January 14, 2016::End of the day round-up

I have mixed feelings concerning whether Cruz is eligible to be President. On the one hand, I look at the "birther movement" against President Obama, and think tit-for-tat. On the other, it is for the legal eagles to figure out.

Ted Cruz produces mother’s birth certificate after both parents found on Canadian voter list

But most constitutional scholars argue that anyone with at least one parent who was a U.S. citizen at the time of birth automatically inherits that parent's citizenship. Cruz has said that because his mother was a U.S. citizen when he was born, he is a natural-born citizen.

But Grayson says there is disagreement over the issue, according to U.S. News & World Report. And because the courts have never ruled on the matter of presidential candidates who were born outside the U.S., a lawsuit could pose a serious problem for the Cruz campaign.

A curious case to say the least. Without full details - such as the employers policy concerning "lunch breaks" (ie paid versus unpaid), salaried vs hourly employment, and the like - it's hard to determine if a line was crossed by the employer.

Fired park employee sues over lunchtime baptism

A lawsuit has been filed by a former maintenance worker at Maritime National Historic Park in San Francisco for being fired after performing a baptism for a park visitor during his lunch break.

The case has been documented by Courthouse News, which said Roger Holly’s complaint against the Department of the Interior and his supervisors appeared this week in federal court.

Court documents say Holly, a Baptist minister, reported he baptized a park visitor in the ocean during his lunch break in November 2013. He reported he was out of uniform and simply “helped dunk the visitor into the ocean.”
“The religious ‘ceremony’ Holly performed did not include any outward, objective display of religion, such as reading sacred texts, public prayer, sermonizing or the like. It simply appeared that two persons were swimming in the ocean, much like other park visitors,” CN quoted from the complaint.

He then was interrogated by his supervisor, Robert Kier, who is named as defendant.

Holly reported he assured Kier he would not baptize someone while he was supposed to be working, or in his National Park Service uniform.

But he was terminated shortly after.

300,000 Low-Income Louisianians Gained Healthcare Today As Bobby Jindal Is Replaced By Democratic Governor

Acknowledging the huge problems facing the state of Louisiana, Edwards then laid out a progressive agenda to begin uplifting his citizens out of the rut that the Jindal administration had forced them to wallow in. One of his first actions will be to accept funding for the Medicaid expansion, giving healthcare to 300,000 of his citizens who desperately need it. He has promised to issue an executive order to begin expansion preparation within 24 hours, aiming to have the process complete by July 1st.

Kentucky bill looks to extend summer vacation to promote creationism

Kentucky senators have introduced a new bill, SB-50 that would “require schools to schedule the first student attendance day no earlier than the Monday closest to August 26, unless a school has adopted a year-round calendar.”

As I reported back in August of 2015, Kentucky Sen. Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, and Sen. Chris Girdler, R-Somerset had proposed such a bill to help extend the vacation season to bring more attention to the forthcoming Ark Encounter.

“Grant County is set to become a major tourist destination due to the presence of the Ark,” Thayer said. “But there won’t be many families from Kentucky visiting in August if we continue with the current calendar.”

A 2008 Tennessee study estimated that if summer was extended through Labor Day, an additional $189 million would be generated in tourist spending.

Boy Claimed His Teacher Banned Him From Reading the Bible — but the Principal Said There’s a Major Problem With His Story | TheBlaze.com

As usual in incidents such as these, the resolution has come before I could even post about the initial "outrage." Another story of "never let the facts get in the way of good propaganda."

I will be curious to see if Alliance Defending Freedom jumps in on this one for their fifteen minutes,,,

A public school principal in Missouri pushed back against a middle school student’s claim that a teacher banned him from reading the Bible in school, claiming that the incident did not unfold as was alleged and that students are more than welcome to read their Bibles in school.

Lance Tobin, principal of Bueker Middle School in Marshall, Missouri, told TheBlaze on Friday that claims made by Loyal Grandstaff, a 7th grader at the school, had not been substantiated when a local outlet published them and that the situation has since been resolved.

“We just all agreed and we talked about school and religion,” Tobin said. “And I wanted to make sure that they were comfortable understanding that their child could have the Bible at school and could read the Bible at school.”

Tobin, who declined to go into specific detail when asked why the family alleged that a teacher had banned the 12 year old from reading the book if that story wasn’t accurate, said that going public with the claims was likely “something that [the family] felt like they needed to do at the time.”

When asked how the teacher accused of banning the Bible is faring in light of the attention the situation has been given, the principal added, “There is no teacher involved whatsoever.”

Boy Claimed His Teacher Banned Him From Reading the Bible — but the Principal Said There’s a Major Problem With His Story | TheBlaze.com

Brian Brown Gets Defensive About His Russia Activism: 'Absolute Lies And Slurs' | Right Wing Watch

So earlier today I was involved in a two-pronged conversation concerning WW2 and the role and responsibilities of the railroads (and by proxy the workers) had in the Holocaust.  The question was asked were any of those "workers" ever held accountable?

Things were going along great till this, ",,,do you think that there will be a modern day holocaust with Christians being forced out of their homes and thrown in FEMA camps? That's what I'm concerned about these days."

Frustrated by this conversation stopper (faux Christian Persecution Complex), I posed the above to a group of like minded thinkers, we bandied about some of the myth-conceptions surrounding Hitler and the Third Reich. One comment touched on one of Hitler's alleged proclivities and the "most of the Nazis were homosexuals" canard that some like to pull out of a hat and teach.

The ensuing discussion centered around where this thought may have originated and why, ",,, found myself reading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,,,At any rate in book one which was about Hitler's early life and his efforts to start the political party; this book says that he went anyplace he could to gain support and that some of his early supporters were thugs and homosexuals. This may have been the reference your teacher had,,,But this was before he had any power and it would be a stretch to make that idiotic statement." (Ed. for grammar, spelling and punctuation)

To which I responded (minus the citations),,,
The Right's misinformation concerning Hitler and gays could be coming from Scott Lively's book the Pink Swastika: Homosexuality in the Nazi Party, it is his favorite canard and he uses it very well.

Lively's ideas have proven too radical for the mainstream family values movement, but they've gotten some traction on the far right. Bryan Fischer, director of issues analysis for the influential American Family Association, regularly parrots his arguments linking gays to Nazis. ("Homosexuality gave us Adolph Hitler," he opined in a 2010 post on the organization's website, "and homosexuals in the military gave us the Brown Shirts, the Nazi war machine and six million dead Jews.") Lively's theories have also gained currency in foreign countries, including former Soviet republics, where he has helped advance anti-gay legislation. But nowhere has his influence been more keenly felt than in Uganda

Lively is one of many western evangelicals responsible for Uganda's kill the gays bill as well as the anti-gay sentiment in Russia.

What's less well known is that three American evangelical preachers, Scott Lively, Caleb Lee Brundidge and Don Schmierer, visited the country a month before the bill was introduced, giving talks about how "the gay movement is an evil institution" which seeks to prey on children, destroy "the moral fiber of the people," and abolish marriage and the family and replace it with "a culture of sexual promiscuity." Lively boasted that their campaign was "a nuclear bomb against the gay agenda in Uganda," and later admitted to meeting with Ugandan lawmakers to help draft the bill, although he professed ignorance of the death penalty provision. Other American evangelicals, including Kevin Swanson and Lou Engle, have also expressed their support for the so-called Kill the Gays bill.

It's not just LGBT people in Uganda who've been harmed by the spread of aggressive evangelicalism. American megachurch pastor Rick Warren has a Ugandan protege, a pastor named Martin Ssempa, who has preached aggressively against contraception (in one bizarre public stunt, he burned condoms in the name of Jesus). Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni had formerly been a staunch advocate of the so-called ABC program (consisting of abstinence, monogamy and condom use) which successfully reduced HIV infection rates in Uganda; but thanks in part to Ssempa's influence and access, the government was persuaded to stop free condom distribution, and as a result, new HIV infections spiked again. (Ssempa, too, has called for the imprisonment of gay people. President Museveni also has ties to the Washington, D.C.-based fundamentalist group "the Family," which has called him their " key man" in Africa.)

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany by William L. Shirer though a landmark book has a few "problems" from a strict academic standpoint although one has to remember it was written in 1960s. So you could be correct as well (name removed) I do remember back in the mid 90s Shirer's attitude towards homosexuality (it being a perversion) was taken to task.

So the attached article, which mysteriously appeared on my news feed tonight, and the accusation comes as no big surprise, although I didn't realize that NOM's influence ranged beyond domestic interests. I should have known better.

Joe Jervis points us to a debate on C-SPAN this weekend between the National Organization for Marriage’s Brian Brown and Freedom to Marry’s Evan Wolfson, where things got a little contentious when Wolfson confronted Brown about his anti-gay activism in Russia.

Brown has never explicitly advocated for repressive Russian anti-gay policies, including the infamous “gay propaganda” ban, but he has acted as an outside validator for Russian politicians imposing the harsh new policies.

Last year, for instance, he spoke to a Russian parliament committee about the supposed dangers of gay adoption just a few days before the legislature voted to tighten its prohibition on the adoption of Russian orphans by same-sex couples or by couples in countries where same-sex marriage is legal.

And this year, Brown was a member of the planning committee for a World Congress of Families event in Moscow that was to take place at the Kremlin and was financed by members of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. Although the World Congress of Families dropped its official sponsorship of the event under pressure from some of its member groups, the event went ahead as planned, with Brown as a featured speaker. That conference ended with delegates issuing a resolution calling for more countries around the world to pass “gay propaganda” bans like Russia’s.

Brian Brown Gets Defensive About His Russia Activism: 'Absolute Lies And Slurs' | Right Wing Watch

Richard Land Angry That Gays Will 'Ram' Nondiscrimination Laws 'Down Your Throat' | Right Wing Watch

“What they just did violates the Constitution of the United States,” Land insisted. “It also shows, once again, the ugly face of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender movement. They are not a live-and-let-live bunch, they are, ‘We’re going to ram this down your throat, we’re going to force you to accept this or we’re going to run you out of business.’”

Starnes said the decision was proof of anti-Christian “hostility” against business owners: “Christians are coming under attack for their beliefs.”

Richard Land Angry That Gays Will 'Ram' Nondiscrimination Laws 'Down Your Throat' | Right Wing Watch

You just have to love our friendly RWNJs and the world they live in,,,

First up we have infamous anti-gay propagandist Paul Cameron chatting with Gordon "Please Chap My Lips" Klingenschmitt,,,

Today's "Pray In Jesus Name" program featured the first segment in a multi-part, in-person interview that host Gordon Klingenschmitt conducted with notorious anti-gay "researcher" Paul Cameron of the Family Research Institute and it turned out to be every bit as crazy as one would expect an interview between an anti-gay exorcist and an advocate for executing gays to be.

Klingenschmitt, who is currently the Republican nominee for a seat in the Colorado state legislature, asked Cameron if gay people "use molestation as a recruiting tool," and Cameron assured him that they most certainly do.

"Homosexuals, from the get-go, as long as we have recorded history, have used the molestation of boys as a way to recruit to homosexuality," Cameron declared, claiming that his "studies" have found that sixty percent of boys who reported that their first sexual experience was a same-sex experience grow up to be gay.

Not to be left out, Tony Perkins thought he would liven things up a bit by claiming Christian persecution,,,

Yesterday on “Washington Watch,” following an interview with Kansas Republican Rep. Mike Pompeo, Perkins spoke with a caller about the need for more “bold, courageous, unfearing” political leaders who will denounce “politically correct” opinions on topics like Islam and homosexuality.

Perkins then attempted to connect violence against Christians abroad to domestic politics: “There are correlations, Congressman Pompeo talked about this, the correlation of the persecution of the church abroad and this intolerance here at home. When we allow political correctness to choke the voices of Christians here at home, no matter what the issue is, but most prominently these days it’s over the issue of the redefinition of marriage and homosexuality, look, it’s very straightforward, it’s very clear and when we refuse to speak, it has deadly consequences.”

Oh and look it's our friendly neighborhood bigot and God crusader Peter LaBarbera again, but this time he is saying that homosexuals can't live out and proud for fear of violence and discrimination against them. 

So are you now admitting that you're the Nazi for the hate you promote?

LaBarbera pointed his finger at the “homosexual lobby” for wanting to “normalize the abnormal.” He lamented that America is witnessing a rise in “biblical illiteracy” and that “people are ignorant to the facts of homosexuality.”

Citing links between sex between men and exposure to HIV, LaBarbera explained the need for anti-gay awareness campaigns like those used to warn against tobacco use. “Where are the cries to stop practicing this behavior?” he demanded. “They did that for smoking, why not for homosexual behavior?”

ADDENDUM::Anti-Gay Activist Peter LaBarbera: I'm Like A Jew In Nazi Germany! | Right Wing Watch

“We have to trust in God to protect us,” LaBarbera said, suggesting that criticism of his anti-gay activism is fanning the flames of violence.

“This demonization is just — it’s what’s been done to minorities to the past and like I said, it’s what the Nazis did to the Jews,” LaBarbera added. “We’re losing our freedoms.”

LaBarbera repeatedly told Mefferd that HRC and others are trying to stop him from appearing in the media, which is actually exactly what LaBarbera did to gay rights advocate Wayne Besen.

"We're losing our freedoms." Hmmm, let me think about that for a few - you mean like this,,,

• Pennsylvania police chief’s daughter among suspects charged in Philly gay-bashing
• 3 Men Arrested In Anti-Gay Shooting In Brooklyn
• Braulio Valenzuela-Villanueva Faces Anti-Gay Hate Crime Charges After Allegedly Setting Fire To Lesbian Couple's Home
• Three accused of hate crime, assault after man beaten in Chattanooga
• Calif. man pleads not guilty to murder, hate crime of bisexual co-worker
• Man charged with stabbing transgender girl on D.C. Metro train
• Suspect in ‘execution-style’ murders of two Seattle gay men captured in N.J.
• N.M. mom charged with abuse, hate crime attack on lesbian daughter
• Ohio man indicted on six counts in robbery, murder of transgender woman
• Teen charged in attack on gay man at Detroit LGBT pride event
• Texas man admits abducting, severely beating gay man he met online
• Brooklyn gay man sues 5 Hasidic men, Shomrim patrol over beating
• Man convicted in gang rape of lesbian gets 400 year prison sentence

Fuck you Peter LaBarbera and your sanctimonious bullshit that you're being demonized.  That "we" are fanning the flames of violence.  I don't see your name as a victim in any of the 3700+ reports of hate I have on file.  The only thing you are a victim of is delusional thinking that you justify (wrongly I might add) by using a 2000-year-old book of fairy-tales and myth.

Anti-Gay Activist Peter LaBarbera: I'm Like A Jew In Nazi Germany! | Right Wing Watch

And fuck you as well Tony Perkins, Ted Cruz, Michele Bachmann, Mat Staver, Maggie Gallagher, Jason Benham, David Benham, Brian Brown, and Bobby Jindal.

Women ordered to stop praying inside mall | Fox News

I am starting a new "series" called the Starnes Watch. Let's see how much of his pandering turns out to be an accurate portrayal of events or hyperbole. Here's our first one which takes place in Georgia.

It’s not uncommon for shopping malls to have rules of conduct. Some places ban saggy pants. Others won’t let you ask people for money. But a mall in Georgia may have one of the most unusual rules -- they won’t let shoppers pray – not even over their meals.

Meet Tammy Brantley of Dublin, Ga. She’s a wife, a mom and an avid power walker. She’s also a person of deep faith in God.

Tammy is the co-founder of “Dublin Girls Run,” a group of local ladies that combines Southern fellowship with physical fitness.

[,,,]
A few weeks ago the Dublin Girls had gathered inside the local mall for an evening power walk. They formed a small circle and as they had done many times before, they bowed their heads to petition the Almighty.

But before one of the runners could say, “Lord Jesus,” she was interrupted by a mall cop barreling down a corridor.

“The security guard came running toward us and said, ‘You are not allowed to pray at the mall. That’s against the policy,’” Tammy told me.

The ladies were aghast.

SCORE:: B/B+

By all accounts that I could find what is presented is accurate, BUT,,,

"Meanwhile, the Dublin Girls are searching for a new place to power walk. Tammy said she understands that the mall is indeed private property and they have a right to dictate appropriate rules and regulations."

"[T]he mall is indeed private property"  that is the key.  Brantley states as much in a July 24th posting to her public F/B account:

"However, I had a long conversation with the property Manager over the mall. They are in fact, privately owned..therefore we must abide by their rules. I was told in this conversation that this rule has been set forth to not offend other religions and people who walk through the doors. They feel that if they allow one religious group to pray and worship..they would have to let them all. They will not allow prayer vigils or outward displays of faith. My response to him was that we should not ever worry or fear offense when we are standing for God,,, I told him that I refuse to let anything cause the ladies to not be able to focus on that because of the fear of ridicule or intimidation. I will allow all of you to make your decision based on how God lead's you. BUT ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS WE CAN DO AS CHRISTIANS IS TO PRAY THAT GOD WILL REIGN DOMINION OVER THE MALL AND THE OWNERS."

Exactly which "God" is Brantley referring to?  Would she be without object to a group of Sikhs practicing Nitnem banis prior to their workout.  Or how about a Hindu group saying the Prārthana?

Sounds a bit like Christian privilege to me - I don't like your rules but because I am a Christian, your rules do not or should not apply to me (but they do apply to everyone else who isn't a Christina like me. )

Sound familiar?  It should because that is the same logic behind the "religious liberty" legislation being pushed by Alliance Defending Freedom.

Brantley went from understanding that the mall property is privately owned with their own rules, ",,, if they allow one religious group to pray and worship, they would have to let them all. " To, the incident being a case of discrimination.  This being said in an August 2nd public posting

"I remembered that in any discrimination case, nothing was ever done until someone had the guts to say no. Because of those not afraid, MLK, Rosa Parks to name a few... we all have rights to speak freely and PRAY freely."

So it is okay for a privately owned "Christian" bakery or a privately owned "Christian" photography studio to plead for the ability to discriminate based on religious beliefs but a a privately owned mall with a policy banning all - not just Christian - religious expression is now being crucified for exercising the same rights.  Something that  Starnes nor Brantley seem to understand.

Women ordered to stop praying inside mall | Fox News

Please note that I have left out any links connecting to Mrs. Brantley's page out of respect.  Although her name is public as is her F/B account (for the moment) I personally do not believe she is ready for the shitstorm that is to come.

Editor who used 'gaystapo' claims religious discrimination

There is a lot of minutiae to this complaint that does not make it a slam dunk for either side. It will be interesting as to how it plays out. The Hobby Lobby ruling may factor in as well as the whole shebang of "religious liberty" that the religionists are fond of pushing.

An Iowa newspaper editor fired after publishing his views on homosexuals is claiming he was the victim of religious discrimination by his former employer.

Bob Eschliman, former editor of the Newton Daily News, filed a complaint this week with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission office in Milwaukee arguing that he was terminated May 5 because of his religious beliefs. If the dispute isn't resolved to Eschliman's satisfaction, he could sue in federal court to seek financial damages.

In late April, Eschliman, 41, a member of Christian Reformed Church of Newton, wrote a personal blog post criticizing the "Queen James Bible," a website that rewrites the Christian Bible to be friendlier to gays. Eschliman accused "the LGBTQXYZ crowd and the Gaystapo" of trying "to make their sinful nature right with God."

Jim Romenesko, who hosts a widely read online blog about the news media, reported on Eschliman's post and questioned whether Eschliman, in light of his publicly stated views, would be able to fairly cover issues involving gays.

Editor who used 'gaystapo' claims religious discrimination

Texas Values' Jonathan Saenz: Gay Activists Are Trying To "Put People In Jail" | Blog | Media Matters for America

Texas Values president Jonathan Saenz agreed with a right-wing radio host that gay activists are trying to put Christians in concentration camps, asserting that the gay rights movement wants "to put people in jail" if they disagree with marriage equality and "the homosexual lifestyle."

In a June 20 interview with Raging Elephants Radio, Saenz condemned a recent Colorado Civil Rights Commission ruling affirming that a Denver-area baker had violated the state's non-discrimination law by refusing to bake a cake for a same-sex couple. Host Claver Kamau-Imani asked Saenz whether the ruling was tantamount to sending the baker to a "concentration camp." Saenz agreed, asserting that there's "no question" gay rights supporters ultimately aim to imprison opponents of LGBT equality:

[,,,]
This isn't the first time Saenz has resorted to extreme rhetoric to attack LGBT equality. A prominent opponent of local efforts to combat anti-LGBT discrimination in Texas, Saenz has also predicted "polygamy and polyandry" and marriage between step-parents and step-children as a result of marriage equality. A vocal proponent of discredited "ex-gay" therapy programs, his solution to the problem that gay people exist is telling them that "it's never too late" for them to "change."

Texas Values' Jonathan Saenz: Gay Activists Are Trying To "Put People In Jail" | Blog | Media Matters for America

The Persecution Myth: New Report Takes On The Right's Deceptive Rallying Cry | Right Wing Watch

Every day we hear figures on the Religious Right declaring that conservative Christians in America are being persecuted by a government that has embraced, in the words of Samuel Rodriguez, “secular totalitarianism.”

This narrative has helped to feed the opposition to gay rights and reproductive rights, and has even been used to advocate against the rights of religious minorities. And it continues even as Christians and members of other minority faiths face real persecution throughout the world.

The Right has managed to gain traction with this narrative by providing a never-ending supply of martyrdom myths. These stories of children banned from praying and of Christmas celebrations curtailed are carried to a wide audience by people like Fox News’ Todd Starnes — and are often quickly proved to be completely apocryphal.

In a new report, "The Persecution Complex: The Religious Right’s Deceptive Rallying Cry," we look at the machine that produces those myths and how they are then used to influence public policy:


The Persecution Myth: New Report Takes On The Right's Deceptive Rallying Cry | Right Wing Watch

Rick Santorum Claims Anti-Gay Business Owners Are Being Sent To 'Re-Education Camps'

And yet AGAIN!! Does anyone within the Reich have an original thought? Ya know, one they came up with all by their little lonesome selves?

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) claimed during a radio interview this week that anti-gay marriage business owners are being sent to “re-education camps” for refusing to serve gay customers.

“You now see situations with bakers and florists and photographers who are being forced to provide services for same-sex weddings or get fined, lose their business,” Santorum said during the appearance on the American Family Association’s “Focal Point” radio program on Monday. “In the case of Colorado, there was a Colorado case recently where someone had to go to a re-education camp if you will. And the amazing thing is that in Colorado gay marriage isn’t even legal!"

In regards to the Colorado baker case, where a baker found to have illegally discriminated against a same-sex couple by refusing to sell them a cake for their wedding reception. He (Jack Phillips) is required to submit reports on how he would be implementing policies going forward to prevent the same thing from happening again.

Rick Santorum Claims Anti-Gay Business Owners Are Being Sent To 'Re-Education Camps'

See also:

Rick Santorum Joins Bryan Fischer For Christian Persecution Fear Fest

Renew America Pundit Thinks Obama Will Round Up Critics And Put Them In Camps | Right Wing Watch

So I take it that this idea of President Obama using "re-education camps" is a "new" Reich talking point. This is the third posting this month concerning this meme, accusations that "President Obama [is] trying to overturn the First Amendment, round up political foes and introduce communism."

Those who oppose the redefinition of marriage are sent to "sensitivity training," which in Communist-led countries means "Re-education camps." Those who dissent in any way are required to submit to "Psychological Evaluation." In Communist countries, Christians and anyone who opposes government are sent to insane asylums.

[,,,]
So, what do we do when U.S. citizens begin to be rounded up and detained over "controversial" Facebook posts about the President? What are we supposed to do when the government equates disapproval of a President with a conspiracy to overthrow the government?

Last I looked Ted "the shit my pants draft dodger" Nugent  is still walking around freely as is Sam Koivisto and Denise Helms  Regretfully Miles sees Communists and the homosexual lobby in anything he doesn't agree with

Renew America Pundit Thinks Obama Will Round Up Critics And Put Them In Camps | Right Wing Watch

UPDATE::Mat Staver Can’t Seem to Make Up His Mind About Taxpayer Money Going to Christian Groups

Well, here’s Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver a couple of weeks ago, before the money was withdrawn:

“I think the local people certainly ought to fight to preserve this,” he tells OneNewsNow. “This is something that Freedom From Religion Foundation wants to use to intimidate them into silence and make them back down from the funding that they’ve already been granted in this case. But I believe the funding is being used for a neutral purpose, and that is certainly permissible.”

And here’s Staver today:

“I’m not a big advocate of Christian organizations receiving government funding because of the fact that strings can be attached to that government funding,” he explains. “And obviously it’s much better if the Christian organizations can receive their funds from private entities.”

So he’s all for government funding of religious groups… unless they don’t get the money, in which case, it’s totally fine because no one wanted their money anyway.


Mat Staver Can’t Seem to Make Up His Mind About Taxpayer Money Going to Christian Groups

Tony Perkins Says Gay Rights Advocates Want Anti-Christian Holocaust, Will 'Start Rolling Out The Boxcars' | Right Wing Watch

So Tony, are you talking up a Vietnam type setting where one spends upwards of 3+ years under government controlled conditions? Or are you speaking of what occurred in Europe during WWII? You see your friend Richard Mourdock is of the belief that we are headed the way of Nazi German:

“The people of Germany in a free election selected the Nazi Party because they made great promises that appealed to them because they were desperate and destitute. And why is that? Because Germany was bankrupt. The truth is, 70 years later, we are drifting on the tides toward another beachhead and it is the bankruptcy of the United States of America.”

By your by use of "re-education camps" you are implying the latter.. Are you studying history under Barton again?
__
Perkins reacted to the discrimination case by offering a comparison to the Holocaust: “I’m beginning to think, are re-education camps next? When are they going to start rolling out the boxcars to start hauling off Christians?”

Tony Perkins Says Gay Rights Advocates Want Anti-Christian Holocaust, Will 'Start Rolling Out The Boxcars' | Right Wing Watch

No Eden: Atheist group takes on religious-themed public garden | Fox News

"Garrett Smith, a member of the Shepherd’s Garden Foundation, said they were aware this might cause an issue when they applied for the grant."
_
So, if y'all knew it might be an issue, why even apply for the grant? Could it be that the fastest way to raise money you dont have is to a) create a fake controversy and b) when called to task for violations, claim "Christian" persecution thereby garnering support and filling the coffers with greenbacks?
__
A park planned in Sioux City is getting national attention.

The Shepherd’s Garden, a Christian-themed park, was recently was awarded $140,000 from the state through a Vision Iowa grant. It’s meant to “assist projects that will provide recreational, cultural, entertainment and educational attractions.” The money would go towards building and planting green spaces in the park, but not for any religious symbols.

But the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation is fighting the funding, saying using public money to promote Christian ideals violates the First Amendment of the Constitution. What's more, according to the foundation, the grant would violate Iowa's own constitution, which “prohibits funding of religious spaces.”

[,,,]
The Shepherd’s Garden fundraising brochure quotes Psalm 23 as a guide for the park and invites donors to “create a legacy to the ongoing role the Christian faith has had in shaping the life of this community.”

The garden’s brochure goes on to say, “Shepherd’s Garden is more than a park, it has been conceived and designed to be a visible reminder that God’s presence is not confined to sacred institutions and buildings, but is very much a part of the public sphere.”

Garrett Smith, a member of the Shepherd’s Garden Foundation, said they were aware this might cause an issue when they applied for the grant.

No Eden: Atheist group takes on religious-themed public garden | Fox News

ADDENDUM::Homofascist bullies launch anti-Christian sticker campaign in MS

I did not give this story the attention it deserved as I originally posted Wonkette's astute observations concerning Bryan Fischer and the AFA's reaction to capitalism at its best. But leave it to the Reich to go over the top in their reaction.

Gina Miller, content editor for BarbWire, has outdone herself in the insanity department. WTH is - Alphabet Soup Perversity Brigade? Someone? Anyone? Me thinks she needs to increas her Ativan and Xanax.
__
As they do in every aspect of their anti-Christian, freedom-robbing agenda, they lie about the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, insisting it will open the door to a flood of anti-homosexual “discrimination,” with Christian businesses owners refusing to do business with people simply because they’re sodomites. That’s not happening, but these people don’t let truth or reason even come close to getting in their way, because if there were even one case of a “Christian” business owner telling a homosexual, “We don’t serve your limp-wristed kind in here,” it would be blaring headline news from coast to coast, world without end.

The truth of the matter is the exact opposite of how the Left portrays it. Christians are not refusing to serve homosexuals, but homosexuals are targeting Christian-owned businesses with demands that would force the owners to participate in the desecration of marriage, in direct violation of their conscience. When Christians politely refuse them, instead of going down the street to a willing business, they sue the Christians. These activists know exactly what they’re doing, and their goal is not to get a stupid “wedding” cake made for two men. No. Their goal is to use the courts to strip the rights and freedoms of Christians and any others who are opposed to the militant homosexual movement’s agenda, which includes the destruction of marriage.

The AFA published a list of Mississippi businesses that have signed on to place one of the anti-Christian, pro-homosexual stickers on their windows. Here’s the “If You’re Buying” site where you can also see the sticker and the business list as it’s updated. These are businesses you might want to avoid here in Mississippi, unless you’re in the mood to go inside and find out if they really understand what that anti-Christian sticker means.

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That’s pure truth, but our inalienable rights will not stand if these homofascists get their way. Freedom of conscience, religion, speech and association for Christians is directly in the evil cross-hairs of this diabolical movement, and unless we stand firmly, loudly and unified against it, our freedoms will be crushed. Don’t doubt it for a minute.

Homofascist bullies launch anti-Christian sticker campaign in MS

Stop Persecuting Christians By Letting Gays Shop In Your Stores!

To Bryan Fischer I have this to say, go complain to Christians in Egypt and numerous other parts of the world about how badly you are being oppressed.

Are you guys worried about Bryan Fischer? We’re totally worried about Bryan Fischer. There’s just so much homosexxican behavior going on right now that he and his organization of fellow incoherent rageaholics, the American Family Association, are kind of losing track of reality. The latest salvo from the AFA is aimed at businesses who aren’t willing to douse gays in lighter fluid and light them on fire, all in the name of Jesus, just for walking in the door, because of course the failure to do so is the exact same thing as ramming the homosexual behavior down the AFA’s throat, one esophagus at a time.

You’ll recall that last month Mississippi passed one of those terrible “religious freedom” bills that means you can discriminate against the gays because if you don’t, you’ll have to bake penis cakes 24/7. Some businesses thought “oh hey, we do not actually hate homosexxican money, so we will put a cool little sticker in our window that says we don’t discriminate.” SO UNFAIR TO CHRISTIANS.

Did you look at that monstrous pro-gay shopper sticker? It might as well just be a giant Tom of Finland cartoon with Bryan Fischer’s head superimposed because it is that offensive. It’s so offensive that the AFA can just feel it oppressing Christians by its very existence.




Stop Persecuting Christians By Letting Gays Shop In Your Stores!

AFA Warns 'Homosexual Aggression' Has Banned Christians From '7 Common Careers' | Right Wing Watch

In a fundraising email today, American Family Association president Tim Wildmon warns that the list of careers that Christians can hold in America “is quickly shrinking as homosexuals pro-actively seek opportunities to wreck the personal business and career of any Christian who declines to support the gay lifestyle.”

The email lists “7 common careers Christians may no longer hold in America,” which it says includes photography, broadcasting and teaching. Wildmon cites a few cases in which business owners have been sued for refusing to provide services to gay people and have sought broad exemptions from anti-discrimination laws that apply to businesses operating in the public square. He also cites the case of Craig James, who was hired by a regional Fox Sports network before being fired by the national network, which he claimed was because of his “personal religious beliefs.” Wildmon claims that James, who has since been hired by the Family Research Council , is a martyr who has been banned from broadcasting thanks to “homosexual aggression.”

I have posted about some of the instances of perceived persecutions mentioned by Wildmon before but Friendly Atheist, Hemant Mehta highlights and sums up the faulty reasoning behind Wildmon's claims quite well:

In each of those cases, the issue wasn’t that Christians were being too devout. It’s that they were either unable to follow the law or unable to fulfill the obligations of the profession.

When you have a public business like a bakery, you can’t say “I’m not making this for you because it’s for a Bar Mitzvah” any more than you can say you won’t make a cake because it’s for a gay wedding. In those cases, what the Christian business owners are doing is just illegal. Same with photographers and florists and innkeepers. Do your job and treat your customers equally or get out of the business. If you can’t handle customer requests, you’re in the wrong line of work,,,

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So Christians are welcome to hold all of those professions in America. The list of opportunities isn’t shrinking for them just because they’re very religious. The only people losing their jobs are the people who refuse to do those jobs properly. Just as it should be.

What Hemant touches on here is what is referred to as "offering a limited menu" based on preference. In other words if you open a business ALL services must be available to ALL consumers. It falls under the general purview of the public accommodation section of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

AFA Warns 'Homosexual Aggression' Has Banned Christians From '7 Common Careers' | Right Wing Watch

Franklin Graham Claims The News Media Is Persecuting Christians | Right Wing Watch

We’re not exactly sure how the media is persecuting evangelicals like Graham, seeing that on Sunday he was a guest on ABC’s This Week, but Religious Right activists have been keen to conflate criticism and even tough questions with persecution.

Franklin Graham Claims The News Media Is Persecuting Christians | Right Wing Watch

Liberty Institute's Kelly Shackelford Spreads 'Fear and Misinformation' at Air Force Academy Leadership Symposium | Chris Rodda

Another excellent article by Chris Rodda - author of 'Liars For Jesus' - debunking the "Fear and Misinformation" of Kelly Shackelford, President & CEO of the Liberty Institute.

On February 27 and 28, the Air Force Academy held its annual National Character & Leadership Symposium, an event described as "one of the nation's premier symposia in the field of character and leadership development." The speakers at this annual symposium include "distinguished scholars, military leaders, corporate executives, world-class athletes, and others." The attendees are not only Air Force Academy cadets and staff, but also students and faculty from civilian colleges and universities, ROTC detachments, and international delegations.

One of the speakers at this year's National Character & Leadership Symposium was Kelly Shackelford, the President & CEO of the Liberty Institute, which describes itself as "the largest legal organization dedicated solely to defending and restoring religious liberty in America."

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Several times during his two presentations at the NCLS, Mr. Shackelford said that the greatest "attacker" of religious liberty is "fear and misinformation." And that it absolutely true, as demonstrated by Mr. Shackelford's nearly nonstop use of fear and misinformation in his presentations -- presentations that were chock full of fear-inducing stories full of misinformation about alleged egregious violations of religious freedom and Christian persecution.

Liberty Institute's Kelly Shackelford Spreads 'Fear and Misinformation' at Air Force Academy Leadership Symposium | Chris Rodda