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religion 
Mon Oct 11, 2010 at 06:13:10 AM MST
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It is odd for an Atheist to be defending religious freedom. I have a very negative opinion of all religion, but I have a strong, well, faith, for lack of a better word in the idea that everyone should be allowed to practice or not as they choose. Neither I nor anyone else should be the arbiter of what others find comfort or direction or confidence in. We can argue about the basis of it, we can argue about the outcomes but in this nation, we all have the right to have our religious freedoms.
As the outbreak of Islamophobia has grown so has the hysteria from the Right on this issue. In Murfreesboro TN, where the construction site of an Islamic center was the victim of suspected arson, the Wingers have really lost their minds. Last week they were in court arguing for a judge to issue an injunction saying the zoning commission was wrong to allow the building of the Center. Their primary argument? That Islam is not a religion, but a political movement. From the Tennessean:
Mosque opponents say that Islam is not a real religion. Instead, they argued in a Rutherford County courthouse last week that the world's second largest faith, with its 1.6 billion followers, is actually a political movement.
Opponents say local Muslims want to replace the Constitution with an Islamic legal code called Shariah law. Joe Brandon Jr., a Smyrna attorney representing a group of mosque opponents, argued that the proposed mosque is not a house of worship. He said the Rutherford County Planning Commission erred on May 24 when it approved the mosque.
Brandon wants Chancellor Robert Corlew of the 16th Judicial District to issue an injunction stopping the mosque.
"Shariah law is pure sedition," said Brandon in his opening statement Monday.
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Mon Aug 30, 2010 at 05:45:23 AM MST
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The anti-Muslim whirlwind continues to be reaped in the United States. For all that the Sarah Palins and Rudy Giuliani's of the world think that the fight over the Park51 Islamic Center is confined to Manhattan the reality is that it is spreading and getting more and more violent. This weekend the site of new Islamic center outside Nashville was fire bombed. No one was hurt but some very expensive construction equipment was destroyed. Then when some of the members of the group building the mosque were looking at the site, they heard shots fired and reported it to local police.
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Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 18:46:31 PM MST
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It was about a week ago that we saw the ruling throwing out California's Prop 8; that decision has now been appealed, and we will see, at some point in the future, how the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals handles the matter.
A couple of days later, I had a story up that walked through the ruling, describing the tactics used by the Prop 8 proponents, which, in the opinion of the Judge who looked at the evidence, were basically to try to scare Californians into thinking that gay people, once they're able to get gay married, will somehow now be free to evangelize your kids and make them gay, too.
In the course of answering comments on the several sites where the story is up, I noticed that there were those who felt the Bible should be guiding our thinking here...that if it did, we would be better off than where we are today, with all those immoral gay people running around free to do all those immoral gay things.
This led me to an obvious question: are those who have been using the Bible as a sort of "divining rod" to figure out who is immoral and who is not...actually any good at it?
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Thu Aug 12, 2010 at 06:44:24 AM MST
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Nearly every oath of service in this nation includes the phrase "Defend and protect the Constitution of the United States of America" in some form or the other. Not having a King we needed an object of loyalty, something bigger than the individual to focus our loyalty on. It was well planned by the Framers that when taking office each servant of the people would swear to uphold and protect the very document which created this nation.
It is therefore shocking how few of our fellow citizens actually get know or understand what the Constitution says. We have multiple issues where the public opinion seems to be against the Constitutions very clear demands for all citizens to have the same rights. The big culture war issue has been about the right of gay citizens to marry the person of their choice. Time and again the public has voted to deny this right to their fellow citizens.
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Fri Jul 16, 2010 at 06:51:22 AM MST
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I will be paddling out into deep water today and talk about belief and how it interacts with politics. Being a person of no faith, someone who finds the physical universe to be the only one we need worry about; it is perhaps not my bailiwick to talk about religion but I am going to do so anyway.
Back in the late '80s I remember reading about the members of a small apocalyptic cult whose leader told them to gather at their compound for the end of the world. It was short notice and the members were spread all over the country. One county in rural Nebraska was having a rash of people driving through at speeds exceeding 100 mph. When they were stopped by the police and issued a summons to come to court in two months they all just smiled. Why? Well they were absolutely sure that they would never make that court date, nor would anyone else in the world.
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