Basic Training in Religious Tolerance

(NYT link; it was snagged from a site at Telecom Digest that is meant to fix the whole password issue, if it does not, use Bugmenot extension on Firefox or go to the Telecom Digest direct link)

Of special notes to dominionism-watchers:

a) This is in Colorado Springs, one of a few cities that is a de facto national headquarters of the Religious Right (I actually recall reading somewhere that upwards of 40-something separate and distinct dominionist or Religious Right groups are headquartered in Colorado Springs)

b) Most of the reports of religious intolerance are in regards to the Air Force Academy; Sunfell has, in particular, posted before on how several dominionist groups (including the AoG) have pretty much almost entirely hijacked the chaplain system in the military. (Sunfell, if you could post the link, that might give people some more background)

(As an aside--in many dominionist denominations, there is little or no formal training one has to go through to even be certified a minister, and some dominionist groups actively are against requiring someone to go through at least a *little* of the training most seminary students have to go through. Many dominionist ministers have no formal theological training at all; in the vast majority of states, if you can show proof you are *associated* with a large enough denomination one can get a ministerial license (for example, in KY the magic number is fifty individuals or being associated with a denomination or sect with over fifty individuals.) I am not certain what the legal requirements are in the military for chaplaincy, but I expect they are probably similar if not *looser* than the legal standard for me to be able to officiate marriages.

(As another aside--I cannot speak for other denominations, but the particular group I walked away from not only has all of seventeen seminaries *worldwide* (for a denomination of over *two million* or more members) but also does not ordain women at *all*; in fact, I'd dare say the vast majority of "ministers" in the denomination have had no formal training whatsoever in theology other than Bible-school courses at the church)

c) One of the particular highlights in the article:

"People were doing and saying things that would not be tolerated at any Air Force base we've ever been at," said Col. Debra Gray, vice commandant of cadets at the academy, which plans to begin mandatory religious sensitivity sessions in February for cadets as well as faculty and staff members.

Some cadets were offended when fliers for the film "Passion of the Christ" were left around campus. Others have complained of being told by other cadets to march in a "heathen flight" if they did not participate in religious services during basic training. One Jewish cadet reported being called a "Christ killer." Atheists have expressed problems with God's being invoked in public academy statements.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY kalibex)

Religious Liberty Under Siege, Interfaith Leaders Warn

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Description of classic evangelical 'We're being Victimized for merely being Christians!!' spin.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/inpublic.asp

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY kalibex)

Conservative student group 'Students for Academic Freedom ' cries leftist Uni bias, is pushing for legislation in 20 states to 'protect students from what it sees as harassment or discrimination based on political beliefs'.

Call me over-Paranoid these days.... but why do I get the feeling that for that surface 'conservative' lable we can safely substitute: 'Dominionist'...?

Time to check out this guy David Horowitz, methinks...

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY seshen)

Group to watch liberal churches

The group is targeting so-called "liberal churches" such as the Metropolitan Community churches, Unitarian Universalist fellowships and African Methodist Episcopal churches.

Check out their web site

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY seshen)

Could the church have its head up its sphincter any further? To deny a holy sacrament over INGREDIENTS?

8-year-old's first Holy Communion invalidated by Church

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY hagazusa)

I never thought it would happen to me!

For the start, I'm a very sceptical person, not easily swayed or influenced by stuff I don't care about. But this experience was very weird.

This happened on my Swiss vacation. I was in Sankt Gallen, visiting the famous library at the monastery there. The monastery dates from the 7th century, I believe, founded by Gallus, a wandering Irish missionary who fell over and found himself face to face with a bear. This he interpreted as a message from God to found a monastery in the wilderness. At least that's the legend.

The existing library at the monastery dates from the 17th century and is decorated in a high baroque style with fanastic paintings on the ceilings. It's visually beautiful. They make you wear felt slippers over your shoes so you don't dirty or dent their beautiful parquet floor. And they have one of the biggest and most impressive collections of original medieval, handcopied (by monks, of course) manuscripts, including one of the original medieval copies of the Nibelungenlied, and Boetius' Consolation of Philosophy (in the original Latin, of course). They had an Irish gospel with calligraphy, scrollwork, and painted illustrations, as beautiful as the Book of Kells.

Most of the books were locked in their cabinets, but the ones I mentioned and many others were displayed in glass cases.

So why was this a dark experience? I love books, love old libraries, and haven't had any previous bad experiences with monasteries. I used to teach in a Catholic girls school run by nuns.

But from the moment I walked up the stairs and into the library, I felt something weird catching hold of me, like a forcefield holding me in its fist. I shrugged it off, paid my entrance ticket, and went in. It was fine until one of the staff gave a talk to all the assembled tourists about the library's history. Instead of giving the usual sort of tourist information or talk about the most famous or rare volumes, he talked about the role of the monastaries as centers of education (about the only place you could get an education or find books in the Middle Ages) and as keepers of the Truth. The One Truth. Their role, he said, was to guard against false beliefs and heretics. Then he explained the paintings on the ceiling and I saw, for the first time, for all their beauty, how violent and gory they were. He pointed out the figure of a heretic being struck by lightening and killed. He spoke disparagingly of the Reformation. If the monastery possessed books by Zwingli and Luther (and further infidels such as Islamic and Jewish writers), it was only to know the enemy. He was so filled with self-righteousness and, I have to say it, hate, so convinced that his truth was the only truth.

And this fanaticism in a secular age, in a country which has been traditionally regarded as a haven for religious freedom and tolerance.

That's when I began to comprehend the "force field" that I perceived when I entered the place. This was a hostile place, a hateful place. Not a good place for me to be.

And think about it: monks like this were the ones who wrote down our surviving Germanic Heathen and Celtic Pagan texts: the Eddas and the Mabinogian, the Irish myths. The monks controlled all learning, all knowledge, all literature and its disemination in their era. How much of our lore did they convolute, twist, obscure, censor, and otherwise manipulate?

I felt quite sick at the end of his little lecture. My husband, who had an agnostic upbringing could laugh it off, but I was raised in a strict Catholic household and the hate sank into me like a hook. That night I had nightmares of being pursued by priests. Like I said before, this sort of thing rarely happens to me. I am a grown up skeptic.

But this makes me very very glad I live in a secular society. For me freedom FROM religion is as important as freedom of religion.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

An update to a previous post about the Unitarian Universalist church in Texas being denied tax-exempt status:

Strayhorn reverses herself on church's tax status
JAY ROOT
c.2004 Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Tuesday, May 25th, 2004

AUSTIN - Reversing an earlier decision, state Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn said Monday that a Unitarian church in Denison on the Texas-Oklahoma border will get tax-exempt status.
The decision came after the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported May 18 that the comptroller's office had ruled that the Red River Unitarian Universalist Church was not a religious organization for tax purposes.

The status was denied, the state said, because the church "does not have one system of belief."

Stunned church officials said it was the first time in U.S. history that any state had denied tax-exempt status to the Unitarians because of their religious philosophy. Father-and-son presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams are among past adherents of the Unitarian church.

Jesse Ancira, the comptroller's general counsel, sent a letter Monday to Dan Althoff, board president of the Denison church, informing him of the change.

"Comptroller Strayhorn asked that I review the file on your congregation's application for tax exemption," Ancira wrote. "After reviewing the submitted application ... it is my opinion that the Red River Unitarian Universalist Church is an organization created for religious purposes and should be granted the requested tax exemption."

Althoff and other members of the church could not be reached to comment Monday.

Strayhorn's spokesman Mark Sanders said Strayhorn directed her staff to review the decision after questions were raised.

"She asked her general counsel to look into the matter, and he overruled earlier staff decisions," Sanders said.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY swisscelt)

Two events recently in the news have "shown a spotlight" upon the Free & Accepted Masons, which is most properly termed a confederation of fraternal organizations dating back at least to 1717. Unfortunately, there has been much misreporting on the nature of Freemasonry. Most of it, no doubt, is unintentional; the product of ignorance of an organization to which many in previous generations, but few of my generation, have sought membership. Some of it, I suspect, is deliberate.

Before I proceed, I'd like to dispel some of the myths I've seen recently reported as news. If you're not familiar with Freemasonry, please ( take a minute to review some notes I've prepared on my personal journal. )

( And now, the anti-Masonic conspiracy. )

Anti-Semitism takes many forms. It is saddening, and perhaps ironic, that one notable such form is the propaganda levelled against a worldwide fraternal organization which has welcomed Jews, Christians, Muslims, and many others alike with opened arms.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY seshen)

Some commentaries from the pagan community on Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ."

Commentaries

Do you intend to see the film? For what reasons, either way?

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What are your thoughts on Mel Gibson's upcoming movie, "The Passion?"


Bill O'Reilly comments on Mel Gibson's movie

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By now it is well known not only that Mel Gibson has invested $25 million to produce a film of Jesus' Passion, but also that a group of Catholic and Jewish New Testament scholars found that a version of its script contained strong anti-Jewish potential. I don't know if the movie is anti-Semitic--I have only seen a version of the script--but the reaction to the scholars' objections could be interpreted as anti-Semitic.

Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion"

Your thoughts?