Season of Hating, Pt III: Have a Fred Phelps Kind of Christmas - Righteously Arrogant and Sublimely Ridiculous

A Facebook event called “The Quran Roast of D.C.” had appeared earlier in the week. “This is the day america must stand up against islam and the islamic immigration which is illegally being implemented on our nation,” the event’s description said.

The organizers had invited more than 2,000 people to the event, and given Republican frontrunner Donald Trump’s gross rhetoric against Muslims, and the crowds he’s been drawing, it seemed possible that a good number of them might actually show up.

But the 70-plus confirmed attendees turned out to be more like six men, most of them dressed like bikers, and one middle-aged woman.

Season of Hating II: Only Good Little Stores and Services Get Good Christian Money

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Season-of-Hating-II-Only-by-Rev-Dan-Vojir-Bryan-Fischer_Christian-Right_Christian-Taliban_Christian-taliban-151202-665.html

Season of Hating, Pt 1: Giving Thanks for an Abundance of Bigotry, Phobias and Racism

Different Fruits of Abundance, Same Flavor: HATE

The Country of NO

While America's Grand Ole Party (GOP) has come to be known as the Party of NO, the same can be said about the country itself.

With the latest flap about Syrian refugees (half of whom are children), the country shows its xenophobia in the worst way. The NYT columnists DAVID D. LAITIN and MARC JAHR proposed a solution (Let Syrians Settle Detroit):

Detroit, a once great city, has become an urban vacuum. Its population has fallen to around 700,000 from nearly 1.9 million in 1950. The city is estimated to have more than 70,000 abandoned buildings and 90,000 vacant lots. Meanwhile, desperate Syrians, victims of an unfathomable civil war, are fleeing to neighboring countries, with some 1.8 million in Turkey and 600,000 in Jordan.

Suppose these two social and humanitarian disasters were conjoined to produce something positive.

But conservatives like Ann Coulter will have none of it: 

"The New York Times Prefers Syrian Refugees Over Black Americans" 

This is the same Ann Coulter who once said "America is the world's most compassionate country."*

The Syrian crisis shows the world that "compassion" is no longer America's middle name.

The Numbers of Crisis and Compassion.

From Worldvision.org:

• 12 million Syrians have fled their homes because of conflict;half are children.
• 4 million Syrians are refugees; most are in Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan.
• Children affected by the Syrian conflict are at risk of becoming ill, malnourished, abused, or exploited. Millions have been forced to quit school.
• More than 700,000 Syrian refugees and other migrants risked their lives this year to travel to Europe.

And we can't won't take in 70,000. 

If the hysteria over refugees has a recent ring to it, consider the plight of Central American Children:

(CNN July 16, 2014)

Earlier this month in Murrieta, busloads of babies in their mothers' laps, teens, 'tweens and toddlers were turned back from a detainee facility.
They were met by screaming protesters waving and wearing American flags and bearing signs that read such things as "Return to Sender."

What's In The Past Cannot Stay In The Past

Recent history (past 100 years**) may be the best view of America's "No!" problem: Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, Latino and Mexican Americans, African Americans, Native Americans, gay Americans have all felt the sting of intolerance. Communities have killed and battered them while Congresses have rallied against them. Those communities that have given them acceptance, solace and sanctuary (like my city, San Francisco) have been pilloried by Right Wing interests. Pulpits (albeit manned by steadfast Fundamentalist pastors) have demonized them to the point that showing any acceptance labeled a church "heretical" in that it didn't conform to strictly conservative view (read: biblical literalism).

In other words, bigotry, racism, xenophobia (and other phobias as well) are still with us, and our socio-religious-political interests are still fueling them. And while "Return To Sender" attitudes have not been extremely violent, the day may come when violence, to some, may be the only option in exercising their right to hate. 

Abundance vs Abundance

Regardless of all the hatred, the intolerance and the sheer mean-spiritedness brought out of America by people on the Right, America still has an abundance of good to be thankful for. The problem, as some see it, is that the leaders making it a "Country of No"are very greedy, reserving that goodness, that compassion for its own and relatively select few: "we have an abundance of freedoms, powers, money, services and goods - but only for us." 

Only for us. 

* Yes, ironic coming from a woman who constantly refers to herself as a "mean-spirited bitch" and who, when it comes to compassion and charity, makes Scrooge look like a combination of Mother Theresa and Santa Claus.

Season of Hating

Just had to post these three articles today, to remind people that Christmas is about Love and not what these people practice.
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50 Chumasero Memorial Garden Christmas

An Embarrassment of "Churches". When "Christian" Is Blasphemous, Senseless ... and Violent.

And there are more of these "churches" than we know.

David Bromley, professor of religious studies and director of the World Religions and Spirituality Project at Virginia Commonwealth University, said there are thousands of similar small, independent Christian churches around the country. They're typically very conservative, following a very strict fundamentalist theology with a literal interpretation of the Bible.

"Every now and then, one pops up that has gone awry," Bromley said. "That's statistically not shocking because there are so many of them."

This article is relatively short ... but not sweet.

It is a story right out of cult lore: a tightly knit group has been arrested in the death of a member of the "church" who was called in for "spiritual counseling." Pictures of the assailants have gone viral ... and they look positively guilty.

On Sunday night, an ultra-secretive New York church turned into a living hell. Two teenage brothers were brutally beaten—one of them to death—by their own family members and fellow church-goers who wanted them to “confess” to their sins, authorities say.

Police charged the boys’ parents with manslaughter and four other participants with assault in the chilling incident that killed Lucas Leonard, 19, and left his 17-year-old brother, Christopher Leonard, in serious condition.

All the people charged have pleaded "not guilty".

The beatings lasted fourteen hours.

"Not guilty."

The purpose of the intervention was to have Lucas and Christopher confess to sins: one for sexual molestation of a minor (police later found no evidence of such misconduct) and one for attempting to leave the church.

"Not guilty."

Deborah Leonard - mother of Lucas and Christopher - said that although she herself administered some of the blows to Lucas, she was powerless to intervene later on.

"Not guilty."

Tarnishing Christianity

In 1992, Bishop John Shelby Spong (Episcopal) wrote Rescuing The Bible From Fundamentalism. He followed that book up with The Sins of Scripture: Exposing The Bible's Texts of Hate to Reveal the God of Love. He was, of course, pilloried by the Christian Right for these books, but to many, he brought forth a sense of reason and (perhaps) a new sin: using Scripture as a basis for a violent righteous arrogance.

The Word Of Life Christian Church is but one of many so-called "Christian" churches tarnishing the image of a loving religion. Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church was one such Fundamentalist church run by a dictatorial pastor, a church which other Christians across the country were forced to distance themselves from. It was Phelps' bravado that brought attention to it. But other like churches are more hidebound and secretive.

The Fundamentalism of Bruce and Deborah Leonard and their pastor, Jerry Irwin,  was so extreme, it isolated them from the rest of the community. Eventually their neighbors looked upon the "church" as a cult. Their leader, Pastor Jerry Irwin, had gained a reputation as a vengeful, demeaning man who even claimed - in sermons - that people from the congregation had lusted after his wife.

"Spiritual Cannibalism"

One ex-member, Nathan Ames, described the decline of the church:

"Many left after realizing that he was a narcissistic psychopath," Ames wrote in the letter. "The few that stayed were slowly lied to and manipulated into believing Jerry was called from God to 'control' their lives – filling their minds with outlandish stories that were for the most part fabricated."

He described the trajectory of the church as "spiritual cannibalism."

Are Charismatic Leaders The Problem?

From all accounts, the Word of Life Christian Church has changed from a loving, energetic church to a controlling entity that engendered fear. Many people say that the Leonards were never like the people they see today.

So was it strictly Jerry Irwin's fault that Bruce and Deborah Leonard became so violent in their attitude towards others? Is following a charismatic psychopath a choice? After all,  Quran-burning Terry Jones still has a following even though he was kicked out by his own congregation (and Germany) for being too controlling. Will the Leonards (and the other four) base their "not guilty" on Irwin's (and currently his daughter's) hold on them? 

The testimony of young Christopher Leonard may hold the key as to how all this came about and about how Irwin's cult managed to call itself "Christian."

My Quest As A Renaissance Man

Here the list of things I have done in my life. It is certainly a partial one, proving only that a writer of religion and politics has to know a little about many things and have many rewarding (and not so rewarding) experiences.

Pianist (American Conservatory of Music)

Go-go dancer (stripping at SF's infamous End Up)

Claims Adjudicator (Social Security)

High School Teacher (speech, music, drama)

Bookseller

Book publisher (Strawberry Hill Press, Strictly Books, Inc.)

Book Publicist

Broadcaster (Strictly Books, Talk America Radio)

Retail window dessign

Set design

Playwright

Blogger/writer on religion and politics, homosexuality

Reference books for such (including the Bible): 130

Author (autobiography)

Client Intake Volunteer (AIDS Emergency Fund)

Promotions Executive (Board of Directors, AIDS Emergency Fund

Tutor (k-10 - Winner of the Jefferson Award for Community Service)

Caregiver and medicinal assistant (8 years, patient with skin, anal and liver cancers)

Gardener 

Chef (avocation - specialties: creme brulee, boef bourgignon, svitkova [Czech], kolacky [Czech], puff pastries)

San Francisco history reporter

Historian (avocation - English and European history)

Trivia Raconteur (avocation)

Currently: 

Husband to the greatest man in the world