Thoughts on the word "tolerance"

I had a very brief exchange this morning with a Christian about the decision by the founders of Conservapedia to come out with their own version of the Bible. Apparently, all modern translations of the Bible are too liberal and feminine for these clowns, so they feel it's absolutely imperative to have their own version. Oh, and Hell. Apparently, nobody takes the "logic" and "very real existence" of Hell seriously these days. What a joke. If they do come out with their version of Gawd, I can't wait to get my hands on it so I can eviscerate it as well.

Anyway, the topic of tolerance came up from said Christian. The gist of his argument was, "for someone whose political group places so much emphasis on tolerance, you sure don't practice what you preach." No pun intended.

So let's consider this word for a moment in light of what the Bible says about a variety of topics, starting with parenting.

"And he that smiteth his father, or his mother, shall be surely put to death." Exodus 21:15

So, one of these days, if Brendan ever hits me out of childhood frustration and anger, the Bible says I have to put him to death.

I won't go too far into every facet and every verse of the Bible here. But Christians don't have much authority to wield when they discuss intolerance by atheists, agnostics, and other freethinkers toward Christianity. Genocide, infanticide, rape, murder, lying, slavery, and abortion are all condoned in the Bible. Are these things that we should tolerate?

I am intolerant of shameless ideologues who think the world should bow to their interpretation of God or die. I am intolerant of those who stomp on science and never make an attempt to understand it, but accept the luxuries it offers that make life better. I am intolerant of those who steal and lie to others to become wealthy. I am intolerant of misogynists who control and brainwash their wives and daughters, robbing them of a life, liberty, and education. I am intolerant of those who use religion in order to justify evil. I am intolerant of those who ignore science in favor of dogma.

Yes, I am intolerant. And you should be, too.

God is pro-life...supposedly.

I was driving through Bloomsburg last evening when I was passed by a car with the bumper sticker you see to the left. I laughed.

If you're a Christian, you need to understand that it's possible to not believe in Jesus and be pro-life, no matter what the far-right fundies tell you. It is also possible to be a Christian and be pro-choice. However, the biggest pro-choice advocate in the world is Jesus himself. I know that's hard for you to believe, but it's true, and I'm going to prove it to you.

Read the following verses. Think about them, be honest, and ask yourself if the god you serve is truly pro-life.

"Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves."

Numbers 31:17-18

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"And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land. Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz. And the LORD our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people. And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain:"

Deuteronomy 2:31-34

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"And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee:"

Deuteronomy 28:53

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"Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass."

1 Samuel 15:3

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"And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them."

2 Kings 2:23-25

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"And Hazael said, Why weepeth my lord? And he answered, Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: their strong holds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash their children, and rip up their women with child."

2 Kings 8:12

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"Then Menahem smote Tiphsah, and all that were therein, and the coasts thereof from Tirzah: because they opened not to him, therefore he smote it; and all the women therein that were with child he ripped up."

2 Kings 15:16

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"O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stone."

Psalms 137:9

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"Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished."

Isaiah 13:16

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"Their bows also shall dash the young men to pieces; and they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eyes shall not spare children."

Isaiah 13:18

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"Behold, O LORD, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the Lord?"

Lamentations 2:20

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"Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house."

Ezekiel 9:6

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"Give them, O LORD: what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts."

Hosea 9:14

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Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.

Hosea 13:16

I know many of you will try to justify the actions of your god by stating something to the gist of, "Well, it's God, so he can do whatever he wants"..."These people were picking on God's people, so they had it coming"..."Burn in hell, you God-hating, anti-American, leftist scum!"..."You're taking the Bible out of context." But how you can take smashing a baby's head against a boulder over and over and over out of context is beyond me. Hate is hate, evil is evil, and killing an innocent child, regardless of religion or political affiliation is the greatest evil of all.

But ask yourself, if Jesus told you to go forth into someone else's land and kill their children, would you do it? If you say yes, you're in dire need of psychological help.

My day - ruined

Arts Fest is a pretty big deal in State College. It brings artists from all over the country to our humble little town to sell their wares, and the talent that these people display is absolutely amazing. The food is great, the music is great, and the atmosphere is great.

But leave it up to douchebags like this to ruin the fun for everyone.

If you were anywhere near the intersection of College and Allen today around 2:00 o'clock, surely you heard him warning festival goers that they're all doomed to hell. Men, women, children, infants, it makes no difference - his god is an equal opportunity hater.

For those of you who know me, you'll know that I'm a pretty easy-going guy. But the moment I heard him spew his vitriol to those around him, it made my blood boil. Unfortunately, the First Amendment and the State College Borough Ordinances 1460 and 1530 give him the right to do so.

So, if you see him or any of his cohorts handing out chick tracts or preaching, give them a little protest in your own creative, yet lawful way.

More imprecatory prayer

A couple of weeks ago I told you about former Southern Baptist Convention vice president, Wiley Drake, and his admission that he was praying for the death of President Obama. His commentary was so volatile that even fellow pastors in the SBC gave Drake a very wide berth. It seems that this idea of imprecatory prayer has been spreading like wildfire as of late. It turns out that former Navy chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt is now wishing death upon those who dare to think for themselves. I seem to remember Jesus as saying to pray for your enemies, not wishing them dead.

In April, Klingenschmitt released a podcast called "The One-Minute Prayer," in which he called for the death of freethinkers Barry Lynn and Mikey Wienstein. Hit the play button to hear the clip. Here is the transcript of the prayer:

"One-Minute Prayer: Let us pray. Almighty God, today we pray imprecatory prayers from Psalm 109 against the enemies of religious liberty, including Barry Lynn and Mikey Weinstein, who issued press releases this week attacking me personally. God, do not remain silent, for wicked men surround us and tell lies about us. We bless them, but they curse us. Therefore find them guilty, not me. Let their days be few, and replace them with Godly people. Plunder their fields, and seize their assets. Cut off their descendants, and remember their sins, in Jesus' name. Amen."

For those of you who may not know, Barry Lynn is the host of "Culture Shocks", a daily web broadcast, and an outspoken advocate of separation of church and state. Mikey Wienstein is an Air Force Academy graduate who spent 3 years in the White House during the Reagan administration has his own website, and is also an outspoken advocate for separation of church and state. Interestingly, Lynn is an ordained minister.

Klingenschmitt believes that he was wrongfully court-martialed from the Navy in 2007 because he was praying in Jesus' name in public. In reality, he was canned for disobeying a Navy rule that prohibits taking part in a political rally in front of the White House in uniform alongside known racist and former Alabama Supreme Court justice Roy Moore. Being a veteran, I can assure you that showing up in uniform at a political rally is illegal.

Klingenschmitt put out the divine hit on the lives of Lynn and Wienstein after they sent a joint letter to the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Gary Roughead, informing him that he [Klingenschmitt] was violating federal law by misusing a military uniform. Because of this letter, Klingenschmitt was forced to offer a disclaimer informing visitors to his website that he is no longer a Navy chaplain. Not surprising, however, he still refers to himself as such.

The glaring irony of Klingenschmitt's stance is that he claims to support religious freedom. I'm not sure if he knew, but religious freedom does not mean indoctrinating or proselytizing military members with a very specific religious worldview. Rather, it means letting an individual have the liberty to choose which religion is right for him or her, or even if they want to worship at all. The First Amendment is there to protect Americans from religious tyranny, and separation of church and state is possibly the most important aspect of our form of government. Leave it up to right-wing thugs like Klingenschmitt and Drake to take this vital part of our culture and twist it into a demonstrable lie.

In related news, the military is now denying that its members are trying to convert Muslims in Afganistan. According to Klingenschmitt, "It's not proselytizing. It's evangelism." What the difference is I have no idea. It was learned that Christians in the military were carrying Bibles in Pashtu and Dari to give to Afghans, a blatant violation of General Order 1. The Bibles were subsequently confiscated and burned.

In somewhat related news, scientists have determined (again) that intercessory prayer for the sick and injured does little if anything to help them recover. Why universities keep wasting their money on the link between prayer and health I have no idea.

More blatant right-wing racism

It was only a matter of time before the Obama administration was the target of racism by high-ranking Republican officials. But I didn't think the first target would be the president's wife.

Rusty DePass (R-SC) is deservedly under heavy fire for recent comments he made toward Michelle Obama. After a gorilla escaped from the Riverbank Zoo in Columbia, SC, the former campaign manager for Rudy Giuliani wrote on his Facebook page, "I'm sure it's just one of Michelle's ancestors - probably harmless." Suddenly, conservatives accept evolution. How lovely. Of course, DePass offered a less than contrite apology.

Too late, douchebag.

Update:

Sherri Goforth, a staffer for state Senator Diane Black (R-TN) is under fire herself for submitting this picture by e-mail to some of her associates. Too bad for her that she sent it to the wrong people. When pressured if she understood the racial tone of the image, Goforth simply responded, “I went on the wrong email and I inadvertently hit the wrong button. I’m very sick about it, and it’s one of those things I can’t change or take back.”

Nice.

Keep digging that hole, Repubs!

Sean Hannity: A spineless liar since 1961

There are a lot of sheeple in America. The latest cable news ratings by Nielsen prove it.

I hear so much from the right-wing talking heads about patriotism and truth-telling these days that it hurts my brain. I respect differences of opinion so long as no one is hurt, killed, or lies aren't handed out like bad checks. But there are times that the bullshit gets so deep, and the truth so stretched, you have to say something about it.

Take Sean Hannity, for example - the biggest liar Fix News has to offer. Sean's a lonely little man that can't help but attack the current president while fellating the former president every chance he gets. Sean banks his success on the hope that his audience is too stupid to do any real research that proves him wrong. As if attacking the president for recently ordering a cheeseburger with brown mustard wasn't lame enough, he continues to label Obama as a 9/11 sympathizer and a Muslim. There's no proof that Obama is any of this, but does Sean let that stop him? Hell no!

In the clip below, Sean attacks the president by claiming he "decided to give 9-11 sympathizers a voice on the world stage."

No, Sean, he didn't...

"He went on to imply to the foreign audience in Cairo that the U.S. is a nation that tortures."

Sadly, Sean, we do...

"Iraq was a war of choice."

It was a war of choice, Sean. Even the former veep finally admitted to this.

Watch Sean lie his arse off in the clip below. Hit play:



What the little coward isn't tell you is the rest of Obama's speech:

"The situation in Afghanistan demonstrates America's goals, and our need to work together. Over seven years ago, the United States pursued al Qaeda and the Taliban with broad international support. We did not go by choice; we went because of necessity. I'm aware that there's still some who would question or even justify the events of 9/11. But let us be clear: Al Qaeda killed nearly 3,000 people on that day. The victims were innocent men, women and children from America and many other nations who had done nothing to harm anybody. And yet al Qaeda chose to ruthlessly murder these people, claimed credit for the attack, and even now states their determination to kill on a massive scale. They have affiliates in many countries and are trying to expand their reach. These are not opinions to be debated; these are facts to be dealt with."

So where is the outrage from the right regarding Sean's lying, trashing of public schools, falsely claiming that Obama said we're a Muslim nation, and petty bickering about choice of mustard? Right-wingers, why you continue to get your news from a liar and racist who says to love our military (he really doesn't) but never set foot in it is beyond me. Listen - you can't have it both ways. Either you're honest or you're not. Either you call a spade a spade or you don't. I might disagree with a lot of your politics, but please - when is enough enough? When will you stop playing politics and join the rest of humanity?

Tell me, Sean - what part of lying makes you a great American? By the way, we're still waiting to watch you get waterboarded.

Netherlands Parliament member jailed for 2 years; Muslims celebrate, make death threats.

Meet Geert Wilders. Geert is a member of the House of Parliament in the Netherlands. You may not agree with his politics, but if you believe in freedom of speech then he deserves your attention.

In 2008 Geert released Fitna, a 17 minute documentary about fundamentalist Islam. Prior to the release of Fitna, fundamentalist Muslims wanted Wilder's head on a lance, just for speaking out against the evils that its adherents do in the name of Islam. In this movie he examines 5 verses from the Qur'an. They are as follows:

Sura 4: The Women

56: Lo! Those who disbelieve Our revelations, We shall expose them to the Fire. As often as their skins are consumed We shall exchange them for fresh skins that they may taste the torment. Lo! Allah is ever Mighty, Wise.

89: They long that ye should disbelieve even as they disbelieve, that ye may be upon a level (with them). So choose not friends from them till they forsake their homes in the way of Allah; if they turn back (to enmity) then take them and kill them wherever ye find them, and choose no friend nor helper from among them,

Sura 8: The Spoils of War

39: And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is all for Allah. But if they cease, then lo! Allah is Seer of what they do.

60: Make ready for them all thou canst of (armed) force and of horses tethered, that thereby ye may dismay the enemy of Allah and your enemy, and others beside them whom ye know not. Allah knoweth them. Whatsoever ye spend in the way of Allah it will be repaid to you in full, and ye will not be wronged.

Sura 47: Muhammed

4: Now when ye meet in battle those who disbelieve, then it is smiting of the necks until, when ye have routed them, then making fast of bonds; and afterward either grace or ransom till the war lay down its burdens. That (is the ordinance). And if Allah willed He could have punished them (without you) but (thus it is ordained) that He may try some of you by means of others. And those who are slain in the way of Allah, He rendereth not their actions vain.

Of course, there are tons of apologists on media outlets like Youtube that defend these verses, and state Wilders takes these passages out of context. But they conveniently ignore the following acts/pictures in the film:

1. A man's head being cut off with a knife.
2. An unarmed woman being shot in the back of the head.
3. Praising Hitler.
4. Cutting childrens' heads open with knives (and their presumable parents are smiling about it) celebrating the Day of Ashura.
5. A woman's uterus torn from her body.
6. Blowing up a train station.
7. 9/11.
8. A woman's decapitated head laying on the floor.
9. Calling for the deaths of family members, if that's Allah's will.
10. Two men being executed, just for being homosexual.
11. Calling for the deaths of non-Muslisms, with no discrimination to men, women, children All are targets.
12. Bodies blown to pieces.
13. Bodies being dragged through streets.
14. Teaching children how to kill.
15. Teaching children that Jews are "apes and pigs."

Frankly, I don't care if Wilder's takes any of the forementioned verses out of context. Because there is absolutely no way you can take anyone ripping out a woman's uterus out of context. Since his time in jail, Wilders has been on the receiving end of multiple death threats.

So, let me get this straight; Wilders is the one getting death threats on a daily basis, and he's the one in jail?

Watch Fitna here. Warning: Not for the squeamish.