Visiting Hamas
Kill the Pirates
Tea Parties Forever
"The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments in a courthouse: You cannot post 'Thou shalt not steal,' 'Thou shalt not commit adultery,' and 'Thou shalt not lie' in a building full of lawyers, judges, and politicians. It creates a hostile work environment." - George Carlin
"If churches want to play the game of politics, let them pay admission like everyone else." - George Carlin
"Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?" - George Carlin
Paul McGeough, writing in the NY Times global edition noted the difference lately in the headquarters of Hamas: "Today the mood has become much lighter in the Hamas hideout. Mr. Mishal’s calendar is so full that he might soon need a parking lot for the vehicles bringing foreign delegations to visit. My most recent appointment with him, on March 18, was pushed far into the night because Mr. Mishal was busy greeting a group of Greek lawmakers, who were then followed by an Italian delegation. In the preceding days, visitors had come from the British and European Parliaments.
But for all this sudden openness to the world, Mr. Mishal now confronts a problem, one that hangs on the remarkable persistence of two men in a region where leaders are easily marked down — often by a bullet, sometimes at the ballot box.
When I talked with Mr. Mishal in 2007, I was interviewing him for my book on an attempted assassination in the streets of Amman, Jordan, in September 1997. Then a midlevel operative in Hamas, Mr. Mishal was the intended victim. The killers were Mossad agents, dispatched by Benjamin Netanyahu, then Israel’s prime minister."
But for all this sudden openness to the world, Mr. Mishal now confronts a problem, one that hangs on the remarkable persistence of two men in a region where leaders are easily marked down — often by a bullet, sometimes at the ballot box.
When I talked with Mr. Mishal in 2007, I was interviewing him for my book on an attempted assassination in the streets of Amman, Jordan, in September 1997. Then a midlevel operative in Hamas, Mr. Mishal was the intended victim. The killers were Mossad agents, dispatched by Benjamin Netanyahu, then Israel’s prime minister."
I did not know this, and it's interesting that so much now depends on two men who have a lot of enmity towards each other. If Israel really wanted to take the teeth out of Hamas, they would befriend them and give them equal recognition and power over Gaza. Then people will not trust Hamas because they sold out and their influence will begin to wan. Of course, a by-product of this may be a Palestinian state and peace in the region, but it's a small cost when you are trying to castrate a goat...
Tracie Powell writes in CQ Politics about the death of the Christian right: "No, Christianity isn’t dead nor dying, neither is the Christian Right for that matter. It’s just slowing, perhaps temporarily, being replaced by a softer brand of religious expression, says David Roozin, Director of the Hartford Seminary’s Institute for Religion Research.
More progressive Christian leaders are making service, not condemnation, more in vogue.
One example of that soft side in action: a group of Christian leaders plan to converge on Washington later this month to discuss ways to end poverty around the world in 10 years. Sounds pretty lofty, but it shows a shift in values and a shift in understanding about what makes a person moral and righteous.
Some are reconsidering separation between church and state, after seeing the movement get contaminated by secular elements such as lust of affluence and power, Roozin says: “They’ve been turned off and returned to a greater sense about the word of the Gospel and the church.”
The public has also grown weary of a harsh brand of Christianity, and view it as out of the mainstream and closer fit with conservative Republican politics, which is also out of favor at the moment.
“People are just tired of it. I think we saw that with the election of Barack Obama ,” Roozin says. “And I think very definitely the harsh side of conservatism is on the wane. For better or for worse, that harsher side is connected with religion, whether it’s extreme Islam or extreme Christianity.”
Tracie Powell writes in CQ Politics about the death of the Christian right: "No, Christianity isn’t dead nor dying, neither is the Christian Right for that matter. It’s just slowing, perhaps temporarily, being replaced by a softer brand of religious expression, says David Roozin, Director of the Hartford Seminary’s Institute for Religion Research.
More progressive Christian leaders are making service, not condemnation, more in vogue.
One example of that soft side in action: a group of Christian leaders plan to converge on Washington later this month to discuss ways to end poverty around the world in 10 years. Sounds pretty lofty, but it shows a shift in values and a shift in understanding about what makes a person moral and righteous.
Some are reconsidering separation between church and state, after seeing the movement get contaminated by secular elements such as lust of affluence and power, Roozin says: “They’ve been turned off and returned to a greater sense about the word of the Gospel and the church.”
The public has also grown weary of a harsh brand of Christianity, and view it as out of the mainstream and closer fit with conservative Republican politics, which is also out of favor at the moment.
“People are just tired of it. I think we saw that with the election of Barack Obama ,” Roozin says. “And I think very definitely the harsh side of conservatism is on the wane. For better or for worse, that harsher side is connected with religion, whether it’s extreme Islam or extreme Christianity.”
The darker side continues here in Colorado Springs: "A Focus on the Family employee was jailed in Jefferson County after being arrested in Lakewood on suspicion of arranging to have sex with an underage girl.
Juan Alberto Ovalle, 42, started chatting online Thursday with someone he thought was a girl under the age of 15 but was actually an undercover police officer, according to the arrest affidavit filed with the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office." This man was quite wealthy from CD's translating the Bible into Spanish and having a couple books of his own in the Focus catalogue, which were quickly removed...
Steve Benen, in the Political Animal, comments on a recent speech that James Dobson delivered to the Focus on the Family staff: "... and conceded that the culture war he helped start hasn't turned out well for the agents of intolerance. Indeed, Dobson almost sounded resigned to defeat.
James Dobson, 72, who resigned recently as head of Focus on the Family -- one of the largest Christian groups in the country -- and once denounced the Harry Potter books as witchcraft, acknowledged the dramatic reverse for the religious Right in a farewell speech to staff.
"We tried to defend the unborn child, the dignity of the family, but it was a holding action," he said.
"We are awash in evil and the battle is still to be waged. We are right now in the most discouraging period of that long conflict. Humanly speaking, we can say we have lost all those battles."
Now, in fairness, this report omitted some context. As my friend Kyle reported, Dobson actually emphasized his desire to keep the fight going, despite the religious right movement's setbacks: "Humanly speaking, we can say that we have lost all those battles, but God is in control and we are not going to give up now, right? ... I have been assured by the board and by many of you that we're not going to cow, we're not going to be discouraged."
That said, whether Dobson and his cohorts give up now or not, his assessment about their lack of success is nevertheless accurate. The culture war is all but over, and far-right evangelicals have precious little to show for their efforts. After about three decades of fighting, the culture warriors are hard pressed to point to any progress at all."
The Colorado Springs Gazette has an interesting article on the history of the evangelical movement here, how, in the late 1980's the Chamber of Commerce was able to attract Focus on the Family and 11 other large evangelical ministries to relocate here: "But the relocation of Focus from Pomona, Calif., in 1991 changed the dynamic as the Christian group grew into a high-profile global organization. "Focus has drawn a lot of attention to itself and Colorado Springs," EDC market researcher Kathleen Johnson said." In this economic downturn, with many people being laid off from these non-profits, our community is debating the merits of our public image as an intolerant one, while trying to attract more businesses to again relocate here. We need the jobs, and how do we change for a better future?
"The EDC lured Focus by touting the area's relatively low cost of living and high quality of life. The El Pomar Foundation, which makes about 500 grants a year to a variety of companies, gave Focus a $4 million property grant in 1991. After meeting in other Colorado Springs building, Focus in 1993 moved into three buildings on 48 acres in north Colorado Springs." In addition, the mother of the man who founded Blackwater, or Xe as it calls itself now, was a major contributor to the building of the Focus headquarters. Basically, we bribed them to come here and they gladly took the bait. So we will have to see what happens now that the children of the leaders are taking over, and having been raised in that rigid atmosphere, what changes they will make to believe in...
Juan Alberto Ovalle, 42, started chatting online Thursday with someone he thought was a girl under the age of 15 but was actually an undercover police officer, according to the arrest affidavit filed with the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office." This man was quite wealthy from CD's translating the Bible into Spanish and having a couple books of his own in the Focus catalogue, which were quickly removed...
Steve Benen, in the Political Animal, comments on a recent speech that James Dobson delivered to the Focus on the Family staff: "... and conceded that the culture war he helped start hasn't turned out well for the agents of intolerance. Indeed, Dobson almost sounded resigned to defeat.
James Dobson, 72, who resigned recently as head of Focus on the Family -- one of the largest Christian groups in the country -- and once denounced the Harry Potter books as witchcraft, acknowledged the dramatic reverse for the religious Right in a farewell speech to staff.
"We tried to defend the unborn child, the dignity of the family, but it was a holding action," he said.
"We are awash in evil and the battle is still to be waged. We are right now in the most discouraging period of that long conflict. Humanly speaking, we can say we have lost all those battles."
Now, in fairness, this report omitted some context. As my friend Kyle reported, Dobson actually emphasized his desire to keep the fight going, despite the religious right movement's setbacks: "Humanly speaking, we can say that we have lost all those battles, but God is in control and we are not going to give up now, right? ... I have been assured by the board and by many of you that we're not going to cow, we're not going to be discouraged."
That said, whether Dobson and his cohorts give up now or not, his assessment about their lack of success is nevertheless accurate. The culture war is all but over, and far-right evangelicals have precious little to show for their efforts. After about three decades of fighting, the culture warriors are hard pressed to point to any progress at all."
The Colorado Springs Gazette has an interesting article on the history of the evangelical movement here, how, in the late 1980's the Chamber of Commerce was able to attract Focus on the Family and 11 other large evangelical ministries to relocate here: "But the relocation of Focus from Pomona, Calif., in 1991 changed the dynamic as the Christian group grew into a high-profile global organization. "Focus has drawn a lot of attention to itself and Colorado Springs," EDC market researcher Kathleen Johnson said." In this economic downturn, with many people being laid off from these non-profits, our community is debating the merits of our public image as an intolerant one, while trying to attract more businesses to again relocate here. We need the jobs, and how do we change for a better future?
"The EDC lured Focus by touting the area's relatively low cost of living and high quality of life. The El Pomar Foundation, which makes about 500 grants a year to a variety of companies, gave Focus a $4 million property grant in 1991. After meeting in other Colorado Springs building, Focus in 1993 moved into three buildings on 48 acres in north Colorado Springs." In addition, the mother of the man who founded Blackwater, or Xe as it calls itself now, was a major contributor to the building of the Focus headquarters. Basically, we bribed them to come here and they gladly took the bait. So we will have to see what happens now that the children of the leaders are taking over, and having been raised in that rigid atmosphere, what changes they will make to believe in...
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