As a member of numerous environmental, civic and political organizations, I frequently sign email petitions to my State and Federal representative as well as heads of governmental agencies overseeing a variety of interests which my organizations represent – the ACLU, Defender of Wildlife, NARAL and Americans United for Separation of Church and State are a few of the groups of which I am a member.

Easy, hassle-free, direct and courteous email petitioning systems have, over the course of the past 10 years, become the de facto method of communication between the people of this country and the representatives that they wish to address on almost any political, social or environmental issue.  All politically conscious citizens throughout this country have come to rely upon these communication methods to easily and quickly address their representatives and it has gradually become incumbent upon democratically-minded representatives of our government to provide for and helpfully accommodate this increasingly popular and direct communication method.

Not so with many of the new Teabagging-Rethuglican crowd.  Their objective has clearly been to present as many obstacles as they possibly could to impede the input of those who want to address them.  They make boastful claims about wanting to represent all of the people but in reality, their rhetoric is nothing but subterfuge for what they really have in mind – repression of the voice of an overwhelming number of people they claim to represent.

John Kasich has reached a new low in these sorts of thwarting and denialing efforts.  To wit: a recent sample of his first strategy to frustrate and deny public input on State issues related to environmental and wildlife stewardship.  His tactic?  Asking socially and environmentally-conscious citizens to answer an insolvable riddle before they are given the privilege of communicating with his office or the offices he oversees.

In other words: just go screw yourself.

For those unfamiliar with “Sharia Law,” Sharia is Islamic law based on the Quran and the teachings of Mohammed instead of the bible as espoused by the other two major delusional clans.  Sharia Law is a loosely defined and interpreted set of “rules” governing the behavior of Muslims ranging from fasting and taxation to gruesome punishments for behaviors deemed unforgivably offensive to the Grand, High Exhaled, Mystic ruler – stones for anyone caught refusing to use their wee-wee or to-to in the proscribed manner to finger and hand amputations for petty thieves and common shoplifters.  If you’re a woman, adultery is punishable by public stoning.  If you’re a man, adultery is an expected behavior.

Oklahoma’s anti-Sharia initiative – SQ755 – (aka. Oklahoma International Law Amendment [2010]) was approved by a nearly overwhelming majority of Oklahoma voters in 2010 despite the fact that most of the State’s media institutions, legal and civil rights scholars recommended a NO vote on the measure.  The initiative amended Oklahoma’s State Constitution to, in part, explicitly state, “The Courts provided for in subsection A of this section, when exercising their judicial authority, shall uphold and adhere to the law as provided in the United States Constitution, the Oklahoma Constitution United States Code, federal regulations promulgated pursuant thereto, established common law, the Oklahoma Statutes and rules promulgated pursuant thereto, and if necessary the law of another state of the United States provided the law of the other state does not include Sharia Law, in making judicial decisions. The courts shall not look to the legal precepts of other nations or cultures. Specifically, the courts shall not consider international or Sharia Law.”

The issue now rests in the lap of the Oklahoma Supreme Court and has yet to be incorporated as an amendment to OK’s Constitution because of a lawsuit brought by CAIR– the Council on American-Islamic Relations.  Among other things, CAIR alleges that SQ755 singles out a Islam for disfavored treatment.  The wording of the initiative makes it hard to argue that it doesn’t.

What’s really ironic about voter support for SQ755 is that it clearly expresses the fear many Oklahoman’s harbor (real or imagined and constantly stoked by the likes of Beck, O’Lielly, Coburn, Tancredo, Palin and other complete buffoons of their ilk) that general living conditions in a theocratic society are not likely to be pleasant but at the same time see no disconnect in the imposition of their own brand of harsh theocratic nonsense on the rest of us.

Take a hard look around, Christian Americans.  Things are startin’ to look pretty ugly.

It isn’t Muslims with Qur’an in hand standing outside Planned Parenthood clinics across the country hassling women who seek reproductive medical services while at the same time trying to block their rightful access to these services.  No, I’ve only witnessed people carrying Bibles while chanting mind-numbing incantations at these near-daily events.  I’m also confident that I need not remind everyone who is responsible for the bombing of women’s clinics around this country or the brutality, terror and murder directed at the doctors who work at these clinics.

It isn’t Muslims currently scheming to de-fund and disenfranchise Planned Parenthood clinics around the country, is it?.  Oh, no.  Denying women the right to low cost cervical screenings, breast cancer screenings, birth control pills, family planning information and the like appears to be the exclusive domain of fundamentalists who believe that the will of their god trumps sane and sensible health services to those least likely to afford them and family planning education for those who need it the most.

It wasn’t Muslims standing in the way of women seeking a “morning after” pill when they found themselves victims of sexual assault.  No.  It was delusional fundamentalist Christians who believe that women have absolutely no right to make choices about their own bodies who were responsible for this denial of a basic human right.

It wasn’t Muslims who persuaded their legislators to enact draconian laws making legal abortion a near-impossibility in this country. Oh, no.  It was Christians convinced that their deity magically embeds a “sacred soul” in a zygote the nanosecond sperm meets egg who were responsible for stripping women of the universal right to their own bodies.  And it isn’t Muslims who are petitioning legislators to declare that zygotes are people deserving of the protections of personhood.  Nope, once again, only fundamentalist Christians are responsible for this madness.

It isn’t Muslims who persuaded their legislators to enact special “laws” protecting pharmacists from the scorn, ridicule and civil lawsuits they deserve when they choose to ignore their Hippocratic Oath in favor of their “religious convictions.”  No, once again, it was fundamentalist Christians with close ties to legislators holding the same delusional beliefs as themselves who were solely responsible for this act of insanity.

It isn’t Muslims who have convinced their legislators to enact bans on the distribution of condoms in countries with an epidemic of HIV/AIDS.  Nope, once again, it’s the influence of Catholic hierarchy in close cooperation with a Christian fundamentalist moron who occupied the Oval Office for eight miserable years that pursued this ridiculously insane policy.

It isn’t Muslims who are denying our country’s school children the right to be taught about human sexuality using reality and evidence-based educational principles.  No, it’s fundamentalist Christians who insist on wasting our tax dollars to perpetuate the absolutely ridiculous notion that “abstinence” is the ONLY viable approach to sexual education who are responsible for this absurdity.

It isn’t Muslims who are insisting that our courthouses, libraries, schools and just about every other public building in our country be graffitied with their religious icons, is it?.  No, it’s the Ray Moores, James Weeses and various other so-called “conservative legal defense” activists (the very people you expect to come to your aid when you petition Congress) who are responsible for this brand of stupidity.

It isn’t Muslims who are – right now – scheming to nullify use of the Lemon test in evaluating legal and legislative matters, is it?.  No, this is purely the work of the same Dominionist Supreme Court jackass who’s obsessed with redacting the names of Madison and Jefferson from the US Constitution.

It isn’t Muslims who are responsible for this country’s drastic decline in science education rankings.  No, this is clearly the work of deranged fundamentalist ignoramuses who sit on boards of education around the country seeking to cleanse textbooks of all references to the scientists and scientific discoveries that the world’s most brilliant minds have made over the course of the last 150 years.

It wasn’t Muslims who are responsible for whipping up hysteria about homosexuals in Uganda, demanding that they all be publicly hanged, is it?   Oh no, this is purely the work of deranged American and Ugandan fundamentalist Christians who hear voices in their heads telling them that their god cares about their private sex practices.

It isn’t Muslims who make up the brigades of ignorant, screeching buffoons trying to deny and disenfranchise their fellow Americans of the marital rights and liberties that the vast majority of Americans take for granted.  Nope, once again, only Christians (of practically all stripes) are responsible for this outrage.

It isn’t Muslims who rake in hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to dole out a puny dish of help along with a heaping portion of proselytizing.   Nope, this seems to be the bailiwick of the Falwells, Robertsons and Grahams (and the legislators who work hand-in-hand with them) – all major players of Christian fundamentalist sects who share the same ridiculous delusions.

No, none of this has anything at all to do with Muslims, does it?  No, clearly all of this insanity is purely Christian-based.  Let’s be perfectly honest with each other: if it weren’t for an ever-growing cult of nearsighted, Christian, fundamentalist nutjobs insisting that everyone in this country live their lives according to “laws” that they believe emanate from their “holy book,” we’d all be living more sane and sensible lives, you know, lives with the “freedom, fairness and equality” that most of you claim is your most cherished American ideal.

You know what: I think Havelock Ellis was absolutely correct and most insightful when he wrote:

Had there been a Lunatic Asylum in the suburbs of Jerusalem, Jesus Christ would infallibly have been shut up in it at the outset of his public career. That interview with Satan on a pinnacle of the Temple would alone have damned him, and everything that happened after could have confirmed the diagnosis. The whole religious complexion of the modern world is due to the absence from Jerusalem of a Lunatic Asylum.”

And low and behold, here we are now in 21^st century America, de-funding asylums and mainstreaming religious nuttery.  If you feel the need to fear monger, my fellow Christian Americans, take a close look at the mahem you’ve managed to accomplish right in your own back yard.
~Rev. El Mundo
Pastor, WVCSR

You remember Mr. Sherman — Illinois Representative Monique Davis interrupted him while he testified before the Springfield House State Government Administration Committee to spectacularly flip her shit:

I don’t know what you have against God, but some of us don’t have much against him. We look forward to him and his blessings… I’m trying to understand the philosophy that you want to spread in the state of Illinois… This is the land of Lincoln where people believe in God… What you have to spew and spread is extremely dangerous… It’s dangerous for our children to even know that your philosophy exists… Get out of that seat! You have no right to be here! We believe in something. You believe in destroying! You believe in destroying what this state was built upon.

This is just a sample of Mr. Sherman’s experiences. Come out and join the discussion this Tuesday!

When: Tuesday, May 5th 2009, 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Where: Quaker Meeting House, 4836 Ellsworth Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213 (Oakland/Shadyside)

• 1000 Plaintiffs for Newdow v. Roberts — Friends of Mike Newdow, a group of PA Nonbelievers, has set up a website to assist Constitutional activist Mike Newdow “demonstrate that there is a lot of support for ending the offensive, exclusionary references to God” at future inaugurations, by finding 1,000 people to sign up as plaintiffs. You can go to their site for more information. (Thank you, Bill K.)
• Arab headgear causes stir in Gateway — The Post-Gazette is reports that two students at Gateway High in Monroeville were told to leave school yesterday if they would not remove their kaffiyehs. News video from last night’s WPXI coverage of the story can be found here. (Hat tip, Mel.)
• Dead of Winter — Pittsburgh City Paper reported on the spread of  white-nose syndrome, a deadly epidemic affecting bats, to Pennsylvania. Don’t care if we lose our bat population? Think giant swells of insects (and also, get a clue). Yeah. I said it. (Via my Google alert for bat news. Why are you making that face?)
• Darwin 2009: A Pittsburgh Partnership — An educational partnership promoting citywide events led by Duquesne University. Why should a prominent Catholic University do this? They explain with their own bullet list.
• Skeptical of Pittsburgh’s ability to evolve and to retain it’s youth population? I feel you. The Port Authority is taking a step in the direction of modernity with their RouteShout beta. Now at popular college stops you can text for the next bus arrival.

And I gotta take this oppurtunity to remind you about Drinking Skeptically this Friday night.

The rhetoric seems numbingly familiar from past elections, the so-called debate and choices before us dictated by the media to avoid anything off-script or controversial (i.e., meaningful). The discourse has devolved into catch-phrases and sound-bites on both sides.

21st-century America politics, like 21st-century American religion, work and education, seems more about promoting right-thinking and dogma than working mindfully toward solving the myriad problems that confront us. We identify with the correct party or candidate as a way of defining ourselves and feeling that we belong. This is human, but more than a little ironic in a country founded on the principles of individual liberty and choice. There is a religious aspect to all the political proselytizing. The Internet and social networking have only exacerbated the trend. People gravitate toward groups and causes both virtual and personal that reinforce the doctrine they already believe, or prefer to believe.

It’s easy to acquire our identity on the cheap in the marketplace of ideas nowadays. We can avoid the critical work of examining our assumptions and choosing our own path, perhaps marching to a different drummer. Once we’re invested in that tribal identify that gives us a sense of belonging, we filter out facts that don’t conform to the status quo or which challenge our sense of comfort. Kurt Vonnegut wrote humorously about this when he coined the term granfalloon. The darker side occurs when we define ourselves exclusively in opposition to others, dismissing them as human beings and invalidating their opinions and existence often on the basis of minute differences. It happens in the workplace, in church and, as we have seen, in the political process. I have worked in bureaucratic institutions where I was privileged to observe this sort of behavior, which is more about consolidating power and authority than working together to achieve goals.

Bureaucracies have existed as long as civilization. Sometimes they may even serve a purpose. The problem arises when business, governmental and religious institutions become self-perpetuating entities more important than the human beings whom they presumably exist to serve. Politics is no exception. Then the phrases and slogans become empty recitations reminiscent of Orwell’s 1984 or Maoist re-education camps. Instead of facilitating discourse, they indoctrinate right-thinking, whether about free-market economics, intelligent design or some vaporous New Age belief.

The danger of living in the most free consumer society on earth is less that Orwell’s totalitarian state will control our thoughts and actions, than that we will build (or buy) our own prison of thought and belief. We will brainwash ourselves with the soothing nostrums (or Prozac) that promise certainty about world rather than questioning them and being accountable for our decisions and their implications. As Thoreau put it in Civil Disobedience:

“… the respectable man, so called, has immediately drifted from his position, and despairs of his country, when his country has more reason to despair of him. He forthwith adopts one of the candidates thus selected as the only available one, thus proving that he himself is available for any purposes of the demagogue…. The American has dwindled into an Odd Fellow – one who may be known by the development of his organ or gregariousness, and manifest lack of intellect and cheerful self-reliance…”

Happy voting.