America’s ‘angriest’ theologian faces lynching tree – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs →

Charlie Cone, who once called himself “the angriest theologian in America,” is still angry. His book is not just a memoir of growing up in the Jim Crow era; it’s a blistering takedown of white churches, and one of America’s greatest theologians, Reinhold Niebuhr - a colossal figure often cited by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Today, Niebuhr’s importance is acknowledged by both liberal and conservative Christian leaders. President Obama once called him one of his favorite philosophers. Niebuhr, the author of classics such as “The Irony of American History,” died in 1971 after a lifetime of political activism.

Cone, however, said neither Niebuhr nor any other famous white pastor at the time spoke out against the most brutal manifestation of white racism in the 20th century America: lynching.

Between 1880 and 1940, Cone says, an estimated 5,000 black men and women were lynched. Their murders were often treated as festive affairs. Women and children cut off the ears of lynching victims as souvenirs. People mailed postcards of lynchings. One postcard of a charred lynching victim read, “This is the barbeque we had last night.”

But Niebuhr said nothing about lynching, little about segregation, and once turned down King’s request to sign a petition calling on the president to protect black children integrating Southern schools, Cone said.

Niebuhr’s decision not to speak out against lynching encouraged other white theologians and ministers to follow suit, Cone said, because Niebuhr was considered the nation’s greatest theologian.

Christianity in America.

Teen Girl Exorcism Squad: Three Arizona Girls Claim to Cast Out Demons - ABC News →

Brynne, Tess and Savannah from Phoenix are black belts in karate, expert horseback riders and avid musical theater fans. And they perform exorcisms.

“We’re just normal girls who do something extraordinary for God,” Brynne said. “After seeing an actual exorcism in person, led by us, you will walk away with no doubt, whatsoever.”

I’m just happy some clever headline writer treated this nonsense seriously enough to use it as an opportunity to reference Homestar Runner.

Catholic League Idiots Vow To ‘Mobilize’ Boycott Of Jon Stewart Sponsors, Citing ‘War On Women’ Segment →

The Catholic League is not happy with Jon Stewart. Following Stewart’s segment bashing Fox News for ignoring the “war on women,” while pushing wars on things like, oh, Christmas, the League is demanding an apology. Saying Stewart objectified women, the statement said if he does not apologize, the League will “mobilize” a boycott of his sponsors.

The Catholic League’s president, Bill Donahue, said in a press release:

The cover-up is revealing. This episode of “The Daily Show” was done to protest Fox’s alleged indifference to the “war on women,” and in doing so Stewart not only made a vulgar attack on Christians, he objectified women.

We are asking Stewart to apologize. If he does not, we will mobilize Protestants, Jews, Mormons and Muslims to join us in a boycott of his sponsors. Moreover, we will not stop with a boycott; there are other things that can be done to register our outrage. We are prepared to spend the money it takes to make this a nationwide issue, and we are prepared to stay the course. Tomorrow we will have something definitive to say, one way or the other.

lol, The Catholic League. Like anyone cares.

soisatandsangalone:

I was told the best thing a while ago about atheists or other non-believers that like to spend all their time pushing out “evidence” about the wrongs of Christianity. ” People only argue about things that bug them. If they truly felt there was no God, why would they care?”

Whoever told you that was trying to confuse you. Let me explain the many fallacies here to you. First of all, atheists or “other non-believers” don’t “push out “evidence about the wrongs of Christianity” in an effort to show their is no reason to believe in god. Religion is harmful and you’re wearing blinders, that’s why we’re vigilant about exposing the “wrongs of Christianity.” For example: Whether or not the Catholic Church is 100% right about it’s view of God is irrelevant when considering their involvement in a vast conspiracy to keep child molesters from legal prosecution. That’s not evidence about the existence of a god, it’s evidence of the danger of giving undue social status to an outdated institution. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints might be 100% right that god is an alien who lives in the physical world and Satan is Jesus’ evil twin brother, Native Americans are really the lost tribe of Israel, and black people are the cursed sons of Cain, but that has no bearing on the fact that they used money collected in Utah from people who thought they were donating to the poor to strike down marriage equality in California. See, churches are run by bad people. Every single one of them. They are bad institutions with an unearned grip on society. We trust the community priest, pastor or imam. They are held up as examples of good, respectable men (almost always men). Why? Why do we put school teachers, kids’ coaches, potential employees, contractors and even dates through the ringer with extensive background checks and not do the same for this untouchable institution religion. It’s a scam!

And as far as this absurd notion that if people didn’t believe in god they wouldn’t argue about it, you couldn’t be more wrong. By this logic, every pastor is secretly satan, Joesph McCarthy was secretly a communist, Martin Luther King secretly believed there was no inequality and every state Attorney General is secretly the head of the local mafia. What you’ve been taught here is the thought-terminating cliche “doth protest too much.” It’s designed to silence people who have real concerns without addressing the issue itself.

Here’s why I care: People act according to their beliefs. Beliefs translate into actions. If you really believed a meteor was heading for your house on Thursday, you’d probably vacate the premises by Wednesday, right? If you really believed your eternal soul was at risk because you didn’t do all you could to prevent some stranger from having an abortion, what’s to stop you from taking action to have a nearby clinic shut down, even if that action included using manipulation, terror, intimidation, arson, violence, etc? Your beliefs wound my social progress, constantly. And here in the West, Christianity is the king of it. Before I act I want to make sure the belief I’m operating under is true. I’m convinced that truth and a knowledge of reasonable expectations about the consequences of my actions is the most moral way to operate. When you think otherwise, you cause harm. I’m not here to stop you from causing harm based on your delusions, I just want to expose you to what you’re causing.