Category Archives: religious news

religious news

Prayer still allowed in school

I am being overwhelmed with the need to dispel a lie that has grown wings and legs over the course of many decades.

It is that the U.S. Supreme Court “took prayer out of our public schools.” It did not do anything of the sort.

What the court ruled was that organized prayer sanctioned by an arm of government is an unconstitutional act.

The court made its ruling in 1962 in the Engel v. Vitale case. ā€œOne of the greatest dangers to the freedom of the individual to worship in his own way,ā€ Justice Hugo Black wrote for the Court, ā€œlay in the Governmentā€™s placing its official stamp of approval upon one particular kind of prayer or one particular form of religious services.ā€

The First Amendment to our Constitution states quite clearly that the government “shall make no law” that sanctions a particular religion.

So … what does that mean? The amendment doesn’t not limit government just to Congress, or just to county courthouses, or city halls. Any government entity, and that includes public school systems, must avoid ordering citizens to be indoctrinated into any specific religion.

I want to say as well that the amendment also declares that the government must not “prohibit the free exercise thereof” a religion. What I assume from that? I presume that citizens — and that includes public school students — are free to pray whenever and wherever they please.

I’ve heard it quipped over many years that “for as long as schools present final exams, students will be praying in school.”

So, let the students pray on their own without being forced to pray to a specific deity. I say this as a man of faith who believes with all my heart that religion should be taught at home and in our houses of worship … not in our public schools!

political news, religious news

They are ‘evangelical hypocrites’

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For those among us who continue to proclaim their fealty to the Bible while condemning their neighbors in the context of a heated political campaign, allow me this brief reminder.

The New Testament places no qualifier on whom we should love. It doesn’t tell us to embrace only those who look like us. It doesn’t say to feed only our political allies. It makes no qualifying statement on who deserves our grace.

So, when you hear the garbage being spewed by those who purport to be “evangelical Christians” while they heap all those caveats on who Jesus Christ instructs them to receive their care, please understand that these are religious perverts. They have twisted the words inscribed centuries ago to fit a political narrative that has zero place in understanding the tenets of faith.

They are not “evangelical Christians.” They instead are evangelical hypocrites lurking among those of us who understand –and honor — the messages contained within our holy book.

religious news

State enacts illegal law

A one-time colleague of mine used to argue that the U.S. Constitution doesn’t declare a “separation of church and state.”

Yeah … I know, I would tell him. The point, though, is that the Constitution’s First Amendment is as clear as it gets on this point: Government must not impose religious doctrine.

Thus, Louisiana has enacted a law that is patently, explicitly and absolutely in violation of the Constitution. It should be repealed forthwith.

The state has declared that every public school classroom must contain a display of the Ten Commandments, or else! I presume the “or else” would result in a loss of funding from the state.

To no one’s surprise — certainly not mine — Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick declared that in the 2025 legislative session, he will work to enact a similar law in Texas. Given this state’s hard-right tilt, there will be no surprise when the Legislature approved it and Gov. Greg Abbott signs it into law.

The founders created a governing document that makes zero mention of religion. Not Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhist. Nothing, man. It’s a secular document, meaning that every citizen is free to follow whatever deity he or she chooses. Or follow none at all!

Why in the world cannot our government officials allow us just to worship God in church and leave our public institutions just the hell alone? That is what the founders intended!

national news, political news, religious news

Give this man his due … and some grace

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He became the butt of jokes and misdirected criticism back in the day … not so much now that the man you see in this picture is so frail and is grieving the loss of his wife of more than 70 years.

You know him as James Earl Carter, the nation’s 39th president. He served one term in the White House before losing to Ronald Reagan in 1980. Republicans running for POTUS too often paint President Carter’s term as a failure. It wasn’t. His term, though, was damaged grievously by inflationary pressure and by the capture and prolonged imprisonment of those 55 American hostages held by Islamic militants in Iran.

Let’s understand something about this good man. He lived his deep Christian faith. He didn’t just talk about it or pose in awkward and phony photo ops to call attention to it. He rolled up his sleeves and went to work with his wife in building homes for those who needed one.

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter helped make Habitat for Humanity a household word.

Beyond that, though, President Carter taught us to live life to its fullest and to avoid taking credit for the good work he does. One does not hear this man boast about the work he has done, or how he spreads the teachings of Jesus Christ, to whom he is deeply faithful.

I have seen this social media meme proclaiming that “this is how a true Christian” demonstrates his faith. It shows Jimmy Carter working to build a home and it makes a direct comparison to the phony brand of faith preached by the likes of Republican former POTUS Donald Trump.

The meme is meant to illustrate how this topsy-turvy world has been turned on its ear with political operatives hijacking Americans’ deep religious faith and perverting it for political purposes.

It is utterly anathema to the life that President Jimmy Carter continues to live.

local news, national news, religious news

‘No!” on travel ban

Barry Goldwater, I am supremely confident in asserting, is spinning in his grave out yonder in Arizona.

The late Arizona U.S. senator and father of the conservative movement would no doubt be aghast at what might be transpiring in Amarillo, where the city council is preparing to vote on an ordinance that would ban women from using local roads and highways to obtain an abortion out of state.

Goldwater used to preach that conservatism, as he understood the principle, kept government out of people’s lives. He was particularly leery of religion being used to dictate public policy.

Amarillo is pondering whether to knuckle under to far-right conservatives’ call to ban women from using local rights-of-way to obtain an abortion. Amarillo Mayor Cole Stanley said he doesn’t believe the council will approve the ordinance, which is being brought to the council on the strength of petitions circulated throughout the city.

The city has validated enough signatures to call for a vote, the Texas Tribune has reported.

What now?

If the council rejects the ban the issue, then it can go to voters for a citywide referendum, as I read the Tribune story. That would give the anti-abortion fanatics room to persuade most Amarillo voters to endorse the ban.

Again, Barry Goldwater would come unglued at the notion.

The Tribune reports: The original ordinance supporters want to see passed in the city does not call for pregnant women to be punished for having an abortion out of state. However, anti-abortion legal crusader Jonathan Mitchell hasĀ filedĀ legal petitions seeking to depose women he claims traveled out of state for abortions. Mitchell is working with anti-abortion activists pushing the travel ban on a municipal level.

The proposed policy makes anyone who ā€œaids and abetā€ the procedure vulnerable to a private lawsuit from other citizens. The enforcement is similar toĀ Senate Bill 8, the Texas bill that banned almost all abortions in 2021, prior to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. This is the only enforcement mechanism for the ordinance, which some council members haveĀ criticizedĀ as creating a system for neighbors to turn on each other to collect reward money.

Amarillo City Council must vote on abortion travel ban | The Texas Tribune

Limited government conservatism has given way to all-hands-on-deck conservatism … as long as the issue reflects a certain religious principle. Come to think of it, the nation’s founders would be appalled as well.

political news, religious news

Tough to resist hating this guy

My dear mother taught me to avoid saying I “hate” someone. Mom wasn’t a particularly religious person, but surely she must have known what Scripture teaches us about Jesus “loving” his enemies.

Still, as I survey the Republican Party presidential nominee-in-waiting, I find myself wondering if the ex-POTUS knows a damn thing about what’s inside the Bible. Thus, I wonder if he refrains from telling those closest to him not to “hate” those who oppose him. If he is as ignorant of what the Bible tells us as I suspect he is, then he hasn’t exercised a moment of faithful restraint.

This is the kind of supposition that gives me grief as I wrestle with what I feel viscerally about the GOP nominee-to-be. If he has never sought forgiveness, as he once said, then should those of us who do follow Jesus’s teachings actually care about this guy?

At some level, I do care about him. “Care,” though, is as far as I go.

I’m going to continue to avoid saying I “hate” this clown. Jesus wouldn’t agree to it. More importantly, neither would Mom.

political news, religious news

Tim Dunn: scary dude

Tim Dunn has taken front-and-center stage as the most frightening political operative at work in Texas.

Why say such a thing? Well, the Texas Tribune reports that a former Texas House speaker, Joe Straus, has confirmed that Dunn — who runs Empower Texans, told him that “only Christians” should hold leadership positions in the Legislature.

Straus is Jewish. So I am presuming that Dunn either (a) didn’t know that when he said it to the speaker or (b) knew it and didn’t give a sh**. I’m guessing it was the latter.

Empower Texans is the far right-wing political action committee that works tirelessly against Republicans who aren’t conservative enough to suit the group’s taste. Dunn is a Midland oil executive who believes that Christianity is the only religion on Earth that is worth a damn.

According to the Tribune: But Dunn reportedly demanded that Straus replace ā€œa significant numberā€ of his committee chairs with tea party-aligned lawmakers backed by Dunnā€™s political advocacy group, Empower Texans. After Straus rebuffed the demand, the two began to talk about social policy, at which point Dunn allegedly said he believed only Christians should hold leadership posts. ā€œIt was a pretty unsatisfactory meeting,ā€ Straus said Thursday. ā€œWe never met again.ā€

Ya think?

Joe Straus: Tim Dunn said only Christians should be in leadership | The Texas Tribune

Let me remind Dunn and others of his ilk of something the founders wrote into the Constitution. Article VI states that “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

What about that statement does that dimwit not get?

political news, religious news

He can’t cite a single verse? What?

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The presumed Republican Party presidential nominee claims to be a devout Christian.

I mean, he says he has “many Bibles” strewn throughout his houses in Florida, New Jersey and … Timbuktu.

Now he’s signing Bibles and selling them for 60 bucks a throw. For what purpose? To raise money to pay legal bills accumulated as he defends himself against multiple felony charges contained in four criminal indictments.

He’s a phony and a fraud, says Mitt Romney among others. Here’s how one can make that presumption.’

When reporters have asked him to cite a “favorite verse or two” from the Bible, the former Bible-thumper in Chief can’t do it. He won’t do it. He says it’s “too personal” to cite a single favorite verse. A reporter once asked him whether he prefers the Old or the New Testament. He answered: “Oh, let me think. They’re equal.”

He is without question, debate or any discussion needed the most un-religious and immoral individual ever to hold the office of POTUS. To think he wants it back simply sends chills throughout my old man’s body.

***

Here is a brief video that shows what I am talking about. Spoiler alert: It is admittedly compiled by someone who opposes this individual’s claim of piety.

Donald Trump Can’t/Won’t Name His Favorite Bible Verse (youtube.com)

political news, religious news

No … God didn’t do this!

Of all the histrionics I have heard about why the MAGA crowd is so in love with the former POTUS who wants to return to office, only one proclamation actually offends me.

It goes like this: It was God’s will that put him in the office and God wants him to return.

Let us ponder that for a moment, or maybe two.

When you rely on the Almighty to justify your earthly political beliefs, you immediately run into serious trouble. Where in the world does it say that God looks the other way at someone breaking his sacred vow of fidelity to his wife? Don’t the evangelicals who back the former POTUS stand firm on the biblical view that cheating on one’s spouse is a sin worthy of high scorn?

Moreover, where does the Good Book allow for someone to on one side of his mouth proclaim to be someone of deep faith and then declare with the other side of his pie hole that he has never sought forgiveness for any sin he has committed?

Citing Scripture is a dangerous gambit. God also must have decreed that Joe Biden be elected president in 2020. That’s why he’s there now, in the office, making decisions on our behalf!

Those of us out here in Voter Land who also worship God understand the teaching laid out in the Bible far more than the guy who pretends to be faithful.

A critic of this blog ID’s himself (I presume it’s a guy) as Psalm 109:8. I looked that passage up. I says: “Let his years be few; let someone else take his position.”Ā He believes President Biden should lose his job because the Bible suggests as much. Such devotion to Scripture. You know what the next verse says? “Let his children be fatherless; let his wife become a widow.”Ā 

You want a reason to take great offense at some phony notion that God intended for the former Idiot in Chief to be elected? That is why one should never mix religion with politics.

political news, religious news

Perverts preaching Christian doctrine

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Jesus Christ would be appalled at what passes these days for teaching in his name.

There. I said out loud what has been gnawing at me for decades.

OK, I have to acknowledge that as a Christian, I must assume that Jesus knows what is happening. After all, the son of God, is … well, God, right? So he knows.

This notion of Christian nationalism, though, is beginning to bother me in the extreme. It presumes the nation’s founders created a nation steeped in Christian teaching, that the nation adheres to Christianity and that it ignores or dismisses the faith of others who happen to be devoted to a deity other than Jesus Christ.

I have read the New Testament since, oh, I was a little boy. That is more than 70 years! I don’t profess to know what every chapter and verse says. But I have learned that I am entitled to interpret it as narrowly or broadly as I choose.

On most matters, I take a broad view of what the Bible tells us.

These so-called Christian nationalists also seem to take an overly broad view of what Jesus taught us while he walked the Earth. He said his way was the only way to heaven. I get that part.Ā What I cannot swallow is the notion of condemning others who do not follow Jesus’s teaching. That is what I hear the Christian nationalists doing.

Is that in keeping with what Jesus taught the world? No. It isn’t. Those who purport that it is have perverted the holy word to a level I do not — and cannot — recognize.

They inject their version of Christianity into our secular politics where, in my ever-so-humble view, it does not belong. I believe strongly that religion belongs exclusively in houses of worship, not on street corners or in campaign rallies.