The Texas Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the polygamous ranch of the FLDS Yearning for Zion anch and its mothers today in a decision that stated that Texas child custody services did not have the right to take boys or any children under age 12 from their parents without evidence of an imminent risk of abuse. The state is likely to appeal the decision, meaning the case would likely end up in the Texas Supreme Court.
The sad thing is that I’ve heard this argument before. I let my Jewish friend listening to something similar from my own youth pastor, thinking it was the right thing to do.
I cannot believe how stupid and ignorant and anti-Semitic that was. I cannot believe that I let myself be so blinded by the good intentions of my church at that time that I allowed myself to miss the negative effects of what I was doing in trying to proselytize my friend.
As with any -ism, it is the EFFECT, not the intent, that matters to the people who you hurt.
I wish Pat Hagee and John McCain could realize this, too.
The definition of peace now includes the promotion of environments that avoid conflicts over land and natural resources. Al Gore and the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) will share the prize jointly. Al ore is going to donate his $1.5 million winnings to helping to counteract global warming.
CNN International did a great piece today on it, and was fair enough to refute the falsehoods of this one conservative commentator who tried to pass off the old lie that there isn’t a consensus on global warming. Good for CNN International. The regular CNN often lets guest commentators use it as a bully pulpit to spew biased propaganda, and I’m glad that the company at least knows that the global community doesn’t appreciate a program that lets anyone come on and say anything without substantiation.
Everyone hates someone else they haven’t met because they never think they’ll walk a mile in someone else’s shoes. Maybe you’re certain that all veterans are gun-loving warmongers until you go on a camping trip with one of them who happens to be an environmental pagan. Maybe you view all foreigners with suspicion until you find out that the wife of that grocer down the street teaches your children. It’s hard not to take cues from those around you who have already formed intractable opinions on people who they dislike.
Try.
That’s what I want to say when I see these conservative ‘family values’ politicians and their ilk exposed for the liars and cowards they are. Sure, some of them are just misguided ignorant people, but most of them are willfully ignorant and intolerant, especially towards non-Judeo-Christians, leftists and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. How many times must we remind those who insist on dragging religion into the public square that Christ himself said, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone?” (John 8:8)
For those of you still hung up over Bill Clinton, let’s take a look at the recent role call (if I’m leaving anyone out, which I’m sure I am, please let me know):
The Young Turks, a liberal-leaning blog that does a segment on Air America, has reported on a GOP sex scandal every week for a while now and never run out of material. Now THAT’s sad.
I don’t have a problem with gays having sex. I don’t see why Craig was arrested. It’s the fact that Ol’ Larry has been campaigning to pass anti-gay rights legislation in Congress that really sticks in my craw.
I don’t know, maybe, just maybe we’re all human beings who make mistakes and we shouldn’t try to legislate flawed ideology and force-feed it down the throats of our fellow citizens? Just a thought.
Well, that’s what President Bush will essentially say if and when he vetoes his third and fourth bills, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would make persecution and discrimination of employees based on their sexuality illegal, and H.R. 1582, also named the Matthew Shepard Act, which would enhance existing hate crime legislation. Current hate crime laws state that violent crimes committed with motivations based on race, gender, religion, etc. are especially heinous and therefore subject to stiffer penalties; the House bill that has just passed would add sexual orientation to that list.
Of course, the anti-gay hate speech, which is still perfectly legal in this country as long as it doesn’t incite violence, has flared surrounding the issue, with several right-wing groups urging Bush to veto both bills. They argue that the legislation would forbid preachers from citing biblical references to homosexuality as a sin.
This whole issue makes me furious, but I’ll refrain from saying exactly how I feel about these people. Instead, I’ll quote Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese from an article on Southern Voice:
“It’s no surprise the religious right is so concerned about hate speech — for them, hate appears to be a cottage industry,” Solmonese said. “But they have nothing to fear. Even after the hate crimes legislation is passed, the religious right will continue to have the federally protected right to preach hatred from the pulpit.”
Pwned.
The problem to me is, how can you reconcile teaching ignorant, gullible parishioners to hate their fellow citizens and human beings and still claim to serve the will of God?
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