Tag: Jesusland

Pentagon Planned to Turn Enemy Troops Gay

Trish

The Pentagon’s 1994 plan to devise a “gay bomb” is making new headlines.

More significant than whether the Pentagon has really abandoned the plan is what their research proves: sexual orientation is biologically determined — not a lifestyle choice

The DOD requested $7.5 million over six years to develop the “weapon,” which they hoped would chemically alter straight enemy troops so they would become attracted to each other. Theoretically, the hostiles would become distracted by their new relationships and stop paying attention to blowing us up. Later, morale would suffer as Joe breaks up with Jim, and Jim’s friends all tell him he’s so much better off because everyone knows Joe is jerk. Then one of them starts going out with Joe. And so forth.

The official line is that almost as quickly as the idea was hatched, it was scuttled. But the Sunshine Project, which monitors such hair-brained Defense Department activity via the Freedom of Information Act, says that ain’t so.

[Sunshine Project Director Edward Hammond] went on to state that the Joint Non-lethal Weapons Directorate, based out of Quantico, actually used the “gay-bomb” idea as a marketing tool in a CD-ROM from 2001-2002 and that “the Pentagon… submitted it to the highest scientific review body in the country.”

More significant than whether the Pentagon has really abandoned the plan is what their research proves: sexual orientation is biologically determined — not a lifestyle choice. That fact could blow up more Republican and Christian right fund raising campaigns than the best placed bomb, gay or otherwise.

Watch Out Christians – Atheists are Out to Get You

Buck Banks

Pious paranoia: In a sign that the Bible thumpers are getting frustrated at their inability to impose theocratic doctrines throughout American government and society, our favorite Christian statistician, George Barna, has conducted a study to examine the similarities and differences between atheists and agnostics and those who believe in Santa Claus, virgin birth and transubstantiation. Barna notes that increasingly, atheists and agnostics are “critiquing” people of faith and — gasp! — publishing best-selling books that question the existence of God.

Two-thirds of Christians (63 percent) perceive that the nation is becoming more hostile and negative toward Christianity.

Beyond the bestseller lists, however, a new survey shows there is indeed a significant gap between Christians and those Americans who are in the “no-faith” camp. For instance, most atheists and agnostics (56 percent) agree with the idea that radical Christianity is just as threatening in America as is radical Islam. At the same time, two-thirds of Christians (63 percent) who have an active faith perceive that the nation is becoming more hostile and negative toward Christianity. (“Active faith” was defined as simply having gone to church, read the Bible and prayed during the week preceding the survey.)

Instead of using simple descriptive terms like “believer” and “nonbeliever” to describe the two groups, Barna frames believers as “active faith,” which sounds really positive and happening, versus “no-faith,” which is negative and sounds kind of hopeless. It’s the familiar old “pro-life” trick. I would argue that staunch atheists maintain a fervent belief in the nonexistence of God and hold as an article of faith that all religion is hokum.

According to Barna, about one out of 11 Americans, or 20 million, is an atheist or agnostic. That’s about 9 percent of the U.S. population, which means Satan’s recruitment program is working extremely well, and our ranks of the Godless are swelling.

Barna notes that only about 5 million no-faithers actually call themselves atheists and “staunchly reject” the notion that there is a God. He takes that to mean that the 15 million harbor doubts about the nonexistence of God. However, I cite Pascal’s wager as a likely reason for the seeming disparity. Blaise Pascal said that if one believed in God and God didn’t exist, then nothing was lost, but if one did not believe in God and God existed, then one was in for a world of hurt for eternity. Therefore, the safest bet would be to behave as if one believed in God — just in case.

The no-faith audience is younger, and more likely to be male and unmarried. They also earn more and are more likely to be college graduates.

Perhaps partly due to the younger nature of the audience, atheists and agnostics are more likely than are active-faith adults to say they are into new technology (64 percent among no-faith individuals versus 52 percent among active-faith adults) and to assert that they adapt easily to change (81 percent versus 66 percent). Atheists and agnostics are also significantly less likely to say they are convinced they are right about things in life (38 percent versus 55 percent).

One of the most fascinating insights from the research is the increasing size of the no-faith segment with each successive generation. The proportion of atheists and agnostics increases from 6 percent of Elders (ages 61+) and 9 percent of Boomers (ages 42-60), to 14 percent of Busters (23-41) and 19 percent of adult Mosaics (18-22). When adjusted for age and compared to 15 years ago, each generation has changed surprisingly little over the past decade and a half.

Cool. Atheists and agnostics are richer and smarter than believers. But then Barna gets down to the nitty-gritty as regards us unbelievers: We are less likely than active-faith Americans to register to vote, but more likely to register as an independent or with a non-mainstream political party. We are less likely to volunteer for a not-church-related nonprofit, to describe ourselves as “active in the community” or to “personally help or serve a homeless or poor person.” But worse yet, atheists and agnostics donate a paltry $200 per year to charitable causes, whereas the typical active-faith American donated $1,500 in 2006.

Ouch! But at least my $200 isn’t going to support some big-haired shiny-suited slick-talking preacher. It’s going to support National Public Radio and the Sierra Club.

Barna noted that both believers and nonbelievers experience personal difficulties with similar frequency, including being in serious debt, dealing with a personal addiction and trying to find good friends. Christians are fatter though, while atheists and agnostics are more likely to feel stressed out — probably from fighting attempts to teach creationism in their kid’s school or display the Ten Commandments at the local courthouse.

There is one thing the 20 million nonbelievers and the 58 million true believers agree on, however, according to David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group:

“Ironically, however, both atheists and committed Christians share one unusual area of common ground: concern about superficial, inert forms of Christianity in America. There are nearly 130 million American adults who describe themselves as Christians, but who are Christian in name only; their behavior includes little related to experiencing and expressing their alleged faith in Christ.”

Sounds like a bunch of Pascal’s gambling buddies to me.

O’Reilly Attacks an Evangelical – And Converts Me

Trish

Bill O’Reilly has done the impossible. He’s got me cheering for an evangelist who says homosexuals and people who don’t accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior are going to hell. Through the magic of O’Reilly’s utter foulness, I am now on the same team as Bill Keller, who according to the Tampa Tribune, “writes a daily devotional published on his Web site and e-mailed to more than 2 million subscribers. His live, call-in program is televised weeknights at 1 a.m. in the Tampa market.”

Keller: Going on O’Reilly “requires you are really prayed up surrendered”

Keller recently appeared on The O’Reilly Factor, taking the usual abuse and sanctimonious hot air from Bill, who tried to appear to be the voice of reason. The topic was Mitt Romney, whose faith Keller has consistently referred to as a cult (go Rev.!). His charge that a vote for Romney is a vote for Satan has Americans United for the Separation of Church and State asking the IRS to revoke Keller’s tax exemption.

Keller posted his reaction to being beaten up by O’Reilly on his web site, www.liveprayer.com. And he makes some good points. FOX, O’Reilly, and most of their viewers, he says, only pretend they love Jesus and the flag.

As “conservative friendly” and “Christian friendly” as FOX News tries to portray itself, it is still very much part of the world…Anyone who goes into that environment taking a Biblical position on the issues and telling people Jesus is the only way to be saved, immediately comes under intense fire. The world for the most part may believe in God, but they don’t honor Him, they clearly reject His Truth, and very few have really committed their hearts and lives to Jesus Christ.

In addition to speaking to an audience that for the most part rejects Biblical Truth, I was also dealing with exposing a satanically inspired cult that has done a masterful public relationship job of getting people, including many Christians, to believe they are “just another Christian church.” As I have stated often, the teachings and theology of the Mormon cult are completely inconsistent with Biblical Christianity…

[…]

Mormons Resurrecting ‘White Horse Prophecy’ Around Romney’s Campaign

Buck Banks

Mitt to the rescue: It was a prophecy allegedly uttered by Joseph Smith himself, but one the modern Church of Latter Day Saints dismisses. It predicts that in some future end time, with the U.S. Constitution hanging by a mere thread, a Mormon will ride in on a white horse to save it and, by extension, the United States.

While presidential candidate Mitt Romney denies giving the prophecy any credence, it has come up each time a Mormon has run for president: in 1968 when George Romney ran, and in 2000 when Orrin Hatch ran.

‘Power will be given to the White Horse to rebuke the nations afar off, and you obey it, for the laws go forth from Zion.’
— Joseph Smith

The disputed prophecy was recorded in a diary entry of a Mormon who had heard the tale from two men who were with Joseph Smith in Nauvoo, Ill., when he supposedly declared the prophecy.

“You will see the Constitution of the United States almost destroyed,” the diary entry quotes Smith as saying. “It will hang like a thread as fine as a silk fiber.”

Not only will the Mormons save the Constitution, under the prediction, but the prophecy goes further, insinuating that Mormons will control the government.

“Power will be given to the White Horse to rebuke the nations afar off, and you obey it, for the laws go forth from Zion,” the prophecy says.

Mormons believe that Smith found ancient gold plates and transcribed them into the Book of Mormon. In 1844, a year after he supposedly told of the White Horse Prophecy, Smith ran for president, but was murdered by a mob. Given the entire premise of the LDS and the fact that the church has posthumously baptised thousands of non-Mormons, including Adolf Hitler and Elie Weisel, it’s curious why it is so quick to deny this particular crackpot prophecy.

The LDS Church denounces the premonition, which was recorded 10 years after Smith’s death. A church spokesman pointed to a quote from the faith’s sixth president, Joseph F. Smith, who called the prophecy “ridiculous.”

“It is simply false; that is all there is to it,” the church prophet was quoted saying.

Mitt Romney claims not to believe in the prophecy, and maintains his daddy didn’t believe in it, either:

“I haven’t heard my name associated with it or anything of that nature,” Mitt Romney told The Salt Lake Tribune during an interview earlier this year. “That’s not official church doctrine. There are a lot of things that are speculation and discussion by church members and even church leaders that aren’t official church doctrine. I don’t put that at the heart of my religious belief.”

But George Romney wasn’t so absolute when he offered an interpretation of the prophecy to “Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought” in 1967:

“I have always felt that they meant that sometime the question of whether we are going to proceed on the basis of the Constitution would arise and at this point government leaders who were Mormons would be involved in answering that question.”

Frankly, given the six years of abuse perpetrated by the Bush administration on the Constitution, any savior on a white horse — Mormon, Jewish, Presbyterian or Scientologist — would be welcome.

Canadian Caregivers: ‘Keep Yer Kidney, Christian Cultist’

Buck Banks

So this guy wakes up in a bathtub full of ice in Tijuana: No, that’s the other kidney story. This one is about a Canadian hospital that is refusing to let a guy from Australia donate his kidney to a woman he does not personally know as a way to prove his religious faith. Whatever happened to the simple acts of faith, like tithing and giving food and clothing to the poor at Christmas and Easter?

‘I decided to do it [donate a kidney] because I like positive things that can be done to help people.’

Sydney man Ash Falkingham is a member of the Jesus Christians, a group led by guru David Mckay, who believe kidney donation is the “ultimate” expression of faith.

Nineteen of the group’s 30 members living in Kenya, Britain, the United States and Australia have donated a kidney as part of their desire to “live selflessly”, ABC Television’s Australian Story reports tonight.

Mr. Falkingham believes the group, led by guru David McKay, is simply following the true teachings of Christ.

Those teachings must have been from one of the lost books of the New Testament — the Book of Ectomies. Of course, the 20-year-old’s parents think he’s been brainwashed by the surgery-happy Jesus freaks:

Mr. Falkingham was in Canada for the operation because “non-directed” kidney donations are banned in Australia.

He said that under Australian law he would be required to have a long-term friendship with a recipient before donating.

He barely knows the Canadian woman, Sandi Sabloff, who was to have received his kidney, having met her online through the website Living Donors.

“The Jesus Christians believe that what Jesus said, he meant,” Mr. Falkingham said.

“I decided to do it [donate a kidney] because I like positive things that can be done to help people.”

Come on, clean your neighbor’s gutters, collect donations for Haiti, mentor a kid (on second thought, maybe not) or something. There are plenty of positive things that can be done without giving a kidney to a stranger.

Oh, and if I were the recipient, I might be concerned about the effect having a “Jesus Christian” organ inside me might have. Ever since “Frankenstein” we’ve had a whole slew of films that explore what happens when transplanted organs from crazy people “go bad.” Next thing you know, the recipient might be handing out corneas, ear drums or skin grafts, who knows?

Romney Would Likely Donate Presidential Salary to Mormon Church

Trish

If Mitt Romney is elected president, the Mormon Church can expect quite a windfall.

Romney says if he wins, he will donate his presidential salary to charity. If he stays true to past form, that means most of the money will go directly to the Church of Jesus of Latter Day Saints.

Romney explains his largess with that ol’ golly-gee Republican bootstraps rags-to-riches fairy tale.

Go ahead, vote for Romney. The Mormons need your money.

“When I got started, I went to school and I never anticipated that I’d be as financially successful as I was, and then my business went far better than I expected it would,” Romney said at a question-and-answer session…

Mitt’s business was probably really boosted by the fact that his father was the governor of Michigan and former chair of American Motors. At any rate, Romney is rich. Way rich. So rich he doesn’t need to collect the paltry salary we taxpayers are willing to pay a president.

Aides have said Romney’s net worth reaches into the hundreds of millions of dollars, but a clearer snapshot of his finances will emerge when he files financial disclosure documents with the federal government in the coming weeks. Romney, who has given millions to charity in the past, is believed to be the wealthiest candidate in the 2008 race.

Which is why he can well afford to be generous with those less skilled at picking parents. As recently as 2005, he gave to the Mormons in a big way. Like a $2.2 million way.

Governor Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann, have donated nearly $2.9 million to more than 40 healthcare groups, schools, and other charitable organizations since 1999, including $2.2 million to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a Globe review of Internal Revenue Service documents shows.

The couple’s private charitable foundation donated primarily to groups in Massachusetts and Utah, where they lived while Romney ran the 2002 Winter Olympics. The foundation stepped up giving to groups based in Massachusetts after Romney was elected governor in 2002.

His contributions to the Mormon church, where he has long been active, are by far the largest. The foundation gave $1.9 million to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2003, the first year Romney was governor, and $311,000 more in 2000 and 2001. The foundation donated $250,000 to the Mormon-affiliated Brigham Young University of Provo, Utah, including $50,000 in 2004.

Go ahead, vote for Romney. The Mormons need your money.

Satanic Influence of Illegal Immigrants and Liberals Debated by Utah GOP

Jon Ponder

So not kidding: Christian nationalist whackos commandeered the Utah County Republican Convention last weekend and came very close to making Utah Republicans into a national joke:

Illegal aliens are in control of the media, and working in tandem with Democrats, are trying to “destroy Christian America” and replace it with “a godless new world order — and that is not extremism, that is fact,” Larsen said.

Utah County Republicans ended their convention on Saturday by debating Satan’s influence on illegal immigrants…

Don Larsen, chairman of legislative District 65 for the Utah County Republican Party, had submitted a resolution warning that Satan’s minions want to eliminate national borders and do away with sovereignty.

In a speech at the convention, Larsen told those gathered that illegal immigrants “hate American people” and “are determined to destroy this country, and there is nothing they won’t do.”

Illegal aliens are in control of the media, and working in tandem with Democrats, are trying to “destroy Christian America” and replace it with “a godless new world order — and that is not extremism, that is fact,” Larsen said.

At the end of his speech, Larsen began to cry, saying illegal immigrants were trying to bring about the destruction of the U.S. “by self invasion.”

After Larsen spoke, other delegates rose to agree with him:

One speaker, who was identified as “Joe,” said illegal immigrants were Marxist and under the influence of the devil. Another, who declined to give her name … said illegal immigrants should not be allowed because “they are not going to become Republicans and stop flying the flag upside down. … If they want to be Americans, they should learn to speak English and fly their flag like we do.”

Finally, a grownup took the floor:

[State] Senator Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, spoke against the resolution, saying Larsen, whom he called a “true patriot and a close friend,” was embarrassing the Republican Party.

“I agree with 95 percent of this resolution but it has some language that is divisive and not inspiring other people to its vision,” he said. “This only gives fodder to the liberal media to give negative attention to the Republican Party.”

When Joe Wright, a local elected official, voiced support for Pres. Bush, he was booed — twice:

“This might be the most divisive issue in the Republican Party,” he said. “I support President Bush but he needs to support this issue harder.”

When Wright said “the economic benefit (of illegal immigration) outweighs the downside” he was jeered. He warned that the Republican Party of California had “killed themselves” by taking a hostile stance against illegal aliens … He ended by saying “President Bush needs to fix this now” and was booed again.

Larsen was given the floor again to finish the sale:

“If the Democrats take over the country, we will be dead, and we will have abortion and partial-birth abortion and the Republican Party will go into extinction,” he said. “Nancy Pelosi and the ACLU would oppose this (resolution).”

But when it came time to vote on Larsen’s resolution to officially name illegal aliens and liberals as being in league with Satan, it turned out that most of the attendees had voted with their fee:

Eventually party officials counted all delegates in attendance, only to discover that, with 299, they were about 30 short of a quorum and could take no action.

It is true that Gov. Pete Wilson drove the California GOP off a cliff with his nakedly political attack on illegal aliens in the 1990s. The ugly, bullying language had the unintended consequence of energizing Latino communities, transforming millions of legal residents from either apolitical nonvoters or registered Republicans into Democrats. With the exception of Gov. Schwarzenegger’s two elections, these new voters have provided a durable majority in state and federal elections in the state’s largest counties.

It would be poetic justice if the conservatives’ compulsive mean streak toward the disenfranchised turned out to be its Achilles heel.

Is That Christ I Smell?

Trish

Want to literally smell divine? Thanks to a new perfume, which supposedly mimics the scent given off by Christ and the saints, you can!

The makers of “Virtue” say they were guided by the Lord in picking their product’s name, ingredients — including apricot, fig, pomegranate, frankincense, and myrrh — logo and bottle design. Who knew Jesus was such a marketing whiz?

We turned to the Bible and let Spirit guide us through the process of picking and choosing the right elements to include in the fragrance…

What was right? When the Spirit let us know, through both, an inner knowing and outer worldly confirmation. The worldly confirmation was a process of holding to our Inspirations, even when our “deadlines” were not met. Holding our Faith, when money and circumstances were not always in alignment with our intent to move ahead. Even, when our suppliers delayed us by either internal practices or personal bias.

Well isn’t that commendable? These folks soldiered on because it was their mission to bring a new perfume to the world. A perfume that costs only $80 per 1.7 ounce bottle. And for which Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and PayPal are accepted. I’m inspired!

The thing is, you want to smell right when you commune with your creator.

…if you choose to use is as it’s creators intended, it’s a simple matter. Spray your wrist(s) and prepare yourself to begin a spiritual practice that you are familiar with; prayer, meditation, contemplation, etc…

All the while, Feel, in the Stillness, the Presence that is your Spiritual Self. Smell your wrist. Let Virtue’s scent wrap this Awareness with it’s unique character that is slowly transitioning into your own Signature version of Virtue®. In time, your association with the fragrance will give you the ability to transition to a Spiritually Centered state, almost instantaneously. For Christians, we call this practicing the Presence of God, the Holy Spirit or Christ. Being Christ Centered.

Jesus should lead them to a good copywriter.

Fundraising opportunities are available, in case your church or faith-based initiative wants to buy into this hooey. In the meantime, the makers are getting on beauty pageant sponsor lists by awarding bottles to winners in the Miss Anaheim and Miss California contests.

The only fragrance I’m sniffing is horseshit — and bald greed.

Christian Group to Protest Gays at VA Tech Funerals

Jon Ponder

Here they go again:

If I were a Christian, I’d be outraged and ashamed that a hate group like the Westboro Baptist Church operated in the name of Christ.

Never missing the opportunity to take advantage of a tragedy, Fred Phelps and his gang of haters at Westboro Baptist Church plan to picket the funerals of those killed in the Virginia Tech shootings.

On its website the hate group issues a warning:

“WBC will preach at the funerals of the Virginia Tech students killed on campus during a shooting rampage April 16, 2007. You describe this as monumental horror, but you know nothing of horror — yet. Your bloody tyrant Bush says he is ‘horrified’ by it all. You know nothing of horror — yet. Your true horror is coming. ‘They shall also gird themselves with sackloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads’ (Eze. 7:18).

Why did this happen, you ask? It’s simple. Your military chose to shoot at the servants of God today, and all they got for their effort was terror. Then, the LORD your God sent a crazed madman to shoot at your children. Was God asleep while this took place? Was He on vacation? Of course not. He willed this to happen to punish you for assailing His servants.”

If I were a Christian, I’d be outraged and ashamed that a hate group like the Westboro Baptist Church operated in the name of Christ.

Ann Coulter Dropped F-Bomb on Edwards a Second Time – at Christian Conference

Jon Ponder

Under-reported: Did you know that on March 3, the day after Ann Coulter called John Edwards a “faggot” at CPAC, she said the same thing when she addressed the annual talibangelist “Reclaiming America for Christ” meeting? It sounds like she bombed the second time:

On the matter of gay rights, Coulter’s contribution was to describe, from the pulpit, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards as “a faggot,” a remark that did not go over as well at Coral Ridge as it had the day before at a meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington, D.C.

It’s good to know Christianists aren’t yet as craven as CPAC goons.