LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY nebris)

~This Talk To Action piece has even more gruesome details the Daily Kos piece linked below.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY nebris)

( A small Christian school outside the nation’s capital is dispatching the next round of evangelicals to the front lines of science and politics, where they will battle for control of the nation. )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY roseross)

Not So Fast, Christian Soldiers
Another article about the military and Operation Straight Up ministry.


"Apparently the wonks at the Pentagon forgot that Muslims tend to bristle at the word 'crusade' and thought that what the Iraq war lacked was a dose of end-times theology.

In the end, the Defense Department realized the folly of participating in any Operation Straight Up crusade. But the episode is just another example of increasingly disturbing, and indeed unconstitutional, relationships being forged between the U.S. military and private evangelical groups.

[...] American military and political officials must, at the very least, have the foresight not to promote crusade rhetoric in the midst of an already religion-tinged war. Many of our enemies in the Mideast already believe that the world is locked in a contest between Christianity and Islam. Why are our military officials validating this ludicrous claim with their own fiery religious rhetoric?"

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY legless123) You think *we've* got problems? Here's some wacky news from Tibet.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20227400/site/newsweek/

Aug. 20-27, 2007 issue - In one of history's more absurd acts of totalitarianism, China has banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission. According to a statement issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the law, which goes into effect next month and strictly stipulates the procedures by which one is to reincarnate, is "an important move to institutionalize management of reincarnation."

Cheers

Legless

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY idragosani)

It seems now the Creationist media is stooping to a new low...

A few years ago, in the late 90s, an independent video production firm from Australia wrangled their way into the home of Richard Dawkins to do an interview. Not knowing who they were, Dawkins let them in to do the interview. At some point in the interview, the question was asked "Give an example of a genetic mutation or an evolutionary process which can be seen to increase the information in the genome"... Dawkins paused, suddenly realizing only a Creationist would be asking a question like this, and he hesitated for a few seconds, trying to decide whether or not he should throw them out... he asked that camera be cut but later let them continue... what happened has become a huge legend on the Internet -- the final edit of the interview makes it appear as if Prof Dawkins was stumped by the question and then answered with something irrelevant.

A full account of this is HERE and HERE

Now, it has happened to an american developmental biologist, PZ Myers... he was interviewed under the pretense it was for a documentary entitled "Crossroads" only to find this week he was duped... the movie he was actually interviewed for was 'Expelled', a film featuring Ben Stein who 'rebels' against the scientific 'establishment', essentially a big budget propaganda film for Intelligent Design.

The full story is HERE

Oddly enough, this same week, Prof Myers has been identified in a libel lawsuit because of an unfavorable review he gave to a book that offered an 'alternative' description of evolution... the author, while not explicitly a creationist, seems to have a lot of support from the IDers, and not only published erroneous and unauthorized quotes in his book, he also has been spreading FUD about Stephen Jay Gould, a noted evolutionary biologist and paleontologist. More on this HERE and HERE

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY alobar)

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY navytron89)

GOD: Frank, you know all about gardens and nature. What in the world is going on down there on the planet? What happened to the dandelions, violets, thistle and stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long-lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honey bees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of colors by now. But, all I see are these green rectangles.

St. FRANCIS: It's the tribes that settled there, Lord. The Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers "weeds" and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.

GOD: Grass? But, it's so boring. It's not colorful. It doesn't attract butterflies, birds and bees; only grubs and sod worms. It's sensitive to temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want all that grass growing there?

ST. FRANCIS: Apparently so, Lord. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing grass and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.

GOD: The spring rains and warm weather probably make grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites happy.

ST. FRANCIS: Apparently not, Lord. As soon as it grows a little, they cut it-sometimes twice a week.

GOD: They cut it? Do they then bale it like hay?

ST. FRANCIS: Not exactly, Lord. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.

GOD: They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?

ST. FRANCIS: No, Sir, they pay to throw it away.

GOD: Now, let me get this straight. They fertilize grass so it will grow, and, when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?

ST. FRANCIS: Yes, Sir.

GOD: These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.

ST. FRANCIS: You aren't going to believe this, Lord. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.

GOD: What nonsense. At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in the summer. In the autumn, they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. It's a natural cycle of life.

St. FRANCIS: You better sit down, Lord. The Suburbanites have drawn a new circle. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away.

GOD: No. What do they do to protect the shrub and tree roots in the winter to keep the soil moist and loose?

ST. FRANCIS: After throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy something which they call mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.

GOD: And where do they get this mulch?

ST. FRANCIS: They cut down trees and grind them up to make the mulch.

GOD: Enough! I don't want to think about this anymore. St. Catherine, you're in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?

ST. CATHERINE: "Dumb a nd Dumber", Lord. It's a story about...

GOD: Never mind, I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY raven_oreilly) Hello all... awhile back I posted a piece of mail that came to my family's home while my parents were on vacation. Today I bring you another piece:

Faith & Family
National Committee for Faith & Family
A project of Citizens United

Basically asking my dad for money and signing a petition against Senate Bill 1105 Hate Crimes Legislation to be sent to Arlen Specter and Robert Casey (I live in PA).

Do we know who these people are (Faith & Family and Citizens United)? I'm thinking of tossing this in with that mailing from the Christian Coalition. Is this another group with ties to 'the bad guys.' I don't know much about this Senate Bill. There's nothing in wiki (I know it's not the best source) about it. I'll do some more snooping around. Though, seems there are some clergy out there in support of it.

However, seems my parents haven't been answering their letters. LOL I don't think it's on purpose and I hope they're not planning on sending them $50.00.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY navytron89)

From</a></b></a>audotorg

http://blog.au.org/2007/08/23/law-disorder-ousted-alabama-commandments-judge-to-defend-senate-prayer-protestors/

When Religious Right characters carp about the need for more religion in the nation’s public square, make no mistake that what they actually mean is that the square should belong exclusively to them.

Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, who gained notoriety for unsuccessfully defending a courthouse Commandments display, is supporting three protesters of a Hindu-led prayer given earlier this summer in the U.S. Senate. Those individuals, with ties to the stridently theocratic Operation Save America (OSA), were arrested after trying to shout down Rajan Zed, the Hindu chaplain. (Zed, a Reno resident was invited by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to open a Senate session with prayer.)

On July 12 as Zed was preparing to deliver his invocation, three protestors started shouting invective. “Lord Jesus, forgive us Father, for allowing a prayer of the wicked which is an abomination in your sight,” the protestors screamed from the Senate visitors’ gallery. Ante and Katherine Pavkovic and their daughter Christan were arrested and charged with disrupting Congress, a misdemeanor. They called themselves “Christian patriots,” and their actions were hailed by many Religious Right activists.

According to OSA, Moore is now coming to the support of the Pavkovic family and will apparently represent them Sept. 11 before the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. The Rev. Flip Benham, OSA head, wrote earlier this week on the group’s Web site that Moore “has volunteered to come along side and represent these three Christians in court.” The trio, Benham alleges, are “on trial” for “praying in Jesus’ name in the chambers of the United States Senate.”

Religious Right agitators, such as Benham and Moore, demand that government acknowledge and often promote only their fundamentalist religious beliefs. When the Senate announced its intent to open its door to a Hindu religious leader, the American Family Association went ballistic, firing off an e-mail to its supporters urging them to bombard senators with demands that they cancel the planned invocation.

The legal row that brought Moore hero-status within the Religious Right centered on his desire to display a Commandments monument in the rotunda of Alabama’s Judicial Building. Moore and his representatives argued in the media and in court that judges have an obligation to honor Christianity. It reality, it was a symbol of the fundamentalist theocracy Moore and company would like to impose on America.

Moore’s arguments couldn’t persuade the conservative 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, however, and Moore was ousted from the bench after he refused to abide by the federal court’s order to remove the monument.

Nonetheless, Moore continues to promote the idea that the nation was founded on the Christian principles he espouses and that the Constitution does not prescribe the separation of church and state. (He did so most recently at a “God & Country” celebration in Severn, Md. in July.)

The former judge and many among the nation’s Religious Right are obsessed with government promotion of their religion. But when it comes to other faiths receiving even a smidgen of government acknowledgment, they lose it.

Moore, it seems, wants more fundamentalist Christianity in the public square and the right to slam other religions as “false” and shut them out of the public square.   

Personal Comments: 
Nice Christian family there Mr. & Mrs. Pavkovic,  you show how to be tolerant of others as Jesus preached to his flock. Did you miss that little parable he spoke of or did you pastor never bother to pass that bit of wisdom on to you and your fellow congreants or should I say miscreants? 

While this shows that OSA and AFA members and followers are truly as dumb as bricks for performing such an outrageous action. I can understand if this was a protest  against an illegal law or bill about to be passed in Congress. This to me shows that Dominionists clearly are narrow minded bigots who really don't get the whole peace and love that Jesus talked about, instead they act very Un-Christian.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY navytron89)

Ok,  before I get bombarded by e-mails from angy ladies over this issue/article I found thanks to CNN. 
Somethings you need to know about me:  I'm in an equal-partner marriage relationship. Which means that both my wife and I both do the cooking, house-cleaning, and laundry. We both know how to fix a engine, grill outdoors, and make a cookies. So I don't want people to think that  just because I posted this article that its means that I'm a misgynostic pig.  

This is about a college/seminary school which offers a degree in Domestic Homemaking for women only inthe foot steps of June Cleaver or Donna Reed.  Personally I think this another idea which Fundie Christians are basically trying to turn back the clock and bring back the 1950s America in the 21st Century. There are ties to Dominionist/Fundie groups here as they refer to Dr. Dobson and the AFA in the actual CNN article.  As well as the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary  does have direct ties to various mega-churches in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. 

This is another example of how extreme Christians can live in a bubble world that is seperate from the 'real' world. These people see the world in such a micro-scopic realm of dellusion and are stuck in some kind of parallel reality which they see only Jesus/Christian GOD that exists and all others things that happen outside their little world is just made up stuff.  Its amazing that these Christians always talk about how people need to grow up and face reality. My question is whose reality are you talking about and why should I grow up when it seems that they are the ones living in a fantasy world.


Since CNN.com is not showing this on their website I'm using the Huffington post article instead:

Additionally my local paper has some comments as well

I think the Op Ed piece makes me laugh the hardest in response to the silly-ness of a domestic degree.