The Gop and religious extremists

Holy Dirt---Steve Schalchlin



America may boast of its virtues to the world, but look, democracy is now reaching the end of its rope. People thought democracy is the final anchor of the free world, but it is reaching its end. So what is left? America has been telling the weaker nations that they have to accept democracy, forcing them to receive so-called democracy. But look at America. It is rotten, top to bottom. There is nothing to be proud of, not their way of walking or talking or thinking.

Rev. Moon

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The Republican Right’s Moonie Problem
By: David Neiwert: Friday March 21, 2008

McCain must put up with far right religious zealots.

"You say you're supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that, and the other thing. Nonsense. I don't have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist. I can love the people who hold false opinions but I don't have to be nice to them."
Pat Robertson

"And, I know that I'll hear from them for this. But, throwing God out successfully with the help of the federal court system, throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools. The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way — all of them who have tried to secularize America — I point the finger in their face and say "you helped this happen."
Jerry Falwell

"This 'turn the other cheek' business is all well and good but it's not what Jesus fought and died for. What we need to do is take the battle to the Muslim heathens and do unto them before they do unto us."
Jerry Falwell

"It was the disobedience and rebellion of the Jews, God's chosen people, to their covenantal responsibility to serve only the one true God, Jehovah, that gave rise to the opposition and persecution that they experienced beginning in Canaan and continuing to this very day... Their own rebellion had birthed the seed of anti-Semitism that would arise and bring destruction to them for centuries to come.... it rises from the judgment of God upon his rebellious chosen people."
John Hagee

"The god of Islam is not the same God of the Christian or the Judeo-Christian faith. It is a different god, and I believe Islam is a very evil and a very wicked religion."
Franklin Graham

"Poverty comes from Hell. Prosperity comes from Heaven. Christians do not have Christ in their hearts. Sow a big seed, when you confess it, you are activating the supernatural forces of God."
Benny Hinn

"We know who the homicidal maniacs are. They are the ones cheering and dancing right now. We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. We weren't punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officers. We carpet-bombed German cities; we killed civilians. That's war. And this is war."
Ann Coulter

"The ethic of conservation is the explicit abnegation of man's dominion over the Earth. The lower species are here for our use. God said so: Go forth, be fruitful, multiply, and rape the planet--it's yours. That's our job: drilling, mining and stripping. Sweaters are the anti-Biblical view. Big gas-guzzling cars with phones and CD players and wet bars -- that's the Biblical view."
Ann Coulter

What are fascinating about these and the others who spill this swill are the accolades they receive from those who call themselves good Christians among the religious conservative community. They represent an incredible distortion of the Gospel.

I never wanted to believe; in fact I was very resistant to the fact that many Christians embraced or were at least sympathetic to tolerant of fascism during 1930’s Europe. I’m seeing it happen now before my eyes and shamefully before all the eyes of the world.

I really believe their extreme autocratic nature is hazardous to all of us. Why is such hate filled ignorant simplicity so tempting to so many different people of different cultures in so many different lands throughout our shared histories?

The only good “****“ is a dead “****“.
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Christ used the Samaritans three time as an example to all of us.
They removed themselves from Judea in the past, politically then religiously, by building their own temple for worship seperate from Jerusalem. They were very much thought of in much the same way as African Americans were thought of in this country. They were considered subpar creatures.
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1) The good Samaritan.
2) The one leper, out of ten, who returned to thank Jesus for being healed was a Samaritan.
3) The lady at the well and her town where Jesus found thirst and hunger for faith.
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He was very clear on the fallicy of deeming any person as less than human and treating them hatefully.
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Recently I have come to believe that there should be an Eighth Deadly Sin…….

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'Presumption'--The belief that we’re so close to God that He is on our side, that all our ways our His ways, that we deserve all earthly and spiritual blessings while others warrant punishment, that we deserve His mercy while others earn retribution, and that we deserve Heaven while others merit Hell.

Americans United
http://www.au.org/site/PageServer .

Beware 'Christian nationalism'
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-159181734.html

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The misbehavior of the religious right in this country and the shameful acts of religious extremeists in other parts of the world, now and throughout history, have caused many in the strictly secular community to view all religions the same way. Many of us who struggle to have the spiritual a part of who we are share many of the same concerns. Judgements about who we are should't be limited to those, who because of human frailty to the more sinister, have fallen away from the dictates of their faith community.

We don't all belong in one box and it's not progressive to put people there.

The best cure for ignorance and prejudice is a little bit of knowledge. Many of todays far right conservatives love wallowing in their ignorance and wrap themselves up in prejudice as if it were a warm fuzzy blanket. Progressives strive to do better when confronted with their own misconceptions. Although many people of all stripes love that warm fuzzy blanket making it hard to come out from under it and greet the world afresh.

After the Fall: Why America Needs a Spiritual Left
Rabbi Michael Lerner
http://www.tikkun.org/rabbi_lerner/society_politics
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Joan Chittister Column
http://ncrcafe.org/blog/5

Pax Christi
http://www.paxchristiusa.org/

Fellowship of Reconciliation
http://www.forusa.org/

Sojourners
http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm

Tikkun
http://www.tikkun.org/