The religious right does NOT have God on their side

The collective delusion of the "Christian" right is that they have a mandate from God to force EVERYONE to conform to God's law and behavioral standards. The problem is that they have no such mandate. The Bible NEVER gives it. The ONLY thing a Christian is supposed to do is become ever more like Jesus by getting to know him better. The Bible doesn’t always state such things explicitly, but there are a few things that make this very clear (“law” in all citations here refers to God’s law i.e. the Ten Commandments etc.):

yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. – Galatians 2:16

The Bible talks a lot about how it’s not a matter of trying to conform your behavior to fit God’s mold, but rather, through growing faith that comes with knowing Jesus, your inner being is transformed such that the law is no longer something you need to be conscious of because you follow it automatically without any desire to break it. If it helps to understand this concept, think of it this way (the laptop is your desire to do whatever):

You have a brand new laptop – a toy with which you would be absolutely loathe to part with. Along comes another person who absolutely needs a brand new laptop for a week, and if they don’t get it from you, they won’t get it at all, and they will lose their job, their family will leave them, and they will wind up living the rest of their life in a cardboard box under a highway overpass. There is a well-known federal law on the books that says you must lend it to anyone who asks – but until now, no one has ever been prosecuted for refusing. Now, if you don’t even know this person’s name, you probably wouldn’t even consider lending it to them (why obey the law when I’ve never seen anyone get in trouble for it?) and you would be miserable if you did lend it (Will I ever see it again? What was I thinking? ). If they were a casual acquaintance, perhaps you would consider it briefly before refusing. If it were your best friend, family member, or very significant other, you’d lend it without hesitation because you care about / love that person and you have faith that they will return it (and the favor) completely intact – the law wouldn’t even come to mind. You’d obey the law without even thinking of it.

The religious right has it backwards, and they want to force everyone else to give their laptops to people they don’t know and obey laws that have not, to date, been enforced. For all their moral indignation, they do not understand this:

So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them." Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for "The righteous shall live by faith." But the law is not of faith, rather "The one who does them shall live by them." – Galatians 3:9 – 3:12

That is pretty powerful stuff. Religious right leaders spout off about immoral behavior (violations of God’s law) all the time. It’s how they make a living – i.e. they rely on the works of law both monetarily and intellectually. If they don’t abide by ALL of that law, they are cursed. No one is “justified before God by the law” because it is impossible for people on their own to keep the law! Who here has NEVER lied? According to the verse above, the righteous live by faith, and “the law is not of faith”! So the Religious Right leaders are not righteous, AND they insist that the rest of humanity, including all those who do not share their beliefs, follow the same laws that they have so much trouble keeping, thus falling under the same curse.

Can you imagine anything more ridiculous and shameful than that?

For those still not convinced, the Bible again confirms what I’ve been saying:

Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. – Galatians 5:2 – 5:6

Circumcision in the Bible was part of Jewish law, which was given by God, and it is in this verse used to represent God’s law as a whole. This verse says that anyone who accepts it must keep ALL of the law and that they are severed from Christ! Whether you follow the law or not doesn’t mean anything unless it is a by-product of your faith, which comes through love.

So every time some Religious Right thug tries to ram the ten commandments down everyone’s throats, every time they go on about how gay marriage will mean the end of civilization, and every time they try to force society to ban books and movies and music and games and short skirts and premarital sex and curse words and buying vodka on Sundays – remember that they are trying to keep God’s law and force others to do so, and they are therefore severed from Christ!

Stuff I Read Today 10/19/06

Leaders debate plan to legalize drugs in Mexico - Unlike America, they've grown tired of the corruption and high crime rates that Drug Wars foster.

Bush accepts Iraq-Vietnam comparison - ABC interview elicits a rare moment of honesty from King George.

Fighting the imperial internet - Corporate media are looking to use the "free market" to add the internet to their empire. But we can't let them dominate the 'net and undermine our democracy.

Here's why cable TV is so expensive - ...and they want to run the internet the same way.

A billion dollars a year for pot? - Yes, that's what we spend on controlling the demon weed these days.

Marijuana may help stave off Alzheimer's disease

Loose Change Documentary airing nationally on 10/24 at 8 PM (Central) - If you haven't seen this, you really should - you may not agree with all of its assertions about 911, but you have to wonder what kind of government would prefer that its citizens be left to speculate about events so central to its foreign and domestic policy rather than offer proof that such speculations are wrong. They claim doing so might harm national security...but if terrorists were behind 911, then don't the terrorists already know more about what they did than anyone else? Perhaps it may harm national security if it is confirmed without a shadow of doubt that 911 was a government orchestrated event...

One man still locked up from 911 sweeps - This is what happens with 'arrest first, ask questions later' policies.

Music industry commits 8000 new counts of extortion

FBI director wants ISPs to track users - It doesn't get any more Orwellian than this.

Judge vacates conviction of Kenneth Lay - Hey CEOs of America, YOU TOO can rob your shareholders blind and extort half the country! If you're exposed, just play the system to allow you to keep your $2M a year insurance payout. They'll even declare you innocent after you're dead!

The worst congress ever - Rolling Stone has done a fantastic piece that should be required reading for current and future generations.

Government targets American bloggers as enemy propagandists - Just before I came across this article, I had learned that Have Skunk had been contacted. Scary...

Stuff I Read Today 10/19/06

Leaders debate plan to legalize drugs in Mexico - Unlike America, they've grown tired of the corruption and high crime rates that Drug Wars foster.

Bush accepts Iraq-Vietnam comparison - ABC interview elicits a rare moment of honesty from King George.

Fighting the imperial internet - Corporate media are looking to use the "free market" to add the internet to their empire. But we can't let them dominate the 'net and undermine our democracy.

Here's why cable TV is so expensive - ...and they want to run the internet the same way.

A billion dollars a year for pot? - Yes, that's what we spend on controlling the demon weed these days.

Marijuana may help stave off Alzheimer's disease

Loose Change Documentary airing nationally on 10/24 at 8 PM (Central) - If you haven't seen this, you really should - you may not agree with all of its assertions about 911, but you have to wonder what kind of government would prefer that its citizens be left to speculate about events so central to its foreign and domestic policy rather than offer proof that such speculations are wrong. They claim doing so might harm national security...but if terrorists were behind 911, then don't the terrorists already know more about what they did than anyone else? Perhaps it may harm national security if it is confirmed without a shadow of doubt that 911 was a government orchestrated event...

One man still locked up from 911 sweeps - This is what happens with 'arrest first, ask questions later' policies.

Music industry commits 8000 new counts of extortion

FBI director wants ISPs to track users - It doesn't get any more Orwellian than this.

Judge vacates conviction of Kenneth Lay - Hey CEOs of America, YOU TOO can rob your shareholders blind and extort half the country! If you're exposed, just play the system to allow you to keep your $2M a year insurance payout. They'll even declare you innocent after you're dead!

The worst congress ever - Rolling Stone has done a fantastic piece that should be required reading for current and future generations.

Government targets American bloggers as enemy propagandists - Just before I came across this article, I had learned that Have Skunk had been contacted. Scary...

Taking a couple of days off

I've been quite busy ever since this blog got started - so busy that I haven't had time to do much more with it than news items and the occasional original post. I'm going to devote the time I normally spend here on learning how to improve this blog and increase traffic to it. In the meantime, please use the comment function below to let me know what you would like to see here, how the site can be improved, and / or what your top 10 playlist looks like!

Stuff I Read Today 10/15/06

American fascism is on the rise - ...and this isn't that generic term that so often gets casually tossed around either.

Surprise! Online gambling is now a crime.

Stuff I Read Today 10/14/06

Dear Leaders - Molly Ivins cuts Bush's North Korea strategies to ribbons. Gotta love her...Joe Conason has a good one too.

China drafts labor laws to end abuse; American corporations protest - A certain chamber of commerce thinks of China as nothing but a cheap factory; God forbid these corporations might have to treat their workers fairly! The corporate elite takes off its mask. Here's another.

Mega-merger vs. internet freedom

More on pain contracts - Having pain problems? Some doctors won't give you any pain meds now unless you agree to be drug tested. Test positive and your pain meds are stopped cold. And you thought America was a model of human rights standards...

8 million American workers just lost the right to organize

Two dairies end use of artificial growth hormones - Monsanto sure to sue. From article: Monsanto sued Oakhurst Dairy in Maine in 2003 after it put labels on its milk saying its farmers pledged not to use artificial growth hormones. The case was settled when Oakhurst added a statement to its labels saying the FDA has found ``no significant difference in milk from cows treated with artificial growth hormones."

Stuff I Read Today 10/13/06

The gospel of prosperity - Megachurch begs for money, sheeple give. Why don't people actually read those Bibles they always carry around?

"Christian" conservatives duped by BushCo - and here's more about the new book "Tempting Faith"

"Christian" Democrats (conservatives) snubbing out coffee shops in Netherlands - Leave it to so-called "Christians" to mess everything up for everyone else...

You can thank industrial agriculture for e. coli. - Yet another reason to buy local organically raised foods

Five scandals that could put Republicans in jail - Is Big Oil pulling an Enron? Who's making money off of your retirement?

America's Nuremberg laws - Lest we forget, any of us can now be tortured and/or jailed for life without trial simply by being labeled an 'unlawful enemy combatant'.

Hippie-hating and baiting - A centerpiece of the religious-right and conservatism

Politicians caught out in TV drug test - ...and you thought world leaders were upstanding, trustworthy citizens :)

Instructor compares Bush to Hitler - Instructor makes thoughtful observations, entire state freaks out

Bush has achieved America's demise - Bush regime proceeds exactly as Nazi regime did, America more concerned about next episode of 'Survivor'.

How Wal-Marting of organics hurts us all - Are you still shopping at big-box stores? For shame...

DoJ approves Big Telco mega-merger - Consumers can pound salt

Stuff I Read Today 10/12/06

Study claims Iraq's 'excess' death toll has reached 655,000

Bush comments on the 655,000 figure by - how else? - saying it's 'not credible' - Never mind that it's 20 times the figure of 30,000 he gave in December.

The religious right's crusade for 'decency' - Delusional Pharisees strip themselves of all dignity and credibility yet again.

Here's some interesting musings about not only how Foley has given Democrats a huge lead, but why it takes a sex scandal rather than 655,000 deaths or a police state to get people demanding change.

The two faces of Rumsfeld - 2000: director of a company which wins $200m contract to sell nuclear reactors to North Korea. 2002: declares North Korea a terrorist state, part of the axis of evil and a target for regime change.

No troop reduction in Iraq before 2010!

Pyongyang 1, Bush 0

Shop with dollars or we'll change your regime - Iraq, Iran and North Korea -- Nutsack's Axis of Evil -- are the only three countries to abandon the U.S. dollar for petroleum (petrodollar) and/or other trade transactions. Read more about it here. And here. And here. And here. And here. And here. And here. And here.

The religious right doesn't seem to like debate....

I was reading this article about blogs being a sinful activity when a thought in the back of my mind crystalized: The religious right really does not like or tolerate debate. I cannot recall seeing any fundie websites that have comment sections for the diatribes they post. Their long missives on what constitutes sinful views and behavior are intended to be a one-sided delivery - like television - and no dissent will be tolerated!

If you know of any religious right fundie sites that DO have comment ability, please let me know!

Stuff I Read Today 10/10/06

Cover band destroys restaurant - A cover band plays a Jimi Hendrix tune - among others - and the music industry is SUING THE RESTAURANT OWNER INTO BANKRUPTCY!

Does Bush think war with Iran is preordained? - Enjoy what's left of life as you know it. Bush and his religious right wing cohorts are about provoke World War III and a global depression...

The Freshwater Boom is over - Our rivers are starting to run dry.

Savage America - If you live in America and wonder why the rest of the world has a low opinion of Americans in general, you really should read this.

Don't let your library books become overdue or the police will come looking for YOU!

SEX PANIC!!!!! - Sex crimes down, religious right freaks out and engages in War On Sex

Stuff I Read Today 10/9/06

North Korea: Flashback To 2002 - Nick over at Morons.org predicts that the neocon religious right-wingers will blame this whole mess on Clinton...and they have!

GOP knew about Foley six years ago! - Look under 'featured video'.

Brainless: The Lies And Lunacy Of Ann Coulter - Now here's a book worth getting, especially since Reuters fired Joe Maguire for writing it (registration required - use bugmenot).

Right to privacy now on endangered list - Former Congressman and US Attorney Bob Barr, a leader of the impeachment proceedings against Clinton, speaks out on our soon to be extinct right to privacy! Now things are officially Really Really Bad...

Sex, Lies, And Family Values - A long list of people who, while spouting off with bullhorns about 'family values', have been caught with their pants down with people who are not their wives.

Who Killed Michael Moore? - How would non-right wing people react if the government assassinated Micheal Moore for his activism and political dissent? If it's just more blog posts and complaining, it may just embolden government and corporations to commit ever more heinous crimes against those that oppose their crookery.

Stuff I Read Today 10/8/06

A US 'Invasion' of Korea - As world attention is drawn to North Korea's missile launches and nuclear program, many South Koreans are attuned to a threat much closer to home. They have watched a group of rice farmers in the small village of Daechuri near the city of Pyongtaek attempt to defend themselves against invasion by the US military.

It's a slow news day, it seems.

Or not. Perhaps it's just that all the Bush and Republican scandals have just burned me out. Common Dreams has a pretty good description of my problem - my 'moral outrage needle' has been in the red so long that things like the Foley cover-up just can't register. The lies and mud-slinging coming from Republicans, the religious right, the Bush administration and their Fox News lapdogs is so appalling and devoid of any facts that they might as well be alien invaders from another planet. Talking to them is like talking to a wall - they cannot be reasoned with or persuaded with facts because that is NOT the world they live in.

Focus On The Family: Temporarily Unavailable

It seems the Focus site is down for one reason or another.

It's entertaining to think it had anything to do with something I said...but we all know the probability of that being true is less than zero.

Hey, I remember that movie!

Stuff I Read Today 10/7/06

Review: "Death Of A President" - More4 in the UK has produced a drama entitled "The Death of a President" that uses the assassination of George W. Bush as a a starting point to examine how the US would react in the wake of such an event.

Will They Ever Stop Hijacking Jesus? - Somebody wrote a book about it!

StumbleWeed - Check out the uber-kool new magazine the DEA is using to show you that marijuana is bad, bad, BAD! How DARE you smoke an un-patentable plant for your chemotherapy nausea and pain when WE have an expensive, patented pill that is BETTER than anything God could have thought of when he made that plant! WAIT! NO! The DEVIL made that plant!

National Cold Medicine Restrictions Take Effect - Last week a federal law went into effect requiring that cold remedies containing pseudoephedrine, the main ingredient in Sudafed, be kept behind the counter. Nationwide, people feeling under the weather must now show identification and sign a log book in order to buy their medicine. WTF??

Focus On the Family Part 2: Focus On The Money

Just looking at the main page reveals the true nature of Dr. Dobson and company. Family.org is clearly more focused on money and finances than God – after all, if you don’t have good finances, how are you going to give generously to Family.org? Let’s take a brief look…

At the top of the page alone, there are three explicit calls for money, and a fourth disguised as a human interest article, which is designed to make you feel good about your past ‘gifts’. Under “Support The Ministry”, we have “Donate Online” and “Give Monthly”. “Give Monthly” takes you to the same page as the nice little family on the right hand side entitled “Become A Friend Of The Family”. How do you become a friend? That’s right, giving a “gift” is the only way. The “Because Of You” story of the day attempts to make you feel that your gift enables Focus On The Family to do SO many wonderful things.

Aside from multiple ‘gift’ solicitations, surely a fine upstanding Christian organization like Focus On The Family would fill their website with lots of articles on how to apply Christian principles to every day life, right? Well, if God truly wants you to be financially well-to-do, I suppose they are on the right track. In today’s Men And Women section, the feature article is “Getting Out Of Debt”. Among other thing things, there is this gem of advice:

Don’t decrease your charitable giving. Giving should be the first priority use of money, because it is recognition of God’s ownership of everything.

It is the only mention of God in the entire article – and of course, you should know by now who you’re supposed to be giving to.

Under “Frequently Asked Questions”, we see God-related questions like: “How can the new IRA charitable rollover laws benefit my family?”. Clicking on the question will bring you here, where the question now becomes: “How can I donate to Focus by way of a non-cash gift?” , and presents a litany of ways you can give Focus your childrens’ inheritance.

In “See Dick Hunt And Gather”, the question is asked: What kind of man does God want me to be? After reading the entire piece, the only logical conclusion is that God wants me to be the kind of person who is prudent with money so that eventually I can have a nice house and car while not worrying about money.

Uh huh. Unfortunately for Focus On The Family and its supporters, the Bible comes down rather hard on money and rich people:

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. – Matthew 6:24

In Luke, Jesus expands on this idea:

“No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money." The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him. And he said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” – Luke 16:13 – 16:15

Surely the good Dr. Dobson and friends know this story by heart:

And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'" And he said to him, "Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth." And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." – Mark 10:17 – 10:25

Really all the financial advice a Christian needs is found in that same book they claim to know so well:

Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. – Luke 12:33 – 12:34

Finally, for those with any doubt left,

Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. – 1 Timothy 6:6 – 6:11

…And they claim to minister and have God's backing?

Stuff I Read Today 10/6/06

No-Fly List Turns Out To Be Worse Than Useless - Journalists finally get a copy of the list only to find it hopelessly out of date and ridiculously inaccurate.

Grand Old Party Of Child Endangerment - It's a little hard to trust the Republican-led Congress to keep the whole United States safe when you can't even trust them not to molest your children.

What's up with these "pain contracts"? - The Drug Warriors have been prosecuting doctors around the country for dispensing 'too much' pain medication, so doctors are resorting to "pain contracts" with patients in an attempt to protect themselves. Such contracts typically require the patient to agree that "lost, stolen, or misplaced" drugs are not to be replaced and that the patient agree to be drug tested. Patients who refuse to sign such an agreement or who test positive for non-prescribed drugs--i.e. marijuana--are likely to be cut off. You can read more about this savage violation of human rights here.

U.S. Government developing software to monitor "public opinion" - This isn't tin foil hat stuff; this is the New York Times! The torture laws are in place to punish anyone the government wishes, and soon all dissent will be 'monitored'. Welcome to the Democratic People's Republic of America.

Watchdog Group: FBI Lied About Foley Probe

Focus On The Family Part 1: Hiding Behind The Wrong Focus

I thought it might be appropriate to start my first series of original articles by taking a look at the websites of the “Christian” organizations that insist on causing the rest of humanity so much grief. I wasn’t sure which one to pick from the handful that I know of, so I thought I’d start with Focus On The Family. I welcome any and all suggestions for the next organization I should look at.

Focus On The Family has been in the business of sowing ignorance and false teachings for quite some time. Sometime recently (I’m not sure exactly when), they decided to change their domain name to Family.org. The name itself is deceptively flowery and attractive to some, but let’s just take a quick look at what Jesus has to say about family:

"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. – Luke 14:26

I wouldn’t exactly call that a ringing endorsement of the traditional nuclear family, would you? Of course Jesus didn’t mean that people should literally hate their families, but that if they are not willing to leave them behind if necessary in order to follow Jesus, then they are unable to follow him:

Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. – Luke 14:27 – 14:33

Jesus also said:

"Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. – Matthew 10:34 – 10:37

It sounds to me like that means the focus should be on Jesus, not the family. The name these people are hiding behind is not supported by the book they use to justify their hate.

Stuff I Read Today 10/5/06

The Truth Behind Tainted Spinach - This is what you risk when you buy from Big Food rather than small local suppliers.

Slicing Up The Earth's Atmosphere For Corporate Profit - Ever wondered why we can't seem to clean up our air? It's tough when permission to pollute becomes a tradeable commodity...

The Radical Right, The Myth Of The Gay Child Abuser, And You

There's SO many Bush scandals that it is just a waste to even bother putting them all up. If you aren't convinced by now that Bush, Cheney, Rove, Rumsfeld, Rice, etc are criminals, you never will be...

Stuff I Read Today 10/4/06

Schools Curtailing Free Speech...Again

Bill O'Reilly Labels Rep. Foley A Democrat

Ten Reasons Why The Wal-Mart Pundits Are Wrong

Now That You Could Be Labeled An Enemy Combatant...

Fake 9/11 Hijacker Videos

Stuff I Read Today

I'm having problems with blogspot's apparently very schizophrenic text editor...sorry for the format problems. If anyone knows how to fix this stuff, please let me know....

Justices Refuse To Hear Texas Case On Sex Toys – While the Constitution burns and the country is plundered, the “Christian” Right cheers

NRCC Uses Small Children As Human Shields – Tom Reynolds surrounds himself with children to fend off frank questions about the Foley scandal!

Our Rigged Elections: The Elephant in the Polling Booth – with lots of supporting documentation that will scare the crap out of you!

Religious leaders unite on marijuana initiative – Now THIS is nice to see!

Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food – You wouldn’t have sex with a complete stranger unprotected would you? Then why in the world would you eat food when you don’t know where it comes from and what’s been done to it?

Cal Thomas And The Religious Right Do Not Have God On Their Side

Thanks to Dark Christian, I came across the latest rant from Cal Thomas and got inspired :)

I'll never understand how people like Cal Thomas manage to become so widely syndicated. Their views are so repulsive and off the mark, and it is because they have completely bought into the collective delusion of the "Christian" right: that they have a mandate from God to force EVERYONE to conform to God's law and behavioral standards.

The problem is that they have no such mandate. The Bible NEVER gives it. The ONLY thing a Christian is supposed to do is become ever more like Jesus by getting to know him better. I think everyone here probably knows that the Bible doesn’t always state such things explicitly, but there are a few things that make this very clear (“law” in all citations here refers to God’s law i.e. the Ten Commandments etc.):

yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. – Galatians 2:16

The Bible talks a lot about how it’s not a matter of trying to conform your behavior to fit God’s mold, but rather, through growing faith that comes with knowing Jesus, your inner being is transformed such that the law is no longer something you need to be conscious of because you follow it automatically without any desire to break it. If it helps to understand this concept, think of it this way (the laptop is your desire to do whatever):

You have a brand new laptop – a toy with which you would be absolutely loathe to part with. Along comes another person who absolutely needs a brand new laptop for a week, and if they don’t get it from you, they won’t get it at all, and they will lose their job, their family will leave them, and they will wind up living the rest of their life in a cardboard box under a highway overpass. There is a well-known federal law on the books that says you must lend it to anyone who asks – but until now, no one has ever been prosecuted for refusing. Now, if you don’t even know this person’s name, you probably wouldn’t even consider lending it to them (why obey the law when I’ve never seen anyone get in trouble for it?) and you would be miserable if you did lend it (Will I ever see it again? What was I thinking? ). If they were a casual acquaintance, perhaps you would consider it briefly before refusing. If it were your best friend, family member, or very significant other, you’d lend it without hesitation because you care about / love that person and you have faith that they will return it (and the favor) completely intact – the law wouldn’t even come to mind. You’d obey the law without even thinking of it.

People like Cal Thomas have it backwards, and they want to force everyone else to give their laptops to people they don’t know and obey laws that have not, to date, been enforced. For all their moral indignation, they do not understand this:

So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them." Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for "The righteous shall live by faith." But the law is not of faith, rather "The one who does them shall live by them." – Galatians 3:9 – 3:12

That is pretty powerful stuff. Cal and company spout off about immoral behavior (violations of God’s law) all the time. It’s how they make a living – i.e. they rely on the works of law. If they don’t abide by ALL of that law, they are cursed. No one is “justified before God by the law” because it is impossible for people on their own to keep the law! Who here has NEVER lied? According to the verse above, the righteous live by faith, and “the law is not of faith”! So Cal Thomas and all his “Christian” Right cohorts are not righteous, AND they insist that the rest of humanity, including all those who do not share his beliefs, follow the same laws that they have so much trouble keeping, thus falling under the same curse.

Can you imagine anything more ridiculous and shameful than that?

For those still not convinced, the Bible again confirms what I’ve been saying:

Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. – Galatians 5:2 – 5:6

Circumcision in the Bible was part of Jewish law, which was given by God, and it is in this verse used to represent God’s law as a whole. This verse says that anyone who accepts it must keep ALL of the law and that they are severed from Christ! Whether you follow the law or not doesn’t mean anything unless it is a by-product of your faith, which comes through love.

So every time some Religious Right thug tries to ram the ten commandments down everyone’s throats, every time they go on about how gay marriage will mean the end of civilization, and every time they try to force society to ban books and movies and music and games and short skirts and premarital sex and curse words and buying vodka on Sundays – remember that they are trying to keep God’s law and force others to do so, and they are therefore severed from Christ!

Stuff You Should Read 10/3/06

Tony Snow Says Foley’s Folly Just “A Few Naughty Emails”

Matt Drudge Blames The Kids For Foley’s Folly, Says They Are 16 And 17 Year Old Beasts

The Growing Iraq Resistance Movement In The U.S. Military – A tribute to those heroes who refuse to participate in Bush’s war crimes

Tortured Canadian Wins Battle For Truth - Four years after he was detained as a suspected terrorist, Maher Arar's name has finally been cleared

A Blow Against the Corporate Empire – In California, one community is putting corporations in their place

Get A Grip America! It’s Dangerous For A People To Be Ruled by Fear

Finding A Voice

When I first started this blog, I didn't really have much of a focus. That has changed somewhat as of today, and Why "Our Terminal Struggle"? should give you a pretty good idea of where we're headed.

Because this is a new blog, you can still expect to see a fair amount of change here as I learn what works and what doesn't. At this point, I plan to keep "Stuff You Should Read" as a daily thing, but beyond that all I know for sure is that you will see a lot less of others' work and more of my own. Stick around; I promise it'll be more interesting than you think...

Cheers,

Me

Stuff You Should Read 10/2/06

GOP Warned Staff About Foley In 2001 – Whoops! If it wasn’t a cover-up scandal before, it sure is now…

Putting Party Before Predators: Why Didn't GOP Leaders Stop Foley?

The Health Costs of Wealth Inequality - Today, many corporate executives earn more money in a couple of hours than the average factory worker makes in a year. The wealthiest 1 percent of America’s population owns more wealth than the bottom 90 percent combined. And the minimum wage, adjusted for inflation, has fallen by 37 percent since 1968, and become the lowest of any industrialized nation. What impact is this having on the health of our people?

Western-Style Democracy Does Not Mean Press Freedom In Iraq

Copyright Tips - Before uploading a video to YouTube, (or ANY content to ANY distribution site) be sure to read their TOS and understand what you are getting into. (Actually, and unfortunately, in today's world you need to have a strong working knowledge of copyright law as it applies in your particular situation. No. Strike that! You probably have to have tons of money for lawyers. In fact, to save yourself from very costly lawsuits, UNLESS you are the RIAA, MPAA, etc. ...you probably better not even TRY to express yourself in any shape form or fashion. Besides, who the hell do you think you are? Only "signed" and "discovered" artists belong on the interweb. Or, didn't ya know?)

The New Face Of Class War – Warning: Long and scary

Top British Architect Tells Of Terror Arrest - Do you seriously think this can’t happen to you?

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