That Baptist Ain't Right

Judge Amanda Williams is Having a Bad Day

2011-11-10T20:47:00.001-05:00

Finally. It is finally her day to have to answer for her actions. I'm betting she is not going to like it when all the rocks are pulled up for everyone to see the Gestapo tactics she has used to run roughshod over Glynn and Camden Counties for a long, long time. (See my prior blog post and the comments. I should also say that I received several emails from people recalling similar stories to what Ira Glass had reported in his This American Life spot.)

Here is the link to the AP story.

Whether it goes to a full hearing or not, I don't know. She may settle. I'm hoping she doesn't settle because the people whom she has terrified for two decades deserve to have it all laid bare; they deserve some vindication with her public embarrassment.

Judge Amanda Williams could also face criminal charges if it is found she did indeed make false statements concerning the investigation (link to The Republic).

If you want to read the actual charges against her, check out this link.

Lady Justice can be really nasty when she is pushed over the line. Judge Williams has been pushing a long time and Lady Justice is finally pushing back.

2012 Presidential Qualification Question

2011-10-13T22:10:00.000-04:00

Politics sorely disgusts me. That used to not be the case as I enjoyed the sparring, discussion and learning. Now, not so much. The reason is that discussion and learning have taken a back seat to the campaign of character assassination and presenting half truth (or sometimes, not even truth at all).

Of course, we've seen all this before. It is nothing new. Still, it is "new" to me in the sense that I really believed some of the people I personally knew were above that. They weren't.

So I'm a bit jaded. Ok. Very jaded.

There is an interesting read by Bruce Gourley in the Baptist Studies Bulletin, Oct. 2011 concerning the current kerfuffle over Mitt Romney and his Mormon faith. It is a good analysis.

"Time for Outrage" by Stephane Hessel

2011-10-05T22:06:00.000-04:00

Stephane Hessel is a hero --- a French Resistance leader in WW 2. And no he has written a book, Time for Outrage, and has managed to tick off a lot of people. Why? Because he has sold 2 million copies in France and his book is now in 30 languages and is just now released in the US. (Actually, it is a pamplet but here is the Amazon Link.)

Hessel, at age 94, is still fighting and encouraging others to do the same. The difference is that instead of fighting against the Nazi Regime, Hessel is calling for fighters to rise up against injustice. Of course, injustice is a broad term and is often quite arbitrary.

Some injustice is easy to spot: racism; bigotry; and crime. Or is it? What about corporations that legally (though not ethically) take land from average citizens? What about governments that use the taxpayer to fund legal actions against everyday citizens who stand up to fight against corruption? What about protesters who stand up for the least among us, while corporations and politicians ignore the plight of the weak and powerless regarding health care? What about parents who stand up against the educational system that promotes mediocrity while ignoring the needs of the handicapped or gifted? What about citizens who stand up for the right of minority faiths when the majority taxpayer wants his religion to get preferential treatment by the government?

Sadly, those sort of injustices are seen as political actions by the left instead of what they really are --- injustices on the weakest citizens by the power, influence and money of the majority. What should be a call for justice is marginalized by the political majority.

Jesus was treated no differently. Why should we be surprised today when it happens again?

This inspires met. (NPR Link.)

"If you want to be a real human being — a real woman, a real man — you cannot tolerate things which put you to indignation, to outrage," he says. "You must stand up. I always say to people, 'Look around; look at what makes you unhappy, what makes you furious, and then engage yourself in some action.'"

Jefferson, the Anti-Christ and Supporter of the Separation of Church & State

2011-09-29T23:43:00.000-04:00

It is almost absurd for the modern American to think of Thomas Jefferson with contempt or scorn, but in the early days of the Republic, Jefferson was not liked very well by the religious establishment. The reason, simply put, is that Jefferson had adopted that crazy, radical, out-there notion that America needed the complete separation of church & state. He came to this conclusion from both a secular point of view as an Enlightenment thinker, but also was greatly influenced by the Virginia Baptists who adopted the separation of church and state as a theological construct.

Naturally, this position ran afoul of the established churches since they would be losing their semi-official power structures (and in some case, the official position of power). Thus began the labeling of Jefferson as the Anti-Christ by most religious leaders of that day, who made the claim that America would collapse because it didn't recognize God in its founding document or make Christianity its official religion.

But the Baptists found Jefferson to be a friend in their call for the separation of church and state (Link). Now granted, Jefferson wouldn't have made a good Baptist in this theology but the Baptists did support Jefferson and even delivered a Big Cheese to him to show their appreciation.

All of this reminds me of today where it seems that the very people who are trying to protect the religious liberty of everyone often becomes the target of those wanting the majority faith to get a favored status. No different today than it was in Jefferson's world. Same players. Same issues. Different dates on the calendar.

As the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty puts it (Link): The same Constitution that refuses to privilege any religion, protects all religions. As a result, we are a nation of Christians sociologically because we are not a Christian nation constitutionally.

Keep that wall.

ALA Criminals Say Amen or Serve Time

2011-09-26T22:57:00.000-04:00

Bay Minette, AL, has instituted a new policy for criminals with misdomeanor convictions to serve their time either in jail or in church.

WKRG.com News Link

What were they thinking?

Silly me. Obviously they thought a Little Bit 'O Jesus would do these people some good. So instead of relying on the private religious groups their opportunity to minister, the city has decided to help the Holy Spirit out by using the tax payer's Sword of Justice, and require prisoners to choose their sentence.

So church is now a punishment?

Wonder how these people would feel if a mosque chose to be one of the preferred organizations on the list?

Taking a Trip

2011-09-15T23:11:00.000-04:00

I've always enjoyed going places. Why, I even get excited driving 10 miles down the road to Hiram, GA, a town that now has my favorite Mexican restaurant in all the world, Jalapeno Joe's. (Their Chicken Soup must be one of the dishes served in heaven. I'm certain of it.) There isn't much else in Hiram and the traffic is something Stephen King would like but that is not the point of this post.

I'm going on a vacation tomorrow. So I thought I would suggest a blog I found for some of you that enjoy some really good writting that makes you think. Now I mean really think. And have your ideas challenged.

Experimental Theology by Richard Beck.

Check it out.

Christian Nationalists and David Barton

2011-09-14T23:51:00.000-04:00

I am puzzled, frustrated, amused, bumfuzzled and very confused right now. Someone please help me here.

I've a few friends who are educated, articulate and by all accounts are not the kind of people to need Tin Foil Hats, but something is just not working. They don't believe in UFOs or Big Foot or Swamp Creatures, though they will readily admit there are things for which we still don't have all the answers. However, when it comes to history, I don't know what is going on with them. These people have the idea that the United States was founded as a Christian Nation, with Christian Values and the Founders were all Christian-Right Republicans just like exists today.

And don't EVER cross them. It is like stepping on a yellow jackets nest.

One my friends recently posted on a social network the spurious quote by Patrick Henry as follows: (Wiki Link)

There is an insidious campaign of false propaganda being waged today, to the effect that our country is not a Christian country but a religious one—that it was not founded on Christianity but on freedom of religion. It cannot be emphasized too clearly and too often that this nation was founded, not by "religionists", but by Christians—not on religion, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason, peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here.

The quote is not true as Henry never said it. The quote comes from pseudo-historian David Barton who took the quote from a 1956 piece about Henry, placed quotation marks around it, and proclaimed it was from the lips of Henry in a 1765 speech. Then Barton gets caught and instead of admitting he made a mistake, he starts the "academic verses legal" citation nonsense and simply says the quote is unconfirmed. Barton doesn't say it was an error he made, nor does he make a retraction. Instead, he labels the untrue statement as unconfirmed. Frankly, Barton is playing fast and loose with the truth and he knows it.

Such reckless words then get into the hands of people who don't know any better, and suddenly they think Barton is giving them an accurate history lesson. In turn, there are many well-meaning people who believe some very wrong things about our nation and its beginnings.

So when I pointed out that Patrick Henry never said such a statement, my faith and character were questioned. Go figure.

Truth. It should be what we strive for. When history is twisted to fit a political objective, we all lose.

By the way, David Barton should be ashamed.

2 KY Counties Have to Borrow Money After Losing 10 Commandments Fight

2011-09-12T22:32:00.001-04:00

There are some things that are a No Brainer and yet when it happens, I'm still in awe of the crazy things people do. Take for example the leaders of McCreary and Pulaski Counties in Kentucky. Please. Take them.

For eleven years the leaders of those two counties have been waging an obviously ill-advised campaign to display the Ten Commandments in their respective court houses. Eleven years. All the way to the US Supreme Court. They lost. (See Kentucky.com link.)

Now they had to pay the legal fees of the plaintiff. Problem is they don't have the money to do so and they are going to have to borrow that money. Both counties are planning on asking national Christian religious organizations to chip in to help pay their legal bills.

A few observations. First, this really is a No Brainer. How these leaders thought they could get one religion's Scripture posted in what is supposed to be a hall of justice based on our national laws it beyond me. This has been tried many times before and it just won't fly.

Second, fair is fair. How would the good people of those counties feel if the leaders were to erect a Muslim monument with quotations from the Koran? If Christians can do this, other groups only need to win at the ballot box and they can do it too. Thus the reason the First Amendment prohibits such things. Again, No Brainer.

Thirdly, these leaders were elected to represent all the people of their counties, not just one religious group, a group that --- remarkably --- is the religious majority. Doesn't anyone find it even the least suspect that they would go to the mat fighting for the religion of the majority? I certainly don't. Let's call it what it is: vote pandering. These politicians did it because it gets them votes. If the majority were another religious group, we would having this same problem with their Scriptures, though the Christian minority would then be pitching a fit over their Christian tax dollars going to support such heresy.

Lastly, I do believe the attorneys that urged these counties on in their fight need to be fired. Seriously. These attorneys knew it was a losing case --- or they should have known. They were either incompetent or negligent in their duties.

The icing on the cake is that despite the loss, Pulaski County just can't stand it and had to get one more jab at minorities and their dislike of the Constitution. In the place where the 10 Commandments were formerly displayed, there is a frame announcing the display had been removed by court order. Tacky. Very tacky.

Most of all, very rude.

And un-American.

Sriracha: The Ultimate Sauce

2011-09-07T22:11:00.000-04:00

I am not a food expert, though I know what I like and what I don't like. And I will at least try new foods. That only started about 10 years ago I began trying new foods on a lark. Amazingly, I realized I like many foods I had originally discounted, like Mexican style chicken soup. Other foods, I was forced to admit, were better when prepared differently, e.g, a steak is better medium rare than medium. Much better. To die for better.

And one day earlier this year I was listening to the radio and there was a radio report on Sriracha. Until then I had never heard of it, much less tasted it. Being that I do enjoy hot and spicy foods, I pulled into my local Kroger and immediately bought a bottle.

One bottle. With that crazy rooster emblazoned on it. Rooster Sauce is the appropriate name based on the bottle.

Based on the taste? Heavenly.

Now, I'm not going to admit that I am a Sriracha junkie and attend Rooster Sauce Anonymous Meetings, but the lunch group with whom I dine three days a week all have to get their weekly fix too.

It's good.

Very good.

I'll leave it to everyone to do their own web search about it, but here is just one article I found today that addresses much of my sentiments.

Did I mention that I do dearly love Sriracha?

Vacation is Over

2011-09-06T21:30:00.000-04:00

I took some much needed, though unannounced, time off from blogging. My reasons were both personal and professional, but mainly I just needed to step back and read what others were saying for a while. Now, I do believe it is time to begin blogging again.

I've noticed there is far too much negativity out there and our political climate is not helping.

I've also noticed there is a dearth of real education about the history of our nation, particularly when it involves the founding of the nation. There is such danger in the pop-history that says we were founded as a "Christian Nation" (so totally not true) or that there was an intentional effort to insert "Judeo-Christian Values" into our system of government (again, a total and complete falsehood).

The normal today is a dangerous repeat of history, e.g., when in difficult economic times there will be the scapegoating of a class or race of people; the tendency to make laws that are reactionary to those outside influences that are different than the cultural majority; the tendency to make government stronger and more intrusive under the guise of supporting individual liberty; a stronger sense of self-righteousness that always blames others for the system that keeps the others marginalized; and a proliferation of media that seeks to enrage instead of inform.

There is a danger we face today. We've seen it before. Do we have the will to face it again?

GA Judge Finally Allows Muslim Man to Wear Head Covering in Court Room

2011-05-11T22:15:00.000-04:00

We've heard this scenario before: a judge tells someone of a "different faith," i.e., different than the majority and the judge, that the person cannot enter the courtroom while wearing a required religious head covering. What a silly and bigoted thing to do.

GA already went through this in 2009 when another judge (who needs a tin foil hat instead of a robe) barred a woman from wearing her hijab in the courtroom. That lead to the policy that specifically said religious head gear is allowed.

But there is always that one judge ... that one outlier ... that one person who somehow thinks the rules don't apply and he can just violate the Constitution because he wants to ...

So is the case of Judge James Chafin of Henry County, GA. Judge Chafin had refused Troy "Tariq" Montgomery entrance into the courtroom to answer a traffic ticket. The offense? A kufi. A religious cap.

I'm not sure when Judge James Chafin went to law school, but I can say with 100% certainty the First Amendment was the same then as it is in 2011. And I am positive that Judge James Chafin knew of the policy that came down in 2009 (everyone in the state knew of it; it was every TV news show, the newspaper and every radio talk show in the nation.)

So why would Judge James Chafin refuse a Muslim entrance into his courtroom? Well, let's see. I could say it was bigotry toward Muslims. I could say a bit of racism (Montgomery is black). Or I could say he wanted to covert Montgomery to a different religion. Or maybe it was to embarrass the guy.

Who knows?

Whatever the reason, Judge James Chafin has now reversed himself and will allow the guy into the courtroom after "doing his own research" and determined the kufi is indeed a religious symbol.

Sigh.

Wouldn't it have been better if Judge James Chafin would have just let the guy have his religious views, followed the Constitution and the policy set down in 2009?

Rudolf "Rudi" Vrba

2011-05-10T23:09:00.000-04:00

I recently had the chance to catch the PBS special Escape from Auschwitz concerning the story of Rudi Vrba and Alfred Wetzler. What these two men did was heroic in itself, but the drive they had to tell the world the story of the concentration camps is nothing short of amazing. These two men deserve an prominent place in history for their escape and subsequently saving the lives of untold numbers of Jews with the Vrba-Wetzler Report.

Thank you, Mr. Vrba and Mr. Wetzler.

Five myths about church and state in America

2011-04-25T21:55:00.001-04:00

One of the neat things about being interested in church-state issues as I am, is that there is never a time when something interesting doesn't come up. And there is rarely a time when I can't blog about it and get more than a goodly number of people ticked off --- good people on all 15 sides of the issue; good people that are normally rational, kind and intelligent, until it comes to matters of faith and politics, that is.

When I found Don Byrd's (Baptist Joint Committee) mention of this Washington Post editorial from David Sehat, assistant history professor at Georgia State University, I knew it was going to be a barn burner with a title of Five myths about church and state in America. I mean, come on! That's like pouring gasoline on a fire and asking for another gallon of gas just for fun.

The article is right on, though I doubt seriously if the Religious Right will be fond of it.

The best part is the comment section, but it is not for the faint of heart.

Good job David Sehat!

VA is Going to Allow Guns in Churches

2011-04-14T18:07:00.000-04:00

While churches in GA are still (thankfully) a Gun-Free Zone, the Commonwealth of VA is going in the direction of serious paranoia and is going to allow parishioners to pack heat while worshiping the Prince of Peace. Of course, that also means other religious groups will be able to do the same, like Muslims in their mosques, for example.

Churches may ban weapons like any other private property owner, a good option for sensible people in rational congregations.

What would Jesus do? I don't think he would arm himself since the Bible never mentions he carried a weapon.

We all know the real reason this is even being discussed: the Religious Right has confused conservative politics with religious dogma, and the Good News is no longer abut the peace of Jesus. Instead, it is now an excuse to use the pulpit to postulate a political message of God, Guns and American Glory.

Jesus is the All American Boy, and he has no problem with guns. II Opinions 4:12.

End of Life Care: Will Politicians Finally Act Humanely?

2011-04-07T01:10:00.001-04:00

We value life. We work hard to make it better. We sing songs about. Write about it. We even kill each other over the way we think others should live theirs. (I know that last sentence is crazy but war is crazy, is it not?)

But I have yet to figure out why we have not come to the humane conclusion that end of life care should be done with the dignity of the person in mind.

Well, maybe I have figured that out: it's a political tool and no politician will let that sort of issue go by without getting some leverage from it.

I used to have the opinion that life was so sacred, so valuable, so wonderful, that we could do nothing less than everything to keep a life going. I used to believe that since life was God-given, we should make sure life lasts as long as it can for everyone - in every circumstance - until God takes the person by the biological death of the body. After all, God alone gives life and God alone takes life.

Notice, please, I said I used to be of that opinion. Now I believe that life is so sacred, so valuable, so wonderful and God-given, that we should consider the damage we are doing to the value we claim to be protecting.

As I have gotten older, I've watched the families of parishioners and clients go through the awful, heart-wrenching tragedy of their loved ones withering away. Maybe it was the slow, painful death of a cancer. Or the debilitating effects of Parkinson's. Then there are the diseases like dementia and Alzheimer's, where the person dies long before the body does.

What those sort of diseases do to the patient is, in many cases, not as dreadful as what it does to the family that has to watch the death process go on for, sometimes, decades.

I am not advocating we begin the slippery slope of not treating diseases because of the ultimate end. Nor will I advocate a cost-benefit analysis to determine the value of a life. What I do think we need to do is an honest discussion about the real issues around end of life care.

Real issues. Not faux-ethics. Not political brownie points disguised as the moral high ground. Not philosophical sniper attacks pretending to be concerned "for the value of life."

Let's get real and talk about the actual value of a person's life: when a person is no longer able to care for herself, or is so debilitated or diagnosed that what they believe is her value of life is not worth the financial, emotional or physical costs to herself or her family, why do we not allow a dignified means for the end of life care? As long as the person has/can make such an informed decision, why not allow the gentle and humane passing instead of medically allowing the agony for everyone involved?

I would even see a system in place where a medical team (not a single physician) can attest to a threshold of whatever stipulations we want to add, and have the patient/family petition the court to allow the dignified passing.

What I don't like to see is the system we have now that drains everyone of their finances, emotions and common sense. We treat animals more humanely than we treat people regarding end of life care.

It's time we recognized that God gave us the means and the wherewithal to do a gracious thing possible for a fellow human being at the very time that person may need it the most.

I So Remember "Field of Dreams"

2011-04-04T01:29:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite movies of all times is Field of Dreams. There is something about the dream that really is in each of us ... ah, well, never mind about the analyzing stuff. It was just a great movie.

I was having dinner last evening and one of those music channels on Comcast was playing in the sitting area. Even though I couldn't see the screen, I heard the music. I heard a couple of notes and I immediately recognized the piece as The Place Where Dreams Come True by James Horner. I mentioned the piece though no one believed me and then, Lo! Someone checked. Yeppers. That is indeed what was playing. Even though I had not watched that movie in at least 10 years, the music was still there in my mind ... reminding me ... of the way I felt as I watched it all those years ago.

Remarkable it is that a sound or a smell or a touch can remind us of things long ago. The imprint of things not thought of, but not forgotten; the sudden sense of re-living a moment; the fondness of something so simple.

I so remember ...

Travesty of Justice: Judge Amanda Williams, Glynn County, GA

2011-03-27T22:13:00.018-04:00

The legal system is set up to protect the American citizenry and governing principles. Sometimes that means criminals are incarcerated. Sometimes it means innocent people are incarcerated, too, because, sadly, we do make mistakes. But our basic value is liberty. We prize liberty so much that we are willing to let 10 guilty go free just to make sure a single innocent person is not deprived of freedom. We do everything we can --- putting all sorts of stumbling blocks in the way of the state's prosecution --- just to make sure innocent people are not unintentionally mistreated.

And we should always do that. Our legal system is about fairness first and foremost. Punishment is always secondary and is never to be given with a heavy hand, lest the very system designed to protect us becomes foreboding. When the public loses confidence in the basic fairness of our legal system, the ideals of liberty are mocked.

I listened tonight to an episode of This American Life on my local NPR station. The piece featured Judge Amanda Williams, the director of the Drug Court in Glynn and Camden Counties in GA. The segment was titled Very Tough Love, but it should have been named The Most Unfair Court in the Nation.

I could type my thoughts on this judge and the tyrannical means by which she runs her court. I could say how grossly unfair she treats the people who come before her. I could even say how I believe she is unfit to serve on the bench. But I won't. (If you want to read what others are saying about this judge, try this link.)

I am asking you to listen to the story. It takes a while, but listen to it. And then I am asking you to do something about it. I am asking you to please send an email to the Office of National Drug Policy asking them to please investigate this judge who is unfit to be on any bench. Also, please send a letter or fax to the GA Judicial Qualifications Commission (they don't accept email, apparently). Here is the contact information and a sample mock up.

Judicial Qualifications Commission
P.O. Box 191
Madison, GA 30650
Phone: (706) 343-5891
Fax: (706) 342-4593

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to bring up a concern that I was recently nade aware of by Ira Glass from This American Life. He gave an in-depth account with strong reporting about a particular Drug Court in Glynn and Camden Counties of Georgia. I am very concerned about the job that the Judge Amanda Williams is doing. The information presented in the news story about the manner in which Judge Amanda Williams is conducting herself is frightening. I live in metro Atlanta so I am not one of her constituents but I feel strongly that something should be done.

Bryan Fischer of American Family Association Says Only Christians Have Rights

2011-03-24T22:04:00.001-04:00

Sometimes people say things they didn't mean to say. I do that all the time. So I try to clarify and make my point more clear. It's part of the human condition to make mistakes with the tongue.

But sometimes people say things so outlandish, so ridiculous, so moon-bat that it defies logic. Such is the case with Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association who said --- in summary --- that only Christians have rights in America and all other religions are only allowed by the good graces of the Christian majority.

That is so ignorant that I have a difficult time knowing where to begin. To say the Founding Fathers only granted religious liberty to Christians is, well, crazy. First, the only recognized Christians at the time of the Bill of Rights were Anglicans, Congregationalists and Catholics, and all three fought against the other two claiming superior relationship to God. And none of those three groups thought Methodists, Presbyterians or Baptists were Christian. In fact, all the Big Three in the Colonies considered everyone else as unchristian, as unregenerate, and as heathen as any Muslim. And Fischer and the American Family Association are trying to say only Christians were allowed liberty by the Founding Fathers? Is he willing to say that means only Anglicans, Congregationalists and Catholics are afforded liberty today? Lo! I'm willing to wager that means most members of American Family Association don't have the official American recognition of being Christian. Hmmmm. Quite a problem with that interpretation, Mr. Fischer.

Second, any reasonable person knows that Fischer's position is something we should just ignore: it is that of a theocratic fruit cake. Problem is that his argument is being sold by many in the Religious Right as a means of money and political power. Unfortunately, these leaders are not educating their flocks about the history of our nation. Instead they are twisting the history and the Bible to suit their own needs. They are manipulating the sheep.

Here is the link to the Americans United blog by Joseph Conn that goes into more detail about the claims of Fischer. It is quite a read.

Let's hope the reasoned and educated people can overcome the bigotry and ignorance of Fischer and American Family Association.

Victoria Jackson and "Glee"

2011-03-23T20:56:00.000-04:00

Last week I wondered why the Religious Right had not taken shots at Glee. With gay teens, racey outfits, suggestive subplots, the Rocky Horror episode, we all knew it was a matter of time.

The gay male kiss did it. It wasn't a peck on the lips either: it was a real kiss. It was the kind of kiss that says there is much more going to be happening between the two characters.

Glee fans have anticipated this for months. Most of the audience I talked to said nothing about it other than It's about time the characters got together. The fact that this sort of Real Kiss raised the bar for same sex relationships on TV never even came up in the conversation.

It says we've come a long way since Ellen said I'm gay on national TV during prime time, or since Murphy Brown's audacity to have a baby out of wedlock. The backlash from the Religious Right over those two events was reminiscent of Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. This Glee event is even further from the first interracial kiss of Captain Kirk and Lt. Uhura on Star Trek, an episode that I remember as a kid had the church in a'buzz with talks of scandal, boycott, protests, Congressional letter writing campaigns, and prayer retreats.

And it is a long, long, long way from the public swearing on Gone With the Wind with the famous line, Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn. My Great-Grandmother swore that was the single event that sealed our nation's fate to be eternally assigned to Perdition. It was all down hill from there, according to Nellie Brown. (By the way, she was a fine lady and could swing a hickory switch better than anyone, and I am an expert of the receiving end of the hickory switch.)

Back to the gay kiss on Glee ...

Victoria Jackson is, I'm sure, a fine person. I have no doubt her convictions on matters of faith are genuine. But I have a problem with homophobia hiding behind the Bible as justification for discrimination, hurtful words, and silly behavior.

See makes the rest of the Christian Community look bad. In fact, too many Christians make the rest of us look bad. Unfortunately, those are the ones that jump out there and say and do silly things.

I'll post the video for you to watch. No commentary on the theology of what she is saying (or lack thereof) on my part is necessary. The point I want to make is that the Bible should never be used as a tool to bully, harass, harm, discriminate against, or marginalize anyone. Let God do handle the "sinners" (however He defines them) and let us be about the business of showing some kindness every now and then. That would be a refreshing change, I think.

High School Sports and the Budget Axe

2011-03-21T22:36:00.000-04:00

It's as if the only work out being done in some school systems today is the budget axe. Sadly, it is the kids who get cut out of the picture.

I taught high school for seven years --- rather, I should say, I handled high school discipline for seven years. Seriously. In School Suspension. It is not a position many aspire to do, but I loved it. Truth is, if it weren't for the awful politics of a school system and the low pay, I would have loved to have retired from what I consider a noble and worthwhile post. My job in the school system deserved hazardous duty pay some days; other days, I couldn't believe they paid me to do the job. Helping kids on the margin --- those who get into trouble --- means being (often literally) a lifesaver.

Many kids need a parent, a teacher or someone to just tell them No. Honestly, that word is unheard by many students before high school. Others need that one-on-one help for a short while they can't get in the classroom. A lot of teenagers are just teenagers and do teenager stuff. These kids --- the majority of kids --- need a gentle (or tough) reminder that they have to / can / must get it together. They can do it with just a little by someone.

For a good number of students, it is an athletic coach that fills that void. For others, it is the art or music teacher. A few need the language instructor. Then there are the marginal 5% that need that tough disciplinarian.

Unfortunately when schools have to make deep cuts, it is art, music, drama or language. These "soft" disciplines are viewed as secondary to the hard sciences of math and science. The cry is to increase the requirements for math and science; implied in that is less focus / requirements in the areas that make society work for all of us.

The not so subtle message is that the things of beauty, culture, emotion, meaning are not needed. Watch out, for tomorrow it is the Humanities that will be cut next. American culture --- even humankind culture --- will be the lesser for that.

But none of that is the real reason for this post. It is the sports programs that get the axe now. After all, do we need to teach students to play when the rest of the world is passing us math scores?

Well, the answer is a resounding Yes! We need sports more than ever.

The truth is that increasing the required math or science courses to graduate is not helping the kid who simply is not a wired to think in that area. I'm not saying we don't teach basic cell biology or leave out the Pythagorean Theorem, but we can't afford to abandon art, drama, music, language or history either, for it is those subjects that give us the glue for our society. Very few kids will ever need to solve quadratic equations when they are 32 years old for a job application, but every student will one day be voting and making decisions how our government will relate to the rest of the world.

Some students --- make that MOST students --- need those subjects and sports to even have a reason to get through high school. And let's not forget that high school sports, namely football, is a huge money maker for the schools. Cutting the very thing that gives pride to a community, adds money to the budget and gives a good number of kids a chance and a reason to go to college is not good management. If a CEO were judged based on how many BOEs are reacting to budget cuts, the CEO would be an ex-CEO in a matter of weeks.

Frank Deford has a wonderful article on the subject of budget cuts and high school sports. If only the people in charge of our kids' education knew how to analyze the cost of the social impact instead of just the cost on a budget sheet.

Why are Christians are so ...

2011-03-05T11:02:00.000-05:00

First, let me say that I am totally, completely and unabashedly stealing / borrowing this post from Richard Beck and his blog, Experiential Theology. No one can ever say I'm not 100% honest in every way and in all my dealings. Let's not have a blog post destroy that for which I have worked so hard to keep.

Second, this post is both disturbing and sad. It is sad because it is and it disturbing because it shows the declining scale we have fostered as our faith became the majority in the American marketplace of ideas.

Phil Vaughn made a great point in his sermon Gracenomics: Extending Grace. I will copy Beck for the rest ...

The most powerful part of the sermon comes when Phil asks us to type into Google the phrase "Why are Christians so..." Due to Google's autocomplete function the most popular querys starting with this tag immediately pop up.

And guess what? The results are depressing. Here is one screen capture:

Feel free to try it yourself.

Phil then goes on to compare these results with the Google autocomplete for "Why are Buddhists so..." The top autocomplete for this tag is: "Why are so Buddhists so happy." Quite a contrast between Buddhists and Christians.

The provocative question the sermon leaves us with is this: What would it take for Christians to get the Google autocomplete to become the following:

Why are Christians so loving?

Debate in OK: Resolved, the United States Constitution neither established nor advocates for a Christian nation.

2011-02-28T21:23:00.000-05:00

I always enjoy intellectual discussion and good debate. But on this topic, there is no real debate. Anyone who honestly believes the US was founded as a Christian Nation has zero understanding of the history, the Founders, the political underpinnings or even a modicum of Biblical theology.

Oh, sure, there are some who want to impose their views on others if others won't willingly acquiesce --- and impose their views on the Bible also --- but for the most part I think it is more of a question of a wilfull ignorance.

And then there is the Rev. Steve Kern, husband of OK state representative Sally Kern. Yes, THAT Sally Kern.

If you want to see and hear what bad history and bad theology look like, the Rev. Steve Kern is Exhibit A.

The OK chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State held a debate between Rev. Kern and Dr. Bruce Prescott, executive director of Mainstream Oklahoma Baptists. Rev. Kern took the position that the US was founded as a Christian Nation and Dr. Prescott took the position that the US was founded as a secular nation with religious liberty for all faiths and even those of no faith.

You can watch the video of the debate here.

Good job, Dr. Prescott!

For a more detailed information about this event, check out the blog for Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

Christina Aguilera and the Star Spangled Banner

2011-02-07T22:26:00.000-05:00

So she messed up the words of the national anthem. Twice. She left out a line and blew another. But doing at the Super Bowl puts it waaaaay out there - a stage almost as big as anything the local town gossip can muster.

Here is just one of 322,177 articles about it.

And we're all over her case? 95% of all Americans can't sing the song either.

The flap is too much about nothing, but it does show, once again, that America needs a new national anthem. One that is easier to sing and makes want to sing it and feel it.

It's time for America to seriously consider a new national anthem.

Polk County Florida School Board and Prayer

2011-02-06T15:40:00.004-05:00

School board adds prayer disclaimer

The Polk County Florida School Board was threatened with a lawsuit from the Freedom From Religion Foundation because the board had been opening its meeting with prayers. So the board decided the best thing to do was to move the invocation to precede the meeting's official start, and give the following disclaimer:

Voluntary invocation may be offered before the opening of the School Board meeting by a private citizen. The views or beliefs expressed in the invocation have not been reviewed nor approved by the School Board, and the Board is not allowed, by law, to endorse the religious beliefs or views of this, or any other speaker.

A few things here. First, I think the board did the right thing when they decided to avoid litigation. Courts are costly. And there is a very good chance the school board will lose. Paying money over an opportunity to pray in public - at an official government meeting - is just silly. School boards are about education, not displays of personal piety.

Second, I don't understand why the board would have prayer at an official meeting anyway. What purpose does it serve? Really? The only purpose it does have is to show the majority religion that their elected people are following the religion of the most number of voters. In other words, it is vote pandering, plain and simple.

Thirdly, why can't the school board members pray privately before they come to the meeting? Why must they make a public display of it? Oh, wait. I already discussed that above. Vote pandering. Now I remember why they would want to pray in public instead of in private.

Fourth, I do find some serious problems - theologically - with the whole idea of praying for the purpose of being seen. Jesus was quite harsh with the Pharisees who did that, saying they only prayed in public to be seen in public. Wait. I did it again. We already discussed that above to Vote pandering. I've got to remember that we've already talked about that.

Fifth, the Constitution is very clear that government shouldn't even give a hint of a Most Favored Faith, not anything that even respects an establishment of religion. One would think a school board would want to follow what we teach the students about one of our core values. So why would a school board violate the Constitution unless it is to ... wait. There it is again. Vote pandering. Guess those votes are more important than following our Constitution. Wonder if there are other parts the school board thinks can be ignored? Maybe the part about women getting the right to vote - will the school board just ignore that and start teaching the kids that women should be barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen?

Sixth, is it a good idea to do prayers at a school board meeting, knowing that one day another religion may become the majority religion in the area? How would the current people of the community feel that in a few years a large Muslim population came to the county, and then there are prayers to Allah before each meeting? If we allow one religious prayer ...

Lastly, I will say the board came to compromise that at least works. It is silly, but it does work. Since it is before the official meeting (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) the prayer is not official and this avoids the Constitutional question. The disclaimer is a nice touch, but it is all for show to keep the legal eagles happy: everyone knows it is still an unofficial official prayer.

Which is exactly why the school board did it this way. By moving the prayer to the unofficial slot before the actual meeting, the prayer still gets prayed; the religious majority gets to think the elected leaders are keeping the majority's version of God in the schools; and the elected leaders get to unofficially tell the constituents to vote for them again because they kept prayer at the meeting and those Godless heathens away from the official business.

Wait. That's just more vote pandering.

Does anyone see a pattern here?

Vouchers for Private School

2011-02-05T01:58:00.000-05:00

Sometimes the most outlandish ideas get past otherwise intelligent people. While I'm being generous concerning the intellectual capacities of some of our elected leaders, I have to wonder if how any rational human being cannot understand that tax money to fund religious education is a bad idea.

It's very simple: if we can fund Christian education today, we may one day have to fund Muslim education tomorrow. Or Hindu. Or Buddhist. Or Sikh. Or the Worship of the Big Oak Tree Out Back.

Taking money away from the public education ends up hurting the poorest students and in turn hurts all of society. Taking money to fund religious instruction is a violation of the very soul of the American conscience. Our foundational liberty is a free conscience, a free people, a free nation. Religious education is the right of the parents but not on the public's dime.

Here is a link from Americans United for the Separation of Church and State that lists 10 Reasons to Oppose Vouchers.

GA Churches are Still Gun Free

2011-01-26T22:24:00.002-05:00

Believe it or not, but a "Gun Advocacy Group" (AKA Some Serious Nut Jobs) challenged the State of GA's ban on firearms in any house of worship. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution the group called GeorgiaCarry, along with (not joking here) a Baptist church and the church's pastor, said the restriction infringed on their free exercise of religion, their ability to conduct worship services, as well as their right to self defense under the 2nd Amendment.

The judge said they were wrong.

Thank God.

Can you imagine being in a church (where emotions are already running on high octane) and people there are 100% certain of God's Will, and they get into a fight over the budget? I've seen fist fights over the Evangelism budget. I've known of churches where the police had to be called to intervene over an argument about Vacation Bible School refreshments. And these people want to have members carrying weapons in the building?

Somehow I don't think the Prince of Peace would be happy with his disciples arming themselves as if they were about to kill someone. The Sword of the Lord doesn't come in a 9mm.

What was that Jesus told Peter about putting away the sword? And what was that verse about seeking peace and beating swords in plowshares? Hmmm.

Here is the link to the legal ramblings of GeorgiaCarry.org.

About Those Ten Commandment Displays ...

2011-01-25T21:04:00.002-05:00

The Religious Right is a reminder as to why we have the 1st Amendment --- people can't resist forcing their religious interpretations onto others if others won't willingly acquiesce.

Example of the Day - The School Board in Giles County VA

For the last 10 years, a copy of the Ten Commandments has been displayed beside a copy of the US Constitution in the district's five schools. These were no small displays, either. These were 4 foot tall monsters. Huge. Impressive. Dominating. Forceful. These carried a message with size alone..

In December 2010, there was a complaint by the Freedom from Religion Foundation along with an opinion by the school board's attorney that the display were unConstitutional. Duh. Really. Double Duh. So the Ten Commandments were replaced with the Declaration of Independence.

The AP reports that eight parents and pastors, supported by a fighting-mad mob of Christian soldiers, marched on the January 2011 meeting and insisted the schools had a moral obligation to reinforce God's teachings.

The next day, the Ten Commandment displays were back in the schools.

Now let's see ... how about if we change the story a bit ... after removing the Half Moon and Crescent, along with many verses of the Koran that teaches Allah should be praised in all the student's lives, eight parents and Imams, supported by a fighting-mad mob of Islamic soldiers, marched on the January 2011 meeting and insisted the schools had a moral obligation to reinforce Allah's teachings.

What, pray tell, is the difference? Hint: None. If we don't insist the government show no favoritism to our own faith, we lose the moral right to speak out against another faith that gets the government's Most Favored Status.

Doesn't anyone actually read the Constitution any more or believe that the Golden Rule is more than something we talk about on Sunday mornings between 11AM and noon?

Hawaii Realizes They are about Governing and not Prayer

2011-01-23T18:47:00.001-05:00

Hawaii Senate ends daily chamber prayers

I am always leery of politicians anyway, but when politicians start talking about matters of faith, I start sweating. It is never good when politicians start playing on people's emotions. The end result is manipulation of the faithful and an endangerment to the liberties of all.

Hawaii has done something that has totally amazed me - the right thing.

In the summer of 2010, a citizen of Hawaii complained about the legislature there opening its sessions with overt prayer, prayers that often directly mentioned Jesus.

Now understand that I am all for prayer. I pray. I like people to pray. I think God likes prayer. But when politicians want to make prayer into a political football, someone needs to throw the Challenge Flag.

One citizen complained. Thank God for that one citizen. No, that is not a play on words because somehow I don't think God is too happy with his Faithful and his Name being used as a means to garner votes for Corruptible Caesar.

So this one, lone, brave citizen complained to the only group with the intestinal fortitude to take on such a challenge: the ACLU. With the gauntlet being cast, the ACLU wrote a letter to Hawaii's state senate about the political prayer play. That's when Hawaii's attorney general agreed with the ACLU and I'm sure all hell is going to break loose in the other 49 states when they learn that one state is actually following the Constitution and keep the separation of church and state.

Of course the Alliance Defense Fund wants to argue that since the Hawaii Senate has always prayed, they should keep doing it. Yes. By all means let's keep doing what we've always done and just ignore the Constitution.

I don't know who that one person in Hawaii is, but she deserves a pat on the back. Thank you. Thank you for speaking up and making sure that even my faith is not given preferential treatment. If government can acknowledge my faith today, it can give that same nod to another religion tomorrow. We elect our leaders to govern the secular, not act as agents of God. We elect politicians, not pastors. We expect them to govern all people, not marginalize minority faiths.

Again, thank you, whomever you are.

And to the other 49 states, you need to listen up.

Political Civility in a Climate of Anger

2011-01-10T14:01:00.005-05:00

I heard when I was a kid that people never really grow up but for the most part they learn how to act in public. The more I see of politics, the less I believe that.

Actually, I'm pretty disgusted at the current political climate. Yes, I know the elections of the 18th and 19th century made our politics look like a spirited game of Candy Land, but we are more civilized now - or should be.

The rhetoric and vitriol hurled at political opponents is beyond poor taste; far past disagreement; well nigh dangerous.

One only has to look at the senseless shooting of Congresswoman Giffords. The lady was a Democrat in a largely Republican district. She was the "target" of the Tea Party's aim for defeat (she was also literally "targeted" by Sarah Palin's crosshair map). The worst part is that Gifford even warned of such irresponsible words and her office was attacked before.

I don't think anyone will lay the blame on Sarah Palin or anyone on the right for this senseless act of an unstable person. Cause, no. Didn't help, absolutely. In fact, I have not read anyone saying Sarah is the cause, though I'm sure someone out there has already said it, for political purposes, of course. However, I've seen much defensiveness by those on the Right trying to circle the wagons and deflect any criticism for Palin's actions (or anyone else on the Right for similar stuff).

It does no one any good to compare a rifle scope targeting districts and "reload" as a mantra, to that of a long bow target. Come on. The comparison is not even in the same ballpark. Get real.

To be fair, the Left has to stop it's rhetoric that does the same thing, has the same effect, and will eventually see the criticism turned to them. Let's not be hypocritical.

It's a problem when the political rhetoric applies imagry that is dangerous. After all, it doesn't take much to put a Crazy over the edge.

So the politicians say things to stir the emotionals of their base in order to garner support. Mike Castle (R-DE) in an exit interview said: "We'll have our leadership stand up and they'll tell you how important it is to beat the hell out of the other side, to make them look bad," he said. "They are preaching adversity; they're preaching a pure ideology, if you will. For those of us in the middle, that becomes very difficult."

As Chet Edwards (D-TX) said in the same exit interview: "What I see in the press is a tendency of FOX News and MSNBC, or cable shows on television, and radio talk shows to want the outrageous to speak."

The media then takes that and, in order to get more money from advertisers by increasing their ratings, exploits it. People hear that imagery. It affects them. They begin to think, talk, eat, sleep and live that rhetoric that was intentionally put out there by the politician to get that emotional response, and by the media to get those ratings. The electorate - all in a frenzy - means more votes to the political party. And it means more money to the media as the people clamor for more because it is what they want to hear.

We are in a time when rhetoric is no longer civil.

And it is dangerous.

It is time our politicians and the media took responsibility for their part in this climate of anger. Fear mongering that marginalizes the "other side" may be good politics, but it can be the very word that pushes the next person over the edge.

Then I think about the result of this sort of post - on a blog that really has nothing to do with influencing anyone. However, I've already seen the Need for Civility used as a baseball bat to club the other side, the political enemy.

Even when talking about being civil, the politicians can't; the media plays it up; and the cycle starts all over again.

Disgusting.

Civil War and Baptists

2011-01-06T22:11:00.000-05:00

Bruce Gourley has published a new site with more information than imaginable dealing with Baptists and the Civil War. This is a must bookmark for any historian or researcher.

Or if you just have a few minutes to browse and learn a few tidbits, this is the site.

Also, his dissertation is due to be published Spring 2011 by Mercer Univerisity Press, entitled, Diverging Loyalties: Baptists in Middle Georgia During the American Civil War.

Manhattan Mosque

2011-01-02T19:53:00.002-05:00

Park51 is the name of the mosque project being built near ground zero. Naturally it has garnered much opposition. Just do a Google search for Ground Zero Mosque and you'll see the vast number of anti-mosque news pieces and blog entries.

Of course, the argument is that the Muslims are proclaiming their victory by building a worship center at the site of their accomplishment (never mind there was a mosque there prior to 9/11 and it was destroyed in the attack).

I had this thought yesterday: For those who oppose a religious group re-opening their community center, do you also oppose Christian organizations opening churches in Iraq or Afghanistan?

Let's be consistent. If we don't want the Muslims to build a community center at the site of their supposed "victory," why do we support building churches in those two nations we invaded and conquered?

Treat others the way you want to be treated. Somehow, I think Jesus' words shouldn't just apply to Sunday morning.

When Christ Becomes a War Lord

2010-12-29T20:18:00.000-05:00

Recently I had what I thought was a conversation with a young co-ed who became incensed that I had written Xmas. She quickly informed me it was CHRISTmas and that she didn't appreciate anyone taking Christ out of Christmas.

So the teacher in me thought I would do the standard education thing: explain the use of chi by the ancients; how the early church treated the title of Christ with the same dignity and respect the Jews did with Yahweh and the Tetragrammaton; how the use of chi was perfectly acceptable through the early 18th century when people became more educated and no longer had to mark the X for their name or the name of Christ; how businesses continued the common practice to save money; and finally how it is a personal preference whether to use the chi or not.

She would have none of that.

You see, by using the chi instead of writing out the entire term Christ, I was participating in an organized plot by atheists who were trying to remove Jesus from the Christmas season. That's right. The atheists have organized, declared war on Christianity and have decided that the Battle of the Bulge is not from the extra helping of mashed potatoes and the fruit cake, but rather the effort to remove Jesus from the hustle and bustle of all that shopping we do this time of year.

Ok. There are so many things wrong with that way of thinking.

First, Christmas is an entirely secular holiday anyway when it comes to the shopping. Who cares what they say? What matters is the religious expectations the individual and / or family may have. The shopping is not a religious exercise; nor is fighting the crowds a penance. What goes on in those stores or at those check out lines is not a worship event. Believe me: It is anything but celebrating the Incarnation.

The only reason merchants even use "Happy Holidays" is that they recognize there are many, many, many who are not Christians at all and have other faiths. Would you want to have the clerk say "Happy Ramadan" to you? So with several faiths celebrating at an entirely secular event anyway, who cares?

If the store has Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays or whatever, it is irrelevant. "Xmas" is a secular event that runs from roughly the day after Thanksgiving until the last football game in January of the New Year.

Second, the whole idea that atheists are using chi as a means to remove Jesus is preposterous at best, if not an out-and-out lie. I'm sure there is an atheist somewhere that has said they want to do that and use the chi for that purpose. OK. But I've never met a single atheist who has said that. I've never even heard of one who has said that. I certainly have never known an organized Atheist Army with Sharpies a'blazing, running around with a huge X superimposed on the Christ in Christmas. For the statement that atheists are trying to remove Jesus from the season to be true, there has to be some evidence. There is none. It is just a made up, pious sounding statement that has zero basis in fact. None.

Also, the not-so-subtle pressure the militant-Christian puts on merchants is astounding. That the Christian is going to treat a merchant with threats of economic murder is not Christ like. In fact, that intimidation is more like the Pharisees of whom Jesus said gave God homage with their lips but their heart was far from Him. So those people at Walmart better say Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays, and they better not have Xmas signs. Never mind what is in their heart; they had better say it like the militant wants or the economic carpet bombings begin.

How is this mentality any different from the Muslim extremists who insist that depictions of Mohammed are blasphemous? Sure, the Taliban will kill the infidel. But the Tali-Christian will try to put the offending merchant out of business. What is the different internal emotion between killing the body and killing the business?

Of course, I never have found any Biblical passage that says celebrate Christmas or give gifts in December anyway.

When Jesus is used as a War Lord to beat people into submissive acts instead of being presented as the Prince of Peace that changes people's hearts, there is a problem with the Act of War. It is a heart problem that is more concerned about outward appearance than internal devotion.

So, Happy Holidays; Happy Ramadan; Merry Xmas, Happy Chanukah; Happy Kwanza; Blessed Yule Season; Merry Christmas; or whatever you happen to be or not be. Jesus is more than a shopping event and He is no War Lord.

Merrill Lynch Almost Brought Down the Entire World Economy (After Destroying Their Own Company)

2010-12-25T01:31:00.001-05:00

MSNBC Report:

How Merrill Lynch bankers helped blow up their firm

Oh, sure, Mother Merrill had a lot of help in the Grand Scheme, but the actions of this one company nearly plunged the world into another Great Depression. The sad part of all this is that the people who were pointing out the dangers within the company were fired for doing so, all the while Merrill paid the execs running the sham millions of dollars.

This should be criminal.

Shame on Merrill Lynch and the employees who participated in the fraud.

Brief History of Christmas

2010-12-14T22:49:00.006-05:00

For some reason, people have some really strange ideas about Christmas. Some folks think it is a Pagan holiday. Others believe it to be a uniquely Christian event. Neither are true and both are correct. Fact is, Christmas is a relatively new event in the US, with the secular celebrations not beginning until just after the close of the Civil War and the religious celebrations not until the late 19th century. In other words, when someone says we've "always celebrated Christmas in America," they really don't know what they are talking about.

The religious underpinnings of Christmas go back to Pagan origins with all sorts of festivities and emblems, many eventually incorporated into the modern celebration. (Click here for a link that discusses some of the Christmas emblems we have today. Click here for a brief history on the religious aspects that have blended together to comprise our modern celebration.)

When someone passes along the God Spam that talks about all the representations of Christ that are in the Christmas tree .... uh, no. Not true. Someone just made that up and passed it along. (Here's a reference that attempts to relate the seasonal emblems to Christianity, most of which are just bunk, since the representation story is just made up, e.g., where in the Bible is round wreath of green said to symolize the circle of God's Family protecting others?)

Simple science, some history and some logic may explain some of the holiday decorations and lore. Did psychedelic mushrooms and the Santa story gradually weave itself into popular culture over the last 200 years? (Link.)

We've all heard that the Roman festivals were eventually adapted into Christian celebrations under Constantine. True, Constantine needed the rising Christian population to fight his battles and the struggling Christians readily accepted the power that came from official endorsement. So the Pagan aspects became Christianized.

Through the middle ages, the Catholic Church expanded the Christmas celebration and other Pagan celebrations were assimilated.

Then came the Presbyterians. And the Puritans.

Finally, there came Cromwell.

The Presbyterians in Scotland and the Puritans (the same ones that came to America) completely rejected the celebration of Christmas. They called it a sinful and heretical idea that was nothing more than idolatry. In fact, Scottish Presbyterians banned Christmas celebrations and those who observed the day were met with swift and severe punishment for their sins against God. (Link.) It wasn't until the 1950s that Scottish Presbyterians removed the ban.

Cromwell became Lord Protector of England and with his Puritan forces banned the festival of Christmas in 1645.

Those same Puritans came the New World to escape the persecution of the Anglican and Catholic church, both of which celebrated Christmas. So when they came to America, Christmas was made illegal, with penalties imposed by the judge and the church, usually one in the same. The nativity, in particular, was believed to be the gross sin of idolatry. (Link)

So for most of the Colonies, Christmas was spent in work, not worship. (Link.)

Christmas was celebrated in a few areas of Colonial America, mainly where the Catholics and Anglicans had strongholds. Still, those were small and only religious in nature and were kept to the church, never spilling over into the community at large. In fact, George Washington even attacked a group of Hessians on Christmas day since he knew they would still be hung over from their celebration and the Patriot troops didn't regard Christmas as anything special, rejecting both Papist and English tradition. Even Congress was in session on Christmas Day doing the day-to-day work as normal. To the Colonists, Christmas was just another day.(Link.)

Like the rest of the colonies, Christmas in GA wasn't a big deal. The Congregationalist missionaries among the Cherokees at New Echota didn't regard Christmas with any significance, though the Moravians did make quite the party. (Link.)

In 1819, Washington Irving wrote The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, gent., a collection of stories about the celebration of Christmas in an English manor house, that were based on "ancient customs." It was all made up, of course. But the idea began to take hold and gradually people began to have parties and give gifts to the kids. Even then, there was no relating the birth of Christ with the secular event. It as just a few parties and a few kids' gifts "like they do in England."(Link.)

Mostly Christmas was just a sparse religious event among the few Episcopalians and Catholics. There would be a few nativity scenes in the Catholic churches and a special mass, but that was it. Until the Civil War, the overwhelming majority of Americans didn't do anything special with Christmas, not even exchanging gifts or going to church.

The Civil War changed a lot of things and Christmas was no exception. More people in contact with each other meant learning new ideas. The idea of a winter party gained some acceptance and soon the thought of taking a winter break from the long hours in industrial plants swept the nation. In 1870, President US Grant made Christmas, Thanksgiving, 4th of July and New Year's Day official Federal holidays to accommodate family time, all completely secular and all without pay. (Link.) By 1893, all states and territories had followed suit and made Christmas a secular holiday. (Link.)

Even Baptists didn't celebrate Christmas until after secularization came after the Civil War. Before 1880, there are a few rare mentions of Christmas but mostly as a lecturing exercise. (Link.) However, Baptists were as caught up in the commercialization and the businessmen's prodddings to "Buy! Buy! Buy!" around 1890 just like the rest of the nation ... and ultimately the whole world.

As Christmas became more practiced, the religious connotations emerged and by the 1890s, Christmas took on a uniquely Christian overtone in America. Still, there were two distinct celebrations: one religious and one secular, with all faiths and no faiths getting in on the parties.

It is interesting to note that prior to 1945, there are no Supreme Court cases regarding Christmas. None. It is not until after WW II ended and the erosion of Christian hegemony that people began to have disputes. After all, until the 1890s, Christmas wasn't even celebrated. During the next 50 years, the majority Christian faith adopted and adapted the Christmas season. Before long, those majority religious ideas were clashing with the secular ideas, other religious ideas and legal principles which meant lawsuits. (Link to some legal info on Christmas.)

Today, Santa is the premier secular Christmas symbol, first appearing in 1821 and widely accepted by 1897 with the classic, Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. That did it. When kids expect presents, they get them and the modern secular Christmas was born. Today, Christmas begins a few days before Thanksgiving and lasts until the final college bowl game sometime after New Years. Of course, Christmas is celebrated all over the world in its secular form, in all nations and of all faiths. Yes, even in Muslim nations, the secular Christmas is celebrated.

The religious aspects of Christmas have certainly changed over the years. Christmas used to be viewed as sinful and something unholy by most Americans. Nativity scenes even 150 years ago -- would get you thrown in jail and kicked out of the church. Today, things are much different ... well, maybe not in some parts of the nation. Say anything about separation of church and state and ... whew.

No matter how one worships or chooses not to worship, it is entirely a matter of conscience and conviction, a right protected by the Constitution. Yet, we would be greatly amiss to say that our nation has always celebrated Christmas. That is false. Christmas celebration is a relatively new phenomenon, only having been around for roughly 110 years or so, and even then with many different meanings than what we ascribe today.

For some more info on Christmas traditions and their history, here's another link.

Congressional Prayer Caucus Barks Up Wrong Tree

2010-12-07T21:46:00.003-05:00

When I read that Randy Forbes had complained about something President Obama said in a speech while in Jakarta, I shook my head. (Here's the text of Forbes' complaint.) It seems Forbes and the rest of the Congressional Prayer Caucus are upset with President Obama (what else is new?) because Obama said that the National Motto is E Pluribus Unum (Out of One, Many). It's not, of course. The National Motto of the United States is One Nation Under God. So the Congressional Prayer Caucus got upset, using the stage as a chance to get another gig in on their political rival.

I have to believe Obama simply had a slip of the memory. We're talking trivia here, not strategic policy, economic planning or military operations. Forbes and the Congressional Prayer Caucus are barking up the wrong tree.

And they are being a bunch of hypocrites, too.

Frank Lockwood points out on his blog that none other than Ronald Reagan made the same statement, saying E Pluribus Unum is the National Motto.

Ooooops.

Of course, the Congressional Prayer Caucus wasn't around when Reagan said it, but I can't see them sending a complaint letter to The Gipper about his gaff. Maybe they would but I seriously doubt it.

This is the same group that complained when President Obama omitted "God" from the "correct" interpretation of the Declaration of Independence when he used a summary statement and said that our rights are endowed but left off the phrase by their Creator.

First, Obama was paraphrasing and generalizing --- like we all do.

Second, the Declaration of Independence says Their Creator, not The Creator. (Yes, the emphasis is important.) Everyone has a different concept of god/spiritual things and for the State to decide which God(s) or even if there is a god is beyond the State's competence.

And, third, the Declaration of Independence is referring to the God who is like a clockmaker, not the Biblical, intervening God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and certainly not the New Testament Jesus of a divine nature who became flesh and walked among us. The understanding of "god" in the 18th century by most educated people was of a god who started this mess but doesn't intervene in the affairs of men.

But, hey, never let a good righteous cause with a chance to score a political brownie point by manipulating the emotional whims of the faithful and gain a few votes stand in the way. (Where is my extreme sarcasm emoticon?)

Marvin Miller for the Hall of Fame

2010-12-01T19:57:00.001-05:00

Put Marvin Miller In The Baseball Hall Of Fame

I remember the news reports as a kid where Bowie Kuhn was at war with Marvin Miller. As a gradeshooler and then a teen, I really didn't understand the arguments or appreciate the strategy that was being played out on the national scene about the national past time. All I cared about was if the Atlanta Braves could manage to find a way to win a 3 game series before figuring out new ways to lose. That was the 1970s, of course.

Now, I see the genius of Miller; the down right ornery behavior of Bowie Kuhn; and I've managed to see the Atlanta Braves become a baseball powerhouse, win a World Series, and entertain my kids, my father and the entire Southeast.

All thanks to the tenacity of Marvin Miller.

Miller forced the business of baseball to treat the players fairly, decently and with some respect. Sure, we've got jerks in the game and we all like to focus on the cry-babies. But what the owners/MLB was doing to players would not be tolerated in any other occupation, save a plantation/slave relationship.

The modern game of baseball is what it is because of Miller. No one else has impacted the game like him. No one. Period. No, he wasn't a 20 game winner for six seasons. He wasn't in the 40-40 Club. He never did anything on the field. But what he did behind the scenes, in the board room and at the negotiating table made baseball a more fair and honest business for the players.

No one likes the strikes. No one likes the seemingly ginormous salaries for playing a game. But major and minor league baseball is not a game. It is a business. It's a business that is worth more than the Gross Domestic Product of entire nations. And were it not for Marvin Miller, the worth of baseball would still be in the hands of a few, exploiting the natural athletic abilities of the most talented players, e.g., employees.

We all recognize there are problems in baseball. Then again, there are problems in any business or any organization. However, let's not punish Miller for the antics of the few or the inefficiencies of the beast.

Miller brought a bit of parity to baseball. Let's not penalize his accomplishments because we don't like what the business has become. Frankly, the business was worse before Miller --- we just didn't see it while it was hidden behind secrecy in the hands of a few owners.

Mr. Miller, you deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.

Saving Money at Kroger

2010-11-21T21:39:00.000-05:00

I split my grocery shopping between Publix and Kroger. Both have things the other doesn't and I prefer some things from one store over the other. Just a matter of preference, I suppose.

But there is one thing that still chaps my butt every time --- my Kroger Plus Card.

In their infinite wisdom and grace, Kroger will give "discounts" for some purchases if you use your Kroger Plus Card when you go to the check out. The discounts can be large or small depending on the item. You can even get a few pennies knocked off your gas purchases at the Kroger gas station too.

Use the Kroger Plus Card. Get discounts. Wonderful idea.

Bullcheese.

Today I did the second of my bi-monthly generic Diet Mtn. Dew run. (Kroger brand is called Big K Diet Citrus Drop. Here is a review that compares the two.) Of course, I also refilled by scripts while there and a few other things.

Go to the check out. Not the self service line either. If there is no discount for doing the work myself, I'm standing in line and their employee is going to ring my items up for me.

The young clerk rings up my items and then gives me this sort of you should be so happy sorta expression and says: You saved $6.04 today by using your Kroger Plus Card.

Uh, no. I didn't. I didn't save anything. Kroger has marketed that Plus Card as a savings vehicle but we all know that it is only a means of tallying my purchases so they can market to me. After all, they have my address and phone and email and shoe size, and I'm guessing my medical and educational history, too, on some huge computer they have stashed away in some third world nation. Every time I buy the Big K Diet Cirtus Drop, the Excel spread sheet gets another tick in that column and they then have to decide whether to send me an email reminding me how the aspartame is turning my brain to mush, or just sell all my grocery shopping history to Nigel in Nigeria so he can gladly tell me I can shave off $2 million Euros from a $10 million transaction due to the unfortunate passing of Sir David Bramlett in an oil exploration accident, if I would just give him my banking info so he can bestow God's great windfall blessings on me.

Sheesh.

Come on, Kroger. I didn't save $6.04 on my purchase today. I simply allowed you to not overcharge me like you do everyone else for the same product, in exchange for my shopping pattern and loss of privacy.

And yet I do it every time to save 25 cents off that 12 pack of Big K Diet Citrus Drop. Maybe I'm the bigger fool here.

Hi, I'm a Tea Partier

2010-11-01T20:42:00.002-04:00

I saw this video over the weekend. Then my good friend over at Georgia Mountains and Beyond posted it to his blog. Each time I watch it, I get a good chuckle.

The fact is, I have had those discussions with "tea partiers" many times over the last year and have actually had them use those same, tired and worn out catch phrases without having a clue as what they are talking about. For example, more than once I've tried to explain that a Socialist and a Fascist are not the same thing; or that the bailout Obama is accused of doing was merely a continuation of the Bush policy. Granted, no one liked the bailout, but it was absolutely 100% necessary to prevent global economic meltdown. Still, the bailout cannot be laid on Obama.

So enjoy the video for I fear those extremists will, as of tomorrow, begin chipping away at the Constitutional liberties, such as religious liberty, habeas corpus, search and seizure, etc.

We are one election cycle and a few judgeships away from genuine Fascism. While I'm not suggesting that our Tea Party friends are Fascists, I make no apology when I say that their ideas are but one step away from it.

Perhaps a bit of Chris Hedges for some perspective would be nice.

Thank God for Virginia Baptists

2010-10-29T14:28:00.000-04:00

The Virginia Baptist Mission Board has approved the publication of a pamphlet --- in layman's terms --- to explain the need for the separation of church and state. The resolution calling for the measure was deemed necessary, saying Baptists cannot be true to their historic roots if the idea of religious liberty and the Baptist fingerprints on the First Amendment guaranteeing the separation of church and state are replaced with a false version of history that is currently being promulgated by people like Glenn Beck and David Barton. According to the resolution, there has been a systematic effort in recent decades to deny the history that made religious liberty and the separation of church and state part of the Bill of Rights.

Here is the Associated Baptist Press article.

The Problem With Polls

2010-10-27T00:10:00.001-04:00

I love to read over the latest polling data, especially when it deals with perceptions about church and state issues. The very topic is one I enjoy studying and discussing. It is like Bruce Gourley says: It lights my Baptist fire. So when I found the latest poll from Lifeway Research that six of ten Protestant pastors disapprove of Obama's job performance, I cringed a bit.

OK. I did more than cringe.

Then I read where 47% strongly disapproved of Obama's performance. I almost fell out of my chair. The poll bothered me.

The poll did thrill me when it found that by a large majority of Democratic aligned pastors (84%) believe that endorsing candidates from the public pulpit is wrong. However, among Republican aligned pastors, that number fell to only 61%. This tells me that politics might be playing a role in more than the voting booth; it is quite possibly an influence on what is being preached.

Disagreeing with the public policies or actions of a politician is fine, even encouraged if we are to be a moral voice. We must always be careful that disagreement is done in the proper sphere, with the pastor walking that fine line between his or her personal and pastoral voice. What bothers me, however, is that too often history has shown that we will let politics become the moral voice instead the moral voice shouting down the politics.

I could cite all sorts of anecdotal evidence where the politics have been confused for the theology. Pastors have endorsed candidates from the pulpit because they believe that is what Jesus would want; public schools giving the mic to one religious group to lead the entire stadium in the worship expression of prayer, while excluding all other faiths and those other tax payers who are of no faith; or cities erecting the banner of one religious group using tax money but excluding all others (link to an opinion piece by Audrey Love who certainly needs a lesson in the history of our nation and the religious persecution that resulted in the First Amendment.).

So I would argue that while our pastors should be applauded that the see the need for a hedge between church and state, I also know that history has taught us that the hedge is likely to be cut down if the political yearning of the pastorate gets too excited. This is something we cannot afford to give an inch of the wall that separates the church from the state, lest both become corrupted by the power of Caesar instead of the power of the Spirit.

I guess that is why it bothers me when the poll showed such a large percentage of pastors who simply do not like Obama. Now I could argue that is due to pastors, by and large, have a lack of economics training to understand how desperate things were in Q4 2008, or Q1 2009; I could also argue that very few pastors understand the basics of tax policy well enough to grasp the dynamics of what is needed to fund the mandates the American people insist upon having. I could easily make the case that much of the criticism of Obama is due to simple lack of understanding of how things work economically and of our basic system of government or our history/legal system. While all that may be true, it is of little comfort to know that history is replete with examples where clergy have gotten so disgruntled, they climbed over the Wall of Separation and began using political weapons under the guise of spiritual truths.

Maybe it is time for pastors to step back a moment from the political fear mongering out there and begin concentrating on our mission instead of the next election.

Just thinking out loud.

Voting Those "Religiously Informed Values"

2010-10-17T10:48:00.000-04:00

It used to be that everyone knew what the various denominations believed & stood for. The local papers published the sermons each week & everyone read them. Most folks knew the distinctions in doctrine between the various churches & most certainly the theological variations among the denominations. All knew, for example, the Methodists stood for social action & personal piety; the Baptists held tenaciously to "Soul Freedom" & the Separation of Church & State; the Presbyterians were big on the idea of Covenant & predestination; the Catholics proclaimed the rich history of tradition, the church universal, & the various orders; the Pentecostals delved into experiential theology, etc.

Sadly, today, folks don't even know their own theological distinctives, much less what other groups believe.

Thus, bringing us to the topic title: how can folks vote their "religiously informed values" if they don't even know what those values are, the history behind them, or the theological truths that give rise to the value?

I raise this question for two reasons. First, we need to realize that voting "religiously informed values" must never mean voting into law our religious dogma. Second, without an understanding of the theology, it is easy to be manipulated by religious leaders who rely on that ignorance to keep control of their power.

Let's think back to the early Colonists, many of whom came here to escape religious persecution. But what did they do when they got here? They set up the very sort of theocratic rule from whence they came. The majority's "religiously informed values" became the law. Dissenters were persecuted, whipped, shunned, or hanged. Is that the sort of society we want again?

The Founding Fathers intentionally drew a line of demarcation between the church & state. The gov't they established expressly forbade religious law from entering the civil code, even going as far to set up an entirely secular gov't with no place given for religious leaders.

Those theocracies were banned. And they should stay that way.

The difficulty people have is that they see their religious ideas as =the= truth for everyone. Now it may very well be that your religious ideas are 100% correct, but they may very well not be either. And even if those religious values you hold are entirely what God wants, God doesn't work through the legal code to carry out his plan. That is done via the spiritual establishment, not the gov't. Moreover, not everyone holds those same religious opinions & thus it is morally wrong to impose religious dogma onto others.

If there is no compelling =secular= reason for a law, the religious rational is simply not enough. Otherwise, the gov't is following the majority faith's religious dogma & establishing it with a Most Favored Status.

But the most ardent reason we don't vote our "religiously informed values" into law is the simple history of religious leaders in the past. History is replete with corrupt churchmen who rely on the theological ignorance of the people to manipulate policy. Just think of the charlatans past & present who misused Scripture to gain power for themselves.

And you're kidding yourself if you think there aren't charlatans out there who use faith as a means of gain. Tell the people what "God" wants them to do, rewrite the history, & suddenly the masses will do anything. With God on their side & a charismatic leader, there is no sin the people won't commit.

The danger of these "religiously informed values" become clear when applied to other faiths. What if the judge in Douglas County, GA, were Muslim & he insisted on the community's majority Muslim standards? What if "his courtroom, his rules" meant that every woman had to come in =with= a veil? What if women were not allowed to speak in his courtroom? What if he insisted on everyone swearing on the Koran & to Allah to tell the truth? What if Sharia Law was applied instead of the secular Constitution?

We've come too far & fought too hard for too long to let those sort of theocratic ideals have even a smidgen of a foothold. Not again. We've seen what happens in when faith & gov't become intertwined.

Not again. Not here.

Technology has Changed the Song Lyric

2010-10-03T21:06:00.000-04:00

I was thinking recently (a scarey thought in and of itself) about how technology has changed music over the years. Remember that scene in Back to the Future when Marty McFly plays a cover version of Johnny B. Goode and Marvin Berry calls his cousin Chuck on the phone and tells him he has found that "new sound?" Yep. The electric guitar (and some kewl licks) changed music forever.

Or how about the 70s groups of Boston or Abba? They used Phil Specter's wall of sound to perfection and changed the way we hear music.

But there are other technology changes that are not related to the sound but to the very nature of the song itself.

When the telephone become common, letter writing took a hit --- naturally. It is easier to call someone than to write a letter, mail it and then wait for a response. Still, the idea of the love letter or the phone call from that special someone was the lyricists best friend.

Until the cell phone, email and, of course, texting

Though the use of texting seems so cold when talking to a lover, wish-to-be-lover or a former lover, I can see where texting could solve problems for many couples-on-the-rocks. After all, how many high school sweethearts have been terrified to call that Hunka-Hunka Burning Love for fear the person that answers the phone would be the foreboding parent? Now, with a cell phone, a quick text that says, "Hi, I'm sorry" can save that passionate relationship for another, oh, two weeks.

So all that got me to thinking about songs that relate, somehow, to the idea of the phone call or the forgotten skill of handwritten letters. Here's a quick list I came up with in a few hours. Please feel free to add your's via comments.

Sylvia's Mother, by Dr. Hook.
Memphis, Tennessee, by Chuck Berry .
Please, Mr. Postman, by The Marvelettes and again by The Carpenters'.
Telephone Line, by Electric Light Orchestra.
Return to Sender, by Elvis Presley.
Callin' Baton Rouge, made most famous by Garth Brooks.
867-5309, by Tommy Tutone.
Rikki Don't Lose That Number, by Steely Dan.
Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels), by the amazing Jim Croce.
By the Time I Get to Phoenix, made popular by Glen Campbell.
Walking on Sunshine, by Katrina and the Waves.
Call Me, by Blondie.

Feel free to add some more via comments.

The Pastor, Politics and Money

2010-09-28T17:14:00.000-04:00

This should not be all that complicated but evidently Fairview Baptist Church of Edmund, OK, doesn't understand Baptist distinctives --- or the law --- very well.

On Sunday, September 26, 2010, Pastor Paul Blair brazenly violated the law and endorsed an OK candidate for governor while in the pulpit

We all know Blair was trying to make a point and challenge the IRS. After all, the Alliance Defense Fund has been encouraging that for a while now.

And he managed to do just that. The endorsement was on video and aired on TV. Just to make sure, Blair mailed a copy to the IRS, along with his endorsement of John McCain in 2008.

The problem is that if churches want to endorse candidates, there is an influence. That influence translates into votes. If someone doesn't think a church and it's pastor can deliver votes, that someone hasn't noticed how politicians have begun courting the Religious Right. There is a reason politicians want a pastor's endorsement: it works.

Second, a pastor has always been able to endorse candidates privately. In fact, the pastor can speak out on moral or spiritual issues. There has never been a problem with that. The issue is the direct involvement of the church into the process with money or influence, or the pastor engaging in partisanship while in his official capacity. This is not all that complicated: if a church wants to act like a political action committee, then let it come under the same rules, pay taxes, disclose the contributors and contributions and move on.

Third, I wonder if Pastor Blair realizes if he can endorse candidates and involve the church in the political process, then he must also advocate the same allowances for the mosque down the street. Hmmmm. Treat others the way you want to be treated, Pastor Blair.

Lastly, I wonder when the last time Pastor Blair read his Baptist history? Baptists have always been in support of the clear separation of church and state, until sometime in the late 1970s when the church was no longer seen as the Body of Christ but a Prize Voting Bloc. Hmmm. Pastor Blair has allowed himself to be played by the political machine --- or maybe Pastor Blair is letting his politics drive his theology. Either way, I would ask Pastor Blair to show in the NT where Jesus or Paul or Peter or any NT writer said a word about using the secular government (and non-Christian tax dollars) to advance the Message of Hope. Jesus said to build the church; he didn't say anything about a political process.

Oooops. Wait a minute. Hold on. I see on the Fairview Baptist Church's website where it has been duped into believing that whole "Christian Nation" historical revisionism. Intentionally misrepresenting history, the law and the Word of God is three-for-three on the Strike Out Meter.

When the church becomes just another voice for the politician, the church will follow whatever politician courts it the most. And Pastor Blair trusts the earthly, carnal, corruptible political process over the things of the Spirit?

The Man That Sneaked into Auschwitz

2010-09-26T13:37:00.000-04:00

I had never heard of Witold Pilecki until I saw this report from NPR. After reading it, I began to search further into the story of the man and his sacrifice for liberty. What an amazing story! Pilecki left everything for the good of all free people everywhere. We owe this man more than we could ever give.

From what I can gather, there is a movement in Poland to commemorate the life of this extraordinary man in some way, possibly a movie.

Thank you, Mr. Pilecki.

When Baptists Supported Separation of Church and State

2010-09-20T22:11:00.001-04:00

I don't know when it happened. I think it happened when Baptists realized they were no longer the persecuted minority but were the the pious majority. Something happened after WWII when the Baptists were the Boom in Baby Boomers and took over as the largest Protestant denomination.

We Baptists became the very thing we used to preach against.

We Baptists were the initiators of Church-State Separation. It was our motto. It was in our DNA. It was who we were, what we were about (e.g., soul freedom and each person answerable to God alone) and the basis of our identity.

Not any more.

Starting in the 1970s and the rise of the Moral Majority, we Baptists became not the voice of Hope but the voice of a voting bloc that could be delivered by a group of pastors bent on a political agenda. We were not the Voice but the Vice. We stopped being the Compassionate Hand and became the Calloused Agenda. No longer did we serve the Master but the Mammon, the Power and the wishes of whatever political issue would sway us with pious words.

Shame on those Southern Baptist pastors that sold our Baptist soul for 30 pieces of silver ... and the ear of the politicians'.

We got played. We were used. We were to be delivered on the altar of November 4 each year and every other year for the Congressional elections. Forget the social implications of the Gospel; Baptists were now the voting bloc to be herded by the voice of Another Shepherd. And we listened. And we went to other pastures. And we grazed on our secular delights, thinking we were making a difference because God had to be blessing us if we were the largest and the most prolific vote getters and givers.

Now we realize that we have left our identity, our passion, our mission.

When we confuse politics with the Will of God, we remake God in our image. Worst of all, we build a new wall --- a wall that separates not church from state, but people from hearing the Message of Peace.

Bruce Gourley has a wonderful artice on Baptist identity in this month's Baptist Studies Bulleting (September 2010). I am honored to have him as my invited guest to speak at the September meeting of GA's combined chapters meeting of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, September 24, 6PM at Moe's Southwest Grill. Bruce is a voice of reason, scholarship and practicality.

We need to learn our own history.

Christian Nation Nonsense

2010-09-10T19:15:00.002-04:00

I keep hearing all this "America was founded as a Christian Nation" nonsense and I've got a few questions for those proponents.

First, please point out for me the parts of the US Constitution that detail those "Judeo-Christian Values" you folks keep talking about. I have read the Constitution over and over but there are no uniquely Christian principles in that document anywhere, save one: the Separation of Church and State.

Second, if the Founding Fathers wanted to create a Christian Nation, they certainly did a poor job of it, since they never mentioned God or Jesus or the Holy Spirit, nor even a Bible verse as is so common when annotating an idea. In fact, most of the Founding Fathers would be considered heretical by today's evangelical standards, while a tiny minority would be classified as true theocrats and would scare the Bar-Jesus out of even Glenn Beck, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson.

Thirdly, the Bible itself never discusses those ideas of freedom we hold so dear. The Bible discusses soul freedom and freedom in Christ but those are theological concepts, not political ideas. Never once do the Christian Scriptures mention democracy, a republic or anything related to American values, nor even freedom of speech or freedom of religion; separation of powers and limitations on the power of the executive; nor an independent judicial branch, elections or voting. The Bible provides no model for "good" government or for personal freedoms. It is a purely religious/theological document.

Fourth, I find it puzzling that the Religious Right uses the term "Judeo-Christian Values" today in a not-so-subtle attempt to link themselves to the Jewish population. It is a rather odd attempt since the Jewish people of Colonial America were treated with contempt and persecuted in most places. But yesterdays persecuted minority is today's needed voting bloc ...

Fifth, I find the people who want to claim we are a Christian Nation to be completely ignorant (or intentionally ignorant) of US history. Never mind the Treaty of Tripoli explicitly declares we were in no wise founded as a Christian Nation. (I actually had one theocrat try to explain that as America's early attempt at foreign policy to appease the Arab World. Think about it: he said we intentionally lied about our founding to keep the Muslims from attacking our merchant ships. Imagine that. He is saying we denied Christ at the very beginning, something that would make every one of the "Founders" apostates in the eyes of God. Amazing.)

Then there were the responses from the Colonial churches who knew we were not founded as a Christian Nation since they proclaimed the Constitution "Godless" and urged people to vote against its ratification. I would add that the clergy of the day understood exactly what the Framers were saying, and understood explicitly that the Constitution was a secular document. Of course the Baptists of the day, e.g., John Leland, Isaac Backus, et.al., applauded the Constitution's lack of Christian character since Baptists understood what it meant to be on the minority side of religious persecution when the Crown or Colonial government weighed in on theological matters. That also explains why the Baptists convinced Madison to make sure there was not even be the hint of government showing any faith that Most Favored Status. Baptists argued that theological matters are too lofty for the state to involve itself and that nowhere in the NT are we told to utilize the secular government to advance the Message of Hope.

Our current Constitution was noteworthy in its absence of religious recognition, and this formed the basis for much intense debate and opposition to its ratification. Rev. Doctor Wilson, in an 1831 sermon protested that it almost seemed as though God had been deliberately excluded from the origins of the new government:

"... the Constitution was framed and God was neglected. He was not merely forgotten. He was absolutely voted out of the Constitution. The proceedings, as published by Thompson, the secretary, and the history of the day, show that the question was gravely debated whether God should be in the Constitution or not, and after a solemn debate he was deliberately voted out of it ... There is not only in the theory of our government no recognition of God's laws and sovereignty, but its practical operation, its administration, has been conformable to its theory."

While there is certainly some legitimate debate over the person who preached this sermon, the sermon is accurate. The sermon in question was titled, PRINCE MESSIAH’S CLAIMS TO DOMINION OVER ALL GOVERNMENTS: AND THE DISREGARD OF HIS AUTHORITY BY THE UNITED STATES, IN THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION, and as one site says, because of the way in which he criticized the Presidents, he was denounced.

The whole thing makes for an interesting read.

Finally, the only thing that makes sense to me is that the Religious Right has a vested interest in this. They want to manipulate the faithful for their own desires of avarice and power. When faith becomes a tool for political gain, faith is always corrupted and the faithful end up the hapless victims of their own religious leaders.

We still have much work to do. Let there be no breaks whatsoever in the wall of separation.

America Needs a New National Anthem

2010-07-02T23:33:00.003-04:00

Today I will say it. Make no mistake about it. I want to make sure I'm saying this in the most emphatic way possible: I can't stand America's national anthem.

There. Finally it is out in the open & maybe some other people will start open discussions about what they've privately thought for a long, long time.

America's national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner, is rich in history & meaning & all that, but it has outlived its purpose. Its hard to sing: everyone struggles with it (unless you a trained vocalist blessed with pipes) & hardly anybody knows the words. The tune is really, really hard to carry. Really.

Worst of all, it's boring. B-O-R-I-N-G.

There is nothing that makes you want to jump to your feet, wave the flag, slap high fives with your buddies or kiss the pretty girls (like you need an excuse for that anyway, but let's not waste a good opportunity, ya know). It is just kinda there & is nothing all that special.

America is the land of the free & the home of the brave. The land where everyone is a first class citizen, with the free scotch & the complimentary warm towels.

The US of A deserves an anthem that makes the rest of the world jealous.

So I propose we change our national anthem to something with some style, pizazz & soul. Since Sweet Home Alabama is about single state & the other 49 would be ticked off, that one is off the list. Pity. James Brown's Living in America would really kick butt over any other anthem, but I think there might be a wee bit of opposition from the more prudish. Maybe Queen's We Will Rock You is available ...

I found this video below. It is from Celtic Thunder (official site; Wiki link). The song is Ireland's Call, the anthem for the Irish National Rugby team. Sure, it is not the national anthem but just look at the reaction to the audience. That's what I'm talking about.

This, my fellow Americans, makes you wanna cheer. It makes you wanna stand up, applaud, poke your chest out & say I'm proud. It's a kick butt song. Something like this is what we need as America's new national anthem.

So who's with me?
Michael Kinsley's op-ed piece

Team USA Soccer

2010-06-23T22:04:00.001-04:00

That's right, citizens. Here comes the Red, White & Blue. When the rest of the world was cringing in fear --- too afraid to board the Mayflower --- our ancestors were staring adversity in the face with that American Resolve the rest of the world envies. America. The land of the free. The home of the brave. And the Team that believes in miracles.

Winning the Heisman

2010-06-08T14:56:00.007-04:00

Two years ago my youngest had to go to a new elementary school when he entered 5th grade. Never mind his old school is 1/10th of a mile away & his "new" school is 4 miles away. Not important.

What is important is what something means to a 10 year old. And this is a Biggie.

His first day of "new" school. Didn't know a soul. Recess. Boys play football. He was the =last= pick. That is a killer. Dead last pick. The kid with narcolepsy & 12 lb cowboys boots holding up a 175 lb frame, who barely runs the 40 yard dash in 4.4 hours =&= had the flu was picked ahead of my son. First day. Knows no one. Last pick for playground football. Devastating. Heartbreaking.

After week two of "new" school, he comes home beaming. Grinning from ear to ear. What does he say? Well, a different tune.

Dad, guess what?

What, son?

You ain't gonna believe this!

What is it, son?

At recess I'm now 1st pick every day in football, soccer, kickball =&= in PE class dodge ball.

Really?

Yep. I'm the 1st Pick in the 1st Round in every sport. It's kinda like winning the Heisman every day.

Ah. The simple magic of being a child.

Now fast forward to last week. June 3, 2010. Awards Day. 6th grade. A whole 2 years of "new" school. Now 12 years old. My son was voted by his fellow 6th grade classmates as the "Most Athletic." That means the majority of 350 students voted my son what is equivalent to the 6th grade Heisman. Sure, he also was given the Social Studies Award, the Technology Award & the Honor Roll Award, but he is most proud of his "Heisman."

I guess looking at things through a kid's eyes puts life in a whole new perspective. Not a big deal to me or you or to anyone else in the world. It won't change the economy or make life better for anyone, anywhere on the planet. But for one 12 year old kid at "new" school, he thinks he's won the Heisman.

And that's a big deal.

California Stands Up To Texas Politics in Textbooks

2010-06-02T23:02:00.002-04:00

I will say one thing for California other than they have some fine wineries & the great town of San Diego: they are doing the right thing in standing up to the Reich Wing extremists on the Texas Board of Education who are trying to revise history to fit their politics.

Here's the article from The Raw Story.

My hat is off to California in this. Thank you.

I will be the first to admit that I wish history sometimes told a different tale than it does. I wish the story of America was always noble, just, honorable and kind. But it is not. History is never like that. Instead, history is a record of ideas that "won" the minds of the people, usually by war, politics, good fortune or just plain old manipulation. The latter is what the Texas Board of Education is attempting to do regarding what is taught to the school kids in one of the two largest public education systems.

Trying to make our Founding Fathers a group of 21st Century-minded evangelicals is simply manipulation to present a falsehood. OK. Let me say it more plainly: It is a lie. It is flat-out, wrong. The Founders were at best men of the Enlightenment --- Deists at best, Unitarians at least --- and were nearly all secularists when it came to the relationship between the church & the state. These men were more influenced by John Locke's views on the secular side but also the theological view of Baptist leaders like Roger Williams and John Leland who insisted that even God wouldn't invade the conscience via the worldly means of human government.

The Texas School Board wants us to believe the First Amendment's principle of Separation of Church & State is a myth promulgate by "liberals" and atheists. Not true! The statement is a summary statement, just like the phrase "right to a fair trial" is a summary statement of what is in the Constitution, though those actual words aren't there in either case. The Founders saw what happens when the church & the state meld & they did not want that any longer. It is true that he early colonies were founded with a state church & for the purposes of advancing a religion. Sure it was. England had a state church & the church was used as a tool of the state to keep people in line with the Crown's Mercantile Option for the colonies. If a person wouldn't stay in line with the laws of England, perhaps the laws of God --- enforced by the local church under the threat of eternal torment --- would do the trick.

By the time the Constitution was adopted, the Founders wanted neither a state-run church nor a church-run state. Both options were abandoned. And to ensure there was no doubt, the amendment to simply ban a national denomination or church or religion was voted down three times. The theocrats that wanted a national church were thwarted and the Congress decided to adopt an even more expansive amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

No law. Not even the force of law. Nothing that even respects or hints of it. Not THE establishment, but ANY establishment. Not even something that hints there might be any religion getting a Most Favored Status.

And yet, those people on the Texas Board of Education are convinced that the Separation of Church & State is a myth?

I think those people in Texas need to admit they are letting their politics interpret history instead of letting history tell the tale & learn from it. We've already tried their version once. We fought a Revolution to rid ourselves of the Crown & the Crown's version of faith over the people.

Dare we forget that lesson?

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Hospital ICU & Waffle House

2010-03-14T23:07:00.004-04:00

It's been four months since my dad passed away. I still miss him. He was my hero. I'm finally able to blog about some of it now. So here goes.

I am still struck with how incredibly tiring all of it was. Going back & forth to the hospital. Making phone calls. Talking to doctors. Eating. Back to the ICU. More waiting. While there was no physical activity nearly at all, the emotional stress of having a dying parent is huge. And there was little sleep, really. Oh, I would go home, sleep a few hours, & head right back to the hospital, afraid I wouldn't be there when anything happened, even good news. The entire process kept repeating, like my world was reduced to 4 hour intervals between meals/snacks/naps. Even at night when everyone had gone home, the same 4 hour process kept repeating itself.

A few mornings I had breakfast at Waffle House before going to the hospital to wait through another day. This might be a really off the wall comparison, but stay with me on this one: Waffle House & the hospital ICU really have a lot in common. First, both run on similar schedules, namely 6AM-noon, then 5PM to roughly 8:30PM. Those are the busy hours with people coming & going. I noticed both were really fast-paced & well-oiled machines. Everyone knew their task & it was performed to a crisp degree. Both had barking orders. Both had patrons who were spent & frustrated. And both cheerfully smiled & treated each person like they were appreciated.

Second, both Waffle House & the hospital ICU staff genuinely seemed to take an interest in the people they were serving. The waitress smiled as much as the nurse. The cook wished me a "hello" & "have a nice day" just as the ICU staff asked me how I was doing when I came in the door. I noticed that after a few days, the nurses/ICU staff learned my name, my family's names & tidbits of info. They knew the schools were my youngest kids attended & that my oldest was a double major in math & physics at Berry College. They knew where I worked. They knew my mom's name, how she liked her coffee & what questions she kept asking. Funny thing is, the people at the Waffle House knew the same things about their regular customers. When a familiar face would walk in, the waitress wouldn't give the "Hello, welcome to Waffle House!" Oh, no. It was: "Robert! Good morning to you! How's the job search coming?" "Good to see you, Mary! How are those grand kids!" The smiles that the Waffle House people gave were as sincere as the ICU staff. They greetings were just as concerned. The familiarity was same. There was little difference in the pain or joy that the customers were going through, in many cases. It is rather odd to think that there would be such similarities in such different businesses.

Thirdly, I saw similar people. Hurting people. Worried people. Desperate people. People that had been brought face to face with somethings they had no control. I'm not talking about just the ICU either. The waitress at the Waffle House told me how one guy was about to lose his home to foreclosure: he had been out of work for a year. Another patron couple had a child on trial for some serious crimes & they didn't know what to do, were blaming themselves & just wanted someone to tell them that somebody cared. Those people walked through those doors to get more than food -- they came in there for some respite from a hard world, a kind word & service that would rival a 5 Star restaurant. If you think that is any different than the service the ICU staff gave, it is not. They did care. They did cry with me. They did want to make things easier, even if they knew they couldn't.

Lastly, I was struck with the idea of "Customer Service" that was given as a Prime Directive at both establishments. While the price differential is ginormous; the educational gap is huge; the job commitment to service is just as real. The ICU staff went out of their way to point out that they wanted to get "all 5s" on the surveys. That was the highest possible rating. The nurses/staff several times said they wanted to keep those satisfaction scores up because they wanted to provide superior service. Now, I happen to know that raises & bonuses are decided partly by those survey results, but that is no different than the waitress at Waffle House & her tips. The last thing I heard as I was leaving the Waffle House was, "Have a great day & come back to see us!" The last thing the ICU nurses would say to me as I left for the day is, "Have a good night & we'll call you if there is any change." Even in the high tech world of medicine, or the low tech world of a making an omelet, showing concern about people goes much further than just being good at what you do.

Maya Angelou once said: I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.

Seems that is true in the most divergent of places, from the ICU to the Waffle House.

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Southern Snow Days: Get Off My Ice

2010-02-13T12:38:00.004-05:00

I swear, I am going to slap the fire out of someone if I hear this one more time:

You Southerners don't know how to drive on ice.

Uh, like you do? The operative words are drive (something you Yankees need to learn to do without one hand on the horn & a finger in the air) & ice (something no one can drive on anyway, so don't give me that all High-&-Mighty crap).

In GA we don't waste the taxpayer dollars on snow plows & salt trucks because we rarely have need of them. And on those rare occasions, e.g. this weekend, when we do get snow or ice, it is a Southern Holiday. The tradition is that we close down everything, sit in our warm homes, drink hot-chocolate (kids & Baptists) or spirited beverages (everyone else) & spend time with our families, or dream about those with whom we wish we were fortunate enough to be snowed-in.

Don't mess with our tradition.

You must not have read that section in the Southerner's Handbook you were given when you crossed the Mason-Dixon Line. If you didn't read it, get out your copy & give it another shot.

And if you don't like our tradition, get in your car & you make that attempt to drive on ice. We rather enjoy watching your "superior skills" slipin'-&-slidin' all over the roads, before you go down the embankment & slam into other Yankees doing the same thing you're doing --- showing your arse. The TV cameras will love you for it.

BTW, snow is easy. Ice is another matter. Yankees can't drive on ice either. The only difference is that our Yankee Brethren spend tax dollars on those plows & trucks --- I suppose they need that sort of equipment. Our feeling is that if you're gonna spend money on tractors & big trucks, it had better be used for either: 1) growing a food crop; or 2) needs to be in a large arena in competition with similar vehicles.

So leave our Holidays alone. If you'll slow down a bit, stop talking so danged fast & listen a little, you may just find out that you enjoy what the South has to offer.

I feel much better getting that off my chest.

Homosexuality Should be a Crime?

2010-02-07T16:59:00.003-05:00

The debate over the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell has descended into a new low that I really believed we would never again see in our nation: A call to make homosexuality a crime.

Uganda is currently having that very discussion. The Ugandan bill under consideration there would make homosexual activities a crime of life imprisionment. But in America, we no longer believe such actions are criminal.

Until now.

Family Research Council's senior policy advocate, Peter Sprigg, participated in an interview with Chris Matthew's last week & said that no gays should be allowed to serve in the military. None. They can't serve. It should be a matter of policy that gays be barred from military service.

Then Sprigg said something so outlandish, so disturbing, that I almost couldn't believe he said it, until I remembered we are talking about James Dobson's Family Research Council. Sprigg said that the US should criminalize homosexual activity.

Being gay should be a crime, according to the Family Research Council.

And Bryan Fischer, of the American Family Association, agreed, saying being gay costs money due to public health problems.

Question, Mr. Fischer: do not straight people give us a cost to public health too?

This is the problem with theocrats: they want to control every aspect of life of all people by putting their religious values onto everyone. We already fought this problem in Europe & in the New World. We decided in Colonial America that theocracy was a violation of basic liberty. We enshrined that principle of the Separation of Church & State in the First Amendment. Now, we see theocrats wanting to re-establish a Most Favored Status for one religion and impose it onto everyone.

Scary.

Putting Christ Back in Christmas

2010-01-02T14:13:00.002-05:00

This is the last post on Xmas but I just found this & didn't want to forget this one.

This is from Russell King & he has an outstanding diary entry at Steet Prophets entitled "It's time to put Christ back into Christmas."

*When we insist that others join in our customs, use the words we like to use and participate in our celebration, we are violating the life and lessons of Jesus and ripping Christ from the heart of Christmas. When we force non-Christians to utter the name of Christ when they do not believe in Him, we are making mockery of the Christ in Christmas. When we take offense when others celebrate the season in ways that are meaningful to them, and are different from our ways -- especially when we pretend that respecting others' celebrations constitutes a "war on Christmas" -- we are ignoring the spirit of Christ. When we insist that our government join in our religious celebration, we are acting exactly like those who opposed Christ. When we insist that the tax dollars of non-Christians be used to celebrate our Christian holiday, we are ignoring Christ's teaching (Matthew 22:21) and tearing Him out of Christmas. When we put more emphasis on the word "Christ" than on the message of Christ, we are making a mockery of Christmas and the one whose birth we celebrate (we don't do salvation by syllables). When we make a fuss over "Xmas," we show that we don't know much about our own religion's history: In Greek, the letter Χ (chi), is the first letter of Christ, and it, or the similar Roman letter X, has been used as an abbreviation for Christ since the mid-16th century. Xmas has been used for Christmas, by Christians, for centuries.

Meet Barbara Forrest

2010-01-02T13:58:00.003-05:00

In November 2007, I was attending the Americans United for Separation of Church & State annual meeting & had the unexpected privilege of being seated next to Barbara Forrest. It was pure happenstance that we both came in to the restaurant at the same time. I had such a delightful conversation with her & she made a lasting impression on me, that when I came across this article detailing her accomplishments, I just had to note it in my blog.

Thankfully there are still people who have the strong convictions to stand up to the Religious Extremists, be they Taliban or Tali-Xian.

Our nation works best when gov't gives no faith a Most Favored Status. It is a First Freedom, set out in the first sentence of the First Amendment. It is the culmination of 2000 years of theological growth & political understanding.

It is foundational to who Baptists are --- in fact, it is foundation to every Xian denomination today. The only people that seem to have a problem with the Separation of Church & State are the ones who want their version of faith to have official gov't favor, something that X explicitly condemned when he said to render to Caesar the things that belong to him & to God the things that belong to God.

Then there is that wee-little problem with the Golden Rule.

Nonetheless, Dr. Forrest is a delightful lady, good company for breakfast & an asset to the cause of liberty. Here's to her continued success & well being in 2010: may she continue the cause of Religious Liberty on behalf of us all.

Theocracy in the Making

2009-12-31T13:51:00.004-05:00

For those who don't believe there is a theocratic agenda in the nation's capital, there is yet another book that needs to be read, though I doubt seriously those people will be phased by the content.

The Family is even more dangerous than it is un-American. The fact that these people want to create a system of laws that detail a Xian perspective puts them in the exact same category as the Taliban.

When people are convinced God is on their side, there is no evil they won't do.

Here's the article & the excerpt.

Is the "War on Xmas" Over?

2009-12-24T19:48:00.003-05:00

Maybe a better question would be: Was a War on Xmas ever declared in the first place?

There is an interesting article in the Canadian National Post that says the War on Xmas is now regarded as a mere forgotten street fight. Personally, I don't think there ever was any sort of "War on Xmas" but a misinformation campaign by the Religious Right to gain power, prestige &, yes, money from the masses so it can continue to manipulate the faithful for political gain.

Just my opinion, of course.

I'm a Grinch

2009-12-23T15:01:00.002-05:00

Yeah, I'm a Grinch. I admit it. And as soon as the tree/decorations/Taj Mahal decor comes down, I'll stop fuming --- until next Labor Day when Christmas starts all over again.

1. I can't stand having schedules imposed on me. I should be merry now? Not later? Not next week? Has to be right now? How about now?

2. I want everything to stay open all the time: like Vegas.

3. I remember when I was poor and how Christmas ground me down. "Honey, what can we charge with the maxed-out Shell card we got through borderline fraud? You think your mother would like the gift of 30 weight? Can we charge lottery tickets? Oh, look, honey, peach-scented candles at the Citgo are 3 for a dollar!"

4. The awful music. "Have yourseeeeelf aaaaa merry little Christmaaaaaaa--" BANG! There's your merry little Christmas you mooing, moaning, vowel-extending hambone. And I got one for you, too, Little Drummer Boy. Rum pum pum BANG! Hey, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Venison. BANG!

5. It's an entire season (money version) designed to rip us all off; buying things for people we don't like; with money we don't have; & making us feel guilty if didn't give away our future retirement checks.

6. It's an entire season (family version) centering on "being together." Oh, boy. What fun. Like I enjoy hearing Uncle Billy's story 40 years ago when he shot the poor neighbor kid who only wanted to borrow (i.e., steal) his new pellet rifle. Or the story about Aunt Shirley who didn't listen to the adults, ate too fast, got some food caught in her throat, & nearly died. Inspiring stories, I tell ya!

7. It's an awful lot of kid time. Plus, you have to be nice to them. And then you finally do lose it, and start chasing them around the house brandishing an empty Scotch bottle and screaming: "Dang it! If you kids don't give me some peace I'm gonna give all your presents to poor people!" Well, not really "yelling." But I do yell at the dog --- & I would like to give its toys away. I'd like to give the dog away too, but no one would take a fat beagle that sleeps all day.

What? That's just my family?

8. Watching the news reports about the crowded malls. Here's my news flash: Dollar General & the Citgo gas station have everything I need, at better prices, & I can be done with it all in an hour. After season sales are even better.

9. Reruns. Just when I really need them, my TV friends go away. In their place we get Christmas Specials that were crap thirty years ago too. We all know that Charlie Brown ended up an urban-outdoorsman (e.g., homeless) 15 years ago after the break-up of his disastrous marriage to Lucy, which was followed by a decade-long descent into depression and oxycontin addiction. So making us watch him with his little Christmas tree is just cruel.

10. And of course, shopping. Long, long ago I proposed a simple solution to my friends and family: everyone writes everyone else a check for $25 bucks. It all evens out: no winners; no losers. The whole thing is over in five minutes and we're not all stuck buying a bunch of useless crap no one wants, or receiving a bunch of useless crap ourselves. Over time we would reduce the size of the checks, finally eliminating them altogether and contenting ourselves with a simple "Merry Christmas." This, over time would be reduced to, "Yo!" and our long national nightmare would be over.

Some Xmas History

2009-12-19T21:25:00.002-05:00

For some reason, people have some really strange ideas about Xmas. Some folks think it is a Pagan holiday. Others believe it to be a uniquely Xian event. Neither are true & both are correct. Fact is, Xmas is a relatively new event in the US, with the secular celebrations not beginning until just after the close of the Civil War & the religious celebrations not until the late 19th century. In other words, when someone says we've "always celebrated Xmas in America," they really don't know what they are talking about.

The religious underpinnings of Xmas go back to Pagan origins with all sorts of festivities & emblems, many eventually incorporated into the modern celebration. (Click here for a link that discusses some of the Xmas emblems we have today. Click here for a brief history on the religious aspects that have blended together to comprise our modern celebration.) When someone passes along the God spam that talks about all the representations of X that are in the Xmas tree .... uh, no. Not true. Someone just made that up & passed it along. (Here's a reference that attempts to relate the seasonal emblems to Xianity, most of which are just bunk, since those emblems originated not with Xianity at all.)

We've all heard that the Roman festivals were eventually adapted into Xian celebrations under Constantine. True, Constantine needed the rising Xian population to fight his battles & the struggling Xians readily accepted the power that came from official endorsement. So the Pagan aspects became Xianized.

Through the middle ages, the Catholic Church expanded the Xmas celebration & other Pagan celebrations were assimilated.

Then came the Presbyterians. And the Puritans.

Finally, there came Cromwell.

The Presbyterians in Scotland & the Puritans (the same ones that came to America) completely rejected the celebration of Xmas. They called it a sinful & heretical idea that was nothing more than idolatry. In fact, Presbyterians in Scotland banned Xmas celebrations & those who observed the day were met with swift & severe punishment for their sins against God. (Link.) It wasn't until the 1950s that Scottish Presbyterians removed the ban.

Cromwell became Lord Protector of England & with his Puritan forces banned the festival of Xmas in 1645.

Those same Puritans came the New World to escape the persecution of the Anglican & Catholic church, both of which celebrated Xmas. So when they came to America, Xmas was made illegal, with penalties imposed by the judge & the church, usually one in the same. The nativity, in particular, was believed to be the gross sin of idolatry. (Link)

So for most of the Colonies, Xmas was spent in work, not worship. (Link.)

Xmas was celebrated in a few areas of Colonial America, mainly where the Catholics & Anglicans had strongholds. Still, those were small & only religious in nature & were kept to the church, never spilling over into the community at large. In fact, George Washington even attacked a group of Hessians on Xmas day since he knew they would still be hung over from their celebration & the Patriot troops didn't regard Xmas as anything special, rejecting both Papist & English tradition. Even Congress was in session on Xmas Day doing the day-to-day work as normal. To the Colonists, Xmas was just another day.(Link.)

Like the rest of the colonies, Xmas in GA wasn't a big deal. The Congregationalist missionaries among the Cherokees at New Echota didn't regard Xmas with any significance, though the Moravians did make quite the party. (Link.)

In 1819, Washington Irving wrote The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, gent., a collection of stories about the celebration of Xmas in an English manor house, that were based on "ancient customs." It was all made up, of course. But the idea began to take hold & gradually people began to have parties & give gifts to the kids. Even then, there was no relating the birth of X with the secular event. It as just a few parties & a few kids' gifts "like they do in England."(Link.)

Mostly Xmas was just a sparse religious event among the few Episcopalians & Catholics. There would be a few nativity scenes in the Catholic churches & a special mass, but that was it. Until the Civil War, the overwhelming majority of Americans didn't do anything special with Xmas, not even exchanging gifts or going to church.

The Civil War changed a lot of things & Xmas was no exception. More people in contact with each other meant learning new ideas. The idea of a winter party gained some acceptance & soon the thought of taking a winter break from the long hours in industrial plants swept the nation. In 1870, President US Grant made Xmas, Thanksgiving, 4th of July & New Year's Day official Federal holidays to accommodate family time, all completely secular & all without pay. (Link.) By 1893, all states & territories had followed suit & made Xmas a secular holiday. (Link.)

As Xmas became more practiced, the religious connotations emerged & by the 1890s, Xmas took on a uniquely Xian overtone in America. Still, there were two distinct celebrations: one religious & one secular, with all faiths & no faiths getting in on the parties.

It is interesting to note that prior to 1945, there are no Supreme Court cases regarding Xmas. None. It is not until after WW II ended & the erosion of Xian hegemony that people began to have disputes. After all, until the 1890s, Xmas wasn't even celebrated. During the next 50 years, the majority Xian faith adopted & adapted the Xmas season. Before long, those majority religious ideas were clashing with the secular ideas, other religious ideas & legal principles And that meant lawsuits. (Link to some legal info on Xmas.)

Today, Santa is the premier secular Xmas symbol, first appearing in 1821 & widely accepted by 1897 with the classic, Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. That did it. When kids expect presents, they get them & the modern secular Xmas was born. Today, Xmas begins a few days before Thanksgiving & lasts until the final college bowl game sometime after New Years. Of course, Xmas is celebrated all over the world in its secular form, in all nations & of all faiths. Yes, even in Muslim nations, the secular Xmas is celebrated.

The religious aspects of Xmas have certainly changed over the years. Xmas used to be viewed as sinful & something unholy by most Americans. Nativity scenes even 150 years ago -- would get you thrown in jail & kicked out of the church. Today, things are much different ... well, maybe not in some parts of the nation. Say anything about separation of church & state & ... whew.

No matter how one worships or chooses not to worship, it is entirely a matter of conscience & conviction, a right protected by the Constitution. Yet, we would be greatly amiss to say that our nation has always celebrated Xmas. That is false. Xmas celebration is a relatively new phenomenon, only having been around for roughly 110 years or so, & even then with many different meanings than what we ascribe today.

For some more info on Xmas traditions & their history, here's another link.

My Favorite Xmas Songs

2009-12-12T17:12:00.003-05:00

It's just not Xmas until I've heard these two songs ... of course, this ought to tell you a lot about my twisted personality.

Annual Xmas Rant 2009

2009-12-09T19:18:00.003-05:00

Don't get me started on Christmas! Bring the boxes up. Unpack the boxes. Untangle the lights (that takes a couple of hours). Plug 'em up. They don't work. Spend another hour trying the find the screwed up bulb. Give up trying to find it. Go to the store & start cussing because they don't have the same type of lights this year. Of course my wife wants the lights on the tree to all be the same so I spend $25 on new lights. Go home & one of the kids will step on the string, breaking some of the bulbs. Not enough replacements. Go back to the store & they don't have any replacement bulbs. Buy another string plus one string for spare. Go home & get the ladder out. Cuss again because my hands are turning blue in the cold. Plug 'em up. Blow a fuse. Can't find the flash light because the kids/wife have used it & didn't put it back. Get the power back on. Start putting up the millions of things wife has collected over the last 20 years. Watch her cry when she breaks a couple of 'em. Fusses at me 'cause she is in a bad mood over taking so long & broken ornaments. Kids are starving. Run & get some fast food & spend another $20. Get home & finish the decorating. Put on the Christmas music & wife wants to take pictures for "memories." No film or batteries. Go back to the store for both. Store doesn't have either. End up buying 2 disposable cameras. Fume some more. Get home & everyone has eaten everything, including my dinner. Take enough pictures to compile a National Geographic pictorial for a year. Wife fusses at me for being grumpy --- spent the entire Christmas budget in one day, starving, & smoke coming out my ears. Dog & cats get in the tree. Tree falls over. More broken ornaments. Use bungee cords attached to the stair railing to secure the tree. Wife cries some more over more broken ornaments. I retreat to my desk to get away from the very tired but wound up kids. Wifey yells because I have to put up the now-empty boxes. I put up the boxes. Family sits around & admire the decorations. I'm still fuming. Take Pepto. Sleep on the couch.

Don't get me started on Christmas!!!!!!!!

Only in America

2009-12-06T21:04:00.002-05:00

While I'm sure Larimer County, Colorado, Sheriff Jim Alderen's 3rd annual Apparently Annual Politically Incorrect Christmas Tree Trimming Party was meant to be partly tongue-in-cheek & partly a serious commentary, the good constable may have actually done everyone a favor by being inclusive this year.

According to Coloradoan the sheriff has decided to invite atheists and agnostics from the Colorado Coalition of Reason to be part of the event. That means that along with the overtly religious displays of a nativity scene & a menorah, the Coalition was allowed to display a sign wishing love, illumination and celebration for all during the Winter Solstice. To make matters even more inclusive, a spokesman for the group encouraged attendees to dialogue in order to understand each other's beliefs.

That is, amazingly enough, the thrust of what religious liberty is all about: gov't is not to give any faith a Most Favored Status. All groups get the same treatment from the gov't that represents all people.

Perhaps other gov't entities could learn a lesson from this.

James Cayler Hale, 9/11/39 - 11/23-2009

2009-11-24T16:07:00.003-05:00

My dad passed away last night after a long battle with cancer. He fought very hard, even the last hour. I am very proud of him.

Here's the obit.

Right now, I think we are all just really, really tired. I've got several things I jotted down from the last few weeks --- & I fully intend on blogging about those at some point --- but I think I need to just do nothing for a while.

Thanks to everyone for the calls, the visits, the calls, the everything. My family & I appreciate it greatly.

My hero may have passed from here, but Grace & Peace are enough to still us in His Prescence.

Christian-Run Schools in Tennessee?

2009-11-17T16:12:00.002-05:00

I saw today where the ACLU of TN (see ACLU press release) has filed a lawsuit on behalf 2 former students & the families of 2 current students against Cheatham County School District. No surprise here since this sort of stuff seems to be fairly common here in the South: passing out Bibles in schools by the Gideons; school prayer at football games & graduation ceremonies; teaching of Creationism in the classroom; history classes taught that the US is a "Christian Nation;" & open evangelism of students by school staff. (See The Tennessean news article.)

I know there are many who actively support that sort of activity to be tax payer funded. There are many, sadly, who want this to be the norm in all schools. Even worse, there are many who believe our Constitution allows for this sort of stuff.

The problem is that the people who want that stuff to be the educational norm: 1) don't know history; 2) don't understand the implications they are calling for; & 3) don't realize this has been a settled question for a long, long time.

No, were are not a "Christian Nation," & I don't think anyone would be comfortable being in a "Christian Nation." While it is true we are majority "Christian" it is not true we are a "Christian Nation." Big difference. And what constitutes a "Christian Nation" anyway? Do we want to be a Catholic Christian controlled land? Westboro Baptist dominated? What denomination does the majority want to define our "Christian" status?

Treat others the way you want to be treated ... we decry the Taliban applying their deeply held religious beliefs on the people there, but we want to allow a religious majority here to do the very same thing?

Would those Christians feel the same way if the Muslims were the dominate faith there & began teaching that Allah created the world, while prayers to Allah were made at graduation & football games as everyone faced Mecca ...

I hope the allegations are not true. I hope this is all hype & just a terrible misunderstanding. If this is true, the admin of Cheatham County Schools needs to go: they are completely inept. This sort of stuff is taught as the Big No-No in all educational programs that award teaching degrees. I remember those classes well & there is no doubt what the courts have ruled on these issues & why. It is made crystal clear & rightly so.

If these allegations are true, I hope the people of Cheatham County, TN, have the good sense to teach of their faith in their homes, their churches, the public forums, the street corners & any private forum where it is allowed & is appropriate. But these Good Christian People need to realize the tax payer is not just Christian, & it is wrong to use non-Christian tax money to advance Christian Faith --- or any faith, for that matter.

Jimmy Madison would be rolling over in his grave.

South Carolina License Plates Must Follow the Constitution

2009-11-10T22:17:00.004-05:00

This was a no-brainer but the Godslingers of South Carolina wasted tax payer money to fight it anyway. (See newsobserver.com article.)

The judge ruled that the state may not give Christianity the Most Favored Status. Pretty simple & straight forward, but not when there is a Righteous Cause --- not to mention the overwhelming religious majority's votes hanging in the balance.

Now there will be an end run of the ruling by placing the name I Believe on an organization, complete with the logo of the rejected tag, & having a tag issued to commemorate the private group. While that is legal, it is very rude as it is a loud & clear message to the religious minorities that the Christian majority really only winks at religious liberty --- Christians really think that non-Christians are second class.

And one day, that religious minority of today, will use that same tactic to have its image & proclamation on auto tags. And one day, there will be another religion that is the majority. And one day, that tactic will be decried as unfair & un-Constitutional by the very Christians who are using that same tactic today.

Treat others the way you would want to be treated.

Maybe the Golden Rule is only something these Godslingers talk about on Sunday & they never really intend on living that precept. Amazing.

Liberty Counsel "Naughty and Nice" List

2009-11-10T12:25:00.003-05:00

The Christmas Police have officially determined where all you indecisive shoppers can purchase "proper and approved" gifts. Liberty Counsel’s annual Naughty and Nice List has been posted (click here for the pdf.) Oh, Goodie. I couldn't wait.

On it we learn that it’s OK to shop at Amazon because its web site offers a “Christmas Decorations” & "Christmas Trees." But better stay away from American Eagle because "Christmas" is not mentioned on its website! Liberty Counsel tells us that Old Time Pottery mentions the word "Christmas" four times on its web page, making it a Wise Man Favorite. However, Old Navy gets the Herod Antipas Award because "Christmas" is not even mentioned on its website at all. None. Bad, bad Old Navy. Only coal in that Old Navy Stocking!

Read the list and marvel that some people obviously have too much time on their hands. Then, do what mostly everybody else who celebrates the Winter Holidays plans to do this year: Shop at the stores with the best prices.

Fundamentalist Honor Killing

2009-11-08T23:34:00.005-05:00

There was another "honor killing" last week, this time in Arizona. While an "honor killing" is common & doesn't make the news in some parts of the world, like Iraq where the perpetrator is from, it is rare in the United States.

In this instance, the Iraqi father was quite upset his daughter was becoming to "Westernized" after she left her husband & moved in with her boyfriend. Evidently a lady who wanted out of a marriage (for whatever reason) deserves death. So, a 20 year old lady is dead & her 48 year old father is in jail on murder charges --- because the Koran says so. (USA Today article.)

Now before anyone starts condemning the Muslims for their uncivilized view of things & the Koran for mandating such a terrible thing, let's stop for a moment & give our own history a glance or two. Remember such things as "defending your family's honor?" Even the infamous Hatfield & McCoy feud was escalated because a young woman left for an affair with the other clan (see Wiki article). In the South there is a common expression: He needed killing --- a statement that means justifiable homicide because the offending individual was so rotten.

This is not something unique to Islam. Don't forget Exodus 21:17: And he that curses his father, or his mother, shall surely be put to death.

Or Leviticus 20:10: And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

From a Biblical perspective, the guy followed the command of Scripture.

I'm gonna stop & let that sink in for a moment.

God in the Classroom

2009-11-03T16:21:00.003-05:00

There is a new book by Anne Marie Lofaso detailing the role of faith in the public school setting, & the legal landmines which it may bring. This is an excellent resource, especially for teachers, administrators & board of education members. IMHO, it should be required reading.

The free download is available here in pdf format.

Here is the Americans United article. Hard copies are available at this link.

Protest Prayers at Football Games

2009-11-01T22:11:00.004-05:00

Students at Port St. Joe High School in Santa Rosa, FLA, have discovered how to exercise their Constitutional right of free expression. It seems that after a judge told the principal of the high school that he could no longer actively promote Christianity (see prior posting) the students decided to do an end run & proclaim their faith at the football games anyway by passing out cards before the game announcing that 10 minutes before kickoff, there would be a student led Lord's Prayer recitation. The students would then hold up placards asking the audience to stand & the Lord's Prayer is recited --- all led by the students. Then an announcement is made over the loud speaker that the school in no way promoted or was involved with the public prayer. (See article in the Panama City News Herald.)

It's legal. And it should be. No problem with students exercising their right to pray or expressing their faith freely.

The problem is that what the students are doing is both terribly rude & sets a precedent that these same students will one day not like.

Other faiths will begin to do the same thing at some point. One day, there will be a "Prayer Battle" before the game to see which faith can have the biggest prayer support. That is not good, but that is the scenario this sort of childish action is going to cause. And by "childish" I don't mean the students: I mean the Religious Not Right zealots who are playing these students like puppets in their political game.

Jesus said, "Treat others the way you would want to be treated." Somehow I don't think these same Christians would want to be in a situation where 99% of the crowd is Muslim & all begin a student led prayer to Allah --- & that handful of Christians in the stands will feel an intense pressure to conform. That's not fair. It's not keeping with the command of Christ.

But the bigger question is this: why does anyone feel compelled to do a public prayer before a football game anyway? Don't these people pray on their own, in private? Where in the Bible does it ever talk about football game prayers anyway? Doesn't Jesus condemn public prayers for the sake of being seen anyway? Wouldn't it be more useful if those students --- Ok, adults who are the real instigators of all this --- were mindful of their faith as an ethic instead of a political tool?

Rudeness is a big turn off to a cause. Imagine how people of other faiths feel when they came to see their child participate in a football game, but the Christians in the audience forced the witnessing of a worship service? That is not the way to influence people for a cause but it is a surefire way to alienate people --- & give them every reason to do the same thing to the Christian minority one day.

Godslingers in Santa Rosa: please use your God-given brain to think before you plan anything else. You're not helping.

Pat Robertson & Halloween

2009-10-30T17:47:00.002-04:00

My post from yesterday involved the most bizarre article I've seen in a long, long time. Although I've heard uninformed people make such statements in the past, I never dreamed I'd read something like on Pat Robertson's CBN or in Charisma magazine. Never. While I have long said that Charisma is nothing more than Corinth Revisited & a place for Hucksters of the Word to hide with a sense of legitimacy, that article is beyond anything resembling rational thought.

Then I catch this link from Rob Boston's latest piece on the Americans United Wall of Separation. If you need a reason to be concerned about how outlandish the Religious Right has become; if you have forgotten why there needs to be a unified front to combat this sort of anti-intellectualism masquerading as faith; or perhaps you just need a good laugh. Regardless, take a gander at this link from good ol' Pat Robertson's CBN regarding the evils of Halloween.

Sigh.

Demons & Halloween Candy

2009-10-29T15:53:00.013-04:00

UPDATE: This article in question has been removed from the CBN website. I wonder why? I've posted several of the quotes below. Here is a cached copy of the original article. The same article is posted on the Charisma magazine's site.

Sometimes I read something that is so outlandish, so crazy, so out there, that words cannot express my utter dismay.

This article by Kimberly Daniels on Pat Robertson's CBN website has got to be the most down right silliest I've read all year. In fact, I'm going to nominate it for Goof Ball Article of the Decade. It will at least get Honorable Mention.

Ms. Daniels has declared war on Halloween, saying it is a Satanic holiday. OK. We've all heard that before from the uninformed. But Ms. Daniels adds a new twist to this: demons will come into your home through the candy your kids collect. Even worse, according to Ms. Daniels, if you buy Halloween decorations, demons are going to invade your home or church because they search for those colors & decorations.

That's right, ladies & gentlemen. You have just swung open the door to evil, crime, hate, Satanic worship, child sacrifice & even the Democratic Party if you buy M&M's to pass out to the kiddies during Halloween.

Let's get a load of some of these quotes:

If this holiday is hallowed, whose service is it set apart for? The answer to that question is very easy—Lucifer's! --- I can just see Church Lady saying this one.

Halloween is a counterfeit holy day that is dedicated to celebrating the demonic trinity of : the Luciferian Spirit (the false father); the Antichrist Spirit (the false holy spirit); and the Spirit of Belial (the false son). --- Can someone point out a reference for this in the Scripture?

During Halloween, time-released curses are always loosed. A time-released curse is a period that has been set aside to release demonic activity and to ensnare souls in great measure. --- A time-released curse? Have you been drinking way-early egg nog, Ms. Daniels?

For example, most of the candy sold during this season has been dedicated and prayed over by witches. --- I'm just gonna let that one sink in for a minute.

Curses are sent through the tricks and treats of the innocent whether they get it by going door to door or by purchasing it from the local grocery store. --- Ooooh K.

Even the colors of Halloween (orange, brown and dark red) are dedicated. --- Ms. Daniels, have you ever noticed the colors of the leaves in the Fall? Orange. Brown. Red. Is God dedicating things to Satan?

When nice church folk lay out their pumpkins on the church lawn, fill their baskets with nuts and herbs, and fire up their bonfires, the demons get busy. --- I am just amazed at this one.

I have prayed for witches who are addicted to drinking blood and howling at the moon. --- Someone needs to take those people as well as Ms. Daniels to the nearest psych facility for a complete evaluation.

Then Ms. Daniels says that there is actually sex with demons & child sacrifice at Halloween. That's right: sex with demons. Child sacrifice. Really? Could we please have some evidence for these sex acts & the child sacrifice? In fact, the evidence is there is no child sacrifice. It's hype. Rumor. Scare tactics. Ms. Daniels is spreading gossip & falsehood, something that is certainly not a fruit of the spirit since there is no evidence there is any child sacrifice, & I doubt seriously she can prove sex with demons.

We believers are often portrayed as backward, ignorant, silly & gullible. It is stuff like Ms. Daniels has penned that only hurts the Message we proclaim.

Please, do us all a favor, Ms Daniels: don't say anything else. Just don't.

Theocrat Huckabee Leading GOP Polls for 2012

2009-10-28T17:48:00.003-04:00

I guess if there is any consolation to the latest CNN poll it is that a Southern Baptist is leading the pack for the Republican nomination. Wait. What possessed me to say that? Must be a Fundamentalist Flashback. I need to turn on some Chris Tomlin & open up Peterson's The Message to bring me back into the fold of Grace.

Seriously, the latest CNN poll shows theocratic-leaning, former Arkansas governor, former Southern Baptist pastor & part-time political pundit Mike Huckabee to be leading in the poll of likely GOP voters for the 2012 presidential race. Oh, goodie! This only shows how far out of touch the likely GOP voters are with mainstream America, & how far extremist the GOP has gone as a party.

Let's just have a round of Prohibition to celebrate.

I guess it is some consolation that Sarah Palin came in second. Second. Not first. How she can quit her position as governor to finish a book, go on the talk, e.g., rhetoric, circuit to whip the masses into a Gospel frenzy, & still come in second? Maybe Levi should have had an affair with Ms. Moose Hunter Herself instead of the 1st Daughter to get more support from the 20 Somethings out there.

Nonetheless, it was only 2 months ago that Mitt Romney held the lead of likely GOP voters, another interesting fact since most Fundamentalists view Mormons as 2 steps removed from Islamo-Fascists & only slightly better than Satanists.

Then there is the other part of the poll: none of the names on the GOP Likely List comes close to beating Obama. Hmmm. For all the complaining about Obama; the scare talk; the rantings & ravings; the whatever; Obama still has the edge over any GOP challenger.

Maybe there is hope for the Libertarian Party yet ... & America too, for that matter.

TX Executed an Innocent Man: Cameron Todd Willingham

2009-10-22T21:08:00.005-04:00

Let me make this perfectly clear at the beginning: I am all for the death penalty. I have no problem with the state extracting the ultimate liberty from a person when the crime is so heinous & so indisputable that no other punishment would be suitable. No problem with death penalty in those cases.

The problem is those cases are so rare that the death penalty is almost not an option.

Since 1973 & as of March 2009, there have been 132 death row prisoners exonerated. That is a huge number. 132. People who were sentenced to die but were innocent. The jurors were convinced the evidence was undeniable & after all the expensive appeals, the sentence stood. It wasn't until new evidence was found that innocent people were set free.

How many more innocent people were actually executed by the state?

And when we look at the disparity of race & economics & educational levels of people on death row, verses the sentences for the same crime of middle-to-upper class whites, it should cause another pause: we are executing the poorest, the minorities, & the people with the least ability to have an adequate defense.

Then there is the case of Cameron Todd Willingham who was executed in TX for the arson murder of his children. The saddest part of it all is that the investigation findings were that of old wives tales instead of real science. The forensics is that it was an accidental fire & not arson. (See New Yorker article by David Gann.)

There was a 20/20 piece on this a few months ago & the judge who heard the case was adamant: the fire was set by Willingham. The evidence proved it, evidence, he said, was based on Willingham's past as a down-right mean human being. Fine. Maybe Willingham was an SOB but we don't execute people for being mean.

And the judge said there was a Devil Worship angle. That's right: Willingham liked heavy metal music, a sure sign of Devil worship. (No, I'm not making this up.) And to make matters worse, the burn pattern was in the design of a pentagram, something the educated fire researchers say was mere happenstance (if even believed the burn pattern made that at all.)

Now we learn that the TX governor may have been playing politics with the Willingham case & tried to stone wall efforts to look into the possibility of executing an innocent man. (See current.com article.)

The problem is that we cannot go back & apologize to Willingham if we find out TX made its decision based on bad science, bad logic, a completely ignorant judge, & a political motivation to get votes by a TX governor. Once we carry out the sentence, it cannot be reversed.

There is a reason why the death penalty appeals process is lenghty & costly for the state: we value human liberty so much that we are willing to go to enormous lengths to keep from executing an innocent person. We even hold as a regal truth that we would rather 9 guilty go free to make sure just 1 innocent is not deprived of liberty. However, in our quest for vengeance --- not justice --- we have lost sight of liberty & how valuable that liberty should be, & that the priority of gov't is to protect all people, even those who have committed heinous crimes.

As much as I think some criminals deserve to be fried like a Crispy Critter, the cost is just not worth it --- the cost to the tax payer & the cost to our collective soul if we blow it, as in the case of Cameron Todd Willingham. Life without parole is cheaper & puts criminals in a place where he will always be subject to to the penalties deemed by society, but with the chance to live should new evidence come to light later on.

It's time we told our brethren in TX to stop with the vengeance of the Taliban & start acting like Americans who value liberty.

Somebody Finally Standing Up to Orly Taitz

2009-10-15T20:25:00.003-04:00

Orly Taitz. The button works but the doorbell ain't ringing.

That about sums it up.

Now a Federal judge in GA has finally told her "no more."

A summary is not good enough. You really need to read the whole article to get the full effect.

Thanks to my good friend at GA Mountains and Beyond for the update.

Demons & Berry College

2009-10-08T16:30:00.004-04:00

Ok. This is a bit personal to me because my oldest (of whom I am extremely proud) is a Resident Advisor at Berry College. Berry is a good school; a dang fine school. I'm glad he made the decision to go there, though I still sometimes wish he had gone to Shorter College. But I digress ...

Here's the link to the Berry College Viking article. My son won't really discuss this with me, saying they have been told not to. So I didn't pry & he didn't volunteer.

The story is that another Resident Advisor at the Winshape portion of Berry College performed an exorcism on another student. That's right: an exorcism. The RA had gone on a mission trip to India & had supposedly seen many exorsims performed over there & somehow decided that was the warranted situation in his dorm room during this Bible study.

And then, to really make things worse, he sent out a campus email detailing the event.

So here's the problem: it looks bad. There is no verification process. It sounds so backwards. And it gives Christians & Berry College a black eye.

Winshape is supposed to be a subset of Berry for Christian students committed to their faith. It was begun by Truett Cathy as a means to assist students & these students used to be required to work at Chic-fil-A while in school, though that requirement has since been lifted.

The problem is that Winshape --- as with any faith --- can become a hotbed of extremism, be it Christian or Muslim or anything else. And that can get dangerous, even doing serious harm.

I have no doubt the student believes what he did was right & that it was an actual exorcism. Maybe. I seriously, seriously doubt it, but maybe. However, that student on whom the exorcism was performed needed medical & psychological help in addition to genuine spiritual counseling. What the RA did was to run like a bull in a china shop into a situation he knows little about, has no training, & could have done more harm than good.

Berry College is a good school but with such a program like Winshape --- & the mega bucks that come with it --- there is a danger that a good school with a long, rich tradition could become the hotbed of a fanaticism. Tali-Christian.

And the world laughs at genuine faith over things like this.

Christians are the faith's own worst enemies.

Interview with the Student who was exorcised

Fox News article

Atlanta Journal Constitution article

US News & World Report article

Only in Alabama

2009-10-06T17:26:00.005-04:00

Sometimes a story is just too good to pass up without comment. & such is this most worthy news event, from Albertville, Alabama. That's right, Alabama: the only thing that separates the great state of Georgia from Mississippi. Thankfully.

This story is almost as good as the one about the two guys in Alabama playing catch with a rattlesnake --- the one who died, lost the game.

Not quite as good as that one, but close.

No, this is about a mom who lets her teenage daughter ride in a cardboard box atop a minivan, but it was all safe because the box was secured to the van with a coat hanger.

Honest to Pete. Can't make up this stuff.

Here's the news story.

Only in Alabama.

Godslingers Taking Over Politics

2009-10-04T19:07:00.003-04:00

A great piece by Neal Gabler can be found in LA Times opinion section, saying that the American conservative movement has been hijacked by the religious right. The problem is that --- like the Taliban in Afghanistan --- when a political ideology is melded with the righteousness of God, there is nothing that can stand in its way, even if it is bad theology, bad politics, or just evil run wild. There is no evil men won't do when they believe God is on their side.

Here's a quote:

You cannot beat religion with politics, which is why the extreme right "wins" so many battles. The fundamentalist political fanatics will always be more zealous than mainstream conservatives or liberals. They will always be louder, more adamant, more aggrieved, more threatening, more willing to do anything to win. Losing is inconceivable. For them, every battle is a crusade -- or a jihad -- a matter of good and evil.

There is something terrifying in this. The media have certainly been cowed; they treat intolerance as if it were legitimate political activity. So have many politicians, and not just the conservative ones who know that if they don't fall in line, they will be run over. This political fundamentalism has also invaded the general culture in deleterious ways. The ugly incivility of recent months is partly the result of political fundamentalists who have nothing but contempt for opposing viewpoints, which gives them license to shout down opponents or threaten them, just as jihadis everywhere do.

Those who oppose the religification of politics may think all they have to do is change tactics, but they are sadly, tragically mistaken. They can never win, because for the political fundamentalists, this isn't political jousting, this is Armageddon.

Thanks to Dr. Bruce Prescott for bringing this to my attention.

Fort Oglethorpe, GA, God & High School Football

2009-10-01T21:38:00.004-04:00

I swear. Do high school administrators not have a clue about coercion of a religious message? This is no brainer but apparently the administrators of Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School don't have much of a brain to consider such matters.

It seems that since 2003 the cheerleaders at Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School have displayed religious banners that the football players crash through at the beginning of games. But these banners went far beyond Go Team. Oh, no. These banners were overytly religious & urged fans & players to commit to the Lord and take courage and do it.

I suppose that would be all fine & dandy at a private school but LFO is not a private school & the tax payer dollars of all citizens are at work on that football field.

So finally --- after 6 years, evidently --- someone had to nads to stand up, complain, & tell the school superintendent that those banners with Scripture quotations are illegal. Finally.

So the school system did the right thing & made the cheerleaders stop using Biblical quotes on the banners. According to the Chattanooga Times-Free Press, the school system issued a proper statement about respecting the law & the religious beliefs of all citizens of the county.

But let's not let a little thing like the Constitution stand in the way of a politician looking for votes, or a minister in need of a cause to stir the passions of the flock, not to mention the coffers.

Such is Fort Oglethorpe Mayor Ronnie Cobb who said: "If it's offensive to anyone, let them go watch another football game. Nobody's forced to come there and nobody’s forced to read the signs."

Ok. Thank you very much, Mr Cobb. Perhaps you will be so kind as to tell all non-Christians they are not welcome in your fair city & they should take their shopping dollars elsewhere. Please. I'm interested in how you would frame that scenario.

Or The Reverend Scott, who has several of the cheerleaders attending his church, said the most recent sign he saw quoting from Timothy 1:7 could be considered inspirational in many settings.

Sure it could, Rev. Scott. In many settings. But it is not appropriate at a public school anymore than a banner quoting the Koran would be. Not all that complicated.

Sigh. More Godslingers in action. I bet Jimmy Madison & Tommy Jefferson are rolling over in their graves.

When the GOP Left Me

2009-09-29T16:14:00.007-04:00

I grew up a Reagan Republican --- a teenager disillusioned with a weak foreign policy, an economy that had been in the tank for the decade of the 70s, & a glimmer of hope from an actor-turned-politician who made patriotism a good thing again. So, yeah, I began my years as a Republican & was proud of it.

And then reality set in. I began to see that the GOP stood for God's Own Party & that God was defined with a very narrow theological slant, i.e., Fundamentalism, that left many believers to be cast into outer darkness.

While college mellowed my rigidity (thank God for the Good Ol' Days of Shorter College before the Neocons in GA took over the GA Baptist Convention & the Republican Party) it was in seminary that I was forced to examine where theology meets the real world. It was there I had to step back, take inventory, & admit that many of the things I had always heard were true were, in fact, not, but were really either politics in religious disguise or a narrow theology masquerading as conservative politics.

All that means little to the intent of this post except that the last five years or so have caused me to pause & examine the principles instead of the party. I don't like what I see happening in Baptist circles, & it is even worse in the national political sphere.

Frankly, the Brown Shirts have re-emerged in America. Oh, yes, they are more respectable, but they are just as real in the danger they bring.

Such is the case made by Max Blumenthal in his new book, Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement that Shattered the Party. (Here's the NPR link.) Catch this quote:

This was a portrait of the Republican Party fully in the grip of its right wing: almost exclusively white, overwhelmingly evangelical, fixated on abortion, homosexuality, and abstinence education; resentful and angry; and unable to discuss how and why it had become this way ... Eisenhower observed the early development of the modern American right with anxiety. His experience in Europe had taught him that the rise of extreme movements could be explained only by the psychological yearnings and social needs of their supporters. He understood that these movements were not unique to any place or time. Authoritarianism could take root anywhere, even in America. Eisenhower did not believe that an American exceptionalism immunized the country against the spores of extremism.

Interesting analysis. If true, the analysis would make Sinclair Lewis' 1935 quote in It Can't Happen Here a prophetic voice:

When fascism comes to America, it will be draped in the flag and carrying a bible.

Judge Rules In Favor of Santa Rosa, FL, Principal & Athletic Director

2009-09-24T20:30:00.004-04:00

Sorry I've been late on this but the flooding in my area has kinda hindered me from doing much.

The Federal District judge in FLA that heard the case regarding the contempt charges against (FLA) Santa Rosa High School's principal & athletic director ruled there was no violation of the order, saying the prayers offered were "spontaneous" & were not intended to violate the order. According to the Pensacola News-Journal: "[Judge] Rodgers said the prayer at a field house dedication during the school day that was held on church property was spontaneous, and there was seemingly no intent to violate the order."

OK. So the judge decided it was "spontaneous." The answer to the charge was that the building dedication was on church property, during the school day, with students present, & when asked to give a prayer, it was just done out of habit. Now I'm certain everyone believes that the prayer was purely reflex & these two guys just had a brain cramp & forgot all about the court order. I'm sure. Sure. Right. Uh huh.

The verdict was met in the court room with a Hallelujah Chorus of cheers, hymns, prayer chants & angelic high fives.

Outside the court room where I'm sitting, the verdict is met with skepticism, bewilderment & a jaw drop that wonders what planet this judge is on --- or church roll.

Still, that is the ruling. Fine. Chalk this up to another example where the church in the US is acting very similarly to the Taliban in Afghanistan. When the Tali-Christians take over & impose their narrow version of faith on everyone else, there will be no do-over to protect the guarantees of religious liberty in the Constitution.

God protect us from the Godslingers.

Liberty Council Spinning Like a Weaver Again

2009-09-17T20:47:00.003-04:00

I find it quite amusing when my fellow believers resort to fabrications, falsehoods & free-style wording in an effort to take the Message to the masses. While I applaud the goal to share the Good News, I abhor the tactic of lying to do that. Somehow, it just doesn't seem right.

Such is the case with Liberty Council, a group that has the audacity to say it contends for the declaration of American values. Funny thing: their definition of American Values is that those are only Christian Values, for Christian People & then narrowly defines who is Christian, i.e., only those who agree with them. Quite a racket there.

Liberty Council has issued a press release concerning the criminal contempt trial of the principal and athletic coach of Pace High School in Santa Rosa County, FLA, who ignored a court injunction against faculty-led prayer. (See prior posting.)

Liberty Counsel's founder, Matthew Staver, commented: "What a sad state of affairs, when on the day we celebrate the oldest and most enduring Constitution in the world, that honorable public servants are tried as criminals for praying over a meal."

I'm sorry, Mr. Staver, but that is a flat out falsehood & you should be ashamed of even saying such. The trial is not over public servants praying over a meal --- not at all. The trial is because the principal & athletic director have been abusing their position of authority & coercing students & faculty into a certain religious dogma on the taxpayers' dime. The court said these two were acting in violation of the first amendment & it had to stop. These two men didn't stop & now they must face the court on the charges.

If these two men were Muslim & were encouraging students/teachers to worship Allah, I'm sure Liberty Council would have a different view of things. Then again, the whole Golden Rule ethic has escaped them, I'm sure.

Here is the Americans United press release that offers another view, one that actually demands the first amendment be followed & that government should never invade a citizen's conscience by advocating any religious dogma.

Time Lapsed Video of Glacier Melting Due to Global Warming

2009-09-14T20:34:00.002-04:00

Got this from Dr. Bruce Prescott's blog. Well worth the time.

Fundamentalist Designs in Washington, DC

2009-09-13T21:16:00.003-04:00

I know many have made the claim there is no theocratic effort to take control of the US government. I also know that would be wrong.

Jeff Sharlet has penned The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power & details the connection of strict Fundamentalist theology, coupled with plenty of capitalistic thought. The result is an Americanized version of the Taliban Light.

Exceptional interview.

GA Baptists Applaud Indoctrination at Baptist College

2009-09-10T21:26:00.003-04:00

Shock. Absolute shock. A GA Baptist College is establishing a Creation Research Center at its campus.

That's right: science is no longer an academic subject at Truett McConnell College. Instead, a rigid, narrow theological view decides what is genuine science & what is not. According to the GA Baptist newspaper, The Christian Index, the college is establishing the creation research center with the view that the earth is only 6000 years old.

Good heavens. GA Baptist students will be cheated on an education & the school will be laughed at by all schools with any academics.

I knew this was coming. I even blogged about it last year when the editor of the Index bragged on the school's Biblical Worldview. Poppycock. Telling students to reject science & adopt a spiritual textbook as a scientific text is to shortchange our students. And when these bright young minds start examining the evidence --- overwhelming that the earth is not 6000 years old & there was not a spontaneous creation in 6 literal days --- these students will start to question the validity of all matters of faith.

The Godslingers have taken over the GA Baptist Convention & are now trying to indoctrinate our students to not only a certain, narrow theological slant, but also a political view & an anti-intellectualism.

And we wonder why our young people are leaving the faith & why the modern world refuses to hear our message. When we present ourselves --- no, relish in --- being backward & uninformed, we are hindering the message of hope. It is our own Baptist leadership that is grieving the Holy Spirit by not allowing Him to work in lives. Instead, our Baptist Witch Doctors are more concerned about indoctrination than changing lives; power, instead of people; control, instead of cooperation.

The Godslingers have another notch on their weapon. They now control another institution of higher used-to-be learning.

Leaving Fundamentalism

2009-09-09T11:39:00.003-04:00

Dr. Bruce Prescott is doing a series of blog entries on why he left Fundamentalism. Well worth the read of his journey, one that is somewhat similar to mine. There may be more entries so check back on his blog to see any additional updates.

Step One
Step Two
Step Three
Step Four
Step Five
Step Six

Forget the Politics & Let's Start Tending to Real Living

2009-09-01T21:42:00.003-04:00

I realize I'm getting cynical. I realize I'm getting sentimental. I also realize that the what we've been doing for thousands of years just ain't working.

We fight for all sorts of ideologies. We are killing each other for peace. We wrap our prejudices in patriotism, & then tie it all together with some intentional theology that is more self serving than anything.

For what? What is the price we are willing to pay for our stubbornness?

This has all come home to me in the last few years when I realized the foolishness of ideology under the pretense of theology. Then I had to admit I was not honest with the history I spent all those years learning. I had let my training be used as a tool to advance my agenda instead of being truthful with everything.

Speaking of everything, I've had to admit some real honesty about myself this past week. I had to stare down my fears, inadequacies &, well, my own heart. It's not easy.

The point is that life is too short to waste a minute with unimportant things. People are more important. Life is to be lived, not wasted. And why we waste important time of fighting instead of living is just beyond me.

Still tryin’ to reach the future through the past ... Still tryin’ to carve tomorrow from a tombstone ... Witchdoctors praying for a mighty showdown ... No way our holy flag is gonna’ fall ... Up here we sacrifice our children ...To feed the worn-out dreams of yesterday ... And teach them dying will lead us into glory... And I guess these young boys dying in the ditches is just what being free is all about.

This is a great video by Keith Harkin of Celtic Thunder. 'Bout time Paul Brady's song got the recognition it deserved.

Armed Church Members Defend Pastor's "I Hate Obama" Sermon

2009-09-01T05:22:00.006-04:00

Arizona is not big enough to be its own country but it is way to big to be an insane asylum. Really. Get a load (pardon the pun) of this.

Evidently a few like-minded believers of the Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe began arming themselves in fear of death threats, threats that were in response to a sermon by the church's pastor entitled Why I Hate Barack Obama.

I'm thinking the whole Jesus thing about loving your enemies hasn't been covered in Sunday School yet.

The pastor, Steven Anderson, was at least kind in the Death Wish Homily when he said he wants this to occur by natural causes: I don't want him to be a martyr, we don't need another holiday. (Click here to get recording of the sermon.)

Well, well! What did The Good Reverend Anderson mean by another holiday, hmmm? And the whole natural causes thing --- mighty white of you, Pastor Anderson. He prefers something like brain cancer of the Ted Kennedy variety & the Reverend is praying for that end.

The local ABC News affiliate, ABC15News, is reporting that Pastor Anderson is just giddy that his parishioners are armed & dangerous in the church house, saying guns are a great deterrent though he didn't say what is deterred.

I'm guessing the whole thing about Jesus telling Peter to put the sword away whilst in the Garden, & the praying for your enemies lesson was left out so the pot luck could be extended with more dessert time.

The night after Anderson's Aug. 16 anti-Obama sermon, one of his parishioners, Christopher Broughton, carried an AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle outside President Obama's speech to the VFW at the Phoenix Convention Center.

The Secret Service is investigating. Thank God.

Don't Tick Off a Crow

2009-08-23T11:50:00.003-04:00

Else you may be in for a very long payback period.

Scientists have determined that wild crows have a grudge gene --- something that allows the crow to remember individual people & harass them for years. Ok. So maybe I went overboard with the grudge gene terminology but these birds take payback to the extreme.

I bet my mother-in-law is linked in the evolutionary chain to crows somehow ...

Here's the NPR article. Make sure to listen to the audio.

Strep Throat Killed Mozart?

2009-08-21T22:06:00.001-04:00

Interesting article. Strep killed off The Musical Master. The tour guides in Salzburg said Mozart was sickly all his life because he traveled around from age 6 doing music gigs & it was a cold, damp winter when he finally died. Strep. Next time my wife tells me it is just strep I'm gonna remind her that if The Musical Master can succumb, imagine what it can do to a guy that can barely play the radio.

Pagan Group in Park Told Must Leave

2009-08-20T23:12:00.003-04:00

Wonder if the Alliance Defense Fund (previous post about the ADF) will come to the aid of this Pagan group ... doubt it. No, make that I am certain it won't happen.

Picture this: local park. Sunny day. Group of Christians gather & sing a few verses of Amazing Grace & then they pray. A brief homily is offered. Another chorus or two. An offering is taken --- must be a Baptist group. No one calls the cops.

Now let's change the scene a tad: local park. Sunny day. Group of Odinists --- an ancient Pagan faith --- is celebrating the harvest. They raise their arms. Sing & dance a bit. Suddenly the cops are called. Neighbors are claiming there is a White Supremacist group in the park doing all sorts of evil.

Well, it happened in Bakersfield, CA, according to KERO News.

The cops made them leave the park. Needs to be a complaint filed on that one. Public park & they have the right to assemble just like a Christian group would.

I'll just shake my head & wonder if the concept of our first freedom is even understood at the most basic level. How today's religious minority is treated will be how today's majority faith will be treated when the minority gains a larger status one day. How quickly we forget that Baptists were once the persecuted minority.

Now that the witchdoctors have taken over the faith powerhouses & made them into political action committees ... never mind.

Alliance Defense Fund Argues the Bible is Not a Sectarian Text

2009-08-17T23:41:00.006-04:00

I kid you not.

The Alliance Defense Fund is arguing that the Bible is not a sectarian text in Idaho. Therefore the Bible was not excluded in the state's Constitution when it banned religious texts in its schools.

I know. It sounds as kooky as kooky can get, but we're talking about the Alliance Defense Fund here, the same group that tried to spin their trial loss in Wilson County, TN, as a win. They even issued a press release saying the ACLU lost & the ADF won, despite the judge's ruling for the parents whom the ACLU represented on 5 of the 6 complaints. Needless to say, the ADF is very good at --- er, uh --- playing fast & lose with the truth. (See previous post.)

So while I normally wouldn't be surprised given the ADF's propensity to fib, I was quite aghast to see their latest claim.

Last week the Idaho Public Charter School Commission ruled the Bible cannot be used as a text book. According to the news article in the Idaho Press Tribune, the Commission ruled the state's Constitution "expressly' forbids the use of religious texts. In fact, Art. IX, Sec. 6 of the state's constitution says: No books, papers, tracts or documents of a political, sectarian or denominational character shall be used or introduced in any schools established under the provisions of this article....

Hmmm. Looks pretty obvious to me. That should settle the matter. The Bible is quite obviously a sectarian text. But the Alliance Defense Fund wants so badly the Bible to be taught on the public's dime that it is willing to deny the sacredness of the text. In other words, the ADF is willing to deny the Word of God so it can be taught in the public schools.

Denigrating the text in order to get it placed in the public school?

I resent that. I flatly reject the ADF's claim. How dare they.

If the ADF wants to claim the Bible is not an inspired text & is of no worth other than that of secular literature or history, that is their problem. But I resent my faith being trampled by their claim that the Bible should be treated as something common in public schools. It is not. It is a revered text & should be treated as such, not as something common & left to the untrained & non-spiritual insights of a public school teacher. The Bible is too lofty to be left to the gov't. Since the gov't has a nasty habit of soiling everything else it touches, I wonder if the ADF realizes the danger they just placed the Holy Bible.

The end never justifies the means. In this case, the ADF is mistreating the Bible, & showing themselves desperate in making every crazy argument just to get the Bible in the public school classroom.

I used to fear how a public school would treat the great truthes of the Bible if the gov't ever got the chance to teach it. Now I see the mistreatment the ADF is giving the Bible & wonder if the public school might actually be more respectful of the text.

Or maybe the ADF has demonstrated once again the complete lunacy of the Religious (not) Right, making themselves out to be my faith's own worst enemy.

Obama White House to Track Gov't Website Users?

2009-08-16T18:05:00.004-04:00

I've had an email in my inbox for several days but have not had time to think about it. The ACLU has concerns about the possible change in policy whereby the gov't will begin delivering cookies to computers that go to gov't websites.

OK. So what's the problem?

Well, first, that is not what the rules allows. The current rules don't allow gov't to track users who access gov't websites. Nor should they. That is an invasion of privacy. It is nobody's business if I go to a public website anymore than it is the gov't business where I go to church.

Second, the potential for abuse is just too great. Watch V for Vendetta or Pleasantville & you'll get an idea of the problems that can happen. Better yet, just read about how the Patriot Act is being used.

The biggest problem, however, is not any of the potential breaches of privacy but the very real disregard for the Constitutional protections. If the Constitutional principles are skirted, it becomes easier to cross over that line at some point in the future. At some point it won't be tracking a computer but tracking what books one reads; what sermons one listens to; with whom one discusses politics; or even what a person's politics may be.

I will grant that the official line is that the tracking cookies won't be quite as sinister. According to the UK's Register, the cookies will only be used to better serve the user. While that makes sense & is a great goal, we all know the potential for abuse is just too great. It is simply not a chance we can take.

I also find it quite amusing that the Extreme Right Wing is now on the same side as the ACLU & other groups that protect civil liberty. When the ACLU was condemning the spying on Americans without a warrant, or listening in on phone calls, or snooping personal emails or bank accounts, the Extremists were arguing the Constitutional privacy protections & US laws didn't apply. But now that a Democrat is wanting to simply use cookies to track usage in order to help the user get the information he wants, suddenly the uproar is deafening.

I will be the first to admit the Extreme Right has a good point here & the gov't policy should not be changed. Privacy is a first freedom, guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. My challenge to the Extreme Right is to be consistent. The ACLU has held the same position all along. Will the Extreme Right admit their hypocrisy? I doubt it.