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    mrussel1mrussel1 Posts: 28,637
    mickeyrat said:
    mrussel1 said:
    DewieCox said:
    He would shill for free as long as you promise not to call his wife ugly in public. He would be eternally grateful. 

     Yeah  but he grovels like a boot licking lapdog who's been beaten when you do call his wife ugly
    Just DO NOT dare to say his father was involved in JFKs assassination.  And if you do,  you better be prepared for some serious denials... and apologies. 
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    mickeyratmickeyrat up my ass, like Chadwick was up his Posts: 35,832
     May 26, 2022 (Thursday)

    One of the key things that drove the rise of the current Republican Party was the celebration of a certain model of an ideal man, patterned on the image of the American cowboy. Republicans claimed to be defending individual men who could protect their families if only the federal government would stop interfering with them. Beginning in the 1950s, those opposed to government regulation and civil rights decisions pushed the imagery of the cowboy, who ran cattle on the Great Plains from 1866 to about 1886 and who, in legend, was a white man who worked hard, fought hard against Indigenous Americans, and wanted only for the government to leave him alone.

    That image was not true to the real cowboys, at least a third of whom were Black or men of color, or to the reality of government intervention in the Great Plains, which was more extensive there than in any other region of the country. It was a reaction to federal laws after the Civil War defending Black rights in the post–Civil War South, laws white racists said were federal overreach that could only lead to what they insisted was “socialism.”

    In the 1950s, the idea of an individual hardworking man taking care of his family and beholden to no one was an attractive image to those who disliked government protection of civil rights, and politicians who wanted to dissolve business regulation pulled them into the Republican Party by playing to the mythology of movie heroes like John Wayne. Part of that mythology, of course, was the idea that men with guns could defend their families, religion, and freedom against a government trying to crush them. By the 1980s, the National Rifle Association had abandoned its traditional stance promoting gun safety and was defending “gun rights” and the Republican Party; in the 1990s, talk radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh fed the militia movement with inflammatory warnings that the government was coming for a man’s guns, destroying his ability to protect his family.

    That cowboy image has stoked an obsession with guns and with military hardware and war training in police departments. It feeds a conviction that true men dominate situations, both at home and abroad, with violence. That dominance, in turn, is supposed to protect society’s vulnerable women and children.

    In 2008, in the District of Columbia v. Heller decision, the Supreme Court said that individuals have a right to own firearms outside of membership in a militia or for traditional purposes such as hunting or self-defense, and dramatically limited federal regulation of them. Justice Antonin Scalia, who wrote the majority decision, was a leading “originalist” on the court, eager to erase the decisions of the post-WWII courts that upheld business regulation and civil rights.

    In 2004, a ten-year federal ban on assault weapons expired, and since then. mass shootings have tripled. Zusha Elinson, who is writing a history of the bestselling AR-15 military style weapon used in many mass shootings, notes that there were about 400,000 AR-15 style rifles in America before the assault weapons ban went into effect in 1994. Today, there are 20 million.

    For years now, Republicans have stood firmly against measures to guard Americans against gun violence, even as a majority of Americans support commonsense measures like  background checks. Notably, after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in 2012, when a gunman murdered 20 six- and seven-year-old students and 6 staff members, Republicans in the Senate filibustered a bipartisan bill sponsored by Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Pat Toomey (R-PA) that would have expanded background checks, killing it despite the 55 votes in favor of it.

    Since Sandy Hook, the nation has suffered more than 3500 mass shootings, and Republicans have excused them by claiming they didn’t actually happen, or by insisting we need more guns so there will be “a good guy with a gun” to take out a shooter, or that we need to “harden targets,” or that we need more police in the schools (which has simply led to more student arrests), or as Senator Ted Cruz said today, to limit the number of doors in schools, or, as a guest on Fox News Channel personality Sean Hannity’s show said, to put “mantraps” and trip wires in the schools.

    The initial story of what happened on Tuesday in Uvalde fit the Republican myth. Police spokespeople told reporters that a school district police officer confronted the shooter outside the building before he barricaded himself in a classroom, killing 19 and wounding 22 others in his rampage.

    But as more details are emerging today, they are undermining the myth itself.

    Robb Elementary School, where the murders took place, had already been “hardened” with the town investing more than $650,000 in security enhancements, but the shooter apparently entered through an unlocked door. The Uvalde police department consumes 40% of the town’s budget and has its own Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit. And yet, the stories that are emerging from Uvalde suggest that the shooter fired shots outside the school for 12 minutes before entering it and that he was not, in fact, confronted outside. Police officers arrived at the same time he entered the school, but they did not go in until after he had been in the building for four minutes. Seven officers then entered, but the lone gunman apparently drove them out with gunfire, and they stayed outside, holding back frantic parents, until Border Patrol tactical officers arrived a full hour later.

    Parents tried to get the police to go in but instead found themselves under attack for interfering with an investigation. One man was thrown to the ground and pepper sprayed. U.S. Marshals arrested and handcuffed Angeli Rose Gomez, whose children were in the school and who had had time to drive 40 miles to get to them, for interfering as she demanded they do something. Gomez got local officers she knew to talk the Marshals into releasing her. Then she jumped the school fence, ran in, grabbed her two kids, and ran out.

    A Texas Department of Safety official told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer tonight that the law enforcement officers at the school were reluctant to engage the gunman because “they could’ve been shot, they could’ve been killed.”

    There are still many, many questions about what happened in Uvalde, but it seems clear that the heroes protecting the children were not the guys with guns, but the moms and the dads and the two female teachers who died trying to protect their students: Eva Mireles and Irma Garcia. News reports today say that Garcia’s husband, Joseph, died this morning of a heart attack, leaving four children.

    Last week, in the aftermath of the deadly attack on a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, Democrats in the House of Representatives quickly passed a a domestic terrorism bill. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) tried to get the Senate to take it up today. It would have sparked a debate on gun safety. Republicans blocked it. In the aftermath of Tuesday’s massacre, only five Republicans have said they are willing to consider background checks for gun purchases. That is not enough to break a filibuster.

    Last night, Texas candidate for governor Beto O’Rourke confronted Texas governor Greg Abbott at a press conference. Last year, Abbott signed at least seven new laws to make it easier to obtain guns, and after the Uvalde murders, he said tougher gun laws are not “a real solution.” O’Rourke offered a different vision for defending our children than stocking up on guns. "The time to stop the next shooting is right now, and you are doing nothing," O'Rourke said, standing in front of a dais at which Abbott sat. "You said this is not predictable…. This is totally predictable…. This is on you, until you choose to do something different…. This will continue to happen. Somebody needs to stand up for the children of this state or they will continue to be killed, just like they were killed in Uvalde yesterday.”
     
    Uvalde mayor Don McLaughlin shouted profanities at O'Rourke; Texas Republican lieutenant governorDan Patrick told the former congressman, "You're out of line and an embarrassment”; and Senator Ted Cruz told him, “Sit down.”

    But this evening the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays announced they would use their social media channels not to cover tonight’s game but to share facts about gun violence. “The devastating events that have taken place in Uvalde, Buffalo and countless other communities across our nation are tragedies that are intolerable.”

    _____________________________________SIGNATURE________________________________________________

    Not today Sir, Probably not tomorrow.............................................. bayfront arena st. pete '94
    you're finally here and I'm a mess................................................... nationwide arena columbus '10
    memories like fingerprints are slowly raising.................................... first niagara center buffalo '13
    another man ..... moved by sleight of hand...................................... joe louis arena detroit '14
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    Halifax2TheMaxHalifax2TheMax Posts: 36,633
    The couple referenced owns the gun manufacturing business for the gun used in killing 19 school kids and 2 teachers in Tejas. I was struck by Herschel’s statement. Gun lobby money, you go GA!

    The beneficiaries of the couple’s political contributions include at least one candidate who emerged victorious in Tuesday’s primary contests, Herschel Walker. The former football star is running for the U.S. Senate in Georgia with former president Donald Trump’s endorsement. Asked Tuesday night whether he would support new gun legislation, Walker said, “What I like to do is see it and everything and stuff.”


    09/15/1998 & 09/16/1998, Mansfield, MA; 08/29/00 08/30/00, Mansfield, MA; 07/02/03, 07/03/03, Mansfield, MA; 09/28/04, 09/29/04, Boston, MA; 09/22/05, Halifax, NS; 05/24/06, 05/25/06, Boston, MA; 07/22/06, 07/23/06, Gorge, WA; 06/27/2008, Hartford; 06/28/08, 06/30/08, Mansfield; 08/18/2009, O2, London, UK; 10/30/09, 10/31/09, Philadelphia, PA; 05/15/10, Hartford, CT; 05/17/10, Boston, MA; 05/20/10, 05/21/10, NY, NY; 06/22/10, Dublin, IRE; 06/23/10, Northern Ireland; 09/03/11, 09/04/11, Alpine Valley, WI; 09/11/11, 09/12/11, Toronto, Ont; 09/14/11, Ottawa, Ont; 09/15/11, Hamilton, Ont; 07/02/2012, Prague, Czech Republic; 07/04/2012 & 07/05/2012, Berlin, Germany; 07/07/2012, Stockholm, Sweden; 09/30/2012, Missoula, MT; 07/16/2013, London, Ont; 07/19/2013, Chicago, IL; 10/15/2013 & 10/16/2013, Worcester, MA; 10/21/2013 & 10/22/2013, Philadelphia, PA; 10/25/2013, Hartford, CT; 11/29/2013, Portland, OR; 11/30/2013, Spokane, WA; 12/04/2013, Vancouver, BC; 12/06/2013, Seattle, WA; 10/03/2014, St. Louis. MO; 10/22/2014, Denver, CO; 10/26/2015, New York, NY; 04/23/2016, New Orleans, LA; 04/28/2016 & 04/29/2016, Philadelphia, PA; 05/01/2016 & 05/02/2016, New York, NY; 05/08/2016, Ottawa, Ont.; 05/10/2016 & 05/12/2016, Toronto, Ont.; 08/05/2016 & 08/07/2016, Boston, MA; 08/20/2016 & 08/22/2016, Chicago, IL; 07/01/2018, Prague, Czech Republic; 07/03/2018, Krakow, Poland; 07/05/2018, Berlin, Germany; 09/02/2018 & 09/04/2018, Boston, MA; 09/08/2022, Toronto, Ont; 09/11/2022, New York, NY; 09/14/2022, Camden, NJ; 09/02/2023, St. Paul, MN;

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    mrussel1mrussel1 Posts: 28,637
    The couple referenced owns the gun manufacturing business for the gun used in killing 19 school kids and 2 teachers in Tejas. I was struck by Herschel’s statement. Gun lobby money, you go GA!

    The beneficiaries of the couple’s political contributions include at least one candidate who emerged victorious in Tuesday’s primary contests, Herschel Walker. The former football star is running for the U.S. Senate in Georgia with former president Donald Trump’s endorsement. Asked Tuesday night whether he would support new gun legislation, Walker said, “What I like to do is see it and everything and stuff.”


    You're not being fair here.  He expanded on his answer and as a true visionary, recommended a new federal safety agency.  

    “What we need to do is look into how we can stop those things. You know, they talk about doing a disinformation, what about getting a department that could look at young men that’s looking at women that looking at social media. What about doing that? Looking into things like that? If we can stop that that way?”
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    SmellymanSmellyman Asia Posts: 4,520
    mrussel1 said:
    The couple referenced owns the gun manufacturing business for the gun used in killing 19 school kids and 2 teachers in Tejas. I was struck by Herschel’s statement. Gun lobby money, you go GA!

    The beneficiaries of the couple’s political contributions include at least one candidate who emerged victorious in Tuesday’s primary contests, Herschel Walker. The former football star is running for the U.S. Senate in Georgia with former president Donald Trump’s endorsement. Asked Tuesday night whether he would support new gun legislation, Walker said, “What I like to do is see it and everything and stuff.”


    You're not being fair here.  He expanded on his answer and as a true visionary, recommended a new federal safety agency.  

    “What we need to do is look into how we can stop those things. You know, they talk about doing a disinformation, what about getting a department that could look at young men that’s looking at women that looking at social media. What about doing that? Looking into things like that? If we can stop that that way?”
    This guy was elected President.

    “Look, having nuclear — my uncle was a great professor and scientist and engineer, Dr. John Trump at MIT; good genes, very good genes, OK, very smart, the Wharton School of Finance, very good, very smart — you know, if you’re a conservative Republican, if I were a liberal, if, like, OK, if I ran as a liberal Democrat, they would say I’m one of the smartest people anywhere in the world — it’s true! — but when you’re a conservative Republican they try — oh, do they do a number — that’s why I always start off: Went to Wharton, was a good student, went there, went there, did this, built a fortune — you know I have to give my like credentials all the time, because we’re a little disadvantaged — but you look at the nuclear deal, the thing that really bothers me — it would have been so easy, and it’s not as important as these lives are — nuclear is so powerful; my uncle explained that to me many, many years ago, the power and that was 35 years ago; he would explain the power of what’s going to happen and he was right, who would have thought? — but when you look at what’s going on with the four prisoners — now it used to be three, now it’s four — but when it was three and even now, I would have said it’s all in the messenger; fellas, and it is fellas because, you know, they don’t, they haven’t figured that the women are smarter right now than the men, so, you know, it’s gonna take them about another 150 years — but the Persians are great negotiators, the Iranians are great negotiators, so, and they, they just killed, they just killed us, this is horrible.”


  • Options
    HughFreakingDillonHughFreakingDillon Winnipeg Posts: 35,833
    mrussel1 said:
    The couple referenced owns the gun manufacturing business for the gun used in killing 19 school kids and 2 teachers in Tejas. I was struck by Herschel’s statement. Gun lobby money, you go GA!

    The beneficiaries of the couple’s political contributions include at least one candidate who emerged victorious in Tuesday’s primary contests, Herschel Walker. The former football star is running for the U.S. Senate in Georgia with former president Donald Trump’s endorsement. Asked Tuesday night whether he would support new gun legislation, Walker said, “What I like to do is see it and everything and stuff.”


    You're not being fair here.  He expanded on his answer and as a true visionary, recommended a new federal safety agency.  

    “What we need to do is look into how we can stop those things. You know, they talk about doing a disinformation, what about getting a department that could look at young men that’s looking at women that looking at social media. What about doing that? Looking into things like that? If we can stop that that way?”
    the bar is so fucking low these days it's insanely embarrassing. most on this message board are more qualified to hold office and make policy than these fucking morons. 
    Flight Risk out NOW!

    www.headstonesband.com




  • Options
    mrussel1mrussel1 Posts: 28,637
    mrussel1 said:
    The couple referenced owns the gun manufacturing business for the gun used in killing 19 school kids and 2 teachers in Tejas. I was struck by Herschel’s statement. Gun lobby money, you go GA!

    The beneficiaries of the couple’s political contributions include at least one candidate who emerged victorious in Tuesday’s primary contests, Herschel Walker. The former football star is running for the U.S. Senate in Georgia with former president Donald Trump’s endorsement. Asked Tuesday night whether he would support new gun legislation, Walker said, “What I like to do is see it and everything and stuff.”


    You're not being fair here.  He expanded on his answer and as a true visionary, recommended a new federal safety agency.  

    “What we need to do is look into how we can stop those things. You know, they talk about doing a disinformation, what about getting a department that could look at young men that’s looking at women that looking at social media. What about doing that? Looking into things like that? If we can stop that that way?”
    the bar is so fucking low these days it's insanely embarrassing. most on this message board are more qualified to hold office and make policy than these fucking morons. 
    Well the agency is up and running. Credit to Colbert. 


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    HughFreakingDillonHughFreakingDillon Winnipeg Posts: 35,833
    THAT IS GOLD
    Flight Risk out NOW!

    www.headstonesband.com




  • Options
    brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 40,749
    Saw this on FB this morning and found it worth quoting here:

    Somber warning from a Pastor about the intentions of Evangelical "conservative" christians in American politics.
    Pastor John Pavlovitz: “I’ve been a pastor in the church for over two decades, much of that in predominantly white churches in the American South.
    I’ve spent countless hours in church staff meetings and men’s Bible studies and youth pastor conferences.
    I’ve stayed connected on social media with thousands of people still there in those churches. I read what they share and post and amplify and I know how they think and what they believe.
    I need you to understand something and I say it without any hyperbole: white Evangelicals need to be stopped, now.
    If the 2022 midterms elections allow Republicans to gain control of Congress, Conservative Christians will decimate this nation, and LGBTQ people, Muslims, women, people of color, and non-Christians will never have equality under the law again. We will all be at their mercy—and they will no longer have use for mercy.
    This is not alarmist, sky-is-falling histrionics, it is the clear and sober forecast from someone who knows these people better than anyone. Over the last decade and a half, as my theology shifted and my beliefs grew more and more progressive, I’ve been a kind of undercover Liberal in an increasingly extremist movement, that while once relegated to minor fringe noisemakers is now at the precipice of Roman Empire-level power. They are less than two years away from having a dominance that they will wield violently and not relinquish.
    I watched it all unfold from the inside:
    I was at a North Carolina megachurch when Obama was elected and I saw the shift take place firsthand. I saw the fear slowly being ratcheted up and the agenda become solidified and the prejudices leveraged.
    I was speaking regularly at the Billy Graham headquarters when Fox News reporters and Republicans like Sarah Palin started walking the halls with frequency.
    I saw the messages at pastor’s conferences grow more incendiary and urgent, and heard the supremacist dog whistles become louder and more frequent.
    While many decent people around this nation celebrated the progress of a black president and the many civil and human rights victories and gradually let down their guard—the white Conservative church set off the alarms and prepared for a holy war.
    Yet, they were still a largely powerless, dying dinosaur until 2016, when Donald Trump acquired the presidency and gave the Evangelicals the perfect amoral partner to serve as the biggest bully pulpit they’ve ever had. Combine that with a fragmented Left, a general fatigue by the larger population, a ceremonial victory in Congress (thanks to Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema), and Republican attacks on voters’ rights— and we are now a hair’s breadth from the subjugation of diverse humanity here.
    These are not followers of Jesus despite the trappings and window dressing. They are Jesus-less extremists: blind zealots for nothing but power. They have been conditioned by decades of polluted theology and FoxNews alternative facts to see diversity as a threat, to see progress as attacks on America, and to interpret more people being treated with dignity as oppression of white people.
    Trust me when I tell you that we won’t recover from the theocracy Evangelicals are constructing once it is established. If we fail in 2022, they will have a political power that will render every election null and void, and we will never have a voice again in our lifetimes.
    Women will lose autonomy over their own bodies.
    LGBTQ people will have the rights to marry and adopt taken away.
    People of color will be fully squeezed out of the electoral process.
    Immigrants will be denied access to opportunity and refuge here.
    These are not creative projections. They are precisely what Evangelicals have repeatedly stated as their intentions, and they’re closer than they’ve ever been to having a rubber stamp.
    We can still stop it, though.
    We just need a unity and coordination that transcends theirs.
    We need a sustained, passionate, dedicated defense of humanity that rivals their relentless assaults on it.
    I hear many people say they’re terrified, but being terrified alone doesn’t do anything but help these people.
    Be terrified and get angry.
    Be terrified and get busy.
    Be terrified and go to work.
    Be terrified and fight like hell.
    I wish more decent people in America remembered they are among the vast majority instead of acting as if they are helpless victims of Republican Christians. We could defeat them, and we need to. We just need to stop lamenting how much damage they are doing and start doing something to oppose them.
    We’ve seen this play out throughout history and we know how it ends. We know what unchecked religious extremist is capable of and we know the cost of the silence and inaction of good people. We also know what people are capable of when they refuse to accept fascism and white supremacy cloaked in the Bible and wrapped in the flag, when they fight for something inherently good together.
    As someone who knows just how much these Christians have lost the plot of their faith tradition, believe me when I tell you that they cannot be allowed to steer this nation. It will not end well for the disparate people who call it home or who one day wish to.
    Love and equity and diversity are in the balance.
    It’s time we made a choice.
    It may be the last one we get.”
    Pastor John Pavlovitz

    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













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    Halifax2TheMaxHalifax2TheMax Posts: 36,633
    brianlux said:
    Saw this on FB this morning and found it worth quoting here:

    Somber warning from a Pastor about the intentions of Evangelical "conservative" christians in American politics.
    Pastor John Pavlovitz: “I’ve been a pastor in the church for over two decades, much of that in predominantly white churches in the American South.
    I’ve spent countless hours in church staff meetings and men’s Bible studies and youth pastor conferences.
    I’ve stayed connected on social media with thousands of people still there in those churches. I read what they share and post and amplify and I know how they think and what they believe.
    I need you to understand something and I say it without any hyperbole: white Evangelicals need to be stopped, now.
    If the 2022 midterms elections allow Republicans to gain control of Congress, Conservative Christians will decimate this nation, and LGBTQ people, Muslims, women, people of color, and non-Christians will never have equality under the law again. We will all be at their mercy—and they will no longer have use for mercy.
    This is not alarmist, sky-is-falling histrionics, it is the clear and sober forecast from someone who knows these people better than anyone. Over the last decade and a half, as my theology shifted and my beliefs grew more and more progressive, I’ve been a kind of undercover Liberal in an increasingly extremist movement, that while once relegated to minor fringe noisemakers is now at the precipice of Roman Empire-level power. They are less than two years away from having a dominance that they will wield violently and not relinquish.
    I watched it all unfold from the inside:
    I was at a North Carolina megachurch when Obama was elected and I saw the shift take place firsthand. I saw the fear slowly being ratcheted up and the agenda become solidified and the prejudices leveraged.
    I was speaking regularly at the Billy Graham headquarters when Fox News reporters and Republicans like Sarah Palin started walking the halls with frequency.
    I saw the messages at pastor’s conferences grow more incendiary and urgent, and heard the supremacist dog whistles become louder and more frequent.
    While many decent people around this nation celebrated the progress of a black president and the many civil and human rights victories and gradually let down their guard—the white Conservative church set off the alarms and prepared for a holy war.
    Yet, they were still a largely powerless, dying dinosaur until 2016, when Donald Trump acquired the presidency and gave the Evangelicals the perfect amoral partner to serve as the biggest bully pulpit they’ve ever had. Combine that with a fragmented Left, a general fatigue by the larger population, a ceremonial victory in Congress (thanks to Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema), and Republican attacks on voters’ rights— and we are now a hair’s breadth from the subjugation of diverse humanity here.
    These are not followers of Jesus despite the trappings and window dressing. They are Jesus-less extremists: blind zealots for nothing but power. They have been conditioned by decades of polluted theology and FoxNews alternative facts to see diversity as a threat, to see progress as attacks on America, and to interpret more people being treated with dignity as oppression of white people.
    Trust me when I tell you that we won’t recover from the theocracy Evangelicals are constructing once it is established. If we fail in 2022, they will have a political power that will render every election null and void, and we will never have a voice again in our lifetimes.
    Women will lose autonomy over their own bodies.
    LGBTQ people will have the rights to marry and adopt taken away.
    People of color will be fully squeezed out of the electoral process.
    Immigrants will be denied access to opportunity and refuge here.
    These are not creative projections. They are precisely what Evangelicals have repeatedly stated as their intentions, and they’re closer than they’ve ever been to having a rubber stamp.
    We can still stop it, though.
    We just need a unity and coordination that transcends theirs.
    We need a sustained, passionate, dedicated defense of humanity that rivals their relentless assaults on it.
    I hear many people say they’re terrified, but being terrified alone doesn’t do anything but help these people.
    Be terrified and get angry.
    Be terrified and get busy.
    Be terrified and go to work.
    Be terrified and fight like hell.
    I wish more decent people in America remembered they are among the vast majority instead of acting as if they are helpless victims of Republican Christians. We could defeat them, and we need to. We just need to stop lamenting how much damage they are doing and start doing something to oppose them.
    We’ve seen this play out throughout history and we know how it ends. We know what unchecked religious extremist is capable of and we know the cost of the silence and inaction of good people. We also know what people are capable of when they refuse to accept fascism and white supremacy cloaked in the Bible and wrapped in the flag, when they fight for something inherently good together.
    As someone who knows just how much these Christians have lost the plot of their faith tradition, believe me when I tell you that they cannot be allowed to steer this nation. It will not end well for the disparate people who call it home or who one day wish to.
    Love and equity and diversity are in the balance.
    It’s time we made a choice.
    It may be the last one we get.”
    Pastor John Pavlovitz

    I knew this and didn't have to join the clergy to figure it out. Yay me, I guess? And by the way, its too fucking late.
    09/15/1998 & 09/16/1998, Mansfield, MA; 08/29/00 08/30/00, Mansfield, MA; 07/02/03, 07/03/03, Mansfield, MA; 09/28/04, 09/29/04, Boston, MA; 09/22/05, Halifax, NS; 05/24/06, 05/25/06, Boston, MA; 07/22/06, 07/23/06, Gorge, WA; 06/27/2008, Hartford; 06/28/08, 06/30/08, Mansfield; 08/18/2009, O2, London, UK; 10/30/09, 10/31/09, Philadelphia, PA; 05/15/10, Hartford, CT; 05/17/10, Boston, MA; 05/20/10, 05/21/10, NY, NY; 06/22/10, Dublin, IRE; 06/23/10, Northern Ireland; 09/03/11, 09/04/11, Alpine Valley, WI; 09/11/11, 09/12/11, Toronto, Ont; 09/14/11, Ottawa, Ont; 09/15/11, Hamilton, Ont; 07/02/2012, Prague, Czech Republic; 07/04/2012 & 07/05/2012, Berlin, Germany; 07/07/2012, Stockholm, Sweden; 09/30/2012, Missoula, MT; 07/16/2013, London, Ont; 07/19/2013, Chicago, IL; 10/15/2013 & 10/16/2013, Worcester, MA; 10/21/2013 & 10/22/2013, Philadelphia, PA; 10/25/2013, Hartford, CT; 11/29/2013, Portland, OR; 11/30/2013, Spokane, WA; 12/04/2013, Vancouver, BC; 12/06/2013, Seattle, WA; 10/03/2014, St. Louis. MO; 10/22/2014, Denver, CO; 10/26/2015, New York, NY; 04/23/2016, New Orleans, LA; 04/28/2016 & 04/29/2016, Philadelphia, PA; 05/01/2016 & 05/02/2016, New York, NY; 05/08/2016, Ottawa, Ont.; 05/10/2016 & 05/12/2016, Toronto, Ont.; 08/05/2016 & 08/07/2016, Boston, MA; 08/20/2016 & 08/22/2016, Chicago, IL; 07/01/2018, Prague, Czech Republic; 07/03/2018, Krakow, Poland; 07/05/2018, Berlin, Germany; 09/02/2018 & 09/04/2018, Boston, MA; 09/08/2022, Toronto, Ont; 09/11/2022, New York, NY; 09/14/2022, Camden, NJ; 09/02/2023, St. Paul, MN;

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  • Options
    tbergstbergs Posts: 9,245
    So Abbott dropped out of the convention now too.
    It's a hopeless situation...
  • Options
    brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 40,749
    edited May 2022
    brianlux said:
    Saw this on FB this morning and found it worth quoting here:

    Somber warning from a Pastor about the intentions of Evangelical "conservative" christians in American politics.
    Pastor John Pavlovitz: “I’ve been a pastor in the church for over two decades, much of that in predominantly white churches in the American South.
    I’ve spent countless hours in church staff meetings and men’s Bible studies and youth pastor conferences.
    I’ve stayed connected on social media with thousands of people still there in those churches. I read what they share and post and amplify and I know how they think and what they believe.
    I need you to understand something and I say it without any hyperbole: white Evangelicals need to be stopped, now.
    If the 2022 midterms elections allow Republicans to gain control of Congress, Conservative Christians will decimate this nation, and LGBTQ people, Muslims, women, people of color, and non-Christians will never have equality under the law again. We will all be at their mercy—and they will no longer have use for mercy.
    This is not alarmist, sky-is-falling histrionics, it is the clear and sober forecast from someone who knows these people better than anyone. Over the last decade and a half, as my theology shifted and my beliefs grew more and more progressive, I’ve been a kind of undercover Liberal in an increasingly extremist movement, that while once relegated to minor fringe noisemakers is now at the precipice of Roman Empire-level power. They are less than two years away from having a dominance that they will wield violently and not relinquish.
    I watched it all unfold from the inside:
    I was at a North Carolina megachurch when Obama was elected and I saw the shift take place firsthand. I saw the fear slowly being ratcheted up and the agenda become solidified and the prejudices leveraged.
    I was speaking regularly at the Billy Graham headquarters when Fox News reporters and Republicans like Sarah Palin started walking the halls with frequency.
    I saw the messages at pastor’s conferences grow more incendiary and urgent, and heard the supremacist dog whistles become louder and more frequent.
    While many decent people around this nation celebrated the progress of a black president and the many civil and human rights victories and gradually let down their guard—the white Conservative church set off the alarms and prepared for a holy war.
    Yet, they were still a largely powerless, dying dinosaur until 2016, when Donald Trump acquired the presidency and gave the Evangelicals the perfect amoral partner to serve as the biggest bully pulpit they’ve ever had. Combine that with a fragmented Left, a general fatigue by the larger population, a ceremonial victory in Congress (thanks to Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema), and Republican attacks on voters’ rights— and we are now a hair’s breadth from the subjugation of diverse humanity here.
    These are not followers of Jesus despite the trappings and window dressing. They are Jesus-less extremists: blind zealots for nothing but power. They have been conditioned by decades of polluted theology and FoxNews alternative facts to see diversity as a threat, to see progress as attacks on America, and to interpret more people being treated with dignity as oppression of white people.
    Trust me when I tell you that we won’t recover from the theocracy Evangelicals are constructing once it is established. If we fail in 2022, they will have a political power that will render every election null and void, and we will never have a voice again in our lifetimes.
    Women will lose autonomy over their own bodies.
    LGBTQ people will have the rights to marry and adopt taken away.
    People of color will be fully squeezed out of the electoral process.
    Immigrants will be denied access to opportunity and refuge here.
    These are not creative projections. They are precisely what Evangelicals have repeatedly stated as their intentions, and they’re closer than they’ve ever been to having a rubber stamp.
    We can still stop it, though.
    We just need a unity and coordination that transcends theirs.
    We need a sustained, passionate, dedicated defense of humanity that rivals their relentless assaults on it.
    I hear many people say they’re terrified, but being terrified alone doesn’t do anything but help these people.
    Be terrified and get angry.
    Be terrified and get busy.
    Be terrified and go to work.
    Be terrified and fight like hell.
    I wish more decent people in America remembered they are among the vast majority instead of acting as if they are helpless victims of Republican Christians. We could defeat them, and we need to. We just need to stop lamenting how much damage they are doing and start doing something to oppose them.
    We’ve seen this play out throughout history and we know how it ends. We know what unchecked religious extremist is capable of and we know the cost of the silence and inaction of good people. We also know what people are capable of when they refuse to accept fascism and white supremacy cloaked in the Bible and wrapped in the flag, when they fight for something inherently good together.
    As someone who knows just how much these Christians have lost the plot of their faith tradition, believe me when I tell you that they cannot be allowed to steer this nation. It will not end well for the disparate people who call it home or who one day wish to.
    Love and equity and diversity are in the balance.
    It’s time we made a choice.
    It may be the last one we get.”
    Pastor John Pavlovitz

    I knew this and didn't have to join the clergy to figure it out. Yay me, I guess? And by the way, its too fucking late.

    I think a lot of us already know this, but I'm encouraged to see someone from the inside who gets it because they have a better chance of convincing other than we do.  And, yeah, it's easy for me to feel the same way about it being to late, but I can't give into that feeling.  I would encourage you to not give in either.  Otherwise, what's the point of even bothering talking about all this. right?
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • Options
    static111static111 Posts: 4,889
    Have we brought up that Cruz and Co sent a letter to Biden demanding lifting sanctions on russian ammunition manufacturing because it was seen as a slippery slope to gun control by the NRA?

    https://www.salon.com/2022/05/27/this-is-an-attempt-at-control-ted-cruz-fought-russian-sanctions-over-ammo-shortage-concerns_partner/
    Scio me nihil scire

    There are no kings inside the gates of eden
  • Options
    Halifax2TheMaxHalifax2TheMax Posts: 36,633
    static111 said:
    Have we brought up that Cruz and Co sent a letter to Biden demanding lifting sanctions on russian ammunition manufacturing because it was seen as a slippery slope to gun control by the NRA?

    https://www.salon.com/2022/05/27/this-is-an-attempt-at-control-ted-cruz-fought-russian-sanctions-over-ammo-shortage-concerns_partner/
    Biden should issue an EO directing a ban on the importation of ammunition and ammunition related products and raw materials. Let them sue the executive branch and let Joe ignore the courts. 
    09/15/1998 & 09/16/1998, Mansfield, MA; 08/29/00 08/30/00, Mansfield, MA; 07/02/03, 07/03/03, Mansfield, MA; 09/28/04, 09/29/04, Boston, MA; 09/22/05, Halifax, NS; 05/24/06, 05/25/06, Boston, MA; 07/22/06, 07/23/06, Gorge, WA; 06/27/2008, Hartford; 06/28/08, 06/30/08, Mansfield; 08/18/2009, O2, London, UK; 10/30/09, 10/31/09, Philadelphia, PA; 05/15/10, Hartford, CT; 05/17/10, Boston, MA; 05/20/10, 05/21/10, NY, NY; 06/22/10, Dublin, IRE; 06/23/10, Northern Ireland; 09/03/11, 09/04/11, Alpine Valley, WI; 09/11/11, 09/12/11, Toronto, Ont; 09/14/11, Ottawa, Ont; 09/15/11, Hamilton, Ont; 07/02/2012, Prague, Czech Republic; 07/04/2012 & 07/05/2012, Berlin, Germany; 07/07/2012, Stockholm, Sweden; 09/30/2012, Missoula, MT; 07/16/2013, London, Ont; 07/19/2013, Chicago, IL; 10/15/2013 & 10/16/2013, Worcester, MA; 10/21/2013 & 10/22/2013, Philadelphia, PA; 10/25/2013, Hartford, CT; 11/29/2013, Portland, OR; 11/30/2013, Spokane, WA; 12/04/2013, Vancouver, BC; 12/06/2013, Seattle, WA; 10/03/2014, St. Louis. MO; 10/22/2014, Denver, CO; 10/26/2015, New York, NY; 04/23/2016, New Orleans, LA; 04/28/2016 & 04/29/2016, Philadelphia, PA; 05/01/2016 & 05/02/2016, New York, NY; 05/08/2016, Ottawa, Ont.; 05/10/2016 & 05/12/2016, Toronto, Ont.; 08/05/2016 & 08/07/2016, Boston, MA; 08/20/2016 & 08/22/2016, Chicago, IL; 07/01/2018, Prague, Czech Republic; 07/03/2018, Krakow, Poland; 07/05/2018, Berlin, Germany; 09/02/2018 & 09/04/2018, Boston, MA; 09/08/2022, Toronto, Ont; 09/11/2022, New York, NY; 09/14/2022, Camden, NJ; 09/02/2023, St. Paul, MN;

    Libtardaplorable©. And proud of it.

    Brilliantati©
  • Options
    cblock4lifecblock4life Posts: 1,403
    brianlux said:
    Saw this on FB this morning and found it worth quoting here:

    Somber warning from a Pastor about the intentions of Evangelical "conservative" christians in American politics.
    Pastor John Pavlovitz: “I’ve been a pastor in the church for over two decades, much of that in predominantly white churches in the American South.
    I’ve spent countless hours in church staff meetings and men’s Bible studies and youth pastor conferences.
    I’ve stayed connected on social media with thousands of people still there in those churches. I read what they share and post and amplify and I know how they think and what they believe.
    I need you to understand something and I say it without any hyperbole: white Evangelicals need to be stopped, now.
    If the 2022 midterms elections allow Republicans to gain control of Congress, Conservative Christians will decimate this nation, and LGBTQ people, Muslims, women, people of color, and non-Christians will never have equality under the law again. We will all be at their mercy—and they will no longer have use for mercy.
    This is not alarmist, sky-is-falling histrionics, it is the clear and sober forecast from someone who knows these people better than anyone. Over the last decade and a half, as my theology shifted and my beliefs grew more and more progressive, I’ve been a kind of undercover Liberal in an increasingly extremist movement, that while once relegated to minor fringe noisemakers is now at the precipice of Roman Empire-level power. They are less than two years away from having a dominance that they will wield violently and not relinquish.
    I watched it all unfold from the inside:
    I was at a North Carolina megachurch when Obama was elected and I saw the shift take place firsthand. I saw the fear slowly being ratcheted up and the agenda become solidified and the prejudices leveraged.
    I was speaking regularly at the Billy Graham headquarters when Fox News reporters and Republicans like Sarah Palin started walking the halls with frequency.
    I saw the messages at pastor’s conferences grow more incendiary and urgent, and heard the supremacist dog whistles become louder and more frequent.
    While many decent people around this nation celebrated the progress of a black president and the many civil and human rights victories and gradually let down their guard—the white Conservative church set off the alarms and prepared for a holy war.
    Yet, they were still a largely powerless, dying dinosaur until 2016, when Donald Trump acquired the presidency and gave the Evangelicals the perfect amoral partner to serve as the biggest bully pulpit they’ve ever had. Combine that with a fragmented Left, a general fatigue by the larger population, a ceremonial victory in Congress (thanks to Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema), and Republican attacks on voters’ rights— and we are now a hair’s breadth from the subjugation of diverse humanity here.
    These are not followers of Jesus despite the trappings and window dressing. They are Jesus-less extremists: blind zealots for nothing but power. They have been conditioned by decades of polluted theology and FoxNews alternative facts to see diversity as a threat, to see progress as attacks on America, and to interpret more people being treated with dignity as oppression of white people.
    Trust me when I tell you that we won’t recover from the theocracy Evangelicals are constructing once it is established. If we fail in 2022, they will have a political power that will render every election null and void, and we will never have a voice again in our lifetimes.
    Women will lose autonomy over their own bodies.
    LGBTQ people will have the rights to marry and adopt taken away.
    People of color will be fully squeezed out of the electoral process.
    Immigrants will be denied access to opportunity and refuge here.
    These are not creative projections. They are precisely what Evangelicals have repeatedly stated as their intentions, and they’re closer than they’ve ever been to having a rubber stamp.
    We can still stop it, though.
    We just need a unity and coordination that transcends theirs.
    We need a sustained, passionate, dedicated defense of humanity that rivals their relentless assaults on it.
    I hear many people say they’re terrified, but being terrified alone doesn’t do anything but help these people.
    Be terrified and get angry.
    Be terrified and get busy.
    Be terrified and go to work.
    Be terrified and fight like hell.
    I wish more decent people in America remembered they are among the vast majority instead of acting as if they are helpless victims of Republican Christians. We could defeat them, and we need to. We just need to stop lamenting how much damage they are doing and start doing something to oppose them.
    We’ve seen this play out throughout history and we know how it ends. We know what unchecked religious extremist is capable of and we know the cost of the silence and inaction of good people. We also know what people are capable of when they refuse to accept fascism and white supremacy cloaked in the Bible and wrapped in the flag, when they fight for something inherently good together.
    As someone who knows just how much these Christians have lost the plot of their faith tradition, believe me when I tell you that they cannot be allowed to steer this nation. It will not end well for the disparate people who call it home or who one day wish to.
    Love and equity and diversity are in the balance.
    It’s time we made a choice.
    It may be the last one we get.”
    Pastor John Pavlovitz

    This is seriously scary shit.  
  • Options
    gimmesometruth27gimmesometruth27 St. Fuckin Louis Posts: 22,168
    mrussel1 said:
    mrussel1 said:
    The couple referenced owns the gun manufacturing business for the gun used in killing 19 school kids and 2 teachers in Tejas. I was struck by Herschel’s statement. Gun lobby money, you go GA!

    The beneficiaries of the couple’s political contributions include at least one candidate who emerged victorious in Tuesday’s primary contests, Herschel Walker. The former football star is running for the U.S. Senate in Georgia with former president Donald Trump’s endorsement. Asked Tuesday night whether he would support new gun legislation, Walker said, “What I like to do is see it and everything and stuff.”


    You're not being fair here.  He expanded on his answer and as a true visionary, recommended a new federal safety agency.  

    “What we need to do is look into how we can stop those things. You know, they talk about doing a disinformation, what about getting a department that could look at young men that’s looking at women that looking at social media. What about doing that? Looking into things like that? If we can stop that that way?”
    the bar is so fucking low these days it's insanely embarrassing. most on this message board are more qualified to hold office and make policy than these fucking morons. 
    Well the agency is up and running. Credit to Colbert. 


    i just spit water on my monitor, lol
    There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.- Hemingway

    "Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
  • Options
    gimmesometruth27gimmesometruth27 St. Fuckin Louis Posts: 22,168
    edited May 2022
    tbergs said:
    So Abbott dropped out of the convention now too.
    he is doing a remote video speech. still participating, just not in person.
    There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.- Hemingway

    "Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
  • Options
    gimmesometruth27gimmesometruth27 St. Fuckin Louis Posts: 22,168
    mrussel1 said:
    mrussel1 said:
    The couple referenced owns the gun manufacturing business for the gun used in killing 19 school kids and 2 teachers in Tejas. I was struck by Herschel’s statement. Gun lobby money, you go GA!

    The beneficiaries of the couple’s political contributions include at least one candidate who emerged victorious in Tuesday’s primary contests, Herschel Walker. The former football star is running for the U.S. Senate in Georgia with former president Donald Trump’s endorsement. Asked Tuesday night whether he would support new gun legislation, Walker said, “What I like to do is see it and everything and stuff.”


    You're not being fair here.  He expanded on his answer and as a true visionary, recommended a new federal safety agency.  

    “What we need to do is look into how we can stop those things. You know, they talk about doing a disinformation, what about getting a department that could look at young men that’s looking at women that looking at social media. What about doing that? Looking into things like that? If we can stop that that way?”
    the bar is so fucking low these days it's insanely embarrassing. most on this message board are more qualified to hold office and make policy than these fucking morons. 
    Well the agency is up and running. Credit to Colbert. 


    i am not sure if this is a dumber idea than space force or not.
    There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.- Hemingway

    "Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
  • Options
    HughFreakingDillonHughFreakingDillon Winnipeg Posts: 35,833
    forgot about space force. will they be up to snuff when school shootings start happening on Mars? or will they blame that on "an oxygen shortage issue"?
    Flight Risk out NOW!

    www.headstonesband.com




  • Options
    mrussel1mrussel1 Posts: 28,637
    mrussel1 said:
    mrussel1 said:
    The couple referenced owns the gun manufacturing business for the gun used in killing 19 school kids and 2 teachers in Tejas. I was struck by Herschel’s statement. Gun lobby money, you go GA!

    The beneficiaries of the couple’s political contributions include at least one candidate who emerged victorious in Tuesday’s primary contests, Herschel Walker. The former football star is running for the U.S. Senate in Georgia with former president Donald Trump’s endorsement. Asked Tuesday night whether he would support new gun legislation, Walker said, “What I like to do is see it and everything and stuff.”


    You're not being fair here.  He expanded on his answer and as a true visionary, recommended a new federal safety agency.  

    “What we need to do is look into how we can stop those things. You know, they talk about doing a disinformation, what about getting a department that could look at young men that’s looking at women that looking at social media. What about doing that? Looking into things like that? If we can stop that that way?”
    the bar is so fucking low these days it's insanely embarrassing. most on this message board are more qualified to hold office and make policy than these fucking morons. 
    Well the agency is up and running. Credit to Colbert. 


    i just spit water on my monitor, lol
    It's sadly hysterical.  
  • Options
    gimmesometruth27gimmesometruth27 St. Fuckin Louis Posts: 22,168
    forgot about space force. will they be up to snuff when school shootings start happening on Mars? or will they blame that on "an oxygen shortage issue"?
    probably will say something like there is no donuts and coffee up there so they were not properly nourished at the time of the shooting.
    There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.- Hemingway

    "Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
  • Options
    tbergstbergs Posts: 9,245
    nicknyr15 said:
    What an idiot. And people will still vote for her.
    It's a hopeless situation...
  • Options
    DewieCoxDewieCox Posts: 11,412
    brianlux said:
    Saw this on FB this morning and found it worth quoting here:

    Somber warning from a Pastor about the intentions of Evangelical "conservative" christians in American politics.
    Pastor John Pavlovitz: “I’ve been a pastor in the church for over two decades, much of that in predominantly white churches in the American South.
    I’ve spent countless hours in church staff meetings and men’s Bible studies and youth pastor conferences.
    I’ve stayed connected on social media with thousands of people still there in those churches. I read what they share and post and amplify and I know how they think and what they believe.
    I need you to understand something and I say it without any hyperbole: white Evangelicals need to be stopped, now.
    If the 2022 midterms elections allow Republicans to gain control of Congress, Conservative Christians will decimate this nation, and LGBTQ people, Muslims, women, people of color, and non-Christians will never have equality under the law again. We will all be at their mercy—and they will no longer have use for mercy.
    This is not alarmist, sky-is-falling histrionics, it is the clear and sober forecast from someone who knows these people better than anyone. Over the last decade and a half, as my theology shifted and my beliefs grew more and more progressive, I’ve been a kind of undercover Liberal in an increasingly extremist movement, that while once relegated to minor fringe noisemakers is now at the precipice of Roman Empire-level power. They are less than two years away from having a dominance that they will wield violently and not relinquish.
    I watched it all unfold from the inside:
    I was at a North Carolina megachurch when Obama was elected and I saw the shift take place firsthand. I saw the fear slowly being ratcheted up and the agenda become solidified and the prejudices leveraged.
    I was speaking regularly at the Billy Graham headquarters when Fox News reporters and Republicans like Sarah Palin started walking the halls with frequency.
    I saw the messages at pastor’s conferences grow more incendiary and urgent, and heard the supremacist dog whistles become louder and more frequent.
    While many decent people around this nation celebrated the progress of a black president and the many civil and human rights victories and gradually let down their guard—the white Conservative church set off the alarms and prepared for a holy war.
    Yet, they were still a largely powerless, dying dinosaur until 2016, when Donald Trump acquired the presidency and gave the Evangelicals the perfect amoral partner to serve as the biggest bully pulpit they’ve ever had. Combine that with a fragmented Left, a general fatigue by the larger population, a ceremonial victory in Congress (thanks to Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema), and Republican attacks on voters’ rights— and we are now a hair’s breadth from the subjugation of diverse humanity here.
    These are not followers of Jesus despite the trappings and window dressing. They are Jesus-less extremists: blind zealots for nothing but power. They have been conditioned by decades of polluted theology and FoxNews alternative facts to see diversity as a threat, to see progress as attacks on America, and to interpret more people being treated with dignity as oppression of white people.
    Trust me when I tell you that we won’t recover from the theocracy Evangelicals are constructing once it is established. If we fail in 2022, they will have a political power that will render every election null and void, and we will never have a voice again in our lifetimes.
    Women will lose autonomy over their own bodies.
    LGBTQ people will have the rights to marry and adopt taken away.
    People of color will be fully squeezed out of the electoral process.
    Immigrants will be denied access to opportunity and refuge here.
    These are not creative projections. They are precisely what Evangelicals have repeatedly stated as their intentions, and they’re closer than they’ve ever been to having a rubber stamp.
    We can still stop it, though.
    We just need a unity and coordination that transcends theirs.
    We need a sustained, passionate, dedicated defense of humanity that rivals their relentless assaults on it.
    I hear many people say they’re terrified, but being terrified alone doesn’t do anything but help these people.
    Be terrified and get angry.
    Be terrified and get busy.
    Be terrified and go to work.
    Be terrified and fight like hell.
    I wish more decent people in America remembered they are among the vast majority instead of acting as if they are helpless victims of Republican Christians. We could defeat them, and we need to. We just need to stop lamenting how much damage they are doing and start doing something to oppose them.
    We’ve seen this play out throughout history and we know how it ends. We know what unchecked religious extremist is capable of and we know the cost of the silence and inaction of good people. We also know what people are capable of when they refuse to accept fascism and white supremacy cloaked in the Bible and wrapped in the flag, when they fight for something inherently good together.
    As someone who knows just how much these Christians have lost the plot of their faith tradition, believe me when I tell you that they cannot be allowed to steer this nation. It will not end well for the disparate people who call it home or who one day wish to.
    Love and equity and diversity are in the balance.
    It’s time we made a choice.
    It may be the last one we get.”
    Pastor John Pavlovitz

    This is legit. My dad’s talked about the detrimental effect of religion and government mixing for at least a decade. You always see nutters blaming things on taking god out of wherever and god given rights and blah blah blah,  and they tie it to every aspect of their being so much that they lose any sort of individuality. It’s directly tied to every opinion they have, every stance they take, how they’re entertained, who they interact with,w who they celebrate, who they look down upon, successes and failures, and who they vote for…. just whole hog indoctrination.

    I used to enjoy going to church, serving the community, hanging with mostly pretty upstanding citizens and bigots and zealots have taken that away from me. If you’re reading the Bible and coming away with any other message but to be a decent person, then you’re doing it wrong. 
  • Options
    cincybearcatcincybearcat Posts: 16,114
    nicknyr15 said:
    That stupid analogy popped up on my Facebook feed from an old co-worker. Almost got me to respond…but just snoozed his posts for 30 days for now instead 
    hippiemom = goodness
  • Options
    brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 40,749
    DewieCox said:
    brianlux said:
    Saw this on FB this morning and found it worth quoting here:

    Somber warning from a Pastor about the intentions of Evangelical "conservative" christians in American politics.
    Pastor John Pavlovitz: “I’ve been a pastor in the church for over two decades, much of that in predominantly white churches in the American South.
    I’ve spent countless hours in church staff meetings and men’s Bible studies and youth pastor conferences.
    I’ve stayed connected on social media with thousands of people still there in those churches. I read what they share and post and amplify and I know how they think and what they believe.
    I need you to understand something and I say it without any hyperbole: white Evangelicals need to be stopped, now.
    If the 2022 midterms elections allow Republicans to gain control of Congress, Conservative Christians will decimate this nation, and LGBTQ people, Muslims, women, people of color, and non-Christians will never have equality under the law again. We will all be at their mercy—and they will no longer have use for mercy.
    This is not alarmist, sky-is-falling histrionics, it is the clear and sober forecast from someone who knows these people better than anyone. Over the last decade and a half, as my theology shifted and my beliefs grew more and more progressive, I’ve been a kind of undercover Liberal in an increasingly extremist movement, that while once relegated to minor fringe noisemakers is now at the precipice of Roman Empire-level power. They are less than two years away from having a dominance that they will wield violently and not relinquish.
    I watched it all unfold from the inside:
    I was at a North Carolina megachurch when Obama was elected and I saw the shift take place firsthand. I saw the fear slowly being ratcheted up and the agenda become solidified and the prejudices leveraged.
    I was speaking regularly at the Billy Graham headquarters when Fox News reporters and Republicans like Sarah Palin started walking the halls with frequency.
    I saw the messages at pastor’s conferences grow more incendiary and urgent, and heard the supremacist dog whistles become louder and more frequent.
    While many decent people around this nation celebrated the progress of a black president and the many civil and human rights victories and gradually let down their guard—the white Conservative church set off the alarms and prepared for a holy war.
    Yet, they were still a largely powerless, dying dinosaur until 2016, when Donald Trump acquired the presidency and gave the Evangelicals the perfect amoral partner to serve as the biggest bully pulpit they’ve ever had. Combine that with a fragmented Left, a general fatigue by the larger population, a ceremonial victory in Congress (thanks to Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema), and Republican attacks on voters’ rights— and we are now a hair’s breadth from the subjugation of diverse humanity here.
    These are not followers of Jesus despite the trappings and window dressing. They are Jesus-less extremists: blind zealots for nothing but power. They have been conditioned by decades of polluted theology and FoxNews alternative facts to see diversity as a threat, to see progress as attacks on America, and to interpret more people being treated with dignity as oppression of white people.
    Trust me when I tell you that we won’t recover from the theocracy Evangelicals are constructing once it is established. If we fail in 2022, they will have a political power that will render every election null and void, and we will never have a voice again in our lifetimes.
    Women will lose autonomy over their own bodies.
    LGBTQ people will have the rights to marry and adopt taken away.
    People of color will be fully squeezed out of the electoral process.
    Immigrants will be denied access to opportunity and refuge here.
    These are not creative projections. They are precisely what Evangelicals have repeatedly stated as their intentions, and they’re closer than they’ve ever been to having a rubber stamp.
    We can still stop it, though.
    We just need a unity and coordination that transcends theirs.
    We need a sustained, passionate, dedicated defense of humanity that rivals their relentless assaults on it.
    I hear many people say they’re terrified, but being terrified alone doesn’t do anything but help these people.
    Be terrified and get angry.
    Be terrified and get busy.
    Be terrified and go to work.
    Be terrified and fight like hell.
    I wish more decent people in America remembered they are among the vast majority instead of acting as if they are helpless victims of Republican Christians. We could defeat them, and we need to. We just need to stop lamenting how much damage they are doing and start doing something to oppose them.
    We’ve seen this play out throughout history and we know how it ends. We know what unchecked religious extremist is capable of and we know the cost of the silence and inaction of good people. We also know what people are capable of when they refuse to accept fascism and white supremacy cloaked in the Bible and wrapped in the flag, when they fight for something inherently good together.
    As someone who knows just how much these Christians have lost the plot of their faith tradition, believe me when I tell you that they cannot be allowed to steer this nation. It will not end well for the disparate people who call it home or who one day wish to.
    Love and equity and diversity are in the balance.
    It’s time we made a choice.
    It may be the last one we get.”
    Pastor John Pavlovitz

    This is legit. My dad’s talked about the detrimental effect of religion and government mixing for at least a decade. You always see nutters blaming things on taking god out of wherever and god given rights and blah blah blah,  and they tie it to every aspect of their being so much that they lose any sort of individuality. It’s directly tied to every opinion they have, every stance they take, how they’re entertained, who they interact with,w who they celebrate, who they look down upon, successes and failures, and who they vote for…. just whole hog indoctrination.

    I used to enjoy going to church, serving the community, hanging with mostly pretty upstanding citizens and bigots and zealots have taken that away from me. If you’re reading the Bible and coming away with any other message but to be a decent person, then you’re doing it wrong. 
    That is sad, Dewie.  I too have known churches with many good people.
    I sometimes think about that Bible story in Matthew 21:12-13:
    "Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers.’"

    He was pissed!  Imagine what he would feel today.  Probably would have apoplexy.  Beyond sensing there is mystery in the universe which feels spiritual to me, I'm not religious myself, but I know people of faith who are true to their beliefs and use their faith for the good, which I respect.  But their numbers are shrinking.  Phony, hateful, racist Christians abound.

    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • Options
    cblock4lifecblock4life Posts: 1,403
    DewieCox said:
    brianlux said:
    Saw this on FB this morning and found it worth quoting here:

    Somber warning from a Pastor about the intentions of Evangelical "conservative" christians in American politics.
    Pastor John Pavlovitz: “I’ve been a pastor in the church for over two decades, much of that in predominantly white churches in the American South.
    I’ve spent countless hours in church staff meetings and men’s Bible studies and youth pastor conferences.
    I’ve stayed connected on social media with thousands of people still there in those churches. I read what they share and post and amplify and I know how they think and what they believe.
    I need you to understand something and I say it without any hyperbole: white Evangelicals need to be stopped, now.
    If the 2022 midterms elections allow Republicans to gain control of Congress, Conservative Christians will decimate this nation, and LGBTQ people, Muslims, women, people of color, and non-Christians will never have equality under the law again. We will all be at their mercy—and they will no longer have use for mercy.
    This is not alarmist, sky-is-falling histrionics, it is the clear and sober forecast from someone who knows these people better than anyone. Over the last decade and a half, as my theology shifted and my beliefs grew more and more progressive, I’ve been a kind of undercover Liberal in an increasingly extremist movement, that while once relegated to minor fringe noisemakers is now at the precipice of Roman Empire-level power. They are less than two years away from having a dominance that they will wield violently and not relinquish.
    I watched it all unfold from the inside:
    I was at a North Carolina megachurch when Obama was elected and I saw the shift take place firsthand. I saw the fear slowly being ratcheted up and the agenda become solidified and the prejudices leveraged.
    I was speaking regularly at the Billy Graham headquarters when Fox News reporters and Republicans like Sarah Palin started walking the halls with frequency.
    I saw the messages at pastor’s conferences grow more incendiary and urgent, and heard the supremacist dog whistles become louder and more frequent.
    While many decent people around this nation celebrated the progress of a black president and the many civil and human rights victories and gradually let down their guard—the white Conservative church set off the alarms and prepared for a holy war.
    Yet, they were still a largely powerless, dying dinosaur until 2016, when Donald Trump acquired the presidency and gave the Evangelicals the perfect amoral partner to serve as the biggest bully pulpit they’ve ever had. Combine that with a fragmented Left, a general fatigue by the larger population, a ceremonial victory in Congress (thanks to Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema), and Republican attacks on voters’ rights— and we are now a hair’s breadth from the subjugation of diverse humanity here.
    These are not followers of Jesus despite the trappings and window dressing. They are Jesus-less extremists: blind zealots for nothing but power. They have been conditioned by decades of polluted theology and FoxNews alternative facts to see diversity as a threat, to see progress as attacks on America, and to interpret more people being treated with dignity as oppression of white people.
    Trust me when I tell you that we won’t recover from the theocracy Evangelicals are constructing once it is established. If we fail in 2022, they will have a political power that will render every election null and void, and we will never have a voice again in our lifetimes.
    Women will lose autonomy over their own bodies.
    LGBTQ people will have the rights to marry and adopt taken away.
    People of color will be fully squeezed out of the electoral process.
    Immigrants will be denied access to opportunity and refuge here.
    These are not creative projections. They are precisely what Evangelicals have repeatedly stated as their intentions, and they’re closer than they’ve ever been to having a rubber stamp.
    We can still stop it, though.
    We just need a unity and coordination that transcends theirs.
    We need a sustained, passionate, dedicated defense of humanity that rivals their relentless assaults on it.
    I hear many people say they’re terrified, but being terrified alone doesn’t do anything but help these people.
    Be terrified and get angry.
    Be terrified and get busy.
    Be terrified and go to work.
    Be terrified and fight like hell.
    I wish more decent people in America remembered they are among the vast majority instead of acting as if they are helpless victims of Republican Christians. We could defeat them, and we need to. We just need to stop lamenting how much damage they are doing and start doing something to oppose them.
    We’ve seen this play out throughout history and we know how it ends. We know what unchecked religious extremist is capable of and we know the cost of the silence and inaction of good people. We also know what people are capable of when they refuse to accept fascism and white supremacy cloaked in the Bible and wrapped in the flag, when they fight for something inherently good together.
    As someone who knows just how much these Christians have lost the plot of their faith tradition, believe me when I tell you that they cannot be allowed to steer this nation. It will not end well for the disparate people who call it home or who one day wish to.
    Love and equity and diversity are in the balance.
    It’s time we made a choice.
    It may be the last one we get.”
    Pastor John Pavlovitz

    This is legit. My dad’s talked about the detrimental effect of religion and government mixing for at least a decade. You always see nutters blaming things on taking god out of wherever and god given rights and blah blah blah,  and they tie it to every aspect of their being so much that they lose any sort of individuality. It’s directly tied to every opinion they have, every stance they take, how they’re entertained, who they interact with,w who they celebrate, who they look down upon, successes and failures, and who they vote for…. just whole hog indoctrination.

    I used to enjoy going to church, serving the community, hanging with mostly pretty upstanding citizens and bigots and zealots have taken that away from me. If you’re reading the Bible and coming away with any other message but to be a decent person, then you’re doing it wrong. 
    It’s kind of like how the Catholics (well all religions) used religion to cover their pedophilia, republicans are using government to cover their centuries old racism, hierarchy, etc., etc., (so many messed up evil, ugly beliefs I don’t have the time).  
    Remember, our nation started over religious freedom, or so they claimed, therefore our government is based on religious beliefs.  There is no separation between state and church, never was, never will be.  They’ve been pretending for years that it’s ok to be different, practice your own faith, own your body, when all along they’ve been lying just like our SCJ.  Our forefathers, who were white men who raped, fathered children to, had relationships with, owned and killed black women, and killed, hung tortured, starved, degraded, spit on, etc etc all black people are the same ones we’ve been told to and considered to be our hero’s, our fathers,  Only problem is the jackasses never bothered to read the New Testament so here we are. What we need is a whole new constitution, one actually based on today.  If you keep piling shit on top of shit all you get is a bigger pile of shit.  All these wasps needed was someone to light the torch, and that’s not word play, I’m being serious.  

  • Options
    cblock4lifecblock4life Posts: 1,403
    brianlux said:
    DewieCox said:
    brianlux said:
    Saw this on FB this morning and found it worth quoting here:

    Somber warning from a Pastor about the intentions of Evangelical "conservative" christians in American politics.
    Pastor John Pavlovitz: “I’ve been a pastor in the church for over two decades, much of that in predominantly white churches in the American South.
    I’ve spent countless hours in church staff meetings and men’s Bible studies and youth pastor conferences.
    I’ve stayed connected on social media with thousands of people still there in those churches. I read what they share and post and amplify and I know how they think and what they believe.
    I need you to understand something and I say it without any hyperbole: white Evangelicals need to be stopped, now.
    If the 2022 midterms elections allow Republicans to gain control of Congress, Conservative Christians will decimate this nation, and LGBTQ people, Muslims, women, people of color, and non-Christians will never have equality under the law again. We will all be at their mercy—and they will no longer have use for mercy.
    This is not alarmist, sky-is-falling histrionics, it is the clear and sober forecast from someone who knows these people better than anyone. Over the last decade and a half, as my theology shifted and my beliefs grew more and more progressive, I’ve been a kind of undercover Liberal in an increasingly extremist movement, that while once relegated to minor fringe noisemakers is now at the precipice of Roman Empire-level power. They are less than two years away from having a dominance that they will wield violently and not relinquish.
    I watched it all unfold from the inside:
    I was at a North Carolina megachurch when Obama was elected and I saw the shift take place firsthand. I saw the fear slowly being ratcheted up and the agenda become solidified and the prejudices leveraged.
    I was speaking regularly at the Billy Graham headquarters when Fox News reporters and Republicans like Sarah Palin started walking the halls with frequency.
    I saw the messages at pastor’s conferences grow more incendiary and urgent, and heard the supremacist dog whistles become louder and more frequent.
    While many decent people around this nation celebrated the progress of a black president and the many civil and human rights victories and gradually let down their guard—the white Conservative church set off the alarms and prepared for a holy war.
    Yet, they were still a largely powerless, dying dinosaur until 2016, when Donald Trump acquired the presidency and gave the Evangelicals the perfect amoral partner to serve as the biggest bully pulpit they’ve ever had. Combine that with a fragmented Left, a general fatigue by the larger population, a ceremonial victory in Congress (thanks to Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema), and Republican attacks on voters’ rights— and we are now a hair’s breadth from the subjugation of diverse humanity here.
    These are not followers of Jesus despite the trappings and window dressing. They are Jesus-less extremists: blind zealots for nothing but power. They have been conditioned by decades of polluted theology and FoxNews alternative facts to see diversity as a threat, to see progress as attacks on America, and to interpret more people being treated with dignity as oppression of white people.
    Trust me when I tell you that we won’t recover from the theocracy Evangelicals are constructing once it is established. If we fail in 2022, they will have a political power that will render every election null and void, and we will never have a voice again in our lifetimes.
    Women will lose autonomy over their own bodies.
    LGBTQ people will have the rights to marry and adopt taken away.
    People of color will be fully squeezed out of the electoral process.
    Immigrants will be denied access to opportunity and refuge here.
    These are not creative projections. They are precisely what Evangelicals have repeatedly stated as their intentions, and they’re closer than they’ve ever been to having a rubber stamp.
    We can still stop it, though.
    We just need a unity and coordination that transcends theirs.
    We need a sustained, passionate, dedicated defense of humanity that rivals their relentless assaults on it.
    I hear many people say they’re terrified, but being terrified alone doesn’t do anything but help these people.
    Be terrified and get angry.
    Be terrified and get busy.
    Be terrified and go to work.
    Be terrified and fight like hell.
    I wish more decent people in America remembered they are among the vast majority instead of acting as if they are helpless victims of Republican Christians. We could defeat them, and we need to. We just need to stop lamenting how much damage they are doing and start doing something to oppose them.
    We’ve seen this play out throughout history and we know how it ends. We know what unchecked religious extremist is capable of and we know the cost of the silence and inaction of good people. We also know what people are capable of when they refuse to accept fascism and white supremacy cloaked in the Bible and wrapped in the flag, when they fight for something inherently good together.
    As someone who knows just how much these Christians have lost the plot of their faith tradition, believe me when I tell you that they cannot be allowed to steer this nation. It will not end well for the disparate people who call it home or who one day wish to.
    Love and equity and diversity are in the balance.
    It’s time we made a choice.
    It may be the last one we get.”
    Pastor John Pavlovitz

    This is legit. My dad’s talked about the detrimental effect of religion and government mixing for at least a decade. You always see nutters blaming things on taking god out of wherever and god given rights and blah blah blah,  and they tie it to every aspect of their being so much that they lose any sort of individuality. It’s directly tied to every opinion they have, every stance they take, how they’re entertained, who they interact with,w who they celebrate, who they look down upon, successes and failures, and who they vote for…. just whole hog indoctrination.

    I used to enjoy going to church, serving the community, hanging with mostly pretty upstanding citizens and bigots and zealots have taken that away from me. If you’re reading the Bible and coming away with any other message but to be a decent person, then you’re doing it wrong. 
    That is sad, Dewie.  I too have known churches with many good people.
    I sometimes think about that Bible story in Matthew 21:12-13:
    "Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers.’"

    He was pissed!  Imagine what he would feel today.  Probably would have apoplexy.  Beyond sensing there is mystery in the universe which feels spiritual to me, I'm not religious myself, but I know people of faith who are true to their beliefs and use their faith for the good, which I respect.  But their numbers are shrinking.  Phony, hateful, racist Christians abound.

    You’re a smart man. 

     I have an enormous amount of faith in something greater than myself but I have no faith in organized religion. 
    My preference is God, Jesus, no building, Jesus preached without a building all the time and of course I could be mistaken but I don’t think he charged a lot to attend his sermons.  
  • Options
    brianluxbrianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 40,749
    brianlux said:
    DewieCox said:
    brianlux said:
    Saw this on FB this morning and found it worth quoting here:

    Somber warning from a Pastor about the intentions of Evangelical "conservative" christians in American politics.
    Pastor John Pavlovitz: “I’ve been a pastor in the church for over two decades, much of that in predominantly white churches in the American South.
    I’ve spent countless hours in church staff meetings and men’s Bible studies and youth pastor conferences.
    I’ve stayed connected on social media with thousands of people still there in those churches. I read what they share and post and amplify and I know how they think and what they believe.
    I need you to understand something and I say it without any hyperbole: white Evangelicals need to be stopped, now.
    If the 2022 midterms elections allow Republicans to gain control of Congress, Conservative Christians will decimate this nation, and LGBTQ people, Muslims, women, people of color, and non-Christians will never have equality under the law again. We will all be at their mercy—and they will no longer have use for mercy.
    This is not alarmist, sky-is-falling histrionics, it is the clear and sober forecast from someone who knows these people better than anyone. Over the last decade and a half, as my theology shifted and my beliefs grew more and more progressive, I’ve been a kind of undercover Liberal in an increasingly extremist movement, that while once relegated to minor fringe noisemakers is now at the precipice of Roman Empire-level power. They are less than two years away from having a dominance that they will wield violently and not relinquish.
    I watched it all unfold from the inside:
    I was at a North Carolina megachurch when Obama was elected and I saw the shift take place firsthand. I saw the fear slowly being ratcheted up and the agenda become solidified and the prejudices leveraged.
    I was speaking regularly at the Billy Graham headquarters when Fox News reporters and Republicans like Sarah Palin started walking the halls with frequency.
    I saw the messages at pastor’s conferences grow more incendiary and urgent, and heard the supremacist dog whistles become louder and more frequent.
    While many decent people around this nation celebrated the progress of a black president and the many civil and human rights victories and gradually let down their guard—the white Conservative church set off the alarms and prepared for a holy war.
    Yet, they were still a largely powerless, dying dinosaur until 2016, when Donald Trump acquired the presidency and gave the Evangelicals the perfect amoral partner to serve as the biggest bully pulpit they’ve ever had. Combine that with a fragmented Left, a general fatigue by the larger population, a ceremonial victory in Congress (thanks to Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema), and Republican attacks on voters’ rights— and we are now a hair’s breadth from the subjugation of diverse humanity here.
    These are not followers of Jesus despite the trappings and window dressing. They are Jesus-less extremists: blind zealots for nothing but power. They have been conditioned by decades of polluted theology and FoxNews alternative facts to see diversity as a threat, to see progress as attacks on America, and to interpret more people being treated with dignity as oppression of white people.
    Trust me when I tell you that we won’t recover from the theocracy Evangelicals are constructing once it is established. If we fail in 2022, they will have a political power that will render every election null and void, and we will never have a voice again in our lifetimes.
    Women will lose autonomy over their own bodies.
    LGBTQ people will have the rights to marry and adopt taken away.
    People of color will be fully squeezed out of the electoral process.
    Immigrants will be denied access to opportunity and refuge here.
    These are not creative projections. They are precisely what Evangelicals have repeatedly stated as their intentions, and they’re closer than they’ve ever been to having a rubber stamp.
    We can still stop it, though.
    We just need a unity and coordination that transcends theirs.
    We need a sustained, passionate, dedicated defense of humanity that rivals their relentless assaults on it.
    I hear many people say they’re terrified, but being terrified alone doesn’t do anything but help these people.
    Be terrified and get angry.
    Be terrified and get busy.
    Be terrified and go to work.
    Be terrified and fight like hell.
    I wish more decent people in America remembered they are among the vast majority instead of acting as if they are helpless victims of Republican Christians. We could defeat them, and we need to. We just need to stop lamenting how much damage they are doing and start doing something to oppose them.
    We’ve seen this play out throughout history and we know how it ends. We know what unchecked religious extremist is capable of and we know the cost of the silence and inaction of good people. We also know what people are capable of when they refuse to accept fascism and white supremacy cloaked in the Bible and wrapped in the flag, when they fight for something inherently good together.
    As someone who knows just how much these Christians have lost the plot of their faith tradition, believe me when I tell you that they cannot be allowed to steer this nation. It will not end well for the disparate people who call it home or who one day wish to.
    Love and equity and diversity are in the balance.
    It’s time we made a choice.
    It may be the last one we get.”
    Pastor John Pavlovitz

    This is legit. My dad’s talked about the detrimental effect of religion and government mixing for at least a decade. You always see nutters blaming things on taking god out of wherever and god given rights and blah blah blah,  and they tie it to every aspect of their being so much that they lose any sort of individuality. It’s directly tied to every opinion they have, every stance they take, how they’re entertained, who they interact with,w who they celebrate, who they look down upon, successes and failures, and who they vote for…. just whole hog indoctrination.

    I used to enjoy going to church, serving the community, hanging with mostly pretty upstanding citizens and bigots and zealots have taken that away from me. If you’re reading the Bible and coming away with any other message but to be a decent person, then you’re doing it wrong. 
    That is sad, Dewie.  I too have known churches with many good people.
    I sometimes think about that Bible story in Matthew 21:12-13:
    "Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers.’"

    He was pissed!  Imagine what he would feel today.  Probably would have apoplexy.  Beyond sensing there is mystery in the universe which feels spiritual to me, I'm not religious myself, but I know people of faith who are true to their beliefs and use their faith for the good, which I respect.  But their numbers are shrinking.  Phony, hateful, racist Christians abound.

    You’re a smart man. 

     I have an enormous amount of faith in something greater than myself but I have no faith in organized religion. 
    My preference is God, Jesus, no building, Jesus preached without a building all the time and of course I could be mistaken but I don’t think he charged a lot to attend his sermons.  

    LOL, no, I don't think Jesus would be a televangelist raking in the bucks!
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • Options
    BentleyspopBentleyspop Craft Beer Brewery, Colorado Posts: 10,551
    brianlux said:
    brianlux said:
    DewieCox said:
    brianlux said:
    Saw this on FB this morning and found it worth quoting here:

    Somber warning from a Pastor about the intentions of Evangelical "conservative" christians in American politics.
    Pastor John Pavlovitz: “I’ve been a pastor in the church for over two decades, much of that in predominantly white churches in the American South.
    I’ve spent countless hours in church staff meetings and men’s Bible studies and youth pastor conferences.
    I’ve stayed connected on social media with thousands of people still there in those churches. I read what they share and post and amplify and I know how they think and what they believe.
    I need you to understand something and I say it without any hyperbole: white Evangelicals need to be stopped, now.
    If the 2022 midterms elections allow Republicans to gain control of Congress, Conservative Christians will decimate this nation, and LGBTQ people, Muslims, women, people of color, and non-Christians will never have equality under the law again. We will all be at their mercy—and they will no longer have use for mercy.
    This is not alarmist, sky-is-falling histrionics, it is the clear and sober forecast from someone who knows these people better than anyone. Over the last decade and a half, as my theology shifted and my beliefs grew more and more progressive, I’ve been a kind of undercover Liberal in an increasingly extremist movement, that while once relegated to minor fringe noisemakers is now at the precipice of Roman Empire-level power. They are less than two years away from having a dominance that they will wield violently and not relinquish.
    I watched it all unfold from the inside:
    I was at a North Carolina megachurch when Obama was elected and I saw the shift take place firsthand. I saw the fear slowly being ratcheted up and the agenda become solidified and the prejudices leveraged.
    I was speaking regularly at the Billy Graham headquarters when Fox News reporters and Republicans like Sarah Palin started walking the halls with frequency.
    I saw the messages at pastor’s conferences grow more incendiary and urgent, and heard the supremacist dog whistles become louder and more frequent.
    While many decent people around this nation celebrated the progress of a black president and the many civil and human rights victories and gradually let down their guard—the white Conservative church set off the alarms and prepared for a holy war.
    Yet, they were still a largely powerless, dying dinosaur until 2016, when Donald Trump acquired the presidency and gave the Evangelicals the perfect amoral partner to serve as the biggest bully pulpit they’ve ever had. Combine that with a fragmented Left, a general fatigue by the larger population, a ceremonial victory in Congress (thanks to Joe Manchin and Krysten Sinema), and Republican attacks on voters’ rights— and we are now a hair’s breadth from the subjugation of diverse humanity here.
    These are not followers of Jesus despite the trappings and window dressing. They are Jesus-less extremists: blind zealots for nothing but power. They have been conditioned by decades of polluted theology and FoxNews alternative facts to see diversity as a threat, to see progress as attacks on America, and to interpret more people being treated with dignity as oppression of white people.
    Trust me when I tell you that we won’t recover from the theocracy Evangelicals are constructing once it is established. If we fail in 2022, they will have a political power that will render every election null and void, and we will never have a voice again in our lifetimes.
    Women will lose autonomy over their own bodies.
    LGBTQ people will have the rights to marry and adopt taken away.
    People of color will be fully squeezed out of the electoral process.
    Immigrants will be denied access to opportunity and refuge here.
    These are not creative projections. They are precisely what Evangelicals have repeatedly stated as their intentions, and they’re closer than they’ve ever been to having a rubber stamp.
    We can still stop it, though.
    We just need a unity and coordination that transcends theirs.
    We need a sustained, passionate, dedicated defense of humanity that rivals their relentless assaults on it.
    I hear many people say they’re terrified, but being terrified alone doesn’t do anything but help these people.
    Be terrified and get angry.
    Be terrified and get busy.
    Be terrified and go to work.
    Be terrified and fight like hell.
    I wish more decent people in America remembered they are among the vast majority instead of acting as if they are helpless victims of Republican Christians. We could defeat them, and we need to. We just need to stop lamenting how much damage they are doing and start doing something to oppose them.
    We’ve seen this play out throughout history and we know how it ends. We know what unchecked religious extremist is capable of and we know the cost of the silence and inaction of good people. We also know what people are capable of when they refuse to accept fascism and white supremacy cloaked in the Bible and wrapped in the flag, when they fight for something inherently good together.
    As someone who knows just how much these Christians have lost the plot of their faith tradition, believe me when I tell you that they cannot be allowed to steer this nation. It will not end well for the disparate people who call it home or who one day wish to.
    Love and equity and diversity are in the balance.
    It’s time we made a choice.
    It may be the last one we get.”
    Pastor John Pavlovitz

    This is legit. My dad’s talked about the detrimental effect of religion and government mixing for at least a decade. You always see nutters blaming things on taking god out of wherever and god given rights and blah blah blah,  and they tie it to every aspect of their being so much that they lose any sort of individuality. It’s directly tied to every opinion they have, every stance they take, how they’re entertained, who they interact with,w who they celebrate, who they look down upon, successes and failures, and who they vote for…. just whole hog indoctrination.

    I used to enjoy going to church, serving the community, hanging with mostly pretty upstanding citizens and bigots and zealots have taken that away from me. If you’re reading the Bible and coming away with any other message but to be a decent person, then you’re doing it wrong. 
    That is sad, Dewie.  I too have known churches with many good people.
    I sometimes think about that Bible story in Matthew 21:12-13:
    "Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers.’"

    He was pissed!  Imagine what he would feel today.  Probably would have apoplexy.  Beyond sensing there is mystery in the universe which feels spiritual to me, I'm not religious myself, but I know people of faith who are true to their beliefs and use their faith for the good, which I respect.  But their numbers are shrinking.  Phony, hateful, racist Christians abound.

    You’re a smart man. 

     I have an enormous amount of faith in something greater than myself but I have no faith in organized religion. 
    My preference is God, Jesus, no building, Jesus preached without a building all the time and of course I could be mistaken but I don’t think he charged a lot to attend his sermons.  

    LOL, no, I don't think Jesus would be a televangelist raking in the bucks!
    The so-called "christians" get wound up when you remind them that Jesus was a dark skinned Jewish guy from Palestine who loved and cared for everyone.
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