Christians] might discover, if the Christian nationalists get their way, that the nationalists’ definition is different than theirs.”

7) commander other: “No rational person even resents government officials being personally religious per se. It is only when one religious belief is specifically promoted, encouraged, or supported above others that the problems begin. Good people can do good things for their communities without any one religion being sanctioned to conduct any particular program. And in fact, the example provided by this administration in that regard is exactly the wrong one to be following. Its actions merely exemplify its disregard for the founding principles of this country and its inherent idealogical weakness. If you’re a religious person, do good deeds in the name of your Creator as you are bidden. But please don’t support legislation in your States and communities that would set one particular religion above another. Your contract with your God is unbounded by the dictates of your government, and the personal impetus is far more valuable than a state or federal sanction.”

8) One Act in the Eternal Play of Ideas: Wow! A treatment in fiction – well, sorta. “Now, you will still find some heresy in me. You see, I believe that the Reign of the Righteous began with the presidency of George W. Bush. Of course, he did not eliminate abortion or make the detention camps he established into true reformation centers. It is important to recognize, however, that he laid the groundwork for so much of what we now take for granted. Among other things, his administration fought for the government’s right to detain certain citizens, began the holy struggle against the false theocracies of the Middle East (though he couldn’t call it that), and began the slow process of turning charity initiatives over to churches. To the best of his ability, he put godly people into the executive and judicial branches. In all this, he was opposed by the remnants of the old judicial system and the legislative branch. … My progress in camp was considered quite rapid after my conversion and, within a few months, I left the building for the first time for my baptism in a nearby lake. A few weeks later, I was given my new life. I work as a receptionist for my ward’s church and live in the single-women’s dorm just a few blocks away, as I’ve no father to be returned to. We are supervised at all hours there by local matrons, and I thank God for their kind donation of time to protect women like me from lingering weaknesses.”

9) A Stitch in Haste: Three clips from Carl Sagan’s Cosmos. “Each is directly related to the clash between dogma and science — the front line in the battle against theocracy.”

10) Tangled Up in Blue Guy: A detailed and clear-eyed post. Not easily excerpted, so read the whole thing. “I think that it is astonishing that we would have people passing amendments which restrict the rights of other citizens; and this is a clear contradiction of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and more documents written by the founders.”

11) This *is* it: “No amount of religous study can give a man higher morals. A mother’s love, the willingness to put others lives ahead of your own, the selfless love that causes animals to do things for no other reason than it’s the right thing to do. I have seen it. The conflicts caused by religious conservatives are not based on morality, they are based on selfish pride. Morality is a trait of life, not taught from a book. Attaching yourself to literal interpretations is not wise, nor necessary, for a believer.”

12) Pissed in NYC: “When I hear those who call themselves religious condemn those who don’t embrace their sense of morality, or who attack women who are sexually active or gays and lesbians, I get very angry. I can’t discuss the topic rationally, and I refuse to show the speaker and/or his or her followers any respect. It’s not because I think that all religious people are stupid or evil. It just that I know that the constant stream of condemnation has real world consequences, even for those who do not follow the speaker or believe the message. I know the heavy price that may be paid when self-proclaimed theocrats point their fingers at others and declare them to be shameful. My uncle died 20 years ago this June. He was only 43 years old. I miss him.”

13) The Learning Curve: “These classes, however secular they say they are, endorse one particular religion (the article notes that many such classes focus only on the positive influence of the Bible and ignore its negative influence). I would be less up in arms about a class on world religion that included multiple religious texts as sources, but I still feel that those are classes that should be reserved for college. Partly because I feel that finding teachers who are able to teach multiple religious texts in a balanced manner is difficult, but mostly because I feel like a lot of schools don’t have the resources to support core instruction, let alone a class that focuses on religion.”

14) Journeys with Jood: “On my drive home from work, I sometimes come around the Peninsula, and there is one house with a GIANT wooden cross facing the route. I mean this is one honking big cross. And I have jumped to the conclusion that this person is an angry, judgmental individual who condemns free choice, who believes that our current Administration is right to be fighting a war in Iraq, who hates Gays, or single women. I assume this because he has a giant wooden cross. Would I not be moving toward acceptance if I knocked on his door and said, ‘I want to have a dialogue with you, I want to understand your beliefs. I want to be open to hear your ideas.’ If I don’t want people to make assumptions about me, should I not also give up my own assumptions about others?”

15) Ron’s Blog: “But it’s interestingly disconcerting how deep somebody’s impulse (not the Principal’s, but some teacher or teachers’) to inject religious content into the school assembly goes here. And it’s hard not to think that teachers who do so in spite of information that actual parents of actual students are asking that they be more attentive to the diversity of their student population aren’t doing so from some sense of grinding a political axe. My expectation is that some fraction of the school’s faculty will come to resent us for getting in the way of their attempts to use their little corner of the public square to politically “educate” the kids to seeing an intrinsic bond between God and country.” (from “God at School“)

More to come…