* Foolish & arrogant Christian Evangelicals, always at it ...

gapingvoid.com

Ad Targeting Jews For Conversion 'Offensive And Insulting'

New York, NY, March 28, 2008 … A statement by an Evangelical Christian group which defends targeting Jews for conversion by Christians who grew up as Jews, was labeled "offensive and insulting," by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).

Sponsored by the World Evangelical Alliance, "The Gospel and the Jewish People: An Evangelical Statement," appeared as a full-page advertisement in the March 28 edition of The New York Times. ADL said the statement validates and defends those who converted from Judaism to Christianity for using their religious and cultural Jewish experience as tools to proselytize Jews, such as Jews for Jesus and so-called "Messianic Jews."

Also see:
WEA launches huge campaign to `persuade` Jews to accept Jesus (ADL condemns move) www.israelenews.com

"[The ad is] really saying that Judaism has no right to exist, and that basically all Jews should become Christians. Scholars call this the attitude of supersessionism -- the view that Christianity has [replaced] Judaism." www.nationalpost.com

Full-page New York Times ad sneers at Jews

On March 28, 2008, a statement, entitled "The Gospel and the Jews" and drafted by the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), appeared as a full-page ad in the New York Times.

While asserting that they have a "genuine friendship and love for the Jewish people," the statement's authors suggest that the best way of expressing this passion is "to forthrightly share the love of God in the person of Jesus Christ." According to the statement, "it is only through Jesus that all people can receive eternal life. If Jesus is not the Messiah of the Jewish people, He cannot be the Savior of the World (Acts 4:12)."

Therefore, the statement reasons, "it is good and right for those with specialized knowledge, history and skills to use these gifts to introduce individuals to the Messiah, and that includes those ministries specifically directed to the Jewish people."

* Rep. Monique Davis' Un-American Rant ...

Representative tries to put the fear of God in Atheist!

Chicago Tribune
by Eric Zorn
April 6, 2008

Rep. Monique Davis (D-Chicago) interrupted atheist activist Rob Sherman during his testimony Wednesday afternoon before the House State Government Administration Committee in Springfield and told him, "What you have to spew and spread is extremely dangerous . . . it's dangerous for our children to even know that your philosophy exists!

"This is the Land of Lincoln where people believe in God," Davis said. "Get out of that seat . . . You have no right to be here! We believe in something. You believe in destroying! You believe in destroying what this state was built upon."

Also see: Richard Dawkins, "Get out of here, Atheists!

* "What Infidels Have Done" by Robert Green Ingersoll

Everybody knows that Christianity does not tend to generosity. Christianity says: "Save your own soul, whether anybody else saves his or not." Christianity says: "Let the great ship go down. You get into the little life-boat of the gospel and paddle ashore, no matter what becomes of the rest." Christianity says you must love God, or something in the sky, better than you love your wife and children. And the Christian, even when giving, expects to get a very large compound interest in another world. The Infidel who gives, asks no return except the joy that comes from relieving the wants of another.

Robert Green Ingersoll

* US Military Attacked by Evangelicals ~ Danger! Christian Taliban at Work

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation is dedicated to ensuring that all members of the United States Armed Forces fully receive the Constitutional guarantees of religious freedom to which they and all Americans are entitled by virtue of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

Press Release

Historic First-Ever Debate on Separation of Church and State in the Military April 24, 5pm at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA). This event is three years in the making!

Investigation

Mikey Weinstein writes: Today the man with his finger on the button, those who will receive the order to strike; many of those who will then be expected to put their lives on the line to carry out American policy have been molded by the influences of these elements. A power conversion has taken place that has nothing to do with freedom or religion. Many thinkers and writers saw the potential for such a threat over the last several generations. But it is our generation and those who follow who now have no choice but to take action.

Corporate interests and the patient and long range plan of Christian Reconstructionists have made this possible with the cooperation and coordination provided by the NeoCons If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I would think it was bad science fiction. But when I wake up the nightmare continues. The threats to my family, the rising tide of violence aimed at me and those I love, and those whose courage has drawn them to stand with me affirm the truth of what we confront.

Continue, history of movement, It began in the early 70s with...

*Weinstein is author of With God on Our Side: One Man's War Against an Evangelical Coup in America's Military

* American Women Lose 34 Years of Progress ~ Back to Alleys and Coathangers

Top court upholds ban on abortion procedure

'Partial birth' law at issue; first time for justices to ban a specific procedure

April 18, 2007

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court's conservative majority upheld a nationwide ban Wednesday on a controversial abortion procedure in a decision that sets the stage for additional restrictions on a woman's right to choose.

For the first time since the court established a woman's right to an abortion in 1973, the justices said the Constitution permits a nationwide prohibition on a specific abortion method. The court's liberal justices, in dissent, said the ruling chips away at abortion rights.

* The new law, in the works for a long time, was effected by five old duffers, all men, two of whom were appointed by Bush, i.e., Roberts and Alito. The ruling includes two years in federal prison for doctors who violate the law even if the woman's health is at stake.

The preservation of the sanctity of human life is critical for everyone but so is the human right to self-determination. A law forbidding vasectomies can be slightly likened to this new law.

Bush 'pleased'

Reacting to the ruling, Bush said that it affirms the progress his administration has made to defend the "sanctity of life."

"I am pleased that the Supreme Court has upheld a law that prohibits the abhorrent procedure of partial birth abortion," he said. "Today's decision affirms that the Constitution does not stand in the way of the people's representatives enacting laws reflecting the compassion and humanity of America."

It was the first time the court banned a specific procedure in a case over how - not whether - to perform an abortion.

* Oh, please! "The compassion and humanity of America"? So why not end the Iraq war, Mr. President!

blogHillary

* Easter at the White House

On Friday, President George W. Bush issued his 2007 Easter Message It says in part: "In this season of renewal, we can rejoice in Christ's rising, draw strength and inspiration from His example, and remember that in the end, even death itself will be defeated. This Easter we pray for all our men and women in uniform and for the military families whose loved ones are deployed on important missions in distant lands. We remember especially those who have given their lives in freedom's cause. On this powerful day, let us join together and give thanks to the Almighty for the glory of His grace."

Of course, as is usual for Bush, he violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. He consistently promotes his Jesus in his speeches to America.

* Does the USA have a Unique Relationship with God? Mighty Madeleine and the Almighty

The Mighty and the Almighty: Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs, with an Introduction by President William J. Clinton, is a 2006 memoir written by former United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

“A particularly candid first draft of history. . . . The result is a book that makes an important contribution to the question of how our foreign policy should adjust to the rise of religion worldwide.”
—The Washington Post Book World

“In this meditation on how faith shapes world events, Albright explores Islam’s roots, predicts that the U.S. invasion of Iraq may rank ‘among the worst foreign policy disasters’ in our history and urges America to tread lightly. . . . An engrossing, important read.”
—People (4 stars)

“An absorbing, well-written, informative and thoughtful look at U.S. foreign policy and the role religion plays within it. . . . Albright offers a thought-provoking and original approach to incorporating religion into international relations.”
—Associated Press

Dr. Albright addresses some of the most controversial political and social questions of our time. Does America have a unique relationship with God? Has the United States, as George W. Bush has proclaimed, been divinely ordained to bring liberty and democracy to the world? What role does the Christian right have in influencing U.S. foreign policy? What strategy should America adopt in shaping its relations with the Muslim world? Is peace still possible in the Middle East?

ABC News: Read Chapter One

Albright lectures on foreign policy

Yale Herald
by Kristen Von Hoffmann
April 2, 2004

"Madeleine Albright, U.S. secretary of state under President Bill Clinton, LAW '73, and the highest ranking woman in the history of the U.S. government, spoke to a packed audience at the Yale Divinity School on Tuesday. The speech, entitled 'The Mighty and the Almighty: United States Foreign Policy and God,' examined how religion affects foreign policy and specifically how the United States has undertaken certain political actions using religious justification in the war against terrorism.

"Albright said that the United States will never unite the world with the idea that America has a unique position with God. She went on to say that the problem with Bush's approach is that it comes very close to justifying America's fight against terrorism using Christianity, which "plays right into terrorists' hands," she said.

"'I believe that we can unite the world in opposition to the murder of innocent people,' she said. 'But we will never unite the world in support of the idea that Americans have a unique relationship with God.'

"She prompted the audience to consider how to establish certain universal moral standards without religious guidelines. She admitted that there would inevitably be disputes between cultures who were asked to agree on moral norms without a religious motive but stated that certain moral standards, 'should not be in question.' The killing of innocent people is not acceptable, she said. 'We must stop turning humans into robots and people into bombs. We must ask ourselves how best to do this.'

"She emphasized that one of America's founding principles was the separation between church and state and that this should be upheld in future politics.

"However, she said that religion can play an important role in moderating differences between cultures. "The borderless nature of religious faith often makes it easier for leaders to talk to one another, easier for nations to agree on common values," she said.

"During her tenure, Albright successfully expanded and modernized NATO, promoted peace in the Balkans, and expanded democracy in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America."

Los Angeles Times
Good versus evil isn't a strategy: Bush's worldview fails to see that in the Middle East, power politics is the key

by Madeleine Albright
March 24, 2006

PBS Interview, May 2006

* John Lennon ~ Imagined no Religion but "God is Something in People"

John Lennon
October 8, 1940 – December 8, 1980
Imagine

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
"Imagine" was John Lennon's second major release apart from the Beatles. Released on Sept. 9, 1971 (US) and Oct. 8, 1971 (UK), it has remained John's most commercially successful album. It was recorded primarily in John's home studio which turned out to be the last time he would ever record in England.

In a 1966 Interview, Lennon talked about his faithlessness in Christianity:

'Christianity will go,' he said. 'It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first-rock 'n' roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me.'

"I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us. I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right. It's just that the translations have gone wrong."

Of course, USA Bible-belters responded by publically burning Beatles albums and memorabilia. Yet Lennon had said, "God is something in all of us." Imagine that ...

The UK Telegraph
Official Website

* The Jesus Machine ~ by Dan Gilgoff

Dan Gilgoff, a senior editor at US News & World Report, has a new book out entitled The Jesus Machine: How James Dobson, Focus on the Family, and Evangelical America Are Winning the Culture War.

THE BOOK

"More than two-dozen amendments to state constitutions banning gay marriage. The reelection of George W. Bush by winning nearly 80 percent of the white evangelical vote. The Terri Schiavo congressional intervention. The Christian Right has achieved more in the last few years than at any time in its history. Yet the story of the man and the organization that have orchestrated those successes—James Dobson and his Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family—has gone almost entirely untold.

"Until now.

"In The Jesus Machine, U.S. News & World Report Senior Editor Dan Gilgoff provides the first inside look at Dobson’s vast national network, the most powerful web of organizations the Christian Right has ever known." Read more ...

Dan Gilgoff at The Huffington Post

* The Quotable Bertrand Russell

(18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) You find as you look around the world that every single bit of progress in humane feeling, every improvement in the criminal law, every step toward the diminution of war, every step toward better treatment of the colored races, or every mitigation of slavery, every moral progress that there has been in the world, has been consistently opposed by the organized churches of the world. I say quite deliberately that the Christian religion, as organized in its churches, has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world.

~ Bertrand Russell, Why I am Not a Christian, 1927

* Another Religious Horror Story ~ Authored by the New Testament this Time

The following was posted to the JesusMysteries discussion forum today:

Marcion was the first to realize that the Jewish Scriptures (OT) have nothing to do with Christianity. Even without his belief in 2 biblical gods, one must use twisted, tenuous arguments to make the OT predict Jesus. It is too bad that Marcionites did not win the Church struggle. Marcionites accepted that Judaism was true - on its own terms. We would not have had 2 millennia of nasty Jewish-Christians relations, for Judaism was just another totally different religion.

It's true, no Jew accepted that the messiah would suffer and be executed. If somehow, Jesus had truly been alive again, such that anybody could see him, probably many more Jews would have accepted him; and, if he led an army of angels to destroy the hated Kittim, all Jews would have accepted him. Didn't happen.

Check out Price's The Pre-Nicene New Testament for a great discussion of this.

Best,
Prof. D. Showley

Newest Release by Robert M. Price

The Pre-Nicene New Testament
Fifty-four Formative Texts

The Word of the Aion! Not just a new translation, but a new canon, The Pre-Nicene New Testament supplements the usual twenty-seven writings with another twenty-seven that might have been included long ago but were not. Here is an inclusive, truly representative portrait of early Christianity in all its amazing theological diversity. Familiar works are rendered new again by the first translation to embody generations worth of scholarly proposals, as well as by introductions featuring ultra-radical yet sound biblical scholarship.

Another of Dr. Price's books not to be missed is his The Reason Driven Life, Foreword by Julia Sweeney.

"[The Reason Driven Life] is a deeply thought out, theologically accurate, heartfelt dismantling of Rick Warren’s (and all Evangelicals’) worldview. Even the ideas that seem, on the surface, to be unassailable (like Warren’s call to a life of service to others) Price takes apart, reveals each for the sham it is, with elegance and charm and disturbing accuracy."

~ Julia Sweeney formally of Saturday Night Live, from the foreword.

Cross-reference METAXY Robert M. Price and Julia Sweeney

* Ku Klux Klan Resurgence ~ Religious and Political

The burning cross is a symbol used by the Klan to create terror. Cross burning is said to have been introduced by William J. Simmons, the founder of the second Klan in 1915: Wikipedia The Klan considers that they are "lighting" the cross as a symbol of their faith: Wikipedia See also Cornell Law School, Supreme Court Collection, for discussion on the significance of the cross for the KKK.

The Ku Klux Klan, which just a few years ago seemed static or even moribund compared to other white supremacist movements such as neo-Nazis, has experienced a surprising and troubling resurgence due to the successful exploitation of hot-button issues including immigration, gay marriage and urban crime. Klan groups have witnessed a surprising and troubling resurgence by exploiting fears of an immigration explosion, and the debate over immigration has in turned helped to fuel an increase in Klan activity, with new groups sprouting in parts of the country that have not seen much activity."

CNN, February 7, 2007 ~ Klan growing, fed by anti-immigrant feelings, report says

CS Monitor, February 09, 2007 ~ Anti-immigrant sentiments fuel Ku Klux Klan resurgence

All Headline News, February 9, 2007 ~ White Supremacists Groups Active And Growing In The U.S

KKK Ideology: "Though Ku Klux Klan groups are generally extremely anti-Semitic, a number of them, especially in the South, tend to spend more of their energy in activities opposing African-Americans and non-white immigrants, who are often seen as the more immediate enemies.

"Another difference involves religion. Whereas many neo-Nazis and racist skinheads may be atheists or pagan, Klan groups tend to be overwhelmingly Christian (often adhering to the racist and anti-Semitic Christian Identity sect), reflecting the Klan’s more traditional origins. However, even this may be changing to a certain degree ... as part of an effort to attract new members from the white supremacist subculture, that it would now accept certain non-Christians."

* Comedian Bill Maher Disrespects Religion in General and George Bush in Particular

Leave 'em Laughing

by Howard Cohen
McClatchy Newspapers
January 21, 2007

"George W. Bush has been good for Bill Maher. His administration's image problems have fueled every season of HBO's 'Real Time with Bill Maher' and, before that, Maher's ABC "Politically Incorrect" chat fest.

"Sample jab: 'Republicans must get honest about why they oppose stem cell research. It's not because a frozen speck on a microscope slide constitutes life, it's because stem cell research shows promise of restoring spinal cord tissue--and that could help Democrats.'"

VIDEOS ~ Bill Maher on Religion

CNN Transcript from "Larry King Live" CALLER: Hi, thank you for taking my call. Here's my question. Other than who we vote for and keeping respect for everyone's beliefs, Bill, I'm wondering how you think we can work to restore a separation of church and state?

MAHER: Restore it, that's a good point. I hate to sound like a broken record. It has to take place at the top. When you have a president who is this openly religious and this openly contemptible, in contempt, rather, of the separation of church and state, I don't think anything is going to change until that changes.

This is a man who proudly says that Jesus picked him to be president. You said something about you have to respect people's beliefs. I know that's what we always hear, we have to respect. I'm sorry, I don't. I don't respect religion. I don't respect superstitious thinking, which is what religion is. I don't respect childish thinking, which is what religion is.

We talked about this before, this whole gay issue wouldn't even be an issue except it says it in the Bible. The Bible, that book that has people lived to be 900 years old and says the world is 6,000 years old, and that there are people who lived in a whale. That infallible work of genius and slavery is OK. You should stone a guy to death if he works on Sunday. That's the book that says, sorry no queers.

So I'm sorry, I don't respect people who believe in religion. I was religious when I was a kid. We all had dumb stuff drilled into our head. It doesn't mean when you get to be an adult you can't drill it out. I tell you something else they drilled into my head when I was a kid, mercury in my cavities. We found out later mercury is so bad we shouldn't even eat it when there is a trace of it in fish. But it was drilled into my teeth. So when I got older, I had it drilled out. You can do the same thing with religion. To talk about this terrorism situation without talking about religion is like talking about AIDS in America without talking about homosexuality. You can do it, it will get you applause on Oprah but it's not true.

* Note "that Maher is classified as Category:Ambiguous because he has said (earlier, paraphrased) that while he disdains organized religion he nevertheless doesn't reject the possibility of a god. It's not clear if this position of his is still in effect" [as of June, 2006].

Video: Maher on Bush &
Hurricane Katrina

Previous METAXY Entry ~ Bill Maher

Wikipedia

Bill Maher's Website

flickr photo

* Christians Silenced by Police for Disturbing the Peace at a Pagan Pride Festival ~ Lawsuit Ensues Over Free Speech Right

ADF-allied attorney files suit on behalf of Christians barred from expressing religious views in Michigan park

People sharing their Christian views at “Pagan Pride Festival” threatened with arrest


January 24, 2007
ADF Media Relations

GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan ~ "An Alliance Defense Fund allied attorney has filed suit on behalf of a group of Christians who were denied the right to publicly express a religious message. David Ickes and seven other members of the Worldwide Street Preachers’ Fellowship were silenced by police after attempting to speak in a public park in Grand Rapids ..."

"One Christian group member was forcefully pulled from the platform by a second sergeant, handcuffed, and detained in the back of a police vehicle."

They didn't have a permit to speak freely but the Pagans did.

* The Homophobic Catholic Church is at it Again

Reposted from Richard Dawkin's Website

Send The God Delusion to your MP

by J. Christie
PledgeBank.com

"I will Arrange my MP to receive a copy of Richard Dawkins' book "The God Delusion" but only if 645 other people (one per UK constituency) will do the same for other MPs." ~ J. Christie

Deadline to sign up by: 31st March 2007

Country: United Kingdom

More details:

The head of the UK Catholic Church has today (23 January 2007) asked the UK parliament to exempt Catholic adoption agencies from being forced to consider equally, applications from homosexual couples.

I do not believe the church should be given special status. Catholics, like everyone else in the country, should play by the rules. Faith should not exempt one from being guilty of discrimination.

Richard Dawkins, as Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University, is best placed to make this argument, and his book "The God Delusion" (costing 11 pounds online) does it convincingly.

I will buy a copy, and have it delivered to my own MP. Should this pledge gain momentum, I additionally undertake to maintain a simple online list of MP's (and their addresses) for whom pledges have been received, to eliminate duplication of effort. ~ J. Christie

Sign up at:
PledgeBank

Cross-reference METAXY

* Christian Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America ~ Chris Hedges

gapingvoid.com

Christian Empire

by Rick Perlstein
New York Times
January 18, 2007



Chris Hedges ~ Wikipedia ~ Who is he?

AMERICAN FASCISTS: The Christian Right and the War on America
by Chris Hedges
Published January 7, 2007

“Hedges published Amercian Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America January 7, 2007 with The Free Press. The Christian right is a movement the former seminarian has criticized in articles such as his cover story in the May 2005 issue of Harpers' magazine called Soldiers of Christ.

“Chris Hedges, a Pulitzer Prize winning NY Times correspondent, has joined up with those who warn us about a possible Theocratic take-over of American society by the Religious Right.

American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America is a call to arms against what Hedges sees as the efforts of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and the operators of Trinity Broadcasting Network, among others, to turn the United States into a Christian nation.

“According to Wiener, [Los Angeles Times Book Review] Hedges is not your typical secular humanist out to attack conservative Christianity. He is the son of Christian minister who interacts with the community of religious believers. In short, Hedges has some evidence for his conclusions about the ambitions of the Religious Right.

“Hedges is not your average secular humanist. He knows his Bible. He's the son of a Presbyterian minister and a graduate of Harvard Divinity School ..."

In American Fascists, Hedges reports in fascinating detail what goes on inside the churches, conventions and meeting halls of the Christian right. He attends a "Love Won Out" conference in Boston, sponsored by James Dobson's Focus on the Family, held to "cure" those who are afflicted by "same-sex attraction."

"Hedges also goes to the National Religious Broadcasters annual convention, where 5,500 Christian TV and radio folk gather in Anaheim. And he joins a five-day "Evangelism Explosion" seminar in Florida to learn tactics for converting people to the Christian right's version of Christ. That conference is run by D. James Kennedy, whose "The Coral Ridge Hour" is seen weekly on more than 600 TV stations. There, he and 60 other people learn the sales pitch and how to fake friendship for the potential convert.

“Gathering his evidence, Hedges reaches some disturbing conclusions about these Christian conservatives:

……the goal of the Christian right is "not simply conversion but also eventual recruitment into a political movement to create a Christian nation," where constitutional freedoms would be replaced by biblical law, as interpreted by evangelical leaders. Kennedy has been clear about this goal: "As the vice regents of God," the Florida-based minister has written, "we are to exercise godly dominion and influence over our neighborhoods, our schools, our government," as well as "our entertainment media, our news media, our scientific endeavors … "

“To his credit, Hedges distinguishes between the mainstream Christianity, including a majority of fundamentalists, who do not aim to transform our republic into a theocratic nation, and the ‘Dominionists,’ who do. But he sees some dire consequences, should Christian Dominionists prevail:

Under Christian dominion, Hedges writes, "Labor unions, civil rights laws and public schools will be abolished.... and all those deemed insufficiently Christian will be denied citizenship." The Christian right could come to power, he suggests, if we had "another catastrophic terrorist attack, an economic meltdown or huge environmental disaster." At that point, Hedges asserts, evangelical leaders such as Kennedy, Falwell and Robertson could be "calling for the punishment, detention and quarantining of gays and lesbians — as well as abortionists, Muslims and other nonbelievers."

Thus, Hedges concludes, “the United States today faces an internal threat analogous to that posed by the Nazis in Weimar Germany.”

Professor Wiener, as a good historian, questions these dire predictions:

“There are problems with this analogy. First, democracy in America is much stronger than it was in Weimar Germany in 1933. Nor is the Christian right as widespread or powerful as Hedges suggests. Among conservative Christians who are working class or lower class, "a dramatic majority" voted for Bill Clinton for president — that's the finding of sociologists Andrew Greeley and Michael Hout in their recent book "The Truth About Conservative Christians." A 2004 survey for Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly on PBS found that a majority of evangelicals have an unfavorable view of Falwell and that a significant minority of them are more concerned about jobs and the economy than about abortion and gay marriage. And it isn't as if conservative Christians are the only obstacle to gay marriage: Yes, 85% of white evangelicals oppose gay marriage, but in the general population the figure is 61%. In fact, the differences between today's Christian right and the movements led by Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini are greater than the similarities. Hitler was more pagan than Christian. Street violence was a key tactic of Mussolini's Brownshirts; the Christian right has focused on nonviolent demonstrations outside U.S. abortion clinics and on changing laws at the ballot box. And there's a big difference between supporting laws against gay marriage and putting gays in concentration camps.

“In other words, the evidence shows that the majority of the Evangelical Christians and Christian Fundamentalists are not out to turn this country into a theocracy. Professor Wiener has performed a good community service in showing that Hedges overstates the threat that Christian Dominionism poses.“

Is the Religious Right more of a political movement than a religious one? As a political movement, the Religious Right needs to be closely monitored. Warnings about the threat that this political movement poses, issued by such people as Hedges, along with the counter-attacks on the Christian Right by such writers as Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris, should alert us to their potential threat. But we should not overstate the threat and trap ourselves into over-reacting in ways more damaging than any possible “defeat of the religionists” could justify. Weiner also points out, that Hedges advocates that we must be intolerant of any group that preaches intolerance and thus places its members as "outside the law."

Chris Hedges: War of Shadows

* Catholic Church Involved in Another Human Rights Crime ~ Nothing New Here

There are a million examples of human rights abuses around the world. This one involves the Catholic church in Angola where thousands of families are being forced from their homes for the land to be wasted, for all things, a sanctuary, which is sickeningly ironic considering the destruction of the sanctity of real homes to build a sanctuary for some compassionless religious nuts and a god who cannot even be demonstrated to exist. This is so incredible to me that I think I must be misunderstanding something about the story.

Angola: Catholic Church involved in forced evictions

Press Release
January 15, 2007

Amnesty International today released a report revealing the scale and extent of forced evictions in Angola, and expressing particular concern at forced evictions carried out by Angolan authorities, apparently at the request of the Catholic Church in Angola.

The organization said that nearly all of the forced evictions were accompanied by excessive use of force, which sometimes involved police beatings of children and women -- including one pregnant woman -- and indiscriminate shooting at residents attempting to protect their homes.

Full release ...

"Angola is a country in south-central Africa bordering Namibia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Zambia, and with a west coast along the Atlantic Ocean. The exclave province Cabinda has a border with Republic of the Congo. A former Portuguese colony, it has considerable natural resources, among which oil and diamonds are the most significant. The country is nominally a democracy and is formally named the 'Republic of Angola.'" Wikipedia

* Congressman Keith Ellison is No Dummy, He's Very Clever

But It's Thomas Jefferson's Koran!

by Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts
January 3, 2007

"Rep.-elect Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, found himself under attack last month when he announced he'd take his oath of office on the Koran -- especially from Virginia Rep. Virgil Goode, who called it a threat to American values.

"Yet the holy book at tomorrow's ceremony has an unassailably all-American provenance. We've learned that the new congressman -- in a savvy bit of political symbolism -- will hold the personal copy once owned by Thomas Jefferson."

Full Story

METAXY--Previous Postings on Ellison & Goode

* Thomas Jefferson Erects A Wall of Separation Between Church & State

President Thomas Jefferson
Letter to the Baptists of Danbury, Connecticut
January 1, 1802

On this day in 1802, President Thomas Jefferson "coined the famous phrase describing the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment as erecting "a wall of separation between church and state." He used the phrase in his famous letter to the Baptists of Danbury, Connecticut, who had asked him to explain the meaning of the First Amendment's phrase, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion."

“I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibit the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between church and state.”

"On matters of religion, Jefferson in 1800 was accused by his political opponents of being an atheist and enemy of religion. But Jefferson wrote at length on religion and many scholars agree with the claim that Jefferson was a deist, a common position held by intellectuals in the late 18th century."

Biographer Merrill Peterson summarizes Jefferson's theology,

First, that the Christianity of the churches was unreasonable, therefore unbelievable, but that stripped of priestly mystery, ritual, and dogma, reinterpreted in the light of historical evidence and human experience, and substituting the Newtonian cosmology for the discredited Biblical one, Christianity could be conformed to reason. Second, morality required no divine sanction or inspiration, no appeal beyond reason and nature, perhaps not even the hope of heaven or the fear of hell; and so the whole edifice of Christian revelation came tumbling to the ground.

"For Jefferson, separation of church and state was not an abstract right but a necessary reform of the religious "tyranny" of one Christian sect over many other Christians. Jefferson tried re-instating a new religion for all to use, but this idea quickly failed and Jefferson was almost removed from office."

Much more at Wikipedia ...

See also Thomas Paine, METAXY

* Congressman Demands Iraqis Be Converted To Christianity

Wonkette
The D.C. Gossip
December 23, 2006

North Carolina's 8th District congressman has a winning plan for Iraq: Convert all the Muslims to Christianity! In the past, only a few brave public intellectuals such as Ann Coulter have offered this only obvious solution to our 3-1/2 year bloodbath occupation of Iraq, so it is a proud moment for America that Representative Robin Hayes is the first politician to deal seriously with our disastrous war.

The only way to make Iraq stable enough for the U.S. to withdraw is by “spreading the message of Jesus Christ, the message of peace on earth, good will towards men. Everything depends on everyone learning about the birth of the Savior" ...

"With this kind of talk Hayes just plays into the hands of Al-Qaeda by confirming what their leaders have always been saying: those American soldiers are just modern Crusaders. He is thereby strengthening the beliefs of terrorists that want to kill every American soldier they come across."

BlueNC

The Faith of George W. Bush, written by Christian author Stephen Mansfield, reveals that Bush's faith has been shown to be at the centre of his political thinking.

An invitation for others to do likewise, like Hayes.