Ron Numbers about Palin

Since Tim clued me in about Ron Numbers, I've been keeping an eye out for mention of him. And here on the day for the Vice-Presidential debate, he has posted a nice article about Sarah Palin's creationism. As much as I enjoy some inflammatory blogs and heated discussion, I think Ron Numbers uses an approach that is much more practical in real life. If you are actually hoping to persuade someone to examine your position with an open mind, you probably need to leave off the mocking, and ranting. Even if it is entertaining.

A Fine Example of Christian Love

My wife has a great job where she gets to have stimulating conversations with a diverse range of people. Earlier this week she a talked with two of her clients who are highly educated public health professionals. With elections fast approaching (Washington State governor and US President) their conversation was about politics and the various candidates positions on funding for fundamental services like public health and education. As seems to be common among the highly educated, the wife's clients supported the Democratic candidate.

I try to avoid political discussions here, but part of Lori's conversation with her client intersected with some religiously motivated events that have been lighting up the blogs the last few days. I like to write about things that have a personal connection and this was it.

Lori's client has family in a swing state. They are also Democratic voters. During the previous week in this swing state there was included with the daily newspaper a DVD of violent anti-Muslim propaganda. It also made the outrageous and now tiresomely common far right assertion that Barack Obama is a Muslim. The clients family was very upset and spent a great deal of time on the phone with the newspaper trying to find out who had paid for this documentary. Turns out it was sent out by something called the Clarion Fund. A group that supports McCain, but whose source of funding is still not clear.

But it gets better. It seems this vile little movie is allegedly spawning violent reaction against Muslims. Some Christians, filled with the love of Jesus, gassed the daycare of a mosque. I know this is painting with broad strokes, but this is what happens with religion that embraces ignorance. These people are terrified of anything that is different from their narrow view of the world.

Matters of Church and State (Reposted with Permission)

Lori has an awesome post up on her myspace page. I wanted to repost it here in hopes of a wider distribution.

As feeble as my understanding of how the government and politics work, I am desperately trying to educate myself, especially in the issues that directly influence and affect me and my family. There is one classic buzz-phrase that I have been acquainted with my whole life, and that is, "Separation between church and state". As a kid, this term was used to entice fear of the impending Sunday laws...a time when the government would tell us when we had to go to church and, essentially, if we didn't abide, we'd be hunted down and....

During the past year I have mostly shed the remaining charred skin of those beliefs and cleaned up my belief system. However, the phrase "Separation between church of state" still grabs my attention, but for a differently reason now. Instead of fearing that the "correct Sabbath", ( the Seventh Day Adventist belief of worshiping on Saturday, a distinct and core value and that sets them apart and makes them feel that they are Biblically "correct" and contain more "truth" than other religions ) was going to be the end of my time on earth, I now am interested in protecting myself from the conservative, fundamental Christian sect that wants to make their religious views and values into law.

Frightening, isn't it? I mean, if you tend to be sensitive to my attacks on fundamentalism, just step back and try to put yourself into a a free thinker, liberal, or non-religious persons' shoes. What if the government wanted to make animal sacrifice a required family practice? Or, circumcision of women imposed on all baby girls? Radical, yes, but taking away a young rape victim's right to end a pregnancy when she is incapable of caring for a child because someone believes that her act of an abortion is "sin" is also disturbing. In the case of government, choice is always best, no matter what YOU believe.
In the book Parenting Beyond Belief-- On Raising Ethical, Caring Kids Without Religion, edited by Dale McGowan, Dr. Ed Buckner makes 4 very strong points as to the logic behind the Separation of Church and State.


1.) "Not all U.S. Citizens hold the same opinions on religion and on imporatant matters related to religion (like whether there is a God and, if so, what god's nature is; or, how or when or whether to worship God; or what God says to us about how to live). Everyone thinks her or she is right when it comes to relgion. But, not all citizens have the same beliefs on the important religious matters."

2.) "Human judgement is imprefect. For Cathlolics, the Popes is sometimes considered an exception with regard to officala matters of doctrine, but even Catholics, like all the rest of us, don't believe that human voters and human legeslators always know what God wants us to do. The Bible is quite clear on this point: "Judge not, that ye be not judged" (Mt 7:1) Most other books held sacred by followers of different religions also make this clear. The question is not whether God's judgement is perfect--only whether man's is. "

3.) " Relgious truth cannot be determined by votes or by force. In the United States, neither a majority of citizens nor the government acting on the majority's behalf can make relgious decisions for individuals. Anyone who might disagree with this idea should consider this question: If a nationwide vote were taken this fall, and 99 percent of U.S. voters disagreed with you on a religious matter, would that change your mind? If 99 percent of the citizens wanted this country to adopt Catholicism or Methodidsm or Islam or atheism (***though please note that atheism is NOT a relgion***) as the "Right" relgious point of view, would you accept ther decision? Woud that convince you? And it's not just the voting, it's the law itself, the power of government, in question here. One need only consider the poor guy in Afghanistan who was almost convicted and put to death in 2006 for the "crime" of chaning his religious beliefs. "

4.) " Freedom, especially religious liberty, is worth having and protecting."

To touch on a side issue, it is for these reasons that teaching Creationism, or excuse me, Intelligent Design, in public schools is kind of against our country's idea of keeping religion out of schools. Creation is not a science based theory. It is a folk myth taken from the modern religion of Christianity. If that makes you uncomfortable, it is probably because this is a religious issue, and a core religious believe to conservative Christians, making my point about it being a religious and not belonging in the classroom, especially the science classroom very strong.

When the elections roll around, though we are given so few options, and voting for someone requires a leap of faith in their character, please consider what makes us free, not what makes us more moral by someone else's standards. You can still have your morals and be free. But, taking away freedom is not a very moral thing to do.

Local Politics Quicky

I don't like to spend much time on politics. I tend to be left leaning, but the whole mess is ambiguous for me. It stresses me out. I suppose that mean that I really should spend some more time learning about the topic. I just feel like at some level lots of things boil down to value judgment which means almost every one will disagree about something. Too contentious for me. I don't mind a good argument now and then, but also like the hope of some resolution. So mostly I keep my politics to myself.

Still this I found entertaining. Looks like Washington State republicans are trying to shed the stink of the neocons and theocons by not admitting to being republican on the state ballot.