cross-posted at dKos

Last week, I discovered that one of the leading religious right groups in California, the Campaign for Children and Families/SaveCalifornia.com, wanted to derail a bill that would abolish the "personal belief" exemption to the childhood vaccination requirement.  SaveCalifornia.com's action alert on this bill was chock-full of anti-vaxxer hoakum.  And apparently Pat Robertson found it important enough to have CBN News highlight it.

It isn't clear from this whether Robertson has joined the anti-vaxxer flock, or is just willing to give succor to any group willing to fight for "parental rights," no matter how loony they sound.  But one thing is clear beyond all doubt.  Those on the religious right who embrace anti-vaxxer hoakum have inadvertently exposed their movement's moral bankruptcy for all to see.

Think about it.  They wring their hands about gay marriage possibly destroying the fabric of our society, but they're perfectly OK with a practice that has been proven several times over to be a threat to public health.  They talk so much about the sanctity of human life, but appear to be deliberately ignorant about putting other people's children and those with weak immune systems in danger.

cross-posted at dKos

Hours after David Barton got turfed by Thomas Nelson due to numerous factual inaccuracies in his latest book, The Jefferson Lies, his co-host on Wallbuilders Live, Rick Green, gladly took on the role of attack dog.  In a post on his blog, Green claimed that those calling out Barton are no different from Adolf Hitler.

These elitist professors and reporters attacking David Barton know that most people will not actually go read the supporting material behind David’s books…certainly not the bloggers and reporters who have so quickly jumped on the attack wagon. They are exactly the “least intelligent” Hitler was able to fool, Alinksy taught radicals to fool, and now even Christian “leaders” are joining.

Barton’s Jefferson book has 756 footnotes.  These critics could not possibly be reading the supporting material because their claims of inaccuracy just do not match up.

In fact, most of the book is simply quoting and allowing Jefferson to tell his own story, rather than some boring professor’s “interpretation” of Jefferson’s words.

Um, Rick?  Those 756 footnotes aren't worth a hill of beans if you misrepresent the sources.  And you no doubt know that most of your audience lives in a Christian cocoon, so they probably didn't even hear NPR's scathing takedown of your buddy.  And since it's an article of faith among fundies that NPR is a godless librul agitprop outlet, you knew the minute you posted this that they won't even bother to listen.  Pot, meet kettle.

[This is the 20th and last in the series. All twenty posts have been collected into a free eBook which can be downloaded at Religion and Science: A Beautiful Friendship?]

We are as gods and have to get good at it.
- Stewart Brand

The shift from opportunistic predation to inviolate universal dignity is an epochal one, and arguably, it's one we now find ourselves making. However, it's only prudent to ask "What could go wrong? What could postpone the advent of a dignitarian world? Are we overlooking new threats to human dignity?"

[This is the 19th in the series Religion and Science: A Beautiful Friendship.]

As prophets in every religion have tried to tell us, humankind is one big extended family. The simultaneous advent of globalization and the emergence of dignitarian values is no coincidence. Greater exposure to "foreigners" is making their demonization untenable, and, as discussed in previous posts, the predatory strategy is becoming obsolete.

So I am still on Republican email lists and I get their stuff.  About a week ago I received an email from an old friend (still) who is very very Republican if not Tea Party. The email said;

Please listen to what this Priest states immediately after his opening prayer. Then you will know why I have shared it and I hope you will too!
Stick with this thru the first few comments......you will be surprised.  It is going to be an interesting election....
An outspoken Colorado priest was asked to lead thousands of delegates in prayer at the state Republican convention.
What he said next caused quite a stir in the convention hall. See for yourself...
Click here: Invocation | SAINT THOMAS MORE CATHOLIC CHURCH

So I clicked and I got to this YouTube;

http://youtu.be/xG0x3NsCw3Y

Remember the audience is the Republican Convention in Colorado. After his "invocation" apocalyptic Bible quotes from Revelations around 1min29sec he went political.

"...We know that the social issues of today are under attack [sic] but at their core is this biblical understanding of marriage...this is not an issue between liberals and conservatives,  between Democrats and Republicans, this is an issue between democracy and socialism."

So I was intrigued.  Here is a priest talking serious politics.  He seemed to go towards the issue of gay rights or marriage equality.

I kept on listening.

[This is the 18th in the series Religion and Science: A Beautiful Friendship.]

The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice.
- Martin Luther King Jr.

One reading of the human story emphasizes war, domination, pillage, rape, slavery, colonization, and exploitation. Wealth and leisure for the few and a subsistence living for the many. To the extent that we can put people down and keep them there, we take what's theirs and force them to do our bidding. To the extent that we can't credibly do so, it's our ineluctable fate to be victims.

[This is the 17th in the series Religion and Science: A Beautiful Friendship.]

The Many Faces of Rankism

Rankism is a collective name for the various ways power can be abused in the context of a rank difference. It's a name broad enough to cover a wide range of rank-based indignities and abuses. Whereas rank is meant to serve, rankism is self-serving, a perversion of service.

[This is the 16th in the series Religion and Science: A Beautiful Friendship.]

What People Want - Dignity

There's a place for us,
A time and place for us.
Hold my hand and we're half way there.
Hold my hand and I'll take you there
Somehow, Someday, Somewhere!
- Stephen Sondheim, West Side Story

What people really want in relationships is dignity, not domination. While it's not hard to understand why people who have suffered oppression might fantasize taking a turn at domination, to actually do so is to over-reach. Domination is not a reciprocal, symmetrical relationship. It's one of superior and inferior, and simply reversing the roles of sovereign and subject perpetuates indignity rather than ends it. Reversing the directionality of domination is not a long-term equilibrium solution to inequity, indignity, and injustice. Like other revenge-driven "peace" arrangements, it invariably unravels and the struggle for domination resumes.

[This is the 15th in the series Religion and Science: A Beautiful Friendship.]

Somebodies and Nobodies

Bullying has always bothered me. Not just being bullied, though that too of course. I mean the phenomenon of bullying, in all its forms. I think bullying troubles everyone, even the bullies themselves. No one wants to be pushed around, to be forced to act against one's own interests. And, if it's happening to anyone, deep down we know it can happen to us.

[This is the 14th in the series Religion and Science: A Beautiful Friendship.]

Those who argue that religion should be counted out are overlooking the role that religious leaders played in overcoming segregation in America, repealing apartheid in South Africa, and ending the communist dictatorship in Poland and Central Europe. That religion has not always lived up to its own ideals does not mean it hasn't also made important contributions to social justice.

A slightly immodest proposal for taking on the skeevy revisionists