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Maine voters had a chance to be a truly independent and strong state, to send a message out to the rest of America that the time has come for marriage equality in America. Instead, enough of them were either moved by their own fears and prejudices or cajoled by the barrage of outside money and advertising that they voted to deny marriage equality in Maine.
What was the historic opportunity Maine voters didn't take? If they upheld the Maine legislature's approval of same sex marriage, Maine would have been the first state in America to do so. Instead, they joined all those who have so far voted to uphold laws legalizing discrimination. I'm ashamed to say my home state of Oregon has done the same in a past election.
Many will say "the voters have spoken." What do votes like this tell us? Sometimes voters are very wrong. There was a time in America that majorities supported slavery. Majorities supported denying voting rights to women. In other countries majorities have favored fascist agendas.
One only need look at how many still support the last Administration (around 33 percent) to understand how voters can be very wrong. Of course, that's politically subjective. To deny rights is objective and easily quantifiable. That Maine voters reject gay marriage isn't about anything except denying equality.
On the plus side, it does look like voters in Washington State fought back attempts by hate merchants to repeal the so-called "Everything but Marriage" bill passed by the legislature but brought up on petition. It's not equal rights, but voters still beat back attempts to remove even that.
I know that one day people will look back at this struggle the same way students read about other civil rights fights, as something happening in the past. Their history teachers will speak of the "long struggle" and there will most likely be some other antiquated social philosophy the uninformed will cling to.
The fight in Maine wasn't unlike last year's battle in California over Proposition 8. Californians looked like they might be the first to step up and allow voter approved same sex marriage. Instead, they gave in to the flood of propaganda and money aimed at maintaining separate status. Recent polls are showing some voter remorse, though - the next time it comes up the result will probably be different.
Minority persecutions and prejudices are rarely overcome just by actions of the minority. They need people who don't, on the surface, have "skin in the game" to wake up and realize that we all have skin in the game. More people in support of equality need to turnout to match the muster call of prejudice.
It was the only big election held yesterday with decent turnout, which also says something about American voters. The fact that conservatives can be brought out by hate and fear continues to resonate throughout American politics.
If not for huge conservative turnout in New Jersey and Virginia, those contests might have turned out differently. Conservative pundits and mouthpieces are all touting the results, screaming about it being a denunciation of President Obama. It's America's Achilles Heel - the far right almost always votes, and pretty much in lockstep.
September 28th 2009 01:18
The following is a compilation of two reviews I wrote based on debates I got to go to in Newberg, Oregon.
Dan Barker came to Newberg, Oregon, not for one debate, but two. In the morning session of The Believer's Reason Conference and Debate held at Newberg Christian Church, he debated Dr. James R. White about topic "The Jesus Story is Cut from the Same Story as other Ancient Mythologies."
Dr. James R. White is the director of Alpha and Omega Ministries (www.aomin.org) based in Phoenix, Arizona. It is a Christian apologetics organization. He is also a professor, and I might add, a formidable debater.
Dan Barker is co-president of the Freedom from Religion Foundation based in Madison, Wisconsin. He is one of America's leading Atheists, co-hosting Free Thought Radio and also acting as a contributing editor to Freethought Today.
Both men are accomplished authors. I haven't read any of Dr. White's work, but have read and greatly enjoyed "Godless" by Dan Barker. It is described as the story of "How an evangelical preacher became one of America's leading Atheists."
The debate followed a strict format, allowing for statements, rebuttals, and cross-examinations. It began with Dan Barker began with a story about "Three Little Donkeys" that, although slightly different, followed the fairy tale of the "Three Little Pigs." He used this to demonstrate a technique used throughout history, emulation. He also used the example of "Romeo and Juliet" being updated differently in "West Side Story."
He then went on to show example after example of how specific parts of the bible emulated mythologies much much older. Perhaps the most striking was how biblical author Mark very closely followed Homer's Odysseus.
But he also showed parallel myths from the bible and more specifically, the Jesus Story, that coincided alarmingly well with others from the ancient world.
Dr. White, to his credit, more than just held his own. Still,, his argument did eventually run out of steam. His primary assertion was that Dan Barker, like many Atheists, suffers from so-called "parallelomania," or the desire to find parallels where none, according to Dr, White, exist.
The session lasted around three hours, and was lively and interesting throughout. I, as an Atheist, was happy to see Dan Barker defend our positions so deftly. I would invite anyone to read "Godless" or any of his works. If they want the opposing view, Dr. White has quite a few offerings. Newberg Christian Church is to be commended for allowing on scholarly debate to take place.
This Saturday, September 26th, was a long one for Dan Barker. His morning debate with Dr. James White lasted over three hours. His evening match against Matt Slick went about as long. Still, I think Dan came out on top of both contests. The second debate was titled "Is There Reason to be Good Without God?"
Matt Slick is president and founder of the Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry (www.carm.org) and resides in Boise, Idaho. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary in Escondido, California. He currently hosts Faith and Reason Radio, broadcast in the Boise area and over the internet.
Dan Barker is co-president of the Freedom from Religion Foundation based in Madison, Wisconsin. He is one of America's leading Atheists, co-hosting Free Thought Radio and also acting as a contributing editor to Freethought Today.
The debate with Matt Slick wasn't nearly as impressive on a scholarly level as Dan Barker's earlier debate with Dr. James White. Matt Slick was, in my opinion, roundly beaten early and became unable to move past his own circular logic.
In his opening statement, he attempted to use a procedural trick to claim himself the presumptive winner. He said that because Dan Barker was taking the affirmative position on the question "Is There Reason to be Good Without God?," It was incumbent upon Dan to prove his point empirically according to scientific method. And since Dan Barker obviously can't scientifically quantify "good," than his point is lost. Of course that's a silly position to take.
Barker defined good as "something that does less harm," or an act that reduces harm in the world. That could range from saving a drowning person to ending an injustice. Matt Slick went on to say "if you don't have a standard, you got nothin." refusing to acknowledge Barker's definition of good.
Then when asked for his definition of good, Slick said it came from God, because "I believe him." When asked how he knows that it's good, he said "I believe him." A good explanation of faith, but hardly an objective view.
Dan Barker went on to say "any system that uses threat of harm" is "morally bankrupt." He went on a rant about how the god of the bible is petty and mean, not himself meeting reasonable criteria of good.
This topic was especially interesting to me, as I hold that it is more moral to be good simply because it is what you choose to do than to do it for heavenly reward or to avoid hellish punishment. And Atheists, as a whole, are happier, healthier, and more charitable.
I was pleased to see Dan Barker so easily make his point, but I must admit I would have welcomed a better challenge. Matt Slick came off as just that, a slickish kind of used car salesman. Needless to say, I didn't buy the Edsel he was pushing.
September 24th 2009 01:51
A teacher, Boy Scout local director, and part-time census worker Bill Sparkman was found hanged to death in Clay County, Kentucky on September 12. The news broke nationwide today, September 23rd. What makes it even more harrowing is that he had the word "FED" scrawled upon his chest.
A man who served his community and his country was killed for doing just that. The FBI is investigating, since it is a federal crime to attack someone while they are performing federal work. If the case plays out as it seems initially, Bill Sparkman, 51, had his life ended by someone unhappy with the government.
The census bureau has suspended door-to-door operations in rural Clay County until the investigation is complete. What Sparkman was working on wasn't even the main census that is still to come. The Bureau does conduct smaller studies from time to time. In all likelihood the project he was working on would provide numbers that could help the people of Clay County.
What we have to wonder, is why, and will there be more to come? The far right has made hay attacking the upcoming census. The likes of Michele Bachmann and Glenn Beck have been telling people they don't have to fill out the census and that it's an attempt by the "government" to learn information that can be used against citizens.Will Bachmann and Beck and company come out strongly against this? I suppose we will see.
This is just the kind of thing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was talking about when she asked for those on the right to join her in attempting to tone down the rhetoric. She realizes that for every loud-mouthed pundit inciting violence, either directly or indirectly, there are myriad idiots out there thinking about ways to act it out.
Personally, I have to credit anyone who would do census work in rural Kentucky. To me the thought brings to mind scenes from "Deliverance." Anybody hear banjo music? Is it going to take providing census workers police escorts to go count just how many Dukes there are out in Hazzard?
It's more than past time that responsible leaders on the right openly decry violence. Not just lip service to saying how tragic the killing of Bill Sparkman was, but real efforts to tone down the rhetoric. It's not likely to come, seeing how they are trying to get political points from hyping up fears about the census and health care and where President Obama was born. But it would be nice.
September 22nd 2009 06:13
"All pornography is homosexual pornography." That according to the chief of staff for Senator Tom Coburn, (R-OK) who seemed to be a self-imagined expert about preteen male sexuality. Michael Schwartz is a long-time conservative activist and all-around melon for brains who was speaking at the aptly named Values Voters Summit. Of course, the most important "value" is to be a fear and hate spreading jackass.
He leads into his points by saying that 10 year old boys have an innate hatred of homosexuality and homosexuals, and goes on to get even more obscene and offensive and idiotic
[ Click here to read more ]
September 18th 2009 01:50
There's alot of different ideas thrown around for fixing health care. Everything from so-called "socialist" medicine to doing nothing. Some would overhaul it completely while some would throw band-aids at the problem by doing something that doesn't really do anything.
One of the former includes changing the tax code so that premiums paid are eligible for a tax credit. Sure, it might make premiums seem more affordable, but it would do nothing to address the systemic problems that are causing the current system to spiral downward
[ Click here to read more ]
September 15th 2009 01:59
Kanye West isn't happy that Taylor Swift won a VMA. Is it just me, or is it a sign I'm getting older - why do the VMAs suck so much anymore? (Off on a tangent, I'm back now)
Serena Williams goes off on a line judge, threatening to do things with the tennis ball that don't fall within the tennis rulebook
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September 12th 2009 17:40
Ah, Newt - you do have a knack for getting egg on your face, don't you? Sure, you were having an affair when you were so vociferously condemning President Clinton over Monica Lewinsky. Sure, you act like a champion of the people when you were the leader of one of the most corrupt batch of legislators Congress has ever seen. And now, one of the most visible symbols of right wing radicalism and hypocrisy does it again.
Think Progress (www.thinkprogress.org) has obtained a fax sent to one Allison Vivas of a company called Pink Visual. It came from Newt Gingrich's American Solutions for for Winning the Future group (ASWF) and it said she had been chosen for a 2009 Entrepreneur of the Year Award
[ Click here to read more ]
If your ears can stand it and you have a few brain cells you don't mind risking, listen to Sean Hannity on the radio or watch him on FOX. You will no doubt hear him respond to callers who are of the same mind by calling them "great Americans." And it goes back and forth. The caller will say "You are a great American, Sean!" and he will then tell the caller that indeed they are a "great American."
Of course that means they are as ignorant of fact and as bereft of logic as he is. Listen to the callers for a time, and you will get the sense that everyone in America is afraid. Fearful of everything from health care reform to Muslims forcing America to convert
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Dick Cheney is possibly the most despicable person to ever have held national office in America. A war criminal by definition and a liar by trade, he most definitely put the "vice" in vice president. Cheney's latest public display of misguided hubris came in the person of Chris Wallace, one of the Cracker-Jack reporters who call FOX News home.
While it's easy to describe Cheney as heinous, FOX News as trite right wing fluff, we live in a sound bite society. And as sound bites go, Andrew Sullivan, blogging at www.theatlantic.com , issued the best I've heard in a long time
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Some of us have warned for years about the dangers coming from an unholy alliance between religious, government, and corporate interests. Seemingly disparite groups working together for their own agendas, and one big common one. What these groups have in common is a desire to involve themselves in every facet of life.
Possibly the most dangerous group has been in the news alot lately. The "Family" is a collection of politicians, business people, lobbyists, and general ne'er do wells who believe themselves to be "chosen by God" to lead the rest of us. Members of The Family regard themselves as above the morality they espouse, above the reproach they themselves so aggressively hurl at others
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