|
Welcome to the Politics page! This essentially serves as a "second blog" where I can muse, rant, and rave about politics, culture, society, religion, and anything else that really catches my fancy.
Two editorials you should read:
Why schools don't make the grade - I guess Bush was right. We do have to ask "Is our children learning?" Of course, I don't think all these scantron tests - or even the "writing" tests administered by other states - are the right test. I'm not sure what is, but I know that teaching to the test is only going to hurt America in the long run as it produces students who are ill-equipped to do the kind of critical thinking and questioning of authority required of the citizenry in a well-run republic.
Bush's draft dodge - I really think it's time for the architects of the Iraq war to consider why the American people wouldn't be willing to sacrifice for this war. America isn't at war - the 120,000 soldiers and their families are, but the rest of us haven't been asked to do a thing. Why is it that the Bush administration thinks the "War on Terror" (and the occupation of the terrorist hotbed we've created in Iraq) can be won without the massive tax hikes, war bonds, and other forms of civilian and military mobilization that resulted in our winning wars like World War II?
posted by jimmy at 22:37 - Read comments here!
Proud of Calvin
Given that I'm usually quick to criticize my alma mater when I think they've screwed up, I feel duty-bound to tell them when they do the right thing.
The SoulForce Equality Riders - a group dedicated to ending heterosexist policies and attitudes on Christian college campuses - came to Grand Rapids. Cornerstone University, Calvin's Neanderthal neighbors to the north, greeted these peaceful protesters by arresting them. What a way for Christians to extend a hand to one another in love. Of course, I'm tempted to think that this is to be expected from Cornerstone (aka Bob Jones North), which is so afraid of free dialogue and intelligent debate that they got rid of tenure. For those of my audience of the non-academic mold, tenure is (if you'll pardon my expression) the cornerstone of free academic inquiry, enabling professors to challenge conventional wisdom without fear for their jobs. In other words, as evidenced by the tenure move and by their arrest of peaceful SoulForce protestors, Cornerstone's policy can be reliably summed up thusly: "If we don't like what you have to say, we'll do everything we can to silence you." What cowards they are.
But when SoulForce came to Calvin, the administration - wisely recognizing that nobody would gain from a repeat of the Cornerstone experience - brought them together with others in a forum on campus, to talk about the issues in Christian brother/sisterhood. And while Calvin didn't change their policies - with which I still strongly disagree - both sides got to hear from the other. There wasn't any fire called down from heaven, there wasn't any condemnation, there was only honest dialogue and honest disagreement. While I wasn't there, every indication I've heard is that the conversation was productive, civil, and open - the very highest of standards for intelligent people of any (or no) faith.
Today I'm proud to be from Calvin, as they've upheld the higher American Christian tradition of intelligent, reasoned, and civil dialogue instead of the lower American Christian tradition of silencing, berating, and destroying one's opponents. I still don't agree with their policies, but I have to give them props for standing up, defending what they believe, and honestly listening to the other side. My alma mater has done well.
posted by jimmy at 21:27 - Read comments here!
Concerning Ann Coulter
As you've no doubt heard by now, Ann Coulter called John Edwards a "faggot" at CPAC a few days ago. It was perhaps the least offensive thing she's said in the past five years. Nevertheless, this is what gets a firestorm.
But Ann Coulter herself isn't the story. She says outrageous, offensive, abusive things because her saying those things helps her sell books and get speaking engagements and go on Fox News. She's an attention whore, no more and no less, and she doesn't affect anything because the vast majority of Americans rightly see her statements for the absurd farce they are.
No, the story is the people who support her. The story is the room full of the best and brightest of the "conservative"* movement who laugh and applaud when she calls John Edwards a "faggot," or the politicians who are willing to share a dais with her even after she's called for the poisoning of Supreme Court justices, violence towards liberals, and the forced conversion of Muslims.** The story is the people who hear her ridiculous, absurd viewpoints and instead of ignoring her or denouncing her, applaud her or buy her books or pay to see her speak.
And these people must be brought to light. Everyone who has ever shared a dais with Ann Coulter must be brought to account for her offensive statements. I'm sure some sort of photograph or video exists of the audience at her "faggot" speech at CPAC; every single one of those people must be publicly identified and confronted, and asked if he or she agrees with Coulter's assessment. The Republican politicians who tripped over themselves to run away from Ann Coulter must be asked why they didn't do it in the past, when she said things that were much more foul and contemptible.
Everyone who advertises on her website; every newspaper that runs her columns; every prominent conservative who hawks her books must be asked "do you agree with Ann Coulter that Justice Stevens should be poisoned, and if not, why did you continue to support her when she didn't apologize for that statement? Would you take it more seriously if it was a prominent liberal 'joking' about killing Justice Scalia?"
In other words, the Republican Party claims that she does not speak for them; let them prove it by cutting her off, or let her statements be irrevocably tied to the party as they continue to support her.
* Barry Goldwater is rolling in his grave at his party's perversion of his principled conservatism.
** Those were all jokes, of course, not to be taken seriously. Just like the Turner Diaries.
posted by jimmy at 09:34 - Read comments here!
Balance?
"Americans are very frustrated, and they have every right to be," McCain said. "We've wasted a lot of our most precious treasure, which is American lives."
That's from McCain's announcement on Letterman last night.
I seem to recall that about a month ago Barack Obama was pretty well lambasted by the press for misspeaking and calling the soldiers' lives "wasted" - even though he issued an apology and retraction just under a nanosecond after saying the fateful words. The media firestorm started that very day, with terms like "stumbling out of the gate." "Wasted" was in the headline.
John McCain says exactly the same thing and it's noted in the eighth paragraph. Not a headline but a one-sentence slap on the wrist for exactly the same thing that the media said was going to kill Obama's campaign. A Democrat says "wasted" and it's a banner headline; a Republican says "wasted" and it's an afterthought.
Darn liberal media.
posted by jimmy at 09:35 - Read comments here!
Obama in LA - A view from the head of the line
I volunteered for the Obama rally in Los Angeles yesterday. It was my first time ever volunteering for a political campaign - and it solidified in my mind how Barack Obama is changing the way politics is done in this country.
My job yesterday was simple - to stand at the front of the line with a little clicker and count people as they were coming through. My partner and I were to each count men or women (a convenient way of getting demographic information on top of just a head count) as they came through the line. It was a simple job, but it gave me the opportunity to see over 1000 people (and ours was easily the shortest of the four lines!) and get an idea of just who was coming out to see Senator Obam.
I was partnered with a delightful lady named Cathy, a retired literature professor and writer whose last campaign experience was with the Anderson campaign in 1980. We had a chance to talk for about half an hour before our job was supposed to start, and it really drove home the point to me that Senator Obama's campaign is doing more than getting a politician elected to office - it's bringing people together. I'd have never met someone like Cathy if it wasn't for Senator Obama - we're from two completely different walks of life. But because of this campaign, because of the massive volunteer effort the grassroots campaign is putting together, we got a chance to get to know one another.
But when the line began moving, there was work to do. The thing that impressed me most about the people coming through my line was their diversity. These weren't the elites in Washington or in the business world - these were regular people from all walks of life, of all colors and all ages. There were slightly more women than men. They were rich and poor, gay and straight, from all religions and speaking many languages. They were America - not just the white-bread corporate America you see on TV, but real Americans with all their idiosyncracies, all their hopes, all their concerns.
It reminded me why I'm supporting Senator Obama. All the Democratic candidates are willing to raise funds in Los Angeles - and Senator Obama is no exception - because there is a lot of money here, and our rich people care just as deeply about the problems facing our country as anyone else. But nobody else has done a rally for the people of this city, a people overlooked because our primary was one of the last and our state was a lock for the Democrat in the general. Nobody else has taken the time out of a busy campaign schedule to rally people who ultimately aren't going to matter a great deal in anyone's electoral math, a full year before the first primaries.
I didn't get to hear much of the speech, because I was at the very back of the volunteer section. I didn't mind that so much; I'm already a supporter, and I'd rather the good spots go to people who were still on the fence about him. What I did hear, though, was very good - not a home run like his announcement, the Call to Renewal, or the legendary 2004 DNC speech, but a solid stand-up double.
I've lived long enough to know that nobody's going to knock it out of the park with every speech - and that wasn't the point of this anyway. He addressed the criticisms of his campaign explicitly and implicitly - that he doesn't have enough experience, that he's all platitudes and no substance, that he's "not black enough" (whatever that means) - with charm, authenticity, and a narrative ability that sounded more like a preacher than a politician.
Senator Obama said yesterday that this campaign ultimately isn't about him, that it's about bringing people together to change the way we do things from our city blocks to Washington, and it's tempting to look at that as just more flash from a politician who's already a rock star. But what I experienced yesterday wasn't flash, it wasn't just style, and it wasn't campaign-as-usual - it was the reality of Senator Obama's dream, people from all walks of life, of all colors, creeds, and classes, coming together as Americans to start change.
People coming together - this is why Obama for America is going to change the country, and this is why Barack Obama is going to be the next President of the United States.
(Also posted at my.barackobama.com)
posted by jimmy at 11:40 - Read comments here!
Do SC State Senators really think that little of their voters?
2 SC Black Leaders Back Sen. Clinton and in the process, say that the Democrats nominating a black man would kill the entire Democratic ticket in SC.
That's just sad. These "leaders" apparently think so little of their own constituents that they believe a black man at the top of the ticket would kill the rest of their campaigns. It would be one thing to endorse Senator Clinton based on her positions on the issues, or on her support for African-American concerns, or on her rhetoric. And it's quite possible that they did endorse her based on these things (or on her and her husband's phone calls). I'm willing to give their endorsement the benefit of the doubt.
But to even suggest that the people of South Carolina are so mindnumbingly bigoted as to reject the entire Democratic ticket based on the Democrats' nomination of a black man for the highest office in the land is an insult to... well, everyone. Maybe in 1965 they were, but I'd like to hope that people's minds have changed in 40 years (though given the flap over removing a traitor's flag, I'm not as hopeful as some). What State Sen. Ford said was beyond reprehensible, and he shouldn't stop with that ridiculous non-apology apology. He needs to actually apologize for what he said.
You can demand State Sen. Ford apologize by going here and sending him an email.
(Another ridiculous question: If a black man at the top of the ticket would kill the Democrats in SC, why wouldn't a woman at the top of the ticket? Apparently, SC voters are racist, but not sexist.)
posted by jimmy at 10:56 - Read comments here!
Obama Announcement
If you want to see what this country can become, read Barack Obama's announcement for President. This speech gave me the chills.
I think it's safe to say at this point whose basket I'm putting my eggs in for November 2008.
posted by jimmy at 20:14 - Read comments here!
When brains drain from Michigan, do they spin counterclockwise?
Well, looks like the theocrats* in my former home state got what they wanted. Turns out that the anti-gay-marriage amendment they passed a few years back also means that public institutions - including public universities - can't provide domestic-partner benefits to same-sex partners anymore. All those gay university professors have just been told by the citizens of their state that "their kind" isn't welcome anymore in the state of Michigan.
I'm sure brain drain's really going to help that ailing Michigan economy. Oh well, they'll have 20% unemployment, but at least they won't be paying for benefits for those damn godless Sodomites anymore. Most corporations realized several years ago that providing domestic partner benefits was the only way to keep innovative, intelligent employees in this day and age; it's a shame to see the people of my former home state haven't gotten the clue yet.
* I know many in my audience voted for the anti-equality amendment, so let me make myself perfectly clear. If you voted for the anti-equality amendment and didn't intend this as a consequence, you aren't a theocrat, but you have a responsibility to make this right by supporting with your voice, your money, and your vote those who would make laws to overturn this consequence. If you did intend this as a consequence, then I stand by my term: you are a theocrat, because you have willfully made law based solely on religious belief to the detriment of those who believe and practice differently.
posted by jimmy at 16:11 - Read comments here!
The Irony Meter Explodes
Sometimes a story comes along where you just can't make any additional comment.
This is such a story.
posted by jimmy at 09:13 - Read comments here!
From the "nobody expected this" file...
Wild-eyed socialist liberals Ben Stein (former Nixon speechwriter) and Warren Buffett (one of the richest people on the planet) say we're already in class warfare, the rich are winning, and we need to raise taxes on the rich to deal with the massive federal deficit.
It's nice to see some of the more clear-headed conservatives coming around... maybe next time they'll think twice before voting for borrow-and-spend Republicans?
posted by jimmy at 07:32 - Read comments here!
Whaddayaknow...
...looks like we Democrats have got ourselves a Congress.
Let's hope we know how to use it. God knows we'll do a better job than the other folks have.
posted by jimmy at 19:07 - Read comments here!
So long, habeas corpus...
... it was a good 900 year run, but we all knew the rule of law and the basic principles of human rights upon which this country was founded would be no match for the mighty Unitary Executive.
Looks like the terrorists won this one.
posted by jimmy at 04:51 - Read comments here!
Ah, the Texas GOP...
...bastions of religious tolerance.
Of course, what else should be expected of a party that stated in their platform in 2004 that "America is a Christian nation"? Perhaps they should reread the Constitution.
posted by jimmy at 15:23 - Read comments here!
Pelosi's first 100 hours.
Anyone who says Democrats do nothing but Bush-bash and don't have a constructive plan to help our country, please shut up.
Let's see... intelligently protecting our country by listening to experts, making our leadership more honest and less corrupt, and fiscal responsibility. Aren't those things Republicans got behind too, back when they had principles?
posted by jimmy at 09:16 - Read comments here!
It's okay, we weren't using those human rights anyway.
I was going to post something about this week's legislative action - which consisted essentially of 65 members of the United States Senate lighting the Constitution on fire and throwing it in the nearest dumpster - but Garrison Keillor said it far better than I ever could. So allow me to say that (as usual) I agree with him 100% - which, I suppose, just makes me another treasonous enemy of the state.
posted by jimmy at 07:25 - Read comments here!
Establishment Clause? What Establishment Clause?
Oh, those delightful Republicans. Now they're trying to gut the Establishment Clause with a bill called HR 2679 by eliminating the responsibility of government bodies who violate the clause to pay the attorney's fees of the winner. That may not sound like much, but to put it in concrete terms, that means that the Jewish family that was forced to flee a Delaware town because of Christian religious harrassment - both social and institutional - would have to accept the entire cost of ensuring that they received their civil rights, rather than forcing their victimizers to pay.
This is wrong. The Establishment Clause is enshrined in the highest law of the land. It is every single human being's right to live in a nation without a state religion (the Texas GOP's protestations notwithstanding), and those who violate rights should be forced to bear the cost of restoring justice, not their victims. The real effect of this bill is to declare open season on non-Christian religions - to tell state and local governments that it's totally okay to violate their citizens' right to live in a religiously neutral state, because only the very rich will be able to take them to court to defend their rights. Essentially, this legislation creates two Americas - one for those who can afford to defend their rights, and one for those too poor to foot the massive costs involved in litigation.
There are certain Christian supremacists - those who like to make the revisionist claim that America was always intended to be a Christian nation, for example - who would love nothing more than a legal blank check to violate the rights of non-Christians. The Republican Party, by allowing this disgusting bill to hit the floor of the House, are giving them that blank check. It is up to us, American citizens of all religions who believe in the values upon which this country was founded, to put a stop to this bill, and to ensure that every single person who voted for this bill is unemployed come January 2007.
posted by jimmy at 23:19 - Read comments here!
9/11 - Did Everything Change?
Everything changed on 9/11.
That's this administration's justification for every single controversial thing they've done, everything they've enacted that seems so contrary to the values this nation was founded upon. Don't like secret prisons? That's such a 9/10 mindset. Think we shouldn't torture detainees? Everything's changed. Opposed to warrantless spying on Americans? Clearly you're with the terrorists.
But let's ask the big question. It's been five years; what's actually changed? How has your life been affected by 9/11? What major changes have you made in your life as a result of the attacks? Or, more to the point, what major changes have our leaders asked us to make in the last five years?
During World War II - the last major conflagration America was involved in - the entire society bore the brunt of the war. Taxes were raised to pay for the war effort. Bonds were sold. Fuel, food, and materials were rationed. Young men were not only asked but expected to enlist in order to fight the war abroad.
Now, what do we have? Our president is telling us to spend and consume as we always have, not to give up for the sake of the war. Taxes are cut for what may be the first time ever during war. In fact, I'd daresay that unless you're (a) a soldier, (b) a soldier's family member, or (c) a really frequent flyer, your life isn't any different than it would have been if those airplanes had never left the ground. And I think that's a crying shame.
If this is our country's war, why are we allowing our leaders to get away with making it a war whose sacrifice is shared only by a very few? Why are we not demanding of our leaders that they call all Americans to join in the sacrifice in order to win the war? Why has there not a government-led, nationwide program to conserve fuel, to sell war bonds, to provide for our soldiers so that so many don't have to live on food stamps? Why have taxes been lowered, perhaps for the first time in wartime history, rather than raised in order to pay for supplies and salaries for our soldiers? And with continual stop-lossing and IRR callups, why hasn't there been a single nationwide address from our President calling young Americans to military service? In other words, why are we being asked to sacrifice so little for a war that supposedly affects us all?
I think I have the answer, and it isn't pretty: It's Iraq. People were lined up around the block to enlist after 9/11, but that's slowed to a trickle ever since this administration got us into the needless, senseless occupation of Iraq. The world community supported us when we invaded Afghanistan; they've shunned us ever since we invaded Iraq. What's more, this administration knows that if it asks the general populace to put anything on the line for the occupation of Iraq, if it costs Joe Sixpack one red cent, the last modicums of support they have will dissipate in the wind and they'll be left alone. Americans love war, so long as it's a Jerry Bruckheimer video game on CNN rather than something that affects them; if the sacrifice of Iraq were spread throughout the populace, America would wake up to how meaningless, how pointless, how misguided the invasion was.
At this point, I don't know what the solution to all this is; and quite frankly, I think that the solution is secondary at this point. When one has a deep wound, the bleeding must be stopped before any attempts to heal can take place. We need to disempower those who made the choice to get us into this war - not as much for the sake of this Iraq, which I fear is a situation broken beyond repair, but for the sake of stopping the next misguided war. We're stuck with this administration for two more years, but we get an entirely new House next year, and 1/3 of a new Senate. Let's take advantage of that. Let's not squander our opportunity to make things right again.
posted by jimmy at 13:21 - Read comments here!
Errata
I have a correction to make.
After reading this story about a town of religious fundamentalist bigots harassing an innkeeper who had the audacity to fly a rainbow flag in memory of his son, I'm rescinding my earlier remarks about Kansas maybe making progress.
My favorite quote: "To me it's just like running up a Nazi flag in a Jewish neighborhood." As one commenter somewhere else pointed out, it's almost an apt comparison, but they've got the roles reversed: it's actually like flying a Jewish flag in a Nazi neighborhood.
Suffice to say that if I ever find myself in Kansas again, I know where I'll be spending the night - and every single dollar I spend in Meade, KS.
Update: On another message board discussing this story, I found this little cartoon, which illustrates my point perfectly...
posted by jimmy at 14:55 - Read comments here!
The Scariest Thing I've Read All Day
Bush seeks expanded military tribunal role
So, let me get this straight... under this law, anyone on the planet can be snatched up from his or her home on hearsay evidence, for crimes completely unrelated to terrorism (qualifying crimes at the Secretary of Defense's discretion), and held indefinitely with no access to due process of law, with his or her lawyer being cut off from the prosecution's evidence, and even not allowed to enter the courtroom that decides his or her own fate or confront his or her accusers? This sounds familiar... but not to America. Didn't we fight wars against people who did this kind of stuff?
I hate to be alarmist, but if this kind of stuff keeps happening, I think the terrorists will have won. There are other ways for our nation to be defeated than conquest or destruction - and the slow march to totalitarianism is one of them.
There is a positive side to this, though. If, as our glorious leader claims, the terrorists hate us for our freedom, this will make them stop attacking.
posted by jimmy at 11:29 - Read comments here!
Science is on the march!
Darwin makes comeback in Kansas school board race
Americans seem to be fighting back against the religious fundamentalist extremists who want to impose their religion over actual science. Is it possible that nothing is the matter with Kansas?*
* Aside, of course, from it being the flattest, most boring place in the known world...?
posted by jimmy at 09:38 - Read comments here!
Lady Liberty Carries a Cross?
The Statue of Liberation through Christ! Not only is it perhaps literally the world's largest monument to bad theology (one of its purposes is "to reconnect Christianity with patriotism") but it also has perhaps the longest website address for bad theology as well (www.thestatueofliberationthroughchrist.org). This is a record-setter, folks.
I'm not going to go through the site piece-by-piece and deconstruct the ridiculous statements contained therein, because I've found that it's difficult to make a reasonable argument against texts whose starting point is complete absurdity. I would have to begin by challenging the fundamental historical, theological, and political assumptions of the people behind this, and that would be significantly larger than a blog post. So at this point, I'm simply going to dismiss the thing whole-cloth except to ask this question: What would it look like if these people took over the country?
That's a scary thought.
posted by jimmy at 07:25 - Read comments here!
Finally.
The Pentagon is announcing that it's going to apply the Geneva Conventions to military detainees. I'm tentatively optimistic about this... finally it seems like this administration (after years of pressure from its left and its libertarian right, as well as some new pressure from the Supreme Court) is going to do the right thing. There's still nothing in there about granting prisoners full POW status or giving them the trials they deserve (because the G.C.s, as I read them, respect only two categories of legal prisoners, POW's or criminals) but this is definitely a step in the right direction. I remain tentatively optimistic because this only appears to apply to prisoners in military custody, not those in the custody of intelligence agencies like the CIA - not to mention the people we don't know about in the secret prisons. There is still a great deal of work to do to ensure that the so-called war on terror is conducted while respecting the inherent rights of all human beings.
But this is a huge step forward, and I believe human rights groups like Amnesty deserve a pat on the back for keeping up the pressure on the administration and the Pentagon until they finally did the right thing. If you want to pat them on the back with a buck or twenty, here's where you can do it.
posted by jimmy at 04:57 - Read comments here!
Megachurches?
As I was reading the dirty, treasonous New York Times, I ran across this article about Rob Bell. (For those what don't know, Rob Bell is the pastor of the very large Mars Hill Church in Grandville, MI.)
I really really want to not like Rob Bell. He's the pastor of a superlarge church when I believe that any church that has over 150 people should plant and plant quickly. People call him an emerging church leader, which simply isn't true because MH isn't emerging, and as an emerging Christian who knows many emerging church leaders who should get more recognition, that bothers me, despite the fact that I know it isn't his fault and he's never pretended to be emerging/emergent. He's enormously successful in getting people in his church's doors, and while I don't really envy that because I have no aspirations to start or be part of a church that pulls in those types of crowds, extraordinary success always makes me suspicious because I wonder if it's real.
Yet for some reason, I find it hard to not like him. I've seen one of his videos, and I find him charismatic, energetic, and educated (that's a Fuller Seminary education right there, folks). I like that he, unlike so many leaders of large churches, isn't afraid to talk about things like commitment, sacrifice, and the real countercultural (including counterconsumerist) implications of the Gospel.
All this is to come to a completely different point, which came up as I talked with Bethany today: What makes a megachurch? Bethany thinks Mars Hill is a megachurch because they're very large and have all the infrastructural things that come with that, including a "parking ministry" and sizable staff. From my uneducated standpoint, however, it seems to me that because Rob Bell and his church seem to shy away from allowing consumerist idolatry to seep into their church, they're not really a megachurch in the same way as those suburban soccer-mom churches whose underlying message is to reify and sanctify the unsustainable and irresponsible American consumer lifestyle. What makes a megachurch? Is it just size, or is it ideology as well?
Let's have a discussion. It'll be fun.
posted by jimmy at 19:28 - Read comments here!
The definition of irony...
...can be found in the image below.
(Thanks to "dhonig" from kos for finding the image.)
posted by jimmy at 12:02 - Read comments here!
Need a good laugh?
Read as Alaska Senator Ted Stevens tries to explain the Internets. Even the most technologically-impaired of my audience can spot at least one mistake. (This is like the puzzles in Highlights.)
And this is the guy who's holding back net neutrality legislation? Sheesh.
posted by jimmy at 09:37 - Read comments here!
Flag Desecration
I can't believe Congress couldn't do something about the epidemic of flag desecration that's sweeping our country.
Take this for example. A clear violation of the Flag Code Section 4, part g: "The flag should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature."
Clearly this man must be stopped.
posted by jimmy at 17:57 - Read comments here!
Deport Superman!
Superman is an illegal immigrant. He came to this country from a faraway place with no papers, and assumed an identity and falsified documents in order to work and take a quality newspaper reporting job away from a real American. He should be deported from whence he came, and the Daily Planet should be fined for hiring him.
Call the ICE!
posted by jimmy at 15:23 - Read comments here!
The gay marriage ban failed.
So when is the divorce rate going to skyrocket as all those gay couples destroy the institution of marriage?
Is there any reason to oppose gay marriage aside from religious bigotry?
posted by jimmy at 21:18 - Read comments here!
The Bigot in the White House
"Democracy, not court orders, should decide the future of marriage in America." --George W. Bush, June 2, 2006
So, Mr. President... are you going to call for Loving v. Virginia to be overturned? That was a court order that decided the future of marriage in America, despite the fact that a pretty clear majority of the American people opposed interracial marriage. (Recall that conservatives opposed that court decision too, in favor of "states' rights.") Damn activist courts, standing up for equality under the law.
Bigotry against gays and lesbians is no different than bigotry based on race, sex, class, age, or anything else. It's all ignorant, it's all destructive, it's all hateful, and it's all the exact opposite of the values Jesus Christ (whom George W Bush claims to follow) espoused. The GOP, by putting forth this amendment, is pandering to the bigots in the party so that maybe the people will ignore the GOP's complete inability to solve the real problems facing this nation. If this amendment passes, it will be a sad day for America.
posted by jimmy at 13:08 - Read comments here!
Macabrity
Now you can experience ignorant dispensationalist theology* on your PlayStation as well as in bookstores, video stores, etc. That's right... it's Left Behind: The Video Game! It's got all the troubling sectarianism, violence against non-Christians, and religious chauvinism of the books in a fun, easy-to-play Grand Theft Auto-type game! Now you can poison your children's minds as well as your own with LaHaye and Jenkins' ignorant drivel! Fight the heathens! Convert the "unsaved"! Kill in the name of Jesus, because that's what He told you to do in the Gospels!
...oh, wait.
* Intelligent premillennialism does exist, much as I disagree with it theologically. But LaHaye and Jenkins' dispensationalist garbage is anything but intelligent.
posted by jimmy at 21:07 - Read comments here!
A personal story...
In high school, I was basically Mr. Youth Group. I was part of three church youth groups at three different churches, as well as the Bible study at my high school. I was a total nut for those big stadium youth rallies - especially the one Acquire The Fire rally I went to. I came back totally fired up to take back America for Jesus! Huzzah!
Then... I went to college. My freshman year of college, during Interim (January term for the Calvin-uninitiated), I took a class called Totalitarian Propaganda with Randy Bytwerk. Dr. Bytwerk walked us through mostly Nazi propaganda, showing us exactly how it worked. We talked about how divisive, sectarian, violent nationalist language can increase group cohesiveness, how setting up a Ponzi scheme kept the Nazi Party in business, and the tactics of the Brownshirts at Hitler Youth rallies.
Throughout that class, I had an unsettling feeling in my stomach - because what I was seeing in our Totalitarian Propaganda films was eerily reminiscent of the Acquire The Fire rallies I'd participated in in high school. Everything from the militant, us vs. them language, to the brown-shirts (prayer volunteers) interspersed throughout the stadium, to the loud music and bright lights intended to manipulate the audience into the loss of selfhood - it was all there. It was as if Ron Luce had read directly out of Hitler's playbook. The only thing missing was the blatant nationalism and violence.
That is, until now. They've got ex-Navy SEALS shooting blanks at the audience, and violent language about being "Christian Soldiers." (Somehow I get the feeling St. Paul didn't have Navy SEAL killing machines in mind when he wrote to the Ephesians.)
Parents, don't let your kids grow up to be Hitler Youth Acquire The Fire people.
posted by jimmy at 17:32 - Read comments here!
The quandary.
What do you do if you're a Senate Republican, down in the polls, your party fracturing and unable to address the real problems in America?
Apparently, you throw red meat to your bigoted Christian Theocrat base by trying to pass a gay marriage amendment again.
Yeah, that's a winner.
posted by jimmy at 10:37 - Read comments here!
Check out the Archives.
|
