The Washington Post is a liberal newspaper. Right? Yet yesterday it published an article, Is There Disdain For Evangelicals In the Classroom? that could have came out of the "War on Christians" playbook.  The article discusses a lawsuit filed by the Alliance Defense Fund, which, given the tone of the article, sounds like a good organization. Americans United clarifies ADF's real nature and goals:

ADF champions a radical agenda to destroy the wall of separation between church and state. It even has close ties to the most extreme faction of the Religious Right - a movement that wants to create a harsh fundamentalist Christian theocracy in America.

The Washington Post article legitimizes the lawsuit -- UNLESS you are among the few readers who actually follow an article to the end. From the Post:

Minnesota Congresswoman Betty McCollum knows what CUFI is and wants nothing to do with its events.  She recently turned down an invitation from a church in her district to attend an event billed as "A Night to Honor Israel."  The event at Pastor James M. (Mac) Hammond's church in  Brooklyn Park, MN has been one of several "being coordinated and conducted around the country by Christians United for Israel," this one featuring its founder, Pastor John Hagee, as a speaker.

As the Republican National Committee reports on its website, President Bush has declared this April 19, 2007, that his "faith" and his family come first, while George W. Bush's loyalty to the United States comes last. [ thanks to Universal Health for the tip ]

The United Methodist Reporter, a national independent weekly, has published a thoughtful and positive review of Steven D. Martin's new film, Renewal or Ruin? The Institute on Religion and Democracy's Attack on the United Methodist Church

Originally posted at dKos.

Today, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its ruling in the consolidated cases of Gonzales v. Carhart and Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood, upholding the "Partial-Birth Abortion Act of 2003." This travesty of a congressional act substitutes the medical judgment of Congress for that of medical doctors, who say that the now-banned procedure, known as intact dilation and extraction, is sometimes medically necessary for the safety of the mother.

Or to put it more bluntly, SCOTUS just told my mother "Drop dead!"

I'm stunned and devastated by the Supreme Court's decision today to uphold the shoddily written piece of legislation known as the Partial Birth Abortion Ban. The Christian right's efforts to stack the courts with opponents of reproductive rights has born fruit today, as has their manipulative propaganda war to demonize abortion procedures and the women who choose them. The Family Research Council, in an email alert this evening, calls the decision "a long-awaited triumph, marked by years of hard work on Capitol Hill, in legal briefs, through congressional testimony, and countless publications aimed at educating Americans."

On Friday the 13th of April, 2007, Mordechai Vanunu was informed that the Israeli government has continued his house arrest in Jerusalem and has renewed all the restrictions against him, for the fourth time and third year of captivity in east Jerusalem.

The fastest growing cult in the USA, is the cult of Christian Zionism.




Christian Zionism is an extremist Christian movement which supports the claims of those who believe that the State of Israel should take control of all of the land currently disputed between Palestinians and Israelis. It views the creation and expansion of the modern state of Israel as a fulfillment of biblical prophecy toward the second coming of Jesus.

Christian Zionism is a modern theological and political movement that embraces the most extreme ideological positions of Zionism, thereby becoming detrimental to a just peace within Palestine and Israel. The Christian Zionist program provides a worldview where the Gospel is identified with the ideology of empire, colonialism and militarism. In its extreme form, it laces an emphasis on apocalyptic events leading to the end of history rather than living Christ’s love and justice today.

What is the Christian Zionist connection with the Holy Land?

That's what religious right blogger and Family Research Council staffer Joe Carter, says (among other things) about the participants in the Blog Against Theocracy this past weekend.  

Bene Diction Blogs On has summarized the highlights, or lowlights, depending on how you look at it,  of Carter's rant for us. Personally, I go with highlights for a reason I will explain below.

Those who advocate teaching bible classes in public schools, and are claiming viewpoint discrimination against Christians must be unable to see how what they are advocating exactly parallels what is and has been occuring in Iraq and other Islamic nations for centuries.   Their efforts to tear down the wall between church and state and implement tenants of the majority religion into our laws are creating the same basis for internal conflict that is presently seen in Iraq.  The Sunis and the Shia are literally fighting each other to establish their sect as the governing sect in Iraq.   Those who would eliminate the separation of churh and state and implement tenents of theocracy in our democratic form of government will be setting the stage for exactly the same kind of conflict in the U.S.   If minority religions are suppressed by the majority religion in this country, why is that any different than what we see happening in Iraq?

Originally posted at the Independent Bloggers' Alliance

When I learned about this weekend's Blog Against Theocracy, I started brainstorming some ideas for posts. This is an issue that has been important to me for some time for a number of reasons. On the most basic level, it goes against my understanding of what my faith (actually all major faith traditions) requires of me, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." I wouldn't want to be treated like a second class citizen because of my beliefs or lack thereof, so how can I, as someone who tries to follow the teachings of Jesus, condone or accept it when others are treated that way? Also, as a parent, I have learned a little bit about persuasion--or, more specifically, the types of persuasion that are most likely to backfire. I know that if you try to force something on someone, it could end up being the last thing they will choose.

Back in August, I had something I had to do that scared the hell out of me. I had to return to my hometown, a place I left over 11 years before and to which I had never returned, to rescue a friend from a bad situation. I had nightmares for two weeks leading up to the trip, and I wrote this diary to try to clear my head a bit as I prepared for my return to the town I sometimes refer to as "Naziville"; I never specifically identified the town because I need to maintain my anonymity here for work purposes.

I know some will see that reference and automatically think "Godwin's Law." Well, I wrote that diary in part in response to the actual American Nazi Party's planned visit to Madison, which was the same weekend I made my trip back to my hometown. In any case, if you read what I wrote back then, you'll see that the epithet is wholly appropriate: