The “Christian Right” is Wrong.

Proof may be found in Indiana, where a load of “Christian” hatemongers passed a law that basically makes anyone other than straight white Fundagelicals second-class citizens. True to form, these Teabagging legislators deny that they hate gays: nononono, they are merely protecting the “religious freedom” of fellow Teavangelicals. Riiiiiiiight.

It also can be found in Ohio, where a load of “Christian” hatemongers passed a law that basically makes anyone other than fetuses second-class citizens. True to form, these Teabagging legislators deny that they hate women: nononono, they are merely protecting the “rights” of unbornTeavangelicals. The fact that they laugh at stories of rape is meaningless. Riiiiiiiight.

Proof abounds in Michigan, where a load of “Christian” hatemongers are pushing a law that basically makes anyone other than Teavangelicals second-class educators.True to form, these Teabagging legislators deny that they hate non-“Christian” teachers: nonono, they are merely going back to the “true intent of education”, which was to teach kids how to read Scripture. Riiiiiiiight.

On and on it goes: from calls for a violent “Christian uprising”, to Teavangelical racism, and pretty much every sin listed in the Ten Commandments and the Greatest Commandment. These sickos crap all over the teachings of Rebbe Yesuah bar Josef while proclaiming their loyalty to Him.

This, Gentle Reader, is why the Constitution forbids the establishment of a government-sanctioned religion. Theocracies always crash and burn, spectacularly. Because they are based on premises of faith that cannot be proven.

Instead of being wrong like the Religious Right, let’s actually try being, you know, right. Let’s try actually treating all of us as being truly equal. Like the Constitution says.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

Two More Strong Arguments for the Separation of Church and State:

Michigan, a Blue state that stupidly elected a Red government, is learning just how stupid its voting choices were. The Michigan House of “Representatives” has passed a religious oppression “freedom” bill that pretty much gives the finger to our Constitutional rights as guaranteed by the Establishment Clause:

The Michigan House of Representatives, led by Speaker Jase Bolger (photo, above, left, with Gov. Rick Snyder,) just passed a bill that would allow discrimination to become sanctioned by the state. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, akin to one that made nationwide headlines in Arizona but was vetoed, appears to merely force the government to step aside if a person’s “deeply-held religious beliefs” mandate they act, or not act, in a certain manner.

Supporters of these bills claim they allow people of faith to exercise their religion without government interference, but in reality, they are trojan horses, allowing rampant discrimination under the guise of religious observance.

For example, under the Religious Freedom law, a pharmacist could refuse to fill a doctor’s prescription for birth control, or HIV medication. An emergency room physician or EMT could refuse service to a gay person in need of immediate treatment. A school teacher could refuse to mentor the children of a same-sex couple, and a DMV clerk could refuse to give a driver’s license to a person who is divorced. 

Fundagelicals who support such “religious freedom” laws claim that the Founders were all about having a theocracy, but that argument would wash a lot of hogs. The author of the First Amendment himself (Thomas Jefferson) said it himself, time and again:

Be it enacted by General Assembly that no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief, but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of Religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge or affect their civil capacities.

And, of course, he was not alone:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; 

That bit being written by one Mr. Ames, wih help from James Madison and others. Add in the Supremacy Clause, and you can see that what Michigan’s Teapublican government is attempting to do is not just unconstitutional, it’s extraconstitutional. Perhaps you could say “treasonous and seditious” instead. Or, how about “un-American and illegal as all Hell”?

This writer has occasional need to travel to the Thumb State, and would prefer not to be left to die by, say, a Nazarene physician from Michigan who doesn’t like Presbyterians and refused to work on me based on his religious objection. That would be allowed if the law in question were to be enacted.

People, here we have two reasons for the Separation of Church and State: the law itself, and what would happen if we did not have that law to protect us. It is time to run these Teapubbies out of office on an elctoral rail. And that soon.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

Americans seem to be OK with terrorists, as long as they are white.

His name is not Abdul Ibrahim, it is Andrew Scott Boguslawski. He was caught with weapons, ammo, dozens of bombs, and other tools of the terrorist trade in Ohio a few weeks ago. He looks to be an average American on the surface. The media has been pretty restrained in their reporting, treating it like a normal criminal case. No one is freaking out.

His name is not Muhammed Bin Arjara, it is Mark Kulis. He is one of those “sovereign citizen” nutbars, and was also busted for having illegal weapons and explosives. The media has been pretty restrained in their reporting, treating it like a normal criminal case. No one is freaking out.

His name is not Abou Ben Adhem, it is Chris Christie. His administration put millions of Americans at risk by shutting down part of the George Washington Bridge (a known terrorist target) on 9/11 of last year. The media has been pretty restrained in their reporting, hardly even mentioning the al-Quaida connection at all. No one is freaking out.

But just imagine the hue and cry and universal brouhaha had any of these three mutts been swarthy males with “foreign-sounding” names. The “news” media would be in 24/7 panic-inducing, fear-mongering, hair-on-fire, freakout mode. The cops would be deploying all manner of special weaponry. Americans would be told to use extra caution, to look under our beds, to be “vigilant”.

But since these are honkie dudes with “normal” names, America pretty much yawns.

Gentle Reader, this is nonsense. The skin color of someone who does you harm makes no difference whatsoever when you are lying in an ambulance or morgue. And paying undue attention to someone’s skin color or religious background when trying to decide if they are a threat makes it far more likely that somebody else you aren’t looking at will blow you to Kingdom come.

Or, of course, the whole “Global War on Terror” schtick could just be a con job, a cynical manipulation of the public so as to enrich the rich and gull the gullible; and maybe we should just calm down and treat all terrorists as common criminals, like we are those two lily-white curs in Ohio… Naah. Couldn’t be.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky

Mike DeWine – A Strong Argument for the Separation of Church and State

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine has well and truly f***ed up: he wrote a letter to the Feds asking that employers not have to pay for birth control coverage if they have a religious objection to contraception. This “religious freedom” red herring is a load of hooey, as we have written before.

General DeWine has been a pretty fair AG thus far: he has done good work on prosecuting human trafficking, pill mills, sexual assault, fraud, and other important law enforcement tasks. But he is clearly out of his depth here.

The current “religious freedom” campaign is not about the freedom of we the people to worship (or not) as we see fit. Rather, it is about employers being able to:
Number A, weasel out of paying for employee health care by using specious religious claims, or
Letter 2, cram their own religion down the throats of their employees, or
Third option, both of the above.

General DeWine was a total right-wing tool in his previous government gigs, and we can see by this recent action that he has not changed one bit since. This is a clear example of why we have (and need to have) separation of Church and State; a concept so important to the Founders that it is set out near the beginning of the Constitution.

When greedy religious fanatics try to manipulate our system for their own benefit, we need to put a stop to it at the outset. It matters not if DeWine is a manipulator or being manipulated; what matters is that we take these attempts to insert religion into our government and squash them flat. And that soon.

Mr. Blunt and Cranky