More Saturday Male Beauty

Chimperator's Mindless Crusade in Iraq Continues to Make Us Less Safe

Just think what things might have been like if the USA had stayed focused on Afghanistan and weeding out the Taliban and Al-Qaeda rather than the Chimperator launching his hubris driven, hair brained crusade in Iraq. Besides the trillions of dollars that might have been saved and the thousands and thousands of lives - both American and Iraqi - that would not have been lost, the world and the USA might have actually been more safe and secure. But instead, the Chimperator thought he heard voices telling him what to do - would that the cretin had been removed from office and committed to a mental hospital somewhere. Now, as this story from the Globe and Mail suggests, things are continuing to go to Hell on a wider and wider scale with Pakistan (which has nuclear weapons) now in growing jeopardy. Here are some highlights:

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PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN — Security around Peshawar, the provincial capital in northwest Pakistan, has been dramatically stepped up amid fears that the city could fall to heavily armed Islamic militants who have now massed around its outskirts. From three sides, Peshawar, which borders Pakistan's wild tribal belt, is menaced by Taliban groups and other warlords.

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If Peshawar is taken over by extremists, the rest of the North West Frontier Province is also threatened, raising the possibility that religious fundamentalists may gain control of a state on Afghanistan's border. The drama in Peshawar reinforces existing doubts about the new Pakistani government's policy of pulling back the army and seeking peace deals with militants.

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“[Central] government has not got to grips with the problem,” said one provincial government official who decline to be identified. “Things have moved fast and unpredictably. Last month we drew up a plan for the defence of Peshawar. We have a vast area to defend and our forces are thinly spread. They [the militants] have mobility and guerrilla tactics.”

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Residents of Peshawar, a colourful city of three million, have become alarmed at developments in and around the city. Militants have started openly entering Peshawar to threaten businesses they disapprove of, such as music shops. Last week, a band loyal to warlord Mangal Bagh arrived in several pickup trucks in Peshawar and abducted a group of Christians. They were released after 12 hours.

Presbyterians Drop Gay Clergy Ban

This vote by the Presbyterians shows that gays are slowly winning the war, if you will, and I suspect more denominations will follow suit . The ELCA hopefully being one of them when it votes next year on a new statement on human sexuality, especially now that some of its sister churches in Europe are recognizing gay unions. It truly disgusts me that supposedly Christian people who ignore all kinds of other passages in the Bible continue to cling to a few passages to condemn and discriminate against gays, even as medical research shows more and more that one's sexual orientation is not some simple choice we make. Are these folks really so insecure in their own sexuality/identity that they must have others to look down upon? Thankfully, the younger generation is increasingly ignoring the bigotry of their elders and, in time, religious denominations will need to change or wither away. I know my own children and their freinds strongly disagree with anti-gay churches and will not attend them. Here are some highlights from 365gay.com:

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The denomination's General Assembly, meeting in San Jose, Calif., voted 54 percent to 46 percent Friday to drop the requirement that would-be ministers, deacons and elders live in "fidelity within the covenant of marriage between and a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness." The proposed change to the church constitution requires approval from a majority the nation's 173 presbyteries, or regional church bodies - a yearlong process that has proven to be a barrier to similar efforts in the past.

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Of equal importance to advocates on both side of the debate, the assembly also voted to allow gay and lesbian candidates for ordination to conscientiously object to the existing standard. Local presbyteries and church councils that approve ordinations would consider such requests on a case-by-case basis. That vote was an "an authoritative interpretation" of the church constitution rather than a change to it, so it goes into effect immediately. The interpretation supersedes a ruling from the church's high court, issued in February, that said there were no exceptions to the so-called "fidelity and chastity" requirement.

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Jon Walton, co-moderator of the San Francisco-based Covenant Network of Presbyterians, which advocates a broader role for gays and lesbians, hailed the ordination votes Friday, calling it "a day we've been waiting almost 30 years to see happen." He also expressed hope church members can move forward together.

Saturday Male Beauty

Dobson v. Obama - Update

Earlier in the week I posted about blowhard James Dobson's verbal attacks on Barack Obama's Christianity and his hissy fit over the fact that Obama does not view the disingenuous, un-Christian Daddy D as the final authority on what religious beliefs are permissible. If Obama is guilty of selectively picking Bible passages, then he's a rank beginner compared to Dobson who uses the Bible to (1) line his own pockets with money and (2) denigrate and foster discrimination against others. No one, including Dobson gets to dictate to others what they must believe. We stilll have a constitutional right to freedom of religion, although Dobson clearly wants that right reserved only for those who follow him like mindless sheep. Thankfully, others see Dobson for the hypocrite that he is, including a fellow evangelical, Peter Wehner, who takes Dobson to task in a column in today's Washington Post. It doesn't get much more fun that watching one evangelical bash another evangelical. Here are highlights from Wehner's column:

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As an evangelical and conservative who has deep concerns about Obama's policies and political philosophy, I nonetheless welcome such a statement by a leading Democrat. . . . Obama was doing what people like Dobson have long urged: making the public square more hospitable for people of faith and calling for a halt to their demonization. Obama made his case in ways I found to be respectful and authentic.

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Dobson took particular umbrage, for at least one obvious reason, with this passage from Obama's speech: "And even if we did have only Christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools? Would we go with James Dobson's, or Al Sharpton's? Which passages of Scripture should guide our public policy?

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Dobson was critical of Obama's biblical references here and suggested that he had set up a series of straw men to support his "confused theology." But as I understand him, Obama was pointing out why the words of Scripture do not provide a ready policy blueprint for modern American society. Indeed, many of us have grappled with how to arrive at a theologically informed and fair-minded reading of the Bible that takes its moral principles seriously without simplistically applying to our time the cultural norms of previous eras.

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[Obama] was arguing that in a pluralistic nation like ours, politics depends on people of faith being able to persuade others based on common and accessible ground and appeals to reason -- which sounds entirely reasonable. . . . appeals to the Bible or church teaching aren't sufficient in a pluralistic nation.

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There are certainly reasons for evangelicals to have concerns about Obama -- based on his extreme views on abortion, judicial nominees, Iraq (his plans for a precipitous withdrawal would probably trigger mass death and perhaps even genocide) and other issues. But critics of Obama have an obligation to provide a fair and honest critique, and the attacks leveled by Dobson fall terribly short of that standard.

Surfing Saturday

For the first time in weeks there were rideable waves at the ocean front in Virginia Beach. I met a surf buddy of mine and my office manager - she is learning to surf - at the beach early this morning and spent several hours in the water. Overall, it was gorgeous although we are still having smoke drift into this area from the wild fires in northeast North Carolina and in the Great Dismal Swamp which have been burning for over three weeks now. It was not too bad at the beach where I was (Croatan/Pendleton), but to the north the smoke was much heavier and one could barely see the high rise hotels in the main resort strip. I suspect some of the tourists were none too happy.

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I think the beach early in the morning is when it's the most beautiful. This morning, the crowds had not yet arrived and it was mostly just the surfers in the water, the brown pelicans were flying in single file formations over the waves, and pods of dolphin were swimming around among the surfers. It's always amusing to me that the old guys are among the first surfers out in the morning and usually get the best waves. The young eye candy comes straggling in later, most likely after partying the night before. There were definitely some real lookers in the water as well as on the beach.

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All in all, it was a great outing, although I can definitely feel the results of all the paddling in my shoulders and neck. But, I suspect I will rally so that I can go to The Wave for my weekly dancing/aerobic exercise workout. The picture below gives a sense of what this morning was like when I first arrived at the beach. To actually be able to see live images of the beach where I usually surf, go here (it takes the cam a few seconds to load). Looking at the cam now, it looks like we got the best of the waves this morning.

McCain Steps Up Pandering to Christianists

It's almost sad to see John McCain shamelessly pandering to the most lunatic elements of the Christian Right, particularly after the way the wingnuts screwed him over in 2000 and ended up setting the stage for the Chimperator and all the negatives of his hubristic regime. Now, McCain apparently - like some cheap prostitute or disingenuous rent boy - will say and do anything required to kiss the bigoted asses of the leaders of the Christian Right such as extreme gay-hater, Phil Burress, in order to get them to direct the sheeple to go out and vote for McCain come November. McCain's disgraceful pandering only re-enforces my analysis as to why any LGBT citizen voting for McCain needs mental health therapy. Here are some highlights from the Los Angeles Times describing McCain's latest steps to embrace the gay-haters:

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CINCINNATI -- Sen. John McCain, who has struggled to win the trust of evangelical voters, met privately Thursday in Ohio with several influential social conservatives who have been critical of him -- and impressed them, while telling them only some of what they wanted to hear. . . . And, according to participants, he indicated that he would take seriously their requests that he choose an anti-abortion running mate and would talk more openly about his opposition to gay marriage -- a pledge he carried out later in the day by endorsing a ballot measure in California to ban gay marriage.

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Many conservatives have been upset that McCain opposed a federal constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, a position he said he took because he believes states should decide the issue. At the meeting, McCain sought to reassure conservatives by emphasizing his work on behalf of an anti-gay-marriage measure in his home state. He referred to that in his endorsement of the California initiative, lauding efforts to "recognize marriage as a unique institution between a man and a woman, just as we did in my home state of Arizona. I do not believe judges should be making these decisions."

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McCain is scheduled to fly Sunday to Asheville, N.C., to meet privately with the Rev. Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham. The younger Graham met this month with McCain's rival, presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama, who has launched his own effort to court skeptical evangelical leaders. McCain told the activists Thursday that he also hoped to meet with James C. Dobson, founder of the influential group Focus on the Family, who has said he would not vote for McCain. "The senator spoke fondly of him, but believes there's probably room for some bridge-building," said Mike Gonidakis, head of Ohio Right to Life.

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Viars said she was "holding out" to see who McCain picks for his ticket before she decides whether to volunteer for the campaign, as she did for Bush.Others said McCain can't win evangelicals merely by meeting with them privately; he has to embrace them publicly. "We told him that if he didn't come out and share his pro-family stances on these issues, then he can kiss Ohio goodbye," Burress said. "We can't deliver his message for him."

Larry Craig and David Vitter Sponsor Bill To "Protect" Marriage

The Republicans have reached new levels of hypocrisy with the re-introduction of a proposed "Federal Marriage Amendment." The re-introduction of this legislation shows to what lengths the current GOP will go in order to pander to Christianists. As the Huffington Post notes, some of the sponsors are the same old gay-hating fruit cakes, but the surprising thing is that two less than paragons of marital virtue are also sponsors: Larry Craig and David Vitter. These two jerks go beyond being shameless and certainly are not exactly the poster boys for upstanding examples of the supposed sanctity of the ‘union of a man and a woman.” But then again, the GOP has increasing come to stad for nothing except hypocrisy. Here are highlights from HuffPo:

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Just this week, a group of Republican senators re-introduced the Federal Marriage Amendment to the Constitution, which, as we know, would ban gay marriage. This isn't especially surprising. Republicans are looking at the political landscape, and they're feeling awfully discouraged. The polls look bad, the base looks depressed, and fundraising looks iffy. Rallying the far-right troops with an anti-gay amendment to the Constitution -- even though it has no chance at even getting so much as a hearing -- might be helpful to the conservative movement.

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Most of the names are predictable -- Brownback and Inhofe, for example -- but there are two others whose names stand out: Sens. David Vitter (R-La.) and Larry Craig (R-Idaho). Yes, two of the principal sponsors of a constitutional amendment to "protect" marriage include one far-right Republican who hired prostitutes and another far-right Republican who was arrested for soliciting gay sex an airport men's room.

Is Dobson's Obama Hit Backfiring?

Time magazine has a new story entitled "Is Dobson's Obama Hit Backfiring?" and from the contents, it looks like the egotistical, homophobic, false Christian Dobson may have shot himself in the foot when he attacked Barack Obama earlier in the week. Moreover, the story suggests that people - including evangelicals - may, in fact, be waking up to the fact that Daddy Dobson does NOT represent as many Christians as he once did. While his insufferable ego is inflated as ever, Time did a story in January, 2008, that indicated that Dobson's Focus on the Family has been losing membership and had declining revenues for each of the last five years. One can only hope that more and more of the public will come to recognize Dobson and those like him for the mean spirited, hate-filled individuals that they are and that they are not a true Christian in light of their non-stop message of hate, intolerance and denigration of others. Here are some highlights from the new Time story:

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After years of attacking Democrats with relative impunity for their supposed moral failings, Evangelical leader James Dobson surely didn't expect to suffer much of a backlash when he trained his sights on Barack Obama. . . . Earlier this week, Dobson used his popular Christian radio program to denounce a 2006 speech the Illinois senator gave about the place of religion in public life.

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But less than 24 hours after Dobson's radio broadcast, www.jamesdobsondoesntspeakforme.com was up and running on the Web. The site displays both Dobson's charges against Obama and Obama's own quotes from the 2006 speech. It also features a statement condemning Dobson that reads in part: "James Dobson doesn't speak for me when he uses religion as a wedge to divide; he doesn't speak for me when he speaks as the final arbiter on the meaning of the Bible."

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It's hard out there for a Christian Right leader. Last December came and went with barely a peep about a grinchy liberal "War on Christmas." The Republican nominee, John McCain, has refused to make the pilgrimage to Colorado Springs, telling the Focus on the Family leader to come to him instead. But the biggest problem is that Democrats —and Barack Obama in particular — are determined to make a play for a bloc of voters over whom Dobson and his colleagues have traditionally maintained exclusive control. And those voters seem willing to listen.

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Just a few weeks earlier, the conservative columnist and former Moral Majority vice president Cal Thomas wrote an essay calling Obama a "false prophet." Placing Obama's "Christianity" in quotes, Thomas charged that the candidate's statements about religion — including his belief that non-Christians can get to heaven — prove that he does not understand what it means to be a Christian.
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But if the grassroots reaction is any indication, the attacks on Obama have been largely self-defeating. After Thomas' column ran, dozens of regional papers that carry it were flooded with letters to the editor — and they were hardly in liberal bastions. In places like Augusta, Georgia, and Lubbock, Texas, people wrote in to criticize Thomas' attack on Obama. "To suggest that anyone is not a Christian because they do not adhere to Cal Thomas' narrow interpretation of what a Christian should believe," wrote one Texan, "is extremely intolerant, ignorant, and downright insulting."