Tag: religious bigotry

April 15, 2012

Anne Graham Lotz Shameful Statement On Atheists Shows We Need Separation Of Church And State

image of Anne Graham Lotz on Meet the Press 04-08-2012
Anne Graham Lotz on Meet the Press 04-08-2012

This past Easter Sunday (April 8th), NBC’s “Meet the Press” had a panel discussion about religion’s place in politics, a panel that didn’t include any atheist voices. Rev Billy Graham’s daughter Anne Graham Lotz provided a bumper sticker moment when she declared, contrary to the Constitution’s prohibition on religious tests for office, she didn’t think an atheist should be President. It brought to my mind a 1963 rant of Alabama Governor George Wallace who declared the 14th amendment illegal. It seems Lotz and Wallace are “birds of a feather” and it’s disgraceful she would express such a bigoted statement on national television. It is yet another reason to support strict separation of church and state.

The membership of the panel on “Meet the Press” reminded me of the all-male panel of witnesses for the recent birth control coverage hearings in the US House of Representatives. The MTP Easter panel had zero atheists. Not even a token agnostic:

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January 10, 2012

What Does Religious Freedom Day Really Mean?

image of the logo for Religious Freedom Day

January 16th is National Religious Freedom Day. The day commemorates the Virginia General Assembly’s adoption of Thomas Jefferson’s landmark Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom on January 16, 1786. The Virginia Statute was the basis of the 1st Amendment of the US Constitution and also can be used to support Jefferson’s idea of the separation of church and state. The Religious Right have of course co-opted the day by mass marketing misleading information about what real religious freedom means in this country. Luckily, Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU) has some help available to tell the truth.

The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom was passed at a time when state support and protection of churches was the norm in what would become the United States. Thomas Jefferson offered the statute as a way to protect the church and the state. It is obvious from reading the text that separating church and state was the goal.

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October 9, 2011

Dangerous Right Wing Republican Stupidity At The Value Voters Summit

Values Voter logo with fine print

This weekend was the annual meeting of the religious right wing of the Republican party at the so-called Value Voters Summit. The name of the event is similar to other ironic names associated with cheap-labor conservatives like “Defense of Marriage Act” and “Clear Skies Act of 2003“. Being it’s election season, the current crop of GOP candidates show up to kiss the ring of the Family Research Council and they say some really stupid crap.

Newt Gingrich would ignore court rulings he didn’t agree with:

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September 13, 2011

Federal Court to Decide on Oklahoma Sharia Ban

Image of a generic angry mob
Supporters of Sharia Law banIn the 2010 general election, voters in Oklahoma passed a ballot measure that attempts to ban Oklahoma courts from considering Islamic laws in the their decisions. The law was blocked when the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and ACLU sued. They claim the law violates the 1st amendment of the US Constitution, the Oklahoma Constitution, and the Oklahoma Religious Freedom Act. This story shows that those who support the ban have a bigoted idea of Sharia law and have little knowledge of what our civil rights actually are.

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December 18, 2010

If Rep Peter King wants to examine extremism then he needs to look at all of it

September 8, 2010

Book burning just makes you look like an ass

Some Christian moron plans on burning Qur’ans on Saturday September 11th. Like other stupid Christian fundamentalists he has no real reason to do it but just because he can and he feels he should. I have no love for any religion but book burning? Really? You know who else burned books? Hitler.

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