Month: September 2012

September 30, 2012

Happy International Blasphemy Rights Day

image showing protest signs in Malaysia
Protests by Malaysia Muslims over Innocence Of Muslims film September 2012

September 30th is designated as International Blasphemy Rights Day. This is when we bring awareness to efforts to censor dissent using the false cover of “protecting religious beliefs”. Although very rare in the US, jail time and even death comes to people deemed to have committed Blasphemy. In the US, public bullying sometimes results in “voluntary” self-censorship. Blasphemy laws are bad for freedom. A vibrant society needs and allows dissent in all forms so that the people are able to make informed choices in their lives. And how tolerant we are of dissent says a lot about how we view our country and our freedoms.

What is blasphemy? The dictionary says:

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September 25, 2012

Obama: Censorship Not A Response To Dissent

image of President Obama speaking to UN 9-25-2012
President Obama speaking to UN 9-25-2012

President Obama spoke to the United Nations on September 25th and the topic of the anti-Muslim video that was posted to the Internet came up as well as the strong protests, some violent riots, that happened in Egypt, Libya, and even in Australia. His message was to reinforce the US Constitution protection of speech and the need to meet dissent not with censorship but with more speech.

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September 24, 2012

Pulpit Freedom Sunday Falsely Thinks Breaking The Law Is Freedom Of Speech

clip art showing Preaching from the Pulpit

On Sunday October 7th, Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative evangelical Christian group, will be promoting ‘Pulpit Freedom Sunday’. It’s an event where the ADF says it has 1,000 pastors pledged to violate Federal tax laws by preaching about the election, endorsing a candidate, and sending a video of their sermon to the IRS. Their stated point is that the tax law prohibiting endorsing specific candidates violates the pastor’s freedom of speech. Once again the religious right is wrong.

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September 15, 2012

The Family Research Council & Paul Ryan: Christian Extremists

image of FRC logo with Hate Group written on it

I’ve written before about the Values Voters Summit, which is sponsored by the hate group Family Research Council (FRC). I really don’t want to waste energy on their hate but I feel an informed voter is a defender of democracy and hate groups like FRC shouldn’t be allowed to fly under the radar. FRC isn’t just a group with different ideas, their ideas are the polar opposite of this country’s values of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I don’t like to write these strong words but the Family Research Council’s goals are no different than the goals of the Taliban in Afghanistan. People need to know the truth and need to know about the people who consort with the kind of sedition the FRC calls for in their words and deeds. Voters need to know that people like Republican Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan believes that one’s Christian religious beliefs should trump the US Constitution.

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September 10, 2012

Last Ounce Of Courage Equates Dying In War With Being Able To Violate the 1st Amendment

September 4, 2012

Romney – Ryan Bad For Churches

image of a church

In his speech at the Republican National Convention, Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan brought out the old trope about depending on churches and other faith charities to take care of the needy so he and Romney can gut the social safety net like food stamps and medicare. His idea, the common conservative wet dream, would actually be very bad for churches and other faith based charities who are already strained by the result of the economic meltdown of 2008 and the slow recovery.

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