In an almost unbelievable twist (considering the atmosphere in central Florida), the Lakeland Ledger actually criticized the Christian Coalition of Florida.

The Christian Coalition of Florida had "published" their voter's guide, and the editorial took the organization to task for it's choices.

http://www.theledger.com/article/20070923/EDIT01/70923012/1036/ED IT

The fact that they would give higher grades to convicted criminals, while failing honest people is VERY revealing, and shows the downright hypocrisy of the religious right.

Now... if we could get the news services to recognize the dangers posed by dominionism!

Dan Wakefield
The Hijacking of Jesus: How the Religious Right Distorts Christianity and Promotes Prejudice and Hate
New York: Nation Books, 2006
This review refers to the paperback edition.

If you have read any of the several dozen major books on the Christian right, this book will tell a story with which you are already familiar.  Wakefield, a Protestant layman and a journalist by training, investigates some of the social, cultural and political forces that led to the ascendancy of the Christian right and the decline of the influence of mainline Protestantism.  Wakefield is not afraid to say why this trend dishonors the life and ministry of Jesus and mocks his message.  But Wakefield undertakes his investigation a bit too late, portraying as novel mainstays such as megachurches and failing to express the meaningful distinctions between various Christian right leaders and personalities.

A Red Oak, Iowa community college teacher says he was fired when Xtianist students complained that he was "denigrating their religion" during his Western Civilization course by putting the Christian Bible on the same level as the foundation books of other religions, and by insisting that it shouldn't be taken literally.

David Ritter

September 20, 2007
Second in a series

Both the Bible and the Koran claim to be without error.  Many people of faith accept these claims, and think and act according to their interpretation of their chosen text.

But the Koran and the Bible obviously disagree.  Both can't be without error.

The juxtaposition of two deeply-held but irreconcilable ideologies has often led to conflict.  We see this today in the clash between fundamentalist Islam and the West.

Constructive dialog can hopefully help to diffuse this conflict.  This article and those that follow will attempt to prompt discussion of the consequences of belief in inerrancy.  Each article will introduce a passage of text from scripture (Biblical or Koranic), and ask a series of questions regarding the meaning of the text.  In addition to the questions, some diverse perspectives from external sources will be assembled and presented.

This post concerns:

1. Influence which the Christian fundamentalist, apocalyptic right has developed in the US military.

2. What MRFF is doing [currently, a wave of lawsuits] to combat a pervasive climate, in the US military, under which the religious freedom rights, of minorities of religious and philosophical belief, now get routinely violated. MRFF's position is not "anti-Christian". Indeed, over 90% of the 6,000 or so complaints MRFF has received come from Christians. MRFF fights for the religious liberty rights of all - including apocalyptic, fundamentalist Christians.  

3. Where I fit (along with my fellow MRFF researcher Chris Rodda) into this story.

UPDATE: text of MRFF suit filed in Kansas Court appended to this post.

From Schmitz Blitz: schmitzblitz.wordpress.com

The anti-gay statements of Bishop Isaac Orama of Nigeria that I wrote about in a previous post are apparently not true. I was informed of this through a comment on my post, reportedly from the state owned Nigerian News Agency, which originally reported the story.  The retraction letter I received is as follows:

September 9, 2007
First of a series

The belief of many people in the complete inerrancy of particular books is a major contributor to disagreement and conflict.  This is reflected not just in the large - the irreconcilable differences between the theologies of fundamentalist Christians and Muslims - but also in the small, such as the debate within Christianity between "young earth" and "old earth" creation.

If a book is considered perfect, debate ends with holders of this belief.  When debate ends, conflict often follows.  To help reduce conflict, a robust discussion of inerrancy itself is called for.

There is more between the lines in this New York Times article than there is said directly, but it should raise many red flags with those on this site familiar with the Dominionist agenda.

I very strongly suspect that there is far more going on than the report tells, but beyond that, it raises issues that would not even occur to those who are oblivious to rights trammeled already, and the announced goals of the theocracy minded.

From Schmitz Blitz: schmitzblitz.wordpress.com

"Homosexuality and lesbianism are inhuman. Those who practice them are insane, satanic and are not fit to live because they are rebels to God's purpose for man."

from Schmitz Blitz: schmitzblitz.wordpress.com James Kennedy of the Coral Ridge megachurch died today at the age of 76. He was an influential figure of the religious right (a founding board member of the Moral Majority and founder of Reclaiming America for Christ)  who preached simple minded Christianity and hatred.

from Schmitz Blitz: schmitzblitz.wordpress.com

The Chicago Tribune writes about how Christian advocacy law firms (like the Thomas More Law Center) are popping up around the country. The article primarily covers the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which was founded by Pat Robertson in 1990 and has employs over 130 people and has an annual budget of $35 million.

From Schmitz Blitz: schmitzblitz.wordpress.com

According to democratic Presidential hopeful Bill Richardson, God chose Iowa to be the first caucus of the Presidential primaries. He noted, "Iowa, for good reason, for constitutional reasons, for reasons related to the Lord, should be the first caucus and primary."

Even Souix City resident's thought Richardson's invocation of the Lord was a little odd. Joe Shufro noted, "I don't know what God had to do with choosing Iowa among other states. I found that a little strange."

Jan Hodge, another resident noted:

It's the kind of thing that would make me wince if, for instance, George Bush said it...Richardson has the saving grace of not taking himself too seriously. It was one of those off-the-cuff remarks that can't be taken as seriously as the punsters will make it.

Maybe the Lord chose Iowa because of the recent 'judicial activism',  affording the equal right to marriage in Iowa for (for now at least).