Clueless Church-Going Bastards

The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new survey.

More than half of people who attend services at least once a week -- 54 percent -- said the use of torture against suspected terrorists is "often" or "sometimes" justified.

My guess why this is so: these folks have been tortured every Sunday and think that others need to be tortured, too. {Note to the humor-impaired: that was a joke... only a joke...}

Oppose HR 397

American citizens: Please email your member of Congress and ask them to refuse to co-sponsor "House Resolution 397" and oppose all efforts to move this resolution forward. This "Christian nation" resolution states that YOU AND YOUR GOVERNMENT:

"recognize the religious foundations of faith on which America was built are critical underpinnings of our Nation's most valuable institutions and form the inseparable foundation for America's representative processes, legal systems, and societal structures."

It tries to form a legal basis for introducing religion to the "Nation's public buildings and educational resources" and tries to solidify keeping "under God" in the pledge.

Your help is needed! Contact your congressional representative now!

http://action.secular.org/t/5367/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27204

Why the Hate Crimes Bill Should Become Law

There are a lot of opinions "out there" on hate crimes. My own brother (conservative that he is) is against any form of hate crimes legislation. Many conservatives are. Here is why they are wrong.

A hate crime a crime committed upon one or more people with the larger intent of terrorizing a whole class of people or society. It is a crime against a homosexual just because they are gay. Or a crime committed against somebody because of their race, ethnicity, or religion -- with the intent to scare and/or terrorize folks of said race, ethnicity, or religion. In other words, hate crimes are a form of terrorism.

The usual song & dance from the right is that they are against legislating "hate crimes" any different from any other crime and that everyone should be protected under the law the same way. Well, hate crime laws do protect everyone the same way... unless or until only certain classes of people are explicitly written into the legislation (like the right wants to do). Without that specificity, then there can even be hate crimes against WASPs. But we all know the reasons the right actually opposed hate crime legislation: (1) there are no hate crimes being committed against WASPSs, and (2) they are afraid that "christians" who go too far fighting against those queers gays might be prosecuted.

The other typical response from the right is something like "Hell, ya can't prosecute somebody for what they are thinking?"

Wrong! We do it every day. What do they think the difference between first and second degree murder is? Thought!

So let's all clear our heads and embrace the passing of laws against hate crimes, with appropriate penalties for the terroristic acts that they are.