I already had my seat in hell reserved

but Sarah Palin just told me that I’ve got VIP access now. Sweet! Ta-Nehisi Coates suggested bloggers should post this around the web. Guess he was flabbergasted Palin would basically use religion and the fear of eternal hell-fire to guilt believers into voting for her.

I think the clip is ridiculous, partly because she sounds funny and partly because she takes Madeline Albright’s quote out of context. She even misquotes it by using the word “support” instead of “help”. I have to agree wholeheartedly with a commenter on Coates’ blog who goes by the name Cynic:

[…] It’s a stupid comment, and a cheap throw-away line. But it’s fairly clear that Sarah Palin doesn’t have a theology, as religious scholars might use that term – no systematic understanding of the world or God’s role in it, that seeks to grapple with the paradoxes and profundities of faith. She isn’t speaking a religious truth – support her or burn – so much as giving voice to her twisted brand of feminism, in which opposing an unqualified woman running for office is an act of sexism.

Like I needed another reason to love UNC

Anyone who knows me knows that I ride HOARD for my alma mater. I have good reason to do so, but I won’t go on and on about all of that right now. I’ll save that for the High Holiday, aka March Madness (*makes sign of the interlocking NC across heart*)

I’ll just clap to beloved Tar Heel and legendary basketball coach Dean Smith for lending his celebrity to the message that, SURPRISE! Democrats are religious too!

Granted, I’m a little late as the ad was part of a 2006 campaign by Devout Democrats, a political action committee based in Chapel Hill, NC. In case you can’t see the print very well, the ad features Dean Smith against a Carolina blue sky. Above his picture, it proclaims in big bold letters: “American Baptist Devout Democrat.” In the middle, the ad quotes Smith as saying, “I’m a lifelong Baptist and vote for Democrats. One reason? Democrats are serious about alleviating poverty.”

I think this is a great message. I’m not religious by any stretch of the word, but I do realize how important religion is to a great many people in America. It’s definitely important enough to shape the political views of most folks. That being said, I think this message is important in an election year such as this one. Opponents of the Democratic party often try to paint us as wildly different from Conservatives, Republicans and the “religious right.” I’m guessing they do that by propogating the idea that we’re all crazy atheists hell bent on taking the country to hell in a papier-mache airplane made out of American tax dollars.

Well, the Democratic party is not homogeneous. There are those who find their religious values and their political views totally compatible. Take NC Democratic chairman Jerry Meek, who said, “When you think about the Bible, what we [Democrats] stand for is right on message with Christian values,” referring to such issues as poverty, health care and the environment.
Source: NC Democratic Party.

Crashing Rights – “The Conscience Exception”

Americans tend to take their rights pretty seriously. Right to free speech, assembly, bearing arms, voting, privacy, religion, etc; we love that shit. People from all walks of life and every belief on the spectrum clings to one or many of those rights at some point in time. What happens, though, when my right to do something comes up against your right to do something? Who’s holding the big joker?

This may have slipped under your radar, depending on how up on public policy you are, but the US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) is proposing new regulations which basically says medical professionals/facilities receiving Federal funds do not have to perform abortions or like procedures if those acts would conflict with the professional’s/facility’s religious or moral belief.

Alright, well depending on where you stand this might not sound so bad. I can see why someone would think this was a good idea. If I were a conservative person or practiced a religion that taught me abortions were dead wrong, well then I would support the regulation. Perhaps instead of going to law school I wanted to be an Obstetrician (I really did consider this path once in my life, Ob-Gyn). I should be able to choose the kind of job I want without being forced to do things that go against my personal convictions, right?

Is Barack Obama Muslim?

If you blog, do everyone a favor and take Matthew Yglesias‘ suggestion. Link to a site that is asking and answering the question: Is Barack Obama Muslim?

If you don’t blog, just visit the site and hopefully the Google ranking will skyrocket (and we can educate the 2,928 West Virginians with internet access). Pass it on.

I’m not into this whole pope business…

I don’t get it. Admittedly, I am not a Catholic. Admittedly, I do not claim any particular religion or denomination at all. But I’m a thinking person, dammit and I think this pope stuff is just ridiculous. 

So the pope is in America and everyone’s going nutso over it. People will wait all day just to get a glimpse of the man and if they touch him!?! Man, be careful. Crazy Catholics are gonna be weeping and fainting and busting nuts all over the place. 

I did some reading on the background of the papacy but I don’t really want to go into that right now. It’s not that complicated to me. Simply, I just don’t believe it. 

You mean to tell me that this man is like 4th runner up to holiness after the Holy Trinity (father, son, holy ghost for you heathens)? Why? How? Apparently, when it’s time for a new pope, the gang of Cardinals gets together and votes. Oh, so you can VOTE on who has God’s cell phone number? Appointing the pope would make more sense to me if it was based on the same qualifications to become King of Camelot – pulling a sword from a stone. I mean, that’s something!

But a vote? We’ve all seen what could happen with a vote (see Election 2000). 

The pope also has a LOT of influence. People all around the world, even those who are not Catholic, put a lot of trust in that man’s decisions. Almost everything the pope is against, I’m for and vice versa. 

When I was doing my reading on the pope, I saw that the number one Biblical proof Catholic theologians turn to in order to show the pope’s legitimacy is Matt.16:18-19 which reads: “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Apparently, the word “rock” is the key term. Catholics believe that this passage shows Jesus establishing his church on the shoulders of Simon son of John, whom Jesus re-named Peter (meaning rock). Thus Peter was the rock upon which Christ’s Church was built, therefore Jesus established a head to his earthly Church, calling for a successor to that head and thus the Papacy was established.

The names “Petros” and “Peter” are Greek and Latin translations of the Aramaic word “Cephas,” spoken by Jesus Christ. “Cephas” means “rock.”

However, this interpretation of events is challenged by non-Catholics. Some say it was Peter’s confession of faith that Jesus referred to. However, others propose that Jesus never called Peter rock at all but instead he was called “small stone”.

So basically, this whole pope business is predicated on Jesus calling some dude “Cephas” which meant rock and which translates into Peter. What’s the big deal about Peter?

In Roman Catholic theology, the doctrine of apostolic succesion states that Christ gave the full sacramental authority of the church to the Twelve Apostles in the sacrament of Holy Orders, making them the first bishops. By conferring the fullness of the sacrament of Holy Orders on the apostles, they were given the authority to confer the sacrament of Holy Orders on others, thus consecrating more bishops in a direct lineage that can trace its origin back to the Twelve Apostles and Christ himself. This direct succession of bishops from the apostles to the present day bishops is referred to as apostolic succession. The Roman Catholic Church also holds that within the College of Apostles, Peter was picked out for the unique role of leadership and to serve as the source of unity among the apostles, a role among the bishops and within the church inherited by thepope as Peter’s successor today.

Catholics are reaching a bit much. 

Now, I’m not the kind of person who degrades the religions of others. I think folks should believe as they choose and worship as they so desire. By that same token, I believe as I choose and I choose not to believe that the pope is the messenger of God and that he is linked to one of the twelve disciples through a vote and a laying on of hands. 

That’s all I have to say about that.