MicroHawk's NewsScan

Drumming up a phony war on religion - The Washington Post

At ease, Christian soldiers. There is no “war on religion,” no assault on the Catholic Church. A faith that has endured for thousands of years will survive even Nicki Minaj.

It never occurred to me to evaluate the Grammy Awards show on theological rectitude, but apparently we’re supposed to be outraged at the over-the-top “exorcism” Minaj performed Sunday night. The hip-hop diva, who writhed and cavorted amid a riot of religious iconography, is accused of anti-Catholic bigotry — and seen as an enemy combatant in an escalating “war on religion” being waged by “secular elites,” which seems to be used as a synonym for Democrats.

via www.washingtonpost.com

Frank Schaeffer: Newt and the Loony Religious Fringe That Now Runs the Republican Party

George's, North's, and Gingrich's idea of the "rule of law" is that it must be subject to a biblical mandate, in other words to what Gingrich's bishops tell him will "sell" to their faithful and their evangelical fellow-traveler religious extremists. This is the constituency that Gingrich is now appealing to, with the direct help from his Roman Catholic advisers and his Reconstructionist and Dominionist friends. And then there is the cherry on the cake: in return for espousing their theocratic anti-democracy views Gingrich will be forgiven his multitude of divorces and a lifetime of adultery.

via www.huffingtonpost.com

Eugene Robinson - Republicans pander over 'Ground Zero mosque'

Gene Robinson has another great opinion piece today in the Washington Post as the fear mongering continues around plans for the Islamic community center 2 blocks from "Ground Zero"...Read the whole article here.

Lies, distortions, jingoism, xenophobia -- another day, another campaign issue that Republicans can use to bash President Obama and the Democrats. First it was illegal immigration. Now it's the so-called Ground Zero mosque, which is not at all what its opponents claim.

via www.washingtonpost.com

Gun Ownership: ‘An Obligation to God’ | Politics | Religion Dispatches

This article begins with a quote from Herb Titus, an attorney who represents Gun Owners of America:

"[I]f you have a people that has basically been disarmed by the civil government," he added, "then there really isn't any effectual means available to the people to restore law and liberty and that's really the purpose of the right keep and bear arms—is to defend yourself against a tyrant."

Authors Sarah Posner and Julie Ingersoll place this statement in context:

If this sounds like standard-issue Tea Party fodder, it's because the Tea Party movement emerges out of the confluence of different strands of the far right, including Christian Reconstructionism. Titus has long been a player at the intersection of Christian Reconstructionism, the standard religious right, and other far-right groups in which the Tea Party finds its roots. He was a speaker at the Reconstructionist American Vision's annual "Worldview Conference" in 2009, has been a member of the Council for National Policy, and is a long-time home-schooling advocate from a Reconstructionist perspective. In 1996 he was the running mate of conservative icon (and Christian Reconstructionist) Howard Phillips for the far-right U.S. Taxpayers Party (now called the Constitution Party) whose platform included the restoration of "American jurisprudence to its Biblical premises" and, notably, opposition to every gun law in the United States.

This brings up a whole bunch of questions in my mind, not the least of which is how in the hell do so many people get so paranoid to come to believe that the only voice they can trust comes out of the barrel of a damned gun?

The first time I ever entertained the thought of getting a gun, the God I know sent me an abandoned hound dog instead, and, with her, an amazing lesson in the unlimited power of unconditional love to change the world.

Read the whole article at Religion Dispatches here.