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- posted by TJ @ 9:53 AM |

 
Pharisee of the Day
(thanks to dave at Eschaton for the tip)

Well, the Reverend Lou Sheldon is proving that if their so-called Messiah came back today, Sheldon and the rest of the American Taliban would face his wrath. Do they even read the Bible anymore? Do they remember the part where the money-changers are violently thrown out of the temple by an outraged Jesus? Profiting off the misfortune of a brain-dead woman and her parents' sad unwillingness to let her go. It's a new low, even for the fundies:

THE MONEY: Conservatives Invoke Case in Fund-Raising Campaigns
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

Published: March 25, 2005

Videotape of Terri Schiavo blinking at her parents has inspired donations from people around the country to the foundation set up to help pay for the family's legal battle. But many other groups are soliciting donations in her name as well, some for a much broader agenda.

"Help Save Terri Schiavo's Life!" says the Web site of the Traditional Values Coalition, a Christian conservative group best known for its campaigns against gay rights. Next to a link to the Web site of her parents' foundation is a pitch to "become an active supporter of the Traditional Values Coalition by pledging a monthly gift."

"What this issue has done is it has galvanized people the way nothing could have done in an off-election year," said Rev. Lou Sheldon, the founder of the group, acknowledging that the case of Ms. Schiavo, a severely brain-damaged Florida woman, had moved many to open up their checkbooks. "That is what I see as the blessing that dear Terri's life is offering to the conservative Christian movement in America."

Mr. Sheldon, whose organization is based in Anaheim, Calif., said his group had sent e-mail messages and direct mailings telling supporters to call elected officials about the Schiavo case and usually asking for donations as well.

Congratulations, Reverend. You're our Pharisee of the Day.
- posted by TJ @ 8:19 AM |

 
America's Stupidest Mother is more like it
Not to horn in on Tbogg or World O'Crap's territory here, but America's Worst Mother™ revealed the depth of her stupidity and selfishness today, when she posted this on the Corner:

THWARTED... [Meghan Cox Gurdon]
The only time it's really bothered me that I don't have a senator is today. When you type in your DC zip code to support Terri's law? This is what you get: "The District of Columbia and U.S. Territories and Insular Possessions are not represented in the U.S. Senate."

I'm sure Puerto Ricans are gnashing their teeth today, too.
Posted at 12:41

Yes, Meghan, because the residents of Puerto Rico and DC only care about the Terri Schiavo case, and not things like the war in Iraq, or the budget/taxes/deficit, or drilling in the Arctic, or Cabinet appointments or the million other bills that Senators vote on. But thanks for clarifying the fact that you don't give a shit about these things. So long as a woman in a persistent vegetative state is kept alive as a symbol for the "right-to-lifers."

Good luck with the homeschooling, though. I'm sure the kids will get terrific Civics lessons.
- posted by TJ @ 4:06 PM |

 
As per usual...
the Rude Pundit nails it. Just go read it. Go.

...and, by the way, this whole "work" thing so does not jive with the whole "blogging" thing. just sayin'.
- posted by TJ @ 4:48 PM |

 
The Politics of Fundamentalism
Not much time to post today, but wanted to make sure that folks read the extended version of today's LA Times column by William Thatcher Dowell. The extended version is available here, and his analysis is spot-on:

In a strange way, George Bush may now find himself in the same kind of trap that ensnared Saudi Arabia's founder, King Abdul Aziz ibn Saud. To gain political support, Saud mobilized the fanatical, ultra-religious Wahabbi movement -- the same movement which is spiritually at the core of al-Qaeda. Once the bargain was done, the Saudi Royal Family repeatedly found itself held political hostage to an extremist, barely controllable movement populated by radical ideologues. Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has found himself in a similar situation, drawing political power from the swing votes of the ultra-orthodox rightwing religious and fanatical settler's movement, and then finding his options limited by their obstinacy to change. President Bush has spent the last several months cajoling evangelicals and trying to pay off the political bill for their support.

In Saudi Arabia, the Wahabbis consider themselves ultra-religious, but what really drives their passions is a deep sense of grievance and an underlying conviction that a return to spiritual purity will restore the lost power they believe once belonged to their forefathers. The extremism that delights in stoning a woman to death for adultery or severing the hand of a vagrant accused of stealing depends on extreme interpretations of texts that are at best ambiguous. What is at stake is not so much service to God, as convincing oneself that it is still possible to enforce draconian discipline in a world that seems increasingly chaotic. We joke about a hassled husband kicking his dog to show he still has power. In the Middle East, it is often women who bear the brunt of the impotence of men. Nothing in the Koran calls for the mistreatment of women or even asks that a woman wear a veil. What is at stake here is not religion, but power, and who has a right to it.

The Christian Right, the evangelical movement that provided the added push needed to nudge President Bush past a tight election, is equally prone to selective interpretations of scripture. The Ten Commandments are used as a wedge to put across what is essentially a cultural protest against social change, but in the bitter disputes that have followed these seemingly ridiculous arguments the message of the commandments is usually lost. The Christian Right pretends to be concerned about the life of an unborn fetus, but expresses little interest for the fate of the living child who emerges from an unwanted pregnancy, and is even ready to kill or at least destroy the careers of those who do not agree with them. Although the commandments prohibit killing, and Christ advised his followers to leave vengeance to God, the fundamentalists seem to delight in the death penalty, and in reducing welfare support to unwed mothers who are struggling to deal with the results of pregnancies that they could not control and never wanted to have.

The entire column is well worth the read. Take a look.
- posted by TJ @ 2:33 PM |