A Mormon Smackdown By Somone Who Knows His Bible

Let's just start off by making one thing clear. I am not a Christian, nor do I believe that Jesus is God, or that by accepting Jesus I will go to "heaven." I do, however, believe in God, and I accept the teachings of Jesus vis-s-vis the "book" most Christians accept as the writings of Jesus, the Bible, which of course, anyone with an education, especially in religion, knows that the Bible was not written in any fashion by Jesus, nor can any of the New Testament be proven to have been written by the actual apostles that the writings have been attributed to. More importantly, the Bible as we know it today was put together by a "king" in order to put forth some sort of ability to control the "church" and the "believers" approximately 300 years after Jesus was known to have died.

Be that as it may, I respect the right of REAL Christians to believe in Jesus and do the work in his name. I do not respect the new Christian belief system that amounts to bigotry, anger, war, nationalism, or capitalism, which has morphed into this ideology that America is a Christian nation (especially, again, when education proves that this country was clearly founded upon the freedom to worship as one chooses, that insofar as our government is concerned, one's religion shall not be a test marker, and lastly, religion and government should not be entwined). These "Christians" represent, to me, and to a lot of people, the same Christians that roamed the world during the Crusades basically killing anyone that refused to accept Jesus as God, desecrating many holy places along the way.

Enter the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, aka the Mormons. I have had serious personal interactions with Mormons for over 40 years and know well the teachings of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. But I have never seen a smack down as good as this by a person that knows his Bible!



I used to have the same experience. When one actually uses the Bible against a Mormon, they are stumped. And like the gentleman in the video says, the Mormons don't believe in Jesus as much as they believe in Joseph Smith.

And here the Christians who represent a majority of the white, older aged American, male dominated Republican party are putting their Christianity on the line by supporting a Mormon for POTUS.

The "One" That Declined To Sail The Titanic

A very interesting post by Rainn Wilson and the Titanic.

As we've been reminded innumerable times over the past few weeks, one hundred years ago the "unsinkable" Titanic sank into the North Atlantic, taking with her more than 1,500 lives. The tragedy has made for some epic storytelling.

Of all the stories, one of the most extraordinary is that of a 68-year-old Persian who wasn't, it turns out, actually on the ill-fated vessel, but was supposed to be.

Abbas Effendi -- known as Abdu'l-Baha or "the Servant of God" -- was feted by the press in both Europe and the U.S. as a philosopher, a peace apostle, even the return of Christ. His American admirers had sent him thousands of dollars for a ticket on the Titanic, and begged him to ride in the greatest of opulence. He declined and gave the money to charity.

Read the rest of the post. For those that are aware of my faith, it should be a good read.

Abdu'l-Baha's talks pierced audiences with a radical simplicity. And yet he advanced ideas that Americans still wrestle with a century later: the need for true racial harmony and gender equality; the elimination of extreme wealth and poverty; the dangers of nationalism and religious bigotry; and an insistence upon the independent search for truth. Any of those ring a bell in 2012?

His mission of unity, spread throughout our nation one hundred years ago, should be celebrated alongside the messages of Gandhi, the Dalai Lama and Martin Luther King Jr.

In his very first public address in the U.S. -- at New York's Church of Ascension on Fifth Avenue and 10th Street -- Abdu'l-Baha hailed America's material progress in the arts, agriculture and commerce, but with a caution to also develop our spiritual potentialities.

"For man two wings are necessary. One wing is physical power and material civilization; the other is spiritual power and divine civilization. With one wing only, flight is impossible."

He gave the talk on April 14, 1912. Later that same day the Titanic struck the iceberg.

I was supposed to celebrate my 60th yesterday with a party. I ended up canceling it for many reasons. After reading the above, I am sort of glad I did.

See Ya Tebow, Stone Cold Steve Austin Can Keep His 3:16

FINALLY, no more Tebow! It was bad enough when last week he threw for 316 yards with an average completion of 31.6 yards, given his favorite Bible verse is John 3:16. Take that, Steve Austin! And here's what Austin had to say about Tebow:

However, after the win over Pittsburgh, Austin talked about Tebow and the Bible verse. See, not only did Tebow win the game in overtime, but he threw for 316 yards in the game. Since he only completed ten passes on the day, his average per completion was 3.16 yards. Did I mention that Tebow's favorite receiver, Demaryius Thomas was born on Christmas Day?

How about the fact that the overtime television rating was 31.6? Or the fact that the only interception Ben Roethlisberger threw in the game was on 3rd-and-16?

All that is freaky enough but it all is probably just coincidence. Austin is betting his cash cow on that as well.

"I'm no football analyst or a real religious person, but I think he's a great role model for young kids and I wish him the best," Austin said. "So yeah, if he can throw for another 316 yards and beat the New England Patriots, the '3:16' is all his."

See ya!!! I guess "god" did not want you to win this week. :(

My Take On This Season's Survivor Redemption Island

This had to be the most boring of all the Survivor shows since day one, and I should know, since I have been watching it from day one.

One thing that needs to be said: This show is not about one's integrity. I am sick and tired of listening to people bash winners and others who have the temerity to "play" the game and vote people off! It's OUTLAST, OUTWIT and OUTPLAY. It's on the Survivor logo. It does not say BE NICE, PLAY NICE, MAKE FRIENDS.

Boston Rob played his entire tribe like a flute, and one note at a time, he blew them off. As host Jeff Probst said, Rob played probably the most perfect game in Survivor history. And, technically, that is correct. But, he could not have done that unless his tribe was filled with twits, and it was, hence Rob's ability to control and manipulate each and every one of them.

But the really creepy part for me this year was all the religion imbedded in the show. There was more talk about "God" wanting people to either be in the game or not be in the game, which is garbage. I cannot stand it when people thank "God" for a win (as if "God" gave two shits who wins the World Series, an Oscar, or Survivor - and who BLAMES "God" when they lose, anyway?). I can understand people of faith using their faith as a means to get through tough things, even if the "tough" thing is a game of sports, or a career in Hollywood, etc. Attesting to your faith is tantamount to agreeing that YOU, the person, did what you did, and your faith is what helped you, not "God." "God" is an intangible ... you cannot touch, feel, see, hear or speak directly to "God." Your faith in a "God" however, can give you strength to persevere, but I take issue with anyone that tells me, or says publicly, "God" wanted them to "win," "be where they are," etc. "God" doesn't "want." "God" is. People "want."

Passover Seder

I trust my Jewish friends enjoyed their Passover dinner! See you all at work tomorrow (LOL).

More 9/11 Ground Zero Bullshit

Can any of the stupid people tell me why they are against the building of a prayer center (in which a small mosque will accommodate Muslims and others) "near" ground zero based on the "insult to 9/11 victims" theory, when there were already prayer rooms for Muslims in both the Pentagon and on the 17th floor of the south tower ON THE DAY the 9/11 attacks occurred?

If prayer rooms ORIGINALLY existed at these sites, so Muslims could worship, why is building one now in NYC a show of disrespect to anyone, other than showing disrespect to Muslims? It's not as if this building is housing a large mosque. It's a community center which will also offer prayer services, much like the ones at the Pentagon and which existed prior in the building whose prime real estate space is now being called ground zero.

If Muslims died on 9/11 (and not the terrorists, stupid people) and their houses of worship were allowed at both the Pentagon and the twin towers, I do not understand the vehemence with which certain of the stupid people oppose this building in NYC.

When watching one of the shows on 9/11 (meaning on that day, not about 9/11) I watched this one woman calmly claim that she didn't want a building near ground zero that could possibly be funded by Saudi Arabia. I had to laugh, and then yell at the television set -- "hey, birdbrain, who do you think is one of the largest shareholders of good old Fox Television?" Um, can you say "a Saudi?" LOL! Stupid people and their stupid mantras, always show their stupidity. Stop listening to talking points, lady, and educate yourself.

I think the funniest part of watching the teabaggers who are made up of primarily stupid people, is the chatter they use on and on about their convictions. Most of them can't put a coherent thought together as to why they oppose "this" or "that." And most of them seriously admit they don't really know much about the issues they are against, but they just know they are against them because they saw it on Fox news or heard it on right wing talk radio.

And don't quote me the "majority" are against it mantra. Dick Vader already said American's opinions don't matter.

Hipocrasy, Thy Name Is ADL

The overreaction by the right wingers concerning the planned Muslim community center in Manhattan has been comical, at best. But, as many bloggers have pointed out in recent days, the Jewish organization ADL's coming out in support of the right wingers in wanting to prevent the Muslim community center from being built has proven how hypocritical said organization is.

The group behind the recently opened "Museum of Tolerance" museum in Manhattan has come out against a planned Islamic community center, which includes a mosque, near Ground Zero.

"Religious freedom does not mean being insensitive...or an idiot," Rabbi Meyer May, the Wiesenthal Center's executive director, told Crain's New York.

"Religion is supposed to be beautiful," he said. "Why create pain in the name of religion?"

It's a topic he knows something about. The Wiesenthal Center caused an uproar in for building one of its Museums of Tolerance on top of an old Muslim burial ground in Jerusalem.

The building of that museum has "resulted in digging up the remains of people who had been buried in a Muslim cemetery for generations," according to City University professor Marnia Lazreg. Indeed, in 2006, workers dug up bones, and an Arab group sued to stop the project from going forward.

The Wiesenthal Center has pushed forward, however, and in 2008 the Israeli Supreme Court declared that the center was allowed to build its museum on the land.

So, basically, IOKIYAJ, but INOKIYAM.

Talk about being disrespectful.

Talk about bullshit.

UPDATE: What about the mosque inside the Pentagon, where regular prayer meetings and such continue well after 9/11! H/T to DailKos.

Another Obama Brief That's On The Wrong Side Of The Issue

If you thought the briefs filed by the DOJ in SUPPORT of the DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) were spectacular in their brazenness (including likening gay marriage to pedophilia and bestiality), then you'll just love the Solicitor General's new brief in opposition to the suits filed by individuals against the Catholic priests that molested them.

Before the Supreme Court, the Obama administration's Solicitor General is siding with the Vatican's interpretation of the U.S. law:

In a filing on Friday, the solicitor general's office argued that the Ninth Circuit court of appeals erred in allowing the lawsuit brought by a man who claims he was sexually abused in the 1960s by the Oregon priest.

The unnamed plaintiff, who cited the Holy See and several other parties as defendants, argued the Vatican should be held responsible for transferring the priest to Oregon and letting him serve there despite previous accusations he had abused children in Chicago and in Ireland.

The solicitor general's office, which defends the position of President Barack Obama's administration before the Supreme Court, said the Ninth Circuit improperly found the case to be an exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, a 1976 federal law that sets limits on when other countries can face lawsuits in US courts.

"Although the decision does not conflict with any decision of another court of appeals, the Court may wish to grant the petition, vacate the judgement of the court of appeals and remand to that court for further consideration".

Spelling and grammatical errors in original left intact.

H/T to AMERICAblog.

Religion ala Eddie Izzard

Gonna close out the bar with Eddie Izzard and a routine on Christianity! Drink from the holy grail!

Happy Easter!

Since I am leaving in a few days for Seattle, I declined having my grandson for Easter this weekend. My daughter decided not to do anything for him, which I sort of felt bad about. Then she called me and asked me if I wanted him today, but I told her that it was too late, I didn't have time to go out and get the Easter goodies for him. I suggested she call some of her friends that do the church thing and always like to take him. She had a photo shoot to go to, so she needed a "babysitter." I'll call him later, and if he didn't have that great of an Easter, I'm going to tell him the Easter Bunny stopped off at my house by mistake and left him some goodies. Then, haha, I'll go on Monday and buy some things for HALF PRICE and have them here for when I see him next, which will be the 16th of April.

I'm nervous about the trip. My only problem aside from my high blood pressure is that I have panic attacks (not to be confused with anxiety) and they come out of nowhere. Right now I'm stressing my suitcase will weigh more than I can put on the train ... but I actually have no idea how much it weighs, yet I'm stressing. Pretty silly, but that's what the valium are for!

I'm bringing home my scale from work, putting the suitcase on it empty just to see how much it weighs, and then go from there. I'm also stressing over cleaning the house for the house sitter. My kitchen floor is a mess, and I don't even want to look at the microwave! I actually bought one of those Mr. Clean sponges to clean the microwave, it's that despicable!

I think once I get ON the train (and my bag makes it through-they don't count make-up bags, purses and computer bags as part of the luggage limit), so I should be able to put all my make-up and hair stuff in one smaller bag, and truth be told, the little computer actually fits in my purse!

Oh, and we had a 6.9 (updated to 7.2) earthquake here just about an hour ago. I didn't feel it as I was in the grocery store, but it apparently was centered in Baja. My friend Linda called here relatives down in Mexico, but they said nothing toppled, everything was alright. Here at my house, I didn't notice anything moved, not even a bottle tipping over or any of my glasses fallen off the shelves. Pictures still hanging straight on the walls, etc.

Anyway, hope all those that do the church thing had a wonderful sermon (except those Catholic hypocrites, get over it already and fucking apologize for the abuse and stop trying to say it's not pedophilia but homosexual acts of a few priests ... give me a break!), and for those with little children, hope the youngins' had fun finding the eggs and eating the candy!

Brit Hume's Take On Tiger Woods And Redemption

If this isn't the height of Christian stupidity:

Buddhism is inferior to Christianity when it comes to forgiveness of sins, according to Fox News pundit Brit Hume. Tiger Woods should turn his back on Buddhism and become a Christian to be forgiven for cheating on his wife, Hume told Fox News' Chris Wallace Sunday.

"The extent to which he can recover seems to me depends on his faith," said Hume. "He is said to be a Buddhist. I don't think that faith offers the kind of redemption and forgiveness offered by the Christian faith. My message to Tiger is, 'Tiger turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.'"

There are no words I can say that can convey my utter contempt for people who actually believe this crap.

Courtesy of Crooks & Liars.

Make Me A Mormon After I Die? I Hope Not!

I'm still having problems with posting, mostly with pictures and videos.

This little tidbit about the Mormon Church's habit of baptizing dead people, and their lame excuse that these dead people are free to reject said baptism (which is ludicrous to begin with - as if we know whether or not the dead person has actually accepted or rejected said baptism) made me laugh. Courtesy of AMERICAblog:

Maybe it's time we started baptizing Mormons against their will. Or even better, let's hold a ceremony and convert them gay - we can start with Joseph Smith, send him a toaster and all. After all, he can always object from the dead if he doesn't want to be queer.

Is Baha'i a religion or a political organization?

I often wondered why many of my Jewish friends tended to dismiss me when I would favor the attitude of the Palestinians over the Israelis, especially when I get the "you’ve never been persecuted" look, or comment. Then I read this article which reminded me of my upbringing in the Baha'i Faith, and how Baha’is have been persecuted, ever since the religion came into existence.

Putting that aside, for the moment, let me just say that I have never been comfortable with the hard line Israeli attitude since the 1967 war, nor with how they took land that was not theirs, and displaced a great many Palestinians in the process. I understand the level of persecution and aggression directed towards Israel since it was granted statehood in the 1940's, but there has to be a solution that resolves the issue of the land that was taken, and Israel has conceded that it will never give back the land it took from the Palestinians. Therein lies the permanent dilemma.

First there was the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) whose mandate was a return to Palestinian self-rule. Eventually, the PLO stood for a Palestinian state within the boundaries of Israel. Yasser Arafat became the recognized leader of the PLO by most of the world, including Israel. The PLO sought support from other Arab nations such as Jordan, Syria and Egypt, and over the past 40 years, has been helped by these countries and then expelled from these countries, depending on the changing ideology of the Arabs at specific times in history and their own peculiar problems within their own nations. Suffice it to say that the PLO was oftentimes supported by other Arab nations in its continued quest for Palestinian independence, and sometimes abandoned by the same Arab nations when political pressure was exerted by Israel, the United States, and other leading countries. The PLO has always been considered by Israel and the United States to be a terrorist organization until around the early 1990's. Most of the world had recognized the PLO to be the representative of the Palestinians.

PLO committed many terrorists acts in concert with other Arab nations’ political terrorist groups in Jordan, Syria and Egypt. The United States, after 9/11, reclassified the PLO as a terrorist organization in 2004.

In the Arab nations, terrorism is almost a common comport to daily living and politics. Infighting amongst many organizations, all of which mainly had in common the opposition to the state of Israel, created many diverse and disparate terrorist groups, most of which could not inflict a great deal of damage – at least not on the level that Israel has shown it has the capacity to do.

Now we move on to Hamas, which was originally founded by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin as an Islamic charity, and an offshoot of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, and was at the time of its inception supported by the Israeli government. This support by Israel was, of course, an effort to undermine the PLO’s influence in the area, and especially with Palestine. Israel considered Hamas as a counter balance to the PLO, the former being a charitable group, the latter a terrorist group. Thereafter, based on Arafat’s support of Saddam Hussein’s invasion into Kuwait, Arab groups began to withdraw their financial support of the PLO and direct it to Hamas. As the PLO and its influence was waning and Hamas was on the rise, the following is interesting to note:

"The 1993 Oslo agreement inaugurated the final phase of the PLO's degeneration, as its leadership -- or rather the leading nucleus of this leadership, bypassing the official leading bodies -- was granted guardianship over the Palestinian population of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. This came in exchange for what amounted to a capitulation: the PLO leadership abandoned the minimal conditions that were demanded by the Palestinian negotiators from the 1967 occupied territories, above all an Israeli pledge to freeze and reverse the construction of settlements which were colonizing their land. The very conditions of this capitulation -- which doomed the Oslo agreements to tragic failure as critics very rightly predicted from the start -- made certain that the shift in the popular political mood would speed up. The Zionist state took advantage of the lull brought to the 1967 territories by the Palestinian Authority's fulfillment of the role of police force by proxy ascribed to it, by drastically intensifying the colonization and building an infrastructure designed to facilitate its military control over these territories. Accordingly, the discredit of the PA increased inexorably. This loss in public support hampered more and more its ability to crack down on the Palestinian Islamic fundamentalist movement -- as was required from it and as it began attempting as early as 1994 -- let alone its ability to marginalize the Islamic movement politically and ideologically. Moreover, the transfer of the PLO bureaucracy from exile into the 1967 territories, as a ruling apparatus entrusted with the task of surveillance over the population that waged the Intifada, quickly led to its corruption reaching abysmal levels -- something that the population of the territories hadn't seen first-hand before. At the same time, Hamas, like most sections of the Islamic fundamentalist mass movement -- in contrast with "substitutionist" strictly terrorist organizations of which al-Qaeda has become the most spectacular example -- was keen on paying attention to popular basic needs, organizing social services, and cultivating a reputation of austerity and incorruptibility."

Let’s switch now to Hezbollah, which although based in Lebanon, has been supported by the Iranian government. Unlike Hamas, Hezbollah was defined by its own actions from its inception, as terrorists. It was linked to the PLO until they distanced themselves from the PLO after Israel began massive attacks against Lebanon.

Hamas eventually went on to win parliamentary victory in Palestine territories, much to the shock of the United States. From Juan Cole:

"The sweeping electoral victory of Hamas is but one of the products of the intensive use made by the United States in the Muslim world, since the 1950's, of Islamic fundamentalism as an ideological weapon against both progressive nationalism and communism. This was done in close collaboration with the Saudi kingdom -- a de facto U.S. protectorate almost from its foundation in 1932. The promotion of the most reactionary interpretation of the Islamic religion, exploiting deeply-rooted popular religious beliefs, led to this ideology filling the vacuum left by the exhaustion by the 1970's of the two ideological currents it served to fight. The road was thus paved in the entire Muslim world for the transformation of Islamic fundamentalism into the dominant expression of mass national and social resentment, to the great dismay of the U.S. and its Saudi protectorate. The story of Washington's relation with Islamic fundamentalism is the most striking modern illustration of the sorcerer's apprenticeship. (I have described this at length in my Clash of Barbarisms.)"

According to Iran, the Baha'i Faith is not a religion, it is a political organization bent on the destruction of Islam, and Iran, in particular. The religion is banned in Iran, and many Baha'is are arrested on a regular basis. Therefore, its members are considered terrorists.

From Wikipedia: "The Iranian constitution that was drafted during the Iranian Constitutional Revolution in 1906 set the groundwork for the institutionalized persecution of Bahá'ís. While the constitution was modeled on Belgium's 1831 constitution, the provisions guaranteeing freedom of worship were omitted. Subsequent legislation provided some recognition to Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians as equal citizens under state law, but it did not guarantee freedom of religion and ‘gave unprecedented institutional powers to the clerical establishment.’ The Islamic Republic of Iran, that was established after the Iranian revolution, recognizes four religions, whose status is formally protected: Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Members of the first three minority religions receive special treatment under Iranian law. For example, their members are allowed to drink alcohol, and representatives of several minority communities are guaranteed seats in parliament."

Which brings me back to the universal question: Is Baha'i a religion or a political organization with terrorist thoughts and/or activities on its mind or under its belt? It is obvious that it is a religion, but Iran has chosen to ignore that fact and raise it to the level of terrorist group, subject to penalty of death. Yet, Iran supports Hezbollah, whose main operation is the destruction of Israel, while it allows Judaism to exist within its borders. Why, then, is Iran so threatened by the Baha’is? Why are they not allowed recognition within Iran, the country of the religion’s birth?

Rock Me Lord

Ok, switching gears! One of my most favorite gospel songs, done by one of my most favorite gospel groups.

Patriotism .. religiousness ... what will eventually define America in this 21's century? Me, as long as the music rocks me (laughs) ...