Category Archives: Religion

March 21, 2011 · 8:28 pm

House to vote on ‘In God We Trust’ resolution; Still No Sign of GOP Jobs creations bills

These guys were supposedly elected to create jobs…

That was their entire campaign theme…

And they have done absolutely nothing about it since they were elected….

It’s one extraneous or vindictive bill after another….

I can’t believe how much time they can waist on worthless resolutions like this…

I hope people will remember the GOP has just postured, poised, grandstanded and screwed around come election time…

But I’m not hopeful…

The US House of Representatives will have a chance to vote on a resolution to affirm the phrase “In God We Trust” as the nation’s official motto after it was approved by the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday.

Congressman J. Randy Forbes (R-VA), the founder and chairman of the Congressional Prayer Caucus, sponsored the legislation. It would encourage the public display of the motto in all public buildings, public schools and government institutions.

He said he introduced the bill in January because he was troubled by a pattern of omitting God from the nation’s heritage.

“There is a small minority who believes America does not have the right to trust in God, who believes the United States should not affirm trust in God, and who actively seek to remove any recognition of that trust,” Forbes said.

The phrase “In God We Trust” was made the official U.S. motto in 1956, one year after the phrase “under God” was incorporated into the Pledge of Allegiance.

Critics of the resolution said it violated the establishment clause of the Constitution, which states that “Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion.”

via House to vote on ‘In God We Trust’ resolution | The Raw Story.

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March 20, 2011 · 7:20 pm

Pole Dancing for Jesus

This is not a joke…

It’s a real news report from Houston…

Texas, of course….

I’m kind of speechless….

Thanks to Mrs Betty Bowers, America’s Best Christian’s Facebook Post for making me aware of this….

 

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March 2, 2011 · 7:58 pm

Bill Maher on Jerry Falwell

I love this….

Truly classic…

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February 28, 2011 · 7:44 pm

New Budget Campaign Asks ‘What Would Jesus Cut?’ — CNN.com

I don’t agree with Jim Wallis on everything, but he’s doing some great work here….

A coalition of progressive Christian leaders has taken out a full-page ad that asks “What would Jesus cut?” in Monday’s edition of Politico, the opening salvo in what the leaders say will be a broader campaign to prevent cuts for the poor and international aid programs amid the budget battle raging in Washington.

“They’re talking about cutting bed nets for malaria and leaving every piece of military spending untouched,” said the Rev. Jim Wallis, who leads the Christian group Sojourners, referring to Republican spending proposals for the rest of this year.

“Are we saying that every piece of military equipment is more important than bed nets, children’s health and nutrition for low-income families?” said Wallis, whose group paid for Monday’s ad. “If so they should be ashamed of themselves.”

The ad and the broader campaign are aimed mostly at a spending measure passed by the Republican-led House of Representatives that cuts $61 billion from current spending levels, including cuts to Head Start, the Women Infants and Children (WIC) program and international aid programs.

Senate Democrats consider those cuts draconian and won’t pass them.

The faith leaders behind the “What would Jesus cut” campaign are also lobbying the Obama administration to forego proposed cuts to programs like college grants and heating assistance to low-income Americans in the 2012 federal budget.

via New budget campaign asks ‘What would Jesus cut?’ – CNN Belief Blog – CNN.com Blogs.

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February 26, 2011 · 10:28 am

Richard T. Hughes: Revelation, Revolutions, and the Tyrannical New World Order

Very interesting article about alternative interpretations to Revelations and the way it is interpreted by Glenn Beck and the Radical Christian Evangelicals….

This is a brief excerpt but it’s really worth clicking the link and reading the entire article…

The truth is, rapture theology is not only unbiblical; it is anti-biblical. For rapture theologians focus on the hate and violence inspired by the “new world order,” all the while ignoring the biblical vision of “a new heaven and a new earth” that brings not hate, but self-giving love; not oppression, but comfort; and not violence, but enduring peace.

But we can also measure rapture theology by the biblical vision of the kingdom of God.

According to the Bible, the kingdom of God exalts the poor at the expense of the rich. But rapture theology exalts only Christians — and fundamental, born-again Christians at that — at the expense of everyone else.

According to the Bible, the kingdom of God promises justice for the oppressed. But rapture theology promises greater oppression for those who don’t conform to the prophetic timetable the rapture theologians have imposed on the biblical text.

According to the Bible, the kingdom of God resists imperial powers. But rapture theology exalts imperial powers as long as they conform to an imagined prophetic script.

And according to the Bible, the kingdom of God nurtures the paths of peace. But rapture theology celebrates apocalyptic violence.

If American Christians were committed to the biblical vision of “peace on earth, good will toward men,” they could contribute immeasurably to the growth of world peace.

But in order for that to happen, they must first abandon their fascination with the “new world order” — an idea that is alien to the biblical text — and work instead on behalf of two ideas that are central to the biblical message: “the kingdom of God” and the final realization of that kingdom in “a new heaven and a new earth.”

via Richard T. Hughes: Revelation, Revolutions, and the Tyrannical New World Order.

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February 25, 2011 · 6:30 pm

Ocracoke Island Journal: Jimmy Creech, the Methodist Church and Gays

It’s no secret Ocracoke Island is one of my favorite places.  We go every year.  It has the kind of tolerance and mutual respect for others that one generally sees in places that are either very big or very small.

This is an interesting article about one of its former citizens from Philip Howard’s blog.

Thanks to my friend Madonna for sending this to me…

Jimmy Creech was pastor of the Ocracoke United Methodist Church from 1973-1981. His impact on the church and community was profound and lasting. While Jimmy served his Ocracoke congregation he was also active in the volunteer fire department, promoted local musical gatherings, participated in variety shows and theater productions, organized an active youth group, helped sponsor cooking classes in the parsonage, and contributed to numerous other civic and community projects.

After leaving Ocracoke, Jimmy served other churches in North Carolina, and in Nebraska. In 1984, a member of Jimmy’s congregation came out to him as gay and announced he was leaving The United Methodist Church because of its policies toward lesbian, gay and bisexual members. Increased knowledge of these issues in the church and society transformed Jimmy’s life and ministry. He began to publicly challenge the church’s teachings and policies about homosexuality and to advocate for the full inclusion and acceptance of lesbian, gay and bisexual people in the church and society. Eventually Jimmy’s ordination was revoked in 1999 for performing same-sex unions.

In March, Duke University Press will be releasing Jimmy’s new book, Adam’s Gift, the story of his defiance of the church’s official position.

via Ocracoke Island Journal: Jimmy Creech.

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February 24, 2011 · 6:39 pm

This is Not Fiscal Conservatism. It’s Just Politics. – Jim Wallis – God’s Politics Blog

Another great article from Jim Wallis at Sojourners….

The Republican governors’ counter parts in the U.S. House of Representatives are also not cutting spending where the real money is, such as in military spending, corporate tax cuts and loop holes, and long term health-care costs. Instead, they are cutting programs for the poorest people at home and around the world. This is also just political and not genuine fiscal conservatism. It is a direct attack on programs that help the poor and an all-out defense of the largesse handed out to big corporations and military contractors. If a budget is a moral document, these budget-cutters show that their priorities are to protect the richest Americans and abandon the poorest — and this is an ideological and moral choice. The proposed House cuts, which were just sent to the Senate, are full of disproportionate cuts to initiatives that have proven to save children’s lives and overcome poverty, while leaving untouched the most corrupt and wasteful spending of all American tax dollars — the Pentagon entitlement program. This is not fiscal integrity; this is hypocrisy.

MORE:   This is Not Fiscal Conservatism. It’s Just Politics. – Jim Wallis – God’s Politics Blog.

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February 23, 2011 · 9:27 pm

The Latest from Margaret and Helen…

Here is a brief excerpt, but I strongly encourage you to click the link and read their entire entry.

These girls just don’t post often enough….

Margaret, I read the comment you sent me and felt compelled to respond.  I know you don’t like it when I do, but honey you know how I feel about this particular subject.

Dear Readers,

In case you are new to my web page blog, I’ll give you a little background.  I told my friend Margaret that I thought Sarah Palin was a bitch… is a bitch.  Anyway, my grandson really hadn’t fully explained to me that other people could see this page besides Margaret. Which is kind of funny because Margaret actually has to have her husband, Howard, print the pages out for her to read because she doesn’t like computers very much….

But I digress.

So I kept writing about things and more people kept stopping by. Just yesterday I was telling Margaret that I find it very odd that Republicans think government is too big and healthcare for all Americans is just insane.  It doesn’t seem to matter that it would cost less than Bush’s wars… but that would just be unAmerican of me to suggest…afterall Sarah Palin’s son is in that war…

Again, I digress.

I find it odd because I know that Rick Perry, the Governor of my state, is really upset about how big government has gotten.  Evidently it’s not big enough, however, because ‘ole Ricky seems to think its small enough to crawl up my vagina with a sonogram machine and a recorder so that Ricky can tell me how to think based on what God whispers in his ear when no one else is around.  To be truthful, it could just be something he picked up in church.  I’m not sure.  It might have happened at his office.  It’s really hard to tell the difference between his office and his church these days.

I just can’t seem to stay on subject today…

MORE:  Sometimes men should just stick to football… but I digress.

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February 17, 2011 · 8:34 pm

This Lent — Looking Inward, Looking Outward – Jim Wallis – God’s Politics Blog

Another great, thoughtful article from Jim Wallis at “Sojourners”…

Emphasis, below, is mine…

While the White House has done much better than Congress in protecting critical international aid, President Obama’s proposed budget for the fiscal year 2012, which he just released this week, shows deep cuts to domestic anti-poverty programs. Grants that state and local governments use to fund the most effective anti-poverty programs in their area would be cut by $300 million, including assistance for low-income people with heat and energy bills, which would be cut up to $2.5 billion. Obama’s proposed budget left me asking, should poor families have to survive harsh winters without heating oil because politicians are not willing to take on much bigger and far less effective areas of exorbitant spending?

Both the fight around the rest of the fiscal year 2011 budget and Obama’s proposal for the fiscal year 2012 show the bad priorities of Washington. If the Republicans go through with these cuts to international aid, they should stop talking about family values and being pro-life. And if the Democrats don’t fulfill their historic role of defending low-income people, we must ask, what good are they as a party? When I read the gospels, the narrative is clear: Defend the poor and pray for the rich. But our political leaders have taken to defending the rich, and if the poor are lucky, they might get a prayer.

via This Lent — Looking Inward, Looking Outward – Jim Wallis – God’s Politics Blog.

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February 16, 2011 · 6:59 pm

Science and spirituality should be friends

Very interesting article from CNN by Deepak Chopra….

For most people, science deserves its reputation for being opposed to religion.

I’m not thinking of the rather noisy campaign by a handful of die-hard atheists to demote and ridicule faith.

I’m thinking instead of Charles Darwin, whose theory of evolution has proved victorious over the Book of Genesis and its story of God creating the universe in seven days. Since then, God has been found wanting when measured against facts and data. With no data to support the existence of God, there is also no reason for religion and science to close the gap between them.

Yet the gap has indeed been closing.

Religion and spirituality didn’t go away just because organized religion has been losing its hold, as suggested by showing decades of  declining church attendance in the U.S. and Western Europe.

Despite the noisy atheists, two trends in spirituality and science have started to converge. One is the trend to seek God outside the church. This has given rise to a kind of spirituality based on personal experience, with an openness to accept Eastern traditions like meditation and yoga as legitimate ways to expand one’s consciousness.

If God is to be found anywhere, it is inside the consciousness of each person. Even in the Christian West we have the assurance of Jesus that the kingdom of heaven is within, while the Old Testament declares, “Be still and know that I am God.”

The other trend is a growing interest by scientists in questions about consciousness.

Twenty years ago, a respectable researcher couldn’t ask daring questions such as “do we live in an intelligent universe?” or “Is there mind outside the body?” That’s because materialism rules science; it is the core of the scientific worldview that reality is constructed out of physical building blocks – tiny things like atoms and quarks – whose motion is essentially random.

via My Take: Science and spirituality should be friends – CNN Belief Blog – CNN.com Blogs.

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