Strict Constructionist activist Justice Scalia points to imagined "Constitutional traditions?"

Feeling free now to be as activist as he wants, Justice Antonin Scalia stepped out into Constitutional fantasy land again, this time imagining its implied religious "tradition." And not one peep out of tea party pocket constitutional Republicans?

Republicans have always pushed the theme that "tradition" is the essence of our founding document, a kind of see what you want to see flexibility built in to push their agenda.  

Except now, we're talking about a Supreme Court Justice strolling around in crazy land. A strict constitutionalist, really? Remember this:

In December he came under fire for comments he made during an affirmative action case, questioning whether some black students would benefit from going to a "slower-track school" instead of Texas' flagship campus in Austin.

Big surprise he voted against the Voting Rights Act. 

Scalia now sees religion, specifically God, as an American "tradition" that gives the Constitution its true meaning: 

AP: Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was speaking at a Catholic high school said Saturday the idea of religious neutrality is not grounded in the country's constitutional traditions and that God has been good to the U.S. exactly because Americans honor him ... that there is "no place" in the country's constitutional traditions for the idea that the state must be neutral between religion and its absence.

"To tell you the truth there is no place for that in our constitutional tradition. Where did that come from? To be sure, you can't favor one denomination over another but can't favor religion over non-religion? God has been very good to us. That we won the revolution was extraordinary. The Battle of Midway was extraordinary. I think one of the reasons God has been good to us is that we have done him honor. Unlike the other countries of the world that do not even invoke his name we do him honor. In presidential addresses, in Thanksgiving proclamations and in many other ways. There is nothing wrong with that and do not let anybody tell you that there is anything wrong with that."

Indiana and Arkansas Republicans push Religious Freedom to bypass Constitution.

These supposed "religious freedom" laws, allowing discrimination against sexual orientation, are an offshoot of the Hobby Lobby decision.

Conservative states that don't have protections for gay individuals are now passing "religious freedom" laws, a slight twist on the long sought after Republican backed "conscience clause," where a person could use religion to deny others their guaranteed freedoms. This all plays a part in the religious rights goal of two separate nations, one living under the constitution, and another living under the Christian religion (taxpayer supported vouchers go overwhelmingly to religious schools, another slippery slope where government ends up endorsing religion legally by giving the money directly to parents and not the schools).

Despite the national outrage, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson is about to sign a similar "religious freedom" law. Crazy right? Hutchinson is another Republican extremist who's even more obvious about his political intentions:

Sexual orientation and gender identity are not included in Arkansas' anti-discrimination protections. Last month, Hutchinson allowed a measure to go into law that prevented local governments from including such protections in their anti-discrimination ordinances.

Hutchinson has delayed the signing until supposedly some changes are made that won't discriminate. Bullshit. It will be entertaining to see what the changes will look like.

The natural follow-up:

AP: Arkansas legislators passed a similar measure, despite criticism that it is a thinly disguised attempt to permit discrimination against gays. The Arkansas proposal now goes to Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who has said he will sign it.

Not even their paymasters, big business, have a say anymore, because this has been a core value of the Republican Party for decades.

Gov. Mike Pence was inadvertently as obvious about his intentions to discriminate against the LGBT community when he was asked that dangerous "follow-up" question by George Stephanopoulos:



Other's have also sent a strong message to Indiana:

Parks and Recreation actor Nick Offerman announced on Tuesday that he’s canceling the Indianapolis stop on his 2015 summer tour, but will perform on Wednesday at a scheduled show at Indiana University. (Offerman will donate his shows earning to) HRC, the Human Rights Campaign, one of the country’s most prominent LGBT rights groups. Check out Offerman here and here. 

The list continued to grow. Perhaps Arkansas will see a similar backlash?

Other organizations that are pulling their economic support from the state or boycotting travel to Indiana include Angie’s List — which halted work on a new operation in Indianapolis, the cloud computing company Salesforce, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which canceled its 2015 women’s convention in Indianapolis.

The Americana band Wilco announced that it is canceling its Indiana tour stops, as well.

Connecticut’s Gov. Dannel Malloy said that Pence can deny the law’s anti-LGBT thrust all he wants to. It is clear to anyone who is paying attention what the RFRA is about.

“The governor’s not a stupid man, but he’s done stupid things,” said Malloy to Mika Brzezinski, “and signing this law, and, quite frankly, promoting this law, knowing exactly what it was going to do, was an incredibly stupid thing for him to do.” Pence, Malloy said, “knew exactly what he was doing, and when you see a bigot, you have to call them on it. We cannot sit idly by and do nothing while laws are enacted that will turn back the clock,” Malloy said, saying that he “won’t allow any of our citizens in Connecticut to face discrimination in other states, at least without a fight.”

If you had any questions about the move to the religious right....

The hosts of Fox & Friends on Tuesday set up an interview with Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) by noting that he was a follower of the “law of the Bible” Steve Doocy agreed. “The political left is in a frenzy over this right now. But they’re missing the point. 

Merry Christmas Bill, in summer? Texas Republicans with time on their hands will pass anything.

Upside down and inside out, Republicans continue to have difficulty acting out their own ideological belief system. While badgering Democrats about creating jobs, Republicans have no such limit on what they can do. They even have time to pass slop like the constitution defying “Merry Christmas Bill.

Never mind how it contradicts a multitude of conservative talking points:

Huffington Post: During the signing of Texas' "Merry Christmas Bill" on Thursday, Gov. Rick Perry said, "Religious freedom does not mean freedom from religion," Perry declared at the State Capitol building in Austin before signing HB 308, which allows public schools to display scenes and symbols of "traditional winter holidays."

Here’s where I’m reminded of the outside groups that have come into states as poll watchers, referendum pushers and lawyers litigating the conservative agenda on corporate spending and gay marriage.

"People of faith too often feel they can't express their faith publicly. And if they dare display it, they find themselves under attack from individuals and organizations that have nothing to do with them or their communities for that matter," Perry continued.

To sum up; under Republican control, the rules are different because their reasons are more justifiable, because I assume, their agenda isn't influenced by liberalism. 

One short aside: This is all it takes to launch a statewide bill for Republicans:

One might wonder why such a law is necessary. Republican state Rep. Dwayne Bohac, who introduced the bill, explained how he had become upset upon hearing from his 8-year-old son that the Christmas tree at his public school was referred to as "a holiday tree." Bohac said, "This is just political correctness run amok."

The article surprisingly goes on to make this great observation:

The U.S. Constitution specifically forbids government preference of one religion over another. A state law called the "Merry Christmas Bill," if only by its name, would seem to defy that principle.

Pulpit Freedom Sunday last straw. Tax Churches, let Radicalized Churches Politicize Religion.

Check out this great report on a quiet little program on PBS, Religion and Ethics News Weekly. The agreement churches made with the government to stay out of politics, in exchange for tax exempt status, is being broken by a few radical conservative pastors. Perhaps it's is time to have them pay taxes like everyone else, and allow these churches to turn religion into an extension of a political party. What an odd end to religion:

Thom Hartmann wrote this in his daily email:

Churches Ignore Separation of Church And State: More than 1,000 religious leaders across the nation have decided to take a wrecking ball to the wall separating church and state. The Conservative group "Alliance Defending Freedom" has scheduled what they are calling "Pulpit Freedom Sunday" for October 7th, when church leaders across America will devote their sermons to the election and campaign on behalf of a political candidate.

According to I.R.S. law, churches enjoy tax-exempt status so long as they don't participate in political campaigns on behalf or against any particular candidate. Those church leaders also plan to send video of their political sermons to the I.R.S., in hopes of triggering a legal case that could strike down laws against their tax-exempt political activity.

Let's face it, today, many churches have been turned into very lucrative businesses. And those businesses haven't shied away from using their wealth to aid numerous far-right political causes. If churches want to operate like a business, then it's time they get taxed like a business as well.

Here's a look at the law being challenged:

The amendment, added to the code by Congress in 1954, placed new restrictions on 501(c)(3) organizations including churches , warning that such charitable organizations could lose their coveted tax-exempt statuses if they intervened in political campaigns, according to the Pew Forum. While the amendment is often interpreted as limiting political advocacy, the rule's purpose has more to do with political contributions. (The tax code applies to all 510(c)(3) organizations, not just places of worship.)

The ADF and similar organizations feel like the rule makes churches choose, however, between participating in political campaigns they feel strongly about and accepting tax-free donations. 

Actually, the "rules" can be changed, so go ahead, politicize religion. 

Walker's DNR Censors play that was wrongfully vilified by Christian Radio WVCY's Vic Eliason.

Scott Walker’s DNR has stepped into the entertainment business briefly, long enough to censor a play. For purely political reasons, and to appease the intolerant religious right, the DNR decided to shred the First Amendment. You can also blame Christian radio in this state, which has been a very powerful militant organization in Wisconsin, and has been for quite a while. Here’s another example, from the Waukesha Patch:

Reporter Sarah Millard-DELAFIELD: Phantom Cicada Theater Company’s production of THE BIBLE: THE COMPLETE WORD OF GOD (ABRIDGED) has been ousted from their performance venue at SummerStage in Lapham Peak State Park because of threats and manipulation from Christian extremists … WVCY’s right-wing radio host Vic Eliason stirred local and out-of-state members of the Christian community to harass the board members of SummerStage and the DNR with phone calls and emails about this so-called blasphemous play.. The DNR, who manages the state park, has caved to complaints and forbidden the production to take place as planned. The DNR used a loophole in their contract with SummerStage that disallows non-“family friendly” presentations to be staged in the park.

Threats: When I said militant, I wasn’t exaggerating. Things went from bad to worse:

Phantom Cicada’s producer Brian Faracy, the play’s director Bo Johnson, and the performers took steps to stage their production at an alternate venue, the Delafield Arts Center. As soon as the center agreed to host the production, a repeat of the threatening deluge ensued, targeting the center’s administrators. Feeling that their personal safety was at risk, and on the advice of the Delafield police, the venue reneged.

This play has apparently been around awhile:

Originally conceived by the Reduced Shakespeare Company, this play has been successfully produced for over 17 years-- including a sold-out 12-week run in Washington DC’s prestigious Kennedy Center. It is an innocuous, non-blasphemous, lighthearted send-up of the Bible. For reviews of past productions, visit the RSC website. 

The arts have never been very popular on the right, and any shot at Christianity is taken as an insult, not a parody. The play is described as very Monty Python-ish. 

“It’s wacky! It’s zany! And a little profaney.” Sister MaryAnne Walsh, Arlington Catholic Herald

“The audience dissolved hysterically into the aisles. The troupe’s obvious comic forbears include the Mark Brothers (wordplay and irreverence), the Flying Karamazov Brothers (madcap performance comedy) and vaudeville as reinvented by “Laugh-In” (pace and schtick).” Ron Weiskind – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“This is a slick, fast, very funny show… skilled performers with immaculate, sassy American timing.” London Sunday Times

Reporter Millard included this direct response:

Please voice your concerns about the DNR’s decision to breach their contract, allowing religious extremists to call the shots, violating freedom of speech rights, and disallowing the production to go forward here:

Secretary - Cathy Stepp (608) 266-2121 – cathy.stepp@wisconsin.govDeputy Secretary - Matthew Moroney (608) 264-6266 - Matt.Moroney@wisconsin.gov

Right Wing Revisionist History Documentary exposes how conservatives are "standing up to experts."

While Democrats talk of working together and making both sides happy, conservatives are militantly forging ahead with their radical agenda in the most unapologetic, in your face way.

It's hard to imagine how the Republican movement won't be the default political system in the next decade. To help their cause, school textbooks must be vessels of right wing propaganda to simply counter real world science, or what they see as liberal indoctrination by snooty  "left wing experts."

Stephen Colbert interviewed the frighteningly religious, former chair of the Texas School Board, Don McLeroy. Colbert showed the following clip that encapsulates the whole argument conservatives have against public education. Three more years under Scott Walker and Wisconsin schools boards will be making the same kind of arguments.



Here's more on the The Revisionaries" documentary:

Scott Thurman, born in Lubbock, Texas is an M.F.A. graduate in documentary film from the University of North Texas. Scott originally conceived of a documentary film about the Texas Board of Education for his thesis project "Standing Up to the Experts."

Here's the official clip of the documentary:

What Part of Universal Health Care don't Republicans Understand? Should Religion Control Government?

It's the slippery slope of the "conscience clause." If elements of health care could be exempted based on our conscience, than everything in the field of medicine would be up for exclusion. And if taxpayer dollars should be prevented from violating our personal and/or religious beliefs, what's to stop us from adding wars to that list, the death penalty, abstinence only programs etc.! I'm not paying for that anymore.

Basically, the country would collapse under the dictates of the church, any church, and our politically correct conscience. The First Amendment also protects government from religious doctrine, doesn't it? Contraception is medicine, approved by the government, that provides a system of health care delivery.

Jesus; "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."

You know we've kicked into a screaming fit of phony outrage when politicians start saying the dumbest things:

Rep. Jeff Fitzgerald

Darrin Schmitz, a top Republican campaign official, said “Birth control is a personal decision and a volun­tary choice, and not some­thing that should be mandated by the federal govern­ment against the will of a private employer.” He added that U.S. Senate candidates Tommy Thompson consistently had opposed federal mandates dictating the type of coverage religious institutions and private employers are re­quired to provide.Thompson disclosed that he was a director of a company called Evofem from July 2005 until he resigned last month. Thompson also disclosed that he had been paid at least $5,000 by Evofem for consulting services. Evofem, according to its website, is developing technologies in the field of women's reproductive health. One of its drugs, Amphora, is being evaluated as a microbicide to protect women from pregnancy.

Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald said he was deeply concerned with Obama’s actions on the issue of contraception, calling it an attack on reli­gious freedom. “Our federal government is not to impose a morally questionable mandate upon any of our citizens and any attempt to hold individuals to a standard that goes against their religious the­ology shall not stand,” Fitz­gerald said.

We're Debating Contraception...are you kidding me? Welcome to the Dark Ages.

Do you believe this? We debated this in the 60's for crying out loud. Now a religious organization can infringe on my right to access the health care services I want. Sure I can go somewhere else and buy the treatment, if I can afford it, but that infringes on my right to obtain services available to everyone else free of religion and without the added cost.

The incredible has happened. Under the deceptive guise of religious freedom, we would be able to completely dismantled health care for all in this country?

And if our now radical and disingenuous Republican politicians who have jumped on this bandwagon got their way, medical care in this country would be based on the whims and prejudices of the provider.

Bullying Bishops, feeling emboldened by issue avoiding GOP presidential candidates, want their doctrine to influence government policy.

Politico: The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said the administration’s plan still includes a “nationwide mandate of insurance coverage of sterilization and contraception, including some abortifacients.”

“It would still mandate that all insurers must include coverage for the objectionable services in all the policies they would write,” the bishops said.

Health care in America will be nothing more than emergency room visits, charity from religious organizations, school car washes and touch football fund raisers. Are we mad?

Just wait till stem cell research cures everything, but is deemed religiously off limits by some arbitrary edict of the church, like contraception?

Here's the debate in a nutshell, featuring right winger Laura Ingraham and guest Rev. Katherine Ragsdale, who absolutely dismantles the idiocy of this debate:



Why couldn't health care include all medical services and treatments in general, and every individual had a First Amendment right to refuse any given care based on religion or a bet they lost at work?

I thought this analysis was spot on;

Salon: It is Santorum, not President Obama, who is waging a war against religion.  It is the fear-mongers who endanger religious freedom.  Why should the Catholic Church impose its doctrines on employees who are not Catholic?  Why should any who are not Catholic be deprived of access to a health insurance benefit solely because they are employed by a Catholic hospital or university?  Why should the Church be permitted to impose its doctrines on an individual who not a member?  The First Amendment does not grant any church the power to deprive individuals of rights.

Santorum is waging a war not only on religion but on all Americans who do not share his faith.  The Catholic Church has every right to impart its doctrines; its members can accept or reject them.  

War on Christmas Rages at the Capitol, as Three Wise People greet the baby...girl.

After the weirdos from Wisconsin Family Action set up their cheap looking figurine Nativity scene in the Capitol rotunda, the Freedom from Religion Foundation set up their own scene...

The display includes a baby girl in a manger, three wise people and Venus as Mary. Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein and Mark Twain make up the three wise people. The angels in the scene include the Statue of Liberty and an astronaut.

The Freedom From Religion Foundation said its display is meant to celebrate the winter solstice. The group said that in celebrating the winter solstice, it is celebrating reality.

I love the little sign reading "It's a girl." I assume as a satirical shot at frightened conservatives, they asked Capitol police for extra security around their farcical manger scene.

Taking Christianity Back from the Wealthy Elitist Religious Right with 13 Blasphemies.

13 Blasphemies is a parody book and site that takes aim at the ridiculous argument that liberals are anti-religious and bad Christians. The religious right's positions are ripe for parody:



Here's a sample of author S.R. Smith's web site:

The evil minions of the Liberal Socialist Media Cartel have hacked into every on-line publication of the Holy Bible and replaced the sacred words of Jesus Christ with blasphemy after blasphemy to support the Godless, freedom-hating Jihad that is their Liberal Agenda.

They removed every single one of Christ's many teachings about the evils of Gay Marriage, and electronically injected a bunch of mamby-pamby Liberal nonsense like:

“Love thy neighbor as thyself”

“Do unto others as you would have others do unto you”.

Paul Ryan's "It's not just a budget, it's a cause" a lousy Christian Value.

The Paul Ryan budgets cuts drew a lot of criticism from religious leaders and citizens, who were stunned by the targeted recipients; the poor and middle class. The "look, our books are balanced" dystopian future has awakened many conservative religious voters as well, who don't like what they're seeing.

The fact that the unemployed, poor and middle class, who didn't get us into this mess, are the ones asked to sacrifice everything now has outraged many Christian followers. They find this agenda antithetical to the teachings of their religion. From Religion & Ethics Newsweekly:

Sister Simone Campbell: "It's so chilly to us to watch what's going on in congress about the budget. It's the very safety net that the current budget fight is targeting. And to me this is wrong, it quite frankly is immoral." 

Ryan's response, tax cuts encourage investors to create new jobs:

Sister Simone Campbell: "That's just wrong. The wealthy have recovered to pre-recession levels, are they investing in jobs, no."

Paul Ryan's admiration of Ayn Rand is starting, and only starting, to open the religious communities eyes, even those libertarians and small government conservatives. Her anti-religion message, "I'm against God," "yes, I am the creator," everyone for themselves rugged individualism has called into question the end game envisioned by Ryan. Will it be enough to prevent the private takeover of the America? At this point, it's not looking good.

Taxpayer's funding New Noah's Ark in Kentucky. Flood of lawsuits expected?

Northern Kentucky is getting ready for the big flood...of tourists to the Ark Encounter Theme Park. The logical extension of the Creation Museum, the Ark Park is unfortunately getting taxpayer support with a sales tax rebate. That's money out of the public coffers, forcing everyone to contribute to something they find not only offensive, but unconstitutional. From Religion and Ethics Weekly:

Priests Study Blames 60's Counter Culture for Sexual Abuse and Deviant Behavior.

What did you expect from a study paid for by the Catholic Bishops. 

Miamiherald: The counterculture caused stressed out priests to sin. This is the banal and evasive conclusion of a five-year study costing almost $2 million that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops commissioned to look into the causes and context of the sexual abuse of minors by the church’s clergy.

The study was prepared by researchers at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York. One particular conclusion stood out: “Social and cultural changes in the 1960s and 1970s manifested in increased levels of deviant behavior in the general society and also among priests of the Catholic Church in the United States.”

No single cause was found for the abuse, nor could it be predicted, the study maintained. If that sounds like absolution for church leadership, you are reading the report as intended. So we’re to believe that priests were simply swept along with the rest of society as drug use increased, premarital sex became more acceptable and divorce more common? Oh, the horrors of the Summer of Love!

The problem is that child molestation by priests — and the systematic cover-up of their crimes by church hierarchy — has been exposed as a global phenomenon. How well does generalized “deviance” explain trends in sexual abuse that happened in South Africa, Ireland, Germany and other countries worldwide? Surely the divorce and crime rates didn’t play out in the same way in all of these countries the way they did in the United States.

From Public Television's Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, the story and great discussion:

 

Catholic social teaching opposes Walker's attack on unions, defends collective bargaining as fundamental human right.

Gov. Scott Walker appears to be on the wrong side of Milwaukee's Archbishop and Catholic social teaching: 

jsonline: When Milwaukee Archbishop Jerome Listecki lent his voice to this week's legislative debate over collective bargaining by public employees, he was drawing on more than 100 years of Catholic social teaching, which has endorsed the role of labor unions in creating a just economy and society. 

Listecki's letter Wednesday to the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee invoked a century of papal encyclicals, from Pope Leo XIII in 1891 through Benedict XVI in 2009, that have upheld the rights of workers to organize and bargain with management. 

"The goal of Catholic social teaching is the fundamental dignity of the human person. And the right to unionize is the concrete means by which workers can demand those things we consider as fundamental human rights - the right to a living wage, to safe working conditions," said Father Bryan Massingale, a social ethicist and professor of theology at Marquette University. 

Listecki is among a number of faith leaders and organizations in Wisconsin and around the country that have weighed in … Faith leaders said Thursday that they objected to the idea that lawmakers would use what's become a divisive political issue to strip workers of their employment protections. 

"We have an obligation as a society to involve people in the decision-making process. And when you remove collective bargaining, we turn into an autocracy, not a democracy," Madison Rabbi Jonathan Biatch said. 

Robert DeFina, a professor of sociology at Villanova University and co-editor of the Journal of Catholic Social Thought … cautioned against an argument that tears down one group of workers because its benefits are greater than others. 

"Let's look at the public sector as a model for how we can develop a strong social safety net," DeFina said. "The argument seems to be let's use the bad to make everyone worse, instead of let's use the good to make everyone better."

"Resisting the Green Dragon" a mean spirited wretched look inside the false religion of right wing fanatics.

The video below is so bizarre and outrageous, it defies explanation. The religious right has literally sold itself to the devil, if there is one, in ways totally unthinkable. For the religious zealots below, warning us of a global climate change hoax, it's hard to imagine anyone doing this without being purely evil or at the least...stupid corporate idol worshipers. "Resisting the Green Dragon" could be an Onion News World Report, excepts it's more extreme, and voiced by the most vile false prophets.

It's hard to find fault with God's Candidates.

As we are being told now by the likes of Christine O'Donnell and Sharon Angle, God, the ultimate conservative authoritarian, has decided to take America back from the liberal tax and spend thieves. Guess he made a mistake calling so many Democrats out the last two elections.

The Implications of Denying Evolutions, from Harvard's Steven Pinker.

Creationist are not only growing in number but taking powerful positions in education and government. That could have a profound effect on science, and America's leadership in the world, when it comes to discovering new medicines and encouraging scientific curiosity.

Do we want government bureaucrats making scientific decisions for us or the science community? A question you would think was originated as a Republican talking point against well known plan by the Democrats to become a socialist state.

Keith Olbermann talks with Harvard's Steven Pinker, who looks a hell of a lot like a scientist, and simply spells out the implications of creationism in schools.

Johnson Opposed Child Victims Bill...too Costly.

For a party using child predator fear mongering to argue against early release, some child predators long past are okay, and maybe too costly for religious organizations to deal with.

Or so says Ron Johnson, always looking out for the bottom line.

From Uppity Wisconsin:

Earlier this year, Ron Johnson, testified before the Wisconsin State Senate on behalf of the Green Bay Diocese Finance Council, which has ultimate decision power in deciding whether to settle abuse law suits and can even overrule a diocese's bishop decision in how to proceed.

Johnson was there to oppose the so-call Child Victims Bill, which would have made it easier to go after child predators. Under current law, many children do not come forward until after the statute of limitations has expired-- this law would have made exceptions in such circumstances.

From the Green Bay Diocese Finance Council perspective, this meant that many more child victims of predator priests would come forward and that they would be forced to deal with more law suits. And more law suits mean spending more money, which Johnson and the Finance Council obviously opposed.

Texas State Board of Education Warns Book Publishers! Shouldn't it be the other way around?

Keep in mind that none of what you are about to read is true from the Texas State Board of Education. It’s more insane ranting from a group of religious zealots. The facts follow.

The Agenda for this week's meeting of the Texas State Board of Education includes a resolution on "Balanced Treatment of Religious Groups in Textbooks." According to the Dallas Morning News last week, the resolution warns textbook publishers not to include "pro-Islamic, anti-Christian distortions, in social study texts." The resolution cites world history texts no longer used in Texas schools, that devoted far more space to Muslim beliefs and practices than Christian ones, and other books that focused on Christian Crusaders' killing of Muslims in 1099, but not Muslim killings of Christians in the 13th century.

A spokesperson for the Texas Freedom Network says the resolution's charges are superficial and misleading. Sponsors of the resolution warn that "Middle Easterners" are investing in U.S. textbook companies. The Texas Freedom Network (TFN) has completed an analysis that proves the resolution’s claims are highly misleading and plainly inaccurate. According to TFN, the resolution doesn’t take into consideration entire textbook sections that deal with Christianity, including those on the Reformation, Christian influences during the Renaissance and canon law and church reform.

The resolution also grossly exaggerates when it claims these textbooks have ignored
atrocities committed by Islamic leaders. For example, one textbook explicitly discusses the massacre of 100,000 Hindu prisoners by a Muslim leader after a 14th-century battle. Islamic societies’ treatment of women and slaves throughout history is also mentioned.

Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com

Related articles by Zemanta

• Beaumont Enterprise: State Board of Education to consider Islam (beaumontenterprise.com)
• Michael Zimmerman, Ph.D.: The Texas State Board of Education Embraces Islamophobia (huffingtonpost.com)

Koran Burning turns Surreal.

Right now, the burning is off after the NY community center and mosque has agreed to move to. Blackmail works?...or at least that's according to crazy Pastor Terry Jones.

The story is so bizarre, we can only thank right wingers for the whole trumped up mosque controversy, and its side shows. 24 hour news has now turned into a platform for crazy people.



Here's a great compilation of how this story evolved and the world wide Muslim reaction.