Bad Religion gone worse. What a message: HATE HATE HATE.Fred Phelps and his family (Westoboro Baptist Church) represent Religion at it's worst
(though they have been non-violent). Forget Christianity,
they and those like them are should appropriately be called Xtians for their distortions of the meaning of the gospels.
I am SO fed up with religion. THE prime source behind most of the violence and intolerance in the world. As far as I am concerned religion is just a dirty word.
I have nothing against people of faith.... I have a deep respect for moderate reasonable people of faith.
It's just the zealots really.
The Islamiacs with their Jihad against everything, the Mormons with stupid magic underpants and "better than everyone" hubris, the Xtian Evangelicals with their EXTRA SCARY Christian Dominionism, The Ulta-Orthodoxy's with their sanctified violence—it's all metastasised dogma that is a plague on the whole world.
And they are sick of everything and everyone who isn't is narrow minded as they are.
They are the worst kind of fascists- the ones for whom the whole world and everyone that disagrees with them is an abomination just for existing. The ones who rationalize intolerance, violence and discrimination in their quest for an unattainable purity in the name of their perverse and fucked-up religion. In moments of complete apoplexy I wish we could just let part of the south secede so they can have their hateful little bible theocracy.
Just take Mississippi, parts of Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, and Tennessee and let them have their all-white, Screaming Jesus, Christian only holy land, where they can beat down everyone who doesn't "know their place," ban every book but the bible, Ban science, ban whatever fuck they want—just build a wall around it and see how long it takes for them to kill each other off as they narrow the definition of who is worthy and pure enough.
Of course that would never ever happen, nor should it. Even suggesting a such hell hole (irony intended) is very nasty karma.
I am seriously struggling to find compassion.
Sadly, Phelps and less extreme extremists like him such are everywhere.
Clearly all we can do is have compassion and patience. Infinite amounts of it too.
The Washington Post has had a great ongoing series called On Faith, which offers insights and perspectives on a variety of faith based matters.
Granted, the speakers and the audience are all largely people who want to broaden tolerance and understanding of one another, something extremists aren't interested in.... but it has to be people of faith who reach out to these monsters, because they hate everyone else too much to even have a conversation.
And honestly, I would fail on my part too trying to engage them.
I grew up with that shit and I'm largely done trying to talk to someone who's mind was made up for them by someone else they blindly follow. From my experience it's a total waste of time.
Someone has to do it though. Again, I think the attempt to engage people with hard-line even extreme views has to come from people who share some aspect of the same faith.
I offer thanks and support to those who have the patience.
Today in the Posts 'On Faith' forum there is a debate piece on the concept of a "Post-Evangelical America.... it's interesting if you have the patience for it.
Slate also has a good, but short, piece examining the support of African American voters on Prop 8—and yes, you guessed it the source of their objection is religion, not to mention a good helping of plain intolerance.
Sad and unpleasantly ironic.
And speaking of intolerance...
The GOP is having their "soul searching" conference this week in Miami (If you can call it that).
Daily KOS reports on some of the proceedings... my fave comment so far is from Tim Pawlenty, Republican governor of Minnesota:
""We cannot be a majority governing party when we essentially cannot compete in the Northeast, we are losing our ability to compete in Great Lakes States, we cannot compete on the West Coast, we are increasingly in danger of competing in the Mid-Atlantic States, and the Democrats are now winning some of the Western States," he said. "That is not a formula for being a majority governing party in this nation."
"And similarly we cannot compete, and prevail, as a majority governing party if we have a significant deficit, as we do, with women, where we have a large deficit with Hispanics, where we have a large deficit with African-American voters, where we have a large deficit with people of modest incomes and modest financial circumstances," he said. "Those are not factors that make up a formula for success going forward."
Uh, ...
can someone clue this rube in on the GOP platform? Behind the bullshit vaguries of platform items such as "building a stronger America' is nothing but intolance! Building a stronger America for who? Based on the GOP voting record of the last century, it's little more than people who are white or act like it, who are wealthy or will do anything to be wealthy, and most importantly, those who are strictly, singularly, Christian.
I'd love to think that Republicans like Pawlenty are actually examining the platform of the GOP, but I'm not optomistic. The GOP has never been interested in Hispanics, women, African-Americans, or really anybody that isn't white and filthy rich, or pretending they could be someday if they kiss enough filthy rich old white man ass.
This article in the Washington Post today suggests the GOP must free itself from the toxic clutches of religion, and "social fundementalists".
GOP. Evolve or die.
I have nothing against people of faith.... I have a deep respect for moderate reasonable people of faith.
It's just the zealots really.
The Islamiacs with their Jihad against everything, the Mormons with stupid magic underpants and "better than everyone" hubris, the Xtian Evangelicals with their EXTRA SCARY Christian Dominionism, The Ulta-Orthodoxy's with their sanctified violence—it's all metastasised dogma that is a plague on the whole world.
And they are sick of everything and everyone who isn't is narrow minded as they are.
They are the worst kind of fascists- the ones for whom the whole world and everyone that disagrees with them is an abomination just for existing. The ones who rationalize intolerance, violence and discrimination in their quest for an unattainable purity in the name of their perverse and fucked-up religion. In moments of complete apoplexy I wish we could just let part of the south secede so they can have their hateful little bible theocracy.
Just take Mississippi, parts of Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Arkansas, and Tennessee and let them have their all-white, Screaming Jesus, Christian only holy land, where they can beat down everyone who doesn't "know their place," ban every book but the bible, Ban science, ban whatever fuck they want—just build a wall around it and see how long it takes for them to kill each other off as they narrow the definition of who is worthy and pure enough.
Of course that would never ever happen, nor should it. Even suggesting a such hell hole (irony intended) is very nasty karma.
I am seriously struggling to find compassion.
Sadly, Phelps and less extreme extremists like him such are everywhere.
Clearly all we can do is have compassion and patience. Infinite amounts of it too.
The Washington Post has had a great ongoing series called On Faith, which offers insights and perspectives on a variety of faith based matters.
Granted, the speakers and the audience are all largely people who want to broaden tolerance and understanding of one another, something extremists aren't interested in.... but it has to be people of faith who reach out to these monsters, because they hate everyone else too much to even have a conversation.
And honestly, I would fail on my part too trying to engage them.
I grew up with that shit and I'm largely done trying to talk to someone who's mind was made up for them by someone else they blindly follow. From my experience it's a total waste of time.
Someone has to do it though. Again, I think the attempt to engage people with hard-line even extreme views has to come from people who share some aspect of the same faith.
I offer thanks and support to those who have the patience.
Today in the Posts 'On Faith' forum there is a debate piece on the concept of a "Post-Evangelical America.... it's interesting if you have the patience for it.
Slate also has a good, but short, piece examining the support of African American voters on Prop 8—and yes, you guessed it the source of their objection is religion, not to mention a good helping of plain intolerance.
Sad and unpleasantly ironic.
And speaking of intolerance...
The GOP is having their "soul searching" conference this week in Miami (If you can call it that).
Daily KOS reports on some of the proceedings... my fave comment so far is from Tim Pawlenty, Republican governor of Minnesota:
""We cannot be a majority governing party when we essentially cannot compete in the Northeast, we are losing our ability to compete in Great Lakes States, we cannot compete on the West Coast, we are increasingly in danger of competing in the Mid-Atlantic States, and the Democrats are now winning some of the Western States," he said. "That is not a formula for being a majority governing party in this nation."
"And similarly we cannot compete, and prevail, as a majority governing party if we have a significant deficit, as we do, with women, where we have a large deficit with Hispanics, where we have a large deficit with African-American voters, where we have a large deficit with people of modest incomes and modest financial circumstances," he said. "Those are not factors that make up a formula for success going forward."
Uh, ...
can someone clue this rube in on the GOP platform? Behind the bullshit vaguries of platform items such as "building a stronger America' is nothing but intolance! Building a stronger America for who? Based on the GOP voting record of the last century, it's little more than people who are white or act like it, who are wealthy or will do anything to be wealthy, and most importantly, those who are strictly, singularly, Christian.
I'd love to think that Republicans like Pawlenty are actually examining the platform of the GOP, but I'm not optomistic. The GOP has never been interested in Hispanics, women, African-Americans, or really anybody that isn't white and filthy rich, or pretending they could be someday if they kiss enough filthy rich old white man ass.
This article in the Washington Post today suggests the GOP must free itself from the toxic clutches of religion, and "social fundementalists".
GOP. Evolve or die.
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