The religious right has been growing as a political movement for decades. It remains poorly understood by most of those most affected by its growing power and influence at all levels of society.

That's a shame, since anytime one has a formidable opponent, whether it's in sports, business, or the military, it's good to have some, well, strategic intelligence about the capacities of the opposition. Their strengths and weaknesses. I daresay most people reading this have more to say about the capacities of the Iraqi insurgents than the capacity of the domestic religious right.

Whatever happens in Iraq; whatever happens in the midterm elections; whatever happens in the '08 elections -- the religious right as an organized and powerful political movement will still be with us. Based on over twenty years of experience in studying and writing about the religous right in the U.S. -- my message to anyone who has read this far, is that the religious right in most of its manifestations will be a powerful force for the rest of your life, so if you don't already -- you might as well get to know it.

By way of the mighty Pandagon, we find the the creepiest thing I've come across in quite a while.  It's the South Dakota alternative to the traditional Father-Daughter Dance, the "Purity Ball:"

It is impossible to convey what I have seen in their sweet spirits, their delicate, forming souls, as their daddy takes them out for their first, big dance. Their whole being absorbs my loving attention, resulting in a radiant sense of self-worth and identity. Think of it from their perspective: My daddy thinks I'm beautiful in my own unique way. My daddy is treating me with respect and honor...My daddy really loves me!"

OK--I'm the father of a pre-teen girl.  I can relate to that.  Nothing wrong there (well, okay, not much), and I think we'd all agree that our society could use more men spending time with their kids.

But then there's the pledge.

That was the message of a rather wealthy, influential conservative colleague of mine when he said, "The world would be a very different place if the Crusades had been successful."

His infinitely myopic display of cowardly ignorance was no doubt an attempt to summarize his feelings about MidEast-based terrorism. And by God, he couldn't have expressed himself with more clarity.

Not surprisingly the flatulent quote rings with the essence of yet another mentally dilapidated conservative who spoke lustfully of his Jurassic mentor:

"I want to say this about my state: When Strom Thurmond ran for president we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had of followed our lead we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either."

-- Trent Lott at Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party

Also unsurprising is the fact that this sort of conservative, totalitarian drivel is not uncommon. In fact, one of the most horrific statements of theo-prejudice I've yet had the displeasure of hearing occurred with another colleague of mine who opined about the 'deserving nature' of the 'heathenous' inhabitants of the coastal lands annihilated by the tsunami of 2004.

They Deserved It

Disgraced former Republican House Majority Leader Tom Delay has already proven to be the king of political corruption. That feather-in-hat safely secured, Tom turns to other opportunities.

With Jack Abramoff likely to soon be staring at the far side of prison bars, a throbbing void is bulging in the lobbying world -- one that can only be satisfied by the likes of Tom Delay.

That's right, in an interview with Time Magazine, Delay spills it asserting "he has not ruled out becoming a lobbyist."

You know the saying, 'Do what you know'. If there's anything Delay knows...

Time Magazine's March 13, 2006 issue presents the statistics: "85% -- Proportion who say the main mission in Iraq is to retaliate for Saddam's role in 9/11."

Who took the poll?  When?  Where?  Otherwise it is as meaningless as the drivel dished out by Time writers Joe Klein and Charles Krauthammer.  If the poll is accurate the American public is far more ignorant of reality than I thought they were.

In personal conversations I have had with individuals, which is not a scientific analysis, approximately 90% say the U.S. went into Iraq for a three letter word - "Oil"!  This is often followed by a few choice four-letter words!

The White House is paying down its political debt to the religious right (which is neither, by the way) and using your tax dollars to do it.

ABC News says: Religious Charities Get More Federal Money

WASHINGTON Mar 9, 2006 (AP)-- The Bush administration says it is making steady progress in steering more federal taxpayer dollars to religious charities.

In the budget year that ended Sept. 30, religious charities received $2.15 billion in federal grants to administer a range of social service programs for the needy. That represented 10.9 percent of the total grants from the seven federal agencies such charities were eligible to apply to in fiscal 2005, according to a White House report obtained by The Associated Press.

-snip-

Critics take issue with the president's insistence that religious charities that receive taxpayer dollars could retain the right to hire and fire based on religion. Critics also have said Bush's initiative is designed mostly as a political tool, since the plan is popular with religious leaders who are influential in the Republican Party and are a core base of support for Bush.

And he's doing it on his own...like everything else he does.

After Congress balked at legislation, Bush began using executive orders and regulations to accomplish his goal.

Nice to know your tax dollars are going into the collection plate.

According to the "Washington Wire", the Campaign to Defend the Constitution has "taken on three icons of the religious right: Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, Rev. Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition, and former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed."

The group "launched an online and TV campaign Wednesday...saying the three 'have a serious gambling problem' and citing ties to disgraced Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff who worked on behalf of Indian casino gaming."

In addition, they're placing a single ad in the New York Times.

Although the campaign was launched just yesterday, Political Cortex's own Frederick Clarkson has been the primary driver for this story from the beginning:

Way back in December of 2005, it was Fred who alerted us to "Lucky Louie" Sheldon and his implication in the Abramoff-related Gambling Scandal:

Thank goodness that the "War on Christmas" is over; now we won't have to see a religious figure commercially exploited by its own followers, just so that they can advance their political agenda, until Easter.

Whoops! I spoke too soon. I hope the Galilee World Heritage Park stocks its gift shops with some good body armor...

Actually... no, I don't.

I recently learned that your latest publicity stunt involves accusing Mattel of promoting a homosexual agenda via it's Barbie website.

As your organization seems to lack a basic grasp of how companies collect data for marketing purposes, allow me to explain what's going on-- because Mattel won't tell you the truth about their maneuver, which is only slightly less sleazy than yours.

I love Jesus! Not as the savior of humanity, but as one of the most powerful and influential liberals of all time.

That's why I lose it when I see the fundamentalist conservative 'Christian' movement in America using his likeness and reputation to further their decidedly un-Jesus-like agenda.

Most recently, our friendly neighborhood fanatics have taken to promoting a movie, the Chronicles of Narnia, claiming that its popularity is evidence that their brand of 'Christian pop culture' is taking over America.

If these were 'true' Christian principles at issue here, I doubt I would mind much since they'd naturally consist of such things as love, understanding, peace, good will and the like.

Unfortunately, the religious right has consistently advanced 'false' Christian principles -- maddeningly heavy on prejudice, intolerance, hatred, heavy and frequent judgment, and various sorts of lethal vengeance.

Regardless, after taking my kids to see the holiday flick -- a recent tradition in our household -- I can report, to my delighted surprise, that Narnia seems more like the 5th installment in the Harry Potter series (ironically demonized by the religio-wingnuts for its 'anti-Christian' setting) than a rehashing of the conservative Christian spiel.

In fact, you drop a few keywords from the movie and you're left with a good ol' fashioned,  simple-yet-compelling story of 'good vs. evil'.

So why all the winger Christian hype?

i can't seem to find an "unrecommend" feature and we're trying to get the "12 Days of Justice" diary off of the reco list, maybe replace it with today's action.

would readers clicking "don't recommend" do the trick?  would a someone or two please try this for us?  and if you feel so inclined, recommend the new one.

goofy; i know.  thanks!

LOL

Update [2005-12-18 3:14:26 by Cedwyn]: The author of our first day's letter had a brilliant idea: tampopo is printing these up to hand out as booklets to people! How's that for an action item!? Moving on with today's diary action item, aka, "Defying Reality and Disrespecting the Disabled."

It's all in a day's work for Mr. ScAlito.  Today's Anti-Alito Brigade For Justice piece is up and the indefatiguable Susan Hu did not disappoint!

It appears, from his dissent in Nathanson v. Medical College of Pennsylvania (1991), that Judge Alito's view of discrimination against persons with disability is so restrictive that "few if any...cases would survive summary judgment." (ThinkProgress)

Most critically, the Bazelon Center has released an exhaustive compendium of "'highlights of a long and troubling record' of disability right cases [including very recent decisions] decided by Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito."

As recently as 2002, "Judge Alito ruled along with other judges on the Third Circuit excusing local zoning boards from engaging in a process to identify reasonable accommodations needed to provide equal access for people with disabilities. (Lapid Laurel, L.L.C. v. Zoning Board of Adjustment of Scotch Plains, 284 F.3d 442 (3d Cir. 2002)." (Bazelon Center's analysis via Ragged Edge Magazine)

Game on!  Let's bombard our congresscritters with yet more phone calls, emails and the much-harder-to-ignore faxes befitting a dangerous idealogue like ScAlito.  And share this far and wide, won't you?  Below is yet more information on Alito's judicial hubris for the arsenal, as well as additional groups and resources for fighting his nomination:

cross-posted from my blog

AFA is now encouraging a boycott of Progressive Insurance because the CEO donated to ACLU.  This, of course, allows the ACLU to carry out its "anti-christmas" agenda.

sigh

The AFA is asking its supporters to drop Progressive, or send them a note saying they'll never use Progressive, because of the ACLU support.  I'm not going to bless them with site hits, so I won't be posting the url here.

It's probably more effective to contact Progressive directly, anyway.  So if any of you have Progressive as your insurance carrier, please thank them for their support of the ACLU.  If you do not have insurance with them, maybe consider it.  And if you make the switch, please tell them it's because they support ACLU.

Just for grins, though, since I was already there, I sent the note.  It's pre-written text - they got wise to people disagreeing with them in their name.  So for the first name I was "Wingnutasshole" and my last name was "Tobeignored."

: p

"What's offensive here is not the imperfect balancing of minority and majority. What's offensive -- also surreal and absurd -- is the notion that Christianity, a faith claimed by 76 percent of all Americans, is somehow being intimidated into nonexistence. Some of the earliest Christians were stoned for their beliefs. In some parts of the world today, Christianity is a crime punishable by death. And the AFA is feeling persecuted because a sales clerk says 'Happy holidays?'

"That's not persecution. It's a persecution complex.

"And it trivializes what Christians claim to uphold: the baby born of a virgin's womb."

Friends, Colleagues, Cortexans!

The bloggers are taking on the religious right.

Our first signficant effort is a national e-conference with Mother Jones magazine -- it's is now underway! And you are invited. The occasion for the event is the publication of a special issue of Mother Jones magazine which includes several important articles about the religious right. Think of it as an opening plenary panel discussion. A discussion that will explode across the blogosphere like a big bang of enlightenment. Well, Ok. The mixed metaphor may be a bit much. But then again, so are the stakes.