Clipmarks | earnric's Comments

So you think christianity is crazy?

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 23:47:15 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: Give the Quaran and Islam a try... Kafir girl reads and comments on the book so you don't have too!

She also adds some family "insights" to keep things moving... Funny stuff (it so many people didn't take this crap seriously)

Clip Source: kafirgirl.wordpress.com

Hadith are the everyday practices and traditions from Mohammed’s life, which were transmitted orally and written down much later. Boy, that sounds reputable, doesn’t it? They cover everything from dream interpretation to gardening to dinner table etiquette. I’ve met some Muslims who take hadith very seriously, and others who think hadith are total bullshit. Most of all, though, I’ve met Muslims who cherry pick the best advice and ignore the shit that makes Mohammed look like batshitass crazy.

My family falls into that last category for the most part, but my grandmother was all about the hadith. Or at least the hadith as she knew them. It drove me nuts when she would chastise my left-handed cousin with, “The prophet says you should never eat with your left hand!” Why not, grandma? “It’s the hand of the devil!” Well, fuck. All this time I thought it belonged to me. There were many hadith she would pull out of her ass, but this one was her absolute favorite.

Tags: islam, craziness

20 Reasons I Don't Take Potshots at Fundamentalists

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 20:57:00 GMT

clipped by: willhelm
clipper's remarks: By John Piper

Clip Source: www.desiringgod.org

1. They are humble and respectful and courteous and even funny (the ones I've met).

2. They believe in truth.

3. They believe that truth really matters.

4. They believe that the Bible is true, all of it.

5. They know that the Bible calls for some kind of separation from the world.

6. They have backbone and are not prone to compromise principle.

7. They put obedience to Jesus above the approval of man (even though they fall short, like others).

10. Their "social action" is helping the person next door (like Jesus), which doesn't usually get written up in the newspaper.

11. They tend to raise law-abiding, chaste children, in spite of the fact that Barna says evangelical kids in general don't have any better track record than non-Christians.

12. They resist trendiness.

17. They give some contemporary plausibility to New Testament claim that the church is the “pillar and bulwark of the truth.”

20. Everybody to my left thinks I am one. And there are a lot of people to my left.

Iran is no threat unless Bush makes it one

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 22:23:35 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Attack on Iran will quash democracy movement

Clip Source: www.payvand.com

Iran Is No Threat, Unless Bush Makes It One

Worst of all, military attacks on Iran will only consolidate the hardliners' grip on Iran, just when economic problems and political repression are shaking the foundations of their power. President Ahmadinejad is in deep trouble at home, even among his own base. The vast majority of Iran's urban population, and in particular its university students, despise him for his failed economic policies, political repression, and the danger that his hollow rhetoric has created for Iran's national security.

In April 2005, when the reformist Mohammad Khatami was still president, Iran made a comprehensive proposal to the U.S., offering to enter serious negotiations and putting all the important issues on the table. The offer was never taken seriously.

given the deep unpopularity of the hardliners, the absence of an external threat to Iran's national security would make it much easier for democratic groups to push for reforms

Tags: iran

Baptists on the decline...

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 01:00:15 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: could it be...

...that people are waking up to the fact that religion is based on superstition and the desire of one group of people to control others?

When you can say "god wants you to do this" -- and you believe in god -- it makes it easy.

Clip Source: www.azcentral.com

But with membership slightly down last year, and flat for the past five, Southern Baptists face a growing anxiety about their future as they gather for their annual meeting Tuesday in Indianapolis.

"We have peaked," Southern Baptist statistician Ed Stetzer wrote in an online commentary on the latest statistics from 2007. "For now, Southern Baptists are a denomination in decline."

Tags: religion

Biblical nonsense...

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 22:18:05 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: More from the wests favorite story-teller.. Jehovah!

Clip Source: dwindlinginunbelief.blogspot.com

People in need of education...

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:31:02 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: Seems like a lot of people who comment on an issue I raised don't know what "begging the question" means... They simply assume the desired outcome (e.g. - marriage is a religious institution and given to a man and a woman) and say "I defined my term -- you are wrong"... How silly can you get...

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

begging the question has traditionally described a type of logical fallacy (also called petitio principii) in which the proposition to be proved is assumed implicitly or explicitly in one of the premises.

Tags: argument, religion, logic

Creating A Government By The People

Sat, 03 May 2008 13:11:36 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: The National Initiative For Democracy

Clip Source: www.ni4d.us

[Video]

“The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government.”

-- George Washington, 1787

The National Initiative for Democracy is a proposed law developed by The Democracy Foundation, over the past decade, along with a plan to get it enacted by the people (not by the government) creating, for the first time, a government "by you, the people."

The National Initiative includes a constitutional amendment and a federal statute that equips the people with the central power of government, lawmaking. As lawmakers, the people in every government jurisdiction of the United States become a new Check in our system of Checks and Balances designed to control the abuses of government. Representative government remains unaltered except for the partnership established between the people and their elected legislators.

Reflections on James Dobson, child-rearing, and U.S. political discourse

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 04:54:50 GMT

clipped by: enbar
clipper's remarks: For some time, Dr. Dobson has been known for his insistence that a key component of parents' responsibility is the inflicting of controlled violence on their children in order to make them obedient, virtuous, and "God-fearing." Here a blogger considers links between Dobson's typical language of war, as pertinent to child-rearing, marriage and homosexuality, and foreign policy.

Clip Source: www.religiondispatches.org

War on Toddlers: Raising Children the Right Way

Jeffrey Feldman

It is an astounding story, but Dobson uses it to define a core concept in childrearing that subsequently translates into his politics: children can be trained to respect authority through the sudden and swift application of sharp pain. Disciplining a child with pain in these moments is not just about dealing with a specific moment of sassiness, but is the first step in “disarming the teenage timebomb… twelve years before it arrives.” For Dobson, discipline is a pre-emptive strike against the enemy, or as he put it, “If discipline begins on the second day of life, you’re one day late.”

To bring a toddler to tears by hitting them on the legs with a wooden switch or squeezing their trapezius muscle gives parents to an “opportunity” to express their love. While the child recovers from the pain, parents then tell them about “the importance of obedience.”

Tags: rels327, violence, religion, evangelicalism, christianity, america, commentary

I hope so...

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 00:14:19 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: If even a small percentage of republicans go for Obama -- it'll be a landslide.

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

This is a great day for those of us who have been fighting for Senator Obama! I'm a good example of why he'll win in November. I'm the least typical Obama supporter. And there are many more like me.

I cut my political teeth in the seventies through the early eighties as an organizer in the antiabortion religious right. I'm a fifty-five year old white man who has been a conservative most of my life. I've been a Republican activist who campaigned for McCain in 2000. I'm a big fan of the military. My son served in the Marines. If Obama can reach me he can reach anyone.

Activist Judges...

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 23:58:02 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: Doing what the are supposed to do ... protect us from ourselves.

Clip Source: www.newsweek.com

In the wake of the court's decision, those folks vowed to find a way to protect the sanctity of hetero marriage, that time-honored staple of sitcom mockery and savage custody fights. Polls showing opposition to gay marriage were proffered to prove that the court had overstepped its bounds, ignoring the fact that the most sacred business of judges is not to ratify the will of the majority but to protect the minority from its tyranny.

Tags: gay marriage

husband divorces wife over virginity

Sat, 31 May 2008 22:02:54 GMT

clipped by: boozich
clipper's remarks: gawd!! this would have to be the stupidest ruling i've ever come across...right after divorcing based on "lack of penis size"

Clip Source: www.news.com.au

FRANCE plunged into a heated debate about its marriage laws today after learning that a court had annulled the union of two Muslims because the husband said the wife was not the virgin she had claimed to be.

Politicians, feminists and human rights activists denounced the verdict, handed down last month

"It is profoundly shocking that, in our country, a marriage can be annulled on the basis of non-virginity before the marriage,"

courts should defend Muslim women, not pressure them.

"The end result will be that some Muslim girls will rush to hospitals to have their hymens sewn back together

Gay Marriage not to be delayed in CA

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 19:49:16 GMT

clipped by: Blogtainment

Clip Source: www.cbsnews.com

Calif. Gay Marriage Ruling Goes Forward

(AP) California's highest court has refused to delay finalizing its ruling to legalize same-sex marriage, clearing the way for gays and lesbians in the most populous U.S. state to marry in less than two weeks.

Conservative religious and legal groups had asked the California Supreme Court to stop its order from becoming effective until voters have the chance to weigh in on the issue.

An initiative that would amend the state constitution to limit marriage to between a man and a woman has qualified for the Nov. 4 ballot. Its passage would overrule the court's decision.

The amendment's sponsors argued for delay, saying that chaos would ensue if couples could get married during the next few months, only to have the practice halted at the ballot box.

Ugly truth why Hillary Clinton won't quit

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:18:20 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: www.nydailynews.com

While the case for Hillary Clinton to stay in the race is shakier than ever, one ugly reason for staying in could be found Tuesday amid the ruddy, sun-kissed Hoosiers who cheered her on to victory at the Indianapolis Speedway.

With Clinton posing alongside pioneering Indy speedster Sarah Fisher, there were almost no African-Americans to be seen

"I'm kind of still up in the air between McCain and Hillary," said Jason Jenkins, 32, who cited information from a hoax e-mail as a reason to spurn Obama.

"I'll be honest with you. Barack scares the hell out of me,"he said. "He swore on the Koran."

Obama did manage to pull in many white voters, but still encountered similar sentiments from a man who refused to shake his hand at a diner in Greenwood, Ind.

"I can't stand him," the man said. "He's a Muslim. He's not even pro-American as far as I'm concerned."

He has to convince people that he can win over working-class whites

That cold calculus, while not of Clinton's making, gives her a reason to stay

Tags: politics, obama, clinton, election

It's a bird, it's a beaver...it's a platypus

Sat, 10 May 2008 14:18:04 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead
clipper's remarks: "Ever since it was discovered by bemused European explorers in Australia 200 years ago, the mammal has fascinated schoolchildren and baffled scientists."

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

If you need evidence that God - or Evolution - has a sense of humour, look no further than the duck-billed platypus.

The oddest creature ever to grace on the planet, the platypus lays eggs like a bird, produces milk like a cow and releases snake-like venom from its ankles.

A cross between a beaver and a duck, it has the tail of a beaver, the webbed feet of an otter and an enormous bird-like bill.

Now, in a move that is shedding light on the evolution of the platypus and all mammals, including humans, scientists have decoded its DNA for the first time.

The findings confirm that the species is a cobbled together mix of reptile, bird and mammal and could even lead to the development of new drugs base on chemicals in the creature's milk and venom.

The creature's milk contains antimicrobial chemicals which protect young from infection.

Research into the creatures' venom could also lead to new painkillers

Mammals, such as humans, have two sex chromosomes that determine gender. The platypus has 10.

Tags: animals, platypus, australia, nature, science

The Pentagon vs America

Thu, 08 May 2008 18:26:36 GMT

clipped by: earnric
clipper's remarks: Scott Ritter makes some astute observations regarding the military and its relationship with the citizens - and the constitution - it is sworn to protect.

Clip Source: www.truthdig.com

why would I ever encourage a citizen of military age to consider service in the armed forces?

Our military cannot change unless we the people re-establish the link between ourselves and the legislative branch of government and rebuild the bond of trust between citizen and soldier.

This requires good people to serve, even if the conditions of their service are not ideal. Do I want to have an intelligent, morally grounded soldier on the front line in Iraq, making the decisions about the use of force in the framework of an illegal and unjust occupation, or do I want to relinquish that job to a former felon lacking even a high school diploma? Do I want the troops of today led by Bible-wielding zealots or Constitution-wielding patriots? While we struggle to re-establish the bond between citizen and soldier, we have an absolute requirement to ensure we continue to field a military composed of citizen soldiers.

Tags: military, war, soldier