By Brody Levesque (Washington DC) July 30 | There's the old saying," Great Minds Think Alike," often referring to good men and fantastic ideas, and well then sometimes, not-so-good ideas. But, what about narrow minds & bigots? It seems that the relationship spatially there seems to be much, much, closer. For example, journalist Zaid Jilani published an article this morning detailing an account of an extremist evangelical church in the Northern Florida City of Gainesville, that already had an established reputation for being hate filled. During the recent election cycle, the church ran an unsuccessful campaign against the openly Gay mayoral candidate and now mayor by posting signs around Gainesville that read, " NO HOMO MAYOR!"The church's pastor, Terry Jones, has now written a book called “Islam Is Of The Devil” according to Jilani, and on September 11th of this year, marking the anniversary of the attacks against the United States by fanatic Islamic extremists in 2001, plans to host “International Burn A Quran Day."
In an added feature sure to please everyone, 'Pastor' Wayne Sapp, the church member best known for his hate filled "No Fags as Mayor" videos, has apparently recorded instruction videos on the best way to burn a holy book. I'd imagine this is guaranteed to arse as many Muslims as possible eh?
Hmm, wonderful how these folk display the very best of what it means to uphold 'God's Law' and show brotherly love towards their fellow man. Of course even better was this from Jilani's thought provoking essay:
"CNN host Rick Sanchez invited Jones on his show yesterday to ask him about the inflammatory action. When Sanchez pressed Jones about why he would try to anger the world’s Muslims by burning their sacred text, the evangelical pastor replied, “Well, for one thing, to us, the book is not sacred,” provoking laughter from the CNN host."
Here's the sad part to all of this, it's more than just these despicable clowns that exhibit this kind of religious intolerance, small-mindedness, and out right hate filled bigotry. One comment after Jilani's piece summed it up succinltly:
From Dove World Church’s website:
About UsOur purpose and our goal here at Dove World Outreach Center is to get people to stand up. We, as the church, need to stand up for righteousness and for the truth of the Bible. That truth is not only love, healing and prosperity, but it is also about getting up. It is not about being entertained on Sunday morning, but about being equipped to do the work of the service: motivating, equipping to get up, organize, and show the world that there is a true and living church.Any religion which would profess anything other than this truth is of the devil. This is why we also take a stand against Islam, which teaches that Jesus is not the Son of God, therefore taking away the saving power of Jesus Christ and leading people straight to Hell.
har5125 says: : "So what these idiots are saying is Jesus Christ and all other Jews are of the Devil because they were/are Jewish?"The reality is that modern day theological doctrine at least in the United States has become so intolerant, so biased, that it absolutely runs counter to any doctrine or practise that was advocated and preached by that poor carpenter whose philosophies and beliefs have been completely replaced by a crude and frightening small minded interpretation that leaves no room for any kind of believable discourse of so-called Christian love, none whatsoever.
As if to further document this and the absolute hypocrisy and lunacy these folk show, here's an excerpt from today's 'Concerned Women For America' website addressing the impending nuptials of former President & Secretary of State Bill & Hillary Clinton's daughter Chelsea who is marrying, wait for it.... a *shudder* Jew! Seriously, this bigotry is so nasty. Read this:
"While intermarriage indicates a “high degree of assimilation and tolerance,” it also means “the declining role of faith and religious identity in the minds of many young Americans,” according to Allan Schwartz, in the “Emotional Challenges of Interfaith Marriage.” In her classic book, The Good Marriage: How and Why Love Lasts, Judith Wallerstein reports that couples set the stage for conflict, bitterness, and misunderstanding as they make the emotional and psychological separation from their families’ religious heritage. Problems begin as early as the planning of the wedding ceremony, where different traditions are in conflict, especially when certain symbols of faith “evoke powerful emotional responses.”
Of course why stop while you're on a roll?
"For the true Christian believer, this means a life lived in light of Christ’s singular claim that He is “the way, the truth, and the life.” Taking His claim seriously, that He is the only way to the Father (John 14:6), means that all decisions are made in light of His teaching and commands. This includes His teaching that marriage is intended by God to be a life-long covenant — not just between the couple, but sealed by God and witnessed by fellow believers in the couples’ church community. That said, real Christian marriage includes a commitment to follow Christ, both in lifestyle and in child-rearing. Religion that is not practiced is little more than a set of myths and of no more significance than the fairy tales told to toddlers at bedtime. Faith that does not make demands on behavior is not faith at all. Inevitably, a lack of unity in faith entails multiple problems on both the little and the large issues that couples continuously encounter as they face the task of building a strong, meaningful, harmonious marriage. How could it possibly be otherwise?"
Photo Courtesy of The Bilerico Project
As a journalist, it is an imperative to maintain the ethics & standards of my profession by remaining objective. If I do not, then I lose credibility.
My problem is that as a Gay man, and more-so as a human being living in the United States, I've completely had it with the so-called Christian right. They are a mockery of every value they allege they stand for. They are petty, small minded, homophobic, sexually phobic and too eager to stick their noses in where they have no business yelling about subjects and issues that need to be decided by individuals, families, and NOT by a minority who act in what could be likened to a fascist approach.
My problem is that as a Gay man, and more-so as a human being living in the United States, I've completely had it with the so-called Christian right. They are a mockery of every value they allege they stand for. They are petty, small minded, homophobic, sexually phobic and too eager to stick their noses in where they have no business yelling about subjects and issues that need to be decided by individuals, families, and NOT by a minority who act in what could be likened to a fascist approach.
Religion has lost its way and its relevance due to the power and money it generates in the United States and the greed of its leadership. These people are only concerned with their own personal agendas and the rest of us be damned.
From Think Progress:
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2 comments:
This is much too close to the Holy Crusades of, 'my religion is better than your religion, and anything I do to you is sanctioned in my God's book, therefore I am right.'
What this does is ignore the fact that we humans should have outgrown the religious demands to believe in a mythical god or devil, or the so-called sacred texts.
These people make me want to take a long hot shower.
I don't have any religious reason to kill or to not kill, and only my own sense of right and wrong restrains me from doing more than lamenting these woefully immature pieces of shit walking around soiling our earth.
Sadly, I am sure that it will come to violence, and lots of it, before this is 'resolved'. Many more people are seeing through the rhetoric, but that only causes them to make it more strident and aggressive, and to marginalize ever more people. At some point someone will snap, and like an avalanche (or mob) it will take on a life of its own, stopping only when there are no more identifiable targets.
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