McAuliffe to Veto Pet Far Right GOP Bills

It definitely makes a difference having a Democrat in the Governor's mansion.  As the Washington Post reports, Terry McAuliffe is poised to veto about 20 bills passed by the GOP controlled General Assembly that rang from more restrictions aimed at suppressing the minority vote to granting special rights to Christofascist parents who home school their children yet want the benefit of public school sports programs and other efforts of the GOP's reverse Robin Hood agenda.  Here are highlights from the Post:

Gov. Terry McAuliffe told fellow Democrats this week that he intends to veto about 20 bills, including one that would have allowed home-schooled students to play sports on public high school teams, according to two people familiar with his plans.

 McAuliffe (D) spoke with Democratic legislators by conference call this week to share plans to veto the Tebow bill and a number of other Republican-sponsored measures . . . .

McAuliffe also plans to veto bills meant to tighten restrictions on voting and loosen them on guns, buck Common Core educational standards, undermine local “living wage” rules, and adjust House and Senate district lines.

The package of expected vetoes will send a clear signal about McAuliffe’s agenda and his ideology as a liberal governor. And they will give McAuliffe and other Democrats a chance to flex their muscle for a change in Richmond, where Republicans have long dominated the House — and took narrow control of the Senate last summer.

Republicans have the numbers to override any vetoes in the House but not in the Senate. So after a session in which Democratic priorities including expanding gay rights and restricting access to guns died swift deaths at the hands of the GOP, Democrats will have some sway.

One of the bills McAuliffe seems prepared to veto is the Tebow bill, named for Tim Tebow, the former Denver Broncos quarterback who was home-schooled in Florida and allowed to play football at his local high school. Similar legislation has passed the House since 2005, only to die in the Senate.  . . . . opponents have said it would be wrong to let children compete in sports without requiring them to meet the same academic and disciplinary standards required of students in public schools.

McAuliffe is also expected to veto bills that require voters who apply for absentee ballots to provide a copy of photo identification, just as they must do when voting in person under a law passed last year.

Voter ID has been a highly partisan issue in Richmond and around the country in recent years, with Republicans arguing that tighter standards are needed to ensure the legitimacy of elections, and Democrats accusing the GOP of trying to suppress votes.

Also on the chopping block are bills intended to prevent local governments from requiring contractors to pay their employees a wage above the minimum required by state or federal law.

McAuliffe is also expected to strike bills that would prohibit the state Board of Education from replacing its own statewide educational standards, known as Standards of Learning, with federal Common Core standards. The Common Core standards have become a lightning rod for conservatives opposed to perceived federal “overreach.”

 McAuliffe is also expected to veto several bills intended to expand gun rights, including one that would allow anyone who holds a concealed handgun permit to transport a loaded shotgun or rifle in a car on any public roadway.

Kudos for the coming vetoes!

Why Jason Collins’ Faith is Ignored... And Tim Tebow’s Isn’t

Personally, I find it a sweetly ironic coincidence that Jason Collins' coming out story broke at the same time as the news that Tim Tebow, the darling of the white Christofacists, had been dumped by the New York Jets after only one year.  It is likewise ironic that outside of Christofascist circles most people have seemed generally indifferent to Tebow's demise.  Perhaps they were just relieved at the prospect of no longer having to deal with Tebow's shameless self-promotion and out of place religiosity on the football field.  Does the man seriously think God cares which team of over paid modern day gladiators wins?  Give me a break.  

The foregoing comments aside, what has been largely missed in connection with Collins' story is that Collins is equally religious.  He simply doesn't wear it on his sleeve and engage in shameless theatrics like Tebow.  Indeed, it was Collins' faith, including religious dictates against lying that helped Collins finally come out of the closet.  Religion Dispatches looks at the largely missed aspects of Collins' faith.  Here are highlights:

Collins and Tebow are a study in contrasts, perhaps especially when it comes to their faith. Tebow is known for game-saving theatrics and an equally performative profession of faith politicized by the culture wars. He’s positioned himself as an all-American poster child for the pro-life movement and homophobic groups like Focus on the Family. Collins, on the other hand, is a career role player who keeps his head down on the court and his devout Christian faith, rooted in family and community identity, private.

Where Tebow’s religiosity has been endlessly analyzed by the media and championed by the white religious right, the centrality of Collins’ Christianity and faith community in his decision to come out has been ignored.

Collins pointedly mentions that his parents “instilled Christian values” in him. He credits “the teachings of Jesus… particularly the ones that touch on tolerance and understanding,” for helping him to accept others (and ultimately himself) unconditionally. In his behind-the-scenes profile of how Collins’ historic interview came together, Jon Wertheim writes that the “deeply religious” Collins found spiritual validation for his plans to come out in a “daily prayer manual” that was a gift from his grandmother—specifically a passage he read just days before his announcement:

The clarion call of freedom sounds within my soul, trumpeting the truth that the love of God liberates me from unhappiness, hurt, or fear. I bid farewell to any emptiness from the past, and open myself to realizing my heart’s deepest longing and aspiration.

Collins’ now famous opening lines—“I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay”—allude to the inseparability of blackness from sexuality in a culture that often expects black gay, lesbian, and bisexual people to choose one identity over the other. Collins makes the point, however, that his religious upbringing is just as integral to his identity as his race and sexuality.

 

[T]he glossing over of his faith since his announcement is striking, especially given that the faith of black athletes often flies under the radar of both the media and the religious right.

Tim Tebow is an example of how the public face of Christian athletes, like the public face of American Christianity in general, is overwhelmingly white—despite the fact that black Americans are the racial demographic most likely to identify as “very religious.” A recent Barna poll found that Tebow is by far the most well-known Christian professional athlete in the U.S. (with 83% awareness from the public), . . . . 

There are many reasons for this marginalization of black Christian athletes. Segregation and racism in American churches and media, and widespread ignorance of black religiosity, are partly to blame, but it’s also due to the fact that white evangelicalism is more politicized—or, perhaps more accurately, is differently politicized—than Black Church traditions tend to be. Collins’ faith, like that of many black athletes (even socially conservative ones), doesn’t fit the model of public performance of religiosity, or culture war conflicts the media expects and the religious right demands of its spokespeople.

Black athletes often don’t wear their faith—or their politics—on their sleeves in quite the way Tebow, Curt Schilling, and other prominent white Christian athletes have. Devotion in Black Church traditions is often more of a personal, family, and community affair; less conducive to media theatrics.

Since Collins’ announcement, Christians and media commentators on the right have circulated a meme claiming that he is being celebrated for being gay, while Tim Tebow has been “bashed” and persecuted for being open about his faith.

This is the world as many on the religious right see it: not one in which Tebow is famous precisely because he’s a mediocre white quarterback who is vocal about his faith, nor one in which Collins and other black athletes who are also “avowed Christians” routinely get passed over by the media and the public—and certainly not one in which gay, lesbian, and bisexual people face systemic discrimination. Instead, they live in a world where Tebow, who according to Barna has a 73% favorability rating with the American public when it comes to his discussion of religion, is being vaguely persecuted for being a straight, white, Christian conservative man. 

As for the white Christian athletes like Tebow who make a public display of their religiosity, I'd remind them of  Matthew 6:5-6 which says:

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.  But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

I can only assume that in his self-promotion, Tebow never took the time to read these passages.   

Jets Dump Tim Tebow

Personally, I have always found Tim Tebow to be obnoxious at best.  His constant displays of feinted religiosity never belonged on the football field.   Especially, if one gives credence to the Gospel passages that direct that one pray in private and not make a public show as did some of the Pharisees so roundly criticized by Christ.  Yesterday, Tebow got his comeuppance when he was dumped by the New York Jets after the team could not find any team that would take Tebow as a trade.  ESPN looks at Tebow's downfall.  Here are excerpts:

One year after bringing Tim Tebow to Broadway, creating a nationwide fascination that slowly evolved into controversy, the New York Jets on Monday made the long-anticipated move of releasing one of the NFL's most popular players.   The Jets confirmed the release in a three-paragraph news release, a long way from his Super Bowl-sized news conference last March.

Ryan and general manager John Idzik informed Tebow early Monday morning in a face-to-face meeting at the team's facility before he was expected to work out with teammates, a source said. Tebow left the building shortly thereafter.

After using a second-round pick on Geno Smith this past weekend, the Jets had six quarterbacks on the roster, and someone had to go. The Jets tried for months to trade Tebow, sources said. 

When no other team offered even a seventh-round draft pick for Tebow by the conclusion of the NFL draft on Saturday, the decision was imminent, sources said.

The Jets had given permission this offseason to Tebow's agent, Jimmy Sexton, to try to seek a trade, a source familiar with situation said. More than one team reached out to see whether Tebow was willing to switch positions from quarterback to tight end, but he was not.

The Tebow trade never came close to living up to the hype, as Tebow played only 77 offensive snaps. It became apparent late in the season that he'd be one-and-done in New York.

Many figured he'd wind up playing for his hometown team, the Jacksonville Jaguars, but the new GM, Dave Caldwell, shut down that idea at his first news conference in January.

Tebow could help his chances by agreeing to switch positions, several league executives said, but he wants to remain a quarterback.

Jim Popp, the general manager of the Montreal Alouettes in the CFL, said he'd be interested in Tebow if he failed to land a job in the NFL. But he wouldn't be handed a starting job. Tebow's CFL rights are owned by the Alouettes.

Wing Nuts Goe Berserk Over Tebow Cancellation of Appearance at Anti-Gay Church

In the grand scheme of things, Tim Tebow and where he decides to make appearances doesn't add up to a hill of beans.  At least not among rational, sentient individuals in touch with objective reality.  But among the Christofascists, Tebow's cancellation of his April appearance at the opening of Robert Jeffress’ $115 million First Baptist Church in Dallas has launched all kinds of spittle spraying batshitery.  And of course, the hate merchants of the "family values" organizations and the professional Christian crowd are blaming the gays - and Satan - on Tebow's decision to avoid appearing at a church best defined by who its senior pastor hates, namely most everyone. And even more bizarrely, Tebow's decision is claimed to reflect an attack on Christianity.  It truly doesn't get any crazier than among the "godly Christian" folk.  Box Turtle Bulletin looks at the insanity.  Here are some excerpts:

Quarterback Tim Tebow recently cancelled an appearance at the opening of Robert Jeffress’ $115 million church after finding out about Jeffress’ controversial reputation.  The good pastor has spoken out against:

• Mormonism (“a heresy from the pit of hell”)

• Judaism (“you can’t be saved being a Jew”)

• Catholicism (“the genius of Satan”)

and, of course,

• Gays (“homosexuality is perverse, it represents a degradation of a person’s mind and if a person will sink that low and there are no restraints from God’s law, then there is no telling to whatever sins he will commit as well”)

Of course, while Jeffress is merely exercising his religious freedom, any attempt to disagree with him is an attack on that freedom:

Denny Burk, a cultural commentator and professor at Boyce College in Louisville, Ken., said Tebow’s decision is a significant event for the nation’s Christian community and could serve as a troubling bellwether.

“This moment will appear to many as another marker of Christianity’s cultural marginalization,” he wrote on his website. “In the broad tolerance of views in our public discourse, who’s in and who’s out? What voices are allowed in the cacophony that is American democracy? Which voices should be excluded? Christian voices have long been a part of the din but moments like these make it seem like those days are coming to an end.”

Pass the smelling salts! I’ll need them when I stop laughing. Apparently disagreeing with Jeffress, deciding not to associate with him, suggesting that others rethink their association with him, is an assault on Jeffress’ liberty — wait, no, that’s not right — is an assault on Christianity itself and American democracy along with it.

See, it’s fine to call someone a Satanic, heretical pervert from the pit of Hell, but if your target calls you a bigot in reply then you get to be all, OMG, Can you believe what he just said??

Over at Civil Commotion, Bob Felton reports on the hissy fit thrown by Baptist Press over Tebow's cancellation and has a few on point comments on why society needs to reject the Christofascist agenda:

Baptist Press is on the case, and affirms that America sure is hard on the godly.

The pastor at First Baptist Dallas, Robert Jeffress, has been nationally prominent in stating his biblical views regarding marriage, homosexuality, and during the presidential campaign last year, Mormonism, according to the Southern Baptist Texan newspaper.

In a statement to the Florida Baptist Witness, Brunson [Tebow's pastor at FBC-Jacksonville] said the media attacks on Jeffress, the church and Tebow are without merit. “Clearly there is a bias in this country when it comes to evangelical Christianity,” he said.

Further, Tebow’s home church and First Baptist Dallas share the same beliefs, Brunson said.

Yeah, yeah — ho-hum. Gay rights have been before the public for more than a decade, endlessly debated — and common sense has prevailed: There just isn’t any reason why gays should not enjoy full marriage equality. Reason. Freeborn adults believe you should have a reason if you’re going to constrict other people’s lives — and “My invisible friend says so” doesn’t pass muster.

Let’s be clear about something: The evangelicals are right about this much — there is a moral issue at stake. But their insistence that we must be guided by a nonsensical old book of unknown provenance instead of our minds puts them on the wrong side of the moral issue. Blind obedience is not morality, but an abdication of morality; it is choosing to live as a dumb farm animal.

What I find most ironic is that it is the hate-filled, ignorance embracing racists and bigots of the Christianist  crowd who are accelerating the decline of Christianity in the developed world.  The more they scream and howl and direct hate and bigotry towards other citizens, the more the younger generations and educated people walk away.  Yet these fanatics cannot see that it is they themselves, not gays, liberals or the media that are the real problem.

Tim Tebow Cancels Appearance at Anti-Gay Church

We may never know what really caused football player Tim Tebow to cancel his scheduled appearance at the virulently anti-gay First Baptist Church of Dallas.  As prior posts on this blog noted, Tebow - who I think often acts like a pretentious Pharisee through his public displays of supposed religiosity - was to have  appeared in the company of Pastor Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church who has a horrific record on gay bashing and slandering and denigrating LGBT individuals in general.  The Dallas Voice looks at Tebow's change of heart. Not surprisingly, First Baptist is trying to deny just how ugly Jeffress has made the "Christian" message.   Here are article highlights:

Christian quarterback Tim Tebow announced this morning via Twitter that he was canceling his visit to First Baptist Church of Dallas “due to new information that has been brought to my attention.”

Perhaps that new information was how anti-gay First Baptists’ Pastor Robert Jeffress is, if anyone didn’t already know. Tebow was scheduled to share a “message of hope and Christ’s unconditional love,” but the athlete was criticized for agreeing to speak at such an anti-gay church.

A petition started on Change.org requested he cancel and affirm his inclusive views of the everyone, including the LGBT community.

First Baptist released a statement that said media reports had “grossly misrepresented past comments” by Jeffress. After his cancellation, they released a statement that the church was “saddened that Mr. Tebow felt pressure to back out of his long-planned commitment.”

Here's First Baptist's full CYA statement:

Statement by First Baptist Church Dallas re: Tim Tebow’s Cancellation of His First Speaking Engagement at First Baptist Church in April during Grand Opening Celebration February 21, 2013

The leaders and congregation of First Baptist Church Dallas are disappointed that New York Jets’ Quarterback Tim Tebow has announced he will no longer speak at First Baptist Church Dallas on April 28, 2013, as part of the month-long celebration events surrounding the grand opening of our new $130 million, state-of-the-art campus on Easter Sunday.

Mr. Tebow called Dr. Jeffress Wednesday evening saying that for personal and professional reasons he needed to avoid controversy at this time but would like to come to First Baptist Dallas to speak at a future date. We are saddened that Mr. Tebow felt pressure to back out of his long-planned commitment from numerous New York and national sports and news media who grossly misrepresented past comments made by our pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress, specifically related to issues of homosexuality and AIDS, as well as Judaism.

As a Christian pastor, Dr. Jeffress takes a biblical approach to moral and social issues, closely following his duty to preach ‘the whole counsel of God,’ and not just address issues that are politically correct. First Baptist is a church built on the truth of Scripture, even though at times that approach can be perceived as controversial or counter to the prevailing winds of culture.

The reason for the recent media firestorm is not because the Word of God has changed, but because society has changed.

More important, contrary to editorializing in the media, Dr. Jeffress shares a message of hope, not hate; salvation, not judgment; and a Gospel of God’s love, grace and new beginnings available to all.

Frankly, I don't believe a word of the First Baptist statement which might be best described as a fairy tale if one knows Jeffress' history.  Indeed, under Jeffress, First Baptist Church has become best know as a messenger of hate.  And when it refers to "Dr. Jeffress' biblical approach to moral and social issue,s" the statement utterly ignores the selective picking an choosing of which Bible passages can be conveniently ignored.  The truth be told, Jeffress and First Baptist represent the hideous face of conservative Christianity which is driving the under 50 generations to leave organized religion entirely.   If Tebow has any sense, he will never reschedule and never set foot in a hate filled church like First Baptist.

Virginia Senate Blocks Christianist Backed "Tebow Bill"

As prior posts have revealed, I am no fan of Tim Tebow.   Nor am I a fan of the Christofascists at The Family Foundation or their political whores in the Virginia Republican Party who incessantly want special rights for far right Christians.   A case in point is the so-called "Tebow Bill" that would allow home schooled students to play on public school sports teams.  The very public schools that the Christianists seek to hit with budget cuts whenever and wherever possible.   Thankfully, the Virginia Senate killed the Tebow Bill for this year and the Christofascists will have to wait before they can once again try to have their cake and eat it too by holding their children out of public school but then nonetheless wanting special public school perks for their children.  The Roanoke Times has details:

Legislation to let home schooled students join public school sports teams was defeated Thursday in the Senate Education and Health Committee, where similar bills have failed in previous years.  The perennial proposal from Del. Rob Bell, R-Albemarle County, would achieve that by prohibiting public schools from joining an interscholastic governing body, such as the Virginia High School League, that bars home schoolers from public school sports.

It was tackled again in a Senate committee, failing on an 8-7 vote when Republican Sen. Harry Blevins of Chesapeake, a retired high school principal, joined with the Democratic minority on the panel in opposition to the bill.

Before the vote, a procession of home school students and advocates urged the panel to approve the bill.

“We pay our taxes, too,” the elder Henderson said. “There’s no difficulty in taking our money.”  “You pay taxes that also go to purchase an F-22 fighter, that doesn’t mean you get to fly it,” fired back Senate Minority Leader Richard Saslaw.  The Fairfax County Democrat said parents “knew the ground rules when you opted to home school your kids” and made that choice.

Opposing the measure were representatives of education interest groups including the Virginia Parent Teacher Association, the Virginia Education Association, the Virginia High School League and the Virginia Association of School Superintendents.  They said creating special dispensation for home schooled students is unfair to public students who have to meet course load and other standards home schoolers don’t face.

Kudos to Harry Blevins who now will likely face the wrath of a truly pissed off Victoria Cobb and her fellow hate merchants at The Family Foundation who saw this bill as a top priority.  The Family Foundation was a moving force behind the killing in committee of a bill that would have protected gay and lesbian STATE employees from being fired for being gay.  Go here to see some of the lies that are all too typical of the garbage Ms. Cobb and her cohorts disseminate and direct at legislators.

Tim Tebow to Address Anti-Gay, Anti-Catholic, Anti-Mormon Megachurch

While the Christofascists nearly wet their pants and swoon over Tim Tebow, I for one have always found him to be a Pharisee like hypocrite who revels in making a public display of his supposed piety.  He apparently - like so many of the Christofascists selectively reads the Bible and is clueless about Christ's admonition to pray behind close doors, not making a show of one's piousness.  Now, Tebow is showing his true colors and is speaking at an anti-gay and anti-Catholic mega church.  Yes, Tebow is entitled to his views, but that doesn't mean one needs to like Tebow or his beliefs.  Right Wing Watch has details on Tebow's embrace of bigotry.  Here are highlights:

While Tim Tebow is struggling to find an NFL team that is willing to sign him, he is apparently having no problem booking speaking gigs as the Jets’ backup quarterback is scheduled to address a Texas megachurch whose pastor is notorious for extremist statements about Roman Catholics, Mormons, Muslims, gays and lesbians and President Obama.

Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Church Dallas gained national attention during his appearance at the Values Voter Summit where he urged Christians to oppose Mitt Romney’s candidacy for the GOP nomination for president because his Mormon faith makes him a member of a “cult” that is “from the pit of Hell.”

Besides Muslims, Jeffress labeled Roman Catholics, Hindus, Muslims, and Buddhists as cult followers. He has called Islam an “evil, evil religion” and claimed that Muslims, Mormons and Jews are destined to Hell.   Jeffress also attacked Roman Catholicism, which he maintains represents “the genius of Satan,” and suggested that Catholics too will go to Hell.

The megachurch pastor reserves some of his most stringent rhetoric for gays and lesbians.  He has described gays and lesbians as “perverse,” “miserable” and “abnormal” people who engage in an “unnatural” and “filthy practice” that will lead to the “implosion of our country.” Jeffress argues that the gay community employs Chinese “brainwashing techniques” in order to have homosexuality “crammed down our throats.”

One is known by the company they keep, and Tebow is keeping company with some pretty foul people