First Door on the Left

Let’s recap, shall we? Our economy is in the toilet, people are losing their homes and their jobs, people who do still have jobs are seeing their wages go down and their benefits disappear, pensions and retirement savings are gone, we are fighting two wars, our standing and reputation in the world is kaput, and Sarah Palin is concerned about writing discrimination and bigotry into the United States Constitution.

Wonderful.

Oh, and she also had this to say:

“Faith in God in general has been mocked through [sic] this campaign, and that breaks my heart and that is unfair for others who share a faith in God and choose to worship our Lord in whatever private manner that they deem fit.”

Can somebody, anybody, give me an example of how “faith in God in general has been mocked through [sic] this campaign?”

I do not know in what world the lady from Alaska is living, but I do know it isn’t ours. She is either: A) delusional; B) turning, in desperation, to wedge politics (as Republicans are wont to do); C) pandering to the CBN audience; or, D) all of the above.

Think about it. John McCain is 72 years old and his health is (to say the least) questionable. If he somehow manages to win the election in two weeks’ time there is a very good chance that Sarah Palin could become the president of the United States. Seriously… think about it.

(Senator Biden, by the way, released his medical records today. He is in excellent health. Not that I would expect that to become an issue.)

I will confess to be just a little confused when somebody came up to me today and said that Barack Obama supports George W. Bush’s faith-based initiatives. In fact, I was told, he wants to make them bigger.

It always helps, I find, to read the fine print…

Now, I know there are some who bristle at the notion that faith has a place in the public square. But the fact is, leaders in both parties have recognized the value of a partnership between the White House and faith-based groups. President Clinton signed legislation that opened the door for faith-based groups to play a role in a number of areas, including helping people move from welfare to work. Al Gore proposed a partnership between Washington and faith-based groups to provide more support for the least of these. And President Bush came into office with a promise to “rally the armies of compassion,” establishing a new Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.

But what we saw instead was that the Office never fulfilled its promise. Support for social services to the poor and the needy have been consistently underfunded. Rather than promoting the cause of all faith-based organizations, former officials in the Office have described how it was used to promote partisan interests. As a result, the smaller congregations and community groups that were supposed to be empowered ended up getting short-changed.

Well, I still believe it’s a good idea to have a partnership between the White House and grassroots groups, both faith-based and secular. But it has to be a real partnership – not a photo-op. That’s what it will be when I’m President. I’ll establish a new Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. The new name will reflect a new commitment. This Council will not just be another name on the White House organization chart – it will be a critical part of my administration.

Now, make no mistake, as someone who used to teach constitutional law, I believe deeply in the separation of church and state, but I don’t believe this partnership will endanger that idea – so long as we follow a few basic principles. First, if you get a federal grant, you can’t use that grant money to proselytize to the people you help and you can’t discriminate against them – or against the people you hire – on the basis of their religion. Second, federal dollars that go directly to churches, temples, and mosques can only be used on secular programs. And we’ll also ensure that taxpayer dollars only go to those programs that actually work.

With these principles as a guide, my Council for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships will strengthen faith-based groups by making sure they know the opportunities open to them to build on their good works. Too often, faith-based groups – especially smaller congregations and those that aren’t well connected – don’t know how to apply for federal dollars, or how to navigate a government website to see what grants are available, or how to comply with federal laws and regulations. We rely too much on conferences in Washington, instead of getting technical assistance to the people who need it on the ground. What this means is that what’s stopping many faith-based groups from helping struggling families is simply a lack of knowledge about how the system works.

Well, that will change when I’m President. I will empower the nonprofit religious and community groups that do understand how this process works to train the thousands of groups that don’t. We’ll “train the trainers” by giving larger faith-based partners like Catholic Charities and Lutheran Services and secular nonprofits like Public/Private Ventures the support they need to help other groups build and run effective programs. Every house of worship that wants to run an effective program and that’s willing to abide by our constitution – from the largest mega-churches and synagogues to the smallest store-front churches and mosques – can and will have access to the information and support they need to run that program.

You can’t always take what the media tells you at face value. Sometimes you need to go directly to the source.

It was kind of a slow news today, wasn’t it? So much so that most of the major news networks led with this story: “Dobson accuses Obama of ‘distorting’ Bible.”

If anybody is an expert at distorting the Bible for financial and political gain, it is this man:

James Dobson

Though I consider myself a Christian, I am no fan of organized religion. I have seen it destroy too many lives. It should be noted, however, that James Dobson is not a reverend, minister or pastor of any religion. He is a child psychologist. My interpretation of the Bible carries as much weight as his, as does yours, and as does Barack Obama’s.

Senator Obama, for whatever reason, felt the need to respond. “I think you’ll see that he was just making stuff up, maybe for his own purposes.” Amen, brother.

I hope we can make it through this election without too much more of this ridiculousosity. I am not holding out a whole lot of hope, however. (Hey, I made up a word. Like it? I figure if a spoiled, ignorant and illiterate frat boy like George W. Bush can do it, so can I.)

If Johnny isn’t careful, he soon will not have a friend left in the right wing of the Republican party… not if he keeps insisting on denouncing their preachers…

McCain rejects pastor’s endorsement

John Hagee and John McCain

STOCKTON, Calif. (AP) - Republican John McCain on Thursday rejected endorsements from two influential but controversial televangelists, saying there is no place for their incendiary criticisms of other faiths.

McCain rejected the months-old endorsement of Texas preacher John Hagee after an audio recording surfaced in which the preacher said God sent Adolf Hitler to help Jews reach the promised land. McCain called the comment “crazy and unacceptable.”

He later repudiated the support of Rod Parsley, an Ohio preacher who has sharply criticized Islam and called the religion inherently violent.

McCain issued a statement Thursday afternoon announcing his decision about Hagee.

“Obviously, I find these remarks and others deeply offensive and indefensible, and I repudiate them. I did not know of them before Reverend Hagee’s endorsement, and I feel I must reject his endorsement as well,” he said.

Later, in Stockton, he told reporters: “I just think that the statement is crazy and unacceptable.”

Then in an interview with The Associated Press, McCain said he rejected Parsley’s support, too.

“I believe there is no place for that kind of dialogue in America, and I believe that even though he endorsed me, and I didn’t endorse him, the fact is that I repudiate such talk, and I reject his endorsement,” McCain told the AP.

Hagee had sparked controversy since the San Antonio pastor endorsed McCain on Feb. 27 shortly before the Texas presidential primary. Parsley’s views were aired Thursday in an ABC News report.

McCain actively courted Hagee, who leads a megachurch with a congregation in the tens of thousands and has an even wider television audience. Former GOP presidential rivals also sought Hagee’s backing.

Hagee has referred to the Roman Catholic Church as “the great whore” and called it a “false cult system.” He also has linked Hitler to the Catholic church, suggesting it helped shape his anti-Semitism. And Hagee said Hurricane Katrina was God’s retribution for homosexual sin.[..]

The other pastor, Parsley, has described Islam as an “anti-Christ religion” and the Muslim prophet Muhammad as “the mouthpiece of a conspiracy of spiritual evil,” according to ABC News.

There is nothing in the teachings of either Hagee or Parsley with which right wing Republicans do not agree. They cannot be happy that the presumptive presidential nominee of their party is rejecting their beliefs. I look for a lot of them to stay home come November 4.

What’s it really like at the Trinity United Church of Christ?

Shocking. Is it any wonder that I no longer believe in organized religion?

Barack Obama denounces controversial remarks by Rev. Jeremiah Wright, retiring pastor at Trinity United Church of Christ. (Another “scandal” which, in the humble opinion of this writer (to which you are entitled), has been blown way out of proportion.)

(Posted at the request of Senator Barack Obama, candidate for the Democratic nomination for the presidency of the United States.)

The right wing blogosphere is buzzing about this and wondering why nobody on the left has anything to say about it. They have already decided it was an “honor killing” and that the entire Muslim world must be condemned for it.

Lewisville High mourns deaths of two sisters

Amina and Sarah Said

Lewisville High School students returned from winter break on Thursday to mourn the deaths of two classmates whose bodies were found in a taxi cab on New Year’s Day.

The bodies of Amina Yaser Said, 18, and Sarah Yaser Said, 17, were found in their father’s taxi cab in Irving on Tuesday evening. Both teens had died from multiple gunshot wounds. A capital murder arrest warrant has been issued for their father Yaser Abdel Said, 50, who remained at large.

Their deaths have shocked students and staff.

“That wasn’t a car accident, this was a violent crime,” that claimed the girls’ lives, said Dean Tackett, a spokesman for the Lewisville ISD. “It’s almost too much to handle.”

Yaser Abdel Said

Amina, a senior, and Sarah, a junior, were both smart and well-liked, he said. The sisters were enrolled in Advanced Placement classes, involved with student government and played tennis and soccer, according to interviews with a school official and classmates…

Police provided no clues about the motive for the killings. “There are several things we’re looking into,” said Irving police Officer David Tull. He said there have been some “domestic issues” with the family, but he did not elaborate.

Police did say they are looking into the possibility that the father was upset with his daughters’ dating activities.

There… I said something. Happy?

A tragic story, to say the least. It may be a bit early, however, to be passing judgment. I especially do not believe that the extremist right wing of the Republican party has room to be passing judgment on anybody.

See also: “Friends: Murdered Teens Were Afraid Of Their Dad.”

And, as long as we are on the subject of hate crimes, “Racial hatred comes calling at family’s new home.”

Great… Another reason for the right wing religious zealots to claim they are being persecuted…

Woman Escorted Off Bus For Reading Bible Aloud

Christine Lutz

FORT WORTH (CBS 11 News) ― A passenger on a Fort Worth bus says the T. Bus Service discriminated against her religion.

Christine Lutz says she was reading her Bible to her children when the bus driver asked her to stop or get off the bus.

Lutz, a Seventh Day Adventist, and her children were on their way to church.

“She then said, ‘Well I don’t think this is the place or the time to do so.’ And I said, ‘Oh, but it’s the perfect time and the perfect place since it is our Sabbath and it is the time with the Lord and therefore I’m going to continue.’ And I continued,” she explained.

Then, a TRE supervisor came on board. Lutz also told him that she would not stop reading. She and her family were escorted off the bus.

“This was definitely a clear cut case of persecution,” she said.

Or was it a clear cut case of policy?

“Anyone who is loud will be asked to be quiet,” said representative Joan Hunter. “That is a standard policy across country in the transit industry.”

It doesn’t matter what is said, the T has a policy of no loud or abusive behavior.

“It’s only if the other passengers will complain, or it’s obviously so loud it’s distracting the operator, that we will ask them to stop,” Hunter explained.

Video here.

When you are in a public place (for example, a public bus) and you are asked by a person in authority (for example, the bus driver) to please tone it down a bit, it may be a good idea to tone it down a bit.

This lady, I believe, was just purposely trying to be obnoxious.

A few short weeks ago Mike Huckabee was nothing more than a small cloud on the horizon in the race for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination. He has since become the darling of the evangelicals and is gaining in the polls. Bishop Romney does not like this one bit. He’s coming at Pastor Mike with both barrels blazing…

Fact Check: Romney’s Pardoning Practices

BOSTON (AP) - Mitt Romney’s new TV commercial questions the judgment of Mike Huckabee, his fellow Republican presidential contender, noting the rival issued 1,033 pardons and commutations as governor of Arkansas while Romney issued none while leading Massachusetts.

Left out of the spot is perhaps Romney’s most noteworthy pardon denial: his rejection of the request of an Iraq war veteran who was trying to become a police officer after his National Guard service.

Anthony Circosta’s offense? Shooting a friend in the arm with a BB gun as 13-year-old. The impact didn’t break the skin.

In his ad, Romney lauds Huckabee for sharing his own opposition to abortion rights and support for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Then his second commercial assailing Huckabee’s record takes a turn for the negative…

Huckabee, appearing Tuesday in Houston, was questioned about the ad. He said he exercised discretion and acted responsibly in reviewing the requests.

The former governor added: “People need to understand the real record here. Did Mitt Romney act in the best interest of Anthony Circosta or in the best interest of Mitt Romney? If you’re gonna be elected to the job you need to be elected to do the job that’s best for the citizens, not for your own political future.”

It’s fun to watch the two “religious” candidates in the Republican primaries go after one another. This coming right on the heels of Huckabee’s “Jesus ad” is hilarious. Have at it, guys!

This is from FOX News, so consider the source…

Mike Huckabee Says He’s Apologized to Mitt Romney for Mormon Comments

Mike Huckabee said Wednesday that he has apologized to rival Mitt Romney for questioning his Mormon faith in an upcoming article in The New York Times.

Huckabee told CNN after a Republican presidential debate in Iowa that he did not originally want to talk about Romney’s religion for the article, to be published Sunday.

“I said ‘I don’t want to go there.’ I don’t know much about it,” Huckabee said. “After the debate today I went to Mitt Romney and apologized to him. I would never pick out some part of your faith and make it an issue.”

In the article, Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, asks, “Don’t Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?”

Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said Romney has accepted Huckabee’s apology.

“(Romney) believes that appeals to prejudice have no part in this campaign. While it’s fair to criticize an opponent’s record or policy positions, it’s out of bounds to question a person’s religious beliefs,” Fehrnstrom said.

There is definitely too much religion going on in the Republican primary campaigns. But, in all fairness, Bishop Romney himself opened this can of worms with his infamous “Faith in America” speech. If he didn’t want people talking about it, he shouldn’t have talked about it.

Winger Paul Mirengoff says that Preacher Mike’s apology “shows class and should end the matter.”

While we’re on the subject of apologies, Daryl Cagle definitely owes Mitt Romney (and the entire LDS church) an apology for this cartoon…

(Click to enlarge)

That has got to be just about the most tasteless and offensive cartoon I believe I have seen in a while. I consider myself to be fairly liberal and open-minded, but that is just wrong.