Bottom Left Politics

Your daily dose of politics, with a progressive twist.

Getting Lobbied By God

Red Mass

Yesterday, as many Americans were attending their own churches and as many others were making the wiser choice to sleep in (or mow the lawn), little did they know that the guardians of the Constitution, the interpreters of the law, members of the highest Court in the land, were being lobbied by the Catholic Church.

It was barely covered by the media outlets, which were probably busier beating off over the Letterman affair, yet the annual Red Mass at Washington’s St. Matthew’s Cathedral occurred, and yet another stone was removed from the wall separation between church and state – a wall ironically erected by the Supreme Court itself.  Since 1953, the Catholic John Carroll Society, apparently troubled by what the archdiocese saw as Court rulings contrary to Catholic beliefs, has hosted this little lobbying event (let’s call it what it is), seeing it as a direct line from the Catholic Church (AKA “God”) to the Supreme Court.  This year, five Catholics – Chief Justice Roberts, Sotomayor, Scalia, Kennedy, and Alito – and one Jew – Breyer – were in attendance, as was Vice President Joe Biden and a variety of other public officials.  The other Jew on the Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, has not attended in years because of what she saw as an inappropriate anti-abortion homily, which is certainly not out of the ordinary at Red Mass.  This year, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo delivered a homily which pleaded with the Court to consider the “literally voiceless, not yet with tongues, and even without names,” who “require our most careful attention and radical support.”

Radical indeed.  You know what’s radical?  The idea that it’s acceptable in the United States of America that anti-choice ideologues from the Catholic Church can get a majority of the Supreme Court in the same room and pump them full of anti-abortion rhetoric, under the guise of a harmless prayer service.  That’s radical.  That’s contrary to tradition, established law, and the Constitution itself.  Yet it happens, every year.  Nobody cares.  Nobody says a word.  We move on, even though the people in charge of guarding our fragile Constitution are being shamelessly lobbied by the Vatican.  There’s something wrong with this picture, and it ain’t just the God-awful red vestments.

The blogger, Kristofer Paul, can be reached at bottomleftpolitics@yahoo.com.

October 5, 2009 Posted by Kristofer Paul | Church-State Separation, Reproductive Rights | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

This Generation’s Bull Connor

I wonder how the people in Alabama can sleep peacefully at night, knowing that vermin like Roy Moore are at large in their state.  Who’s Roy Moore?  I asked the same question.  Then it all came back to me, like one of those memories you try to suppress but end up having nightmares and daytime flashbacks about.  Remember the Ten Commandments escapade in the Alabama Supreme Court, when the fundamentalist wingnut, the theocratic Chief Justice, refused to remove a granite monument of the Ten Commandments from the building?  Huh?  Remember the enormous public debate that ensued, and the miniature Ten Commandments signs that popped up in lawns across the country?  That was Roy Moore.

RoyMoore, who was removed from his position because of his defiance in the Ten Commandments Case, is running for Governor of Alabama.  Does this surprise you?  Yes, in this time of deep sin, when we have a black socialist running the country and queers running rampant – and women killing their babies to boot – WE NEED A GODLY MAN IN A HIGH OFFICE!  We need a man of principle, someone not afraid to stand his ground on the moral issues facing the great state of Alabama!  I know!  How about Roy Moore?  In his recent announcement, Moore had the following to say:  “Out of Washington comes a dangerous new message that we are not a Christian nation.  Indeed, I refute that.”  YEAH!  YOU TELL IT LIKE IT GODDAMNED IS, ROY!  All these Muslims running around, some in the Oval Office, trying to turn us into atheists (what?  nevermind, you get the point, goddamnit), spreading the wealth around, trying to convince us that these great United States of America weren’t founded on JUDEO-CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES!  GRAAAAAH!!!  You go, Roy!  I’ll be praying for you!

Jesus Christ…what a loon this guy is.  The experts are saying that he doesn’t stand much of a chance, but I don’t know…this IS Alabama.  Moore also made the following comments about marriage equality for gays and lesbians:  “We cannot and will not allow activist judges from California and Massachusetts to push their own immoral opinions on the people of this state.”  Remind you of another guy from Alabama?  Maybe the police in Alabama should get the fire hoses ready.

Jesus…I need some ibuprofen…

June 2, 2009 Posted by Kristofer Paul | Church-State Separation, GOP/Right Wing, Religious Right | , , , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

Theocracy Thursday: Fighting Old Battles

I’m really not old enough to remember the whole “religion vs. school” debate;  I’m in the abortion / same-sex marriage generation, I guess.  I think most Christian fundies have given up on getting the Bible and prayer back in public schools;  after all, Bible-reading in school is an issue that was settled back in 1963 by the Supreme Court.  This shouldn’t even be up for debate anymore.  Most civilized individuals have come to accept that Bible-reading in school amounts to nothing more than Christian indoctrination – it even creates the possibility of teacher discrimination, since, let’s face it, not all teachers are right-wing Christian fundamentalists.  This is such a non-issue that I don’t even remember it being brought up in a major way throughout my entire life.

Enter the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools (NCBCPS).  No, really.  It exists.  You can’t make this crap up.  As can be deduced from the name of this organization, the sole purpose of the NCBCPS is to bring the Bible into public schools as a textbook.  Yes.  A textbook.  An ancient book written by a bunch of old men who thought the earth had four corners…this is apparently textbook material.  A book that says it’s a violation unto God to wear clothes made of different materials.  Students in public schools, if the NCBCPS gets its way, are going to be learning from this.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  I’m not anti-Bible.  In fact, I find great value in the Bible.  But are you serious?  A textbook?  In public schools?  A Bible CURRICULUM?  What the hell is wrong with these people?

But, according to One News Now, 94% of our nation’s documents were Christian in origin.  That’s right!  Even though some Founding Fathers were anti-religion Deists, by God, this is a Christian nation!  The Fouding Fathers wouldn’t approve of this secular nonsense!

475 school districts are using this “Bible Curriculum.”  The Religious Right doesn’t pose a threat, some say?  Think again.  This is scary stuff.  It’s thoroughly frightening to imagine a religious organization with this much influence over public, taxpayer-funded school districts.  See, having their own Christian schools isn’t enough for these lunatics;  they have to move into the public schools and indoctrinate the rest of the students, too.  This is their agenda.  A Christian nation – a theocracy – is their goal.

February 12, 2009 Posted by Kristofer Paul | Church-State Separation, Religious Right | , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments Yet

Oh My…God?

I’ll admit that I make a frequent habit out of visiting the website of the American Family Association (AFA). Aside from the occasional hilarious action alert (because, let’s face it – as entertaining as they are, they only come once in a while), the homepage also features the latest headlines from One News Now, a Christian, “pro-family” news organization whose sole purpose is to spill church into state. The news stories – if you can legitimize them as such – are always good for a laugh, or, at the very least, an eye-roll. If one is searching for a singular source of Christian Right insanity, One News Now is your one-stop shop for the latest wide-eyed tales of Obama’s infanticide-ridden plans for Islamist domination in the United States. That and much, much more.

So I was reading through the headlines when one caught my attention – “Atheists: Remove ‘God’ from Kentucky terrorism law.” Rarely will I rant about AFA- or One News Now-related material, just because there would be so much to rant about that my brain would probably explode after a few days. But I couldn’t pass this up. I’d never heard this before (a benefit of reading these crazy news articles…one just might learn something), and I think it’s important for everybody to hear about.

Apparently, down there in Kentucky (the only state I hate more than Georgia, by the way), they passed an anti-terrorism law back in 2002 (obviously scared crap-less after 9/11…what else is new?) that obligates Kentucky’s Office of Homeland Security to acknowledge that God is needed to keep the state safe. Yes, you read that correctly. There is a law on the books that requires a government office to rely upon God’s protection from terrorism.

First of all, what does that even mean? Does that mean that, by law, they must go to God first when faced with a terrorism-related emergency? Or does it just mean that they officially recognize that God’s hand is guiding their decision-making? From my understanding, it requires that a plaque be put up stating that the security of the state “cannot be achieved apart from reliance upon almighty God.” This message, according to the One News Now article, is reinforced through “training and educational materials.” Hmmm…

In any case, it’s quite possibly the most asinine piece of legislation I’ve ever come across in my personal studies. At least you can “justify” certain legislative acts such as the PATRIOT Act; what’s the justification for this? And, wait a minute – the last time we put God in charge, didn’t He lead us into Iraq? Or am I mistaken? What the hell is up with Kentucky? First that controversy over the Ten Commandments, and now this.

This is one of those cases in which I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry. I don’t know whether to rally behind American Atheists Inc. and demand on this blog that the law be ruled unconstitutional or to shake my head, roll my eyes, and move on with my life. I mean, it’s humorous and egregious, silly and repugnant, all rolled up into one piece of legislation. Since when are we placing the responsibility of the government to provide protection for its citizens upon God? Listen, if a person has faith, so be it – he or she can be faithful until Jesus rips the sky apart and calls all the Republicans home. But I’d rather that faith was left out of homeland security policy. If we’re facing legitimate terrorist threats, the last thing I want is the God of the GOP and the God of the Bush to be protecting us.

December 4, 2008 Posted by Kristofer Paul | Church-State Separation, Religious Right | , , , | No Comments Yet