Archives for 2015

Republican presidential candidate, and former Baptist minister, Mike Huckabee, is preaching a new message these days … sedition. On ABC’s “This Week.” Huckabee told host George Stephanopoulos Christian fundamentalist Kim Davis need not obey all man-made laws. She needs to only obey a law “if it’s right.” The Supreme Court and the Constitution be damned!

This is not the first time Huckabee has openly called for the rejection of governmental authority. This past April, he directed all those seeking to join the military to do so only after Obama left office, calling the supposed persecution of Christians in the military “one of the great tragedies of our time.”

Sedition is defined as, “the crime of saying, writing, or doing something that encourages people to disobey their government,” Merriam-Webster. By preaching disobedience of the law, the going-nowhere-fast presidential candidate is nothing but a false patriot at best, and a loathsome traitor to his country at worst.

But isn’t this the way of all fundamentalist Christians? Follow only those prescripts or commandments in the Bible you agree with. It’s all right to pick and choose. And heck, if you sin, you can always confess those sins to the Man in the Sky. He will forgive you.

Picking and choosing which religious commands to follow is one thing. At worst you can be labeled a hypocrite. Deciding which governmental laws to follow makes you guilty of a crime and anyone advocating such a position, a traitor.

Huckabee is trying to make a name for himself among Evangelicals. Saying provocative things such as you can choose “which laws are right” only gets him media attention. All this controversy is a great start to the promotion of his new book, “Follow Only The Laws You Think Are Right (wing).”

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Photo | washingtontimes.com

When asked under what, or whose, authority she refused to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple, Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, answered, “under God’s authority.” Unfortunately God has yet to come to her aid as she prepares to spend her fifth night in jail for violating a court order.

US District Judge David Bunning ordered Davis detained until she agreed to do her job of issuing marriage licenses to all eligible couples. Davis has remained defiant, however. She told the judge, “To issue a marriage license which conflicts with God’s definition of marriage, with my name affixed to the certificate, would violate my conscience. It is not a light issue for me. It is a Heaven or Hell decision.”

As God did not appear to testify on Davis’ behalf, Judge Bunning had no choice but to send her to jail.

Kim Davis, whose supporters are making her out to be a martyr, is nothing more than your average, run-of-the-mill “Christian in name only.” She uses her religious beliefs, however misinformed they may be, to justify her bigotry. I am somewhat familiar with the Holy Book but I have yet to find that section where God defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Perhaps God offered a personal, oral definition to Davis?

If Christ’s message could be pared down to just a single word, that one word would be love. And with love flows forgiveness, assistance to the less fortunate and not judging others. We’ve all heard “Do not judge so that you will not be judged” Matthew 7:1. But very few understand the meaning of those words.

When Jesus said we should not judge lest we be judged also, he was not saying that we are to never judge another’s behavior. He was offering a caution to make sure that we are willing to be judged by the same standard of judgment. This verse is not a warning against judging someone’s action. It is a warning against self-deception and hypocrisy.

For a woman who has committed adultery, having been married four times, to claim her actions are meant to preserve the sanctity and dignity of marriage, is laughable, yet so predictable. She is absolutely the last person to cast that first stone or be held up as the poster child of traditional family values. Just another “Christian in name only.” Move on, nothing to see here.

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A lot of things about the former Bruce Jenner may be fake, but not her conservative-leaning political views. She is a 100%, dyed-in-the-wool Republican. And as a true Republican, she is 100% a hypocrite.

Speaking about marriage equality to Ellen DeGeneres, Jenner admits, “I was not for it. I’m a traditionalist.” In an interview that will air this coming Tuesday, Jenner explains, “But as time has gone on, I think, like a lot of people on the issue, I’ve really changed my thinking.”

The hallmark of conservative Republicanism is the total lack of empathy. Republican minds only change when an issue personally affects them. They will abandon a firmly held belief when it is in their self-interest to do so.

Another trait of right-wing Republicans is their lack of appreciation for the word “irony.” Caitlyn Jenner is a traditionalist? I dare say there is nothing remotely traditional about her. That she could still think of herself as a Republican is mind-boggling. A party that can’t see beyond black and white, both literally and figuratively, will never accept such a person as one of their own. How rich!

No one really knows if the person who has been married to three different women is still interested in women; whether this ongoing sexual preference has brought about the change in her thinking on “traditional marriage.” In her interview with DeGeneres, Jenner admits she is looking to find love again but was coy on whether that love will come from a woman or a man. What a tease! Keep watching this most fascinating transgender Republican, folks. Lets hear it for ratings!

Photo | Michael Rozman/Warner Bros.

Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, the three-time divorcee, is still refusing to issue marriage licenses because her god does not want gays to marry. In her mind, doing the job she is being paid to do, would violate her conscience. It doesn’t matter that a state judge has ordered her to issue licenses, or that the Supreme Court has denied her appeal. The woman is simply acting on “god’s authority.”

Haven’t we seen this act before? Remember that Indiana pizzeria owner who said he would refuse to serve his pizza at a gay wedding? After being forced to close because of the backlash that erupted, the shop raised nearly $1 million dollars from supporters of bigotry. Not a bad payday!

Who knew pandering to conservative Christians could be so lucrative? Of course, I use the word “Christians” very loosely. These pious persecuted souls are not followers of Christ but CINO, Christian in name only. They couldn’t be more separated from the message their Lord and Savior preached.

If it hasn’t happened already, it won’t be long before Kim Davis’ camp starts cashing in by fundraising for this new Christian martyr, now on her fourth marriage. Could a book deal be far behind? And won’t this make a great, new Republican wedge issue?

Davis, who faces potential fines or jail time, remains resolute. “My beliefs cannot be separated from me,” said Davis. “”I’m willing to face my consequences.”

While Davis cannot be fired from her job, as she is an elected official, she can, and must, be held in contempt for failing to honor a court order. Perhaps a little jail time might make her realize that, according to her holy book, it’s no more of a sin for two gays to marry, than for two divorced adulterers to remarry (Matthew 19:3.9.) If issuing a marriage license to a same-sex couple would banish them to hell, as Davis has claimed, then the serial bride would not be too far behind.

One thing’s for certain. The more fines and jail time for Kim Davis, the more lucre flowing into her coffer. You can guess her thinking right now… bring it on!

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Photo | wjb-cpa.typepad.com

Today’s Republican Party leaders (whoever they may be) are stumped by Trump. The deeper the billionaire sticks his foot into his mouth, the higher his approval ratings. The more the mainstream, “real” Republican candidates try to go toe to toe with Trump, the more they get their teeth smashed in. Is there any stopping the Trump Express?

What is happening to the Republican Party is nothing more than karmic payback. To the eternal delight of Democrats and many Independents, the party that sold its soul a few short years ago to the TeaBag crazies, is now reaping what it sowed. Since 2008, the Republican Party has succumbed to its basest voices for short-term political gain; where compromise became a dirty word; were Barack Obama was the anti-Christ-Muslim-Kenyan set to destroy all that conservatives held near and dear. It’s as if the children started running the house … both figuratively and literally!

Whether or not Trump wins the Republican nomination is irrelevant. The damage has been done. The dirty laundry is being aired and that gaggle of mainstream Republican candidates looks weak and pathetic. If Trump becomes the party’s presidential nominee, the Republican Party is cooked. If Trump does not get the nomination, and makes good on his third-party threat, the Democrats win in a landslide … no matter whether the Democratic nominee is Hillary Clinton or SpongeBob Square Pants.

The political pendulum has always swung back and forth; from right to left; from retrenchment to progress. It looks as if the backward arc may have reached its apex and the pendulum is slowing, but surely, moving forward. It is not only the Republican Party’s bad deal with the devil that is doing them in, however. It’s shear demographics.

Now let’s see. Republicans have alienated gays, blacks, women, Hispanics, Asians, the poor, immigrants, and anyone who believes in science, education, justice, fairness and equality. Who’s left? Basically the very rich; those feeble-minded Fox fans and religious conservatives. The problem is there simply aren’t enough of those folks for them to win a national election.

Donald J. Trump … every liberal, progressive Democrat’s wish come true. RIP GOP.

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Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net