When will it END? STOP House Resolution 888!

Who controls the past now, controls the future.
Who controls the present now, controls the past.
Who controls the past now, controls the future.
Who controls the present now?
-RATM "Testify"

H. RES. 888 Affirming the rich spiritual and religious history of our Nation's founding and subsequent history and expressing support for designation of the first week in May as `American Religious History Week' for the appreciation of and education on America's history of religious faith.

Thanks to vjack over at Atheist Revolution for the heads up on this. He's got a good template for a letter to your Representative and a number of links debunking the assertions of the Resolution.

This is not just a religious issue. This is a group trying to permanently insinuate its myths into American History. What's next on the Christian Revisionism Agenda? American Atheists has an Action Alert up to facilitate writing to your Representative here. If you're uncomfortable using the Atheist site, you can also go here. Please contact your Representative and ask him or her to oppose H. Res. 888. For all the good it will do.

Remember guys, this doesn't end until one group wins. Just because they're not coming for you now doesn't mean they won't.

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Ramadan good, Christmas bad

I don't know what it is about the season celebrating the wondrous event of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that makes everybody so goddamned hostile and paranoid.

I bring your attention to an article at The New York Times.

Apparently Representative Steve King (R-Iowa)is upset that more people didn't support House Resolution 847 which he sponsored. It barely passed by a vote of 372-9, with 50 members not voting or voting "present" (neutral). How could such a thing happen? In a statement, Rep. King says,

"I would like to know how they could vote Yes on Islam, Yes on the Indian Religions and No on Christianity when the foundation of this nation and our American culture is Christianity…I think there’s an assault on Christianity in America.”

Of course there is. How could anyone vote NO to Christmas and Christians? Maybe they had a little problem with the language.

Whereas there are approximately 225,000,000 Christians in the United States, making Christianity the religion of over three-fourths of the American population;

Whereas there are approximately 2,000,000,000 Christians throughout the world, making Christianity the largest religion in the world and the religion of about one-third of the world population;
...
Resolved, That the House of Representatives...

(3) acknowledges the international religious and historical importance of Christmas and the Christian faith;

(4) acknowledges and supports the role played by Christians and Christianity in the founding of the United States and in the formation of the western civilization;

The resolutions for Ramadan and Diwali had no statements proclaiming their importance to this country or, indeed, all of civilization. In the Ramadan resolution we have this piece of condescension:

Whereas some Muslims in the United States and abroad have courageously spoken out in rejection of interpretations of Islam that justify and encourage hatred, violence, and terror, and in support of interpretations of and movements within Islam that justify and encourage democracy, tolerance and full civil and political rights for Muslims and those of all faiths;

and

Resolved, That the House of Representatives...

(5) commends Muslims in the United States and across the globe who have privately and publicly rejected interpretations and movements of Islam that justify and encourage hatred, violence, and terror.

The whole thing reads to me as, "Since some of you guys are being so good and playing ball, you can have your little holiday." The Diwali resolution is just pretentious milquetoast.

One only has to look at the titles to understand how ridiculous this is:

H. Res. 747: Recognizing the religious and historical significance of the festival of Diwali

H. RES. 635: Recognizing the commencement of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting and spiritual renewal, and commending Muslims in the United States and throughout the world for their faith

H. Res. 847: Recognizing the importance of Christmas and the Christian faith

(For some real fun, go read what was deleted and added to those resolutions before the votes.)

So how could anyone vote FOR resolutions acknowledging that there are Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains living in this country that may actually BE American Citizens, but regardless, having this holiday and we recognize that it's important to you so go ahead and do it, I guess, but vote AGAINST a resolution proclaiming that Christianity is the most important religion in the United States, if not the world, and Christmas is the best holiday ever, Amen?

Maybe they hate America and God and Christians and just want to drag the whole country into their godless, communist hell. Or maybe they just thought that Christians really shouldn't sponsor and don't need Congressional Resolutions proclaiming how great they are to all the other Christians in the Country.

Do you think this might have ANYTHING to do with the upcoming Iowa Caucus or maybe Rep. King's own re-election next year?

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ACLU wins in Slidell Jesus debacle

So the Slidell Jesus issue is finally resolved. This is a solid win for all who believe in the Bill of Rights and the priority it takes above any and all religions, even in a community which seems to think otherwise.

The new display was finished on August 31 (one week before the court date) and still has the picture of Jesus, but also has other "lawgivers", as well, including Hammurabi, Confucious, Mohammed, Charlemagne, Napoleon, and Louis IX. Jesus no longer holds what is now the center of the display. In that space is a copy of the Constitution, which should have been there all along. Jesus, appropriately, has been moved to the far right.

Of course the Alliance Defense Fund is claiming victory.

“The court today recognized that the First Amendment allows public officials,
and not the ACLU, to determine what is appropriate for acknowledging our
nation’s legal and cultural heritage,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Mike
Johnson. “The ACLU’s sole and stated objective in this case was to have the
Jesus painting removed. But the Constitution does not prohibit public buildings
from memorializing great figures from our history.”

The Associated Press article tells a different story.

"U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle said he would have ordered the
picture removed had it remained prominently on display by itself..."

The ADF should be forgiven the attempt to save face, even if the blatant spin won't be accepted by anyone outside the Christian community. But since the display was changed because of the lawsuit, expect them to be further chagrined when the ACLU successfully recovers its legal fees on October 18th.

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