From time to time, we add new writers to the front page line up at Talk to Action. We do this partly, as some of us, due to work oblibagations or life cirucumstances, are able to post less often. But we also seek out people with important areas of knowlege or perspectives that are not well-represented in the mix.  It is for both of these reasons that I am delighted to announce that we have a new writer joining our front page line-up.

A few days ago, I wrote a story in regards to the baby-beating manuals published by the Pearls being linked to the death of a child and detailing how this sort of thing is distressingly common in the dominionist community.

Looking on Amazon's review pages, I actually found a way people can put the "action" in Talk2Action in a big way.

Here's an extensive Salon  story about the battle of anti-abortion forces against contraception. You'll need either a subscription or day pass to read it, but it's a great article.

The crux:

For those who are pro-choice, the idea of fighting to ban both abortion and contraception seems contradictory: Contraception, after all, lessens the number of abortions. But once one understands what the true social and moral agenda of activists like Worthington is, and their attitude toward sexuality, the contradictions vanish. For them, sex should always be about procreation; since contraception prevents conception, it is immoral. At a deeper level, they believe that women's biological destiny is to be mothers.

Feldt says, "When you peel back the layers of the anti-choice motivation, it always comes back to two things: What is the nature and purpose of human sexuality? And second, what is the role of women in the world?" Sex and the role of women are inextricably linked, because "if you can separate sex from procreation, you have given women the ability to participate in society on an equal basis with men."

Translation: They hate women. And sex. And they really hate women with the power to determine their sexual and reproductive destiny. They want to take that away from us.

Ed Brayton, author of Dispatches From The Culture Wars, has just written a scathing rebuttal to this weekend's New York Times Magazine treatment of the claim that Jerry Falwell's Liberty University Debating team is somehow "#1" or even better than average. Says Brayton: NOT.

Brayton's sendup is a muscular outing of the credulity mainstream media pays to claims by leaders of the Christian right. But, Brayton says the MSM "laps it up" likes "kittens". Perhaps. And, perhaps Brayton's a gentleman - I'll be blunt. The NYT Magazine has been gobbling up something less savory than milk or cream. Here's their claim:

The most interesting thing about modern Lynchburg is that Liberty consistently produces one of the nation's great collegiate debate programs.

This NYT book review is a must-read. I want to get the book, too...

Although Phillips is scathingly critical of what he considers the dangerous policies of the Bush administration, he does not spend much time examining the ideas and behavior of the president and his advisers. Instead, he identifies three broad and related trends -- none of them new to the Bush years but all of them, he believes, exacerbated by this administration's policies -- that together threaten the future of the United States and the world. One is the role of oil in defining and, as Phillips sees it, distorting American foreign and domestic policy. The second is the ominous intrusion of radical Christianity into politics and government. And the third is the astonishing levels of debt -- current and prospective -- that both the government and the American people have been heedlessly accumulating. If there is a single, if implicit, theme running through the three linked essays that form this book, it is the failure of leaders to look beyond their own and the country's immediate ambitions and desires so as to plan prudently for a darkening future.

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Phillips is especially passionate in his discussion of the second great force that he sees shaping contemporary American life -- radical Christianity and its growing intrusion into government and politics. The political rise of evangelical Christian groups is hardly a secret to most Americans after the 2004 election, but Phillips brings together an enormous range of information from scholars and journalists and presents a remarkably comprehensive and chilling picture of the goals and achievements of the religious right.

He points in particular to the Southern Baptist Convention, once a scorned seceding minority of the American Baptist Church but now so large that it dominates not just Baptism itself but American Protestantism generally. The Southern Baptist Convention does not speak with one voice, but almost all of its voices, Phillips argues, are to one degree or another highly conservative. On the far right is a still obscure but, Phillips says, rapidly growing group of "Christian Reconstructionists" who believe in a "Taliban-like" reversal of women's rights, who describe the separation of church and state as a "myth" and who call openly for a theocratic government shaped by Christian doctrine. A much larger group of Protestants, perhaps as many as a third of the population, claims to believe in the supposed biblical prophecies of an imminent "rapture" -- the return of Jesus to the world and the elevation of believers to heaven.

Prophetic Christians, Phillips writes, often shape their view of politics and the world around signs that charlatan biblical scholars have identified as predictors of the apocalypse -- among them a war in Iraq, the Jewish settlement of the whole of biblical Israel, even the rise of terrorism. He convincingly demonstrates that the Bush administration has calculatedly reached out to such believers and encouraged them to see the president's policies as a response to premillennialist thought. He also suggests that the president and other members of his administration may actually believe these things themselves, that religious belief is the basis of policy, not just a tactic for selling it to the public. Phillips's evidence for this disturbing claim is significant, but not conclusive.

"Charlatan biblical scholars"... truer words have not been written. Our country is being run into the ground by True Believers™ who believe in the apocalyptic crap spoon fed to them by charlatans and fear-mongerers.

I had the very unfortunate experience this morning of reading, via the following news article, of a death directly attributed to childrearing methods promoted by dominionist child-rearing authors Michael and Debbie Pearl--who operate a website called No Greater Joy and who have published several books.

These books and online guides are nothing more or less than a guide to religiously motivated child abuse--as even the state of Tennessee and numerous child welfare agencies have testified.

And the Pearls, sadly, are by no means alone at promoting this.  In fact, in the more hardline dominionist community--the same ones promoting "deliverance ministry"--it's all too common.

Have you ever wondered how the church in Germany acted/reacted to the rise of Hitler and fascism?  Is the separation of church and state important to you?  Here's a well researched documentary on how the church supported the Nazis rise to power and a warning on how the fundamentalists in America today are forging the same alliance.  Everyone who cares for their country and faith needs to know this story.

Sometimes you have to read foreign papers to get the real news. Here are two from the Guardian UK:

US religious charities win $2.15bn in state grants  

The Bush administration channelled $2.15bn (£1.25bn) to faith-based charities last year, advancing its mission to increase the share of government aid money given to religious organisations.

The figure, contained in a White House report unveiled on Thursday, does not account for all of the grants awarded by an administration determined to increase the involvement of churches and religious organisations in social services provision.

The revelation deepened concerns among aid professionals and civil liberty groups about the quality of services offered by some of the religious groups - especially at a time when funds for social programmes are being cut. There are also charges that the Bush administration is underwriting proselytising campaigns by the Christian right.

All American trouble

A US school district has banned the International Baccalaureate after officials condemned it as "un-American" and Marxist, sparking outrage among pupils who are studying the increasingly popular diploma.

A group of parents yesterday joined forces with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to sue the school, demanding reinstatement of a curriculum even President George Bush encourages.

The broad-range and demanding curriculum has been the subject of debate in the UK as a candidate for replacing A-levels and is expanding around the world, including in the US.

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When Republicans Daniel Iracki, William Sulkowski, David Bluey and Carol Coliane won election to the board of governors, alongside incumbent Republican Mark Trombetta, last November, they promised to rein in education spending that was helping to keep taxes high.

But during election debates, some of the five also hurled accusations at the IB's content, claiming that its teaching is anti-Christian, un-American and Marxist.

They object to the largely secular, multi-cultural bent of the curriculum and its emphasis on international institutions and pacts such as the United Nations, or the Kyoto protocol to reverse global warming, which opponents argue undermines American sovereignty and nationalism.

It is always interesting to see our country from another perspective- especially the growing religious influence.

This is another of my frankly speculative ideas about the makeup of the "Religious Right". My thesis is that there are two tiers within the movement - the leaders and the followers.

They have different understandings of the movement they are in.

Now, the hullaballoo surrounding James Dobson recent condemnation of "Spongebob Squarepants" had elements of high comedy and led to the following explanation by Dobson for his antagonism towards the beloved children's cartoon character representing a small talking sea sponge :

Dear Friends:

If you had told me a month ago that I'd be devoting my February letter to a cartoon character named SpongeBob SquarePants, I'd have said you were crazy. Nevertheless, by now you probably know that I have been linked to that famous talking sponge by hundreds of media outlets, from the New York Times to "MSNBC" to "Saturday Night Live." The story of how this situation unfolded is somewhat complicated, but it must be told..... ( source : Focus On The Family website )

By comparison, Jerry Falwell's latest unfortunate ejaculation, on "The Conservative Voice" website, has none of the absurdist elements implicit in the "Dobson vs. Spongebob" affair.. Jerry Falwell did not excoriate a random, beloved cartoon character - no, he delivered a forceful rebuttal to a recent Jerusalem Post story suggesting Falwell believed that Jews could enter heaven, and -  unless Mr. Falwell qualifies his theological beliefs to insert some sort of special purgatory, limbo, or other such holding tank or parking lot for those deserving souls who somehow lack the special pass for entry into heaven, the logical implication is that all Jews who have not converted to Christianity will go to hell.

[ Fallwell's statement ] Earlier today, reports began circulating across the globe that I have recently stated that Jews can go to heaven without being converted to Jesus Christ. This is categorically untrue.....

In this age of political correctness and diversity, the traditional evangelical belief that salvation is available only through faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ is often portrayed as closed-minded and bigoted. ( source )

Despite token attempts to present the American Christian right as somehow part of a broader religious movement - Falwell's statement is consistent with a wider pattern described by Talk To Action writer Esther Kaplan :

Never mind that Christian right leaders such as Jerry Falwell have called Jews "spiritually blind and desperately in need of their Messiah and Savior"; that the Southern Baptist Convention has made the conversion of Jews a special mission; and that much Christian right support for Israel is based on End Times scenarios in which Jews must return to Israel to expedite the second coming of Christ. There's just one catch: Once that glorious event occurs, Jews who don't convert will burn in hell for all eternity. As Craig Unger vividly illustrates in his article in the December issue of Vanity Fair, in which he recounts his travels to the Holy Land with best-selling apocalyptic novelist Tim LaHaye, if you peel back Christian right support for Israel, you find a Jewish death wish. ( source )

Rising religious supremacist tendencies on the Christian right have lately alarmed American Jewish leaders such as Abe Foxman who - as described in The Forward - sounded an alarm at a November 2005 Anti Defamation League national conference :

In a speech last week at the ADL's national conference in New York, Abraham Foxman blasted several conservative organizations, including Focus on the Family, The American Family Association and the Family Research Council. He declared that such groups "had built infrastructures throughout the country... intend[ing] to 'Christianize' all aspects of American life, from the halls of government to the libraries, to the movies, to recording studios, to the playing fields and locker rooms of professional, collegiate and amateur sports, from the military to SpongeBob SquarePants."

"Today we face a better financed, more sophisticated, coordinated, unified, energized and organized coalition of groups in opposition to our policy positions on church-state separation than ever before," Foxman stated. "Their goal is to implement their Christian worldview. To Christianize America. To save us!"

Foxman said the conservative effort was "not an assault" on Jews as a community, but he warned that Jews "may become... its major victims." ( source )

Indeed, Christian right groups have indicated that their support for Israel is err.... a bit qualified and motivated by something less than goodwill.  Max Blumenthal, in a piece entitled "Did Tim LaHaye Just Call Israelis "Not-To-Be-Trusted Yids?" characterizes a recent statement by Tom Minnery of Focus on the Family, apparently directed at Jews, as a "gangland-style threat" and highlights tone of a piece, by Stan Goodenough, recently featured on Tim Lahaye's website:

[ Goodenough ] "But do you know what, Jews of Israel - and those Jews still in exile who so fervently support this way? You may think that in so acquiescing, you are setting a glowing example to the nations of the world.

But as far as these nations are concerned, the last thing they will want to do is emulate you. All you are doing is proving them right in their long-held belief that you are illegitimate, land grabbing, not-to-be-trusted Yids. And, as far as the Muslim world is concerned, your actions only confirm their view of you as a dhimmi nation, fit only to be ruled over by, and subdued under, Islam." ( source )

Will American Jewish leaders move towards more forceful denunciations of such tendencies on the Christian right ? And if so, will those translate into reduced Jewish support for the GOP ?

Some - such as the ADL's Abe Foxman - have indeed woken up to smell this coffee. That's good, because it's foul stuff, acrid and tarry coffee reduced down to a thick sludge from far, far too long left simmering on a stove that some would call hate.

The inconsistencies of people who take their Bible literally, or say that they do, are legion. Such matters have been much discussed and argued about in many forums. It's a worthwhile thing for people to argue-out Biblical interpretations; to discuss the misuse of Biblical verses to push patently political purposes; and so on. Talk to Action is not a place for people to argue with each other about Biblical interpretations. However, if people can offer lines of argument that can be useful in answering the religious right, that is always helpful.  

When a nationally syndicated columnist points out the inconsistencies of Biblical literalists in defense of the rights and dignity of gay and lesbian Americans, it is worth sitting up and taking notice.  Leonard Pitts Jr. appears in many papers nationwide, including one of my local papers, The Sprinfield Republican. But home base for Pitts is The Miami Herald.

Pitts took exception to a statement by a high school teacher made as part of a public school presentation on issues of homosexuality.

Here is part of Pitts' collumn, but check out  the whole piece; email it around; keep the conversation going.

They say that when America sneezes, the world catches a cold. That is no longer true only of economic recessions, but of intellectual recessions too.