LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY catvincent)

Click on the link for more, including video of the affair:

' On October 20 and 21st, I attended the Value Voters Summit, a massive gathering hosted by the Colorado-based Christian right mega-ministry, Focus on the Family, and its Washington lobbying arm, the Family Research Council. With the pro-choice Rudy Giuliani leading in the race for the Republican nomination and the threat of another Clinton presidency looming, the stakes for the Christian right were high.

At the Summit, I witnessed all of the major Republican presidential candidates compete for the affection of so-called value voters. Rudy Giuliani, the current frontrunner, sought to assuage movement leaders' concerns about his multiple marriages, pro-choice politics, and penchant for cross-dressing. Mitt Romney pledged to fight for a Constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, hoping his newfound conservatism would somehow lessen evangelical resentment of his Mormon faith.

Though no candidate emerged from the Summit as a clear Christian right favorite, the badly underfunded former Arkansas governor and Baptist minister Mike Huckabee won over the audience with his insistence that banning abortion would put an end to America's illegal immigration problem. Huckabee's comparison of "liberalized abortion" to the Holocaust further endeared him to the "value voters." Later, during a press conference, I challenged Huckabee to explain the logic behind his rhetoric.

Recently, there has been a lot of mainstream media noise about a new, more socially conscious evangelical movement rising from the angry ashes of the Christian right. Pastors like Rick Warren and "evangelical feminist" Bill Hybels are supposedly bringing issues like the environment and poverty to the forefront of the movement's social agenda, while pushing anti-abortion and anti-gay activism to the wayside. Yet no one told those evangelicals gathered at the Value Voters Summit about this friendly new initiative.

If anything, the movement seemed more extreme and paranoid than it did four years ago. Rev. Lou Sheldon, dubbed "Lucky Louie" by his former paymaster Jack Abramoff, told me that homosexuality is a "pathological disorder" and "a groove" that is difficult to escape from. He proceeded to passionately defend his friend, Senator Larry Craig, from allegations of homosexuality... '

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY jhfurnish)

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY fullcircleagain)  "BALTIMORE (Reuters) - A jury on Wednesday ordered a Kansas church to pay $2.9 million in compensatory damages to relatives of a gay U.S. Marine after church members cheered his death at his funeral."

Guess who it is?  Yup, Mr. Phelps's kids need to work on their lawyering skills a bit more

story here

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN3134225120071031

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY 1400scale)

Here's a question: has anyone ever created a comprehensive (and possibly updatable) timeline of Dominionist-related events and activities from the past century leading up to the present with perhaps interactive links and such?

It might be a good idea, for several reasons; a little Dominionist History 101 definitely wouldn't hurt, certain trends and events might be more easily discerned and connected, and it could help in convincing the skeptical. It never hurts to have the sequence of events in a concise chronology.

Also (and here's a wild thought), if we had something like that, and someone was willing and able to enter the variables into Chaos software, we might be able to predict how things could happen from here on in, at least to a limited degree.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY jhfurnish)

Jury awards father $11M in funeral case By ALEX DOMINGUEZ, Associated Press Writer
58 minutes ago



BALTIMORE - A grieving father won a nearly $11 million verdict Wednesday against a fundamentalist Kansas church that pickets military funerals out of a belief that the war in Iraq is a punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.

Albert Snyder of York, Pa., sued the Westboro Baptist Church for unspecified damages after members demonstrated at the March 2006 funeral of his son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq.

The jury first awarded $2.9 million in compensatory damages. It returned in the afternoon with its decision to award $6 million in punitive damages for invasion of privacy and $2 million for causing emotional distress.

Snyder's attorney, Craig Trebilcock, had urged jurors to determine an amount "that says don't do this in Maryland again. Do not bring your circus of hate to Maryland again."

Church members routinely picket funerals of military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, carrying signs such as "Thank God for dead soldiers" and "God hates fags."

A number of states have passed laws regarding funeral protests, and Congress has passed a law prohibiting such protests at federal cemeteries. But the Maryland lawsuit is believed to be the first filed by the family of a fallen serviceman.

The church and three of its leaders — the Rev. Fred Phelps and his two daughters, Shirley Phelps-Roper and Rebecca Phelps-Davis, 46 — were found liable for invasion of privacy and intent to inflict emotional distress.

Even the size of the award for compensating damages "far exceeds the net worth of the defendants," according to financial statements filed with the court, U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett noted.

Snyder claimed the protests intruded upon what should have been a private ceremony and sullied his memory of the event.

The church members testified they are following their religious beliefs by spreading the message that soldiers are dying because the nation is too tolerant of homosexuality.

Their attorneys maintained in closing arguments Tuesday that the burial was a public event and that even abhorrent points of view are protected by the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech and religion.

Earlier, church members staged a demonstration outside the federal courthouse. Church founder Fred Phelps held a sign reading "God is your enemy," while Shirley Phelps-Roper stood on an American flag and carried a sign that read "God hates fag enablers." Members of the group sang "God Hates America" to the tune of "God Bless America."

Snyder sobbed when he heard the verdict, while members of the church greeted the news with tightlipped smiles.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY navytron89) Found by my buddysmwance

Some Christian Pastors Embrace Scientology

I find this just a little disturbing, and mind you, I'm not exactly a dedicated church goer by any means!

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY catvincent)

...and have to pay at least $11 million out to the plaintiff.

For. The. Win.

"Baltimore — A federal jury has ruled that a fundamentalist Kansas church was wrong to picket the funeral of a fallen Marine in Maryland.

The jury awarded $2.9 million in compensatory damages and $8 million in punitive damages to the family of Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq. It found that the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka invaded the family’s privacy and intentionally inflicted emotional distress when it demonstrated at Snyder’s funeral last year. The protesters carried signs with messages like “God hates fags” and “Thank God for dead soldiers.”

The jury will now consider punitive damages. But the judge has already pointed out that the compensatory damage award is far more money than the defendants have."

Considering how many Phelps family are lawyers, this is remarkable - and a good sign.