LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY wyldraven)

Chris Hedges on Olbermann's Countdown

Sept. 28: Chris Hedges, author of "American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America," discusses the growing influence of church on state. (Countdown)

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY pope_guilty)

Some of you may have heard of "Path to 9/11", the slanderous miniseries produced by Disney which depicts Bill Clinton ignoring a chance to catch Usama bin Ladin and depicts the Bush Administration as concerned about al Qaeda prior to 9/11.

Did you know that it's got ties to dominionists?

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY wyldraven)

--Republican candidate for a Florida U.S. Senate seat, Katherine Harris, a divisive figure in the 2000 presidential election, responding to questions posed in an interview with the Florida Baptist Witness regarding her views on religion in politics.( Excerpt )

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Full Story

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There's plenty more, but I am becoming a bit nauseous. I need to stop reading this.

She is the epitome of everything wrong with Dominionism. What I don't understand is why she isn't at home "scrubbing the floors and cooking that dinner." Why is it acceptable for only a few women to work outside the home?

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY wyldraven)

FDA expected to allow some non-prescription sales of morning-after pill ( Read more... )
I have always defined a compromise as a resolution with which no one is happy. I predict that this will meet that definition. Still, it is a step in the right direction.

Link to the official FDA page on Plan B

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY eacole72)

An evangelical alliance wants to see adult gift & bookstores put out of business.

http://www.cjonline.com/stories/081106/bus_grandjury.shtml

( Read more... )

Yes, these are adult bookstores. Yes, some of the merchendise is a little over the top. But I have major issues with this in terms of free expression. I'm particularly concerned with the civil suits that could force the stores to close for 3 months to 2 years.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY wyldraven)

Family First refuses preference swap with lesbians

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( Read more... )

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Yeah, the part that really does it for me is that it's apparently fine with Family First if you have an affair while your wife is pregnant, with twins no less.

Now I'll be the first to admit that "swapping preferences" is not something I am particularly clear on. It reads like endorsement. It seems to have something to do with their form of Instant Runoff, and the "how to vote cards" supplied by party members at voting places. (See Wikipedia). Perhaps some of you who live under parliamentary forms of government can clarify that point?

No matter the exact meaning though, my point stands. Be unfaithful to your pregnant wife. We don't mind. But don't you dare love another member of the same sex.

For those who don't know:

The Family First Party is a political party in Australia. Although officially a secular party, it has close links to the Pentecostal movement, in particular the Assemblies of God Church, and its social policies generally mirror conservative Christian values (but not necessarily politically conservative values). Wikipedia on Family First

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY wyldraven)

Religion and geopolitics; Lebanon, Israel, Christian Zionism
by bewareofthegod.com

American Jewish citizens can be sure that a large number of Jewish organizations will claim to speak in our name - without being asked to do so. We can also be sure that should we dissent from the US Jewish community’s central item of faith, that Israel can do no wrong, we will be pilloried. When our gentile fellow citizens express doubt, they are accused of anti-Semitism. Those of us who are Jewish are taxed with self-hatred.

Is it the supreme duty of American Jews to use our considerable influence to align US policy with that of Israel?

(…)

Read Norman Birnbaum’s whole 5 August 2006 investigation and analysis in The Nation.

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( How is this on topic? )

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Interesting juxtaposition of the two articles. We need to remember that much US foreign policy right now plays directly into the desires of people like Falwell. And we need to vote with that thought firmly in mind in the upcoming mid-term elections as well.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY wyldraven)

An "Institute" of Ideology

In April, the so-called Medical Institute for Sexual Health (MISH) made headlines after the federal government announced that the group would receive a $200,000 grant to establish a sexual health curriculum for medical students. Sexual health experts affiliated with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were taken aback.

Why the outrage? Despite what its legitimate-sounding name might suggest, MISH is really nothing more than a thinly veiled ideological interest group that manipulates science to advance its mission.

Follow the link to read the rest of the Planned Parenthood article. For more details on the grant, and MISH in general, see Chastity, M.D. at Slate.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY jehovahsfitness)

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. We need more like him.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/local/15054276.htm

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY mysticknyght)

...it's an interview with Evangelical author Randall Balmer, who is promoting his new book, Thy Kingdom Come: An Evangelical's Lament.

Evangelical: Religious Right Has Distorted the Faith

President Bush and the Republican Party find strong support among evangelical voters. But in his new book, Thy Kingdom Come, author Randall Balmer says that allegiance is misplaced.

"I don't find much that I recognize as Christian" in the religious right, says Balmer, a professor of religion at Barnard College, Columbia University and contributing editor to Christianity Today.

He says blind allegiance to the Republican Party has distorted the faith of politically active evangelicals, leading them to misguided positions on issues such as abortion and

I like how he takes Evangelicals to task for being "pro-life" with respect to abortion but so silent on the subject of torture.

Another interesting aspect of this particular interview is that the reporter is NPR veteran Linda Wertheimer and not "religion" reporter Barbara Bradley Haggerty. Haggerty received some serious and scathing criticism for some atrocious reporting on Kerry in the 2004 election, as well as extremely biased reporting on "Intelligent Design" in 2005. Her ethics have been questioned because of outside "seminars" in which she's participated.

When all this blew up, NPR glossed over Haggerty's misdeeds, but it appears from her workload (her last story was in March) that she's been benched.

The link has an excerpt from his book, as well. Interesting reading.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY diala)

I talked about this in my journal, and I figured that it would be best mentioning it here.

The Timothy Plan

The Timothy Plan® is a family of mutual funds offering individuals, like yourself, a biblical choice when it comes to investing. If you are concerned with the moral issues (abortion, pörnography, anti-family entertainment, non-married lifestyles, alcohol, tobacco and gambling) that are destroying children and families you have come to the right place.

The Timothy Plan® avoids investing in companies that are involved in practices contrary to Judeo-Christian principles. Our goal is to recapture traditional American values. We are America's first pro-life, pro-family, biblically-based mutual fund group.

Basically, they are out to "reform" the financial sect of America. Their Hall of Shame is rather interesting, especially noticing how many popular companies are on that list.

Here is something I found interesting:

While cultural conservatives focused their efforts on schools, churches, state houses, and Main Streets, environmentalists, animal rights activists, homosexuals and feminists wielded their power as corporate shareholders to change corporate policy.

A bit of a weird sentence, but basically they are saying that environmentalists, animal rights activists, homosexuals, and feminists are against God. Except for gays, I can't really see why those people would be a threat... or perhaps it just shows how dark their agenda really is.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY jehovahsfitness)

At the grocery store today, I was seeking out milk that didn't contain rGBH (I recently watched The Corporation). The kind I found was Promised Land Dairy brand. Now, the name didn't give me any red flags. There's a lot of brands that use religious wording that don't particularly have religious motivations in mind and many without such names that do. However, when I got home I noticed a Bible verse on the label, so I decided to do some sleuthing.

Turns out Promised Land is owned by a Texan businessman by the name of James R. Leininger. From 1987-1997 Leininger spent more than 4.6 million dollars to influence elections and on political issues like tort reform and vouchers. According to the Dallas Star-Telegram this primary season alone he has donated over $550,000 to various state-level Republican candidates. Five candidates he's backing all have "nearly identical" fliers. Interestingly, Leininger also owns a direct mailing business, Focus Direct. Leininger has funded Focus on the Family, the AFA and the Family Research Council and has founded several PACs and a think tank based on the Heritage Foundation's model.

Not to be confused with another James Leininger, a supposedly reincarnated WWII pilot.

More links:
http://www.publicintegrity.org/report.aspx?aid=492
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=James_R._Leininger
http://www.tylwythteg.com/enemies/leininger.html
http://www.texscience.org/reform/leininger.htm
http://www.tfn.org/religiousright/leininger/
http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/vol18/issue22/pols.leiniger.profile.html

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

For those of you here with a more than passing interest in Texas politics and the Religious Right's influence in said state, here's an interesting report from the Texas Freedom Network:

State of the Religious Right

This is a PDF file. You'll need Adobe Reader to read it. It's worth the time.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY wyldraven)

Director of faith-based initiatives leaving White House

Also:
Tom Delay will not head the Office of Management and Budget.

( Excerpt )

Methinks the gentleman doth protest too much.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY wyldraven)

According to this report from United Press International, the White House is actually considering Delay to head the Office of Management and Budget.

( Read more... )

Perhaps in the morning I might try to understand why anyone would consider Delay for any job other than the prison laundry. Tonight, I think I will look on the internet for some Guy Fawkes masks.

EDIT: This looks like the original source article.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY synergybc)

Because they need more money:

( Biblical parks may get tax deal )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY redst8hairatick)

Greetings! I've been reading DC for months- I guess it's about time I posted...

I've been wondering what has happened with H.R #1070 and its companion bill in the Senate- you know the one- "Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-AL) has introduced the Constitution Restoration Act of 2005, which amends the federal judicial code to prohibit the U.S. Supreme Court and the federal district courts from exercising jurisdiction over any matter in which relief is sought against an entity of federal, state, or local government or an officer or agent of such government concerning that entity's, officer's, or agent's acknowledgment of God as the sovereign source of law, liberty, or government."
I found the most up-to-date information on http://www.cwfpac.com/index.htm. You can view the supporters of this monstrosity and email them directly, thanks to the Campaign for Working Families;) Though the percentage of supporters is rather small (45), it is still appalling that it has been introduced at all. If there is other news out there about this, please fill me in!

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY electrical_chem)

It appears as if the "Bush Administration" is using sex appeal to sell his tax reform policy to the American people. Now why would he have to use Paris Hilton's name in association with this policy? Is he afraid that the American people will reject his reforms without having some gorgeous babe to advertise for it. This really insults me that they would use this tactic to further oppress the working class. I am all for pulling one-self up by the bootstraps, but don't they realize that the bootstraps fray from time to time. Is this what they call compassionate conservatism? Have they asked themselves one important question; "What Would Jesus Do"? It is a shame that the only thing that the working class of America knows how to do is to look forward to getting drunk as soon as they can and listen to tough talk in the name of God; totally oblivious to what is happening to them. Economics should be a required course from grade school on up to high school. We are fighting this stupid war with deteriorating revenue and the rich do not care that the American infrastructure is on the decline. It will be a matter of time when all of their precious money will only amount to lots of paper with green ink on it. Oh well, since I am in the minority who sees this what difference does it make anyway? When death comes knocking I won't have to worry about it anyway! Thank you for listening to my venting.

http://www.freepress.org/departments/display/10/2006/1843

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY brigidsblest)

By Sidney Blumenthal
The Guardian UK
Thursday 23 March 2006

Even some Republicans are now horrified by the influence Bush has given to the evangelical right.


In his latest PR offensive President Bush came to Cleveland, Ohio, on Monday to answer the paramount question on Iraq that he said was on people's minds: "They wonder what I see that they don't." After mentioning "terror" 54 times and "victory" five, dismissing "civil war" twice and asserting that he is "optimistic", he called on a citizen in the audience, who homed in on the invisible meaning of recent events in the light of two books, American Theocracy, by Kevin Phillips, and the book of Revelation. Phillips, the questioner explained, "makes the point that members of your administration have reached out to prophetic Christians who see the war in Iraq and the rise of terrorism as signs of the apocalypse. Do you believe this? And if not, why not?"

Bush's immediate response, as transcribed by CNN, was: "Hmmm." Then he said: "The answer is I haven't really thought of it that way. Here's how I think of it. First, I've heard of that, by the way." The official White House website transcript drops the strategic comma, and so changes the meaning to: "First I've heard of that, by the way."

But it is certainly not the first time Bush has heard of the apocalyptic preoccupation of much of the religious right, having served as evangelical liaison on his father's 1988 presidential campaign. The Rev Jerry Falwell told Newsweek how he brought Tim LaHaye, then an influential rightwing leader, to meet him; LaHaye's Left Behind novels, dramatizing the rapture, Armageddon and the second coming, have sold tens of millions.

( The rest behind the cut... )

The article can be found here.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY eiredrake)

I'm a little confused by what this is really supposed to mean. Can someone explain it for the class?