Fred Phelps and his minions are at it again. He intends to picket the funeral of Sgt. Christopher Taylor, a Marine who died in Iraq. Why? Because the military isn’t homophobic enough for Phelps, or because Phelps’ god (allegedly) hates fags, or something… Friday, about 15 members of the group — some of them children — picketed the funeral of … Read More
Wall? What Wall?
I’ve always thought that mixing politics and religion creates and cheapens both. Worse than that, it is downright dangerous. USA Today carries an excellent story about how the far right is spreading its divisive values (and, yes, un-Christian values) from the pulpit: CANTON, Ohio — Pastor Russell Johnson paces across the broad stage as he decries the "secular jihadists" who … Read More
Dobson-Frist Smackdown
Focus On The Family’s Dr. James Dobson is apparently unhappy about Bill Frist’s flip-flop on stem cell research: Dobson says he can’t bear being "stabbed in the back by somebody that I thought was a friend … [And] that is what I think has happened here. This is not personal … Sen. Frist has not put the knife in my … Read More
Coalition Of The Stupid
Right-centrist blogger John Cole says it all. The following is from him, but it echoes the sentiments of every educated person regardless of political persuasion: By now you have probably already heard (the hazards of not blogging for a few hours) that President Bush has endorsed the inclusion of intelligent design in public school curricula: President Bush said Monday he … Read More
The National Council of Bible Curriculum in Public Schools . . . Lies
Every sentence in this post (apart from this one) was ripped off from Jesse Taylor at Pandagon; he did the work so I didn’t have to. How does one teach the Bible in public schools? Not like this. Hundreds of miles away, leaders of the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools notched another victory. A religious advocacy group … Read More
That Didn’t Take Long
Bill Frist bucks Leader George and comes out for embryonic stem cell research. Good for him. Very quickly, he is condemned by the Christian Right, who he has catered to so relentlessly: WASHINGTON, July 29 /U.S. Newswire/ — The Christian Defense Coalition says Sen. Bill Frist can no longer consider himself pro-life and vote to expand funding for embryonic stem … Read More
Earth Destruction Watch
Number of days gay marriage legalized in Spain, Canada – 1 Number of days Earth not destroyed – 1 James Dobson – "It will destroy marriage. It will destroy the Earth." [Full credit to Publius]
Supreme Court Rules On Ten Commandments
BREAKING NEWS: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Ten Commandment displays are not permissible in courthouses. Well, that’s what the headlines are screaming at the moment. The devil, as they say, is in the details. For example, is the Decalogue permissible if it is part of a larger display about the origins of law? UPDATE No. 1: Decision was 5-4, … Read More
At Long Last, I Introduce . . .
. . . the religious left. The success of the Religious Right in appropriating the language of Christianity has led many people to become generally wary of religion in the public sphere and of Christianity in particular. The Religious Right has used the language of Christianity to promote an extreme and divisive political agenda that has helped polarize our nation. … Read More
More Krazy Kristian Kookdom
From the Jackson Hole Star Tribune, via Lizard Queen, we learn of a reprehensible protest. A Kansas preacher and gay rights foe whose congregation is protesting military funerals around the country said he’s coming to Idaho on today to picket the memorial for an Idaho National Guard soldier killed in Iraq. The soldier was 19 year old Carrie French (pictured … Read More
Seeing Is Believing
Epilogue to Terri Schiavo: "The brain weighed 615 grams, roughly half of the expected weight of a human brain,” he said. “This damage was irreversible, and no amount of therapy or treatment would have regenerated the massive loss of neurons.” [Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner Jon] Thogmartin said the autopsy report was based on 274 external and internal body images, and an … Read More
Roy Moore – Potential Pain in the GOP Ass?
The Boston Globe suggests an interesting future scenario. Roy Moore, the former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court who refused to follow a federal court order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the state’s judicial building, is pretty popular in Alabama. And he’s set to run for Governor in 2006 against a rather lackluster tax-raising incumbant governor. If … Read More
Krazy Kristian Kookdom – Labelling Gays Edition
I found this to be interesting, even though the proponent is denying the charge: The leader of a conservative Christian lobby group appears to suggest that gays should be required to wear warning labels, although he denies that was his intention. “We put warning labels on cigarette packs because we know that smoking takes one to two years off the … Read More
Supreme Court Gets It Right
As if on cue in the wake of the Koran desecration debate, the Supreme Court—unanimously—talks about religion and prisoners in this recent ruling: The Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Tuesday that a new federal law requiring prison officials to meet inmates’ religious needs is a permissible accommodation of religion that does not violate the separation of church and state. The … Read More
North Carolina Update
What a backwater state this can be sometimes. First, we had the Baptist preacher who kicked members of his parish out because they voted for Kerry (but, fortunately, there was a happy ending). And then we had another Baptist preacher who posted a sign in front of the church saying “The Koran should be flushed.” (Afghani deaths: Unknown). And then, … Read More