Christopher Hitchens: Cristophobic and incoherent - again!

Give a man enough rope and he'll hang himself ... Hitchens could rig a schooner with what he's been given.

Russell Moore links to and comments on Christopher Hitchens' cristophobic and incoherent diatribe at Slate (Jesus for President).

You know the sort of thing very well: Jesus would have been a ‘human shield’ in Baghdad in 2003; the United States is the modern equivalent of the Roman Empire. It’s the usual ‘liberation theology’ drivel, whereby everybody except the inhabitants of the democratic West is supposed to abjure violence. (To the question of whether the plan to kill Hitler was moral or not, Claiborne cites no less an authority than the Führer’s own secretary to claim that “all hopes for peace were lost” after the 1944 attempt. That, as should be obvious even to the most flickering intelligence, was chiefly because the attempt was a failure. What an idiot!)”

I'm not sure why the Brits let this bloke run loose, or why other countries like Canada and the US allow him access to their citizens.

OPPRESSION: Fear merchants Shanghai their losses!

Europe, the Missionaries’ Battle Ground | Brussels Journal

The plight of converts to Christianity in Muslim countries is well known. What is less known is the plight of Muslim converts to Christianity in Western Europe. Last week Dutch television broadcast a documentary which shows how former Muslims in the Netherlands are frequent victims of intimidation and violence.

Organized or unprovoked violence against one group by another group (or on behalf of another group) is rooted deeply in fear, intended to intimidate a group's and its member's views ... to coerce actions and conform attitudes consistent with those of the attackers.

An ancillary objective is to intimidate those who might find comfort in the actions and attitudes of the victims before the attack.

The attacks in the BJ article are clearly Cristophobic with the intent of spreading fear of becoming a Christian and fear of Christianity itself.

Christianity, Christophobia, Cristophobia,
Europe, Fear, Islam, Muslim, Religion

REVIEW: Dr. Ted Baehr and Dr. Tom Snyder review Maher's God-awful movie!

Bill Maher's RELIGULOUS Is Ridiculous | Free Republic

In word's filled with patience and generosity Baehr does an aggressive autopsy on Bill Maher's cristophobic movie Religulous. His conclusions are not so kind.

See CW's own review here.

Christianity, Cristophobia, Maher,
Movieguide, Movie review, Religion, Religulous

GLOBALISM: UN once again reveals its cristophobic pro-Muslim bias!

Freedom Experts Criticize U.N. Anti-Blasphemy Resolution| Christian Post

This blogger is no friend of the United Nincompoops ...

Religious freedom experts criticized this week a United Nations anti-blasphemy resolution for most likely hindering Christian evangelism and spreading Sharia law.

“This anti-blasphemy resolution is mostly seen to be putting a ‘chilling effect’ on Christian work and outreach around the world, and that is a very troubling development for us,” said Carol Moeller, president/CEO of Open Doors, according to Mission Network News.

The non-binding U.N. resolution was first introduced by Pakistan and the Organization of the Islamic Conference at the U.N. Human Rights Council in 1999. It was amended to include religions other than Islam, and has since passed every year.

In 2005, Yemen proposed a similar resolution before the General Assembly and now the 192-nation Assembly is set to vote on it again.

Here we have a patently pro-Muslim effort to silence all non-Muslim religions. Imagine this resolution being used against a Muslim cleric who calls for the Pope's assassination or against a Muslim cartoonist whose favorite theme is Jewish blood.

All that's needed is one complaint to bring down the wrath of the NGOs; radical Islam's threats and intimidations are taken seriously enough to allow for this kind of preferential treatment.

Globalism is the name, one-world religion is the game. The prince of the power of the air is still active in this age.

Christianity, Cristophobia, Evangelism,
Globalism,
Islam, Missions, Muslims,
Religion, United Nations

MUSLIMS: Iraqi Muslims step up Christian pogroms!

Iraqi Archbishop: Christians Face 'Liquidation' | Christian Post

A systematic effort to rid Iraq of its Christian citizens has been going on since 2003 ...

The most senior Catholic cleric in Iraq warned that Christians in his country face “liquidation” if the Iraqi government and the U.S. military do not step-up protection for religious minorities in Iraq.

“We are the target of a campaign of liquidation, a campaign of violence,” said Chaldean Archbishop Louis Sako, reported Agence France-Presse on Friday. “The objective is political.”

Sako’s comment comes after police reported earlier this week that seven Christians have been killed in separate attacks this month. Police found bullet-riddled bodies of seven Christians in October, with the latest body of a Christian day laborer found on Wednesday.

Since the U.S.-led Iraq war in 2003, more than 200 Christians have been killed, dozens of churches bombed, and more than half the Iraqi Christian population have left the country, according to the archbishop.

Iraq is a perfect example of the Butterfly Effect (the law of unintended consequences). Some of the people we had intended to aid through our overthrow of Saddam Hussein are the very people we have most disturbed,

“We believe it is the responsibility of Americans who occupy our country to protect Iraqis,” Sako said.

One can not dogmatically insist cristophobia is at work here, but the Muslims certainly do fear and hate Christians, and teach others to fear them and hate them as well.

Catholic, Chaldean, Christianity,
Cristophobia, Iraq, Muslims, Religion

ENTERTAINMENT: This is not entertainment!

Bozell Column: Fox's Lying, Slacker Jesus | NewsBusters
Wikipedia entry
imdb Comments

No! This is not entertainment!

This is in-your-face social commentary and personal opinion intended to cover up the ignorance and licentiousness of an animator.

Brent Bozell makes us aware of the garbage mind and heart of one Seth MacFarlane, who, though gifted by his creator with manifold artistic skills, chooses to ridicule the Giver by way of the gift ... something done by mental and spiritual pygmies for over 6,000 years.

According to Bozell ...

On October 5, Fox’s Sunday night [Family Guy] cartoon debuted an episode titled "I Dream of Jesus," a play on "I Dream of Jeannie." Get it? Jesus is a fairy tale, like a genie in a bottle.

The title character, Peter Griffin wanders into a record shop, where he finds Jesus Christ minding the store. Jesus lies to Peter, trying to deny who he is, until Peter threatens to urinate on the albums of Christian artist Amy Grant. Jesus comes clear on his identity and explains he came to Earth "just to get away from the family... my dad just quit smoking and he’s a little on edge." What follows is an entire story that chronicles, in rather amazing fashion, how this lying, slacker Jesus is even dumber than Peter, the greatest idiot on animated television today.

Actually what follows degenerates rapidly, revealing the hurting soul in MacFarlane, where inner demons rage and in whom cristophobia manifests itself by ridiculing the object of his confliction.

Having been a bone fide ridiculer in my past life, I sense MacFarlane was trying to pull something off that failed to happen ... too bad ridiculing the only good man to have ever existed was his long straw.

Christianity, Cristophobia, Entertainment,
Family Guy, Fox, MacFarlane, Religion

PALIN: Newsweek and Sam Harris gang up on Sarah, reveal cristophobia!

Sam Harris on Sarah Palin and Elitism | Politics | Newsweek
HT - Newsweek on Palin: A 'Pet Pony' and 'Rapture-Ready Extremist' | NewsBusters

Sam Harris is a self-promoting, nobody atheist who has been blessed by the Peter Principle ... elevated to "his level of incompetence"; only his benefactors have no idea he has been!

Writing in what used to be a worthy magazine, Harris declares John McCain's pick for Vice President a figment of imagination, a religious zealot of the first order, someone of such dysfunction that she is not worthy of our time.

So, I ask, why are Newsweek and the soon to be forgotten Sam Harris taking the time to mock her? We find the answer in another Peter principle ...

Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming?

For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation."

For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

2 Peter 3:3-7

One of the dangers of keeping Sarah Palin under wraps is this kind of hyperbolic diatribe! (see here also) Where is the danger for Harris' with his crapola, if he knows she won't be allowed to respond?

I can't agree with all of Tim Graham's take on Harris' opinion of Palin because I don't see it in the same light ... with the same worldview!

Harris has a right to his opinion; it's the subtle, quasi-intellectual, cristophobic fear mongering which really bothers me (CRIB emphasis). Notice ...

Her relative ignorance is guaranteed on these fronts and most others, not because she was put on the spot, or got nervous, or just happened to miss the newspaper on any given morning. Sarah Palin's ignorance is guaranteed because of how she has spent the past 44 years on earth.

I care even more about the many things Palin thinks she knows but doesn't: like her conviction that the Biblical God consciously directs world events. Needless to say, she shares this belief with millions of Americans -- but we shouldn't be eager to give these people our nuclear codes, either.

Excuse me? Who has Sam spent any quality time with regarding the "the past 44 years" of her life" Seriously, how does he know how she spent the past 44 years?

Then there is this little slip: "her conviction that ... God ... directs world events." Add Harris' own admission "millions of Americans" share "this belief" with poor Sarah!

First, this has been shown and re-shown to have taken out of context. And, second, she never said or even implied anything near to this. But will Harris' hubris allow him to discuss it reasonably and rationally? No! It won't!

And "we" shouldn't? This wee slip of the tongue tells me that he believes he, the Newsweek shakers, and their mover-readers are all of one mind. Such arrogance!

And "these people"? What smug contempt for "millions of Americans"?

Harris and Newsweek are not just mocking Sarah Palin, they've called out, by Harris' own figures, millions of Americans. But they have no fear, not of Sarah's fellow Christians (recent history shows we don't fight back against this crapola) and not of the likes of Sam Harris or the editors of Newsweek (Romans 3:18).

Most reasonable people know intuitively what this means to the intelligentsia. And most public speakers/writers avoid it when speaking to or about any minority group: women, blacks, Jews, Muslims, etc. But not to Christians, especially Christian women.

Harris and Newsweek are both guilty of what they accuse Palin - of ignorance and of spending their lives in the wrong way, without God, and therefore not knowing him or what He has said!

CROSS POSTED - The SHEEP'S CRIB

Christianity, Cristophobia, Harris,
Newsweek, Palin, Religion

INTOLERANCE: Taxpayer supported cristophobia!

Christians face funding bias, says Archbishop | The Christian Institute
HT - Public bodies are ‘intolerant’ of Christian groups | Cranmer

The USA is not the only place where Christians feel their government is cristophobic.

The Archbishop of York has spoken of Government ‘intolerance’ against Christian groups when it comes to funding community initiatives. [TCI]

While faith remains a primary motivation for charitable and voluntary work in Britain, increasingly voluntary groups which have a Christian foundation are viewed as ‘tainted and unsuitable for receipt of funding’ by public bodies.
[Cranmer]

Of course the "separation of church and state" is enshrined in the left's mythological Constitution of the United States, where only hard fought victories are achieved through "faith based" efforts; no such ironclad and arbitrary barrier to government funding exists across the pond.

... Dr Sentamu has noticed ‘a chill wind that blows around grant makers and managers of funds’ when they consider the plans of faith groups. He said: “We must resist any trend in national or local Government where the decision as to whether a solution works is not based on results, but upon the intolerance that sees a project motivated by faith as being tainted and unsuitable for receipt of funding. Rather there should be a recognition of the valuable work being carried out by groups motivated to serve the common good by a belief in dignity of all as God’s creatures in which his divine spark resides.”[Cranmer]

So many volunteers have opted out of faith based work and so many organizations have given up under governmental cristophobic intolerance and disdain. This has resulted in many not receiving much needed care and service which might have been provided.

Christian groups “are working at the coalface of pastoral care and social practice,” he said, “motivated by nothing more than their love of God and the love for their neighbour”.

Many are working with the elderly, children and the disabled. Dr Sentamu said there are 22,000 religious charities helping people in England and Wales, while churchgoers contribute more than 23 million hours of voluntary service each year.[TCI]

I'm not aware of the comparable American data, so I can't say with any certainty the contribution of our people and organizations. However, any reasonable analyst must admit it is a least as good per capita/dollar of contribution.

More TCI ...
More Cranmer ...

Charity, Christianity, Cristophobia,
England, Intolerance, Religion

DISCRIMINATION: Can’t be seen promoting Jesus!

Christian bestseller blacklisted by BBC | The Christian Institute
Original - Shadowmancer author: BBC banned me because I'm Christian - Telegraph
HT - Christian bestseller blacklisted by BBC | BLACK KETTLE

In a nation which just institutionalized Sharia law it's surprising to hear the nation's public broadcasting authority is concerned about the boundaries of religious propriety.

A successful Christian children’s author says he was refused appearances on the BBC because it couldn’t be “seen to be promoting Jesus”.

G P Taylor’s first novel, Shadowmancer, spent 15 weeks at the top of the British book charts in 2003. His second book, Wormwood, sold 22,000 copies in one day.

Yet the author claims that invitations for appearances on the BBC stopped once producers found out he was a Christian.

“I had good relations with them until they realised that there were religious allegories in my stories,” he told The Sunday Telegraph.

As in most disputes, a debate continues as to the truth of Taylor's allegations.

Taylor ... says that he has been the victim of political correctness that favours minority religions at the expense of Christianity, a claim the BBC denies. [...]

[The author] who gave up life as a parish priest after signing a £3.5 million publishing deal with Faber in 2004, believes the BBC began to shun him after he was described as the new C S Lewis – the Christian author who wrote The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

BBC, Christianity, Cristophobia,
Discrimination, G P Taylor, Religion

MEDIA BIAS: Don't give me facts, I'm content with my ignorance!

FRC Action Summit: Newt Gingrich | Hot Air
HT - Gingrich Criticizes Media for Anti-Religion Elitism; Chastises ABC's Gibson | NewsBusters

Newt Gingrich, former Republican Speaker of the House, blasted the media for its religious intolerance and historical ignorance at the Family Research Council's Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C.

"And I want to take a minute or two because I want to put in context how bad things have gotten in the elite media and how utterly alien from historic traditional American culture some elements of the elite media are and I'll let you decide for yourself as you watch them which people accurately fit this," Gingrich added. "But there's a secular, at a minimum skeptical to religion, at a maximum overtly hostile to religion bias in the mainstream media."

I'd vote for overtly hostile.

Much more ...

CROSS POSTED: SHEEP'S CRIB - Issues

Christianity, Cristophobia, Gingrich, Media bias,
Palin, Religion, Religious Intolerance

EGALITARIANISM: More to lose rights in the interest of gaining rights for some!

‘Equality police’ to target faith groups | 2008 News | Christian Institute
HT - 'Equality police' to target faith groups | BLACK KETTLE

For the authentic Christian there can be no "'homophobia' in religion" as implied in the following ...

The Government’s equality enforcement agency will tackle ‘homophobia’ in religion, one of its senior figures has said.

Bradley Brady is Director of Stakeholder Relations at the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

His comments are likely to fuel fears that the rights of religious people come bottom of the pile at the Commission.

Mr Brady was speaking at a fringe meeting of the TUC conference on the subject of “Religion and Homophobia: No Compromise on LGBT Equality!”

According to the TUC website, The meeting was “organised by the TUC LGBT Committee to discuss recent events where individuals have claimed religious exemption from providing equal treatment for LGBT people, and how to promote a campaign for genuine equality.”

I think we've heard something of this TUC group before, haven't we?

[The Christian Institute] also asked whether the Commission would strive to protect the rights of people of faith to express their religious beliefs on sexual ethics.

The Commission said, “If in the expression of those beliefs the legal rights of another group are violated, the Commission would not support that.”

Simon Calvert of The Christian Institute said, “The Commission is saying it will tackle homophobia in religion. But many activists regard biblical teaching on sexual ethics as inherently ‘homophobic’.

“Furthermore, can you seriously imagine a senior figure from the Commission saying it will tackle homosexual groups that interfere with religious liberty? No, nor can I.”

Christianity, Cristophobia,
Egalitarianism, Human rights, Religion

HYPOCRISY: Incubation of fascism and its irrational worldview!

TUC calls for Christian to be sacked from Equality and Human Right Commission | Cranmer

Cristophobia hides in the recesses and dark corners of bureaucratic offices and agencies of every country in the world; it is most often disguised as well-intentioned public service but is actually a pariah bent on milching the public coffers and fulfilling a hidden agenda.

Self-righteous British Human Rights commissioner wants to violate Christian member's rights in order to gain special rights for her pet group.

According to the Trades Union Congress, no Christian (apart from he nominal variety) could possibly defend the rights of the oppressed, and they have therefore called for Joel Edwards, director of the Evangelical Alliance, to be removed as an Equality and Human Rights Commissioner.

The motion was moved by one Phyllis Opoku-Gyimah, who was ‘appalled’ by his appointment, and even moreso that he retains the support of the EHRC chairman, Trevor Phillips. She said: ‘Joel Edwards has clearly stated that same sex relationships are morally wrong and sinful. How on earth is he going to look at gay and lesbian issues when he has made a career out of opposing equality for LGBT people?’

What we have here is another example of a leftist who cannot see the forest for her trees! Today's rights activists are tomorrow's totalitarianists.

There appears to be an insistence by the TUC that all Equality Commissioners must share the same outlook and the same beliefs. This Marxist strategy is designed eradicate the expression of a range of views and opinions, and to silence debate, especially that which may relate to an expression of Christian orthodoxy.

Amazing; obviously this bigoted woman doesn't grasp the meaning nor application of impartiality, a virtue adamantly taught by God from before his selection of David over his brothers, while His Son demonstrated it by dying on the cross once, for all.

Christianity, Cristophobia, Hypocrisy,
Religion, Religious intolerance

PERSECUTION: Ancient orthodox body under serious persecution!

Orthodox Christianity under threat | International Herald Tribune
HT - Orthodox Christianity under threat | EuropeNews

When Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and his Islamic-rooted party came under fierce fire this summer from secularists, who came close to persuading the country's supreme court to bar both from politics, he called the campaign an attack against religious freedom and a threat to Turkey's efforts to join the European Union.

Yet in nearly six years in power, Erdogan has shown no inclination to extend even a modicum of religious freedom to the most revered Christian institution in Turkey - the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the spiritual center of 300 million Orthodox Christians throughout the world. As a result, Turkey's persecution of the Patriarchate looms as a major obstacle to its European aspirations, and rightly so.

Turkey is a secular state with a majority Muslim population; you fools who think there's no threat from this "peaceful" religion are setting up your grandkids and their children for serious heartache and suffering.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate, which was established in the fourth century and once possessed holdings as vast as those of the Vatican, has been reduced to a small, besieged enclave in a decaying corner of Istanbul called the Phanar, or Lighthouse.

Almost all of its property has been seized by successive Turkish governments, its schools have been closed and its prelates are taunted by extremists who demonstrate almost daily outside the Patriarchate, calling for its ouster from Turkey.

Christianity, Cristophobia,
Persecution, Politics, Religion

GOVERNMENT: Agency feeds the flesh but not the soul!

Christians livid as CRTC denies religious radio, OKs porn TV | Ottawa Citizen
HT - Christians livid as CRTC denies religious radio, but OKs porn | BLACK KETTLE

When you think about it, this makes good sense (not) ...

The CRTC -- the same agency that recently gave two thumbs-up to a homegrown Canadian porn TV network -- has nixed two applications for Christian radio stations in the Ottawa area, and that has left some supporters of the religious proposals very unhappy.

Americans and Europeans are finding it difficult to keep up with Canada's persistent destruction of their traditional Judeo-Christian roots.

Christianity, Cristophobia, Government,
Religious intolerance, Religion

PERSECUTION: Muslims continue taking what is not theirs!

Muslims Continue Pushing Christians Out of Bethlehem | Arutz Sheva
HT: Muslims Continue Pushing Christians Out of Bethlehem | Iconoclast/NER

You think they won't be in your grandchild's backyard some day ... perhaps sooner? Fool! Their asymmetrical form of warfare doesn't need tanks or aircraft!

Just as they've done to Israel for centuries, they've done and will continue to do to Christians today and tomorrow!

The Muslim Fatah-controlled authority in Judea and Samaria is encouraging a "sharp demographic shift" in Bethlehem, where the Christian population went from a 60 percent majority in 1990 to a 40 percent minority in 2000, to about 15 percent of the city's total population today.

It is estimated that, for the past seven years, more than one thousand Christians have been emigrating from the Bethlehem area annually and that only 10,000 to 13,000 Christians remain in the city. International human rights lawyer Justus Reid Weiner, who teaches at Hebrew University, told the Jerusalem Institute for Global Jewish Affairs that, under the PA-Fatah regime, Christian Arabs have been victims of frequent human rights abuses by Muslims.

The report goes on ...

"There are many examples of intimidation, beatings, land theft, firebombing of churches and other Christian institutions, denial of employment, economic boycotts, torture, kidnapping, forced marriage, sexual harassment, and extortion," he said. PA officials are directly responsible for many of the attacks, and some Muslims who have converted to Christianity have been murdered.

As people with "dhimmi" status, Christians living in Palestinian-controlled territories are not treated as the equals of Muslims. He says: "They are subjected to debilitating legal, political, cultural, and religious restrictions. This has become a critical problem for the Palestinian Christians in the West Bank and Gaza.

Of course nothing is done! The world is preoccupied with the mythical mistreatment of Muslims.

Christians have pondered for centuries who (demographically) will overrun Israel and commit the abomination of desolation, flipping the switch which brings about the prophetic fulfillment of the Lord's vengeful return (also)!

I am now convinced we needn't look to Rome or to some ten nation European confederacy to find those responsible! Fortunately, they lose ... badly! Maranatha!

Christianity, Cristophobia, Israel,
Oppression, Persecution, Religion

CRISTOPHOBIA: Palin's religion denigrated again!

'Nightline': Sarah Palin 'Is Most Definitely Christian' | NewsBusters

Implied in that phrase is a warning to listeners: WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO HEAR IS CLOUDED BY THE DANGEROUS TEACHINGS OF A THREAT TO GLOBAL SECURITY AND YOU AND YOUR FAMILY'S WELFARE!

Unless for ulterior reasons, it is unnecessary to highlight a candidate's religious convictions.

According to Barack Obama's own testimony he "is most definitely Christian." He said as much in his interview with Bill O'Reilly. And yet O'Reilly (to his credit) did not introduce him with the same appellation.

It is just as necessary that an atheist candidate not allow his personal spiritual convictions to adversely affect his political decisions and/or actions as it is for a Christian, Buddhist, or Mormon to not allow theirs to do so.

Very few authentic-Christians wear their faith on their sleeves; even fewer are publicly aggressive about their faith.

CROSS POSTED: SHEEP'S CRIB - Issues

Christianity, Cristophobia,
Election 2008, McCain,
Obama, Palin, Politics, Religion

INTOLERANCE: Media's cristophobia is embarrassing!

Can Someone Hire a Religion Tutor for CNN Reporters? | NewsBusters
Media is anti-Christian, says Sky News reporter | BLACK KETTLE
Stop the Presses: Palin's Church Holds to Bible's Teaching on Homosexuality! | NewsBusters
AP Next Going After Palin's 'Derided' Religion | NewsBusters

Cristophobia is running rampant among media personalities; but they still think they're filing insightful and well researched news reports.

When I hear leftists and socialists, and the MSM, speak on religious or theological aspects of Sarah Palin's faith, I am reminded of prepubescents questioning adult decisions.

It's like the Louvre hiring a playground chalk artist to make new acquisitions. It's like an air guitarist replacing Aerosmith's lead guitarist. It is flat out embarrassing.

So ridiculous and juvenile are their concerns and questions that authentic believers are rendered speechless.

They are mad! Very mad! Mad at McCain-Palin! Mad at you! Mad at me! Why? Because we embarrassed them during and after the RNC; because they know they are responsible for the incredible and apparently enduring McCain bump. [CNN HT - NB]

I, for one, hope they continue on this cristophobic rant; what they don't know in this case is going to hurt them big time.

Some Pentecostals from Assembly of God also believe in "faith healing" and the "end times" -- a violent upheaval that they believe will deliver Jesus Christ's second coming. [News Busters]

Both faith healing and end times are orthodox teachings of the Christian faith but are presented in such a way as to insinuate red flags for the reader.

Gov. Sarah Palin's church is promoting a conference that promises to convert gays into heterosexuals through the power of prayer.

"You'll be encouraged by the power of God's love and His desire to transform the lives of those impacted by homosexuality," according to the insert in the bulletin of the Wasilla Bible Church, where Palin has prayed for about six years. [CBS HT - NB]

Sarah Palin often identifies herself simply as Christian... Yet John McCain's running mate has deep roots in Pentecostalism, a spirit-filled Christian tradition that is one of the fastest growing in the world. It's often derided by outsiders and Bible-believers alike. [Miami Herald HT - NB]

The New English Review comments ...

Seemingly they were on the prowl up there in Alaska, looking for wild-eyed Christian fundamentalists at the Wasilla Bible Church, but they come up short. Her church and beliefs are very solidly mainstream.

I won't be surprised to soon hear someone suggest Palin's current church is planning an altar for slaughtering sheep in their parking lot; all because a CNN reporter saw a bulletin from five years ago which listed the hymn "Power in the Blood" in the order of service.

What am I thinking? Only church goers will know what a bulletin is or what is meant by "Order of Service."

Each of the world's religions have a language of their own; for the media to think they can learn its grammar and syntax overnight is wilder than a Hopi peyote lodge.

CROSS POSTED - SHEEP'S CRIB Issues

Christianity, Cristophobia, Media,
Palin, Politics, Religion

PROPAGANDA: Is the National Jewish Democratic Council cristophobic?

Obama campaign asked to repudiate anti-Christian National "Jewish" Democratic Council | Israpundit

Obama challenged to reject nominal Jewish organization's support ...

There is no place in modern politics for any organization that uses racial, ethnic, religious, or misogynist hate to advance its agenda.

We therefore call upon the Obama campaign to reject the support of the National Jewish Democratic Council, whose “Bubbie versus the GOP” video ... portrays Jesus, Christian ministers, and the Cross in a “This is the Enemy” context.

NJDC has also provided derogatory misinformation about the Christian computer game “Left Behind: Eternal Forces,” and it has used its nominally Jewish identity to whitewash anti-Semitic hate speech from MoveOn.org.

Now NJDC is circulating a petition to condemn John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as a running mate. Even though we do not share Palin’s belief in Jesus, it is our obligation to condemn NJDC’s anti-Christian hate propaganda under color of Judaism as strongly as we expect decent Christians to condemn anti-Semitic hate speech under color of Christianity.

The National Jewish Democratic Council’s “Bubbie versus the GOP” ... is still available as of September 1 2008. “Bubbie versus the GOP” really seems to be “Bubbie versus Christians, Jesus, and the Cross,” because it portrays all of them in a “This is the Enemy” context.

Maybe NJDC’s real problem with Sarah Palin is that she believes that Jesus is her Savior, even though Barack Obama shares this belief–but left-wing Democrats get a pass from NJDC.

The materials referenced above are from the 2004 presidential election and are seriously outdated ... but the fact they are old doesn't mitigate their cristophobic nature, especially in light of the NJDC's current anti-Palin efforts.

Christianity, Cristophobia, Hate,
NJDC, Propaganda, Religion

IGNORANCE: Reporting on what you don't understand!

Palin's religion was obscured | Miami Herald
HT - AP Next Going After Palin's 'Derided' Religion | News Busters

The media is often guilty of writing on subjects or about events from a position of ignorance; whether this is due to animus, laziness, or busy-ness I'm unsure.

The Associated Press takes the attacks against Sarah Palin to the next level by saying that in her released bio Palin's religion was "obscured." The AP is suggesting that Palin's ostensibly secret religion is really Pentecostalism which, they note, is a sect that is "derided by outsiders and Bible-believers alike" ... saying here that the McCain campaign is trying to cover up Palin's past because they must somehow know that her real religion is a cult or some wacko, fringe sect. [NB]

It is clear from a cursory reading of the Miami Herald piece that the writer and the editors do not know what they are talking about.

Besides, I would ask the media (again), "Who died and left you in charge?"

Christianity, Cristophobia,
Ignorance, Palin,
Pentecostalism, Religion

ASSOCIATION: You're guilty because you have a life!

MSNBC's Maddow Implies Palin Is Anti-Semitic | News Busters

One method of attacking Christians which has gained favor among the MSM (Main-Stream-Media) is guilt by association. Stereotyping is the evil twin for this form of Cristophobia.

The media in America is as adept at this as any in the world ... especially when they feel threatened by something they do not understand. And they don't understand Christians, Christianity, or Christ! So believers like Sarah Palin have to endure their accusations.

MSNBC talking heads Chris Matthews and Rachel Maddow gathered to discuss the VP candidate's remarks. Among the topics covered was Palin's religious background.

The following is from the transcripts of that discussion ...

MATTHEWS: Is it true that she believes that God supports the war in Iraq? How does she know?

MADDOW: Was she sitting in the pew in her church in Wasilla two weeks ago when a speaker said that the Israelis deserve terrorist attacks, because Jews are unbelievers in Christ?

MADDOW: That was in the Politico today. Jews for Jesus founder speaking at her church while she was there two weeks ago making incredibly, incredibly out of line comments about Israel and Jewish people. These are tough questions she'll have to answer.

Many Americans are now asking themselves, "Who died and elected the media the sole arbiter of what is right and wrong?"

MADDOW: Saying that's why Israel was subject to terrorist attacks. It was God's judgment for not believing in Christ.

MATTHEWS: What's the source?

MADDOW: Politico.com

What Maddow fails to inform Matthews or her listeners is the rest of the story ...

Republican Jewish Coalition e-mailed its members evidence of her support for Israel: a video in which a small Israeli flag can be seen poking out from behind a drape.

"I think it speaks volumes that she keeps an Israeli flag on the wall of her office," the group's executive director, Matt Brooks, told Politico in an e-mail. "It clearly shows what's in her heart."

Kerry Picket of News Busters goes on to comment ...

Regardless of Palin's views on Israel, her Christian beliefs will count as a strike against her among media pundits.

Sad but true!

Antisemitism, Christianity,
Cristophobia, Israel, Jews,
Palin, Politics, Religion

ANTI-FREE SPEECH: Prayer now "grossly insulting & inflammatory"!

Oxford’s Christians apologise to Muslims for daring to pray during Ramadan | Cranmer
HT - British Muslims Offended by Christians Praying during Ramadan | Brussels Journal

Amazing and frustrating are the words that come to my mind; amazing that the Western World can't see what is going on, and frustrating that only a few do [WARNING - Pat Condell can be profane]!

Cranmer is most disturbed, if not a little irritated, to read that a Christian group in Oxford has apologised to the city’s Muslims for having the audacity to organise a day of prayer during Ramadan. Oxfords Muslims found it ‘ill-conceived and insensitive’, not to mention ‘grossly insulting and inflammatory’.

More ...

Christianity, Cristophobia, Free speech,
Muslims, Prayer, Ramadan, Religion

IGNORANCE: There's no view like a bad view spoken!

Joy Behar: Speaking on Faith is 'Impinging on the Constitution' | NewsBusters.org

To disparage another, it's often better to use the oblique approach - Joy Behar threw a lie so obliquely it almost was believed!

A presidential candidate who shares his or her religious beliefs is "impinging on the Constitution" according to "View" co-host Joy Behar. On the show’s season premiere September 2 the panel caught up on the many hot button political stories from Sarah Palin’s pregnant daughter to sharing religion in a public forum.

When Barbara Walters brought up the discussion of Senators Obama and McCain attending a forum with Reverend Rick Warren, Behar declared "both of them needed to say that Jesus Christ was their savior. That is very much impinging on the Constitution in my opinion. Why do we need to know who’s their savior?" Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Sherri Shepherd disagreed wondering what is wrong with them making such a statement.

Conveniently forgotten in the recesses of Joy's mind are two small, yet relevant, components of our "Constitution" - the freedoms of religion and speech. Geesh, how do you suppose she forgot those?

And go figure, candidates talking about faith in Christ ... in a church no less! What next????

Constitution, Christianity, Cristophobia,
Election 2008, Freedom, Religion

INTELLIGENTIA: Deep Ecology - an arrogant presuppositional global philosophy!

A Lesson in Deep Ecology | FIRST THINGS

Never ceases to amaze me ... that is, how intelligent, well-educated people can divorce themselves of common sense in order worship at the alter of an presuppostional-wisdom!

The following are excerpts from a Firsts Things piece (linked above) on Arne Naess' "Deep Ecology" ...

Apologists for the view will point to the theoretical nature of the philosophy, but remember, in the early decades of 1900s Europe, German National Socialism was also theoretical in nature.

... deep ecology aims at nothing less than a fundamental change in religion, morality, and social institutions.

Inclusive in this broad brush stroke is the Judeo-Christian worldview.

If this were not an intrinsic part of contemporary "green" thought around the world, I would not waste my time. It is, however, a seedbed of anti-Christian and anti-Semitic thinking and action.

Bold "Arabic" numerals at the beginning of the following quotes are CW's, and tie to the eight "core doctrines" of Naess' chilling theories ... only four are discussed by the article's author.

First, deep ecologists reject anthropocentrism, according to which human beings have irreducible value because they are made in the image of God; instead they embrace ecocentrism, according to which "an endangered plant species . . . has a direct claim to moral attention" and "the culling of an overabundant mammalian species in the same ecosystem may not only be morally justifiable, but obligatory to the extent that it would serve the integrity of the biotic community."

When you say mammalian species, think "human beings"!

2. "The flourishing of human life and cultures is compatible with a substantial decrease of the human population. The flourishing of non-human life requires such a decrease."

God commanded man to "go, and multiply" and "fill the earth" and rule" over it all. Philosophies such as this inherently plant seeds of distrust in the minds of non-believers and the ignorant. God gave man dominion over the earth, flora and fauna alike.

And here is the presupposition that leads to an assumption: not understanding the inherent theological needs of man, the self-consumed scientist presumes all religious thinking is inherently irrational and therefore assumes any thought of his/her own is inherently rational.

(2. cont.) Naess taught that the present environmental crisis is chiefly one of population and economics, and that the way to reduce our numbers is by a profound change in "economics, technology and science, politics, education, philosophy, and religion."

Blinded by arrogance and pseudo-intelligence, the deep ecologist throws out that of which is inconvenient to his ignorant preconceptions.

Third, deep ecologists are a throwback to the 1930s. Michael Zimmerman argues persuasively that deep ecology resembles German National Socialism, which was also a "neo-pagan revival and a radical ‘green’ movement."

The Nazis too castigated Christianity as "nature-hating, life-despising, and otherworldly," embraced a "religion of nature," and rejected "progressive political ideologies" for carrying on, in secular form, the Christian view of a purpose in history.

It only gets better.

Fourth and most alarmingly, deep ecologists promote Arne Naess’ so-called "Self-realization" as a replacement for morality. ... Once we identify with the nonhuman world as our larger Self, Naess teaches, there is no need for morality, for we now "defend the planet in Self-defense, we preserve natural processes and entities as an expression of our shared interests with the rest of creation."

Christians be wary of the philosophies of the world and their practitioners ...

"The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd. But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body."

Ecclesiastes 12:11-12

Naess goes in the way of Herod, "eaten by worms" and will die ... he too will be struck for not giving glory to the Creator of the very "creation" he so desperately wants to save. Fortunately, salvation, of all kinds, "comes from the Jews" and not deep ecology.

Christianity, Cristophobia, Deep Ecology,
Religion, Worldviews

VATICAN: A growing problem around the world!

Vatican warns of growing Christianophobia | Top News | Reuters

HT - Christianophobia - Some Part Of The Problem Explicated | Iconoclast - New English Review

Reuters is reporting ...

"Christianophobia" is a growing problem around the world and it must be fought with the same determination as anti-Semitism or Islamophobia, the Vatican said on Friday.

Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican's foreign minister, spoke in the wake of attacks against Christians in India that have left at least 13 people dead this week.

Mamberti, addressing a conference in northern Italy, said religious freedom was a vital part of international relations and human dignity.

More from Reuters ...

More from NER ...

Christianity, Cristophobia,
India, Religion, Vatican

SACRILEGE: It is finished means it is finished!

Italian museum defies pope anger over crucified frog | Yahoo! News

What do you get when you combine a German art museum, a German artist, and a green German frog? No, not a Kermitmeister!

Just as in the case with the Danish Muhammad cartoons debacle, this is a cause for the Christians of the world to unite and burn buildings ... heck, whole cities ... well at least a few old cars.

An art museum in northern Italy said Thursday it will continue displaying a sculpture portraying a green frog nailed to a cross that has angered Pope Benedict XVI and local officials. [...]

I could find no record of Pope Bennie actually described as angry ... apparently the author (Ariel David) of this piece needed an adjective real bad.

Earlier in August the pope had written a letter to Franz Pahl, the president of the Trentino-Alto Adige region that includes Bolzano, denouncing the sculpture.

It "has offended the religious feelings of many people who consider the cross a symbol of God's love and of our redemption," Pahl quoted the pope as writing in the letter.

Pahl himself has long opposed the display of "Zuerst die Fuesse" ("First the Feet" in German), even staging a hunger strike this summer and saying he would not seek re-election unless it was removed.

And it is this that CW wants to highlight; ridicule of key or fundamental aspects of a person's orthodox faith is an extreme form of disrespect for that person and their faith.

To this end I understand Islam's negative reaction to the Danish cartoons. However, I vehemently disagree with their expression of upset.

Pahl said he was outraged by the museum's decision to keep the work, which he claims "pokes fun at the Catholic population and offends religion and the pope."

The 1990 wooden sculpture shows the crucified frog nailed through the feet and hands like Jesus Christ.

Just guessing, but I could be easily convinced that the artist had some personal issues he was dealing with.

The museum said the 3-foot (1-meter) -tall sculpture has nothing to do with religion, but is an ironic self-portrait of the artist and an expression of his angst.

"With humor and a tragicomic sense, which belongs to art since the times of Greek tragedy, Kippenberger ... faces his condition of suffering, which he expresses in many works, also, for example, in a video in which he crucifies himself," the museum said in a statement.

Nuff said!

Blasphemy, Christianity, Cristophobia,
Ridicule, Religion, Sacrilege

HYPOCRISY: Guilt here while professing Christ is poison to the faith!

San Francisco Radio Host Gets 7 Years for Child Porn | FOXNews.com

A former San Francisco radio talk show host and [former] Roman Catholic priest was sentenced to more than seven years in prison Thursday for distributing child pornography.

Bernie Ward, 57, pleaded guilty in May to one count of distributing child pornography. Prosecutors said investigators found dozens of pornographic images of children as young as 3 on Ward's home computer, including masochistic images of children bound and gagged.

"He traded in the currency of children's suffering," federal prosecutor Steve Grocki said.

"Bernie ... is a good man." Ward's attorney claimed - Good men don't tell others that he is aroused by his own daughter.

Related ...

Christianity, Cristophobia,
Hypocrisy, Religion

GOVERNMENT: Irish Cardinal sees unease with EU's aims among Christians!

Cardinal criticises EU attitude to Christian way of life | Irish Times

HT: Cardinal Says EU Undermines Christianity | Brussels Journal

Irish Cardinal Brady chastens EU leadership for their disrespect (read Cristophobic view) of Christians, Christianity, and their concomitant values. Of course we must recall that what was a wholly Christian populace in 1900 is barely a shadow of that 100 years later.

"The experience of many Christians within the EU is that this lowest common denominator invariably coincides with the secular and relativist tradition within Europe - that which denies moral absolutes with an objective basis - rather than the religious view."

Brady goes on to comment ...

"As the recent referendum on the Lisbon Treaty in Ireland suggests, at least some of those who were previously enthusiastic about the founding aims of the EU, both social and economic, are now expressing unease," he said. [...]

To ignore "this trend within the EU and its impact on people of faith has inevitable political and social consequences, not least on levels of support for the project itself", he said. [...]

Such an approach ended up with Christians "being denied the right to intervene in public debates or at least having their contribution dismissed as an attempt to protect unjustified privileges, such as, for example, the right to employ people who support the ethos of a Christian institution". [...]

"Successive decisions [of the EU institutions] have undermined the family based on marriage, the right to life from the moment of conception to natural death, the sacredness of the Sabbath, the right of Christian institutions to maintain and promote their ethos, including schools - these and other decisions have made it more difficult for committed Christians to maintain their instinctive commitment to the European project," he said.

As to the future of the EU ...

"Without respect for its Christian memory and soul, I believe it is possible to anticipate continuing difficulties for the European project. These will emerge not only in economic terms but in terms of social cohesion and the continued growth of a dangerous individualism that does not care about God or about what the future might have in store."

Christianity, Cristophobia, EU,
Family Values, Religion

APATHY: On being our own worst enemy!

Good & Evil | ESSAYS ON OUR TIMES

HT: Good & evil | THE BLACK KETTLE

Truth doesn't sell! Goodness and righteousness don't sell! Ergo Christianity doesn't sell! Perhaps this piece by David Warren will explain why!

... I am in favour of good, and against evil. (And be warned: few with the opposite bias are prepared to declare it.) In my own defence, I will state that my preferential option for good is not entirely self-interested. In the longest view, I trust that it will be. But in the short term, and on this planet, I don’t see people getting points for it.

As John Milton discovered (and William Blake famously nailed), evil tends to win the theatrical competitions. Milton’s Lucifer was the livelier and more exciting cosmic presence in Paradise Lost. The journalist in Milton intuitively grasped what publishers have been betting through the intervening centuries: that the life of a sinner is easier to sell than the life of a saint. And this, perversely enough, even though the lives of the saints are often more interesting.

The Devil trades on plausibility, and his argument that "the saints are boring" repays the very little thought most people are willing to devote to the issue.

The glorious truth is: Jesus is the Truth, the Life, and The Way, but He is not in sales.

The sad truth is: 57% of those who profess to be followers of Jesus as the only way to eternal life [HT: Black Kettle], believe there are other ways to that life and the vast majority of Americans long for goodness and righteousness to win [HT: Black Kettle] ... publicly ... but contradict that behavior privately.

Cristophobes may appear to carry the day, but they don't and they won't. But it would be a lot easier to combat cristophobia if we all took up our swords and trowels and stood in the gap.

Apathy, Apostasy, Christianity,
Cristophobia, Laziness, Religion

PARODIC SATIRE: Being Christian means being tough skinned!

A Heavenly Candidate | Washingtonpost.com

Hat Tip to - WaPo Lauds Liberal Jesus-for-Prez Novel: He's a 'Unitarian Porn Star'? | NewsBusters.org

When people mock our faith or our Lord, we, as Christians, are frequently torn between outrage and wisdom. The arrival of this book is one such time ... at least it has the feel of such a time.

I like to believe I prefer wisdom to outrage ... sadly I employ the latter more often than not. Yet wisdom is winning on this one!

American Savior is, I believe, a comedic parody (or as the publisher says a "bitingly clever satirical novel") of Christian nationalism ... an issue that I believe is fair game for non-believers.

Too many of those I call brothers and sisters claim to be Evangelical or conservative Christians, but they are, in reality, Christian Nationalists ... believing that "saving" America is a command of God straight off the pages of the gospels.

Somehow they seem to think any evil done in the USA is a direct threat to the Church and God Himself. They seem to overlook Jesus' words concerning "the gates of Hell."

We, as believers, must remember what parody ...

1. a humorous or satirical imitation of a serious piece of literature or writing ...
2. the genre of literary composition represented by such imitations
3. a burlesque imitation of a musical composition
4. any humorous, satirical, or burlesque imitation, as of a person, event, etc.

and satire ...

1. the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.
2. a literary composition, in verse or prose, in which human folly and vice are held up to scorn, derision, or ridicule
3. a literary genre comprising such compositions.

are! They are tools of the cultural, social and political critic.

Based on the Ron Charles review in the Washington Post, I'd say Roland Merullo's new novel America Savior is the genuine article - a satirical parody or, if you wish, a parodic satire.

American Savior is a remarkably innovative novel that challenges our perceptions and beliefs while it wags a finger at the folly of our self-righteousness. It is sure to cause controversy among those for whom politics itself has become a kind of religion. [Algonquin]

Many will see Merullo's novel as Cristophobic, I do not! I am secure enough in my faith and my Lord is secure enough in me, that I don't fear this kind of secular criticism. We should not always see darkness when there's so much light.

Merullo is obviously not trying to propagate spiritual truths or encourage others to hate Christians or Christianity; but, rather, the author seems to be encouraging us (i.e., conservative Christian nationalists, evangelicals and fundamentalists) to wake up and see the image on the Jumbo Tron.

Savior is narrated by a former newscaster named Russ Thomas who quits his job to help elect Jesus. The campaign brings Jesus into contact with Merullo's other target — the media with its bloviating superstars: i.e., the suspender-wearing Lenny Queen. [USAToday]

I need a copy of the book to review ... maybe Merullo or Algonquin will send me one?

Books, Christianity, Cristophobia,
Parody, Religion, Satire