Eboo, Eboo, Eboo,

Again, what Islamic/Arab shiek is supporting your "Islam is perfect" rhetoric????

Sooth the pain of politics by enveloping yourselves in Wiccan spells.

Like that matters when the Republicans are being brazenly wrongheaded.

Whoopsie.

Well, wherever Falwell is now, I bet he don't feel so smart without a thick head between him and spirit.

For pity.

Eboo - you're on the money with your insight here. On the other hand, the puppeteers behind the scenes that are pulling McCain's strings are not religious in the least (what a huge joke) - there's every good reason to suspect that Karl Rove, the proverbial and ever nimble sleight-of- hand artist is very much involved. And here's Sarah Palin, a fresh face that somehow exemplifies, of all things, feminism!

Wow, talk about hubris. How many decades did the GOP (and Jerry Falwell) oppose the feminism of Betty Friedan before they finally decided to 'create' it all by themselves just for this election! I actually read this in the state South Carolina newspaper today in the editorials - Palin = feminism! Only in repubican dominated South Carolina - we will soon see this jingoist rendering of feminism throughout the South, guaranteed.

But of course, the feminism of rightwing capitalist fundamentalism, replete with the usual anti-reproductive rights spin, creationism and prayer in public schools, continued stacking of the Supreme Court with rightwingers, censorship everywhere, including public libraries, and of course, perpetual 'war with our enemies' - closer than usual ties with rightwing Jewish elements both here and in Israel.

Is it time to bomb Iran yet?? McCain thinks so, and Palin has no doubt heard it directly from God. These folks would make Jerry Falwell right proud!!

In other words, a continuation of what we've suffered for the last 8 years - the GOP is selling this as a brand new world.

Dead is the old Washington politics, with our new republican leaders listening only to God - who is even now whispering into their sanctified ears.

What would George Orwell say? Brand new world, or "Brave New World"? A book I'm sure Jerry Falwell never read - after all, he was living it.

Bitter? Falwell's Ghost?

Bitter is when yer namesake there was blaming me for 9/11 before I got the soot and asbestos out my nose.

"You might want to tone down on the sarcasm in your posts. You sound bitter."

Ah, so *you* get to call people 'bitter' ...as long as, apparently, you're the 'right sort of evangelical Christian...'

Which apparently Barack Obama isn't...

Despite having consistent principles.

Not mine, but your savior-guy said you'd be known by your fruits.

Oh, do beg pardon for thinking your fruits bitter, massa.

I have *heard* the 'word' of you guys, ie, 'shut up and take it, while we kick you around and lead the country to ruin.'

This ain't the bitter, honey-pie. This is just a touch acerbic. Bitter's for more familiar company.

Of course, I've got reason to be bitter nine times over, but I suppose to your brand of Christian, that's just an excuse to belittle the experiences of those subjected to your righteous 'fruits.'

I want to see this country I love turned to the right direction.

As for my bitterness, call me back when you give a crap.

Paganplace-

FYI- There are a large number of black evangelicals in America (apparently you don't know this!?) and race and faith are an issue for our community. Most Spirit-filled churches are not exclusive to one race and welcome all God's children. These churches have an equal number of white, black, yellow, and brown members. Yes. We are members of the same church and we actually worship together, break bread together, and pray with and for each other.

You might want to tone down on the sarcasm in your posts. You sound bitter.

One has to wonder, Jerry's Ghost, why it's laudable when a white candidate represents a radical church that says God will smite America, ... and black people are supposed to consider *that* 'their faith' ....but you're still freaking out about an ex-pastor of Obama's that he ended up having to repudiate.

McCain and Palin actively *sought out to make policy* to pander to these types.

But I guess you and McCain and Palin get to tell black people, not to mention the rest of America, "What their faith" is, too, eh?

This is such doublespeak it's Orwellian, if not just plain surreal.

You may as well say I'm 'anti-feminist' for not supporting a V candidate who wants to take my rights away, just cause she has female plumbing.

Oh, right. You guys *are* saying that, aren't you?

"This fall's presidential campaign is only one of the theaters where that ghost and the progressive religious revival will be battling it out."

Eboo Patel-

Your post attempts to pit "progressive Christians" against "evangelicals".

The real battle is in the Black community between those who will vote their race and those who will vote their faith. Most Black Christians recognise that Black Liberation Theology is a political movement and NOT Spirit-filled.

If you are Ismaili- why not explain the difference between your beliefs and the Wahhabis?

Eboo, Eboo, Eboo,

And what Arab shiek supports your "Islam is all good" rantings???

Saudi Gives $20 Million to Georgetown
Prince Says He Wants to Promote Understanding of Islam

A prominent Saudi businessman said yesterday that he is donating $20 million each to GEORGETOWN and HARVARD UNIVERSITIES for the study of Islam and the Muslim world as part of his philanthropic efforts to promote interfaith understanding.

PRINCE ALWALEED BIN TALAL, a member of the Saudi royal family, said in a telephone interview from the Saudi capital of Riyadh that he also has donated $15 million to establish the Middle East's first two centers for American studies, at universities in Beirut and Cairo.

"As you know, since the 9/11 events, the image of Islam has been tarnished in the West," said Alwaleed, who is chairman of the Riyadh-based Kingdom Holding Co. and has extensive business holdings in Europe and the United States.

He said his gifts to Georgetown and Harvard will be used "to teach about the Islamic world to the United States," and the new programs at American University in Beirut and American University in Cairo will "teach the Arab world about the American situation."

The $20 million gift to Georgetown is the second-largest ever received by the Jesuit-run university, school officials said. It will be used to expand the activities of the university's 12-year-old Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding.

"We are deeply honored by Prince Alwaleed's generosity," said a statement from Georgetown President John J. DeGioia, who met Alwaleed Nov. 7 in a Paris hotel to sign documents formalizing the donation.

Alwaleed, a grandson of the Saudi kingdom's founder, King Abdel Aziz, tried to give $10 million to the Twin Towers Fund shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 2001. But then-New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani rejected the donation after the prince said in a news release that the United States needed to "re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stance towards the Palestinian cause."

Asked about the controversy over his New York gift, Alwaleed replied that "this is behind us and now we are working for the present and the future. . . . My love and admiration to the United States was never diminished."

The Georgetown center, part of the university's School of Foreign Service, will be renamed the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. The $20 million will endow three faculty chairs, expand programs and academic outreach, provide scholarships for students and expand library facilities, Alwaleed said.

Center director John L. Esposito said in an interview that "a significant part of the money will be used to beef up the think tank part of what the center does."

Up to now, he said, the center has not had enough resources "to respond to the tremendous demand that is out there, from the government, church and religious groups, the media and corporations to address and answer issues like, 'What is the actual relationship between the West and the Muslim world? Is Islam compatible with modernization?' Now we can run workshops and conferences [on these subjects] both here and overseas."

When asked about the comments that caused the rejection of Alwaleed's gift to New York, Esposito said: "There is nothing wrong with his expressing his opinion on American foreign policy. Clearly, it was done in a constructive way. He was expressing his enormous sympathy with the United States but also trying to give people the context in which this [terrorist attack] occurred."

Alwaleed said his $20 million donation to Harvard will fund its Islamic studies program, which crosses many disciplines.

Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers expressed gratitude to Alwaleed, saying in a statement yesterday that his gift "will enable us to recruit additional faculty of the highest caliber, adding to our strong team of professors . . . [in] this important area of scholarship."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/12/AR2005121200591.html

Giuliani Rejects $10 Million From Saudi Prince

Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Thursday the city would not accept a $10 million donation for disaster relief from SAUDI PRINCE ALWALEED BIN TALAL after the prince suggested U.S. policies in the Middle East contributed to the September 11 attacks.

"I entirely reject that statement," Giuliani said. "There is no moral equivalent for this [terrorist] act. There is no justification for it. The people who did it lost any right to ask for justification for it when they slaughtered 4,000 or 5,000 innocent people."

Prince Alwaleed gave the mayor a check after a Thursday morning memorial service at Ground Zero, the site of the World Trade Center towers destroyed in the attacks.

The prince offered his condolences to the people of New York, but after the ceremony he released a statement suggesting the United States "must address some of the issues that led to such a criminal attack."

"The check has not been deposited. The Twin Towers Fund has not accepted it," Giuliani said in a statement late Thursday.

The prince's statement said the United States "should re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stand toward the Palestinian cause.

"While the U.N. passed clear resolutions numbered 242 and 338 calling for the Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza Strip decades ago, our Palestinian brethren continue to be slaughtered at the hands of Israelis while the world turns the other cheek," the statement said.

Giuliani flatly rejected the prince's position. "To suggest that there's a justification for [the terrorist attacks] only invites this happening in the future," he said. "It is highly irresponsible and very, very dangerous.

"And one of the reasons I think this happened is because people were engaged in moral equivalency in not understanding the difference between liberal democracies like the United States, like Israel, and terrorist states and those who condone terrorism.

"So I think not only are those statements wrong, they're part of the problem," Giuliani said.

http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/10/11/rec.giuliani.prince/

Saudi Textbooks Teach Students to Hate

Continuing yesterday's discussion on the role of Saudi funding in British mosques, Nina Shea of the Center for Religious Freedom sets Saudi Arabia's program of Wahhabi indoctrination into a global context following the Center's pioneering work examining the Kingdom's textbooks. Among the tens of thousands of schools using these textbooks worldwide is the Islamic Saudi Academy, run by the Saudi Embassy, in Fairfax, VA.

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/islamsadvance/2008/09/saudi_textbooks_teach_students.html

Spiderman2 aka Canyon Shearer, Bible Thumper, Fortune Teller and Severely Brainwashed in that Old Time Religion,

Fools are those who have read only the bible. God cannot be proud of such lazy creations!!!!

What "voodooer of the hoodoo" blessed you with such stupidity in the field of fortune telling and interpretations of said stupidity???

I hate to tell you this, but the "swooning" wasn't caused by commonly held religious tenets.In her case, it's what's up front(and behind)that counts.There may be something quantifiable upstairs,too,but nothing I'd like get a better look at.

1armywife wrote " Part of the reason God has been kept out of our political discourse is because you can't argue with him "

The Bible is the mind of God and it is usually the people who have lesser brains who have a hard time "arguing" with him.

God had made Himself very clear concerning Gay Marriage and yet they can't get it inside their minds. How much more can they understand the rest of the Bible if they can't even grasp a very simple commandment?

Whether we like it or not, oil will be obsolete in the future and while we are in this transition is not wise to drill them before they turn into garbage or worthless? And besides, we live in dangerous times where people can easily manipulate the price of commodities like oil.

Know But Not Telling - I read your link to the Bulgarian newspaper, and agree that Muslims immigrating to foreign lands need to pay far more attention to assimilation into adopted cultures.
This is also true of North America, including Canada. In Europe, Holland has had more than their share of problems, along with France.

As an example, many first generation Muslims want to be free to practice Sharia Law within their respective communities - I completely disagree with this practice, anywhere within an adopted culture. The law of the land is the only law that has weight.

I don't subscribe to or agree with the isolation of immigrant populations in host cultures, particularly based on any kind of fundamentalist religious/cultural beliefs.

These problems usually abate after a generation or two, but certainly present problems in European communities in the 'here and now'. No one denies this issue.

You need to state your own point of view much more directly.

PS. We do not understand Bulgarian... although I'd love to visit some time.

Know But Not Telling - are you sure you're not Bulgarian?? You speak like a Bulgarian. You're preaching absolute nonsense in any case. What's up with this 'Bulgarian Muslim' fantasy anyway?

You're a foreigner with an agenda, and that's all anyone knows from your posts.

Gov. Palin is bent on doing God's will as she defines it, and defining what that "will" should be based solely on what you want, like a pipeline, or feel should occur, like the war on Iraq, does not work for this country. I fear that the direction she may take our country will not be based on precedent or policy but on how she feels God would want her to act. Will “God’s will” become her rational for going to war and/or a way for her to shirk her responsibility to the American people? (Part of the reason God has been kept out of our political discourse is because you can't argue with him.) Claiming to be doing God’s will is a convenient way to avoid being questioned, and politicians who claim to do God’s will often aren’t. Besides if she is doing God’s will, then I have a hard time believing he would encourage her to lie during her acceptance speech. I respect Gov. Palin’s choices for her family, but I can not equate God’s will with her blatant ambition.

"Anonymous - whichever one you are -"

Arminius-

Did Georgiason post to this thread? Has Georgiason been "interested in knowing the name of the other poster"?

Why is he being addressed by this "anonymous"??

The bulgarian muslim who posted posing as a liberal American under "cultorous" on this thread (read the thread) is trying to guess who outed him.

hint: it wasn't Georgiason..

Anonymous - whichever one you are -

The problem here is not hiding, I myself hide behind my handle. The problem is that there are many using the handle 'anonymous', and it becomes very difficult to tell which is which. This is why I seldom reply to an anonymous, for I have made wrong statements that way. What we ask here is a simple use of a unique handle. I use mine because I want to make sure that any reply to a post of mine goes to me, without confusion. It really is that simple, and is rooted in common politeness.

Georgiason:

Why do you ask that others post their names, you continue to hide behind the fictitious name, 'Georgiason'. How is it different from 'Anonymous' or any other name? Why are you interested in knowing the name of the other poster than the points made in that post?

I think the next you will demand from blogers is to post their names, addresses, social security numbers, the PINs etc.

Terra, Terra, Terra,

So un-Wiccan of you!!!

You must be using the wrong spells on your family members.

Dubs,
I for one have nothing against Christians, as long as they respect my right to believe as my conscious wills. I have Christian family members and friends whom I love and who love me. I am a White Non Christian, in fact I am Wiccan.

I do not like those who think that they have the truth, disrepecting those whose spirit dances to another drum. Those who can not believe that there are those who can be as faithful and loving in their own belief as any Christian or other religion of the book.

Palin is the poster child for the Christian Fundamentalist that I detest. I have them in my family (through marrage). One sat in my living room and proceded to tell me I was going to hell because I was not Christian. I said it was good then that I also did not believe in hell.

Palin is a harpy...a shrill voiced, mean, attack bat with lipstick. She lies as good as McCain, just the kind of Christian that the Fundamentalists seem to be.She seems to take great pride in being the Queen of Mean, Sarah Barracuda. Oh yes, just the right example of the Prince of Peace.

terra

address the issue. It doesn't cost you anything. Google "dominionist" find out who these people are.

Arminius-

Many on this blog would consider me a "right wing fundi"

I think you should re-think your assertion about the stupid statement you made.

Cultorous-

Put your hands on the desk, push your chair away, stand up and walk away from the computer.

Check your meds.

The right wing christian fascists have invested too much in the party they've bought and infested to let it go now.

They declared this culture war, they aren't going to give up. Now they have placed one of their finest dominionists a mere drop of cyanide away from the presidency.

I wonder how many of the republican faithful know who the dominionists really are. I wonder how many of you evangelical foot soldiers know that you will go the way of the brown shirts once they have taken control.

The non-religious aren't going to be able to protect our country from these people. If you really care about your country, you will educate yourself on who these people are, and run them out of your party. Is winning the next election but losing your soul worth the trade?

I found nothing "Christian" about Palin's speech. In fact, I found it demeaning and trite. I am tired of truly religious persons being so cheaply bought by politicians on either side, invoking the name of God in attempt to obtain votes. Much the same feeling of using horrific scenes from the twin towers going down and any mention of 9/11 , as Palin did for her son's date of deployment. How convenient. As if it were any less of a sacrifice had it been 6-6! My hope is my fellow human is more savvy than such cheap attempts of religious lures and votes on facts not faces. Diminishing anyone's public service is reproachable. Cutting funding for teen mothers is worse. Shipping Alaska's natural gas to Japan while it's inhabitants pay $5 a gallon for heating fuel is certainly questionable. What would God do? It seems to Mrs. Palin that He'd send her son to kill other mother's sons in a war that began by false pretense .

Arminius how sad you are-

You answered me when you called me a bigot.

Whenever, anonymous, you summon up the guts to stop hiding behind a generic handle, or, probably more difficult for you, manage to scrape up enough useful brain cells to invent a unique handle - then, and only then, will I answer your posts.

Suggested books for Muslims during Ramadan:

1. Ayaan Hirsi Ali's autobiography, "Infidel".

"Thus begins the extraordinary story of a woman born into a family of desert nomads, circumcised as a child, educated by radical imams in Kenya and Saudi Arabia, taught to believe that if she uncovered her hair, terrible tragedies would ensue. It's a story that, with a few different twists, really could have led to a wretched life and a lonely death, as her grandmother warned. But instead, Hirsi Ali escaped -- and transformed herself into an internationally renowned spokeswoman for the rights of Muslim women."
ref: Washington Post book review.

three excerpts:

p. 47 paperback issue:

"Some of the Saudi women in our neighborhood were regularly beaten by their husbands. You could hear them at night. Their screams resounded across the courtyards. "No! Please! By Allah!"

p.68:

"The Pakistanis were Muslims but they too had castes. The Untouchable girls, both Indian and Pakistani were darker skin. The others would not play with them because they were untouchable. We thought that was funny because of course they were touchable: we touched them see? but also horrifying to think of yourself as untouchable, despicable to the human race."

p. 347

"The kind on thinking I saw in Saudi Arabia and among the Brotherhood of Kenya and Somalia, is incompatible with human rights and liberal values. It preserves the feudal mind-set based on tribal concepts of honor and shame. It rests on self-deception, hyprocricy, and double standards. It relies on the technologial advances of the West while pretending to ignore their origin in Western thinking. This mind-set makes the transition to modernity very painful for all who practice Islam".

p.309

"Between October 2004 and May 2005, eleven Muslim girls were killed by their families in just two regions (there are 20 regions in Holland). After that, people stopped telling me I was exaggerating."

2. Sir Salman Rushdie's, Satanic Verses. The satire is first rate!!!!

Saintly true xtian Arminius sez-

"You said, "You are really out of touch with "typical white people"

So you don't like blacks? Ya got yer white sheets on, bigot?"

You are OUT OF TOUCH old man. I was razzing you by using your candidate's words:

Obama's "typical white person" makes waves

"Sen. Barack Obama's description of his grandmother as a "typical white person" in an interview with WIP (610 AM) wound up making waves from the online Huffington Post to YouTube and Larry King Live."

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20080322_Obamas__quot_typical_white_person_quot__makes_waves.html

And you slander me and call me a bigot??

Roy,

Right you are, we must, at all costs, prevent any further slide into darkness.

I have never talked to a right wing fundi who had any inkling of what Jesus actually taught.

David, David, David,

Yeshua was an embellished simple, Jewish, preacher man who was crucified and buried in the first century CE.

Added details:

1. Abraham founder/father of three major religions was either the embellishment of the lives of three different men or a
mythical character as was mythical Moses, the "Tablet-Man" who talked to burning bushes and made much magic in Egypt.

Many of the 1.5 million Conservative Jews and many of their rabbis have relegated Abraham to the myth pile along with most if not all the OT.
Current crisis:
Realization that the Jews are not god's not chosen people.
simpletoremember.com/vitals/ConservativeTorah.htm

2. Jesus was an illiterate Jewish peasant/carpenter/simple preacher man who suffered from hallucinations and who has been characterized anywhere from the Messiah from Nazareth to a mythical character from mythical Nazareth to a mamzer from Nazareth (Professor Bruce Chilton, in his book Rabbi Jesus). Analyses of Jesus’ life by many contemporary NT scholars (e.g. Professors Crossan, Borg and Fredriksen, On Faith panelists) via the NT and related documents have concluded that only about 30% of Jesus' sayings and ways noted in the NT were authentic. The rest being embellishments (e.g. miracles)/hallucinations made/had by the NT authors to impress various Christian, Jewish and Pagan sects.

The 30% of the NT that is "authentic Jesus" like everything in life was borrowed/plagiarized and/or improved from those who came before. In Jesus' case, it was the ways and sayings of the Babylonians, Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, Hittites, Canaanites, OT, John the Baptizer and possibly the ways and sayings of traveling Greek Cynics. www. earlychristianwritings.com/theories.html

For added "pizzazz", Catholic/Christian theologians divided god the singularity into three persons and invented atonement as an added guilt trip for the "pew people" to go along with this trinity of overseers. By doing so, they made god the padre into god the "filicider".

Current crises:

Pedophiliac priests, atonement theology and original sin!!!!

3. Luther, Calvin, Smith, Henry VIII, Wesley et al, founders of Christian-based religions, also suffered from the belief in/hallucinations of "pretty wingie thingie" visits and "prophecies" for profits analogous to the myths of Catholicism (resurrections, apparitions, ascensions and immaculate conceptions).

Current crises:

Adulterous preachers, "propheteering/ profiteering" evangelicals and atonement theology.

This nation let Dobson's intolerant bullies take control of the country twice already in this century. Were did it get us?

war

torture

executive branch abuse of power and corruption

abstinence that actually promoted teen pregnancy like Palin's daughter

creationism

Fox News (with it's "fair and balanced" lineup of Karl Rove, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Ralph Reed, Mike Huckabbe, Brit Hume and Oliver North) and Rush Limberger with their self-rightous diatribes of racism, religious intolerance, hate and fear

Huckabee's seditionist call to change the Consitituion to their twisted Leviticus cherry-picking version of "God's Standards"

Haven't we had enough? The Republicans' selection of Palin tells us these neochristians intend to bully us again for at least four if not eight more years. We need to take America back from the mean and ugly likes of Dobson, Palin and Robertson who hijacked the loving name of Jesus Christ to propogate their self-promotion and greed.

No more years.

"probably the only country in the entire Western world that has such a large and extremist fanatical religious movement."

Christians in America are extremist and fanatical because they quietly live the precepts of their beliefs?

Here are the extreme fanatics and they have nothing to do with America and the West:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw2EisVqKZ4

I come from the same religious tradition as Palin: Assembly of God.

I can say from my experience that they were the most judgemental, petty, racist, soulless wretches I'd ever met.

This is what I ran screaming from on my 18th birthday.

It makes me sick thinking that someone of their ilk is this close to the White House.

Marc Edward- Thank you and the other posters for your repeated posts screaming out in caps

JESUS WAS A COMMUNITY ORGANIZER

This Obama/theOne/Messiah thing ain't working but its going to stick to Obama like glue until he loses in November because his disiples really believe it.

Jesus was a communit organizer, Pilot was a governor.....

She is actually on stage on video for the world to see yet we haven't seen it on tv. This her statement (and I repeat there is video) IN CHURCH (speaking of the troops)
“Our national leaders are sending them out on a task that is from God,” she said.
Sarah Palin

Well I want to know if she believes this is a Holy War. As I said, This was not a task from God. I know a little about God too. I also know that God doesn't lie. So if He told our "national leaders" (Pres. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and others) that there were weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq than there would have been Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq. That is why we went to war. It is on video. Colen Powell, who because he was embarrassed by this and is no where to be found, made this case before the United Nations. Now the Bible says that satan is the father of all lies. That means that lies orginated from satan.
Now who lied, God or man. In the Bible it says in Titus 1:2 in the NIV version "a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time," The fact is people, including Mrs. Palin would rather believe a lie, believe man, rather than believe God. That's why I advocate keeping politics out of the pulpit. You see, the so-called religious right and religious wrong, and journalist might not read their bible, but I read my Bible and you just can't walk up on stage and tell me anything and think that I would believe it.

Why is Palin being kept from the press?The country has only known Palin through her introduction and nomination for VP and through her acceptance speech. And the press is being kept away from learning anything else about her. Yet she's one step from the presidency. And on top of that in her own words on video in church she believes that the Iraq war was a Holy war from God. Also, should she have stood up and told her Pastor that she supports Israel when he said the things that he said in her presence while at church. Have we gone completely mad in this country? One step away from the presidency.

"Its not a ghost you are seeing, silly muslim. Its the beating heart and soul of America."

Actually, it's more akin to a cancerous growth in the core of America.

JESUS WAS A COMMUNITY ORGANIZER

THEREFORE-

OBAMA IS THE MESSIAH. EVERYBODY KNEEL DOWN AND WORSHIP HIM.

test

JESUS WAS A COMMUNITY ORGANIZER

Does that mean the secular revival is still breathing well on the left, and why does the democractic party hate Chirstians..?

The Republicans made good use of the RR for a long time, but they didn't count on the RR taking over their party. It's a sign of McCain's overall weakness that he couldn't stand up to these people. Lay down with dogs, wake up with fleas!

Apparently, progressives have responded by donating $10-million to Obama since Palin's appearance at the RNC. In the same time frame, McCain/Palin raised $1-million.

Palin has energized the D/Progressive base to defeat McCain. Ds now outnumber Rs in this country by a substantial number, and the independents are also breaking for Obama.

The Rs are heading for a defeat of Biblical proportions.

McCain will do what it takes to get elected, just like Bush(s) and Reagan did. They can't deliver to the evangelical's agenda because of that pesky US Constitution. But evangelicals can be sold creationism and that life is "created" instead of the organic chemical continuum it is. So it is understandable that they can be sold the idea that our goverment could legislate their faith into reality or law.

Mr. Patel is right to bring up concerns about the rise of the fanatical and intolerant Christian right in the US. It is probably the only country in the entire Western world that has such a large and extremist fanatical religious movement.

The rise of the religious right is also a danger to all of us who believe in tolerance, science, diversity, respect for individual choice and other freedoms. However, their greatest threat is to global peace: especially with their fanatical support of Israel and its role in blowing up the planet and bringing about the return of Jesus Christ!

If these Jesus freaks succeed in the US they will encourage other such movements throughout the world.

As for the attacks on Mr. Patel. Who cares if he is Muslim, Hindu, atheist, etc. All of us must fear these crazy Christians. While the religious right always attacks 'Liberals' as there enemy, all of us non-white, non-Christians fear this group (Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, etc.).

How often do you see someone non-Christian (besides Jews) coming to the defence of these Christian crazies?

We are electing a President, not a Vice President. Even though Sen. John McCain selected a conservative vice presidential running mate, he is an extremely poor choice for President. Sen. McCain is everything Gov. Sarah Palin is not, i.e. unprincipled, unpredictable, and corrupt (the Keating Five corruption scandal). The Republican Party is more likely to remain true to its conservative principles without Sen. McCain as President. Dr. James Dobson's endorsement of McCain amounts to a reneging of his promise not to vote for McCain under "any circumstance" and a betrayal of my trust in him as one of his followers and supporters.

"As Obama and others have stated, good people disagree on the issue of abortion, and if one's theology states that life begins at conception, then a pro-life position is consistent with that and ought to be respected - which includes being disagreed with respectfully."

The position ought to be respected as a personal one, not a political one. In a secular democracy, anyone seeking to make law or policy must present secular arguments for these, whatever the person's personal religious beliefs. The religious right claims that its theology should be the sole basis for secular law or policy. Its position doesn't allow for the concept of secular law, or even for a society to be pluralistic in religious terms.

"i doubt Eboo Patel is a muslim.Matter of fact i have never met anybody with name Patel who is a muslim."

Mr. Ebrahim Patel is a moslem of Indian descent.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_India#Conversion_controversy

Palin is a puppet of the Council for National Policy, a secret "Christian" organization that includes relious figureheads, politicans, lobbyists who conduct meetings, 2 or 3x a year. They almost considered going 2rd party for the 2008 election since they did not like the "quality" of the Republicans candidates. CNP vetted Palin and made a deal with McCain, if Palin became his VP candidate, they would swing the Right Wing vote over to him. McCain did.

CNP's ultimate goal is to create a Theocracy out of the US and our society. Bush has secretly met with CNP's Christian Mullahs throughout his presidency, he follows their lead. Read Theocracywatch.org, google Council for National Policy.

Reach your own conclusions. McCain/Palin is unfit.

James write:Its not a ghost you are seeing, silly muslim. Its the beating heart and soul of America.
If you are unhappy teaching pluralism in America- you can always take your teaching where it is needed- Saudi, Iran, or Sudan.

Concerned The Christian Now Liberated write:
You can't even come to grips with the problems of Islam, why should we then believe any words you have on any subject??????
hello James and "The Christian Now Liberated"
i have news for you.
i doubt Eboo Patel is a muslim.Matter of fact i have never met anybody with name Patel who is a muslim.
However i have met many people from india with last name Patel who are either Christians or Hindus.
i'm not sure why you think he is a muslim.
but it seams like you have racist and bigotted views.you see somebody that you think look like what you consider a muslim suppose to look like.
many religious right use Christianity to hide hatred and racist views.you appear to be one of them.
stop making a fool of your self.

"Jesus was a community organizer"

WRONG--

Yeshua is a Jewish Rabbi.

In Genesis, He is the Seed of the woman.
In Exodus, He is the passover Lamb.
In Leviticus, He is our high Priest.
In Numbers, He is the Pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.
In Deuteronomy, He is the Prophet like unto Moses.
In Joshua, He is the Captain of our salvation.
In Judges, He is our Judge and Lawgiver.
In Ruth, He is our kinsman Redeemer.
In 1st and 2nd Samuel, He is our trusted Prophet.
In Kings and Chronicles, He is our reigning King.
In Ezra, He is the Rebuilder of the broken down walls of human life.
In Esther, He is our Mordecai.
In Job, He is our ever-living Redeemer.
In Psalms, He is our Shepherd.
In Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, He is our Wisdom.
In the Song of Solomon, He is the loving Bridegroom.
In Isaiah, He is the Prince of peace.
In Jeremiah, He is the righteous Branch.
In Lamentations, He is our weeping Prophet.
In Ezekiel, He is the wonderful four-faced Man.
In Daniel, He is the forth Man in life's "fiery furnace."
In Hosea, He is the faithful Husband, forever married to the backslider.
In Joel, He is the Baptizer with the Holy Ghost and fire.
In Amos, He is our Burden-bearer.
In Obadiah, He is the Mighty to save.
In Jonah, He is our great foreign Missionary.
In Micah, He is the Messenger of beautiful feet.
In Nahum, He is the Avenger of God's elect.
In Habakkuk, he is God's Evangelist, crying, "revive thy work in the midst of the years."
In Zephaniah, He is our Saviour.
In Haggai, He is the Restorer of God's lost heritage.
In Zechariah, He is the Fountain opened up in the house of David for sin and uncleanness.
In Malachi, He is the Sun of Righteousness, rising with healing in His wings.
In Matthew, He is King of the Jews.
In Mark, He is the Servant.
In Luke, He is the Son of Man, feeling what you feel.
In John, He is the Son of God.
In Acts, He is the Savior of the world.
In Romans, He is the Righteousness of God.
In I Corinthians, He is the Rock that followed Israel.
In II Corinthians, He is the Triumphant One, giving victory.
In Galatians, He is your Liberty; He sets you free.
In Ephesians, He is Head of the Church.
In Philippians, He is your Joy.
In Colossians, He is your Completeness.
In 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, He is your Hope.
In I Timothy, He is your Faith.
In II Timothy, He is your Stability.
In Philemon, He is your Benefactor.
In Titus, He is Truth.
In Hebrews, He is your Perfection.
In James, he is the Power behind your faith.
In I Peter, He is your Example.
In II Peter, He is your Purity.
In I John, He is your Life.
In II John, He is your Pattern.
In III John, He is your Motivation.
In Jude, He is the Foundation of your faith.
In Revelation, He is your coming King.

Let them mock...

Thousands of community organizers mobilizing over the next two months will send the Republicans packing November 4.
What, exactly, does PRO-LIFE mean to these people who like to trot out their "I'm-more-religious-than-you" heifer dust at every turn?

I have little respect for Catholics or anyone else who can't get beyond their own self-righteousness to see what the Church actually teaches on ALL life issues. I wish to hell they would get a clue that life GOES ON BEYOND THE DELIVERY ROOM.

I really, really hope Biden tears her a new one at their debate -- I have never rooted so hard for public humiliation ever. And whoever said that the gloves are now off, I could not agree more.

And Ms. Palin, please do some research on CCHD.

"Jerry Falwell may have passed away, but his ghost is alive and well."

Its not a ghost you are seeing, silly muslim. Its the beating heart and soul of America.

If you are unhappy teaching pluralism in America- you can always take your teaching where it is needed- Saudi, Iran, or Sudan.

Eboo, you along with your WaPost friends are so biased. What's interesting is your buzz words. In addition, name dropping doesn't help. People insist on calling evangelicals the "religious right" which is in itself a negative word in the liberal mind. I consider myself an evangelical and not a "religious right" but the media has in fact, created their own definition of what an evangelical is. Also, what is progressive religion? Give me a break....

Eboo, Eboo, Eboo,

You can't even come to grips with the problems of Islam, why should we then believe any words you have on any subject??????