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PostPosted: 08/23/14 8:10 am • # 76 
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Here is this week's installment ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

This Week in God, 8.23.14
08/23/14 08:58 AM—Updated 08/23/14 09:00 AM
By Steve Benen

First up from the God Machine this week is an amazing church-state story out of Alabama, where one public official is pushing a strange new argument about the Ten Commandments.

Quote:
In an effort to educate the public on the divine origins of America’s founding documents, Jackson County Commissioner Tim Guffey (R) has proposed erecting a Ten Commandments monument, as well as displays of the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, outside the county courthouse.

“If you look at the documents that was written – the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence – they are all stemmed from the word of God, from the Ten Commandments,” Guffey, who proposed the projects at a recent commission meeting, told WHNT on Thursday.

As the Huffington Post report explains, Guffey is working from the premise that the Ten Commandments, as the tenets appear in the Old Testament, is “not for any type of religion” and he may be pushing a religious display, but he’s “not doing it to push religion at all.”

There are some fairly obvious problems with the pitch. For example, the U.S. Constitution does not “stem from” the Ten Commandments – it’s an entirely secular document that separates church from state. For that matter, to argue that a Biblical list of commandments that begins, “I am the Lord thy God, thou shalt have no other gods before me” is not religious seems a little silly.

But the larger point is that some conservatives are so eager to have government extend official support to their religious beliefs that they’re willing to argue that their sacred texts have no religious value at all. It’s ironic, in a way – it’s tempting to think opponents of religion would want to strip sacred texts of their spiritual significance. Here we have the opposite.

Also from the God Machine this week:

* Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) has apparently mixed up different groups of Satanists this week: “Gov. Mary Fallin (R-OK) issued a statement Monday ahead of a Satanic ‘black mass’ scheduled to take place at the state Capitol in Oklahoma City in September…. However, the Satanists who are planning to celebrate the autumnal equinox on Sep. 21 by holding a so-called ‘black mass’ at the Oklahoma City Civic Center are not from the Satanic Temple. On Tuesday, the Satanic Temple demanded an apology from Fallin, who had confused them with a separate, Oklahoma City-based group” (thanks to my colleague Laura Conaway for the heads-up).

* Seattle’s Mark Driscoll, head of an evangelical megachurch, appears to have lost influence over his congregation: “Mr. Driscoll’s empire appears to be imploding. He has been accused of creating a culture of fear at the church, of plagiarizing, of inappropriately using church funds and of consolidating power to such a degree that it has become difficult for anyone to challenge or even question him. A flood of former Mars Hill staff members and congregants have come forward, primarily on the Internet but also at a protest in front of the church, to share stories of what they describe as bullying or ‘spiritual abuse,’ and 21 former pastors have filed a formal complaint in which they call for Mr. Driscoll’s removal as the church’s leader.”

* And TV preacher Pat Robertson heard from a viewer this week who asked why her ailing husband’s condition hasn’t improved despite intense prayer: “Robertson responded that the woman’s husband probably isn’t a faithful Christian and may actually want to be sick: ‘There are some people, you know, they enjoy their sickness. That is terrible to say but that is their excuse not to compete, ‘well I’d love to compete but my lumbago’s got me so I can’t do it.’”

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/week-god-82314


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PostPosted: 08/30/14 8:01 am • # 77 
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Here is this week's installment ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

This Week in God, 8.30.14
08/30/14 09:23 AM
By Steve Benen

First up from the God Machine this week is a look at the real-world consequences of a Supreme Court ruling on the separation of church and state.

Remember Greece v. Galloway? The case dealt with local council meetings in Greece, N.Y., a Rochester suburb, which hosted an informal “chaplain of the month” to deliver an invocation before the board dealt with official business. Nearly all of the invited chaplains were Christian, and “more often than not,” the Christian clergy “called on Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit to guide the council’s deliberations.”

Some local citizens sued, arguing that the First Amendment should prevent local government from incorporating Christian prayers into official community meetings. In a 5-4 decision handed down in May, the high court’s conservatives disagreed, reversing a unanimous appellate court and concluding that “ceremonial prayer” is permissible.

This week, as Sahil Kapur reported, officials in Greece adopted a formal policy to put its prayer practices in place.

Less than four months [after the high court ruling], the town of Greece has adopted an invocation policy that excludes non-religious citizens and potentially shuts out faiths that aren’t well-established in the town, according to a top secular group.

Seeking to “avail itself of the Supreme Court’s recognition” that government prayer is constitutional, the new policy restricts opening remarks to “assemblies with an established presence in the Town of Greece that regularly meet for the primary purpose of sharing a religious perspective.”

In practice, this suggests non-believers – who lack “established” meetings to discuss religious perspectives – may be deliberately excluded. The same is true for minority faiths who lack enough local members for an established congregation.

The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, the executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State (and a long-time friend), told Kapur, “They said they’re open to anybody. Now they’re not open to anybody. It’s really a scam…. They only want religious people – frankly they only want Christians – to participate. This is a step backward.”

If atheists and other religious minorities submit requests to lead invocations and are rejected, it may very well lead to a new round of litigation.

Also from the God Machine this week:

* What an unusual case: “The Archbishop of Oklahoma City is dropping his lawsuit against a devil-worshiping group that had threatened to defile a consecrated communion wafer allegedly stolen from the Roman Catholic Church. In a lawsuit filed in district court in Oklahoma County on Wednesday, lawyers representing Archbishop Paul Coakley demanded the return of a communion wafer obtained by a Satanic group.”

* Conservative media outlets got worked up recently about a Tennessee teenager who was reportedly punished after saying “God bless you” in class after another student sneezed. The details of what actually happened are less shocking.

* And TV preacher Pat Robertson this week reflected on Robin Williams’ death, telling “700 Club” viewers the entertainer took his own life because of religion: “You see these very popular people in the media who commit suicide, like Robin Williams recently, and you say, ‘What is the deal with him? What happened?’ … You see, the god of the heathen are idols and everything that you seek in life can ruin you unless that something and somebody is God himself…. You won’t want to commit suicide after you have come to Him.”

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/week-god-83014


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PostPosted: 09/06/14 7:41 am • # 78 
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Here is this week's installment ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

This Week in God, 9.6.14
09/06/14 09:21 AM—Updated 09/06/14 09:21 AM
By Steve Benen

First up from the God Machine this week is a look at an incident in Florida, involving a local resident who didn’t want to stand for the city commission’s official prayer.

Josh Israel reported this week on developments in Winter Garden, where the mayor forced an American – one of the mayor’s own constituents – to leave a public meeting because he declined to stand during the invocation and pledge to the flag.

Quote:
Winter Garden Mayor John Rees, a nonpartisan official leading an Orlando suburb of about 37,000, was caught on video demanding that an audience member stand for a prayer, which thanked God for “allowing us to live in a country where we’re free to believe, think, and pray.”

The audience member responded, “I don’t believe I have to do that, thank you.” After the prayer, Rees again instructed the constituent, identified by the Orlando Sentinel as Joseph Richardson, to stand for the pledge to the flag as “children have to in school.” Richardson again politely declined.

“Okay. I asked him to either stand or please be escorted out as we do the Pledge,” Rees says in the video. “It’s just not fair to our troops and people overseas, sir.”

By order of the police, the local dissenter left as instructed.

The problem, of course, is that the mayor had no idea what he was talking about. Whether an American sits or stands for government-endorsed prayer has nothing to do with the troops overseas. For that matter, children are not legally required to stand for Pledge of Allegiance to the flag.

In fact, there’s a fascinating Supreme Court ruling from 1943 called West Virginia v. Barnette in which the court majority said the exact opposite. Writing for the court, Justice Robert Jackson warned, “[T]hose who begin coercive elimination of dissent soon find themselves exterminating dissenters. Compulsory unification of opinion achieves only the unanimity of the graveyard.”

In light of the Winter Garden controversy, local officials yesterday adopted a new, more inclusive policy: the city commission will open their meetings with “a moment of silence rather than a prayer,” and it will be clear that “no one has to stand during the Pledge of Allegiance” if they don’t want to.

Also from the God Machine this week:

* An anti-gay group called “American Decency” reportedly plans to hold a protest tomorrow at the Dallas Cowboy’s home opener because the team signed Michael Sam, an openly gay player, to its practice squad (thanks to my colleague Kent Jones for the heads-up).

* This is a case worth watching: “A Minnesota town is being sued by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for denying a zoning permit to a mosque. Members of the Abu Huraira Islamic Center claim they were unconstitutionally denied the permit by the city of St. Anthony in 2012. On Wednesday, the DOJ agreed.”

* Pope Francis this week is trying to encouraging Iraq’s beleaguered Christians, under threat from Islamic militants, “saying they are the ‘heart’ of the church and that the church is proud of them.”

* And it’s amazing what can be found in an old library: “A recently re-discovered papyrus amulet dating from the 6th century may offer a fascinating glimpse into early Christian life. Lecturer Roberta Mazza encountered the 1,500-year-old document while researching in the University of Manchester’s John Rylands Library. As a classicist and historian, Mazza told HuffPost, she quickly recognized its significance.”

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/week-god-9614


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PostPosted: 09/13/14 7:37 am • # 79 
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Here is this week's installment ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

This Week in God, 9.13.14
09/13/14 09:17 AM
By Steve Benen

First up from the God Machine this week is an unexpected story involving the U.S. Air Force and the way it’s treating one of their own airmen – who happens to be an atheist (thanks to reader D.R. for the heads-up).

An atheist member of the U.S. Air Force has been told he must swear “so help me God” as part of his military oath or else he will be forced to leave the service, the Air Force Times reports. The airman, who has not been identified by name, is currently serving in the Air Force at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada until the end of his current term of service in November, but was denied reenlistment last month when he refused to sign a sworn oath that included the religious phrase.

Under Department Guidelines, there’s a re-enlistment form with a specific written oath. It requires American servicemen and women to, among other things, “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic”; “bear true faith and allegiance to the same”; and “obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me.” It concludes, “So help me God.”

In the Army and Navy, Americans have the discretion to omit those final four words. The Air Force, however, has a different “interpretation” of Pentagon regulations, and has told the unnamed airman that he will be excluded from military service, regardless of his qualifications, unless he swears an oath to God.

It’s worth noting that the U.S. Constitution – the one the military supports and defends, and which trumps Defense Department regulations and forms – says quite explicitly that “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” To date, the Air Force has found this unpersuasive.

Some notable conservative voices have rushed into the debate to endorse the Air Force’s policy. The American Family Association’s Bryan Fischer said, “There is no place in the United States military for those who do not believe in the Creator.” He added, “A man who doesn’t believe in the Creator … most certainly should not wear the uniform.”

One wonders what Fischer might have said to Pat Tillman.

The airman in question is considering a legal challenge to the policy blocking his military service. The Air Force, which has been embroiled in religious controversy before, has asked the Pentagon’s general counsel for an official review.

Also from the God Machine this week:

* Vice President Biden will be in Iowa this week, which raises speculation about his possible presidential ambitions, but let’s not brush past the ostensible purpose of the visit: “Biden will speak in Des Moines at a kick-off event for the Nuns on the Bus, in which progressive Catholic nuns tour the country promoting social justice, according to The Des Moines Register.”

* Unfortunate allegations out of South Carolina: “Reginald Wayne Miller, the president of Cathedral Bible College, was arrested Thursday on accusations that he forces foreign students at his school to work long hours for low wages and then threatens to revoke their student visas if they complain or fail to comply with his demands.”

* And TV preacher Pat Robertson told viewers this week, “What is the new beatitude? Blessed are the fully armed because theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” I’m no expert, but I seem to remember Matthew 5:9 a little differently.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/week-god-91314


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PostPosted: 09/20/14 7:30 am • # 80 
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Here is this week's installment ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

This Week in God, 9.20.14
09/20/14 09:02 AM
By Steve Benen

First up from the God Machine this week is an update to a story we’ve been following involving the U.S. Air Force and a religious oath as a precondition to military service.

To briefly recap for those new to the story, the Pentagon requires servicemen and women sign an oath for re-enlistment, which concludes, “So help me God.” In the Army and Navy, Americans have the discretion to omit those final four words without penalty, but the Air Force has made it mandatory.

An airman was recently told he would be excluded from military service, regardless of his qualifications, unless he does as the Air Force requires and swears an oath to God. Faced with a likely lawsuit, the Air Force backed down this week and made the oath optional.

Some in the religious right movement really aren’t pleased.

Quote:
Televangelist Pat Robertson says it’s “crazy” that the U.S. Air Force will now allow servicemen and women to omit the words “so help me God” from official oaths.

“What is wrong with the Air Force?” he beseeched viewers on the Christian Broadcasting Network’s “The 700 Club” on Thursday.

The TV preacher seemed especially incensed by Military Religious Freedom Foundation President Mikey Weinstein for pushing the issue.

“There’s a left-wing radical named Mikey Weinstein who has got a group about people against religion or whatever he calls it, and he has just terrorized the armed forces,” Robertson said. “You think you’re supposed to be tough, you’re supposed to defend us, and you got one little Jewish radical who is scaring the pants off of you.”

The televangelist added, “You want these guys flying the airplanes to defend us when you got one little guy terrorizing them? That’s what it amounts to.… How can [the Air Force] fly the bombers to defend us if they cave to one little guy?”

For what it’s worth, the Air Force didn’t “cave” to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation; it instead chose to stick to the U.S. Constitution, which mandates “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.”

Also from the God Machine this week:

* This ought to generate some interesting responses: “Orange County, Florida’s public school district has twice allowed a Christian group to pass out Bibles to its students, prompting a self-identified Satanist group to seek equal treatment. A religious organization called The Satanic Temple announced on Sunday that they will provide ‘Satanic materials to students during the new school year. Among the materials to be distributed are pamphlets related to the Temple’s tenets, philosophy and practice of Satanism, as well as information about the legal right to practice Satanism in school’ ” (thanks to reader D.R. for the tip).

* As recently as the 1950s, Egypt’s Jewish community had roughly 100,000 people. Today, it’s down to just 12 individuals.

* Faith and climate: “As the UN Climate Summit approaches, Archbishop Desmond Tutu has recorded a new video calling for ‘the end of the fossil fuel era.’ … Uploaded to YouTube by The Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, the video addressed rising greenhouse gas emissions and climate degradation which wreak havoc primarily on the poor and underprivileged. ‘Time is running out,’ Tutu urged.”

* And Hobby Lobby CEO Steve Green is moving forward with his $800 million, eight-story Bible museum in Washington, D.C. But Green still sees a nagging problem: “The building, he says, is not quite close enough to the National Mall…. Green knows how much location matters.”

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/week-god-92014


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PostPosted: 09/27/14 8:42 am • # 81 
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Here is this week's installment ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

This Week in God, 9.27.14
09/27/14 08:51 AM
By Steve Benen

First up from the God Machine this week is evidence of a striking shift in public attitudes, especially as it relates to the separation of church and state.

During the Cold War, the United States took deliberate steps towards blurring the church-state line – the point was to rebuke the “godless” USSR – with symbolic measures like adding “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance and “In God We Trust” to all U.S. currency. Now that the nation’s principal enemy believes in merging religion, politics, and government, might the American pendulum shift once more in the opposite direction?

Apparently not. Christopher Ingraham reported this week on the growing number of Americans who also want to help merge religion, politics, and government.

Quote:
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public life just released its semiannual survey of American attitudes on the role of religion in politics. The survey finds a growing appetite for belief in the ballot box, and politics in the pulpit.

These shifts are largely happening on the Republican side of the aisle. And among Republicans, the changes are driven by white evangelical concern that the country is becoming less favorable to religion and, inexplicably, more hostile toward white evangelicals.

The results of the Pew Forum’s study, which can be found in their entirety here, show sudden reversals in key areas. As recently as 2010, for example, a majority of Americans believed houses of worship should steer clear of day-to-day political disputes, but in 2014, a plurality believes the opposite. The reversal can be attributed almost entirely to self-identified Republicans, who’ve moved sharply to the right on this issue in recent years.

Indeed, the same report found that GOP voters, unlike the American population at large, increasingly want churches to endorse candidates for elected office, and believe there’s “too little” talk about religion from U.S. politicians.

The broader question is why this is happening. Don’t rule out the role of reflexive tribalism – as we discussed in February, Republicans in the Obama era have quickly turned against evolutionary biology, too, not necessarily because GOP voters are more anti-science than they were six years ago, but because of tribal instincts. As Paul Krugman put it a while back, “The point … is that Republicans are being driven to identify in all ways with their tribe – and the tribal belief system is dominated by anti-science fundamentalists.”

It’s quite possible we’re seeing a similar dynamic in the new Pew Forum data – Republicans are suddenly eager to merge religion and politics because they’ve come to see constitutional principles like church-state separation as “liberal.”

If this is driving the shifts, GOP voters may yet move closer to the mainstream at some point in the future.

Also from the God Machine this week:

* The Values Voter Summit is the year’s biggest gathering of social-conservative activists and Republican politicians, and the event kicked off in Washington, D.C. yesterday. I’m always grateful for Right Wing Watch’s timely updated and on-the-spot video uploads from the event.

* President Obama this week recorded, as he does every year, a video address in honor of Rosh Hashanah.

* The Vatican has been busy, Part I: “Pope Francis on Thursday forcibly removed a conservative bishop from a Paraguayan diocese who had clashed with his fellow bishops and promoted a priest accused of inappropriate sexual behavior.”

* The Vatican has been busy, Part II: “In his first major appointment in the United States, Pope Francis named Bishop Blase J. Cupich of Spokane, Wash., on Saturday to be the next archbishop of Chicago, replacing a combative conservative with a prelate whose pastoral approach to upholding church doctrine is more in keeping with the pope’s inclusive new tone.”

* I suspect this won’t be the last time we’ll see an SBC schism over gay rights: “A California congregation that decided to ‘agree to disagree’ about the moral acceptability of homosexuality has been kicked out of the Southern Baptist Convention, the country’s largest protestant denomination. The SBC executive committee announced on Tuesday that it had decided to oust the New Heart Community Church because the congregation’s relatively tolerant take on LGBT issues does not meet the convention’s standards of a ‘cooperating church.’”

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/week-god-92714


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PostPosted: 10/04/14 8:10 am • # 82 
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Here is this week's installment ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

This Week in God, 10.4.14
10/04/14 09:07 AM
By Steve Benen

First up from the God Machine this week is a striking set of remarks from one of the most controversial Supreme Court justices in recent memory.

Quote:
The separation of church and state doesn’t mean “the government cannot favor religion over non-religion,” Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia argued during a speech at Colorado Christian University on Wednesday, according to The Washington Times.

Defending his strict adherence to the plain text of the Constitution, Scalia knocked secular qualms over the role of religion in the public sphere as “utterly absurd,” arguing that the Constitution is only obligated to protect freedom of religion – not freedom from it.

In an unusually radical argument for a high-court jurist, Scalia reportedly insisted this week, “[The Supreme Court’s] latest take on the subject, which is quite different from previous takes, is that the state must be neutral, not only between religions, but between religion and non-religion. That’s just a lie. Where do you get the notion that this is all unconstitutional? You can only believe that if you believe in a morphing Constitution.”

The implications of such an approach are pretty remarkable. In Scalia’s vision, the Constitution – a secular document, which separates religion and government – empowers the government to favor supernatural beliefs over disbelief. Government couldn’t favor Baptists over Buddhists, the argument goes, but laws can favor both over those he dismisses as “secularists.”

If U.S. policymakers passed a law that deliberately treated American atheists as second-class citizens, Scalia seems to believe that’s perfectly permissible under the Constitution.

Of course, there is nothing in the Constitution that empowers the state to favor religion over irreligion, but Scalia has apparently morphed the document to comport with his preferred vision of a government that blurs the church-state line.

As my friend Rob Boston wrote for the American Constitution Society this week, “[F]or all this bluster, Scalia isn’t really harkening back to the founding document of the Constitution. Nothing there provides comfort for his view of a religion-tinged government.”

In other words, the strict constructionist just made up his own rules, based on what he wishes the Constitution says, but doesn’t. It’s what happens when someone starts with an answer, then works backwards in the hopes of reaching an agreed upon conclusion – which is largely the opposite of what someone in Scalia’s position is supposed to do.

Also from the God Machine this week:

* The NFL later apologized: “When openly Christian quarterback Tim Tebow dropped to a knee in prayer, it became a national meme. When devoutly Muslim Kansas City Chiefs safety Husain Abdullah celebrated his touchdown in a similar fashion, he got a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct and a 15-yard penalty.”

* This is an odd one: “A Baptist church in Louisiana has barred Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) from holding meetings on their grounds, claiming that allowing the support group to gather would eventually require the congregation to start performing gay marriages.”

* Stephen Colbert poked fun at Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s (R) concerns about evolution, promoting the Republican governor to try to retaliate. It didn’t go well (thanks to my colleague Will Femia for the heads-up).

* Seems overdue: “The only American bishop ever convicted of shielding a pedophile priest is now under investigation by the Vatican.”

* And Sarah Posner did a real nice job on this report on the International House of Prayer: “The prayer room – a nondescript auditorium ringed with small side rooms for prophesying and faith healing – receives daily visitors from all over the world who want to experience what IHOP’s founder, the controversial, and self-titled, “prophet” Mike Bickle, claims is a recreation of the biblical King David’s tabernacle. Bickle maintains he is helping Christians achieve a greater intimacy with Jesus through 24/7 music and prayer – a prerequisite, he says, for Jesus to return to earth, carry out God’s battle plan for the end-times, vanquish the Antichrist, and rule the world from his throne in Jerusalem.”

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/week-god-10414


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PostPosted: 10/11/14 7:25 am • # 83 
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Here is this week's installment ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

This Week in God, 10.11.14
10/11/14 09:02 AM
By Steve Benen

First up from the God Machine this week is a story out of Kentucky, where a religious theme park has sought and received taxpayer support, which may now evaporate as its owners discover that public funds come with public accountability (thanks to reader R.P. for the tip).

At issue is a theme park called Ark Encounter, created by the creationist group Answers in Genesis, which will feature a 510-foot reproduction of Noah’s Ark. To help bolster the attraction, state officials in Kentucky agreed to $18 million in tax subsidies to help Ark Encounter’s finances.

Those tax incentives, however, are suddenly in doubt.

Quote:
The developer of a Noah’s Ark-based theme park in Kentucky said on Wednesday he would fight for his religious rights after state officials warned he could lose millions in potential tax credits if he hires only people who believe in the biblical flood.

Ark Encounter, which is slated to open in 2016 in Williamston, Kentucky, is not hiring anyone yet, but its parent company Answers in Genesis asks employees to sign a faith statement including a belief in creationism and the flood.

State officials and Ark Encounter lawyers have exchanged letters in which the state threatened not to proceed with tax incentives for the park if there was discriminatory hiring practices, a state official confirmed on Wednesday.

Specifically, all Ark Encounter employees are required to sign a “statement of faith,” in which workers agree that the planet is only 6,000 years old.

The truly amazing part, as Simon Brown reported this week, is not just that Ark Encounter’s management wants to discriminate in hiring based on applicants’ religious beliefs, even while receiving tax incentives from the state. Just as striking is the fact that Ark Encounter’s owners have suggested they have a First Amendment right to receive the financial assistance.

Indeed, Reuters’ report noted that Ark Encounter’s executive president, Mike Zovath, “said that if tax incentives for the project are withdrawn because it does not give written assurances the state now seeks, it would violate the organization’s First Amendment and state constitutional rights.”

This would be a very tough sell in court. The religious theme park is not entitled to tax subsidies under the Constitution, and if it expects financial support from the people of Kentucky, it’s hardly outrageous for the state to insist that attraction agree not to discriminate against those same Kentucky taxpayers.

Brown added that if Answers in Genesis “has a problem with that policy, it doesn’t have to take Kentucky’s $18 million and it can build the ark itself. Really, that should have been the case all along.”

Also from the God Machine this week:

* This controversy out of Indiana is worth watching: “Ellen Bogan expects police to protect and serve – not proselytize. But she says Indiana State Police Trooper Brian Hamilton pitched Christianity to her when he pulled her over for an alleged traffic violation in August on U.S. 27 in Union County. With the lights on his marked police car still flashing, the trooper handed Bogan a warning ticket. Then, Bogan said, Hamilton posed some personal questions. Did she have a home church? Did she accept Jesus Christ as her savior?”

* The end of the road for John Freshwater: “The U.S. Supreme Court approved a ruling last year by the Ohio Supreme Court that upheld a decision by Mount Vernon school officials to fire a middle-school teacher for not removing religious materials from his classroom.”

* Bill Maher and Ben Affleck generated a considerable amount of attention this week, following the HBO host’s anti-Islam remarks, and the actor’s criticism in response.

* And a dreadful story out of Alabama this week: “An Alabama pastor was removed from his position at Montgomery’s Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church after disclosing that he has AIDS, and that he had sex with multiple members of the congregation without alerting them to his status. Pastor Juan Demetrius McFarland gradually revealed the information in a series of sermons last month, and was dismissed from the church on Sunday.”

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/week-god-101114


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PostPosted: 10/18/14 7:51 am • # 84 
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This Week in God, 10.18.14
10/18/14 09:24 AM—Updated 10/18/14 09:30 AM
By Steve Benen

First up from the God Machine this week is a story out of Houston, where Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is convinced pastors may be literally imprisoned for opposing marriage equality.

Indeed, that’s exactly what the far-right senator said this week to David Brody, a political reporter for TV preacher Pat Robertson’s cable network.

Quote:
In an exclusive interview with The Brody File, Senator Ted Cruz says pastors being hauled off to jail by the government for preaching against homosexuality is a “real risk” in the future.

“I think that is a real risk,” Cruz tells me. “Some in the media ridicule that threat saying there is no danger of the government coming after pastors. That is the usual response.” But he adds: “The specter of government trying to determine if what pastors preach from the pulpit meets with the policy views or political correctness of the governing authorities, that prospect is real and happening now.”

In the same interview, Cruz was asked if we may “soon go through a period where pastors are hauled off to jail for a hate crime because they are speaking for traditional marriage.” The Texas Republican replied, “I think that is a real risk.”

In reality, that’s not even close to what’s “happening now” and there is no such “risk.” In fact, under the First Amendment, the scenario Cruz is warning against simply cannot happen.

As Right Wing Watch explained this week, at issue is a case out of Houston, where social conservatives are trying to repeal the city’s anti-discrimination ordinance. Pro-bono lawyers defending the existing policy have arguably been overzealous, subpoenaing materials from local pastors, but city officials have criticized the move, which is unlikely to fare well in the courts.

But for the religious right, the controversy itself has become a rallying cry – proof, they say, that supporters of gay rights will try to exploit the law to silence, and perhaps even imprison, conservative ministers.

The fact remains, however, that pastors have always been free to speak out on moral issues of the day, and this constitutionally protected speech will always be protected. The notion of the government “coming after pastors” based on sermons about marriage sounds like a dystopian novel that might appeal to Pat Robertson’s viewers, but it’s certainly not “happening now,” and under the American system, it never will.

Also from the God Machine this week:

* The fall of a megachurch pastor: “Mark Driscoll, the larger-than-life megachurch pastor who has been accused of plagiarism, bullying and an unhealthy ego that alienated his most devoted followers, resigned from his Seattle church Wednesday (Oct. 15), according to a document obtained by RNS. The divisive Seattle pastor had announced his plan to step aside for at least six weeks in August while his church investigated the charges against him. Driscoll’s resignation came shortly after the church concluded its investigation.”

* An interesting case out of California: “An atheist who once spent 100 days in prison because he refused to enter a religion-based rehab program has been awarded a sizable settlement for his unjust treatment” (thanks to reader R.P. for the tip).

* The Vatican this week generated considerable international attention, saying that gay people “have gifts and qualities to offer to the Christian community.” Soon after, however, BuzzFeed noted that church leaders circulated a new English translation of their report, removing landmark language on “welcoming homosexual persons,” and replacing it with the less inclusive phrase “providing for homosexual persons.”

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/week-god-101814


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PostPosted: 10/18/14 3:21 pm • # 85 
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In reality, that’s not even close to what’s “happening now” and there is no such “risk.” In fact, under the First Amendment, the scenario Cruz is warning against simply cannot happen.

It most certainly can happen. Whether it would happen is another matter.

From Chapter 272 of the Massachusetts General Laws Section 36.

Whoever willfully blasphemes the holy name of God by denying, cursing or contumeliously reproaching God, His creation, government or final judging of the world, or by cursing or contumeliously reproaching Jesus Christ or the Holy Ghost, or by cursing or contumeliously reproaching or exposing to contempt and ridicule, the holy word of God contained in the holy scriptures shall be punished by imprisonment in jail for not more than one year or by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars, and may also be bound to good behavior.

Still on the books as a law.


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PostPosted: 10/18/14 4:58 pm • # 86 
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oskar576 wrote:
In reality, that’s not even close to what’s “happening now” and there is no such “risk.” In fact, under the First Amendment, the scenario Cruz is warning against simply cannot happen.

It most certainly can happen. Whether it would happen is another matter.

From Chapter 272 of the Massachusetts General Laws Section 36.

Whoever willfully blasphemes the holy name of God by denying, cursing or contumeliously reproaching God, His creation, government or final judging of the world, or by cursing or contumeliously reproaching Jesus Christ or the Holy Ghost, or by cursing or contumeliously reproaching or exposing to contempt and ridicule, the holy word of God contained in the holy scriptures shall be punished by imprisonment in jail for not more than one year or by a fine of not more than three hundred dollars, and may also be bound to good behavior.

Still on the books as a law.


Obama isn't going to haul off a pastor willfully blaspheming etc. to the nearest FEMA camp any time soon though.
Definitely not NOW. Perhaps at the end of his fourth or fifth term, well yeah, anything will go by then. :D


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PostPosted: 10/19/14 9:23 am • # 87 
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Didn't say anybody "would" but that they "could". The post referenced sait they "couldn't", not that they "wouldn't".
These people who earn a living using words need to be far more exact in their use of words. Simply consider the unexpected consequences of poorly crafted legislation.


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PostPosted: 10/25/14 8:13 am • # 88 
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Here is this week's installment ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

This Week in God, 10.25.14
10/25/14 09:39 AM
By Steve Benen

First up from the God Machine this week is a story out of Alabama, where voters will decide on Election Day whether to change the state Constitution in a provocative way.

This year’s “Amendment One” in Alabama, on the surface, may seem uncontroversial. Its text seeks to prohibit “the application of foreign laws” that may violate “a right guaranteed by the Alabama Constitution or of the United States Constitution.” At first blush, it seems hard to object to a measure like this.

But taking this one step further, a question arises: since when does Alabama apply foreign laws that violate Americans’ existing rights? If that’s never happened – and it hasn’t – then why change the Constitution to address an imaginary threat?

Sarah Jones knows the answer:

Quote:
The amendment’s text never explicitly references Sharia, but as the Greene County Democrat reports, it’s merely the latest incarnation of anti-Sharia legislation in the state. It’s also the brainchild of State Sen. Gerald Allen (R-Tuscaloosa), who sponsored the original, failed version of the bill in 2011. Critics panned Allen for being unable to name any examples of Alabama Muslims attempting to enforce Sharia. His bill received another major blow when the Anniston Star revealed its text had been partially plagiarized from Wikipedia.

Ah, yes, now it makes sense. This isn’t just about prohibiting “the application of foreign laws”; this is about anti-Muslim paranoia. In recent years, the threat of “creeping Sharia law” has been common in right-wing circles – it was even an element of Newt Gingrich’s 2012 presidential platform – and now Alabama voters are being asked to change their state Constitution to enshrine that paranoia into law.

If this sounds at all familiar, in 2010, voters in Oklahoma easily approved their own anti-sharia state constitutional amendment. Its chief sponsor, Republican Rex Duncan, described his measure as a “preemptive strike,” which struck me as a clever euphemism for “addressing a threat that does not exist.”

Federal courts soon after rejected the measure. Don’t be too surprised if Alabama’s proposal meets a similar fate.

Also from the God Machine this week:

* TV preacher Pat Robertson told viewers this week that we have the ability to raise the dead. “That power is there, we just aren’t using it,” he said. Maybe Robertson’s been watching a little too much “Walking Dead”?

* An ugly story out of Wisconsin: “A Green Bay, Wisc. alderman has refused to resign after he randomly asked a Muslim woman if she condemned radical Islamic terrorism. Heba Mohammad, a University of Wisconsin-Green Bay graduate, emailed Alderman Chris Wery to ask why bus service is not free on Election Day. Wery replied to say he would look into it, and then proceeded to ask Mohammed about terrorism, according to the Green Bay Press-Gazette.”

* Religious vandalism in Oklahoma: “Someone drove up a ramp near the Oklahoma Capitol steps overnight and into a disputed granite monument of the Ten Commandments, smashing it to pieces in an apparent act of vandalism, authorities said. Oklahoma Highway Patrol Capt. George Brown said the person abandoned the car and fled the scene after destroying the monument Thursday night, and that investigators are searching the sedan for clues.”

* A striking cultural shift: “If you’re dismayed that one in five Americans (20 percent) are ‘nones’ – people who claim no particular religious identity – brace yourself. How does 38 percent sound? That’s what religion researcher David Kinnaman calculates when he adds ‘the unchurched, the never-churched and the skeptics’ to the nones (thanks to reader R.P. for the tip).

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/week-god-102514


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PostPosted: 10/25/14 9:24 am • # 89 
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In recent years, the threat of “creeping Sharia law” has been common in right-wing circles –

I wonder what happens in their fuzzy little minds when Sharia law is the same as their "Christian" laws. For example, if Sharia is against murder does that mean other laws against murder are Sharia? That Sharia has crept in. Even more perplexing, what if Sharia promoted the freedom to bear arms. Would that mean Sharia crept right in and snuggled down in the U.S. Constitution? In their fear and panic do any of these guys have any idea what Sharia law is?


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PostPosted: 10/25/14 2:38 pm • # 90 
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jimwilliam wrote:
do any of these guys have any idea what Sharia law is?


You don't understand the issue.
In the right wing mind you don't need an idea what Sharia law is. All you need to know is that it sounds islamic, ergo, we need to be against it to protect Jesus or so, fight terrorism and gay marriage.
And don't ever turn that dial away from Fox News.


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PostPosted: 11/01/14 8:19 am • # 91 
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Here is this week's installment ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

This Week in God, 11.1.14
11/01/14 09:22 AM
By Steve Benen

First up from the God Machine this week is a look at a recent forum in which a Republican congressman endorsed some strange ideas as the “secular left.”

Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), one of Congress’ more aggressive culture warriors, partnered with E.W. Jackson – yes, that E.W. Jackson – to discuss the nation’s ills. As Brian Tashman reported, they shared an unusual perspective.

Quote:
Jackson asked the Arizona congressman about the “profound threat to Christianity in general and to our Christian foundations in this country,” which he said comes from President Obama and the “drumbeat of atheism that attacks everything, ‘get the cross down,’ ‘don’t show a Bible,’ ‘don’t wear a cross,’ ‘don’t say God bless you.’ It just seems like every day we’re hearing some new effort to try to shut Christians up and shut us down.”

“The litany that you listed there is so right, dead-on,” Franks responded, before warning that ISIS may succeed in committing violence against Christians because “the secular left” in America is diluting the country’s Christian heritage.

It’s not at all clear what they were talking about. There is no organized national effort to tell American Christians to stop wearing crosses, stop saying “God bless you,” or stop showing Bibles.

Similarly, in the same forum, Franks said there’s a legal effort underway to remove religious icons from tombstones at Arlington National Cemetery. In reality, no such lawsuit exists.

In the larger context, the far-right Arizonan has long tried to position himself and his allies as victims of cultural persecution, worthy of pity. It’d be a more compelling case if Franks’ complaints were based on real mistreatment.

Also from the God Machine this week:

* A notable LDS shift: “The Mormon Church has decided to rename the General Women’s Meeting as the General Women’s Session of General Conference – something that signals a big change for women’s leadership in the church, the governing First Presidency for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced on Thursday.”

* A worthy cause: “Point Loma Nazarene University wants to offer human trafficking survivors who want to earn a college degree a full-ride scholarship. PLNU, a private Christian university located in San Diego, officially launched an Indiegogo crowd-funding campaign this week with a goal to raise $40,000 in 40 days. The money will fund the Beauty for Ashes Scholarship Fund, a reference to the Bible verse Isaiah 61:3.”

* A just resolution: “Frank Schaefer, the United Methodist Church (UMC) minister who was defrocked by church leaders and subsequently reinstated for officiating the wedding of his gay son, has been fully restored to his position as a pastor today following an official ruling from the church’s highest court.”

* And this week, TV preacher Pat Robertson explained that he believes Ouija boards are real – and dangerous. “The spirit is causing that little needle — it goes around to letters and spells out words and so you feel like [it’s] some dead person, but actually it is communicating with demonic spirits,” he said. “It is a dangerous thing and I strongly urge people not to get involved in it.”

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/week-god-11114


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PostPosted: 11/08/14 8:52 am • # 92 
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Here is this week's installment ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

This Week in God, 11.8.14
11/08/14 08:58 AM
By Steve Benen

First up from the God Machine this week is a closer look at a biennial event known as “Pulpit Freedom Sunday,” and which has turned into quite a religio-political phenomenon. Rachael Bade reported this week on just how big a deal this has become.

Quote:
A record number of rogue Christian pastors are endorsing candidates from the pulpit this election cycle, using Sunday sermons to defiantly flout tax rules.

Their message to the IRS: Sue me. […]

[T]he number of pastors endorsing candidates in what they call Pulpit Freedom Sunday jumped from 33 people in 2008 to more than 1,600 this year, according to organizers, Alliance Defending Freedom.

As long-time readers may recall, under federal tax law, tax-exempt houses of worship and religious ministries are prohibited from intervening in political campaigns, either in support of or opposition to a candidate or a party. Those who violate the law run the risk of IRS penalties, up to and including the loss of their tax-exempt status.

For the right, specifically a group called Alliance Defending Freedom, the law is outrageous, and the way to prove it is to force a legal confrontation. It’s a simple enough plan:: encourage pastors to break the law, deliberately, in the hopes of IRS sanctions. The church would then have the basis for a test case, financed by ADF, challenging the penalty in the courts and urging judges to strike down the legal limits themselves.

As msnbc’s Emma Margolin recently reported, the IRS “hasn’t taken the bait,” a posture that’s drawn criticism from my friends at Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

But the larger question is, do the pastors engaging in civil disobedience have a point? Do they have the right under the First Amendment to endorse like-minded candidates from the pulpit if they so choose?

Not really.

Remember, the law only applies to partisan elections. Religious leaders who want to use their pulpits to preach for or against marriage rights, abortion, the death penalty, or any other issue are free to do so.

But when it comes to electioneering, these churches have effectively made a deal with the feds: the pastors will enjoy the benefits of a tax-exemption, and in exchange, their house or worship will be non-partisan. “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” wants to break the deal – the churches should get the benefit, the argument goes, without the cost.

And that’s where the First Amendment argument breaks down. The fact remains that if a tax-exempt group wants to get more engaged in partisan politics, endorsing candidates and supporting parties, pastors always maintain the right to give up its tax exemption and become a political group, intervening in campaigns to their hearts’ content.

Also from the God Machine this week:

* Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), reportedly gearing up for another presidential campaign, recently did an interview with the Christian Post in which he raised the specter of anti-Christian prosecution in America. His argument took an unfortunate turn: “The slide toward wholesale persecution is a process, Santorum said, pointing to Nazi Germany to argue that just as the Jews in that country found it ‘unfathomable’ that anything like the Holocaust could ever happen, so too does it seem unfathomable that anything like that could ever happen in America.”

* An unexpected report: “Satanism is on the rise, according to the International Association of Exorcists, whose members recently convened with Pope Francis to receive a blessing at the Vatican. The group, which consists of around 300 members, gathered in Rome last week to discuss the impact of the occult and Satanism with the Pope, who is adamant about the fight against Satan in his sermons. The Pope took time to commend the group for helping those who are suffering from the ‘devil’s works’ ” (thanks to my colleague Will Femia for the tip).

* The latest out of Chicago: “The Archdiocese of Chicago on Thursday released thousands of internal documents showing how it hid the sexual abuse of children by 36 priests, adding to similar disclosures made earlier this year and fulfilling a pledge by an ailing Cardinal Francis George to release the files before he retires later this month.”

* And an unusual story out of South Florida: “Two church pastors and a 90-year-old man were charged for feeding homeless people in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, under a strict new city ordinance that virtually bans private groups from handing out food….. Homeless activist Arnold Abbott, 90, and Christian ministers Dwayne Black of the Sanctuary Church in Fort Lauderdale and Mark Sims of St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church in Coral Springs were handing out meals in a park on Sunday, two days after Fort Lauderdale’s ordinance took effect, when police approached them with their sirens flashing, Black said. The three were issued citations and face a $500 fine or 60 days in jail.”

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/week-god-11814


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PostPosted: 11/15/14 9:14 am • # 93 
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Here is this week's installment ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

This Week in God, 11.15.14
11/15/14 09:10 AM
By Steve Benen

First up from the God Machine this week is a story out of Maryland, where the state’s largest school district has approved a pretty significant, religiously inspired change to its school calendar. The Washington Post reported this week:

Quote:
Christmas and Easter have been stricken from next year’s school calendar in Montgomery County. So have Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah.

Montgomery’s Board of Education voted 7 to 1 Tuesday to eliminate references to all religious holidays on the published calendar for 2015-2016, a decision that followed a request from Muslim community leaders to give equal billing to the Muslim holy day of Eid al-Adha.

Note, the county hasn’t eliminated religious holidays, and students will still be off for major holidays like Christmas. The schools will still be closed when all other state agencies are closed.

But to avoid references to Muslim holidays, the calendar won’t specifically reference any religious holidays associated with those days off.

Libby Nelson noted, “The school board’s decision seems to have made everyone mad: Muslim leaders are furious that the board would get rid of religious holidays before acknowledging Muslim ones, while conservative media outlets are accusing the board of ‘banning’ Jewish and Christian religious holidays in order to appease Muslims.”

In fact, Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly told his audience this week that this story is – you guessed it – the “first salvo this season in the ongoing war on Christmas.” He added, “They just wiped out all our traditions because [of] these people.”

Aren’t the holidays fun?

For more on this story, our friends at msnbc’s “Politics Nation” did a great segment earlier this week.

Also from the God Machine this week:

* Pope Francis had a busy week, delivering a striking rebuke to Cardinal Raymond Burke, who had an unfortunate habit of intervening in domestic U.S. politics, while also announcing plans “to build showers for the homeless under the sweeping white colonnade of St. Peter’s Square.”

* This looks like a problem: “A Mormon bishop in Los Angeles is under fire for his assertion that Sen. Harry Reid is unworthy to enter the faith’s temples because of his support of Democratic Party positions. Mark Paredes, in a Wednesday blog titled ‘Good Riddance to Harry Reid, the Mormon Senate Leader,’ expressed his belief that Democrats’ support of same-sex marriage, abortion rights and gambling runs contrary to church stances.”

* And as Republican opposition to net neutrality becomes the norm, the religious right movement is also unified in its opposition to the policy. Like many GOP officials, however, social conservatives don’t seem to know what net neutrality is.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/week-god-111514


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PostPosted: 11/22/14 8:23 am • # 94 
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Here is this week's installment ~ I'm thinking Huckabee must have flunked "pastoral" studies in divinity school since his nasty spirit is reaching legendary levels ~ :ey ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

This Week in God, 11.22.14
11/22/14 08:49 AM
By Steve Benen

First up from the God Machine this week is a curious reaction from the right to President Obama quoting Christian scripture in his national address on immigration policy this week.

If you missed it, referencing Exodus 23:9, he told Americans, “Scripture tells us that we shall not oppress a stranger, for we know the heart of a stranger – we were strangers once, too.”

In an interesting twist, conservatives who generally push for more mixing of religion and politics, and who complain that the president isn’t more overtly religious all the time, began complaining after Obama’s speech about the Biblical reference. Emily Arrowood noted yesterday:

Quote:
The hosts of Fox & Friends were incensed that President Obama quoted scripture in a primetime address detailing his upcoming executive action on immigration, challenging him to a “scripture-showdown” and claiming it’s “repugnant” for Obama to “lecture us on Christian faith.” […]

According to [co-host Elisabeth] Hasselbeck, Obama used the Bible to guilt people into supporting his executive action, and that’s “not what the scholars behind the Bible would interpret as proper use, perhaps.”

Because no one’s ever used Scripture to guilt someone into supporting a position, right?

It was, incidentally, the co-hosts of “Fox & Friends” who also complained just 48 hours earlier that the president doesn’t espouse Christian values often enough.

But they weren’t the only ones complaining. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) also wasn’t happy. “I always thought that Scripture was eternal and unchanging, but apparently, now that Obama is President, Scripture gets rewritten more often than Bill Cosby’s Wikipedia entry,” Huckabee wrote on his Facebook page.

Fox’s Bill O’Reilly also said of Obama, “He is one of the most secular presidents, perhaps the most secular president we have ever had, yet, he invokes scripture in the speech.”

For what it’s worth, Thomas Jefferson edited his Bible to remove references to Jesus’ divinity, so I don’t think Obama, who’s made countless public references to his Christian faith, is in the running for any Most Secular Presidents awards.

Also from the God Machine this week:

* Muslims in the D.C. area held their first-ever worship services at the Washington National Cathedral last weekend. A woman named Christine Weick reportedly snuck into the invitation-only Islamic prayer service to interrupt and promote Christianity. She was escorted from the building.

* The school board in Orange County, Florida, allowed an evangelical Christian group to distribute Bibles to school children. Now Satanists are demanding equal treatment, leading the board members to reconsider their policy.

* This is one of those paragraphs you just don’t see often: “Stripper poles, a lingerie shop and a room called ‘The Dungeon’ weren’t enough to keep a church in Athens, Ga. from buying a new piece of real estate. The Athens Link Fellowship recently purchased both Chelsea’s Strip Club and The Fantasy World Lingerie Shop, looking to convert the previously salacious establishments into places for worship, television station WAGA reported Tuesday.”

* Come to think of it, the same goes for this one: “When Asia Lemmon, a former adult film star and mother of two, visited the Department of Motor Vehicles in Hurricane, Utah to renew her driver’s license recently, her experience roughly resembled that of most Americans: She stood in line, filled out forms, and signed tedious paperwork. When it came time to take a new picture for Lemmon’s license, however, things took an odd turn. As officials readied the camera, Lemmon abruptly placed a colander on top of her head. She encountered initial resistance from confused DMV workers, but after explaining that she was a ‘Pastafarian’ and presenting paperwork detailing how the headgear was a component of her religion, officials relented and snapped the photo.”

* The Church of England this week “formally adopted legislation which means its first female bishops could be ordained next year. The amendment was passed with a show of hands at the general synod.”

* And TV preacher Pat Robertson told his audience this week that he was able to help cure a young man’s neck injury through the divine power of a text message. Robertson seemed to be quite serious about this.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/week-god-112214


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PostPosted: 12/06/14 9:14 am • # 95 
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Here is this week's installment ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

This Week in God, 12.6.14
12/06/14 09:00 AM
By Steve Benen

First up from the God Machine this week is a provocative argument from one of the more high-profile figures from the world of religion and politics.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), who’s reportedly gearing up for another Republican presidential campaign, told a right-wing audience this week that “the words ‘separation of church and state’ is not in the U.S. Constitution, but it was in the constitution of the former Soviet Union. That’s where it very, very comfortably sat, not in ours.”

To be sure, Santorum has never been a fan of the First Amendment principle – he once said the argument makes him want to “throw up” – but to suggest church-state separation is communist is pretty outrageous.

Simon Brown’s reply summarized things nicely.

Quote:
As famed church-state lawyer Leo Pfeffer once explained: “It is true, of course, that the phrase ‘separation of church and state’ does not appear in the Constitution. But it was inevitable that some convenient term should come into existence to verbalize a principle so widely held by the American people….” In other words, church-state separation is a summary of the Constitution’s religion clauses. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

Roger Williams was talking about church-state separation in 1644. More than 100 years later, key founders like James Madison and Thomas Jefferson championed the idea. Madison, who is widely considered to be the “father of the Constitution,” was a primary drafter of the First Amendment. In a document known as the “Detached Memoranda,” Madison wrote, “Strongly guarded … is the separation between religion & Gov’t in the Constitution of the United States.”

Here’s a newsflash for Santorum: Williams, Jefferson and Madison were not communists.

As for the constitution from the USSR, it copied a variety of our First Amendment principles – including freedom of speech and press, which the Soviets promptly ignored – but it obviously doesn’t mean our First Amendment is communist.

But even putting all of that aside, what I’d love to know is what Santorum would, if he had the power, replace the American tradition with. If the Pennsylvania Republican could, he’d apparently knock down Thomas Jefferson’s church-state wall in its entirety. Fine. But what exactly would he prefer as an alternative? Does Santorum see theocracies abroad as a superior model?

Also from the God Machine this week:

* What a bizarre case out of Colorado: “A federal judge last week rejected a newly-elected Republican Colorado state representative’s claim that the U.S. navy violated his religious freedom. Gordon Klingenschmitt, who once tried to perform an exorcism on President Obama, claimed that he was wrongfully dismissed as a Navy chaplain for attending in a religious event.”

* According to research published by the Public Religion Research Institute, 77 percent of the nation’s white evangelical Protestants believe recent natural disasters are more related to the Biblical “End Times” than climate change (thanks to reader R.P. for the tip).

* Busy days at the Vatican: He has dismissed and demoted cardinals, bishops and the Vatican secretary of state, and now Pope Francis’s reformist zeal has claimed a new scalp – the head of his own private army, the Swiss Guard (thanks to my colleague Ron Dodd for the heads-up).

* This story out of Georgia is a lawsuit waiting to happen: “There will be no mosque in Kennesaw. At least not right away. The Kennesaw City Council voted on Monday to reject the request of a group of Muslims seeking to establish a worship center in the city. Anti-Islamic demonstrators outside of Kennesaw City Hall made it clear that they believe an Islamic worship center is not welcome in Kennesaw.”

* These cases never go well for the plaintiff: “A federal judge in Connecticut has rejected the arguments of a home invasion killer on death row who complained that the food he is being served in prison is not kosher.”

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/week-god-12614


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PostPosted: 12/13/14 9:28 am • # 96 
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Here is this week's installment ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

This Week in God, 12.13.14
12/13/14 09:45 AM
By Steve Benen

First up from the God Machine this week is a curious lawsuit out of Kansas, where a conservative group went to federal court with an odd argument about science and religion.

An organization that calls itself Citizens for Objective Public Education (COPE) argued that evolutionary biology should be prohibited in public-school science classes because, as the group’s members see it, evolution is part of a “non-theistic” religious agenda. As the Associated Press reported this week, the lawsuit didn’t fare well: a federal judge threw the case out.

Quote:
U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree ruled that a nonprofit group, parents and taxpayers challenging the standards did not claim specific enough injuries from adoption of the guidelines to allow the case to go forward.

The State Board of Education last year adopted standards developed by Kansas, 25 other states and the National Research Council. The guidelines treat both evolution and climate change as key scientific concepts to be taught from kindergarten through 12th grade.

Raw Story’s report noted that COPE characterized the science standards as unacceptable because they lead “impressionable” students “into the religious sphere by leading them to ask ultimate questions like what is the cause and nature of life in the universe – ‘where do we come from?’”

I’m not sure why that necessarily has to be a theological question, but COPE didn’t ask me.

Crabtree, an Obama-appointed judge, said the conservative plaintiffs asserted only an “abstract stigmatic injury” that isn’t enough to sustain a lawsuit.

I suppose Citizens for Objective Public Education deserves some credit for creativity – it’s true that public schools are required to remain neutral in matters of faith – but going to court to block science lessons in science classes was, to put it charitably, a longshot. The group doesn’t have to like modern biology, but trying to label it a religion isn’t going to work.

Also from the God Machine this week:

* The result of a lengthy and important investigation: “For decades, officials at Bob Jones University told sexual assault victims that they were to blame for their abuse, and to not report it to the police because doing so would damage their families, churches and the university, according to a long-awaited independent report released Thursday.”

* The alternative was a lawsuit the city in Georgia would lose: “Wednesday night, in a stunning reversal, the Kennesaw City Council said they plan to approve the new mosque that they rejected last week.”

* It’s amazing this court fight has been ongoing for a quarter of a century: “The U.S. Senate passed a defense policy bill Friday that would allow a 43-foot cross to remain atop Mt. Soledad in San Diego, possibly ending a 25-year legal battle” (thanks to my colleague Robert Lyon for the heads-up).

* Compelling: “Sometimes the best way to combat hate is by telling a story. Vishavjit Singh began receiving a barrage of hateful, racist and verbally abusive comments last week, following the release of a 28-second Facebook Tips video he appeared in. The New York-based Sikh cartoonist offered a surprising response.”

* This probably contradicts Roman Catholic doctrine, but let’s not be sticklers: “We’ve all heard the expression ‘all dogs go to heaven.’ On Wednesday, the spiritual leader of 1.2 billion people around the world gave it his imprimatur. During his weekly address in the Vatican on Wednesday, Pope Francis was consoling a little boy who had recently lost his dog, assuring the boy that he and his furry friend would reunite in heaven.”

* I have a hard time imagining a defense for this discrimination: “[Seven] states still have articles in their constitutions saying people who do not believe in God are not eligible to hold public office. Maryland’s Constitution still says belief in God is a requirement even for jurors and witnesses. Now a coalition of nonbelievers says it is time to get rid of the atheist bans because they are discriminatory, offensive and unconstitutional.”

* One more annoying thing about Congress before it wraps up for the year: “For the third time in four years, Colorado Representative Doug Lamborn (R) introduced a resolution intended to defend Christians against the so-called ‘War on Christmas.’” Yes, that’s the same Doug Lamborn who urged active-duty U.S. generals to resign, during an actual war, in order to undermine the Obama administration.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/week-god-121314


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PostPosted: 12/13/14 1:38 pm • # 97 
Well Pope Francis and I are in agreement: of course doggies and kitty's too will be in heaven.


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PostPosted: 12/13/14 1:45 pm • # 98 
:angel I don't think they have to be Baptist


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PostPosted: 12/13/14 1:47 pm • # 99 
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Odd how "This Week in God" has so little to do with god(s).


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PostPosted: 12/20/14 9:41 am • # 100 
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Here is this week's installment ~ my personal favorite item this week is the one I emphasized/bolded below ~ :ey ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

This Week in God, 12.20.14
12/20/14 09:08 AM
By Steve Benen

Image

First up from the God Machine this week is a closer look at public opinion as it relates to Americans, religion, and acceptance of torture.

Back in May 2009, the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life conducted surveys and found that the more religious an American is, the more likely he or she is to support torture. More than five years later, not much has changed. Sarah Posner reported this week:

Quote:
A new Washington Post/ABC News poll finds that Americans, by a 59-31% margin, believe that CIA “treatment of suspected terrorists” in detention was justified. A plurality deemed that “treatment” to be “torture,” by a 49-38% margin.

Remarkably, the gap between torture supporters and opponents widens between voters who are Christian and those who are not religious.

Right. While many might assume that the faithful would be morally repulsed by torture, the reality is the opposite. When poll respondents were asked, “Do you personally think the CIA treatment of suspected terrorists amounted to torture, or not?” most Americans said the abuses did not constitute torture. But it was non-religious Americans who were easily the most convinced that the “enhanced interrogation techniques” were, in fact, torture.

The results in response to this question were even more striking: “All in all, do you think the CIA treatment of suspected terrorists was justified or unjustified?” For most Americans, the answer, even after recent revelations, was yes. For most Christians, it’s also yes. But for the non-religious, as the above chart makes clear, the torture was not justified.

In fact, looking through the poll’s crosstabs, non-religious Americans were one of the few subsets that opposed the torture techniques – and that includes breakdowns across racial, gender, age, economic, educational, and regional lines. The non-religious are effectively alone in their opposition to torture.

This is, as Posner noted, only one poll, and we’d need more data before drawing sweeping conclusions, but the Post/ABC results are generally consistent with the Pew Research Center data from 2009.

And they serve as a pretty interesting starting point for a discussion about faith, morality, the law, and the limits of human decency.

Also from the God Machine this week:

* This story out of Ohio sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen: “Gov. John Kasich’s $10 million plan to bring mentors into Ohio’s schools for students now has a surprise religious requirement – one that goes beyond what is spelled out in the legislation authorizing it. Any school district that wants a piece of that state money must partner with both a church and a business – or a faith-based organization and a non-profit set up by a business to do community service.”

* Don’t mess with nuns: “The Vatican is making nice with American nuns. A report stemming from a three-year probe is full of praise while acknowledging the modern challenges the sisterhood faces. The tone reflects the gentler approach of Pope Francis and stands in stark contrast to a crackdown on nuns ordered under former Pope Benedict XVI, after an earlier investigation claimed U.S. religious women were promoting ‘radical feminist themes.’”

* Speaking of the Vatican, did Pope Francis really say dogs go to heaven after they die? No, apparently this was all a big misunderstanding.

* Oh my: “Bud Williams, city councilor in Springfield, Mass., stood in the court square earlier this week and participated in a holiday tradition. ‘Jesus is the reason for the season,’ Williams said at a Tuesday ceremony, according to MassLive.com. His remarks wouldn’t really be notable, except that Williams was speaking at a menorah lighting ceremony, to mark the beginning of Hanukkah.”

* In Michigan: “Some powerful voices are aligned on both sides of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, but it appears the bill that provides protections for ‘sincerely held religious beliefs’ will die for the year.”

* And on Fox News this week, Bill O’Reilly congratulated himself for “single-handedly” saving Christmas. Just in the nick of time, too.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/week-god-122014#break


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