So I have my donor star.

[ChadwickHenryWard]

I've wanted to post in this group for a while, but I only just got my donor star on Monday. Truth be told it was the Stupak amendment that pushed me over the edge. I saw that ten percent would be going to Planned Parenthood, and I couldn't resist. I never really knew how strongly pro-choice I was until I heard about that amendment on Rachel Maddow. Something just really angered me to know that conservatives are coming between a woman and her doctor to prevent a legal medical procedure from being performed.

I'm seeing a really disturbing pattern lately of religious conservatives pushing for greater control over our country. This isn't new, of course, but it should not be happening under Democrats. First the Stupak amendment, then RCC's blackmail of the city of Washington. Now, Madfloridian has a thread up about birth control and their attempts to make it a politically delicate issue.
(http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/5248)
We have a strongly Democratic House and Senate (fuck Joe Lieberman) as well as a Dem in the White House. We should not be losing ground to religious conservatives.

[onager]

1. Welcome!

:hi:

We'll be habing a barbecue in here this weekend.

BYOXB (Bring Your Own Xian Baby).

[Soylent Brice]

2. ...

:rofl:

[ChadwickHenryWard]

6. Ah, the blood libel.

Another example of religion as a force for good in the world. Have you ever seen PZ Myers's article about Jews being slaughtered after being (falsely) accused of desecrating the Eucharist? He cites a Jewish historian who lists close to hundred incidents in Germany alone. There was a much publicized incident last year wherein he desecrated a consecrated host and a Koran. Interestingly, the only threats thus far received have been from Christians.

Lewis Black has an interesting take on the blood libel. He has compared the statements of Rick Santorum about gays to the treatment of Jews in Catholic Europe. He says, "...which is ridiculous - we wouldn't kill the baby, we'd make it work for us. Someone has to light shit on Saturday, and it's not gonna be me."

I find one simple fact about the prohibition of lightswitches on Shabbos to be particularly illustrative: nearly all Orthodox rabbis agree that flipping a lightswitch is forbidden on the Sabbath, but there is little consensus among them concerning which one of the 39 Sabbatical prohibitions it violates. It seems clear to me that what is happening here is that they have come up with the rule first, and the reason behind it second. This, I find, is true of religious thinking in general.

Thanks for the welcome!

[ZombieHorde]

16. Yummy! Just like mom used to make. nt

[Soylent Brice]

3. welcome.

:hi:

[ChadwickHenryWard]

7. Thank you.

I like your sig line... I can hear Yoko's droning in my mind's ear.

[Soylent Brice]

10. say what you want about Yoko, but

http://freethinker.co.uk/2008/07/29/yoko-ono%E2%80%99s-copyright-suit-against-creationist-film-fails/

:shrug:

she gets a bad rap. easy target, scapegoat of haters, etc etc.

thanks for the compliment on my sig though.

[ChadwickHenryWard]

11. Oh, no.

I love Yoko. I think she's brilliant. I actually have quite fond memories of that song from when I was a child. My aunt made a compilation of her favorite Christmas songs, and "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" was on there. In her letter to the parole board concerning the potential release of Mark David Chapman, her concern was for Chapman's safety. At the time of his murder John was probably the most popular man on Earth, and he still has devoted fans the world over. It is almost certain that Chapman would be murdered himself. And she absolutely did not break up the Beatles. Paul left first, not John. They even considered replacing him with German artist Klaus Voorman.

[Soylent Brice]

13. it's all good dude.

i took it the wrong way.

:thumbsup:

[immoderate]

4. Hi Chad, welcome to A&A!

--imm

[ChadwickHenryWard]

8. Thank you. n/t

[Synnical]

5. Absolutely agree and Well Come, Chad!

-Cindy in Fort Lauderdale
:hi:

[ChadwickHenryWard]

9. What really pisses me off

is that the RCC so baldly proclaims itself to be righteous. There was a debate about two weeks ago in which an African archbishop said that Catholic charity comes "with no strings attached." Hitchens and Stephen Fry, the two atheists in the debate, didn't contest it (though they were both brilliant.) About two days later the Archdiocese of Washington announced its attempt to blackmail the city, attempting to paint themselves as taking the moral high ground. I actually wouldn't feel so bad about it if they would just admit that they are pure evil.

Thanks for the welcome.

[TZ]

12. Hey there!

Naw, watching all the Dem Presidential Candidates going through the bullshit forums on Faith during the campaign kind of made me realise that no politician is gonna stand up to the religious groups of any sort. When it comes to religous issues, 99% of politicians are spineless wusses.
Even Kucinich (whom your excellent post in the Skeptics group told me you liked) has connections with them as he's a Catholic who has been pro-life in the past.

[Soylent Brice]

14. you're right, about 99% of politicians.

i felt the same way. i do every election. they never will stand up to the religious nuts. i'd be scared to as well, they all appear to be armed for the most part.

from time to time i like to daydream about a world ran by scientists.

*sigh*

[PassingFair]

15. Here's our 1-Percenter....

Pete Stark.

"Stark is the first openly atheist member of Congress, as announced by the Secular Coalition for America.<34> Stark acknowledged his atheism in response to an SCA questionnaire sent to public officials in January 2007.

On September 20, 2007, Stark reaffirmed his atheism by making a public announcement in front of the Humanist Chaplaincy at Harvard, the Harvard Law School Heathen Society, and various other atheist, agnostic, secular, humanist, and nonreligious groups.<35> Honoring his courage, the American Humanist Association named him their 2008 Humanist of the Year."

[ChadwickHenryWard]

17. Sigh.

Yeah, it's awfully sad. Dennis's wackiness is what kept me from voting for him in the primaries. I had an argument with some of my friends over it. While I feel he was by far the best candidate, we had a President who believed in the paranormal. He bombed Libya on the advice of his wife's astrologer. His Catholicism is less of a problem. So long as he is not now actively fighting abortion rights, his past stances don't bother me. And I doubt he will be intimidated, as they are attempting to do with Kennedy. It seems that the RCC is putting out a huge effort to control policy in this nation.