"Being in the minority never proves that you're wrong." - Senator Wayne Morse
Faith-based torture supported by your tax dollars
Published Sunday, August 12, 2007 by Klayton L. Kelly.
Police: Boot camp girl dragged with van
Sat Aug 11, 8:40 PM ET
BANQUETE, Texas - Authorities charged the director of a Christian boot camp and an employee with dragging a 15-year-old girl behind a van after she fell behind the group during a morning run.
Charles Eugene Flowers and Stephanie Bassitt of San Antonio-based Love Demonstrated Ministries, a 32-day boot camp for at-risk teens, are accused of tying the girl to the van with a rope June 12 and dragging her, according to an arrest affidavit filed Wednesday.
And what's your part in this? Well, your tax dollars are being used to support so-called "faith-based initiatives" as a part of Bush Administration policies. This group, "Love Demonstrated Ministries," is a part of that program.
Just one of the many examples of why church and state don't mix. I am not anti-religion, and neither was Thomas Jefferson when injected the meme of separation of church and state into our national consciousness. It is simply that when government and religion mix, each has detrimental effects on the other. And religion in the wrong hands can be used as justification for all types of evil actions, from dragging girls behind vans to brainwashing gay people into a miserable life of repressed sexuality to picketing funerals.
This is faith-based torture. And you are paying for it. Is this what Bush means when he talks about a compassionate culture of life?
Some life.
Sat Aug 11, 8:40 PM ET
BANQUETE, Texas - Authorities charged the director of a Christian boot camp and an employee with dragging a 15-year-old girl behind a van after she fell behind the group during a morning run.
Charles Eugene Flowers and Stephanie Bassitt of San Antonio-based Love Demonstrated Ministries, a 32-day boot camp for at-risk teens, are accused of tying the girl to the van with a rope June 12 and dragging her, according to an arrest affidavit filed Wednesday.
And what's your part in this? Well, your tax dollars are being used to support so-called "faith-based initiatives" as a part of Bush Administration policies. This group, "Love Demonstrated Ministries," is a part of that program.
On January 29, 2001, the President announced the Faith-Based and Community Initiative and, at the same time, created a White House office dedicated to this issue along with parallel offices at five key Departments: HHS, Justice, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, and Education. This initiative aims to enrich social services by drawing on the strengths of religious and community groups. These organizations have long played a critical role in furnishing their own aid, but have been unfairly or unwisely excluded from playing a more direct role in delivering federally supported services....
One of the coalition partners, Love Demonstrated Ministries (LDMI), is a faith-based organization which focuses on youth offenders, gang members, and high risk youth. Over the past three years, 135 of 165 young offenders entering its Life Skills and Parenting Camp have graduated from LDMI, a success rate of 82 percent.
Just one of the many examples of why church and state don't mix. I am not anti-religion, and neither was Thomas Jefferson when injected the meme of separation of church and state into our national consciousness. It is simply that when government and religion mix, each has detrimental effects on the other. And religion in the wrong hands can be used as justification for all types of evil actions, from dragging girls behind vans to brainwashing gay people into a miserable life of repressed sexuality to picketing funerals.
This is faith-based torture. And you are paying for it. Is this what Bush means when he talks about a compassionate culture of life?
Some life.
Everytime I get this spot ready to use, I can never think of what I want to say. It's like a kid in a candy shop: so many choices, I can't decide where to start....
And it's not even mine.
If I had just a little bit of wisdom
I should walk the Great Path and fear only straying from it.
Though the Way is quite broad
People love shortcuts.
The court is immaculate,
While the fields are overgrown with weeds,
And the granaries are empty.
They wear silk finery,
Carry sharp swords,
Sate themselves on food and drink
Having wealth in excess.
They are called thieving braggarts.
This is definitely not the Way.
- Chapter 53, Tao Te Ching
Jerry, don't let the coffin lid hit your ass on the way out
Published Tuesday, May 15, 2007 by Klayton L. Kelly.
"I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen.'" - Jerry Falwell - September 2001
One of the worst examples of those who spew hatred, bigotry, and intolerance and call it the message of the Divine has died. If, as many Christians believe, there is such place as Hell, surely Jerry Falwell began his long agonizing swim in the lake of fire today.
Falwell was one of the leaders of the pseudo-Christian assault on our culture and all that it stands for. He stood on the same ideological ground as other theo-fascists such as Pat Robertson and James Dobson. While there is much focus on America's ideological enemies overseas, such as Al Qaida, men obssessed with creating totalitarian regimes based on ultra-conservative "religious law", Falwell was one of the leading proponents of a homegrown American brand of religious fascism. Osama bin Laden and Jerry Falwell come from the very same intellectual cesspool. Both have preached intolerance, hatred, and totalitarianism and called it the word of God.
Good riddance.
One of the worst examples of those who spew hatred, bigotry, and intolerance and call it the message of the Divine has died. If, as many Christians believe, there is such place as Hell, surely Jerry Falwell began his long agonizing swim in the lake of fire today.
Falwell was one of the leaders of the pseudo-Christian assault on our culture and all that it stands for. He stood on the same ideological ground as other theo-fascists such as Pat Robertson and James Dobson. While there is much focus on America's ideological enemies overseas, such as Al Qaida, men obssessed with creating totalitarian regimes based on ultra-conservative "religious law", Falwell was one of the leading proponents of a homegrown American brand of religious fascism. Osama bin Laden and Jerry Falwell come from the very same intellectual cesspool. Both have preached intolerance, hatred, and totalitarianism and called it the word of God.
Good riddance.
Labels: Falwell, religious right
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- I'm Klayton L. Kelly
- From Seattle, Washington, United States
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