cross-posted at dKos

The American Center for Law and Justice is threatening a lawsuit over the stimulus package. At issue? A provision that it claims may force colleges receiving funds to renovate their facilities to throw Christian student groups off campus, as well as bar schools from letting churches hold their services at their facilities. However, a closer reading of the "objectionable" provision proves that this is just a load of hot air from Virginia Beach.

OneNewsNow was very kind to actually quote the section of the bill that has the religious right so upset.

Specifically, the provision reads that stimulus funds may not be used for "modernization, renovation, or repair of facilities -- (i) used for sectarian instruction, religious worship, or a school or department of divinity; or (ii) in which a substantial portion of the functions of the facilities are subsumed in a religious mission."

Huh? I don't see anything there that could even remotely be construed as forcing student Christian groups to shut down, or bar churches from meeting at college facilities.

cross-posted at dKos

I had a funny feeling the religious right would find something about Obama to get worked up about, and wouldn't you know, it looks like they have.  Apparently the prospect of Obama--horrors!--appointing an openly gay man to his administration has the fundies in a tizzy.


Brought to us by One News Now, the online arm of the American Family Association's newswire service.

Berry was one of the frontrunners for Secretary of the Interior, but this would still be a pretty plum assignment.  The OPM manages the federal civil service.

       John Aravosis www.americablog.com/ has reported that Archbishop Rino Fisichella is commenting on the arrogance of newly elected President Obama as someone who is opening the door to abortion and thus the destruction of human life. Abortion does not take long to rear its ugly head from this absolute Papal moral authority.
   I say to you this sir preach to your congregation that abortion is wrong, that way you will be heard by those that want to hear you. You do not have the right to make demands or assertions on the population at large. Yours is just a view point from your particular brand of theology, it does not represent mine. And you point of view does not give you liberty to anoint Americas new leader as arrogant. In fact Mr. Archbishop in order to serve your flock you should totally curtail all criticism of state affairs and stay with the
God that you know so well. This is the message that you should be giving you know the one about tollerance and respect for others.
     If the Church wishes to have a say in governance it could become so. It need only to give up its tax exemption and then it could have the status of any other multinational. It could lobby legally. Pay its taxes like all of us. The entire Christian right if it paid taxes could probably make America solvent.

The Los Angeles Times reports this morning that  Blackwater security may be forced out of Iraq:

"Blackwater Worldwide,the security firm that allegedly used excessive force to protect U.S. diplomats in Iraq, will soon be forced to leave the country, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials."

A couple of years ago, a fellow blogger wrote to me,
"Speaking of Gary North, I just finished reading a book called "Blackwater". BW is a private security company here in US that receives gov't contracts to provide protection in war torn areas -essentially they are mercenaries.
Anyway Gary North's name is spoken of there in many places along with other key players that are known in republican conservative christian circles. Scary stuff ethically . .. as it seems to be getting their ( BW ) stamp of approval.
You have to read the book to get what I'm talking about.
I mention it because it helps give you a profile of the man and others like him."

It sure does.... Blackwater, Inc (the company, not the book), is one group that bears watching, and our government knows it. The question is, who's watching whom...

This is a video I found today of a guy who interviewed pro-life activists at an anti-abortion rally.

The interviewer asked the question, "What do you do with all of the women who commit illegal abortions?" (If abortion is made illegal.) - The responses are quite interesting.

As a new Boston Globe article, "Effort to surmount polarizing debates backfires on pastor", by Michael Paulson, noticed,

"The Huffington Post, noting that Warren has cited the success Hitler, Lenin and Mao had at energizing followers, ran a piece last week headlined "Follow Jesus Like Nazis Followed Hitler, Rick Warren Tells Stadium Crowd," while the Daily Beast ran a piece called "Rick Warren's Africa Problem," noting that some of Warren's African partners have opposed condom use and homosexuality."

But Paulson's story distorts the nature of those two critical stories he cited, which provide substantial information on how Rick Warren's influence in Africa appears to be driving up HIV infection in Uganda, and on Warren's alliance with with authoritarian African leaders who have played a key role in instigating a conflict that has claimed more civilian lives than any since World War Two. Indeed, Rick Warren's African are tied to massacres, sex-Slavery, forced labor and concentration camps.

Nearly two and a half years to the day, I wrote an early article detailing Rick Warren's connections with Paul Yonggi Cho nee David Yonggi Cho--a figure who is practically at Ground Zero regarding the continued perpetuation and promotion of what has been termed "Latter Rain", evolved into "Joel's Army", and is known now as the "New Apostolic Reformation".

This early post has gained sudden relevance now with Rick Warren now being chosen as the pastor to give the inauguration prayer on 20 January.

This is also rather unfortunate, as it turns out that Rick Warren's connections to "Elijah's Army" go farther than trading tips with Cho on megachurch growth...far deeper.

"Foreclosures Don't Spare the House of God"

This is the headline for a news story found though our local paper on December 27, 2008 ( http://www.theledger.com/article/20081227/ZNYT01/812273003 ).  After reading and thinking about the article, a good synopsis is this:

(Rest below the break)

Although I am a Christian, most people know I am against the agenda of the Religious Right. It stands diametrically opposed to Jesus' teachings on love, compassion, forgiveness, social justice, non-judgmentalism, and nonviolence.  

It is obsessed with abortion, homosexuality, both of which were common in the Roman Empire of Jesus' day and neither of which Jesus is recorded as condemning.

Steven Waldman at The Huffington Post thinks Obama's decision to invite religious right megachurch pastor Rick Warren to give the invocation at his inauguration is a wise choice. While recognizing that Warren is a fierce conservative who opposes almost everything Democratic voters believe, Waldman thinks Warren's good works on poverty balance all that out and make him a "bipartisan choice." This kind of triangulation is pure Liebermanism and a perfect example of the conventional wisdom of the Washington pundits' corps, which holds that the Democrats always need to prove their centrism by smacking down their most loyal supporters. Naturally, I think he's one hundred percent wrong.

Today, (December 8, 2008) because I am on their mailing list I received a year end fund raising letter from the Family Research Council (FRC).

Some observations I've made, now that the election has been over for several days (admittedly based only a few samples- but I think that they are telling):

Unlike when Bush won (when conservatives were crowing in the faces of liberals about it- I experienced that several times), after this election the reaction I've noticed is progressive/liberal people expressing a sense of joy and relief with each other, and the conservatives have been very nasty towards us and don't want any hope or joy expressed at all- even if we're just talking among ourselves.  I must state that the conversations were not "crowing"- but sincere expressions of joy and hope and relief!!!  So far, I've only seen these sentiments being directed at a conservative- after that conservative's expressed hatred for Obama and his trying to tell us that it was wrong for us to feel joy or relief that Obama won!!!

The dominionist lies being told about Obama are still being spread- and believed by those who are spreading them (the latest I've heard pushed was that he's the Antichrist although I know that has been going around for months now!!!)  In fact, the lies and distortions seem to be getting much worse!

Some of the more conservative people I've encountered are expressing the hope that Obama fails miserably, and the economy gets far worse- even though it would hurt them!  They WANT to see him fail and have expressed so!!!

More in the body...