The Sunday Planet - September 13, 2015

GODSPOTTING

I see god. I see his people godsplaining daily. 

At a recent anti-Iran deal event, we got to enjoy the crazy all in one day. Phil Robertson complained that he was told "god was dead in college, but he wasn't." From there he expressed his love for all things jewish; "You know why I love Israel? Because they wrote the bible, when god decided to become flesh 2015 years ago - just look at your calendar - he became jewish flesh." Robertson is a godly man, he's "anti-pulling babies outta women's wombs, he is anti-perversion" - that means you, gay people. He claims that "WE," which I gather includes you and I and everyone else, "are pro-god almighty, we're pro-gun, we're pro get-your-ass-out and go to work." In his words, "America isn't religious enough."

The Tea-Party anti-Iran rally was more of a church service then anything else. Glenn Beck is still alive, dammit, and he was as crazy as always.

Before he started his sermon, he got one quick anti-science jab in; you know, you can't have god without stupid. Beck says, "I've solved the issue of global warming, it's not our SUVs, it's that big flaming thing in the sky."

Then the sermon started.

"We live in a world that is suffering under the delusion of peace and prosperity..." he says. "The confusion comes from the abandonment of truth, a truth that has been chased out of our public square, out of our public buildings, out of the media, our universities, and quite frankly, out of many of our churches as well."

Tell me more about how truth/religion has been booted from public discourse jackass sitting on the lawn in front of the United States Capitol. Please. Then tell us the why peace and prosperity is a delusion, maybe religion?

The fun continues. "But god's timing is divine, if we fail to restore truth, god will do it for us... In this week's torah portion, we are told about the early Israelites, where moses stood at the edge of the promised land and commanded god's people to choose, life or death, light or darkness, or they would be swept from their promised land. Today we are faced with the exact same choice. Because something is happening in America, something is happening around the world, I believe we are no longer fooled by those who made good evil, and evil good. With Planned Parenthood and the slaughter of our police officers out on the streets, while we get into bed with bad guys... We realized we have been silent too long, we have been dulled, been dulled, into a senseless slumber. But there are millions of people waking up all around the world, they are shaking themselves, and their families, awake. They are turning back to eternal principles, because there is a hunger for truth."

Silent? If only bitches. Yep, I see you god. Truth? You can't handle the truth.

Politicians on the right seem to think getting all friendly and cozy with a myth is the only way to run a campaign.

I see Kim Davis holding hands with Mike Huckabee, a candidate for the president of the United States. I see the rallies for stupid at the jailhouse where she should still be locked up. Kim refuses to follow the law of the land, and this ties in with all the rest. Mike lets us know how "courageous" Kim is for standing up for her beliefs. She takes the stage with Eye of the Tiger playing in the background, (yeah, lawsuit coming). Raising her arms in the usual worshipping pose, she proclaims that "I just want to give god the glory. His people have rallied, and you are a strong people. We serve a living god who knows exactly where each and everyone of us is at. Just keep on pressing, don't let down, because he is here. He's worthy, he's worthy"

Oh crap, he was watching me again? God dammit, give me some privacy god. The anti-government terrorist group, the Oath Keepers," have offered to guard Kim from the state in case they try to arrest her again. Yes, make my day.

Although I like to joke about the stupidity, this is also about a horror that we cannot allow. As with the tea party rally, this is a call to the believers that only god's word is law, not man's. All these events have one thing in common, and that is to impose god's law on the land. Christian law, Sharia law; religion wants us to bow our heads to the idiocy that all holy books promote. The christian conservative right is losing the numbers they once had to promote their agenda, so now the war becomes more "in your face."

The attacks come in all manners, many are hidden.

In Tennessee a mom would like to ban a book on science. The mom, Jackie Sims,  thinks that "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" - which is a book about science, race, and ethics - is pornography. Prudes and the anti-education crowd all come from the same pot, religion. I like the ones who try to work around mentioning religion, but all the signs point in that direction. As I've said before, I don't care what someone wants to believe as long as it is not inflicting society as a whole. If she wants to keep her son uneducated, I guess she can. The problem here is that she wants to limit education to all the students in that school. It's not good enough that her son will be less informed, she wants all students to mire in her unenlightened view of the world.

This is how religion is fighting the demise of belief in the U.S. Fear and stupidity are always the main weapons used  in the battle, that hasn't ever changed. 

The godspotting will continue. 

The Planet - June 13, 2013

god's greatest

Religion continues the full court press when it come to defending imagination from reality. Though mixing sport metaphors, the only good defense would be to close line the bastards as they try to move their cause forward.

The attacks come on so many fronts it can be bewildering. Here are a few of the latest infringements on a Secular America, and a Secular world:

In America, religious corporations are merging with independent hospitals. MergerWatch is stating that once a religious entity takes over said hospitals, they are run using religious doctrine as their guide, not by scientific findings. In Sierra Vista Arizona, pregnant women having c-sections were denied tubal ligation because their hospital had joined a Catholic health system. Hey, maybe we need faith based medical care for everyone for a year or two. Well, that'd probably only last a week or two before the whiners were tossed out.

In our hospitals, and in our schools:

In Wisconsin, the voucher program is more than 20 years old. There was a thought that privately run schools would do a better job, but after a couple of decades this has proven to be false. No problem though, Tea Party favorite Governor Scott Walker and his conservative legislators want to expand the program from the Milwaukee area to the rest of the state. The voucher program has been, and still is, the religious right's way of dismantling our secular public education system.

Crackheads around the country embrace the takeover. Disgraced Representative Michelle Bachman's radio host buddy Bradlee Dean ranted about christian parents having no excuse for having their kids in public school. You know, that horrible International Baccalaureate program is only a global scheme to take away our guns and to indoctrinate students into embracing homosexuality. Yeah the dude's a rusty piece of work, but unfortunately, there are those who think he's correct.

Though we know that the voucher program is also a way for those so inclined to get a hold of the billions of dollars that flows through the education system, it is also the easiest way to subvert secular education. In Colorado, the Court of Appeals ruled that the "Choice Scholarship Program" does not violate the prohibitions against public funding for religious institutions, even though 18 of the 23 "private partner" schools are religious. More and more legislation is seen in states across the country that subvert education. Bobby Jindal used ALEC's model legislation to create a massive voucher program that would privatize public schools in his state. Nice.

Freedom From Religion goes after Liberty High in Pickens County South Carolina. They've had numerouscomplaints about violations referencing the separation of church and state. Valedictorian Roy Costner tore up his school approved speech and recited the lord's prayer. What do we learn from this? Well, according to Mr. Costner, no one locally has a problem with religion in school, so why not do it. What an excellent thought. Ignore the law if it doesn't fit with your views on the world. Let every fucking pot smoker out of jail then asshole. I know many areas where no one has a problem with it, yet it is still the law. Oh that's right, it's only about you and you want to be treated special.

So far the religious hasn't started to blatantly kill non-believers in the U.S., (except for a few doctors and nurses, but I guess they don't matter), so sorry that's not true around the world.

Blasphemy in the world:

In Syria, a teenager was executed for blasphemy. Someone overheard him supposedly saying that "even if the prophet mohammad comes down (from heaven), I will not be a believer." Apparently the young man was executed in front of his parents. Oh, for the love of god.

In Pakistan 16 people are on death row for blasphemy convictions and another 20 are serving life sentences.

We should add to the quote, "for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son," the following: "of course, he hated man and slaughtered all of our sons."

Well, what else have we got. I loves me some Pat Robertson, why not?

Pat takes on whatever Pat wants, and no one sane listens:

Pat, the southern baptist nutjob, links demonic games like Dungeons and Dragons to suicide. Such a compassionate man, he's like a loving god in the flesh, all fire and brimstone and other crazy shit. Poor guy was angered by the Jets shameful treatment of Tim Tebow, and knows that gays in the boy scouts will destroy the organization. Accommodating the few kids who want to have sex with each other is horrific, demonizing them much better.

AMERICAN ANGST

"This is the most important election ever." Like the rest of you, the hype gets old for me as well, but there is some truth to the statement. Incredible legislation on state ballots that could make an instant difference. From renewable energy mandates to legalizing marijuana, from state sovereignty to the makeup of our Supreme Court. Far left candidates will be elected to balance the powers that be; this election cycle could greatly change the world that we live in.

Supreme Court Justices are aging. Who controls the White House during the next four years could have real impact on how "we the people" live our lives. Three justices will enter their eighties during the next administration's reign. I think if Mr. Romney wins the election, he will fill any vacancies with pro-choice and pro Defense of Marriage Act judges. If President Obama is reelected, we could possibly get judges that have a more centrist/left stance. We can go back to back alley abortions and discrimination, or we can move forward; simple as that.

Marijuana laws are always discussed, but no one ever talks about an end to the forever drug wars. We imprison non-violent offenders at an alarming rate. We demonize a large percentage of our population for no real purpose. It is not any more immoral than a drunk population, but we treat it as if it is the drug of the devil. Three states have ballot initiatives to legalize marijuana this year, and in two of the states legalization appears imminent. There's a movement to get rid of marijuana prohibition and this is where it starts. When a state says use is legal, like what happened during the prohibition on alcohol, the rest fall like dominoes. Then the federal government will have to change its position.

Thirty states have started to develop and finance renewable energy. Around the Great Lakes, Ohio's 2009 law requires 12.5 percent of its electricity to be provided by renewable energy by 2025, making it a leader in clean energy in the area; and creating 25,000 jobs at the same time. Michigan is getting ready to step up to the plate. The ballot initiative there actually changes the state's constitution and requires that 25 percent of the state's energy requirement to be met by the year 2025. Besides the clean energy jobs that would create, it would also make the state a leader in renewable energy production. To be expected, big energy companies are aggressively campaigning against the measure. One of my favorite ads states that by voting yes on this proposition it would increase the average family's bill by 2,500 dollars. If the bill is read, it mandates that energy companies cannot raise the rates by any more than one percent or 50 cents in a year. No one I know pays 250,000 dollars a year for electricity.

For every decent proposal on the ballot, there's always one that negates common sense. In Arizona, they have a state sovereignty proposal. This is aimed at getting control of Federally reserved lands. Arizona want complete control of the land - excepting Indian lands and those they've given to the feds - so they can rip out whatever resources may be there. As the majority of states go cleaner, Arizona's flawed leadership wishes to continue to pollute. The Grand Canyon will no longer be very grand.

I bring up state initiatives as a reminder to everyone to check out local initiatives. In Michigan, we are also voting on Michigan Supreme Court Justices, three liberals against three conservatives. We've been conservatively controlled for too long.

As for the main event, the presidential election is clear. We keep the slow momentum building the economy and middle class, or we give more tax breaks to the rich. We protect a woman's right to make her own health decisions, or we go back to back alley abortions. We move forward in combatting climate change, or we continue to rely solely on fossil fuels. We stand for education, or we decide that creationism is good for our children. We protect freedom of and from religion, or we allow the rabid right wing theists to have ever more influence in our day to day lives.

Yes, this election is the most important election of our times. As atheists, we can only vote for those whose goals are aligned with ours. So far President Obama's team has not shown itself to be anti-science. Though the president professes beliefs that we do not share, he is not trying to force those beliefs on the populace.

Forward it is.