Archive for category Religion

End Time Whack Job

One of the radio stations here in Richmond is an American Family Radio affiliate, and I wound up listening one morning during the local National Public Radio station’s pledge drive.  Sadly for me, I landed on a show called Politics and Religion, hosted by Irvin Baxter.

This complete nutcase thinks that the end of the world is coming any minute–at least he says that on the radio every morning.  To be sure, he always carefully hedges with “I don’t know exactly when” rhetoric.  But he sells his magazine by describing the End of the World as prophesied by the Bible–complete with Antichrist, one world government, one world religion, and a war which will kill a third of human beings–and then saying that he expects it to come during his lifetime.  And he’s no spring chicken.

I’ve heard his rants against homosexuality, the European Union, the World Court, and the Federal Reserve.  Baxter actually says he worries that RFID chips are the Mark of the Beast.   He interviews true freaks, like John F. McManus, the President of the John Birch Society.  McManus writes conspiracy theory books on the Bilderberg Group and thinks that if it ain’t a precious metal, it ain’t money.

These people are all paranoid freaks and conspiracy theorists who think that someone who lived two thousand years ago had a vision of attack helicopters at the end of the world and wrote it down in the Bible.  They make a great addition to the Whack Job list.

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Ask or Don’t Ask. Tell or Don’t Tell. Just Do Your J-O-B.

It’s a little hard to know what to make of this piece at the US Naval Institute Blog on repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy, which opened military service to homosexuals as long as they keep their sexual preferences secret and remain celibate.  For the record, neither US law nor military policy place restrictions like this on heterosexuals–they may openly express their lust for the opposite sex, and play as they will.  The blogger, a reserve Marine LTC using the nom de plume “UltimaRatioRegis,” opens with a set of notional “amplifying instructions” guiding implementation of DADT repeal, ostensibly from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

The content of this invented document comes in a snarky tone, and includes the sort of instructions that no military officer would ever issue: direction to revise passages in the Bible which he reads as banning homosexual behavior, add pro-gay instruction to curricula at DOD Dependent Schools, and a statement that “failure to agree with my views on this subject will be considered an integrity violation and subject to administrative or disciplinary action.”  Just to be clear, the good colonel thinks that military leaders repress dissent–or they should.  He should know that regulations do not prohibit public disagreement with superior officers.  The rules ban doing so in uniform, but the do not limit individual self expression on political issues or military doctrine.

Mr. Regis then writes that Admiral Mullen should in fact issue such instructions, and complains about dismissal of objections to the repeal of DADT as “the rantings of intolerant and hateful bigots.”  He further whines about the “marginalization” of people who object to homosexuality on religious or moral grounds because of their faith and their views.  Finally, he lists related issues which have “not gotten serious discussion,” including whether or not the “diversity industry” (whatever that means) will force command sponsored gay pride days, whether others would accept openly serving gays as they have the current secret ones, and of course the old slippery slope “what about transexuals” crap. Read the rest of this entry »

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Wish I’d Thought of This Department

Pat Robertson said, during a 700 Club report on the earthquake in Haiti, that

“They were under the heel of the French, you know Napoleon the third and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said ‘We will serve you if you will get us free from the prince.’ True story. And so the devil said, ‘Ok it’s a deal.’ And they kicked the French out. The Haitians revolted and got something themselves free. But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after another.”

This of course sent all kinds of people into high dudgeon over the insensitivity of the remark.  Pat Robertson of course gives not a whit for the opinions of others, unless they speak to him from on high.

Or maybe it’s down low:

Dear Pat Robertson,

I know that you know that all press is good press, so I appreciate the shout-out. And you make God look like a big mean bully who kicks people when they are down, so I’m all over that action. But when you say that Haiti has made a pact with me, it is totally humiliating. I may be evil incarnate, but I’m no welcher.

The way you put it, making a deal with me leaves folks desperate and impoverished. Sure, in the afterlife, but when I strike bargains with people, they first get something here on earth — glamour, beauty, talent, wealth, fame, glory, a golden fiddle. Those Haitians have nothing, and I mean nothing. And that was before the earthquake. Haven’t you seen “Crossroads”? Or “Damn Yankees”?

If I had a thing going with Haiti, there’d be lots of banks, skyscrapers, SUVs, exclusive night clubs, Botox — that kind of thing. An 80 percent poverty rate is so not my style. Nothing against it — I’m just saying: Not how I roll.

You’re doing great work, Pat, and I don’t want to clip your wings — just, come on, you’re making me look bad. And not the good kind of bad. Keep blaming God. That’s working. But leave me out of it, please. Or we may need to renegotiate your own contract.

Best, Satan

LILY COYLE, MINNEAPOLIS

Man, I wish I’d thought to send a letter to the editor like this.  Good work, Lily.

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Torture and Morality

A lot of conservatives have criticized Eric Holder for naming a prosecutor to investigate alleged torture by CIA operatives and other agents of the United States Government.  I find Christian support for torture especially interesting.

Richmond of course has a few radio stations broadcasting religious-themed programming.  One of these, an American Family Radio Network affiliate, airs an afternoon drive-time talk show called Nothing But Truth, hosted by a true whack-job named Crane Durham.  Mr. Durham also writes a blog called Maximum Crane, but posts perhaps even less often than I.

Mr. Crane is unabashadly Christian, as you can see if you click on his bio.  But on Monday he fervently supported the torture of human beings–he does not see a moral problem with beating a man to death with a flashlight, pretending to execute him, threatening to rape his wife and daughters, or the actual drowning of another of God’s creatures in order to get information from him.  He justifies these acts by expressing a fear of death.

I clearly see the moral and ethical problems with the intentional infliction of physical, mental, and emotional pain on others for our own purposes, however important.  Yet I am an atheist, who does not consider human beings made in God’s image.  Nevertheless, I see the inherent dignity and value in all human life, unlike the Christian torture apologist.

So much for objective moral truth.

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