Christian leaders to Congress: Ignore misinformation on abortion, pass health reform

By GottaLaff

(click on image to enlarge)

The other day on the Rachel Maddow Show, Nancy Pelosi made a point of telling Rachel that health care reform was not just about abortion, it was about saving lives, money, and providing care to millions.

She repeated the positives of the plan and steered Rachel away from concentrating too hard on something that shouldn't be an issue (mainly because Bart Stupak is spreading misinformation; abortion will not be being funded by the government).

Pelosi is one of the few that has insisted on clarifying and laying out the benefits of the bill. Anthony Weiner is another. Their consistent message of what health care reform offers, rather than getting sidetracked by GOP talking points, is something that's been sorely missing over the past year.

Meanwhile, a group of "pro-life" Christian leaders has come out in support of the plan. They're darn pretty clear, too.

Think Progress takes it from there:

Underscoring this point, this week, a group of 25 “pro-life Catholic theologians and Evangelical leaders” sent a letter to Congress urging them to look past the misinformation on abortion and pass health care reform. From their letter:

As Christians committed to a consistent ethic of life, and deeply concerned with the health and well-being of all people, we want to see health care reform enacted. [...]

We are writing because of our concern about the lack of clear and accurate information regarding abortion provisions in the health care reform bill passed by the Senate on December 24, 2009.

Reforming our health care system is necessarily complex, and the provisions related to abortion, or any other issue, require careful examination of the facts as they exist in the legislative language. We believe that the provisions below provide extensive evidence that longstanding restrictions on federal funding of abortion have been maintained. Furthermore, this bill provides new and important supports for vulnerable pregnant women.

The Catholic Health Association also sent a letter (see image above) to Congress urging passage of the Senate bill. They pointed out that millions of Americans would benefit.

Imagine that.

Texas Approves Curriculum Revised by Conservatives

By GottaLaff

Now children, let's go back and review what we've been missing:

Men rode dinosaurs so that they could hunt better. And besides, they made great companions when the wife was busy birthing cavedwellerettes.

There is no such thing as separation of church and state. That's a crazy myth that some Marxist commie made up.

Always use your position to exploit and indoctrinate children, and then accuse the first African American president of doing the same when he's encouraging good work habits and responsibility:

After three days of turbulent meetings, the Texas Board of Education on Friday voted to approve a social studies curriculum that will put a conservative stamp on history and economics textbooks, stressing the role of Christianity in American history and presenting Republican political philosophies in a more positive light.

The vote was 11 to 4, with 10 Republicans and one Democrat voting for the curriculum, and four Democrats voting against.

And children, above all else, be fair and balanced:

The board, whose members are elected, has influence beyond Texas because the state is one of the largest purchasers of textbooks.

Remember children: The whole church and state thing? Pffft!

The conservative members maintain that they are trying to correct what they see as a liberal bias among the teachers who proposed the curriculum. To that end, they made dozens of minor changes aimed at calling into question, among other things, concepts like the separation of church and state and the secular nature of the American Revolution.

“I reject the notion by the left of a constitutional separation of church and state,” said David Bradley, a conservative from Beaumont who works in real estate. “I have $1,000 for the charity of your choice if you can find it in the Constitution.”

Bias? What bias?

They also included a plank to ensure that students learn about “the conservative resurgence of the 1980s and 1990s, including Phyllis Schalfly, the Contract With America, the Heritage Foundation, the Moral Majority and the National Rifle Association.”

To be fair, the Black Panthers and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s "nonviolent approach" will get some print space, too. That's some concession, huh?

Today's lesson: Little children asked, and received, their own little raptors for their birthdays. And if they were extra special good, pet nanshiungosauruseseseses... eseses...es.

Sunday's lesson: Jesus had dinosaur stables back when saddling up a brontosaurus was in vogue. He loaned his herd out to anyone who needed a ride to the nearest crucifixion. He was socialistic that way.

"Cool" Conservatives honor James O'Keefe. XPAC ad: "Tech, Interactive, Engaging, and GNARLY... yeah baby!"

By GottaLaff

XPAC! It's "epic"!

How "fly" is this?! Dufus hipster conservatives have their own awesome little clubhouse now! Gnarly!

In fact, it's so gnarly that they seem compelled to remind us over and over and over... and over... just how freakin' hip it is:

Adding some entertainment to this week's annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. is the first ever Xtreme Politically Active Conservatives (XPAC) lounge, hosted by staunch Christian Republican Stephen Baldwin and conservative writer Kevin McCullough. Fox News will broadcast the event and is listed as a sponsor.

Oh, but ClusterFox isn't partisan-- or cool-- it's fair and balanced.

Wanna know who the kewl kids are?

Among those scheduled to attend are RNC chairman Michael Steele and right-wing provocateur Ann Coulter. Fox News analyst Brit Hume will be honored, along with "ACORN pimp" and alleged felon James O'Keefe, who was caught breaking into Sen. Mary Landrieu's (D-LA) office just weeks ago.

The Madam's Apple? A felon? "That's how I roll, he be da man" Steele? ClusterBrit? Can't get kewler than that now, can ya?

In one Facebook video there's a breathless, young, stoked spokeswoman, XPAC's Hope Ammen, who can barely contain herself:

"You're also going to get private meet and greets with young people who are getting out there to slap liberals!"

Encouraging violence! How groovy is that!?

A second video (neither is embeddable) lapses into Moon Unit Zappa '80sSpeak, describing XPAC as

"Tech, Interactive, Engaging, and GNARLY... yeah baby!"

Make that Austin Powers '60sSpeak.

And if you act now!

Change your fb profile pic, WIN an XPAC Prize Pack! (INCLUDING a NEW Mac iPad!!!)

Whether you’ve registered to attend the conference or not… you can win an XPAC hoodie, tee, skullie, or cap, also a copy of Stephen Baldwin’s and Kevin McCullough’s best selling title’s “The Unusual Suspect” and “MuscleHead Revolution” signed by the author’s. (AND JUST ADDED: a Mac iPad) All you have to do to be registered to win – is change your profile picture on facebook to the one listed above AND join the “XPAC” fan page.

It’s easy. It’s fun, and it helps get the word out…

XPAC gear… cool, slick, hip.

Rad!

This is big, guys. Wanna know how big? This big:

XPAC It's bigger than you can imagine. It's bigger than Geese being banned at JFK. It's bigger than Keith Olbermann on health care. It's bigger than Ron Paul on banning drugs. It's bigger than Michelle Bachman or John Boehner speaking from the floor. It's bigger than Obama's State of the union. It's bigger than Sony cameras, and if you think these all look the same... they're not.

It's bigger than Joe Biden sayin' "God Bless America."

It's bigger than a Fox Business Channel "Breaking News" story....

It's such an auto-matically huge, well tuned, reality that it makes news...

NOON... MONDAY... http://xpac2010.com

Wow! It's so big that they misspelled Michele Bachmann's name! Now, that's big!

VIDEO- Boston Legal's Alan Shore: "Enough of this Freedom of Religion Crap"

By GottaLaff

This was tweeted to me in response to my previous post, Christians claim Matthew Shepard hate crimes law "criminalizes the Bible":



You can't "license persecution":

Alan Shore (James Spader) of Boston Legal argues to cut down on freedom of religion.

H/t: Nanotyrnns

Christians claim Matthew Shepard hate crimes law "criminalizes the Bible"

By GottaLaff

:sdrawkcab denmad os era elpoep esehT

A Christian group in Michigan has filed a lawsuit alleging that a package of hate crimes laws named after murder victim Matthew Shepard is an affront to their religious freedom.

Conversely, Shepard's murder was an affront to his, you know, life.

Filed by the Thomas More Law Center -- which bills itself as the religious answer to the American Civil Liberties Union -- the complaint claims that protecting gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people "is an effort to eradicate religious beliefs opposing the homosexual agenda from the marketplace of ideas by demonizing, vilifying, and criminalizing such beliefs as a matter of federal law and policy."

Thomas More chief counsel Richard Thompson:

"Of the 1.38 million violent crimes reported in the U.S. by the FBI in 2008, only 243 were considered as motivated by the victim’s sexual orientation," he wrote on the group's Web site. "The sole purpose of this law is to criminalize the Bible and use the threat of federal prosecutions and long jail sentences to silence Christians from expressing their Biblically-based religious belief that homosexual conduct is a sin."

So... silencing a life because of sexual orientation is okay. Laws making that illegal aren't. .sdrawkcaB

However, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act clearly stipulates that it does not apply to constitutionally protected speech.

See, what the actual act stipulates doesn't matter. Legalities don't matter. Justice doesn't matter. Bigotry, hatred, homophobia, and "belief" trumps law, decency, and ethics.

It's the naciremA yaw.

US Christian group arrested in Haiti on child trafficking charges

By GottaLaff

This is not exactly what true Christianity is about:

Haitian police detained 10 members of a US Christian group after they allegedly tried to leave the country with more than 30 children who survived the country's devastating earthquake. [...]

Police had arrested five men and five women with US passports, as well as two Haitians, as they tried to cross into the neighboring Dominican Republic with 33 children late Friday, Haitian authorities said. [...]

The Americans were members of an Idaho-based charity called New Life Children's Refuge, said Social Affairs Minister Yves Christallin, adding: "This is an abduction, not an adoption." [...]

Patricia Vargas, head of an international center caring for the youngsters, said that officials at the Haitian Institute of Social Welfare, which deals with adoptions, told her "most of the kids have family."

Some of the older children had spoken to aid workers and "say their parents are alive, and some of them gave us an address and phone numbers," she said.

The US embassy confirmed that ten US citizens were being held for "alleged violations of Haitian laws related to immigration."

At least they were caught. This time.

UPDATE, via an e-mail alert from the Associated Press:

Haiti prime minister says US Baptist group knew it was wrong to take children out of country.

They knew.

VIDEO- Brit Hume: Tiger Woods must become Christian to be forgiven

By GottaLaff



Of course, we all know that Tiger is a Muslim terrorist, because he's, you know, black:

Buddhism is inferior to Christianity when it comes to forgiveness of sins, according to Fox News pundit Brit Hume. Tiger Woods should turn his back on Buddhism and become a Christian to be forgiven for cheating on his wife, Hume told Fox News' Chris Wallace Sunday.

David Shuster tweets:

I respect everybody's faith, different from mine or not. But don't use a sunday news show to preach your faith. Analyze the news.

In the interest of fairness, that sunday show should make time for a member of Bhuddism given Brit's criticism of that religion.

David, David, David, have you forgotten? There is no room for fairness on ClusterFox.

As for news analysis, that's becoming an anachronism, having been replaced by polarizing shouting matches passed off as balanced discussions that give each side equal time.

At Capitol, a Day of Muslim Prayer and Unity

It always kills me when Christians yabber on about religious based violence from Muslims. Yeah, no Christian based violence evah.

Nearly 3,000 people gathered on the west lawn of the Capitol on Friday for a mass Muslim prayer service that was part religion and part pep rally for the beleaguered U.S. Muslim community.

As faint shouts of "Repent!" from Christian protesters floated across the gathering, dozens of long rows of men in robes and white knit caps and women in head coverings prostrated themselves to God, gave praise and listened to sermons as part of the congregational prayer that occurs about noon Fridays.

(snip)

The service comes as the Muslim community has been rocked by verbal attacks from conservative Christians that have grown stronger since the election of President Obama and by the recent arrests in a terrorism investigation involving several Muslim men, including an imam.

"We wanted to bring people out to show you don't need to fear America," said Imam Ali Jaaber of Dar-ul-Islam mosque in Elizabeth N.J., the service's main organizer. At the same time, he said, he wanted to remind non-Muslims that "we are decent Muslims. We work; we pay taxes. We are Muslims who truly love this country."

Across the street from the service, Christian protesters gathered with banners, crosses and anti-Islamic messages. One group, which stood next to a 10-foot-tall wooden cross and two giant wooden tablets depicting the Ten Commandments, was led by the Rev. Flip Benham of Concord, N.C.

"I would suggest you convert to Christ!" Benham shouted over a megaphone. Islam "forces its dogma down your throat." A few Christian protesters gathered at the rear of the Muslim crowd, holding Bibles and praying.

At one point, organizers asked them to tone it down.

"We would never come to a prayer meeting that you have to make a disturbance," Hamad Chebli, imam of the Islamic Society of Central Jersey, said from the lectern. "Please show us some respect. This is a sacred moment. Just as your Sunday is sacred, our Friday is sacred."

Antiabortion black ministers to endorse Obama's healthcare plan

Good groups to have at our backs for single payer. By the way, anyone hear any more on the talkers about the Mayo Clinic endorsing the public option?

Reporting from Washington - For weeks, President Obama has tried to combat claims that his healthcare overhaul would mean tax dollars going toward abortions, calling the assertion a "myth."

Today, his argument may gain some strength: A group of black church leaders who oppose abortion is set to endorse the president's health plan.

The clergy -- led by Bishop Charles E. Blake Sr., a Los Angeles minister who heads the massive Church of God in Christ -- are scheduled to announce their support for the legislation at a news conference this morning. And they will offer a full embrace of the government-run insurance option that white evangelical leaders and many Republicans have said opens the door to taxpayer-funded abortions.

(snip)

The black leaders are expected to use careful language -- echoing Obama's abortion funding pledge while cautioning the White House against breaking its promise.

"In accord with our commitment to Christian teaching, we wholeheartedly affirm the president's position that medical costs related to the abortion of fetuses shall not be covered by healthcare plans funded by this initiative," Blake will say today, according to an advance copy of his remarks.

VIDEO-- Military Preacher urges "hunting people for Jesus" in Afghanistan

By GottaLaff

I just heard Thom Hartmann mention this on the Radio Machine. It's called crossing a line:

A U.S. church raised money to send Bibles, printed in the Pashtu and Dari languages, to American soldiers stationed in Afghanistan, a report on Al Jazeera documented Sunday night.

It is against military rules to proselytize -- a regulation one of the soldiers filmed by the network readily acknowledged. "You cannot proselytize, but you can give gifts," says the soldier. It is a crime in Afghanistan to attempt to convert anyone from Islam to any other religion. "I also want to praise God because my church collected some money to get Bibles for Afghanistan. They came and sent the money out." The footage is said to be roughly a year old.

The Al Jazeera report also shows a military preacher urging army parishioners to "hunt people for Jesus."

"The Special Forces guys, they hunt men. Basically, we do the same things as Christians. We hunt people for Jesus. We do, we hunt them down. Get the hound of heaven after them, so we get them into the Kingdom. That's what we do, that's our business," he says.

A White House spokesman referred questions to the Department of Defense, which did not immediately return a call. A military spokesman did tell Reuters, however, that none of the Bibles were, as far as she knew, ever actually distributed. [...]

President Bush created an international uproar when he referred to the "war on terror" as a "crusade."

No. Just, no. Wrong.

Anti-Immigrant Wishes Swine Flu on Obama

By GottaLaff

Via DKos:

Barbara Cole lives in my home town, in Orange County, California. [...] [N]ow she's at it again, hoping that Obama is stricken with the swine flu that conservatives are blaming on immigrants. Her recent email reminds me of Falwell's cursing of gays with AIDS when she says:

"As many Christians have often spoken, 'The Lord Works in Mysterious Ways,'"

"Wouldn't it be even MORE interesting if some of the anti-American - pro-illegal alien AMNESTY traitors (posing as U.S. elected officials) who just visited Mexico, also contracted this disease and shared it with THEIR loved ones? We wonder if they would still vote for 'Open Borders'?"

It seems hard to blame the cases in the US on Mexican immigrants. Several of the clusters are US student migrants who have returned to the US FROM Mexico. If you're interested in Ms. Cole's histrionics you can find some background here.

Those compassionate conservatives are everywhere, aren't they? Open up that big tent, Rushpublics! Throw a few more Tea Tantrums, wish death on your fellow Americans, and enjoy the results.

H/t: Dr. President

Tim Kaine Signs Bill Creating 'Choose Life' License Plate

By GottaLaff

The chairman of the DNC is calling it a freedom of speech issue. Will we see a license plate with a pro-choice message?

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine came under fire Monday for signing a bill to create a "Choose Life" license plate, a move that abortion rights activists say runs afoul of his obligations as chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

Kaine, a Catholic who personally opposes abortion, said he considers such license plate messages a matter of free speech and added that the move was "in keeping with the commonwealth's longtime practice of approving specialty plates with all manner of political and social messages."

"If Planned Parenthood . . . or another similar organization ever chooses to seek a specialty license plate in Virginia, I believe the constitution would require the state to approve that plate to protect against any viewpoint discrimination," he said.

Well then. Planned Parenthood? NARAL? Where's your plate design?

But the decision -- and the reaction that followed -- illustrated the challenge Kaine faces in trying to balance elected office with his new national political job.

"It is unfortunate that, even after receiving thousands of messages from Virginians and pro-choice activists across the country, Gov. Kaine has opted to sign a bill that advances a divisive political ideology at the expense of women's health," said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America.

Victoria Cobb, president of the Family Foundation of Virginia, said "the Choose Life plate will provide private-sector funding, not tax dollars, to organizations that support families caught in crisis situations. Everyone should agree that is a good thing for the commonwealth."

After the first 1,000 plates are sold, $15 of the $25 annual fee would go to Heartbeat International, a Christian pregnancy resource organization, which would distribute the money to about 40 centers in the state that meet the group's standards.

Headline of the Day

Retired barber promotes Christian salt instead of kosher salt
Oy,oy.

Anonymous Commenter: "Christians are losing religious freedoms"

By GottaLaff

Here's a comment from one of the many Rev. Rick threads. It's from a convo I was having with Anon (whoever that may be, since they won't even offer a pseudonym):

If you're paying so much attention, then how did you miss the fact that Christians are losing religious freedoms?

If gay marriage is legalized, ministers who don't choose to perform them in accordance with their beliefs will be penalized.

Christians (and others) who do not believe that abortion is morally right are going to be forced to perform them.

Certain rights, forced on others, necessitate the loss of their rights.

It's not just a matter of gays obtaining the right to marry. It ends up forcing other people to do things they don't believe in.

Oh, and I guess maybe I'd have to agree on that tyranny of the majority, if the majority voted in Obama.

That last bit was in response to a link I provided about the tyranny of the majority in relation to Proposition 8, the crux of one of the many arguments against it.

I don't have enough time to spend responding to each point Commenters make on each thread. I'd never have time to post, let alone live my life away from blogging (yes, I actually do that from time to time).

Instead, maybe some of you might want to take up the conversation from here. I suggest you follow the link back to the few comments Anon and I shared with each other, unless you feel the one I just posted here was enough for you.

Oh, look, here's an update:

No, my arguments are not faulty. There's even a lesbian professor and gay activist who agrees that religious people must lost their freedom in order for gays to get certain freedoms.

But go ahead and ignore the rights of Christians in favour of other groups. We're quite used to it.

Yes, I ignore Christian rights, Jewish rights, African American rights, gay rights, and the rights of Goldendoodles everywhere. I limit my attention solely to Laffy rights. I'm a big ol' meany bigot who refuses to acknowledge anyone's rights but my own. Anon wins. I hang my head in defeat.

I ask forgiveness of the god in whom I do not believe.

Dear IWRC* Palin. "You shalt not bear false witness..."

Dear Gov. Palin,

As fellow Christians we ask you to stop bearing false witness against your brother Barack Obama. You recently made the insidious claim that Sen. Obama "...was palling around with terrorists." All unbiased observers have noted that the claim is patently false. We the undersigned ask you to stop these false attacks and rather to raise the level of discourse to discuss the issues that matter most to Americans: the economy, the environment, education, health care, the war.

As Christians, we must remember that Jesus told us to love our neighbors and more importantly our adversaries as ourselves. Your recent stump speeches enters territory that are not only adversely affecting our civil discourse as a nation, but diverge from basic Biblical teaching.

The Ten Commandments state the case clearly: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."

Proverbs 6:16-19 states, "There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers."

Proverbs 19:9 states, "A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will perish."

Jesus affirms in Mathew 19:18 reiterating his commitment to the Ten Commandments, "You shall not bear false witness."

And since Obama is one of us as Christians and as Americans, Obama does think like us. We believe that each of the candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain, have the best interests of the country in their hearts and minds. We may agree or disagree with the positions of either candidate, but we should not question their patriotism or their character.

We call upon you to issue a retraction and an apology and to refrain from further instances of bearing false witness against your brother, Barack Obama.

You can go sign the petition here. I did.

*"In What Respect, Charlie?"

Offensive e-mail makes the rounds

By GottaLaff

Commenter Eve received this e-mail and was rightfully appalled. She shot one back telling them how offensive it was. Are you ready?

1 MINUTE EACH NIGHT

This is the scariest election we as Christians have ever
faced and from the looks of the polls, the Christians aren't
voting Christian values. We all need to be on our knees.

Do you believe we can take God at His word? Call upon
His name, then stand back and watch His wonders to behold.
This Scripture gives us, as Christians, ownership of this land
and the ability to call upon God to heal it. I challenge you to do so. We have never been more desperate than now for God to heal our land.

This election is the scariest many can remember.

2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people, which are called by My name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive
their sin, and will heal their land.

During WWII, there was an advisor to Churchill who organized
a group of people who dropped what they were doing every
night at a prescribed hour for one minute to collectively pray
for the safety of England , its people and peace. This had an amazing effect as bombing stopped.

There is now a group of people organizing the same thing
here in America . The United States of America and our
citizens need prayer more than ever!

If you would like to participate: each evening at 9:00 PM
Eastern Time (8:00 PM Central, 7:00 PM Mountain, 6:00 PM Pacific), stop whatever you are doing and spend one minute praying for the safety of the United States, our troops, our citizens, for peace in the world, the upcoming election, that
the Bible will remain the basis for the laws governing our land
and that Christianity will grow in the US.

If you know anyone who would like to participate, please pass this along. Someone said if people really understood the full extent of the power we have available through prayer, we might be speechless.

Our prayers are the most powerful asset we have. Thank You.
Please pass this on to anyone who you think will want to join us.

Your turn.

VIDEO: Christians for Barack Obama launch new web site, ads

By GottaLaff


Partial text:

"Can you be pro-life and support Senator Obama?" asks Doug Kmiec in the new radio ad. "Barack Obama knows a bad economy is tragic for human life and women facing the moral tragedy of abortion. They need tangible help, not condemnation. Too many unborn lives are being lost as we wait for judges to get it right."

Good idea:

The progressive Matthew 25 Network has launched a new Web site and next week plans its largest radio ad buy to date as it continues its efforts to woo Christian voter support for Barack Obama. [...]

A former aide to President Reagan, Kmiec has sparked controversy for his advocacy of Obama.

Spokeswoman Mara Vanderslice:

"I think there's many who are pro-life, would like to see Roe overturned, however they've been frustrated by the Republicans' efforts and talk on this issue," she said, adding later that "Republicans have used this as a wedge issue, however, when at every level they've not done anything to reduce abortion rights." They see Obama's support for an expansion of child care, education and health care issues as a more practical approach to reducing unwanted pregnancies and abortions. The group has launched ProLifeProObama.com in an effort to promote those beliefs.

The plan:

Next week, following its latest fundraising efforts, Matthew 25 Network plans to buy air time on Christian, country and "easy listening" radio stations in Grand Rapids, the Detroit area and Western parts of Michigan, Pittsburgh and Scranton, Pa. and the Cleveland and Youngstown, Ohio regions.

The group has aired other radio and TV spots over the course of the cycle, promoting Obama's family values and trying to convince evangelicals that Obama's policies are in sync with their beliefs.

Outstanding.