More Christian violence

Did you hear about the shooter in Pittsburg, PA? He shot up an aerobics class in a gym.

Part of his diary (h/t to AboveTheLaw)

August 3, 2009: I took off today, Monday, and tomorrow to practice my routine and make sure it is well polished. I need to work out every detail, there is only one shot. Also I need to be completely immersed into something before I can be successful. I haven't had a drink since Friday at about 2:30. Total effort needed. Tomorrow is the big day.

Unfortunately I talked to my neighbor today, who is very positive and upbeat. I need to remain focused and absorbed COMPLETELY. Last time I tried this, in January, I chickened out. Lets see how this new approach works.

Maybe soon, I will see God and Jesus. At least that is what I was told. Eternal life does NOT depend on works. If it did, we will all be in hell. Christ paid for EVERY sin, so how can I or you be judged BY GOD for a sin when the penalty was ALREADY paid. People judge but that does not matter. I was reading the Bible and The Integrity of God beginning yesterday, because soon I will see them.

I will try not to add anymore entries because this computer clicking distracts me.

This is the result of Christianity. Of all religions. This.

A response to Lady Lydia

Lilac Time by Lee Dublin

I've posted a response to "Lady" Lydia Sherman on her blog Guard The Home. As she has comment moderation on, I will be pleasantly surprised if it actually appears there. So, here's a copy for the record.

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First off, while I understand that your policy of anonymous commenting is designed to protect the commenters, I prefer to put my name to my comment. I prefer to own my words and take responsibility for them, for one, and for another I am not afraid of people coming back to my blog and posting comments of their own. I believe a comment reflects back to the commenter, for good or ill, and not the blog owner. However, since this is your blog, if you prefer to take my name off, I will not complain.

That said, I finally have to respectfully disagree with you, and your description of "rebels".

I have been quite happily married for nine years now. For seven of those I have been a keeper in my home, taking care of my husband and our little nest. He is well employed, a proud military veteran, and is currently studying to be a civil engineer. We're not wealthy, but we are self-sufficient and comfortable. My in-laws, who have been married almost forty years and are active members of their church, are quite proud of us and the lives we lead, and have said so both to us and to other friends and family members. We are all quite close, and even though they love several states away we visit a number of times a year.

And yet, I do believe you would consider us rebels.

For one thing my husband has never taken "headship" in our home. We make decisions equally. discussing each one until a mutual decision has been agreed upon. I do not "submit" to him in any way, shape or form. I do what I do around the house not because it is my duty but because it suits the common good or because it will make him happy. And he does things for me for the same reason. Yes, I do consider myself a feminist, and at times have been politically active as such, as has my husband. We are currently working for the right for homosexuals to marry, and a number of our friends who are close enough to be called brothers and sisters are both homosexual and married. And yes, our marriage is as strong as ever.

For another, I have very little contact with my family, especially my Mother. I do not "honor" my mother, simply because she does not deserve it. She's been through three marriages, each one more abusive than the last, and I cannot trust her not to cause us harm by bringing another abusive man home. Her lifestyle is utterly against our values, such that we cannot even go over to her home. And she is usually combative and manipulative when we have dealings with her. She's repeatedly told me she wished she had aborted me, but her mother prevented her from doing so, and that she doesn't consider me her daughter. For the sake of our mental health and marriage it's much better for us to avoid her whenever possible.

Finally, as you might have guessed, we are not members of any church. In fact we are both atheists. I do consider my self a Unitarian Univeralist, and affirm the seven principals, and my husband follows a philosophy based on Buddhist teachings. But neither of us believe in any sort of a supreme being, or that the bible is anything other than fiction, and we do not care what stand it takes on any issue.

And yet contrary to what you espouse, we do not live in a car. Neither of us has ever done drugs or an STD, and I've not had an abortion. We don't commit crimes, or live lives of poverty or ugliness. I hold a dual degree in computer networking and education, have held a teaching certificate and taught third grade for eight years. My husband is late getting his degree as he joined the US Marine Corps after high school, and spent eight years serving his country before starting college. We live in a comfortable apartment, as we see no reason to go through the trouble of home ownership until we decide where to settle. We love to read and listen to jazz and create things for our home. I am currently working toward Masters certifications from both the Knitting and Embroidery Guilds of America, and he is learning woodworking during his breaks from school. In fact, at the moment he's outside building a rocking chair for me so that I can enjoy the lovely weather from the patio. Our lives hardly fit your description of the "rebel", and yet in your world we most certainly would be exactly that.

So I am afraid I must disagree with your portrait of the "rebel", Lady Lydia. Just because children disagree with their parents, that doesn't mean that they are home wreckers, living in misery and destroying lives all around them. It can mean that they are adults, with differing opinions and differing ways of looking at the world.

Sometimes someone else just says it better

From PunditKitchen.com

More video goodness

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What have liberals done for America?

Over the past few years a number of these have gone around. I know Shakespeare's Sister has done one, and I think someone connected to the Group News Blog has as well. But I like Guerrila Dove's for being simple and direct:

What have liberals done for America? Here are some items to ponder:

- Lead America out of the great depression

- Lead America and the world to victory in WWII

- Stood firm against communism in Berlin, Korea, Cuba and Vietnam

- Spoke out against racism and fought for the right of ALL Americans to vote

- Landed a man on the moon

- Negotiated peace between Israel and its former enemies Egypt and Jordan

- Gave America social security and Medicare to ensure that ALL Americans would have the right to retire without fear of living in abject poverty

- Elected presidents have balanced their budgets or at the very least reduced the deficits of their Republican predecessors

- Led the United States into becoming the most powerful political, economic and military power in human history

Or perhaps this list from the Umatilla County Democrats

1919—Women’s Suffrage Ratified [Wilson]

1920—Annette Adams, First Woman Appointed To An Administration Position
[Wilson]

1933—Federal Deposit Insurance [FDR]

1935—W.P.A. [FDR-put people to work during the depression]

1935—Social Security Act [FDR]

1938—Fair Labor Standards Act [FDR]

1944—G.I. Bill Of Rights [FDR]

1947—Military Desegregated [Truman]

1947—Marshall Plan [Truman-Rebuilt Europe after WW II]

1961—Peace Corps [John F. Kennedy]

1964—Civil Rights Act [Johnson]

1964—Medicare And Medicaid [Johnson]

1964—Fed Dept Of Housing And Urban Development [Johnson]

1965—Head Start Created [Johnson]

1968—Occupation Safety Act [Johnson]

1987—Clean Water Act [Dem Congress override of Reagan veto]

1990—Americans With Disabilities Act [Democratic Congress]

1993—Family Leave Act [Clinton]

1993—AmeriCorps [Clinton]

1996-- Largest expansion of college opportunity since the GI Bill [Clinton]

1997-- Converted the largest budget deficit in American history to the
largest surplus [Clinton]

1999-- Longest economic expansion in American history & Lowest
unemployment in 30 years [Clinton]

He then issued a challenge for anyone to come up with a list of 10 things the conservatives have done for the US. Here's a list from Broad Sunlit Uplands:

• Raised taxes on wages and lowered taxes on unearned income

• Three Quarters of federal debt accumulated by three Conservative Presidents

• Massive devaluation of the dollar by the logical outcome of their belief in invisible hands and cronyism

• Massive and expensive expansion of the military to fight nonexistent threat; one at the expense of social goods like infrastructure maintenance and care for the least among us.

• A distribution of wealth approaching Latin American levels.

• Largest number of homeless and unemployed ever.

• The judicial murder of people later found innocent.

• Imprisonment of almost 2 percent of the national population including those who committed no crime against property or persons.

• Wrecking in turn each industry that they have deregulated. Banks, Airlines, Energy and other deregulated sectors fail then require regulation.

• Wars for irrational beliefs that are against the national interest.

• Self-destructive and irrational fear, hate and ignorance.

To which I will add

- Were in charge during three of the greatest financial crises of the 20th century: The Great Depression (Herbert Hoover), the S&L crises (Ronald Regan) and the Great Recession (George W. Bush)

- Deny citizens their rights based on their sexuality

- Sanctioned the use of torture by the United States

- Took us off the gold standard and put us on the petrodollar (Nixon), thereby tying the value of our currency to foreign oil

- Had lots and lots and LOTS of sex scandals (source)

- Looked the other way while their Saudi friends trafficked in child sex slaves (George W. Bush) (source)

- And, oh yea, not only created Timothy McVey, but were in charge of our national security on 9/11

Now, which party has proven better for this country?

Have a good 4th

Blogging like it's 2008

Once again Barbara Curtis has to go political.

The price they paid.

Now, I'm not disagreeing with the idea that the 4th should be about more than just BBQ and fireworks. But she really ought to find a better source than oxy freak Rush Limbaugh. Much of that essay simply isn't true.

Snopes - The price they paid.

Granted she'll just tell you that Snopes is run or paid for by the Communists/Socialists/Fascists/ACORN/Obama Campaign, so you can't believe them.

Uh-huh

Near as I can tell over-taxation means actually paying your fair share, control means having to obey the law, and tyranny is when you lose and election.

Now, I'm going to go help out at the VA clinic, where a bunch of us horrid liberal progressive types are trying to make life better for a bunch of veterans who lost their homes thanks to the Bush/Republican era economic policies, who can't get the help they need from the VA thanks to the Republican tax cuts, and who were injured in Bush's war of aggression against Iraq. And then I'm going to go watch the fireworks.

What are you going to do today?

Sometimes the headline says it all

(Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images)

Archbishop of Westminster attacks atheism but says nothing on child abuse

On corrupt Christianity

I made these comments, both in comments here and on another blog. I wanted them here as well.

Some negative examples of Christianity..

The Patriocentrics and the idea that women should not be educated or vote. (Links here and herehere)
and

Ted Haggard and his condemnation of “sodomy”, before being discovered with a male prostitute.

Pat Robinson and Jerry Falwell blaming 9/11 on, well, everyone. (link here) and saying that God allowed that to happen.

Pope Benedict II, and the case of the girl in Brazil (link here) when the Vatican excommunicated every adult involved except the rapist.

Also Pope Benedict II claiming that condom use will make the AIDS problem in Africa worse, not better, thereby undermining efforts to help fight the disease. (link here)

Fred Phelps and the Westborogh Baptist Church, picketing at soldiers funerals, claiming that God was killing them for our supposed sins.

Was it the Pearls or the Ezzos who came up with the idea of using pluming line to beat your children in order to train them? Most consider that child abuse.

The sheer number of priests and ministers who have been able to get away with sexual abuse over the years because “a man of God would never do anything like that”. (See links here and here and here

Commercials like this

Deeply dumb jokes like this

The Southern Baptist Convention deciding not to create a database of clergy convicted of molesting minors. They claim it's against their principal of autonomy, which is of course Biblically based. (link here)

The results of Ireland's Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse. According to The Irish Times.

"The sheer scale and longevity of the torment inflected on defenseless children – over 800 known abusers in over 200 institutions during a period of 35 years – should alone make it clear that it was not accidental or opportunistic but systematic. Abuse was not a failure of the system. It was the system".

When I see the sheer amount of corruption and evil perpetrated by Christianity, I have to think the entire system is corrupt. From readying and studying the bible and bible history, I have found that the system is corrupt as written.

I take issue with the idea of being forgiven for the wrong you do with no need for retribution on your part for those wrongs. A system like that can only encourage wrongdoing, not only do you not have to incur punishment, but if you ask for forgiveness you are automatically forgiven and rewarded. You may say that Christ knows your heart, but based on the behavior of his followers, he obviously doesn't know or care enough to change those hearts.

The only conclusion I can settle with is that the whole thing is a myth.

When you look at the history, there is no proof of Christ. The Gospels were written decades after he supposedly lived. The decision of what made up the bible was made by committee centuries after that. It makes far more sense to me, and fits the behavior of Christians through the ages, that the whole thing was set up to justify a power structure and allow for corrupt behavior.

Playing for change

Amazing videos. PlayingforChange.com Thanks to K for turning me on to them

On Evangelicals and torture

photo © Adrian van Leen for openphoto.net CC:PublicDomain


From CNN.com:

Survey: Support for terror suspect torture differs among the faithful

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new survey.

More than half of people who attend services at least once a week -- 54 percent -- said the use of torture against suspected terrorists is "often" or "sometimes" justified. Only 42 percent of people who "seldom or never" go to services agreed, according the analysis released Wednesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

White evangelical Protestants were the religious group most likely to say torture is often or sometimes justified -- more than six in 10 supported it. People unaffiliated with any religious organization were least likely to back it. Only four in 10 of them did.

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The religious group most likely to say torture is never justified was Protestant denominations -- such as Episcopalians, Lutherans and Presbyterians -- categorized as "mainline" Protestants, in contrast to evangelicals. Just over three in 10 of them said torture is never justified. A quarter of the religiously unaffiliated said the same, compared with two in 10 white non-Hispanic Catholics and one in eight evangelicals.

I think this goes back to my theory that "being saved" subconsciously translates into "I can do anything I want, no repercussions.". After all, you're already forgiven of all your sins. Whereas groups who have to "earn" their salvation by actually following the Bible (instead of just reading it over and over again), doing the dreaded "good works", and treating others as they would be treated are less likely to torture. The least likely are those who don't believe in an afterlife, so they have to make this life count.

Problem is, the people who pay for this one are not the believers. It's our men and women in uniform. See, when we don't follow the Geneva convention when we capture the enemy, why should the enemy follow it when they capture our people? Matthew 7:12 actually does directly apply here:

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

Funny how the Atheists get this more than the Evangelicals do.