Kansas is going apeshit over a recent Rolling Stone article about our own dear senator Sam Brownback. The article, God’s Senator, details Brownback’s rise to power in the US senate and his “visionary” dream of a xian America (websites like this would be considered a moral affront and probably shut down):
“He began to suspect that the problem with government wasn’t just too many taxes; it was not enough God.”
Also examined is his involvement in a clandestine Capitol Hill xian group called “The Fellowship”:
“They were striving, ultimately, for what Coe calls “Jesus plus nothing” — a government led by Christ’s will alone. In the future envisioned by Coe, everything — sex and taxes, war and the price of oil — will be decided upon not according to democracy or the church or even Scripture. The Bible itself is for the masses; in the Fellowship, Christ reveals a higher set of commands to the anointed few. It’s a good old boy’s club blessed by God.”
The “Constitution Restoration Act”:
“The most bluntly theocratic effort, however, is the Constitution Restoration Act, which Brownback co-sponsored with Jim DeMint, another former C Streeter who was then a congressman from South Carolina. If passed, it will strip the Supreme Court of the ability to even hear cases in which citizens protest faith-based abuses of power.”
The “Value Actions Teams” which opposes hate crime legislation for attacks because of sexual oreintation is another one of Brownback’s pet groups. They believe that “the hate-crime bill would lead, inexorably, to the criminalization of Christianity.” No shit.
I’ve asked a couple of people around my area if they had voted for Brownback and why; the most common answer I had was along the lines of “He knows jizzus and is a proper bible thumpin’ guy who’ll get rid of the fags and the commies and the jews and the atheists and the muslims and yadda yadda yadda.”
I’m glad I’ll be voting in this state for a while. I will have the ability to bring some secular, unbiased information to my little burg. Unfortunately I don’t think I’ll be able to make it all stick.
Brownback is apparently also priming himself for a stab at presidential candidacy (*shiver*) and if not a contender, according to the article, will have a huge effect on the outcome and future policies of the new prez.
The article is quite long, but is totally enthralling.
Get me the fuck out of this state.
Slainte!
Well, you can always come and live in Ohio (Kansas East), you know, the state that gave Bush the White House (no I’m not one of those “Democrats will saves us” people, just sayin’, stolen election, etc.) And we have lots of fundies here, too. You wouldn’t feel homesick.
I think leaving the country is better. But take all the wmd’s with you. the religious are just a little to eager to annhiliate “infidels”.
P.s. Why does Brownback hate America so much?
Lya,
I refuse to leave, but I do encourage more of the educated and intelligent to move to red states and “steal” the vote from under Neo-Con religious psycopaths. I do… holy shit do I… hate living here, but I will have a positive effect. Spread intelligence folks; it’s tastier than peanut butter.
I know you’re 100% right. I just don’t care anymore. Let them have it all - and when they ruin it, they’ll have only themselves to blame.
“They were striving, ultimately, for what Coe calls “Jesus plus nothing” — a government led by Christ’s will alone. In the future envisioned by Coe, everything — sex and taxes, war and the price of oil — will be decided upon not according to democracy or the church or even Scripture. The Bible itself is for the masses; in the Fellowship, Christ reveals a higher set of commands to the anointed few. It’s a good old boy’s club blessed by God.”
They don’t want to follow God. They want to become him.
Atheists? Bad, bad, bad.
Creepy avataristic totalitarian fuckwads? Let ‘em run the country!
Very very scary. I’m with you on this one. No good can come from a theocracy. Here is something you can do, send all the folk that want this to be a theocratic democracy (whatever that is) to the Xian Exodus website. It’s not fair to South Carolina, but maybe they will forget about national or local politics for a while.
http://christianexodus.org/
I wonder if someday we’ll end up as a separationist country like before the civil war with lines drawn between the states only this time it’ll be the fundies v. rationalist. When I was a kid my dad used to say we were heading for a civil war in this country. I think his concerns were more racist (it was the 60’s), but take away the race part and insert religion. I don’t want to run away from my homeland, but I can’t fathom living under a theocracy, so I would head to somewhere where I would be nearer to rational people. If we all did that, then it seems the lines would be drawn. Very scary.
If such a thing comes to pass, I’d say we’d have to band together with the muslims and jews and various others, plus I’m sure we would have a few christians on our side too. I don’t believe any of the crap they do but I imagine it would affect them to some degree as well. Unless the neo-cons decide to win them all over as allies and have an atheist vs. everyone else party. What are we? Like, 4% of the population in this country? Maybe we could use brain and beat out their braun (we would have the majority of the smart folks wouldn’t we?)
It’s certainly a scary thought, but I’m pretty sure this would fall under Jefferson’s right to overthrow a corrupt government thing, the only problem is as stated above, our numbers.
It may sound stupid but as they say, better safe than sorry. We need to have some sort of a plan, it would be stupid to be caught with our pants down when we’ve known someone was coming for forty-five minutes. Not to sound like a paranoid conspiracy nut, but think about what a 180 this country has done in the past few years. I’m not saying it will happen, as a matter of fact it’s unlikely this sort of thing will happen, but it would be wise to have a plan for this sort of thing. Looking at history, I’d say we should’ve learned something by now.
Island57,
I also wonder if the new “racial divide” of the 50s and 60s has been replaced by the “religious divide” of the 21st century. With the current shift in balance toward the RR on the SCOTUS, I hope roe v wade survives. If it is overturned, that may become the spark that turns our speculation into reality.
Wow, parts of the United States look just about as scary these days as the Middle East. Sane humanist Americans, you’re very welcome in Australia. Let’s start a rational utopia!
And yet another example of stupid is as stupid does.WTF are these people really as ignorant as they sound?? Also good for a laugh
http://www.pandasthumb.org/archives/2006/01/two_mosquitoes_1.html#more
Mexico, Central america,Panama is a great place to go.They have it all and you can get dual citizenship. Check out “Internationalliving.com” Make your contingency plans and follow through on them. Don’t give another dime to any of them. Citgo gasoline is wholey owned by Venezuela. No arabs and no Bush money.Study Learn Do.
Also look into www.democracyrising.com
ChristianExodus.org, eh? The lies spewed on their home page are pretty typical of religious nuts. Dozens of absolutist statements about existing laws that just ain’t true.
Poor South Carolina. Then again, if we can get them all in one place…
Oh, shut up. Don’t get all Godwin’s Law on me. I was joking.
(Sort of.)
Aussie Adam,
You’re absolutely right. Be glad you don’t have a religious megalomaniac (mis)running your country into the ground. Frankly I’m glad I was never big on travel as I would be ashamed to have to goto another country and say I was an American. I grew up thinking that America was a paragon of democracy, not 100% perfect but on the right track. Now America is a parody of democracy with rabid religious nuts and right-wing bastards running rampant here and abroad. Hopefully none of it affects you there in Australia.
Sean,
I certainly wish they would willingly go somewhere to themselves much like the dumb fundie-bundie anti-technology amish but noooooo these bastards just aren’t content unless they’re proselytizing and pushing their idiot beliefs and views upon everyone. I fear there may be a chance that they will indeed divide the country along partisan/religious lines (secular liberals vs. religious conservative fundies).
Hi,its me,your favorite person…well,I live in europe and these are some of the statements ive gotten about america(keep in mind these are not from “xians”,these are from humanists and naturalists)
“America is such a happy place,here,in europe, we are all so depressed but in america,they are happy.”
“Bush is destroying america”
“AMerica is still much better place than france,despite what bush is doing”
“Every american i’ve met, seems like the kindest europeans i meet”
“americans are very shallow”
Just a little note…not everyone hates america,at least here you practice w/e religion(or no religion) you want.
oh,and what does slainte mean?
Trevor,
It’s a reference to Edward Slainte; he is an 18th century atheist moralist in Ireland that was attacked and publicly humiliated by xian townfolk. They eventually killed him during a beating when he refused to attend a Sunday mass. His writing warns against the trend of “country” politics to lean toward fundamentalism. He is an atheist martyr. Most atheists simple shout, “Slainte!” as a tribute to him.
*snicker*
Please don’t send anymore jeebus freaks to South Carolina. We have enough already.
Now, now Marcus…that was kinda mean…
No doubt, funny as hell…but…
Bob,
Heh…
Being from Florida (“The Home Of The Original Stolen Election”) I fee your pain. I am of a mind that we should all support the Xian Exodus Project ( or whatever the fuck they call it) and send ‘em all to South Carolina. That way I might actually be able to buy a beer on Sundays.
“Sane humanist Americans, you’re very welcome in Australia. Let’s start a rational utopia! ”
WEll, I was planning to go to New Zealand, but shit, Australia’s close enough!
“That way I might actually be able to buy a beer on Sundays.”
I’m a christian,and very much emerged in the christian community,and almost everyone i know(christians) either drink wine and beer(but dont get drunk).Or they don’t have a problem with it but choose not too themselves.I dont have a problem with it…Jesus drink wine…
Trevor,
What does that have to do with the issue of xian hijacking of the political arena? The comment made by IcarusPoe was a bit of a joke.
Marcus-Sorry,i was taking it a little seriously.I just get tired of everyone thinking that all christians are stiff necked,”fun is wrong”,religion forcing kind of people…
Stupid little trevor,
I see you wrote some more incompetent jibberish in message 23. Is everyone in your idiot christian community as stupid, incompetent and brain-dead as you ? Are you all perpetually drunk or stoned or something ? You know that religion is just another dependency like substance abuse.
“You know that religion is just another dependency like substance abuse. ”
AA proves that. From one addiction to another.
“I just get tired of everyone thinking that all christians are stiff necked,”fun is wrong”,religion forcing kind of people…”
Really, then do something political to change that perception- something that doesn’t trample the rights of an alternative belief system or deny others their basic freedoms.
Stop you xian friends from taking the bible so literally- it doesn’t apply to everyone no matter how much you want it to; stop the unhindered spread of xian groups run by people like James Wickstrom and their ilk; stop the fundamentally improper insertion of religion into our state and federal institutions; stop the growth of anti-education sentiment in the American south and central states; stop it… stop it all. When you call yourself a xian, think about all the harm that religion has done (and don’t follow this with the “no true Scotsman”) and think about all the harm it continues to do to those of us who are not willing to hang on to its precepts.
I know you are young and have a lot of growing up to do- I hope you grow in the right direction. Make sure you have a secular university education. Find diversity; find the world; find yourself; and help us find a way to compromise. Compromise is the only peace.
Marcus
That’s quite a load you put on the back of one 14 yr old kid. But to your credit, your last paragraph was excellently stated.
Trevor,
Fact: The county in which I live is partially dry on Sundays (you can buy beer and wine after 1:00pm, but no liquor). That doesn’t make all xians stiff-necked, just the ones that make the laws. And if you doubt that the most vocal and visible xians in this country are indeed “religion-forcing kind of people”, then you,my friend, have not been paying attention.
I am so sorry and saddened to read the postings on this site. How sad that somewhere in your lives you were not introduced to the wonderful teachings of atheism. If you had a horrible experience growing up with organized religion and the people who represented that, I totally understand -they’re all dickheads. Christians need to separate people and the flaws that we all have from “God”, who is the perfect example of a system of beliefs created as a scapegoat for shitty behavior. When I was in the porn industry, I got a lotta flack from god lovers, but i realized that they really weren’t wiling to conisder me as a person and really just cared about their own bible thumping.
They claim the word of God is what matters not what people have said or done to you or against you. But like i said- when I was doing gay porn, they really violated that again and again. Read CS Lewis, and you’ll see how fucked up they are.
Christianity is far from the most inclusive religions of them all, but they claim it is for everyone. Chrisitians, like other wordly religion followers have rules and “things” that you have to do to be a part of that religion, rules that no human can ever live up to. The suffering I’ve gone through because of them is unimaginable.
Believing in God may be like “another substance abuse”.
Wow, thanks for the comments, LES!
Hi, LES. Well, thanks for the sentiments, really… But to tell you the truth, I am not on here to make anyone feel sorry for me. I had somewhat of a tough upbringing (I say “somewhat” because when I compare my life here in America to some kid living in Iraq or the Congo and all bets are off), but I did not suffer indoctrination.
Some of the atheists on this site did, and part of what they are still going through is a rejection of what I consider a form of child abuse.
But again, some of us never went through that, and we are not looking for anything more than a place to a) vent our frustrations at the crimes and illogic of religion and b) have a little fun. I mean, really, its FUN poking fun at the insanity. What else can we do sometimes but laugh? It’s better than crying, yes?
And I don’t reeeeeally know what the “wonderful teachings of atheism” are. To tell you the truth, that statement kind of baffles me. Atheism is simply the absence of faith. It has no teachings of its own, right?
Actually, Sean, LES’ comment is a “Marcus Original” reclamation- from witness to atheist in under ten minutes!
You did it again, you bastard. You need to label these “Marcus Reclamation” in the beginning so I don’t waste my time responding in detail to a figment of your imagination!
Sean,
BWAHAHAHAAA!!!! Beware my evil editing!
Actually, I only revised about a fifth of the whole thing. This xian made it pretty easy.
HA! love it.
themoldlawyer,
We’re happy you do!