"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross." Sinclair Lewis 1935.

Just what we need, MORE undue influence by the NUT CASES who worship things they can't prove and that there is no real evidence for. GREAT! MORE influence by a group that isn't supposed to have influence, and is in fact given tax breaks to KEEP THEM OUT OF POLITICS. Some decency and honesty from the church goers.

End ALL lobbying NOW. If you can't do that, then at least keep them IN THE FREAKING LOBBY. They have NO business sticking their faces into OUR lives and forcing their BS down our throats. Gee, isn't that what THEY keep saying WE are doing?

I'm damned sick and tired of these people. They aren't helping anyone but themselves, and isn't that what their Christ said NOT to do?

Bill McKibben and his ilk have proven beyond any shadow of a doubt (including astrologers) that religion should not be granted any tax exempt status.

Tax them before Carbon.

Neat.

Christianity (for example) was in on the ground floor during the collapse of the last great military globe spanning empire too.

You might remember it. It was called 'Rome'. You know, the one the US government was modeled on.

Churches fit right in to the New Fascist States of U.S. America. They are wealthy, powerful, and like to be in control. They have one set of rules for us ,and another set for themselves. They don't want to be audited, or pay their fair share. Church and fascist state, a match made in heaven.

If they want to play they have to pay. Time has come to do away with their tax exempt status. Would take us a long way toward paying off the debt.

superstition rules

Organized religion is without a doubt, one of the best grifts going in America. All the privileges of being a corporation plus tax exempt status.

I wonder if the Catholic lobbyists have anything to do with the latest spate of House proposals to limit abortion, etc.

The problem with the majority of organized Christian churches is they are all about controlling the people and have little or nothing to do with what "Christ" taught.

I don't have a problem with tax exempt status IF Christian churches were all about the Golden Rule rather than just another form of controlling the people. But the Judeo-Islamic-Christian tradition has been bloody from the start. As Joseph Campbell said, that's what happens when religion is based on literalism and the idea of a "chosen people".

And I don't get why churches are even allowed to be represented by lobbyists if we're guaranteed separation of Church and State - isn't that a contradiction?

As a person of faith and a longtime social activist there are a few things to keep in mind. The crisis through which we now walk comes in no small part to the loss of an objective character to truth. This truth - properly understood (and don't look to Palin, Bachmann or the 700 Club for this) mirrors all human activity calling it into question and evaulation.

1) The current crisis in America especially the bankster lobby on Wall Street and their lesser ilk in the corporate world wouldn't know truth if it hit them between the eyes. Their fraudulence, lies and deceptive practices are an affront of incredible dimensions;

2) Tragically, life on all levels has been demeaned by this loss of truth. Emily's List, Planned Parenthood and others make claims against the lives of the unborn and women under the guise of freedom. But more and more investigation demonstrates the harmful psychological, emotional and spiritual consequences of abortion on women. And while exceptions can and must be made for situations outside the norm: rape, incest, we can and must do better than abortion;

3) The on-going nationalistic American exceptionalism means just this: America because it claims to be unique (no evidence thank you) continues to assert it's will internationally in way often destructive of entire groups of people. It alone knows "truth". If that were the case explain Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Explain the arrogance and indifference leading to the war in Iraq? Some body has to possess the capacity to challenge the jingoism of this country. As the late Trappist monk Thomas Merton prayed: When I pray to end war, I first pray that my own country ceases to do those things which create war in the first place. Tell that to Bush-Cheney-Rove and friends!

4) The on-going demise of the environment despite the "arguments" of climate change deniers exists precisely because to admit it would be to acknowledge the truth behind it - human activity has in fact led to a change in climate. But because the climate change deniers are fed by the hand of #1 above - they are unable to acknowledge their wrong-doing and harmful behavior.

The faith communities - properly understood - can be allies of great strength as in the past in the anti-slavery movement, labor movement, civil rights movements, etc.

The "Christian Right" is neither. Even Jesus said " render unto Ceaser what is Ceaser's and God what is God's"

I'm thinking the last time Xtian Religionists enjoyed unchallenged influence in government in what was to become The United States women were burned at the stake.

Everything regressive is on the rise in America!

If to that, one adds the dysfunctional and corrupt Congress, the corrupt Party of Money (with its two wings), the Evil Empire, the corporate state, the ecological and climate catastrophe in the making, the 20% unemployed, we're in for a rough time of it.

The graph shown with this article is highly revealing. It shows the growing level of influence of religious businesses in the USA since the late 1990s, with a slight reduction since the last presidential election. I believe there is a direct correlation between the growth of the religion industry and the numbers of their consumers in the USA, and the steadily growing level of economic dysfunction and intellectual dumbing down of American society. Put simply, America's decline is clearly linked with the increase in religious activity in the USA. If you want to stop being dumb and start being smart then get rid of religion in the US.

Note that as the percentage of organized religious people declines in the US, the lobbying increases. Apparently the clerics are afraid of losing more business, so they do whatever any other failing business does in the US -- immediately run to the government for a bailout!

When fascism comes to America, it will not be in brown and black shirts. It will not be with jack-boots. It will be Nike sneakers and Smiley shirts … Germany lost the Second World War. Fascism won it. Believe me, my friend. George Carlin Bill Maher show 2005 Georges take on Sincalir Lewis
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What do you mean, "when"? Read the list below.

Fourteen Defining Characteristics Of Fascism

By Dr. Lawrence Britt
Source Free Inquiry.co 5-28-3

Dr. Lawrence Britt has examined the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia) and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each:

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism - Fascist regimes tend to make constant use of patriotic mottos, slogans, symbols, songs, and other paraphernalia. Flags are seen everywhere, as are flag symbols on clothing and in public displays.

2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need." The people tend to look the other way or even approve of torture, summary executions, assassinations, long incarcerations of prisoners, etc.

3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause - The people are rallied into a unifying patriotic frenzy over the need to eliminate a perceived common threat or foe: racial , ethnic or religious minorities; liberals; communists; socialists, terrorists, etc.

4. Supremacy of the Military - Even when there are widespread domestic problems, the military is given a disproportionate amount of government funding, and the domestic agenda is neglected. Soldiers and military service are glamorized.

5. Rampant Sexism - The governments of fascist nations tend to be almost exclusively male-dominated. Under fascist regimes, traditional gender roles are made more rigid. Divorce, abortion and homosexuality are suppressed and the state is represented as the ultimate guardian of the family institution.

6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes the media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.

7. Obsession with National Security - Fear is used as a motivational tool by the government over the masses.

8. Religion and Government are Intertwined - Governments in fascist nations tend to use the most common religion in the nation as a tool to manipulate public opinion. Religious rhetoric and terminology is common from government leaders, even when the major tenets of the religion are diametrically opposed to the government's policies or actions.

9. Corporate Power is Protected - The industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.

10. Labor Power is Suppressed - Because the organizing power of labor is the only real threat to a fascist government, labor unions are either eliminated entirely, or are severely suppressed.

11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts - Fascist nations tend to promote and tolerate open hostility to higher education, and academia. It is not uncommon for professors and other academics to be censored or even arrested. Free expression in the arts and letters is openly attacked.

12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment - Under fascist regimes, the police are given almost limitless power to enforce laws. The people are often willing to overlook police abuses and even forego civil liberties in the name of patriotism. There is often a national police force with virtually unlimited power in fascist nations.

13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption - Fascist regimes almost always are governed by groups of friends and associates who appoint each other to government positions and use governmental power and authority to protect their friends from accountability. It is not uncommon in fascist regimes for national resources and even treasures to be appropriated or even outright stolen by government leaders.

14. Fraudulent Elections - Sometimes elections in fascist nations are a complete sham. Other times elections are manipulated by smear campaigns against or even assassination of opposition candidates, use of legislation to control voting numbers or political district boundaries, and manipulation of the media. Fascist nations also typically use their judiciaries to manipulate or control elections.
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“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”

“The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly - it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over”
And:
“Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play.”
Joseph Goebbels, MiniProp for Hitler’s Third Reich
1897-1945
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"Naturally the common people don't want war: Neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same for any country."
Herman Goering to Gustave Gilbert at Nuremberg, 18 April, 1946

They say you will know them by their love.......as they cram it down your throat without remorse.

Was bound to happen folks. You can't be handing out money to churches and not expect them to lobby for more.

"In 2007, the highest year on record, 34 religious groups spent a combined $3.7 million on lobbying and hired 108 lobbyists, according to the Center's research."

"And in February 2004, the President issued an Executive Order earmarking an astonishing $3.7 billion to be doled out to faith-based and other organizations."

http://usliberals.about.com/od/faithinpubliclife/a/Funds_Faith2.htm

The amount of money received from the feds probably coorelates proportionately to the amount they spend on lobbying. 01% is a reasonable outlay to ensure continued funding.

Up until the 1970's people who use to talk to God use to get a brand new dinner jacket that buckled and tied in the back and were put in a room so that they couldn't hurt themselves or others! My, how the times have changed, now they get elected to office!

The amount of bigotry in the comments section is appalling. There seems to be a presumption that religious lobbying automatically means the religious right. The Catholic Church, for example, has consistently lobbied for pro-environment, universal health care, workers rights and assitance for the poor legislation. The same is true for many of the progressive and mainline Protestant denominations. Just because you choose to hate a group, such as Christians, don't presume they always live down
to your stereotypes.