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Dr. Ben Carson Denounces The Government That Made Him a Success

8 Apr
ben_carson

Gay Marriage is a slippery slope to bestiality: Dr. Ben Carson with President Bush

Dr. Ben Carson is the new poster boy for the Right Wing Conservative movement. He is the total package for a party that desperately needs a new face: an African-American neurosurgeon who is an outspoken social and fiscal conservative who denounces the entire apparatus of government. At this year’s National Prayer Breakfast, he condemned the welfare state and the growing acceptance of marriage equality likening it to bestiality and NAMBLA.

It seems he joins the ranks of so many Conservatives who are part of the Slippery Slope brand of thinking. Once you allow gay marriage, what’s next? Marrying children, animals, inanimate objects…..heaven knows what’s next!? Their ultra-fundamentalist biblical way of thinking has perverted so many into adopting this false equivalency of marriage equality leading to pedophilia or bestiality. Watch his interview with Hannity.

 

What makes this man such a paragon of Republican virtue is how he loathes the entire welfare and government assistance that afforded him his current success. Carson has said, by the time I reached ninth grade, mother….received nothing but food stamps. She couldn’t have provided for us and kept up the house without that subsidy.” “As I’ve said, we received food stamps and couldn’t have made it without them.” Carson, in his book, tells how his grades improved tremendously when a government program provided him with free eyeglasses because he could barely see. Now he derides the “welfare state” and has decided “no one is starving in America” and that government dependence kills initiative.

What’s even more bizarre about this guy is his use of the term NAMBLA. In case you’re unaware of why this is so odd, the creators of South Park even devoted an entire episode to the North American Man/Boy Love Association. It is the most ridiculous comparison of two consenting adults marrying to an insane organization devoted to pedophilia. How can a “brilliant neurosurgeon” think so illogically when it comes to social matters? I suppose the answer is rather simple. He’s a Republican.

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CPAC 2013 and Selective Mandates Show Republican Ignorance

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A few weeks ago, I ran into an old acquaintance from Connecticut, who was in our fair city for a few days. The first thing he told me was how absolutely bizarre Las Vegas seemed as to display numerous gigantic billboards advertising the opportunity to fire an automatic firearm. For someone from the eastern seaboard, this is rather anomalous.

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Billboards like this one are very common in Las Vegas, Nevada

In light of the obvious mass shooting tragedy that has rocked the civilized world, especially New England, any reasonable person visiting the City of Sin would find it callous and objectionable to glorify this type of weaponry. I told him this is rather de rigueur here and it doesn’t even phase most residents. Las Vegas has much the same attitude as many Red State (or purple in Nevada’s case) attitudes where guns are considered a right and a necessity for the über paranoid who have been hypnotized to believe President Obama is on a Marxist bender to disarm the nation. The Obama administration and his Leftist Army is trying to make the government so invasive, he wants to demand everyone must eat broccoli or arugula and join the New Black Panthers while paying for lazy welfare queens to go to Planned Parenthood for weekly abortions.

As utterly irrational as this may sound, it is not much of a stretch for a few towns in the South. Nelson, Georgia, population 1,300 is labeled “a liberal’s worst nightmare” because they have mandated every head of household own and maintain a firearm. Republicans hate big government and despise any invasion into their personal freedoms. But let’s look at their record of trying to mandate their way into our private lives. If they are offended by government simply trying to keep Americans safe from all-too-frequent massacres, one would think they’d be outraged at the government controlling religious freedom, reproductive health and interpersonal adult relations, right? A reasonable, logical person would think so, but we are talking about the GOP.

Indiana, one of the most Republican states in the country, has put forth a bill to mandate praying in the classroom. The recitation of The Lord’s Prayer has been proposed by an Indiana State Senator. “…The governing body of a school corporation or the equivalent authority of a charter school may require the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer at the beginning of each school day. The prayer may be recited by a teacher, a student, or the class of students.” Obviously the precious First Amendment would be completely dismantled by this idea, but as long it doesn’t restrict an American’s right to own weapons that can shoot 152 bullets in 5 minutes, it’s “on the table.”

New kid on the block and Republican heckler, Senator Ted Cruz (Tx), had the audacity to suggest restricting the types of guns one can own is equivalent to outlawing certain types of books. The false equivalency of the lethality of guns versus possession of certain books elucidates the perverted machinations of Cruz’s mind, which clearly is lost. In case you missed his pernicious exchange with the Democratic Senator, Diane Feinstein (CA) yesterday, here it is:

None of these small government advocates have a problem mandating teachers be armed in the classroom as well. They discard studies that show an increase in firearms is directly proportionate to an increase in firearm-related homicides. Several states have proposed laws to arm teachers and one has even passed legislation practically demanding teachers be armed, as is the case now in South Dakota.

On the issue of women’s health and reproductive freedom, the GOP has been incredibly diligent at legislating their way into the bodies of women, who comprise roughly half the population, no big deal. The anti-abortion bills put on the floor for a vote in the House alone exponentially outnumbers the jobs proposals by Republicans. But it’s even worse in the state governments run by Republicans where they’ve virtually wiped out affordable and safe abortion for poor women, especially in Arkansas, Mississippi, South Dakota and Michigan. Lest we forget the redefining of a violent act like rape and the transvaginal ultrasound probe requirement many Republicans have supported as mandatory to any abortion procedure, even when the woman is a victim of a sexual assault. This gross interpretation of freedom cost many Republicans their seats in the 2012 election, but it seems these folks have a very short memory, much like a goldfish I presume.

Today, Ohio Senator Rob Portman proclaimed his support and reformed attitude towards marriage equality. He professed how his support for love and acceptance as depicted in the Bible supersedes the traditional definition of marriage also known as DOMA, which was signed into law in 1996 but is slowly becoming highly unpopular and downright offensive to forward thinking Americans.

Do not despair, CPAC 2013 has a unique way of portraying America as hate-filled and intolerant as some of the fine speakers they showcase every year. Florida Tea-party darling Senator Marco Rubio (R) preached his usual science-denying climate change is unproven and a zygote is more important than the mother who carries it garbage. “The people who are actually closed-minded in American politics are the people who love to preach about the certainty of science with regards to our climate but ignore the absolute fact that science has proven that life begins at conception.”

 

Mandates like trying to keep people from drinking too much sugary soda and insurance companies paying for contraception have the right wing in a frenzy. But if you force an Atheist, Hindu or Muslim to recite a Christian prayer, force a woman to have an unwanted child, prevent two loving adults from marrying or allow a mentally unstable individual the right to purchase assault rifles, you are simply following god’s law and doing the work of Republican Jesus. Mandates are only wrong when they don’t make Wayne LaPierre wealthier. Perhaps this is why these guys are outraged over the shut down of White House tours; because deep down inside, in that last microscopic shred of humanity, the GOP realizes they won’t ever see the inside of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue any time soon. Elections will be theirs to lose if they continue on this path, and I’m sure not going to stop them!

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Is Religion Leading America to the Dark Ages (or have we never left)?

12 Dec

“Religion is the opiate of the masses,” Karl Marx said, and how right he was. Studies have shown as income inequality increases, so does the frequency of prayer. The more religious a society, the more accepting of fictional justifications commonly espoused by a particular faith that allow a population to accept unacceptable socioeconomic disparities. The United States, contrary to its status as the pioneers of science, is disproportionately preoccupied with an imaginary friend than its European or Australian colleagues. We are also living with income disparity levels not seen in America since 1774! There is significant evidence this has been detrimental to our development as a nation, our pursuit of happiness as well as perpetuating the culture of constant war and foreign occupation that has irreversibly scarred the USA. We are far too religious for our own good.

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As prayer becomes more prevalent so does income inequality

I intend to elucidate my hypothesis using three separate spheres of influence of religion on society:
1. Physical and logical brain functions

2. Emotional development and happiness

3. The culture of war fostered by religion and the military.

Physical Impact of Prayer on the Brain
Medical science has shown the hippocampus is the part of the brain involved in memory forming, organizing, and storing. The more one learns about the world, the less mysterious it becomes and one is less likely to accept oversimplified “god did it” type answers. My ability to differentiate between a creationist tale of my world versus the scientific facts of its real age (the biblical 10,000 years over the actual age of 4.6 billion years) may have stifled my scientific potential. I refer to a study of hippocampus atrophy in adults over fifty-eight with a focus on Life Changing Religious Experiences as a variable. With increased religiosity one observes a decrease in the function of the hippocampus. It seems watching the 700 Club can be hazardous to your health.

I am guilty of perpetuating this mythology on my own children, as it is inescapable in our society. My youngest goes to preschool where they learn about Christmas and Santa, which doesn’t bother me one bit. Sadly, I have resorted to using the ‘Santa Claus is watching you’ threat on my toddler to keep him in line, and this is probably not much different than telling a child god or big brother is watching you. It’s as if you are selecting which myths your child should believe and for how long, which is no different than cherry-picking which parts of the bible you feel are veracious. The victims of childhood indoctrination have a hard time knowing which parts of the Bible they should accept as literally true and which are merely allegorical and not to be taken literally. For example, if one rejects the account in Genesis of a six-day creation, and the account of the lives of the descendants of Adam and Eve to Noah and beyond, upon which the claimed young age of earth is based, why does one not also reject the account of original sin, the fall of Man and of the need for forgiveness and redemption upon which the entire Christian faith depends and upon which the entire rationale for Jesus’s sacrifice is supposedly based? What in these stories distinguishes one from the other with sufficient reason to reject one and accept the other? It’s nice to believe in fantasy and to encourage imagination, but living life with the lack of true rationality may just make us less happy. The available rankings of the world’s happiest nations actually strengthens this correlation between a more rational society and a more satisfied populace.

Happiness and Emotional Well-being

If you take a look at the top ten happiest countries you’d notice a disproportionate percentage of the top ten happiest are Scandinavian countries. Also noteworthy is the very same countries which appear on that list are also the least religious. Is there an absolute correlation? No, of course not. But we can learn from the greatest example of historical suffering and stagnation since the Roman Empire, which was known as the Dark Ages. This was an era where superstition reigned supreme and it clearly demonstrated the negative impacts religion can have on a society dominated by its stern enforcement and absolute power over men. The modern day examples of societies becoming more humane, compassionate and progressive are extremely obvious, where the most secular nations enjoy the highest standards of living. I posed the question, ‘do less religious societies have a higher level of morality?’ to author Phil Zuckerman, researcher and professor. He replied:

“Yes, I would argue that most of the least religious nations on earth today are the most moral in terms of having the best health care, elder care, child care, maternity/paternity leave, most humane prisons, no death penalty, lowest murder rates, lowest levels of corruption, lowest levels of police brutality, best care for the physically disabled, most sane environmental policies, women’s rights, gay rights, good educational systems, etc. However, I can’t say with 100% surety that is is because they are strongly secular. Correlation is not causation. But I can say this: many countries have become more humane and moral in the wake of religion weakening. Perfect examples include Japan and Scandinavia.”

When you have a nation who believes that the only way to salvation is for the country to revert back to the teachings of the Old Testament and this must be added to the Constitution, we are indeed in trouble. Too much fear and hate is perpetuated by many of these groups claiming to represent Christ and promoting this kind of nonsense is only detrimental to a society’s progress. Our government’s dominance by the Moral Majority and the Faith Based Initiative have kept our civil rights at levels far less evolved than many other western democracies.

The Culture of Perpetual War Fostered by Religious Fundamentalism

The United States military, the most expensive and largest on earth has an unusually anti-secular attitude. Mikey Weinstein, a graduate of the US Air Force Academy and head of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, says “mandated religion has no place within the technologically most lethal creation of the US government.” A survey commissioned by the Air Force Academy in 2010 showed some improvements in the climate of religious tolerance on campus, but also found that many cadets still felt pressured to take part in religious activities. Nearly half of the non-Christian cadets surveyed, for example, said their fellow students have a “low tolerance” for atheists, a 20 percent jump from a similar 2008 survey. This came on the heels of reports that Air Force missileers were receiving Bible-centered ethics training, with the aim of helping them shake off lingering doubts about firing nuclear weapons. The training – which had been in place for almost two decades and was known jokingly among the airmen as “Jesus loves nukes” – was halted in 2011. God and country is a big part of the military culture, as anytime there’s a ceremony of any type, there’s always prayer.

The most fundamentalist chaplains are often selected to lead prayer with military groups. A motivational pastor from the Central Christian Church in Las Vegas, Raymond Giunta, 47 led a prayer breakfast at the Pentagon in early December. Turns out this is the same Pastor Giunta who was found to have taken more than $10,200 in cemetery trust funds intended for graveyard upkeep while he worked as the director of the California Cemetery Board in the mid-1990’s. Fundamentalist “Pentacostal” religion seems to dominate the military, and it went up all the way to General Petraeus.

General David Petraeus, recently disgraced, is a very “spiritual” military leader. He heavily pushed the concept of Spiritual Fitness Tests, Spiritual Fitness Concerts and Spiritual Fitness Centers and spared no expense attracting Christian Fundamentalist performers. Funny how that whole holier than thou thing worked out for him, isn’t it? I find it rather interesting how the military has perverted the message of Christ to mean we should take over any part of the world we desire, especially those parts that believe in a different god than Jesus. Without the fallacy of this religiosity, the military would probably not be able to sell its barbaric message to so many in the Military Industrial Complex, namely the United States Congress who funds it so very generously.

It’s a personal decision to believe what one chooses to believe. However when that belief is forced upon a society in one way or another, it seems it can only create a culture that mirrors the devolution of Medieval Europe, replete with all the inequality, brutality and intolerance that comes with the mandated belief in the unproven. Constitutionally, we’re a society which allows for religion, not a religion that allows for society. In 1988, America was #1 in “where to be born” list. Now it is joint 16th. It would be nice if religion could be considered a factor in our diminished status.

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Watching the Demise of the Republican Party

29 Nov

I must admit I am thoroughly enjoying the macabre demise of a once powerful political party, the GOP. Their implosion truly began with Saint Reagan’s Voodoo Economics debacle and has hit the party’s nadir with the tantrum-throwing triumvirate of the Senate (Graham, McCain and Ayotte and the Benghazi “Scandal”). It’s been a long time coming and I’m glad to welcome the GOP Apocalypse with open arms. These masters of mendacity have been perpetrating an apocryphal fraud on the American people and it’s taken roughly thirty years for the majority of our electorate to come to this epiphany. The major causes of this impending doom are their adherence to deleterious tax policies, The TeaParty’s influence, voter suppression and religious fundamentalists hijacking the party.

Most notably, the stranglehold of the self-appointed anti-tax czar Grover Norquist seems to be loosening as he seems to be in the throes of desperation. Even long time GOP Senator Alan Simpson (R-Wy) jokes about drowning Norquist and his “pledge” in a bathtub. Good Ole Grover knows he is becoming irrelevant and will threaten pledge-signing Republicans with the fate of Bush 41 if they defy this self-proclaimed tax god who has only hurt our economy with his policies. Teaparty crazies like Joe Walsh and Allen West and their anti-tax zealotry were soundly defeated. In fact, the Teaparty is considered one of the least popular groups in America ranking slightly ahead of Atheists and Muslims.

Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist, never elected to a single office

Teaparty Express leader Amy Kremer believes the reason for the defeat was not the extremist wing of the GOP, but the absence of true conservatism in the candidates. She recently admitted Republicans like Senators Chambliss and Graham are going to be put through a Republican primary fight in 2014 if they don’t uphold the Norquist Pledge. Teabaggers in the House, Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan to name a few, will not raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans and would rather see us suffer a crushing economic blow like they caused last summer when our credit rating was downgraded for the first time in history.

Following the 2012 General Election when President Obama won reelection with a comfortable Electoral College margin (332-206), a few Republican officials openly admitted the reason for their massive voter suppression campaigns was not to prevent voter fraud, but to make sure it was harder for minorities to vote. Fortunately, Democrats in key swing states like Ohio and Pennsylvania were aware of this discrimination campaign and were able to put a halt to their efforts.

Another group to whom they have little influence are those who are not self-proclaimed members of any organized religion. Atheists, Agnostics and “Nones” make up almost 20% of our population, up from around a 6% representation in 1990. Issues like repealing DADT and legalizing gay marriage are supported by many younger voters, both Democrats and Republicans, so the GOP’s outdated stance on these issues is very quickly losing popularity. If birth control, DOMA and abortion are going to comprise their religiously-motivated agenda, 2014 could see a Democratic House once again.

During this holiday season, I am most thankful logic and reason prevailed over “legitimate rape” and personhood in a year the Mayans and Fundamentalists have decided is the End of the World. In other words, Michelle Bachmann’s brand of batshit didn’t sell and probably won’t for a long time. I believe Thomas Ricks said it best in this very abruptly ended interview on Fox News that the Newscorp network is a wing of the Republican propaganda machine. This machine is becoming outdated and obsolete and will slip into irrelevance if they continue behaving like Teabagging Toddlers. I believe the #GOP will no longer be trending in the near future.

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Sports Heroes Attribute Success to God; Churches Use These Profits to Fund Hate

21 Nov

When Gabby Douglas won the Olympic Gymnastics All-Around gold, she proclaimed, “…I give all the glory to God, it’s kind of a win-win situation. The glory goes up to Him and the blessings fall down on me.” She will be reiterating this sentiment in front of thousands of fans at Canyon Ridge Christian Church in Las Vegas December 1st and 2nd, 2012. This is a paid speaking engagement, the church communique explains: The church enjoys bringing these inspirational guests in for our community and congregation and sets aside funds each year for special services like these. The congregation provides untold sums of money, not a penny of which any tax is paid back to the city that provides the roads, power, water, fire and police services. Instead of the largely charitable contribution to society the church should provide, the unregulated and tax-free donations are often spent on promotional events, such as financing celebrities for the purpose of recruiting more worshippers. Tim Tebow spoke there earlier this year and naturally he attracted capacity crowds.

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Canyon Ridge’s motto: God First

The Tim Tebow appearance at Canyon Ridge

When I learned of Gabby Douglas’ appearance, I didn’t think too much about it, as I presumed it was merely meant to inspire young athletes and patrons alike. After seeing so many elaborate color-printed cards displayed at various Las Vegas locations advertising her visit, I thought I’d look into this church a little further. Gabby is an outstanding Olympic athlete who, unfortunately, is not a dynamic public speaker. Like the Tebow visit, Gabby’s appearance is mainly orchestrated to attract potential new congregants.

First here are some basic facts about Canyon Ridge. It is most definitely a “mega-church”, which is by definition any church with a weekly attendance of over 2,000 people. With an average weekly attendance of 6,000, Canyon Ridge can hold up to 3,000 at one time. There are two other mega branches of the church in the Las Vegas Metropolitan area: Central Christian Church, a church where over 5,000 members can attend at once. The third branch, The Crossing is a smaller version, but still qualifies as a mega-church. According to Christian Standard, The Crossing was planted by Canyon Ridge Christian Church on September 24, 2000, and is the youngest megachurch with an average worship attendance of 2,224 last year. Canyon Ridge, located in the northwest valley of Las Vegas, was birthed by Central Christian Church in 1993 and averaged almost 6,000 in attendance last year. Central Christian, also in Las Vegas, averaged close to 18,000 in worship last year. Those are some great church planting genes! I recognize many churches do charitable deeds, like many in the NY/NJ area are currently doing for victims of Hurricane Sandy. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what most megachurches do other than to try to increase their bottom line.

Like so many religions, Canyon Ridge is interested in promoting their faith by expansion all over the globe. They have partnered with the leader of Uganda’s anti-homosexuality movement (AKA “Kill the Gays”), Martin Ssempa. Denounced by Pastor Rick Warren, who led the invocation at President Obama’s Inauguration in 2009, Canyon Ridge’s Pastor Kevin Odor refuses to cut ties with Ssempa citing the need to reduce HIV in Africa. Perhaps someone needs to inform Pastor Odor that HIV is rampant in Sub-Saharan Africa due to poverty, polygamy, lack of education and gender inequality, not just homosexual behavior. The law goes so far as to threaten imprisonment to anyone knowing active homosexuals and not reporting their “illegal” activities. He has yet to change his stance on this issue, which ascertains the conservative, fundamentalist agenda of this church.

As abhorrent as this is, I find the entire concept of brainwashing youth into a culture where God controls all the action creates superficiality and trivializes this contrived sense of morality. If God controls everything, isn’t it presumptuous to interfere with the divine plan? I know many people take comfort in a supernatural deity, and I have no problem with that. What troubles me is the thinking God is so concerned with one’s athletic success while this same God is ignoring plight, allowing babies to be born into abject poverty with AIDS. This creates a selfish culture which rewards obedience to an organization that enriches itself with absolutely no financial disclosure or accountability, while ignoring the real issues we as human beings should truly be concerning ourselves with. Merely praying for someone, or even charging money to have prayers answered is no substitute for food and medical assistance. It is a fraud, and deep down, most people know this.

Religion has a stranglehold over our culture. It’s ironic we never hear about God’s role in a post-game interview where the team loses. “We’d like to thank the almighty for this ass-kicking. Apparently it was exactly what we deserved.” Largely this is a phenomenon of American athletes.

Giving God credit and thanks for opportunity in life, or the motivation to strive, is all but universal among the faithful. But something more seems to be going on here. Athletes are not just thanking God for opportunity and fervor — they are crediting God for a competitive victory. This, in turn, seems to be suggesting something very specific about the inclinations of the Almighty. Has anyone paused to consider that for every winner, there is a loser (in fact, often a whole batch of losers) — and that if God is choosing winners, then God must be choosing losers, too? Are the athletes who attribute their victory to God willing to “blame” God for the often-bitter disappointments of the vanquished?
Is it reasonable to hold God accountable for defeat and failure? Is it reasonable if the losers are good people — just as good as the winner? Is it still reasonable if they are not only just as good, but also practitioners of the same faith, and just as pious? And what if they are just as good, just as pious, just as fervid, practicing the same religion, and worked just as hard? On what basis is God making such decisions? I suppose we might, as people tend to do when matters of faith are questioned, just throw up our hands and ascribe this all to the unknowable particulars of God’s grand plan. But if winning and losing are equally prescribed in the grand plan, then are they really winning and losing? Isn’t everyone doing an equally good job of doing the job God decided to give them? If the losers are every bit as good at doing what God wants them to do as the winners, then who are we to presume to declare them losers — and give medals to the other guys?

Canyon Ridge Church provides spiritual enrichment for many of the faithful and of course is viewed as a positive influence in their lives. It’s the young, impressionable children who are forced to believe this propaganda (which includes a God who always needs more money) who could be most easily manipulated. I watched a few online videos by Pastor Odor and found most of them were quite reminiscent of 700 Club solicitations . He’s mainly concerned with reinforcing the belief in a higher being, as “God” is the answer to all things. That’s paramount to his organization’s success.

It seems this Las Vegas megachurch engages in the same level of deception many televangelists have been found guilty of in years past. Simply click on the giving link and you’ll see how generosity is equated with holiness, which is deplorable in my opinion. I believe it is a form of abuse to influence children in this indoctrinating manner. By furthering an organization steeped in preaching intolerance and denouncing equal human rights, we are doing no service to the morality and emotional well-being of our youth, nor are we truly helping humanity. Jesus preached a message of love that didn’t include a tax-free operation laden with corruption. Helping the poorest and neediest, including homosexuals, is more in line with his teachings.

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Workers and Women Will Know Their Place With Mormons in Charge

25 Oct

Have you noticed the increase in pernicious GOP dirty tricks currently being exposed during this election, which is now at its apex? Sadly, perhaps half of this superficial, material-obsessed country feels this sketchy Mormon candidate is a step up from President Obama, who’s saved us from a depression. They believe Mitt Romney’s assertion he’s going to “fix” the economy by restoring the policies of the Bush crime family, who, as we all know, has wreaked havoc on the U.S. and the world’s economies.

It’s no wonder he idolizes a master manipulator like his cult founder, Joseph Smith. Like Smith, except in a more grandiose way, Willard Romney has helped this cult fraudulently dupe millions of adherents out of billions of dollars. Romney is the manifestation of Smith’s White Horse Prophecy coming to fruition if elected to the highest office in the land. It is also their last hope, because if the GOP is dealt the crushing blow they so richly deserve, their right-wing Teaparty agenda will fade into oblivion (albeit slowly) as will the desperate proponents of the Mormon Cult. Romney and Ryan long to bring America “back” to the days where both women and the proletarian “working stiffs” knew their place and wouldn’t dare demand equal rights.

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Will this be the America of the future?

When your candidate speaks fondly of a trip to what is essentially a Chinese sweatshop, where workers sleep on premises, twelve to a room for pennies an hour, you know this callous man cares little for AMERICAN workers and their families. It’s obvious a couple of entitled boys born with silver spoons in their mouths will never understand there is such a thing as the working poor. “Job creator” is just code for we really could care less about the poor and are preoccupied with anti-abortion legislation. Willard Romney’s main objective is to harvest human labor for profit. His specious sophist of a running mate has legislated little other than laws to restrict women’s rights when it comes to their own bodies. Ryan and Romney are controlled by Teaparty puppet strings, so you know it will only get worse if they’re elected based on previous behavior.

Paul Ryan’s Teaparty Congress Legislated Nothing But Abortions

Mormons and many of their GOP cohorts have shown a severe distaste for workers’ rights and unions. There is a history of nepotism and cronyism in the Mormon Church unlike any other group, so if you’re not one of the indoctrinated, you’re undeserving of a promised life. You are also a second class citizen if you happen to be a woman as well.

Not only did Romney never say he’d support the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, his cult has a patriarchal bias. If only the media would ask a few relevant questions. Just once I’d like to hear this asked to the Mormon candidate: If a person believes that god is a patriarch who rules over multiple wives, that likewise practicing said polygamy is an eternal requirement to be with him in the “highest degree of the celestial kingdom” in the afterlife, and that only men can have priesthood power to run and administer god’s church on earth, can I truly trust that person to fight for and defend absolutely equal rights for women in society via legislation and judicial decisions? The Mormon Cult is desperate for new converts and looks mainly to the less educated Third World for more brainwashing.

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We all know exactly what these two will do. They will roll back the clocks to the good ol days, say pre-1890, when polygamy was legal and install activist misogynist justices on the Supreme Court while removing all semblance of parity when it comes to workers’ rights. As Edmond Burke wisely noted, those who ignore history are destined to repeat it. Make no mistake, Romney and Ryan long to repeat all the mistakes of the Bush Administration and then make a few more colossal whoppers that will most assuredly propel the United States into Third World status. History has taught us no less.

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Salt Lake City Will Dictate A Romney Administration

19 Oct

This Romney statement should incite fear in all Americans: “I believe the separation of Church and State has gone too far .” Unlike President Kennedy, Willard Mitt Romney, along with his faux Catholic running mate, will most assuredly impose their religious beliefs on all Americans, whether they’d like it or not. Employers have recently coerced their employees into voting for Romney by threatening their very livelihood if President Obama should win. This is a mere foreshadowing of the fascist thought that will become rampant in the United States. All Americans should be aware of the impending demolition of the secular principles our Founding Fathers espoused over two and a quarter centuries ago, and there is good reason for this.

Mormon First, American Second: Willard Romney

It seems every single cause the GOP egregiously purports to vilify is the very same issue they seem to eschew. Freedom is their mantra, yet Romney and the GOP wish to eliminate the very religious freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment. The tax-evading Mormon candidate, much like his cult, wishes to have it both ways: an active role in the legislative process without any pay for play. This man, who obviously embraces the Mormon tenet of “Lying for the Lord,” was exposed in the most recent debate by his extemporaneous fabrication of an alleged anti-misogynistic position of seeking more women to hire for cabinet posts, something the Mormon cult certainly, but not openly, disparages. Women are to complement their husbands, provide progeny and obviously to cook dinner. In fact, Romney’s very own Bain Capital was a veritable boy’s club with very few women in real positions of power, much like the hierarchy of the LDS authority.

Romney felt the need to clarify his Mormon faith about two months ago and openly acknowledged how the Latter Day Saints truly have molded him into the quintessential Mormon candidate. He has stated how he’d overturn Roe v Wade, effectively outlawing abortion. This is obviously the chosen position of the LDS Church in Salt Lake. To make matters worse, just consider this quote by his Draconian running mate:

Rape is just another “method of conception” and not an excuse to allow abortions.

Any woman who votes for these two medieval-thinking lunatics obviously feels more comfortable with the mores of the Old Testament than the Constitution. I surely don’t want to unfairly lump all Mormons into this antediluvian group. Democratic Mormons have, on numerous occasions, dissented from the marching orders of the cult. Just recently, Harry Reid, (referred by fellow Mormons as “Dirty Harry”) suggested Mitt Romney hasn’t paid a dime of Federal Income Tax, and thus he was attacked by members of the GOP, especially the Mormons in the House and Senate. He’s yet to be proven false on that accusation, incidentally. Since the nineteenth century, it is almost a universal given that the Mormon Republican members of Congress have done exactly as their Church has instructed. It is worth noting how differently Democratic Mormons have behaved, as they seem to be much more capable of separating church and state.

Is there any doubt Willard Romney, a “severely Conservative” candidate, will impose his beliefs on America? The Republican party IS the faith-based party which has shown countless times their need to supersede a secular United States with a more “Christian” country, so long as the system presents a candidate that looks like them. Even Franklin Graham, the son of Billy Graham, initially labeled the Mormon Church a cult, but has since recanted this claim in order to help Mitt Romney defeat the current “Black” President with the foreign sounding name. The history of the church exercising dominance over every single Republican Mormon should raise red flags by anyone who values the threatened freedoms we enjoy, albeit less and less each day. If you hear a Republican claim there is not enough of their vengeful, anti-poor, bigoted god in this society, that should be considered a blessing. We don’t need Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan dictating the fates of Americans whose lives they have no right to control. Just one more Conservative Supreme Court Justice will make this living Hell a reality and the federal government will mirror the Mormon Republican-dominated government of Utah. Electing these zealots could mean the end of many of our liberties and usher in an era where the United States is no longer discernible from a theocracy, much like Iran.

Interestingly enough, a prominent ex-Mormon noticed in the October 22 debate: One of the reasons he looked so uncomfortable was probably because he had to sit down this time. He is completely conditioned to standing behind a pulpit when giving sermons, looking down at the sheep from on high. His narcissicm was clearly on his face as he smirked at the “fence sitter” born into a cursed lineage. He sure looked uncomfortable and lacking in substance in my opinion.

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Dangerous Cult Similarities in the Mormon Church, Branch Davidians and Jonestown

10 Oct

David Koresh

Jim Jones

These cults have some very clear similarities that classify them, by definition, as a cult. One of these is: the group is elitist, claiming a special, exalted status for itself, its leader(s), and members (for example: the leader is considered the Messiah or an avatar; the group and/or the leader has a special mission to save humanity). Joseph Smith, in starting his Mormon Church of Latter Day Saints, proclaimed he was a direct descendant of Jesus and his followers can become gods themselves, replete with their own worlds to rule with a plethora of wives. He urged followers to take up arms against the U.S. militia and died as a “martyr”. Branch Davidian leader David Koresh proclaimed messiah status in 1990 when he changed his name from Timothy Howell and strongly favored polygamy for himself and also dealt in illegal firearms. People’s Temple cult leader James Jones proclaimed exalted status where members even signed over custody of their children to Jones. All three men proclaimed a sense of divinity and demanded allegiance through intimidation and threats towards their followers. All three led their followers to an untimely, violent death in defense of the cult and its leaders.

My primary issue with the Mormon candidate, Mitt Romney is, how can he believe the fallacious assertions made by Joseph Smith as veritable and still be considered a logical human being, let alone a candidate for president if he’s a devout follower of such cultish nonsense? In my opinion, all religions have fantastical notions but usually, have some fairly valid historical premises, based on love and inclusion essentially. The Mormon cult is another case altogether. Everything about the history of this religion has categorically been proven false by scientific evidence. Joseph Smith was a magnanimous megalomaniac with a penchant for drama.  A church without theater wouldn’t last long, Smith believed.   The ritualistic nature of Temple Endowment Ceremonies, for instance, show a unique interpretation of the Masonic rites they were modeled after.   People need the fantasy, the performance and the mystery, which Smith provided in his founding of a new church—rife with rituals, stories of travel from faraway lands and theatrical acts of mystical translations that are at the core of the church’s history.  A new “gospel” is easier to sell with the extravagant pomp, circumstance and surreptitiousness of the Mormon Church.

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Mormon Cult founder Joseph Smith

The utterly violent and devastating end to both the Branch Davidians and the Guyana Settlement at Jonestown are eerily similar to Brigham Young ordering non-LDS settlers to be slaughtered in the Mountain Meadows Massacre. A cult that will kill with the intention of protecting its interests and the secrecy of its faith should be considered suspect. Moreover, the incident remains buried in political turmoil, even to this day, and was a media sensation for more than 20 years after it happened. Most Mormons know nothing of the original 9/11 and they’d like to keep it that way.

Another technique used by cults is to discourage the acquisition of information and to keep the indoctrinated firmly rooted in the faith.   A recent ploy used by LDS hierarchy to keep its young cult members in the dark is the lowering of the age of missionary service to 18 (from 19). Years of indoctrination and brainwashing could easily be lost with a year spent at a liberal arts college, so LDS President Monson and Company aren’t taking any chances.  They are reluctant to lose any potential tithing members who will perpetually contribute 10% of their net worth to the post mortem afterlife insurance policy.  It is absolutely amazing how many people buy into this fraud, yet it is far more terrifying for our President to subscribe to this nonsense.

End Times predictions abound in cults, the Mormons being no exception. Gun ownership is certainly encouraged. The Mormon Church owns one of the most active and unregulated gun sale portals on the web, according to a national investigation released by the New York City Mayor’s office. The website in question is KSL.com, the online hub for Utah’s NBC affiliate and sister radio station, which are both owned and operated by the for-profit arm of the Mormon Church. In addition to local news, KSL.com produces a popular classifieds section that reaches millions of users well beyond Utah. Jim Jones’ murdering of Congressman Leo Ryan in 1978, the mass suicide and the fiery Branch Davidian siege in 1993 remind us of the drastic measures cult leaders and their followers will resort to if they feel threatened.

Anyone can say that all religions have cultish characteristics, and, to a degree, they’d be right.  But for a religion, in this era of technology and information, to assert such provably false claims as veracious is preposterous.  Jesus Christ was a figure who preached peace, tolerance and acceptance.  The Mormon Church, like others cults, has a history of violence, exclusion and bigotry, no matter how much they try to hide the facts.  It is certainly not a faith which should supercede the United States Constitution by the Leader of the Free World.

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Why Political Candidates’ Beliefs Are Important

27 Aug

This is a re-post from the sagacious Mark Larsen. A former Mormon who served his mission in Argentina, Mr. Larsen is a professor who has most definitely parted ways with the Church. He has compiled this fantastic list from his site Heresies, Blasphemies, Sacrilege! I felt it was such a tremendous list of the pertinent questions to ask anyone running for public office, especially Willard Romney! I encourage readers to view all the articles on his site.

Here is his post entitled: Why Political Candidate’s Beliefs Are Important

There are SO many questions about Romney’s Mormonism that I would LOVE journalists to ask him point blank!

I opine that one’s religious views are just as important —perhaps more important— than one’s political philosophy. As my psychologist spouse informs me: for all practical intents and purposes it is impossible to separate “private” beliefs from public attitudes, prejudices, decisions, and behavior.

For example, when it comes to Mormonism in particular (and many other Christian religions)…

  • If a person privately deems homosexuality a sin, a choice, a perversion, condemned by god, can I trust that individual to labor to establish equal rights for gays and lesbians, including marriage?
  • If someone believes that humans were once male or female “spirits” in a pre-mortal existence, and god then puts them into corresponding male or female bodies, how supportive will the person be of legislation, let alone public health practices, to help transgender children establish and live according to their genetic identity?
  • If someone believes that there are “spirit children” in “heaven,” anxiously lined up, waiting for their chance to finally come to earth and get a physical body before the “second coming,” how would it affect the person’s views on overpopulation in a finite world with finite resources?
  • How would that same belief affect the person’s views on tax laws that allow more and more deductions for families who choose to have more and more children?
  • If someone believes that god gave humans “dominion” over the entire earth, to do with as we please, and that the “second coming” is nigh, that Jesus will descend from heaven to cleanse the earth of sinners and rule over the remaining righteous believers for a thousand years in the near future, should I assume that view will not have an effect upon the person’s decisions that affect the environment, global warming, even industrial pollution? It won’t have any effect on efforts to move to cleaner, renewable sources of energy rather than deciding to “drill, baby, drill” until the fossil fuels are completely gone?
  • If someone believes the earth is less than 10,000 years old, that Adam and Eve were how humans came to exist, will it not taint his/her decisions about funding and support for science education in our public schools?
  • If someone believes that a fertilized egg, an embryo, a fetus is a human being with a “soul,” god’s ultimate and most sacred creation, will it not affect the person’s votes on issues such as stem cell research, contraception, abortion, women’s rights to make their own choices about reproduction?
  • If a person believes that humans are a “special creation” of god, created in his own image, his ultimate handiwork, his own spirit children, but NOT part of the animal kingdom… and that all those other life forms exist solely for “the benefit and use of man”… would it not influence the person’s stance on laws that regulate hunting animals for sport, using them in laboratory experiments, destroying their habitat for commercial gain, exposing them to toxic waste, abusing them, protecting endangered species?
  • If someone believes that, as declared in Mormon scripture, “thou wast chosen before thou wast born,” and thus reserved to come to earth as one of the elect saints in the latter-days before the second coming, does it not affect the person’s political view that “all men are created equal”?
  • If a person believes, like Romney, that he/she is a literal descendant of Ephraim, and thus one of god’s “chosen people of Israel,” will it not affect his/her public views, influence, and decisions regarding conflicts in the Middle East?
  • If someone believes that god orchestrated the establishment of the United States of America, can I trust that person to enforce the separation of church and state?
  • If an individual is obedient to a religion’s hierarchy, believes that such leaders are divinely inspired, that they speak for god on earth, will that person advocate eliminating loopholes in the tax code so that clergy and churches have to pay their fair share of taxes like everyone else?
  • If a person privately believes that black skin is a curse from god for being a “fence-sitter” in a war between Jesus and Lucifer in a pre-mortal existence, and that god has cursed Native Americans with a red skin for their ancestors’ wickedness, sin, and idolatry, can I really assume that the person’s views and votes on civil rights issues will be free of racial prejudice?
  • Similarly, if someone doggedly purports that Native Americans are descendants of Jews, despite all the historical, archaeological, and biological DNA evidence to the contrary, is that person able to face reality, accept and implement the contributions of science and education when making decisions?
  • If a person believes that god is a patriarch who rules over multiple wives, that likewise practicing said polygamy is an eternal requirement to be with him in the “highest degree of the celestial kingdom” in the afterlife, and that only men can have priesthood power to run and administer god’s church on earth, can I truly trust that person to fight for and defend absolutely equal rights for women in society via legislation and judicial decisions?
  • If someone believes that only god can decide when to “bring a soul home,” how would it affect that person’s attitude towards legislation on euthanasia?
  • If a person believes that a ritual of anointment with “consecrated” oil can cure others of an illness, will it not influence the person’s decisions about medical and health issues that affect the public?
  • If someone believes that there is a “ghost in the machine,” that said ghost will continue to exist in an afterlife, that those who die will someday be reunited with their loved ones again in “heaven,” how would it affect the person’s judgment if and when deciding to send men and women in the military to die in war?
  • If a person believes in a god capable of intervening in our lives with miracles, whose intervention can be summoned by prayer and supplication, can I trust that person to make tough and difficult decisions to solve problems by relying solely upon human intellect, abilities, and efforts rather than leaving it “in god’s hands”?
  • If someone believes that his/her underwear is “sacred” and must be worn at all times, day and night, as a protection against “evil,” will the person rely upon scientific data or fall back on supernatural and paranormal beliefs to make pragmatic decisions?
  • If someone is required to pass an interview every year to sustain the head of his/her church as the one and only “prophet, seer, and revelator” of God on earth, is that person obligated to submit to that religious leader’s will on all matters, whether private or public, religious or political?
  • If in that same interview a person agrees to never “affiliate with, or agree with any group or individual whose teachings or practices are contrary to or oppose those accepted by” the person’s church, can I safely assume that said individual will treat all citizens equally under the law?
  • If a person has already taken an oath to “consecrate himself, his time, talents, and everything with which the Lord has blessed him, or with which he may bless him, to his church, for the building up of the kingdom of God on the earth and for the establishment of Zion,” can I trust that individual to give loyalty to our country top priority while in office?

Sigh…. I could go on and on and on —and have, obviously. You can see that society’s hands-off deference to religion as a “sacred cow,” a “tabu” subject, really irks me. My point is that those oh-so-private religious beliefs cannot help but have real effects on real people in the real world. Like Richard Dawkins, I want to know what makes a candidate “tick” before casting my vote.

Follow Mark on Twitter @Yanquetino

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Nervous GOP Pushes Romney’s Nomination Up

25 Aug

The GOP Convention begins August 27 in Tampa, Florida. Generally, the party’s formal nomination of a candidate has occurred on the day before the candidate is scheduled to speak. Republican candidates have typically been nominated a day ahead of their convention speech. Roll call votes have typically begun later in the convention proceedings than will occur this year, a convention official said. Romney is slated to speak next Thursday. So why is Willard Scheduled to be nominated on Monday rather than Wednesday?

No, it’s not what everyone is thinking. Tropical Storm Isaac is expected to hit the Gulf Coast region on Tuesday.

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Isaac isn’t the only storm coming to Tampa

The potential hurricane in this equation is the unwavering storm front the Romney campaign has battled incessantly during the past year, the Ron Paul “Revolution”. Enter the P.A.U.L. Festival to an already embroiled GOP “party” and Tampa becomes quite a tumultuous place for Willard and his gang of merry thieves.

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Willard will accept the nomination Monday and the Fascist-Fest 2012 will culminate with the biggest, rudest windbag of them all, Chris Christie giving the keynote speech. I will try to catch as little of the Pathololgical Lying Misogynist Conference ’12 as I possibly can. It will truly represent the worst group of far right extremists this nation has ever seen: Birthers, Donald Trumps, NRA supporting “open carry” laws at convention and the usual gang of fundamentalist Christians. I wonder if the polygamous sects of the FLDS church will parade out their wives proudly in Tampa? Why not? It fits in with the Freak-Fest motif.
UPDATE: Due to “weather” the GOP has decided to delay the start of its convention until 8/28. Wasn’t that the same date Glenn Beck held his hate rally two years ago? Just sayin’….

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