When Christians Attack!
Tue Jul 17, 2007 at 05:20:25 PM PDT
The High Point, N.C. City Council meeting is not normally a hot ticket. The only other time I’ve attended was as a correspondent for a magazine, and there were perhaps a dozen people watching, and not very attentively at that. But Monday night was different. A local pastor had thrown down the gauntlet to the City Council in the form of a letter to the editor. He and his flock would be there to represent Jesus in the meeting. I felt it was my civic duty to at least get a look at them, so I headed down to City Hall. Conveniently enough, my husband works there, so I was able to hand off the baby on my way up to Council Chambers.
The history of the dispute is pretty straightforward. Apparently, the council had been opening with prayer that included Jesus until an unnamed troublemaker called the ACLU. According to the local paper, this happened in November, but it seems to have come to a head in the past couple of weeks. The city obtained legal advice which resulted in a policy of non-sectarian prayer until the ACLU’s lawsuit against a nearby local government is settled. After that, High Point’s council may change the policy again if it seems prudent.
The crowd gets ugly...after the jump.
Bleedin' Jesus at the Christmas Parade
Wed Nov 23, 2005 at 09:11:48 AM PDT
There's a group called His Laboring Few Biker Ministry that always runs a float in our hometown Christmas Parade. This float is the same every year. Its big attraction is a live-action Jesus on the cross, complete with (what I hope is) fake blood all over his body.
Now, is it just me, or is this inappropriate for a Christmas parade?
Democracy in Iraq? Yeah, right.
Wed Nov 02, 2005 at 07:11:44 AM PDT
The indispensible Juan Cole has a great
catch today:
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said Tuesday before the United Nations: "I categorically refuse the use of Iraqi soil to launch a military strike against Syria or any other Arab country . . . "But at the end of the day my ability to confront the US military is limited and I cannot impose on them my will."
More below the fold.
U.S. government controlled by nonbelievers
Wed Oct 19, 2005 at 08:23:49 AM PDT
Nonbelievers in
government, that is.
Let me make a confession: I believe in government. When the trash man comes, as he did this morning, or when I drive on a newly paved street, I see where my taxes are going. This time of year especially, I love to visit the Blue Ridge Parkway. I love seeing new books on our library shelves. I love seeing public school-educated kids go off to big-time colleges on academic scholarships. At its best, government enhances our community and makes us all feel a part of something larger; It gives us a sense of togetherness.
Please make the jump, wherein I take off my rose-colored glasses.
In Defense of the Anti-War Movement
Tue Aug 30, 2005 at 10:24:36 AM PDT
Coming soon to my local paper:
Lately there has been a healthy debate on our editorial page about the legitimacy of the anti-war effort brought to the headlines by Cindy Sheehan. Those of us who have supported her have been called bin Laden sympathizers, traitors, even (gasp!) Jane Fonda. I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise that those who favor war as a means to solve problems should declare verbal war against us peace-lovers.
To which my response is, bring it on. If it makes you feel better to call us names, here's my other cheek. But there is one line of reasoning that raises my hackles: to say that anti-war folks are demoralizing to the troops and offering aid and comfort to our enemies.
The rest is below the fold. I'm just looking for a little feedback before I turn it in tomorrow. Have at it!
Love is for Wimps
Thu Aug 11, 2005 at 06:01:33 AM PDT
I write an op-ed column for my local newspaper once a month. Last Saturday, my column focussed on loving your neighbor. It's been something knocking around in my head for awhile. I even diaried some of my earlier thoughts
here.
Here's my last graf:
The appropriate response to violence, Gandhi believed, is non-violence. Some may think that non-violence is the easy way out, but nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus taught us to love our enemies. He loved his enemies to the point of dying for them. Until the death of a child in Baghdad, or even a bomb-throwing insurgent, touches us as deeply as that of an American soldier, we are feeding the very terror we seek to obliterate.
Nonviolence, Empathy, Toddlers, etc.
Fri Jul 15, 2005 at 10:30:52 AM PDT
Andrew Sullivan, of all people, got me thinking about whatever happened to the concept of nonviolence. He has some good analysis of the latest Gitmo report
here.
Didn't Jesus say to turn the other cheek? I mean, my God, what are these people thinking when they're treating a person like vermin? How could any thinking human being come to believe that torture might work if engaged in enthusiastically and long enough?
And what is it doing to the soldiers who are asked to do these heinous things? We'll be locking them up in padded rooms when they get to come home.
Gas Price Protest--BUSH BLAMED
Sun Apr 24, 2005 at 05:01:19 AM PDT
I was truly amazed to find this in my local (High Point, N.C.) paper this morning:
04/24/2005
Gasoline protest held in Archdale
David Nivens , ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
ARCHDALE - They marched Saturday so that Marathon and Exxon could see them.
Gasoline prices are too high for working people, chanted about 10 residents who braved rain showers along U.S. 311 to protest $2-a-gallon gasoline.
More below the fold:
Little old Muslim lady injured by police
Wed Nov 10, 2004 at 06:50:30 AM PDT
Greensboro, N.C. is rightly proud of its history in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. There is a magnificent statue on the campus of N.C. A & T University of the
four students who started the Woodworth's sit-in. When I attended a John Edwards rally there last month, a huge flag was draped behind the statue and the sight of it made me proud to be an American.
This, however, does not.
GREENSBORO -- Twelve witnesses say a police officer didn't use excessive force when he arrested an elderly Egyptian woman at Wal-Mart on Saturday, according to police Chief David Wray.
But an Islamic leader says he's sticking by 68-year-old Afaf Saudi's claim that an officer broke her shoulder and her rib when he dragged her to his patrol car. The Muslim community wants an apology -- issued in Arabic or French.
The Muslim community's request for an apology can be found here.
A sampling of letters to the editor in today's paper:
Frank Rich reviews Bush=God movie
Thu Sep 30, 2004 at 05:26:16 AM PDT
Git over there and read it.
Rich is always a terrific read, and he doesn't disappoint here.
"A Newsweek poll shows that 17 percent of Americans expect the world to end in their lifetime. To Karl Rove and company, that 17 percent is otherwise known as 'the base.'"
You know, I grew up Southern Baptist. I got over it. I used to think of them as nutty but harmless. I'm over that now, too.
Mary Beth Cahill gets it right
Mon Sep 27, 2004 at 06:36:48 AM PDT
This stage in the election is about confidence. Mary Beth Cahill modeled it for us this morning.
Today on Morning Edition, Cahill was interviewed by Steve Inskeep. I've transcribed a little nugget of hope for you below. Keep in mind that it doesn't matter if the polls are right or not. This is how we should all talk about Kerry no matter what the damn polls say.
Why I am voting for John Kerry
Tue Sep 21, 2004 at 06:42:07 AM PDT
I started this little diatribe as a letter to my dad, who has yet to even mention my collection of democratic bumper stickers or my K/E yard sign. I'm reluctant to bring it up with him, but dammit he needs to know why I'm voting for Kerry. Of course, I decided to share it here first. It's short on statistics, heavy on gut, but factually correct as far as I can tell. Let me know what you think.
"Skin to rip and blood to flow" from Repub campaign
Wed Sep 15, 2004 at 07:10:05 AM PDT
This morning, I almost deleted an e-mail from the Erskine Bowles campaign because the subject line looked like spam. But, no, it was an actual quote from Bowles' opponent in his U.S. Senate race, Richard Burr.
As quoted in The Hill, Burr lays out how he plans to counter Bowles' thoughtful, non-partisan plans to create jobs and provide healthcare to his future constituents.
Mr. Rumsfeld, it's time to take responsibility for Abu Ghraib
Mon Sep 13, 2004 at 07:38:00 AM PDT
Am I the only one wondering if anyone is ever going to take responsibility for Abu Ghraib? Anyone above the rank of private? Back in May, Rumsfeld said the alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners at the prison in Iraq "occurred on my watch, and as secretary of defense I am accountable for them, and I take full responsibility."
Bush, of all people, uses language against us
Fri Sep 10, 2004 at 06:17:32 AM PDT
Harold Meyerson has a thought-provoking (and butt-kicking)
piece over at the American Prospect about Bush's use of the word "opportunity." This caught my eye because I once worked at a Ritz-Carlton hotel, and we were trained to use the word "opportunity" in place of "problem." For example, "We have a real opportunity up in Room 810."
My angry rant on Zell's angry rant gets in my local paper
Thu Sep 09, 2004 at 11:52:41 AM PDT
How satisfying. My house will probably get fire-bombed, but hey, such is the price of speaking up, right? I'm glad my phone number is unlisted.
Miller reveals nature of GOP (their title)
"It's ironic that it took a turncoat Democrat to show the country just what the Republicans are up to. Theirs is the politics of hate, and Miller's speech demonstrated rabid hatred better than any dyed-in-the-wool Republican ever could."
more below the fold...
Don't forget who Dole really is
Tue Aug 24, 2004 at 09:38:08 AM PDT
Matthew Yglesias
reminds us that, just because his self-effacing humor is appealing, just because his age and military service are worthy of respect, Dole is really no better and probably a lot worse than most Republican thugs.
Yglesias has been scathingly terrific lately, and this is a great example:
Bowles isn't a lock just yet
Thu Aug 19, 2004 at 12:29:18 PM PDT
Following is an e-mail I received from the Bowles campaign today. Apparently, the National Republican Senatorial Committee is going to step up to the plate for Richard Burr, Bowles' opponent, by running $5.3 million in TV ads.
Unfortunately, negative ads tend to work down here in Dixie. Bowles will be a tax-and-spend liberal who wants to open up the prisons and let all the coloreds out to rape your women before they're through with him. Here's the e-mail:
