Quote :

"The Iowa-based Religious Right group The Family Leader held a forum for Republican US Senate candidates on Friday, at which the group’s view that “God instituted government” figured heavily. In fact, nearly every candidate at the debate vowed that if they were to be elected to the Senate they would block federal judicial nominees who do not follow what they perceive as “natural law” or a “biblical view of justice.” - See more at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/iowa-gop-senate-candidates-vow-block-judges-who-wont-follow-biblical-law#sthash.HuRCNu8H.dpuf"

http://youtu.be/XwoW5FZst3g

this is not a fringe movement, this is a powerful and well-funded movement

[Edited on May 4, 2014 at 3:36 PM. Reason : got buried]

5/4/2014 3:35:46 PM

http://m.us.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303647204579543572388368040?mobile=y

Supreme Court rules government institutions can perform solely Christian prayers at meetings without issue.

Have Supreme Court rulings always been this political? Seems like a new thing to me, but I've only been paying attention for the past 10 years or so.

5/5/2014 11:20:10 AM

they are often split along party lines, its not that uncommon

i can't wait till the church of satan volunteers to deliver one of the prayers

5/5/2014 11:25:21 AM

^speaking of, I'm not sure if this has been posted:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/05/02/satanic-group-says-oklahoma-must-give-devil-his-due/

Quote :

"Oklahoma officials say there is no way in hell that a statue of Satan will ever assume a position at the Capitol."

Quote :

"The Satanic Temple hatched the plan last December after the Ten Commandments monument, presented as a gift from state Rep. Mike Ritze, was placed on the lawn. Because it was a donation, state officials declared that it was permissible to place it on state property. But that prompted Greaves and the Satanic Temple to say they could do the same with a monument of their own."

5/5/2014 11:36:29 AM

CNN is claiming the Greece NY COUNCIl did bring in other faiths.

^ it'll be interesting to see how that turns out.

5/5/2014 11:41:25 AM

yeah, they invited other faiths, that's why i can't wait for the church of satan to take a turn

or the pastafarians

5/5/2014 11:42:42 AM

Quote :

"http://m.us.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303647204579543572388368040?mobile=y Supreme Court rules government institutions can perform solely Christian prayers at meetings without issue. "

Those oppressed Christians, at it again. Having their voodoo proclaimed at every single political event at every level every time.

5/5/2014 1:31:58 PM

maybe the satanists arent trying very hard?

5/5/2014 2:16:24 PM

Powerful Christian nationalist, and asshole, David Barton says that heads of households (men) should vote for their family, i.e. women shouldn't be allowed to vote. He claims that when we denied the vote to women it was to keep the family together and for the good of the nation.

Barton is not just a fringe Christian, he is one of the most influential evangelicals and frequently advises politicians.

http://hnn.us/article/155523

5/6/2014 8:54:08 AM

Not really related to this thread, but figured I'd throw this in here. This is an interesting paper that was linked to in a CNN story about allowing prayers at town board meetings:

Do Justices Defend the Speech They Hate?
In-Group Bias, Opportunism, and the First Amendment

http://epstein.usc.edu/research/InGroupBias.pdf

5/6/2014 1:16:25 PM

Not really related to this thread, but interesting

Leno joins the protest.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-brunei-law-on-gays-women-sparks-beverly-hills-hotel-boycott-20140505-story.html


Oh yea Brunei law allows you to stone gay folks. Definitely just like Christianity. I can't believe all of those Christians who are just lining up to stone gay people. They should be ashamed of themselves.



[Edited on May 6, 2014 at 2:06 PM. Reason : adsf]

5/6/2014 2:05:50 PM

everytime you try to be satirical

[Edited on May 6, 2014 at 2:19 PM. Reason : ]

5/6/2014 2:17:22 PM

^^i understand that you are attempting to be clever, unfortunately American Christians do actually want that and are exporting their hate to get laws passed in other countries to do it

US conservative Christians have been spreading hate all over the globe. conservative christians funded and pushed for all of the deplorable anti-gay laws in Uganda and are also involved in Nigeria, Belize, Russia, etc...

Quote :

"The vitriol that has fueled U.S. culture wars for so long is now being exported, and some of our most ardent culture warriors are finding a far more receptive audience abroad. In nations such as Uganda, Russia, Nigeria and Belize, an insidious homophobia engineered in America is taking root. I have seen this hate being spread with my own eyes. In March 2009, while in Kampala, Uganda, researching reports of U.S. right-wing evangelical involvement in attacks on LGBTQ equality and reproductive justice, I was invited to a three-day conference on homosexuality hosted by the Family Life Network, which is based in New York. The keynote speaker was Scott Lively from Springfield, Mass., who introduced himself as a leading expert on the "international homosexual agenda." I filmed Lively over the course of two days as he instructed religious and political leaders about how gays were coming to Uganda from the West to "recruit children into homosexuality.""

Quote :

"Lively was also invited to private briefings with political and religious leaders, and to address the Ugandan parliament during his 2009 visit. The next month, Ugandan lawmaker David Bahati unveiled his Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which in its original form called for the death penalty as punishment for a new crime of "aggravated homosexuality.""

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/commentary/la-oe-kaoma-uganda-gays-american-ministers-20140323,0,2345261.story#axzz2wi3SkdD8

so... haha?

[Edited on May 6, 2014 at 3:38 PM. Reason : .]

5/6/2014 3:37:40 PM

Yeah, Christians had to give up burning people alive a while back; they're totally awesome now. Now, they just secretly enjoy the idea that someone will be tortured for eternity for loving the wrong person. Way more civilized.

And that ^

[Edited on May 6, 2014 at 3:39 PM. Reason : ^]

5/6/2014 3:38:32 PM

Quote :

"Oh yea Brunei law allows you to stone gay folks. Definitely just like Christianity. I can't believe all of those Christians who are just lining up to stone gay people. They should be ashamed of themselves."

This is basically tellling homosexuals, "You think you got it tough? At least we're not trying to kill you!"

Allow me to invoke a little common sense and logic for ya:

Just because someone does worse things doesn't mean you shouldn't do better.

5/6/2014 4:48:46 PM

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/07/16/the-party-of-rape-culture-40-republican-rape-quotes-everyone-should-remember/

5/7/2014 12:11:57 AM

1)What in the fuck does that have to do with Christianity?
2)Rape culture?

5/7/2014 8:40:08 AM

Old

[Edited on May 7, 2014 at 8:35 PM. Reason : ]

5/7/2014 8:27:01 PM

Bladen's beer and wine referendum turned down
http://www.wect.com/story/25442052/bladens-beer-and-wine-referendum-turned-down

5/8/2014 9:34:28 AM

some comic relief that was posted in chit chat:

5/8/2014 9:48:11 AM

Quote :

"http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/07/16/the-party-of-rape-culture-40-republican-rape-quotes-everyone-should-remember/"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_in_Pakistan
http://www.ibtimes.com/india-has-rape-crisis-pakistans-may-be-even-worse-1011268
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoning#Pakistan
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/pakistani-couple-stoned-death-adultery-report-article-1.1621421
http://www.humanrights.asia/news/ahrc-news/AHRC-STM-128-2013

Quote :

"Arifa, a mother of two, has been stoned to death on the orders of Panchayat (a tribal court) for possessing a cell phone. She was executed on 11 July in the district of Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab province. The victim was stoned to death by her uncle and relatives on the orders of Panchayat after she was found to have a mobile phone."

5/10/2014 1:01:10 PM

^

Just because someone does worse things doesn't mean you shouldn't do better.

5/10/2014 7:22:15 PM

Like, me personally?

5/10/2014 8:31:39 PM

It was a general "you".

5/10/2014 8:46:30 PM

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/05/12/harvard-satanic-black-mass-remains-scheduled-despite-growing-outrage/

5/12/2014 12:23:24 PM

Cabbage, that isn't the point. The OP is suggesting there is an organized movement to implement some sort of retarded Christian code of law and he's equating it to Sharia, when the two are absolutely nothing alike.

5/12/2014 1:48:00 PM

its not organized, there is no comprehensive conspiracy, just a lot of idiots working independently for the same or similar goals

but that really doesn't have anything to do with your statement, Cabbage, I suspect that synapse was responding to OEPII's ridiculous week-long campaign to equate human rights violations in the US with human rights violations in the middle east.

5/12/2014 2:14:39 PM

Equate? Can you show me where I said that? So, you a liar too now like synapse?

5/12/2014 3:04:37 PM

i apologize, i misspoke. you had a week long campaign to try to make the US have worse rights violations

5/12/2014 3:08:41 PM

wow, i didn't know i had such power.

i can't have the US (or any country) have anything. if posting links to US rights violations incidents bothers you so much, I suggest you move to a country which has a far cleaner record, so that your sensitivities will not be wounded.

5/12/2014 5:22:59 PM

EDIT: if posting links to US rights violations **in relevant threads** incidents bothers you so much

You want me to discuss rights violations in the Middle East/Asia in threads which discuss rape in the US, police brutality in the US, etc? IOW, you want me to post irrelevant stuff like that jerk synapse?

If you are so concerned about right violations in the ME/Asia, make dedicated threads, and I will post so much stuff in there it will make your head spin, including personal experiences.

5/12/2014 6:25:48 PM

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/06/04/alabama-ministry-to-remove-billboard-with-hitler-quote/

"He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future."

6/4/2014 10:31:10 AM

http://www.wral.com/bill-clarifying-prayer-in-schools-clears-state-house/13702805/

Here come the lawsuits

6/5/2014 12:25:15 PM

Quote :

"It doesn't say Christian prayer," said Rep. Larry Pittman, R-Cabarrus, insisting the measure would also protect Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist prayers. "To me, this bill is about defending everybody's freedom." "

lol, sure.

[Edited on June 5, 2014 at 2:05 PM. Reason : /]

6/5/2014 2:04:58 PM

Quote :

"I don't want any atheist teacher in any way shape or form influencing my child. What is to stop a group of atheist or pagan or Mormon or Islamic kids pushing their religion on my kid via peer pressure with the support of the only authority figure in the room -- the teacher. "

6/5/2014 8:01:48 PM

^^^
Just reading that article, the bill seems superfluous, but I don't see the major issue.

Seems like if a teacher wants to participate in a student prayer they should, doesn't look like it mandates it.

As long as the prayers aren't teacher lead outside the context of a religious group meeting, I don't see an issue.

6/5/2014 8:05:31 PM

http://www.wral.com/religious-conservatives-to-judge-top-republicans/13746323/

6/19/2014 12:53:42 PM

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/06/21/religious-right-looks-beyond-gay-marriage-next-battles-we-are-in-war/

Quote :

"Religious right looks beyond gay marriage to next battles: ‘We are in a war’"

Quote :

"Monica Crowley, a talk-radio host and former Nixon administration aide, opened the conference by blasting Democrats for their “24/7 war” against religious freedom and economic liberty. “Leftists are at war with America, with the American Constitution, with American free-market economics, with American values,” she said. “That fundamental transformation is nearly complete.”"

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,
with the cross of Jesus going on before.

Tony Perkins Says Gay Rights Advocates Want Anti-Christian Holocaust, Will 'Start Rolling Out The Boxcars'
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/tony-perkins-says-gay-rights-advocates-want-anti-christian-holocaust-will-start-rolling-out-

Quote :

"Perkins reacted to the discrimination case by offering a comparison to the Holocaust: “I’m beginning to think, are re-education camps next? When are they going to start rolling out the boxcars to start hauling off Christians?” "

lol


[Edited on June 24, 2014 at 2:25 PM. Reason : l]

6/24/2014 2:16:54 PM

6/24/2014 3:05:06 PM

Is it so surprising that a religion based on a persecution fetish breeds persecution complexes?

6/24/2014 4:40:51 PM

Wait, are we nixing the box cars thing now...?

6/24/2014 5:02:52 PM

Lt. Gov. Dan Forest spole at the Faith and Freedom Coalition's 2014 Road to Majority conference and said a whole bunch of nonsense about how this nation has turned its back on God and how the country must decide "for or against God"

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/nc-lt-gov-dan-forest-america-must-decide-or-against-god

Quote :

"In America, as time moved on, our leaders sought the help of the Lord through the great and terrible Civil War, through a Great Depression, through two great world wars and numerous other conflicts. Then, in 1947 our Supreme Court separated church and state and placed a high wall between the two. In 1962 our Supreme Court removed prayer from our public schools. In 1973, our Supreme Court ruled that it was OK to kill children still in the womb. In the span of a mere 25 years, we, the people allowed our nation to turn its back on God in the name of independence and freedom. "

Quote :

"The heart of the matter is we have forgotten God. We have kicked him out of our house, out of our schoolhouse, out of our courthouse, and out of our statehouse, and now, out of our nation. We call it everything but what it is, we call it everything but sin, the turning away from God. [quote] [quote]We don’t just need, my friends, to rebuild the walls of America. We need to rebuild the biblical foundation upon which the walls sit. We need to trust God. Fear only comes when we don’t believe that God is who he says he is. If God is the creator of the universe, if he allows our hearts to beat and our lungs to breathe, why do we not trust him? If we trust God, my friends, there is nothing we can’t accomplish. With him we can do anything. Apart from him we can do nothing. Seek first his kingdom and all these things will be given. We continue to declare ‘God Bless America’ without doing our part, without prayer, without fasting, and repentance as a nation, without recognizing the sins we commit and humbling ourselves before the sovereign ruler of nations, and asking for forgiveness. It is time for America to recognize that freedom does not come from being a nation of wealth, power, influence, abundance, and ease – but rather it comes from being a humble nation on its knees. It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness. "

this is what they actually think, this is what they actually believe

6/26/2014 3:38:47 PM

Quote :

"Breaking News: Supreme Court rules companies can claim religious-based exemption from Obamacare birth control mandate"

6/30/2014 10:22:25 AM

this is fucking terrifying.

we need a public option for health insurance immediately!

6/30/2014 10:30:01 AM

It's legal for an employer to tell an employee what they are allowed to pay for with their own compensation.

It's legal for an employer to tell an employee that they can't use their own healthcare to pay for an IUD, which is a legal device, because it MIGHT be the same thing in their eyes an an abortion, which is a legal procedure, because of religious reasons.

Health insurance is a contract between an employee and a healthcare provider, it doesn't seem like an employer should have any say in this. They just pay for it, and it should be up to the individual to lobby if they don't like the contract.

6/30/2014 10:40:26 AM

lol so the Supreme Court is now deciding which religious beliefs should take precedence over the law and which shouldn't. They've just invented a whole new class of lawyers, maybe liberals are happy after all.

6/30/2014 12:39:43 PM

it needs to be pointed out that their decision is not based on the constitution but on the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act. That doesn't change anything, but I wanted to point that out before anyone started talking about the 1st amendment.

The key relevant part of the RFRA is that it is based on the Sherbert test:

Quote :

"The Sherbert Test consists of four criteria that are used to determine if an individual's right to religious free exercise has been violated by the government. The test is as follows: For the individual, the court must determine whether the person has a claim involving a sincere religious belief, and whether the government action is a substantial burden on the person’s ability to act on that belief. If these two elements are established, then the government must prove that it is acting in furtherance of a "compelling state interest," and that it has pursued that interest in the manner least restrictive, or least burdensome, to religion."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherbert_Test#The_Sherbert_Test


[Edited on June 30, 2014 at 1:12 PM. Reason : sherbert test criteria ]

6/30/2014 1:11:30 PM

Yeah, the ruling is basically a hundred pages explaining how that law applies to this one specific religious belief for this one type of corporation. It's a bunch of bullshit of course, but they knew letting all corporations cite any religious beliefs to ignore the law would never fly, so they did it in the narrowest possible way to get the thing they wanted.

[Edited on June 30, 2014 at 1:25 PM. Reason : :]

6/30/2014 1:24:28 PM

Quote :

"Health insurance is a contract between an employee and a healthcare provider, it doesn't seem like an employer should have any say in this. They just pay for it, and it should be up to the individual to lobby if they don't like the contract."

If the employee doesn't want their employer involved in what their health coverage does or does not cover, then they should buy their own health care and not expect their employer to pay for it.

6/30/2014 1:34:48 PM

plenty of people cannot opt out of their benefits, and even if they could whats the point?

its not like theyre going to give you a bigger paycheck because you did so.

6/30/2014 2:23:45 PM