It has been a while since I posted, for that I apologize. Life has kept me busy and also given me TONS of material.
I have to say though one thing that lit my fire - or should I say pissed me off was while channel surfing (something I do with regularity, I swear I have T.V. A.D.D) I came across this goofy, glasses sporting guy hosting what appeared to be a cheap imitation of "The No Spin Zone" that of course caught my attention. I should have paid more attention to the channel on which the show was airing, had I done that, I probably would not have given it much thought; it was on the Inspiration channel. You know, one of the 10,000 bible thumping, let's send money and have T.V group prayer channels; the kind of thing you watch to be amused and get a good laugh, NOT a channel to be taken seriously by any THINKING, RATIONAL Individual.
I watched this show unfold, at first the host ranted about how "Christian Values" were being corrupted by a Secular Government, run by Atheists and non-believers. (correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't the US of A founded as a SECULAR body?) At that point I was going to simply discount the host as yet another "Religious Nut-Job" and change the channel, maybe I should have. I would have simply laughed him off as nuts and moved on. I didn't, I watched it, like you would watch a train wreck unfold; in disbelief. It was one of the most hate filled diatribes I have ever had the displeasure of witnessing.
After the short speech about the Evil Non-Christian people in America, he proceeded into the meat of the broadcast; It appears that there is a group of Muslims that want to build a Mosque near (within a couple blocks) of "Ground Zero" in NY. The host went on to talk about how horrible it was that ANYONE would consider allowing "Terrorists" to build THEIR buildings anywhere near the "holy ground" that is Ground Zero. He talked about how "this is proof" of our loss of "christian values" and that we should call to "put our names on a petition to STOP the 'terrorists' (read: non-christians) from building a Mosque near Ground Zero."
I called the number, and of course the person on the phone began with the same hate filled rhetoric I had just heard on the television program, after about thirty seconds of listening to this the phone person asked me if I would like to "Make a donation of only $100 - $200 dollars to help 'Jay' take the fight to stop the terrorists all the way to the Supreme Court". At that point, I hung up disgusted and annoyed. We have a person with a TV show spouting "christian hate" and inciting people to join him in his hate and anger towards 'non-believers', and THEN they ask for Money! NOW I GET IT, much like the TV Evangelicals, this group is fomenting hate and discontent to pad their pockets. Will there ever be a petition to stop non-christian groups from building their religious structures? I think not. I did some research on this ACLJ Group and found some interesting stuff:
First this organization was founded by: Pat Robertson - You know this asshat - he founded the Christian Coalition -
Here are some interesting facts about this group:
* ACLJ is a strong supporter of the Federal Marriage Amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage.
* ACLJ strongly opposes the right to legal, safe abortion and provides legal help to pro-life protesters who harass women seeking reproductive services.
* The ACLJ challenges domestic partnership benefits for city and state employees, anti-discrimination ordinances that include sexual orientation, and generally fights against the right of gays and lesbians to be parents.
* ACLJ defended a group of parents who drove a transsexual teacher out of her job in Minnesota.
* Supported a Kmart pharmacist who refused to dispense birth control pills.
* Pursued litigation over various claims that children are being told that they cannot pray on school grounds or talk about their religion.
Here is a quote from the chief council:
"Can you imagine, that in public schools of America today, students are being taught that homosexual conduct, which in many states is still deemed illegal, is not only a viable alternative lifestyle, but is actually equal to heterosexual relationships?"
– Jay Sekulow, January 2, 1997, Danbury News-Times
The hate mongering and profiteering needs to stop. This guy is almost as vile as Jim Jones. The only difference between Jonestown and Evangelical Christianity is that the Evangelicals have their own TV Networks and due to their large numbers get away with abusing and fomenting hate and distrust of anyone that chooses to believe something OTHER than Christian Dogma.
Are we as "non-believers" supposed to sit back and allow this to continue? I would urge every single person who is as offended as myself to not only boycott the ACLJ and their hate tactics, but to voice your discontent and disbelief at their behavior in whatever medium you have available to you, post signs in your yards, windows, create bumper stickers and flyers, repost this to every blog you can find, post your thoughts on this on the blogs and newgroups that participate in this obscenity. Let your voice be heard, we cannot as a group of Free Thinking Individuals let this continue unabated, we need to push back before we are pushed out.
Let me clarify something, I am NOT Muslim, Jewish, Christian or any other religious or ethnic group. I am not a homosexual looking to fire up a defense. I am simply a free thinking person that has seen and heard enough to be sickened by the hate and anger being spouted.
Matter of fact, I think every time I find a place to post my disbelief at this behavior I will do so.
Atheists and Non-Christians, let your voice be heard.
