Christians call for revolution

A bunch of religious nuts are calling for a "revolution" on the steps of the Supreme Court.  It happened two days ago, and I'm not surprised that I didn't hear a peep about it in the news.  Here's my favorite idiotic quote from their press release:

"A call to Christian Revolution will be made at the steps of the Supreme Court. The Declaration of Independence was unanimously signed and proclaimed by our Founding Fathers on July 4, 1776. It was a call to obey God rather than men. When our Founding Fathers declared their independence from England's King George III, they were really declaring their dependence upon Almighty God -- the God of the Bible. They pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to proclaim-God is true."

That's so wrong on so many levels that it's not even possible to argue rationally against it.  It would be like trying to explain quantum physics to your dog.  The Declaration was written by a group of people who were largely not Christian, and who wrote many nasty things about organized religion.  It contains no mention of the Bible or Jesus Christ whatsoever, and only the most passing mention of God ("endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights...").  It declared independence from a system that claimed the divine right of kings to rule, and that established Christianity as the official religion.  And somehow, these morons twist that around in every way possible to mean the total polar opposite.

Here's the article on Dispatches.

King being an idiot, debunked on Dispatches

Steve King continues to be an embarrassment to Iowa, and his idiotic statements are debunked by people with brains.

Read it here.

Priest throws a hissy over "wafer"

So, the Worcester, Massachusettes Telegram does a story about how the local Catholic church is dealing with concerns about swine flu, and they use the terms "communion wafer" and "wine" to describe the components of the communion ritual.  A priest writes a letter to the editor to complain.  Here's the funny part:

Second, the Roman Catholic Church doesn’t now, nor has it ever offered a wafer and wine as Communion. We do offer the body and blood of Jesus Christ, which in John’s gospel he proclaims to be our source of life in Him. To refer to the Eucharist as a wafer and wine is to demean the value of this sacrament, seemingly equating it to an evening snack.

Ok, this is really getting ridiculous.  Here's the explanation of transubstantiation from catholicapologetics.org:

Transubstantiation reflects Roman Catholic faith in the literalness of the words of the Bible.  Jesus (omnipotent God) said: "This is my body; this is my blood." And again Jesus said: "I am the bread of life;" "My flesh is true food; my blood is true drink;" "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood ...;" etc.  Roman Catholics take Jesus at His word: the bread is his body; the wine is his blood.  From the Apostles at the Last Supper until today, the bread and wine of Eucharist looks and feels and tastes like bread and wine in the eating and drinking.  Similar to all of God's Word, faith is essential. Faith in what? In the words of Jesus even though the bread does not look, feel, taste like flesh; even though the wine does not look, feel, taste like blood.

Ok, three things:

1. NOBODY really has faith in "the literalness of the words of the Bible."  If they say they do, they're either lying or delusional.  It's not possible to take the Bible literally; it's both self-contradictory and completely at odds with observation.  If you're going to take this literally, then you'd better be prepared to believe a whole lot of (other) really bizarre stuff that goes along with it, and I know for a fact that you don't.
2. It depends on what your definition of "is" is.  Do Catholics really reject the possibility that Jesus (assuming for the sake of argument that he actually existed AND said any such thing) was speaking metaphorically?  This is a classic case of missing the forest for the trees.
3. Do you mean to tell me that if I visited a factory that produces these communion "items", that I would find boxes labeled "Twenty dozen cartons of individual pieces of the flesh of Jesus Christ"?

Believe what you want, I guess, but don't expect everyone else to automatically accept it as true.  Get a grip.

Dan Choi's open letter

Posted in full, without comment.

Open Letter to President Obama and Every Member of Congress:

I have learned many lessons in the ten years since I first raised my right hand at the United States Military Academy at West Point and committed to fighting for my country. The lessons of courage, integrity, honesty and selfless service are some of the most important.

At West Point, I recited the Cadet Prayer every Sunday. It taught us to "choose the harder right over the easier wrong" and to "never be content with a half truth when the whole can be won." The Cadet Honor Code demanded truthfulness and honesty. It imposed a zero-tolerance policy against deception, or hiding behind comfort.

Following the Honor Code never bowed to comfortable timing or popularity. Honor and integrity are 24-hour values. That is why I refuse to lie about my identity.

I have personally served for a decade under Don't Ask, Don't Tell: an immoral law and policy that forces American soldiers to deceive and lie about their sexual orientation. Worse, it forces others to tolerate deception and lying. These values are completely opposed to anything I learned at West Point. Deception and lies poison a unit and cripple a fighting force.

As an infantry officer, an Iraq combat veteran and a West Point graduate with a degree in Arabic, I refuse to lie to my commanders. I refuse to lie to my peers. I refuse to lie to my subordinates. I demand honesty and courage from my soldiers. They should demand the same from me.

I am committed to applying the leadership lessons I learned at West Point. With 60 other LGBT West Point graduates, I helped form our organization, Knights Out, to fight for the repeal of this discriminatory law and educate cadets and soldiers after the repeal occurs. When I receive emails from deployed soldiers and veterans who feel isolated, alone, and even suicidal because the torment of rejection and discrimination, I remember my leadership training: soldiers cannot feel alone, especially in combat. Leaders must reach out. They can never diminish the fighting spirit of a soldier by tolerating discrimination and isolation. Leaders respect the honor of service. Respecting each soldier's service is my personal promise.

The Department of the Army sent a letter discharging me on April 23rd. I will not lie to you; the letter is a slap in the face. It is a slap in the face to me. It is a slap in the face to my soldiers, peers and leaders who have demonstrated that an infantry unit can be professional enough to accept diversity, to accept capable leaders, to accept skilled soldiers.

My subordinates know I'm gay. They don't care. They are professional.

Further, they are respectable infantrymen who work as a team. Many told me that they respect me even more because I trusted them enough to let them know the truth. Trust is the foundation of unit cohesion.

After I publicly announced that I am gay, I reported for training and led rifle marksmanship. I ordered hundreds of soldiers to fire live rounds and qualify on their weapons. I qualified on my own weapon. I showered after training and slept in an open bay with 40 other infantrymen. I cannot understand the claim that I "negatively affected good order and discipline in the New York Army National Guard." I refuse to accept this statement as true.

As an infantry officer, I am not accustomed to begging. But I beg you today: Do not fire me. Do not fire me because my soldiers are more than a unit or a fighting force - we are a family and we support each other. We should not learn that honesty and courage leads to punishment and insult. Their professionalism should not be rewarded with losing their leader. I understand if you must fire me, but please do not discredit and insult my soldiers for their professionalism.

When I was commissioned I was told that I serve at the pleasure of the President. I hope I have not displeased anyone by my honesty. I love my job. I want to deploy and continue to serve with the unit I respect and admire. I want to continue to serve our country because of everything it stands for.

Please do not wait to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Please do not fire me.

Very Respectfully,

Daniel W. Choi
1LT, IN
New York Army National Guard

Bible largely a forgery

Oh, really?  No kidding?

Click here for the story on CNN.com.

Why do I think religion fosters lunacy?

Because there's just too much of THIS out there.

The part I love most is the fact that you have to purchase the "report".  If you believed that you had evidence that the antichrist had appeared, and you knew who it was, and you could prove it, would you put that information up for sale?!?  Wouldn't you just post the proof right on your website, to get the facts out there as quickly as possible?  No, evidently you'd be more concerned about making some dough off it first.  If even one person pays for this "report", they should be summarily lobotomized.

J. Grant Swank Jr. is an idiot.

Check out this loon.

Here are a few choice exerpts:

"There comes the time when mortals' sin can go over the divine mercy line. Many biblical believers are concluding that the world is now experiencing God's wrath."

Join the countless ranks of loonies who have been shouting this since the dawn of religion.

"America has a President who claims to be “Christian” who in fact is Marxist Muslim. Those who contest that can contest it against the facts all they want. Their conviction that he is “Christian” flies in the face of his anti-biblical ethics."

A Marxist Muslim?!?  I thought the most objectionable part of Marxism was its disdain for religion?  And which biblical ethics are we talking about?  The few parts where Jesus talks about love and compassion, or the overwhelming majority of the bible promoting rape, murder, genocide and slavery?  And thank you for appointing yourself to determine who's a real christian and who's not.

"Obama has been raised a Muslim, in a Muslim school, admiring publicly the Koran's cadences, mothered by a woman who concluded all religions are the same, all gods the same. His relatives are Muslims in Kenya, one being an extremist politician who ran for the Kenyan presidency. When he did not win, carnage was set loose through the entire country."

This is 10% misleading and 90% total bullshit.  Raised in a muslim school?  Sure, from 1967 to 1971 while in Indonesia, a muslim country, he attended school.  Hardy counts as being "raised" there.  Raised as a muslim by a woman who taught that all religions and gods are the same?  Doesn't sound like muslim teaching to me.  Relatives are Muslims in Kenya?  Sure, and don't you have "relatives" you've never met somewhere in the world that might have done some nasty things?

"When Obama does quote the Bible, it is usually politically opportunistic, not sincere."

(Sound of irony meter exploding)  And you know this because... you're a mind reader?  And even if it were true, that would put Obama right in there with pretty much any public figure who quotes the Bible.

"Further, Obama works laboriously to erase the Christian heritage to this Republic. He will do everything he can to eliminate Christianity and thereby replace it with secularism. Secularism is his god alongside Allah."

Secularism is his god alongside Allah.  So, he hates religion, but reveres Allah.  Holy crap, do you even read what you write?

"In his inaugural address, Obama elevated atheism to the level of Christianity. No prior President would have ever thought of doing that."

Yes, by saying that "we are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers."  Which is completely true.  No president ever thought of that?  Jeez, guy, you need to read the Founding Fathers.  You'll burst an artery over their outright hostility to the church.

"The age in which we live reads like Noah's rebellious, stubborn, smart aleck clod. It appears we are now inhabiting a world on the verge of the flood, on the cliff edge of God's wrath descending.  Hence the swine flu floodwaters increasing."

Swine Flu is devine retribution for Obama's election?!?  Is that the best you can do?  So, god is so pissed about Obama that he starts by killing off a bunch of Mexicans who are probably mostly good Catholics?

I love these people who look around at a world better than any in history, where we are safer, healthier, more prosperous, and more free than ever before, and claim that our acceptance of people's differences is going to bring god's vengeance down upon us.  That's no god worth worshipping.

I do think, however, that Mr. Swank should be a little nervous about all the false witness he's been bearing against his neighbor.  I hear god put that in his top ten of no-nos.

Added to the Idiot Brigade.