Mitt Romney: “It’s un-American To Discuss My Faith”

Posted on April 4, 2011 | 42 Comments

Exploratory committees have been formed, and the mandatory primary campaign visits to Iowa and Israel have been made by all the big GOP names we expect will battle it out for the right to challenge President Obama on November 6th, 2012. Unless an outsider makes a Bill Clinton 1991/92 like run from the Arkansas wilderness, then we can expect the Republican nominee to be one of the big four: Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, and Newt Gingrich.

With the latest polls showing Sarah Palin’s stock falling, and Newt Gingrich struggling to convince would-be voters he is a changed man after divorcing his cancer-stricken first wife on her deathbed and then admissions of infidelity with his next, the pair of Huckabee and Romney hold a slim 2-3 point lead over their colleagues. Of the two, however, Romney is more likely to enter the race, as Huckabee, the former Baptist Minister, has hinted he may not be willing to leave his lucrative speaking engagements and FOX News contract for the ‘punch and kicks’ of a grueling 18 month presidential race.

This leaves us with Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts Governor and 2008 presidential contender, who has built an impressive political operation and traveled the country, campaigning for other candidates and building a major donor base.

And, oh yeah, he’s a Mormon. But he’d like you to forget that!

When Romney ran for the GOP ticket in 2008 he cleverly duped the press, evidently never a difficult stunt, into taking his religious belief off the table when scrutinizing his candidacy. In fact he went as far to say that it was “un-American to bring up his faith.” Sounds eerily similar to “anyone who doesn’t support the decision to go to war is unpatriotic.” Anyway, the collective media accepted this and the free pass for the questioning of bizarre religious beliefs was granted.

Firstly, how is it “un-American” to enquire whether or not the Commander-in-Chief would be wearing ‘magic Mormon underwear’ in the Situation Room? How is it un-American to enquire whether or not he believes 18% of the American population and the current president, black people, will become slaves in heaven? How is it un-American to enquire whether or not he believes the Garden of Eden will be restored in the state of Missouri at such time Jesus returns to earth? Or whether Native Americans are truly the loss tribe of Israel?

Further questioning of his Mormon faith leads you down an even darker and uglier road, as until 1978 the Church of Latter Day Saints was officially classified as a racist organization. (Bearing in mind Romney was 31 years of age in 1978) Black Americans were not permitted to hold any position of authority within the church, nor were any admitted to the sacred sites of the temple. Suddenly, when faced with having to comply with the dominant civil rights statutes, the church had a “revelation from God”, and changed its public stance on race. Similarly, the revelation they received on matters regarding slavery in 1850, so as they could be awarded membership into the Union. (Utah was the only western state or territory that had slaves in 1850) Thus the timing of these revelations permits us to remain cynical of their true intents.

Now, Romney is not just your pray on Sunday type Mormon, the Romney family is and has been for generations, front and square in the leadership of this Christian denomination begun by a convicted fraud from New York, Joseph Smith.

We have the right to know where he stands on these matters, as they do cut to the question of eligibility to govern, and it’s not now and never has been un-American to know what fundamental beliefs a prospective leader of the nation has swimming around in his or her head. So ask him about his underwear.

CJ Werleman

Author ‘God Hates You. Hate Him Back’ and ‘Jesus Lied. He Was Only Human’

www.cjwerleman.com

→ 42 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , ,

Libya War: This is What It’s Good For, Absolutely Something.

Posted on March 22, 2011 | 9 Comments

Even before the first submarine launched tomahawk missiles had taken out the first of Gadhafi’s archaic military installations, the ‘No War for Oil’ mob began the sloganistic chants we’ve become all too familiar with every time the U.S. leads a coalition sponsored military excursion into the Middle East. Some of my colleagues on the left have gone even further, including documentarian Michael Moore, who has called for President Obama to return his Noble Peace Prize.  And it was five minutes before that the, “Why didn’t we save the Rwandans or Sudanese?” card was played as some kind of “ha, gotchya” evidence that the U.S. is a humanitarian state only where there is liquid black gold in the ground. So here’s how the pacifism at all costs crowd misses the point.

Philosophically, with great power, comes great responsibility, but ultimately the U.S. is responsible only for its own security and prosperity, as is the case with all nation states. With that in mind, and when we take into consideration that the will of the people, as represented by the votes of 434 congressmen and 100 senators, gives consent for military action, America’s will to wage war is determined by two inalienable points:

1. Is there a moral justification for military action?

2. Does military inaction equal bad business?

When we consider the Rwandan genocide, whereby the U.S. remained distant and aloof, that humanitarian tragedy merely satisfied point 1.  Now, from a perspective of commerce, and as insensitive and as morally repugnant it may sound, why should American mothers and fathers wish to send their sons and daughters to die on lands who many have never heard of, and for an exercise that offers no tangible benefit to the country as a whole? Especially when the respective African or Arab League of Nations had the capabilities to suppress the Rwandan or Sudanese violence. After all, it was on their doorstep.

So let’s now consider Libya. Well, Libya is an oil rich nation and, therefore, it satisfies both points 1 and 2. But it’s much greater than that! It’s not just a matter of Libya having a relative small amount of oil (that is relative to the U.S, Saudi Arabia, and Russia), because if oil was the only concern, Obama would’ve been more reluctant to intervene because any military action results in a spike at the pump, and when Americans pay more for gas, they tend to kick out the incumbent president in the next election. (Google “Jimmy Carter” and “oil price 1979”) What it  does come down to, however, is geography, pure and simple. The U.S. became a superpower, and remains the sole superpower today, because it controls the sea-lanes, and he who controls shipping, controls world commerce. Hence, the reason the Soviet Union never really matched their rival, because they could never afford to challenge the Americans at sea and instead devoted their budget to building armies and missiles.  Now, the cost of controlling an expanse of water is hugely expensive, thus the cost of controlling one that is thousands of miles away is unimaginably huge.  In fact, the cost of maintaining a carrier group in the Persian Gulf or Mediterranean is greater than the total military spend of some of its closest rivals. Further consider that not a single boat floats on water without the U.S. knowing about it.

An unstable Middle East, via unmanageable regimes, threatens the centre of this shipping lane and, therefore, the continuity of open trade and free markets. If U.S naval power is unable to ensure the free flow of the Suez Canal, for example, Western economies from Europe to Australia will be severely punished.

Ultimately, the Obama administration wants regime change in a host of Arab and Persian countries, but they wish for it to be managed without having to put ‘boots on the ground’. In other words, they want regime change from the ground up and not via external force, vis-à-vis Egypt, or in the same manner  the U.S. uses its proxies in firing up Iranian revolutionaries. In the case of Libya, they’ve intervened because the will of the Libyan people is being crushed by regime led genocide, and because there is a moral justification for intervention, and more importantly, inaction would equal bad business.

CJ Werleman

Author ‘God Hates You. Hate Him Back’ and ‘Jesus Lied. He Was Only Human’

www.cjwerleman.com

→ 9 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , ,

Fred Phelps and His Bad Luck (By Tim Short)

Posted on March 14, 2011 | 18 Comments


In a strange way, I feel some pity for Fred Phelps. I’m sure you’re now wondering how it be any person could offer a shred of sympathy for such a vile character. Especially when you consider that his wackjob church in Kansas is famous for their tacky “God Hates Fags” signs and their sickening disrespect for grieving families in conducting demonstrations at the funerals for soldiers killed in combat. Yet, despite these grotesque displays of religious evangelism, I have a strange sense of philosophical empathy for what our Western 21st century sensibilities determine to be his hate mongering . Now please allow me to explain my contrarian position.

As a North Carolina resident, I was not a half hour’s drive from Mrs. Edwards funeral, wife of former vice-presidential candidate John Edwards. She was an activist for many causes but her soft spot for the gay community landed her on Phelp’s “list.” Of course, he and his cronies were there at her funeral too. I attended Liberty University, which was founded by the polarizing and spiteful Reverend Jerry Falwell. Attending the late reverend’s funeral I experienced Phelps’ militia of hate mongers, upfront and personal. They were standing about 60 yards from Thomas Road Baptist Church, waving signs that said Falwell was a friend of the gays…certainly not likely to catch on anywhere but in Fred Phelp’s sick mind.

But as I consider the great theologians of the faith (Spurgeon, Tozer, Murray, Smith, Edwards, Calvin, Luther, Aquinas etc.),  I cannot help but think how much more palatable Phelps would have been in an earlier time. Surely, he believes these men to be his true theological contemporaries. For instance, when John Calvin allowed Servetus to be burned alive for a theological disagreement, it was no big matter. John Calvin’s brand of Reformed Christianity is tens of millions strong today and his “Institutions of the Christian Faith” is a bestseller in dozens of countries every year. Nominal Christians who amend their mainstream ideas of Free Will to his doctrines of Election often treat this change of opinion as a second conversion. My Calvinist friend Shawn even named his son Calvin. Think of all the “Johns” who go to a church. Many of them share Calvin as a middle name. John Calvin’s uber-heaven on earth Geneva Colony was the inspiration for Orwell’s ‘Big Brother’ in 1984.

Alcoholic Martin Luther was extremely anti-semitic and published books which seemed to pontificate nothing other than his contempt for Jews. No wonder Lutheran Germans, in Wittenberg, could enlist in the Nazi army without batting an eye. Cigar-sucking Charles Spurgeon and other grave and sober men from the days of yore, held homophobic opinions typical of their day…but let’s not blame all of the anti-gay attitudes in England and the US in the 18th century on time alone. The communities in which gays were most likely to be jailed or killed (or castrated) were mainly Christian.

101 out of 100 Christians I know today are quicker than anyone to condemn Fred Phelps’ gay hatred. I have heard, from prominent Christians, that Phelps is perhaps an atheist trying to turn people from God by his hypocritical and hateful lifestyle. I, however, feel that Phelps is a victim of having being born in the wrong century. Surely had this guy been born in 18th century, there would be no less than 100 colleges named after him, a few dozen hospitals and a beautiful museum where us simple folk can view his leathery old Bible behind bulletproof glass. Christianity has not become more and more of anything in the last 300 years, rather less and less true to its cultural trappings: hate, power and fear.

Phelps may have missed out on the first and second Great Awakening, but he may do a great deal to help the atheist (a.k.a. scientific) community have one of their own.

By Tim Short

Author ‘AtmosFEAR: From Liberty University to Atheism’ (Due for release September 2011)

www.cjwerleman.com


→ 18 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , ,

An Interview: From Afghanistan To Atheism

Posted on March 7, 2011 | 12 Comments

A few weeks ago I received an email from an appreciative reader, who read one of my books (shameless self promotion). What made his email stand out from the thousands of others (now I’m just being ridiculous), however, was this remark: “When I arrived in America from Afghanistan, I was a practicing Shia Muslim and today I’m an atheist.”

Since then we have exchanged several emails and the more I learn about this man’s story, the more fascinating it becomes. Here is a sample of his remarkable story in the form of a short interview. Enjoy.

CJ: Tell me about your religious (Muslim) upbringing?

BASHIR: I grew up in a relatively religious household. I remember that my father wasn’t that religious when I was young but he become more religious as I grew up. But my mother was then, and still is very religious. For her, nothing matters but her faith. She would give us a lecture about religion any moment of the day. I remember her favorite sermon was the torture of Hell Fire and the horrible torment in the grave that awaits. She would say, “Once we are buried, two scary angles will come to our graves and ask us questions concerning our faith and religion. If we fail to answer, those scary angels will beat us with heavy sticks, which are made from fire,  and then the graves would put so much pressure on us that our brains would come out of our feet. So I grew up in such an environment, believing that our branch of Islam, Shia, has a monopoly on truths, and for the rest of humanity, there is an everlasting torture in Hell that awaits them.

CJ: When and why did you leave Afghanistan?

BASHIR: I left Afghanistan in Jan. 1980, right after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.  I along with my family went to Iran, where it became already an Islamic state. We stayed in Iran for more than a year and then we went to Pakistan to apply for U.S visa as refugees. After waiting a little less then a year, we got permission to go to America. We arrived in U.S on May 22, 1982. Since I was religious, my experience in Iran was positive. Ayatollah Khomeini was my hero. I was listening to most of his speeches. After I came to America and became a free-thinker, however, I found the chance to critically reexamine every thing I stored in my brain, including Khomeini. Later on, I was shocked when I read in one of his books, “ Tahrir-ul-vaseela “ volume 4:

“ If your wife’s age is under 9, you can have sexual pleasure but no intercourse, even if she is a baby.”

Yes he, Ayatollah, is the founder of Islamic regime of Iran.

CJ: When did you start to question your belief in Islam or God?

BASHIR: When I arrived in America I was a true believer (Muslim) and I was practicing my religion completely. One thing that always bothered me, however, was the violence that  was associated with Muslims. After Khomeini issued the violent fatwa against Salmon Rushdi, for writing “Satanic Verses”, I was shocked. I asked myself why a person should be killed just for writing a book. From that day I started investigating my faith, I read the Koran from a critical point of view. And once I finished the Quran, I read the Hadith (the saying and deeds of Prophet Muhammad) and studied the Islamic history, and that was the time that I reached the best conclusion of my life; Islam is a man-made religion.

CJ: Ultimately, what were the pivotal factors that led to you becoming an atheist?

BASHIR: The thing that made me become an atheist was in observing nature and its cruelty, or the suffering of mankind. Once I realized that in nature, all living things have a very violent relationship; either you are a prey or a predator, or a host or a parasite, this couldn’t be the handy work of an omnipotent and omniscient God.  Nature, by definition, is indifferent, and it really does make logical sense to conclude that God doesn’t exist. The theory of Evolution, that I personally call the facts of evolution, put the last nail into the coffin of God. Evolution, in a meaningful way, taught me how we descended with modification. And the only way the diversity of life can be rationally and logically explained is through evolution.

CJ: What does your family and friends think of you becoming an atheist?

BASHIR: My wife and kids are agnostic, and my parents don’t know that I’m atheist, because I don’t want hurt their feelings. My two sisters are ok with my worldview, and of my four brothers, two are atheists and two are believers. Interestingly, the two believers refuse to talk to me, even now. We are generally family oriented people, but I almost lost all my relatives because I chose freedom over religion.

CJ: Are there many atheists in Afghanistan?

BASHIR: I think there are atheists in Afghanistan but they are in hiding because the punishment for apostasy in Islam is death.

CJ: If you were the U.S. President, what would you do in relation to the military, political, and social situation in Afghanistan?

BASHIR: If I were the U.S president, I would feel very sorry for myself. Afghanistan is the world capital of corruption and 95% of the wealth is controlled by only 5% of the population, while the rest of the country lives in extreme poverty. More then 90% of women don’t work. Education is in dire situation and there is no freedom of speech. So good luck, Mr. president.

CJ: Without U.S. assistance, do you feel the Afghani people and military will become strong enough to resist the Taliban on their own?

BASHIR: I have a mix feeling about the future of Afghanistan. We all know that the Taliban are very cruel and they can easily intimidate people.

CJ: Finally, what troubles you most about the Islamic faith?

BASHIR: When it comes to Islam, the danger to our future, our way life and our well-being is immeasurable. Because the basic doctrine of Islam advocates violence in order to spread and maintain the religion, and people who claim that is a matter of interpretation, have not read the Koran or the Hadith. To illustrate my point, I draw your attention to the following verse from the Koran:

“Fight against those people of the book who have no faith in Allah or the day of Judgment, who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have Made unlawful, and who do not believe in the true religion, until they humbly Pay tax with their hands.” (Koran 9:29)

In this verse, Koran clearly commands Muslims to fight those who do not believe. Either believe in Allah, the day of judgment and follow all laws of Islam, or pay the  tribute. In plain truth, paying ransom in order to stay alive, otherwise be killed.

CJ Werleman

Author ‘God Hates You. Hate Him Back’ and ‘Jesus Lied. He Was Only Human’

www.cjwerleman.com

→ 12 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , ,

Why Republicans & Christians Deny Global Warming

Posted on February 21, 2011 | 31 Comments

If you’re a global warming denier, then it’s likely you’re either a Republican or a Christian. This should come as no surprise to you, however, as these two groups routinely deny little things called, I don’t know, FACTS!

Before we ridicule one Republican state representative from Minnesota, and we will have fun doing that, let’s look at some data. Firstly, let’s consider that of the 48 newly elected GOP congressmen during the 2010 midterms, all but one was sworn into office as a global warming denier. (We can assume that ‘one’ doesn’t get many invitations from Big Oil sponsored ‘Coke & Hooker’ junkets.) Moreover, the National Journal recently asked a group of Republican senators and House members: “Do you think it’s been proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the earth is warming because of man-made problems?” Of the respondents, an overwhelming 77 percent said no. This result consistent with a Pew Research Centre study, which showed that less than 25% of Christians believe global warming to be a real phenomenon.

Now compare what Republicans and Christians believe, against what is near unanimous view of 2,000 scientists who contributed to a U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which revealed that more than 90% of climate experts are certain in their belief in man-made global warming.

You see, scientists base their belief in facts and evidence, whereas Republican lawmakers base theirs in special interest PR literature (‘Why Global Warming is Bunk’ by Exxon) and campaign contributions; while Christians base theirs in the earth science found in the Bible. In fact, two Christian think tanks (I am aware of the contradiction in terms), Young-Earth Creationists and Answers in Genesis, recently released a brochure that read:

“The contention that man’s activities are causing global warming, as described in the media and by its advocates, is a myth. There is no reason either biblically or scientifically to fear the exaggerated and misguided claims of catastrophe as a result of increasing levels of man-made carbon dioxide (CO2).”

The obvious question being, ‘how could the Bible provide any insight on climate science, when climate science wasn’t a thing at the time the Bible was written?’ As a matter of fact, the only ‘sciencey’ things the Bible gets right is that birds fly, horses have four legs, water is wet, fish swim in the sea, the earth is flat and the sun goes to bed in its own tabernacle at night. Oops, right up to “fish in the sea”, the Bible is a rigorous scientific document. Amen.

Now let’s see what happens when you combine the two anchors of Republican-Christian belief, special interests and baby Jesus. Well, you end up with someone like Mike Beard, a Republican state representative from Minnesota, who recently argued that coal mining should resume in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, in part because he believes God has created an earth that will provide unlimited natural resources.

“God is not capricious. He’s given us a creation that is dynamically stable,” Beard told MinnPost. “We are not going to run out of anything.”

Beard is currently in the midst of drafting legislation that would overturn Minnesota’s moratorium on coal-fired power plants, an effort that he backs due to his religious belief that God will provide limitless resources while ensuring that humans don’t destroy the planet trying to get them.

“Our farm was mined for coal three times,” Beard said. “And, now we stand on a point and look over barley and wheat and pines. Did we temporarily disrupt the face of the earth? Yes, but when we were done, we put it all back together again.”

This observation appears to be indicative of Beard’s larger religious belief that God acts as the tireless custodian of the planet. “It is the height of hubris to think we could [destroy the earth],” Beard told MinnPost, before saying that even devastating nuclear events shouldn’t cast doubt on his theory that the earth can always be repaired.

Well, I would contend that the height of hubris be in the self-delusional belief you know something you do not understand, while ignoring all evidence to the contrary, and then imposing your baseless beliefs on others that has detrimental outcomes for our planet. But that’s just me. I’m funny like that!

CJ Werleman

Author ‘God Hates You. Hate Him Back’ & ‘Jesus Lied. He Was Only Human’

www.cjwerleman.com

 

→ 31 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , ,

Egypt: Why U.S is Handcuffed by the Israeli Lobby

Posted on January 31, 2011 | 6 Comments

As Egyptians unite on the dusty streets of Cairo in calling for an end of tyranny and the birth of democracy, I have found the spectacle of America’s politicians nervously measuring their responses to this volcanic shift in Arab politics to be of even greater interest.  No doubt, their respective anxieties a sum of their fears of AIPAC, the Israeli Lobby, now that the 2012 election campaign is unofficially underway.

So who is this 800lb pachyderm looming over the shoulder of every congressman, senator, and the president himself? Well, Bill Clinton once described AIPAC as “better than anyone else lobbying in Washington”, while former House Speaker Newt Gingrich called it “the most effective general-interest group across the entire planet.”

AIPAC’s success is due to its ability to reward or punish any elected politician on Capitol Hill. It scours the media and congressional records for any politico who dares utter a solitary negative comment towards the Jewish state. When it finds anti-Israeli sentiment or rhetoric, it funnels campaign contributions to that politician’s opponent. In fact, all incoming congressmen and women are interviewed by AIPAC prior to taking office, to ascertain his or her views towards Israel and its foreign affairs.

For the above reason, Israel remains immune from criticism in Washington, even when Israel goes out of its way to ignore the U.S.’ stated interests in the region. We saw this only recently when Prime Minister Nettanyahu declined President Obama’s offer of a $5 billion military reward if they agreed to honor the 90 day settlement freeze in East Jerusalem. (An action that all but the U.S. labeled as unlawful) No other nation state ally enjoys such a free pass from criticism, which is remarkable in itself, but stunning when you consider that just about every other issue in Washington is argued or debated so heatedly and vigorously by both sides of politics. 

Now, back to Egypt. Simply, Israeli leaders are terrified of what is taking place on its western border. For the past 72 hours, Israeli parliament has been locked down in closed sessions regarding its national security. And Israeli leaders have held the line in not stepping forward to speak openly about the Egyptian crisis. This is a big deal!

Egypt is the centre of the Arab world, and it was the fact that Egypt signed the peace treaty with Israel in 1979 that has ensured Israel’s security from Arab military action for the past 30 years. Now, Egypt didn’t choose to embrace Israel as a legitimate member of the international community merely because it was the morally right thing to do, they did so on the promise of generous international aid from the U.S. (Aid to Egypt in 1975: $1.27bill. 1976 $1.36 bill. 1978: $2.3 bill….then ballooning to $5.9 bill after 1979 peace treaty)

An overthrow of the Mubarak regime is one of Israel’s greatest fears, as the question will then become: will the new team in charge honor the peace treaty? It’s a frightening question when you consider that Egyptians have the highest unfavorable rating of Israel among Arab nations, and the only functioning civil organization is the Muslim Brotherhood.

Further interesting is the fact that Republicans have rallied around President Obama’s wishy-washy ambiguous statements. On any other issue, the GOP would seize upon the president’s vacillating remarks as weak and lacking leadership. But not where Israel is involved, and especially not within an election cycle.

So expect more bi-partisanship rallying behind ambiguous mumble and fluff, as the U.S. remains torn between helping democracy flourish in the Middle East, and its leaders seeking their next campaign check.

 CJ Werleman

Author ‘God Hates You. Hate Him Back’ and ‘Jesus Lied. He Was Only Human’

www.cjwerleman.com

→ 6 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , ,

Pope John Paul II: When Evil Becomes A Saint

Posted on January 17, 2011 | 6 Comments

Last week the Vatican set in motion the process to fast track the late Pope John Paul’s passage to sainthood, prompting me to enquire – have the Church run out of good people to beatify?

On January 14, Pope Benedict XVI formally recognized a miracle (defined as the suspension or breach of natural law i.e. walking on water) attributed to the late pontiff. If that isn’t sufficiently absurd for the reality minded, then possibly the application submission will tip your scales. The alleged miracle in question was a French nun’s recovery from Parkinson’s, not long after praying to John Paul. So wrap that in your confirmation bias and smoke it. Anyway, how and who they award their politically motivated carnival prizes to is their business, but let’s examine, as incredulous outsiders, their current candidate for the Church’s loftiest rank.

For a majority of card carrying Catholics today, John Paul II remains the most revered and loved. His devotees live in a state of quasi cognitive dissonance in lauding him for his few better moments, while overlooking his ideological crimes against humanity. Too harsh? Well, let’s see.

Catholics laud his greatest accolade being his role in bringing Communism to an end in Eastern Europe, which is as exaggerated self-interested claim one could ever hope to find, and one that belittles the truth – that being Mikhail Gorbachev’s policy of openness, which exposed a “system that treated its people like incompetent children”, and illuminated the freedoms of the West so enjoyed by their neighbors on the other side of the wall.

So what of his misguided ways, remembering the office of the Pope is appointed by God and serves as Jesus’ vicar on earth, and what of the ills he inflicted on mankind? Well, we could start with his declaration that condoms are paramount to murder. (Apparently, Jesus believes a latex sheaf is worst than AIDS) We could end with his complicity in the Rwandan genocide. And somewhere in the middle we could address his visit to the Grand Mosque in Damascus, where the Assad regime hailed him for sharing with them a common enemy – the Jews who had killed Jesus. (Mel Gibson being the third member of that club)

Moreover, it is the scandal that continues to thwart the Church today that should indelibly stain his sainthood, the institutionalization of child-rape, of which his grubby little hands are as equally culpable as that of his heir. Not only did John Paul II ensure his pedophile priests immunity from secular prosecution, where they later found fresh victims in other dioceses, but he specifically aided one escape from the U.S to seek sanctuary in the Vatican. Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston was scheduled to face trial for his part in child-rape that his diocese had been running, but the Pope, taking advantage of the Vatican’s sovereignty, provided him a home out of reach of American jurisprudence. In fact, Law was recently ordained as archpriest of the Rome Basilica of St. Mary Major.

If there is any merit to be handballed his way, however, it was his role as the ‘Great Apologizer’. In the end, he apologized for the Church’s silent indifference towards Jewish suffering during the Nazi Holocaust. He apologized for the ethnic cleansing of the Crusades; the massacres of the Balkans; and even the wrongful condemnation of Galileo. But these apologies only serve to remind us of the appalling moral track record of the respective Popes who proudly (supposedly) carry out Jesus’ direct communiqués to the rest of its lowly plebs.

CJ Werleman

Author ‘God Hates You. Hate Him Back’ & ‘Jesus Lied. He Was Only Human’

www.cjwerleman.com

→ 6 Comments

Posted in atheism

Tagged , ,

Top Religion and Politics Findings For 2010

Posted on January 3, 2011 | Leave a comment

First of all, best wishes to all my readers for 2011.

Now, being the first article for the new year, it’d be appropriate to kick off two thousand and eleventh year of our Lord (just checking to see if you’re awake) by reviewing the top religion and politics research findings of the year now behind us, 2010, all the while we wait with eager anticipation Christ’s return to earth on May 21st as promised by the Christian network, Family Radio Inc.

According to the good folk at the institute whose acronym looks like that of North Korea’s, the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), the top religion and politics research findings of 2010 were:

1. Nearly half (47 percent) of Americans who identify with the Tea Party movement also identify with the Christian right.

2. Pew found that nearly 1-in-5 (18 percent) Americans wrongly believe President Obama is a Muslim, and PRRI found a majority (51 percent) say his religious beliefs are different from their own.

3. Fifty-seven percent of Americans are opposed to allowing NY Muslims to build an Islamic center and mosque two blocks from ground zero, but 76 percent say they would support Muslims building a mosque in their local community if they followed the same regulations as other religious groups.

4. Americans are about five times more likely to give an “F” (24 percent) than an “A” (5 percent) to churches for their handling of homosexuality. Two-thirds see connections between messages coming from America’s churches and higher rates of suicide among gay and lesbian youth.

5. Forty-five percent of Americans say the values of Islam are at odds with American values and way of life, while a plurality (49 percent) disagree.

6. If another vote similar to Proposition 8 were held now, a majority (51 percent) of Californians say they would vote to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry.

7. At least 7-in-10 Americans say that protecting the dignity of every person (82 percent), keeping families together (80 percent), and the Golden Rule are important values that should guide immigration reform.

8. In his new book American Grace, Robert Putnam found that between one-third and one-half of all American marriages are interfaith marriages, and roughly one-third of Americans have switched religions at some point in their lives.

9. Despite high levels of religiosity, Pew found on average that Americans only answered about half of 32 questions correctly on their Religious Knowledge Survey.

10. Nearly 6-in-10 Americans affirm American exceptionalism, that God has granted America a special role in human history. Those affirming this view are more likely to support military interventions and to say torture is sometimes justified.

CJ Werleman

Author  ‘Jesus Lied. He Was Only Human’ and ‘God Hates You. Hate Him Back’

www.cjwerleman.com

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , ,

Why Evolution and Christianity are Irreconcilable

Posted on December 21, 2010 | 12 Comments

Christmas has come early for those who enjoy the increasingly secular nature that has become the holiday season. (After all, we long ceased worshipping the pagan god of thunder, Thor, on Thursdays) The gift has come in the form of a new Gallup Poll, released Dec 17, that reveals 40 per cent of Americans still believe humans were created by God within the last 10,000 years, among other tid bits that will make your secular sensibilities giggle like a pervert at a Russian gymnasts’ meet.

Now, the fact 120,000,000 Americans continue to willfully ignore the great expanse of scientific endeavor, that includes discoveries in molecular biology, genetics, archaeology, microbiology, anthropology, physiology, botany, in favor for a woman being produced from Adam’s rib (notwithstanding the fact that this story fails to explain where Eve’s second X-chromosome came to be or where Adam’s Y-chromosome vanished) and an overbearing celestial sky daddy is the bad news. (Did I just break the record for longest paragraph without a full stop?)

The good news, however, is that this figure is significantly lower from a previously recorded high of 47 percent in 1999. Moreover, and with great joy, is that those Americans who hold the secular evolution view that humans evolved with no influence from God – has doubled its constituency from 9% to 16% in the past two decades.

The poll also supports a recent Pew Research study that religiosity is inextricably tied to education levels, revealing that when results are narrowed to those with college degrees, only 37 percent of respondents maintain beliefs in creationism, and that belief in secular evolution rises to 21 percent.

All this is interesting in itself, but it’s what the study doesn’t show that is most telling of religious belief in the United States today. With approximately 75% of the nation (220 million people) identifying themselves in step with the Christian faith, and with only 120 million believing in biblical creationism – this effectively means that 100,000,000 Americans unwittingly believes Jesus’ death had no meaning or that he died for no reason. In other words, a 60 percent of Christians have waged an irreconcilable battle between faith and theological fact within their own minds. In this instance, you can’t have your cake and eat it. I like cake.

Even C.S. Lewis, who ultimately sacrificed logic for faith, says as much in ‘Mere Christianity’, “We are told that Christ was killed for us, that His death has washed out our sins, and that by dying He disabled death itself. That is the formula. That is what has to be believed.”

How so? Well, Jesus gave himself to atone for the original sin, Adam’s sin. It’s there in the Bible. In fact, it’s unambiguously declared in Romans 5:12-21.To paraphrase those 9 verses: Adam’s sin brought death to mankind, and his sin was passed on ancestrally to all generations that followed, ending the possibility of eternal life for all. But then our cape crusader Jesus arrives on the scene, and because of his sacrifice or atonement for Adam’s sin, believers are rewarded eternal life in the hereafter. Amen.

In summary, it is theologically irreconcilable to disbelieve in the creation story of Adam, while retaining your belief in Christianity. To do so is to believe Jesus sacrificed himself to atone for a sin made by a fictitious person, somewhat akin of me jumping off a cliff so as to redeem Maverick’s illegal fly-by of the tower in Top Gun. It doesn’t fly. (I’m so sorry)

In regards to political affiliation, a majority of Republicans (52 percent) subscribe to creationist beliefs, compared with only 34 percent among Democrats. It’s a badly kept secret that President Obama is an atheist, and an insider (I don’t really have one) tells me that a second term will make that secret a little more obvious. Now we wait.

 CJ Werleman

Author ‘Jesus Lied. He Was Only Human’ and ‘God Hates You. Hate Him Back’

www.cjwerleman.com

→ 12 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , , , , ,

WikiLeaks: “Vatican Hates Jews. Loves Kids Way Too Much”

Posted on December 13, 2010 | 8 Comments

Wikileaks has now brought the Vatican into view like a Canadian sniper with a Taliban soldier sunning himself on an exposed rock caught in his crosshairs. Like any public relations agency or White House press secretary worth their pay, the Vatican, predictably, got out in front of the approaching projectile and declared, “There’s nothing to see here.” But I once saw a policeman with a megaphone, standing out front of a fireworks factory that had caught on fire, saying the same thing. Or was that the Naked Gun? But I digress.

So was there something to see here? Well, no, if you don’t consider the calculated preservation of reputation before the welfare of children being anally raped a thing. While this is nothing new, unless you were born yesterday, it does show the organized attempts by the Holy See to do whatever it takes to prevent a full investigation of institutionalized child sexual abuse.

The Vatican’s senior spokesman, Fr. Frederico Lombardi, a name that makes me think of a legendary football coach wearing a dress and way too much jewelry, argued that the vast body of documents released by WikiLeaks was of “little significance.”

“There’s nothing new, nothing that wasn’t abundantly well know. I don’t think that anyone has discovered America with these documents.”

Hey, he made a funny.

The documents that Father Lombardi (not my Dad) refers to are ones that show the Vatican felt “offended” that Ireland failed to respect Holy See “sovereignty” by asking high-ranking churchmen to answer questions from an Irish commission probing decades of sex abuse of minors by clergy. The Dublin Archdiocese report, published in 2009, found that senior church officials had maintained detailed files of 170 suspected pedophile priests since 1940 – but all were covered up, and none were reported to secular authorities.

In other words, further evidence that the Vatican was concerned more about protecting itself, rather than admitting the truth.  Andrew Madden, one of Ireland’s most prominent campaigners against the Catholic Church cover-up of child abuse, said, “The only issue for the Vatican has been the supposed ‘failure’ of the Irish government to protect the Vatican from intrusive questions. Self-interest ruled the day when their priests were raping children.”

Ultimately, the Holy See played its “we’re a sovereign state with diplomatic immunity” card. Again. You know that card? It’s the one where they hide behind the nation status awarded to them by the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini in a “sweetheart deal between fascism and the papacy.” Christopher Hitchens once referred to it as the “last survival of the political architecture of the Axis powers.” Without derailing this article down a wormhole (mix metaphors are fun), the salute of “Heil Hitler” was heard inside the walls of this tiny bullshit 0.17 square mile state during the war.  Oh, that reminds me. In a 2002 cable published by WikiLeaks, U.S. diplomats believe some top-members of the Vatican’s hierarchy still harbor anti-Semitic views.

So the whistle blower website has revealed that the Catholic Church hates Jews and loves kids way too much. I guess Father Lombardi is right, “there’s nothing to see here we didn’t already know.”

CJ Werleman

Author ‘God Hates You. Hate Him Back‘ and ‘Jesus Lied. He Was Only Human’

www.cjwerleman.com

→ 8 Comments

Posted in Uncategorized

Tagged , , ,