When You Care Enough To Be the Most Insidious

Serious Illness - Weight Loss Encouragement - Menopause - Divorce - Miscarriage - New Dog
There's a Norman Vincent Peale Sentiment for Every One of them!

Goddam You Hallmark Cards!!
(and you think today's candidates have a hard time with profiteering preachers!)

For sheer nuggets of "wisdom", comfort and uplifting spirit, there's nothing like a Norman Vincent Peale-inspired Hallmark card.

Of course, a lot of fake-optimist-psychology goes along with it. As well as a good dose of right-wing political thinking.

O.K., who was the preeminent preacher who got too close to politics in the 1950s? It was that uplifting but sappy sentimentalist, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale. What is today's treacle was yesterday's paper sermon (with a background of hands in prayer or pink roses). Norman Vincent Peale prose was, in effect, everywhere. The author of The Power of Positive Thinking, Peale and his franchise reached out to all points of the globe. It was, however, when Peale made his voice heard in the political realm that he proved just how insidious his prose really was. The beliefs behind the benign-looking minister were on the par with Parsley and Hagee - at least for his time:

Regarding Peale's intrusion into Republican politics, Stevenson said in this transcript of a speech given in San Francisco: "Richard Nixon has tried to step aside in favor of Norman Vincent Peale (APPLAUSE, LAUGHTER)... We can only surmise that Mr. Nixon has been reading 'The Power of Positive Thinking.' (APPLAUSE). America was not built by wishful thinking. It was built by realists, and it will not be saved by guess work and self-deception. It will only saved by hard work and facing the facts." (Pacifiradioarchives.org/projects/transcripts/pdf/adlai_jfk.pdf - M).
Peale is also best remembered in politics by the famous Adlai Stevenson quote: "I find Paul appealing and Peale appalling." The origin of the quote can be traced to the 1952 election, when Stevenson was informed by a reporter that Peale had been attacking him as unfit for the presidency because he was divorced.
And Peale was totally against Kennedy because he was Catholic:

"Faced with the election of a Catholic," Peale declared, "our culture is at stake. (The Religious Issue: Hot and Getting Hotter. Newsweek. Sept 19, 1960.) In a written manifesto Peale and his group also declared JFK would serve the interests of the Catholic church before the interests of the United States ...and that the election of a Catholic might even end free speech in America. (National Review. Jan. 28, 1961). Protestant theologian Reinhold Neibuhr responded "Dr. Peale and his associates... show blind prejudice." (Take that John Hagee!)

As far as "positive thinking" was concerned, psychologists and psychiatrists all over the country cried out at how truly harmful Peale's philosophy truly was:


Peale's views are critically reviewed in a 1955 article by psychiatrist R. C. Murphy, published in The Nation, titled "Think Right: Reverend Peale's Panacea." "With saccharine terrorism, Mr. Peale refuses to allow his followers to hear, speak or see any evil. For him real human suffering does not exist; there is no such thing as murderous rage, suicidal despair, cruelty, lust, greed, mass poverty, or illiteracy. All these things he would dismiss as trivial mental processes which will evaporate if thoughts are simply turned into more cheerful channels....The belief in pure evil, an area of experience beyond the possibility of help or redemption, is automatically a summons to action: 'evil' means 'that which must be attacked . . .' Between races for instance, this belief leads to prejudice. In child-rearing it drives parents into trying obliterate rather than trying to nurture one or another area of the child's emerging personality . . . In international relationships it leads to war. As soon as a religious as a religious authority endorses our capacity for hatred, either by refusing to recognize unpleasantness in the style of Mr Peale or in the more classical style of setting up a nice comfortable Satan to hate, it lulls our struggles for growth to a standstill . . . Thus Mr Peale's book is not only inadequate for our needs but even undertakes to drown out the fragile inner voice which is the spur to inner growth." Peale was also a Scottish Rite Freemason (33°)

"As soon as a religious authority endorses our capacity for hatred..." I've talked about Christofascists before. Could there be a more apt description of our religious authorities today?
And in regards to politics, knowing what we know now about George Bush's ways of thinking (sorry), wouldn't you say that Bush had taken as much political advice from Peal as from Robertson, Falwell and, ah, Haggard?

A good look at the Power of Positive Thinking: no need to get out the magnifying glass for this one, I'll tell you: May 31 marks the anniversary of the launching of the "unsinkable" ...Titanic.

Spuds McKenzie

Spuds
Originally uploaded by intothefuzz

This guy had it all: fame, fortune (mucho dog biscuits!) and girls! Spuds McKenzie was one pooch who made advertising (or looking at advertising) fun. Sure, it was a beer, but what better way to say that the product is for a real "party animal"? This guy wasn't close to cutsie, bull terriers are very strange looking dogs, what with a huge head, short bowed legs and small hind quarters - they look like some science experiment gone wrong. None of their parts seem to fit. But if they're put down, you wouldn't know it, because they are the sweetest breed of dog. Great with kids and adults!
Thanks Spuds. This Spuds' for you!

With Focus on the Family and Family Research Council, Who Needs Joan of Arc?

Perhaps We Do

Today, in the year 1431, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. She was 19 years old. Her last words were "Bishop, I die through you." Pretty enigmatic for an uneducated peasant French girl.

In fact, the French peasant was an enigma: she said she heard the voices of St. Michael (archangel), St. Catherine and St. Margaret since she was twelve years of age. She convinced the heir of France to send her into battle with troops. She overcame the prejudice of war-hardened generals and became what some people say was the most ingenious (and victorious) war hero of her time. She saw her king crowned at Rheims, then was captured by the English, tried by an ecclesiastical court, found guilt of heresy and burned at the stake.

Joan fought for a free France. In America, who's fighting for our freedoms?

Politicians? Even the inspiring rhetoric of Barack Obama doesn't convince people that he can fight as well as he should. Hillary? McCain? They all say that God is on their side. So do organizations like Focus on the Family, Family Research Council, and Concerned Women for America. Ditto "ecclesiastics" like Parsley, Hagee, Wright, Robertson, Copeland. They certainly wouldn't try a current-day Joan of Arc, would they? Guess again: Joan's "heresy" was based on the fact that she wore men's clothes (a trumped up charge nonetheless). Feminism! Horrors!!

Again, who do we have to fight for our freedoms. Who do we have to fight for our lives? Read this bit about hate crimes:

The Triangle Foundation said Tuesday that the number of violent crimes against Michiganders because of their sexual orientation that was reported to the Detroit-based group jumped 133%

There were 226 reported incidents during 2007 involving violence or violent threats against gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered people, according to the report, which was released in conjunction with the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs. By comparison, the foundation said, there were 97 reported incidents in 2006.

The national statistics are almost as bad. And it's not just gay rights that these people won't defend, but human rights. Who will wage war against the people who do not want us to have human rights? We've been forced into a serious culture war on our own soil, but who will fight for us?

We really need a Joan of Arc now. We need someone who has had powerful visions and can be just as inspiring. We need someone to command troops of people with dedication, fortitude and zeal, troops that will counter the prejudice and bigotry we see in numbers like the one in Michigan. We need someone to help us crown our individual human sovereignty. We need someone to lay siege to religious hatred. But who? Where do we find him/her? In politics? In church? On the street?

Maybe what we really need is for us all to become Joan of Arc.

We need you, me, us. Together.

Do We really know what we want?

Or do we want what they TELL us to want?

Polls indicate...

Do they? Really? We are all very focused on what America wants, but do we really have "free will?" "Oh, it's a media thing."

Well, not exactly. In most cases, the media is a regurgitator, spewing out what is fed to them in a more appealing way. The shocking photos from Iraq, the focus on disasters and the opinions of the masses are all programmed into the media the way a few people want.

Take the Scott McCellan issue and look at it closely: if Bush fell for his own spin, Rove (or Cheney) told the press not to say it quite that way. The alternative: "The President believes, from the information given to him by trusted advisors..." We're told what to know and what not to know.


Telling us what we should want is just as bad as lying to us. But it's done every day. We're used to it. We've fallen for the snake oil. Just look at these Coke ads: the lovely German fraulein in blue was very seductive in 1937. If Hitler wanted the Sudetenland for the beer, he wanted America for the Coke!

And to love/want Coke so much as to have a tattoo of it either means you've fallen for the cola or you're making a painful statement about American advertising.

Yes, it's trite to fume about the way we are manipulated, but being trite doesn't make it untrue: the importance of who is telling us, however, is tantamount. We don't mind being sold on how cool it is to drink Coke, but if the person positing the ad is doing it purely for personal gain, we take offense. We want, we need to trust that person.

So who do we trust? Pollsters? Sometimes. Politicians? More times than we care to admit. Preachers? Almost always. Doctors? Ditto. Lawyers? Only our own (and sometimes not even then). Law enforcement? Depends on which side you're on.

To trust, or not to trust: we still have the freedom to question, although sometimes the investigation is stymied by a "don't you trust me?" The freedom to question is not used often enough and certainly not early enough. The question of WMDs in Iraq should have been forced earlier. The question of Saddam's ties to Al-Qaida should have been asked earlier and been more persistent. The hunger for truth should not be oppressed under the banner of "unpatriotic." How can we say what we want when the truth is not in plain view? The same goes for alternatives. We have to have a choice about something to be able to really want it. Having no choice is a form of coercion. Is the politician giving me a choice when he outlines his new plan or is negative about so-and-so's plan?

Don't bet on it.
Question.

As Patrick Henry said: "If this be treason let us make the most of it!"

Lies! Lies! Lies! Well, sort of...

CBS News on McClellan's new book:

McClellan draws a portrait of his former boss as smart, charming and politically skilled, but unwilling to admit mistakes and susceptible to his own spin. Mr. Bush "convinces himself to believe what suits his needs at the moment," McClellan writes. He also faults Mr. Bush for a "lack of inquisitiveness."

Smart? Politically skilled? Who the hell is he kidding? McClellan's still trying to be kind - and avoid a libel suit.

"lack of inquisitiveness" is stupidity. Say it, McClellan!
"susceptible to his own spin" is a snake oil salesman falling for his own snake oil!

Let's Show Those Queers How We REALLY Feel!

But First, Let's Get Together and Look Intelligent!

The piece below was put out today by the Family Research Council. It looks so authentic, so righteous, so...stupid.

Answering the Assault

As local organizations start mobilizing their troops to the front lines of marriage in California, FRC is launching a national effort to educate the public to the damage this ruling may do to democracy, the family, and religious freedom. Together with a broad coalition of pro-family allies, FRC has planned a strategic series of panel discussions on the implications of the California supreme court decision for the nation. Tomorrow, we'll kick off the event at the National Press Club with legal and policy experts such as Glen Lavy of the Alliance Defense Fund, Mat Staver of the Liberty Counsel, FRC's own Ken Blackwell, and more. More people must recognize that this epidemic of judicial activism has sweeping consequences for children, businesses, the legal system, and every other facet of society. If you live or work in the nation's capital, we encourage you to join us at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow at 529 14th Street, NW for "California Same-Sex Marriage: Answering the Assault on Family and Society." To RSVP, call 1-800-225-4008 or visit our website at www.frc.org. If you cannot attend, please log onto our site Thursday afternoon for video of the panel discussion.

O.K., we'll be watching. The "panel" as described, is made up of Pat Robertson and old Jerry Falwell legal goons. And this promises to be not just an indictment of gays, but outright insult-fest of California. Because, as everyone knows, California's values are liberal, profligate, atheistic values. To even think of stepping into that den of iniquity means you'll fry in
HELL!

But the series of panel discussions promises to be soooo intelligent and enlightening!!

Don't count on it. If Perkins is the one hosting it, you can be sure the style will be like his prose: obnoxiously righteous, frequently mispelled and just this side of functionally illiterate.

Hero Worship - Merchandising the Man: From Jesus to John McCain

Or... How did we get into this hero worship mess to begin with?

"I Will Save You!"

That's how it all started, you know. Yes, with Jesus Christ. To Christians, He was the first hero and still reigns supreme among many people to this day. The problem is that people can't get enough of heroes, so they make up fictional characters or lionize real people in a number of ways (some of which are rather embarrassing.) It's based on the insecurity of people: "I can't cope with this alone, so someone please help me! Save me from this problem called 'Life!!'" And how do we reward our heroes for helping us?

We merchandise them, of course! From a glow-in-the-dark plastic dashboard Jesus to a John McCain action figure (check it out here), we make icons of people we idolize (in both senses) and sell their names. As far back as the Middle Ages, we crushed small bones of saints and made "relics" (I have one - it contains the bone chips of two saints - my grandmother was very economical - one from a 10th century Bohemian saint and another from a second century Roman soldier.) Relics were big business because they brought in the pilgrim trade (tourists). Relics help to create the first superheroes. These saints were glorified and compartmentalized: if you really need to find those car keys, you pray to Saint Zita. In other words, "Saint Zita to the rescue!" or, more appropriately, "Saint Zita will save you!"

In our own time, we've had thousands of heroes. One who comes to mind is Audie Murphy. During WWII, Murphy wound up being the most decorated soldier in U.S. history. He was also very affable and good looking. Voila! Movie star!

Idolize and Merchandize. Get 'em while they're hot! Heroes have shelf lives, ya know. You never know how long they'll last or if they'll come back in style.

But what about the toll such fame takes on the hero? In most cases, the fame (and even the merchandising) is something they cannot control: they become reluctant heroes.

Jim Thorpe was a reluctant hero: Thorpe was proficient in track and field, baseball, basketball and football. He could run the 100-yard dash in 10 seconds flat, the 220 in 21.8 seconds, the 440 in 51.8 seconds, the 880 in 1:57, the mile in 4:35, the 120-yard high hurdles in 15 seconds, and the 220-yard low hurdles in 24 seconds. He could long jump 23 ft 6 in and high-jump 6 ft 5 in. He could pole vault 11 feet, put the shot 47 ft 9 in, throw the javelin 163 feet, and throw the discus 136 feet.

After he won gold medals in the Olympics, Jim was given a ticker tape parade down Broadway.

Thorpe, the hero worship was a kind of curse: during the Depression, he couldn't find a steady job. He became a chronic alcoholic. He died in abject poverty. When he was undergoing surgery for lip cancer, his wife told the press "We're broke.... Jim has nothing but hisFor
name and his memories. He has spent money on his own people and has given it away. He has often been exploited."

There was, of course, racism wherever he went: (Wikipedia) Thorpe was of mixed Native American and white ancestry. He was raised as a Sac and Fox, and named Wa-Tho-Huk, roughly translated as "Bright Path". He struggled with racism throughout much of his life and his accomplishments were publicized with headlines describing him as a "Redskin" and "Indian athlete".

Rarely do heroes continue doing what they were doing simply because they like doing it. Such is the case with "Patch" Adams, a doctor (general practitioner) with an incredible sense of humor and joy of life which he conveys to all of his patients. Having a movie patterned after your life, and being recognized as "that zany doctor" could ruin some medical careers, but Adams has remained steady and stalwart to his profession:

He founded the Gesundheit! Institute in 1972. Each year he organizes a group of volunteers from around the world to travel to Russia as clowns, to bring hope and joy to orphans, patients, and the people. In 1998 he also visited Bosnia, one of the Balkan Peninsula countries torn apart by the war that started after the break-up of Yugoslavia.

His life was the template for the plot of the film Patch Adams, starring Robin Williams. Adams is currently based in Arlington, Virginia, where he promotes a different health care model in collaboration with the institute.

So, is there a formula for handling fame and hero worship? I don't think so. As to becoming a hero, we're seeing the process unfold before our eyes: in the form of politics. John McCain will never be able to escape the image of Vietnam prisoner of war. Obama has already molded the image of young black man on the verge of greatness. How far will the "selling" of these two heroes go? How far will their campaigns let it go? And what will they do after the campaign ends?

Below is a satire of superheroes. He's called "Captain Perfect". Let's hope that some of our future heroes don't turn out to be like him.

Double Post:: War, Witchcraft and...a Wish

Some thoughts on the United States Being Its Own Worst Enemy

May 26 & 27

Now that all of the Memorial Day platitudes are past, I would like to reflect a little on the sentiments of our country.

Pastor Rod Parsley has said that America was founded to destroy Islam. He has had a hard time proving such nonsense. America never really set out to destroy anything - except itself. Even the immaculate Puritans had more blood on their hands than our self-proclaimed patriots would like to admit: the first settlers engaged in Indian wars very quickly. What's more, they implanted in the minds of following generations the spin that Indians were blood-thirsty heathens, unworthy of the land they occupied. The Puritans had no real notion of sharing the land with anyone else. They allied with tribes to kill other tribes, then killed their allies - all for "God and civilization."

"Americans" were killing Americans.

Then Americans started to kill their own kind in earnest: starting with witchcraft trials. In 1647, Alse Young was the first person to be executed as a witch. She was hanged, not burned (the difference being like "shaken, not stirred"). Besides the Bible admonition "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live," Connecticut law depended greatly on Leviticus (20:27) says: A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood (shall be) upon them. In Connecticut, witchcraft was last listed as a capital crime in 1715. The crime of witchcraft disappeared from the list of capital crimes when the laws were next issued in 1750. (Wikipedia)


Then the pinnacle of self destruction came in the form of the Salem Witchcraft Trials. These were a series of hearings before local magistrates followed by county court trials to prosecute people accused of witchcraft in Essex, Suffolk, and Middlesex Counties of colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693. Over 150 people were arrested and imprisoned, with even more accused who were not formally pursued by the authorities. The two courts convicted twenty-nine people of the capital felony of witchcraft. Nineteen of the accused, fourteen women and five men, were hanged. One man who refused to enter a plea was crushed to death under heavy stones in an attempt to force him to do so. At least five more of the accused died in prison.

After the Revolutionary War, the country went back to killing Native Americans on an unprecedented scale and even continued through the Civil War up to the Spanish American War. There were approximately 76 Indian "Wars." And what we didn't do with rifles, we did with "laws" and "Acts", relocating the Native American countless times. There were more "trails of tears" than one would think imaginable.

Side note: I think it quite odd/ironic that Native Americans fought in the 20th (and 21st) century wars. Forgiveness trumped even cultural pride along the way to WWII. Somehow the "heathens" managed to keep their dignity while being oppressed.

Of course the real "Golden Age" of self-loathing was the Civil War and the following Reconstruction. Almost 750,000 men were casualties - more than any other was or military conflict the U.S. has ever engaged in. That should have been, for America, the "War to end all wars."

The Civil War not only pitted Brother against brother, but white against black. The scene to the left is the hanging of a black Union soldier by confederates.

And our self-loathing then began to increase exponentially, with separatist groups sprouting up (e.g. KKK) and laws to punish its own (Southern) states.

You would think that all of this war of Americans against Americans would tire us out for any other wars. Of course, this isn't so. Since 1776, there have been only 90 years in which we were not engaged in either war or military conflict. The sum total casualties may have been milder than some European countries, but one million people is still... well, one million people. We have been involved in several hundred military conflicts.


And we killed our citizens in a variety of other ways than out 'n out war: disaster unpreparedness is perhaps the most recent and vivid means of killing, not to mention poverty. But then again, every country does that to its own citizens. At least, that's our reasoning.

Besides other conflicts, we are now in a "culture war" which, make no mistake, has physical casualties, or hasn't anyone heard of gay bashing?

Then, of course, there's the killing we do through simple economics:

(On Bush's objection to raising the salaries of servicement):

(In Think Progress Blogsite by Faiz, May 23, 2008):

At the same time it is strongly opposing a slight increase in pay for the troops, the Bush administration is asking for hundreds of billions more for war. To put it in all in context, the White House wants $165 billion to continue fighting the Iraq and Afghanistan wars this year, but refuses to spend 0.2 percent of that amount ($324 million) to provide the troops a slight pay raise.

Bush on Memorial Day:

"On this Memorial Day, I stand before you as the commander in chief and try to tell you how proud I am," Bush told an audience of military figures, veterans and their families at Arlington National Cemetery. Of the men and women buried in the hallowed cemetery, he said, "They're an awesome bunch of people and the United States is blessed to have such citizens."
With typical ineloquence, President Bush has managed to deflect Americans' attention from the simple fact that Americans have been at war with Americans for centuries.

We've done less fighting to preserve our freedoms from foreign countries than in killing each other.

One wish: to stop our infighting for just one day to see what it feels like.

Scene during the 1891 Expedition in Korea

Witches Graveyard In Salem, MA

Witches Graveyard In Salem, MA
Originally uploaded by Red Dot Studio

A small indication that Americans have warred against themselves most and have had the most casualties. Whether or not war is sanctioned by God (but it most likely is) it is a powerful tool of hatred.

I've always wondered what stance today's Fundamentalists would take if transported back to that era. Can't you imagine people like Hagee, Patsley, Dobson, Perkins, Robertson, Roberts participating in the trials, hangins and burnings of women as witches? If they were around, how many more women would have gone to the stake?

Hagee Couldn't Build Gas Chambers for Jews - How About Homosexuals?

May 23, 2008
Washington Post,
Updated 5:10 p.m.
By Juliet Eilperin and Michelle Boorstein

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) today rejected the endorsement of megachurch pastor and ardent Zionist John Hagee after learning of a sermon in which Hagee posited that Nazism was God's will.

Supposedly to get them back to Israel. Yeah, right.

Hagee's exegesis (interpretation) of the Bible is so skewed as to be laughable. The problem with that exegesis (besides pronouncing it) is that this portrays God as an incredibly vengeful monster who cares only that His creations do His will. Another problem is that there are people who (yes) actually believe Hagee. And while Hagee stated that the recording of his statement was taken out of context, his philosophy on the way God works would be taken incorrectly by anyone. In other words they believe what they think Hagee is saying. Their exegesis of Hagee, is Hagee's fault, not theirs. His "flock" doesn't have time to sift through every nuance of his sermons. They want religion/spirituality spelled out for them in the easiest way possible. They come to his show/church to be entertained by what they hear and see, not to think or parse about the subject. Hagee knows that he has to hand them ideas on a silver platter with very few requests to labor over what he says. They have to take whatever Hagee says at face value.

And the face value is ... to get the Jews back to the true Israel, we're gonna have to kill a whole lot of Palestinians, and possibly all of Islam. To make sure that the earth is ready for the second coming, we have to try to make all of earth's inhabitants Christian-pure. That means, for example, no homosexuality.

May 24th is the day that Adolf Mengele took control as chief medical officer at Auschwitz. He experimented on all sorts of people (including homosexuals), but he preferred children - especially twins - and dwarfs. Below is a picture taken of some of his "children."

(From USA Today, AP, 1-28-2005)

At Auschwitz, Mengele was responsible for what came to be known as "selection," choosing who was fit for slave labor and who was to die in the gas chambers. He was also fascinated by twins on whom he experimented.

"He would tell little children to sit on his lap and tell them to call him 'uncle,' 'uncle Mengele' and sometimes give them a sweet — and in the same tone of voice that he said 'I'm uncle Mengele,' he would tell the officials to give them a lethal injection," Martha Weiss, a survivor of his experimental ward, told the Associated Press recently.

Would God WANT that to happen to children? Hagee has a very, very perverted sense of justice, not to mention God.

We are on the brink of an age of genetic engineering. If alive and well today, Mengele no doubt would be in the forefront trying to create the "perfect" man. Hagee probably wonders if homosexuality can be "engineered" out of people before birth. However, since he wants the Second Coming as soon as possible, he might not mind a bit of "sexual orientation cleansing." And when people take him for "the gospel truth," he might wince slightly at the results.

---

What A Great Time To Back To The...20th Century? 19th? 16th?

Removing kids from a house of authoritarianism and hate to a world they weren't allowed comprehend

Hell, we can go back all the way to Biblical Times!

"But King Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites... And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart." (KJV, Kings 1, verses 1 & 3)

Yeah, this is another post about the FDLS. Yesterday came the ruling from the appeals court that the State of Texas did not have the right to extract the children of the FLDS from the compound:

By LISA SANDBERG and TERRI LANGFORD
San Antonio Express-News and Houston Chronicle

According to the court, "The existence of the FLDS belief system as described by the Department’s witnesses, by itself, does not put children of FLDS parents in physical danger."

It stated, "Removing children from their homes on an emergency basis before fully litigating the issue of whether the parents should continue to have custody of the children is an extreme measure."

"The danger must be to the physical health or safety to the child," the appeals court wrote. "The Department (CPS) did not present any evidence of danger to the physical health or safety of any male children or any female children who had not reached puberty."

One mother responded: "A great day for the families of Texas"

Huh? I'm sorry, but this is where I differ with a lot of people: The State of Texas was right to withdraw the children. Yes, you heard that right: I'm actually saying that Texas did something right for a change!

I guess I have a different slant: notice that the judge said there was no evidence of physical abuse. But what about emotional abuse? What about false imprisonment? The isolation imposed on these children is nothing else. They have no choice in the matter of estrangement to the rest of the world. Remember: what these kids are taught (and not taught) is a matter of extreme importance in this issue. These kids have been taught that the ENTIRE outside world is evil. Most of them (if not all) have never been outside the compound. They are not allowed to mingle with people, lot allowed to read newspapers, not allowed the internet (and in but rare circumstances) not allowed television. Their perception of the world is so damaged that they can ONLY feel secure within the compound.

Then there is the case of the mothers being imprisoned as well. Polygamy as practiced by the FLDS demands that to get to heaven, every man must have at least three wives. Warren Jeffs (former leader of the FLDS now serving time in prison) had 12 wives! That makes Henry VIII look rather anemic in comparison! Let's face it, to have multiple wives, Henry VIII did it the hard way: successively and individually. That's way too hard on a man's psyche. And was very hard on the wives - even the ones who kept their heads!

Escape, by Carolyn Jessop could be the most accurate account of how prison-like the FLDS is. While I haven't read the book yet, I've read the reviews and all of them give the book the highest rating (5 stars). I've yet to see that for any book. According to Jessop: absolute obedience to husbands is stressed from childhood. Formal education for girls is curtailed in the early teens. Wives have no access to bank accounts. Newspapers are never seen. Access to television is often banned and always monitored.

A relative, Flora Jessop said this about the FLDS's compound in Hildale, UT: "What goes on in that place is nothing less than sexual slavery. At 16, after I rebelled, I was given an alternative: a forced marriage or the mental asylum," she claims. "The local police and judges were in cahoots with the church."

BTW: The name of Jessop is extremely common in the FLDS community. Why? This item from Wikipedia says a lot:

The Colorado City/Hildale, Utah area has the world's highest incidence of fumarase deficiency, an extremely rare genetic condition which causes severe mental retardation. Geneticists attribute this to the prevalence of cousin marriage between descendants of two of the town's founders, Joseph Smith Jessop and John Yates Barlow. At least half of the double community's roughly eight-thousand inhabitants are descended from one or both men.

So, I must comment again: even though there was no evidence of physical abuse, wouldn't rape, false imprisonment and incest as tenets of a "religion" force you to extract these kids as quickly as possible?

Solomon wasn't all that wise.

Solomon Receiving the Queen of Sheba

The Great Society vs Today's ChristoFascism

The remnant of "Camelot" will surely warrant prayers ...
for his swift death - from ChristoFascists.

May 22

It's a rather dull day as religion and politics go. The big news, of course, was the fact that Senator Ted Kennedy has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. However, neither Pat Robertson nor any of the Christian Right have commented by saying it was God's wrath upon Kennedy's liberal ways. To be fair, we must give them time since comments of that nature take an effort to construct properly. Maybe Robertson is waiting for a natural disaster to strike Kennedy's hospital, who knows. Robertson is, after all, is almost as big on natural disasters as Jerry Falwell was.

I looked at the On This Day in History list and the only thing that struck me was the Lyndon Johnson "Great Society" speech. So, I dug a bit further. Here's the pertinent segment of his speech to the University of Michigan commencement on May 22, 1964:

We are going to assemble the best thought and broadest knowledge from all over the world to find these answers. I intend to establish working groups to prepare a series of conferences and meetings—on the cities, on natural beauty, on the quality of education, and on other emerging challenges. From these studies, we will begin to set our course toward the Great Society.”

Johnson pushed through legislation for his Great Society which was vaguely modeled on FDR's New Deal. Of his efforts, Medicare, Medicaid still survive, but there were a host of social programs that do not exist anymore. Why not? They were technically killed by Reagonomics, but theoretically they were destroyed by conservatives and, dare we say it - today's ChristoFascists.

The Wikipedia definition of ChristoFascists:

Christofascism allows Christians, or disposes them, to impose themselves upon other religions, upon other cultures, and upon political parties which do not march under the banner of the final, normative, victorious Christ.

Is ChristoFascism a perjorative term? It probably is, but that doesn't take away from the fact that it is an apt description we have for theocratic authoritarians. Interestingly, Conservapedia has no definition of ChristoFasicsm.

Here's a very insightful Bob Nichols (Democratic Underground) way back in 2002 commenting on ChristoFasicsm:

Why are fetuses and embryos more important than non-born again humans outside the womb? Or, what is it that makes the "pre-born" sacred and the "post-born" unworthy of unconditional Christ-like love and caring?

A part of the answer is that the Christian Radical Right believes in the anti-gospel doctrine of Original Sin. This was not part of Jesus' teachings, but invented a few centuries later by a helpful "Saint" Augustine.

So "pre-born" embryos and fetuses are sinless, just like Jesus, and then are sinful at the moment of birth and are believed to be going straight to hell. ...The Christofascists stand in trembling ecstasy ready to be raptured up when Armageddon erupts in the MidEast - and soon, they hope. Dialing up global thermonuclear war is their fondest desire.

Christofascists are consumed by their constant conservative desire for absolute, authoritarian certainty rather than truth. Their grasping belief in the pre-Christian view of God as a vengeful, arbitrarily violent Yahweh sets them up perfectly to follow the commands of any authoritarian leader. These triumphant and confidant sounding leaders are always God-ordained and are granted strict unconditional obedience from the sheep in the pews. The ChristoFascist leaders are all too willing to be judges, juries, and executioners of the unsaved non-believers.

Author Christopher Hedges calls Fundamentalists "American Fascists," but the latest crop of preachers - Word of Faith movement - are even more adamant on promoting their own authority; they make hay out of the needy and the greedy. In a sense, they are more dangerous than what we would consider the common, everyday fascist: they say God is leading them, so you have to bow down to them in turn.

So where does all this do to Lyndon Johnson's dream of a "Great Society"? It gets us as far away from it as possible.

They all had dreams of a greater America. Hard to believe that two of them came from Texas.

This photo was taken just moments before the end of "Camelot"

Pray for Ted Kennedy, if you dare.

ANOTHER Name for Obama?

How About

"He Who Is Jack of All Issues But Master of None" or... "He Who Is Still Timid On Gay Issues?" or... "He Who Will Not Be A Diplomatic Dimwit?" or... "He Who Will be More Like A Kennedy Than A Clinton?"

I just read this:

Obama Gets New Name
by The Associated Press

Posted: May 20, 2008 - 1:00 pm ET

(Crow Agency, Montana) Democrat Barack Obama got a brand-new name as he courted native Americans in the West.

The presidential candidate was adopted as an honorary member of the Crow nation, and given a name that translates as "One who helps people throughout the land."

"What an enormous honor this is," said Obama, occasionally stumbling to pronounce the complex native American names.

Yes, it IS a great honor to be adopted by a Native American tribe. There are so few of them, however, that adoption is the only way to go these days. The article talks about Barack Obama "courting" Native Americans. Politicians "court" while good leaders listen to what the people have to say. Has Obama been listening?

He definitely has listened to what critics have to say, because he has had to fend them off as deftly as possible. The bruhaha raised concerning his statement about meeting with enemies really did get his attention and, I will have to admit, he answered it wisely:

"Here's the truth: the Soviet Union had thousands of nuclear weapons, and Iran doesn't have a single one. But when the world was on the brink of nuclear holocaust, Kennedy talked to Khrushchev and he got those missiles out of Cuba. Why shouldn't we have the same courage and the confidence to talk to our enemies? That's what strong countries do, that's what strong presidents do, that's what I'll do when I'm president of the United States of America." -

But has he listened to the gay community? Here's what he said in February in a letter:

365gay.com
Feb. 28, 2008

"And as president, I will place the weight of my administration behind the enactment of the Matthew Shepard Act to outlaw hate crimes and a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act to outlaw workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The letter goes on to say that if elected president he would use the bully pulpit "to urge states to
treat same-sex couples with full equality in their family and adoption laws."

But he also said "I personally believe that civil unions represent the best way to secure that equal treatment."

I think he's faultering there. He gets marks for listening on ENDA and adoption, but not on the issue of civil unions. "The bully pulpit" will definitely not include talking to the other pulpits throughout the country about same-sex marriage. He might be a very good diplomat, but it will take more than diplomacy to right the "right" when it comes to equality for the LGBT community in that respect.

Today, I've just learned that the latest numbers reveal a 24% increase in gay bashings in the year 2007.

24%

Will he remember that if he gets the nomination? Of course, he still has the race issue to contend with in his campaign and I can almost forgive a politician's ADD when it comes to something as heated as race: polls in Kentucky and West Virginia indicate that many voters refuse to vote for a black man and will vote for anyone else if forced to choose - or they won't vote at all.

Another Name? How about "He Who Still Has A Ways To Go"?

***

A personal word on gay rights.

May 21st mark the 29th anniversary of San Francisco's White Night Riots - the result of former City supervisor Dan White receiving only a six year sentence for killing gay supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone.

I was at the riots, both at the Civic Center and at the Castro. You've never lived until you've had 50 riot-helmeted policemen approaching you in a phalanx. While cop cars were burning at the Civic Center, police were indiscriminately bashing heads along Castro Street. I happened to be in a bar called The Midnight Sun. It was safe: no windows and a steel door. Someone trying to get from their motorcycle to the safety of the Sun was pounding on the door. We cracked open the door and yanked his bloody figure inside. We heard glass being smashed. Later, we found out it was a group of police crashing through the glass doors of the corner bar, Elephant Walk. One policeman went behind the bar and beat the bartender senseless. He was in a coma for months.

This is obviously not something to celebrate. But it is a time for reflection: there are many people who possess such homophobia, that they would do anything to hurt gays. Some of the pictures below are evidence. This world hasn't changed as much as many people would think.

And some people think that's a good thing.

Gay men being executed in Iran

A picture of broken ribs after a gay bashing

Get A Load of San Francisco Values!

This insulting ad for politician Graves' congressional bid posits "San Francisco Values." Why is it insulting? True, San Franciscans like to party, but the money being doled out is usually to charities and non-profits.

And the three paid actors don't look or move like San Franciscans: they're lame and plain. Is the guy in the middle supposed to be gay? Guess he doesn't go to the same bars I do. The men I meet have more rhythm. The young (?) lady in pink looks like she fashioned her character on someone out of the 80s who 's definitely been "supersized" too much. The other woman is supposed to represent a conglomeration of our Asian/Hispanic population. She doesn't. And besides, there would have to be fifty people in the picture to represent all of the ethnic groups we house.

This ad will go out to people who have never even seen a postcard of San Francisco. Is his target group from Appalachia?

White is the New Black! Or Is Black the New Black?

Senator Byrd Is Not Just Liberal (and Therefore Godless),
He's Downright Unpatriotic!
(Actual Photograph of Our Lord and Savior)

Hell, maybe our country is FINALLY color blind!

My, how our country has changed: a former member of the Ku Klux Klan has just endorsed African American Barack Obama for his party's nomination. But look into the biography of Senator Byrd (D - WV) and you'll find nothing resembling White Power. Byrd, who now holds the record for the longest senate seat in history, apologized for his past affiliation and says (with apparent sincerity) "I will always apologize. I was wrong." After he had an epiphany, he went from Dixiecrat to liberal in a total makeover that would make all the guys in "Queer Eye" dizzy. He opposed the war in Iraq so vehemently that Republicans began loathing him en masse. At one time, he compared George Bush to Hitler:

Octogenarian Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia made the equation in the context of Bush’s attack on Senate procedures which might slow or halt his on-going attempt to pack the courts with extreme right-wing fanatics. Byrd said Bush’s moves to destroy time-honored Senate rules parallel Hitler’s ramming fascist legislation through his gutted Reichstag. “Hitler never abandoned the cloak of legality,” said Byrd. “He recognized the enormous psychological value of having the law on his side. Instead, he turned the law inside out and made illegality legal.” (Harvey Wasserman, The Free Press, March 7, 2005)

A Wise Old Byrd.

Or a courageous one. Just think of all the death threats he will probably get: Christian Identity is certain to send him one, plus Aryan Nations, Church of Jesus Christ Christian, Kingdom Identity Ministries and every neo Nazi group in the country. He's not only made every Republican politician despise him, but he's incurred the wrath of Christo-fascists everywhere: his patriotism has been in question for a long time. Hell, he doesn't seem to want to kill Islamists! I tried to find out just what part of Christianity he espouses, but biographies have insufficient data as to his denomination. Being from West Virginia, you might think he's Southern Baptist 100%, but I don't think so. I think his focus on religion changed along with his views on civil rights (they would have had to!).

So now the 2008 campaign again has a race issue - just not the kind anyone anticipated.

Oddly enough, today commenorates the day Auschwitz opened and so graciously accepted Jews. Its hospitality became world famous later on, but Christian groups knew what was really going on. (wink wink)

Below: the early center for Christo-
Fascism: Father Charles Coughlin's Basilica
of The Little Flower. Irony: the first of Coughlin's
churches was burned down by an affiliate
group of the Ku Klux Klan. Go figure.

Auschwitz:

snl-best-of-gilda-radner-20051019112134306-000

snl-best-of-gilda-radner-20051019112134306-000
Originally uploaded by toshes@sbcglobal.net

Her best Roseanne Rosannadana:

"Mr. Richard Feder from Portsmouth New Jersey writes about the Tut exhibit: "I keep hearin about this Tut. What is Tut? Did you see Tut? Should I see Tut? Will Tut ever come to my town in New Jersey?"

"Mr. Feder - This young king's dead. Don't make matters worse for him by makin' him go to New Jersey!"

We miss you, Gilda!

Lindbergh-Earhart

Lindbergh-Earhart
Originally uploaded by Mary Bogdan

Today, Lindbergh started on his historic flight from Long Island to Paris. It was a technical tour de force that tens of thousands met him when he landed at Orly. He was actually more than just a flier, he was an engineer who wound up advising government projects. The kidnapping and murder of his infant son became the "crime of the century." His fall from grace happened when he took it upon himself to visit Hitler.

OMG! Sister Aimee Is STILL With Us!!

Oh, That's SAINT Aimee to you, Hagee, Parsley and Hinn. And All The Right-Wing Pentecostals, Assembly of God congregations,
Charismatics, etc., etc.

Aimee's "Parsonage" attached to Angelus Temple

On May 18, 1926, Aimee Semple McPherson vanished at Los Angeles' Ocean Beach. It was believed that she drowned. The famous evangelist who founded the 5300-seat Angelus Temple was so well known that the Los Angeles Times (a Hearst paper) kept up the story for weeks, Sinclair Lewis wrote a poem in her memory and hundreds of people kept seaside vigils ("A futile search for the body resulted in one parishioner drowning and another diver dying from exposure" - Wikipedia)

Sister Aimee in 1920

At about the same time, Kenneth G. Ormiston, engineer for KFSG, also disappeared.

After 35 days (on June 23), McPherson stumbled out of the desert in Agua Prieta, Sonora, a Mexican town just across the border from Douglas, Arizona. She claimed that she had been kidnapped, drugged, tortured, and held for ransom in a shack in Mexico, then had escaped and walked through the desert for about 13 hours to freedom.

Several problems were found with McPherson's story. Her shoes showed no evidence of a 13-hour walk; indeed, they had grass stains on them after a supposed walk through the desert. The shack could not be found. McPherson showed up fully dressed while having disappeared wearing a bathing suit, and was wearing a watch given to her by her mother, which she had not taken on her swimming trip. A grand jury convened on July 8 to investigate the matter, but adjourned 12 days later citing lack of evidence to proceed. However, several witnesses then came forward stating that they had seen McPherson and Ormiston at various hotels over the 32-day period.

The bad press never ultimately hurt McPherson's reputation or her church: The Interntaional Church of the Foursquare Gospel's 5300 seats were always filled, three times a day, seven days a week! Over 100,000 repentant sinners per week! Parsley, Hagee, Osteen, Jakes, are you READING this? She also had a Foursquare Gospel radio show!

After McPherson died of an accidental drug overdose in 1944, the church passed into the hands of Aimee's son, Rolf K. McPherson.

On the right Aimee and her "Gospel" car
Forerunner of personal jets.

As of 2000, the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, commonly referred to as the Foursquare Church, had a worldwide membership of over 5 million in almost 30,000 churches in 123 countries. This includes 1,844 churches with 218,981 members in the United States.

Was Aimee a fraud? Her teachings were very much in line with Pentecostals and charismatics today: 1.The Bible as the inspired word of God, 2.The atoning death of Christ for sinners, 3.Salvation through the grace of God by Faith Alone in the Lord Jesus Christ, Baptism by immersion, Divine Healing, Return of Jesus Christ, Final Judgment, and, of course, Tithing and Offerings. She lived well (above is a picture of her "parsonage"), but not so extravagantly that there were grumblings of inappropriate expenditures.

She wasn't a "Word of Faith" preacher who extolled faith in God being rewarded with money. She wasn't a hell-fire preacher, but she put on a great show. She knew that she was what the times needed (especially after the Crash). She made herself famous (in addition to her radio show, she appeared at civic events and parades). She didn't spew hate or politics. Of course, if she had conquered television, she might have had her own broadcast network by now. She obviously had enough charisma to raise millions of dollars for her church and her causes. Her church endures even to this day (although, quite tellingly, most of the congregants are in foreign countries - the megachurch pastors have seen fit to ease the Foursquare Church out). In effect, she's still with us.

Will the Word of Faith mega-pastors be able to say the same in 70 years?

We hope not.

Angelus Temple then...and now.