Barack Obama: Agnostic?

Sean Higgins has a piece worth reading up at the American Spectator questioning Obama's religious convictions.

I'd agree with most of Sean's piece only adding on a semi-related note that as a whole Obama strikes me as a guy who is just generally unsure about a lot of things, not just questions about where your soul is, or if dead people go to heaven. It's the biggest joke of his whole "I'm not your typical Washington politician" shtick -- He is, only he looks a bit different than your usual Washington politician. For example: I don't think that Obama is a secret Black Nationalist, or that he agrees with much that Rev Wright had, or currently has to say. I'd be willing to bet he joined Wright's church in the first place only because that's what he thought he was supposed to be doing as a hopeful black politician in Chicago, or even more simply -- as a black man in Chicago.

What's so scary about Obama is that so many people buy into his shtick. Where's the healthy skepticism -- and I'm calling out Obama friendly libertarians here -- about Barack's version of Hope and Change? It appears to be woefully missing in the conversation...

Someone Actually Has A Worse Understanding Of Justice Than The US Drug Czar

Relative to the worldwide condemnation of Geert Wilders' film, "Fitna," these remarks by a British Imam and "lawyer" will probably go mostly unnoticed and unpublicized. But this analysis of innocence and guilt is not something I'd want to see applied by any government or justice system:

"You are innocent if you are a Muslim," Choudary tells the BBC. "Then you are innocent in the eyes of God. If you are not a Muslim, then you are guilty of not believing in God."

Choudary said he would not condemn a Muslim for any action.

"As a Muslim, I must support my Muslim brothers and sisters," Choudary said. "I must have hatred to everything that is not Muslim."

And the Archbishop of Canterbury commented just two months ago that some aspects of Sharia law seem "unavoidable" in Britain.

If only I could remember why I decided to stay away from that whole religion thing...

So Let Me Get This Straight...

If you get busted for pot, you could possibly go to jail, have some of your money or assets seized, lose student aid, lose voting rights, or even lose custody of your children.

So what happens to people like these parents?":

WESTON, Wis. — An 11-year-old girl died after her parents prayed for healing rather than seek medical help for a treatable form of diabetes, police said Tuesday. [...]

Vergin said an autopsy determined the girl died from diabetic ketoacidosis, an ailment that left her with too little insulin in her body, and she had probably been ill for about 30 days, suffering symptoms like nausea, vomiting, excessive thirst, loss of appetite and weakness.

The girl's parents, Dale and Leilani Neumann, attributed the death to "apparently they didn't have enough faith," the police chief said. [...]

The mother believes the girl could still be resurrected, the police chief said. [all emphasis mine]

This death clearly didn't need to happen. The article refers to the girl's condition as "a treatable form of diabetes." So while most people could go get some insulin treatment and live on, this girl had to suffer for a month and eventually die because of an ideology forced upon her by her parents.

So what of the parents who let this happen?

The girl has three siblings, ranging in age from 13 to 16, the police chief said.

"They are still in the home," he said. "There is no reason to remove them. There is no abuse or signs of abuse that we can see."

Well, look closer, chief. I know religion is a touchy subject and all, but now might be a good time to voice some criticism. I also understand the problems and complexities that come with government judging parents fit or unfit and the adverse effects on children or teens who are taken forcefully from their parents. But in this case - although a lose/lose situation - I can't imagine that the siblings could be any worse off in state custody than they would be with parents whose idea of treatment is prayer and/or subsequent resurrection.

It's stories like these that make me hope that I'm wrong, and that there really is a hell for such people.


UPDATE: FoxNews, where I originally found this article, now has a new version of the article posted. It's almost exactly the same. However, the new version does not include the mother's statement about resurrection and does not include the police chief's statement that the siblings are still in the home. Both versions are attributed to the AP. I don't know the reason for the revision, but it's interesting.

UPDATE 2: Both versions of the story are actually listed in the "Most Read" column of the FoxNews.com site.

Wear A Condom, Go To Hell

I'm a bit late (ok, two weeks late) in addressing this, but I've been recovering from a flu that I caught while recovering from tonsillitis.

Anyway, the Vatican decided that only seven deadly sins just didn't cut it anymore in this modern world, so they added some more. A taste of the new sins:

Drug pushers, the obscenely rich, environmental polluters and “manipulative” genetic scientists beware – you may be in danger of losing your mortal soul unless you repent.

Subjective as hell, no doubt about it. And this is only the first paragraph of the article. Is the doctor who recently sold me pain killers a "drug pusher?" Are you "obscenely rich" if you own a building like this? Do all cows necessarily go to hell?

However, these first few paragraphs are really just textual masturbation (and don't even get the Vatican started on that), because I'm yet to even mention that part that pisses me off the most:

[The Catholic Church] holds mortal sins to be “grave violations of the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes”, including murder, contraception, abortion, perjury, adultery and lust.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that “immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into Hell”.

Murder, adultery, lust... same ol' shit... already covered by the commandments. Perjury... yeah, ok, if you insist. There are plenty of situations in which abortion is perfectly justified, but I will admit I'm personally uncomfortable morally with terminating a pregnancy for a parent's
convenience only, even though I think it's none of the government's or the Vatican's business.

But, contraception? No shit???

First of all, if the Vatican wants to take such an absolute stance against abortion under any circumstances, isn't it just plain counterproductive to oppose slipping on a condom? If abortion is murder unconditionally, wouldn't it make sense to encourage taking a daily pill to prevent an unwanted pregnancy that might otherwise lead to abortion? If you're going to insist that terminating a fetus or a zygote is the equivalent of slaying a human being, wouldn't you prefer letting some sperm cells die instead?

And while the Vatican is addressing the subject of new-age sins, what do they think of encouraging the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases? An organization that considers itself an authority on morality should definitely support the efforts consenting adults, or even consenting minors, in preventing diseases, neglected babies and, yes, unnecessary abortions.

I guess the rationale of the Catholic Church is similar to that of the Bush administration: your options are abstinence or abstinence. But it simply doesn't work that way, and both the Church and the administration should know better.

I guess the Catholic Church, in which I was raised, will just have to deal with my soul being eternally damned. If everyone who puts on a condom or takes a birth control pill is going to hell, I will have good company down there. For you other contraception users out there, call my hell-cell and we'll meet up for a few drinks or lines.

The Wa Post's Misguided "Faith" Page

After the 2004 elections in which Evangelicals were widely viewed to be the "swing" vote, the Wa Post started a regular religion feature in its Metro section, devoting an entire page to "Faith" concerns.

[BTW when did religion become faith? I object to the latter term, as it connotes that those who are not religious are lacking something.]

Today's WP "faith" page is typical of the quality of its writing as it ponders the question of whether or not Obama is the Messiah.

Is Obama the Messiah? People are asking these days and it's not so hard to understand why: the desperate throngs, the tears, the great awakening of a slumbering demographic. All that larger symbolism.

The emotional landscape of many American voters is calamitous of late -- frightened by our Babylonian war, unhappy with our President and depressed by the cleansing crush of the credit crunch -- so it's not surprising that the coming presidential election would take on a certain biblical coloring.

The Messiah question is a loud one coming from all corners. Even a blogger for Mother Jones, the hot heart of the far left, worries that the Obama-passion will be used for nefarious purposes by right-wingers, he himself writes "Barack Obama has a messiah complex and no one will convince me otherwise."

Don Graham, would your mother ever have approved of publishing something like that?

Pussycat Preachers Pounce on Prostitutes

Jesus would be proud:

RIVERSIDE, Calif., Feb. 11 /Christian Newswire/ -- When young pastor Matt Brown announced he was supporting a ministry for women in the sex industry led by an x-stripper, he was expecting applause. Instead, he got cold stares and an e-mail inbox filled with angry letters. At issue was Heather Veitch, an x-stripper turned evangelist.

Expecting applause? How do not love this guy? Basically he said, "I want to work with a blond stripper with big tits. I'm going to give her $50,000 and follow her into strip clubs and porno sets. Appluad me, bitches." Seriously, I want to marry Pastor Brown. What balls.

More on that $50,000:

Instead of backing away from Heather, Pastor Brown put up $50,000 of church money to support the ministry. But in no time at all, a rumor got started that the $50,000 was being used by Brown to buy lap dances for himself. Brown suddenly found himself on the verge of losing his church facility housed on the campus of Southern California Baptist University.

A rumor..Gee, how do you think that rumor got started? Could it have something to do with giving $50,000 to a stripper? Even better, it was church money. Maybe I should get to know Jesus. I pay for my sexual addictions with my own hard-earned money. And sanity. And emotional stability. Oh, and physical well-being. You get the point. No one is helping me out.

The ex-stripper evangelist on her record:

For her part, Heather Veitch claims she is winning souls and that is what matters. For evidence, she has the documentary which shows a number of strippers making their first venture into church. "Now comes the hard part," Heather smiles.

I need names of churches please. Addresses would be nice also.

The documentary's web site, The Pussycat Preacher here. Article here. Heather's website here, where you can check out her blog, a gallery of pictures, and get booking information for private parties. Uh sorry, I mean "speaking engagements".

Thanks to Sean Higgins for the tip, who last I saw him was heading off to strip clubs with bible in hand 20 WWJD bracelets on his arm.

Huckabee: the GOP Frankenstein

Mike Huckabee has become the Frankenstein in the GOP. The party's pandering to evangelicals helped them win elections. Now that wing is taking over the party and they created a monster that they can no longer control.

George Will writes against Huckabee here , Krauthammer here, Novak here, Rich Lowry of National Review here.

Rich Lowry richly calls it "Huckacide." From his article:

The GOP’s social conservatism inarguably has been an enormous benefit to the party throughout the past 30 years, winning over conservative Democrats and lower-income voters who otherwise might not find the Republican limited-government message appealing. That said, nominating a Southern Baptist pastor running on his religiosity would be rather overdoing it. Social conservatism has to be part of the Republican message, but it can’t be the message in its entirety.

Lowry's own words summarize the problem that the GOP has created for itself. Arguing that social conservatism "has to be a part of the Republican message" while also acknowledging that social conservatives "might not find the Republican limited-government message appealing" is a tacit acknowledgement, and approval, of the GOP abandoning Goldwater-style libertarianism to elect more Republicans to office. But what is the point of electing people to office when they do not adhere to your principles? We saw the result of this strategy of electing Republicans at all costs with the GOP-led Congress that pushed through the Medicare drug benefit while intervening in the Terry Schiavo case. Tom DeLay is, thankfully, out to pasture but...

Enter Mike Huckabee, who is the next natural step in this evolution, even if he does not believe in evolution. And if he wins the primary then there really will be a Huckacide by the GOP.

Andrew Sullivan Endorses Ron Paul

It is great to see someone who is gay abandon the Dems and endorse a libertarian. The Dems, with their traditional embrace of government power over the individual and their main candidates' scary declarations of Christianity and "faith" based values, are just as much a threat to freedom as are the Huckabees of this world. Here are Sullivan's reasons why he went for Ron Paul:

The great forgotten principles of the current Republican party are freedom and toleration. Paul's federalism, his deep suspicion of Washington power, his resistance to government spending, debt and inflation, his ability to grasp that not all human problems are soluble, least of all by government: these are principles that made me a conservative in the first place. No one in the current field articulates them as clearly and understands them as deeply as Paul. He is a man of faith who nonetheless sees a clear line between religion and politics. More than all this, he has somehow ignited a new movement of those who love freedom and want to rescue it from the do-gooding bromides of the left and the Christianist meddling of the right. The Paulites' enthusiasm for liberty, their unapologetic defense of core conservative principles, their awareness that in the new millennium, these principles of small government, self-reliance, cultural pluralism, and a humble foreign policy are more necessary than ever - no lover of liberty can stand by and not join them.

The Huckabee Ad

The TV spot that has everyone talking.

I gotta say that I agree with what appears to be the conventional wisdom. A very smart piece of work. Disgusting, yes -- just like everything about the man -- but you can take nothing away from Huckabee the politician and preacher. I think that's what makes him such a scary figure...He's very good at what he does.

Oh, This Is Going To Be Fun

Huckabee asks in an upcoming article, "Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?" No joke. More below:

WASHINGTON - Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, asks in an upcoming article, "Don't Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?"

The article, to be published in Sunday's New York Times Magazine, says Huckabee asked the question after saying he believes Mormonism is a religion but doesn't know much about it. His rival Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, is a member of the Mormon church, which is known officially as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Can you beat this primary season? Wide open on the GOP side and 3-5 guys just mud wrestling for the nomination. Other than having a candidate or two that I'd like to vote for, I couldn't imagine a better Presidential primary.

Romney, You are No Jack Kennedy

Is our country regressing toward a religious litmus test? The founding fathers, in the first amendment decided that

there would be no religious test, oath or other requirement for any federal elected office.

Mitt Romney yesterday gave a most religious speech to try to win over religious voters. It was billed as a parallel to the speech that JFK gave to quell concerns that he would not answer to the Pope. But the speeches could not have been more different.

JFK's words:

I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute--where no Catholic prelate would tell the President (should he be Catholic) how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote--where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference--and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him or the people who might elect him.

In complete and utter contrast, Romney assured, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of mankind."

God Hates the World

Westboro Baptist Church civil trial began yeaterday at the U.S. District Court in Baltimore. No word yet if protestors have shown up with "God May Hate Fags, But He Hates You More" signs.

Westboro's music video sensation, "God Hates the World" here.

Hitchens vs McGrath

Over the weekend, Georgetown hosted a theological debate of sorts between well-known atheist and current book peddler, Hitchens; and a professor of Theology at Oxford, Alister McGrath. Video of the event here. Washington Post write-up here.

I Was Only Jokin'

The excuse that probably won't fly:

Vatican official says he only pretended to be gay
VATICAN CITY - A Vatican official suspended after being caught on a hidden camera making advances to a young man says he is not gay and was only pretending to be gay as part of his work.

In an interview published yesterday, Monsignor Tommaso Stenico told the daily La Repubblica he frequented online gay chat rooms and met with gay men as part of his work as a psychoanalyst. He said that he pretended to be gay in order to gather information about "those who damage the image of the Church with homosexual activity."

Yes....And I'd like to take this opportunity to tell everyone who saw me in the alley last night, next to the dumpster with what may or may not have been an obese tranny that I was only pretending. Pretending to be enjoying my time with the tranny hooker as part of my work. What -- please don't tell me you thought all these tranny jokes were pulled out of a "101 Tranny Jokes"...It's a good bathroom read, but the jokes...eh, a little stale.

Full article here.

Godblogging Part 2

Fox News's religion correspondent, Lauren Green, is not happy about Kathy Griffin's comments in her acceptance speech for her Emmy Award.

When she accepted her long-awaited award, she said: "A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus."

Now I could have been mildly insulted at that and turned the other cheek, as the founder of Christianity taught. But then she went on to say "Suck it, Jesus. This award is my God now."

So what does Lauren Green think of this?

I don't know what went through her mind and why she would think that was cutting edge or even funny. But first, I want to actually show you that, in fact, Kathy Griffin is wrong. Jesus had everything to do with her winning that award. And here's the reasoning.

Jesus died on a cross 2,000 years ago. His dying words were, "Forgive them Father for they know not what they do." He died and they buried him in a rock cut tomb. Three days later, as the Bible says, he rose from the dead. That day is what Christians celebrate as Easter.

Green goes on preaching for one more long paragraph, followed by the sentence that pretty much sums up my problem with the entire article:

The freedoms we enjoy in this country to speak freely and to live freely are directly related to that man who died on a cross 2,000 years ago.

Well, not exactly. The American liberal ideals came from human beings who got fed up with an increasingly totalitarian kingship and just wanted to go somewhere where they were free to pursue their own interests in peace.

It's not my business whether Lauren Green believes she will go to heaven for being a good person in this life or not. But what disturbs me about many religious people is how willing they are to take give credit to the supernatural what was actually designed by human intuition.

Again, I really have no problem with religion on a personal, non-coercive level. But isn't it also a huge oversight to ignore human abilities and accomplishments and attribute everything good about humanity to the supernatural?

Update: About 3 seconds after I clicked "Publish" for this post, Kathy Griffin appeared on my TV on Larry King Live (obviously because Jesus willed it). As annoying as Griffin is, her comments on the controversy over her speech are pretty much spot on. It's worth a watch, if you get a chance.

Seperation of Church and State

Teaching creationism in government-run schools is at the top of a slippery slope. Here is what's at the bottom:

Officials at Nepal's state-run airline have sacrificed two goats to appease Akash Bhairab, the Hindu sky god, following technical problems with one of its Boeing 757 aircraft, the carrier said Tuesday.

Couldn't happen in America? Think again.

In late June, Gov. Bob Riley issued a proclamation urging Alabamians to embark on a seven-day, intense prayer campaign for rain. During that week, portions of the state got some of the heaviest rains they'd seen in months.

While in Huntsville Thursday, Riley was asked if he plans to initiate a prayer crusade again.

"I think most people who walk outside see the necessity of prayer," said Riley, who added that Huntsville felt 10 degrees hotter than Montgomery. "I don't think they have to be reminded."

When asked if he was offering daily prayers for rain on his state, he said, absolutely."

Last Time I Read My Bible, Jesus was All Over the Wine

Not too long ago for a New Testament textual criticism class, I wrote a paper advancing the image of Jesus as a well-known boozer and late-night reveler. This isn't a new idea among New Testament scholars, (of which I'm not one) but it's one that doesn't make it out to the general, God-fearing public too often. I like to go a step further and claim that his drinking and socializing were big parts of his revolutionary style and charm -- That same revolutionary style and charm that scared the religious establishment at the time and led to his execution. Not only did this behavior lead to his death, it also led to the cult like following he had. A catch-22. He wasn't the first guy to announce himself as the Son of God, but he was the first one that scared the bejeebus out of the Jewish high priests, and garnered the kind of following that he had. I contend alcohol and his social networking, were two of the more important variables that allowed the narrative to work out like it did and create a major religion that has lasted some 2000 years. I'm not saying I'm right, but I don't think I'm totally wrong, and it's a fun case to make with your typical Evangelical crowd.[Which, if you study the New Testament in the south, you will spend a lot of discussion time in class with them.]

Anyways, whenever I make this case I'm accused of twisting the facts in order to justify my own behavior or attitudes towards drugs or alcohol. Or, as I'm accused of quite often, making an argument only for the sake of shock value. Hardly the case. My standard answer is always the same. Pick up the Book that you profess to base your entire life on and actually read it. It helps in understanding what you believe in. Me? I just find it interesting reading...

These are folks that got me thinking on this:

ATHENS, Ala. - Voters have a chance on Tuesday to return this northern Alabama city to the days of Prohibition.

A measure to end the sale of alcohol in Athens is up for a citywide vote, a rare instance where voters could overturn a previous vote to allow sales.

[...]

Christians who oppose drinking on moral grounds believe they have a chance to win, however small.

"If it can be voted out anywhere, it will be here because so many Christians are against it," said Teresa Thomas, who works in a Christian book store.

Full article here.

Bush the Evangelical

There are many reasons to hate W, but my favorite is his "faith," which used to be called religion. "His faith is very strong," said Michael Novak, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in a very non-market pandering to religion. Here goes the American Enterprise Institute's defense of W, quoted by Novak,

"Faith is not enough by itself because there are a lot of people who have faith but weak hearts. But his faith is very strong. He seeks guidance, like every other president does, in prayer. And that means trying to be sure he's doing the right thing. And if you've got that set, all the criticism, it doesn't faze you very much. You're answering to God."

I want a president who answers to citizens, not God. I want someone who responds to 30% approval ratings and doesn't look relaxed because he is answering to God. For fuck's sake, if we have a president who is answering to God then what is the difference between us and a jihadi state?

Monday Morning Reading

At first glance, it could be a typical silly news story about kids skipping school. But the Rocky Mountain News buries the real lede 11 paragraphs deep.

Overall average attendance in DPS increased slightly this past school year, to 89.2 percent from 88.8 percent, the report found.

But it said that was largely because more students were faithfully showing up in charter schools.

Traditional DPS schools saw a slight attendance drop, according to the analysis.

Charter schools typically have a special emphasis and are run by independent groups of parents or others under school board contract.

Leave it to the Episcopal clergy to be the first to give this a go..

Shortly after noon on Fridays, the Rev. Ann Holmes Redding ties on a black headscarf, preparing to pray with her Muslim group on First Hill.

On Sunday mornings, Redding puts on the white collar of an Episcopal priest.

She does both, she says, because she's Christian and Muslim.

Good-bye zero tolerance in schools? Probably not, but I guess a correction is due. And what was this kid thinking? Whatever happened to baseball?

Sam Brownback Explains Why He Hates Science

Sen. Brownback in the NYT, explaining why he raised his hand during the debate when asked who didn't believe in evolution. But he didn't answer the most important question...Was the Earth made 6,000 years ago, or no?

Update: John Derbyshire thoroughly destroys Brownback's op-ed. Gotta love this line:

Here is Sam Brownback talking about evolutionary biology. That's a bit like saying: "Here's Paris Hilton talking about partial differential equations"... from which you can deduce that I don't feel much inclined to offer a detailed critique of Brownback's position.

Best Five Minutes of My Week

The controversial anti-homosexual Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, which plans to protest the funeral of Reverend "charlatan, bully and fraud" Jerry Falwell for preaching that god loves everyone (I shit you not), put out a video last month entitled "God Hates the World." Sung to the tune of "We Are the World," the song changes the chorus to: "God hates the world and all her people, you, every one, face a fiery day for your proud sinning. It’s too late to change His mind, you lived out your vain lives, storing up God’s wrath for all eternity." Awesome. Watch it here.

Romney Criticizes Singles at Monica Goodling's College

The first time I heard the family card played was during Al Gore's 2000 speech at the Democratic National Convention. He spoke about how he would defend the rights of "working families," and despite the fact that I was at that point working my tail off and part of a family, as every human being is, I knew that he was not talking about me.

Enter Mitt Romney, the guy who should be president if we care about competence but just can't stop pandering to the Christian Right and making himself detestable. At a speech at Monica Goodling's Christian college he took the working family uber alles theme further:

"There is no work more important to America's future than the work that is done within the four walls of the American home," Romney said. He also criticized people who choose not to get married because they enjoy the single life.

Nevermind that many single people would love to be married but just haven't found the right person (can we have some mercy, Mitt?) and that they pay way more in taxes than do people with children who claim zillions of deductions.

Chris Farley Reincarnated as Evangelist

Thanks to tent pitcher Sean for the tip.

José Luis De Jesús Miranda is Latest Son of God

If you took some selected quotes from Pat Robertson, Jim Jones, Aerosmith, and Adam Ant and threw them in a blender, the result would come pretty close to pastor José Luis De Jesús Miranda's philosopy.

Pastors usually don't travel in armored vehicles, preach on a stage flanked by undercover guards, and spend $350,000 a year on security.

But José Luis De Jesús Miranda isn't just a pastor: He says he's Jesus Christ incarnate.

A round-faced, affable and youthful-looking 61-year-old from Puerto Rico, De Jesús has emerged as a powerful and deeply polarizing figure in a religious landscape dominated by charismatic televangelists and politically savvy megachurch pastors.

De Jesús is neither of those. He doesn't preach about helping the poor or aligning society with Christian values. Rather, he teaches that sin and the devil don't exist, and that his followers already are spiritually perfect.

'I don't deal with the flesh, I don't deal with `walk this way, dress this way, don't drink, don't smoke,' '' he said in an interview. ``Christianity doesn't prohibit anything.''

His congregants call him Apostle, Daddy, God, the Man Christ Jesus and, most recently, ''Antichrist,'' a title that De Jesús says he adopted to signify that he has replaced Jesus of Nazareth. Opponents call him an opportunist, a charlatan, a false prophet and even "the beast.''

Despite growing criticism from mainstream churches, De Jesús -- a one-time teenage heroin addict who claims thousands of followers in the United States and Latin America -- hasn't backed down from his quest to form ''God's government on Earth,'' one that would install him as universal head of state.

[Ellipsis]

De Jesús and his followers see such criticism as fulfillment of a biblical prophecy that the world would reject the second coming of Christ. They've responded with increasingly bellicose rhetoric. For example, De Jesús predicts natural disasters will strike countries that ban him.

President Bush, no doubt, is already trying to get Iran and North Korea to ban De Jesús. More here.

Pot Not Parve for Passover

I give up religion each year during Lent -- and stay away from it until the following Lent, when I renew my disassociation with it -- but this struck me as worth reporting.

In bad news for its religious Jewish supporters, an Israeli pro-marijuana party announced Tuesday that pot is forbidden on Passover.

Cannabis is among the substances Jews are forbidden to consume during the week-long festival, which begins Monday, said Michelle Levine, a spokeswoman for the Green Leaf party.

Biblical laws prohibit eating leavened foods during Passover, replacing bread with flat crackers called matza. Later injunctions by European rabbis extended those rules to forbid other foods like beans and corn, and more recent rulings have further expanded the ban to include hemp seeds, which today are found in some health oils — and in marijuana.

Green Leaf is such a perfect name for an Israeli pot party: mixing a Jewish surname with pot imagery. If I was a practicing Jew (which I'm not) and I wanted to have kids (which I don't), there's no way I wouldn't name my kid something like "Jacob Greenleaf Linnekin".

More here. What's Kosher for Passover (and not) here.

Thanks to Saul Higgins for the tip.

Fundamentalists Ponder the Morals of Aborting Gay Fetuses

A leading Southern Baptist reverend has caused a stir by a writing a blog post with the title: "Is Your Baby Gay? What if You Could Know? What if You Could Do Something About It?" While the prospect of homosexuality going the way of Down's Syndrome is horrifying, there are good aspects of this fundamentalist navel gazing.

First, fundamentalists hate gays so much that they might drop their obsessive crusade to ban abortion so that they could abort their gay fetuses.

Second, by contemplating that homosexuality is genetically predetermined and not a lifestyle choice, Reverend Mohler essentially makes a case for gay rights.

The fundies are up in arms over these two points. One commented,

"this is such a delicate and risky conversation to have for a number or reasons . . . We're going to have to be extremely prayerful and careful about making any decision to tinker with a child's genetic or biochemical construction. We may be awfully close to violating the sanctity of that child's life and their integrity as a person."

Another warned,

"What he said lends credence to the fact that it's God's creation. His brothers in faith would be more surprised than liberals with his comments."

To view Mohler's blog, which also has a great post decrying the fact that America now has a Congressman who is "an admitted atheist," go here.

Is Jesus "Appalled" by John Edwards?

John Edwards recently said that Jesus

would be disappointed in our ignoring the plight of those around us who are suffering and our focus on our own selfish short-term needs," Edwards told the site [beliefnet.com]. "I think he would be appalled, actually."

According to this line of thought, Jesus would likely be appalled by Edwards, who, story here,

succeeded last month in selling his imposing Georgetown mansion for $5.2 million

Edwards then went on to build a $5.4 million mansion in North Carolina!

What would Jesus say? Unlike Edwards, I don't proport to know (or care) what the divine ramifications are but the hypocrisy is obvious. Perhaps Jesus would say that Edwards could live in, say, a $1 million home and donate the other $4.4 million to charity, or to the federal treasury next time he files taxes, as he thinks that raising taxes is paramount to curing what ails the US. Go for it John! You have much more money than the rest of us do so please lead us by example before you ask us to cough up more.

Abstaining from Facebook, Beats Feeding Homeless People

The Baltimore Sun. Losing readership, firing reporters; the only major newspaper covering a city with record violence and abysmal public schools, yet still manages to find time to cover the important things. Newsworthy items like unbearable, cunty undergrads giving up Facebook for Lent. This is not a wire story, not even a column, but an actual news story involving a paid reporter. I won't take this opportunity to go on a rant against the Sun, because this story is light (I think and hope it is), well written and hilarious, but believe me when I say the Sun does a less than admirable job of covering Charm City.

Back to the story itself, where thank god, we are blessed enough to be able to listen to our aforementioned cunty co-eds go on about their sacrifice in way that makes you wish you had their addresses to pass along to Mike Tyson, or maybe a hippopotamus.

Some penitents are relying on will power alone, but others have let roommates change their passwords so they can no longer access their own accounts. A few have deleted their profiles.

"The second day, I almost went on," says Analiza Saraza, a 19-year-old international business major at Mount St. Mary's. "It was like, 'www.F-A-C ... .'" At the same time, she had to stop herself from checking Instant Messenger, which she also renounced this year.

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"I think it's been like six days, but I can see it being quite difficult in the future," says Tommy Laughlin, a Loyola material engineering major who erased his whole profile.

My good-natured ribbing aside (I gave up mean-spiritness for Lent myself. The jokes and insults are only in good fun for the next 30 days folks.) I do cringe if this is what passes as religious piety in our society today; if you want to take your faith seriously, by all means do so. Sacrifice your time to perform community service; like walking sheltered dogs, or performing oral treats on that slightly weird, hairy introvert, that lives down the street from you and might also blog for a libertarian site in his spare time. But be serious, and then maybe I might take you and your faith serious too.

Full article here.

Progressives, Only Slightly Softer and Gentler Than Islamo-Fascists

Given that progressives have turned many American cities into Soviet-style informant states where the government diverts resources from investigating crimes to investigating whether or not bars are allowing smoking and citizens are encouraged to report their fellow citizens to the authorities, it's hard for me to criticize Malaysia for doing the same thing except substituting unmarried sex for smoking. There I said it, the U.S. is not that much different from Malaysia.

A Malaysian state plans to recruit "spies" from the public to snoop on unmarried lovers and report them to Islamic religious authorities, a newspaper said Tuesday.

The Terengganu state government plans to enlist the part-time spies to look out for un-Islamic behavior, such as unmarried couples kissing or holding hands, the Star daily said.

"Some of these 'spies' could be waitresses or even janitors at hotels acting as auxiliary undercover agents for our religious department," the head of the state government's Islamic and welfare committee, Rosol Wahid, was quoted as saying.

"Accurate details are required for the enforcement officers to act, otherwise they could be pouncing on married couples."

Last October, religious police in another part of this mainly Muslim country caused an outcry when they mistakenly raided the rented holiday apartment of a Christian American couple on suspicion that they were unmarried Muslims in "close proximity."

Maryland Legislator Seeks to Amend Judaism

Are you a Catholic priest who wants to marry? A Seventh-Day Adventist who's sick of that weekly, um, adventing. How about a Muslim who wants to feel good about eating pork? An agnostic seeking a definitive pre-death "yea" or "nay" on that whole afterlife thing? Don't prefer some other facets of your religion? No worries. Maryland legislators can try to change it so it's more to your liking.

Some Maryland legislators have revived the fight for a bill that would place Orthodox Jewish women on an equal footing with their husbands in divorce proceedings.

Under Jewish law, a man must grant his wife a divorce degree, or get, to end a marriage. Without it, a Jewish woman is unable to remarry within the faith, and she becomes known as an agunah, or "chained woman."

Advocates of the bill say husbands use this power to demand favorable custody or visitation schedules - or money from their wife's family - during divorce negotiations.

"We have to persuade people that the rabbis cannot address this problem on their own, that they cannot undo what the Torah commands," said Del. Samuel I. Rosenberg, a Baltimore Democrat and the main sponsor of the House version of the bill.

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Maryland's attorney general's office issued an opinion in January that "although the proposed legislation presents a substantial issue under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment," the law would likely be upheld if challenged in court.

But Marc D. Stern, general counsel of the American Jewish Congress, an advocacy group, said the bill breaks down the separation of church and state.

"The problem is a real one and needs to be addressed within the Orthodox community urgently," Stern said. However, "they've chosen a means that's fundamentally inconsistent with our constitutional system."

You'd think (or maybe not) that the bill's sponsor, a lawyer, might be able to figure this out.

Full story here in the Baltimore Sun.

And You Will Know My Name is the Lord When I Lay My Vengeance Upon Thee