Friday, A Few Links

For your reading pleasure.

From Crooks and Liars, a question. How many loathsome ideas will the McCain staff voice.


Ed at Dispatches From the Culture Wars wants us all to remember, all to often it is not what you know but who you know.


At Vanity Press, and question on how you might define elitist.


And last but, when comments are considered, certainly not least, PZ Meyers Pharyngula. Mid week he noticed that a few rather unhinged Catholics were freaking out because someone failed to consume the host and returned to the pew with it in his hand (to show it to a friend who had never seen one of the communion crackers). A day or so later, Bill Donohue, a professionally offended Catholic and religious right talking head noticed PZ's post and the fireworks started in earnest. The post are interesting, the comments, while not safe for work and highly inflammatory at times are great reading.


Tags
Blogs, Election 2008, McCain, religious right Sphere: Related Content

A Collection Of Post

for you Fridays enjoyment. Click over and check them out.


Barbecue and Politics thinks he sees someone laying down AstroTurf, and trying to claim it is a homegrown lawn.


Does Focus on the Family's Jim Dobson just make stuff up (you know, lie)? Lets Deacon Tim at Sacraments Wholesale be a witness.


Seeding Spartanburg takes on a topic dear to my heart and asks why are we Deregulating Ourselves to Death.


and the ideologically driven absurdity of Justice Scalia is pointed out at Sadly, No!.




Tags
AstroTurf, Blogs, Government, religious right, Scalia Sphere: Related Content

Not At All Suprised

A little angered, and amused.

It appears that the principals of one of the firms that edit films to sanatize them for those who are easily offended is in a little trouble. This man, who's business plan was to supply highly religious persons 'safe' movies, had some side businesses.

Thompson, 31, and Isaac R. Lifferth, 24, were arrested in Orem this week on suspicion of having sex with two 14-year-old girls.

...

The booking documents state Thompson told the 14-year-olds that his film sanitizing business was a cover for a pornography studio. He asked the girls if they would participate in making a porn movie

A hat tip to the Reverand Big Dumb Chimp


Tags
Religious Right, Sex Sphere: Related Content

Republicans Want A Theocracy

This is a oft repeated claim by many on the left. I myself have pointed this out many times. But when you look at the details we were presenting it was clear that most of the time those who are pushing for a God based government were only the wacko's on the fringe of the Republican party. The Dominionism and Christian Reconstructionist that want God to rule the US traditionally have been kept at arms length from the forefront of the republican party, much like a crazy uncle who lives upstairs but is kept away from visitors.

That was until this week the the crazy uncle came downstairs while the media was in the living room. Huckabee opens his mouth and made it instantly clear that there are many Republicans who do want a theocracy and not just the lunatic fringe, but some who have to be considered main stream within the party clearly want this too.

“I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution. But I believe it’s a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living god. And that’s what we need to do — is to amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards rather than try to change God’s standards so it lines up with some contemporary view of how we treat each other and how we treat the family.”

This does raise a few very interesting questions about which of 'God's standards' we need to incorporate into the the constitution. Do we start with the ten commandments, if so which version? To move things along lets use these. It is not exactly like any one version, but gets the point across and is the one of the few areas with the laws in the Bible that is fairly clear.

I am the Lord your God you shall have no other gods before me
You shall not make for yourself an idol
You shall not make wrongful use of the name of your God
Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy
Honor your Father and Mother
You shall not murder
You shall not commit adultery
You shall not steal
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
You shall not covet your neighbor's wife or house

We already have civil laws that address murder perjury and theft. We have in some backwaters of the US bluelaws in the effort to 'keep the Sabbath holy' (but I am not sure how preventing people from going shopping is going to force someone to keep something holy, but this is another issue). As to the rest, while you could pass amendments to mandate that there is no other God, there shall be no Idols, honoring your parents, no coveting etc, but how do you enforce them. Do we create an American version of the Mutaween to enforce these new laws.

Most of the 10 commandments are focused of how an individual thinks (honor your parents, do not covet etc) and are basically undeterminable to everyone else. How do you know what is in someones heart. How can you tell if your neighbor holds other Gods before our nations God, unless he tells you? No, working the 10 commandments into the constitution is not his goal.

Huckabee was pushing this for the big three issues of the religious right: abortion, homosexuality and state support of religion. He wants to use his interpretation of the bible to make law on these issues. Unfortunately for him, there is nothing like the 10 commandments that he can rely on to base his opinion on. No where in the bible does it plainly denounce abortion. Homosexuality is denounce in the Old Testament, unfortunate for Huckabee and his followers so are shrimp, oysters and poly cotton blend cloth. Leviticus has a lot more to do with than just homosexuality. outside of this book, just as with abortion, the rest of the bible is far from clear on the issue and subject to varied interpretation.

This takes us to what is wrong with Huckabee and his right wing religious foolishness. He has looked at the issue, turned to his faith and made the decision that abortion is wrong, and homosexuality is a sin. That is fine. I have done the same and have come to slightly different answers. The difference is in how we respond to the result. I live my life based on how I answer these questions, and let others live these lives. Huckabee and his followers insist that everyone live their lives based on how he (and his minions) answered these questions.

But I would like to know why are his answers better than mine? Maybe we both could live our lives without imposing our religiously based ideas on others who don't share them.

That would seem to be the American way, a reliance on both reason and liberty. But this view is one that both the republican party and the religious right refuse to accept. They believe that their religiously based world view is the only acceptable view and that it is proper that they have the right to force all Americans to live in a theocracy based on their religious dogma.

And, a person who openly expressed this overtly authoritarian view is a leading candidate to be the Republican parties presidential candidate.

All I can say is, wow.

Who would have thought that a one time fringe element in the Republican party would feel comfortable enough in their position to utter something that is so fundamentally anti-American.





Tags
Huckabee, Religious Right Sphere: Related Content

Canadians Can Be Foolish Too

A school board in Canada has been forced into an action that sounds much more like something you would hear a South Carolina school board eagerly embracing. They have voted to remove a collection of children's books from the school library.

It appears that a, no doubt highly religious person, has filled a complaint about the books, and has forced the board to review them.

What is interesting is that the books in question are highly regarded award winners for young readers. In the past these books have not created great amount of highly notable controversy, but that has changed recently because: 1. The book is being released as a movie 2. The author is an atheist and 3. the Catholic church and the religious right is unhappy.

At least this is happening in Canada, where a review will take place. I fear that here in South Carolina we would move right on to the book burning. Sphere: Related Content

Right-wing Authoritarian

Over at Orcinus, a great piece on the behavior and thinking of many on the right wing.

In fact, that naivete -- deceptively packaged as purity and innocence -- is one of the main things people are seeking when they're drawn into authoritarian systems. They join up because they feel overwhelmed by the complexity and nuance in the world. There's just too much to keep up with, too much responsibility, too much chaos. Often, they've been caught in the gears of the machinery of modernity, and have had large parts of their lives chewed up by the works. It all feels out of control. (Chris Hedges, in his new book American Fascism, describes how Christianist proselytizers are taught to seek out people going through hard times-- they're the hottest conversion prospects.)

This ties in quite nicely with the revelation that the Kansas Republican party is now considering some form of loyalty oath

The state committee's actions struck a sour note for some Republicans, particularly moderates on issues such as abortion. Bob Beatty, a Washburn University political scientist, suggested the loyalty committee could prove a "public relations disaster."

"Ironically, it smacks most of the Communist Party," Beatty said Monday. "That's the kind of public irony that most parties try to avoid -- the party of freedom telling people they have no freedom."

Sphere: Related Content

Abstinence Only Fails

Not that this should surprise anyone who has any ability to think. Just say no has been an abject failure in every venue it has been rolled out into. What may be surprising is that this first study indicates that the hundreds of millions that have been spend on telling kids to just say no to sex has had, what amounts to, absolutely no impact on teen sexual activity.

Students who participated in sexual abstinence programs were just as likely to have sex a few years later as those who did not

...

those who attended one of the four abstinence classes reviewed reported having similar numbers of sexual partners as those who did not attend the classes, and they first had sex at about the same age as their control group counterparts — 14 years and nine months

just as likely to have sex, similar numbers of sexual partners, first had sex at about the same age... all for the low, low price of $175,000,000 a year. I wonder if we can get a full refund from all the right wing sexual snake oil sales people who have been able to use the Bush administration to rob the American public. Sphere: Related Content

All Better Now

It appears homosexual mega-pastor, Rev. Ted Haggard, after only 3 weeks of 'treatment' is all better now.

The Rev. Ted Haggard emerged from three weeks of intensive counseling convinced he is "completely heterosexual" and told an oversight board that his sexual contact with men was limited to his accuser.

To quote a very old line, de-nile is not just a river in Egypt. Deciding to run back into the closet is not a new sexual orientation, but just old fashioned sexual repression Sphere: Related Content