Happy Birthday Eileen. We Miss You Everyday.

I think it could be said that in many ways these have been times that have tried my soul. In what was in an all too short a span of time the presence of 4 beautiful souls have been taken from us. I say this in no way to disparage the memory of any of these 4 beautiful people all you need to know about their greatness, love and understanding is that they excepted The Count as a friend. No easy to task. But the passing of Eileen Turri was one that I have taken especially hard.

Such an intelligent, beautiful, loving soul. I have said many times I was in nearly in awe of her. The way she carried herself her amazing understanding and intelligence. I have had my own share of demons and issues in the past year. I do not doubt that losing her all to soon as well as the passing of such wonderful people as Kimberlee, Jon, and Donna have played a role in whatever It was that I was going through this spring and summer. I also have no doubt that had Eileen been here she would have said in her stern but loving way...You're better than this it's time to get on with your life. And then of course she would have stood by you the whole time as you did just that.

I don't fully know Eileen's personal stance on issues of Spirituality. I do know that even if she personally wouldn't identify herself as one Christians could do so much worse to find a role model on how to conduct their lives than Eileen. However I do know where I stand on such issues after a fashion. I will not close by saying God Bless Eileen Turri. I will just close by saying God blessed me for having known Eileen Turri.

Feminism...the Radical Notion that Women are People

(title attribution to Cheris Kramarae and Paula Treichler)

OK, I know it's not an oft-discussed topic here at BAD, but I have to take advantage of the Count's generosity in sharing this soapbox to simply say it very directly, during this silliest of silly seasons in US politics. What about 51% of the population (for you businesspeople, that's a controlling interest) is not understood? From which backward and unholy cesspool has this War On Women bubbled up to the surface of the GOP dialogue?

Mandatory transvaginal ultrasounds - what we used to call non-consensual, forcible penetration; or, more colloquially, "rape" - positively embraced in principle, and backed away from only minutely and at the last minute, in Virginia. The marginalizing of women's health issues in the form of a fresh assault on birth control, coupled with the utter travesty of a panel of men testifying largely to other men on the issue (and the GOP-controlled House is refusing, with blatant hypocrisy and in unprecedented style, to broadcast footage of a Democratic hearing finally giving Sandra Fluke her day at the microphone - I suppose it will be a wonder if they don't cut the electrical power entirely). It's a laughable picture tantamount to a bunch of non-driving pedestrians holding forth on matters of automobile maintenance. Continuing efforts to abrogate women's ability to control their own reproductive destinies in multiple states. The looming danger that contraception apparently represents by its mere existence, in the form that sexual intercourse might - gasp! - be engaged in just because, you know, it's enjoyable. All capped by the bizarre spectacle of an Indiana legislator refusing to commemorate the Girl Scouts' 100th anniversary, for crap's sake, on the grounds that he thinks those adorable cookie-wielding Daisies and Brownies are closeted radicals intent on emasculating American manhood and unleashing the gay agenda. Because he read it on teh Innertubes, and everyone knows how completely authoritative and accurate whatever you encounter on the Internet is. (Consider the sad case of that Nigerian Prince, for instance...)

Are these candidates - Santorum in particular, who seemingly would like to return us to the 17th century and witch hunts for anybody who, you know, might think that preserving the Earth for future generations is a good idea - really going there? To points of view that marginalize the privileges of basic citizenship and human rights for more than half the population? Or, more to the point of their own self-interest, to alienate as much as half of their potential voting base?

Not only does this seem to me to be a stupid strategy overall, but creeping every day so much further and further to the most remote right-wing fringes as to be completely untenable for anybody with half a brain cell to spare.

Go re-read Margaret Atwood's depressingly prescient novel The Handmaid's Tale, everyone. And then tell me it can't happen in the US. The signage is on the roads already being trod.

In the meantime, I thank my lucky stars my daughter and I are here in Canada, where she has the right to protect her health as she sees fit; love and marry whom she wants, if she wants; and where her freedom of conscience guarantees that she need never submit to anyone else's set of beliefs and strictures. Because the way the dialogue is going down there in the lower 48, I wouldn't want her there for an instant.

Wading in the Fundie Gene Pool

Gather 'round, boys and girls - while it's still that quiet lull between the War On Christmas and the War On Easter, it's time once again to dabble our toes in the pond of inexplicable nuttery that is the oeuvre at Fundies Say the Darndest Things. February 2012 is off to quite a start! Here are some of the more "special" nuggets.

Allah is not God but a sand monkey’s idol. It is called also the Kaaba, a so-called moonstone meteorite on display at the caboose or grand mosque…PURE IDOLATRY!!!

It can be speculated that these sub human desert rats use similar black stones to wipe themselves, and since they are all ardent sodomites, you can make the connexion as they use the same stone “tool” as tribal totem then idol that they imposed on the Middle East by massive genocides.

SO much to enjoy here. The dehumanizing epithet "sand monkey," confusing the Kaaba not only with Allah but with the "caboose" (??), and speculating that miniature Kaaba souvenirs (Kaabae, maybe? If such exist.) are in regular use as toilet paper. Imagine how offended the writer would be if someone were to suggest to him that all Christians wipe their bottoms with a crucifix, or printouts of the Sistine Chapel ceiling! Truly, a post worth framing so that you too can indulge in some PURE IDOLATRY!

Next, new for you from the department of Crazy Shit We Imagine Those Unlike Us Are Planning:

It’s only a matter of time before atheists like Jessica Ahlquist demand:

1. The state not allow Christian Churches on public roads throughout this country because it creates the illusion that the state endorses religion.
2. Demand Churches remove their crosses and silence their bells so not to offend non-believers
3. Cities like St Louis and San Diego change their names because the word Saint endorses a religion.
4. The military remove all Christian Chaplains so not appear to endorse religion.
5. Public College/high school sport programs remove the ‘Hail Mary’ pass from their playbook.
6. Prayer in public will not be allowed anywhere because it might offend non-believers.
7. Christians wear a giant C on the left side of their chest so they can be easily identified and thus publicly shunned.
8. One will not be able to shop at a business owned by a Christian, in the name of FAIRNESS,because it gives the appearance of favoring a religious business over a secular one.
9. Biblical Christian (Lucifer and Judas are exempt) names will no longer be accepted on birth certificates so it does not create the appearance of the state endorsing religion.
10. Islam is exempt from All of the above rules in the name of diversity and as an expression of multiculturalism!

OK, number 1 is absurd. That's like saying that anything on a public road, from Starbuck's and McDonald's to the local no-tell motel is perceived as being state-endorsed. Nobody thinks that. At least, nobody who thinks does.

Number 2 is actually what the Fundie crowd does. That's part of the reason why it took decades for pagan servicepeople to gain the right for a pentacle to be displayed on their headstones.

Number 3. Really? Gingrichgrad? Santorumville? No, wait, better be just Torumville. Nuts.

Number 4. First of all, the military is not supposed to endorse religion, so it might be advantageous that it not appear to. And I actually think it's a good idea to provide a military chaplaincy for those so inclined. But it had better be Baskin-Robbins in nature. 31 flavors, not just plain vanilla.

Numbers 5, 7 and 9: just silly. Good luck selling #9 in the Southwest, BTW. All those Jesuses and Marias - ¡Ay de que!

Number 6. Would never happen. Anyone can do this now. The thing is, people like me can't be forced to hang around and listen or participate, which is the scenario this poster really wants.

Number 8. Interesting. Any business owned by a Christian is a religious one. I'm pretty sure there are plenty of believers who would be surprised to learn that their gas station, condo development or bowling trophy business has suddenly become a religious enterprise like the Salvation Army or the convent down the road. Rather than just, you know, a job.

But it's in number 10 that we finally come to the crux of this rant. Fear of Islam and its followers. Wake up, Fundie crowd! When we who are not faith-based point to you as extremists, you can be very quick to say "We're not all like that..." and to paint yourselves as moderate and reasonable. But perish the thought that the same standard should apply to any other faith...say, one that is as much based on Abrahamic lore as your own, but has been sadly tarred by the misguided acts of a few dozen fanatics with box cutters and a vicious agenda. Nice job turning the other cheek, there.

But, wait! More convoluted paranoia ahead!

Gay people...when I send my children to public school, I don't expect them to learn about being "black", [sic.] period. I send them to public school to learn there [sic.] place under "White supremacy", and to be grateful to "White people" for allowing them the priveledge [sic.] to learn, read a book, and think.

The agenda behind homosexual instruction, in a "White Supremist" [sic.] operated public school is to effiminate [sic.] the males, and defeminate [sic.] the women to halt "birth production". [sic.]

And unless you have another educational agenda superior to the White Power establishment, (which I would like to hear, or see in writing), please tell me:

"How come straight teachers are teaching kids "how to be homosexual"? [sic.]

Peace be upon you

OK, I have to confess, I don't even get what this one purports to mean! Is the suggestion that public schools are bastions of white supremacist thought? And this somehow results in gay advocacy as well? Because last time I looked at fringe movements, people, white supremacy and pro-gay agendas seemed to me about as far apart as Australia and Austria! Is this person even really a parent? Because I can't imagine any parent sending a child to school to "learn their place." And how does "black" fit in with any of this? But, it's the closing "peace be upon you" that really makes it...

That's all for now! Plenty more at the link if you're spoiling for a good laugh or facepalm...

Up in the Pulpit...Wait, I Meant "Soapbox"

They're at it again, ladies and gentlemen - your ever-diligent Congress-critters. Creating jobs? Fixing the economy? Nope. Surely you jest!

No, they're busy voting on a resolution to affirm "In God We Trust" as a national motto.

First of all, what about the Establishment Clause of the Constitution, stating that Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, do they not understand...apart from, apparently, all of it?

Second...when, exactly, did elected political representatives assume (and presume) this kind of quasi-preacher role? They ought to be busy rendering unto Caesar rather than playing in the clerical sandbox. I don't know about you, but I don't cast my vote in the expectation that the person whose box I dutifully fill in with my Number 2 pencil will have any authority whatsoever to dictate my convictions of faith to me. I find it offensive.

Third...this notion that just because something is non-sectarian - i.e., "God" in the generic as opposed to the Catholic or the Baptist or the Mormon or whoever's version - makes it non-controversial is just, as my long-ago British boss would have said, "Not On." Words have power, and once you enshrine a "God" into government, people will start to ladle on their interpretations and make it into their particular version, something more definite and defined both. The more who weigh in, the more solid that single interpretation becomes. That does nothing in service of the nation's diversity. It's borderline fascist.

And, finally...appropriately enough, just headed out of Samhain into what for me is the New Year...where exactly does this leave those of us not in any kind of traditional mold? The agnostics? The atheists? Individuals like myself, newly brave about being out of the broom closet, at least here on the Series of Tubes? People for whom God is, perhaps, more often than not, Goddess? Or both in tandem, male and female principles alike, equal but not separate?

Are we not equal citizens? Should we be obliged to kowtow to something we do not believe in, just because some sanctimonious politico thinks it's OK to mingle his/her personal faith with the national interest?

And what about the Buddhists and the Hindus and the Muslims and many another marginalized faith? What happened to "I lift my lamp beside the golden door," and the welcoming shores that used to characterize the States?

I really do fret about what is going on, there south of the border. Those joking maps online labeling so much of the country as "Jesusland" are looking more frighteningly real every day. And for the sake of my friends and family still there, I really don't like to see this kind of garbage taking precedence, when there is so much that could be so much more meaningful that desperately needs doing.

The War On Christmas Stockings

Via Right Wing Watch we are linked to a tale from Calgary, of how the local Salvation Army "Captain," one Pam Goodyear, has summarily banned from the donation barrel anything that she thinks smacks of witchcraft or the occult. Twilight, Harry Potter, ouija boards, even something as simple as a rabbit's foot - all kaput!

Now, the scandal is not that the Salvation Army - aka "Sally Ann" - would not like these things included in the thousands of gift bags they prepare each year. That comes as no surprise. (And, in fact, it's only in Calgary that this applies - by no means is it a nationwide policy of the SA.) What is at issue is the fate of the unwanted donation items:

The toys and stuff Goodyear bans is supposedly given to other agencies. However, there are conflicting reports online that a Calgary Sally Ann staff member told a volunteer to toss wizardry, vampire and werewolf themed stuff and that the Calgary Sally Ann didn’t pass them to other agencies to distribute.

Where it gets really interesting is in the comments on the original story. Apart from one or two posts simply stating that the items SA would prefer not to include should be made absolutely clear up front, so that toys that some not-so-holier-than-thou kids might enjoy will find welcome homes rather than being scrapped, it's become a mini Bible-thumping hoedown that would do Bill War-on-Christmas O'Reilly proud!

Here are a few [sic. throughout] examples:

Its not “what they think” its what God has revealed in scripture and that is that the occult powers are real and we have to in no uncertain terms avoid and abstain from sorcery. And it is not wise to promote this abomination to young impressionable children. You want to impress your kind go ahead but who are you to dictate how Christians are to raise their children? Hey! why dont you go tell a high ranking freemason or another occultist like a Satanist that their majick is fictional. Mark down what happens to you every day after this in your journal, if you think it is wise.

It’s a sad day when someone has to defend her efforts to not be party to the corruption of children through the occult and the giving of toys and literature that confuses evil with good. How far we have fallen! It’s also a sad comment on the strength of the Christian witness in our world when people at large don’t even realize why these things are not appropriate to be given to a Christian organization, any more than say pornography would be!

You all did get that “right”? ” Christmas” and not BlackMass or any other occult ‘holi’day or celebration that Witches and Warlocks celebrate. ‘Salvation’ Army not Hells’ Army (witch by the way incorporates atheism). [Ed. Note - I'm sure that spelling of "which" as "witch" is completely coincidental...]

Witchcraft is a whole different matter – its not just about practicing white, or whatever ‘ colour’ witches, its about ‘wrong spirits’ and you don’t mess with wrong spirits END OF STORY.

Got to put this in the same category with the Oklahoma legislator who wouldn't participate in a state "holiday parade" because the terminology was, shall we say, festival-neutral, daring to acknowledge that, no, it's not just Christmas at this time of year. It's also Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Yule/Solstice, and the other more ancient celebrations they themselves co-opted and built on. All Northern Hemisphere cultures and sects have, and have had, some kind of a "hey, the light is returning after all!" event around this time of the year. Reducing it down to any single creed is, from my point of view, just sloganeering. Also, downright Grinchy.

SA doesn't want to hawk Potter or werewolves? Entirely fair. Want nativity pageants at your church or parochial school? Welcome to it - knock yourselves out. Insist that Wiccans celebrate Black Mass and kowtow to Satan? I'll argue with you from a much more informed perspective, but I'm pretty sure it will be pointless and I'll have to leave you to your blessed ignorance in the end.

But let's agree to live side-by-side with other people who might be different from ourselves, and let's agree that it's OK. Peace on Earth, remember? This is a time of gathering and goodwill for people from all walks of life and all flavors of belief, including no belief in a higher power at all.

Proselytize elsewhere and in another season. Give the thumping a "holiday." Or, if you must insist, a "Christmas."

Also, for the record? My reason for not supporting the SA is that the institution as a whole has a history of anti-homosexual bigotry as well as monetary support in that direction. I don't want my pennies supporting that, despite the other good work I am sure they do.

And if you wonder what I think of this post chronicled at FSTDT recently:

Wiccan [sic.] should have their kids taken away. Anyone who isn’t raising their children in a Christian home should have their children taken away, it is mental, emotional and spiritual abuse.

I invite you to try, Thumpers. Bet you run pretty fast in the other direction the moment you get the notion that I'm "looking at you funny."