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TechnoratiFor Palin, It’s a (Christian) Man’s World
Sarah Palin may be a governor and a vice presidential candidate, but in the hyper-masculine world of the Christian right she is subservient to a male hierarchy that claims to speak for God.
A cult of masculinity defines the Wasilla Assembly of God Church and the Juneau Christian Centre where she worshipped. This cult propagates a vision of the world where believers are warriors. They are taught to ready themselves to engage in a final cataclysmic clash with the forces of Satan. This cosmic struggle, infused with the language of war, death and violence, leads inevitably to the slaughter by the righteous of all non-Christians. The photos of Palin hunched over dead animals she has shot are not simply images of a woman who is a member of the National Rifle Association. They are images of a woman who believes violence against nonbelievers is ultimately part of her religious life.
The cult of masculinity is used to banish ambiguity, especially sexual ambiguity. It fosters a world of binary opposites: God and man, the saved and the unsaved, the church and the world, Christianity and secular humanism, and male and female. All in life is rigidly defined. Disorder and chaos are banished. Reality, when it is defined in these absolutes, is predictable and understandable, something deeply comforting to believers who have often had trouble coping with the messiness of human existence.
All configurations of human life that do not conform to the rigid Christian model, such as homosexuality, are forms of disorder, tools of Satan, and must be abolished. This is why Palin opposes gay marriage and calls for gays to be cured. A world that can be predicted and understood, a world that has clear markers, can be made rational. It can be managed and controlled. The petrified, binary world of fixed, immutable and established roles is a world where people, many of them damaged by bouts with failure and despair, can bury their chaotic and fragmented personalities. They can live with the illusion that they are strong, whole and protected. Those who do not fit into these narrow definitions must be proselytized and converted.
The decline of America is ascribed to the decline of male prowess. This decline has led to weakness and moral decay. It has resulted in a bewildering human and social complexity that, often seen as feminine, is the work of Satan. This is why Palin consistently celebrates "male" values.
James Dobson, one of Palin's most ardent supporters, has built his career on perpetuating these rigid male stereotypes. On his Family.org Web site he discusses "the countless physiological and emotional differences between the sexes." The article "Gender Gap?" on the Web site lists the physical distinctions between man and woman, including strength, size, red blood cell count and metabolism. For a woman, Dobson writes, love is her most important experience: Love gives woman her "zest," it makes up her "life-blood," it is her primary "psychological need." Love holds less meaning in a man's life than a woman's -- though a man can appreciate love, he does not "need" it.
"Genesis tells us that the Creator made two sexes, not one, and that He designed each gender for a specific purpose," Dobson goes on. And these differences mean different roles: They mean the man is the master and the woman must obey.
"One masculine need comes to mind that wives should not fail to heed. It reflects what men want most in their homes. A survey was taken a few years ago to determine what men care about most and what they hope their wives will understand. The results were surprising. [...] What [men] wanted most was tranquility at home. Competition is so fierce in the workplace today, and the stresses of pleasing a boss and surviving professionally are so severe, that the home needs to be a haven to which a man can return. It is a smart woman who tries to make her home what her husband needs it to be."
Dobson says that to achieve this tranquility wives have to be submissive. He instructs the husband in how he "should handle his wife's submission" and goes on in Family.org to insist that "... submission is a choice we make. It's something each one of us must decide to do. And this decision happens first in the heart. If we don't decide in our hearts that we are going to willingly submit to whomever it is we need to be submitting to, then we are not truly submitting." The choice not to submit to the male head of the household, Dobson makes clear, is a violation of God's law.
By disempowering women, by returning them to their "proper" place as a subservient partner in the male-dominated home, the movement creates the larger paradigm of the Christian state. The men's movement Promise Keepers, which at its height a decade ago drew tens of thousands of men into football stadiums, called on men to "take back" their role as the head of the household. The movement used the verse from Ephesians that calls on wives to "be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord" (5:22). Women were not allowed to attend the events, although some could volunteer at concession stands outside. The founder of the group, former Colorado football coach Bill McCartney, called the movement's battle against abortion the "Second Civil War" and lambasted gays and lesbians as "stark raving mad." He dismissed gays and lesbians as "a group of people who don't reproduce, yet want to be compared to people who do reproduce, and that lifestyle doesn't entitle anyone to special rights." The organization mounted campaigns such as "Real Men Matter," in which men were instructed to recover their maleness in a "morally-bankrupt, godless society." The goal of the movement, strongly supported by Dobson, was to help men regain their place in society. And while Promise Keepers is on the wane, its agenda is embedded in the Christian right.
In the mega-churches the pastor, nearly always male, is obeyed by the congregation. It is the pastor who interprets the word of God. It is why Palin, along with Alaska Lt. Gov. Scott Parnell, went to be publicly blessed before some 6,000 congregants by Wasilla Assembly of God's Head Pastor Ed Kalnins. It is why she calls Kalnins, who claims that some parts of the globe are controlled by demons and that family curses can be passed down through generations, for guidance and advice. He is her male conduit to a male God. The male leader in this belief system governs through a divine mandate. He can heal the sick. He can speak in tongues. He can prophesy. And if Palin wants to remain in God's favor she must be guided by men like Kalnins.
The movement builds concentric male fiefdoms. They radiate out from the home. They do not permit revolt, discussion or dissent. And women who buy into the paradigm, one that supposedly protects their families, makes their boys into men, their husbands into protectors and themselves into Godly Christian women, cede most of their personal, political and economic power. Those who are weak or different, those who do not conform to the stereotype, those who have other ways of being, must be forced by the stern father to obey. If they do not they will be destroyed by God.
The religious leaders that Palin admires, such as Dobson, are petty despots. They travel on private jets, have huge personal fortunes and descend on the faithful surrounded by a retinue of burly bodyguards. These little kingdoms, awash in the male leadership cult, mirror the America they seek to create. In this America there is no questioning. In this America followers surrender their personal and political power. The divinely anointed male leader rules a flock of obedient and submissive sheep. All must hand over their freedom. All must cease to think independently.
The simple-minded earnestness on the part of believers such as Palin gives the Christian mass movement its sense of sincerity and decency. Believers are not brainwashed. They are not mindless automatons. They are convinced that what they are doing is Godly, moral and good. They work with the passion of the converted to bring this Christian goodness to everyone, even those who resist. They believe that what they promote is moral and beneficial. They fear for their own souls and they fear for the souls of those who remain unsaved. This earnestness, although employed for frightening ends, is a powerful part of Palin's attraction. She is willing to make great personal sacrifices for the cause of Christ. But nonbelievers, in the end, have no place on her moral map.
Danuta Pfeiffer, who from 1983 to 1988 was the co-host on "The 700 Club" with Pat Robertson, was, on some level, the Palin of her day. She reached heights because of her celebrity status, usually reserved for men, although it was clear she always had a role subservient to Robertson's. She was the first person to be allowed to lead the mandatory half-hour chapel service held before lunch at the Christian Broadcasting Network, where "The 700 Club" is filmed. She was sent to speak at national Christian women's groups and later mixed audiences, numbering in the thousands, at several of the nation's largest mega-churches.
Her reception at the gatherings she addressed was frightening. Crowds swarmed toward her. They asked her to touch them and heal them. Her status was nothing compared with that of Robertson, she said, "who stands for his followers as the embodiment of God's conscience."
"They were seeking a message, a healing, hope, a little encouragement," she remembered. "They wanted a little piece of God. They thought I could give it to them. People wept when I prayed for them, touched them or hugged them. It was as if they were meeting a rock star."
She was increasingly disturbed by the power that had been thrust upon her and the emotions unleashed by those who begged her for guidance. She understood how pliant these people had become and how cleverly they were being manipulated. The realization led her finally to leave the movement. Her experience was a window into how willingly followers hand over their conscience to these male leaders. Followers abandon all moral responsibility to obey those who elevate themselves to quasi-deities.
"They trusted us more than their family," she said. "They thought we had a clearer path to God because we were on television. They thought we were on television because God put us there. We were prophets to these people. We were seen as people who could walk on clouds and heal and pray. We were God's special messengers. Pat was seen as having the ear of God. He had words of knowledge that could identify their deepest fears and illnesses. We would identify people on the air by speaking about the color of their clothes or an illness they had. We would say, ‘there is a woman with a blue blouse crying at this moment. She has bad hearing in one ear. She is being healed right now.' And viewers would claim these healings. They saw our presence on the show as a sign that we were anointed. They wanted to know how to live, how to operate on a daily basis, how to communicate with their family and friends, what jobs to get and how to interpret the world around them, even the daily news. They wanted every type of emotional, spiritual and physical information. We had this kind of authority over their lives. They abdicated their hopes and lives to us because we spoke for God."
Palin enjoys the enthusiastic backing of the Christian right because she is blindly obedient to the male hierarchy. She does not question. She submits and obeys. Her views on abortion and marriage, on the Middle East, on gays and the war against Islam are precooked. They are handed to her by men who claim to speak for God. And in power she would be the perfect conduit for an ideology that seeks, in the end, to eradicate individual moral choice and replace it with subservience to a terrifying Christian fascism.
89 Comments so far
Show AllWELL, here's a small piece addressing who would actually be ruling Palin, and calling the shots--but, still doesn't really address that she is immediately subservient to her husband---as head of the household. Unlike Hillary & Bill, who seem to always battle for supremacy, this groups creed is based on woman being directed by men. So, who would be doing the directing? ..Would it be Todd Palin, James Hagee, Pat Robertson, her own son[since he is of age, he should be the dominate to her subservient position], or, would it be all of the above…..or, in reality would it be any alpha male within the movement?? So, who would actually be being elected as Vice President? Yeah, that’s some feminism….to believe ALL MEN ARE YOUR MASTERS!
To those of you who say that Sarah Palin is not like that, I posit that you are suggesting that she lies about her religious convictions…as well as everything else!!
She'll "only be VP" until McCain dies!
Remember when we were kids picking teams in the local playgrounds. The natural order was from the alpha male on down to the least coordinated shlep on the end of the bench. Well what if "god" was sitting on the bench? Naturally everyone would want him on their team, and as such, winning would be a forgone conclusion.
This is simple stuff but it shows that on most levels people want god on their side. Oh, there are exceptions: Teenaged bands may foster an demonic persona to appeal to their rebellious fans, but for the most part people want "the big guy in the sky" on their side.
For many in the christian west, christ is their archetypal figure so they interpret his life and teaching to fit theirs. Thus the social revolutionary will interpret christ as being a social reformer; the homosexual might think christ was like minded because he hung out with all male disciples; the hippy might think christ was roaming in the desert imbibing in psychedelic substances; the naturalist health person might interpret christ as fasting for 40 days as a natural health cleansing process.... and so on and so forth.
The capitalists wants god on his side to sell more products and follows the old calvinist belief that a holy and good person is more blessed materially then the sinner, who is less fortunate. This idea constantly reinforces itself as the entrepreneur's eyes as he piles up his gold to reach god.
Of course the politician wants god on his side so he tries to get his foot in the door of every gullible church and pew in the country. It also helps that churches have tax exempt status. Thus money, power and influence can be captured all in one venue and see that many of the so called churches of christ have been turned into political groups exploiting the gullible. The aggressive politician knows that through fear he can generate power and control of the masses so he enlists god and the devil in creating near fictional enemies and then offers protection against said enemies. With god on your side.....no... even better.... with you doing god's work, it is much easier to kill the "enemy," especially if they are of the devil.
Their god's are rather weak and only a step or two ahead of the devil who is almost equal to god in his cunning. Even though god is supposed to be all powerful he almost constantly needs intervention by his human soldiers to do his bloody work of killing.
In fundamentalism almost all the metaphoric battles of the internal struggle of the soul in the various "holy" books are taken to be literal gospel truth. Here we have grande epic schemes and battles to the death for the very survival of the faithful and their godfather, god. We have holy lands that must be reestablished within the historic context of the 'holy' books and scriptures... no matter what the cost.
Holy/religious/ideological wars are always more protracted and devastating because they go well beyond the pragmatic mind of the normal aggressor or conquerer, who will withdraw if to much blood and treasure is extended in the conquest. They become unending epic battles that border on an unconscious (or sometimes conscious as in the end times narrative) universal death wish.
Real question for many here at common dreams is seeing all the exploitation, corruption, and hypocrisy of religions, do we throw the proverbial baby out with the bath water. Many of us have. But I'm inclined to belief there is true spirituality more or less independent of religion. That the quest for the "real" is always surrounded by the false to give the real more value. If every clam on the beach contained a peal, pearls would be of the same value as clam shells but because of it's rarity the pearl is a renowned and sought after jewel.
This is directed to Ralph. Your assumption is that "everyone wants god on their side." Well, I find the "we all basically believe there's some sort of god, even if we don't call it god" argument to be wishy-washy and enabling.
If your main argument is "all religions have similarities," all you have to do is read (or watch) Joseph Campbell's "The Power of Myth" to realise all myths share similarities.
But to "throw the proverbial baby out with the bath water" assumes that you believe there is a baby and there is bath water. But for many people, there is no god or devil, full stop. And, to use your odd analogy, some people also believe that you can win a game without having the alpha male on your side.
Ralph:
You state: "But I'm inclined to believe there is true spirituality more or less independent of religion".
I entirely agree, the power of the spirit is innate in all of humankind. It is this source of spirituality that provides the underlying spiritual dynamics of democracy that is necessary for social transformation. Unfortunately, capitalism is the enemy of both spirituality and democracy, but that is another matter.
Ralph, this point you make is the key to understanding the difference between spirituality and religion. The institutional church has pretty much divorced itself from spirituality in order to retain control and power.
One sometimes must mentally free ones' self from the oppression of the church in order to awaken ones innate spirituality. The members of religious orders do this all the time, that is why they dance so much on the edge, being radical but still remaining in the church. They do this out of love for the church and to pressure change in the church. Unfortunately it moves the church at the speed of a glacier. That is why people of faith need to be spiritually free to bring about social change, and why the aware few are compelled to move out in front of their organized religion.
My most heightened levels of spirituality have come when I participate in solidarity with other people of all faiths and beliefs to work and demonstrate for peace and justice, and radical social change.
This is a clear demonstration of the transformational power of the human spirit that transcends all religions and beliefs. .
The entire Christian religion is patriarchal and misogynist ! Obama is a self-proclaimed Christian too, people. So he too is buying into this archaic BS. He and Palin are two deluded peas.
The one remedy to this problem is within the grasp of each of you who responded to this article.
Several of you obviously have time on your hands, as well as the computer skills that would be needed to establish and maintain a WEB site that would be dedicated to the following proposal.
The "set-up" costs would be minimal, and the "account" mentioned below would be easily converted to another use when the "original endeavor proved to be a failure".
It may seem illogical to establish an entity that is expected to fail, but then the wonderful irony here is that the "failure" would mean a tremendous success for the balance of humanity and the other life forms on this planet.
Proposal:
That one or more gather together in an intelligent and enlightened forum; establish a "board of judges", with acceptable credentials. Establish a bank account in the name of the organization, and establish the organization as a "non-profit corporation" with the intention to "better mankind".
This organization would be dedicated to the enlightenment of humanity and the release from a slavery that has plagued human kind since the begining of written history.
This organization would be dedicated to the awarding of 1 Million TAX FREE dollars* to the person or persons who "prove the actual existence of GOD", to the panel of Judges.(This would be a great opportunity for GOD to have the biggest audience EVER---A TRUE SHOWMAN COULD NEVER PASS THAT UP)
This of course would be an immediate case for "an established failure" but then again, after the dust settled, anyone mentioning GOD, in a public place, or public forum, whether political, or other category: would be forced by the findings of the "organization" to keep those rantings up while they are under close supervision in the best mental health facility available.
As soon as the people who refer to GOD, and or those who are "anointed or appointed or otherwise empowered to "speak--for--- GOD, are forced to prove the existence of GOD will be rendered as discredited and foolish when they fail this test. Then "silence will be golden" and the rest of us can hope for a brighter future, and "religion will be relegated to the fantasy world where it began, and plague the planet no more.
* As for the money, collected in small donations of as little as one dollar: when the "fools" who believe in their "mean vindictive jealous weak forgetful bigoted, scary GOD are proved to be FOOLS---the money can be used to "re-educated them, and help them find "real jobs and careers" in a much better world.
In other words: make those who are waiting for Jesus (or any other "redeemer") to "come back" and rescue them from the mess they have made----PROVE the existence of Jesus (except of course "Jesus" from south of the border who works as a slave for many of those who wait)---or shut up about it, and leave the rest of humanity and the other life forms on earth ----alone.
You are making a spectacle of your self and showing your ignorance.
bligh4
Great idea- let's throw all Christians that can't prove the existence of God into Re-education camps!
While we're at it, let's throw into the camps anyone that can't prove the existence of "love".
Bravo!
Blue Thunder
"The fall of the American Empire" written, produced and directed by the Christian Right with assistant production from the other Christian fundamentalist cults. A virtual reality story of epic proportions....religious war, Jesus's vengeance, God's wrath, the rapture, the whore of Babylon, pestilence and disease, blood falling from the sky (chem trails), torture, death and destruction.....these are all the things that McCain and Palin will bring with the support of the largest cult in the world. Yea, bring it on!! Get rid of all those who don't believe what they believe!! And get rid of them in the most violent and horrible way that our science can create
Palin (like Dobson) apparently subscribes to the notion that a congregation can "Pray away the Gay". I wonder if the two also believe it's possible to pray away a small town's meth addiction or teenage pregnancy problem? If you can pray away homosexual impulses, you ought to be able to do the same with heterosexual urges too. No?
Sheeat. I can’t believe what I’m reading. It is not true. There just can’t be so many stupid, ignorant, and brain-damaged people. To be religious is one thing, and I respect it; to be an idiot is another. God save the world from this cult calling itself Chritian Right in the USA.
Great article. It almost seems like a caricature from a movie, but I happen to know these people are real and as described. One objection I have is to the opinion that they just want to proselytize and convert. Some do; others would like nothing better than to shoot liberals, feminists, "socialists," those who would destroy white “culture,” etc. like rats. They hide their viciousness behind a patina of religious righteousness. And the very most rabid amongst them are tolerated by the others, secretly approved. I've been to the blogs; I've interacted, and I know. Make no mistake, they don't want to convert you, they want you dead. They are numerous, and they ARE dangerous.
There are plenty of them here in Ohio. They call themselves "prayer warriors". It is more than annoying, and sometimes becomes deadly.
I would have thought that , after 8 yrs of Dubya, peole wouldve awakened to the absurdity of this christian fatalism and hatred. That doesnt seem to have happened at all.
We simply HAVE to have separation of church and state.
Thank you for your very straight-forward post.
I find myself wondering, often, how it is that people who tout their spirituality can be so mean, can appear to be so lacking in critical thought. I know they can't all be stupid, but the choice to follow blindly goes against everything I learned growing up, which was to question, wonder, consider the many possibilities, and make choices that work for the greatest good. My parents taught me to leave everything better than I found it...not just better for me, but better for everyone.
I refuse to join in the hate. Right hates left, left hates right...that all seems so destructive and unnecessary to me.
We are facing issues, not of right or left, but of survival. If we don't find ways to work together, even with significantly differing beliefs, then we are all screwed.
I also have noticed that the leaders of most countries, big corporations, and extreme religions, all fit the description of a psychopath; lack of empathy, lack of foresight, lack of broad vision, acting from primarily selfish motives (we all act from selfish motives but these folks demonstrate an inability to see how one's actions affect others, or indifference to it) these are all features of a pathological personality. We the people have allowed psychopaths to take over positions of power, decision making positions. This must change in order for us to survive, it seems to me.
So Sarah Palin is being prepped by her "godfather" Bill Krystol and his Neocon friends to be their "TROJAN MOOSE" to prolong their already disasterous stay in Washington.
"They mean the man is the master and the woman must obey."
A week before our wedding I jokingly asked my soon to be wife if she wanted the old vows (to love, honor and obey) to be included.
It took two days for the ringing in my ears to stop.
The Republican party has become a subsidiary of the Christian and, to a lesser but important extent, Jewish, fundamentalists. George W Bush could never have come to power, nor implemented his agenda, without their unwavering and enthusiastic support. As a result we have a collapsing economy, inflation, unemployment, two disastrous and expensive wars, massive trade and budget deficits, torture, mass slaughter of innocent civilians, corruption, cronyism, severe diminution of our constitutional rights and the rule of law, catastrophic environmental changes and more and more hatred of us around the world.
Edward Gibbon famously attributed the fall of the Roman Empire to Christians, and I have no doubt that future historians will do the same when they consider the 21st Century decline of the USA. One would think that after being so wrong about so many things and having wreaked so much havoc, these people would display some humility, but instead they pontificate as if they had all the answers
Alex
The fall of the Roman Empire was probably a good thing, being that it was a brutal, hierarchical system that enslaved thousands, maybe millions. Real freedom existed for the elites primarily. The early Christians had a more egalitarian approach but, as usual with most human endeavors, eventually became corrupted with power. Were the Christian dominated "Dark Ages" any darker than the acts of torture and enslavement during the Roman Empire? The term Christian is far too nebulous and broad a term for it to really have any meaning. The spectrum runs from the likes of pacifist Quakers and Mennonites, to some born again Evangelicals ready to bomb the living shit out of anyone with a turban.
Okay Chris, okay. Now we know you despise James Dobson (a once sincere reformer who "focused on the family" who has since been seduced to the dark side of religio-political whoredom), Promise Keepers (a cult wannabe experience just a slight shade different from Sung Myung Moon, the Hare Krishna's, and Black Muslim Nation of Islam currently headed by Louis Farakhan) and Silly, Sexy, Scary Sarah Palin (who just loves the ecclesiatically kinky experinece of being told what to do and think by those who are self-appointed as "God's annointed"). So what!
Chris, I wish you would have spent a little space explaining how we got to this point and what alternative there is for such develpments. Because, until progressives have a clear and conmprehensible alternative to such nonsense it will still be eagerly devoured by gulllible people.
Poet
Have you read Hedges' "American Fascists"? That pretty well explains it. Just a humble suggestion, in case you havent. I really agree with your post
The alternative, I think , is separation of church and state. I know Hedges dosent totally agree on that. But, in the long run, these faith based initiative, etc. are not only bad for our country, but bad for the churches.
I am familiar with Hedges' book on American Christian fascism--in many ways this article reprises many of Chris' arguments in that book. I substantially agree with Hedges' analysis both about the problem and its answer.
What annoys me about this article is that I know Chris knows both the problem and its possible solutions and chose only to emphasize the former and ignore the latter. This gives the article the tone of a rant instead of offering some constructive solutions to a serious problem indeed.
Poet
KDelphi, "these faith based initiatives, etc. are not only bad for the country, but bad for the churches."
The early advocates of the separation of church and state, beginning with Roger Williams and others, were more concerned about the preservation of the purity of their beliefs and in the maintaining of the freedom of individual interpretation. They felt that government legislating a particular belief system, even if a Christian one, was sacrilegious and an insult to their personal beliefs. My point is that the original intent of separation came primarily from the very religious and less so from the secularists, though they supported it also.
I am not sure that the point, IS wher it came from. The world (and scientific knowledge) has changed alot since the time of the founding. I also, said that I think it protects eveeryone's beliefs better if we just keep them separate.
We can see the failures of theocracies everywehre.
I realize that, you are not suggesting one. But to say "even a Christiaan one" seems to imply a superiority of Christianity over other faiths, or no faith at all. But, as you said, they supported secularists. From what I have been taught, many of them were secularists. But I know people disagree on that. Some of the confusion seems to result from which stage of the founder's lives you are referring te.
Peace.
I agree with you that separation protects everyones beliefs. Many of the early advocates of separation actually did think that their version of Christianity was superior and didn't want it contaminated by the government, they felt strongly that belief should not be legislated because one had to enter the true faith as a calling, not because government ordered it. (See "Liberty of Conscience" by Edwin Gaustad). I'm not agreeing that Christianity is superior at all, I'm trying to point to the irony of the current attempts by some to Christianize government and to end the separation of Church and State. It's origins come from a different angle than is commonly thought. It did eventually become important to the secularists, atheists (Like Thomas Paine) and Deists (like Jefferson, Franklin, Washington etc.)
Wow, what a double header by Frida Berrigan and Chris Hedges! Some excellent posts here.
Chris Hedges is one of the best critics of current day Christianity and I am glad he is often a contributor on CommonDreams.
As a long time Catholic peace and justice advocate, I agree, Christianity has been so corrupted by Christian Right fundamentalism, but no less so by Catholicism after Constantine in 325 AD. .
I know religion can be a Third Rail subject on CommonDreams, but I think such discussions are beneficial for many readers, relative to the inherent spiritual nature of humankind and the increasing conflicting forces of materialism and spirituality in the world today. So non-believers, I appreciate your right not to believe, but please consider the interests of many readers. .
To me, I see a healthy trend growing in Christianity today to come to know the mind of Christ, apart from the teachings of the institutional church. I believe these people of faith are moving out in front of a stale and autocratic church. They are studying the mind of Christ to reveal the prophetic Christ who did not come to form a new religion but to reveal the institutional sins of Empire, the oppression of the money lenders, the need to put down the sword and not to meet violence with violence, seeking peace through justice, loving ones neighbor, and disclosing the hypocrisy of the religious leaders at that time. .
I believe we are just in a repeat of history after thousands of years of numerous Empires, and now the U.S. Empire and the hypocrisy of current day Christianity. This new trend in Christianity that I speak of is really in line with an emerging higher global consciousness that is seeking a more just, sustainable and compassionate world. This new trend can be a new Christianity to heal a broken world.
I hope this provides some new hope and vision for those readers who have become rightfully discouraged by the institutional church that seems to only work for its’ own perpetuation and power.
I did not mean to denigrate the gentle revolutionary teachings of Jesus, nor his pleading with his contemporaries-more fitting today than it was then-:"Is not life more than meat, or the body more than raiment?"
I did not mean to denigrate any faith. God knows the material world provides no answers, no matter how much stuff you have. I struggle for meaning in my own life. I'm glad I don't have much wealth or power or for that matter troops of friends. All are ruinously expensive distractions.
The Jesus of Ralph Reed, John Ashcroft, and George Bush is unfaith, if that is a word. Their real Gods, if their actions are any indication, are power and wealth.
Is it true that Palin's son had to choose between joining the military or jail because of involvement with drugs? Just asking....
John McCain's is Dying - His Health Records Must be Released - 'He Has Absolutely NO Chance of Survival' - Sarah Palin Will be President
http://therealmccain.com/doctors
The state of John McCain's health is an issue of grave concern for all Americans, regardless of political persuasion. Given the fact that he has been treated for an invasive melanoma and other maladies, it is important that he release his full health records.
For a very brief three hours in May, McCain released 1,173 pages of his medical records to a carefully selected group of reporters. They were not allowed to make any copies or phone calls. Why such secrecy?
We have enlisted a group of doctors from around the country to lead the effort to make sure the public is able to see and make judgments for themselves. Secrecy is not of service to our democracy, transparency is. Please have other doctors sign the open letter.
Cancer is a serious issue. That's why 30 medical doctors have already signed our open letter telling McCain to issue a full, public disclosure of all his medical records. Send this video far and wide to request that McCain release his full health records. Ask every medical doctor you know to sign onto the letter. McCain's records must be made public and soon.
While McCain doesn't really care about our health care, we all should care about the health of McCain.
Let me just see that I have this straight... and keep in mind THESE
ARE FACTS AND TRUTHS... not propaganda.....
* If you grow up in Hawaii , raised by your grandparents, you're
"exotic, different."
BUT....
* If you grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you are the
quintessential American story.
* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim
BUT...
* Name your kids Willow , Trig and Track and you're a maverick.
* Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
BUT...
* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well
grounded.
* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the
first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter
registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years
as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator
representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of
the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years
in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people
while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs,
Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you
don't have any real leadership experience.
BUT....
* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city
council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000
people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000
people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest
ranking executive.
* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while
raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're
not a real Christian.
BUT...
* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your
disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a
Christian.
* If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including
the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
BUT...
* If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no
other option in sex education in your state's school system while your
unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant , you're considered very
responsible.
* If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in
a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city
community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values
don't represent America's.
BUT...
* If your husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DUI
conviction and no college education, didn't register to vote until age
25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of
Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.
OK, thanks. Things are much clearer now...
Sorry, but Obama was never a full professor. If we dont point it out (and keep advocating that he was) its just more fuel for neo-cons. He was an instrucoter. He's not a PhD.
Great bumper sticker: "Jesus was a community organizer. The governor was Pontius Pilate."
Where is the "Church Lady" when we need her most?
You all are missing the point.
The right makes itself the only game in town by preaching a vicious, narrow, mean spirited gospel of "It's everyone for him/her self". As proof they point to the rich who are only doing what anyone else in their situation would do. They point to the poor who would not work unless they were paid, even if they are slave wages.
After selling this world view to most people, they then proclaim that this is merely the way the world is. Nobody is responsible for making it so, it just is and always has been so.
In the few precious hours the masses of us are not working we see, or rather feel, that something is wrong. Our alienation, loneliness, and yearning for genuine social intercourse is unbearable.
Likewise unbearable is the God-shaped hole which atheist Jean Paul Sartre identified. It is a spiritual longing for meaning in a society which values nothing that cannot be quantified, objectified, owned. The very world the right has created for the benefit of the rich.
Republicans to the rescue! "Accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior!" Give your heart to Jesus because your ass belongs to the corporation.
Progressives, liberals, whatever, you call us, are adamant that values have no place in politics. Only the issues matter we say.
What about the values of the oneness of all being, the values of not treating your neighbor as an object, of not stealing the fruits of his labor? What about the values of time for family relationships, relationships with neighbors?
What about the values of every person having a right to a living wage that makes it possible for him to have dignity and be generous?
These are the values we liberals should be offering the voting public-real values necessary for being fully human.
Instead we allow the Christian right to sell their snake oil brand of superstition which merely adds another link in their chains.
We ought to be ashamed. Maybe we deserve to lose, but the people deserve better.
Wow. I married into a strongly Rethuglican family and you have pretty much nailed it. But don't forget to add that they expect the rest of us to do whatever they want, while not feeling the slightest need to reciprocate. I had lived next to this family for over a decade, helping out with whatever, no expectation of being paid or anything, finally the day came when I really needed my mother-in-law's help for a couple of hours during a difficult calving. So I got up my courage and called to ask if she could watch her granddaughter for a little while (rural area, no other neighbors available).
Nope. Just like that. She had an appointment to get her hair cut and by god she was going to get her hair cut. When my husband returned (long after the fact), he just said that I had 'bad timing'. Everyone for him/her self . . . except that they cover for each other, which we're not supposed to notice . . .
I am a member of the Green party myself, mainly because it's an international party . . .
Bad timing? What if you had lost the cow and the calf? I know people like your mother in law, and yes, they are all Republicans.
Government has no business meddling with religion, Christian or Muslim or whatever. Anyone running for office has no business allowing their religious beliefs to interfere with the role of government. This Idahoan says HANDS OFF BIG GOVERNMENT !!
Jason Jordan
Sandpoint, Idaho
So much for her Christian values: http://www.theliberaloc.com/2008/09/04/national-enquirer-palin-had-an-affair/
I never knew that I'd ever be grateful to tabloids.
So these Christian right-wingers believe that anyone who is not a Christian is not "saved" and will burn in Hell forever? Even nonviolent, gentle people like Buddhists? How backward and judgmental of them. Who are they to say who is going to Hell and who isn't.
If Sarah Palin were a young woman and got raped, would she be willing to carry the rapist's child for nine months and give birth to it? Would she keep it? How about a poor young woman who realizes she made a bad mistake and doesn't want to be with the baby's father and ruin her life? This Palin woman has no compassion even for her own sex.
They must not be very happy people since they're always looking forward to and talking about the Rapture, Armageddon, etc. I thought religion would help people be happier and you know, kinder. It doesn't seem to be the case with them as they seem to be always looking forward to the next war and killing people. She talks about war with Russia. PLEASE don't vote for McInsane and possibly put this crazy woman in the White House. :( I'm going to just lay down and die if the Rethuglicans rig another election in their favor.
Have the Democrats done anything to prevent another stolen election by Diebold?
"Israel is a not a democracy but is an Ethnocracy, meaning a country run and controlled by a national group with some democratic elements but set up with Jews in control and structured to keep them in control.”-Jeff Halper, Founder and Coordinator of ICAHD/Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions and a Noble Peace Prize Nominee for 2006.
My question to ALL the professing Christians seeking the White House is are you on the side of democracy or ethnocracy?
President Abbas has presented ideas and demands on the status of Jerusalem, the borders of a Palestinian state, settlements in the West Bank, refugees, security and water resources, but no reply has been received from the Israeli side.
My question for ALL the candidates is and how will they deal with a Palestinian partner who is talking and an Israeli partner who is not?
2,000 years ago The Cross had NO symbolic religious meaning and was not a piece of jewelry. When Jesus said: "Pick up your cross and follow me" everyone back then understood he was issuing a POLITICAL statement, for the main roads in Jerusalem were lined with crucified agitators, rebels, dissidents and any who disturbed the status quo of the Roman Empire and Military Occupying Forces.
My question to ALL the professing Christian candidates for the White House is how do they reconcile their faith in Jesus, the Prince of Peace who promised it is the peacemakers who are the children of God, with the American-Israeli military empire?
The bipartisan Iraq Study Group asserted that "all key issues in the Middle East-the Arab-Israeli conflict, Iraq, Iran, the need for political and economic reforms, and extremism and terrorism-are inextricably linked" and that the United States "cannot achieve its goals in the Middle East unless it deals directly with the Arab-Israeli conflict and regional instability."
We the people need to know if ANY of the candidates will support diplomacy and be an honest broker for peace who will deal with all sides as equals which will demonstrate moral leadership and bolster U.S. national security interests. The question to the candidates is will they support the indirect Israel-Syria talks mediated by Turkey or insist that only America can offer plans and road- maps?
We the people need leaders who will support direct and sustained negotiations with Iran and work with the international community to address Iran's nuclear ambitions as well as demand Israel open up the underground Dimona nuclear weapons facility in the Negev that has never allowed International Atomic Energy Inspectors into.
Another question for ALL the Christian lusting for the White House is if they will stand up for FREEDOM OF SPEECH and movement for their brother in Christ, Mordechai Vanunu, who returns to court in Jerusalem on September 23, 2008. He will then learn if he will serve six more months in jail for speaking to foreign media in 2004 after his release from 18 years in jail for telling the world the truth that in 1985, Israel was building as many as 200 nuclear warheads.
"Blessed are the Peacemakers-THEY shall be called the children of God."-Jesus, Matthew 5:9
Eileen Fleming, Reporter and Editor WAWA:
http://www.wearewideawake.org/
Author "Keep Hope Alive" and "Memoirs of a Nice Irish American 'Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory"
Producer "30 Minutes With Vanunu" and "13 Minutes with Vanunu"
When I looked at the Dem ticket, I thought: "If the Reps have half a brain, they pick at woman, preferably from the South, preferably one of these Christian nuts, that'll cover a lot of the electorate which the Dems didn't cover".
Well, by picking Palin, they got at least 2 out of 3.
If I can think that far over in Europe, without knowing the ins and outs of presidential races as well as campaign strategists, I just don't understand why the Dems couldn't. They were too fearful, I guess. Thinking that Obama AND a woman on a ticket would be too much in one race.
But only a woman - and I am not even necessarily thinking of Clinton - would have been able to expose someone like Palin for what she is and publicly rip her a new asshole (which of course the male-dominated press would have termed a "cat fight", as they only do when women have a heated debate, but never mind).
Any man will have to tread so carefully when dealing with Palin that he can't debate and attack her as hard as she needs to be attacked. So Obama and Biden will be at a disadvantage all the time and will have to walk on egg-shells.
It irks me tremedously that a woman whose entire career would have been 100% impossible without the work of radical feminists is going to use and thus abuse their political work and constantly cry "sexism" whenever she'll be attacked. Although if it had been up to the likes of Palin, women wouldn't even have the right to vote to this day. Again a line only another woman can safely hurl at her, BTW.
To leave that flank wide open - on top of all the nauseating sexist smears of Hillary by "progressives", as could be witnessed here a lot - was strategically an idiocy.
Obama unnecessarily deprived himself of great ammunition. Or, even worse, his team didn't use their brains.
I've been thinking that the Republicans, despite their claims, were fully expecting Clinton to be the vice-presidential candidate chosen and that they therefore have had Palin in mind for a long time as their candidate. They were probably hoping for a woman-against-woman showdown in the public mind, which would inevitably devolve into who's prettier, who dresses more traditionally feminine, etc. It probably would have worked for them even if Clinton were the candidate, since so much of the US public is crazily religious.
That's an interesting aspect, I didn't think of that. You might be right. It's quite possible that this is how Palin ended up on their shortlist in the first place.
Although I still think that AFTER the Dem nomination they particularly thought that by picking her they'd apply a nice double Nelson on Obama and Biden. Strategically, I grudgingly have to admit that they did the right thing to help their own cause.
Lots of "interesting" information about Palin, most of which is nightmarish. But, she'll only be VP, right?
Guess again: http://tinyurl.com/59oynj
Palin represents the worst of what humans can offer, blindness, ignorance, prejudice, incuriousity, fear mongering, sexism, worship of gods and fairies, and evil. These are all conservative values. The worst of it all: 50% of Americans, at least, share them.
More than Obama, Palin makes too much of a big deal on religion to defend the neoconservatives. I do have problems with Obama's faith based program support extensions but this country has had enough religious mania for a while. America needs to grow up already.
Religion is the second cause of all human suffering, genocide and prejudice. The first being capitalism. Unfortunately, Obama is not a real alternative to a scary type like Palin or McCain. We need Nader, we need McKinney, even Barr is preferable.
Oh sweet Jesus - it's going to be Obama or McCain. Pick your poison wisely.
Anyone else but McPain or Nobama!
Well put Hedges. I still don't get this guy, though. I mean, he totally has an in on how religion works in America, and yet somehow I get the distinct impression ("I don't believe in atheists" book, etc.) that he's still a Christian.
Absolutely mind-boggling. I mean, I think that Harris and Hitchens are dead wrong on foreign policy just like Hedges does, but that doesn't mean I think they are wrong about religion.
Come on Hedges! Take the next step... discard your useless religion!
"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?" -Epicurus
It's not just an impression - he is still a Christian, but of the socially liberal beliefs that were prevalent in US churches before the 1980s. The only thing I hate about Hedges is his opposition to atheism, which he doesn't seem to understand.
He opposes the new atheism, and other forms of dogmatic or what he would call "utopian" atheism. I've never read or heard anything from him which indicates he is disgusted by or condemns everyone who either is not a theist, or who doesn't believe in some sort of "God" concept, the way many of the new atheists readily damn everyone who happens to not hate religion.
So basically he's a Christian that selectively ignores the bulk of the Bible. It's great that he can pick and choose like that... so why not just pick and choose to start labeling the book as the grim fairytale it really is.
(Pun totally intended).
I agree he obviously has no understanding of atheism whatsoever. His lack of understanding regarding atheism is readily comparable to the lack of understanding regarding the Middle East that he accuses Harris of.
"Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?" -Epicurus
Actually, from what I gathered from "An Evening at Maryknoll with Chris Hedges" (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3031605291712829016), he applies the historical-critical method to his reading of the Bible.
The idea that every liberal Christian simply ignores the parts of the Bible they don't like is false. Many do, but not all. There is, in fact, an entire book by John Shelby Spong (a retired Episcopalian bishop) titled "The Sins of Scripture," in which the evil aspects of the Bible are covered in detail.
Though I don't really believe in any sort of "God" myself (jozef's post is right on the money if you ask me), I don't feel the need to slam everyone who happens to believe otherwise, which is exactly what the Christian fundamentalists do. Obviously, the FUNDAMENTALIST approach of the new atheists to unbelief is something Chris has a problem with too.
.
Lipstick is not an issue...
Issues folks...We need to debate issues for the next Presidency.
.
Keepm up the Palin bashing if you want to help them.
Palin bashing? Did you even read the article? The author was taking apart the religious hypcrisy of Palin. Christians are already getting a bad name thanks to the bible thumpers on the Far Right and the last thing we need is another one to continue it. Religious mania from the Far Right has proven to be a serious mental illness.
As is the case with most of the Neo-Cons, Palin comes off as a self-loathing lesbian to me. They always want to "cure" other homosexuals because then that means there's no such thing and they can be "cured", too. Suppression of who you really are makes people do very deadly and dangerous things to others.
Oh, please, Mr. Hedges. Knock off the hocus-pocus dominocus. You ramble like Joe Biden on pure oxygen. Sarah Palin is a normal, healthy, energetic young woman who finds herself, like Harry Truman, suddenly pushed upstairs. Not her fault she is pretty. Maybe she should wear orange pantsuits.
"Sarah Palin is a normal, healthy, energetic young woman who finds herself, like Harry Truman, suddenly pushed upstairs. Not her fault she is pretty. Maybe she should wear orange pantsuits."
Yeah, thanks to all that taxpayer money doing it for her. Too bad most women don't get that kind of a chance especially in the South where healthcare is at its worst in terms of service and expense.
Or orange jumpsuits.
YOU KNOW YOU'RE QUALIFIED TO BE VICE-PRESIDENT (updated)
You know you're qualified to be Vice-President when you name your favorite gun "Trig".
You know you're qualified to be Vice-President when you believe the Bush Doctrine works out of the local nail shop and specializes in hot-waxing.
You know you're qualified to be Vice-President when a "voice in your head" tells you to ban most of the pages from the library's atlas.
You know you're qualified to be Vice-President when you deep fry your polar bear in crude oil that you drilled yourself.
You know you're qualified to be Vice-President when your underage teen daughters get their sex education from the instructions on the back of a bible.
You know you're qualified to be Vice-President when the only charitable organization you contribute to is the NRA.
You know you're qualified to be Vice-President when your schedule revolves around five daily rapture breaks.
You know you're qualified to be Vice-President when the only war you have any knowledge of is with a guy who won't fire your ex-in-laws.
You know you're qualified to be Vice-President when you compare yourself to animals.
You know you're qualified to be Vice-President when Republicans believe you can lie with the best of them.
You know you're qualified to be Vice-President when "token" is something you believe gets you on a bus.
You know you're qualified to be Vice-President when your dentist tells you he's going to have to "drill" and you pee your pants a little with excitement.
You know you're qualified to be Vice-President when your doctor prescribes "pork" as a cure-all for that constant feeling of hunger.
You know you're qualified to be Vice-President when you need air-conditioners in every room but you think it's because someone keeps closing the refrigerator door.
You know you're qualified to be Vice-President when the only real requirement from your boss, is that you know how to change diapers... errr, Depends.
You know you're qualified to be Vice-President when you use a helicopter to hunt down the father of your daughter's illegitimate child.
You know you're qualified to be Vice-President when you believe the petrified mastodon tusk on your desk was created with the rest of the world 4,000 years ago.
You know you're qualified to be Vice-President when you want to kill almost everything in sight, but you refer to yourself as "pro life".
You know you're qualified to be Vice-President when every day is high-school reunion day.
You know you're qualified to be Vice-President when you can't satisfactorily answer prepackaged questions posed by one of the lamest MSM mouthpieces available.
You know you're qualified to be Vice-President when you are openly reviled by women whose standard mantra was "give me a woman - any woman".
You know you're qualified to be Vice-President when so-called "Democrats" believe you are so special that nobody should mock and laugh at you... and deride your complete clown performance.
You know you're qualified to be Vice-President when your so-called "boss" has the life expectancy of a fruit fly.
You know you're qualified to be Vice-President when your recent flight over Canada qualifies as your International Experience.
You know you're qualified to be Vice-President when your recipe for deep-fried polar bear heart is your most endearing contribution to American culture.
You know you're qualified to be Vice-President when you believe the strings that have been tied to your arms and legs are a new fashion accessory.
You know you're qualified to be Vice-President when you charge taxpayers extra every night you sleep in your own bed.
You know you're qualified to be Vice-President when you can smile and sneer at the same time.
Bear in mind when reading this article how the word FEMINIST has been co-opted to now serve another patriarchal hierarchical institution: a church that's so vastly departed from the HIGHER teachings, as to serve THE dark side. It's like the garbage industry with its responsibility for safely handling bio-hazard waste, clammoring for the right to use the word ORGANIC as a ploy to spread its detritus around. The misuse of language, always a powerful tool of war and the usurpation of things of value as Orwell so well understood.
"A world that can be predicted and understood, a world that has clear markers, can be made rational. It can be managed and controlled. The petrified, binary world of fixed, immutable and established roles is a world where people, many of them damaged by bouts with failure and despair, can bury their chaotic and fragmented personalities. They can live with the illusion that they are strong, whole and protected. Those who do not fit into these narrow definitions must be proselytized and converted."
Are we talking christian fascists here or the two party faithful?
SATURNALIA: That's the question I thought of, too. IF she's to submit to men, where is HER authority in the role of VP?
This is a great article and I wish it made it throughout the mainstream media. The fear of the uncertainties of life is key to the mental wiring of those that grant their allegiance to authoritarian creeds and hierarchies, like these fundamentalist churches. There is a HUGE fear of sex, particularly of FEMALE sexual freedom which puts this group in synch with the Islamic fundamentalists.
Wilhelm Reich (falsely, in my view, discredited) analyzed WHY Germany fell to similar worship of the strict father/fuhrer figure, and he reached the conclusion that turning people against their own basic instincts (sex being part and parcel to this "recipe") created such a vacuum, that so-called adults lost their own interior compasses and were forced to turn to outside figures to follow commands.
With the stock market rocking and rolling, nature and weather patterns out of joint, Bush's policies CAUSING the inevitable blowback of violence, uncertainty is a reality, albeit difficult, to life with. In other words, just as Naomi Klein explains the dynamics of "Disaster Capitalism," there is a psychological equivalent that is exponentially increasing the ranks of those that would turn to authority figures because so much feels OUT of joint. Appearances lend credence to "End Times" and a lot of people do not have the intelligence or imagination to envision another world. Therefore believing the old ways have some glimmers of truth, they are willing to forfeit their freedom to "get saved" before the big judgment day. Most do not understand the degree to which their mindset (and arguable MENTAL ENERGY), and allegiance are actually fostering, that is to say BRINGING ON End Times. This is seen in the disastrous M.E policy, as well as in the cavalier disregard for green energies, the literal KILL for OIL which in turn is KILLING the systems necessary for sustainability on this blue green planet.
The woman is a walking set of contradictions, and dangerous! These people are everything Christ advised not to be or do! Using Christ's name to foster war, possibly a WWIII IS the anti-Christ, a diabolical inversion of Holy principle to serve the cause of war, THE supreme crime against humanity!
If she's willing to submit to men, what's her excuse for being in politics at all? She ought to be one of those nice Paulian wives who sit quitely in the back of the church with their heads covered (a Burka?) and asks her husband if she's confused about anything...
Really it's getting harder and harder to tell the fundy xtians from the fundy muslims...
Palin is perfect.
America loves stupid.
And a true story in my home town:
A Christian conservative said to me back in 2002, “How many Muslims are there in the world…two billion ?…do you think we can kill them all.”
Unfortunately Palin will be speaking in tongues when she orders a “strangelove” nuclear war creating divine confusion at the Pentagon resulting in global collateral damage.
America seems to be moving from it's Caligula stage to it's actually quite literally fascist stage. :(
I really do not get the impression that Chris has God any more strongly in his grasps than the "terrifying Christian" fascists do.
It seems there is indeed room for us all in this great following away from sanity.
Saw pics of the thousand or so people demonstrating against Palin this weekend in, of all places, her "home state" of ALASKA. (that was probably 80% of the state's pop.) I really liked the poster one lady was holding that read:
"SARAH PALIN IS GEORGE BUSH...IN LIPSTICK!"
(LOL)
Not everyone likes Sarah Palin in Alaska. She just bribed.......er, gave --- everyone $1,200 extra along with the Permanent Fund, so some people approve of her for that reason. I wonder if it was part of the "Bridge to Nowhere" money that she kept.
If there is a god he owes the world an apology. And Palin owes women of the world an apology. She's willing to help perpetuate a fascist group of white males trying to prop up a dying empire. No real woman would do that.
Hoa binh
From the start of this election cycle, the Repub candidates were so so bad it made me think the Repub power brokers behind the scenes had no intension of actually holding an election. With Palin now as the VP pick, it makes me even more certain of this. The RNC simply wants candidates that are "spinnable" so that the election is close enough to make stealing it feasible. The particular candidate, whether it's McCain or Palin, is beside the point. As long as they are willing to server as the figurehead, and take instruction as ordered.
The election wouldn't be so close if Obama hadn't flip-flopped to the right on every issue and vote. DUH ! Ever heard the words POPULIST and FRAMING? Obama was ahead but every flip flop pushed him closer and now he's behind. Get it?
I'm so glad I'm a Reform Jew :-)
LOL - me too!!
:)
bligh4
The more that Palin is made into a boogyman that will destroy the country, the more the distraction to the Obama campaign. Why the obsession with a VP candidate?
Also, if participation in a male-centric religion is an automatic disqualifier for higher office- God help the first Muslim woman that tries for the Presidency or Vice- Presidency.
Do some research will you. There have been female heads of governments (prime ministers) of several Muslim countries, even a female president in Indonesia (the largest Muslim country in the world) in past years. You ask why the obsession with Sarah Palin, I say why the media fascination with a red neck psychopath who thinks it ok to shoot wolves from helicopters, who seems to believe the world is only 4,000 years old and also believe that America's war against Iraq was "God's mission" or some foolishness like that. Does she believe in Witch burnings? Just wondering.
bligh4
Yeah, trying to be the head of state again for Pakistan worked out well for
Bhutto.
Anyway, I wasn't talking about the Middle East pinhead, I was talking about the U.S.
If a Muslim woman runs for office will the same arguements be used against her- or are you using a selective double standard?
P.S. loved your compassionate response to Thomas Moore. You must be a lot of fun at parties.
I'd suggest you do the research. That "God's will" comment was debunked. If you are unaware of the problems of wolves for livestock, I'd certainly understand that. The world is 4000 years old is a new one!
If its not true, its better not to say it.
Palin bashing is certainly helping McCain and Palin, if thatys your intent, congratulations.
If your intent is to stop people from ridiculing McInsane and Palin, you've failed. How is it "helping" someone if people do not speak well of them and if they have earned themselves a bad reputation? Obviously you want people to speak well of McCain and Palin so they can have a good reputation.
LOL
Thomas Moore, maybe you should be shot from a helicopter.
Easy now. I don't agree with Thomas either but he's not that bad. At least he isn't a typical rightwinger.
Jason Jordan
Sandpoint, Idaho
"Palin bashing is certainly helping McCain and Palin, if [sic] thatys your intent, congratulations."
... and there's the lie. The ONE thing they want to insure is that they are not perceived as a laughing stock. They desperately NEED to be taken seriously to win. The spin???
Don't deride them for any reason as it just increases their chance of winning!
Fraud. The Palin-McCain campaign is a joke. It time for ridicule and ridicule only. To take them seriously is to lend credence to a corporatist mockery.
So, would it be palin who's the vp or would it be her husband who makes all the calls when she becomes presidunce? McSame won't have much of his natural life left, if of course, he makes it to November at all.
If these xtians want to live in a binary world why do they oppose having computer chips implanted in their brains? (bad attempt at a joke.)
Do they object? No attempt at a joke or anything else...just a question. It would make the end goal of those such as Pat Robertson, James Dobson, et al so much easier. Absolute control/power just a keystroke away.
Hard to tell, but it's been reported that Todd DOES sit in on many government meetings -- in particular, the meetings leading up to the Matanuska Maid Dairy debacle, which I have been following . . . also, he works for BP . . . also, he apparently was at the 'energy meeting' in Dallas just prior to the flight home so that Trig 'could be born in Alaska' . . . this was NOT a meeting
that was open to the public, more along the lines of Dick Cheney's 'energy meetings' (which could explain why it was so important for a woman supposedly 8 months pregnant to be there)
Just remember, when Sarah introduced Todd at the Convention, she said that "Together, we're quite a package". (Leaving out any obviously intended innuendo, that is still a sort of scary sentence . . .)
"The divinely anointed male leader rules a flock of obedient and submissive sheep. All must hand over their freedom. All must cease to think independently."
Hmm... sounds sooooo familiar...
"Bush said to James Robinson: 'I feel like God wants me to run for President... I know it won't be easy on me or my family, but God wants me to do it.'
"President Bush told two high-ranking Palestinian officials that he had been told by God to invade Afghanistan and Iraq..."
"I'm the decider!"
"I trust God speaks through me," Bush said...
Frank, I wonder sometimes who this "God" Bu$h talks to constantly actually is. Is he/she/it the God of the Bible or possibly the "God" of Lynchburg, Tennessee...Jack Daniels. Remember the movie "The Shining", where Jack Nicholson, the alcohoic caretaker of the Overlook (who had become sober)all of a suddden began having conversations with Lloyd, the bartender?