American Fascists

Hope has two daughters
Their names are Anger and Courage.
Anger at the way things are and
Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.
St. Augustine

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My beliefs mirror much of what Duncan has written in the below post (read the entire post by clicking on the link) though I probably come off a bit more radical.

Religious organization should not be above scrutiny nor should they be above severe punishment for misdeeds. Such as purposely breaking the law in the name of their god. Preaching politics from the pulpit.... Discrimination (oh, and there's tons of discrimination happening in the church). Churches should not receive one red cent from the federal government and should be taxed accordingly.

I'm sick of these institution hiding under the guise of 'holy' while they bilk tons of money from a deluded flock to line their pockets and to build their mega-churches. Mega-churches fly in the face of everything that should truly be 'christian'. Building a Mega-church, to me, is the same as shipping 9 billion dollars in cash to Iraq and having no idea where that money went, all the while not funding the rebuild of a fire station in New Orleans.

I'll never be preached to by a religious organization about morality. Bitch, please!

Religious organizations in this country are not untouchable.

Eschaton:

"Beliefs cloaked in religion shouldn't be granted automatic immunity from scrutiny, and nor should the sometimes powerful institutions run by people, not angels or saints, around which the various religions are organized. While genuine bigotry exists against people of various faiths which is the equivalent to the kind of bigotry which exists against gays or African-Americans (involving unfair symbols or stereotyping rooted in historic oppression, assigning unshared beliefs to an entire group, etc...), mocking or having contempt for actual religious beliefs isn't by any reasonable definition 'bigotry.' It's simply heated disagreement, and as with disagreements about politics, or sports, or whatever, sometimes people who disagree with each other use mockery and insults in their discourse. Religious people may think that their beliefs about religion are on a different level than these things, but, you know, I don't really agree with that. "

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Why does it piss me off so? Because I also believe this:

American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War On America:

"The Christian Right, like these early fascist movements, does not openly call for dictatorship, nor does it use physical violence to suppress opposition. In short, the movement is not yet revolutionary. But the ideological architecture of a Christian fascism is being cemented in place. The movement has roused its followers to a fever pitch of despair and fury. All it will take, Hedges writes, is one more national crisis on the order of September 11 for the Christian Right to make a concerted drive to destroy American democracy. The movement awaits a crisis. At that moment they will reveal themselves for what they truly are — the American heirs to fascism. Hedges issues a potent, impassioned warning. We face an imminent threat. His book reminds us of the dangers liberal, democratic societies face when they tolerate the intolerant."

Alabama News

Colbert must be proud....

Alabama's bald eagle population booming:

"BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - After 15 years of checking bald eagle nests from small planes, there are now an estimated 100 nesting pairs, up from 77 the previous year and 10 times the state's recovery goal under the Endangered Species Act. With the nest-to-nest status check by plane ending last year, the state now will start watching over a few dozen nests to monitor the eagles' health."

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Support this Alabama teenager's efforts to further her campaign against the war in Iraq. Ava has done some incredible work of the past few years.

Peace Takes Courage:

" PeaceTakesCourage has taken me on an amazing journey over the past year. I went from being a frustrated citizen that felt like I couldn't make a difference to being proof that every person can make an impact - even if it's just a small one. Now I'm beginning a new journey, making my first documentary. Over the past few years I've been creating short videos about the war in Iraq. Now I want to expand that into a full-length film to help bring awareness about this war and it's effects.

San Francisco Values

Our mayor gets all the ladies!

America warming to "San Francisco Liberal":

"It looks like people are realizing that it's not so bad having leadership that represents a corner of the country that has brought us the personal computer, iPods, Pixar movies, Star Wars, Google, eBay, Yahoo, the mass blogging tools (like Blogger, MovableType, and TypePad), NetFlix, TiVo, WiFi, Treos, Palm, Levis, Gap, LeapFrog, Charles Schwab, Wells Fargo, Ghirardelli, sourdough bread, the best wine in the world, redwood forests, and all kinds of other goodness."

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Oh, science, how I love thee. Always giving me an excuse to fuck off at work.

Study: Napping Might Help Heart:

"New research on napping provides the perfect excuse for office slackers, finding that a little midday snooze seems to reduce risks for fatal heart problems, especially among men."

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