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American Sharia: Stoning

Taliban Dan's BFF is an advocate of stoning:

[A]n August 5, 1996 article in the Gainesville Sun quoted Webster, 'I respect (Gothard) as much as anybody. [. . .] Bill Gothard, in turn, was a close ally of R.J. Rushdoony, considered the father of Christian Reconstructionism and founder of the movement's flagship institution, the Chalcedon Institute.

[Gothard] agreed that Rushdoony's vision for Biblical law should be imposed upon America. That vision included instituting stoning as a form of capital punishment for rape, kidnapping, murder, heresy, blasphemy, witchcraft, astrology, adultery, "sodomy or homosexuality," incest, striking a parent, extreme juvenile delinquency, and "unchastity before marriage."

(Emphasis supplied.) More on Rushdoony can be found in the March 2010 American Prospect article American Taliban ("You may not have heard of R.J. Rushdoony. He is a kind of American Talib".

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    Just a comment on Rushdoony (5.00 / 1) (#51)
    by cal1942 on Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 12:40:35 AM EST
    Before his passing, Rushdoony was a regular participant in Grover Norquist's Wednesday morning gatherings of the right-wing faithful.

    Little wonder the Republican Party has become so depraved over the past 30 plus years.

    Perfect (none / 0) (#1)
    by ruffian on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 03:08:10 PM EST
    and really, could anyone make up better names for these guys? R.J. Rushdoony?

    televised stonings (none / 0) (#2)
    by Capt Howdy on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 03:17:57 PM EST
    would be even better.  better yet, PAY PER VIEW.

    like printing money.

    perhaps (none / 0) (#3)
    by Capt Howdy on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 03:23:58 PM EST
    with a caning as a first act.

    Parent
    Stoning With the Stars (none / 0) (#4)
    by ruffian on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 03:36:04 PM EST
    We can start by delivering some 'celebrity justice'. Nancy Reagan will be sorry she consulted that astrologer.

    Parent
    "RJ, who's our first blasphemer?" (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by ruffian on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 03:38:17 PM EST
    CHRISTINE ODONNELL (5.00 / 1) (#7)
    by Capt Howdy on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 03:43:36 PM EST
    COME ON DOWN!!!

    Parent
    Be careful ... (none / 0) (#6)
    by Peter G on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 03:40:25 PM EST
    the article says that the person who uses the name "Daniel Webster" (can't be real, can it?) in 1996 (nearly 15 years ago) expressed "respect" for someone who was a "close ally" and "agreed with the vision" of yet another person who is/was a religious lunatic.  Outside of a political ad campaign, it would be considered, shall we say, a "stretch" to get from there to "[Webster] is an advocate of stoning."  As someone who probably also could find three degrees of separation (15 years ago, anyway) from at least a few religious extremists, this line of "reasoning" is making me nervous, I must say. This might justify asking Webster if, were he elected to Congress, he would support enactment of laws providing capital punishment for premarital sex or homosexuality, and in particular the use of stoning as a method of execution in such cases -- and if not, where else he finds the Bible to offer defective guidance for our times -- but not to attribute that view to him directly, on this evidence.

    BFF (none / 0) (#8)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 03:44:01 PM EST
    Try reading it again.

    Parent
    Gimme a break, Armando (none / 0) (#11)
    by Peter G on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 04:34:10 PM EST
    I read the linked item, and then at your invitation, I read it again.  The link doesn't support the accusation of "BFF."  Our side has to have some standards of honesty, don't we?  I believe in fighting hard, but also in fighting fair.  So do you, I know.

    Parent
    Excuse me (none / 0) (#12)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 04:53:31 PM EST
    You seem to have a reading comprehension problem here Peter. And I resent you accusations.

    Let me make it as simple as possible for you:

    (1) Taliban Dan's BFF -  "[A]n August 5, 1996 article in the Gainesville Sun quoted Webster, 'I respect (Gothard) as much as anybody. [. . .]"

    (2) Taliban Dan's BFF believes in stoning - " Bill Gothard . . .  agreed that Rushdoony's vision for Biblical law should be imposed upon America. That vision included instituting stoning as a form of capital punishment for rape, kidnapping, murder, heresy, blasphemy, witchcraft, astrology, adultery, "sodomy or homosexuality," incest, striking a parent, extreme juvenile delinquency, and "unchastity before marriage."

    What part of that are you not comprehending?

    How can you even dispute that "Taliban Dan's BFF believes in stoning" from that?

    Parent

    I totally respect your analysis and integrity ... (none / 0) (#15)
    by Peter G on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 05:23:44 PM EST
    You prove, over and over, day after day, that you have great talent in that sphere.  (I hope, from my comments over the past five years (mostly on Jeralyn's posts) you have garnered some respect for me as well.)  My objection here -- and believe me, I have no positive feelings whatsoever toward Webster or his campaign -- is the claim that Webster and Gothard are "BFF" based on two quotes from 1996-1997.  (I'm giving poetic license on the "BF" part of "BFF," which is also a stretch, from "I respect him as much as anyone." [and ignoring the ambiguity as to whether this means, "I admire him as much as I do anyone" or "I admire him as much as anyone does" - which may not be much].)  To draw a conclusion that can be fairly characterized as "BFF" you'd have to know something about Webster and Gothard's present relationship.  (And to be important in the election, something about Webster's present connection of any sort with, or attitude towards, "Christian Reconstructionism," including its relevance to his performance in office.)  That's what I'm not seeing here.  Otherwise, it's like this:  Suppose I said, in 1996 (as I may have), "I admire Daniel Berrigan, S.J., as much as anyone."  And Fr. Berrigan has said -- on some unrelated occasion -- that he agrees with Mother Teresa, when she argued that abortion is a great moral evil.  Therefore [you conclude], I oppose a woman's right to choose.  But I don't. (Nor is Fr. Berrigan, despite my great admiration for him as an antiwar activist and as a poet, my "BFF," but never mind that.)

    Parent
    BFF is a figure of speech (none / 0) (#20)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 05:46:13 PM EST
    Webster has many times claimed a close relationship with the man.

    He teaches at the man's events.

    You can not seriously question the closeness of the relationship can you?

    Parent

    Nope. Can't question that, since I only know (none / 0) (#25)
    by Peter G on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 06:09:47 PM EST
    what I read in the linked article, which doesn't say anything about those "many times," etc.  Anyway, I think we've beaten this horse more than enough. It's your blog, and I readily yield to you the last word.

    Parent
    Jed Lewison (none / 0) (#26)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 06:15:48 PM EST
    goes into more detail here.

    Look, I actually do not care for Grayson very much and think the video clipping was wrong and more importantly, stupid. But Webster is what he is and has said what he has said.

    Parent

    Absolutely. someone ask him this question: (none / 0) (#9)
    by ruffian on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 03:45:55 PM EST
     This might justify asking Webster if, were he elected to Congress, he would support enactment of laws providing capital punishment for premarital sex or homosexuality, and in particular the use of stoning as a method of execution in such cases -- and if not, where else he finds the Bible to offer defective guidance for our times

    Parent
    Sorry, I hit 'post' instead of the quote button (none / 0) (#10)
    by ruffian on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 03:47:06 PM EST
    I'd love to see him answer that question, repeatedly, right up to election day.

    Parent
    Next we will find out (none / 0) (#13)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 05:07:29 PM EST
    he started his political career in Gothard's living room, that Gothard self identified as a terrorist,that he   served on the same boards as Gothard and bought a house that was a killer deal from a mutual friend.........

    Now if his wife worked at a large hospital and got a huge raise and promotion when he was elected...

    (Sarcasm alert!)

    Obama did not agreee with Ayers' terrorism (4.00 / 1) (#19)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 05:44:39 PM EST
    or Wright's nonsense.

    Webster agrees with Gothard's nonsesne. That's the difference.

    Parent

    I thought the subject was guilt by (2.67 / 3) (#30)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 06:29:13 PM EST
    association.

    Oh, wait! That doesn't apply when it is your guy!

    Come on, man!  

    Parent

    Association (none / 0) (#33)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 06:37:29 PM EST
    with particular ideas is always worth exploring.

    Webster is associated with extreme ideas worthy or query. By his own admission.

    Obama never associated himself with Bill Ayers' ideas about terrorism or Wright's ideas about whatever the hell supposedly had ideas about.

    Parent

    Please..... (3.00 / 2) (#43)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 08:46:09 PM EST
    He sat in Wright's church for 20 years and didn't agree with his teaching?

    And he just hung out with Ayers because he didn't agree with Ayer's actions and positions?

    Again..... With feeling... Puleaseeeeeeee.

    Parent

    Do you (none / 0) (#38)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 07:16:40 PM EST
    agree with these right wingers and their radical fundamentalism?

    Obama has no core values so you aren't making an even comparison.

    I live in the south and these people are nuts! They really do agree with the Taliban on a lot of issues but will not admit it because they think that if Muslims do it it is horrible but Christians can do the same and it is a-okay. These people are downright creepy.

    Parent

    I live in the south (2.00 / 1) (#44)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 08:48:04 PM EST
    and know no one who believes in such things.

    Parent
    You (5.00 / 1) (#54)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 05:34:25 AM EST
    must not know many people then. I know plenty of conservatives who believe that women should be submissive. The Southern Baptist Convention even put it as one of their stances.

    Parent
    I see that 'the South' (none / 0) (#57)
    by the capstan on Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 11:03:35 AM EST
    is the new 'Appalachia.'  That is a broad brush with which you are painting a group of Americans.  

    Parent
    we southerners (5.00 / 1) (#58)
    by Capt Howdy on Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 11:46:11 AM EST
    know of what we speak.  that comment was dead on.


    Parent
    I am a southerner too-- (none / 0) (#59)
    by the capstan on Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 12:24:50 PM EST
    and d-d tired of being tarred with the same old brush.  When I lived in LA and my kids went to a coop nursery, I was the only person who interacted with a little black kid as the 4-year-old he really was; other parents suggested he be frisked for knives every morning.  And I didn't put a 'for sale' sign on my house when others predicted a 'there goes the neighborhood' event when it was rumored the new development was selling to blacks.  I am back in the south now--and the second-door neighbors on my right are black, as are the third ones down to my left.  And my closest neighbors are a gay couple.

    As to 'submission,' the biggest Baptist church here cut its last ties to the SBC when that stupid statement came out.  If ANY male thinks I am about to 'submit'--husband or not--he's surely mistaken.  And the only woman I know who would agree with a literal interpretation of the Bible--well, let's just say I think she's half-witted.

    As to snakehandling, when I was a reporter back in the East Tenn. hills in the 50's, we hoped we'd found a nest of them to expose.  They may be shocking to read about, but they are shockingly hard to find.

    Yes, I happen to be a liberal termagant--and there are more of us here than you might think.

    Parent

    as far as racism goes (none / 0) (#62)
    by Capt Howdy on Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 05:13:50 PM EST
    I agree with you.  I have said before Boston is the most racist city I ever lived in.  that was not exactly what I meant to imply by "you must know what we mean".
    I was thinking more of bible thumpers.  if you live in the south you have to know how common this is compared to the rest of the country.
    they dont call it the bible belt for nothing.

    I love the south.  I may retire there.  but I have no delusions about it.


    Parent

    I'm not (5.00 / 1) (#60)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 03:01:34 PM EST
    "tarring" the south only the conservatives in the south. There are plenty of people who don't agree with these nut cases but the nut cases certainly have a loud microphone.

    Parent
    no one, eh? (none / 0) (#46)
    by jondee on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 09:14:04 PM EST
    I wouldn't have believed people would do things like pick up live Timber Rattlers and drink strychnine (and teach their children to do the same) to prove their faith, either. If it weren't so well documented.

    Parent
    For all your past preoccupation (none / 0) (#42)
    by jondee on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 08:12:09 PM EST
    with stonings in Islamic countries, you certainly seem to be in an awful hurray to direct attention away from actual stoners close to home and onto Obama and Bill Ayers..

    It's alright, you can say it: the Republican Party is dead in the water without the American Taliban and their women with burkas -- if not covering their bodies, then at least fitting snugly over their minds..

    Parent

    I remember Jeralyn (none / 0) (#45)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 08:51:30 PM EST
    instructing us to not get into a  tit for tat.

    So I'm not going to respond.

    You know where you can engage me on the subject.

    Parent

    He agrees with a guy who thinks people (none / 0) (#14)
    by Harry Saxon on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 05:20:50 PM EST
    should be stoned to death, his hands may be as clean as you think Obamas' hands are dirty, but Taliban Ben still agrees with a barbaric POV when all is said and done.

    Parent
    Taliban Ben still agrees with a barbaric POV when all is said and done.
    Surely you have a Mandatory Link for that?

    Parent
    From Religious Dispatchesdotcom (none / 0) (#22)
    by Harry Saxon on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 05:54:48 PM EST

    But Joyce tells me Factcheck.org misunderstands Webster's statements, even in context:

       

    While the Grayson campaign can be taken to task for taking Webster's comment out of context, in the larger context, they're correct. Grayson's campaign argued that Webster seemed to be supporting submission in his comments to an audience of conservative men, whom he directed to pray that they would better fulfill their biblical duty to love their wives, and leave prayers about women's submission to their wives. However, the emphasis of these remarks, as those familiar with Christian rhetoric could recognize, is not on the optional nature of wives' submission. Wifely submission is part of an often-unbalanced equation to Christians who subscribe to "complementarian" or "patriarchal" marriage roles, where men must "love" and women "obey." Saying that a woman should pray for God's guidance in submission, if she wants to, is not leniency, but rather standard evangelical language that emphasizes individuals must obey biblical mandates regardless of how others around them behave. So, Webster is saying, men must be accountable to God for their responsibility to love their wives regardless of whether she submits -- that they must pray to do right, even if she doesn't.
        However, the much more relevant application of this principle on following God's orders despite your circumstances is on women. Submission is a contentious and tricky issue even within conservative evangelical churches. Most churches promoting submission make certain to couple demands for submissive wives with those for loving, servant-leader husbands. But at the end of the day, it's women who bear the brunt of the principle; their obligations are to God, not to a husband who may or may not keep his end of the contract. Accordingly, the message is impressed by countless women's ministries and leaders that women must continue submitting even when their husband doesn't show love, because they owe their obedience, above all, to God. In circles that take submission seriously -- as does any organization associated with Bill Gothard -- that's what wives' options really look like.

    What's more, Factcheck.org fails in a much broader context to describe what the IBLP is really about, describing it as a "non-denominational Christian organization that runs programs and training sessions."

    A spokesperson for the IBLP told Factcheck.org that Webster spoke at its Advanced Training Institute, "a religious-based program developed by the Institute of Basic Life Principles 'to support parents in raising their children to love the Lord Jesus Christ.'" Gothard, according to Factcheck.org, "said that Webster home-schooled his children using the institute's curriculum and has given speeches at the training institute on more than one occasion."

    Sounds innocuous, right? Now let me be clear here: I don't think describing far-right evangelical Christians as the "Taliban" is either a wise political move or useful for understanding either American fundamentalism or the Taliban itself. But neither that, nor Grayson's clumsy use of "Taliban Dan" should obscure the fact that Webster has affiliated himself with an organization Joyce describes in her book as:

        the source of a deeply influential set of Christian teachings among homeschoolers . . . a $63-million per year business that enumerates a series of "nonoptional" spiritual laws calling for strict authoritarian child training, including a fundamentalist condemnation of worldly modern music and toys and an ethos of unswerving obedience to one's proper authorities in all jurisdictions of life.

    Gothard's teachings are not just to homeschoolers, though. As I reported in a 2008 article for Salon, as mayor of Wasilla, Sarah Palin designated her home a "City of Character," after attending the supposedly (but not really) secular arm of Gothard's institute, the International Association of Character Cities. As I noted there, even Christianity Today, the flagship magazine of the evangelical world, has expressed dismay over the "alarming" nature of Gothard's teachings on authority, and allegations of physical and emotional abuse in his programs. (For the most comprehensive treatment of the IACC, see Silja J.A. Talvi's 2006 piece in In These Times.)

    Politico claims this morning that the Grayson ad "backfired." If it did, it was because Grayson -- and more fundamentally, Factcheck.org -- failed to grasp what was crucial about this story.

    Click Me

    Parent

    Try to quote less (none / 0) (#23)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 06:06:23 PM EST
    next time.

    Parent
    Two or three paragraphs, max in the future (none / 0) (#36)
    by Harry Saxon on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 06:42:19 PM EST
    Thanks (none / 0) (#37)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 06:44:31 PM EST
    Stoning is the barbaric POV topic at hand. (none / 0) (#24)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 06:07:11 PM EST
    I wait your Mandatory Li, er, Click Me, that shows he agrees with stoning.


    Parent
    I said that he agrees with a guy(Gothard) (none / 0) (#28)
    by Harry Saxon on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 06:22:17 PM EST

    [Gothard] agreed that Rushdoony's vision for Biblical law should be imposed upon America. That vision included instituting stoning as a form of capital punishment

    because in my part of the world, you usually say respect when you agree with a POV someone espouses, unless you respectfully disagree with them as in a political opponent.

    I then said that he had a barbaric POV and that is in regard to the role of women, etc, as well,  not that I had some magic link that Webster said he's in favor of stoning people to death.

    I don't think Webster is fit to be a dog catcher, but then it's up to the people in the district in question, the world will little note nor long remember what we write here/

    I'm Abe Lincoln, speaking for myself only.

    Parent

    If there's no irrefutable evidence (none / 0) (#31)
    by jondee on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 06:29:27 PM EST
    that Webster himself believes specifically in stoning, the fact still remains that out of all the hundreds of organizations he could have joined, he chose to become an active member of one whose leader advocates stoning, and who Webster has said "speaks the truth". At the very least, this suggests that Webster isn't in any way radically opposed to stoning -- and other forms Old Testament retribution recommended by Gothard. That is, unless he just joined up to meet girls, or to find a fishing buddy.

    Parent
    There is compelling evidence (none / 0) (#34)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 06:38:59 PM EST
    that he does believe in those ideas.

    I do not understand what is so hard to understand about this.

    Webster has embraced the teaching of this man. Expressly.

    I do not get what people are about in this thread.

    Parent

    I think... (none / 0) (#52)
    by Dadler on Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 12:57:35 AM EST
    ...it's an odd desire to believe/hope that we, the good ol' U.S.A., could produce ANYONE domestically that could be as barbaric a religious fanatic as those eye-shadow wearing Taliban freaks.

    Parent
    that we could NOT produce such people (none / 0) (#53)
    by Dadler on Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 12:58:26 AM EST
    ugh. proofread. bleep.

    Parent
    barbaric to some people.. (none / 0) (#21)
    by jondee on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 05:53:03 PM EST
    of course, it was never completely clear - at least to some - what was actually meant by "not to do away with the law, but to fulfill it".

    And, someone in the immediate vicinity seems a tad overly touchy and defensive about a fellow rattler-handling, tea bagging, six-days-of-creation believer being placed under the microscope..

    Funny, how suddenly the militant advocacy of women's rights in other parts of the world evaporates into thin air when the oppressors are found to be sitting on the Right side of the aisle in the U.S..

     

    Parent

    Christ fulfilled the law (none / 0) (#35)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 06:40:03 PM EST
    The Old Testament is useful for history and overview but not as law.

    "Think not I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy but fulfill."

    Matthew 5 vs 17 - Also  read 18, 19, 20.

    Parent

    So have (none / 0) (#39)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 07:18:50 PM EST
    you guys changed your mind about the ten commandments? FYI, they are in the old testament. You can find a bible verse to justify anything that you want to do even in the new testament.

    Parent
    Well it is like this (none / 0) (#47)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 09:17:42 PM EST
    fulfilled is fulfilled. The Ten Commandments are part of the Old Testament. The old law was fulfilled. Complete. As in "The contract was fulfilled."

    Now, should the Ten Commandments be followed? Obviously they provide moral guidance and rules that we can see are good and proper in a historical view. Now, should the law regarding stoning be followed? Obviously that law is not good and proper and should not be followed.

    For a quick follow up, read Matthew 5 vs 33 to 48 and you can see the old law being pushed away.

    Parent

    "good and proper in a historical view" (none / 0) (#49)
    by jondee on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 09:34:04 PM EST
    Expedient, in other words? And who decides that: our limited human understanding, or the infallible word of God?

    Isn't that generally the reasoning the Ole Jerrys, Ralph Reeds, James Dobsons etc etc have resorted to when they've defended the christian underpinnings of conservatism?

    Parent

    Even so (none / 0) (#50)
    by Harry Saxon on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 09:52:59 PM EST
    there are Protestant denominations that base their theory of wives submitting to their husbands based on the writings of Paul, and even major Christian denominations are all over the place on determining what he meant in some of his epistles on the subject of women and their role in the Christian community of that time.

    I had a cousin whose husband believed in this submission theology to the point where he called anything she read that was neither a newspaper or the Bible a "damned book".  He was physically abusive as well. She had to move from her hometown in North Texas across the country because after the divorce he would harass her at work and the local LEO would do nothing about it.  He was a member of a major Protestant denomination found in many Southern cities and towns. I'd bet garbage to doornails her experience wasn't that uncommon when it took place some 37 years ago, and in other denominations besides the one they went to.

    So patriarchy under the guise of Christianity is still around, it just has a smaller base than in 'the good old days'.

    Parent

    Yes, (none / 0) (#55)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 05:38:56 AM EST
    that is what Matthew is saying but again if we are still following the ten commandments then it is not "fulfilled" as you are stating.

    There are plenty of statements from Paul that are pretty out there.

    You are trying to apply reason to the bible but that is not what fundamentalists do. They believe in literal interpretation of the bible hence they are different from many "mainstream" Christians.

    Parent

    If you are going to argue (none / 0) (#64)
    by hookfan on Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 07:30:11 PM EST
    for the Conservatives on this, you'd probably get further arguing the clear dispensationalist perspective, i.e.,--
      Throughout history there has been a progress of revelation with different rules for different times.
    For example, before Moses received the Ten Commandments, there was no formally recognized Nation of Israel. When the Nation of Israel was formed, new rules were given that applied to them, until the Church was formed that now follows different house rules. Acts 15, interestingly enough, addresses many of the complaints about the applicability of Old Testament Law, to the New Testament entity. The decision of the first church council in Jerusalem was, Old Testament Law ain't no longer the rules. See here for a fuller argument.

    Parent
    Not to destroy (none / 0) (#41)
    by jondee on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 07:57:06 PM EST
    but to fulfill is ambiguous: it certainly doesn't explicitly relegate the O.T to the pages of history -- and apparently many of your fundamentalist, conservative compatriots agree. That is, if the varied interpretations and situational reversions to reliance on the Old Testament as a final authority are any indication.  

    Parent
    See Peter G's comments (none / 0) (#29)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 06:23:46 PM EST
    Saw them (none / 0) (#32)
    by jondee on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 06:31:47 PM EST
    was there something in there about Bill Ayers and secret Muslims that I missed the first time?

    Parent
    This sort of scare mongering is to (none / 0) (#17)
    by Slado on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 05:38:36 PM EST
    me offensive.

    Is the point supposed to be that American Christian fundamentalism poses as big a threat to democracy if not more so then fundamentalist Islam?

    If so; Really?

    Last time I checked there are no countries in the world currently being ruled by dictators in the name of Christianity.  

    The same cannot be said for communism or Islam.

    We have a long, long history in this country of dealing with Christianity and the rise of fundamentalism.  Even if these "Christians" are as crazy as this guy believes who cares?  

    Are all republicans now subject to this Taliban regime?  Or just enough that we should be worried?  

    This "analysis" is pure unadulterated scare mongering of the sort so many claimed was being used to justify opposition to the Mosque in NYC.

    You can't have it both ways.  Either your tolerant of religion or your not.

    Furthermore you don't really care that these people are Christians you care that they are conservative.   But comparing them to radical Islam is an easy line to draw no matter how unbelievable, nonfactual or silly it might be.

    Daniel Webster (5.00 / 1) (#18)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 05:43:47 PM EST
    is running for Congress.

    If the GOP was not running him for Congress, I would not be writing about the people he admires and respect and what he believes.

    I'm sorry that offends you.

    I was offended by the ridiculous attempts to tie Obama to Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright. Funny, I don;t recall your outrage about those specious arguments.

    Spare me the BS.

    Parent

    I personally believe that we would (5.00 / 2) (#27)
    by ruffian on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 06:16:14 PM EST
    not have capital punishment so widely used in this country if it were not for the dominance of so-called born again Christian politicians. Even the accepted 'moderate' versions of Christianity have real world effects on American politics.  I certainly do not want someone as extreme as Webster representing the district right next to mine.

    Parent
    You would (none / 0) (#40)
    by Ga6thDem on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 07:20:44 PM EST
    have a point about them being crazy except for the fact that they want to take over the federal government and strip citizens of their rights.

    No one would really care if they all lived in the hills of Utah doing their own thing.

    Parent

    George Bush (none / 0) (#61)
    by Chuck0 on Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 04:27:15 PM EST
    claims he was guided by god. As far as I'm concerned, the minute you drag out the bible for ANY political argument, you have no credibility. Religion is a curse on mankind.

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    My last word and onward (none / 0) (#48)
    by jimakaPPJ on Wed Sep 29, 2010 at 09:28:16 PM EST
    If you go back and read the linked newspaper story you will find Webster saying he isn't interested in pushing one certain religion.

    That kinda wipes out the claim that he would be in thrall to some evil fundamentalist.

    You (5.00 / 1) (#56)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 05:41:32 AM EST
    believe him? Where were you for eight years during the Bush administration? Radical fundamentalists were all over the government and they were definitely pushing an agenda.

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    I Wonder what (none / 0) (#63)
    by hookfan on Thu Sep 30, 2010 at 06:57:43 PM EST
    he believes about separation of church and state. I'd have less problem with an old time Anabaptist who was strongly committed to that, regardless of his/her view on biblical innerancy and literalism, as their rules for the Church and state are largely non interactive, and what they believe applies to themselves for a Christian way of life, they would not expect of others-- especially non-believers. Nor would they seek to impose it. Many are still anti death penalty and strongly antiwar, pro environment,and  (surprise!) anti big money and corporate corruption. Heck, they build Hospitals, and focus on easing the financial burden on the poor.
      I wish some of those types of "Conservatives" would run for office. But neither the Republican party nor the Democratic party at present seem to want any of what they would offer.
      Problem is: Is Dan Webster like that. Gothard is an animal of a different breed. So I wonder. . .

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