It seems that Tamara Wilhite and Jen Shroder are in good company over at bushcountry.org. Let's take a look at another columnist there, Joseph Grant Swank. He writes not only for bushcountry.org but also for the amusingly named intellectualconservative.com that allows the uber-idiot Bob Meyer to write for them, for the Chalcedon Report, the absolutely frightening Christian Reconstructionist journal, and for the entirely appropriate thevillageidiot.com. On August 2nd, Swank wrote this column, throwing a fit because an atheist was allowed to deliver an opening invocation at the start of a Tampa City Council meeting (at the invitation of one of the council members, I might add), saying:
Yet Michael can go to the Tampa City Council with his whatever to the noone there as if hes followed proper protocol. In some totally secular rooms, I suppose he is doing just that. But when it comes to the city council in America, its a very very tragic day not just a sad day, but a tragic day.If the country continues on the course its on, it wont need a prophet to spell out the wrath of God quotient around the corner.
Doom is upon us! Hellfire and brimstone! Here's my favorite part, from one of the council members who walked out of the meeting:
"Mary Alvarez left saying she shouldn't have to listen to an atheist sit here and tell me what I should or should not believe in.
Yet the council KNEW this was going to take place in advance, and in an interview beforehand Alvarez said it was fine by her:
Councilwoman Mary Alvarez said she looks forward to hearing an atheist's version of an invocation."Who is he going to pray to?" asked Alvarez, a Christian. "It's a free country. ... Whatever floats your boat."
Yet before Mr. Harvey had a chance to give his invocation, another board member, Kevin White, started a big argument over it and demanded that the board take a vote on whether to allow the man to speak. When that vote failed, three of the members threw a tantrum, took their ball and went home - including Alvarez, who was fine with it a couple days earlier. How amusing. Perhaps in the intervening time, Mr. Swank got ahold of her and told her that this would bring down the very wrath of God upon us and it was up to her to stop it. We can only speculate. But wait, there's more...
5 days earlier, Mr. Swank had written a column about a similar issue in Florida, where Governor Jeb Bush's chief legal counsel has a picture in his office of an American flag with a Christian cross superimposed on it. A Jewish state senator there has filed a complaint with the Governor's office about this, saying that it is "offensive and hurtful" and, naturally, Mr. Swank wishes to defend the picture. Remember how in the other column he was defending those poor abused city council members against the offensive onslaught of an atheist speaking in front of them for 2 minutes? Well, that doesn't apply here. The person offended in this case is, well, I'll let him describe it:
Isnt it amazing how utterly neurotically sensitive some humans have become today? Its outrageous. There are more in need of shrinks than there are shrinks. "Im offended." And now its "Im hurt." Give me a break. Whiney cats all.
Yeah, unlike those poor city council members who would be permanently damaged by having to hear an atheist speak for 2 minutes once in their lives. They're heroes for standing up against Satan himself, but not this Jewish senator - she needs therapy because she's a whiner and a neurotic. How convenient. But here's my favorite part:
"To critics, the message is simple: America is a Christian nation."What would it be if it were the Star of David? Or a photo of a mosque?
Excellent question, Mr. Swank. Let me answer it. Can you imagine the outcry if a Muslim civil servant anywhere in America had a picture in his office of an American flag with a Mosque or a Muslim star and crescent superimposed over it? The right wing, including Mr. Swank I guarantee, would go ballistic over this, screaming to high heaven about how this man is a traitor who puts Islam ahead of his country. He'd be a traitor and a potential terrorist and he would be lucky to escape with his LIFE, never mind his job. The hypocrisy argument works strongly against you, Mr. Swank, not for you.
Here's the other bizarre thing about this. He says in this article,
But its part of the times. We believers expect it far more so with every passing day and every passing ACLU dictate adhered to by the godless. More of it is yet to come. At least thats what Jesus predicted concerning the prophecies of the close of the Church Age.
And in the previous column, he said much the same thing:
Jesus said that in the last days there would be false prophets and false christs. They are aplenty today. Some of them are wrapped in atheists' garb, appearing as the secular saviors for the community the world.
Okay, so if these things are all signs that the end times are upon us, meaning Jesus is going to return, and they were all prophecied and required to take place before that happens, why the hell is he complaining about them? Why is he trying to stop them? It seems to me he should be encouraging this to happen because it is necessary in order to fulfill the prophecies required for Jesus to return in his glory and smite his enemies and take Swank and his pals to their heavenly by-and-by!
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Brent Rassmusen at 'Unscrewing the Inscrutable'
http://uti.dinggraphics.com/
Has been following this story also. Fucking incredible isn't it?
As you well know Ed, I am here in Tampa for the time being.
Let's start with that good ol' boy Jeb Bush
don't forget the Terri Schiavo case:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/07/26/national/main631915.shtml
I want to ask if that is the work of a good Christian man? That poor woman is brain dead. As far as I am concerned Jeb should be ashamed to call himself a Christian.
Now as for the Tampa City Council, Harvey still made his secular message clear in the end.
"Know that problems, human problems, the solutions to these problems can only come from human beings," said Harvey.
This quote comes from:
http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/2004/7/29/50464.html
Council member John Dingfelder did right in inviting Mr Harvey to do the invocation. The city of Tampa belongs to the people.
I had to watch this played out over and over on our local TV stations and in our newspapers.
That's right, Terry Schiavo. And don't forget the looming moral threat of Gay Marriage and Gay telletubbies. Don't look at this hand, hey! Look at this flashy thing over here!
I've always found it interesting that Fundies are adamant about not having to listen what other have to say about what to believe but will go out of their way to tell the rest of us what we should believe. Also, Mr. Swank talks about how atheist (and other non-Christians) should be polite and respect the so called Judeo/Christian heritage of the America, as if atheist, Muslims and Buddhists are some kind of foreigners in this country.
I would ask them when do I, a Buddhist, get to ask for some respect as a citizen of the U.S.A.?
After all, America is a Christian nation only by dint of the fact that Christians are the majority religious group here.
Regards,
Guitar Eddie
Honey, I should have thought to ask you how that whole thing was playing out locally there in Tampa. I just think it's funny to see Alvarez, in particular, tie herself in logical knots. First she says, "Hey, it's a free country, no problem" when she's told he's gonna do this. Then when he goes to do it, she tries to stop him. And when she can't stop him, she storms out in a huff like a 9 year old, complaining about how unfair it is for her to have to listen to an atheist talk about what she should believe in. Yet she isn't at all bothered by the fact that non-Christians have to sit there and listen to a Christian say the same thing month after month. Hilarious.
I would ask them when do I, a Buddhist, get to ask for some respect as a citizen of the U.S.A.?
Sorry Eddie, you're not a real citizen, only Christians are real citizens. You and I are only allowed to be here out of the magnanimous charity of their blessed little hearts. It's particularly amusing for me, since my views are almost identical to those of Thomas Jefferson. You'd think that would make me like an extra strength super citizen. Alas, it does not.
I am a strong supporter of separation of church and state. As such, I am frequently criticized, even by atheists and agnostics, of inciting overt attacks on the concept by fundamentalists. In other words, by vocally supporting separation of church and state I am adding fuel to the fire that threatens to consume it. What nonsense! Since when do fundamentalists need opposition to impose their will on others? It is the dearth of vocal opposition that encourages fundamentalists to corrupt secular society with their dogma.
Um...gee, Ed. I dunno how to break this to you but Thomas Jefferson has been taken to the church basment for a little retooling and revisionistic adjustment so the Thomas Jefferson whose views you believe in is NO longer the Thomas Jefferson who is being touted as the Xtian Fundamentalist Thomas Jefferson today. Call it Jefferson-Lite.
Just check in with D. James Kennedy (bosom buddy of Judge Roy Moore-on) and David Barton (weasel-like plagurist from Wallbuilders Ministries)! They have re-made Tom Jefferson in THEIR IMAGE and lo and behold! the NEW Tom Jefferson is a xtian funy AND he never really MEANT anything by that silly Separation of Church and State thing he mailed to the Danbury Baptists, and he was never actually involved with a black slave--that's just unamerican cultural degradation invented by the liberal left, well...take my word for it...he's an entirely new sorta happening guy!
Not only has Jefferson been co-opted and disfigured by the Reconstructionists but if you drop by Wallbuilders you will find that whole big chunks of american history have remarkably 'changed' to reflect the 'fact' that America is a xtian nation and a kingdom chosen by god for his fundamentalist chosen elect children ONLY.
And if you like to cringe a bit more, consider the fcat that loony David Barton (asshole-for-christ, amen) is on the Texas State Committee which selects history text books for Texas school kids. Now that is scary!
Um...gee, Ed. I dunno how to break this to you but Thomas Jefferson has been taken to the church basment for a little retooling and revisionistic adjustment so the Thomas Jefferson whose views you believe in is NO longer the Thomas Jefferson who is being touted as the Xtian Fundamentalist Thomas Jefferson today. Call it Jefferson-Lite.
Very nice! I give that a 9.2 on the biting sarcasm scale.
Just check in with D. James Kennedy (bosom buddy of Judge Roy Moore-on) and David Barton (weasel-like plagurist from Wallbuilders Ministries)! They have re-made Tom Jefferson in THEIR IMAGE and lo and behold! the NEW Tom Jefferson is a xtian funy AND he never really MEANT anything by that silly Separation of Church and State thing he mailed to the Danbury Baptists, and he was never actually involved with a black slave--that's just unamerican cultural degradation invented by the liberal left, well...take my word for it...he's an entirely new sorta happening guy!
Oi. David Barton makes me see red. He is to history what Phil Johnson is to biology - someone with no training in the field whatsoever who spends all of his time dishonestly arguing that everyone in that field has been lying to us. They are cretins.
And if you like to cringe a bit more, consider the fcat that loony David Barton (asshole-for-christ, amen) is on the Texas State Committee which selects history text books for Texas school kids. Now that is scary!
Hmm. I don't think he's actually on that committee. I believe the Texas Education Agency handles textbook selection and he's not on that. I could check with my friends at the Texas Freedom Network to make sure. He is, however, the vice-chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, which explains all that "Christian Nation" crap in the state platform.