Here's this week's installment ~ "live links" to more/corroborating info in the original are accessible via the end link ~ Sooz

This Week in God
01/04/14 10:02 AM—Updated 01/04/14 10:03 AM
By Steve Benen

First up from the God Machine this week is a story about some wealthy Roman Catholics in the United States who are not at all pleased that Pope Francis criticized economic inequality and the adverse of effects of trickle-down economics.

In fact, Home Depot founder and devout Catholic Ken Langone told CNBC this week that the pope’s criticism of unfettered capitalism has made potential “capitalist benefactors” in the U.S. reluctant to donate to their own church (via Xenos).


By any measure, this is a strange argument. According to the Home Depot founder, Pope Francis hurt wealthy American Catholics’ feelings when the church leader rejected trickle-down economics. But the pope’s perspective was hardly shocking – as Jeff Spross explained, “The idea that possessing significant wealth inherently makes it harder to behave morally is a bedrock part of Christian ethical thought. In a well-known passage from the New Testament, a rich man asks Christ what he must do to fully follow God’s law. When Christ responds ‘sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor,’ the man walks away dejected, prompting Christ to observe that ‘it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’”

Presumably, Langone and his associates would urge Jesus to be “careful about generalities,” too.

But I’m especially struck by the underlying hint of retaliation. Langone referenced a “potential seven-figure donor” who may hold back after the pope suggested the wealthy are “incapable of feeling compassion for the poor.”

In other words, this unnamed rich donor is prepared to demonstrate his Christian compassion by cutting off his or her church, thus indirectly helping prove Francis’ point.

Also from the God Machine this week:

* The New York Times this week ran a lengthy piece on President Obama’s general reluctance to attend church services: “Mr. Obama has gone to church 18 times during his six years in the White House, according to Mark Knoller of CBS News, an unofficial White House historian, while his predecessor, Mr. Bush, attended 120 times during his eight years in office.” Joshua DuBois, the former head of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, added that Obama “has a serious practice of faith even though he doesn’t necessarily wear it on his sleeve.”

* This will probably be interesting: “Bill Nye the Science Guy plans to visit Kentucky next month for a creation-vs.-evolution debate with Creation Museum founder Ken Ham. Ham wrote on his blog that the museum will host Nye, the star of a long-running science show for kids, on Feb. 4. Nye has been critical of creationists for their opposition to evolution and their assertions that the Old Testament provides a literal account of the earth’s beginnings. In an online video that has drawn nearly 6 million views, Nye said teaching creationism was bad for children.”

* On a related note, the American Family Association’s Bryan Fischer argued this week that those who believe in modern biology should be “disqualified from holding political office in the United States of America.”

* And every year, TV preacher Pat Robertson begins the year telling his “700 Club” viewers that God has given him a sneak peek into world events for the coming year. In general, these divine predictions turn out to be wrong – the host explains this by saying he misunderstood God’s messages – but Robertson gave it another try this week.


http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/week-god-89

Here's this week's installment ~ "live links" to more/corroborating info in the original are accessible via the end link ~ Sooz

This Week in God
01/11/14 10:35 AM
By Steve Benen

First up from the God Machine this week is a look at an important achievement for a prominent “religious” institution. The nation has all kinds of elected officials who’ve walked a variety of spiritual paths, but the town council in the town of Pomfret, New York, broke new ground this week when Christopher Schaeffer, a Pastafarian minister, was sworn into office.

Schaeffer is a member of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a group founded by an atheist in 2005 that has adopted the spaghetti strainer as its symbol.

“It’s just a statement about religious freedom,” Schaeffer told the Observer. “It’s a religion without any dogma.”

Bobby Henderson, founder of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, blogged about Schaeffer’s swearing-in on Monday, saying Schaeffer “may be the first openly Pastafarian sworn into office.”


In case you were curious – I certainly was – Schaeffer did, in fact, wear a colander on his head during the swearing-in ceremony. The moment was captured by Greg Fox, who took the above photo for the local paper, Dunkirk’s Observer.

For those unfamiliar with the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, its adherents tend to be atheists who hope to draw attention to what they see as the absurdities of religious fundamentalism.

This paragraph from the Wiki page captures the point nicely: “The ‘Flying Spaghetti Monster’ was first described in a satirical open letter written by Bobby Henderson in 2005 to protest the Kansas State Board of Education decision to permit teaching intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in public school science classes. In that letter, Henderson satirized creationist ideas by professing his belief that whenever a scientist carbon dates an object, a supernatural creator that closely resembles spaghetti and meatballs is there ‘changing the results with His Noodly Appendage.’ Henderson argued that his beliefs were just as valid as those of intelligent design, and called for Flying Spaghetti Monsterism to be allotted equal time in science classrooms alongside intelligent design and evolution. After Henderson published the letter on his website, the Flying Spaghetti Monster rapidly became an Internet phenomenon and a symbol of opposition to the teaching of intelligent design in public schools.”

Just recently, after officials in Florida’s state capitol added a nativity scene to its holiday display, local Pastafarians soon added a Flying Spaghetti Monster display of its own.

And now the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster has its first-ever elected official. A breakthrough moment, to be sure.

Also from the God Machine this week:

* Which countries have the highest and lowest shares of religiously unaffiliated citizens? The Pew Research Center published a report with the results this week (thanks to E.J. for the tip).

* And Rick Santorum’s efforts to break into the movie business got off to a rough start in 2013 – “The Christmas Candle” failed to recoup its modest budget – but he’s sticking with it. The former senator said this week that he intends to turn his EchoLight Studios into “the Pixar of faith movies.”


http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/week-god-90

Here is this week's installment ~ seems to me these religiosos are hard evidence that religion does NOT recognize or embrace morality or empathy ~ ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating information in the original ~ Sooz

This Week in God
01/18/14 10:12 AM
By Steve Benen


First up from the God Machine this week is a prominent voice in the religious right movement, taking a bold policy position that most fair-minded Americans rejected many generations ago.

As my friend Kyle Mantyla at Right Wing Watch reported this week, the American Family Association’s Bryan Fischer told his audience that in the 18th century, only property owners were allowed to vote – and according to Fischer, that’s still a sensible policy for a democracy. For those who can’t watch clips online, here’s the argument:


It is, of course, extremely unusual to hear any American publicly suggest disenfranchising millions of his fellow citizens who lack the financial resources to own property. It’s equally rare to hear an American argue that citizens who can’t afford to own property are necessarily less concerned with their community’s wellbeing.

Let’s also not forget that Fischer is a fairly high-profile figure in conservative media – in recent years, a wide variety of Republicans from the U.S. Senate and U.S. House have appeared on Fischer’s program. In advance of the 2012 presidential race, roughly half the Republican candidates in the field cozied up to Fischer, despite his extremist views.

And yet, this is the same guy who’s sympathetic to the idea that only those wealthy enough to own property should be allowed to have their voices heard in American elections.

Also from the God Machine this week:

* An Oklahoma minister filed a lawsuit challenging a state license plate featuring a young Apache warrior shooting an arrow skyward, claiming that the image is a religious message that’s inconsistent with Christianity. A federal judge this week rejected Bethany pastor Keith Cressman’s argument (thanks to my colleague Will Femia for the tip).

* Pastor Mike Lewis, a Baptist minister in Vacaville, California, was accused this week of “encouraging three homeless people in his church’s care to throw a Molotov cocktail through the front window of his ex-girlfriend’s parents’ house.” His ex-girlfriend also alleges that the pastor vandalized her car and set fire to her shrubbery. Lewis has denied the allegations (thanks to reader R.P. for the tip).

* Politically conservative Roman Catholics have complained that Pope Francis hasn’t spoken out enough on hot-button social issues, though that changed this week when the pope addressed abortion. “It is horrific even to think that there are children, victims of abortion, who will never see the light of day,” he said during his yearly address to diplomats accredited to the Vatican, a speech known as his “State of the World” address.

* And speaking of the Catholic Church, the Archdiocese of Chicago said this week it will “release 6,000 pages of documents detailing what it knows about decades of clergy sex abuse allegations and how it handled them.”

* And Ernest T. Jones, the new running backs coach for the University of Connecticut’s football team, raised eyebrows recently when he said he intends to focus on imposing Christianity on student athletes. “We’re going to make sure they understand that Jesus Christ should be in the center of our huddle, that that’s something that is important,” he said. The University of Connecticut is a public university and its employees cannot legally proselytize to students.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/week-god-92#break

“You know back in the day, the colonial period, you had to be a landowner, a property owner, to be eligible to vote – and I don’t think that’s a bad idea

He's not the first American right winger I've heard espouse this idea. If you remember back in the hey day of the Tea Party it was a pretty common theme along with other disenfranchisement tactics like stringent id laws. What's scary is that so many Americans buy into these ideas along with right to hire laws and the general antipathy toward unions. I've said before that the U.S. is slowly introducing voluntary slavery. How long is it going to be before there are debtor prisons and work houses for the poor?

They all spout the bible until someone calls them out on it.

I showed my kid the picture of that guy being sworn in, and now he says he's converting to pastafarianism and wants a spaghetti strainer to wear on his head for special occasions.

At least his hair will finally be neat and tidy, unless it sticks through the holes.

LOVE your kid, greeny ~

Sooz

Here is this week's installment ~ we can laugh or groan that there are so many [far more than the most active imagination can count] that are lapping up this BS ~ but we are watching "hate" being taught ~ ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating info in the original ~ Sooz

This Week in God
01/25/14 10:29 AM
By Steve Benen

First up from the God Machine this week is a leader of the religious right movement with an interesting theory: are social conservatives migrating based on fear of marriage equality?

I’ve long wondered whether policies like Medicaid expansion might lead families to relocate – if you’re a struggling family in one state; you need access to affordable health care; but your state government is led by Republican policymakers, how likely is it you might pick up and move to a neighboring state with less regressive policies?

The Eagle Forum’s Phyllis Schlafly, however, has a far different question on her mind about families and relocations.


They are? “Many” Americans are moving from states that extend equal marriage rights to all to states that discriminate against same-sex couples?

Putting aside why in the world anyone might actually do this, it’s worth noting that there’s literally no evidence to support Schlafly’s assertion.

Right Wing Watch’s Miranda Blue, who posted an audio clip of Schlafly’s remarks, joked, “The liberal media must be covering up this mass exodus from marriage equality states, because we haven’t heard a single story of someone doing this.”

Also from the God Machine this week:

* This won’t end well: “Among the first bills moving through the Arizona Legislature this session is one that would provide significant new religious protections, some say to the point of legalizing discrimination. Senate Bill 1062, pushed by the conservative advocacy group Center for Arizona Policy and introduced by Sen. Steve Yarbrough, a Republican from Chandler, Ariz., would allow individuals to use religious beliefs as a defense in a lawsuit filed by another individual” (thanks to my colleague Tricia McKinney for the heads-up).

* Apparently, fights over school prayer aren’t quite over: “Lawmakers in South Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee are debating bills that are designed, supporters say, to ‘put prayer back in schools.’ The tactics vary, but in each case the desired outcome is the same: a potentially unconstitutional violation of the separation of church and state. And the legislators behind the bills aren’t shy about their motivations.”

* Sikhs get congressional support: “American Sikh leaders, disappointed that new Pentagon dress code requirements released on Wednesday do not go as far as the Sikhs would like, are turning to Congress to increase the pressure on the military.”

* And Glenn Beck argued this week that there are “forces at work” trying to keep his network off of cable television. Beck added, they “aren’t necessarily earthly forces.”

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/week-god-93

Beck added, they “aren’t necessarily earthly forces.”

Right you are, boyo. God doesn't want you on the airwaves.

I'm not quite sure why Sikhs get a mention here.

They want to wear their turbans while in the military.

The Brits didn't mind, and I don't know why they are lumped together with these religious crazies.

I should think the Sikh community has its share of nutters, religious or otherwise.

No doubt Oskar, but why these guys? Pretty much all Sikhs wear the turban (basically because they never cut their hair) so its not a nutter fringe we are talking about. And, as far as religions go its not a bad one.

I have one of my semi-famous "hazy recollections" that it also involved their beards ~ something about violating the military "dress code" of "clean-cut looking" ~

Sooz

Probably sooz. My puzzlement is why they were lumped together with a pack of religious crazies. I mean, there's nothing particularly weird about religious requirements of that kind.

In any case, so much the worse for the military. The Sikhs are noted as exceptional soldiers.

The Sikhs are noted as exceptional soldiers.

US and Canada could use a few more of those... especially in the higher ranks.

The Canadian forces and the RCMP have modified their dress codes to accommodate Sikhs. Hasn't hurt a thing.

Here is this week's installment ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating info in the original ~ Sooz

This Week in God
02/01/14 09:55 AM
By Steve Benen

First up from the God Machine this week is a look at religion and the Super Bowl, which for many football fans, are linked rather closely.

A national survey was recently released by the Public Religion Research Institute found that roughly half of Americans who watch sports believe supernatural forces help guide games’ outcomes – either through the efficacy of prayer, curses, or rituals – and football fans believe this in greater numbers than fans of other sports (thanks to reader R.P. for the tip).


Also note, the same survey found that a plurality of Americans (48%) believe religious athletes will be rewarded with divine success and health by virtue of their religiosity.

Also from the God Machine this week:

* Reps. Rush Holt (D-N.J.), Jim Himes (D-Conn.), and Mike Honda (D-Calif.) introduced a congressional resolution this week that proposes the designation of Feb. 12 as “Darwin Day” and criticizes religious opposition to modern biology and climate science. The measure is H.Res. 467 and it’s unlikely to get a vote in the House anytime soon.

* An unsettling story out of Sabine Parish, La: “A Louisiana teacher who taught her sixth grade class that evolution is ‘impossible’ and that the bible is ‘100 percent true’ ridiculed a Buddhist student during class and announced that those who don’t believe in god are ‘stupid,’ according to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana.”

* Another Catholic diocese is seeking Chapter 11 protection, this time in Montana: “The Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena, Mont., filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday to pave the way for a $15 million settlement of lawsuits alleging clergy members sexually abused 362 children over five decades, according to a diocese spokesman.”

* And in Italy, a piece of cloth stained with the blood of the late Pope John Paul was stolen this week, though as NBC News reported yesterday, the police recovered it soon after, finding the fragment in the garage of two men who were detained for having stolen the reliquary last week.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/week-god-94

Here is this week's installment ~ there are "live links" to more/corroborating info in the original ~ Sooz

This Week in God
02/08/14 10:28 AM
By Steve Benen


First up from the God Machine this week is a report on this week’s debate between Creation Museum Founder Ken Ham and scientist Bill Nye on evolutionary biology – and the unexpected reaction to the event from one of the nation’s leading televangelists.

MSNBC sent my friend Adam Serwer to the debate in Kentucky, and while his report is well worth your time, the lede helped capture the fundamental difference between the rivals. In this case, Ham was asked whether anything could shake his belief that the Earth is less than 10,000 years old.


And with that, the root of the problem became clear. Ham, defending creationism, effectively conceded he starts with the answer, then works backwards to support his conclusion. Nye, defending modern biology, starts with the evidence, then works forward to reach a conclusion. It was a reminder as to why faith and science, while not always incompatible, are dissimilar.

But that’s not the funny part. Rather, that came the next day when TV preacher Pat Robertson declared that young-earth creationists like Ken Ham are a little out there for him.

“Let’s face it, [17th century Bishop James Ussher] added up the dates listed in Genesis and he came up with the world had been around for 6,000 years,” Robertson told his viewers. “There ain’t no way that’s possible…. To say that it all came about in 6,000 years is just nonsense and I think it’s time we come off of that stuff and say this isn’t possible.”

He added: “We’ve got to be realistic that the dating of Bishop Ussher just doesn’t comport with anything that is found in science and you can’t just totally deny the geological formations that are out there…. Let’s be real, let’s not make a joke of ourselves.”

When a very right-wing televangelist, who’s spent a generation making a name for himself with shocking and extreme comments, is worried that creationists are making a joke of evangelical Christians, it’s safe to say creationists have fallen on hard times.

Also from the God Machine this week:

* Gallup this week released the results of an annual study ranking states by religiosity. This year, the most religious states, in order, were Mississippi, Utah, and Alabama. The least religious, in order, were Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.

* A Tennessee judge who refused to allow a couple to name their son “Messiah” was fired this week, following a citation from the Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct.

* Sister Barbara Finch, a Sister of St. Joseph of Baden, was fired this week for reasons that seem quite unfair: “A nun who worked for five years as a registered nurse at the Allegheny County Jail infirmary was fired last week for spearheading unionization efforts, an organizer for the United Steelworkers union said Monday…. [Finch] expressed concerns about staffing, safety issues and patient care during meetings at the jail, said Randa Ruge, the union organizer” (thanks to reader R.P. for the tip).

* Unexpected results about marriage from scholars at Baylor University in Texas: “Despite their strong pro-family values, evangelical Christians have higher than average divorce rates – in fact, being more likely to be divorced than Americans who claim no religion, according to findings as cited by researchers from Baylor University” (thanks to reader R.B. for the tip).

* And in keeping with modern tradition, President Obama attended the National Prayer Breakfast this week, focusing his remarks on the importance of freedom of religion – not only in America, but also around the world.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/week-god-95

The least religious, in order, were Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.

Caused by all those shopping trips to atheist Montreal, Canuckistan.

so, there aren't radio preachers yammering away all day up there?

Nope.

I'm moving up there! And going on the radio.

Youa don'ta knowa howa much entertainmenta you're missing.