Category: Religion

Ron Paul’s Views Finding Support Among White Nationalists

December 26, 2011
Civil RightsConservativesConstitutionEthicsEvangelicalsRaceReligionRepublicansStrangeViolence
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Ron Paul with white Supremacists Don and Derek Black

Ron Paul with white Supremacists Don and Derek Black

Ron Paul says he “wouldn’t be happy” with support from the white supremacists, survivalists and anti-Zionists who have rallied to his support, but he will not disavow their support, saying, “They’re endorsing what I do or say — it has nothing to do with endorsing what they say.”

So Ron Paul will accept support from Neo-Nazis. He simply won’t endorse anthing they say, except, of course, that, for whatever reason, they support Ron Paul.

From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

The American Free Press, which markets books such as “The Invention of the Jewish People” and “March of the Titans: A History of the White Race,” is urging its subscribers to help it send hundreds of copies of Ron Paul’s collected speeches to voters in New Hampshire. The book, it promises, will “Help Dr. Ron Paul Win the GOP Nomination in 2012!”

Don Black, the director of the white nationalist website Stormfront, said in an interview that dozens of his members were volunteering for Mr. Paul’s campaign, and a site forum titled “Why is Ron Paul such a favorite here?” has no fewer than 24 pages of comments.

“I understand he wins many fans because his monetary policy would hurt Jews,” read one. Far right groups like the Militia of Montana say they are rooting for him as a stalwart against government tyranny.

After This, Isn’t It Time Notre Dame Finally Recognizes Its Gay Student Groups? (Video and More)

December 21, 2011
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If Notre Dame will permit this kind of thing to take place on campus, can official recognition of the University’s gay groups Outreach and GALA be far behind?

Let’s go, Irish!

NYTimes: U.S. Rejects Plan to Widen Availability of Morning-After Pill

December 7, 2011
Barack ObamaConservativesDemocratic NewsDrugsEducationEthicsLegalLiberalsPhilosophicalReligionStrangeWhite House
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Disappointing news from the New York Times:

In a surprise move, the nation’s health secretary stopped the Plan B morning-after pill from moving onto drugstore shelves next to the condoms, deciding Wednesday that young girls shouldn’t be able to buy it on their own.

The Food and Drug Administration was preparing to lift a controversial age limit and make Plan B One-Step the nation’s first over-the-counter emergency contraceptive, available for purchase by people of any age without a prescription.

But Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius intervened at the eleventh hour and overruled her own experts.

Plan B instead will remain behind the pharmacy counter, as it is sold today — available without a prescription only for those 17 and older who show an ID proving their age.

That this comes from this sometimes-perplexing Democratic administration is one thing. That the move comes in direct opposition to the administration’s own experts baffles me.

The True Spirit of Thanksgiving (Video)

November 23, 2011
ConstitutionCrime and PunishmentEconomyEducationEthicsInternationalLegalPhilosophicalRantReligion
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Thanksgiving.

Enjoy.

The Carol Moseley Braun Theater

January 3, 2011
ChicagoChicagolandCongressDemocratic NewsElectionsEvangelicalsReligion
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I really don’t care for Chicago politics. Let me start with that disclaimer.

I don’t understand how there are churches in the Chicagoland area that can be so overtly political, while others work overtime to keep the pols out of the pulpit.

I don’t understand how Carol Moseley Braun can vanish so completely from the public eye affter leaving office, and then return only to be christened in a church as the leading black candidate for mayor in Chicago.

Don’t get me wrong. I supported Moseley Braun when she ran for the United States Senate. Even joined her and Senator Durbin for a morning gathering of coffee and rolls with others from Illinois.

That was more theater than substance.

And that is pretty much my impression of Carol Moseley Braun: more theater than substance.

I will watch the mayoral drama unfold from 30-and-some-odd miles south of the Loop.

No desire to be a part of it.

NPR Fires Juan Williams After Comment About Muslims; Sarah Palin Tries to Capitalize

October 21, 2010
AmericaAnti-ScienceConservativesEthicsReligionStrange
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Sarah Palin, opportunist par excelence,has worked her way into a story that has nothing to do with her at all.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

NPR has fired longtime news analyst Juan Williams, also a commentator on the Fox News Channel, after he told Bill O’Reilly that he gets nervous when he sees people in Muslim garb on an airplane. Sarah Palin has called for NPR to lose its federal funding over Williams’ firing.

In a statement late Wednesday, National Public Radio said it was terminating Williams’ contract as a senior news analyst over his comments on Fox’s "The O’Reilly Factor."

NPR executives had previously complained about his remarks on Fox and asked him to stop using the NPR name when he appeared on O’Reilly’s show.

The latest comments came Monday, when O’Reilly brought on guests to discuss his own appearance last week on ABC’s "The View," during which Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg walked off the set to protest his views on Muslims.

"Where am I going wrong here, Juan?" O’Reilly asked.

Williams, 56, responded that too much political correctness can get in the way of reality.

"I mean, look, Bill, I’m not a bigot. You know the kind of books I’ve written about the civil rights movement in this country," Williams said. "But when I get on a plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous."

He went on to say that not everyone in a religious group — Christian or Muslim — should be lumped together with extremists.

In statement on her Facebook page, Sarah Palin called for NPR to lose its federal funding over the incident.

Sarah Palin, the Pol Who Quit, campaigns from Facebook.

God Bless America.

President Obama: Our War is with Al Qaeda, Not Islam

September 11, 2010
AmericaBarack ObamaCrime and PunishmentDemocratic NewsEthicsLiberalsMilitaryPhilosophicalReligion
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As part of a brilliant and erudite news conference yesterday at the White House, President Obama told reporters that the United States is not at war with Islam. Crediting President Bush with remaining clear on that point, the president stressed the need for Americans to stand together as the ninth anniversary of 9/11 drew near:

One of the things that I most admired about President Bush was after 9/11, him being crystal-clear about the fact that we were not at war with Islam.  We were at war with terrorists and murderers who had perverted Islam, had stolen its banner to carry out their outrageous acts.  And I was so proud of the country rallying around that idea, that notion that we are not going to be divided by religion; we’re not going to be divided by ethnicity.  We are all Americans.  We stand together against those who would try to do us harm.

And that’s what we’ve done over the last nine years.  And we should take great pride in that.  And I think it is absolutely important now for the overwhelming majority of the American people to hang on to that thing that is best in us, a belief in religious tolerance, clarity about who our enemies are — our enemies are al Qaeda and their allies who are trying to kill us, but have killed more Muslims than just about anybody on Earth.  We have to make sure that we don’t start turning on each other.

And I will do everything that I can as long as I am President of the United States to remind the American people that we are one nation under God, and we may call that God different names but we remain one nation.  And as somebody who relies heavily on my Christian faith in my job, I understand the passions that religious faith can raise.  But I’m also respectful that people of different faiths can practice their religion, even if they don’t subscribe to the exact same notions that I do, and that they are still good people, and they are my neighbors and they are my friends, and they are fighting alongside us in our battles.

And I want to make sure that this country retains that sense of purpose.  And I think tomorrow is a wonderful day for us to remind ourselves of that.

I support President Barack Obama, and wish to thank him and President Bush for remaining clear and consistent on that matter.

Is America Ready for a Nuanced Discussion of Just War?

September 6, 2010
AfghanistanAmericaBarack ObamaChicagoChicagolandDemocratic NewsEthicsLiberalsMilitaryPhilosophicalReligionRepublicansViolence
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Writing about a lecture he attended at St. Irenaeus Church in Park Forest, Illinois, Park Forest Mayor John Ostenburg presents perhaps one of the most nuanced perspectives I’ve ever read on the Catholic Just War Theory. The lecture, given by Kathy Kelly, coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, "covered a much wider scope of things. Really, her presentation should have been promoted with the old John Lennon song title, ‘Give Peace a Chance,’ Ostenburg says on his blog, The Outpost Observer.

What follows is a summary of the lecture by Kathy Kelly, and additional perspective by Ostenburg, including the following:

While I agree with Ms. Kelly in principle, that the sincere and consistent efforts of even a handful eventually can reap genuine rewards, I also am inclined to believe that it is extremely difficult to control the behaviors of any individuals — or even nations — who have hatred in their hearts. Turning the cheek is a personal act that any one of us can take (I might even say, should take), but those charged with the responsibility of protecting the public at large face additional responsibilities that reach beyond that. As Christians, Ms. Kelly and her compatriots do well to imitate the actions of Jesus Christ in how he showed love for those who extended ill toward him; however, even Jesus took up the whip to expel the money-changers in the Temple because of the social ill they were spreading.

As such, I find it difficult to accept that absolute pacifism is enough to effect the kind of change that Ms. Kelly would like to see. Lest we forget, law enforcement also was a necessary component of the changes that ultimately brought major controls on racial hatred in the 1960s and 1970s. People had to be arrested, sentenced, and sent to jail; federal officers often had to engage in strong tactics in order to bring the wrongdoers to their knees. And — even with all the combined efforts of peaceful protest and effective law enforcement — things today are far from perfect and the ugly head of racism still rises all too often and spews its hateful venom.

So, from my perspective, it is legitimate for the U.S. to seek to curtail hateful acts by Al-Qaeda and/or the Taliban. But I also believe the methods we employ in our efforts at self-protection must likewise be legitimate.

An explanation of the Catholic Church’s Just War Theory follows.

What strikes me as fascinating in all of this is this line from Ostenburg’s post, "Even Jesus took up the whip to expel the money-changers in the Temple because of the social ill they were spreading."

Yes, He did. And I never thought about that in connection to warfare.

Read this post in full, and ask yourself, is America, polarized as it is today, ready for a truly nuanced discussion of war — and peace?

Drunk Domers Sob Over Party Arrests

September 1, 2010
ChicagolandCrime and PunishmentEducationReligion
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The author is getting hammered here (no pun intended), but he’s right.

Anyone who thinks alcohol is not a crisis issue with our young people has their head up their a$$.

No kidding.

From ENEWSPF:

>I have no sympathy for young, self-entitled adults extending their adolescence with alleged illegal behavior, particularly when it comes to alcohol. I would never argue for prohibition, but regulation is important. Notre Dame undergraduates, like those at many other colleges and universities, don’t deal well with alcohol and often act stupidly.

The article then quotes from Notre Dame’s Observer. We will quote more extensively here than the original article at ENEWSPF did:

The second major police raid last weekend resulted in a broken-down door, landed a police officer in the hospital and brought the total number of alcohol-related arrests since students returned to school to nearly 60.

The incident, in which students reportedly refused to open the door and one person punched and kicked an officer while resisting arrest, sent 35 people to jail.

The recent trend to arrest — rather than cite — students for underage drinking has caught the attention of both students and the University.

University spokesman Dennis Brown said the administration is working to address the issue.

“We clearly don’t condone underage drinking or gatherings that infringe on the rights of others,” Brown said. “At the same time, the welfare of our students is our highest priority.

“We have concerns about the handling of some recent incidents that we are actively addressing through appropriate channels.”

Indiana State Excise Police busted a party on Turtle Creek Drive Sunday morning and arrested 32 people for minor consuming alcohol, one person for public intoxication and one person for furnishing alcohol to minors.

One person was also arrested for resisting law enforcement, battery to a police officer, disorderly conduct and minor consuming alcohol.

Tim Cleveland, excise police commander for the district, said many of those arrested were Notre Dame students, but he could not confirm that all were students.

The excise police were in the area of the party because South Bend police asked them to check a location of another party. When officers arrived, the party they had been called for was not occurring, but they discovered the party on Turtle Creek Drive, Cleveland said.

“They stumbled across the one at Turtle Creek,” he said.

Meanwhile, South Bend police received a call for trespassing at the same party.

“There were individuals who were climbing the fence to gain access to the pool, which was closed,” Cleveland said.

South Bend and excise police officers were denied access to the apartment and waited for two hours to obtain a search warrant. Once the warrant was obtained, the residents continued to deny officers entry and South Bend police broke down the door. (Emphasis added)

Cleveland said officers decided to arrest rather than issue citations for underage drinking because of the resistance they encountered.

“They still didn’t open the door even though they knew we had a search warrant,” he said. “Then when we did gain access into the residence, people were hiding in closets and everywhere else that they could find.”

A police officer was injured when one person resisted arrest. He spent most of Sunday at South Bend Memorial Hospital.

Personally, I have no patience with people who behave as idiots, and even less when their behavior results in the injury of a police officer.

These children have a lot of learning ahead of them.

Yes they do.

Notre Dame officials seem to be considering PR, and nothing else.

ND would be wise to issue a simple statement, "We support the efforts of law enforcement officers to keep the peace, and we do not support students who break the law."

One in Five Americans Obtusely Assert that Obama Is Muslim

August 21, 2010
AmericaBarack ObamaConservativesEthicsPhilosophicalReligionRepublicans
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Who are these Americans obsessing over the falsehood that Barack Obama is a Muslim? And how can we remain silent as the right wing continues to twist the word "Muslim" into a pejorative?

In the midst of the last presidential election, I spoke with friends of mine who are Muslim. They were understandably disappointed with the rhetoric of those "accusing" then-Senator Barack Obama of being a Muslim. They were equally disappointed with Barack Obama’s vehement denials. What would they have preferred him say? Something like this: "No, I am not a Muslim, but Islam is a beautiful religion, and why should it matter if I was?"

That statement itself would have been twisted by the right. "Obama loves Islam! Obama said it doesn’t matter if he’s Muslim!"

Candidates today are between a rock and a hard place sometimes.

Today, however, the tail wags the dog again. Just as the right tried to turn the word "Catholic" into a pejorative when John F. Kennedy ran for president, the right is working overtime to do the same with the word "Muslim." Everyone knows what happened on 9-11, but what happened was not Muslim, any more than the Crusades were Christian acts of love. In any group of human beings, you will find 95% to 99% of the people who are fine to excellent. You will also find as much as 5% who are either a**holes or criminals. No matter where they are, this 5% will work to pervert their environment for their own sick reasons.

Today, this 5% of the GOP is working overtime and has succeeded in scaring up to 20% of the right wing into believing that Muslims as a whole are people to be feared, and that Barack Obama is a Muslim.

From ENEWSPF:

Two recently released polls show that an increasing number of Americans believe the falsehood that President Obama is a Muslim. According to the Pew Research Center, 60 percent of people who believe this false claim cite the media as the source of that information — and, indeed, the right-wing media have incessantly promoted this lie.

Pew: Nearly "one-in-five Americans" now say Obama is a Muslim. On August 18, the Pew Research Center released a survey on Obama and religion, conducted in early August. The poll found that "nearly one-in-five Americans (18%) now say Obama is a Muslim, up from 11% in March 2009," while "[o]nly about one-third of adults (34%) say Obama is a Christian, down sharply from 48% in 2009." The survey also found that "43% say they do not know what Obama’s religion is." Pew went on to state: "The view that Obama is a Muslim is more widespread among his political opponents than among his backers."

This "view" that Obama is a Muslim is "more widespread among his political opponents than among his backers" because this argument is simply ugly politics, at the expense of Muslims and everything good that America stands for.

The GOP should be ashamed.