Blessed Be The Atheists? The Pope and Obama Conspire To Put Non-Believers In Heaven!

"We are not fighting against flesh and bone.  We are fighting the forces of spiritual darkness.  It doesn't matter what people's intent are.  I will tell you: that was there for a reason."

Atheist Alert! Both the Pope and Obama want you to know that atheists are actually normal - and moral - human beings!

It must be very cold in hell today. Freezing, actually. Because it's official: atheists can be as good as Christians, meet the pope and possibly go to heaven! There is, of course, much wailing, gnashing of teeth and rending of garments among the echelons of the Christian Right who have been linking all atheists to Stalin and Pol Pot for decades. And the enemies of Catholicism (like Cindy Japan-is-shaped-like-a-dragon Jacobs) will be out in full force to tell the world that the new pope is not a true (atheist-hating) Christian.

Atheists don’t like our happiness. They don’t want you to be happy, they want you to be miserable. They’re miserable so they want you to be miserable. - Pat Robertson

Two incidents: first off, the new pope, Francis I, gave a homily about the duty of everyone to be good, not just Christians, because Christ died for everyone's sins and that killing in the name of God may be the ultimate blasphemy:

“This ‘closing off’ that imagines that those outside, everyone, cannot do good is a wall that leads to war and also to what some people throughout history have conceived of: killing in the name of God. That we can kill in the name of God. And that, simply, is blasphemy. To say that you can kill in the name of God is blasphemy … The Lord has redeemed all of us, all of us, with the Blood of Christ: all of us, not just Catholics. Everyone! ‘Father, the atheists?’ Even the atheists. Everyone! 

We all have a duty to do good. And this commandment for everyone to do good, I think, is a beautiful path towards peace. If we, each doing our own part, if we do good to others, if we meet there, doing good, and we go slowly, gently, little by little, we will make that culture of encounter: we need that so much. We must meet one another doing good. ‘But I don’t believe, Father, I am an atheist!’ But do good: we will meet one another there,” – Pope Francis I

Of course, that statement didn't exactly make some people (like me) forego their suspicions. Doubts still remain; but the statement has substance: it takes on the Christofascist world and lays it on its ear. The bedrock of its righteously arrogant world is its belief that only "believers" will go to heaven because only "believers" can be righteous. The feeling that Christians have cornered the market on goodness is reflected in the practices of hiring only Christians and declaring heretofore unknown "wars" (e.g. the "war on Christmas") to perpetuate the image of persecuted martyrs.

The second incident occurred when Wolff Blitzer's interviewed a tornado victim: when asked by Blitzer if she "thanked the Lord" for her family's survival, she replied: "Actually, I'm an atheist...But we don't blame anybody for thanking the Lord."

Whoa! 

This prompted the King of Conspiracy Theorists, Glenn Beck, to immediately smell something foul: "I tell you that was there for a reason." And we don't need a convoluted blackboard pitch to know that he's telling us that Obama is behind it all: the "forces of spiritual darkness" are telling us that atheists are OK people - and they're doing it with a sweet mother and her darling little boy! The effrontery!



The Great and Glorious Reaction

As Leader and First Conspiracy Theorist, Glenn Beck has now given his imprimatur to those who need to react to Francis and the Blitzer incident: "Well, it seems to me.." will emanate from a confused Pat Robertson, Bryan Fischer will fume that Francis is not a real Christian and must be a secret Muslim sympathizer as well, Southern Baptists everywhere will ask "How can you go to heaven if you don't believe in it?" and the rest of the Christian Right will scream "demon-inspired political propaganda!"

The last reaction may be the loudest, since more youth are becoming atheists, causing church pews to go empty as congregations die off. The idea that atheists could be as good as non-believers comes as a slap in the wallet, especially to prosperity gospel preachers.

Poor Joel Osteen.

Guns Guns Guns ... and More Guns: Texas Leads The Way In NRA's Armed Revolt

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The Texas House approved a batch of bills Saturday to further soften gun laws that were already among the country's most firearms-friendly, allowing college students to carry handguns in class, putting potentially armed marshals in public schools and exempting the state from any future federal bans on assault rifles, high-capacity magazines or universal background checks.

Texas has exquisite timing: with all that pro-gun legislation coming at the same time that the NRA hosted the world's snazziest gun extravaganza in Houston, it was sure to surround itself with tens of thousands of Second Amendmenters who stood their ground on the nation's gun issues along with some opportunists straight out of a mockumentary:

Nine acres of exhibits at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston show off guns, scopes, grips, holsters, targets, magazines, cabinets, safes and antiques.And that's just the beginning.Zombie Industries sells $90 bleeding zombie targets. The human-scale targets can take thousands of rounds, and come in terrorist, Nazi, alien and zombie kangaroo varieties.

Added to holster bras and, well, you get the picture: it was a show to tell the world that America was "gun country" and that Texas is its capital.

But for all its bravado, Texas looks now looks like the stronghold of isolationism: of then 5 million members boasted by the NRA, most of them live in Texas. And most of them idolize isolationists like Glenn Beck. True, some form of revolt is in the air, but how many states are seriously considering it? How many are so rabidly pro-gun that they are willing to eradicate federal statutes?

What About The Children?

In a horrific accident Tuesday that shocked a rural area far removed from the national debate over gun control, the boy had killed his 2-year-old sister, Caroline, with a single shot to the chest.

The recent incident of 5-year-old Kristian and 2-year-old Caroline shocked the nation, not because so much because of the incident itself, but because it woke up to the fact that, for years, a gun manufacturer had been marketing guns for children. We've all seen children pictured with guns - even assault rifles - but assumed those guns were the property of their parents. "My First Rifle", manufactured by gun maker, Keystone, has been around for a number of years. It even markets to small girls with guns in stereotypical pink.

The NRA shrugged off the incident as a fluke, since "guns are passed down from generation to generation" in rural America and Keystone posturing as an advocate for gun safety.

But urban America is not buying it: the outcry has been horrendous, with Sandy Hook giving everyone visions of even younger assailants gunning down classmates. Try as it might, America cannot wrap its psyche around a child getting a gun as a gift ... at the age of four.

And in Texas, where "everybody carries a gun" (or at least seems to), guns for children seem as natural as toys.



Rick Perry - The Pride Of Gary Cass

"You can't be Christian and not own a gun," has been the rallying cry of sorts for Pastor Gary Cass, who, when following up his statement said that it would definitely go well in Texas. This is an aspect that governor Rick Perry focused on in his appearance at the NRA show-of-strength when he fired off an assault rifle. His appearance, in fact, gave the show a religious imprimatur: ever since he broadcast his Fundamentalist religiosity (along with his blatant homophobia) with a sponsored "prayer rally" in 2011, he has been the darling of the Christian Right.

He has also been the darling of Texas secessionists: his rumblings of revolt have always been heard in the distance, but the current gun debate has made his rumblings into a rather potent roar.

Beyond Glenn Beck

The gun debate has taken the country beyond the conspiracy theories of Glenn Beck: yes, Beck epitomizes the isolationism Texas is leaning towards, but Beck's hunker-down attitude is not what Americans see in the resolute state of Texas.

They see outright, armed revolt.

Poor Paulie Ryan: The Boy Don't Get No Respect

"Adoption, I’d vote differently these days. That was I think a vote I took in my first term, 1999 or 2000," Ryan said. "I do believe that if there are children who are orphans who do not have a loving person or couple, I think if a person wants to love and raise a child they ought to be able to do that. Period. I would vote that way."

But he's against gay marriage. Whatever. His position on gay adoption just landed him in the doghouse of the Christian Right. Those little darlings who applauded him at the Values Voters Summit last year are now wailing and gnashing their teeth (not to mention rending their Walmart suits!). In their eyes, the Budget Slasher just slashed his own political throat for being pro-gay in any way.

Instant Commendation, Instant Condemnation: The Jason Collins Coming Out Story, Right, Left and Center.

"I will guarantee you if the ownership of whatever team is thinking about bringing him back or thinking about trading for him - and they go to the players on that team and they say 'how do you feel about an out, active homosexual being in the same locker room sharing the same shower facilities with you' they'd say 'no way. I don't want that. I don't want some guy, a teammate eyeballin' me in the shower and my wife does not want that." Bryan Fischer - Focal Point - American Family Association. (see full video below)

The most celebrated cover in the history of Sports Illustrated, may not be for one of its swim suit issues. It may, in fact, feature the most masculine and courageous athlete of the year: in the current issue, Jason Collins of the Washington Wizards (and formerly of the Boston Celtics) comes out as gay, becoming the first openly gay player in a major American professional team sport.





The news hit the internet yesterday morning, and the response has been positive, garnering a call from President Obama in support of the player and his decision to come out of the closet. In fact, an avalanche of support from celebrities and sports figures including Magic Johnson, John Amaechi and Chris Kluwe came in tweets immediately.

Unfortunately, some condemning tweets chimed in as well. Note these by Breitbarters:







Perhaps the most egregious response was that of ESPN sportscaster Chris Broussard who said:

"If you’re openly living in unrepentant sin, whatever it may be, not just homosexuality, whatever it maybe, I believe that’s walking in open rebellion to God and to Jesus Christ. So I would not characterize that person as a Christian because I don’t think the bible would characterize them as a Christian."

Unfortunately, he said it to LZ Granderson who retorted: “I really don’t need Chris or anyone else telling me if I’m a Christian because Jesus tells me I am.”

Granderson is gay. Oooops.

The exchange spawned a number of tweets with the hashtag #IStandWithChris. Most of them were of the Fundamentalist variety, but some were downright NSFW in their descriptive homophobia.

Whither NOM?

Among the responses, it is interesting to note that no one (as yet), has mentioned the fact that Jason Collins stated he is both BLACK and gay. The (now) infamous strategy by The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) strategy - to "drive a wedge" between the black and gay communities - is rendered ineffective - or irrelevant. It will be interesting to see NOM's response - if any is forthcoming.

Left, Right and Center

In the past, the responses to Collins' statement could have been characterized as Left (supportive), Right (Collins is sinful) and Center (really doesn't matter). However, in today's increasingly polarized society, Center has almost faded away. Social media like Twitter has shown us just how confrontational we have gotten when it comes to issues like gay rights: the immediacy of support or condemnation causes a huge rush to join whatever side you feel you are on. And if you are silent on the issue, both sides take the silence as assent for the other side.

In the end, perhaps, the most important outcome of Jason Collins' coming out may be the responses ... and the amount of them: so far, the supportive responses seem to outnumber the negative ones, which may cause a fierce backlash by pundits weightier than Bryan Fischer. Rush Limbaugh will certainly voice concern over the fact that Obama took it (too) seriously. Sounds of dismay coming from the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins will certainly be forthcoming, but will FOX News' Sean Hannity join the fray? Will Bill O'Reilly? Will Glenn Beck find a conspiracy in there somewhere?

The coming days will be cause for reflection ... and amusement.

Thank you, Jason Collins.

The Christian Taliban Strikes: Violence Erupts Over Same-Sex Marriage In France's City Of Love

Actually, it DOES happen here, but the protestations of the Christian Taliban drown it out.
The violence that is consuming France right now is not about gay marriage, but about the Right's vengeance on a legislature that it deems "socialist" and not acting fro the "will of the people." The fact that it is an elected legislature doesn't seem to dawn on the Right, but that's another story - and a barrage of statistics on its mentality. 

       It was an issue that galvanized the country's faltering right, which had been decimated by infighting and their election loss to President Francois Hollande. France is the 14th country to legalize gay marriage nationwide _and the most populous.

...In recent weeks, violent attacks against gay couples have spiked and some legislators have received threats – including Claude Bartelone, the Assembly president, who got a gunpowder-filled envelope on Monday.

One of the biggest protests against same-sex marriage drew together hundreds of thousands of people bused in from the French provinces – conservative activists, schoolchildren with their parents, retirees, priests and others. That demonstration ended in blasts of tear gas, as right-wing rabble-rousers, some in masks and hoods, led the charge against police, damaging cars along the Champs-Elysees avenue and making a break for the presidential palace.

Some of the protesters even resorted to using toddlers as human shields to ward off the tear gas.

The vote for "legalizing marriage for everyone" capped months of violence against gays. And the call for gays to be killed surfaced on Twitter as a hashtag just before the vote:







Il Faut Tuer Les Homosexuels: "It Is Necessary To Kill Homosexuals"

For weeks, the Christian Taliban - represented by our own Brian Brown of National Organization for Marriage (NOM) - characterized the demonstrations as "peaceful":

       In France spontaneous peaceful demonstrations by young people protesting their government's determination to ignore the voice of the people is causing headaches across the country. For the government, this is becoming a major headache. These young people are making sure government officials' support for gay marriage is not forgotten. Violence did break out but not from the pro-marriage protesters. Change is coming, something new is stirring. The truth will win out.

The estimable Mr. Brown's breaking of the Seventh Commandment was not lost on a number of people, especially those who were bashed.





The Right Mix

Political analysts have weighed in on the violence, positing that conservatives would not have protested so vehemently if socialist President Francois Hollande had not gotten such abysmal approval ratings in terms of the economy. The mixture of Christian Right, disenfranchised conservatives and unemployment has been too heady for the country of 40 million, even though over 65% of the populace approve of gay marriage. It was felt that the legislation was railroaded through by an administration with too much power.

Sound familiar?

With a Christian Taliban coalescing with the NRA, rebuking Republicans who support same-sex marriage, portraying the Obama administration as a road to tyranny and Christian persecution, the recent calls for "revolution" from the Right do not seem as marginal as they once were. Of course, just as France's Right has decried the violence, our own Right has denounced violence against homosexuals - in a roundabout way: while saying that such violence is appalling, Christian Right luminaries such as Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council consistently chimes in with a strident "we aren't responsible."

Accountability

The support given to France's Right by America's own Right-wing religious may never be fully documented, (NOM gave us only a small taste) but for a group that is not ashamed to export hate, it is easy to imagine just how involved it was. In any case, accountability has never been its strong point.

And lack of accountability, as we all know, can lead to other things.

"Let's Kill Them All" Rush To Judgment: Why The "Sarcastic" Tweet To The Boston Marathon Explosions Matters

Erik Rush may have rendered himself irrelevant in the world of commentary, but that won't stop him from doing as much damage as possible to the dignity of responsible opinion.




Shock to the Boston Marathon explosions was still in the air when that tweet was posted and it may have been the cause for President Obama's call for calm, not jumping to conclusions - or rushing to judgment.


When one person tweeted, "Are you ALREADY BLAMING MUSLIMS??" Rush responded:





He later tweeted that he was being sarcastic, writing:



It didn't help, moreover, that Rush's responses to critical tweets were just as vitriolic as his initial "jokes."

The Rush To Defend Sarcasm

As with any shocking public assault of any person or group, the resulting controversy will become more interesting than the assault itself: who will distance themselves and who will defend? Will FOX News (he's a contributor) produce a non-coverage of the incident? Or will some of its members issue a whispered mea culpa? Will colleague Ann Coulter cheer? Such blatant "sarcasm" will need bold and fierce defenders. Coulter, for example, could certainly empathize with Rush for making a "joke" that's deemed offensive to many.* Of course, this may be one incident Coulter would be wisely to sit out, but if the Coultergeist smells publicity ...

And since Erik Rush aided organizations like the Family Research Council with his anti-gay remarks, will Tony Perkins defend his remarks under the protection of free speech. Or freedom of religion, for Islamophobia is indeed a religion. Just ask Pam Geller.

Defending offensive people (especially intentionally offensive people) is always risky: in America, backlash can occur at any time, especially when it comes up against another American axiom - innocent until proven guilty. Rush's statement immediately made Muslims the underdog at a time of unexplained crisis and America always tries its best to root for the underdog. Furthermore, Rush has made his living out of pummeling the left and the liberal populace, taking the credit for "breaking" the story about Obama's ties to controversial pastor Jeremiah Wright.

Is Responsible Opinion Dead In The Age Of Twitter?

In an era when media like FOX News has rendered dead responsible journalism, it might be argued that responsible opinion has also been aid to rest. Responsible opinion could be defined as that opinion which is intelligently put from a respected podium and accountable for its words - and their effects. Social media like Twitter, however, has given the podium to everyone, and while the intent of dialogue is honest, the cacophony if unaccountable tirades and hate speech is deafening.

And Erik Rush's hate tweet was heard over it all.

Which is why it matters. News commentators like Rush already have a podium from which to blast outrage, so when one climbs atop the Twitter pile, it is heard by more people - and effects more people. It outrages more people and inflames more hatred - in both directions. It is not merely a spark to more discussion, it is a statement to incite violent anger on both sides of the sociopolitical spectrum.

It is too bad that Erik Rush doesn't consider himself accountable for anything he says and that he is free to be as "sarcastic" as he wishes. Hate speech is like that. One can only hope that he will held accountable by everyone else ...

... some day.



*During National "Coming Out Day" Coultergeist suggested that there be a national "Fathers disowning their sons day."

Viral Vitriol From The Left: Thatcher, Warren, And The Legitimacy of Hate

The deaths of Margaret Thatcher and Pastor Rick Warren's son, Matthew, brought about the fact that the Left can be as vitriolic as the right - and no where else can vitriol be slung as freely and contemptuously as online.

USA Today:

Thousands are responding to Pastor Rick Warren's grief with compassion but others use the moment to attack him and his Christian message.

NYDaily News

Twitter users speculate Rick Warren’s son was gay, as motive for suicide

Southern California Pastor Rick Warren has been vocal about his anti-gay views, though there is not official indication his son, Matthew Warren, was gay. A statement on the 27-year-old’s sudden suicide Saturday said he ‘suffered from mental illness resulting in deep depression and suicidal thoughts.’

Overtly hating a "man of the cloth" is almost taboo in other countries, but in an America whose history has been dotted with charlatans, extreme Bible-thumpers and SPLC-condemned "Christian" groups recently bullying their way into politics, it is surprising that Rick Warren has been able to keep his benign public persona and his backhanded humility.

The hate-filled reactions to Warren's son's suicide, while despicable in their timing and intent, show the animousity America has had for opportunists like Warren: the Saddleback campus (complete with skateboard park), the awards of "Purpose Driven" to nations such as Uganda, the confusing P.E.A.C.E. plan have not had the thunderbolt effect Warren seemed to envision. His thinly-veiled Fundamentalist and Reconstructionist views came out in speeches to the Arab world and commercials for California's Prop 8.

And several hundred venomous tweets* were enough to set off a firestorm of Christian Right reactions:

Equality Matters

Fox News’ Megyn Kelly whitewashed the extremism of one of America’s most notorious anti-gay hate group leaders, suggesting that pro-gay activists are actually the intolerant ones.

In fairness, Megyn Kelly pointed out that some things should be inviolate when it comes to grief, but asking the leader of a hate group to analyze such hatred is patently ridiculous. Of course Tony Perkins is going to scream "Hypocrisy!" And where Kelly qualified her statements with "some", Perkins used his pulpit to insinuate "all." Kelly knew that ... and let it pass.

In Kelly's attempt to coalesce the Twitter remarks around gay marriage, she automatically skewed the conversation in Perkins' favor (this was, after all, FOX News).  The piece did not concern itself with the legitimacy of the hate. Rather, it concerned itself with the legitimacy of the people who hated Warren.

The Legitimacy of Thatcher HateIn another sense, the hate leveled at Warren was not legitimate because it used his son's death as a springboard for the vitriol. It wasn't substantiated. But the hate prompted by the death of Margaret Thatcher on the other hand...

The living, the dying, nor the dead are not sacrosanct. Let's face it - they never were. If "respect" was not garnered during a lifetime, chances are that only the facade of "common decency" would prevail and little else. Many thought that Margaret Thatcher commanded respect, but what she got was a respect given begrudgingly by some of her peers and deemed unworthy of any respect by the people, especially those she was determined to put out of work.

Irish Times:

"She absolutely hated working people. I've got very bitter memories of what she did. She turned all the nation against us. I would say to those people who want to mourn her that they're lucky she did not treat them like she treated us."
Elsewhere, however, Respect MP, the Bradford-based George Galloway told his 120,000 followers on Twitter that they should 'tramp the dirt down' on her grave; while other social media users joked that former miners would gladly dig it for free.

Hating Thatcher, however, has been as futile for the left as hating Reagan, since both were ensconced in their countries' histories as icons by the Right: the crowds celebrating Thatcher's death were put down by police and some were arrested. 

Again, the legitimacy of hate is turned into the legitimacy of the haters.

*Warren has 985,000 Twitter followers