Posts tagged God

My Personal Crusade Against “Jesus-Camp”

June 9, 2009 · Filed under Basic Decency, Culture War, Insanity, Politics in General, The Supremes · Tagged , , , , , , , ,

According to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, Congress (admittedly, a while ago) reauthorized the Higher Education Act with a (non-legally binding, unfortunately) amendment:

‘(2) It is the sense of Congress that–

‘(A) the diversity of institutions and educational missions is one of the key strengths of American higher education;

‘(B) individual institutions of higher education have different missions and each institution should design its academic program in accordance with its educational goals;

‘(C) an institution of higher education should facilitate the free and open exchange of ideas;

‘(D) students should not be intimidated, harassed, discouraged from speaking out, or discriminated against;

‘(E) students should be treated equally and fairly;…

With this values in mind, let’s take a look at “Liberty” “University’s” “On Campus Living Guide”:

Curfew
Students are to be in their residence halls each night by curfew. Everyone is asked to be courteous at all times concerning noise. No one is permitted to do laundry after curfew. Curfew hours are:
• Sunday through Wednesday – 12:00 a.m. (midnight)
• Thursday – 10:00 pm
• Friday and Saturday – 12:30 am

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The Real America

October 22, 2008 · Filed under Basic Decency, Election 2008 · Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

Ever since Sarah Palin’s comments about the “real America” and the “pro-America” parts of America, I started paying more attention to these sorts of utterings from the GOP. I had been hoping that it would be limited to Sarah Palin, or perhaps even a few on the fringes of the party, but, of course, I was disappointed.

On Monday I went to see the Daily Show live. That show was glorious, both because it was hilarious and because it was filled with with righteous fury about Palin’s recent comments. What really surprised me, however, was a comment from one of McCain’s staff members which referred to the “real Virginia”, as opposed to the fake, Democratic, part of Virginia.

Then one of my friends pointed me towards an apology that had to be made by a North Carolina Republican congressman. At a McCain rally he said to the crowd:

…liberals hate real Americans that work and accomplish and achieve and believe in God.

Of course, this is even more offensive than the remarks made by Sarah Palin. I suppose he was at least more upfront about what he meant, however. In his apology remarks he said this:

there is no doubt that it came out completely the wrong way.

Quite honestly, it doesn’t matter how it “came out”. What matters is the sentiment behind the words, and his sentiments were this:

1. Liberals are not “real Americans”

2. Liberals do not believe in God

3. Liberals do not work or accomplish things

4. Liberals hate people who believe in God

I don’t really consider myself a liberal, but I have no doubt that I fit into his ignorant definition of one, and, quite frankly, none of these implied or explicit statements apply to me. I believe in God and attend religious services weekly, I work hard and have accomplished any number of things of meaning to myself and those around men, I have a great apprecation for people who believe in God (as well as for those who don’t believe in God), and I am a real American.

The fact that this theme has crept up in the past few days is, quite frankly, terrifying.

I have a lot more to say about this, but I have a midterm tomorrow/later today for which I haven’t finished studying quite yet.

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Death by Religion

April 29, 2008 · Filed under Health · Tagged , , , ,

PrayerThis is somewhat relevant to the research paper I wrote on the effects of religion as a stressor with regards to sexual minorities — a girl recently died because her parents refused to seek medical treatment and opted instead to pray for healing.

Apparently they weren’t aware of the numerous studies that showed that praying actually does nothing (see picture to the right).

This whole incident reminds me of a parable I heard in an episode of West Wing. While it pertained to the President commuting the sentence of a prisoner about to receive the death penalty, it’s nonetheless relevant. It goes as follows:

The man that lived by the river. He heard a radio report that the river was going to rush up and flood the town. And that all the residents should evacuate their homes. But the man said, ‘I’m religious. I pray. God loves me. God will save me.’ The waters rose up. A guy in a row boat came along and he shouted, ‘Hey, hey you! You in there. The town is flooding. Let me take you to safety. ‘But the man shouted back, ‘I’m religious. I pray. God loves me. God will save me. ‘A helicopter was hovering overhead. And a guy with a megaphone shouted, ‘Hey you, you down there.The town is flooding. Let me drop this ladder and I’ll take you to safety. ‘But the man shouted back that he was religious, that he prayed, that God loved him and that God will take him to safety. Well… the man drowned. And standing at the gates of St. Peter, he demanded an audience with God. ‘Lord,’ he said, ‘I’m a religious man, I pray. I thought you loved me. Why did this happen?’ God said, ‘I sent you a radio report, a helicopter, and a guy in a rowboat. What the hell are you doing here?’

For those of you who are dense, and don’t quite grasp the concept here (read: people like this poor child’s parents), the moral of the story is this: God works in mysterious ways. He won’t reach down with all his might and save you from the floodwaters — but he will send you a radio report, a helicopter, and a guy in a rowboat. He won’t miraculously cure your child — but he did provide mankind with hospitals and medical experts.

Sad as it is, this incident can be marked down as just one more reason why the Christian fundamentalists are wrong — on almost everything.

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