The Moche lived in northern Peru from about 100-700 A.D. Their molded ceramics are still a highlight in the annals of human accomplishment. If you walk through a museum of pre-Columbian art, it’s easy to spot a Moche piece – the faces are so realistic you expect them to wink at you.

Around 500 A.D., the world was experiencing some drastic climate changes. There was a super El Nino weather phenomenon on the west coast. Cataclysmic floods were followed by drought. The Moche, like most ancient peoples, are thought to be very religious. They wanted to thwart this devastation and improve the weather by trying to appease their gods. So they sacrificed masses of their citizens. Just slaughtered hundreds of people in hopes of saving more.

Does this sound like religious extremism? Yes. Because it is.

Negotiating with nature is a very ancient thing to do: Pre-science, pre-wheel, - pre-written language. As a species, we’ve always seen patterns in natural events and taken it personally. Floods are because of sin – droughts are because of witches. Earthquakes are God’s anger towards women’s suffrage and Chinese immigration, etc.

But now we know better. At least, some of us do. Sort of. Now we know the Earth’s crust shifts. It always has. All our continents used to be one; scientists refer to as Pangaea. We know that continuing shift results in earthquakes. Instead of hurricanes just appearing all of a sudden as a result of moral shortcomings, we can now track them via satellite for days. There is also a growing understanding about how global warming has intensified weather patterns, hurricanes have been made worse by pollution and the extraction process for natural gas known as “fracking” has caused earthquakes.

Yes, we have a greater knowledge of weather and seismic activities than ever before.

So when the East Coast experienced a rare earthquake – there was an archaic response from religious leaders. It wasn’t that these things happen on this planet we all live on - it was because of gay marriage. Rabbi Yehuda Levin told his YouTube audience, “[We] are starting to see the connection.” As if the earth never moved before cake toppers had two grooms.

It’s ghoulish opportunism. Just like in the wake of the quake that nearly leveled Haiti and killed thousands, televangelist Pat Robertson claimed it was because Haitians made a pact with the devil to liberate themselves from slavery 200 years ago. So Robertson’s devil ran an 18th century anti-slavery Caribbean underground railroad? Wouldn’t that be a good thing? He has an odd religion. He also chimed into the “what did we do to deserve a non-fatal earthquake in DC?” discussion by claiming a crack in the Washington Monument meant something beyond why not to build a 555-foot marble obelisk on swampland.

Then there was a hurricane in the same area within a week. For capitalizing atmospheric interpreters – it’s show time! Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann told a rally in Florida – the state with the highest proportion of elderly (think Social Security and Medicare beneficiaries) and hurricanes in the country – that these events are a warning about government spending.

Because weather is a quid pro quo with God and the Republican Party’s agenda.

It’s time to build a wall (or a levee) between church and weather.

Natural disasters aren’t punishment. And religion isn’t a Doppler radar.

Continue reading »

It didn't take Beck long to inject himself in his usual vile way into a tragedy and make it actually worse.

Speaking on his radio show Monday, Beck said, "I'm not saying God is, you know, causing earthquakes," before quickly adding, "I'm not not saying that either."

He then said that whatever one called God, "there's a message being sent. And that is, 'Hey, you know that stuff we're doing? Not really working out real well. Maybe we should stop doing some of it.' I'm just saying."

If I believed in this sort of thing I might ask Beck if maybe the messages that he's hearing from GOD about this natural disaster are being directed towards Conservatives because of the way "they have been doing things"? Cut out the crazy, please. That wouldn't be GOD speaking of course, it would be humanity.

Scott Roeder murdered Dr. George Tiller in cold blood while he was serving as an usher at his church. Roeder, who has close ties with Randall Terry's Operation Rescue is now considering a Justifiable Homicide defense:

WICHITA, Kan. – The suspect in the killing of abortion provider George Tiller is in talks with a prominent attorney who represents anti-abortion protesters and has long advocated justifiable homicide as a legal defense in such cases.

Scott Roeder, 51, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and aggravated assault charges in the May 31 shooting death of Tiller in the foyer of his Wichita church. The Kansas City, Mo., man has refused to discuss his case, but he has told The Associated Press that Tiller's killing was justified to save "the lives of unborn children."

Roeder has court-appointed defense attorneys, but he apparently has now turned to Michael Hirsh, the lawyer who represented Paul Hill on appeal for killing a Florida abortion provider and his bodyguard in 1994. Hill was executed in 2003 after the Florida Supreme Court rejected Hirsh's argument that the judge should have allowed Hill to present to jurors his claim that the killings were justified to prevent abortions.

The Florida Supreme Court ruled in denying Hill's appeal that his motivation would not change the outcome of the case. "As a practical matter, permitting a defendant to vindicate his or her criminal activity in this manner would be an invitation for lawlessness," the justices wrote. Read on...

While the Justifiable Homicide defense in this case is a long shot, I agree with the Florida court's findings. It is clear that an acquittal in the Roeder case would unleash a flurry of violence against abortion providers and the women who seek to exercise their legal rights. The scary part is that this case is being tried in Kansas.

[H/t Dave N.]

Beware America, progressives want to end prayer -- which means to these maniacs the elimination of GOD. That's the wackiness coming from Glenn Beck last week while I was in DC.

He doesn't have John Gibson's hairdo, but he does keep the insane right-wing nonsense alive and well that FOX craves. He easily slips into the 2/5PM time slot quite nicely for FOX as Gibby's replacement. As all C&L readers know, I'm not hostile to religion, I was brought up a Catholic, but extremists like Dobson do a disservice to the moderates that practice religion at their own pace. Now back to the video.

The first order of business was for Beck and Dobson to lovingly embrace each other like long lost lovers for the FOX followers because in late December Dobson was forced to take down a Beck article off his website because Glenn is part of the Mormon Cult. Pam has the story.

Dobson Caves to Evangelicals Who Call Glenn Beck a Cultist

Good times, good times. To dispel the so-called rumors of a rift between the two, Beck says he got a Christmas card from Dobson and oh, how they are so much in love.

Dobson: Boy Glenn, I have no idea where that came from. It's just goofy.

It came from his Christian followers. Ahhh, all is forgiven...Now to the meat of the segment. It's about a "moment of silence" law passed in Ill. back in '07 that was rejected by America's governor, (Blagojevich) but was still passed through his veto. Just another coded attempt at injecting religion into the public school system. A lawsuit was then filed:

A 14-year-old girl and her outspoken atheist father filed a federal lawsuit Friday challenging a new Illinois law requiring a brief period of prayer or reflective silence at the start of every school day. The lawsuit asks the court to declare the law unconstitutional, said attorney Gregory Kulis,

The lawsuit was upheld:

--A federal judge has ruled that a state law requiring a moment of silence in public schools across Illinois is unconstitutional, saying it crosses the line separating church and state.

"The statute is a subtle effort to force students at impressionable ages to contemplate religion," U.S. District Judge Robert W. Gettleman said in his ruling Wednesday.

Now you have a little context to work with since Beck wouldn't ever fill you in with all the details. You know, it's just the usual conservative whineathon session that embodies the extreme right when they appear on camera.

Beck extrapolates from this ruling that if GOD doesn't exist and GOD gives us our rights, then who gives you your rights? The States, maybe? I thought it came from our constitution, but that's just me. Anyway, WTF where they talking about in this video? (watch the video. I can't write that up) This ruling has nothing to do with our rights or the elimination of GOD. It's about keeping the separation of church and state intact.

So after a nonsensical discussion about our rights, Beck talks about Dobson's 20 year old interview with serial killer Ted Bundy. Dobson starts out by saying that Bundy wanted to comment on pornography just before his execution because Dobson had been part of putting together a massive report on it so he invited him for an interview. So I was waiting for the punchline of Bundy blaming porn for his treachery, but no ... he just admitted to being addicted to it and then predicted that more violence would occur if violent porn still continued... Oh, words of wisdom from a psycho killer that Dobson clings on to like a badge of honor. Only a man like Dobson would use a serial killer, prone to lie about everything to make his point.

Dobson also has a fascination with David Berkowitz, the 44 Killer. FOF did a three part interview with him.

I found this old post I wrote called "Things They Share:

Bill Frist disclosed that he went to animal shelters and pretended to adopt the cats, telling shelter personnel he intended to keep them as pets. Instead he used them to sharpen his surgical skills, killing them in the process.

James Dobson: When I returned I held up the belt and again told my angry dog to get into his bed. He stood his ground, so I gave him a firm swat across the rear end and he tried to bite the belt. The tiny dog and I had the most vicious fight ever staged between man and beast. ... I eventually got him to bed, but only because I outweighed him 200 to 12.

Albert DeSalvo (the Boston Strangler): In his youth he trapped dogs and cats in orange crates and shot arrows through the boxes.

Jeffrey Dahmer staked cats to trees and decapitated dogs.

Henry Lee Lucas As a child, he killed every cat on his parent's farm.

David Berkowitz killed his neighbour's Labrador retriever.

Bush admits something that would have been political suicide four years ago:

WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush said his belief that God created the world is not incompatible with the scientific theory of evolution.

In an interview with ABC's "Nightline" on Monday, the president also said he probably is not a literalist when reading the Bible although an individual can learn a great deal from it, including the New Testament teaching that God sent his only son.

Asked about creation and evolution, Bush said: "I think you can have both. I think evolution can -- you're getting me way out of my lane here. I'm just a simple president. But it's, I think that God created the earth, created the world; I think the creation of the world is so mysterious it requires something as large as an almighty and I don't think it's incompatible with the scientific proof that there is evolution."

He added, "I happen to believe that evolution doesn't fully explain the mystery of life."

Interviewer Cynthia McFadden asked Bush if the Bible was literally true.

"You know. Probably not. ... No, I'm not a literalist, but I think you can learn a lot from it, but I do think that the New Testament for example is ... has got ... You know, the important lesson is 'God sent a son,"' Bush said.

DownWithTyranny!: Who will be the next Gay Republican hypocrite to be dragged out of the closet screaming about mediaa witch hunts?

Majikthise: Tancredo to Gulf Coast--Drop Dead

The Orstrahyun: Nine stolen anti-tank rocket launchers are still missing as world leaders begin flying in to Sydney, Australia for next week's APEC summit. President Bush is set to arrive on Tuesday, amidst a net of ultra-security set to lockdown the centre of the city, for most of the working week.

Horses Mouth:  It'll be interesting to see if this gets any attention...

The Carpetbagger Report: Stop me if you've heard this one: career Bush administration officials had an idea that would benefit the public; affected corporations balked and hired lobbyists, political appointees ("loyal Bushies") scrapped the idea.

HOLY CRAP: Not everything in this feature should be construed as anti-religion.  I think our readers can separate the chicken salad from the chicken sh*t.  Fr'instance here's slacktivist, Fred Clark on Obama and theolgian Reinhold Niebuhr...G-Dub snubs a War widow, because she's a Wiccan...A week's worth of updates on Christianist fringe-dwellers...A PG-rated rant telling religious zealots to mind their own bidness...What do I mean by religious zealots?  These assh*les.  Indeed, religious extremism is the source of a lot of the world's trouble, but apparently last week's program on CNN, "God's Warriors", did not make some members of the Am-Taliban very happy...Hitchens and Donohue duke it out on Hardball...Happy Jihad's House of Pancakes thinks Answers in Genesis has the funniest posts...

Kevin Phillips, the author of the book called, "American Theocracy." was on with Lou Dobbs yesterday to talk about his book and how religious extremism is influencing the White House. His book was the premise for Bush's first question in Cleveland yesterday that he ignored completely.

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Transcript

Dobbs: Former Republican Party strategist Kevin Phillips joins us here tonight. His new book is called "American Theocracy." It is a provocative indictment of the administration's foreign and economic policy, and examines, among other things, how the religious right is driving this administration's policy. Kevin, it is going good to have you with us.

Phillips: Ah. 1969 is when it was published. It started before the election. But what's happened to the Republican coalition in the last 10 years especially is it's been moved more and more towards religious yardsticks. People who go to church. People who favor religion defining government. People who have just a whole set of concerns that go beyond economics.

One of the reasons I think we have kind of screwed up economic politician in some ways is that a lot of Americans have stopped worrying about the economy because they're waiting for the second coming.

Dobbs: And you mean this quite literally?

Phillips: I mean it quite literally.