Just Say (oh) Noooooo

The Washington Post reports: Abstinence program partners Chinese officials with U.S. evangelicals

If all goes according to plan, this fall a girl somewhere in China's Yunnan Province will tell her boyfriend she can't have sex with him. And he'll have an abstinence program from the United States to thank.

In Yunnan schools this year, teachers are being trained with a sex education curriculum created by the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family. The agreement with the Yunnan ministry of education is a milestone for Focus on the Family, which has struggled for four years to make inroads on abstinence in China.

It is also the result of a narrow confluence of interests: Evangelical Christian groups want an entree into China. And Chinese authorities, despite the country's official atheism, want help with controlling population growth and managing the society's rapidly shifting values.

Chinese society has undergone major changes in recent decades, with divorce rates climbing steadily and migration and modernization putting increasing pressure on families, sociologists say. Wading into those waters, Focus on the Family has tried to market its marriage- and family-oriented programs as solutions. But Communist Party officials have been suspicious, at times, of the group's motivations.

At an early demonstration of the abstinence curriculum two years ago - given to the Communist Youth League of China in Hangzhou - teens were supposed to end the seminar by making a virginity pledge, the hallmark of the Christian group's abstinence program. But government officials quickly stepped in, insisting that the kids pledge to no one but the Communist Party.

China has a population problem, and this will only serve to exacerbate it. With China's one child law, expect to see abortion rates skyrocket.

Something else is likely to skyrocket ... the appearance of this bumper sticker on teen cars: "Focus on your own damn family!"

God Sandbags Beck

Fox News Channel personality, and apparently self-designated televangelist, Glen Beck staged a rally for God on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial today. Beck had conceived the event more than a year ago saying: “it was supposed to be political. And then I kind of feel like God dropped a giant sandbag on my head.”

THAT explains a lot!

It was built as an event “Restoring Honor” -- but where is the honor in using divisive language to describe members of Congress and really any American with whom they disagree?

Americans United says it best:

In reality, a major goal of Beck’s rallies is to undermine the Founding Fathers’ vision of a nation where government and religion are kept separate. Beck propagates a revisionist historical perspective that says America is an officially religious state. Mainline Christians, Muslims, non-believers and other Americans who fail to meet Beck’s religious test are often maligned.

“Our nation’s destiny will be disastrous, not divine, if Glenn Beck has his way,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director. “The message Beck and his cronies want to send is clear: if you don’t believe in a government based on his religious vision, you should expect to be treated like a second-class citizen. Beck has made it clear that he has no respect for our Constitution’s promise of religious liberty for all.”

Pastor Wiley Drake on a Rampage Once Again!

You have just watched Pastor Wiley Drake make a fool of himself in action at the Orange County (CA) Board of Supervisors meeting on March 10. Orange County Supervisors want to pull education money from Planned Parenthood and instead fund an anti-abortion abstinence only group. That doesn't sound like a good idea to me, or to Yvette Cabrera at The Orange County Register.

It was the spring of 1965, the same year the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that married women had the right to use contraceptives.

That spring a committee of physicians and community volunteers organized themselves with the hope of opening a family planning clinic. Not only did they achieve their goal on May 29, 1965 when they opened this clinic in the outpatient department of the county's hospital, but they received $30,000 in government funds to support the clinic.

Who exactly approved this funding? The Orange County's board of supervisors, according to historical documents from Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties' archives, which outline how this same committee applied for affiliate status with the Planned Parenthood Federation of America that year as well.

This particular clinic did not provide medical services at the time, but it offered educational services about birth control from 1965 to 1968, according to Stephanie Kight, Planned Parenthood's vice president of community affairs.

"So back in 1965 our county supervisors understood the need for these services because they allowed us to operate our first clinic at the county hospital," says Kight.

Let's flash forward to 2009. Last week, the county board of supervisors unanimously voted to suspend a $300,000 contract with Planned Parenthood – money that pays for five certified health educators who provide comprehensive reproductive education throughout the county. They give live presentations at schools and after-school programs, and they help run toll-free and online hotlines.

None of this funding, which is allocated from tobacco settlement revenue, is used to provide abortion services, a fact well documented in data submitted to the county, according to Planned Parenthood. The nonprofit is part of the Orange County Coalition of Community Clinics, which shares this funding with other member clinics.

Still, abortions was the reason given when county supervisors explained why they cut the funding. They don't believe the county should fund abortions, and they are morally opposed to abortions.

It was a move that shocked, among others, Dr. Thomas C. Bent, medical director and chief operating officer of the Laguna Beach Community Clinic, which is also a member of the coalition and receives tobacco settlement funds.

"Focusing their energy on punishing somebody who offers a legal service to women in need, as Planned Parenthood does, is so wrong," says Bent. "The irony is that the money that's going specifically to (Planned Parenthood's) program is educational so that women won't get themselves in a situation where they need an abortion..."

Nut cases like Wiley Drake want to impose their beliefs on everyone -- but Drake seems to forget we have separation of church and state in this country.

As Bent put it, part of his job as a doctor is to avoid making judgments. Instead, he's supposed to make sure his patients understand the full scope of the medical options available to them. He believes the same should apply to politicians.

"There has to be a separation of church and state," says Bent. "I don't proselytize in my exam room. (The board of supervisors) shouldn't proselytize with the power of their office."

Well said, Dr. Bent!

Frank Schaeffer Calls Out Republican Traitors

Read more about what Frank Schaeffer has to say in: Open Letter to the Republican Traitors (From a Former Republican)

James Dobson is calling it quits -- or is he?

The Associated Press reports that Focus on the Family leader James Dobson resigned on Wednesday. But what does that really mean?

Conservative evangelical leader James Dobson has resigned as chairman of Focus on the Family but will continue to play a prominent role at the organization he founded more than three decades ago.

Dobson notified the board of his decision Wednesday, and the 950 employees of the Colorado Springs, Colo.-based ministry were informed Friday morning, said Jim Daly, the group's president and chief executive officer.

Dobson, 72, will continue to host Focus on the Family's flagship radio program, write a monthly newsletter and speak out on moral issues, Daly said.

Dobson's resignation as board chairman "lessens his administrative burden" and is the latest step in a succession plan, the group said. Dobson began relinquishing control six years ago by stepping down as president and CEO.

"One of the common errors of founder-presidents is to hold to the reins of leadership too long, thereby preventing the next generation from being prepared for executive authority," Dobson said in a statement. "... Though letting go is difficult after three decades of intensive labor, it is the wise thing to do."

While Focus on the Family emphasizes that it devotes most of its resources to offering parenting and marriage advice, it is best known for promoting conservative moral stands in politics.

It sounds like business as usual to me.

Barry Lynn, at Americans United for Separation of Church and State, has a similar view:

James Dobson’s decision to resign as chairman of Focus on the Family is unlikely to make much of a difference in the day-to-day operations of that organization. Dobson intends to continue his daily radio program and monthly mailings. He has also said he will keep handing out political endorsements. Many who listen to Dobson’s daily radio broadcast may not even be aware of this change.

Focus on the Family is merely rearranging the deck chairs on its big, intolerant ship.

I do not expect this change to mean we will see any moderation in the rhetoric of Focus on the Family or its arm in Washington, the Family Research Council. For years, FOF has been the leading voice of religious extremism and intolerance in America. It has led the attack on the legal rights of gay and lesbian Americans, worked assiduously to undermine reproductive rights, assaulted the religious neutrality of public schools and labored to replace science with far-right, fundamentalist dogma.

James Dobson’s vision of America is of a divisive and narrow-minded nation, a country where an exceedingly limited version of Christianity – the type hewn to by Dobson and his followers – is welded to the raw power of the state. In his misguided quest for an officially ‘Christian America,’ Dobson would trample on the rights of millions. I am thankful that so many Americans reject Dobson’s disturbing vision.

Well said, Reverend Lynn.

The Religious Right is not going away, they are simply moving many of their battles to the states, now that they feel a little less powerful in Washington. And that loss of power in DC might be why Dobson has decided to make this ceremonial side step. He has built much of his reputation over the past few years on the influence he had with President Bush and the Republican leadership while they controlled Congress. And you know that "they" say ... when you're not the lead dog, the view never changes.

Rick Warren?? ... Ugh ...

Lovingly stolen from DCup at Politits.

Jerry Falwell in a Hawaiin Shirt

I've been mulling over the Pastor Rick Warren brouhaha. Why does it bother me? Well, in case you missed it, here's an excellent explanation by Rob Boston of Americans United for Separation of Church and State on Countdown last night.

I love what Melissa at Shakesville has to say about it. (h/t Quaker Dave) I especially love what she says about expansion of rights versus the limitation of rights. This has always been the difference between liberalism and conservatism in my view. Because susan-brightside is absolutely correct in the comments on this post. We need to get this separation of church and state thing right. Now.

Republicans who are NOT running in 2012 ...

At least that's what they are saying as they head for Iowa. The truly scary part about all the non-candidates is that they are, well, scary!

Last weekend, 18 days after Barack Obama decisively defeated their candidate for president, a mostly Republican crowd of self-described conservatives received their first introduction to someone many prominent members of the GOP think could be the party's own version of Obama.

Like the president-elect, Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana is young (37), accomplished (a Rhodes scholar) and, as the son of Indian immigrants, someone familiar with breaking racial and cultural barriers. He came to Iowa to deliver a pair of speeches, and his mere presence ignited talk that the 2012 presidential campaign has begun here, if coyly. Already, a fierce fight is looming between him and other Republicans -- former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who arrived in Iowa a couple of days before him, and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who is said to be coming at some point -- for the hearts of social conservatives. [...]

"The Republicans really have no choice except to look at some people more youthful if they want to have a better chance of winning," said Betty E. Johnson, an independent and the wife of a Cedar Rapids pastor, who voted for George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004 but who went for Obama over 72-year-old John McCain. "I liked Obama's energy and hope. I don't know, but maybe a younger person would give Republicans a feeling of more energy, openness."

Jindal insists he is ignoring all the speculation. In Cedar Rapids, at a breakfast event devoted to addressing this beleaguered city's efforts to rebound from its disastrous flood last summer, he avoided any reference to 2012, staying focused on explaining Louisiana's methods for coping with hurricane floods in emergencies on his watch.

Meanwhile, others around the country were talking him up. No less an aspiring kingmaker than Steve Schmidt, the chief strategist of McCain's failed presidential bid, sees Jindal as the Republican Party's destiny. "The question is not whether he'll be president, but when he'll be president, because he will be elected someday." The anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist believes, too, that Jindal is a certainty to occupy the White House, and conservative talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh has described him as "the next Ronald Reagan."

Is Jindal the Republican Obama?

Jindal is, above all else, a political meteor, sharing Obama's precocious skills for reaching the firmament in a hurry. It was just four years ago, after losing a gubernatorial election, that he won election to Congress, and only this year that he became Louisiana's governor, the first nonwhite to hold the office since Reconstruction. And now, 10 months into his first term, the talk of a presidential bid is getting louder among his boosters.

Youth, Norquist notes, has never been at a greater premium for Republicans in search of a new path. And the generally positive reaction to Jindal's handling of Louisiana's mass evacuation in August before Hurricane Gustav, and his response in the storm's aftermath, bolstered the image of the new governor's vigor.

"If anything, McCain's candidacy suggests that age is not always a positive -- and sometimes is a negative," Norquist says. "As Republicans, you have a real problem now with younger voters and immigrants. If you were going to central casting for a candidate to deal with all that, who do you have? Jindal. He is young, and he looks young. . . . He's a great communicator. And his record is that he's sharp and quick with policy."

Religious Right Republicans like Jindal because of his steadfast opposition to abortion without exceptions; his disapproval of embryonic stem cell research; and his support for teaching intelligent design (creationism) in public school science classes.

Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin share these views.

If these candidates represent the next-wave Republican generation, the country could be in big trouble. Let's hope the corporate wing of the party breaks away to form an alternative party.

Layoffs at Focus on the Family

Focus on the Family is cutting an estimated 20 percent of its staff, as critics question the groups priorities.

Critics are holding up the layoffs, which come just two months after the organization’s last round of dismissals, as a sad commentary on the true priorities of the ministry.

“If I were their membership I would be appalled,” said Mark Lewis, a longtime Colorado Springs activist who helped organize a Proposition 8 protest in Colorado Springs on Saturday. “That [Focus on the Family] would spend any money on anything that’s obviously going to get blocked in the courts is just sad. [Prop. 8] is guaranteed to lose, in the long run it doesn’t have a chance — it’s just a waste of money.”

Layoffs before the holidays? Looks like someone forgot to focus on their OWN family!

Focus on the Family spent more than $500,000 to write discrimination into the California Constitution. And one of their board members contributed an additional $450,000 in cash.

This is the third year that Focus has laid off employees due to budget cuts. In its heyday, the ministry, which relocated to Colorado Springs from Arcadia, Calif., in 1991, employed more than 1,500 people. Many of those employees worked in mailroom and line assembly jobs, processing so much incoming and outgoing correspondences that the U.S. Postal Service gave Focus its own ZIP code.

Things might be tough for them right now, but it would be dangerous to write off groups like Focus on the Family. An Obama administration will (sadly) boost their fundraising ability.

But for now we can simply say: "Hey Dobson, focus on your OWN damn family!"

Savage vs Perkins Over Prop 8

Down But Not Out

Don't think for a second that we have seen the end of the religious right. They may be down, but they are not out!

Americans United for Separation of Church and State offers a wonderful analysis:

After eight years of unprecedented access to the White House and (until 2006) in the halls of Congress, Religious Right organizations are about to lose a lot of clout with much of official Washington and could see their influence at the national level diminished.

But it’s unlikely any of these organizations will close down. Rather, they will organize to defeat individual-freedom initiatives put forward by President Barack Obama, and they will place more emphasis on state and local governments as a way to press their agenda forward. (Religious Right groups enjoyed some success on Tuesday night with state ballot referenda.) [...]

Religious Right groups intervened in a number of state ballot initiatives, seeing success in several. Bans on same-sex marriage passed in Florida (62-38 percent) and Arizona (56-44) and looked to be on the verge of passing in California, although results are not official as of this writing. In addition, a ban on unmarried couples adopting children, which is seen as a way to prevent same-sex couples from adopting, was approved by Arkansas voters, 57-43 percent.

... Obama’s electoral landslide does not mean the Religious Right is dead or even seriously wounded. The Religious Right has been part of the American political landscape for more than 30 years and is not likely to fade away simply because of a bad election cycle.

It’s important to remember that several of the Religious Right’s favored candidates won their races, and, more importantly, the referenda results on same-sex marriage shows that this issue remains a potent one for the Religious Right to exploit. With power changing hands in Washington, these groups will shift tactics, not shut their doors.

In short, it is probably too early to declare the culture wars over just yet.

So let's celebrate for a while, but we must be prepared to get back to work in January!

.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

THE GOOD NEWS:

It's good news for reproductive rights advocates as ballot measures in California, Colorado, and South Dakota were defeated. With 98% of the vote counted California voters defeated Prop 2, a teen endangerment measure, by 52% to 48%. Colorado voters rejected by a margin of nearly three to one an amendment to the state Constitution that would have defined human life as beginning at the moment of fertilization. And South Dakota defeated an initiative that would ban abortion in most cases. Two years ago South Dakotans rejected a similar measure and they did so again on Tuesday, with 55 percent of the voters opposing the provision.



THE BAD NEWS:

Voters in California, Florida and Arizona all passed measures which would amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage. In California it cast into limbo some 18,000 same-sex marriages performed since June, when a state Supreme Court decision opened the way to such unions. Attorney General Jerry Brown has said the marriages will stand, but legal experts predict court challenges. The Florida ballot initiative was simply mean-spirited, as same-sex unions were already illegal in the state. This new measure threatens ALL domestic partner unions -- even those of heterosexual couples. Arizona, who rejected a similar measure in 2006, passed a ban on same sex marriage. In all, it was a very bad day for equality.



THE UGLY:

All of these mean-spirited ballot measures point to a new reality -- that religious right extremists who are now feeling the sting of defeat nationally will concentrate more of there efforts in the states. We MUST remain vigilant to counter what is surely to come.

.

Obama says Palin's family off-limits

My respect for Sen. Obama is growing with this statement. I think families and their issues should be off-limits in a campaign. It's a diversion from issues of the day that need to be discussed as the two campaigns enter into the final eight weeks.

Maybe it's because I'm from the midwest, were every high school graduating class included at least one young woman who was pregnant. And I can hear the arguments now, that Gov. Palin supports abstinence-only programs. Well, oppose her candidacy for THAT reason -- not because her daughter may have rebelled against strict family rules. I can't be the only person who has ever heard it said that the preachers kids were the worst in the community. Kids do things against the will of their parents -- its a reality every parent should understand.

As I have mentioned already, there are plenty of reasons to oppose McCain-Palin -- their position on the war, the economy, our energy crisis, global warming, the list is endless.

The fact that her 17 year old daughter is pregnant, shouldn't be one of them.

And keep in mind the Republican religious right base will very likely embrace Palin and her daughter for 'doing the right thing by keeping the baby.' Tony Perkins, of Focus on the Family, has already issued a statement supporting Palin and her family:

"Fortunately, Bristol is following her mother and father's example of choosing life in the midst of a difficult situation. We are committed to praying for Bristol and her husband-to-be and the entire Palin family as they walk through a very private matter in the eyes of the public," Perkins said in a written statement.

The new Democratic Party leader has spoken:

"We don't go after people's families; we don't get them involved in the politics. It's not appropriate, and it's not relevant," he added. "Our people were not involved in any way in this, and they will not be. And if I ever thought that there was somebody in my campaign that was involved in something like that, they'd be fired."

Obama has eight weeks to win this election. He needs everyone to stay focused on the job at hand.

.

AFA's McDonald's Boycott: Demonizing for Dollars

Donald Wildmon's American Family Association (AFA) -- if it's got the word "family" in the title look out!! -- has launched a boycott against McDonald's. It seems the group is just not lovin' it that McDonald's is so gay-friendly.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State's blog The Wall reports:

McDonald’s is officially under boycott from Donald Wildmon’s American Family Association (AFA). The AFA, a Mississippi-based Religious Right outfit best known for obsessing over sexual content on cable and network television and its vociferous opposition to the “homosexual agenda,” has been going crazy lately because McDonald’s has made it clear that its family-friendly policy includes gay families.

Like a lot of corporations these days, McDonald’s is aware that American society is increasingly diverse. In recent years, the company has launched outreach efforts targeted toward African-Americans and Latinos. Now it’s aiming one at gays. Part of this includes allowing a McDonald’s executive to join and work with the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.

So it boils down to this: McDonald’s is interested in getting as many people as possible to eat in its restaurants, and as part of this effort, is reaching out to targeted audiences. Most people would not see this as a big deal.

To the homophobes of the Religious Right, it’s the end of the world. Wildmon and his crew have been carping about this for months, and the right-wing media is all atwitter. (I did get a kick out of this rather lurid headline from WorldNetDaily: “McDonald’s profits help fund naked homosex-fest.” It sounds like a tagline for porn spam.)

To its credit, McDonald’s has told Wildmon to go stick his head in a deep fryer. In a May 29 letter, Pat Harris, global chief diversity officer for McDonald’s, wrote to Wildmon, “We treat our employees and our customers with respect and dignity, regardless of their ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexual orientation or other factors. We support our employees’ personal involvement in organizations of their choice.”

Continued Harris, “McDonald’s is associated with countless local and national affinity groups here in the United States. We have a well-established and proud heritage of associating with individuals and organizations that share in the belief that every person has the right to live and work in their community free of discrimination.”

As is noted in this post, previous AFA boycotts against Target, IKEA and Disney "didn't exactly bring those firms to their knees" -- which brings me to my point.

Actions like these are little more than fundraising tools for the religious right. When collection plates just aren't enough the religious right pulls out THEIR "gay agenda" ... demonizing for dollars.

Whether it's demonizing for dollars or for votes -- to elect candidates supportive of their narrow world view -- it spells bad news for everyone else!

.

Faith Tradition or Tax-Exempt Pyramid Scheme

When I read this the first thing that popped into my mind was: "This sounds like Amway!" And while the government has yet to prove Amway is a pyramid scheme, anyone who has ever been involved with it sure sees all the signs. One person brings in another, and the only ones getting rich are the people at the top!

Kenneth Copland Ministries seems to have that same undercurrent -- only the only people who ever get to be on top are "family."

The Associated Press reports:

Here in the gentle hills of north Texas, televangelist Kenneth Copeland has built a religious empire teaching that God wants his followers to prosper.

Over the years, a circle of Copeland's relatives and friends have done just that, The Associated Press has found. They include the brother-in-law with a lucrative deal to broker Copeland's television time, the son who acquired church-owned land for his ranching business and saw it more than quadruple in value, and board members who together have been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for speaking at church events.

Church officials say no one improperly benefits through ties to Copeland's vast evangelical ministry, which claims more than 600,000 subscribers in 134 countries to its flagship "Believer's Voice of Victory" magazine. The board of directors signs off on important matters, they say. Yet church bylaws give Copeland veto power over board decisions.

While Copeland insists that his ministry complies with the law, independent tax experts who reviewed information obtained by the AP through interviews, church documents and public records have their doubts. The web of companies and non-profits tied to the televangelist calls the ministry's integrity into question, they say.

You really need to read the entire article to get the full impact.

There are some who think religious organizations are getting too many tax breaks in the country. I think it fair that their house of worship, and any services directed toward helping those in need are fair exemptions -- like any other 501(c)(3) organization would receive. But it appears that everything Copeland's group is involved in has been placed under the umbrella of the church -- including things like the ministry's $17.5 million jet (and other aircraft), a private airstrip, and a $6 million church-owned lakefront mansion. And did I mention oil?

All revenue from the church's business interests — including an oil and natural gas company it owns — go into the church ... Security Petrol Inc., a wholly owned — and for-profit — subsidiary of the church created in 1997 ... Security Petrol was established to protect the church from the liability risk of oil and gas production and to minimize interference with the church's religious activities.

No company officials — including John Copeland, its president — has received compensation or profits from the company, and all revenue goes to the church for general operations, [spokesperson Lawrence] Swicegood said. Reserves from gas wells in the church's name were valued at $23 million last year, county records show.

Nice work, if you can get it!

Kenneth Copeland Ministries is a 500-employee operation, with a budget estimated in the tens of millions of dollars.

Kenneth Copeland Ministries is organized under the tax code as a church, so it gets a layer of privacy not afforded large secular and religious nonprofit groups that must disclose budgets and salaries. Pastors' pay must be "reasonable" under the federal tax code, a term that gives churches wide latitude.

Copeland's current salary is not made public by his ministry. However, the church disclosed in a property-tax exemption application that his wages were $364,577 in 1995; Copeland's wife, Gloria, earned $292,593. It's not clear whether those figures include other earnings, such as special offerings for guest preaching or book royalties. Another 13 Copeland relatives were on the church's payroll that year.

Some might argue that Copeland is protected through 'truth in advertising' ... after all, he bills his ministry as one that believes God wants his followers to prosper. From all appearances some are "prospering" a little bit more than others!

.

Hillary Clinton Stands Up for Reproductive Rights

Sen. Hillary Clinton takes on President Bush's attempt to limit women's access to birth control at a Planned Parenthood press conference.

Read her post at RH Reality Check, which is cross-posted at Huffington Post.

"The Bush administration is up to its old tricks again, quietly putting ideology before science and women's health. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is poised to put in place new barriers to accessing common forms of contraception like birth control pills, emergency contraception and IUDs by labeling them "abortion." These proposed regulations set to be released next week will allow healthcare providers to refuse to provide contraception to women who need it. We can't let them get away with this underhanded move to undermine women's health and that's why I am sounding the alarm."

TAKE ACTION

Tell Bush's HHS Secretary to protect women's health!

Dear Secretary Leavitt,

I am appalled at the proposal now under consideration at HHS which will endanger family planning services and undermine the health of women across the country. I strongly urge you to refute this outrageous policy that threatens to affect Medicaid and Title X programs that are important to millions of families.

I stand with Hillary Clinton and women and men across America in speaking out against this proposal. We've had enough of putting ideology over science and failed policies harming healthy families.

Signed,

In her email message Sen. Clinton says: "We've worked hard to guarantee women have access to a full range of health and family planning services, and we can't let the right wing undermine those efforts. This issue is far too important not to act, so I hope you'll join me today in speaking out to protect women's health." I hope you do, too!

Shall We Prey ...

Fundamentalist leaders like James Dobson might take umbrage at my use of the word "prey" instead of "pray" ... but hey, isn't this exactly what the Religious Right is doing? Frederick Clarkson has a post up about the National Day of Prayer.

Our Official National Day of Religious Supremacism

Every year, there are controversies over the "National Day of Prayer," which has somehow become the exclusive province of the Dobson empire. This year it is being held on May first -- and the fireworks have already started.

But lest you think that this is an obscure bit of Bush administration taxpayer financed pandering -- note that even Democratic governors in blue states -- such as the Democratic governor of my state, Massachussetts, Deval Patrick -- are issuing proclamations as drafted by Focus on the Family. See for yourself here.

The Interfaith Alliance, Jews on First!, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, (and probably others) are calling them out on this discriminatory, Christian nationalist vanity project that comes with the Congressionally mandated imprimatur of the people of the United States.

Above right, from May 2007, Bush marks National Day of Prayer in Washington,DC with James and Shirley Dobson.

Texas Education Agency director of science fired for promoting science

Geezz ... file this under things that make me crazy! Phil at Bad Astronomy writes:

What the heck is wrong with Texas?

First, they get a creationist governor. Then their creationist governor appoints a creationist to head the State Board of Education.

And now, when Chris Comer, the Texas Education Agency’s director of science curriculum, sends out an email announcing a talk by anti_creationism advocate Barbara Forrest, the TEA forces her to resign.

Why? Hold on to your seats here, folks, because you won’t believe this:

[Texas Education] Agency officials cited the e-mail in a memo recommending her termination. They said forwarding the e-mail not only violated a directive for her not to communicate in writing or otherwise with anyone outside the agency regarding an upcoming science curriculum review, “it directly conflicts with her responsibilities as the Director of Science.”

The memo adds, “Ms. Comer’s e-mail implies endorsement of the speaker and implies that TEA endorses the speaker’s position on a subject on which the agency must remain neutral.”

That’s right, the Texas Education Agency must remain neutral when it comes to science versus antiscience!

Clearly these folks haven't read the First Amendment. You know, the one that guarantees separation of church and state!

As noted anti-creationist Genie Scott commented in the article,

“This just underscores the politicization of science education in Texas,” Scott said. “In most states, the department of education takes a leadership role in fostering sound science education. Apparently TEA employees are supposed to be kept in the closet and only let out to do the bidding of the board.”

As you might expect, PZ has some things to say about this as well. So does Josh. In fact, expect to see this news hitting the science blogosphere like a bomb.

The fight against antiscience, the fight against theocracy, the fight against nonsense will never stop, because their minions are always lurking somewhere. Keep fighting, people. We must never tire.

Phil is absolutely right -- we can never let our guard down, not even for a second.

Another Evangelical Resigns

Remember the good old days when an Evangelical leader's claim to fame was that "God would call him home unless his followers sent money?"

In 1987, television preacher Oral Roberts made a dramatic appeal. If his supporters did not send donations totaling $8 million dollars within three months, he warned that God would "call me home." There were those who complained that Roberts was extorting his viewers and using the Deity as an accomplice, but there was no doubting his charisma — or his results. Roberts received over $9 million, and God did not call him home.

It seems that Oral's son Richard Roberts, who took over the reigns of Oral Roberts University when his father retired, has given a whole new meaning to 'coming home.'

On Wednesday, the head regent at Oral Roberts University announced that the school is an astonishing $52.5 million in debt. This news arrived just three weeks after the revelation of a wrongful termination suit filed against the school by three former professors who claim that they were fired after providing the school's Board of Regents with a report detailing moral and ethical lapses by Oral's son Richard, who had inherited the school's presidency from his father, and Richard's wife Lindsay. Among the allegations: the Roberts had remodeled their home eleven times in 14 years with university money; they bankrolled one of their daughters' $29,411 trip to the Bahamas with school funds; and Lindsay Roberts had spent the night in an O.R.U. guest-house with an underage male nine times.

Which was maybe a contributing factor for why Mrs. Robinson Roberts is alleged to have gone on a $39,000 shopping spree at one store. Victoria's Secrets maybe???

Richard Roberts went on Larry King Live in October claiming the charges amounted to "intimidation, blackmail and extortion." On Friday Roberts said in a statement:

“I love O.R.U. with all my heart. I love the students, faculty, staff and administration, and I want to see God’s best for all of them.”

What's not to love? ha

Roberts also said: "The devil is not going to steal O.R.U."

No, Richard, you've taken care of that! Or did he?

Time magazine reports:

The whole affair is a sad denouement for one of the pioneers of televangelism, a man who, in the early 1980s, seemed poised to pull the then-declasse Pentecostal and Charismatic traditions, which emphasize gifts of the Holy Spirit such as healing and speaking in tongues, into the mainstream. Says Randall Balmer, chair of the religion department at Barnard College, who has written about Roberts, "I feel badly for him. This must be a blow."

What happened? J. Lee Grady, the editor of the magazine Charisma, wrote recently, "I don't know about you, but I'm having flashbacks of 1987," the year that the sexploits of Jimmy Swaggart and financial hijinks of Jim Bakker gave televangelism its reputation for sleaze. But while the allegations in the suit certainly meet Swaggart-quality standards of salaciousness, the causes of the university's fall may owe more to mismanagement than greed or negligence, suggests John Schmalzbauer, an expert in Christian higher education at Missouri State University. Unless some party siphoned off "massive multimillion-dollar diversion of funds over 25 years," he says, "I think the causes must be deeper and more structural."

And they no doubt are, but in the mean time what the public sees is another fallen Evangelical.

Dobson's Ego Exposed

In Focus On The Ego, Jon Stokes nails the reason behind James Dobson's opposition to Republican front runner Rudy Giuliani. It has nothing to do with Rudy's stand on abortion, or his marital and family problems. As a song from "The Music Man" goes -- it's all about "TROUBLE, with a capital T that rhymes with P that stands for" POWER. Okay, it's a slight change from the actual lyrics, but you get the picture.

In a nutshell, Dobson looks at a Rudy presidency and quite rightly sees the loss of the thing he cares most about—and it ain't his immortal soul. It's his access to power.

Rudy treats social conservative leaders even worse than he treated New York City borough presidents during his tenure as mayor: He won't even deign to be in the same room with them, much less kiss Dobson's ring in public. And this is how Rudy treats Dobson and Co. when he's in campaign mode. Imagine the kind of treatment that Dobson and Co. will get if this uppity, thrice-married, lapsed papist actually becomes president. If candidate Rudy won't even meet with them now, president Rudy certainly won't have his aids inviting them to the kinds of closed-door meetings at the White House that they thrive on.

Dobson's status as a boss within the evangelical community is dependent on his ability to credibly present himself—to his constituents and to outsiders—as a prominent Christian voice in the halls of power. If Dobson and his pals can't go back to their respective constituencies and present themselves as men who have the ear of the secular powers that be, then why should anyone respond to their fundraising appeals, or subscribe to their magazines, or generally back them as God's representatives to D.C.? What conservative voter is going to pull out their checkbook when Dobson comes on the TV and asks for a million bucks to help fight sodomy, if it's public knowledge that this man is persona non grata in the corridors of power?

Dobson's move to organize a third party might be his way of insuring a Hillary victory. Better to have an "enemy" in the White House, than to be ignored and lose the access to power within his own party. He would at least be able to use Hillary as a fundraising tool for the next four years, while evangelicals regroup.

McCain says Constitution established a 'Christian Nation'

Good grief, McCain

A recent poll found that 55 percent of Americans believe the U.S. Constitution establishes a Christian nation. What do you think?

I would probably have to say yes, that the Constitution established the United States of America as a Christian nation. But I say that in the broadest sense. The lady that holds her lamp beside the golden door doesn't say, “I only welcome Christians.” We welcome the poor, the tired, the huddled masses. But when they come here they know that they are in a nation founded on Christian principles.

tristero, at Hullabaloo, believes otherwise:
The Despicable John McCain



h/t tristero