Religion in America

[Brooklyn]

Nothing Screams Christian Values Like Massacres and Mass Weapons Sales


https://www.antiwar.com/blog/2023/11/04 ... ons-sales/


Roughly half of President Biden’s recent budget request for more than $105 billion for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and border security is dedicated to weapons sales. Nothing screams Christian values like massacres and mass weapons sales.

Speaking of massacres, Aaron Maté has a powerful article on Gaza and the U.S. role in facilitating Israel’s destruction of the same. Here’s an excerpt:

According to Save the Children, the number of Palestinian children killed in just three weeks has already surpassed the annual number of children killed across the world’s conflict zones since 2019. “Gaza has become a graveyard for children,” a UNICEF spokesperson says. “It’s a living hell for everyone else.” In a statement demanding a ceasefire, seven UN special rapporteurs now warn that “the Palestinian people are at grave risk of genocide.”


I remember when Sting got into trouble in the 1980s for singing that the Russians love their children too. Is it OK to say the Palestinians love their children too and would prefer that they not be obliterated by “Made in USA” bombs provided for free to Israel?

I wrote this just this morning to a friend who’s been taking fire because she believes the Palestinians in Gaza are human beings who shouldn’t be targeted for ethnic cleansing:

The Israel/Palestine issue is both complex and simple. To keep it simple, we’re all human beings. No group of people are “human animals.” If any country should know the dangers of dehumanizing an enemy, it’s Israel. Yet that’s precisely what Israel is doing.

There are plenty of Jews who are bravely denouncing Israel, but their voices are not being heard. Meanwhile, the US government supinely serves the worst elements in Israel. Our own government is complicit in ethnic cleansing, not that I’m surprised about this, given our nation’s history.

They say Dexter was a serial killer, but he’s got nothing on the jackals in the US and Israel who’ve already killed roughly 10K Palestinians with many more deaths to come. (With apologies to real jackals.)

I’ve been writing to my senators and representative as well, imploring them not to vote for more murderous weaponry, whether for Israel or Ukraine (or anyone else). Just about all our politicians make noises about our country advancing Judeo-Christian values yet they conveniently forget about values like “thou shalt not kill” and “blessed are the peacemakers.”

It would be far better if the U.S. stood on the sidelines and did nothing, yet Congress and the President must show their “strength” by using taxpayer dollars to ship scores of billions in weaponry to facilitate mass murder. As they do so, they pat each other on the back for being strong while boasting of creating jobs for various weapons makers in the “homeland.”

That’s how perverted and twisted government officials are. They’d rather spend scores of billions on death overseas than help struggling Americans here at home.

We need to vote the warmongers out, except I can’t forget what Emma Goldman said about voting: “If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal.”



The article is followed by very insightful comments. All true, too: so called Christians claiming to be pro life but promoting the killing of innocent children. Such Pharisaism!

[Brooklyn]

Here in Lake Wobegone the city of St Louis Park used to be called "St Jewish Park" as this is where so many Jews moved to in the post WW II suburban expansion. Now the city has changed and elected a Muslim as mayor:


Former Somali Refugee Elected Mayor of Minnesota City, Making History







https://www.voanews.com/a/former-somali ... 46914.html


Voters in the Minnesota city of St. Louis Park elected Nadia Mohamed, a 27-year-old Somali-American, as the city’s first Black, first Somali, and first Muslim mayor Tuesday night.

The election results show that Mohamed easily defeated Dale Anderson, a former banker and continuing education teacher, by a margin of 58% to 41%.

“I am very happy to win as Somali-American, Muslim, migrant and Black,” she told VOA’s Somali Service. “I would say thank you to all of those who supported me in this. It is our victory.”

Maine State Rep. Deqa Dhalac was the first Somali American to serve as mayor of an American city in 2021, when South Portland's six-member council selected Dhalac for the role. Mohamed becomes the first Somali mayor in American history elected directly by voters.

“I have lived in this city for 18 years,” said Mohamed. “I grew up and finished my school here, so it was easy for me to get elected because people know me.”


An early start

As refugees, Mohamed’s family moved to St. Louis Park when she was 10 years old.

Mohamed says her aspirations for elected office started with routine recreational walks when she was young.

“I would walk around the city hall and could only see the portraits of city’s former mayors on the walls. All of them were white men. I only saw two women. None of them looked like me,” she said. “But now, I am very happy, and it is amazing to see my photo among these mayors, knowing that — let us say, 50 years from now — it will be still here.

“Muslim, black and migrant girls will have a better opportunity to see one of them among these mayors," she said.

Mohamed in 2019 was elected to the St. Louis Park City Council at the age of 23, making her the youngest individual to hold the position in the 170-year history of the Minneapolis suburb.

Before public office, she also held a position at the Minnesota Department of Human Services as a diversity, equity and inclusion specialist.

Predominantly white St. Louis Park, a city of roughly 50,000, has seen the number of people of color more than double over the past two decades, reaching 20% of the population. Some 10% of residents are foreign-born, and the average household income is $87,639.

The city’s mayor is also its manager, responsible for executive-level operations. The mayor also chairs the City Council.

Mohamed will succeed Jake Spano, who announced in March that he would not seek reelection and endorsed Mohamed.

Other Somali-American successes

In nearby Minneapolis on Tuesday, another Somali-American, Ward 6 City Councilman Jamal Osman, defended his seat, receiving 44.6% of the vote, followed by Kayseh Magan with 30.1% and Tiger Worku with 21.8%.

Speaking to his supporters after the election results were in, Osman said he was happy and felt grateful to be trusted by Ward 6 residents for three consecutive years.

“I'm super excited,” Osman said. “We have a lot of work going on. We have a lot of work to do.”

In 2022, at least eight Somali-American women won races in U.S. midterm elections.

The success of Somali-American female candidates in the U.S. eclipses that of female aspirants for elected office in Somalia.

Female politicians in Somalia are so disenfranchised that in 2016, Somalia's federal and regional leaders had to start allocating a specific quota of seats in parliament. But women still were never given the opportunity to get the 30% quota promised.

In 2016, Somali women occupied 24% of the 329 seats in the two houses of parliament. In 2022, female candidates secured 20%, well short of the 30% quota.





Other Muslims and Somalis were elected in the 2022 elections. Will this be a trend?

[Kismet]

Bill Maher last night on Religion and Christmas

Mike Johnson needs to re-read the First Amendment.

[CU88a]

Florida GOP Chair Christian Ziegler, husband of Moms For Liberty cofounder, accused of sexual assault by alleged menage a trois lover

https://flcga.org/florida-gop-chair-chr ... dium=email

The Florida Center for Government Accountability news outlet, the Florida Trident, published a story this afternoon about a sexual assault allegation against the chair of the Florida GOP, based on information obtained from a heavily redacted police report and anonymous sources close to the investigation. Shortly after the story was published, the Sarasota Police Department released a copy of the report as well.

The details of the alleged sexual assault are disturbing on their face and made even more insane by how deeply intertwined the characters involved are in not just Gov. Ron DeSantis’ political circle, but the MAGA movement as well.

Christian Ziegler is the chairman of the Florida Republican Party and is married to Sarasota County School Board member and Moms For Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler. Bridget Ziegler has close ties to DeSantis, who personally endorsed her school board run. The Florida Trident described the pair as “one of Florida’s top political power couples in the GOP.”

That “power couple” reportedly has a third member — a woman who has been engaged in a “longstanding,” in the Trident’s words, threesome sexual relationship with the couple, and who filed a police report early last month accusing Christian Ziegler of raping her.

Christian Ziegler is now reportedly under criminal investigation for the alleged assault, which took place on October 2, per the redacted police report that was filed on October 4. Sources close to the investigation told the Trident that the alleged incident occurred at the woman’s house. Christian Ziegler was reportedly alone with the woman and Bridget Ziegler was not present at the time. Per the Trident:

Sources also corroborated that a search warrant was executed on Christian Ziegler’s cell phone and that investigators continue to conduct a forensic examination of the electronic device. Christian Ziegler is also alleged to have secretly videotaped the sexual encounters between the couple and the woman, sources said.

No charges have been filed and Christian Ziegler’s attorney Derek Byrd put out a statement after the Trident piece was published saying his client would be “completely exonerated.”

The Trident unpacks the pair’s ties to DeSantis, the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida and the broader “family values” policy position that has been wholeheartedly embraced by DeSantis, the Florida GOP and many

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/where-thi ... dium=email

[MDlaxfan76]

Yikes!

[PizzaSnake]

Florida GOP Chair Christian Ziegler, husband of Moms For Liberty cofounder, accused of sexual assault by alleged menage a trois lover

https://flcga.org/florida-gop-chair-chr ... dium=email

The Florida Center for Government Accountability news outlet, the Florida Trident, published a story this afternoon about a sexual assault allegation against the chair of the Florida GOP, based on information obtained from a heavily redacted police report and anonymous sources close to the investigation. Shortly after the story was published, the Sarasota Police Department released a copy of the report as well.

The details of the alleged sexual assault are disturbing on their face and made even more insane by how deeply intertwined the characters involved are in not just Gov. Ron DeSantis’ political circle, but the MAGA movement as well.

Christian Ziegler is the chairman of the Florida Republican Party and is married to Sarasota County School Board member and Moms For Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler. Bridget Ziegler has close ties to DeSantis, who personally endorsed her school board run. The Florida Trident described the pair as “one of Florida’s top political power couples in the GOP.”

That “power couple” reportedly has a third member — a woman who has been engaged in a “longstanding,” in the Trident’s words, threesome sexual relationship with the couple, and who filed a police report early last month accusing Christian Ziegler of raping her.

Christian Ziegler is now reportedly under criminal investigation for the alleged assault, which took place on October 2, per the redacted police report that was filed on October 4. Sources close to the investigation told the Trident that the alleged incident occurred at the woman’s house. Christian Ziegler was reportedly alone with the woman and Bridget Ziegler was not present at the time. Per the Trident:

Sources also corroborated that a search warrant was executed on Christian Ziegler’s cell phone and that investigators continue to conduct a forensic examination of the electronic device. Christian Ziegler is also alleged to have secretly videotaped the sexual encounters between the couple and the woman, sources said.

No charges have been filed and Christian Ziegler’s attorney Derek Byrd put out a statement after the Trident piece was published saying his client would be “completely exonerated.”

The Trident unpacks the pair’s ties to DeSantis, the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida and the broader “family values” policy position that has been wholeheartedly embraced by DeSantis, the Florida GOP and many

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/where-thi ... dium=email

[jhu72]

Iowa reveals who evangelicals really are. The press is only now catching on.

[jhu72]

Mormon Church's next Prophet President is to be a women.

Interesting that the various state and US governments have seen a turn to the right, and American institutions and business are turning left as a response?

[NattyBohChamps04]

Mormon Church's next Prophet President is to be a women.

Interesting that the various state and US governments have seen a turn to the right, and American institutions and business are turning left as a response?

This is a small offshoot of the main Mormon Church, which is still very conservative.

[Farfromgeneva]

Florida GOP Chair Christian Ziegler, husband of Moms For Liberty cofounder, accused of sexual assault by alleged menage a trois lover

https://flcga.org/florida-gop-chair-chr ... dium=email

The Florida Center for Government Accountability news outlet, the Florida Trident, published a story this afternoon about a sexual assault allegation against the chair of the Florida GOP, based on information obtained from a heavily redacted police report and anonymous sources close to the investigation. Shortly after the story was published, the Sarasota Police Department released a copy of the report as well.

The details of the alleged sexual assault are disturbing on their face and made even more insane by how deeply intertwined the characters involved are in not just Gov. Ron DeSantis’ political circle, but the MAGA movement as well.

Christian Ziegler is the chairman of the Florida Republican Party and is married to Sarasota County School Board member and Moms For Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler. Bridget Ziegler has close ties to DeSantis, who personally endorsed her school board run. The Florida Trident described the pair as “one of Florida’s top political power couples in the GOP.”

That “power couple” reportedly has a third member — a woman who has been engaged in a “longstanding,” in the Trident’s words, threesome sexual relationship with the couple, and who filed a police report early last month accusing Christian Ziegler of raping her.

Christian Ziegler is now reportedly under criminal investigation for the alleged assault, which took place on October 2, per the redacted police report that was filed on October 4. Sources close to the investigation told the Trident that the alleged incident occurred at the woman’s house. Christian Ziegler was reportedly alone with the woman and Bridget Ziegler was not present at the time. Per the Trident:

Sources also corroborated that a search warrant was executed on Christian Ziegler’s cell phone and that investigators continue to conduct a forensic examination of the electronic device. Christian Ziegler is also alleged to have secretly videotaped the sexual encounters between the couple and the woman, sources said.

No charges have been filed and Christian Ziegler’s attorney Derek Byrd put out a statement after the Trident piece was published saying his client would be “completely exonerated.”

The Trident unpacks the pair’s ties to DeSantis, the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida and the broader “family values” policy position that has been wholeheartedly embraced by DeSantis, the Florida GOP and many

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/where-thi ... dium=email

Could’ve gone with mothers lament from the same album I suppose as well.

https://youtu.be/zCrPZEJUlus?si=xDQmM15xG6jI1Irr

[PizzaSnake]

A time to every season?

“When Americans are asked to check a box indicating their religious affiliation, 28% now check 'none.'

A new study from Pew Research finds that the religiously unaffiliated – a group comprised of atheists, agnostic and those who say their religion is "nothing in particular" – is now the largest cohort in the U.S. They're more prevalent among American adults than Catholics (23%) or evangelical Protestants (24%).

Back in 2007, Nones made up just 16% of Americans, but Pew's new survey of more than 3,300 U.S. adults shows that number has now risen dramatically.”

https://www.npr.org/2024/01/24/12263717 ... in-the-u-s

[cradleandshoot]

A time to every season?

“When Americans are asked to check a box indicating their religious affiliation, 28% now check 'none.'

A new study from Pew Research finds that the religiously unaffiliated – a group comprised of atheists, agnostic and those who say their religion is "nothing in particular" – is now the largest cohort in the U.S. They're more prevalent among American adults than Catholics (23%) or evangelical Protestants (24%).

Back in 2007, Nones made up just 16% of Americans, but Pew's new survey of more than 3,300 U.S. adults shows that number has now risen dramatically.”

https://www.npr.org/2024/01/24/12263717 ... in-the-u-s

I would have to check the box declaring myself as a recovering Catholic. I'm hoping the Pope doesn't take offense.

[PizzaSnake]

A time to every season?

“When Americans are asked to check a box indicating their religious affiliation, 28% now check 'none.'

A new study from Pew Research finds that the religiously unaffiliated – a group comprised of atheists, agnostic and those who say their religion is "nothing in particular" – is now the largest cohort in the U.S. They're more prevalent among American adults than Catholics (23%) or evangelical Protestants (24%).

Back in 2007, Nones made up just 16% of Americans, but Pew's new survey of more than 3,300 U.S. adults shows that number has now risen dramatically.”

https://www.npr.org/2024/01/24/12263717 ... in-the-u-s

I would have to check the box declaring myself as a recovering Catholic. I'm hoping the Pope doesn't take offense.

He’ll have none of that…

[Farfromgeneva]

A time to every season?

“When Americans are asked to check a box indicating their religious affiliation, 28% now check 'none.'

A new study from Pew Research finds that the religiously unaffiliated – a group comprised of atheists, agnostic and those who say their religion is "nothing in particular" – is now the largest cohort in the U.S. They're more prevalent among American adults than Catholics (23%) or evangelical Protestants (24%).

Back in 2007, Nones made up just 16% of Americans, but Pew's new survey of more than 3,300 U.S. adults shows that number has now risen dramatically.”

https://www.npr.org/2024/01/24/12263717 ... in-the-u-s

I would have to check the box declaring myself as a recovering Catholic. I'm hoping the Pope doesn't take offense.

He’ll have none of that…

Prepare to receive the true lord!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNIWiINURM4

[PizzaSnake]

A time to every season?

“When Americans are asked to check a box indicating their religious affiliation, 28% now check 'none.'

A new study from Pew Research finds that the religiously unaffiliated – a group comprised of atheists, agnostic and those who say their religion is "nothing in particular" – is now the largest cohort in the U.S. They're more prevalent among American adults than Catholics (23%) or evangelical Protestants (24%).

Back in 2007, Nones made up just 16% of Americans, but Pew's new survey of more than 3,300 U.S. adults shows that number has now risen dramatically.”

https://www.npr.org/2024/01/24/12263717 ... in-the-u-s

I would have to check the box declaring myself as a recovering Catholic. I'm hoping the Pope doesn't take offense.

He’ll have none of that…

Prepare to receive the true lord!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNIWiINURM4

“Roman Popery!”

I’d forgotten that bit of proto-Magatism. Thanks for the reminder of the terrible consistency of human behavior.

[Farfromgeneva]

A time to every season?

“When Americans are asked to check a box indicating their religious affiliation, 28% now check 'none.'

A new study from Pew Research finds that the religiously unaffiliated – a group comprised of atheists, agnostic and those who say their religion is "nothing in particular" – is now the largest cohort in the U.S. They're more prevalent among American adults than Catholics (23%) or evangelical Protestants (24%).

Back in 2007, Nones made up just 16% of Americans, but Pew's new survey of more than 3,300 U.S. adults shows that number has now risen dramatically.”

https://www.npr.org/2024/01/24/12263717 ... in-the-u-s

I would have to check the box declaring myself as a recovering Catholic. I'm hoping the Pope doesn't take offense.

He’ll have none of that…

Prepare to receive the true lord!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNIWiINURM4

“Roman Popery!”

I’d forgotten that bit of proto-Magatism. Thanks for the reminder of the terrible consistency of human behavior.

That comment is what made me think of it in this dialouge. Its a top 4-5 movie for me. Wont replace harold and maude but I think Daniel Day Lewis' acting in this may be the single best (large scale/big budget) movie acting job in my lifetime which I don't say lightly.

[cradleandshoot]

Back in grammar school everybody thought those coat rooms in back were for hanging your coat or putting your PBJ sandwich on the shelf. At Holy Rosary where I went they provided a convenient, out of the way place for the nuns to whoop the tar out of misbehaving students.

[Farfromgeneva]

Back in grammar school everybody thought those coat rooms in back were for hanging your coat or putting your PBJ sandwich on the shelf. At Holy Rosary where I went they provided a convenient, out of the way place for the nuns to whoop the tar out of misbehaving students.

And for clearing out those pesky fetuses.

[PizzaSnake]

Back in grammar school everybody thought those coat rooms in back were for hanging your coat or putting your PBJ sandwich on the shelf. At Holy Rosary where I went they provided a convenient, out of the way place for the nuns to whoop the tar out of misbehaving students.

And for clearing out those pesky fetuses.

Nah, they tidied that up in the laundry…

“The Magdalene Laundries in Ireland, also known as Magdalene asylums, were institutions usually run by Roman Catholic orders,[1] which operated from the 18th to the late 20th centuries. They were run ostensibly to house "fallen women", an estimated 30,000 of whom were confined in these institutions in Ireland. In 1993, unmarked graves of 155 women were uncovered in the convent grounds of one of the laundries.[2][3] This led to media revelations about the operations of the secretive institutions. A formal state apology was issued in 2013, and a compensation scheme for survivors was set up by the Irish Government, which by 2022 and after an extension of the scheme had paid out €32.8 million to 814 survivors.[4] The religious orders which operated the laundries have rejected appeals, including from victims and Ireland's Justice Minister, to contribute financially to this programme.[5]”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdale ... in_Ireland

[Farfromgeneva]

Back in grammar school everybody thought those coat rooms in back were for hanging your coat or putting your PBJ sandwich on the shelf. At Holy Rosary where I went they provided a convenient, out of the way place for the nuns to whoop the tar out of misbehaving students.

And for clearing out those pesky fetuses.

Nah, they tidied that up in the laundry…

“The Magdalene Laundries in Ireland, also known as Magdalene asylums, were institutions usually run by Roman Catholic orders,[1] which operated from the 18th to the late 20th centuries. They were run ostensibly to house "fallen women", an estimated 30,000 of whom were confined in these institutions in Ireland. In 1993, unmarked graves of 155 women were uncovered in the convent grounds of one of the laundries.[2][3] This led to media revelations about the operations of the secretive institutions. A formal state apology was issued in 2013, and a compensation scheme for survivors was set up by the Irish Government, which by 2022 and after an extension of the scheme had paid out €32.8 million to 814 survivors.[4] The religious orders which operated the laundries have rejected appeals, including from victims and Ireland's Justice Minister, to contribute financially to this programme.[5]”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdale ... in_Ireland

I just wish I had been in Arequipa Peru during the peak of Santa Catalina. Freaky nuns are my jam.

https://siyahenperu.wordpress.com/2016/ ... ghty-nuns/