Our new website is up today! The most important part of the conversion is the completely retooled back end. We are now updated to the newest edition of Joomla, which is a content management system. This edition of Joomla will be supported through 2019. We've incorporated a great new "Hot Topics" section at the top of the site as well. We're looking at new templates right now. Templates are easy to change and they add an entirely new look and feel to a website. Click here to check out our new site and enjoy! ... and you know what that means. You're going to Hell. Evangelical Christianity has become a cult. Does that sound like a game changing statement? It is, and it should be. We’re sounding the alarm. We hope some people listen. It’s not about Jesus any longer, and what he taught. It’s about thought control. Over the last 35 years we’ve been the proverbial frog in the kettle. The water has gotten warmer and warmer and we’ve stayed in without asking questions. No one knows exactly when it happened but the water reached a boil, and our faith has been cooked beyond recognition. It’s reached the point where the doctrine we churn out is absurd. Here are the “Six Sociological Characteristics of Cults,” as defined by Ron Rhodes, in “The Challenge of the Cults and New Religions: The Essential Guide to Their History, Their Doctrine, and Our Response.” (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001), 31–34: 1.) Authoritarian Leadership. You have to see it our way. There are no other options. 2.) Exclusivism. We’re the only ones who are right. 3.) Isolationism. There’s us and there’s them. You can’t be part of both. 4.) Opposition to Independent Thinking. 5.) Fear of Being “Disfellowshiped.” 6.) Threats of Satanic Attack. Members may be told that something awful will happen to them should they choose to leave the group and its way of thinking, and Satan will be behind it. Now let’s read a brief excerpt from the beginning of the book “Broken Words: The Abuse of Science and Faith in American Politics,” by Jonathan Dudley, Crown Publishers, (2011-04-05). We believe this is a must read book for Christians who vaguely, or not so vaguely, realize that something has gone very wrong: I learned a few things growing up as an evangelical Christian: that abortion is murder; homosexuality, sin; evolution, nonsense; and environmentalism, a farce. I learned to accept these ideas— the “big four”— as part of the package deal of Christianity. In some circles, I learned that my eternal salvation hinged on it. Those who denied them were outsiders, liberals, and legitimate targets for evangelism. If they didn’t change their minds after being “witnessed to,” they became legitimate targets for hell. In this book, I explore these ideas, the “big four,” from the perspective of one racked with ambivalence toward the evangelical community. Racked with ambivalence, I say, because I am emotionally attached to the evangelical culture. I grew up in it; all of my family and most of my childhood friends are from it; and I have many fond memories of singing songs at Bible camp, playing drums in my church’s praise band, and reciting Bible verses in Sunday school. But I am intellectually turned off by much of the evangelical culture. Its homogeneity, politicization, naive views of biblical interpretation, embrace of pseudoscience —they all serve to turn me away. I also explore the “big four” ideas as a seminary graduate and, now, aspiring medical scientist, and one whose theological and scientific training results in a rejection of standard evangelical thought on the big four issues. This background is especially appropriate because all four topics involve the Bible and biology: Life begins at conception and terminating it before birth is murder. Homosexuality is an abomination and gays don’t have to be gay. Intelligent design is the best synthesis of biochemistry with belief in God. Global warming is a myth and the earth will be destroyed when Jesus comes back anyway. When the Bible and biology are mixed in this way, the products are boundaries. The preceding stances on each issue, in the eyes of many, define the perimeter of the evangelical community. Like walls surrounding a city, the issues serve to distinguish evangelical insiders from nonevangelical outsiders. If you don’t think life begins at conception, or you believe gay marriage is OK, chances are many evangelicals won’t see you as a fellow Christian. When Richard Cizik, head of the National Organization of Evangelicals, declared in 2007 he believes in human-made global warming, going counter to the views of many evangelicals, who have long insisted that global warming is a hoax, evangelical leaders demanded he resign. During the 2008 Saddleback Forum, when Barack Obama told Rick Warren he’s not quite sure when life begins, his response was immediately distributed to evangelicals as proof that McCain (who told Warren that life begins at the moment of conception) was the evangelicals’ candidate. When the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America voted to support gay marriage in 2009, and a tornado occurred on the same day, a leading evangelical pastor declared that God sent the tornado to punish the church. Evangelicals continue to rally around intelligent design and evince grave suspicion toward evolutionary theory. When evangelical pastor Greg Boyd wrote a book arguing that evangelicals needn’t be Republicans in 2007, he lost 20 percent of his five-thousand-person congregation. The problem is not so much that evangelicals are generally Republican as that valid perspectives are squelched, while perspectives that are substantially weaker (as I will argue) are held up as defining “orthodoxy” for evangelicals. For me, the function of these beliefs as litmus tests for Christian faith is not just an observation of the culture from afar. It is profoundly personal. I recall several stories, whispered in hushed, solemn tones after church, about the latest members who had “wandered from the faith.” This often referred to supporting a pro-choice politician or accepting the theory of evolution. Assenting to the big four, on the other hand, was taken as evidence of moving into the faith, crossing from worldly to Christian and entering the kingdom community. A church friend once commented, “God’s been working in my neighbor’s heart lately.” How did my friend know? Over the years the neighbor had gradually switched from supporting gay rights to opposing them. Let everything you've read above sink in a bit. The conclusion is undeniable. Now for the scary part. The list is getting longer and it's driving national policy!
What constitutes "the list" is debatable but one thing is for sure, it's growing! Here are some notable new additions to "the big four." 5.) You can't be a liberal; 6.) You can't vote for any other party but the Republicans; 7.) You can't support President Obama on anything and he's a Muslim anyway; 8.) Islam is NOT a religion of Peace It's beyond time for the followers of Jesus to speak up. The extremists have taken over the camp and they're running the show, and the nation. It is no longer Christianity. It's a cult. Now what are we going to do about it? Pope Francis is just a man, and he doesn't like to be put up on a pedestal. He says he's "a man who laughs, cries, sleeps calmly and has friends like everyone else. A normal person." He's not Superman. It's a little hard sometimes to honor his request. We have not seen the likes of this man in our lifetime. He has to be a nearly perfect example of what it means to follow Jesus. We are by no means comparing ourselves to him but the things he says are the same things we've been saying for 5 years! Jeepers! Talk about confirmation. Somewhere along the line, about 35 years ago, American Christianity began to lose its identity. Over the course of those 35 years it has become much worse, something not even recognizable. It's something different now. It's Something very different. There haven't been very many folks to look up to as leaders lately. Most of the leaders speak of ideological rhetoric now, not the Gospel. It's been a long 35 years for some of us Christians. We've been in the desert. That's why Pope Francis has been a tall, cool glass of water for us and our hearts jump for joy as we watch him clarify what following Jesus is, and what it is not. It's really, really hard for some of us not to make him bigger than life. For so long we have looked for a leader who followed Jesus, and condemned the perverted ideology which took its place. Let's take a closer look at this man who laughs, cries, sleeps calmly and has friends like everyone else. He has no problems with evolution, declaring that the theories of evolution and the Big Bang are real, and remarking that God is not “a magician with a magic wand.” He says both evolution and the Big Bang are not incompatible with the existence of God. In fact, he says, they “require it.” He speaks against unnecessary spending by the Church and during his Christmas address he scolded the senior clergy, chastising the power-hungry, “diseased” culture of the Vatican. He accused the priests, bishops and cardinals of suffering from “existential schizophrenia” and “spiritual Alzheimer’s,” adding that many are guilty of “rivalry and vainglory”. He ordered “the Bishop of Bling,” Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, a German bishop in Limburg, out of his extravagant diocesan residence and accepted his resignation after he had just spent 100’s of thousands of dollars refitting it with things like a $20,0000 bathtub. He has opted to be driven around in a second-hand Renault rather than the sleek black limousines, and decided to live in a modest Vatican guesthouse rather than the Vatican’s grand apostolic apartments. He accuses some of church's leaders of being “narcissists.” He does kind things for the afflicted like taking a boy with Down's Syndrome for a ride in the Popemobile. He embraces and kisses people with hideous diseases that make then look grotesque and disfigured, like a man named Vinicio Riva. He denounces the judgment of homosexuals, saying "Who am I to judge them if they're seeking the Lord in good faith?" He held a major ceremony at the chapel of a youth prison. While there he washed and kissed the feet of 12 young offenders. He also broke tradition by washing the feet of women and Muslims. He urges the protection of the environment saying, “When I look at so many forests, all cut, that have become land, that can longer give life. I see this is our sin, exploiting the Earth. This is one of the greatest challenges of our time: to convert ourselves to a type of development that knows how to respect creation.” He personally called and consoled a victim of rape telling her, “You are not alone,” adding to have faith that justice will be done. Like his predecessor, Pope Francis believes in universal health care, and he does not believe health care is solely the job of churches, charities and individuals. "I beg the Lord to grant us more politicians who are genuinely disturbed by the state of society, the people, and the lives of the poor! It is vital that government leaders and financial leaders take heed and broaden their horizons, working to ensure that all citizens have dignified work, education and healthcare." he states. The Pope knows that Christ's commands are universal. They apply not only to individuals, but to governments and businesses as well. There seems to be a real shortage of the kinds of politicians Pope Francis is begging for. Sen. Bernie Sanders is one of the few we know of. Tragically, there are plenty of politicians who stand for the opposite point of view, like the freshman Senator from Iowa Joni Ernst, who categorically states "The reason Republicans oppose Obamacare is because the job of caring for the poor is simply not the purview of government. The poor," she said, "should rely on churches and charitable organizations for help." Politicians like Ernst, a self-proclaimed "Christian," want the United States to be a "Christian Nation" when it comes to the Federal Government policing your bedroom, what you do with your penis or vagina, who you love and want to marry, your private reproductive decisions, and your uterus. Their "Christian Nation" carries out vengeance against Muslims via endless wars that no one ever wins. But when it comes to the actions that Jesus instructed his followers to carry out, like taking care of the least of these, "that's simply not the purview of government." It's quite apparent that they haven't the foggiest idea what being a Christian really means since it entails following the instructions of the center of the faith, a guy named Jesus. And as the Pope explains, his instructions aren't "just for individuals," they are for individuals, governments, businesses, churches, charities ... everyone, and every single human endeavor. Jesus doesn't care how we get it done he just wants us to get it done, using every resource possible. Every single resource. Conservatives like to throw out one of their favorite mantras, "Jesus said the poor will always be among us." They have neglected to educate themselves beyond the silly mantras they use to justify their ideology. Jesus was quoting Deuteronomy 15:11, which states: "There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land." Francis sneaks out of the Vatican with Archbishop Konrad Krajewski dressed as an ordinary priest to feed the homeless. He auctioned off his prized Harley Davidson motorcycle to benefit the homeless. He acknowledged that atheists can be good people and he invited them to work with him saying, "I invite non-believers who desire peace. Join us with your desire, a desire that widens the heart. Let us all unite, either with prayer or with desire, but everyone, for peace.” He said nothing judgmental about them, just "Let's work together for the common good of all of mankind." He condemns the global financial system and is particularly hard on trickle-down economics, also known as Reaganomics or supply-side economics. He decries an “idolatry of money” in secular culture and warned that it would lead to “a new tyranny.” He wrote in his Papal statement, “Some people continue to defend trickle-down theories which assume that economic growth, encouraged by a free market, will inevitably succeed in bringing about greater justice and inclusiveness in the world. This opinion, which has never been confirmed by the facts, expresses a crude and naive trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the prevailing economic system. Meanwhile, the excluded are still waiting.” He fights child abuse, overhauling Vatican law to specify sexual violence against children as a crime. Five months later, he established a commission to advise him on how to protect children from pedophile priests and on how to counsel victims. He has made public apologies on behalf of the church and begged for forgiveness for its horrible crimes against children throughout the ages. He has vowed to completely overhaul the system that allowed it to happen in the first place. He condemns the violence of the Syrian civil war and of all wars. “When man thinks only of himself, of his own interests and places himself in the center, when he permits himself to be captivated by the idols of dominion and power, when he puts himself in God’s place, then all relationships are broken and everything is ruined; then the door opens to violence, indifference, and conflict. This is precisely what the passage in the Book of Genesis seeks to teach us in the story of the Fall: man enters into conflict with himself. Conquer your deadly reasoning, and open yourself to dialogue and reconciliation. Look upon your brother’s sorrow – I think of the children, look upon these - look upon your brother's sorrow, and do not add to it, stay your hand, rebuild the harmony that has been shattered. War is always a defeat for humanity." Ex Vice President Dick Cheney, mastermind of everything George W. Bush did doesn't see it that way, and neither do most Republicans. Cheney pops up every chance he gets to criticize President Obama and "his serious lack of leadership in foreign policy (i.e., not starting enough new wars)." He and his daughter formed a 501c4 not long ago and made an embarrassing commercial insulting the President. "Forget Food Stamps and Highways!. Spend More on the Military!" said the former CEO of Halliburton, one of the biggest players in the Global Military Industrial Complex, and whose headquarters are now in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. If the White House ever falls into Republican hands again, you better believe Cheney and his minions will have their hands on policy, no matter who the President is. In fact, they'll welcome his advice and use his network Republicans are always saying that President Obama lacks leadership in foreign relations. Why? Because he didn't stay in Iraq or Afghanistan (the longest US war ever) and he hasn't invaded Iraq again. He hasn't invaded Russia or Iran either! What republicans fail to realize is that there is no winning in that part of the world. It just becomes a war that never ends and that's exactly what they'll start if they ever have the power again, an endless war in the middle east. We don't say these things to be partisan. These are just the facts based on what republicans have said themselves. The Pope often speaks out against the Church’s "obsession" with abortion, gay marriage, and contraception saying, “the Catholic Church must shake off an obsession with teachings on abortion, contraception and homosexuality, and become more merciful or risk the collapse of its entire moral edifice "like a house of cards". The Church has "locked itself up in small things, in small-minded rules" and should not be so prone to condemn. “In ideologies there is not Jesus: his tenderness, his love, his meekness. And ideologies are rigid, always. Of every sign: rigid. And when a Christian becomes a disciple of the ideology, he has lost the faith: he is no longer a disciple of Jesus, he is a disciple of this attitude of thought. Ideology frightens, ideology chases away the people, distances, distances the people and distances the Church of the people. But it is a serious illness, these ideological Christians have. It is an illness.” The Pope called on Christians and Muslims to cooperate and to serve mankind with the “light of God's truth,” and warned that extremists in nations such as Iraq were exploiting religious differences for political and violent agendas. He didn't insult the Muslim faith. He respected it and called for cooperation. That's the way he rolls. He's a humble Christlike man, with everyone, including children who showed him how a "selfie" is done. He invited four homeless people to his 77th birthday party, which he celebrated with Vatican staff and their families. He once refused to send away a child who had run up on stage to hug him. Seems like he might have read Luke 14: 12-14 “The next time you put on a dinner, don’t just invite your friends and family and rich neighbors, the kind of people who will return the favor. Invite some people who never get invited out, the misfits from the wrong side of the tracks. You’ll be—and experience—a blessing. They won’t be able to return the favor, but the favor will be returned—oh, how it will be returned!—at the resurrection of God’s people.” Just like Jesus often did, Pope Francis often breaks with "tradition." like the time he confessed his sins in public. He was leading a penitential liturgy in St. Peter's Basilica when it came time to hear confessions. Instead of heading into an empty confessional to hear the confessions of fellow priests, Francis walked across the aisle and knelt before a priest. Who does that? The humble Christlike leader of the Catholic Church, that's who. Pope Francis is a reformer. That much is obvious. Sometimes those who elected him aren't quite as enthusiastic about all this reform business. He's messing around with the comfortable lives some of them have built for themselves. He even calling some of them names! Oh the horror! Who would stoop to calling names!? That's just not Christian like! Well, Apparently Pope Francis missed that memo because he's called some of the Catholic leadership narcissists who have missed the point entirety.
Francis, has said he wants a more merciful and less rigid Church. One that looks more like Jesus. He's trying to set the Church on a new path, toward an evangelizing style that is less focused on doctrine and more willing to invite people in, no matter what their status. Some people don't like that idea. During a recent closed session conservative bishops reversed parts of an official Church document that would have had an historic upbeat tone regarding gays, cohabitation, re-marriage, and same-sex couples among other themes. They said it would “create confusion among the faithful and threatened to undermine the traditional family.” The Pope responded by saying, “God is not afraid of new things. That is why he is continuously surprising us, opening our hearts and guiding us in unexpected ways.” Some people say Francis hasn't done enough. Why hasn't he changed church doctrine to allow women in the priesthood, priests to marry, gay priests, LGBT marriage equality, and a new pronouncement that there is no hell. Wait. What? He hasn't done enough? Who were they expecting? Superman? Abortion is a made up issue designed to coalesce a right-wing political movement. Jesus never said one word about it. If it's so important why did he say nothing? In fact, the only time it's mentioned in the Bible is the ordeal of the bitter water in Numbers 5. Everyone has a right to make their own decisions about abortion and we believe if someone is against it they shouldn't have one. No one has the right to impose their beliefs on this topic on others, especially when right-wing Biblical interpretations are fabricated for political purposes. Most conservative "Christians" won't read won't read any further than this. They just can't handle hearing something that could bring down their entire psychological house of cards. That means it's up to us to educate ourselves and educate those around us who will listen. It's very interesting to note that in Jewish law and tradition an unborn fetus is not considered a person (Heb. nefesh, lit. “soul”) until it has been born. The fetus is regarded as a part of the mother’s body and not a separate being until it begins to egress from the womb during parturition (childbirth). Things haven't always been the way they are now with American Christianity. A 1968 a symposium sponsored by the Christian Medical Society and Christianity Today, the flagship magazine of evangelicalism, refused to characterize abortion as sinful, citing 'individual health, family welfare, and social responsibility' as justifications for ending a pregnancy. In 1973, Wallie Amos ‘W. A.’ Criswell, President of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1968 to 1970, had this to say: “I have always felt that it was only after a child was born and had a life separate from its mother that it became an individual person, and it has always, therefore, seemed to me that what is best for the mother and for the future should be allowed." Enter con-man Paul Weyrich, the late religious conservative political activist, co-founder of the Heritage Foundation, and Godfather of The “Christian” Right, who literally shopped various issues trying to galvanize a conservative “Christian” movement. His hypothetical “moral majority” needed a catalyst—a standard around which to rally. For nearly two decades, Weyrich, by his own account, had been trying out different issues, hoping one might pique evangelical interest: pornography, prayer in schools, the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution, even abortion. “I was trying to get these people interested in those issues and I utterly failed,” Weyrich recalled at a conference in 1990. The 1978 Senate races demonstrated to Weyrich and others that abortion might motivate conservatives where it hadn’t in the past. He saw his opening and he never looked back. He and his buddies Francis Schaeffer, Jerry Falwell, Richard Viguerie, and others were off and running in the creation of The "Christian" Right. This article in Politico explains the entire early ugly history in great detail. It is a must read. As you will learn, abortion was just a ploy to rally a herd mentality. Bigotry was the real motivation behind the madness of Paul Weyrich and his bunch. There are of course many other facets to this story. Frank Schaeffer picks up where Politico left off in his book, "Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back." Frank's book is another "must read" for seekers of the Truth. The article, "The ‘biblical view’ that’s younger than the Happy Meal" does a great job of explaining the bizarre, cult-like shift that has taken place over the last 3 decades with regard to how Christianity views abortion. After 34 years of constant messaging The Christian Right Industrial Complex has become a Billion Dollar Empire. Before every Presidential Election the key operatives get in their private jets, meet at an arranged location, and ordain their chosen candidate for President. Then they get back in their jets and fly back to their tax exempt havens. In 2012 they ordained Rick Santorum. Ever since the above described shift began pseudo-religious, political operatives like Tony Perkins and "The Family Research Council" have conducted a multiple decade propaganda / brainwashing campaign that would make Joseph Goebbels proud! Wouldn't you know it? The motto of the Family Research Council is "Pro Marriage & Pro Life." Those two terms are dog whistles for "Anti LGBT Equality & Anti Choice." They've cherry-picked a few scriptures and twisted them to mean something they don't. Let's look at some of those scriptures. Analysis below from "The Bible is Pro-Choice," by Joyce Arthur. The first such passage is found in Psalm 139:13-16: "For Thou didst form my inward parts; thou didst weave me together in my mother's womb. I praise thee, for thou art fearful and wonderful. Wonderful are thy works! Thou knowest me right well; my frame was not hidden from thee, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth. Thy eyes beheld my unformed substance; in thy book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them." All this passage states is that God is directly involved in the creation of a fetus and knows its future. This is useless for the anti-choice position, since God creates all living things, including trees and bugs. Plus, just because God is supposedly omniscient doesn't give fetuses any special status—it simply means God already knows whether they will live or die. It is dishonest to conclude from this verse that a fetus is a human being deserving of more protection than women. The passage is poetic prose that anti-choicers have twisted and trivialized by giving it a literal, objective meaning where there is none. The second passage used by anti-choicers is similar: "Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you'..." (Jeremiah 1:4-5) Unfortunately, anti-choicers usually stop right there, and forget the rest of Verse 5, which negates their preferred meaning: "...'and I appointed you a prophet to the nations.'" This passage is specific to one, very special person—Jeremiah the prophet, whom God has called to provide miraculous powers and authority to the world. Since we are not all destined to be divine prophets, this verse cannot be construed as applying to any fetus except the unborn Jeremiah. Again, anti-choicers are being dishonest by pulling this verse totally out of its context. The third passage quoted by anti-choicers tells the story of Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, and Mary the mother of Jesus, while both were pregnant: "In those days, Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah, and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit." (Luke 1:39-41) This passage simply records a fetus kicking in the womb. We can only wonder in befuddlement why anti-choicers think this would help them. Besides, John the Baptist is yet another divine fetal prophet ordained by God. Since very few of us are chosen by God before birth to herald the arrival of the Messiah on earth, we cannot claim that this passage venerates all fetuses. End of content from "The Bible is Pro-Choice." Conservative "Christians" actually get extremely hostile about this issue. Abortion and LGBT equality are the only two flimsy reasons they have to cling their twisted right-wing ideology. Deep down they must know on some level that right-wing ideology and the teachings of Jesus Christ just don't go together. They don't line up. They don't fit. To alleviate their cognitive dissonance they have to demonize and scapegoat others. Liberals become "Baby Killers." LGBT folks are an "abomination," and a threat to the fabric of society and "good, clean Family Values." It's really sad that modern Christianity has been led down this ugly road. Again, conservative "Christians" won't read this article. It's up to us to educate ourselves and educate those around us who will listen. There is a long list of excellent resources about this topic. We suggest you read as many of them as you can. The more you know the better equipped you will be with the next hostile conservative "Christian" you encounter. For some more history check out: How I Lost Faith in the “Pro-Life” Movement. This is an excellent article and very exhaustive and well researched. Here's our take on the topic, which currently has over 200K likes. What Does it Mean to Be Pro-Life? is another. Read "The Handmaid's Tale," by Margaret Atwood if you get the chance. It's a scary look at what far-right Schlafly/Perkins-type ideals might look like if carried to extremes in a monotheocracy (which is what "Christian" Nationalists want). Conservative "Christians" have all manner of mantras they repeat over and over again. Several examples include, "There's no such thing as The Christian Left," "The Christian Left is an oxymoron," "You can't be a Christian and a Liberal," "You can't be a Christian and be pro-choice." Once again all of the above are lies they have to tell themselves to avoid cognitive dissonance. The new Pope seems pretty liberal on quite a few topics as far as we can tell. Jimmy Carter is one of the best examples of following Jesus ever to hold public office. The Kennedy Family is pretty darn liberal and they're Christians. Then again, there's a block of fundamentalists who think that Catholics aren't Christians, which is ludicrous. A whole lot of Christians must have voted for Barack Obama, twice, for him to be elected by the largest margins in recent elections. In fact, there's an organization called the Religious Coalition For Reproductive Choice which consists of more than 40 denominations and faith groups who educate and promote issues of reproductive choice. Don't ever let any of your conservative "Christian" friends or family shout you down on this or any other issue again. Their ridiculous mantras are nothing more than pure silliness. Fewer and fewer people buy them. They are the reason so many people want nothing to do with organized religion, which is sad, because their rhetoric is a pack of extremist fabrications. Link To Copy & Paste If Necessary: https://donorbox.org/friends-of-tcl (April 2024: New Merch, Shirts and Stuff, wide variety
of colors and styles. Click on meme below.) By Charles Toy I don't know when this was. It was over 15 years ago. I was watching Charlie Rose on PBS. He was talking to the President of Hospice, who was a women but I don't know her name. Charlie asked her what were the things people most often wish they had said to a loved one before they died but never had the chance. She said that studies had actually been done on that question and there is a definitive answer. There are five things people most often regret they didn't get a chance to say to their departed loved one, and they are: 1. Thank-You 2. I forgive you, for anything and everything. 3. Please forgive me, for anything and everything. 4. I love you 5. Good-bye Number one depends on the person you are talking to. If it's your mother it would be thank you for being my mother and all the things you've done for me. I've shared this knowledge with some of my close friends over the years. Now I've shared it with you. Don't regret that you never told your loved ones these things. Tell them as soon as you possibly can, and if you're holding on to a grudge let it go. Life is way too short and we all do stupid things. 15 years ago my Mom vanished from this earth, overnight. One day there. Next day gone. She was 56, slim and trim, and in perfect health as far as any of us knew. DTV that turned in to a pulmonary embolism. Boom. Gone. None of us had ever heard of any of that before then. I had frequently told her I loved her so I was good in that area. I had told her at some point in the year prior that she and my Dad were the best parents I could have hoped for. I think that counts as Thank-you. I told her the other things explicitly about 15 minutes after her heart stopped, at the hospital. I believe she heard them. How many prophets do we need? We’ve been playing this ridiculous game since 1981. Republicans destroy the economy by passing tax cuts, but they keep right on spending on the things they want which causes budget deficits and skyrocketing debt. Then they blame the Democrats for “spending too much on social programs.” It really is time for everyone to get educated about what's going on and educate others. This isn't politics. These are the facts. Trickle-down economics is a giant farce. It’s never worked and it never will. It has gutted our economy over the last 34 years and it will continue to do so. Yet, it’s the only strategy the Republicans have. They have nothing else. Look in between the lines of everything they say in the run up to 2016. It’s all code for Reaganomics, and it’s a failed strategy. If Mitt Romney would have won the last election he vowed to do more of the same. He was going to issue a 20% across the board tax cut, defund the Afforable Care Act, give the pentagon more money than they were asking for, and cut "everything else we would "have to borrow from China to pay for," including Sesame Street on public television. Then he would have proceeded to enact the Ryan Budget. Reaganomics all the way. In the following video Bernie Sanders shows us in no uncertain terms how Reagan helped destroy the middle class and how "Trickle Down Economics" is a scam. And guess what folks? Again, it's ALL the Republicans have! Everything they say and do is in support of this failed policy. What will it take to for the masses to see what's going on here? Below are the links to a three part in depth series of articles regarding Reaganomics. We've never heard of the site before but the data contained in the articles is extensive and accurate. After you read the articles spend some time researching what they have say on your own. The Incredible Hoax of Reaganomics- David Stockman 1/3 The Incredible Hoax of Reaganomics- Trickle-Down 2/3 The Incredible Hoax of Reaganomics- The General Electrifying of the President 3/3 The evidence is endless. As the following article explains: “The wealthiest people spend maybe 30% of their income. Poor people spend 100%, working people spend 98%, so as we move money away from working families towards very wealthy families, we take more and more consumption out of the economy, means slower and slower growth, means higher and higher an extended unemployment.” Another Major Advisor to President Reagan Admits Trickle-Down Economics Doesn’t Work In 2012, the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service (CRS) conducted a study and concluded the following: "The results of the analysis suggest that changes over the past 65 years in the top marginal tax rate and the top capital gains tax rate do not appear correlated with economic growth. The reduction in the top tax rates appears to be uncorrelated with saving, investment, and productivity growth. The top tax rates appear to have little or no relation to the size of the economic pie. However, the top tax rate reductions appear to be associated with the increasing concentration of income at the top of the income distribution. As measured by IRS data, the share of income accruing to the top 0.1% of U.S. families increased from 4.2% in 1945 to 12.3% by 2007 before falling to 9.2% due to the 2007-2009 recession. At the same time, the average tax rate paid by the top 0.1% fell from over 50% in 1945 to about 25% in 2009. Tax policy could have a relation to how the economic pie is sliced—lower top tax rates may be associated with greater income disparities." Republicans of course tried to suppress the study. Trickle down economics is the central tenet of conservative economic theory. Again, they have nothing else to offer. So now, after 34 years of fiscal mismanagement on the part of Republicans, via voodoo economics whereby they cut taxes but spend like drunken sailors on their pet projects (wars, big new Federal bureaucracies like the Department of Homeland Security, planes that don’t fly, etc.), they want to “balance the budget” ... on the backs of the poor, the young, the old, the weak, the hungry, the unemployed, the uninsured, the sick, and the disabled. Because we “just can’t afford all these silly social programs.”
This has been the plan all along folks, and that’s exactly what they’ll do if they get the White House. They’ll call any win, no matter how slim, a “mandate.” They’ll say “the American people have spoken, and they’ve assigned us the task of getting our fiscal house in order.” Then they’ll pass The Ryan Budget. But, but, they’re “God’s Own Party!” Yeah, God help us all if they get that kind of power again, and the Koch Brothers are going to drop a Billion by themselves to try to pull it off. Look at Kansas and Wisconsin right now. That’s the blueprint. Sen. Bernie Sanders, one of the few people in Washington who makes any sense any longer, had this to say related to what we're explaining here: President Carter is correct, and contrary to what you've been taught homosexuality is not a sin. That may be somewhat of a shock to you but if you consider yourself a serious disciple of Jesus you owe if to yourself to explore and discover the truth. Our favorite essay, hands down, is "Clobbering Biblical Gay Bashing," by co-founder of The Christian Left, Rev. Mark Sandlin. In the essay Mark makes the following assertion and proceeds to back it up with Biblical scholarship. "If you want to call homosexuality a sin, go ahead. But you are going to have to admit that it is not Biblically a sin. Which means you are also going to have to admit that you are calling it a sin simply because that’s what you want to do. Because of that, you are going to have to admit that you are a sinner for using God’s name for false pretenses (it’s a little thing we like to call using God’s name in vain). And then, Paul has something to tell you, “…you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things.” (Romans 2:1)." The next step we recommend you take in your journey of discipleship is to read the book by Matthew Vines called "God and The Gay Christian." From Wikipedia: Matthew Vines (born March 9, 1990) is an openly gay Christian LGBT activist, known for the viral YouTube video "The Gay Debate: The Bible and Homosexuality" and his related 2014 book, "God and the Gay Christian". Vines grew up in Wichita, Kansas, where he attended an evangelical Presbyterian church with his family. Upon graduation from high school, he was accepted into Harvard, where he studied for two years during 2008-2010, focusing on philosophy. He then quit Harvard in order to pursue a full-time study of the Bible's statements on homosexuality in response to widespread belief that homosexual expression is disapproved by God - a belief held at the time by his own parents and their family church. The book is the summary of his detailed research. The Matthew Vines Viral Video: "The Gay Debate: The Bible and Homosexuality" If you'd rather read a transcript of the above video, you can do so here. The above two resources will give you a well-rounded foundation in the truth about what the Bible does and doesn't say. If you want to be a master on the topic we recommend reading, "A Time to Embrace: Same-Sex Relationships in Religion, Law, and Politics," By William Stacy Johnson. The Christian Century calls it: "Nothing less than a tour de force. . . . This is a book for everyone in the church, from those completely new to the debates about same-sex relationships to those who have long been in the thicket of the controversy." William Stacy Johnson is the pen name for Arthur M. Adams, Professor of Systematic Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. An ordained Presbyterian minister, he is also an attorney-at-law and was a member of the PCUSA's Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity. If you're a gay Christian, or an ally, and all of this is new to you, there are many, many resources out there for you. Believe Out Loud is a wonderful organization and there are a lot more like it. Soulforce and Human Rights Campaign (secular) are two more. Open and affirming churches are everywhere. Here's a list of LGBT-affirming Christian denominations from Wikipedia. The one thing you need to know right now is that Jesus loves you just the way you are, and he always has. Friend of The Christian Left, Rev. Roger Wolsey has written a great article about how to find open and affirming churches. If you'd like to watch some uplifting videos of Christians who affirm their gay brothers and sisters we recommend the NALT Christians, which stands for we're "Not All Like That," i.e., bigots. Gay people deserve every right that every other citizen of the United States has, and that includes the right to marry. We will not rest until that becomes a reality. Turning back the clock is not an option. --- The Christian Left A video from the NALT Christians Website "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved." ~ Mark 16:16 We’re not affiliated with any denomination but we fully agree with the theology of The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Here's how Wikipedia describes it: “For modern Disciples the one essential is the acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and obedience to him in baptism. There is no requirement to give assent to any other statement of belief or creed, nor is there any ‘official’ interpretation of the Bible. Hierarchical doctrine was traditionally rejected by Disciples as human-made and divisive, and subsequently, freedom of belief and scriptural interpretation allows many Disciples to question or even deny beliefs common in doctrinal churches. Members and seekers are encouraged to take being disciples seriously, meaning that they are student followers of Jesus. Often the best teaching comes in the form, ‘I'll tell you what I think, but read the Bible for yourself, and then study and pray about it. Decide in what ways God is calling you to be a follower of Jesus.’ Modern Disciples reject the use of creeds as ‘tests of faith,’ that is, as required beliefs necessary to be accepted as a follower of Jesus. Although Disciples respect the great creeds of the church as informative affirmations of faith, they are never seen as binding.” This of course raises the question, what about people who never had the chance to get baptized? We believe baptism is a good idea for one reason: Jesus said to do it. He was himself baptized. Does that mean people who never had the opportunity to get baptized are going to hell? No. And “hell” is a very complex topic anyway, which deserves its own blog post. Most of the references in the Bible to “hell” refer to the grave, or a valley outside Jerusalem. Then there’s The Thief on the Cross, who was never baptized but was promised eternal life by Jesus himself. The bottom line is that if we are serious about following Jesus, we should make an effort to do the things he asked of us. Baptism is one of them. For those who have experienced it in adulthood it’s a wonderful ritual of obedience to Christ and a significant act marking that you have given your life to the Lord. Many of us have experienced a very strong feeling of the presence of the Holy Spirit when we were baptized. A personal experience that is beyond words. Postscript: After we first publish this blog post one our readers made some good points about the content. Here are his thoughts: They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good. ~ Titus 1:16 Churches used to be liberal throughout the modern history of Christianity in the United States, with notable periods of exception of course. Then came Ronald Reagan and Paul Weyrich among others. Weyrich, the late religious conservative political activist, co-founder of the Heritage Foundation, and Godfather of The “Christian” Right, literally peddled various issues trying to galvanize a conservative “Christian” movement: His hypothetical “Moral Majority” needed a catalyst—a standard around which to rally. For nearly two decades, Weyrich, by his own account, had been trying out different issues, hoping one might pique evangelical interest: pornography, prayer in schools, the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution, even abortion. “I was trying to get these people interested in those issues and I utterly failed,” Weyrich recalled at a conference in 1990. The 1978 Senate races demonstrated to Weyrich and others that abortion might motivate conservatives where it hadn’t in the past. He saw his opening and he never looked back. Abortion is a made up issue designed to coalesce a right-wing political movement. It isn’t even mentioned in the Bible. When you get a chance, check out our related article on abortion. Prior to the efforts of con-man Paul Weyrich, a 1968 a symposium sponsored by the Christian Medical Society and Christianity Today, the flagship magazine of evangelicalism, refused to characterize abortion as sinful, citing 'individual health, family welfare, and social responsibility' as justifications for ending a pregnancy. This article in Politico explains the entire early history of The "Christian" Right in great detail. It is a must read. ... As you will learn, abortion was just a ploy to rally a herd mentality. Bigotry was the real motivation behind the madness of Paul Weyrich. There are many other facets to this story. Frank Schaeffer picks up where Politico left off in his book: "Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back." Frank's book is another "must read" for seekers of the Truth. Fast forward 35 years to the present. The “Christian” Right has a billion dollar messaging empire that would make Joseph Goebbels envious. They have nationwide radio networks (Salem Communications and others), worldwide television networks (TBN, home of John Hagee, Hal Lindsey, and many others), publishers, mega-churches, political pundits, best-selling authors, media personalities, celebrity pastors, a vast number of wealthy donors, branded media empires (Focus on The Family, The 700 Club, etc.), Political Action Organizations (The Heritage Foundation, The Christian Coalition, etc.), on and on. The Christian Coalition actually produces "non-partisan" Voter's Guides that it distributes to churches nationwide. The guides are anything but "non-partisan." The fact that they even try to pass them off as "non-partisan" reveals the true nature of the organization, deceit. The "Christian" Right has an agenda, a ton of money, and they're continuously seeking the power to impose their vision on the entire country via public policy. Some of us have watched the hijacking of our faith over the last 35 years with shock and horror. The agenda of the right has nothing to do with the teachings of Christ. In truth, the two sets of values are opposites in nature. Most conservative political and religious leaders will deny it, but upon close examination their agenda is best summarized as Objectivism. Some of them will come right out and admit this fact and lavish the tenets of Objectivism with high praise. Others, aware of problems of being associated with Objectivism, will come up with complex rationalizations trying to avoid association. For instance, Paul Ryan says that because he's a Catholic, he rejects Objectivism. Then he turns right around and says that Ayn Rand's books are the basis of his economic and political philosophy. We're not sure how that works given that every page of her books drip with Objectivism. We're not sure how he avoids some pretty harsh cognitive dissonance. Again, most conservatives will deny this association until the cows come home. Examine the similarities for yourself. Don't take their word for it. Google Objectivism and do some research on it. Look at how closely it match Republican policy. What you'll discover, if you didn't already know, is that the tenets of Objectivism, no matter how they try to spin them, are polar opposites from everything Jesus taught. 5 years ago we decided to sound the alarm and start speaking up about all this. Honestly, it feels a bit like the story of David and Goliath. If someone doesn’t expose what’s happening with a counter narrative, The "Christian" Right and their political bedfellows will achieve their goals. Their financial backers have almost unlimited resources and vast networks of political connections to power. There's not much standing in their way right now given that 79% of white evangelicals vote Republican. Most of them have been taught that Christians have no choice in the matter. There is only one political option for them: "God's Own Party!" "The unholy alliance of the Political Right and the Religious Right threatens to destroy the America we love. It also threatens to generate a revulsion against God and religion by identifying them with militarism, ecological irresponsibility, fundamentalist antagonism to science and rational thought, and insensitivity to the needs of the poor and the powerless." -- Rabbi Michael Lerner
Back To The Christian Left Facebook Page Back To The Christian Left Website By Patrick McCarthy The USA ranks 51st in the World in infant mortality rate with 6.1 babies per 1,000. The USA ranks 39th in the World in maternal mortality rate with 16.7 mothers per 100,000 live births. In the United States a baby is nearly three times as likely to die during its first year as one born in Finland or Japan, and about twice as likely to die before his first birthday as one in Spain or South Korea. Social class (That elephant in the living room nobody wants to talk about on liberal facebook Pages) is a major factor in infant mortality, both historically and today. Who'da Thunk? Over the period 1912 and 1915, the newly founded Children's Bureau* conducted a revolutionary study of infant mortality across eight US cities and nearly 23,000 live births. They discovered that lower incomes tend to correlate with higher infant mortality. If the father had no income, the rate of infant mortality was 357% more than that for the highest income earners. As well, differences between races were apparent during this time period. African-American mothers experienced an infant mortality at a rate 44% higher than average. But again this ties into poverty. Since African Americans at this time, were less likely, due to institutionalized racism, to be in gainful employment than white people. In fact despite the multitude of medical advances that have done so much since the Children's Bureau study of 1912-1915, to decrease the rate of infant mortality, social class still dictates which medical services are available to an individual, with various levels within the socioeconomic hierarchy receiving a decreasing quality of medical services the lower down the pecking order one goes. In lay mans terms: If you are a pro-life person who believes that the free market system should be applied to healthcare you are a baby killer...a mommy killer also. But then again if it is an unmarried mother, your "unique" sense of right and wrong dictates that she deserved whatever was coming to her. Either way your "pro-family" card is revoked until you can get to grips with the murderous irony of your moral posturing. The United States, (the wealthiest nation to still lack a comprehensive public option in healthcare) has actually seen a dichotomization from technological advances. Leaving those living at or below the poverty line unable to afford medically advanced resources. Which leads to an increased chance of infant mortality. In the US economic expenditures on labor, delivery and neonatal care are relatively high (by which I mean astronomical), when compared to other less wealthy Western nations, which all have a comprehensive public option. In the US a conventional birth costs on average $9,775, with a C-section costing $15,041. Preterm births in the US have been estimated to cost as much as $51,600 per child. This is insane and it is beginning to show. In 2013 a US study was published that showed that 50% of babies born in the US in 2011 were born under Medicaid That is to say that 1 in 2 children were born to parents who could not afford to have them under the current privatized model of US healthcare. And as the gap between the rich and the poor increases so too will that number. As will the US infant mortality and maternal mortality rate. How long until things get as bad as the were in 1912-1915? By most accounts of the origins of the Children's Bureau point to a 1903 meeting between two women, the labor-unionist Lillian Wald and the socialist Florence Kelley both of whom were members of the radical Settlement Movement and were later co-founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and were involved with the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) which in 1905 agreed to make the establishment of a federal children's bureau its primary legislative goal. It took them 7 years of lobbying but in 1912 the United States Children's Bureau was created. Initially more powerful then it is today with its mandate being to: "... investigate and report to the Department of Commerce and Labor upon all matters pertaining to the welfare of children and child life among all classes of our people, and shall especially investigate the questions of infant mortality, the birth-rate, orphanage, juvenile courts, parental desertion, dangerous occupations, accidents and diseases of children, employment, and legislation affecting children in the several states and territories." In 1946 the Children's Bureau was folded into the Social Security Administration (SSA) by Harry (the most overrated President ever) Truman, as part of his massive postwar reorganization of the federal government that was designed to role back the reforms of New Deal and render FDR's progressive vision for the postwar United States a pipe dream. During this reshuffle the Children's Bureau which was so instrumental in the passage of such important pieces of legislation as the Sheppard–Towner Act (1921), the "Aid to Dependent Children" section of the Social Security Act (1935) and Fair Labor Standards Act (1938) which was the final nail in the coffin of the blight of child labor in the United States, found itself stripped of its authority over all labor-related programs. Today the Children's Bureau is a federal agency under the authority of United States Department of Health and Human Services, a shadow of its former self, it deals only with improving child abuse prevention, foster care, and adoption. Patrick McCarthy is a native of Dublin City, Ireland and a committed Christian socialist and co-founder of the Facebook community Page 'Progressive Christian Democratic Socialism' His hero's are: Saint Francis of Assisi (1182–1226), founder of the mendicant Order of Friars Minor. The Reverend John Ball (1338–1381), a radical cleric who was put to death for his role in the Peasants Revolt of 1381 James Connolly (1868 – 1916), Irish republican, socialist political theorist, trade-union organizer, co-founder of the worlds first trade-union defense militia and signatory of the Proclamation of the Irish Republic. The injuries he sustained during a failed uprising of Irish nationalists were so severe that he had to be strapped to a chair so he could be executed by a British firing squad. His last words were: "I will say a prayer for all brave men who do their duty. Forgive them for they know not what they do." Servant of God Dorothy Day (1897–1980), founder of the Catholic Worker Movement. Servant of God Óscar Romero (1917–1980), former Archbishop of San Salvador who was gunned down by CIA backed right wing death squads while serving mass, for speaking truth to power. His last words were: "We know that every effort to better society, especially when injustice and sin are so ingrained, is an effort that God blesses, that God wants, that God demands of us." Tony Benn (1925–2014), Christian socialist, and first President of the Stop the War Coalition (StWC) also famous for his 'Five Questions for people with Power': “What power have you got? Where did you get it from? In whose interests do you exercise it? To whom are you accountable? How can we get rid of you?” Chris Hedges (b.1956), author, activist, and plaintiff in the case Hedges v. Obama which contends that Section 1021(b)(2) of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 allows the U.S. military the ability to imprison indefinitely journalists, activists and human-rights workers based on vague allegations. |
About TCL BlogWe’re not about Dogma here. We’re just Christians who think the political and Christian right-wing have their priorities wrong. Featured BloggersCharles Toy is the founding member of The Christian Left. We're sure you will enjoy his passion as well as his wit. Guest bloggers featured often.
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