Hoffmania!

James Dobson's "Non-Profit" Radio Show

Why not? It'll match the income of most of his followers.

Seriously...anyone who asks for donations under the guise of a specially-minted "ministry" - when all he'll do with the cash is to spout political views on the radio - should be banned from even attempting non-profit status.

And don't give me the NPR bullshit. At least they interview the likes of Gingrich and McConnell. I can guarantee Dobson will never give anyone left of James Dobson himself a scintilla of airtime.

Imus, FBN Go Off the Reservation

So they DO have fact-checking ability in the Fox Compound. Imus and pals go after Brit Hume's idiotic assessment of Tiger Woods yesterday.

Being a Journalist on Fox Means Trying to Talk a Buddhist Into Converting to Christianity

Oh. Sorry. This is analysis. As if Fox News viewers know the difference anymore.

Brit Hume to Tiger Woods this morning: Dump Buddhism, Accept Christianity. Yikes.

So Mr. Natural ISN'T God Then?

We all thought so in college. As it turns out, He really looks like we all thought He should.

R. Crumb has made a graphic novel of The Bible (the one we Jews used before others thought it needed a sequel), and it looks like it could be his masterpiece.

The Conservative Bible Project

Talk about launching a stupid idea into the stratosphere in record time. The lunatic project to edit all liberal thought from The Bible by The Conservative Bible Project has gone viral in ways the dancing baby, the skateboarding bulldog and NumaNuma Boy can only dream of.

It started with a blog post at BeliefNet - not exactly an outpost of liberal thought - which stated:

...the insane hubris of this really staggers the mind. These right-wing ideologues know better than the early church councils that canonized Scripture? They really think it's wise to force the word of God to conform to a 21st-century American idea of what constitutes conservatism? These jokers don't worship God. They worship ideology.

From there, it was picked up by Andrew Sullivan. When Huffington Post picked up Sullivan's post, it not only became the #1-read story there instantly, but Twitter went ballistic and it's now dominating the search term "Bible."

All in the last 24 hours. Stupid sure travels fast, don't it?

Moreover...when they're done eminiating liberal thoughts, will it still be the Bible without Jesus?

You Want Crazy-Ass Pastors?

Here is a crazy-ass pastor. And he admits he's crazy-ass.

Chris Broughton, the man who brought an assault rifle and a handgun to the Obama event in Arizona last week, attended a fiery anti-Obama sermon the day before the event, in which Pastor Steven Anderson [of the fundamentalist Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, AZ] said he was going to "pray for Barack Obama to die and go to hell", Anderson confirmed to TPMmuckraker today.

"I don't obey Barack Obama. And I'd like Barack Obama to melt like a snail tonight," Anderson said in the sermon.

The sermon, which was titled "Why I Hate Barack Obama" and also contained virulent anti-gay themes.

Audio of this crazy-ass pastor's diatribe is at the link. Leave it to a right wing religious buffoon to make Obama's former pastor seem downright sedated.

C Street No Longer a Secret / Palin Nailed

Rachel and her staff are really earning their stripes. First, the religious right animal house known as C Street House. The secret is now out.

AND...Sarah was for Cap and Trade before she was against Cap and Trade. In other words, now that it's an Obama thing, it's EEE-VIL. Useless idiot.

Hands down, Rachel Maddow is fast becoming the go-to show for real journalism.

Bush Kept Us Safe!

Except for, y'know...that one day.

Mission Accomplished

AP is calling the closing of Tiller's clinic a "tainted victory" for the drooling Operation Rescue-minded murderers.

It's still a victory. Who's next?

Wasn't Jesus Tortured?

Just asking. I would've thought churchgoers would be a little put off by the concept. CNN:

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. Only 42 percent of people who "seldom or never" go to services agreed, according to the analysis released Wednesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

White evangelical Protestants were the religious group most likely to say torture is often or sometimes justified -- more than six in 10 supported it. People unaffiliated with any religious organization were least likely to back it. Only four in 10 of them did.

Mr. President, I'd Like to Ask You Four Questions...

He's gonna LOVE the macaroons. This is pretty cool.

US President Barack Obama will celebrate Passover Thursday night with staff and friends in what is believed to be the first White House Seder attended by an American president.

The event was slipped onto the president's public schedule Tuesday night with little fanfare, following a letter signed by Obama earlier in the day wishing Americans who mark the day a "peaceful and relaxing holiday."

While presidential proclamations in honor of Passover have been common throughout the administrations of George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, this year's Seder is believed to be the first of its kind.

Friday White Christian Reggae Music Club

Many of you have seen this. More of you haven't. If Obama saw this before yesterday's web hall meeting, he would have given a MUCH different answer on the marijuana thing. Strap yourself in.

A Small Cave-In by Warren - But a Cave-In Nonetheless

Anti-gay wording removed from his website. It doesn't change much, but at least one conduit of propagating intolerance is gone.

Putting Ideology Above Humanity

Focus On The Family spent over a half a mil to kill gay marriage in California. Now they're going to lay off over 200 employees. We guess they found it worth destroying 200 of their "families" to destroy a state's-worth of potential families. James Dobson took one more step toward hell.

Giving Religion a Bad Name

The Catholic church really seems to have a behavior problem with its clergy. A religious leader in America labeling another American's vote "intrinsic evil" - and suggesting they stay away from their house of worship? Yeah. That'll send a good message about religion to kids nationwide.

An anti-American jerk is an anti-American jerk, no matter how holy they think they are.

The pastor of St. Mary Catholic Church in Greenville, SC, is urging parishioners who voted for Barack Obama not to present themselves for Communion unless they go to confession first because they have cooperated with "intrinsic evil'' by voting for a candidate who supports abortion rights over a candidate who does not. The Rev. Jay Scott Newman told the Greenville News that he doesn't intend to deny anyone Communion, but made it clear that his view is that Obama voters should not present themselves without seeking penance first "lest they eat and drink their own condemnation.''

Newman is the only priest in the U.S. known to have taken this position -- the Catholic bishops met this week in Baltimore and this idea was not even discussed, at least in public session.

Thanks, Mark...

WaPo Religion Writer: Palin's Faith Should Be Under Scrutiny

Susan Jacoby writing for the "On Faith" section of the Washington Post. Read it, quick, before they take it down, too.

There are two reasons why Sarah Palin's religious views should be subject to close scrutiny. Obviously, with a running mate the age of McCain, she stands a better than average chance of ascending as vice-president to the nation's highest office as the result of a sitting president's death. Equally important, though, is what the choice of Palin says about McCain--that he has abandoned all of the "maverick" stands that made the Christian right distrust him in the past. McCain used to favor embryonic stem cell research, as well as exceptions for abortion in cases of rape and incest. Now he has signed on to a Republican platform that does not even allow for an abortion exception when a mother's life is threatened by a pregnancy. The same platform opposes not only gay marriage but gay civil unions--on purely religious grounds. Just yesterday came the news from Alaska that the Wasilla Bible Church, where Palin has worshiped frequently for the past six years, is promoting a conference, sponsored by the ultra-right organization Focus on the Family, to pray for the "conversion" of gays to heterosexuality and fundamentalist Christianity.

John McCain has insulted all women by his assumption that they will vote for any woman. Palin stands against everything that Hillary Clinton has fought for throughout her public life, from the right to choose to government programs that will make it easier for parents to balance home and family. Palin's extreme right-wing religious beliefs are the biggest part of who she is. Let us think about what it means to have a woman with such beliefs a heartbeat away from the presidency. If McCain is right, and a significant number of independent and Democratic women will vote for this religious extremist simply because she is a woman, then we deserve what we will get--an administration dedicated, on faith-based grounds, to the proposition that women cannot be permitted to make their own choices about the most intimate aspects of their lives.

Moore Has More Stroke with The Almighty than Dobson

(UPDATE: Reread that headline, folks. Michael Moore is fine.)

I'm finding this rather amusing. While Gustav has been downgraded to a Category 3, we would like to share this essay Michael Moore sent out last night...an open letter to God Himself.

The other night, James Dobson's ministry asked all believers to pray for a storm on Thursday night so that the Obama acceptance speech outdoors in Denver would have to be canceled.

I see that You have answered Dr. Dobson's prayers -- except the storm You have sent to earth is not over Denver, but on its way to New Orleans! In fact, You have scheduled it to hit Louisiana at exactly the moment that George W. Bush is to deliver his speech at the Republican National Convention.

Now, heavenly Father, we all know You have a great sense of humor and impeccable timing. To send a hurricane on the third anniversary of the Katrina disaster AND right at the beginning of the Republican Convention was, at first blush, a stroke of divine irony. I don't blame You, I know You're angry that the Republicans tried to blame YOU for Katrina by calling it an "Act of God" -- when the truth was that the hurricane itself caused few casualties in New Orleans. Over a thousand people died because of the mistakes and neglect caused by humans, not You.

---

So this is my plea to you: Don't do this to Louisiana again. The Republicans got your message. They are scrambling and doing the best they can to get planes, trains and buses to New Orleans so that everyone can get out. They haven't sent the entire Louisiana National Guard to Iraq this time -- they are already patrolling the city streets. And, in a nod to I don't know what, Bush's head of FEMA has named a man to help manage the federal government's response. His name is W. Michael Moore. I kid you not, heavenly Father. They have sent a man with both my name AND W's to help save the Gulf Coast.

So please God, let the storm die out at sea. It's done enough damage already. If you do this one favor for me, I promise not to invoke your name again. I'll leave that to the followers of Dr. Dobson and to those gathering this week in St. Paul.

God ignored Mr. Dobson, but it almost looks like He is listening to Mr. Moore. THAT is irony.

And What's That Bastion of Middle East Democracy Up To Now?

Why, they've banned the walking of dogs and cats because guys use them to hit on women. Freedom!

Saudi Arabia's religious police have announced a ban on selling cats and dogs as pets, or walking them in public in the Saudi capital, because of men using them as a means of making passes at women, an official said on Wednesday.

Othman al-Othman, head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice in Riyadh, known as the Muttawa, told the Saudi edition of al-Hayat daily that the commission has started enforcing an old religious edict.

The reason behind reinforcing the edict now was a rising fashion among some men using pets in public "to make passes on women and disturb families," he said, without giving more details.

"Distorting the Bible"? "Fruitcake"? DOBSON?

The pot calls the kettle a fruitcake.

As Barack Obama broadens his outreach to evangelical voters, one of the movement's biggest names, James Dobson, accuses the likely Democratic presidential nominee of distorting the Bible and pushing a "fruitcake interpretation" of the Constitution.

Huh?

He said Obama, who supports abortion rights, is trying to govern by the "lowest common denominator of morality," labeling it "a fruitcake interpretation of the Constitution."

"Am I required in a democracy to conform my efforts in the political arena to his bloody notion of what is right with regard to the lives of tiny babies?" Dobson said.

Uh, no. In a democracy, you conform to your conscience if you have one. Fruitcake.