Last Few Stories for Week Ending 5/29/22

 

So I only have 2-3 stories left from last week but chose to run them separate as I was past my self-imposed time limit. The first clip is a bit longish but relevant. I figure I suffered through it, then so must you.

NIFBY Pastor Johnathan Shelley is up to his old trick of being a douche-nozzle. https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2022/05/pastor-tells-city-council-gay-people-executed/

A pastor who addressed a city council meeting in Arlington, Texas told the council and the crowd that gay people should be executed as people in the crowd said “Amen” and “Yup.”

“According to God we should hate Pride, not celebrate it,” Pastor Jonathan Shelley of the Stedfast Bible Church in Hurst, Texas said as the audience booed. “God has already ruled that murder, adultery, witchcraft, rape, bestiality, and homosexuality are crimes worthy of capital punishment.”

As Bollinger notes,

But Shelley’s main point wasn’t about science, it was about politics and power. He said that the LGBTQ community “hates children, hates Baptists, hates Christianity, and hates God.”

If you wanna play politics, you must pay the taxes. It is a point that Greg Locke is learning. https://www.rawstory.com/pastor-greg-locke-aborts-taxes/ And to be clear, I think Locke is an asshole just to be an asshole. He is a fraud and found a decent grift to make money. While Shelley is an asshole, I dont get the grifter vibe from him, Well as much as you can say that about a religious nut.

And yes, Shelley's church is associated with the hate filled POS Steve Anderson. https://interestinghmm.blogspot.com/2019/07/show-notes-we-talk-nifb-extremely-long.html

As it goes, this dude does not SEEM to spew GQP nuttery, but on the surface, he does spew Reich idiocy. https://onlysky.media/hemant-mehta/colorado-gop-gubernatorial-candidate-only-christians-can-be-my-running-mate/

Greg Lopez, a Colorado politician hoping to unseat Democratic incumbent Gov. Jared Polis this November, said in a Republican primary debate over the weekend that he would have a No-Jews, No-Muslims, No-Atheists policy when it comes to selecting his potential Lt. Governor. He would only consider other Christians.

Now the clip is not as revealing as one would hope, as Lopez does not state what the headline claims. But Lopez does say this, “So I’m looking for someone that not only believes in my Lord and Savior the way I do,,,.” And that is problematic, Torcaso v. Watkins (1961) prohibits states and the federal government from requiring any kind of religious test for public office.

While I dont agree with Hemant's initial claim, he sums the situation well.

Lopez is doing something more pernicious, albeit legal. He’s implying that anyone who’s not a Christian isn’t qualified in his mind to run the state… even though religious beliefs shouldn’t be guiding any governor’s public policies. It’s a sign that Lopez is utterly incapable of doing the job he’s seeking because he insists on his own personal religious test for an office that shouldn’t depend on anyone’s faith.

And the final story for the week,,,

Pakman brings up a huge point while making comparison to Buffalo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrI3XkJSwz0:: the Reich in regards to Buffalo shooter – this is just a mentally ill person, nothing religio-political here. No ideology behind such actions.

To which I say - Uh no, no,,,, bullshit, his manifesto points to that fact. And as far as I know, no left leaning pundit was making an explicit connection to religion, eg Christianity. Maybe an implicit relationship considering his views, but I would have to read his manifesto to be sure. (And if I am incorrect, I am more than willing to offer a correction.)

Compare to this anti social justice freak with a clear and admitted religio-political ideology – god told me so. The Reich's reaction, crickets. Why, there is nothing at stake as the mental illness claim may hold weight second situation. As noted by Pakman, there are 2 definitions at play only one perpetrator fits the need present.

Pakman does address the notion that yes, there could be additional elements at play in both cases, eg mental illness. BUT we cant ignore the religio-political ideology that is obviously core to the discussion. White replacement versus anti social justice, both heavily right leaning ideologies.

Basically what I think, or at least how I took it, the Reich will not take responsibility for the monster(s) they created – in this case, religion or religious ideology causes harm. IOWs, the street-preacher is getting thrown in front of the semi.

Overall, while my interpretation of Pakman's observation may be slightly different, it is an interesting point to consider.