I’ll start by saying there are huge exceptions to what I’m about to say. I completely respect people like Mennonites who genuinely follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. But Christianity has a huge problem right now… As a whole, the most visible Christians are the least Christ-like people around. Athiests and Diests are more Christ-like than most Christians.

According to CNN the more someone goes to church the more likely they are go support torture. Joe.My.God. put it bluntly by asking “Who would Jesus waterboard?” Then answer is NOONE - Jesus was a pasivist. Let me put this bluntly - If you support torture, if you start wars, if you can’t stand to be in the same room as a gay guy, a lesbian or a transsexual - then you’re not Christ-like.

The one time Jesus was somewhat violent was when he threw the money changers out of the temple. Those of you who are Christ-like Christians have a responsibility to throw the modern money changers “out of the temple”. It’s time you stood up and strongly and forcefully renonuce people who are ruining your religion. Get on CNN and tell them point blank that they are not welcome to call themselves Christians - that they need to change their ways or “get out of the temple”.

This is one area where I have a big problem with John Kerry. In the debates he let George W. Bush take the moral high ground. If Kerry had been a real Christian he would have looked Bush straight in the face and said “Jesus would never have started an offensive war in Iraq” and then he would have read the beatitudes to Bush and constrasted the teachings of Christ with Bush’s actions.

I no longer consider myself a Christian - I’m a Diest, but after so many years of religious training I understand what Christ stood for and 9 out of 10 Christians I see on the news are not Christ-like. Would the real Christians PLEASE stand up? Please?

The religious right often complains about “activist” judges/courts pushing the “radical gay agenda”. Here’s one more example…

Senegal’s court of appeal has overturned the jail sentences of nine homosexuals arrested in December, according to a statement released by UNAIDS on Monday.The nine men had been sentenced to eight-year prison terms in January for “acts against nature and the creation of an association of criminals”

The decision was taken on Monday but it was not clear when the men would be freed. Senegal’s ministry of justice was not immediately available for comment about the case.

Homosexuality is illegal and taboo in the former French colony, where 94 percent of the population is Muslim.

(Source: Reuters)

That’s probably not exactly what you were expecting, but honestly what’s the difference between that court decision and one here in the US about adoption or marriage or workplace discrimination?

The religous right often says progressive liberals are the ones redefining what’s “traditional”, but in truth their the ones redefining a number of things…

• In their world “equal protection” is an oxymoron - it’s not really equal at all and it only protects the people they want it to protect.
• In their world marriage is a religious sacrament but they ignore all the thousands of marriages between athiests that don’t seem to bother them at all.
• They now say that the only point of marriage is procreation, yet they’re fine with post-menopausal women getting married (to men).
• They often say they’re “strict constructionists” but one of the guiding concepts in the US Constitution is that a contract that’s valid in one state is valid in all states and will be recognized by the federal government. But now they’ve redefined things so marriage contracts that are valid in some states aren’t valid in many other states and aren’t recognized by the federal government.

The social conservatives often forget that the role of the courts is to interpret the law. They like to brand judges who are just doing their job as “activists”. That’s hardly the case and part of what’s great about our system is that it affords a healthy debate and a balance of power.

Thankfully, things are slowly starting to shift towards equality for all people and the religious right is starting to lose…

I saw an interview yesterday with Sarah Palin that made me rethink who she is… Up ’till now the coverage of her has been all of her mistakes - not knowing what the Bush Doctrine was, saying she’s qualified in foreign affairs because you can see Russia from Alaska, etc (see video). Saturday Night Live has been having a field day with her and their sketches are funny in part because they’re playing off what’s true. I’m sure you’ve seen it all by now, so there’s no need to repeat it.

The interview video I saw yesterday (below) puts her in a different light. She’s much less of the dumb bimbo that she’s been portrayed to be and more of just an average person - sorta a “Mr. Smith goes to Washington” sorta character…

Seen as a whole she’s not quite the idiot she seems in short clips. But she’s no brain surgeon either… And that’s sorta my point. She’s just an average person. We’ve been there and done that with George W. and look where it’s gotten us. Average people just don’t have what it takes to be President and the actuarial tables make it clear if McCain/Palin get elected there’s a decent chance she will wind up as President.

We need smart people running the country, and Palin’s not particularly smart. The problem is that her not being smart appeals to a certain class of people. When I was growing up I was always one of the smartest kids in the class (in an academically competitive school). Thing was my parents didn’t appreciate being smart. I’d bring home a report card filled mostly with A’s and a few B’s and they really didn’t care. Mom has even gone as far as to tell me that my intelligence is a problem - that I’ve used it to come to the wrong conclusions - ones that are in opposition to the Bible.

So that’s what we’re dealing with here… Big parts of the US don’t want smart people running the country. They want good ‘ol boys (and girls) who don’t think too much. They want loyalty and people who agree with them on what they consider their “values”. Well, we’ve done that, and it’s gotten us to the brink of our country’s second great depression.

You see the problem with intelligence is that it won’t let you live in a fantasy land. Intelligence requires you to think about whether you can afford your mortgage after the rates adjust. Intelligence requires you to think about what happens after you “win” a war and are in control of a country. Intelligence requires you to think about what the real value of a deriviative security is before you buy it. In other words, intelligence questions the basics and makes you ask whether your premises are in line with reality.

We need intelligence in our leaders. This isn’t a liberal/conservative thing. I’d vote for someone like George Will over a dumb liberal any day. The thing is that neo-cons which control the Republican party think in faith-based ways. Quoting their bible - “faith is the substance of things hope for, the evidence of things not seen”. In other words, faith is saying there is proof/evidence when there is none (i.e. saying there are weapons of mass destruction when there are none, or saying the economy is “fundamentally strong” as it’s collapsing and looking like the beginnings of the second great depression).

So, vote for smart people next month - we need them more now than ever before… Which means, don’t vote for Sarah Palin - she’s not the complete idiot people are making her out to be, but that doesn’t mean she’s smart enough to run the country…