Horny Moses: Why Biblical Literalists Really Have Some Explaining to Do

by Nomad

When people say they believe every word of the Bible, they may not know very much about the history of the sacred text they claim as the direct word of God. 

As Moses climbed down from the mountaintop with his ten commandments, the amazed Israelites noticed a great change in his appearance. The question is: did Moses have newly white hair? Or did he had a pair of horns on his forehead?

The answer to that depended on which period of history you lived in. For most of us, it's not a subject we would normally dwell on. But those who claim the Bible is the infallible Word of God, the question presents some thorny problems.

Moses with Horns

Above is a detail photo of a statue from the end of the Middle Ages. This statue of Moses was sculpted by Michelangelo between the years 1513–1515. Today, it sits in the church of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome.

You might see something a bit peculiar if you study the photo closely. Along with his flowing beard and tablets in his arms, the Prophet Moses has a pair of goatish horns on his head.
One could be forgiven for thinking that Michelangelo was shooting at a statue of Lucifer.
But no, that's the Hebrew lawgiver Michelangelo carved.

Abortion and LIFE: What Life was Like Before Roe v. Wade

by Nomad

On Feb 27, 1970, LIFE magazine featured an article on the subject of abortion. What's interesting about the article is that it gives us a snapshot of what life was like for women before abortion became legal. 

The Revolution in Paradise

In 1970, after a little over ten years as a state, Hawaii started a revolution. It became the first state to legalize abortions at the request of the woman. A short time later, New York soon followed, allowing abortions up to the 24th week of the pregnancy. 

Prior to that time, Colorado, California, Oregon and North Carolina had abortion laws that allowed for the procedure only in cases of rape, incest "or in which the pregnancy would lead to a permanent physical disability of the woman." (Presumably, that would include a lethal risk to the mother.)

At a time when, as a LIFE magazine article in that year points out, 20 out of every 100,000 American women died of complications. One of those women, Geraldine "Gerri" Santoro, became a symbol for the pro-choice movement. (A graphic police photo of her body "naked, kneeling, collapsed upon the floor, with a bloody towel between her legs" after a self-administered abortion was published in 1973 and outraged a nation against the abortion laws.)

LIFE magazine article also gives other interesting information about abortion before the reforms. For example, most women who sought abortions were, contrary to conventional wisdom, married. Although the Catholic Church strictly forbade the procedure, more than 20% of the women who had abortions were Roman Catholic. Religious prohibitions did not seem to discourage the procedure. It only made it a shameful and more dangerous act.

Compared to today, the Church back then apparently had a different take on the abortion law. Boston's Archbishop Richard Cushing, was quoted as saying: 

Catholics do not need the support of civil law to be faithful to there religious convictions and they do not seek to impose their moral views on other members of society."

Given the controversy that followed, led by Christians and anti-abortion groups, that's a breathtaking statement.

Discrimination, Religious Liberty and Satan Worshippers in Oklahoma

by Nomad

When a Satan-worshipping Church wanted to hold a Black Mass in the Oklahoma City Civic Center, a few Christian religious groups began having second thoughts about everybody's right to religious liberty.

According to an article in the Oklahoma Gazette, unlimited religious freedom has some Christian leaders in the Sooner state holding their noses.

The controversy began when Oklahoma City Civic Center decided to rent its smallest meeting space to a group of Satanists to perform a Black Mass in September. That decision had some people, including the Catholic Archbishop Paul Coakley, steaming. They urged the city, which manages the Civic Center, to turn away the devil-worshippers. 

According to the article:

“We’re astonished and grieved that the Civic Center would promote as entertainment and sell tickets for an event that is very transparently a blasphemous mockery of the Mass,” Coakley said in a statement this week.

This would be the fourth such event staged by the Church of the IV Majesties. In 2010, its "public satanic exorcism" causes a similar outcry from local religious leaders. The Satanic Church is, it might surprise you to learn, a  legally recognized religion, based in San Francisco. According to its website, 

There are now Agents of the Church of Satan in most major North American and European cities and there are countless numbers of people throughout the world who practice our teachings without formally affiliating with the fountainhead of contemporary Satanism.

(Whether that includes the Church of IV Majesties is not clear.)

In fact, the hoopla was all a bit of a tempest in a teapot. A staggering forty-five people attended the 2010 service, 8 the following year and a total of nobody the next year. So far, the Black Mass- despite the unintentional advertising by the Catholic Church- has sold only five tickets.
Five. 

Civic Center general manager Jim Brown explained to reporters that, despite the loud objections,  the Civic Center had a legal obligation to welcome any group, no matter its religious stance.

“We don’t get involved in programing,” Brown said. “Because we are a city-run facility, our legal department has said they are protected by the First Amendment.” 

That's a very wise decision by the legal eagles. 

Why Limbaugh's Attacks on Pope Francis are an Assault on Christian Faith

by Nomad

When radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh castigated the Pope for being "Marxist," the hate radio DJ didn't mention that Pope Francis' statement on economic inequality was actually based on long-established Christian doctrine.

Those principles go back to the origins of religion. In criticizing the head of the Catholic faith, Limbaugh was attacking the very foundation of the Christian faith.

The other day, Rush Limbaugh passed his own judgement on Pope Francis' papal statement, entitled 'Evangelli Gaudium" (The Joy of Gospel). Limbaugh told his radio audience that the pope's words were straight-out Marxist. Shocking!

This is just pure Marxism coming out of the mouth of the pope... And to hear the pope regurgitating this stuff, I was profoundly disappointed. The idolatry of money, urging "politicians to 'attack the structural causes of inequality' and strive to provide work, health care and education to all citizens."

Limbaugh suggested that the Pope's remarks must have been written for him by a liberal. He also blasted the Pope's analysis on the so-called "trickle-down" economics.

So reading what the pope's written about this is really befuddling because he's totally wrong -- I mean, dramatically, embarrassingly, puzzlingly wrong.

Here's another excerpt. "Pope Francis said that trickle-down policy..." We hear about trickle-down policies? "Pope Francis said that trickle-down policies have not proven to work."Oh, but they have.... Trickle-down is human nature! Trickle-down is exactly what happens when you engage in economic activity.... Trickle-down is the magic, and yet here's Pope Francis saying that "trickle-down policies have not been proven to work and they reflect a 'naive trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power.'"

Promoting the magic of trickle-down economics, (even when the dismal effects are destroying the lives of millions of Americans) is not a very convincing counter argument. Trickle-down economics has surely had enough time to prove its validity and all it has shown is that the wealthy can protect their riches better than the rest of us.
Calling it human nature is hardly an excuse when most religions seek to reform nature of humans. Of course, uplifting the human spirit from the animal level isn't really something Limbaugh knows much about. Obviously.

Harvard Economist or university graduate ... or authority on Christian doctrine.. conservative talk show DJ Limbaugh has decided if it worked for him and all his friends, it's worked for the whole country. Never mind the people who got in the way.

Actually, some of the people who got in the way worked beside Limbaugh.  Clear Channel, Limbaugh's boss, laid off 1,850 workers -9% of its work force- in 2011.
Another trickle down success?

Uganda: Where Your Tax Dollars Are Supporting Gay Apartheid

by Nomad

The African nation of Uganda has introduced some of the harshest anti-gay laws in the world. What role has your tax dollars played in supporting the one-man rule in there? How have US evangelists help to foment anti-gay hatred? 

Uganda, the self-designated "the Pearl of Africa" is by many analysts' reckoning, a failed state. Thirty three percent of the population do not have access to safe water and 52% of people are without sanitation. Infant mortality stands at 130 in 1,000, and 26,000 children under the age of five die every year die from diarrhoeal diseases. 

There's also the raging AIDS epidemic, which has reportedly killed somewhere between 52,000 - 81,000 and has orphaned around 1 million children.

Altogether a hard sell for the Ugandan Minister of Tourism.

But if one is looking for a bright side, then Uganda's human rights record isn't it. 

And there is no better proof that the African country is failing by how much its government respects the human rights of all its citizens.

Amnesty International, in its most recent report on Ugandan human rights record, cites abuses to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly as commonplace.  Despite investigations by the Uganda Human Rights Commission on accusations of torture by police, "no action was taken to hold law enforcement officials responsible for human rights violations to account, or to grant victims and their families an effective remedy."

The influential Foreign Policy (FP) magazine noted:

“From all appearances, the democratic opening in Uganda is closing and human rights are the collateral damage.

This is not at all shocking or unusual for Uganda. 
In 2011, a UN report heavily criticized President Yoweri Museveni, Uganda's leader since 1986, and his government's human rights record is only one step up from a predecessor. Idi Amin.  The report highlighted the numerous problems, such as a plan to allow detention without charge for a period of six months, Museveni's  record of silencing the press, as well as excessive force used by the government against opposition protesters.

Furthermore, the UN report urged the government to  decriminalize homosexuality and legislate against torture. What was the response?

Divorced Michael Reagan: Casting the First Stone at Same-Sex Marriage

Before Michael Reagan launches into a diatribe about the evils of same-sex marriage, he might want to review the Bible's view on divorce. He might not be able to look at himself in the mirror.

Michael Reagan was on Piers Morgan the other night giving (free of charge) his opinions on gay marriage. He said he didn't believe in it. Piers also called upon Reagan to explain his recent op-ed piece in which he equates same-sex marriage to “polygamy, bestiality, and perhaps even murder.”

It's not an original argument, of course. Limbaugh and Beck and Bachmann and so many other lunatics have trotted it out time after time.

In that article, Reagan called upon churches of all denominations to "fight back" unless they were cowards who were "afraid to lose their 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status by engaging in political activity." (A taunt that could prove costly to many violating organizations if the IRS could ever be roused from its slumber.) 

The Church, Abortion and A Wrongful Death Lawsuit against a Catholic Hospital

Every now and then (but more and more) you find a news story that forces your brain to do double back flips. Here's one I found, courtesy of Digital Journal:

Catholic hospital says 'a fetus is not a person'

A Catholic hospital embroiled in a lawsuit involving the death of twin fetuses is arguing that they should not be held responsible for the death of the unborn children because "a fetus is not a person".

(Click on the headline above to read the complete article. It's worth your time.) 

That such a thing can happen in the first place in any hospital in this day and age is, in itself, shocking and it's tragic. To lose your wife and your unborn twins in one moment? It's hard to imagine that kind of pain. The Denver Post gives us more details:

Jeremy Stodghill filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in District Court in Fremont County after his 31-year-old wife, Lori, seven months pregnant with twin boys, died of a blockage of the main artery of the lung at St. Thomas More Hospital in Cañon City on New Year's Day 2006.

Stodghill's lawyer argued that her obstetrician, Pelham Staples, never made it to the hospital — even though on call for emergencies — and there was no attempt by any medical personnel to save the Stodghills' sons by cesarian section. The unborn children died in the womb.

However, listen to the defense from the lawyer for the lead defendant in the case is Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI), operator of St. Thomas More hospital.The article quotes Jason Langley, attorney for CHI:

"[The court] should not overturn the long-standing rule in Colorado that the term ‘person,’ as is used in the Wrongful Death Act, encompasses only individuals born alive. Colorado state courts define ‘person’ under the Act to include only those born alive. Therefore Plaintiffs cannot maintain wrongful death claims based on two unborn fetuses."

In fact, from a legal point of view, Langely was quite right. In cases of wrongful death,, the courts, as a rule, do not award special rights to the unborn. (For the complicated reasons for this policy, follow the link.) One source observes: 

Opponents of the fetal wrongful death action add the argument that wrongful death statutes allow recovery only for the death of a "person," and that a fetus is not a person."

Nevertheless in the criminal courts, Colorado (as well as 38 other states) do have increased the criminal penalties for crimes involving pregnant women. They are called "fetal homicide laws." So the courts do give special limited considerations to death of the unborn fetuses. Apparently just not for wrongful death cases. 

In any case, from a moral and ethical view, I wonder how in the name of God the lawyer persuaded his defendants that his approach was suitable? 
That must have been some hard sell. 

The Small Town in Illinois that Bishop Jenky Forgot

by Nomad

Strange Remarks from a Bishop

Back in April of this year, Catholic Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria, Illinois began a rambling sermon called "A Call to Catholic Men of Faith" with this observation: 

There is only one basic reason why Christianity exists and that is the fact that Jesus Christ truly rose from the grave.

It's quite a strange statement when you think about it but so boldly stated that few had to courage to challenge it. The resurrection was only one aspect of the Christ story. What about Christ providing a model through his love to all humankind, rich or poor, male or female and morally righteous or fallen? What about the Gospel of the all-forgiving Lord which was quite different than the image of God in the Old Testament? What about his command to the flock to "love thy neighbor"?  

According to Bishop Jenky, it was the miraculous reanimation of the flesh of Jesus which is "the only one basic reason why Christianity exists."

It must have been quite baffling to hear a bishop make such a statement. But there was quite a bit more in store for the congregation.

About three-quarters of the way into the lecture, the bishop’s remarks took an even more surprising turn. He used the pulpit to attack the president’s policies on healthcare by telling his parishioners:

Hitler and Stalin, at their better moments, would just barely tolerate some churches remaining open, but would not tolerate any competition with the state in education, social services, and health care.

In clear violation of our First Amendment rights, Barack Obama – with his radical, pro abortion and extreme secularist agenda, now seems intent on following a similar path.

Now things have come to such a pass in America that this is a battle that we could lose, but before the awesome judgement seat of Almighty God this is not a war where any believing Catholic may remain neutral.

This fall, every practicing Catholic must vote, and must vote their Catholic consciences, or by the following fall our Catholic schools, our Catholic hospitals, our Catholic Newman Centers, all our public ministries -- only excepting our church buildings – could easily be shut down. Because no Catholic institution, under any circumstance, can ever cooperate with the intrinsic evil of killing innocent human life in the womb.

Many across the country criticized these provocative remarks. By attempting to equate Obama to both Hitler and Stalin, Jenky tried to stir up public fears with visions of rampant fascism and outlandish notions of  shutting down of the Catholic Church. It was clear that Bishop Jenky was diving into uncharted waters. 
At that time , it sparked me to investigate the Church’s more recent history with fascism. (It was a rewarding investigation.)

A Church Without a Flock?

In point of fact, as far as a so-called Catholic conscience goes, according a survey by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute, most U.S. Catholics ( 60 percent) think the church should focus more on social justice and helping the poor, even if it means focusing less on issues like abortion. 

And there's still worse news for Jenky.

A survey in September found that President Barack Obama holds a 54%-39% advantage over Mitt Romney among Catholics- despite the bishop's appeals.

The Church, Fascism and the Remarks of Bishop Daniel Jenky

by Nomad

In the Footsteps of Hitler 

Sometimes you hear statements by supposed authorities that sound so unbelievable you really have to wonder about their grasp on reality.

Take this recent remark by Bishop Daniel Jenky, who currently serves as Bishop of Peoria, Illinois.

As reported by ThinkProgress last month:

As part of a lengthy historical lecture on past attacks on the Catholic church, Jenky claimed that President Obama is following in the footsteps of Adolf Hitler:

The Church will survive the entrenched corruption and sheer incompetence of our Illinois state government, and even the calculated disdain of the President of the United States, his appointed bureaucrats in HHS, and of the current majority of the federal Senate. . . .

Hitler and Stalin, at their better moments, would just barely tolerate some churches remaining open, but would not tolerate any competition with the state in education, social services, and health care.  In clear violation of our First Amendment rights, Barack Obama – with his radical, pro abortion and extreme secularist agenda, now seems intent on following a similar path.

On the Bishop's remarks, Think Progress article concludes :

The very suggestion that Obama or his actions even vaguely resemble those of the Third Reich is deeply offensive and calls into question whether Bishop Jenky possesses the most basic understanding of the history of Nazi Germany.