4
POPSTheocracy Rejected: Former Christian Right Leaders 'Fess up
About 30 years ago, a young lawyer named John W. Whitehead worked alongside people like Jerry Falwell to help birth the Religious Right. Hoping to give the movement an intellectual grounding, Whitehead penned a series of books attacking the separation of church and state and demanding a government based on Christian fundamentalism. Whitehead's books -- The Separation Illusion, The Second American Revolution and The Stealing of America -- made him a popular figure in Religious Right circles. Whitehead repudiated theocracy years ago. It's unlikely he'd be welcome at a CNP meeting now. "Politics," he said in a recent interview, "would never even figure into Jesus' mind. He was a homeless person. He was like Gandhi. It wasn't in the picture. Christianity was not founded on politics. It was founded on helping the less fortunate .... That's how you impact culture." Schaeffer and Whitehead are two high-profile Religious Right apostates, but they aren't the only ones.
4
POPSHijab is a personal choice not state law in Turkey In the early eighties, Iran imposed the hijab on its female citizens, while Syria banned it from schools during the same period. Syria gradually came to terms with the hijab, as the number of Syrian women who chose to wear it increased drastically during the nineties. The hijab is enforced today in Iran and Saudi Arabia, and banned in Tunisia . France banned the hijab in 2004, and far right politicians and pundits are calling for similar bans in other European countries . The Turkish parliament passed a constitutional amendment that practically repealed early constitutional provisions that allowed the Turkish government to ban the hijab from government buildings, universities, and schools. Although the lifting of the ban is not in force yet, the confrontation over this issue with secularists who control the military and the courts has already started. Secularist Turks are up in arms, protesting the new amendment .
39
POPSSaudi woman to be beheaded for being a "witch" Being beheaded by sword in a public place... For being a "witch" or practising "witchcraft"... Welcome back to the Middle Ages: "Burn the witch!" or "Behead the witch!", by the name of God. Correct me if I'm wrong, Saudi Arabia is a close ally of the US, who enthusiastically invaded Iraq to bring "human rights and democracy" to Arabs, right?
11
POPSThe true miracle of Israel Israel's existence is portrayed as a resurrection of sorts: from near-annihilation to a "miraculous" rebirth. In the United States, Christian Zionists see their allegiance to Israel as a religious duty. When an American politician, for example, is accused of not standing "fully behind Israel," the accusation stands on its own, like a biblical command that has survived the test of time and reason: Thou shalt stand fully behind Israel. As the 60th anniversary of the so-called birth of Israel draws near, a most impressive -- albeit grotesque -- misrepresentation of that history will be offered in abundance , omitting how Israel was delivered on top of the ruins of hundreds of Palestinian towns and villages. The killing and ethnic cleansing that became known as the Palestinian Catastrophe -- or Nakba -- was not the work of invisible and miraculous seraphs, but rather well trained and well-armed Zionist gangs and their supporters.
11
POPSWhat Religion's Blind Stranglehold on America Is Doing to Our Democracy to go from "there is a fixed truth" to "I have that fixed truth." Words alone are rarely enough to reassure the uncertain. In fact, the more people rely on faith talk to pursue certainty, the more they may actually reinforce both anxiety and uncertainty. It's a small step indeed to move beyond the issue of individual self-control to controlling others through the passage of laws. All too often, the faith-talk view of freedom ends up taking away freedom. In itself, faith in politics poses no great danger to democracy as long as the debates are really about policies -- and religious values are translated into political values, articulated in ways that can be rationally debated by people who don't share them. The challenge is not to get religion out of politics. It's to get the quest for certitude out of politics .
1
POPSGovernor Romney's "Faith In America" Address (20 min video) Steve Benen: Right-wing Iowa caucus voters, who are already pre-disposed not to like Mormons, don't much care for "religious tolerance." Why Romney's "Religion Speech" Won't Work After listening to right wing pundits like Pat Buchanan repeatedly praise Romney's over-hyped "faith speech", guest commentator Lawrence O'Donnell got mad as hell because he just couldn't take it anymore. The McLaughlin Group Mormonism Meltdown (VIDEO)
1
POPSA Look into the Muslim Headscarf Hysteria in France
The Conseil d'État eventually ruled that students could not be refused admission simply for wearing headscarves, but it also gave teachers and principals the power to decide, on a case-by-case basis, whether such signs of religious affiliation were permissible. In 2003, two teenage sisters were expelled from their high school for refusing to take off their headscarves. The Lévy sisters are the daughters of a lawyer who considers himself "a Jew without God" and a Kabyle teacher who had been baptized a Catholic during the Algerian war. The girls had converted to Islam after their parents' separation and had donned the scarves as part of that process. In an interview with Le Monde, the girls' father declared, "I am not in favor of the headscarf, but I defend the right of my children to go to school. In the course of this business I've discovered the hysterical madness of certain ayatollahs of secularism who have lost all their common sense."
2
POPSChristian Zionism conjuring up the end of time They back the hardline Israeli government without reservation, support the institutionalized dehumanization of Palestinians and offer crucial moral support for the illegal usurpation of Palestinian land - just to gear up the end time scenario.
4
POPSJewish humour: Pope vs. member of the Jewish community An hour later, the cardinals were all around the Pope asking him what happened. The Pope said: "First I held up three fingers to represent the Trinity. He responded by holding up one finger to remind me that there was still one God common to both our religions. Then I waved my finger around me to show him that God was all around us. He responded by pointing to the ground and showing that God was also right here with us. I pulled out the wine and the wafer to show that God absolves us from our sins. He pulled out an apple to remind me of original sin. He had an answer for everything. What could I do?" Meanwhile, the Jewish community had crowded around Moishe. "What happened?" they asked. "Well," he said, "First he said to me that the Jews had three days to get out of here. I told him that not one of us was leaving. Then he told me that this whole city would be cleared of Jews. I let him know that we were staying right here." "And then?" "Then he took out his lunch and I took out mine."
5
POPSChristian Reconstructionists Are Trying to Take Dominion in America Er - not me, but the above quoted source says: The gathering, dubbed "Preparing This Generation to Capture the Future," was hosted by American Vision, a ministry that has been toiling away since 1978 to "help Christians build a truly Biblical worldview." In a conference handout, American Vision states that "By God's grace, we will work together to make America a truly Christian nation for our children's children." Based in Powder Springs, Ga., American Vision also produces reams of material that push Christian Reconstructionism, a form of fundamentalism that argues for a re-writing of American history, dismantling secular democracy and constructing an America governed by "biblical law." Reconstructionists seek to impose the criminal code of the Old Testament, applying the death penalty for homosexuals, adulterers, fornicators, witches, incorrigible juvenile delinquents and those who spread false religions.
2
POPSThe Theocratic Agenda Is Heading for a Statehouse Near You welcome to our collective nightmare Posted by: robmikejas on Mar 10, 2007 8:15 AM "The creeping theocracy that is America will leave us all in a state of ignorance and fear. Wakeup you selfrighteous tight ass right wing blowhards and smell the inquisition!! You and your faith based bullshit are ruining the most progressive intelligent and creative society ever to inhabit this earth. In the end, you will be the victims of your own pious self delusion. Take religion out of the realm of public discourse. Worship your God in the privacy of your own home and stay the hell out of mine!!" http://tinyurl.com/2ohazh
9
POPSAmerica's Holy Warriors Another important article by Chris Hedges, author of "American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America". Here we are warned that the U.S. military and law enforcement are dangerously close to being co-opted by the radical Christian right. Scary stuff. Ignore at your own risk. See also American Fascism? clipped by communicatrix.
Newest Clips
see Newest Clips
Pops
Comments
Tags
2
Most Pops
Print
Save
Turn on live update