Hallowed Be Thine Own
Take
a Left Turn:
Just a few days ago on November 26th,
Pope Francis made a speech and in his homily titled ‘The Joy of the Gospel’ he
expounds on the indifference of capitalist states when he professes, “How can
it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of
exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points?”
He further claims, “Today everything
comes under the laws of competition and the survival of the fittest, where the
powerful feed upon the powerless. As a consequence, masses of people find
themselves excluded and marginalized: without work, without possibilities,
without any means of escape. Trickle-down theories of economics were not
proved, involved a crude and naive trust in the goodness of those wielding
economic power and were likely to lead to violence rather than wealth.”
The Pope sums up his apostolic
exhortation in urging politicians to carry out ethics-based financial reform in
stipulating, “money must serve, not rule.”
In this Pope’s unshackled speech he
addressed society mired in the derived media quote of “unfettered capitalism”
as the “new tyranny.” He took issue and he took sides insisting religion should
hold dear to missionary impulse for the poor rather than seeking routes of
self-preservation for the elite.
Pope Francis indeed appears as the
pontifical legate for the people and doesn’t much emphasize the special
interests of monetary power and authority. In other words, he is following the
dictates of the Christ. Of course this has rubbed American right-wing
conservatives in bristling fashion as the prevailing thought in the U.S.’s
fundamentalist self-greed scheme is that vastness in wealth is a holy event. TV
evangelists who own a mini vast empire that are tax exempt preach that God
bestows incorruptible blessings onto the rich…being rich and holding onto that
wealth is good…then they display the number for their viewers to send in
donations. I even heard one TV evangelist stress to his relegated viewers to
not send anything less than $50.00; if so, he wouldn’t accept it and God would
not bless them.
Now, in their quest in making it rich
off the Lord, these evangelist and like-minded wealthy businessmen are in stark
contrast to the teachings of the Lord. As stated before, Jesus Christ was not
only for the poor he was for the destitute and didn’t particularly take kindly
for the well-off in his teachings.
Luke 6:20-21 ~ Then he looked up at his
disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of
God.”
Luke 4:16-19 ~ When he came to Nazareth,
where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as
was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was
given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good
news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and
recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the
year of the Lord’s favour.”
Matthew 25:34-36 ~ Then the king will say
to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry
and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a
stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick
and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”
Matthew 25:41-46 ~ Then shall he say
also unto them on the left hand, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting
fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave
me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye
took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye
visited me not.” Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we
thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and
did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, “Verily I say
unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not
to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous
into life eternal.”
Mark 12:41-44 ~ He sat down opposite the
treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich
people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins,
which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly
I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing
to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but
she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
Mark 10:21-22 ~ Jesus, looking at him,
loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the
money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”
When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many
possessions.
Luke 14:12-14 ~ He said also to the one
who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your
friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may
invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet,
invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind.”
Luke 16:19-25 ~ Jesus spoke of, “There
was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted
sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered
with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s
table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was
carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was
buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham
far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy
on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my
tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember
that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like
manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony.’”
Luke 12:16-21 ~ Then he told them a
parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to
himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he
said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and
there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul,
you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But
God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you.
And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who
store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
Luke 11:39-42 ~ Then the Lord said to
him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but
inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You fools! Did not the one who
made the outside make the inside also? So give for alms those things that are
within; and see, everything will be clean for you. But woe to you Pharisees!
For you tithe mint and rue and herbs of all kinds, and neglect justice and the
love of God.”
Pharisees were the high ranking
socialite members of the Jewish community during the days of Jesus and along
with the Sadducees, the Jewish sect holding governmental power at the time…the
Christ head offended them to no end. Jesus was a constant nemesis to these
Jewish factions. The same has unfolded in the American conservative’s reaction
to Pope Francis’ speech.
On the conservative blog, Gawker.com
under the title ‘Top Screw Capitalism Lines in Pope Francis’ Speech’ the
conservative commenters had a fit in the Pope’s mentioning of, ‘“Thou shalt not
kill’ setting a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life. Today, we also have to say ‘thou shalt not’ to an economy of exclusion and inequality.
Such an economy kills.” One of the blog site’s writers, Adam Weinstein
responded by calling the Pope a commie in saying, “Is he el papa del
communism?”
A Wall Street Journal opinion piece by conservative
writer, Liam Moloney headlining the article as ‘Pope Assails New Tyranny of
Unchecked Capitalism,’ rails against the Pope in criticizing capitalism in its
extreme form accusing the Pope of being “a salvo against global economy.”
The Atlantic’s website asininely advocates,
“The Pope has declared a new enemy.”
Jonathan Moseley, head of the Northern
Virginia Tea Party went so far as to speculate that Jesus is crying over the
Pope’s socialist philosophy. His exact words were, “Jesus Christ is weeping in
heaven hearing Christians espouse a socialist philosophy that has created
suffering and poverty around the world.”
The trailblazer in all these right-wing
reactionaries to the Pope’s message though, is Rush Limbaugh’s tirade. Limbaugh
railed, “This is pure Marxism coming out of the mouth of the Pope,” while
attempting to ascertain how the Pope could even speak against capitalism, even
less dare to on his own accord.
For ya see, it is totally beyond
Limbaugh’s faculty comprehension that Pope Francis, a man of compassion and
reason in fore thought, could really mean what he said. No, it must either be that
someone put him up to it or the Pope is coming from shaking off one hard drunk
from all the Jesus communal wine.
In Rush’s distorted mind…how else could
the Pope attack extreme capitalism and money idolatry? How can one even imagine
that the Pope is actually standing up for the masses instead of the privileged...he
ain’t going to get the church aisle plates filled that way.
No, if the Pope is believing in his
astute observations, then he must be a socialist or even a Maoist...Limbaugh
might dare say if Pope Francis truly believes in his critical thinking formed
from astute observation...then he has got to be commie red, not head of the
Church...
Two Republican congressmen, one former
and one current claim to be strong Catholics while they politically deride the
poor instead of poverty and accentuate aggressively in their protectionist
policies legislating for corporate and the wealthy elite. The two are,
Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and former senator and GOP presidential
candidate Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania. If these two are sticking to their
political guns they certainly must not be happy Catholics right now.
Although Santorum backs capitalism
inequality as a matter of faith, both Republicans have remained relatively
quiet and understandably so, for the 1.2 billion global Catholics are hailing
Pope Francis’ oration as a godsend. Heck, there are protestants even wanting to
jump ship and become Catholic after this Pope’s speech.
In Ryan’s continuing budget quests to
defund public program benefits and exclude corporate/wealthy elitist from
sharing any burden in the United States’ ailing economy, he must be filling a little
distressed after the Pope said in his sermon’s passage, “In this context, some
people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic
growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about
greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never
been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naïve trust in the goodness
of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the
prevailing economic system. Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting.”
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| Pope Francis at home amongst the masses |
For myself, I see the discomfort in
conservative deep seated viewpoints. They rationalize the world as ‘takers’ and
‘makers’ plotting the poor as the takers and the wealthy as the makers. They
view the poor as the moocher on societies where the liberal views the world in
stark contrast with the wealthy elitist as the moocher and the poor as the
victim and perhaps as any true follower of Jesus would recognize…as rightly so.
The conservative wealthy elitist feel
they made their life of leisure through hard work on their own, never minding
whose backs they stepped over in getting there. They claim “self-made,” but
nobody in a society ever makes it on their explicit own…there was a helping
hand to pull them out of the rut when needed somewhere down the line. Their
warped sense of patriotism allowed them to make all their money in America, but
invest it elsewhere, not wanting to put back a dime into the nation that
afforded them their opportunity to gain vast wealth. This is the true mooching.
A democratic society cannot stand if
there is an unfair balance in wealth distribution. To share is a necessity for
its maintenance and if one cannot give back a little to the society that made
their vast wealth possible, then they need to take all their profusion with them
and go move to a mountaintop or river bottom where they can be content beside
all their money, but minus leeching off the advantages a society affords.
One time at a little social event in
overhearing a discussion between a politically neutral person and a
conservative libertarian, the noncommittal person stated, “I suppose we should
help the poor,” while the libertarian fired back, “No…only if they help me.”
While waiting for the other person to
respond, he did not, so I had to add my two-cents worth by filling in for the
mute one. To the libertarian I questioned, “Are you Christian,” in which the
reply was, “Very much so.” I further
added, “Then are you saying the poor have no right to a social mobility ladder
and the more secured in a society have no obligations to lay a foundation for
the poor to climb out of the rut?” To which he snubbed, “You don’t help the
poor in making them unemployable in society by raising the minimum wage. You
do not educate them in government demanding a public education and you keep them
being victimized in having to live in violent neighborhoods because
government makes drugs illegal.”
Wow, here’s a conservative libertarian
living in his cushy religious world with all the answers for those who don’t. I
lit into him with my fiery brand of liberalism. Asking if he could name one
instance where the minimum wage was raised and followed by steep unemployment or
even a hike in consumer goods; he could not.
Asking if he went to public schools during
his youth and if it benefited him where he is today, he said that was so, but
only because of his way of utilizing it to benefit himself. My counter was…the
poor cannot afford private education, so by keeping American youth ignorant and
uneducated without any government stipulations to a core or basic public education,
you don’t think that would be a continuation in their disparity and poverty and
that perhaps a few of them might utilize that public education as well as you
did in bettering themselves? A government is crucial in its educated society,
culture and informed citizenry. His only reply was forcing kids into education
is not beneficial. How? In his mind, who knows, for he did not elaborate.
On the final topic, I told him the victimization
is due to poverty…drugs, along with the other ills accompanying impoverishment
are secondary outlets to escape the throes of feeling destitute. Where without
acknowledgement, he stated he simply disagrees. Now that is amazing grace.
The kicker to all this, is that most
conservatives, in particular the political ones, did not want to publicly
criticize the Pope, so went after a much easier target…the president in a
warped way in being viewed as defending Catholicism.
The U.S. government is in the process of
moving the Vatican embassy to be annexed to the Italian embassy. Republican
Christians have poured out in demeaning this. Even Jeb Bush, whom they clarify
as the “smart Bush,” although I don’t think so, for there is simply no such
thing as a smart Bush…merely a leveled inequity of gray matter…anyway, Jeb had
this to say on his 11/27/2013 tweet, “Why would our President close our Embassy
to the Vatican? Hopefully, it is not retribution for Catholic organizations
opposing Obamacare.”
‘The National Republican Senatorial
Committee’ (NRSC) deceitfully quotes that Obama has closed the Vatican embassy,
while religious conservative Raymond Flynn, along with a slew of other
conservatives had this to say about it, “It’s not just those who bomb churches
and kill Catholics in the Middle East who are our antagonists, but it’s also
those who restrict our religious freedoms and want to close down our embassy to
the Holy See.”
The point is, the Obama administration
is not closing down the Vatican embassy, they’re simply moving it to be annexed
by the Italian embassy and will actually be 0.4 miles/0.64 kilometers closer to
the Vatican square. There will be no redaction of the ambassador to the Vatican
and the move aids in security and will save the taxpayer $1.4 million per year.
Now isn’t security and lowering debt what Republicans always whine about?
Personal
Impasse:
Stuart Varney of ‘Fox Business News’ retaliated
on his ‘My Take’ segment that financial marketplaces work well for everyone no
matter what Pope Francis feels. He then promptly accuses the Pope of needling
religion into politics when he stated, “I personally do not want my spiritual life
mixed up with my political life. I go to church to save my soul. It’s got
nothing to do with my vote.”
Oh really…Varney was born, raised and
schooled in England, but has been in the U.S. since 2004 working for Fox News
as a conservative economist. If he still claims saving his soul has nothing to
do with his vote, then he hasn’t learned much yet on the party he panders to,
for the glove of the Republican Party and fundamental Christianity slip quite
smoothly onto one hand.
In one of my innumerable forays in
political debating, concerning the government shutdown, the woman I was
speaking with, who by the way had brought the topic up, all of a sudden became
silent. She then proceeded to submit a lecture looking straight ahead as if
reading from a lectern, emotionless yet frustrated on why I would chastise
Republicans for the event.
She was insisting I always blame
Republicans and was tired of it. She pointed out that I was blasting her
religion. I had to say wait a minute…hold on a bit tighter to the reins of your
horse…you undoubtedly know political views are fair game in my opinion and
upfront you know full well that I am a heathen with no religious affiliation,
but you also know I would not blast your religious beliefs. She then said still
staring ahead…yes you do, my conservative political beliefs are the same as my
Christian religious values.
Backing off a bit, as I could see she
was visibly upset, I still inferred no ma’am, politics and religion in the U.S.
may be on parallel tracks, but they are separate. She insisted, no they are
not…they are the same.
With that, as once we were good friends,
she has not spoken to me since and I have to respect her wishes. But her
statement is so true for the fundamentalist Christian; they indeed do see
politics and their form of religion as not just complementing, but as a fused
agglutination.
In my former friend’s mind, there is
nothing that can be done to ameliorate and renew our friendship, for her
beliefs are embedded too deeply and reasoning will not relax her beliefs’ grip
in what she insists to perceive as true. It doesn’t matter that the vast
majority of Republican policy is geared only for 5% of the nation’s wealthiest
populace, as long as the perception that the Republican Party is affixed to
Christian values, they are one and the same to her.
For me personally, this is the problem
with any government where religion creeps in and takes hold. Where there is a
supposed free elective democracy as in Iran and yes Israel…it does not hide the
fact that the full authority is based on a theocracy. One would not want to be
a Jew, a Christian or even a Sunni Muslim in Iran. Just as well, one would not want to be a
Moslem period or even a Christian in Israel. Both governments are biased toward
their prevailing religion while bigoted toward others.
America’s founding fathers were
instrumental in creating the USA and its federated government, but were not the
founders of a new land. That title goes to Jamestown colonists in 1607 and the
Plymouth pilgrims in 1632. By contrast in dates, George Washington wasn’t even
born until 1732, Thomas Jefferson in 1743 and James Madison in 1751.
These men, though confessing to be
religious wanted nothing to do with the tyranny brought about by religious dictum.
The founding fathers totally comprehended the inclusive conditonalism that is
borne from religion. In 1779, Jefferson and Madison wrote, lobbied for and got
passed through the state assembly the ‘Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom’
that disestablished any main religion’s authority. Further, Madison and patriot
James Gordon Jr. attached an amendment as the ‘Establishment Clause’ known more
popularly as the First Amendment to the Constitution. The 1st
amendment expressively prohibits the establishment of an official federal
religion. Jefferson is the one who coined the term within the amendment, “separation
of church and state” in a letter to the Danbury, Connecticut Baptist
Association.
The only other mention of religion in
the Constitution is Article VI where the third paragraph states, “The Senators
and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State
Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United
States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to
support this Constitution; but no
religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or
public trust under the United States.
For sure Article VI’s constitutional
edict does not go down well in today’s mingled Republican/moral majority, for
could you imagine, no matter how well qualified a candidate is for high office
announced that he was agnostic, or worse…atheist? Forget winning the candidacy,
he/she would be crucified by the religious public after being flogged and
quartered by the media.
It is true that the early colonist puritans
came here to lead a life dictated by their own religious choosing and beliefs.
Fair enough, but everyone in their fold were expected to abide only by their
exclusive religious teachings, so they had brought the factor with them they
had left the European continent to escape from…and that was religious
intolerance.
This self-proclaimed manifest destiny
that God had ordained North America’s land to early European settlers and
immigrants to own and control as they saw fit led to a deluge of anti-Christ
acts. From slaughtering the original inhabitants to the present where the
fundamentalist Christian American still feels approved by God in this manifest
destiny sequence even to the point it was existentially extended into the
excuse for Bush’s Iraqi invasion. Did ya know that scalping was not an original
Indian act…they learned the horrid behavior from the early Christian pioneers that
used an Indian’s scalp as bounty in collecting money.
National
Religious Incorporated:
Instead of progressing, religion in the
U.S. appears to be taking a back turn withdrawing to more primal times. The
laws of the Old Testament are based on primitive beliefs and if you believe in
one then you must believe in them all. The same goes in reverse, if you reject
one you should reject them all. The religious right does not do this…they pick
and choose to satisfy their belief…not to fulfill deified edicts. Case in point…homosexuality...
Ultimately, when arguing with a moral
majoralist (a made-up suffixed word of mine) on gaydom (another word of mine),
in condemning it, they will turn to the passed around phrase, “Because my Bible
tells me so.” Assuredly, one can find
numerous passages in the Bible damning homosexuality. Leviticus 18:22 calls it
an abomination, while a bit further in reading, Leviticus 20:13 calls for its
punishment by death. In Romans 1:16-28 and I Corinthians 6:9 both books list
homosexuality with all kinds of wickedness.
So, if one uses these verses as
arguments to attack queerfulness (but another one made-up) why remain mired in
the pick ‘n’ choose doldrums? Other primitive biblical laws state rebellious
sons should be put to death (Deuteronomy 21:18-21), or a child merely cursing
at its parents be stoned to death (Exodus 21:17).
Do you still believe in witches as they
did during the ‘Salem Witch Trials?’ If so then you should put them all to death
according to Exodus 22:18. Dudes are not to escape the wraths of these
primitive laws either, for wizards are to be executed as well in Leviticus
20:27.
If a groom deems his bride to not be a
virgin on their honeymoon night, she is to be stoned to death in Deuteronomy
22:13-21. If a priest’s daughter is ever caught in any act of fornication, she
was decreed by biblical law to be burned to death in Leviticus 21:9.
The Bible not only condoned slavery
throughout, it gave specific instruction on how to own one person by another
(Exodus 21:1-6, 20, 26 & Leviticus 25:44-46).
One had better not be too proud, for
haughtiness is punishable by death in II Samuel 22:28 while reemphasized in
Romans 1:28, 30, 32.
One who ministers from the Bible in a manner
that is not specific to God’s liking should be executed (Deuteronomy 13:5). We
got a lot of those running around today known as TV evangelists, in particular
Pat Robertson. With all his deviant scriptural interpretations, he had better
be looking over his shoulder, for God’s wrath in Deuteronomy 13:5 just might
have the justification in annihilating Robertson. In Pat believing today’s
female agenda is not about equal rights but a socialistic movement that is anti-family,
enforces witchcraft and destroys capitalism and ‘Gay Day’ at Disneyworld will
bring on hurricanes to destroy Orlando as set forth from the wrath of God,
probably doesn’t appeal to Jesus much.
During the 2012 elections, Robertson
swore to his millions of listeners that God had told him who was going to win
the presidency. He did not come out and name names, no he was too clever for
that to be pinned down, but during this rant of his he bashed Obama, while
extolling virtues showered all over Romney. It was obvious to his viewers on
how he wanted them to vote. Turns out, it appears God did not tell him, but
lied to him. Surely portraying God in a lying manner does meet the punishment
requirements expressed in the Deuteronomistic verse.
In the US, the religious right is exclusively
conditional and wants to force that belief onto the national front through
Republicanism. There are also religious progressives, but they push more for
humanitarian inclusion. In the states, progressive religion that conforms more
to aiding the poor, feeding the hungry and extending unemployment benefits to
bereft families are much more quiet in that they do not pursue their quests in
a national theater, but more on an individual level. In Europe though, that is
not the case.
Where America’s religious right delves
more on the sins of homosexuality, women’s rights and abortion and desires
their beliefs to become national policies, European religious movements want to
create national policies more on charitable and philanthropic grounds to
benefit the public overall. The European religious groups seek justice from
partiality and feel that under capitalism a society needs to prepare for the
inequities of a market driven economy and promote a system of economic
well-being and social stability for all. In this, they demand that their
government denounce financial exploitation and that appropriate resources be
availed for those that are being left behind, in particularly the poor. It’s
exactly the opposite case with America’s religious right, for there is a notable
exclusion of the poor…even a chastisement.
This past October, the religious right’s
‘Voters Value Summit’ detailed a lot of sociopolitical values, but nothing
concerning ethics or humanitarian issues. The main focus of the Christian
conservatives’ convention was the repeal of the ACA law and working out
strategies to make national policy move more in line to their perceived
Christian beliefs. What value is that for a society’s blanket benefit? Again, they
were exclusive of the general public pushing only for their pretentious agendas
as dictated by covetous beliefs.
Fueled by the SCOTUS decision in the
Citizens United case, where the majority conservative judges deemed
corporations as people, corporations on religious grounds are now once again at
the Supreme Court doors. Since corporations are individuals entailing all the
rights afforded, for-profit corporations led by Hobby Lobby are expressing the
federal government cannot infringe on its religious rights by enforcing
corporations’ insurance policy plans to include birth control to employers.
They claim this is in direct violation in the freedom of individual’s religious
rights, therefore corporations too. A decision is expected this month.
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| Corporate Religion? |
What this means in my most fervent
opinion, is that if SCOTUS decides on behalf of corporations, then true
individuals’ rights will be infringed on. A devout ‘Christian incorporated’ (whatever
that’s interpreted as) has the right to take away employer rights in discriminating
against healthcare, sexuality, religion and spirituality. Can Christians even
imagine the breadth they would take in angst if a Moslem American corporation
instilled its religious laws at the workplace?
In direct violation of First Amendment
freedom of religion rights, the conservative religious right attempt to exclude
other religions. In doing so, they are creeping over the wall of separation
between church and state that is also implicitly implied in the First Amendment
while verified and confirmed by the Everson vs. Board of Education Supreme
Court decision.
Recited by a muezzin, the adhan is the
call to prayer in the Islamic tradition. A Republican member of the city
council in Clermont, Florida has decided to use the adhan as a tool to block
the zoning approval in the construction of a mosque. This council member, Ray
Goodgame wrote in an objection piece to the council, “Wailing may become a
nuisance to many. There are other people who live within hearing distance of
the property. I don’t want them to destroy the community with their music.” In
using his political authority, Goodgame, like in many other regions of the U.S.
are using this line for any religion that doesn’t appeal to their beliefs.
When Herman Cain was running in the GOP
presidential primaries, he had this to say about a proposal in building a
mosque in Nashville, Tennessee, “They are using the church, part of our First
Amendment to infuse their mosque in that community and the people in the
community do not like it, they disagree with it. I’m simply saying I owe it to
the American people to be cautious because terrorists are trying to kill us.” What
Cain is almost directly saying is that Muslims, deemed so as all to be
terrorists, are using Christianity that he feels is the only exclusive religion
for First Amendment religious rights.
In 2010, the Chung Tai Buddhist group
wanted to build a temple on land they owned in Walnut, California. The city
council denied them permission with the argument the temple would create too much
noise and traffic even though they could not corroborate this argument.
In his letter titled, ‘Legitimate
Conversions Must Be Supported,’ the Reverend Doctor George E. David stresses
that all American Hindus must be converted to Christianity blaming Hinduism in
promoting illiteracy and poverty in India. The reverend needs to look around
him in his Christiane country first before sweeping Hindu porches, for in
America’s dominated Christian communities poverty and hunger is abounding with
conservatives blocking any public programs to assist in alleviating it.
Yoga PE exercises have even been
attacked as anti-Christian by the conservative right. In a San Diego suburb the
Encinitas school district was taken to court to have all yoga activity ceased.
Fortunately, they lost the case. The conservative plaintiff’s lawyer, Dean
Broyles though, had this to say after the trial, “The judge’s ruling was part
of a broader bias against Christianity. Yoga is religious and has religious
aspects. There is a consistent anti-Christian bias in these cases, and a
pro-Eastern or strange religion bias.” Actually today, as yoga has been
incorporated into American culture, I don’t think most of us even relate it to
a religion…more so than just a healthy boring exercise.
What I do not appreciate at all is the
religious right’s attack on science. One can believe anything they so desire,
as long as they realize beliefs aren’t necessarily factual. But one cannot argue a belief without any
proof against a substantive truth that is backed by proof. What the religious
right and their church politicking are incorporating into school systems is in
utmost fashion disgraceful to the education of our children.
In red states like my own Texas, where
in 2010 the state school board banned any school books “that paint Islam in
too favorable of a light,” conservatives are changing academic books to be
molded around their fundamentalist beliefs. Here are some examples…
Dinosaurs and humans were definitely on
the earth at the same time and may have even lived side by side within the past
few thousand years. Life Science 3rd
edition
God used the Trail of Tears to bring
many Indians to Christ. America: Land
That I Love, Teacher edition
The Ku Klux Klan in some areas of the
country tried to be a means of reform, fighting the decline in morality and
using the symbol of the cross. Klan targets were bootleggers, wife-beaters, and
immoral movies. In some communities it achieved a certain respectability as it worked
with politicians. United States History
for Christian Schools, 3rd edition
 |
| Ironical karma can be a pain at times |
Ignoring 3,500 years of Judeo-Christian
civilization, religion, morality, and law, the Burger Court held that an unborn
child was not a living person but rather the “property” of the mother (much
like slaves were considered property in the 1857 case of Dred Scott v.
Sandford). American Government in
Christian Perspective, 2nd edition
Is it possible that a fire-breathing
animal really existed? Today some scientists are saying yes. They have found
large chambers in certain dinosaur skulls…The large skull chambers could have
contained special chemical-producing glands. When the animal forced the
chemicals out of its mouth or nose, these substances may have combined and produced
fire and smoke. Life Science, 3rd edition
The last one here is truly incredulous,
for to promote their dinosaur living alongside man falsity, they use a myth to
justify it and if they had paid attention in their own proper science class
they would know that plesiosaurs weren’t dinosaurs, but marine reptiles…
Are dinosaurs alive today? Scientists
are becoming more convinced of their existence. Have you heard of the ‘Loch
Ness Monster’ in Scotland? ‘Nessie’ for short has been recorded on sonar from a
small submarine, described by eyewitnesses, and photographed by others. Nessie
appears to be a plesiosaur. One ACE textbook – Biology 1099
For cryin’ out loud, as the saying goes…It
doesn’t matter how many people disclaim evolution and history…scientific data
and historical fact are not determined by popular opinion or pervading beliefs.
As I always insist…keep your religion out of our school rooms and I’ll ensure
we keep science and rational history out of your Sunday schools.
Opinion
Piece:
Ya know, in this amalgamation of
religion and politics onto America’s national scene is actually recent starting
in the mid-1900’s, but has really taken off in the past fifteen years with the
merger of fundamentalist Christianity to Republicanism.
America overall was perhaps more
religious in times past, but they constitutionally adhered to the separation of
church and state keeping religion as an individual identity and politics as a
national identity.
Replacing ‘E pluribus unum’ with ‘In God
We Trust’ became the official motto of the U.S. in 1956 and the motto began
officially appearing on paper currency in 1957.
The Republican Joseph McCarthy 1950s
communist witch hunts had a religious fervor and undertone to it as
fundamentalists feel Satan works through communism to destroy families.
The socialist Francis Bellamy wrote the
‘Pledge of Allegiance’ in 1892 and arranged it for students to recite in public
schools. As a socialist, he originally wanted to add equality and fraternity,
but in knowing state superintendents of education were against equality for
African Americans and fraternizing with women, struck the two words off. In
Bellamy’s original composition, it did not include the phrase “one nation under
God,” just simply, “one nation indivisible.” The modification was added by
congress in 1954.
Once the sixties came around, it put a
halt on religious national creep, but once all the hippies grew older into
yuppies religion regained its foothold onto the national scene. Ever since
then, through the Republican Party, Christian fundamentalism has been leaching
into governmental legislation.
The moral majority right should be
commending instead of condemning the IRS right now. In the past few years, where they still vigorously do so and prosecute non-religious charitable groups, the
IRS has not pursued investigations of tax exempt religious organizations and
churches in political electioneering.
So much so that Billy Graham’s ministry
has gotten a free ride when the ministry engaged in blatant electioneering and
took out a number of advertisements urging fellow believers to vote with
biblical principals in mind. Just days before, Graham and his son had met with
the Romney campaign to discuss said principles.
Just before the presidential elections on
October 07, 2012 designated by conservative churches as ‘Pulpit Freedom Sunday,’
as many as 1,500 preachers flaunting their tax exempt status gave political
sermons to vote conservative.
Meanwhile, the ‘Alliance Defending
Freedom’ is fighting in courts by misconstruing rights to free speech to allow
religious right organizations and churches to express their political views but
still be tax exempt.
I don’t like this…I do not, for the ones
who put intelligent design over evolution are forcing a belief policy onto the
rest of us that do not particularly cater to their opinions. If there was a
creator in intelligent design, he most certainly goofed up in a big way, for
there is a long laundry list of missteps. For instance: death, disease,
injuries, mental retardation, genetic mutations, natural disasters, bigotry, W.
Bush and simply allowing human culture and knowledge to have to evolve in
reaching more convenient comforts suffering through trial and error along the
way.
The caveman most certainly didn’t have
it as cushy as we do today. There were no arrows pointing out which plant is
poisonous and which is edible. The caveman had to die in learning that for
himself.
Speaking of death, in all of its finality, I disdain death. I am
so saddened in losing a pet, feel deeply when youth passes, can hardly take a
relative or close friend dying and of course am not looking forward to my final
day in seeing a sunrise and sunset. I abhor death and can therefore understand
why religious folk are absorbed in it as an extension of themselves.
I fully understand the concept in
wanting to feel death is just another passage in your continuance, for it is a
shaky sensation in thinking you will be eternally nonexistent once death
arrives at your door. No one wants to know they will cease to exist, not see,
feel and experience a loved one ever again.
With that said though, I’m rational enough
to reason that for life to continue, present life must exit. However, we do
continue on in our progeny. As long as there is life our genes hitchhike from
one generation to the other after the other.
In seeking fun on a continual basis, I do
my utmost best, even in stressful situations to live life in its fullest
experiencing every essence it offers. I have no need, nor time to be hung up on
what happens after death spending all my life concerned about that.
In living a non-religious, but spiritual
life, I hope to pass on goodness far more than any negatives to anyone or any
life form for that matter. For the fundamental Christian that is not enough,
for no matter how good an exemplary life one leads, if he does not believe in
the one deity…he is damned to Hell. It’s as if there is not enough room in
heaven for all the goodness in heart souls.
Religion first came about to vanquish fear
in one of the concepts man could not comprehend and that was death. It later
evolved into an authority’s tool in shaping human events within a society. When
rulers proclaimed a perceived enemy as evil, societal beliefs cast this other
group as malevolent interlopers going against the will of their god. Blasphemy became
an ingrained concept long before the word describing it ever came about.
This still holds true today. The former
Soviet Union was reviled more by the conservative religious for being a “commie
atheist” state than for being an inhumane totalitarian state. Surely off
course, lest we never forget W. Bush’s combined imperial and religious undertone ‘Axis of Evil’ speech in vilifying.
Throughout the world, Christians are
looked upon for their caring and giving except here in parts of the U.S. With
the caudal marriage between Republican rhetorical ideologue and conservative
religious right moral perceptions, Jesus’ teachings are being replaced. In the
name of Jesus, the new order leans towards self-serving, greed, don’t blame the
rich and revile the poor supplanting what Jesus actually taught.
Today’s religious fundamentalist moral
majority Republican locks their door and shutters their windows shunning anyone
in need. They’re all for defunding the few programs for the poor considering
them beggars of society, but yet aggressively protect wealthy
elitist/corporate welfare whom are not in need.
They constantly claim the commandment thou
shalt not kill while packing concealed heat and being the first in line to pull
the switch, tighten the noose or inject the needle into the arm of the
condemned prisoner.
Incessantly defending the right to own
assault weapons intended for battlefields to be distributed into our
neighborhoods where children play, in displaying an angered political viewpoint,
they are bringing warfare to our front doors.
Finally, spiritualism is not solely
owned by religion. Spiritualism is an individual event and can occur through
any context no matter the belief, opinion or affiliation of that individual. If
you truly want to revere, tip your hat to Nelson Mandela. He died this week and
truly was a man for the ages past, present and future. Mandela, just as Lincoln, Gandhi,
Jesus...represented the spirit of the oppressed. Mandela’s story is never ending, so his story
continues on. His legacy will live on. May his
spirit eternally find peace…he was grace for us all in the humanities…
In Yuletide Giving
BJA
12/07/2013
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