Scientology v. The World

Events in Australia this past week rekindle the flame of concern regarding the preferential taxation status of the Church of Scientology. After a March 10 broadcast by ABC’s Four Corners(1), chronicling allegations and court cases against the Church of Scientology, Senator Xenophon has made a fresh bid to challenge the tax-free status of the church(2). The Four Corners special outlines reports of child labor malpractice, physical and psychological abuse, coerced family separation, tax evasion and forced abortion(3), all allegedly perpetrated by the Church of Scientology.

This, the latest in a continuing series of rows with the church, comes only a year after French courts tried and convicted the Church of Scientology of fraud, charging the sect $900,000 in fines(4). The sect is not recognized as a religion in France, as it is in the United States. Germany has also taken a very strong stance against the organization. German officials “consider(s) the Scientology organization a commercial enterprise with a history of taking advantage of vulnerable individuals and (which has) an extreme dislike of any criticism. The German government is also concerned that the organization’s totalitarian structure and methods may pose a risk to Germany’s democratic society. Several kinds of evidence have influenced this view of Scientology, including the organization’s activities in the United States.” (5) Efforts to ban the organization from France were suggested by prosecutors but not pursued by the courts(6). This judgment follows yet another major court case in the United Kingdom that found the group culpable on several counts, requiring a fine of $235,000 and the possibility of prison time(7).

Scientology v. America

In America, the Scientologists have engaged in similar legal battles. In the late 1970’s, after the group lost its briefly-enjoyed tax exempt status, it was embroiled in an ongoing battle with the IRS that the church itself referred to as a ‘war’. Several high ranking members, including founder L. Ron Hubbard’s wife, Susan Hubbard, were imprisoned on a variety of charges including breaking into government offices, illegal electronic surveillance, and theft of classified government documents(8). Additional testimonies include harrowing accounts of personal harassment, illegal surveillance, stalking, malicious court filings and death threats (9). The Church is reportedly the sole client of several law firms and as early as 1991 was spending an estimated $20,000,000 annually on legal actions, according to Richard Behar in his Time Magazine article titled ‘The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power’.(10)

In the early 1990’s, with the aid of its own security and intelligence department, the Church of Scientology’s Office of Special Affairs (OSA), which reportedly rivals the intelligence agencies of many countries(11)(12), the Scientologists were able to ‘negotiate’ a deal with the IRS which not only reinstated tax exempt status but provided unprecedented preferential status in violation of the First Amendment. According to the New York Times, “. . . the exemption followed a series of unusual internal IRS actions that came after an extraordinary campaign orchestrated by Scientology against the agency and people who work there.”(13) The group reportedly used “bugging of government offices, theft of classified files, private detectives pursuing senior government officials, [and] thousands of lawsuits” (14) in its campaign to gain leverage against the United States Government. They were successful with this campaign, procuring the aforementioned status for themselves with the IRS. Details and specifics of the secret meeting leading up to the arrangement, between David Miscavige, current leader of the Church of Scientology, and Fred T. Goldberg Jr, past Commissioner of the IRS, have remained sealed.(15)

In 2008, the reinstated and preferential tax status of the Church of Scientology was once again challenged in U.S. courts. The case was Sklar v. Commissioner.(16) An Orthodox Jewish family wanted the same tax deductions afforded Scientologists. Their lawyer argued that it was discriminatory to give Scientologists a tax break no other religion is permitted. The exemption in question was for the part of his children’s education provided by a yeshiva school, which is an Orthodox Jewish religious school.

The court relied on Hernandez v. Commissioner to deny his tax deduction(17). The irony here is that Hernandez v. Commissioner apparently applies to everyone in the country except Scientologists. The decision involved a Scientologist and specifically states that the kind of tax deduction they get is illegal. Judge Wardlaw, in oral arguments of Sklar v. Commissioner, pronounced the preferential status of the Church unconstitutional and in clear violation of the First Amendment. It’s a constitutional question of the separation of church and state. If religious education becomes deductible, it means that taxpayers are subsidizing religion. Unfortunately, the court found itself in no legal position to change a deal ‘negotiated’ by the Church of Scientology with the IRS.

The Public Face of Scientology

In addition to its schools and various ‘Orgs’, the church also operates under front organizations Narconon, Applied Scholastics, Criminon, and the Citizens’ Commission on Human Rights. The history of the organization, both internationally as well as in the United States, is riddled with constant legal battles, many of which have been termed by American courts as malicious and abusive on the part of the church(18). The courts have been used by Scientology’s army of lawyers, who target any who the Church of Scientology deem an enemy, or in their terms, a Suppressive Person.(19) As their founder L. Ron Hubbard wrote, “The law can be used easily to harass, and enough harassment on somebody who is simply on the thin edge anyway, well knowing that he is not authorized, will generally be sufficient to cause his professional decease. If possible, of course, ruin him utterly.” – L.Ron Hubbard (A Manual on the Dissemination of Material, 1955)

As reported by Hubbard’s son; “My father and I created a ‘religious front’ only for tax purposes and legal protection ‘from fraud Claims’. We almost always told nearly everyone that Scientology was really science, not a religion, but that the religious front was created to deal with the government.” — Ronald DeWolf a.k.a. L. Ron Hubbard, Jr. (son of L. Ron Hubbard), Affidavit in Schaick v. Church of Scientology, US District Court Mass., No. 79-2491 (20)

Last year, amid international scandal and proven culpability, as well as domestic challenge, the church continued to enjoy preferred tax status over all other religions in America. The affluent Scientology organization has recently built, or renovated, opulent Scientology churches, which it calls Ideal Orgs, in Rome; Malmo, Sweden; Dallas; Nashville; and Washington, DC. At its base, on the Gulf Coast of Florida, it continues buying hotels and office buildings (54 at last count) and constructing a 380,000-square-foot mecca that looks like a convention center.(21)

Scientology in a ‘Nut’ Shell

According to Scientology: Seventy five thousand years ago, Xenu was head of the Galactic Federation, an organization of 76 planets that had existed for 20,000,000 years. The planets were over-populated. Xenu’s solution was to gather up large numbers of the people and kill them, freezing their thetans (souls). He ended up with over 1.3 trillion frozen thetans. He transported the frozen thetans to Earth, which he called Teegeeack. The thetans were left in the vicinity of volcanoes which Xenu destroyed with atomic weapons.

Now, each human has their own thetan as well as clusters of thousands of these dead thetans inside them. Scientology, which asks its followers to sign a billion year contract, seeks to free humans from these dead thetans through costly auditing and training programs, totaling as much as $500,000 USD, so that they can be truly clear, super-human, eternal beings(22).

Did I mention that L. Ron Hubbard, before founding the Church of Scientology, was a very prolific Science Fiction writer?(23)

What Are Scientology’s Crimes?

Regardless of the delusional spiritual landscape created by a commercially-minded and imaginative entrepreneur, the mafioso style tactics, and subversive governmental interference should be enough to shut this scam down, or at least remove any legal or taxation preferences and protections it enjoys. If nothing else, an official investigation is certainly warranted. That is, unless America has willingly become the last safe harbor for charlatans and snake-oil salesmen seeking tax havens for their grotesque profits padded with tax payers’ money.

If the courts are truly unable to address a recognized breach of the First Amendment of the Constitution, a public Congressional Inquiry should be convened to determine if the IRS has been compromised through either blackmail, coercion, or collusion, to cause such a violation. Such a breach of the institution threatens the credibility of the entire system and could prove to further erode confidence in the government and democratic institutions of the United States of America.

The only apparent recourse seems to lay in the hands of the citizenry. Investigate and compile available references and links regarding this issue. Send them, and this article, to your government representatives and request that an official investigation and inquiry be launched immediately into the preferential tax exempt status of the Church of Scientology, including all relevant tax codes, agreements and settlements. Insist that an investigation, or a reason not to investigate, is produced and that communication and responses are in writing. The First Amendment and the Citizens of the United States deserve no less.

“No man has a natural right to commit aggression on the equal rights of another, and this is all from which the laws ought to restrain him.” Thomas Jefferson

(1) – http://www.atheistmedia.com/2010/03/abc-four-corners-scientology-ex-files.html
(2) – http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/xenophon-pushes-for-scientology-inquiry-20100312-q3wh.html
(3) – http://www.scribd.com/full/14464561?access_key=key-1fsp0mqjsb4aiy9a95ss
(4) – http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/nonprofit/2009/10/french-court-convucts-church-of-scientology-of-fraud.html
(5) – http://www.rickross.com/reference/scientology/germany/germany21.html
(6) – http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1901373,00.html
(7) – http://www.solitarytrees.net/pickets/sp861.htm
(8) – http://xenutv.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/marc_headley_v_cos_lawsuit.pdf
(9) – http://xenu.net/archive/personal_story/paulette_cooper/
(10)- http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,972865,00.html
(11)- http://www.xenu.net/archive/go/osahist.htm
(12)- http://www.factnet.org/?p=270
(13)- http://www.lermanet.com/scientologynews/nytimes/nyt-irs-030997.htm
(14)- http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Cowen/essays/irs.html
(15)- http://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/19/us/scientology-denies-an-account-of-an-impromptu-irs-meeting.html?fta=y
(16)- http://www.ustaxcourt.gov/InOpHistoric/Sk2lar.TC.WPD.pdf
(17)- http://laws.findlaw.com/us/490/680.html
(18)- http://www.factnet.org/Scientology/crtquot.htm
(19)- http://www.youtube.com/user/newyork420420?blend=2&ob=4
(20)- http://www.lermanet.com/cos/morejud.html
(21)- http://www.xenutv.com/blog/?p=4490
(22)- http://altreligion.about.com/od/mythologicalfigures/a/xenu.htm
(23)- http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/l-ron-hubbard/

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Way back in 2004, Michael Newdow, an emergency room doctor from Sacramento, CA, sued Elk Grove Unified School District for forcing his 10-year-old daughter to say the words “under God” as part of the Pledge of Allegiance. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2004 ruled that Newdow was correct in his assertion that this constituted a government establishment of religion; the US Supreme Court, however, dismissed the case because Newdow did not have custody of his daughter.

The dismissal came June 14, 2004, 50 years to the day from the time our “founding father” Ike Eisenhower introduced “under God” to the Pledge of Allegiance in an effort to distinguish the US from “Godless Communists”.

Newdow responded by filing a case in 2005 on behalf of other parents in the same district.

Judge Carlos Bea, who was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2003, wrote for the majority in Thursday’s 2-1 ruling.

The Pledge is Constitutional. The Pledge of Allegiance serves to unite our vast nation through the proud recitation of some of the ideals upon which our Republic was founded.

Was our Republic founded in 1954?

The dissenting judge, Stephen Reinhardt, was one of the three who voted in Newdow’s favor back in 2004. He wrote a 123-page dissent. In very small part:

Under no sound legal analysis adhering to binding Supreme Court precedent could this court uphold state-directed, teacher-led, daily recitation of the ‘under God’ version of the Pledge of Allegiance by children in public schools.

Newdow isn’t finished. He plans to ask the court to re-hear the case; if they refuse, he plans to appeal to the US Supreme Court. He doesn’t want people to think that this is about hating Jesus, though:

The whole argument that ‘under God’ wasn’t placed into the pledge for religious purposes is bogus. I hope people recognize this is not against God or people who believe in God. It’s about the government not treating people equally on the basis of their lawful religious views.

Even the US attorney who defended the lawsuit agrees that it’s religious. Says Greg Katsas:

I think these two phrases encapsulate the philosophy on which the nation was founded. There is a religious aspect to saying “One nation under God,” but it isn’t like a prayer. When someone says the pledge, they’re not praying to God, they’re pledging allegiance to the country, the flag and the ideals of the country.

The nation was founded in 1954? Being ruled by an imaginary friend is one of the ideals of the country?

Michael Newdow’s website, RestoreThePledge.com, provides you the opportunity to get involved in the campaign to restore the pledge to its pre-1954, secular ideal.

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Due to the distractions to the educational process caused by recent events, the Itawamba County School District has decided to not host a prom at Itawamba Agricultural High School this year,” school board members said in a statement.

Yes, Constance’s constitutional right to free expression is a distraction, so rather than accommodating this brazen display of non-heteronormative individuality, the school has used her as an excuse to cancel the whole thing. I don’t know the details of this county’s social scene (although apparently the social hub is a bowling alley!), but in my high school, the prom was the most important event in all of high school. The school’s decision to pin this cancellation squarely on the fags only adds to the incredible hostility already found throughout the deep south.

Constance had this to say about the event:

All I wanted was the same chance to enjoy my prom night like any other student. But my school would rather hurt all the students than treat everyone fairly

According to the US Census data, about 96% of folks in Itawamba county affiliated with a congregation are evangelicals. Furthermore, about 92% of all people living in Itawamba county are ‘exclusively white’, and homosexual tolerance from  these folks has historically been pretty crap. Hell, Mississippi was one of the states that attempted to ban gay adoption, so these sort of ridiculously homophobic attitudes are none-too-surprising.

In an even more disgusting move, the school simultaneously called for a private prom to be held in lieu of the school-sponsored one. This would allow them the ability to keep the homos out while still satisfying their view of what a proper human being ought to be. The school, who does after all, represent the government in the area, is setting an example of how responsible adults ought to act when faced with such a threat to the status quo as this young woman represents.

Thankfully, the ACLU  has been closely following the case, and today filed suit against the county, hoping to reinstate the prom for everyone. Christine Sun, who will represent Constance in the upcoming lawsuit, said this:

It’s shameful and cowardly of the school district to have canceled the prom and to try to blame Constance, who’s only standing up for herself. We will fight tooth and nail for the prom to be reinstated for all students

It is a sad statement of the times that these folks require the ACLU to force them to do the right thing. Jesus himself sat down with the most marginalized members of his society and showed incredible compassion for all of them, but the bigotry of these Christian school board members is so strong that they must ruin the party for everyone just to continue their hate of one innocent girl who just wants to go to her prom like all her friends.

Shame on you, Itawamba Agricultural High School. I hope your pending destruction at court will teach you something, but I know better. Your students deserve better role models than you, so I’m glad courageous heroes like Constance McMillen are there.

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California State Senator Roy Ashburn was arrested for DUI after leaving Faces, a gay nightclub in Sacramento (the state capital of California) . . . while driving a trick — sorry, a “male passenger” — home (or to a place of rendezvous?).

So?

Not only is Ashburn a Republican, he is a divorced (so much for family values) father of four, and has a solid anti-gay voting record. MSN reports that Ashburn has “voted against every gay rights law, including Recognising Out-Of-State Same-Sex Marriages and Expanding Anti-Discrimination Laws”.

The worst part?

Ashburn was driving a state vehicle.

Ashburn commented:

I am deeply sorry for my actions and offer no excuse for my poor judgment. I accept complete responsibility for my conduct and am prepared to accept the consequences for what I did. I am also truly sorry for the impact this incident will have on those who support and trust me – my family, my constituents, my friends, and my colleagues in the Senate.

There are those who say no apology is sincere. If you were truly sorry, they say, you wouldn’t have done what you did.

What do you think? Does that apply here? Is Ashburn only “sorry” because he got nailed?

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The strategic positioning of Israel for U.S. interests in the middle East has its advantages. Although America has maintained relatively good relations with Jordan and Saudi Arabia, among others, Israel is by far America’s most reliable political ally in the region. In an area with shifting alliances and changing regimes, mostly unfriendly to America, the presence of a committed ally has its obvious benefits. The cost/benefit ratio of supporting Israel as that ally may have its critics, but the stakes are high, the options limited, and the alternatives lack the security of the current, lasting friendship.(2)

So, America has an ally in the Middle East that it gives support to, and that ally is Israel. What’s the big deal? Israel is a strong ally, both in the region as well as in the United Nations, with a similar political system, and one of the most powerful military’s in the world. What’s not to like? What’s the problem?

From Fact to Fantasy

From the aspect of military and economic relations and interdependence, there is nothing particularly unusual about such a relationship. Not everything about this type of relationship is always good, but it is perfectly rational and reasonable to foster such an agreement between two nations.

This is not to say that such a relationship is not possible, and should not be pursued, with other nations in the area, including the Palestinians. Nor is this to say that the relationship with Israel is to the exclusion of all other existing and possible relationships in the region; this is simply to say that there is nothing inherently wrong with such a relationship between the United States and Israel, or any two countries, for that matter.

Despite the relatively secure character of American/Israeli relations, international politics are rife with unexpected trauma. The tenuous nature of international relations is further, and unduly, stressed when decisions are made for reasons other than rational geopolitical or economic motives. Trade agreements, treaties, resources, alliances, protectorates and military cooperation may all be substantive considerations of reasonable and rational international relations. While religious beliefs and superstitions are implementation concerns and considerations, they are not credible, reliable, or desirable as a basis for policy, domestic or foreign. To base concrete decisions on fanciful notions is less than responsible and more than dangerous.

The Delusional Dilettante

During her meteoric rise to the world political stage, Sarah Palin made a point of consulting with Billy Graham regarding foreign policy with Israel, Iran and Iraq(3). Her questions were related to Biblical ‘End-Times’ prophecy and how foreign policy should be designed and implemented accordingly. She spent time with Mr. Graham accepting both his prayers and advice. This crash course on how to manage the end of the world also proved to be a valuable photo-op and chance for Mrs. Palin to further connect to her right-wing conservative Christian base.

In an interview with Barbara Walters, Mrs. Palin shared her concern over President Obama’s policy against Jewish settlement expansion. Her objections were based on her belief that many more Jews were going to be relocating to Jerusalem in the weeks and months ahead(4)(5). According to the Bible, Armageddon will not happen until the Jews have full control over Jerusalem, and Jesus won’t be coming back until we get that whole ‘Armageddon-war-to-end-all-wars’ thing out of the way. So, in Sarah Palin’s conservative Christian reasoning: We must support Israel, at all cost. We must help the Jews expand Israel and control the region so that Jesus can come back and either kill them or convert them to Christianity. According to the Christians, this is what happens after Armageddon. Those Jews that are not killed when Jesus returns are converted to Christianity. Considering this, the very vocal, pro-Israel, right-wing conservative Christian agenda does not seem very pro-Israeli at all.

The Jews/Israelis don’t care about the motivations of the Christian evangelicals. They don’t believe in the prophecies of Revelations in the New Testament. If a bunch of American Right-Wing Christian Conservatives want to keep sending them money and giving them a favored status, fine, let them. If conservative Christian administrations in America turn a blind eye to, or perhaps even encourage, expansionism in the area and the discrimination and oppression of Palestinians or Israeli Arabs, fine, bonus. They don’t care any more than I would if someone wanted to give me money and protect my interests because their interpretation of a religious myth, and the desires of an imaginary being, directed them to do so. Israel is doing the pragmatic thing and I would be surprised, perhaps even disappointed, to find they did not exploit it completely.

This week, it was announced that Sarah Palin, reportedly on advice from Jeb Bush and Bill O’Reilly, will be working diligently to enhance her foreign policy knowledge (7). In addition to her ongoing religious counseling on these matters, Sarah will further her education by teaming up with the poster boy for American Nationalistic Bible-Based Fundamentalism, Glenn Beck, in a series of live stage events to compliment the radio shows and television campaigns waged through Fox cable news(8). Beck, an avowed Mormon, right down to his magic underwear, makes no apologies regarding his belief that we are in the end times, and shares Palin’s vehement assertion that America must turn to God, become a Christian Nation, and live according to Biblical direction. Other than the ‘Constitution be damned’ nature of this ridiculous demand, the foreign and domestic policy implications are more than just potentially disastrous.

A History of Holy Hogwash

Just in case you’re feeling comfortable that the White House is safe from Palin’s Fundamentalist ravings, think again. These religious views are shared by several other politicians including Ronald Reagan and both Presidents Bush, H.W., and W., and have undoubtedly contributed to the abysmal state of U.S. relations in the area. As an example, in 2003, George W. told French President Jacques Chirac that he had to invade Iraq because of Biblical Prophecy(6). He stated that he saw the work of ‘Gog and Magog’, demonic forces referred to in Biblical text, in the middle East, and that they were a threat to Israel, God’s chosen people.

Yes folks, this was the President of the United States giving his reasons for waging an illegal and bloody war. As ridiculous as this sounds, and in fact is, America’s past President is not alone. In America, a country beset with a near majority of evangelical Christians that believe in Creationism and the second coming of Jesus, there is no shortage of people willing to direct the foreign policy and military strength of the most powerful Nation on the planet towards Armageddon. The seemingly indefatigable and incomprehensible belief by Christians, for the past 2000 years, is that the world as we know it is going to end, soon, and Jesus is going to come back and set everything straight. Aside from the unconscionable abdication of personal responsibility this represents, their delusion has the potential to create a self-fulfilling prophecy.

If you give the means to end the world soon to a group of Fundamentalists who believe that it is God’s plan that the world end soon, they will most likely end the world soon. When you have these Fundamentalists, both Christian and Islamic, drawing lines in the sand, literally, you’re tempting the possibility of a world of hurt, literally.

If It’s Going to be Used It Must be Proved

Aside from the issue of foreign policy with Israel, Christian Fundamentalists have insinuated the Bible, as an authoritative source, into almost every aspect of public and governmental discourse. An obtuse document, widely open to a variety of interpretations, has been allowed the status of super-governmental dictate without even the most basic vetting process. This is an error that Americans must correct. The Scopes trial was only a start. If the Bible is going to be used as a basis for legal, policy, or legislative decisions, it must be subjected to, and pass, the same sort of legal litmus test as any other basis for such decisions.

American politicians regularly cite the Christian Bible, and its accompanying doctrine and dogma, as their reason for, or against, policy and legislation. It is a constant refrain in a myriad of debates including, but certainly not limited to, abortion, climate change, education, health care, foreign policy and gay rights. Any other document or text used in such a manner is subject to the investigation, discovery and proof of its credibility, before being allowed the power of such monumental impact. Why is this not the case with the Christian Bible and the decisions that are based on its text?

Christians accept the Bible and its teachings out of faith. Faith is a personal choice. Faith cannot be given to, nor imposed on, another. Non-Christians cannot be required to have faith in the mythology and theology of Christianity for their public policies and legislation. Non-Christians cannot be required to have their domestic and foreign policy based on another’s faith. If domestic and foreign policy is to be based on the Bible, for all American citizens, the Bible must be proven to be an historically and factually accurate document. If it cannot be, it cannot be used as a basis or reason for any political decision regarding either foreign or domestic policy. This is a point arguable under American law. It is a point that needs to be argued.

The American-Israeli relationship is important, as are many other relationships that America has with foreign powers, but not for the reasons, and certainly not for the agenda, of conservative Christian Fundamentalists. Abortion, civil liberties, gay-rights and education are all issues that need to be open to public discussion, debate and resolution, but again, not directed by the agenda and limitations of Christian Fundamentalists. The courts do not want to hear a case disproving the existence of the Christian god, yet we are subject to the authoritarian dictates, as interpreted by those looking for the interpretations they prefer, of that unproven being’s discredited holy text(9).

We don’t need to argue the proof of a god. What we must do, is demand the legal, scientific and historic credibility of the Bible if it is going to be cited when establishing policy, procedure, or law. Christians cannot be allowed to have it both ways any longer. If Biblical Christian teachings are going to be used as the basis for, or influence on, foreign and domestic policy, they must be proven credible, or be removed from the discussion as irrelevant. When Christianity decided to assert itself in politics and the affairs of the state, it removed from itself the protections of a personal choice of faith and has subjected itself to the rigors of academic and scientific analyses. This is not a case of religion being attacked, but a case of defense from the onslaught of tyrannical religious law and dangerously delusional prophecy. The rules have been skewed. Christians are not required to offer any proof of their religion, yet they are allowed to offer their religion as reason and basis for policy and legislation. This must stop. When it comes to politics; the Bible cannot be used unless the Bible can be proved.

Amen.

(1) – http://wrmea.org/component/content/article/245-2008-november/3845-congress-watch-a-conservative-estimate-of-total-direct-us-aid-to-israel-almost-114-billion.html
(2) – http://www.wrmea.com/us_aid_to_israel/index.htm
(3) – http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/11/28/sarah-palins-visit-with-billy-graham-dinner-prayer-and-a-phot/
(4) – http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/144111/what_sarah_palin’s_”jewish_people_will_be_flocking_to_israel”_prediction_really_means/
(5) – http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/11/17/sarah_palin_is_even_crazier_than_i_imagined
(6) – http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/andrewbrown/2009/aug/10/religion-george-bush
(7) – http://newsbusters.org/blogs/scott-whitlock/2010/02/25/bill-oreilly-nails-stephanopoulos-critique-palin-compares-nancy-pelo
(8) – http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0210/33535.html
(9) – http://www.amazon.com/God-Delusion-Richard-Dawkins/dp/0618680004

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The organization which met with Tina Tchen, director of the White House Office of Public Engagement — the President himself did not put in an appearance — is the Secular Coalition for America. This 501(c)(4) non-profit lobbying organization has ten member non-profits, including American Atheists, the Council for Secular Humanism, the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, and the Secular Student Alliance.

Christian organizations were naturally horrified by the subjects the Godless brought up for discussion:

• Child Medical Neglect: The atheists pointed out that many “faith-based” child care centers don’t have to meet health and safety standards that everyone else must meet. Expecting them to clean? But, won’t God keep the kids safe from E.coli?
• Proselytizing in the Military: Supported by news headlines about “Jesus Rifles”, SCA discussed their concerns about the increase in Christian evangelicals in the military and their self-described “duty” to spread the word of “god”.
• 
  Office of Faith-Based Initiatives: The SCA commented that the Obama administration’s expansion of Bush, Jr’s Office of Faith-Based Initiatives unconstitutionally funnels the taxes of American citizens to religious organizations. What separation of Church and State?

How did religious organizations react? Did they hope that the Obama administration took this opportunity to witness to the damned? Perhaps express joy in the interest of other Americans in the future of our country? (Yes, our country. Not their country.)

Let’s not be silly.

Council Nedd, chair of In God We Trust:

It is one thing for Administration to meet with groups of varying viewpoints, but it is quite another for a senior official to sit down with activists representing some of the most hate-filled, anti-religious groups in the nation.

IGWT’s press release was paranoid and vitriolic, accusing the Obama administration of “meeting to plot political strategy with 60 atheist activists”.

The failure of people like Nedd to distinguish between atheists — people who simply don’t believe in a god or gods — and antitheists — people who believe religion is inherently destructive — is apparent in their histrionics. Nedd whined:

President Obama seems to believe that it is a good idea to have a key senior aide plan political strategy with people who believe faith in God is a disease. Some of the people in this coalition believe the world would be better off with no Christians and no Jews and they aren’t shy about it.

The fact that this meeting is happening at all is an affront to the vast majority of people of all faiths who believe in God. The President should tell the American people whether he believes these groups’ hate-filled views to be ‘mainstream’ and worthy of his supposedly inclusive administration.

Here we see Nedd’s true colors. An “inclusive administration” can only include people who share Nedd’s beliefs in invisible magic men.

Nedd was not alone. Bill Donohue, President of the Catholic League, wailed:

People of faith, especially Christians, have good reason to wonder exactly where their interests lie with the Obama administration. Now we have the definitive answer. In an unprecedented move, leaders of a Presidential administration are hosting some of the biggest anti-religious zealots in the nation!

Religious leaders, of course, never involve themselves in politics, and have always been completely shut out. For example:

President Obama and members of his administration avoided the Family’s “National Prayer Breakfast” like the plague . . . Oh, wait.

Obama immediately dismantled the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives founded by former President G.W. Bush . . . Oops, he expanded it.

Previous administrations have never met with religious figures, right?

Sure, James Dobson (Focus on the Family) visited the White House a reported 24 times, 10 to see President Bush in person.

Fine, Andrea Lafferty of the Traditional Values Coalition visited the White House 50 times between February 2001 and March 2008, with six audiences with Bush.

Jerry Falwell? Only eight visits during the Bush administration.

Meanwhile, Obama has offered speeches on faith, thrown taxpayer funds to religious organizations, and sent lawyers to defend the Defens of Marriage Act by comparing homosexuality to incest and child rape.

Obama has dared to throw a bone — a wing, I believe, and broken — to non-theists. All Hell is breaking loose among Christians, who doubtless see this as the first tiny breach in their impenetrable dike of irrationality and intolerance . . . After all, in the good old days, Presidents took their stance on atheists:

No, I don’t know that atheists should be regarded as citizens, nor should they be regarded as patriotic. This is one nation under God. – George H. W. Bush

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I realize that such a statement sounds melodramatic and extreme. In fact, it sounds like something you may read on the placards hoisted high, by some of the very people that support the actions I’m referring to.

The following events were well reported and recorded during this past week. Colorado State Senator Dave Schultheis proposed Senate Bill SB089 this past week, which would have undermined important democratic institutions. The vehicle for this subversion? A “Religious Bill of Rights” that, in addition to being an insult to the First Amendment, was deemed generally redundant to the ‘real’ Bill of Rights.(1)

This Bill was purportedly necessary for the protection of religious persons from attacks on their religious rights in the public school system, despite the fact that there was no evidence or even anecdotal testimony to support the need for such protection.

The particulars of the Bill and its outrageous demands have been well covered (2)(3). The two most controversial areas of concern?

• Special rights for teachers: Teachers would not have to teach anything that may disagree with their religious views, and may openly display their own religious material in their classrooms.
• Special rights for students: Students could refuse or oppose course material for the same reason, that it didn’t agree with their religious views(1).

The part of the story that I would like to draw attention to is the resulting effect such a Bill would have on the ability of the elected officials of the school board to implement the wishes and demands of the electorate. What is the affect on our democracy if the curriculum of our public school system is influenced by dictates from either one, or even several competing, religious theologies?

The bill is laden with tacit threats of increased and ongoing costly court challenges, even against individual board members, if the public school system refused to adopt and assertively implement its guidelines and demands. The goal of this blatant coercion was the usurping of the authority from our duly-elected school board officials.

The individuals on the school board are the representatives of the people and are required to be responsible to all of the people, on all matters relating to their schools, including curricula. Although not legally binding in its initial form, this Religious Bill of Rights would have usurped that authority over curricula and placed it, indirectly as well as possibly directly, in the hands of religious leaders and clerics. Senator Schultheis himself is a conservative Christian Fundamentalist.

The issues at stake are not whether a student or employee of the public school system can say a prayer before their meal or during lesson breaks, or peacefully study their religious text in the cafeteria during their lunch hour, or anything else as personal or benign. Such things are well within their existing Constitutional rights. What was at stake is the right for a religion to use the public school system as a venue for their proselytizing and means of imposing their discriminatory theological doctrine on society by having control over the public education system’s curricula . . . or by placing teachers in schools who will subvert curricula by refusal to teach certain lessons.

What was attempted was nothing shy of a deliberate move to subvert democratic institutions and the American Constitution for the imperialistic goals of religious sects and their attempt to promote only information that supports their dogma while censoring any information that may expose and challenge the inconsistencies, and lack of scientific or historical basis, of their unsupportable claims.

Fortunately, Senator Schultheis’ poor negotiating skills made killing the bill in committee possible(4).

Although Senator Schultheis is a very vocal and evangelical follower of Jesus, the wording of the Bill only referred to religions in general and plural. If these powers of veto or influence are applied equally to all religions, the resulting affects on the curricula would be crippling to our educational system.

Creationists often demand that their myth regarding the origins of humanity be taught along side the science of evolution, and given equal weight and credibility as an alternative explanation. If this is similarly intended with this bill, and is applied to all religions, the resulting chaos of irrationality could boggle the minds of some of our potentially best and brightest. We would be presenting children with a cacophony of ignorance, infusing ideas of a flat earth created in six days with stars as heavenly projectiles and the laws of physics subject to the whims of an imaginary, invisible, supernatural being. Additionally, the social impact of Christian and Islamic doctrine against any who do not share their faith, as well as the discrimination against women and homosexuals, would destroy the more tolerant, secular environment.

The danger of handing this sort of all-inclusive influence to several religions is obvious, but I’m sure that equal access to all religions was not the intent of this bill. The apparent motive behind this Bill is not in the name of religious freedom or tolerance, but in the name of freedom and tolerance for one specific religion. I’m sure that references to democracy would eventually be invoked to stave of any threat of competing theologies, ideologies, or even provable and observable truths, and preferential rights would be claimed, as a voting majority, by the most popular religion. All, in violation of the Constitution.

These sort of strategies employed are brilliant examples of political savvy and masterful statesmanship designed to erode the democracy from within by using its strengths against it. Equality, access, respect and tolerance, and the systems and institutions that have been developed striving towards these principles, are actively undermined with “divine” justification and absolution. Christianity and Islam, and any other authoritarian theologies, are the stated enemies of democracy.

The two most common religions in America, and globally, don’t require observance by their adherents alone. They require obedience and observance by an entire society. They are dictatorial and tyrannical and anathema to democracy. These religions require adherents to evangelize, to witness, and to spread the word of their “god” in order to convert the non-believers. These religions have rules and doctrines for society that adherents are commanded to demand, even of non-believers.

It is the duty of Christians, or followers of Jesus, and it is the same for Muslims, the devotees of Islam. They must be imperialistic and work to convert or coerce others to follow the doctrines and dictates of their religion. That is their role. The public sphere is not a place of acceptance, tolerance and cooperation where they seek only to coexist, but a place to be evangelized and bent to their will.

This close call was in the state of Colorado, ranked only the forty-first most religious state in America. Texas, ranked the eleventh most religious, has already reintroduced the Christian Bible as part of their curriculum and Kentucky, ranked tenth, seems as though it will soon follow suit.

These are not isolated incidents of extremists trying to impact the American system. Religious organizations and movements, in this case the conservative Christian Right, the followers of Jesus and American fundamentalists, are working vigorously to circumvent democratic processes in America’s public and governmental institutions. Cloaked in the guise of American traditional values and American patriotism, the Christian conservative movement works diligently to further its own agenda. It will not be one sweeping event of momentous individual impact that will establish fundamental political and social change; rather, small incremental changes building one upon the other will be the standard method of operation. Even if it means subverting the Constitution of the United States.

(1) – Colorado Religious Bill of Rights – Bill Text
(2) – http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/02/15/do-we-really-need-a-religious-bill-of-rights/
(3) – http://www.palibandaily.com/2010/02/17/colorados-religious-bill-of-rights/
(4) – http://coloradoindependent.com/47541/controversial-schultheis-public-schools-religion-bill-ends-in-a-whimper
(5) – http://pewforum.org/docs/?DocID=504

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Personhood USA reports that both Personhood Colorado and Personhood Mississippi have submitted adequate signatures to place “Personhood Amendments” to their state constitutions on the ballot in November.

Christian News Wire reports that Personhood Colorado gathered 79,817 signatures (76,047 were required) via an all-volunteer campaign.

Colorado’s amendment reads:

“Section 32. Person defined. As used in sections 3*, 6**, and 25*** of Article II of the state constitution, the term “person” shall apply to every human being from the beginning of the biological development of that human being.”

Colorado state legislator and amendment co-sponsor Gualberto Garcia-Jones remarks:

The 79,817 signatures are an indicator that the people of Colorado are determined to protect innocent life; we will not rest until every child is protected by love and by law.

Personhood Mississippi’s site makes it crystal clear that this is a religious movement:

As an update, we still need help from pro-life Christians, families, churches, and organizations in the Delta, Southwest Miss, the Coast, & Metro Jackson . . . If your church has not gotten involved, have them do so. If they have, contact other churches in your area.

Finally, as a reminder, we want to encourage all pro-life Mississippi Christians to get involved — not only with our efforts, but with pouring their lives into the “true religion” (James 1:27) of caring for widows & orphans.

Personhood Mississippi has collected over 114,000 (of 95,000 required) to make this into law:

Be it Enacted by the People of the State of Mississippi: SECTION 1. Article III of the constitution of the state of Mississippi is hearby amended BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION TO READ: Section 33. Person defined. As used in this Article III of the state constitution, “The term ‘person’ or ‘persons’ shall include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning or the functional equivalent thereof.” This initiative shall not require any additional revenue for implementation.

What does this mean?

First, it means that abortion — even to save the life of the mother, even in cases of child rape or incest — would be legally considered murder.

Second, it outlaws certain forms of birth control.

• IUDs prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the uterine lining.
• The morning-after pill (RU-486) causes the uterus to reject a recently-implanted egg.

What about fertility clinics?

All those spare fertilized eggs that didn’t get implanted and are in cold storage . . . yes, they’re people, too. I’m not sure how they plan to handle them; require someone to bear them?

Are there unforeseen consequences?

Unforeseen by whom? The proposers may not consider overpopulation a problem.

More interestingly, the amendment states, “This initiative shall not require any additional revenue for implementation.” This is not true.

Many sensible parents terminate pregnancies when the health of the mother is at stake. Personhood would make this impossible, meaning huge medical expenses — born by the taxpayers — to keep the mother alive through her pregnancy.

Many sensible parents also terminate pregnancies when the child is going to be severely deformed or subject to a hereditary disease. Personhood would make this impossible as well, meaning any number of children needing life-long care will become wards of the state.

What do you think of Personhood?

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The Tea Party movement started in late 2008, as American taxpayers took to the streets to express their frustration over George W. Bush’s bailout of Wall Street firms. Back then, they were a disorganized, grassroots bunch, a fringe movement of disorganized independent thinkers, including Republicans, Democrats, liberals, and conservatives. They counted Libertarians and many, many Independents among their ranks. Some were pro-life, some were pro-choice. Some espoused Biblical values, some thought that group sodomy is a wonderful thing among truckers or football teams. They were of all races, coming from all walks of life.

All this motley crew had in common was opposition to massive bailouts of failing corporations and banks, funded by American taxpayers — and disenchantment with both George W. Bush (may his Administration rest in peace) and Obama bin Laden. They were just plain sick of partisan politics, and ready to head off in a whole new direction.

We couldn’t have that!

Enter Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, and Judson Phillips.

Beck had perhaps the most challenging role of all: Talking out of both sides of his mouth without getting caught. Prison Planet put together a great summary, aptly titled, “Glenn Beck for Dummies“.

Glenn Beck is being characterized by the establishment as the leader of the freedom movement and yet a closer analysis of his ideology reveals that Beck is nothing more than a fake revolutionary who has supported and is pushing policies that are diametrically opposed to those embraced by true constitutionalists.

. . . leading conservatives and libertarians down a meaningless partisan rabbit hole in a clear attempt to neutralize genuine opposition to the big government agenda of the Obama administration.

Authors Paul Joseph Watkins and Alex Jones point out the inconsistencies in Beck’s supposed “libertarian” stance . . . Things like his support for the USA Patriot Act and Bush’s Banker Bailout of 2008; his December 4, 2009 appearance on Bill O’Reilly’s show to promote a new 2% VAT tax; and the 9/12 project, which eschews the liberty America was founded upon in favor of the false security of a police state.

They conclude:

Glenn Beck is a fake revolutionary whose job it is to lead conservatives and libertarians away from uniting behind the real issues, while absorbing the successes of the patriot movement and in turn discrediting it by way of his clownish antics and easily derided mannerisms. He is part of a wider approach on behalf of Fox News to become a beacon for freedom movement and then act as a steam valve for its issues, deluding people into thinking their interests are being represented when in reality they are merely being sucked up and spewed out as something entirely misrepresentative.

Palin . . . To be honest, I’m not sure if she really thought she was cleverly co-opting the “common folk”, who think that a woman who gets paid $100,000 to give a speech is “just one of them”, or if she is just enjoying the ride. Having watched portions of her Tea Party convention speech, I’m not sure she knows what she thinks. I’m going to give her a pass on conspiratorial efforts and assume she’s simply demonstrating her blind (and witless) ambition and taking advantage of the situation.

While Glenn Beck made the “teabaggers” a laughingstock, Judson Phillips made them a business, and a fundraising arm of the right wing.

He began by copyrighting “Tea Party Nation” and starting a members-only password-protected website. On that site, it is declared that you can and will be banned for “being a liberal” — or so I’m told, the FAQ is Members Only — making it crystal clear that the grassroots days of long-ago 2008 are long gone.

The members-only Tea Party Nation website pretty much demonstrates the openness and transparency of this movement:

• Want to read the Blogs and find out what this Tea Party Nation is all about? Sorry, Members Only.
• Look over the Forum, see what the rank-and-file talk about? Members Only.
• See if there’s a Group in your area, maybe meet a few folks? Nope, gotta be a Member.
• FAQ? Resources? Events? Only for Members’ Eyes.
• Buy Tea Party Nation merchandise? Anybody can do that!!

Phillips reached what could be the climax of his Party last week, charging over $500 per person to attend his for-profit convention (plus over $300 to watch Sister Sarah Palin test out her patented “PalmPrompter”)!

Phillips made what was a true movement of the people into a narrow, bigoted, whites-only, extreme Christian conservative coalition and fundraising mechanism for Republican candidates! As a result, he — with the help of rodeo clown Glenn Beck and airhead Sarah Palin — have ensured that the American two-party system will remain intact. The most recent threat was swiftly and easily co-opted into the Christian conservative movement.

Congratulations, Judson Phillips, Tea Party Traitor!

I signed up on the Tea Party Nation site today. It asked for my email address, full name, birth date, gender, and also website and twitter name. I was then informed that my membership would be approved after an administrator reviewed it, and was given the chance to “withdraw [my] application”! If I’m approved, I’ll report from “inside the belly of the beast”.

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Hedging her bets, Sarah Palin charged $100,000 to speak at the first Tea Party Nation convention, where attendees paid $500 to get in the convention plus over $300 just to hear her speech. By not speaking for free, Palin avoids being tied too closely to Tea Party Nation.

The Wall Street Journal reports that while Palin was happy to gain support from the (for-profit) Tea Party (Nation) movement, she didn’t want them to interfere with the two-party system:

Asked whether she might run on the Tea Party ticket, Ms. Palin declined to answer directly, saying she hoped that the nascent movement remains a “movement of the people” and that its members “don’t believe that they need some kind of well-oiled machine” to have a political impact.

While Tea Partiers may be offended, they shouldn’t be surprised. It was only just over a week ago that Palin recommended that the Republican Party absorb Tea Party Nation:

Fox’s Greta Van Susteren asked if tea party candidates would end up siphoning votes from GOP nominees, or if the movement will “merge with the Republican Party.”

“They need to merge,” Palin said. “Definitely, they need to merge. I think those who are wanting the divisions and the divisiveness and the controversy — those are the ones who don’t believe in the message. And they’re the ones, I think, stirring it up.”

The pressure to push Tea Party Nation from its original roots as a movement espousing low taxes and smaller government — not a police state and farm subsidies and Republican-only government — may be the reason both Michele Bachmann and Martha Blackburn dropped out . . . leaving Palin as the only big name.

Blogger Kleinhelder at the Nashville Post sums it up nicely.

This new tea party bears no resemblance to the one that began a year ago as a reaction to the collapse of our financial system and the subsequent bailout. That movement of ragtag and unorganized libertarians, independents and conservatives was something new and unique. An authentic protest movement angered not just by the new President, Barack Obama, who had presided over the bailouts but the president who started the ball rolling and whose incompetence had led to the crisis in the first place, George W. Bush.

The people we saw on the steps of Legislative Plaza and county courthouses across the state last year weren’t “movement conservatives.” Certainly the movement conservatives were there at those protests but the tea parties were much bigger in size, scope and concept than just traditional modern conservatism reheated. Last night, the professional conservatives fixed that for good.

For over a year the media has struggled to try and define just what exactly the movement was. Now they have a definition.

Sarah Palin.

WSJ provides a bit more on Tea Party Nation:

As first reported by POLITICO, Tea Party Nation is a for-profit company that also operates a social network site by the same name. [Tea Party Nation CEO Judson] Phillips intends to turn a profit from the convention, with the stated goal of seeding a so-called 527 group that would air ads praising conservative candidates or criticizing their opponents.

But on Saturday he said there likely wouldn’t be much profit, and whatever money is made will go to a second convention he’s planning for July.

I’m sure Phillips will not show any substantial profit from the convention, and that he will clearly demonstrate why on the Tea Party Nation website.

Be careful if you decide to join the Tea Party Nation forum. Irregular Times collected a few details from the “revolutionary, non-partisan, 100%-password-protected (including the FAQ)” website:

* it is a corporation which has trademarked the phrase “Tea Party Nation” and will sue anyone else who uses the words.

* “You can and will be banned for being a liberal.”

* “Tea Party Nation reserves the right to ban anyone for any reason we feel necessary”

* “Trashing of TPN will not be tolerated.”

* “Questions regarding TPN posted in the public forums or blogs on the site will be deleted.”

* “It is not a forum for… calls for militant uprisings.”

* “Tea Party Nation’s strict No Tolerance policy will not make exceptions… if you see such postings, you immediately report them”

While Tea Party Nation’s speakers call for a revolution for the cameras, any actual revolutionary behavior or dissent will be result in swift dismissal. That’s an interesting combination.

A screenshot would be nice, Irregular Times guys!

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