I have written a story that describes some of the issues associated with the Pledge of Allegiance, and in particular "under God", that has gotten some circulation recently, and I have gotten some vary positive comments.

I think that the point is true and relevant to the concerns of this group, so I thought I would post a copy.

Alonzo Fyfe
The Atheist Ethicist

This excellent diary at The Daily Kos has an interview with Dr. Wesley Elsberry of the National Center for Science Education, whose work was instrumental in winning the Dover PA intelligent design trial.

Frances Kissling, head of Catholics for Free Choice says it does, but that elected officials have been scared away from talking about it.  

Two weeks ago, I reported on a major precedent in the fight against dominionists hijacking our country and hijacking Christianity.

31 pastors of Columbus area churches joined together to file formal legal complaint with the IRS against two dominionist churches--World Harvest Church and Fairfield Christian Church--at the heart of the "Ohio Restoration Movement" and similar moves to set up "Patriot Pastor" movements in other states (such as Texas).

And now the movement by these pastors--which I affectionately refer to as the "Ohio Rebellion" (in the Rebel Alliance or even Revolutionary sense, of course)...is snowballing.

Two DefCon Advisory Board members, former NARAL Pro-Choice America president Kate Michelman and distinguished Duke University law professor Erwin Chemerinsky, will join DefCon at 2 p.m. EST today, to discuss the threat posed by Judge Alito.

I wouldn't have known if I hadn't been invited on for this Sunday's program, but Air America launched a new weekly radio show two weeks ago, State of Belief, which will cover religion and politics from a progressive perspective.

Mark your calendars. April 7-9, 2006

The Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA hosts an annual student conference on reproductive rights. This year's event will the 20th.

One of the features of the conference is always a panel about the Right, and its various elements. This year will be no exception. The organizers of the conference believe that it is necessary to have a clear grasp of the opposition in order to better defend and advance reproductive rights and other concerns.

From The Hotline

"Thousands of pastors and clergy attending a major evangelical soul-saving conclave in Orlando, FL tomorrow will hear from a most surprising guest: Ex-NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

"Giuliani, a supporter of abortion rights and gay rights, has never publicly identified himself as an evangelical. He is a practicing Catholic. And he's known as a centrist Republican with libertarian instincts on some social issues."

(the rest of the article is below the fold--(I still think of it as the "fold," but I think online it's called something else I can never remember)), but go to the article on The Hotline for the links within the article, entitled, "Giuliani: Soul Man.")

What in earth dies that mean?

The Koufax Awards, the annual awards of the progressive blogoshere, (named for left handed Hall of Fame pitcher, Sandy Koufax) has the list of nominees for the first round of voting in two categories now posted. The voting has not yet started because they very much want people to take the time to check out the nominees for ...

Best New Blog

and

Most Deserving of Wider Recognition

There are many worthy blogs in both categories that are worth taking the time to learn about.

The sponsors of the Koufax Awards, say it is not too late to nominate a worthy blog you feel may be missing in these categories. Shoot them an e-mail.

I heard a great talk this morning by Herbert Locke, who is a professor at University of Washington. He gave a great talk at the Earl Lectures titled "America and the Theocratic Vision: Why America is Not a Christian Nation (and, Pray God, Never Will Be)". It was a fantastic talk, which looked at the original failure to create a Christian nation by the Puritans.

He made a fascinating point, one which makes a whole lot of sense, and is a different perspective than I'd been thinking of this whole thing. My standard perspective about this is that we can't, and shouldn't be a Christian nation because all faiths (and people of no faith) need to be fully a part of and empowered in our society, etc. I'm sure he would agree with this perspective, but his approach was one that really speaks specifically to Christians, about Christians.

His point was that the Protestant concept of the "priesthood of all believers" that is, the idea that one is free to interpret scripture for oneself, and determine God's will for oneself, and not be dependent upon a hierarchy for interpretation of God's will, by necessity promotes democracy, and empowers dissent. The desire for theocracy by the Puritans was done in by the democratic nature of Protestantism, and the basic idea that everyone is free to interpret God's will for themselves. And that we should never, like they did, confuse the kingdom of God (which is always an ideal) with any nation state.

It's just the same now. Fundamentalists don't get to decide for everyone how to interpret scripture, or how to decide what God's will is, just like the Puritans didn't 300 years ago. And we cannot let them continue to proclaim the ridiculous notion that the U.S. is God's chosen instrument.

So perhaps again, that inherently democratic (and messy, and chaotic, and wondrous) process of each individual having the right to decide for themselves how to interpret God's manifestation in their own lives, will eventually hoist the fundamentalists on their own petard.

Go and read this interview with Mark Crispin Miller.

The movement really wants to take us back to some time prior to the Enlightenment - back to an imaginary past predating the rise of capitalism itself (and, of course, the rise of socialism). That longing differentiates the hard-core members of the movement from the various corporate powers that are just trying to exploit the whole reactionary impetus for profit's sake.

Critics on the left, I think, are often prone to minimize the former, to read the entire crisis simply in economistic terms, and write the Christo-fascists off as mere fringe-dwellers whom the corporate powers are carefully manipulating. That critique is itself a rationalist projection, as such critics can't imagine, or won't accept, that irrational actors can wield power successfully, and for irrational reasons. In any case, those on the left who argue thus are not sufficiently informed. The Christo-fascist movement has its own agenda, and in realizing it has made tremendous progress (as it were) in Washington. Esther Kaplan's book, With God on Their Side, makes this quite clear, as does Stephenie Hendricks' important monograph, Divine Destruction, which explores the theocratic basis of Bush/Cheney's anti-environmentalism. Michelle Goldberg's also working on a book that I, for one, can't wait to read.

I can't wait to read Michelle's book, either. And I am going to read Miller's books, as well.

Go read the whole thing. It'll get your attention.