LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

Two articles this morning point out the fearfulness inherent in some of the more extremist fundementalist mindsets. I have to wonder sometimes- do these people see anything good outside their carefully (and fearfully) proscribed world? Is the world outside their church doors that bad? And why do they want to drag everyone else into it?

Psychic causes flap at a community college.

Psychic author Echo Bodine didn't see this one coming.
Bodine's upcoming appearance at North Platte Community College, as part of the literary festival scheduled for next week, has created controversy.

"The reason for having Echo at the festival is the need to contact intuition," said Ann Milton, an organizer of the literary festival. "To get to the sweet spot of writing. Lots of festivals have workshops on how to get published. We thought we would go to the heart of writing."

In a phone interview, Echo Bodine expressed her shock at the board's reaction.
"I haven't run into this sort of thing in 20 years," she said. "I don't know what their beef is. I don't do anything that isn't based in the Bible. If these are Christians who are upset, it makes no sense to me. It's about gifts of the spirit, and we must use all our spiritual gifts. The question is, who is putting this fear into people? The churches. Right? Jesus tells us to use the gifts God gave us. I am shocked that this Dark Ages sort of thinking is still going on in 2004. A friend once said to me that Jesus came to afflict the comfortable. I am looking forward to being in North Platte."

And the Republican Party is doing its own share of scaremongering:

Mailing warns of banned Bibles if liberals elected

And dogs and cats will live together...

Campaign mail with a return address of the Republican National Committee warns West Virginia voters that the Bible will be prohibited and men will marry men if liberals win in November.

The literature shows a Bible with the word "BANNED" across it and a photo of a man, on his knees, placing a ring on the hand of another man with the word "ALLOWED." The mailing tells West Virginians to "vote Republican to protect our families" and defeat the "liberal agenda."

Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie said Friday that he wasn't aware of the mailing, but said it could be the work of the RNC. "It wouldn't surprise me if we were mailing voters on the issue of same-sex marriage," Gillespie said.

The flier says Republicans have passed laws protecting life, support defining marriage as between a man and a woman and will nominate conservative judges who will "interpret the law and not legislate from the bench."

Sigh... that's pretty sad, if you ask me. Blaming some 'liberal' boogeyman for everything. When did 'liberal' become a perjorative?

Sunfell