Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
Mayor Rex Parris of Lancaster, California gave his state of the city address last week, delivered before an audience of mostly pastors and their wives. In it he said:
"We're growing a Christian community, and don't let anybody shy away from that...I need (Lancaster community) standing up and saying we're a Christian community, and we're proud of that."
The Fresno Bee notes that "Islamic activists" are objecting to his statement, but they should hardly be alone. All non-Christians -- and all Christians who believe that government intrusion on religion matters is dangerous and unnecessary -- should be bothered by them. And you have to laugh at this:
After the speech he told the Antelope Valley Press that his comments were not meant to exclude anyone.
Oh, of course not. But how could they possibly not send a message of exclusion? Imagine if he declared Lancaster to be a "white community." Would that not obviously send a message that non-whites are not welcome there? The same is clearly true if you define the community as a Christian one.
Politics
Comments
Ed:
He didn't mean to offend any REAL people. Cath-O-Licks, Joos, Mooslims, Boosists, etc., ain't REAL people. See, that was easy!
Posted by: democommie | February 1, 2010 9:30 AM
I don't know. I think this is sort of a gray area. I mean, if he had said they are building a white community, yes that would exclusive. Because a person can't change the color of their skin, but people change religion all the time. So if you want to live in Lancaster just become a Christian.
Posted by: Skip | February 1, 2010 9:44 AM
I've heard similar reasoning given, how Christian doesn't exclude anyone, because they want to welcome everyone into their church, community, or country to give them the opportunity to become Christian. If they don't, they've been warned ahead of time and they'll just have to live by the rules and go along. Or leave. I mean, it's a gift, right, to be told the Good News, especially if you've never heard about it before. See, nothing exclusive about it.
Posted by: David Thompson | February 1, 2010 10:33 AM
"If there is any fixed star in our Constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein." - Justice Robert Jackson
Posted by: Athena | February 1, 2010 10:49 AM
Don't be silly. That's not until phase two.
Posted by: Abby Normal | February 1, 2010 10:53 AM
My view on religious "choice" is the same as sexual "choice". Sure, a gay individual could pretend to be straight (as many in the closet unfortunately do), and I could pretend to be a Christian. But deep down inside, I would know that it would be a lie. I could go through the motions, attend church and pray, and by all outside appearances be a Christian. But I would know that my faith was false.
To prove this point, I often ask Christians if they could arbitrarily convert to Islam or Hinduism. If they say yes, that they could truly believe in another religion, then they don't have full faith in Christianity. If they say no, then my point is made.
Posted by: Jordan G | February 1, 2010 10:55 AM
You wanna see something sick? Go read the comments on Breitbart's article.
Here's another zinger from the same place:
Is it constitutional even to have that on a public ballot?
Posted by: Pierce R. Butler | February 1, 2010 11:01 AM
Just because a person could "choose" to become a Christian does not make Parris' proposal any less exclusionary. Unless he can make a rational argument why one should become a Christian, the proposal is entirely arbitrary and meant to shun those who don't conform to his wishes. I don't think mutability of traits makes a difference at all.
Posted by: Sadie Morrison | February 1, 2010 11:15 AM
Lancaster CA is the home of the California League Baseball team, the Lancaster JetHawks, an affiliate of the Houston Astros. I intend, as soon as the time differential makes it possible, to first phone the club, the league, the offices of the Astros (little hope there, Drayton McLane, the owner of the Astros is known for his own Christianity), and the offices of Major League, and register a complaint. I will then folow up with e-mails to all of them. I shall also be contacting the offices of Union Bank and Hampton Inns, who are major sponsors of the team.
Having a minor league baseball team is frequently very important to a small town, both economically and in terms of prestige. Placing pressure on them through this may be more useful than merely writing blog comments condemning it. After all, there are many Hapanese, quite a few Jewish and Islamic and, I'm sure, non-believing baseball players who would find it uncomfortable wearing the name of a town which expresses such sentiments, and -- since when "Christian" is used in this context it usually means "Evangelical Christian" -- many mainstream Christians as well.
I do, in my contacts, intend to use Ed's 'white community' comparison.
I don't have all the numbers handy yet, but the phone of the JetHawks is 661 726-5400. But I have a personal request. If you are not -- as I am -- a long-time baseball fan, please use another avenue -- there are many -- to deal with this. They are unlikely to rspond as strongly to someone they see as merely a protestor.
I'll post the responses I get as they happen.
Posted by: Prup (aka Jim Benton) | February 1, 2010 11:43 AM
A part of me wants to say this is a good thing, because it reliably lets me know to never live in Lancaster, CA. But then I remember there are children growing up there.... :/
Posted by: James Sweet | February 1, 2010 11:48 AM
Breitbart-free link:
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cair-calif-mayor-says-he-is-growing-a-christian-community-83088122.html
Posted by: Nemo | February 1, 2010 11:53 AM
Sadie Morrison - One of us has to get our sarcasm detector fixed. Either yours is broken our mine's too sensitive.
Posted by: Taz | February 1, 2010 11:56 AM
@ Taz: touche, my man. Now that I reread Skip's comment, the last sentence is sort of a dead giveaway, isn't it? Let's hope so, anyway. No hard feelings, Skip!
Posted by: Sadie Morrison | February 1, 2010 12:13 PM
I'm sure he's gotten lots of support from the Air Force as well, given that Edwards AFB is right there too.
Posted by: Bill | February 1, 2010 12:21 PM
So far I have been able to only leave voice mail messages on the team, the Astros and one sponsor -- Union Bank, which brags about its community involvement -- but the representative of the California League -- the JetHawks league -- was both interested and shocked, and will be checking my information out, and it sounds like he will do something to follow-up on my call. Now back to the phones.
Posted by: Prup (aka Jim Benton) | February 1, 2010 1:14 PM
Have any of you ever been to Lancaster? I say let the Christians have it, as long as they have to stay there...
Posted by: Dr. Shrinker | February 1, 2010 2:13 PM
Ah, California is going back to the 1880s.
Posted by: Juice | February 1, 2010 2:19 PM
Including one of my nephews.
Trouble is, Lancaster is a company town and the Company is the United States Air Force -- which means what you might suspect if you pay attention to Mikey Weinstein.
Posted by: D. C. Sessions | February 1, 2010 2:29 PM
Just a little amused that you linked to the Fresno Bee's story on this, considering that we've had our own run-ins with mayors who have tried to foist their conservative Christian beliefs on the city.
One of them, Jim Patterson, who in his non-mayoral life was the owner of a Christian radio station, was quoted while he was in office as saying that he wasn't just Fresno's political leader, but that he was the city's spiritual leader as well. And then, of course, there was the immediate past mayor, Alan Autry, who spent some of his time while in office flying down to Santa Ana to host programs on the Crouch's Christian cable-tv network.
Posted by: Elaine | February 1, 2010 2:44 PM
I lived in Lancaster for 7 years, finally moving away just months ago. But I still work there. Ya gotta know, this is just daily news for Lancaster. Hell, this isn’t even the latest brushup. In today’s paper, one of Parris’ city council members (and nobody gets elected unless they kiss Parris’ ass) recently made some bigoted remarks about Moslems in the city online blog. When members of the local mosque showed up at city hall this weekend for an explanation, they were only met with a group of vocal supporters of the comments. Sadly, that city councilwoman, just like Parris, is pandering to the local redneck faction. They want to keep their jobs because they’re in bed with all the crooked developers. It’s really quite sad, but he’s the guy they elected. Want more history on Lancaster? Google ‘Lancaster + Parris + Mongols ‘
Posted by: Kev | February 1, 2010 2:55 PM
Prup @9:
Hispanic-Japanese Americans?
Posted by: Monimonika | February 1, 2010 3:58 PM
Ah, a christian community. You've got to love those. Where gay sex with methamphetamines is "100% heterosexual". The mayor must be as nuts as David Koresh - why does this thing smell like Branch Davidians meets Stepford Wives?
Posted by: MadScientist | February 1, 2010 4:04 PM
Re Jim Benton
I don't know what the current situation is but at one time, the Union Bank was Jewish owned and catered to that community in California.
Posted by: SLC | February 1, 2010 5:02 PM
Lancaster is an armpit of a community on par with Bakersfield. Let the Christians have it ;)
Posted by: Brando | February 1, 2010 5:35 PM
I have to wonder, is there a correlation between how shitty a community is and how aggressively their elected officials attempt to foist their beliefs onto the public stage? Over the years it seems like the more insular, homogeneous, some might argue "in-bred" a community is, the more it elects people who believe it is not only their right, but their duty to force others to support their religion. The guy in New Jersey (name escapes me), Freshwater, Dover, Lancaster, dozens of others, all seem to be in shitty little towns that have virtually no economy, minimal prospects for future growth, and often decades of quasi-recession prior to our current down-turn.
Posted by: dogmeatib | February 1, 2010 7:00 PM
dogmeatlb-
Add Salt Lake City to your list.
I was just over at another site that was discussing Prop 8, and a few mormons weighed in with their opinions. And it struck me (as it always does whenever I encounter that particular pathology) how the concept of "non-mormons" just does not compute. There is a huge hole in their view of humanity. In their cult, the mormon god is everyone's god, and making everyone live like a mormon is just performing a public service.
Here's a quote from a mormon poster that illustrates this blindness fairly well. I'm impressed by the...um, frankness-
Source-
http://lds501c3.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/leaked-lds-prop-8-memo-the-work-depends-on-us/#comments
Posted by: Rick R | February 1, 2010 7:54 PM
"Either the Mormon Church does have the truth or it doesn’t."
Doesn't. That was easy!
Posted by: Coragyps | February 1, 2010 8:10 PM
Rick R - this particular Mormon's point is of course a common one amongst Christianists and fundamentalists of all faiths. The issue at least the Christianists avoid, as you probably know, is that they are dishonest when they promote that their religious beliefs justify their promoting the deprivation of others' rights unless they acknowledge their position is contra to both the Constitution, its principles, and the universal application of human rights. This latter acknowledgement is not only avoided or ignored; most Christianists argue they are the sole protectors of America's founding ideals.
So while I'm mildly annoyed there are religionists that promote the persecution of others, my anger is primarily directed at their avoiding who is the enemy to defending individuals' liberty rights.
Posted by: Michael Heath | February 1, 2010 8:30 PM
But we all know they won't. Of course, they'll say they'll include other people of other faith. What they won't say is "but only we get to express our beliefs."
Posted by: Gyeong Hwa Pak | February 1, 2010 9:35 PM
On the crazy scale, the Mormons cult is one step below the Scientologiest cult.
Posted by: Enlightenment | February 2, 2010 12:37 AM
I live about 10 miles north of Lancaster. I'm glad I don't live in the town. The mayor is probably using the Evangelical Christians to enrich himself at the expense of the town. He is a complete attention whore. I've scanned in a copy of the article as well as a creepy video of the dedication ceremony of one of the religious "Community Houses" the mayor wants in every neighborhood. Once scary vision for a town.
Posted by: Anna Lemma | February 2, 2010 1:23 AM
Posted by: llewelly | February 2, 2010 4:12 AM
So far o9ne major response. A representative of te team called me back and we had about a ten-minute conversation -- especially after I'd mentioned I'd spoken to an official of the California League. He was very friendly, very supportive, but made the point that the town was pretty evenly dividied as to te Mayor's comments, with at least as many people protesting them as agreeing with them. (It was obvious from his tone and words that he would, personally, join the protesters.) His initital position was that the team didn't get involved in local politics -- ordinarily understandable, since a minor league team is pretty dependent on good relations with the community and doesn;t want to get half the town against them.
But he did insist that the team has made it their business to stress inclusiveness, that they had held a 'Jewish night' the year before, would again, and would be certainly favorable to holding a 'Muslim night.' (I mentioned my own bisexuality and suggested a 'gay night' as well, and 'We already do that.')
I asked him to discuss my suggestions with the staff, the 'parent team' (The Astros) and -- once they are assigned -- the players, and reminded him of the Limbaugh situation, and he agreed to do that. So, overall, he seemed to have a 'sympathetic, but what can we do' attitude.
More if I get more responses. Haven't contacted Major League Baseball yet, but mostly because there are offices for Minor League Baseball who I did speak to -- well, leave a message with.
So Lancaster isn't quite the benighted place so many of you have described, and at least some action might be taken. More as I get info.
Posted by: Prup (aka Jim Benton) | February 2, 2010 10:46 AM
RickR in #26 quoted, presumably, a Mormon: ... the fundamental family unit (not that it isn’t already in awful shape with divorces, single family home, teenage parents, etc.)
"Single family home"?? What the fuck?
Damn, I just can't keep up. Did the current prophet just have a Revelation about apartment living's being the only divinely-endorsed um real-estate style?
Posted by: Ron Sullivan | February 2, 2010 12:52 PM
Could someone please tell me how Christians are different in any way, shape or form from Nazi's?
Aside from the Nazi's cleansing based on ethnicity and the church cleansing based on belief, what's the difference and why are the christians permitted to thrive yet the Nazi's are hunted still today?
Posted by: Ian Newman | February 2, 2010 3:40 PM
#32 - llewelly
I had assumed you were going to link to Michael Jackson...silly me.
Posted by: Sean O'Doherty | February 2, 2010 5:46 PM
As far as a I know, there were never 30,000 separate factions of Nazis with radically different beliefs.
Posted by: DaveL | February 2, 2010 5:58 PM
Pity those that live for this world and reject the Lord Jesus Christ!
Posted by: Mike D. | February 2, 2010 6:34 PM
Ian Newman,
Well in at least one way I guess they are the same, in that we (Christians) and (I suspect) Nazis would both agree that you're an idiot for asking "Could someone please tell me how Christians are different in any way, shape or form from Nazi's?"
I mean, c'mon, you can be anti-Christian without being unfathomably stupid. Give it a try, you'll be more interesting.
Posted by: heddle | February 2, 2010 6:56 PM
Ian Newman wrote:
You mean other than the fact that the vast majority of Christians do not favor any sort of cleansing at all, while all the Nazis did? Look, there are certainly factions within Christianity that are dangerous and fascist (like Roy Moore, who I mentioned in another post this morning). But to just casually equate Christians with Nazis is, as heddle rightly says, simply idiotic. Get a fucking grip.
Posted by: Ed Brayton | February 2, 2010 7:26 PM
"Could someone please tell me how Christians are different in any way, shape or form from Nazis?"
Easy. The Christian equivalent of a concentration camp, hell, lasts forever (literally).
Posted by: daniel rotter | February 2, 2010 9:10 PM
A Message To The World
God is All Matter and in All Matter throughout space, time, and eternity that is seen and not seen. The Holy Spirit is; All Good, Righteous, Holy thoughts, Holy actions, and Holy words that glorify God. The Holy Spirit resides where God is. We are The Children of God and we live with Him now. Anything that glorifies this Truth is for God's benefit. Anything contrary to this truth will perish as well as people that want to keep the contradictions alive through their faith, actions and words. They will not have spiritual rest until Jesus returns. Souls of those that called out to Jesus will sleep after passing until Jesus' return.
Jesus received The Glory of God by knowing and teaching these Truths after physical baptism. He gave Himself as a sacrifice for All in Hopes that mankind would eventually repent from all contradiction towards God. Have faith towards purity and immortality with these Truths of realizing we All are of one with God. We will receive the Garden of Eden for Eternal Life as He promised, if we know these things to be true, and persevere with this faith. He sacrificed Himself because the old law said that they had to shed blood out of one of God's Creations in order for their sins to be covered. He had to follow mankind's law, yet He changed that law for Eternity by teaching these Truths of Who God Is and to be the final sacrifice for us, knowing that we all will eventually realize we are to be like Him.
Every 14 generations of mankind's contradictions and transgressions build to a level of destruction in their world and God anoints a Holy One to teach mankind how they transgress against God. Mankind's ways of contradicting God will perish. Mankind's sin against God In the time of Noah caused sinners to perish with a flood. In the time of Moses, the sinners received their plagues. In the time of Jesus, mankind was forgiven and told to repent because the Earth would still heal itself against transgression with revelations of; heat from the sun, earthquakes, hail, floods, meteors, tornadoes, tsunamis, oil gushing into the sea, etc. each one in its own part of the land. Forgiveness, salvation and redemption were given because they didn't know what they were doing, and Jesus asked God to forgive them, so He did. Mankind's transgression now brings Global Warming and still only 10 percent use of his mind. Mankind's Righteousness brings the Garden of Eden and full use of their minds, for following Jesus way in Righteousness. Jesus taught mankind the Way of Eternal Life and immortality through Him.
The last 14th generation has already passed awhile ago yet, mankind keeps finding ways to overcome their transgressions with science, so they can keep defiling God without accepting Christ. We all gave power to the beast by defiling our conscience. I hope you see the pattern of the signs of the times, for this is the end of mankind's contradictions towards God and indeed, All Things Are Pure.
Whoever contradicts these Truths will receive those contradictions in their own bodies but not to spiritual death. Physical death and revelations are a result of contradicting God. Mankind keeps contradictions alive with free will. But by The Grace of God, those that follow this knowing of Jesus' ways will receive the ability for the Christ to flow through them and will no longer be afflicted by mankind's contradictions.
God will protect His Children, remove physical death and give immortality. Our faith in God is that All things are pure and living Eternally. Transgressors will live in this time without spiritual death, with no rest for their souls until He returns. The world will give them all revelations until they repent of doing, saying, and knowing those contradictions. Please use your free will to Glorify Creation only, in order to stop revelations. The defiled creations only existed in our conscience knowing.
The Children of God will be gathered together in one place, and their Light will shine. They will receive the Garden of Eden and the Illumination of His Glory. Jesus will see the Light and return to protect the Holy mountain of God with thousands of His Holy Angels, from those who contradict these Truths. They will be removed from the Holy mountain of God until they repent of the knowing that contrary things against God still exist. Whoever trusts in the Lord becomes pure in heart, mind and soul. They will also inherit His Holy Mountain (Zion) and sin no more.
Everywhere else will receive revelations until other Holy cities emerge called the Daughters of Zion and all of mankind comes to know the Truth that we are all of One with God. The whole Earth will then receive The Garden of Eden. Sin, contradiction, and death will try to come back into the world through the resurrection of those tormented souls. But Man will not allow it and teach Righteousness to Sheol without backsliding. We will deny their faith of sin, death, and contradiction. It will not be found in us or in our Creation anymore for Eternity. Then All will understand The Alpha and Omega. The Beginning ways of life will be the same as the ending way (Life with Christ). We will then be just like Adam and Eve in The Garden of Eden of the whole Earth for Eternity. Then we will be able to travel through the existence of All that God Is throughout Space and Eternity with no more time. All waters have the blood of Jesus in it as well as the Holy Spirit and that water is in us. I pray for these things to be self evident and true, IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, AMEN!!!
Beware, because God rested on the 7th day and we are now in the 8th day (8,000th + year) of our Creation and He has awakened.
My Salvation
All sin, defilement and contradiction existed in our conscience to the point of harming our bodies and souls. Our Creation gives us what we know to be true, with our likeminded knowing. All contradictions of God have been purged from my conscience, the Creation I know, see, and don't see. All things are pure and only has the Holy Spirit added into it for Eternity. I will purge all contradictions of God out of my mind, body and soul. I will tell others how too also. By persevering in this way of life I will understand that Christ is in me and flows through me by our faith in His word. I am now of one with the Father, Son, and Holy spirit only for Eternity. This is the knowledge from God that I give, so do I receive it from Him.
Heavenly Father,
I come to You in prayer asking for the forgiveness of
My sins. I confess with my mouth and believe with my
heart that Jesus is Your Son. He died on the cross
at Calvary so that I will be forgiven and have
Eternal Life in the Kingdom of Heaven. Father I believe
That Jesus rose again from the dead and I ask you right
Now to come into my Life, and be my personal Lord and
Savior. I repent of my sins of contradiction and will worship
You for the rest of Eternity. Because Your word is Truth, I
Confess with my mouth that I am born again and cleansed
By the Blood of Jesus, in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Amen!
My Father that is in Heaven
Hallowed be Thy name
Thy Kingdom comes
Thy will be done
On Earth
As it is in Heaven
Thank You for our daily
Knowledge of Righteousness,
And thank you for Forgiveness,
Salvation and Deliverance
For Yours is the Kingdom, Power, and
Glory forever and ever, Amen
We thank You Heavenly Father for accomplishing all of Your word and these Truths in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ!
Posted by: mark | July 13, 2010 3:55 AM
mark, {{citation needed}}.
Posted by: Modusoperandi | July 13, 2010 4:54 AM
@42,
I did a Google search to see where you copied-and-pasted that drivel from, but it came up empty. You actually typed all that out, didn't you? You poor, crazy bastard.
Posted by: DaveL | July 13, 2010 5:11 AM
Mark - TL;DR.
Your naive adherence to YEC nonsense is cute. Most Christian sects realise that YEC is rubbish, not borne out by the well-established facts1..
Your 14th generation2. theory is interesting. Who were the 'holy-men' at 450, 870, 1290, and 1710c.e? BTW the next one is due around 2130, only 120 years to go, bet you can't wait! - Dingo
----
1.(But neither is the existence of your imaginary best friend. Most of us grow out of them, some however, become Xians thus remaining infantile).
1. 14*30 = 420 years
Posted by: DingoJack | July 13, 2010 6:19 AM
Thanks mark. I'm believer now. Very convincing stuff. Yeah I know it was mostly a bunch of "glory gloating", but still it was really convincing stuff.
Why don't you try praying for Jesus to abolish hell while you're at it. It might do some good, and it sounds a lot more productive. That way you might actually "save" a few billion people. Lol.
Posted by: 386sx | July 13, 2010 6:34 AM
"MY Father that is in Heaven?" The original prayer says "OUR Father," as in, We're all brothers and sisters with the same Father, obeying the same rules. But this little jerk is so full of himself he wants to pretend he's the only one on Earth getting candy and pressies from Daddy. What an infantile joke.
Posted by: Raging Bee | July 13, 2010 8:48 AM
If you or your child was in a burning house would you say to the fire department, don't send in any christian to save us because they would want us to serve The only True and Living God through His Son Jesus Christ.
This started out as a Christian Nation with prayer in the schools and still in the congress and every elected official is sworn in on the Holy bible.
You become Mayor of a city and you run it the way you see fit. The christian values uphold respect for all life. The message is simple. You want to go to heaven. Let Jesus in your heart!
Posted by: Apostle | September 27, 2011 12:17 AM
You don't want to go to heaven, just keep living the you are. I asure you that you will go to hell! Now if the Christian is working to keep you from going to hell, then what is your problem. There are people there that didn't want to hear this message. Will you be one that will say, Jesus can I have another chance, please let me out of here!
Posted by: Apostle | September 27, 2011 12:23 AM
"I asure you that you will go to hell!"
Nah, hell doesn't exist either.
"Now if the Christian is working to keep you from going to hell, then what is your problem"
Can he do it in the privacy of his own home? After all, if Hell doesn't exist, he's not saving me from anything, but he IS making himself feel good.
"There are people there that didn't want to hear this message."
And there are people who don't want to hear this message:
There ain't no heaven and there ain't no hell.
Except the one we're in, and you know to well
There's no-one waiting on,
Waiting on a higher high.
Don't let the only world you're ever gonna live in pass you by.
"Jesus can I have another chance, please let me out of here!"
Nope, cos we'll be dead. The only time we'd say that is when some godbotherer traps us and DEMANDS they save our soul. How tiresome.
Posted by: Wow | September 27, 2011 5:00 AM
Apostle - "This started out as a Christian Nation with prayer in the schools and still in the congress and every elected official is sworn in on the Holy bible."
Nope, not even close. Try again.
"You become Mayor of a city and you run it the way you see fit."
Nope, not even close. Mayor are public servants, they serve the needs of the public and run the government to suit the people.
Overall grade: F-.
Dingo
Posted by: DingoJack | September 27, 2011 5:39 AM