| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"maff" |
| Date: |
17 Dec 2006 06:03:48 AM |
| Object: |
OT: America's religious right: God's own country |
America's religious right: God's own country
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2074325.ece
They hate gays and abortion, and love George W Bush. They worship in
churches the size of shopping malls, and dominate the nation's - and
the world's - political agenda. But is the Christian backlash finally
starting against America's religious right? By Robert Lanham
Published: 16 December 2006
When I met Ted Haggard in his New Life Church office last autumn, he
was on his way to Denver, Colorado. He often caught flights out of the
city, which was a short drive from his home in Colorado Springs, the
mountainside town commonly referred to as the "evangelical Vatican",
given its enormous born-again community and its abundance of "Welcome
to Bush country" bumper stickers.
While I drank a Starbucks cappuccino I'd purchased in the food court of
his 14,000-member megachurch, we discussed his friendship with George
Bush, his belief that pro-business capitalism was "scriptural", and his
best-selling book, The Jerusalem Diet: The "One Day" Approach to Reach
Your Ideal Weight - and Stay There.
My radical manifesto to revitalise Britain
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1973806,00.html
Our political parties are ineffectual, boring us all by pointlessly
fighting it out on the dull morass that is the middle ground. It's time
for some new ideas ...
Henry Porter
Sunday December 17, 2006
The Observer
Our politics is strange. We have three large parties that spend most of
their energy trying to prove that the other two are wholly unfit to
govern. And yet all agree on the major issues of our time: you can
barely slide a piece of paper between them on the economy, health,
education, law and order, security, tax or foreign policy.
Far from being helpful to democracy this consensus in the middle ground
is a drag on our political life. It bores the public and makes people -
particularly the young - feel excluded. Those not linked by tribal ties
to one of the three parties have come to see MPs as essentially a club
of men and women in suits, who are all somehow on the make.
We are incapable of investigating fraud
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1973788,00.html
Will Hutton
Sunday December 17, 2006
The Observer
It's a battle to get beyond the startling first impressions. A British
government committed to the rule of law and the fight against corporate
fraud appears to have been blackmailed into suspending a serious fraud
investigation by a foreign government. Justice, it turns out, has a
price - 10,000 jobs are enough to buy off a British Prime Minister's
commitment to legal process.
The decision by Lord Goldsmith, the attorney general, to halt the
Serious Fraud Office's investigation into whether BAE Systems offered
paybacks, bribes and commissions to senior Saudi officials - behaviour
made illegal in 2001 - as part of the quid pro quo for an arms deal is
one of the most politicised the office has ever made. Had a conviction
been secured, Britain would have landed a major blow in the fight
against fraud. Instead realpolitik and not justice has triumphed.
Why these dictators bewitch us all
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1973805,00.html
Bookshop shelves reveal our love of tyrants. But then, we all know a
despot closer to home
Nick Foulkes
Sunday December 17, 2006
The Observer
When I told a friend that my next book was about the battle of
Waterloo, she rolled her eyes and asked why men cannot get enough of
Napoleon and, by extension, other dictators.
Her words came back to me this week when I read the obituaries of
Augusto Pinochet, whose death a few days before Christmas causes us to
re-examine our fascination for the ruthless absolute ruler. I was
struck by the photograph in the Guardian: an almost Velazquez-like
composition showing a dictator and his court. Pregnant with pageantry,
it showed how power wielded with ruthlessness and without compassion
quickly clothes a man, often a man like many others with a wife and
children, in the raiment of history; imbuing him with a sense of the
importance of his own destiny which, as individual and state blur,
becomes a chilling, self-fulfilling prophecy.
A fresh face for a tired America
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/leaders/story/0,,1973977,00.html
Leader
Sunday December 17, 2006
The Observer
Barack Obama's career is remarkable and short. That could yet be his
political epitaph. His rise from obscurity to be a serious candidate in
race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination has been almost
too fast. Cynical observers of the US political scene - is there
another kind? - mutter 'burn out' at the mere mention of his name. But
in a cynical age it is worth pausing to admire the Obama phenomenon.
His arrival in US politics brings much to be celebrated.
There's much more to giving it away than simply handing it out
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,1973595,00.html
With billionaires eager to do good, advising them on their
philanthropic 'investments' has become big business, writes Heather
Connon
Sunday December 17, 2006
The Observer
Forget yachts, private planes and island hideaways: the new status
symbol among the very rich is philanthropy. A growing number of those
who have made their millions in investment banking, private equity or
hedge funds are looking at ways to give some of it back through
charitable projects. But while we might be content to give friends an
Oxfam goat for Christmas or set up a standing order to our favourite
charity, the super-rich are much more professional about their giving.
Blair backs gamble on elections by Palestinian leader
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article2081640.ece
PM seeks to revive faltering Middle East peace process, but bid to
outflank Hamas could worsen bloody power struggle
By Patrick Cockburn, Donald Macintyre and Raymond Whitaker
Published: 17 December 2006
Tony Blair last night urged international support for the Palestinian
president Mahmoud Abbas, who announced a gamble on early elections to
break a deadlock with Hamas. The Prime Minister, who is on a peace
drive in the Middle East, said in Cairo that it was the duty of world
leaders to back Mr Abbas.
"This is the moment for the international community to come behind him,
to help build his authority and his capability, to deliver improvements
in the living standards of Palestinian people but also in the progress
that we all want to see on resolving the Israel-Palestinian issue," Mr
Blair said after talks with Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak. "Hamas at
the present time is not prepared to be constructive."
The cigarette that puts itself out
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2081657.ece
Ministers press for new EU law to force tobacco firms to produce
self-extinguishing cigarettes, preventing thousands of fires each year
By Marie Woolf, Political Editor
Published: 17 December 2006
Cigarettes that put themselves out if they are left smouldering will be
the only kind European smokers can buy if ministerial plans to cut the
hundreds of fatalities caused by house fires become law.
The Government is spearheading an EU-wide law that will make it
compulsory for all cigarettes to be designed to go out if nobody is
smoking them.
Rupert Cornwell: Out of America
http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article2081571.ece
Youth and hope: could Obama be the new RFK?
Published: 17 December 2006
On a day off last week I indulged in the sinful luxury of going to a
movie in the afternoon. I chose Bobby, directed by Emilio Estevez,
dealing with the terrible day in June 1968 when Robert Kennedy was
gunned down at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, moments after
celebrating victory in the California primary. The film looks at the
event through the lens of campaign supporters, hotel guests and staff
going about their business in the 24 hours before the murder. In all
honesty, I didn't think it was that great. But throughout, I couldn't
stop thinking about a potential presidential candidate for 2008 -
Barack Obama.
Not that I think Mr Obama will be killed if he runs - though for a man
bidding to be the first black President of the US, the risk obviously
exists. That, indeed, was one reason Colin Powell decided not take the
plunge in 1995.
Clinton vs Obama: the battle that could shatter her dreams
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1973807,00.html
Paul Harris in New York
Sunday December 17, 2006
The Observer
In the murky world of Hillary Clinton's undeclared run for the White
House, official denials and bland statements are ubiquitous. But, as
Kremlinologists did in the Cold War, it pays to monitor the guests
shuttling in and out of her townhouse in Washington DC. Last week that
list revealed a campaign moving rapidly into top gear, spurred into
action by the meteoric rise of Barack Obama.
Last Sunday Clinton hosted a dinner with key officials from New
Hampshire. On Tuesday she held one with figures from Iowa. Both states
are vital first battlegrounds in any nomination campaign. Then last
Wednesday Clinton had a private party with old hands from her husband's
two presidential campaigns, including James 'The Raging Cajun'
Carville, who masterminded Bill's rise.
History lessons from the 'splendid little war'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1973819,00.html
Daniel Whitaker
Sunday December 17, 2006
The Observer
The US is embroiled in an ill-considered occupation of a distant land;
an initial welcome turned to violence amid human rights violations; it
will be many years before extrication is possible. Not Iraq today, but
the Philippines a century ago, an eerie parallel which might have
provided valuable lessons.
The US took the Philippines in 1899 - part of what its then Secretary
of State, John Hay, called 'a splendid little war'. The previous regime
(in this case, Spanish-run) was quickly vanquished, with the shock and
awe of superior weaponry. War had begun over American claims that a
weapon of medium-sized destruction was used by the Spanish to destroy
the USS Maine in Havana harbour, an accusation later considered
dubious.
US accused of using aid to sway votes in UN security council
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,1973837,00.html
Heather Stewart, economics correspondent
Sunday December 17, 2006
The Observer
The US uses its aid budget to bribe those countries which have a vote
in the United Nations security council, giving them 59 per cent more
cash in years when they have a seat, according to research by
economists.
Kofi Annan, the outgoing UN Secretary-General, expressed his
frustration at the power the US wields over the UN in his parting
speech last week. In a detailed analysis of 50 years of data, Harvard
University's Ilyana Kuziemko and Eric Werker provide the clearest
evidence yet that money is used by the council's richest member to
grease the wheels of diplomacy.
Would you Adam and Eve it?
http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/roundupstory/0,,1973673,00.html
Simon Beckett on Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast |
Constantinople | In My Skin | Siegfried Sassoon
Sunday December 17, 2006
The Observer
Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast: The Evolutionary Origins of
Belief, by Lewis Wolpert (Faber, =A38.99)
Developmental biologist Wolpert turns a clinical eye on to the nature
of human beliefs, from acupuncture to God. It's a subject that's bound
to ruffle a few feathers, not least since the author isn't only a
scientist, but also an atheist who regards religion in the same light
as the UFOs and the paranormal - that is to say altogether
unbelievable. Wolpert's basic premise is that our genetic
predisposition towards beliefs evolved from our ancestors' ability to
make tools; a process that demands a causal belief in the physical
world. He argues that all of us have a 'belief engine' that constantly
tries to make sense of our experience, be it the meaning of life to
whatever ill-fortune or accidents might befall us. There is a
mischievous undercurrent here, as Wolpert cheerfully reminds us that
just believing in something doesn't make it so.
Is America Ready?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16238556/site/newsweek/
Hillary's hair and hemline won't be issues; her tough national-security
approach and famous husband will.
By Jonathan Alter
Newsweek
Dec. 25, 2006 - Jan. 1, 2007 issue - It felt like the twilight zone in
New Hampshire. The calendar still read 2006, but everything about the
surging crowd ofb 1,500 pumped-up Democrats and 160 ravenous political
reporters screamed 2008. Here was Barack Obama, less than two years
into his Senate term, making his first-ever trip to the state in
mid-December, and his sold-out performance before a tumultuous crowd
impressed even the most hardened political operatives-though Conan
O'Brien joked it was just because New Hampshire had never seen an
African-American before.
Mitt Romney
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16240571/site/newsweek/
2008: America's first Mormon president? The New England Republican who
might make it so.
By Jonathan Darman
Newsweek
Dec. 25, 2006 - Jan. 1, 2007 issue - In late October, departing
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney huddled with a godly group. Gathered in
his kitchen were 15 of the country's leading evangelicals, including
giants like Jerry Falwell, Franklin Graham and Richard Land of the
Southern Baptist Convention. They'd come to nibble sandwiches, slurp
soup and quiz Romney on his faith. Why on earth should they support
Romney, a Mormon, in his presidential candidacy in 2008? Richard Lee, a
Baptist minister from Cumming, Ga., got to the heart of the matter.
What did Romney really believe about Jesus Christ? Romney didn't
hesitate. "When I say Jesus Christ is my Lord and savior, I realize
that means something different to you than it does to me," he admitted.
But he urged them to remember their shared beliefs: the faith that
Christ was born of a virgin, was crucified and rose after three days.
The ministers were pleased. "So you're really a Baptist?" Lee cracked.
Politics: Deval Patrick
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16240602/site/newsweek/
The wise guys in Boston bet against him. They won't make that mistake
again.
By Howard Fineman
Newsweek
Dec. 25, 2006 - Jan. 1, 2007 issue - Boston is the ancestral home of
Democratic Party politics. The denizens of Beacon Hill-where the
statehouse sits, overlooking Boston Common-see themselves as the
wisest of the wise guys. They concluded two years ago that Deval
Patrick had no chance to be governor of Massachusetts. True, he had
punched establishment tickets-Milton Academy, Harvard, Harvard Law,
white-shoe law firms, the Clinton Justice Department. True, his name
was as Irish as four-leaf clover. But: he had never run for elective
office. He had no money. He had not gotten in line and paid his dues to
the party. He had no organization. He was too liberal to win a general
election: a supporter of gay marriage and tuition breaks for illegal
immigrants. Worse, he was not a Boston native, but an immigrant-from
Chicago, of all places. One other thing: he was black.
Heartland: Kathleen Sebelius
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16240572/site/newsweek/
A rising Democratic star emerges on Red State soil.
By Karen Breslau
Newsweek
Dec. 25, 2006 - Jan. 1, 2007 issue - During her first term in office,
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius so impressed the former head of the
state's Republican Party that he became a Democrat in order to serve as
her running mate in 2006. A pro-business, pro-military, pro-choice,
fiscal conservative, Sebelius easily won re-election this fall, and has
emerged as the dean of a new breed of Democrats taking over what was
once reliably red terrain
The Republican Identity Crisis
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16240579/site/newsweek/
It was a year of turmoil, of ferment and of hope, as the Iraq war
dragged on, the Democrats seized Capitol Hill and the 2008 presidential
race began in earnest. NEWSWEEK's columnists look back-and peer
forward at where the country is heading.
By Michael Gerson
Newsweek
Dec. 25, 2006 - Jan. 1, 2007 issue - My low point with the republican
party came in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. In attempting to
deliver benefits to victims, the administration found men and women who
had never had a bank account; families entirely disconnected from the
mainstream economy. A problem rooted in generations of governmentally
enforced oppression-slavery and segregation-demanded an active
response from government to encourage economic empowerment and social
mobility.
Losing the War, as Well as the Battle
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16240566/site/newsweek/
By Fareed Zakaria
Newsweek
Dec. 25, 2006 - Jan. 1, 2007 issue - It's relatively easy these days to
point out all the ways in which George W. Bush has been ill-informed,
misguided and wrong about Iraq. And in case you run out of examples,
the president provides fresh ones continually. But on one central
issue, Bush has been right. He has argued from the start that a modern,
liberal democratic Iraq would be an example, an inspiration and a spur
for progress in the Middle East. The trouble is, the Iraq of today is
having precisely the opposite effect. If Bush wants to save his freedom
agenda, he needs to decouple it from Iraq.
Keeping Watch on the Border Wars
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16240578/site/newsweek/
By Ellis Cose
Newsweek
Dec. 25, 2006 - Jan. 1, 2007 issue - For all the noise over immigration
this year, the issue ultimately fizzled in Congress-not for lack of
passion but for lack of anything approximating a shared vision.
Republican House members envisioned a world in which America's southern
border would be protected by a 700-mile-long fence. In that world,
undocumented immigrants would be criminally prosecuted and people
giving them aid would face criminal penalties as well. "If we didn't
invite you, get out," was the clear message sent by the House bill
authored by Judiciary Committee chairman James Sensenbrenner.
The Regathering Storm
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16240565/site/newsweek/
Along the ungoverned border of Pakistan and Afghanistan, Al Qaeda is
training would-be jihadists from the West to attack their home
countries.
By Sami Yousafzai, Ron Moreau And Mark Hosenball
Newsweek
Dec. 25, 2006 - Jan. 1, 2007 issue - For the past year, a secret has
been slowly spreading among Taliban commanders in Afghanistan: a 12-man
team of Westerners was being trained by Al Qaeda in Pakistan for a
special mission. Most of the Afghan fighters could rely only on
hearsay, but some told of seeing the "English brothers" (as the foreign
recruits were nicknamed for their shared language) in person. One
eyewitness, a former Guant=E1namo detainee with close Taliban and Qaeda
ties, spoke to NEWSWEEK recently in southern Afghanistan, demanding
anonymity because he doesn't want the Americans looking for him. He
says he met the 12 recruits in November 2005, at a mud-brick compound
near the North Waziristan town of Mir Ali. That was as much as the
tight-lipped former detainee would divulge, except to mention that Adam
Yahiye Gadahn, the notorious fugitive "American Al Qaeda," was with the
brothers, presumably as an interpreter.
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| User: "Rick" |
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| Title: Re: America's religious right: God's own country |
17 Dec 2006 11:07:05 AM |
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maff wrote in message
<1166357028.271672.152360@j72g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>...
America's religious right: God's own country
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2074325.ece
They hate gays and abortion, and love George W Bush. They worship in
churches the size of shopping malls,
This is another typically ignorant screed. About 3 percent of Evangelicals
attend megachurches, which by definition are simply churches with weekly
attendance of 2,000 or more. Barak Obama's church meets this definition.
and dominate the nation's - and
the world's - political agenda.
Anyone who has followed politics knows that for a very long time, there has
been an extremely small number of people like Falwell and Dobson who are big
noisemakers, but whose influence on actual politics is very small. But this
will never stop liberals from taking advantage of the gullibility of their
followers and making the very best of fearmongering. And it makes for an
easy job for journalists who don't want to do any actual work.
A whole lot of you folks living in the so-called reality based community
ought to be ashamed of your passionate credulity.
- Rick
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