Daily Kos

Reposted from Frederick Clarkson by Frederick Clarkson

In a recent post, I discussed the apparent lack of sufficient seriousness with which the Southern Baptist Convention and the Catholic Bishops still treat the matter of child sex abuse by clergy. The Associated Baptist Press picked-up on that post and added that while the SBC insists there is nothing it can do, it has nevertheless added a resource page on its national web site for local churches to deal with the matter.  Its not much, but its a start.  

But the scandal of the Louisville, KY-based Sovereign Grace Ministries, which began as a national network of  charismatic evangelical churches but eventually adapted a Reformed theology -- suggests that the problem of child sex abuse and the seemingly inevitable cover-up in conservative churches -- is a pattern that is deep and wide.  And part of that pattern is that too many leaders enable the abusers with their silence, their refusal to consider that the accusations might be true, and/or their efforts to silence the victims.  Child abuse investigator Boz Tchividjian thinks the silence of Evangelical leaders regarding child sex abuse in evangelical churches is not only "deafening" but speaks "volumes".

Indeed. It speaks volumes about the character and moral vision of the leaders of the conservative denominations that comprise the base of the Christian Right.

Reposted from Progressive Atheists by linkage

You may have heard about this exchange between CNN's Wolf Blitzer and a victim of the recent Oklahoma Tornado who, unbeknownst to him, is an Atheist.

Blitzer: Well, you’re blessed. Brian, your husband, is blessed. Anders is blessed… and I guess you gotta thank the Lord, right? Do you thank the Lord? For that split-second decision?

Vitsmun: I… I… I’m… I’m actually an atheist… [Laughs]

Blitzer: Oh, you are! [Laughs] But you made the right call!

Vitsmun: Yeah, yep. We are here! And, you know, I don’t blame anybody for thanking the Lord.

Blitzer: Of course not.

The significance of what Vitsmun did may not be immediately appreciated to someone outside of the Atheist community. However, for us it was indeed significant, and many of us are proud of the bravery that she displayed. The pervasive nature of religion can be so oppressive at times, demonstrated best by Blitzer's presumed questioning. It would have been so much easier for Vitsmun to brush off the offense, and to just nod and give some affirmation to the assumption that she should Thank the Lord, at the very least just to get past the awkwardness of the questioning. But in the end, she stuck to who she really was, did so in a tactful and inoffensive manner, and provided the public with a valuable humanized portrait of an Atheist.

Since that fateful interview, a large groundswell of support has come out of the Atheist community for Vitsmun and her family. In a matter of hours, the American Humanist Association raised $10,000, and a campaign begun by Comedian Doug Stanhope, originally set to last 60 days, reached its target goal of $50,000 in the first 17 hours (over $75,000 as of this writing).

Organizers for the FreeOK Oklahoma Freethought Convention are also selling "I'm Actually An Atheist" T-shirts, with proceeds going to Rebecca Vitsmun. (Edit: Just bought myself a tshirt)

Lest you think the generosity of Atheists extends only to other Atheists, other Atheist organizations have also collected a sizable amount for all Tornado victims and the overall relief efforts. Foundation Beyond Belief has already collected $40,000 to be distributed to relief groups on the ground, and We Are Atheism, through Atheists Giving Aid, has collected $17,000 to be distributed either to local organizations or directly to families.

This is not to take away from all the aid provided by religiously-affiliated or -neutral organizations, but where this form of generosity is something most people automatically associate with religious organizations, this facet of the Atheist community often gets overlooked.

One of the more maddening aspects, though, probably even to some religious folks, that comes into play when charity is tied to religion, is highlighted by another Atheist comedian, Ricky Gervais:

"Beyonce, Rihanna & Katy Perry send prayers to #Oklahoma #PrayForOklahoma"

I feel like an idiot now… I only sent money.

Obviously, whatever your religion, if you found a way to help out the victims of this terrible tragedy, in a tangible way, you should be commended.

Many people in society do not see any positives in supporting the Atheist community. However, efforts like these, and the courage of people like Rebecca Vitsmun, will hopefully go a long way toward changing these perceptions and showing all the good that comes out of this misunderstood community.

Welcome to your Fuzzy Friday Coffee Hour where all are encouraged to share their thoughts, their causes, their projects, their problems and their triumphs-- or just their desire to sit a spell and sip a comforting beverage and relax. It's an open thread which means you can ignore my fluff and be free and uninhibited in the comments.

This weekend I'll be visiting my garden so I hope to have an update on how well the appetizers I'd set out for the slugs were received but perhaps that can wait for next week and a proper photo diary. Nothing like pictures of cute, contentedly well-fed slugs to take your mind off the world's troubles for a brief while ...

So instead, this week I'll be bringing you my latest self-improvement project. I'm working on a digital painting using Adobe Photoshop CS5 and a tiny, old Wacom tablet. If you step over the permed orange hairball I'll share a bit of my step by step--

Reposted from Lollardfish by Ojibwa

Like many people (including this very popular diary and discussion), I first read Francis' statement on atheism and "doing good" to be a clear, explicit, statement that Atheists who do good will be saved. That's not what he said. Sure, in his worldview atheists can be saved, but that's because God can do whatever God wants to do. Humans are bound, in Catholic thinking, to the sacraments. But God is not.

We could spend a lot of time (believe me, I spent a lot of time!) parsing the particularities of Francis' statement, linking them to Aquinas, Augustine, and documents from Vatican II (on goodness). That's fun stuff for a medieval scholar like me, but I think the focus on atheism misses what's really important here. I wrote about this for the Atlantic today, but thought I'd expand a little here with thoughts aimed directly at our DailyKOS community.

Francis is calling for pluralistic engagement across all divisions, focused on doing good, on dialogue, and on finding common ground. We live in a world seemingly divided by caste, creed, nationality, orientation, and so many more markers of division. But the pluralistic view, the progressive view, is that we can honor our identities while meeting others around shared goals, and around a shared humanity.

For a Catholic like Francis, that humanity emerges out of our status as Created beings. For me, I'm more driven by secular principles of universal human rights and secular humanism, but I find the Francis message powerful. A Catholic church pushing for pluralism will be a powerful force in the world, isolating extremists, even (especially!) Catholic extremists.

So if you are angry at the Church for its extremism, for all the wrongs the hierarchy has committed, for the positions on LGBT people, on women, for protecting pedophiles, for all these things. Know that in the Vatican there seems to be a man who wants to effect change.

Can he? Will he?

Time will tell.

I am a long-time DailyKOS member, but also a public opinion writer. Please consider following me on Twitter (@Lollardfish), my public facebook page, or my blog: How Did We Get Into this Mess?

EDIT: Thank you for the many thoughtful comments and for the recommends. I am out most of the day, but will wade into the comments and reply to everything later. Please check back. I look forward to dialogue.

Reposted from cabaretic by Ojibwa

For most of us, Memorial Day is a joyous occasion. We may think of idyllic, lazy summer days of childhood, whole months away from school. Our greatest concern might well be the inevitable traffic jams created when large groups of people head for the same destination at the same time. This holiday is intended to commemorate the service and bravery of those Americans who have served in combat. My own religious convictions speak against war. Friends are, as we are taught, to live in the virtue of that life and power that takes away the occasion of all wars. It forms the basis of the Peace Testimony.

Reposted from charliehall2 by Joy of Fishes

This week's Torah portion is Parshat Beha'alotcha, chapters 8 to 12 of Sefer Bamidbar, usually called in English the Book of Numbers. In it the direction of the fortunes of the generation of the Children of Israel that left Egypt turn from positive to negative -- a direction that will not again be reversed. I have a suggestion for why that turn went in the wrong direction. More below the fold....

Welcome to Thursday Coffee Hour. This is an open topic thread so help yourself to the goodies and sit a spell and let us know what is new with you. In Greek mythology Gaia was the personification of Earth. Gaia is also the name of a theory that posits that the organic and inorganic components of Planet Earth have evolved together as a single living, self-regulating system.

Reposted from National Atheist Party by NationalAtheistParty It seems as if there is a competition among Islamic nations as to who can stoop to the most degraded form of immorality by adhering to the barbaric religious laws and traditions put forth by the Quran. Spokesman of the Iranian Parliament, (Majiles) Mohammad Ali Isfenani, announced recently that in order for Iran to view itself as completely complying with Sharia Law it must concede to allow female children under the age of 10 to marry. This seems an obvious gesture to out-pious their Islamic neighbors, Saudia Arabia, who just three months ago lowered their own legal marrying age to 10.

Mohabat News, an Iranian Christian news service, quotes Mohamaad Ali Isfenani as announcing to the public and Parliament in a recent meeting:

“As some people may not comply with our current Islamic legal system, we must regard 9 as being the appropriate age for a girl to have reached puberty and qualified to get married. To do otherwise would be to contradict and challenge Islamic Sharia law.”

According to recently released statistics reported by Mohabat news, in the past few weeks over seventy-five female children under the age of 10 were forced to marry much older men in Iran.

Ever have one of those days where you just want to go back to bed?

Todays is one of those days for me. It is a cold 43.6 °F  , with wind, and rain.  Dirty dishes in the dishwasher. flickr has been upgraded. Could not find the share - html links. Contractor hasn't shown up to finish a job. Darn cat's in heat again. Wait what?! Hear I kid about the cat.

Thank you to p50, smileycreek and navjo for your flickr help!

Spoke to soon, now flickr is not responding. Spinning, spinning.... Finally I can post a photo.

How about you? How are you? I need some serious hugs! Smiles. Laughter.

This is a Street Prophets Open Thread. All subjects, art, photos and quotes welcome.

Reposted from Brainwrap by Ojibwa

OK, the title is slightly misleading--Blitzer didn't know she was an atheist until after he asked, but that's kind of the point--it was an unbelievably inappropriate thing to ask.

I suppose it's better than asking whether she thanked Jesus, but still.

Aside from the presumptive nature of asking her that question, there's also the implied insult that such a statement makes about those who didn't survive. I guess if God was "watching over" the survivors, it means, by definition, that God didn't give a shit about the ones who died, right?

Reposted from SchuyH by Ojibwa

Leave it to Pat to use the latest tragedy to spew his twisted version of Christianity. Yes, it's the fault of the people who live in Tornado Alley that their homes get hit by tornadoes. Of course, Tornado Alley actually takes up a large part of the central part of our country, leaving one to wonder where Pat thinks people should live, if you include his lumping in earthquakes and floods. I'm not sure if there are any places that are completely free of natural disasters, but if there are, I am sure that we couldn't fit everyone into it.

Welcome to the Tuesday Coffee Hour here on Street Prophets. This is an open thread where we can hang out and talk about what’s going on in our worlds. I thought I’d start today’s discussion by looking at some ducks swimming in a small creek.