False Sense of Maturity

Many people like to visit haunted houses for some spooky fun as part of their Halloween celebration. Then there are some Christian fundamentalists who wouldn’t be caught dead in a haunted house, since they consider Halloween to be evil. As an alternative to haunted houses, they have created hell houses, which are meant to frighten people - usually kids or teens - into living the fundamentalist lifestyle, supposedly to keep them from burning in hell for all eternity.

The first hell house was created by none other than Jerry Falwell, and they have become fairly common during the last decade or so, and now are found throughout the country. A typical hell house is this one put on by Chicago’s Salem Baptist Church. Doesn’t this sound like a fun holiday activity for the kids?

“YOU HAVE DIED AND GONE STRAIGHT TO HELL!” a tall man wearing a long, black, hooded cloak bellowed over a bullhorn Sunday night as the first busload of about 30 teens and a handful of parents were herded through dark corridors lined in black plastic.

The group moved from room to room, witnessing scenes depicting what the church says are the consequences of “bad decisions involving violence, sex and drugs.”

In one scene, a girl was lying on a gurney where a masked man in surgical scrubs pretended to perform an abortion. A toilet was sitting nearby apparently to collect the aborted fetus.

A man was riding his Harley along a California beach when suddenly the sky clouded above and, in a booming voice, the Lord said, “Because you have tried to be faithful to me in all ways, I will grant you one wish.” …The biker pulled over and said, “Lord, build me a bridge to Hawaii so I can ride over anytime I want.”

“Because he knows that his economic theories don’t work, he’s been spending these last few days calling me every name in the book. Lately, he’s called me a socialist for wanting to rollback the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, so we can finally give tax relief to the middle class. I don’t know what’s next. By the end of the week he’ll be accusing me of being a secret communist because I shared my toys in kindergarten.” – Barack Obama, Campaigning in Raleigh, North Carolina

Yes! On proposition 1, in Michigan.

This was created by Eliza Jane Schneider, longtime voice actress for a little show you might have heard of called South Park… It’s called, “Sarah Palin Sings About God’s Greatest Gift: Fire”.

Camp Quest is now operating in the UK, I discovered last night; Samantha Stein is the director. She is going to be running some really excellent programs for kids aged 9-15. This is the antidote to Jesus Camp. The first camp-quest is 27th-31st July 2009. Check out the website.

Controversial Church Sign Reads “God Loves You, Allah Hates”

Good looks help women candidates, men not so much

Romey ’still hopeful’ on McCain, says Obama trying to buy the election

The Catholic church has had more than its fair share of sex scandals, and in an effort to put a stop to them, the Vatican is suggesting that psychological tests should be given to some of the aspiring priests:

Candidates for the Catholic priesthood should undergo psychological tests to screen out heterosexuals unable to control their sexual urges and those with strong homosexual tendencies, the Vatican said Thursday.

A new document was the second in three years to deal with the effects of a sexual abuse scandal that rocked the Church six years ago.

It said the early detection of “sometimes pathological” psychological defects of men before they become priests would help avoid tragic experiences.

Check out as the GOP Sinks To a New Low - Dole’s Sleazy “Godless” Ad

The whole chatter by McCain and Company about redistributing the wealth is maddening. I can’t hear a sound bite without hearing that word! But what does it mean? It’s more like a redistribution of wealth BACK to where it should be but for the unfair business practices that went on for too long! “Redistribution” of wealth is a bad way to phrase it, but it’s all McCain has. Many can’t see this and how the top tier of America has been redistributing the wealth illegally/unethically for years (This is fact: Enron, AIG…), and we NEED to redistribute it back to a proper “balance” (for lack of a better term). I’m all for fair tax code, and in good times I propose we do away with the IRS and instill a ‘Consumption Tax’ along with sales tax that is already in place…but that’s a project for later…when the economy is stable.

There is not much time left to make fun of the current administration…so, I know this is an old video Condi Rice Freaks Out; but I just saw it, and it’s funny as hell.

IT’S OVER, it’s official, Obama won! …No I’m not clairvoyant; I have just been watching the same news that you have and have been noticing a pattern, besides the obvious ones showing Obama in a big lead, but if it were a close race, the focus would be there, on the race for the white house, instead all the news is focused on a few states. Remember the news stations need to keep us believing things are close, and so they focus in on the close. They need viewers. But if they were to step back and focus on the full race and not just certain states, it would lose interest and they would lose viewers. So we focus on the states that are close…but who cares…

“On October 20, Baghdad witnessed another demonstration with more than one million Iraqi, Arabs and Kurds and others, Muslims and Christians and others, Sunnis and Shiites and others demonstrated together against the occupation and the long term agreement, asking for a complete withdrawal the leaves no permanent bases, no troops, and no mercenaries.”

It seems like a risky proposition, but a Mohammad movie is in the works:

A movie drama about the life of the Prophet Mohammad is to go into production soon, and will be only the second English-language film of its kind ever made, its producers said on Monday.

“The Messenger of Peace” will be a remake of Moustapha Akkad’s “The Message,” a 1977 Hollywood classic starring Anthony Quinn which is often applauded by Muslims as an example of how commercial Western cinema can respect Islam.

I am a proud supporter of Barack Obama. I have read his latest book (which received a Grammy for the audio-book edition). I have listened to many of the debates and followed both primaries and now the general election. I listen to NPR (National Public Radio) for about 2 hours through the course of each day on my commute to and from each of my jobs (my psychiatric clinic and working at **** County Psychiatric ER). I check the newspapers several times each week. I check CNN.com, MSNBC.com, watch both sides via YouTube, and follow NBC news on TV most mornings and check in with Fox “news” and try to research their frequent slurs on whomever they slander.

In my opinion, Barack Obama is more than qualified, and moreover, the most competent for the job.

According to the United States Constitution, Barack Obama is more than qualified.

I am grateful the age requirements for president are not “over 70″ and that “you must be a former POW.”

The arguments presented in your forward are not valid arguments.

I’ve been too busy, being serious these last few days and I missed this video. Good for a laugh…great editing!

Another Christopher Buckley Interview about his ‘coming out’. I thought that some of his comments were particularly interesting.

As an only child, did you find one of your parents easier to talk to than the other? My mother. She got it. He often didn’t get it.

What didn’t he get? Religion.

He was a practicing Catholic. What are you? I am post-Catholic.

As opposed to a lapsed Catholic? I am probably more of a collapsed Catholic.

Do you believe in the afterlife? Alas, no. But I find myself wondering at the oddest times: So, Pup, are you in heaven? Is it true after all? If he is there, I hope he is debating with St. Peter about letting me in when my time comes, and I hope he is winning.

Alaska Senator Is Convicted on Corruption Charges

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens was convicted of seven corruption charges Monday in a trial that tainted the 40-year Senate career of Alaska’s political patriarch. The verdict, coming just days before Election Day, adds further uncertainty to a closely watched Senate race. Democrats hope to seize the once reliably Republican seat as part of their bid for a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.

Sarah Palin try’s to spin the news away from any Republican Party relationship.

Former NBA star Charles Barkley spoke Monday to CNN’s Campbell Brown about politics, race and his plans to run for governor in his boyhood home state of Alabama. Here is a transcript:

If you don’t mind getting frustrated and want to see how “new atheism” can be misinterpreted, read this essay by Clifford Goldstein in Liberty Magazine. Here’s his introduction:

Picture this dystopia: in the name of rationality, reason, and science—religion is severely pro-scribed. Some religious beliefs— beliefs —deemed so dangerous that those holding them should be killed. The concept of religious “tolerance” would also be anathema: persons would not be allowed to hold whatever religious beliefs they chose—this cannot be for beliefs deemed irrational. And parents could be charged with “child abuse” for giving their offspring a religious education.

It all sounds like something from the failed social experiments of the Soviet Union, the Eastern bloc countries, and other now defunct Marxist regimes, perhaps?

Perhaps. Yet that kind of society would be the logical outgrowth of views promoted by an elitist clique of atheist writers, philosophers, scientists, and scholars. Dr. Richard Dawkins, Daniel C. Dennett, Christopher Hitchens, and Sam Harris are at the forefront of what’s been dubbed “the new atheism,” a take-no-prisoners, shock-and-awe assault on any theism at all. Richard Dawkins wrote: “I am not attacking any particular version of God or gods. I am attacking God, all gods, anything and everything super-natural, wherever and whenever they have been or will be invented.”

Maybe Goldstein read the books of the authors that he attacks, but he certainly didn’t understand them.

Christopher “don’t call me Chris” Hitchens is starting to lash out…I think he was too gung-ho about supporting the “war on terror” but he is a good advocate for anti-theism.

This is what the Republican Party has done to us this year: It has placed within reach of the Oval Office a woman who is a religious fanatic and a proud, boastful ignoramus. Those who despise science and learning are not anti-elitist. They are morally and intellectually slothful people who are secretly envious of the educated and the cultured. And those who prate of spiritual warfare and demons are not just “people of faith” but theocratic bullies. On Nov. 4, anyone who cares for the Constitution has a clear duty to repudiate this wickedness and stupidity.