Oh, come on!

Children wanting to wear scary, violent or blooddrenched costumes will have to trade them in for more caring and communityfriendly outfits at two public elementary schools this Halloween.  The principal of Colonel Walker and Ramsay schools said her staff has chosen to use the day normally known for scares and frights as an opportunity to teach community values...outfits cannot include masks, weapons or any violent imagery.

"You can still be creative, in fact we encourage that, think of all the things you can be in a non-violent way," said Speight. "Ones that exemplify caring for other people and be respectful of other people."

Sure. Yeah.  ‘Cause Hallowe'en – stolen by the Christians from the Druids’ Samhain -  is all about caring.

OK.  Even if you think the Christians can be any more successful at selling that myth than they were at completely obliterating or redesigning Samhain, do you really want to look like this on October 31^st, whatever you choose to call  that night?

That’s just not cool.  Not cool at all.  All the kids will laugh at you and where’s the caring in that?

Why look like this

When you can go for the bad-ass look

Or the kick ass look

Or the creep-out-your-mother look

Or the scary as hell (but still ultra cool) look born in the very Samhainish mind of Clive Barker?

 

Because Hallowe'en is about scaring, not caring.

So will these good Christians take responsibility for the slaughter they cause?

Dove...World Outreach...words that bring to mind peace, compassion and tolerance.

Look again.

The small evangelical church — the Dove World Outreach Center based in Gainesville, Fla. — plans to burn copies of the Muslim holy book on Sept. 11, the ninth anniversary of the attacks on the U.S. The church has been denied a permit to hold a bonfire but has said it will go ahead with the burning.

Gen. David Petraeus said burning the Muslim holy book could endanger U.S. troops and Americans worldwide.

No kidding.  I am a strong supporter of freedom of expression, but when you know with very near certainty that certain activities will lead to deaths, then that protest should be curtailed.  Something about inciting hatred and violence...

Fifteen people died in riots in Afghanistan in 2005, after Newsweek magazine reported that interrogators at the U.S. detention centre in Guantanamo Bay allegedly flushed a copy of the Qur'an down the toilet in order to provoke inmates to talk. The magazine later retracted its story.

Fifteen deaths resulting from a rumour.  And here, the Doves at World Outreach plan to hold this publicized mass burning of the Muslim holy book.  How many deaths will follow as a direct result?  What further damage will be caused by this organized show of hatred and intolerance?

Here is what the Dove World Outreach center is about, from their own site:  

Islam is of the Devil, the new book by Dr. Terry Jones, is available now!
 
September 11th is International Burn a Koran Day

Abortion is murder. Homosexuality is sin.

God loves you and he longs for a real and deep relationship with you. He created you on purpose and it's his desire that everyone knows and fulfills his calling.

I guess that doesn’t apply to those who are of the devil.  Wonder who created them?

Thankfully, the link between Islam and Nazism is being discussed more openly now.

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6).  Any religion which would profess anything other than this truth is of the devil. This is why we also take a stand against Islam, which teaches that Jesus is not the Son of God, therefore taking away the saving power of Jesus Christ and leading people straight to Hell.

...so...I guess Judaism is leading people straight to hell as well?
Not according to this post title on the racist Dove’s site:

Islam is Cursed by Cursing Israel; we are Blessed by Blessing Israel

A common question we get from Moslems: why don’t you have a sign that says “Jews are of the devil”? First of all, we do not say “Moslems are of the devil.” We do not hate Moslems (or anyone) or wish them harm. Rather, we say “Islam is of the devil” because the teachings of Islam and what that produces in lies, violence and oppression are of the devil. We hope and pray that Moslems will come out of Islam and become Christians.

If Jews deny that Jesus Christ was the Messiah, the Savior of the World, then their beliefs are also of the devil, in the sense that they will not be saved. However, there is much more hope for the teachings of Judaism leading people to a belief in Christ, since they are pointed constantly to the hope of the Messiah, than for the followers of Mohammad.

And because education is largely reviled among fundamentalists except when attached to the name of a Ministry's leader (without proper credentials, of course), this church has not one, but three no-name brand doctorates behind it:

Dr. Terry Jones  racist, massively corrupt homophobe; Dr, Donald Northrup, deceased, of the defunct and corrupt Maranatha Ministries.  ; Dr. Richard H. Wright, also of Maranatha Ministries.

Money laudering schemes 

The church also maintains a Dove World Outreach Academy in Gainesville, in which students are prohibited from outside contact and work without compensation in selling, packing and shipping of furniture for TS and Company.

Sure.  Sound like the type of folks who should lead others to “stand up for righteousness and for the truth of the Bible.” 

Well, with all their money scams, making the families of those killed as a result of their Qur'an burning hate event can sue them.

Monster of the week: Pat Robertson

From Bruce, we get –


Monster of the week: Pat Robertson for his comments on Haiti:

ROBERTSON: [S]omething happened a long time ago in Haiti and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French. Napoleon the Third and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, “We will serve you if you get us free from the prince.” True story. And so the devil said, “OK, it’s a deal.” They kicked the French out, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free.

But ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other, desperately poor. That island of Hispaniola is one island. It’s cut down the middle, on the one side is Haiti, on the other side is the Dominican Republic. The Dominican Republic is prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, etc. Haiti is in desperate poverty. Same island.

They need to have, and we need to pray for them, a great turning to God. And out of this tragedy I’m optimistic something good may come. But right now, we’re helping the suffering people and the suffering is unimaginable.




Boundless Christian compassion.

Go to Bruce’s place for the Hatian Ambassador to the US having his say.  It’s excellent.

For Slime Minion of the week, I ripped off CC.  That award goes to Rush Limbaugh for tellin’ it like it is about them thar uppity black folks:

Don't give Haitians a penny, says rightwing US shock jock

Amid the rash of appeals for Haiti donations has come a call from one of the most prominent voices on the American right for people to hang on to their cash because Barack Obama might steal it.

Rush Limbaugh, the most popular radio talkshow host, who is sometimes described as the real leader of the Republican party, says Americans should not give a penny to a population struggling for survival after the earthquake.

and more Rush (but not that cool music stuff), also stolen from CC:

Hostile to Haiti: Rush Limbaugh is classless in attacking hemisphere's poorest country
Wednesday, May 20th 2009, 7:25 PM

Reacting to ex-President Bill Clinton's appointment as UN special envoy to Haiti, radio personality Rush Limbaugh had this to say yesterday:

"I'm just gonna tell you, if I was named envoy to Haiti, I'd quit government. Envoy to Haiti? You can't even pick up a prostitute down there without genuine fear of AIDS."

CC adds: And if anyone knows third world, immuno-compromised hookers, well ... I'm sure you see where I'm going with this.

How to gut your own argument, Christian style.

Use science and history to make it sound like your point has validity, then completely contradict yourself.

Let Charles Moore show you how it's done:

It might surprise some non-Christians to learn that Christmas as we know it wasn't always universally revered among devout Christians. It wasn't celebrated at all by the very early Church. Birthday observances in general were shunned as trappings of paganism.

Actually, Mr. Moore, most of us non-Christians do know that Christianity simply ripped of an assortment of rituals from other superstitious beliefs to rally Christians to their newer, more expensive, just as ridiculous seasonal cluster-fuck of magical items and supernatural icons.  I think it's more likely Christians who would be surprised to learn that very thing, since they think Christmas is a shiny, new celebration that no other religion had previously practiced under some other name.

Moore goes on to describe in a fair bit of detail how the Christian celebration of Christmas committed these thefts, who they stole from, and why.  Pretty accurate, historically.  Good so far.

Then he tries to make his point, which he fails to realize he has already defeated:

However, it is still the one time of year that Jesus Christ is thought and spoken of in somewhat reverential tones in popular culture, and that base is something devout Christians ought to build on, not retreat from.

...More than any other time of year, Christian images, language and principles achieve some serious traction in the public square at Christmastime, despite radical secular separationist attempts to eliminate them.

Christians: reclaim your holiday; and a Merry Christmas to all!

But Moore, didn’t you just tell us that nearly everything attributed to how Christians celebrate Christmas is stolen, or made up by conquerors wishing to keep a hold on the damn pagans, and in fact based on much older superstitious beliefs centered around that particular date?