Nuts, nuts, nuts. I love Jerusalem and found the Holy Sepulcher to be an amazing place but just don't understand people like this.
Dozens of Greek and Armenian priests and worshippers exchanged blows at one of Christianity's holiest shrines on Orthodox Palm Sunday, and used palm fronds to pummel police who tried to break up the brawl.
The fight came amid growing rivalry over religious rights at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, built over the site in Jerusalem where tradition says Jesus was buried and resurrected.
It erupted when Armenian clergy kicked out a Greek priest from their midst, pushed him to the ground and kicked him, according to witnesses.
When police intervened, some worshippers hit them with the palm fronds they were holding for the religious holiday.
For 15 years, Hillary Clinton has been part of a secretive religious group that seeks to bring Jesus back to Capitol Hill. Is she triangulating--or living her faith?...
The Fellowship's long-term goal is "a leadership led by God--leaders of all levels of society who direct projects as they are led by the spirit." According to the Fellowship's archives, the spirit has in the past led its members in Congress to increase U.S. support for the Duvalier regime in Haiti and the Park dictatorship in South Korea. The Fellowship's God-led men have also included General Suharto of Indonesia; Honduran general and death squad organizer Gustavo Alvarez Martinez; a Deutsche Bank official disgraced by financial ties to Hitler; and dictator Siad Barre of Somalia, plus a list of other generals and dictators.
It's hard to believe this is only happening now despite the "controversy" surrounding this burning hot issue that is not an issue in the modern world. I wonder if the Florida Baptist Convention has accepted that the earth is round, or perhaps that's just a little too controversial to address during these troubled times.
The teaching standards for Florida schools include the word "evolution" for the first time, under a decision Tuesday by the state school board.
The board approved the use of the term "scientific theory of evolution" in public schools science standards.
Previously, the term was couched by using phrases such as "change over time." The reaction in Tallahassee from those opposed and those for the change was fairly low key, Local 10 reported.
One can imagine the level of education provided with this kind of attitude towards women. Hats off to the other refs who refused to go along with the demands of the school to only allow male referees. Knuckle-draggers of the world, unite.
The Kansas State High School Activities Association said referees reported that Michelle Campbell was preparing to officiate at St. Mary's Academy near Topeka on Feb. 2 when a school official insisted that Campbell could not call the game.
The reason given, according to the referees: Campbell, as a woman, could not be put in a position of authority over boys because of the academy's beliefs.
I know the extremist religious right is behind the times, but talk about showing up late to the party. Not just any leader could dive in and support a candidate after the game is over. It takes a special kind of leader to stand up and let the world know that he doesn't care how stupid this looks because McCain has won and the time for leadership was weeks or months ago. Who am I to argue for what passes as vision and bold leadership among the Christian crazies? Just don't give up the dream Mr Dobson. Keep fighting on!
As the presidential race continues to heat up, we're going to hear more and more about the need for unity on major issues. I'm not unsympathetic to that idea, and certainly compromise is a vital part of politics. I like a vibrant marketplace of ideas, and I'm certainly competitive to the extent that I like to win (who doesn't?), but part of sharing a nation (or state or town or street) with other people is making trade-offs. On the other hand, this kind of give-and-take requires good faith on both sides. On some important issues, many conservatives are disingenuous about their positions -- especially when it comes to social conservatism, where too often some policy fig-leaf is used as a cover for the basic desire to punish for perceived social transgressions.
Details after the jump. Mark Kleinman writes about an amazing drug that can instantly reverse the effects of opiate overdoses. The drug is not addictive, cannot itself be overdosed on, costs less than $10 for an effective dose, and can be easily used by people with no medical training. Naturally, the White House Office on National Drug Control Policy opposes its distribution. The reason is, basically, that if heroin users died less, they'd have less incentive to quit. Seriously, that's the justification! Because so many junkies are super psyched about their addiction -- and would totally stop trying to quit if they thought it was less likely they might drop dead. And really, why should we help people -- by, y'know, allowing them to live -- who choose to do Bad Things when we can show them just how awful they are by helping bring about their death?
Right around the same time I read this, a report came out that women on the birth control pill are dramatically less likely to develop ovarian cancer -- even *decades after* they stop taking it. With the caveat that the pill isn't for everybody, for a variety of reasons, this is a great thing! To the extent that, I would imagine, it might be worth it for some women to take the pill simply for the anti-cancer benefit. But you're crazy if you think social conservatives will suddenly reverse course and promote the use of the pill, because it allows for -- horror of horrors -- sex without pregnancy, another Bad Thing. So some people are would rather women be twice as likely to develop ovarian cancer than even have the *possibility* of sex without pregnancy by virtue of the pill. Compassion, or punishment?
Compromise and unity does not equal progressives caving on these kinds of issues.
Absolutely disgraceful. Last August I visited the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem where similar stories were mentioned. It was astonishing to hear about silly arguments that dragged on for centuries, even leaving the church roof in tatters for decades because the different religious orders (all Christian) could not agree on much of anything. If this is the best they can do, why bother?
Greek Orthodox and Armenian priests attacked each other with brooms and stones inside the Church of the Nativity as long-standing rivalries erupted in violence during holiday cleaning on Thursday.
A cleaning session that turned violent. In one of the holiest sites during the Christmas season. Are they serious?
A bizarre row about evolution versus creationism led to an English backpacker fatally stabbing a Scottish backpacker during a fruit-picking trip to earn money for their travels.
Alexander York, 33, from Essex, was sentenced to a maximum of five years in jail yesterday for the manslaughter of Rudi Boa, 28, a biomedical student from Inverness.
I watched the third part of CNN's documentary with Christiane Amanpour, "God's Warriors" and it will have the fundies hopping mad. Parts one and two dealt with extremist movements in Judaism and Islam. Last night's installment took a look at religious fundamentalists in the U.S., the "Christian" right wing. The transcript is here.
Amanpour conducted the last TV interview with Rev. Tinkywinky at Liberty University the week before Falwell died. He again recanted the apology he made for saying "the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians" were responsible for 9/11. He calls his young Liberty University scholars "pit bulls for Christ;" his goal is to graduate as many fundie lawyers as possible, to infiltrate and influence the judicial system in favor of God's law.
Michael Jensen has a great piece up at AfterElton about this part of the doc series. A snippet:
It would be hard to imagine a documentary examining the impact of Christian fundamentalists on American culture that didn't include a look at the part played by gay issues. Fortunately, God's Christian Warriors doesn't disappoint and the result is a fascinating and often frightening look at the religious right that any progressive -- but especially any gay progressive -- would be well advised to watch.
...While watching Amanpour interview some of these fundamentalists, I hoped she would ask just what would happen to gay people should they get their way: stoning to death, as suggested in Leviticus? After all, fundamentalists claim the Bible should be the foundation upon which America is built and that would be the logical conclusion.
...If looked at through the prism of understanding what the religious right wants for America, however, then the documentary can be considered a success if even only a few Americans -- especially gay ones -- wake up to what these Christian fundamentalists aspire to. And for anyone paying attention for the last twenty years, no explanation is needed as to what it is the religious fundamentalists want for America.
As God's Christian Warriors makes amply clear, their goal is an America that is governed by biblical principles; principles that leave no room for gay people to co-exist in any meaningful way except by going deeply back in to the closet.
CNN has done a fine job on this series; I am curious how the documentary is being received by fundamentalists, considering it is quite harsh (but accurate) about the violent history of the religious right regarding abortion activity, showing the shootings of doctors and bombings of clinics -- acts Falwell condemned when the topic was raised by Amanpour. I'd venture a guess that being lumped in with extremist factions of Islam and Judaism is going to cause a massive uproar in the fundie press shortly.
Oh wait...take a look at the drivel already up at WingNutDaily.
And the headline of the related story, which has all of the expected hysteria: CNN airs 'one of the most distorted programs' ever Documentary compares Jews, Christians to Muslim terrorists
CNN will proabably re-air all three parts over the weekend. Check listings.
