Doubtless, you are getting more mail from critics than supporters about your mockery of the Cranick family's tragedy. If you are getting as much mail in support, however, it is time for most of us to rethink America's values.
Would you have mocked them quite as much if a family member had died in the fire instead of "just" their family pets? The chilling answer to that is: probably. However, it's possible that you were only following in the footsteps of Brian Fischer who said that letting the house burn was really "the Christian thing to do." I've always thought that phrase to be the most righteously arrogant one in the English language. Both you and Fischer, however, have made it sound rather ...evil.
What you did for "social justice" you're now doing for "compassion." What you have against both those admirable human traits is beyond comprehension. By mocking the Cranick family, you also mocked all of the people who are compassionate. Did you mock any of the people helping in Haiti? After Katrina? If the World Trade Center had not paid their property taxes, would you have mocked the firemen of 9/11? Would you have mocked The Good Samaritan?
You're probably scoffing at the critics right now, but if those critics are coming from your base, it may be time to think about some form of apology. A simple "explanation" will not be sufficient.
Just a thought.
Sincerely,
Dan Vojir
a bleeding heart liberal
OK. I got that out of my system. I'd do another one for Bryan Fischer, but I'm still a compassionate being: I don't criticize imbeciles.
I am concerned, instead, about the road religion in this country has been taking. I believe it all started when Jerry Falwell declared, "Jesus was not a sissy." Jesus then slowly evolved into a Rambo-like figure, fitting the image of a redneck more than a preacher of love and forgiveness.
You've got to hand it to Christofascists and Right Wingnuts - they scream and rant and explode and stomp and faint and cry, well, they're just the greatest emoting animals on the planet! Their rhetoric makes every day Halloween with images of political demons and hellish moral catastrophes. They defend us all (yes, the sinners too!) with buzzwords that sting their enemies, like "God" "Bible" "Hell" "Satan" "Taxes" and "Tinky Winky!" They expand hyperboles, sometimes going on into infinity: "Throughout the history of mankind!" "They'll burn in hell - FOREVER!" "Your children and your children's children and their children's children will never, ever see the end of paying for this disastrous bill!"
They have deep-seated persecution complexes and are the biggest source of conspiracy theories. Meeting Democrats at a party makes them spout doom and gloom: they will never again see the return of Eisenhower's 50's or Reagan's 80's! Things were so much, much better!
Now a new poll conducted by Research 2000 released today shows us that:
39% of Republicans want President Obama to be impeached.
63% think Obama is a socialist.
52% do not believe Obama was born in the United States.
21% think ACORN stole the 2008 election --
AND EVEN SCARIER:
53% think Sarah Palin is more qualified than Obama to be president.
23% want to secede from the United States.
73% think gay people should not be allowed to teach in public schools.
31% want contraception to be outlawed
The poll
The last several weeks were particularly active and agitating weeks for Christofascists: the Prop 8 trial and, well, just about everything else.
The first one may not be classified as a "rant" because it's more like severe contempt, but it gets the party started:
My guess is that Haiti’s so screwed up because it wasn’t colonized long enough.
Then, of course, there was Maggie Gallagher of NOM:
When this trial [Prop 8] began I told you: gay marriage activists were putting 7 million Californians on trial. But this week it got worse: They are clearly putting Christianity itself on trial. Why else have an expert read statements of Catholic and Southern Baptist doctrines into the record?
Bill Donahue, borrowing a trite and erroneous statement from Rick Warren:
Society cannot exist without families; families cannot exist without reproduction; reproduction cannot exist without a sexual union between a man and a woman;and every society in the history of the world has created an institution called marriage to provide for this end.
And Tony Perkins of Family Research Council showed us that when you're feeling frustrated and desperate, it's time to call the other side DESPERATE!
The Left is preparing a desperate 120-day ASSAULT on your values to appease itsCULTURE OF DEATH, ANTI-MARRIAGE political base before the 2010 election campaigns begin.
And Family Research Council (FRC) is preparing to meet that BLITZ head-on.
Perkins' wild pronouncements included: (the good guys)
Reclaiming marriage Defending innocent human life Protecting children
(the bad guys)
radical agenda Silencing faith Silencing Christian and conservative radio
And ending with:
2010 is a turning-point year for faith, family, and freedom!!!.
And from another part of the globe, we have a drama queen's rant coming from the new archbishop of Belgium, Andre-Joseph Leonard:
"Homosexuality is not the same as normal sex in the same way that anorexia is not a normal appetite."
Drama. Irrational, baseless drama. Unfortunately their drama will create REAL drama.
Stop The Disaster Relief! Haiti Is Saved! With Solar-Powered Bibles!?!
I'm not making this stuff up! Our thanks to Dr. Valerie Tarico for letting us know about this latest humanitarian miracle!
From Huffington Post:
Solar Powered Bibles for Haiti: Why Some Christians Feel Compelled to Exploit Disaster
Physicist Steven Weinberg once said, "With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion."
For solar powered Bibles or church-building to win out over food and medicine requires a religion that values conversion over compassion. But when we see this phenomenon at its worst, it is because someone in the thrall of a viral ideology has figured out some reverse alchemy that turns the precious gold of empathy into the lead of opportunism.
Dr. Tarico must have read my article about Pat Robertson and "God's Ambulance Chasers." Now I have a bona fide reference to turn to when arguing about some Christians' compassion. Even mainstream Christians are having a rough time over the "donations".
They claim that “the Proclaimer is self-powered and can play the Bible in the jungle, desert or… even on the moon!” I’m sure that it would be more helpful there than in Haiti. Because, in Haiti, a solar-powered Bible will be as helpful as the Genesis according to Eddie Izzard.
With the exception of some brave local affiliates and The Young Turks this situation has not gotten much coverage. I wonder why. Does the media think it's too lightweight? Or that any coverage would be insulting to Christians overall?
Perhaps it hasn't been covered because it would be an insult to Haitians. When the tsunami devastated southeast Asia years ago, Jerry Falwell dared to send 600,000 scriptural tracts and the response was a cold "thanks, but no thanks" by populations that were mostly Hindus and Muslims.
The maker and marketer of "The Proclaimer," Faith Comes By Hearing insists that relief groups are clamoring for it. The website shows a mass of people reaching for something being given out, but you can rest assured that it isn't an audio bible or that they're even near one.
Faith Comes By Hearing, an international Audio Bible group, is working with Convoy of Hope to provide spiritual relief in Haiti.
Unfortunately, Convoy of Hope would rather have the cash: MSNBC:
Many agencies try to motivate donors with the mathematics of the situation. Jeff Nene, a spokesman for Convoy of Hope, a Springfield, Mo., agency that feeds 11,000 children a day in Haiti, urges cash donations that allow his group to buy in bulk from large suppliers and retailers.
“When people give $1, it translates into $7 in the field,” he said. “If they spend $5 for bottled water, that’s nice and it makes them feel good, but probably it costs us more than $5 to send it. If they give us $5, we can get $35 worth of water.”
Sending 600 "Proclaimers" to Haiti costs $92,000. I guess Faith Comes By Hearing wasn't motivated enough by the mathematics to just send cash.
Linked to the story of audio Bibles is another possible insult to the people of Haiti: Mars Hill Church ("The Cussing Pastor" Mark Driscoll). The goal of this Seattle megachurch and its crew is not to provide direct aid to the people of Haiti, but to help rebuild the churches as fast as possible. To some, this may be admirable, but to the people who are suffering for lack of food, water and medical treatment, rebuilding ministries and churches may be the furthest things from their minds. Just a guess.
Shysters?
I remember one week ago when George Bush told us to watch out for "shysters" when making donations to Haitian relief.While he certainly didn't mean people to steer clear of faith-based donations to Haiti, his comment could include "misguided" donations. We all have ideas as to what human beings need in situations like Haiti's, but I think that 99% of Americans will say that there's an order to the list: #1. Medical treatment and supplies. #2. Food. #3. Adequate shelter. Substituting any of these with Bibles, places of worship or ministers is not humane. AFTER these first three have been taken care of, yes, BUT NOT BEFORE.
Transporting, feeding, sheltering volunteers from ministries also takes money.
Update: The reaction to the donation (and the request for money to supply 3000 more - rough estimate: $460,000 or enough to feed 3200 people for one month) has been rather violent in tone, with some people sounding off on both sides:
There were supposed to be three videos accompanying this article, but I pulled on out at the last minute. It's a very sacrilegious take on the donation of solar-powered bibles featuring Hitler. It will probably be pulled from YouTube before long, if Faith Comes By Hearing has anything to say about it.
The first is a clip from The Young Turks which, in my opinion, is a "fair and balanced" attempt to look at the donation. The second is a gruesome look at the devastation citing a verse from the New Testament about the End Times as prophesied by Christ. It may help you decide whether or not the solar-powered Bibles are actually needed.
When Christofascists start to bash their own, it's a truly wonderful sight: they turn away from hating everyone else and jockey for a slug at the worst of them just so they can look good in comparison. It's so deliciously rare that many of us ordinary people forget our struggles and stare in amazement ... and amusement. And when the MSM delves into past unpleasantness involving the said Christofascist, a pattern of vile un-compassionateChristofascists then turn on the person with lightning speed. While they do not devour him (although they want to), they make it known to everyone that such behavior is beneath them.
Now here's the official backpeddling from Robertson's PR team:
His comments were based on the widely-discussed 1791 slave rebellion led by Boukman Dutty at Bois Caiman, where the slaves allegedly made a pact with the devil in exchange for victory over the French. This famous history, combined with the horrible state of the country, has led countless scholars and religious figures over the centuries to believe the country is cursed.
Some of the highlighted words are buzz-words added to the context to make it seem as if Pat Robertson didn't just pick his vast knowledge on the subject out of a hat. Of course, when you view the entire footage of The 700 Club segment you realize that Robertson knows nothing about Haiti's history:
On 22 August 1791, Boukman presided in the role of houngan (priest) together with an African-born priestess and conducted a ceremony at the Bois Caïman and prophesied that the slaves Jean François, Biassou spiritual power of the forest and the ancestors, was sacrificed, an oath was taken, and , and Jeannot would be leaders of a slave revolt that would free the slaves of Saint-Domingue. A pig, which symbolized the wild, free, and untamableBoukman and the priestess exhorted the listeners to fight bravely against their oppressors. Days later the Haitian Revolution began.
Soon after the uprising began, French authorities captured Boukman and executed him by beheading. The French then publicly displayed Boukman's head in an attempt to dispel the aura of invincibility that Boukman had cultivated. However it remained strong, and their attempt failed.
And ever up-to-date wikipedia:
In the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the ceremony over which Boukman presided was called a "pact with the devil," responsible for a "curse" on the country, by Pat Robertson, host of The 700 Club on the Christian Broadcasting Network. Various prominent, mainline Christian voices have criticized Robertson's remarks on the Haiti crisis as untimely, insensitive, and not representative of Christian thought on the issue.
"It is absolute arrogance to try to interpret any of God's actions as a judgment against this person or that person. & Our duty as Christians is to try to help these people pray for these people and to help them."
- Dr. Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Church of Dallas
"He must have misspoken."But we need to get on the path of helping people right now. God loves the people of Haiti. He hasn't turned his back on Haiti."
- Franklin Graham
These were, of course, shining examples of pots calling the kettle black. Suffice it to say, however, that Robertson's little anecdote was received by other professionals as being in poor taste. Some even think that he's possessed by Satan:
It appears that televangelist Pat Robertson is in the thrall of Satan, according to spiritual warriors, Drs. Valerie Tarico and Marlene Winell. “It’s the only possible explanation,” said Tarico. “How else can we make sense of his repeated attempts to humiliate both God and Christianity in the wake of recent natural disasters.”
[Dr. Winell] “Demons need a host, and they can jump from one person to another,” she explained. “We know this because Jesus cast demons out of a possessed man and into a herd of pigs. The pigs drowned themselves, the same kind of self-destructive behavior we are seeing in Mr. Robertson. It is possible that he was infected at or around the funeral of Dr. Jerry Falwell. In hindsight we can see that Dr. Falwell was possessed by a similar—possibly the same-- demon.”
And to give Rev./Dr./Broadcaster Robertson his due, there were some supporters:
"What the Robertson bashers left out is that finally, and with great compassion and concern in his voice, Pat said, "They need to have, and we need to pray for them, a great turning to God and out of this tragedy I am optimistic that some good thing may come, but right now we are helping the suffering people and the suffering is unimaginable."
- Gary Cass, Christian Anti-Defamation Commission
Does God hate Haiti? God hates sin, and will punish both individual sinners and nations ... The earthquake in Haiti, like every other earthly disaster, reminds us that creation groans under the weight of sin and the judgment of God ... In other words, the earthquake reminds us that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only real message of hope.
- Albert Mohler, the Southern Baptist Convention
Now several questions come into play: will Robertson himself issue some defense for his righteous intolerance and the denegration of an entire country? Probably not: his "apologies" for condemnation have, in the past, been choreographed rather sloppily giving the impression that he doesn't really care what people think.
Another question lies in the context of which his "philanthropy" is placed: is he really just a benevolent but senile old man? This is getting to be his milieu-du jour. He may not like it, but the public is becoming increasingly annoyed at his utterings and mutterings. When you mention his name, eyes roll and people get that What-the-hell-is-that-old-coot-up-to-now? look. "Did he leg press an elephant this time?" "Which town is going to get a fearsome meteor shower because someone hung a gay rainbow flag in front of their home?" "What did God tell him this time? Any good bets on the fifth at the racetrack?" And at the end of each instance, Robertson seems oblivious to the contempt at which he is held.Senility can create an alternate reality for some people.
In the past, Robertson has hidden behind God and His Bible to cover embarrassments. Will he hide behind Scripture ... or a diminished mental capacity? If he does either, he's a coward of the first order. The man is not senile. He is not frail. He is not a "religious fanatic." He shouldn't be hiding behind a dogma so righteous and rigid it would deflect the slings and arrows of the strongest detractors merely by being Holy Scripture. The man is guilty of arrogance, maliciousness and, most of all, stupidity. But not senility.
Pat Robertson listens to no one. The voices of Haiti's dead should be ringing in his ears right now because he has slandered them in a cavalier fashion and he will react to a catastrophe thinking himself to be The Good Samaritan. But his contempt for humanity shines through his veneer.
It always has.
It's amazing that people are just realizing it.
Below is a segment of The 700 Club in which Pat Robertson tells viewers that 40,000 college professors are "communists" some of them are "murderers". He thinks they "beat up" students while brainwashing them.
Proof! Haitian People Swore a Pact With The Devil!*
Well, it's happened again: one of God's "elect" has responded to a natural disaster with food, medicines and whole lot of righteousness and vitriol for the victims. And it happened at a propitious time: the 50th anniversary of the Christian Broadcasting Network and Pat Robertson's (almost to the day) descent into the nether world of Christofascism.
As of this writing, it is estimated that up to 100,000 people are dead. The world mourns the loss of so many people. The United Nations, the U.S., European countries are sending aid as fast as possible. And Pat Robertson's own Operation Blessing will be in Haiti just as they were in Katrina. Of course, Operation Blessing was followed by Pat Robertson's own special gift of approx. 40,000 bibles. While this didn't compare to the late Jerry Falwell's gift of 600,000 New Testament tracts to Muslim and Hindu survivors of the eastern tsunami, Robertson's effort was noted - as a rather insulting gesture by people who needed food for their stomachs even more than food for their souls.
I used to call Falwell and Robertson God's Ambulance Chasers: they seemed to relish disasters. They discovered during the Age of AIDS that capitalizing on "God's curses" was good business. People flocked to help their church save them from the onslaught of the twentieth century's Black Death. They righteously evicted sick and dying people from their homes and their lives. After 9/11, they pointed fingers at their chosen outcasts and told their flocks who the "real" culprits were.
Jerry Falwell would be proud of Robertson keeping up the tradition of bigotry with blame, followed by a condescending compassion.
During all the chaos that has followed the Haitian crisis, has anyone thought to point out to Robertson that his knowledge of history is seriously flawed? The revolution against the French took place well before Napoleon III. In fact, it happened before Napolean I. And it was primarily a slave rebellion:
The native leader Jean-Jacques Dessalines, long an ally of Toussaint L'ouverture, defeated the French troops led by Donatien-Marie-Joseph de Vimeur, vicomte de Rochambeau at the Battle of Vertières. At the end of the double battle for emancipation and independence, former slaves proclaimed the independence of Saint-Domingue on 1 January 1804, declaring the new nation as Haiti, honoring one of the indigenous Taíno names for the island. It is the only nation born of a slave revolt.
Reach back into Pat Robertson's own history and you'll find perhaps another reason Pat Robertson hates Haiti: his father, Senator Absolom Willis Robertson was a reknowned Dixiecrat (Virginia) who switched parties when Democrats were voting for civil rights legislation. And Pat's own CBN was involved in a law suit involving accusations of blatant racism against its African-American employees.
Michael B. Keegan, president of People For the American Way, issued the following statement:
"Pat Robertson's comments about the victims of this earthquake are reprehensible. Unfortunately, they fit right in with his history of mean spirited attacks accusing his opponents of causing natural disasters and terrorism. To blame the victims of this disaster for what they've been through is appalling. Regrettably, Pat Robertson can't be written off as an eccentric aberration of the right-wing-he's still a leading figure in the conservative movement.
"At a time when our attention should be focused on helping the victims of this disaster, Robertson's comments are beyond the pale."
So whither will Pat Robertson go to in the next couple of days? Apology? I think not. There will be backpedaling done to be sure, along with a note of good ole Christian persecution thrown in, but that's to be expected. There will be a loud chorus of Christians shouting: "Pat Robertson doesn't speak for us!" but Robertson will pay no heed. He'll ride it out the same way he did when he said Cesar Chavez should be assassinated, Ariel Sharon's stroke was a sign of God's displeasure, Orlando would be hit by a meteor for Disney World's hosting of Gay Day and other inanities.
After all, you can't argue with a man who speaks to God.
* The Haitian Bizango societies are based on a military structure. Their members reveal themselves to fight and wage war. These figures represent the power of the Bizango fighters. Their terrifying appearance preserves the memory of the insurgency of the slaves in the period in which these societies were first formed. Some bear the scars of wounds. The heads are modelled on real human skulls. Ropes and chains keep the powers they possess in check. Fragments of mirrors in their eyes and on their clothes refer to the spirit world, and protect against evil. Despite their static pose, the past blood and fire in which they are drenched is tangible. (Flickr: Jeremy Bergin)
Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.
Mark Twain
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