Kos Kid kracks up

Muzzy points us to this bizarre rant by a DailyDean member. It's pretty incoherent, but you can tell the person is mad about something. What that is is anyone's guess. At first, I thought it was about Tom Delay's indictment, but after reading it all, I can't really say anymore. The guy is just all over the map. I guess maybe it takes a fellow liberal to translate it and find any sort of meaning. They like to speak in code:

When Bush-bashers complain about Roberts being from outside SCOTUS...

...as a caller on C-SPAN's Washington Journal did on September 12th (and was subsequently corrected by the host, which caused the caller to become quite amusingly flustered) and Shannon, a recent visitor to S&B;, did on her own site, remind them that historically, chief justices have been chosen from outside the ranks of the Supreme Court. See for yourself:

...until the twentieth century, no chief justice had been selected from the ranks of those already on the Court. ... Only three associate justices have been elevated directly to chief justice, and two had brief or unsuccessful tenures. The first chief justice to be elevated internally was Edward White, a former Confederate soldier. ... Harlan Fiske Stone also moved up from associate justice to chief justice... Other than these two, only Rehnquist has made the transition from associate to chief.

So, the choice of "outsider" Roberts is really unremarkable and not the least bit controversial. It would seriously behoove people who make this complaint to actually take the time to research and study what they are complaining about. When they hurl insults at President Bush for his choice of Roberts for chief justice, they are exposing their ignorance and hurting only themselves.

UPDATE: BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! My stalker claims that "hardly anyone watches" Washington Journal on C-SPAN. The numbers, of course, tell a different tale:

Number of U.S. homes with cable and satellite that receive MTV: 83,400,000

Number of U.S. homes that receive C-SPAN: 85,000,000

MSNBC's rank among U.S. cable television networks, based on distribution: 34

C-SPAN's rank, based on distribution: 8

Average weekly audience for West Wing, 2000-2001 season: 17,012,000

Estimated number of people watching C-SPAN each week: 28,500,000

...

Number of viewer phone calls aired by C-SPAN last year: 25,000

And more:

...a new national survey reports that 20 percent of the cable and satellite viewing audience (an estimated* 34.5 million people) watch C-SPAN 'regularly'—at least once or twice a week.

...

Fully 42 percent of cable/satellite viewers say they have watched C-SPAN in the past six months. Furthermore, the survey found that C-SPAN reaches every segment of the American public.

Still more:

50 MILLION AMERICANS WATCH C-SPAN*
*C-SPAN estimate based on Pew Research Survey of News Audiences.

Yep, more:

28.5 million people tune into C-SPAN’s public affairs programming each week

...

39 percent [of viewers in the past six months], or an estimated 20 million adults, have watched Washington Journal, C-SPAN’s live morning call-in program

In all fairness, though, maybe CC is refering just to the population of Canada. That would make his statement accurate, I'd imagine.

The blogswarm wanes...

Well, that was fun. Got a couple thousand hits out of it. Hopefully some new regular readers, too. Time to relax a little.

Victory at Ground Zero!!! IFC is out!!!

Pataki Ousts Freedom Center From Ground Zero

(New York -AP, Sept. 28, 2005) - Gov. George Pataki on Wednesday ousted a proposed freedom museum from its site at ground zero, declaring that the International Freedom Center has generated "too much opposition, too much controversy" to remain.
The decision follows months of acrimony over the Freedom Center, with furious families and politicians saying that the museum would dishonor the memory of the 2,749 people who died at the World Trade Center.

Pataki said in his statement on Wednesday, "I strongly believe in this nation's core principle of freedom and I personally believe that the celebration of freedom is not inconsistent with the goals of memorializing our nearly 3,000 lost heroes. The creation of an institution that would show the world our unity and our resolve to preserve freedom in the wake of the horrific attacks is a noble pursuit.

"But freedom should unify us. This Center has not.

Thank goodness! The IFC was an America-bashing joke that dishonored the memory of the victims of 9/11. Ground Zero should be now and forever a place of rememberance of the innocent civilians and the brave police officers and firefighters who died that day.

Offensive words or double-standard?

Evan Coyne Maloney of Brain Terminal exposes a protected speech double-standard at Bucknell University:

On August 29th, the Bucknell University Conservatives Club sent out a campus-wide e-mail announcing an upcoming speaker: Major John Krenson, who had been in Afghanistan "hunting terrorists." Those two words--"hunting terrorists"--resulted in three students being called to Bucknell's Office of the President by Kathy Owens, the Executive Assistant to the President.

When the students arrived, Ms. Owens held up a print-out of the offending e-mail and said "we have a problem here," telling the students that the words "hunting terrorists" were offensive. For the next half-hour, the three students were given a lecture on word choice.

Oh, GIVE ME A BREAK!!! Perhaps Ms. Owens would've been happier with the phrase "coddling freedom-fighters."

Of course, other speech that some find offensive is perfectly okay at Bucknell.

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"The founding fathers were mostly deist"

That statement was made here in the comments for this post. As is usually the case whenever the assertion that the Founding Fathers were "mostly deist," no facts are provided to back it up. And when an attempt to provide facts is made, it inveriably consists of pages of quotes from a small number of early Americans - some Founding Fathers, some not (Jefferson is a favorite despite the fact that he is not a Founding Father - he was in France at the time of the drafting of the Constitution), some even from people who weren't even alive until after 1800 (an atheist on TheologyWeb's forums once tried to offer up quotes by Abraham Lincoln as an example of the Founding Fathers being non-Christians!). In no uncertain terms, the assertion is a bald-faced lie. Now, I'm not calling everyone who repeats it a liar, but a lot of people who repeat it foolishly take the claim at face-value.

So what's the truth? Like the rest of the country at the time, the Founding Fathers were over 90% Christian:

The Faith of Our Fathers

The denominational affiliations of these men were a matter of public record. Among the delegates were 28 Episcopalians, 8 Presbyterians, 7 Congregationalists, 2 Lutherans, 2 Dutch Reformed, 2 Methodists, 2 Roman Catholics, 1 unknown, and only 3 deists--Williamson, Wilson, and Franklin--this at a time when church membership entailed a sworn public confession of biblical faith.[1]

This is a revealing tally. It shows that the members of the Constitutional Convention, the most influential group of men shaping the political foundations of our nation, were almost all Christians, 51 of 55--a full 93%. Indeed, 70% were Calvinists (the Episcopalians, Presbyterians, and the Dutch Reformed), considered by some to be the most extreme and dogmatic form of Christianity.

Evidences of Faith in the Buildings, Memorials, and Forefathers of the United States

Fifty-two of the 55 founders of the Constitution were members
of the established orthodox churches in the colonies-Truth!
It was common for leaders of that time to be a member of a church.
According to research conducted by U.S.Constitution.net, here is the breakdown of the religion of the framers of the U.S. Constitution:

Congregationalist-7
Deist-1
Dutch Reformed-2
Episcopalian-26
Lutheran-1
Methodist-2
Presbyterian-11
Quaker-3
Roman Catholic-2

Some either changed church affiliation in their lifetimes or had dual membership.

Were the Founding Fathers "Deists," "Freethinkers," and "Infidels?"

Don't underestimate the power of liberals' delusions to get in the way of these facts, however. The false assertion about the Founding Fathers being a bunch of deists will continue to exist, probably forever.

More "tolerance" from Wren's Nest News (longish again)

Previous entry about Wren's Nest for new (or forgetful) readers.

And here we have another news story about Christians (specifically, about a "See You At the Pole" event in which students nailed the names of non-Christians they were praying for onto a cross) posted on Wren's Nest which is met with the typical snide, insulting, mocking, intolerant comments from pagans. A sampling:

Nailed Their Names?
Sep 26th. at 8:27:35 pm EDT
Mariah Windrider (Grand Terrace, California) - Email Me
Would this be considered a hate crime? just a thought.

...

It Doesn't Sound To Me...
Sep 26th. at 7:21:50 pm EDT
Moondragon (Mesa, Arizona) - Email Me
...like it's the Christians who have to be afraid.

...

Deranged
Sep 26th. at 3:55:54 pm EDT
ForestWolf (Cheshire, England) - Email Me
Well, what a crock! Apparently these Christians (despite being the largest faith-group and considered acceptable by most of society) are "discriminated against" and are afraid to show their faith! Even as a Witch, I've not experienced much discrimination! The main problem I had was I once got hassle from someone who thought I was a Satanist, but when I said I was Pagan, they apologised and said words to the effect of "Well, a few candles and crystals are harmless enough!"

But the bit that really got me was the nailing names on crosses. That seems to have caused a bit of outrage with Pagans and other Christians alike!

Those ones that nailed those names to that cross ought to be ashamed of themselves and afraid to show their faith, if this is how they express it! Jesus would be turning in his...on his cross! Grrr!

...

Conform Or Die...
Sep 26th. at 12:46:52 pm EDT
Wild Witch (Hazel Park, Michigan) - Email Me

"I come to help out and show them that they shouldn't be afraid of their faith," he said. "It also encourages me."

Oh, but the other non-christian students, obviously need to be afraid of showing their faiths, especially after being symbolically nailed to a cross!
You know you're in trouble when even the more "mainstream" Christians look down upon "non-believers" and "symbolically" try to convert them...

"If they are calling on their God against us, though they bear no arms, they still fight us by pursuing us with hostile prayers"~
Heathen King Aethelfrith, in regards to christian monks

...

P#@sed Off!!
Sep 26th. at 11:48:29 am EDT
Red Cedar Owl (Deville, Louisiana) - Email Me

In the last couple of years since I found WitchVox I don't think I have read any thing that got so under my skin as this article. Even my wife, a Christian, was upset. This is my response to the article. I hope I did not put words in anyone else's mouth, but this HAD to be responded to--

Open Letter to the Citizens of Edmond, OK

All of our children who attend public school have the right to pray. That is their right, but I doubt that many of you in your community realize that this act of writing names and nailing them to a cross is "a binding spell". I, as a Pagan, am deeply concerned by this. I do not know if this practice is a normal part of the "See You at the Pole" or not. I would hope and pray that it is not.
I, like many Pagans understand that Christians of all denominations use the Cross to represent their faith. However, to many of us, your Cross is an instrument of torture and execution. Historically, this is true. This is about symbols, faith and the use and abuse of both. I pray frequently for the safe return of All of our military personnel who are overseas, Pagan and non-Pagan. I do not however write their names on pieces of paper, nor "bind" their souls to any Fate beyond what the Lord and Lady have in store for them.
I, as a citizen of America, as a Pagan of Faith, ask that this practice be stopped. I have read many articles written by Christian authors who denounce my Faith as "witchcraft". Well, this writing of names and nailing them to an instrument of torture and execution IS witchcraft and black witchcraft at that. I do not think that the young Christians taking part in this ritual meant any harm. Time will tell if harm has been done. I, and I hope that other Pagans who have read this article will take time out to pray to the Mother that no harm was done.

...

Faith Renewed????
Sep 25th. at 11:25:36 pm EDT
Rhiannon (Shamokin, Pennsylvania) - Email Me

First - why was this kind of thing allowed on public school property?

Second - how do they know who is and isn't xian and why is it their business?

Third - I hope someone of higher intelligence burns the ***damned thing down. Normally I am not violent or prone to vandalism, but in this case I think it would correct.

Fourth - how irresponsible for ANY church or faith group to do something like this, possibly putting students in harms way. After all not everyone believes in peaceful assembly.

...

What Are They Going To Do Next?
Sep 25th. at 8:03:29 pm EDT
seelie dancer (manchester, New Hampshire) - Email Me

This is creepy as hell. The way Children of The Corn and The Lottery were creepy.
What right did they assume they had to "out" anyone not xtian? How would they feel if a bunch of teenage pagans put the xtians' names on paper and bound them to a giant pentacle? Would they feel "flattered by the attention?"
To attempt to ensnare the souls of non-xtians by a compelling or binding spell inadequately disguised as religious ritual is unconscionable. It usurps those people's "God"-given right to freedom of choice. And a spell repelled is a spell returned - to he who casts it. Hope they're good at ducking magical backlash.

And so on and so forth. Certainly, nailing people's names to a cross is a bit untraditional, but it's not hurting anyone, despite the pagans' ridiculous fantasies of some kind of alternate, ill-intentioned meaning. Besides, I'm familiar with the rituals and practices they themselves do and I find that they have no room to complain about what Christians do. At least what the Christian students did was done publicly without any attempt to hide it.

Pic of two anti-Bush protesters

From Global Cop. Submitted without comment.

"Ashamed Republican" actually a LYING DEMOCRAT!!!

At the anti-Bush protests this weekend, there was a man holding a sign saying, "I'm a Republican and ashamed of this GOP." A photo can be viewed here:

Link

And the denizens of the Democratic Underground can be seen singing his praises here:

Link

The man's name is Jeb Eddy. "Crockspot," a poster on the Conservative Underground forums, Googled his name and came up with some interesting results:

Link (strong language warning)

Link

The guy's actually a Democrat! And it is the same Jeb Eddy, as this story shows (scroll down - note the city):

Link

He is also a former executive director and married to the current executive director of this progressive organizaton:

Link

The Democratic Underground is trying to downplay this information, of course, but this guy has been donating to the Democrats since at least 1998. Has he really been an "ashamed Republican" for that long? Wouldn't most people just have changed their party affiliation before too long?

UPDATE: Word is starting to spread. Jeb Eddy's days pretending to be an "ashamed Republican" are numbered. ChronWatch just picked up the story here.

UPDATE 2: Welcome Wizbang readers! Glad to have you here.

UPDATE 3: The plot thickens. Jeb Eddy sent an email to ChronWatch contributor John Armor (who wrote the piece I linked to in the first update). Mr. Armor responds to Mr. Eddy's nonsensical rambling here. Note that at no point does Mr. Eddy - who claims to be a moderate Republican - address the fact that all the political donations made in the past 7 years in his and his wife's names have gone to the DNC and John Kerry's campaign - both about as far left as you can get these days without falling over. 7 years as an "ashamed Republican." 7 years of donations exclusively to Democrats. If it looks like a donkey, acts like a donkey and breys like a donkey, it ain't no elephant. Certainly, Mr. Eddy could be under some delusion that he's still a Republican, but rational people would just change their party affiliation. One has to wonder - especially since he never addressed the issue - that if he truly still thinks of himself as a Republican, why Mr. Eddy still holds on to the party name if he disagrees with them so much.

UPDATE 4: Remember, when you can't defend the lies of a man like Jeb Eddy, babble nonsensically.

UPDATE 5: I just really want to stress that 99.7% of the credit has to go to Conservative Underground poster "crockspot." He did all the work in digging up information about Jeb Eddy. All I did was help push the story into the limelight a bit.

UPDATE 6: This one's pretty cool. Check out the latest update (#2) on Wizbang's coverage. The news director for the San Francisco Chronicle web site said he removed the AP photo from their online stories. Sure enough, it's gone from here. Unfortunately, this misleading photo remains. The context behind that photo can be found here.

UPDATE 7: Babbling nonsensically seems to be chronic with this guy. "...they're making Eddy's own case for him. By arguing that Eddy is not really G.O.P. ilk -- mainly because he has given contributions to Democrats and doesn't believe in the current Republican leadership -- they contend that to be deemed worthy of the G.O.P. he must be a narrow-minded, Bible-thumping, war-mongering supporter of incompetence, cronyism and mismanagement." Um, okay. Whatever. (Yeah, "babbling nonsensically" is fairly redundant, but it helps stress how little sense the guy makes.)

Things getting back to normal in the Big Easy

Well, thank goodness that the important things are getting back to normal in NO! First bars and now strippers:

NEW ORLEANS, Sept 21 (Reuters) - In a sign that things may be returning to normal in New Orleans, strip shows are back in the city's famous French Quarter.

Erotic dancers and strippers are entertaining crowds of police, firefighters and military personnel instead of the usual audiences of drunken conventioneers and tourists in Bourbon Street's Deja Vu club, which reopened this week.

Yeah. Forget about things like hospitals, police stations, fire departments, government and the rest of the city's infrastructure. The strippers will be what brings NO back to life.

I like that. "In a sign that things may be returning to normal in New Orleans, strip shows are back in the city's famous French Quarter." How do you gauge what is "normal" for New Orleans? You look at the strip clubs. Don't look at any sort of rebuilding of homes and businesses. Heck, no! If people are drooling over naked women, "things are returning to normal." I bet if San Francisco got hit bad by an earthquake, the indicator for the city returning to normal would be "gays are strutting around naked in the streets and engaging in homosexual activities."

Can anyone say "Sodom and Gomorrah?"

The Treaty of Tripoli: America not founded as a Christian nation?

Well, it happened again. Some know-nothing Christian-basher showed up on an online forum I frequent and started spouting off about how American wasn't founded on Christian principles by Christians:

Beware of the Dobson types who claim we were founded as a Christian nation - look up the Treaty of Tripoli.

I have not only looked it up, but I have read about its history. That brings me to the conclusion that people who use it as some sort of winning argument against Christians like myself are ignorant. Here are three reasons why the argument regarding the Treaty of Tripoli is invalid:

1) The Treaty of Tripoli states, "As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion." This is absolutely correct! The government of the U.S. is religiously neutral, but that does not have any bearing on whether or not the nation was founded on Christianity. Remember, the government is not the nation. The nation existed well before the government did. (Would you believe someone on TheologyWeb.com once tried to misquote the Treaty as, "the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion?")

2) The amendment that contains phrase in question from the Treaty did not appear in its non-English translation. Why would that segment not appear in that translation if it was so important.

3) Finally, the Treaty of Tripoli was renegotiated a few years later and the amendment was completely dropped from it. Again, if it was so important, why wasn't it included in the renegotiated treaty?

Here's an added bonus:

"These and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian nation." (HOLY TRINITY CHURCH v. U.S., 143 U.S. 457, 12 S.Ct. 511, 36 L.Ed. 226, February 29, 1892)

So on the one hand, we have a questionable phrase from a defunct treaty. On the other, we have a Supreme Court ruling. Which one do you think holds more weight?

Your [Danish] government at work

Evan Coyne Maloney of Brain Terminal brings word of this jaw-dropping story:

The Danish government is under attack for paying for its disabled citizens to have sex with prostitutes.

The official 'Sex, irrespective of disability' campaign pays sex workers to provide sex once a month for disabled people.

I think you'll all join me in a hearty "what the ****???"

Wal-Mart is the DEVIL!!!

It is. Just ask a liberal or a socialist (though often there is no difference between the two).

Jay Tea makes a solid case for the value of failure

Winners and losers

I like the Michael Jordan quote:

"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

Absolutely! Failure is a part of life. The only people who don't fail are the ones who don't try. Consequently, they don't succeed, either. They just exist.

AFTERTHOUGHT: This is why I thoroughly oppose the modern liberal ideas about how our children should be taught in school. "We can't hurt their fragile egos by dividing them into 'winners' and 'losers!' Winning isn't important! Failing and being a 'loser' will prevent children from having a good self-image!" It's all bull and completely contrary to the way the world has always worked. Children who grow up with that garbage drilled into their heads will experience nothing but shell-shock when they face the real world. People don't get the jobs they want. People get fired. People lose elections. People fail college courses. Sports teams lose games. Winning and losing, success and failure. It's all a part of life - REAL life, mind you, not this happy-go-lucky dreamworld where nobody fails or loses that the liberals want.

I've failed. I've done a lot of things that I've failed at and I've learned from those experiences how to better myself. If I always succeeded or never tried, what kind of person would I be now? (Probably still a liberal.) Contrary to the whiny "see/hear/say no evil" rhetoric of an obsessed stalker of mine, failure really is a part of life and it is valuable if you learn from it. Only a great fool would think otherwise.

Another reason not to do business in Quebec

The first being that they're French. (Tongue. Cheek. Get a sense of humor.)

The second is that they have really stupid people making rulings regarding businesses (particularly those with unions). Case in point:

Quebec's labor relations board has rejected Wal-Mart Canada's claim that it closed a unionized store in that province for economic reasons, saying instead that there was evidence the store might reopen.

I love that. They didn't reject Wal-Mart's claim because of what they did do. They rejected it because of what they MIGHT do. Ridiculous!

But wait! It gets better:

The labor board's decision did not look at the store's financial results, however.

So without even looking at the financial records, the board completely rejected Wal-Mart's argument that the store was unprofitable. Absolutely unbelievable! I think this makes it clear that the labor board had actually decided the case before Wal-Mart even made their argument.

Here's all the board cared about:

The board said it heard evidence that Wal-Mart had made no real effort to find another tenant to assume its 20-year lease on the store and that the building had neither been sold nor demolished. That, the board said, indicated that the closing was not permanent, making the dismissal of its workers illegal under Quebec law.

Oh, it had "heard evidence" that Wal-Mart supposedly wasn't doing anything with the building, even though Wal-Mart said it was trying to sell it:

...Pelletier said that Wal-Mart had been trying, without success, to find another retailer to take over the lease. ''It's an economically marginalized region,'' he said.

But how could the labor board know that if they didn't bother look at Wal-Mart's records? And apparently the labor board thinks 4 to 5 months is far too long a time for Wal-Mart to do something with their building. Whatever.

This whole ruling stinks of corruption. I wouldn't be surprised if the labor board is a puppet of the unions. "Psst! If you rule in our favor, we've got a little kickback for ya."

If I were Wal-Mart, I wouldn't try to do any more business in Quebec after this. Hopefully an appeal will go their way. They certainly have the evidence that the labor board wasn't looking at the whole picture.

Ah! The wonderful tolerance of Wren's Nest [another long post]

Wren's Nest is the pagan news aggregate site (which allows comments from people of all faiths) I mentioned recently. Of course, mentioning it and posting there draws people here who want to defend it and condemn me. I'm painted as "hateful," "vulgar," "insulting," and, of course, "intolerant." Well, let's take a look at just how tolerant the pagan posters at Wren's Nest are. The following comments accompany this story about Christians praying against a "Pagan Pride" event:

Laughing Sep 17th. at 11:59:20 pm EDT

Tonayallicue Xanthe (Chicago, Illinois) - Email Me

this just makes me laugh so hard. they're so tough to fight against us "pagan evildoers" but don't have the Cojones to actually come out to one of these events to actually see what's going on and feel dumb after realizing that there is nothing to be afraid of whatsoever but i think that's their point. the thing i do not understand with so many of these xians is that they want to change everything and be some kind of revolutionaries to take back America yet it's like they're "armchair revolutionaries" in a sense. let's complain about the world according to what foxnews says is going on instead of actually going out there & seeing the real picture. if they were smart they'd have "undercover" to scope out the place and be like, "damn i feel stupid. nothing too juicy to find here."

...

Oh No Forgot.... Sep 17th. at 6:33:57 pm EDT

Fox Ravenfire (Racine, Wisconsin) - Email Me

I am going to PPD in Milwaukee tommorrow. I am been so busy this week I forgot to keep up with my required amount of devil worshiping and baby sacrifice! What I'm I to do? How do you all keep up with it????

HAHA LOL - Silly little fundie! Whining's for kids!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
My brother have you found Jesus?
>Yes I have.
Well, if no one claims heim in 30 days, he's yours!
(fundie walks away with beet red face)

-Exchange between a LARPer [Live-Action Role-Player, i.e. someone who dresses up and physically acts out role-playing games --JMcH] and a fundie at GenCon [a gaming convention that used to be held in Milwalkee, but is in Chicago now, I think --JMcH] awhile back...

...

Extreme Witchcraft? Sep 17th. at 5:41:19 pm EDT

Holly DarkMoon (Clare, Iowa) - Email Me

Now THAT sounds like a fun challenge.....maybe like trying to light your candles in the wind?... calling the quarters blinfolded? ....Dancing the spiral vertically?...

These guys are ALMOST funny. They are not expressing just an OPINION about the "demonic rituals", cursing activities, and other things "so vile" they can't mention..... They KNOW those things aren't going to happen! They are telling stories. Why doesn't someone in that area just stand up to these guys and call them the LIARS that they are?!

...

Well... Sep 17th. at 3:34:41 pm EDT

Gypsy Witch (Tuscaloosa, Alabama) - Email Me

Legit story or not, if they want to attempt to pray us away, let them so do. They can pray till they're blue in the face, and wonder where their god is when we don't melt into little fizzy puddles surrounded by flying monkeys. ;-}

...

How Funny!! Sep 17th. at 3:10:29 pm EDT

Rowan Foxfyre (Indianapolis, Indiana) - Email Me

Man, I'd love to see someone check that guy's Medication. Obviously, he has been growing and making his own.

...

Is This Story Really Legit? Sep 17th. at 2:47:55 pm EDT

Nuada Silverhand (Barre, Massachusetts) - Email Me

World Nut Daily isn't exactly a respected news source. [Oh, and the New York Times is? --JMcH]

...

So Right Sep 17th. at 12:56:53 pm EDT

jedimage joe (Hammond, Indiana) - Email Me

also the chriatians there also like the borg the ultimate users. forced conversion is no conversion. been insidesome of the groups their are bunch of king corbras think about that. enough said

...

Has Sep 17th. at 12:44:48 pm EDT

ShadowBear (Coalville, Utah) - Email Me

anyone here been watching Stargate SG-1 on fridays night on the Sci-Fi channel. They have a new enemy called the Ori that are really Fundamentalists Christians, or any other fundamentalists you can think of.

One thing I'm glad about is that in Stargate the Ori kill those that don't join them. Here in the real world the Fundamentalists can't do that.

Of course, they try by any means to get at people that disagree with them.

...

Wow..... Sep 17th. at 12:36:03 pm EDT

Patrick McKinnion (Doha, Qatar) - Email Me

Left San Diego a month ago, and the whole place goes to straight to hell.... (laugh)

Seriously though, the fundie is a few dozen french-fries short of a happy meal. Wow, major weirdness.

...

Let The Sheep Bleat. Sep 17th. at 12:25:05 pm EDT

bigcat (peoria, Illinois) - Email Me

How utterly ridiculous. Instead of praying for a deeper understanding of the world- or true peace in the world- or help for those in real need or absolutely -anything that might actually be useful in the world, they have revealed themselves to be absolutely self centered- egocentric-- and useless to all mankind. They have revealed themselves for what they are-- moneygrubbing jealous parasitic panderers of hell and damnation against any and all different from themselves. And this I fear is xtian fundi-ism at its best. One can only hope that they all pray and\or starve themselves to their heaven over it. As for the Pagan pride Day, I hope the powers will prevail and allow peace and understanding to grow. It isn't religion we need to fight, it's the absolute stubbornness to hang onto power over the rest of us.

...

Emergency Prayer And Fasting Sep 17th. at 11:41:33 am EDT

blue smoke (everetts, North Carolina) - Email Me

may very well be what they need to do for their irrational and stressed
out leaders. They could help those poor souls filled with such strange
fears by sending for a nice rest to some place with rubber rooms and
sedatives. Perhaps the kindly pagans of California could pass the hat
to help out in this medical emergency?

...

I Am Coming To Understand Their Fear Sep 17th. at 11:35:13 am EDT

Mariah Windrider (Grand Terrace, California) - Email Me

Look back at history. We represent the religions they fought so hard to eradicate, the Pagan religions of Europe, Egypt and the Native American ones. [Yeah, because, you know, pagans of old never, ever tried to eradicate Christians. Nope. --JMcH] We are their ancient enemies in their minds. We also are a major threat to them because we offer an alternative to their religion, one that is not foreign like the Eastern religions, but their own ancestral Gods calling their people back. It must make their leaders crazy that they can no longer murder us with impunity to protect their status.

We often hear the phrase that those who do not know history are bound to repeat it. Only in the study of the history of Christianity and its development as a world religion will the new Pagans (seems odd to call us new, but it fits here) find the lessons to not repeat. With all due respect to Isaac Bonewits, the downfall of our religion would be the adoption of professional clergy status. The fear that these people are working from is based on the fear of losing power, prestige, and salary!

Perhaps rather than calling them Christians, it would be more appropriate to refer to them as the Big Business Religionists.

...

I Wonder What Would Happen ! Sep 17th. at 11:03:44 am EDT

Libertarian (Langley, Washington) - Email Me - Web

Thare are laws in our fair country against liable and slander. I do not know if they would apply in this case and I totally support the first ammendament to our constitution but this preacher should be put on the defensive. Then he would have something to truly pray about. [Of course, you'd never apply those laws to yourselves and your comments on Wren's Nest. --JMcH]

...

Hmmm.... Sep 17th. at 10:55:18 am EDT

Susan (Mayer, Arizona) - Email Me

Someone earlier brought up that the only unforgivable sin is that of blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

Since in most Christian traditions even (*gasp*) fundamentalist ones, the H.S. is viewed as feminine, perhaps it reveals something about their God--the only thing He can't forgive is saying bad sh!t about His Wife??? [Uh, nooooo. In the Bible, a masculine pronoun is used to describe the Holy Spirit, and He is definitely not a wife! He is the third person of the Trinity, with the Father and the Son being the other two. --JMcH]

Perhaps we Pagans aren't the ones blaspheming after all...

...

Yaaay! Sep 17th. at 10:39:31 am EDT

Sheila (Kesztölc, Hungary) - Email Me

How sweeeet, they're praying to save themselves from the evilties of paganism... aww. A true sign of faith. (To what faith I don't know, as the Bible doesn't exactly say that this is one of those noble activities...) But anyway!

Please, pull the other leg!

This... just makes my head hurt. Well, you know, I don't care. Let them do what they want, it'll bounce off anyway!

A humble oppinion perhaps, but... one of mine.

...

OUTRAGED Sep 17th. at 10:37:34 am EDT

Gilraen (Melbourne, Florida) - Email Me

Where do they get off pulling this kind of slander???
Since when do any of the Pagans in this Great Nation that we call the Land of th FREE with a Constitution that states freedom of RELIGION get off talking about our religious beliefs, practices and people this way! I am shocked and disturbed by this. I am personally sending an e-mail to whoever this Moron is, and setting them straight.
This is completely ridiculous! We have never, in any Association, Coven, Clan, Group or otherwise bashed a Group of Pagans so blantantly. Oi! I am so mad I can't type.
I am off to do something to vent.
Later.

...

Of Course... Sep 17th. at 10:31:57 am EDT

Sorana (Iasi, Romania) - Email Me

it's extreme and vile! Have you seen the pictures from the previous years' events? There is an altar there, with a statue of Diana WITH A BARE BREAST! And a lady belly-dancer AND YOU CAN SEE HER NAVEL! And there are CHILDREN around! Can you imagine the negative impact on a young mind of the sight of a NAKED BRONZE FEMALE BREAST? Can you imagine what this year will be like? Belly-dancers on skateboards whizzng through the park alleys, brandishing flaming wands, most likely!

Sheesh!

...

Sigh ... Sep 17th. at 10:22:15 am EDT

Moonstone (Vincennes, Indiana) - Email Me

there's never any understanding such mentality.

...

Imagine ... Sep 17th. at 10:14:10 am EDT

Storm Summerhaven (Lanark County, Ontario) - Email Me

"PAGANS in San Diego are being summoned for "emergency" spells and ritual to counter the "CHRISTIAN Pride" event scheduled for today in the seaside city.

The third annual event, titled San Diego for CHRISTIAN Pride 2005, aims to 'foster pride in CHRISTIAN identity through education, activism, charity and community.' "

Now, what do you want to bet that the headline would read: "Pagans Gather to Hex Christian Day of Celebration."

But you WOULDN'T read that in the paper, because it wouldn't happen. I don't know one single Pagan who would ever do something like this, whatever grievances we may have with any fundamentalist Christians. [Oh, so since the pagans you know would never do it, that means all pagans would never do it. Mmm-kay. --JMcH]

--------------------------

"Extreme witchcraft" ... !!?? LOL ... Mountain racing brooms? Hyper-wands? Hugging EVERY tree in the park ... ??

...

Dear God Sep 17th. at 10:03:58 am EDT

Sagicorn (Timmins, Ontario) - Email Me

Dear God, I don't know just what your plans are for these people, but we have a better plan, please change yours to match ours.

Sincerly.

...

Shouldn't They Follow Their Own Scripture? Sep 17th. at 9:54:51 am EDT

Aidan Odinson (Collingdale, Pennsylvania) - Email Me

The first thing that comes to mind is "Judge not, lest ye be judged." I'm sure they can find that in their Bibles. [Yes, actually, we can. We can also find the clarifying words that follow that out-of-context and much-misrepresented phrase. --JMcH]

There's another one that says that the only sin which can never be forgiven is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Since the ultimate truths will not be revealed to us in this lifetime, no matter how many claim to posess them, who is anyone to judge anyone else's spirituality or faith?

Another thought also comes to mind not as a judgment, but as an observation. The way some who claim to follow Jesus are so hung up on their devil, whom are they actually worshipping?

...

And What Are They Praying For? Sep 17th. at 9:13:21 am EDT

Fionn (Hollywood, Florida) - Email Me - Web

Probably for another hurricane, they seem absolutely gleeful when natural disasters hit. Then they can blame it on pagans, gays and *gasp* liberals. Their ignorance & bigotry is only exceeded by their hatred of anything that is outside their puny view of reality.

...

[This next one is kind of lengthy, so I've just posted the first few lines. --JMcH]

For Anybody Reading This... Sep 17th. at 9:00:18 am EDT

Guido Paganos (Reading, Pennsylvania) - Email Me

...who is a Worldnetdaily type or other curious christian.

Do you ever see pagans protesting christian events? [Actually, yes. --JMcH]
Do you ever see pagans extolling, for purposes of trying to raise intolerance and disdain for others, utter lies and half-truths of christianity as this minister in the San Diego area has???? [Hello??? Do you not read other people's posts on Wren's Nest? --JMcH]

...

Consider The Source Sep 17th. at 8:34:17 am EDT

Athenea (Odenville, Alabama) - Email Me

This article comes to you via worldnutdaily...what else would you expect?

...

What? Sep 17th. at 7:58:54 am EDT

The Napalm Theory (Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania) - Email Me - Web

What are they talking about? God wants some party too! Sent in his RSVP the other day. Written and signed in gold, baby.

He said the fundies can come too. Something about a dunking booth.

...

... Sep 17th. at 7:32:38 am EDT

Black Knight (Bronx, New York) - Email Me - Web

Look at me, I'm a little kiddie starving for attention! Look at how I make stupid sh*t up! I SAID LOOK AT ME!!!

These idiots need to grow up.

Yep. These people definitely are the paragons of what "tolerance" means these days.

Randomness vs. design

Apparently, some people think I've ended up arguing for their own case here. My point obviously went over their heads. See, you and I recognize the difference between the Gettysburg Address and random gibberish. That's because the Gettysburg Address is obviously designed. Plus, we understand the English language. Could a person who does not understand English see the difference between "fourscoreandsevenyearsago" and "klasmcoyqwebnkqwoiblklswq?" Of course not.

Let's say that a person does recognize English words, but not their meaning. Could they understand the difference between "four score and seven years ago" and "goat pound yet house usage dog?" Again, of course not. "Goat pound yet house usage dog" is a meaningless phrase even though it uses words we recognize.

How about "to whether the or and no the that?" Pretty meaningless, isn't it? Any design to the phrase? Not that you can tell, I'm sure. Now, let's "zoom out:"

To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;

Makes sense now, doesn't it? You recognize the design because you can see the whole thing, not just tiny parts of it. Additionally, the words were in the order I found them in Hamlet's sililoquy (the first word of the first few lines). So even though you didn't see it, there was unseen design to the tiny parts.

Furthermore, "to be or not to be" is meaningful while "be not to be to or" is not. A random placing of words (or letters) does not "work equally well" as a designed placing.

Finally, there is no such thing as or like infinite monkeys bashing away at infinite typewriters for infinite time and there never will be. It's a ridiculous argument that has no reality and no merit. I used it sarcastically to point out the absurdity of the notions which some people desperately cling to in order to justify their beliefs.

Camp Casey cleaned up; Mother Sheehan wants troops out of "occupied New Orleans"

Camp Casey Memorial [Allegedly] Stolen

Well, when you leave your junk unattended in a ditch that you don't own, don't be surprised when it goes AWOL. I'm of the mind that the memorial was left unattended intentionally by these people knowing full well that this would likely happen just so they could grab some more headlines.

More Sheehan lunacy

One thing that truly troubled me about my visit to Louisiana was the level of the military presence there. I imagined before that if the military had to be used in a CONUS (Continental US) operations that they would be there to help the citizens: Clothe them, feed them, shelter them, and protect them. But what I saw was a city that is occupied. I saw soldiers walking around in patrols of 7 with their weapons slung on their backs.

In an area where people - rescuers included - had been shot at??? [dripping sarcasm]NOOO!!!!!!![/dripping sarcasm]

I wanted to ask one of them what it would take for one of them to shoot me.

Well, you could try walking up to them and saying, "Hi, I'm Cindy Sheehan."

Sand bags were removed from private property to make machine gun nests.

Bull! I won't believe this without more proof than her biased, unreliable, lying word.

The vast majority of people who were looting in New Orleans were doing so to feed their families or to get resources to get their families out of there.

Yes, which explains why people were dashing past food and water in order to take TVs, stereos and computers. Those things will feed your family well and get them out of town quickly.

Red Skelton's amazingly prescient Pledge of Allegiance monologue

Read it and hear it here.

Which one of these four collections of letters shows design?

No cheating by looking it up!

1. knklvurknnlxpadarkvihnlsopdoigkdkalknfhryueiosmxcncbtywe sfvxbjcieooxhggbchdfiakdajbcbcahjajkcjkahakjdadhadanakj ytwvcvhfioeioe

2. gsuukshskldklfuwlfeklsuklcvklzsdlflslugl sgnlaldasliovjsndfmmpouqtfvccvjifowpmchvtfevdhjuifodklfmvyfg evebhvuieriiemcnmcvhyegwevdbcuiroeoswmxngywtfvdfhffkfnm

3. fgnjsjksdlkfklsdfklsudflsdflhsdhdfsdfuigyb jqlpcvonsfoskldfjslkdfsdflqwdoasdlamsoasdklaksdnaklsduasdlausudnl alsndluyugajeufiaicna

4. Four score and seven years ago, our forefathers brought forth on this continent a new nation conceived in liberty

If you said #4, you would be WRONG. NONE of them show design of any kind. Remember, if you have an infinite number of monkeys bashing away at an infinite number of typewriters for an infinite amount of time, they will eventually produce - without any sort of design - not only the Gettysburg Address, but also the Bible, the complete works of Shakespeare, your Aunt Fanny's recipe for pineapple upsidedown cake and the entire nucleotide sequences for the DNA of every living thing on the Earth. And you know what else? Even the gibberish the monkeys produce is no different from those things since the monkeys have the same chance of typing gibberish as they do words, sentences, paragraphs, etc. Remember, when it comes to chance, gibberish which makes no sense is exactly the same as sentences that you can read and understand. After all, the sequence of "kioqenpqoiqwlecqwlcqpclqwenbpoybghoerrthwa" works just as well as "four score and seven years ago."

Pledges and Constitutions (long post)

In light of this happening again:

Court says flag pledge violates U.S. Constitution

...I think I will bring up this again:

ALABAMA State Constitution

We, the people of the State of Alabama, in order to establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish the following Constitution and form of government for the State of Alabama


ALASKA State Constitution

We the people of Alaska, grateful to God and to those who founded our nation and pioneered this great land, in order to secure and transmit to succeeding generations our heritage of political, civil, and religious liberty within the Union of States, do ordain and establish this constitution for the State of Alaska.


ARIZONA State Constitution

We, the people of the State of Arizona, grateful to Almighty God for our liberties, do ordain this Constitution.


ARKANSAS State Constitution

We, the people of the State of Arkansas, grateful to Almighty God for the privilege of choosing our own form of government, for our civil and religious liberty, and desiring to perpetuate its blessings and secure the same to our selves and posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution.


CALIFORNIA State Constitution

We, the People of the State of California, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure and perpetuate its blessings, do establish this Constitution.


COLORADO State Constitution

We, the people of Colorado, with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, in order to form a more independent and perfect government; establish justice; insure tranquillity; provide for the common defense; promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the "State of Colorado".


CONNECTICUT State Constitution

The People of Connecticut acknowledging with gratitude, the good providence of God, in having permitted them to enjoy a free government; do, in order more effectually to define, secure, and perpetuate the liberties, rights and privileges which they have derived from their ancestors; hereby, after a careful consideration and revision, ordain and establish the following constitution and form of civil government.


DELAWARE State Constitution

Through Divine goodness, all men have by nature the rights of worshiping and serving their Creator according to the dictates of their consciences, of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring and protecting reputation and property, and in general of obtaining objects suitable to their condition, without injury by one to another; and as these rights are essential to their welfare, for due exercise thereof, power is inherent in them; and therefore all just authority in the institutions of political society is derived from the people, and established with their consent, to advance their happiness; and they may for this end, as circumstances require, from time to time, alter their Constitution of government.


FLORIDA State Constitution

We, the people of the State of Florida, being grateful to Almighty God for our constitutional liberty, in order to secure its benefits, perfect our government, insure domestic tranquility, maintain public order, and guarantee equal civil and political rights to all, do ordain and establish this constitution.


GEORGIA State Constitution

To perpetuate the principles of free government, insure justice to all, preserve peace, promote the interest and happiness of the citizen and of the family, and transmit to posterity the enjoyment of liberty, we the people of Georgia, relying upon the protection and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish this Constitution.


HAWAII State Constitution

We, the people of Hawaii, grateful for Divine Guidance, and mindful of our Hawaiian heritage and uniqueness as an island State, dedicate our efforts to fulfill the philosophy decreed by the Hawaii State motto, "Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono."

(The translation of the motto is “The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.”)


IDAHO State Constitution

We, the people of the state of Idaho, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings and promote our common welfare do establish this Constitution.


ILLINOIS State Constitution

We, the People of the State of Illinois - grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberty which He has permitted us to enjoy and seeking His blessing upon our endeavors - in order to provide for the health, safety and welfare of the people; maintain a representative and orderly government; eliminate poverty and inequality; assure legal, social and economic justice; provide opportunity for the fullest development of the individual; insure domestic tranquility; provide for the common defense; and secure the blessings of freedom and liberty to ourselves and our posterity - do ordain and establish this Constitution for the State of Illinois.


INDIANA State Constitution

TO THE END, that justice be established, public order maintained, and liberty perpetuated; WE, the People of the State of Indiana, grateful to ALMIGHTY GOD for the free exercise of the right to choose our own form of government, do ordain this Constitution.


IOWA State Constitution

WE THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF IOWA, grateful to the Supreme Being for the blessings hitherto enjoyed, and feeling our dependence on Him for a continuation of those blessings, do ordain and establish a free and independent government, by the name of the State of Iowa, the boundaries whereof shall be as follows:


KANSAS State Constitution

We, the people of Kansas, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious privileges, in order to insure the full enjoyment of our rights as American citizens, do ordain and establish this constitution of the state of Kansas, with the following boundaries, to wit: Beginning at a point on the western boundary of the state of Missouri, where the thirty-seventh parallel of north latitude crosses the same; thence running west on said parallel to the twenty-fifth meridian of longitude west from Washington; thence north on said meridian to the fortieth parallel of north latitude; thence east on said parallel to the western boundary of the state of Missouri; thence south with the western boundary of said state to the place of beginning.


KENTUCKY State Constitution

We, the people of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberties we enjoy, and invoking the continuance of these blessings, do ordain and establish this Constitution.


LOUISIANA State Constitution

We, the people of Louisiana, grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political, economic, and religious liberties we enjoy, and desiring to protect individual rights to life, liberty, and property; afford opportunity for the fullest development of the individual; assure equality of rights; promote the health, safety, education, and welfare of the people; maintain a representative and orderly government; ensure domestic tranquility; provide for the common defense; and secure the blessings of freedom and justice to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution.


MAINE State Constitution

We the people of Maine, in order to establish justice, insure tranquility, provide for our mutual defense, promote our common welfare, and secure to ourselves and our posterity the blessings of liberty, acknowledging with grateful hearts the goodness of the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe in affording us an opportunity, so favorable to the design; and, imploring God's aid and direction in its accomplishment, do agree to form ourselves into a free and independent State, by the style and title of the State of Maine and do ordain and establish the following Constitution for the government of the same.


MARYLAND State Constitution

We, the People of the State of Maryland, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberty, and taking into our serious consideration the best means of establishing a good Constitution in this State for the sure foundation and more permanent security thereof, declare:


MASSACHUSETTES State Constitution

We, therefore, the people of Massachusetts, acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the goodness of the great Legislator of the universe, in affording us, in the course of His providence, an opportunity, deliberately and peaceably, without fraud, violence or surprise, of entering into an original, explicit, and solemn compact with each other; and of forming a new constitution of civil government, for ourselves and posterity; and devoutly imploring His direction in so interesting a design, do agree upon, ordain and establish the following Declaration of Rights, and Frame of Government, as the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.


MICHIGAN State Constitution

We, the people of the State of Michigan, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of freedom, and earnestly desiring to secure these blessings undiminished to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution.


MINNESOTA State Constitution

We, the people of the state of Minnesota, grateful to God for our civil and religious liberty, and desiring to perpetuate its blessings and secure the same to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution


MISSISSIPPI State Constitution

We, the people of Mississippi in convention assembled, grateful to Almighty God, and invoking his blessing on our work, do ordain and establish this constitution.


MISSOURI State Constitution

We the people of Missouri, with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, and grateful for His goodness, do establish this constitution for the better government of the state.


MONTANA State Constitution

We the people of Montana grateful to God for the quiet beauty of our state, the grandeur of our mountains, the vastness of our rolling plains, and desiring to improve the quality of life, equality of opportunity and to secure the blessings of liberty for this and future generations do ordain and establish this constitution.


NEBRASKA State Constitution

We, the people, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, do ordain and establish the following declaration of rights and frame of government, as the Constitution of the State of Nebraska.


NEVADA State Constitution

We the people of the State of Nevada Grateful to Almighty God for our freedom in order to secure its blessings, insure domestic tranquility, and form a more perfect Government, do establish this Constitution.


NEW HAMPSHIRE State Constitution

(Article V of their Bill of Rights:)

Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and reason; and no subject shall be hurt, molested, or restrained, in his pers on, liberty, or estate, for worshipping God in the manner and season most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience; or for his religious profession, sentiments, or persuasion; provided he doth not disturb the public peace or disturb others in their religious worship.


NEW JERSEY State Constitution

We, the people of the State of New Jersey, grateful to Almighty God for the civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing upon our endeavors to secure and transmit the same unimpaired to succeeding generations, do ordain and establish this Constitution.


NEW MEXICO State Constitution

We, the people of New Mexico, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty, in order to secure the advantages of a state government, do ordain and establish this Constitution.


NEW YORK State Constitution

We The People of the State of New York, grateful to Almighty God for our Freedom, in order to secure its blessings, DO ESTABLISH THIS CONSTITUTION.


NORTH CAROLINA State Constitution

We, the people of the State of North Carolina, grateful to Almighty God, the Sovereign Ruler of Nations, for the preservation of the American Union and the existence of our civil, political and religious liberties, and acknowledging our dependence upon Him for the continuance of those blessings to us and our posterity, do, for the more certain security thereof and for the better government of this State, ordain and establish this Constitution.


NORTH DAKOTA State Constitution

We, the people of North Dakota, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, do ordain and establish this constitution.


OHIO State Constitution

We, the people of the State of Ohio, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings and promote our common welfare, do establish this Constitution.


OKLAHOMA State Constitution

Invoking the guidance of Almighty God, in order to secure and perpetuate the blessing of liberty; to secure just and rightful government; to promote our mutual welfare and happiness, we, the people of the State of Oklahoma, do ordain and establish this Constitution.


OREGON State Constitution

(Article I, Section 2 of their Bill of Rights:)

All men shall be secure in the Natural right, to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences.


PENNSYLVANIA State Constitution

WE,the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty,and humbly invoking His guidance,do ordain and establish this Constitution.


RHODE ISLAND State Constitution

We, the people of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, grateful to Almighty God for the civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing upon our endeavors to secure and to transmit the same, unimpaired, to succeeding generations, do ordain and establish this Constitution of government.


SOUTH CAROLINA State Constitution

We, the people of the State of South Carolina, in Convention assembled, grateful to God for our liberties, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the preservation and perpetuation of the same.


SOUTH DAKOTA State Constitution

We, the people of South Dakota, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberties, in order to form a more perfect and independent government, establish justice, insure tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and preserve to ourselves and to our posterity the blessings of liberty, do ordain and establish this constitution for the state of South Dakota.


TENNESSEE State Constitution

(Article I, Section 3:)

That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience; that no man can of right be compelled to attend, erect, or support any place of worship, or to maintain any minister against his consent; that no human authority can, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience; and that no preference shall ever be given, by law to any religious establishment or mode of worship.


TEXAS State Constitution

Humbly invoking the blessings of Almighty God, the people of the State of Texas, do ordain and establish this Constitution.


UTAH State Constitution

Grateful to Almighty God for life and liberty, we, the people of Utah, in order to secure and perpetuate the principles of free government, do ordain and establish this CONSTITUTION


VERMONT State Constitution

(Chapter 1, Article 3:)

That all persons have a natural and unalienable right, to worship Almighty God, according to the dictates of their own consciences and understandings, as in their opinion shall be regulated by the word of God; and that no person ought to, or of right can be compelled to attend any religious worship, or erect or support any place of worship, or maintain any minister, contrary to the dictates of conscience, nor can any person be justly deprived or abridged of any civil right as a citizen, on account of religious sentiments, or peculia[r] mode of religious worship; and that no authority can, or ought to be vested in, or assumed by, any power whatever, that shall in any case interfere with, or in any manner control the rights of conscience, in the free exercise of religious worship. Nevertheless, every sect or denomination of christians ought to observe the sabbath or Lord's day, and keep up some sort of religious worship, which to them shall seem most agreeable to the revealed will of God.


VIRGINIA State Constitution

We, therefore, the people of Virginia, so assembled in convention through our representatives, with gratitude to God, for His past favors, and invoking His blessings upon the result of our deliberations, do ordain and establish the following revised and amended Constitution for the government of the Commonwealth:


WASHINGTON State Constitution

We, the people of the State of Washington, grateful to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe for our liberties, do ordain this constitution.


WEST VIRGINIA State Constitution

Since through Divine Providence we enjoy the blessings of civil, political and religious liberty, we, the people of west Virginia, in and through the provisions of this Constitution, reaffirm our faith in and constant reliance upon God and seek diligently to promote, preserve and perpetuate good government in the State of West Virginia for the common welfare, freedom and security of ourselves and our posterity.


WISCONSIN State Constitution

We, the people of Wisconsin, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure its blessings, form a more perfect government, insure domestic tranquility and promote the general welfare, do establish this Constitution.


WYOMING State Constitution

We, the people of the State of Wyoming, grateful to God for our civil, political and religious liberties, and desiring to secure them to ourselves and perpetuate them to our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution.

I've been waiting years for you anti-Pledge people to be consistant and try to get all 50 state constitutions declared to be unconstitutional. I'm sure you'll make sure that I keep waiting.

A pagan takes issue with me

Background: I sometimes (pretty rarely) post comments on this news aggregate page, which is (witches?) on a pagan website. In their Posting Rules, they make it clear that everyone is welcome to comment:

4. Wren's Nest is a Pagan venue, however it is also open to members of all religions and/or viewpoints and may be publicly viewed by anyone on the Internet.

Unfortunately, comments from Christians such as myself are not taken well by the pagan users there. A few months ago, I made a comment and shortly after found my email inbox inundated with pornography. It wasn't spam, either. These were requested pornographic emails in which someone had to actually input my email address themselves. Luckily, they all included links which allowed me to unsubscribe from them (though I now recieve more pornographic spam than I used to, which was virtually none). Additionally, some of them even recorded the IP address from which the requests originated. That IP address matched the IP address of someone who emailed me via the pagan news page. (The news page sends emails anonymously, but I had included the URL for S&B; in my comment, so they found my email address that way.)

Anyway, today I made one of my rare visits to the pagan news page and saw an entry that prompted me to add an even rarer comment. The entry in question wasn't actually news. It was a comment about this opinion piece, which is about a church opposing a haunted house on a neighboring property. The entry on the pagan page stated that the "church should be focusing on hurricane relief, not haunted house." After seeing other news entries on the pagan page about prayers at city council meetings and recent and upcoming "pagan pride" celebrations, the hypocrisy of the statement astounded me. So I posted a comment:

Pagans Should Be Focusing On

hurricane relief, not prayers at city council meetings and "pagan pride" events.

How was that comment taken? Well, take a look at a comment I just received here in my last post (which I will respond to point by point):

P.S. - Regarding your comments on WitchVox; Samhain is a religious holiday for us and we intend to honor our dead and celebrate it. There are currently several pagan oprganizations working to raise money and deliver food and water to areas hit by the storm.

Also, as was mentioned in the comments area of another entry on your blog, christians are also having concerts and festivals going on, so how about doing a little research first?

How about you tone down the condescension first? You obviously missed my point. If pagans are going to go on with their business of harassing city councils over the prayers they choose to lead their meetings with and continuing on with your "holidays" and "pagan pride" events, what right do any of you have to complain about a church taking issue with a haunted house? Apparently there is a double-standard when it comes to Christians.

Why do you continue to post on WitchVox anyway, passing judgement and trying to stir up trouble with your nasty comments?

(1) I post on WitchVox because I can and am not forbidden to.
(2) Exactly where was I "passing judgment" and "stir[ring] up trouble?" I see a lot of that in the comments made by pagans about Christians on that site, but I'd like to know where I was doing it in that comment.
(3) How was my comment "nasty?"

This next set of comments are simply astounding:

You don't see pagans stalking christian boards like that.

You mean other than yourself? Actually, yes, I do see that quite a bit.

Before you make the argument that we do - again, research needed here - how about visiting as many christian chat boards as you can find.

I saw it on Christianity.com's forums and see it currently on TheologyWeb.com's and Praize.com's forums.

If pagans are posting there, it's because someone from the board contacted them or (like you), went out of his/her way to register with a pagan site to pass on negativity and act like an ass because someone has different religious beliefs from him/her.

Oh, of course, because we all know that ALL pagans NEVER go out on their own to post comments on Christian forums.

If you believe that, can I sell you a bridge in New York City?

And people wonder why so many pagans are going back to practising in secret -

It couldn't be because they know that the religion is bogus and are embarassed by it, could it? Nah...

it's because even in our own environment we can't escape judgement and the spreading of misinformation by people like you.

Sorry, but judging by what I see in the comments made by pagans on WitchVox, judgment and spreading of misinformation about Christians is a regular, daily occurrance there.

If you were asking questions or had a sincere desire to learn, I would have no problem with you posting there and would respond with answers, but that isn't why you do it. You do it to be rude, nasty and to harrass the people who have valid reasons for using the site.

My comment was not rude, nasty or harrassing. If you don't like your hypocrisy pointed out to you, then stop being hypocritical.

We aren't bothering you.

No, you're only spreading lies and insults behind Christians' backs. What's that rule you guys supposedly live by? The Rule of Three or whatever? Whatever you do comes back to you multiplied by three? From what I've seen, a lot of you don't actually live by that rule.

Please leave us alone.

If you don't like me posting there, get the rules changed. Barring that, stop posting lies and hypocritical messages about Christians. I guarantee that if I have nothing to take issue with, I won't have anything to post about. You'll notice that I have never posted messages condemning you and demanding that you all become Christians.

At the very least know what the hell you're talking about before you post there.

I know very well what I'm talking about. You complain about Christians taking issue with a haunted house supposedly instead of concentrating on hurricane relief all while going on with your "holidays" and "pagan pride" events. Why don't you pagans concentrate on hurricane relief instead of your "holidays" and other events? Could you answer that for me, Shannon? Why the double-standard?

Since research isn't your strength I decided to pass these along to you.

http://www.fullcircleevents.org/newsletters/2005-09/#Katrina

http://www.officersofavalon.com/

I fail to see the point of this, Shannon. Is this supposed to prove that Christians haven't donated to the hurricane relief? Is it supposed to prove that the church in question didn't?

Just how dumb can one person be?

Well, if you think that equating a person being left to die by another person (who decides to take it upon himself to play judge, jury and executioner) with a person being given the death penalty in a court trial (with a judge, proper legal representation and a jury of his peers) is an intelligent, insightful, logical and rational argument that is crippling to an opponent, then I'd have to say that you're pretty freaking dumb.

UPDATE: I seem to have struck a chord. (The truth hurts, as they say.) Welcome CC fans. Please keep the comments civil and free of swears and death threats. Thanks.

See, this is what I was talking about

I just saw this blog ad, which is a perfect example of what I was talking about earlier:


















If you are having trouble reading the text, it says:

Federal authorities are forcing many evacuees to choose between bringing vital medicine and their dog. This is illegal and must stop.

I'd like to know exactly how that is illegal. Is there a law that says that authorities cannot tell people they must leave behind their pets when their lives are in mortal danger?

The ad links to this webpage, which belongs to - no surprise here - PETA. There is absolutely no indication how PETA came to the conclusion that making people leave their pets behind is illegal. No laws are referenced. I emailed PETA to see if they could clarify the issue for me, but it might take some time for them to get back to me.

As to the choice, I mean, my gosh! If you can't choose between your non-vital pet(s) and your vital medicine(s), there is something seriously wrong with your thought processes.

UPDATE: I received auto-responses to my email to PETA. If I ever get a responses from actual person, it could take up to 2 weeks for it to come through. In the meantime, I found PETA's news release regarding the alleged illegality of making people leave pets behind:

Following reports that crews evacuating people in Louisiana are making them choose between their luggage or their dogs, cats, birds, and guinea pigs, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is issuing an emergency alert today reminding evacuation teams that it is illegal under Louisiana law to abandon an animal and that evacuees must be permitted to bring their animals with them. Local authorities including the Louisiana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (LASPCA) have announced that people who choose to abandon their animals will be charged with cruelty to animals.

“You can replace things, but it’s against the law to leave any animals to die of starvation,” says PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. “It’s unconscionable to make these people, who have already gone through so much this week, have to choose between their only remaining personal belongings and their beloved animals, who truly are members of their families.”

Suffice it to say, it does not answer my question. They are simply using the vague "cruelty to animals" angle to justify their argument that it is illegal to make people leave their pets behind. Well, if we're going to use the "cruelty to animals" argument, then I guess the rescue teams should be trying to save the vermin, too. (Note that PETA doesn't mention those animals.) Yes, let's spend valuable time, money and other resources and risk the lives of the people on the rescue teams in order to save all the animals. Screw the humans.

When the call for clean up comes, the liberals can't flee fast enough

The Crawford Peace House has put out a request for people to help clean up the mess left behind by anti-Bush protesters:

Volunteers needed to help clean up Camp Casey and Peace House
Submitted by admin on Fri, 2005-09-02 09:05. Cindy Sheehan Aug 2005 action

We are in desperate need of folks capable of "heavy lifting" and willing to work to help us clean up, sort, pack, store and dispurse things now that Cindy's encampment is over. Please come Friday or Saturday for a work day, or contact us at 254-486-0099 for other scheduling.

This request has fallen on deaf ears. Not surprising. The request has had no responses posted to it. Ah, but what about the Democratic Underground? They were big time supporters of Cindy Sheehan, the Peace House and the anti-Bush protest. Some even went to the media circus... er... the solemn protest. Well, don't expect any of them to show up to help. Take a look. Fourteen replies ("kicking" is their way of keeping the discussion board threads at the top of the heap) and not a single person said they would help. You know what's going to happen? The person who owns the property they were squatting on these past few days is going to be stuck with the clean up and the city or county is going to be stuck with cleaning up the ditch Cindy and the protesters originally were in. How typical! What a bunch of worthless freeloaders! No wonder they wanted Kerry for prez. Birds of a feather and all that.

9/6 UPDATE FOR BRANDON: In the comments, Brandon complained that I didn't know "they didn't clean it up." So I just called the Peace House and politely asked them how many volunteers they got Friday and Saturday. Their exact response was, "It's kind of hard to tell. Probably about eight." Probably about eight. I am not the least bit surprised.

Planned Parenthood: Birth control = "items critical to [flood victim's] well-being"

Dawn again points out the absurdity of Planned Parenthood's agenda, this time in regards to their idea of disaster relief for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Is Planned Parenthood offering evacuees food? No! Water? No! Shelter? No! First aid? No!

...

Clicking the "more" link leads to an page that reads:

Help Those Affected by Hurricane

Planned Parenthood clinics in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas are doing everything possible to attend to the needs of patients in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Women and families escaped the storm with their lives,

Note it says "women and families." Not just "victims," or "women, men and children." Women first, then families—men and children nowhere in sight. It's like that famous New York Times headline parody: "World Ends; Women, Minorities Hit Hardest."

The pitch continues:

leaving behind birth control and other items critical to their well-being.

So, could someone please explain to me how exactly birth control is something that is critical to people's well-being like food and water are? Is there something about birth control that prevents people from dying from dehydration, starvation or drowning? Are people trapped in or on flooded buildings and other structures in desperate need of birth control? Can birth control be used to rescue people?

"Critical to their well-being." Ridiculous!

You know, I like my cats, but...

...if it came down to a choice between them and other human beings, my choice will always be for my fellow man. I can always get more pets. That's why I find charities like this to be a waste of time and money. Let's save the humans first, shall we?

UPDATE: Here.