Jesus and Witches

from your article: The man behind her is praying loudly, relentlessly and with an intensity rarely seen in America's mainstream churches.

my comment: Guess you haven't been to many mainline churches lately. Which ones do you consider mainline?

quote from your article: The man behind her is praying loudly, relentlessly and with an intensity rarely seen in America's mainstream churches.

Guess you haven't been to many of America's mainline churches lately. Which ones do you consider "mainline"?
which ones you refer to as "mainline"?

Mad Dog Palin: The scariest thing about John McCain's running mate isn't how unqualified she is - it's what her candidacy says about America

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/23318320/mad_dog_palin

Certitude and fervor that a faith is the correct one gave us the Inquisition, as only one example. Religious 'faith' gave us witch hunts in America.

Then the Founding Fathers banned religion from government.

[[Posted By: mab22 @ 10/29/2008 7:47:59 AM:
Comment: "Have you never been to a church? DO YOUR RESEARCH IDIOT!!! ... What a moron you are to write this article without having attended a church service prior to slamming Palin ???There are many issues this election that need coverage ??? this is what we get from the media! Imbeciles!"]
Your say the journalist is guilty of making unfounded judgments without being informed on the subject. You go on to castigate that journalist for the article without sufficient knowledge of the religion and its practices. You then proceed to lump all Christian religions into one neat little package as understood by you in the gospel of mab22.
I am reminded of a ubiquitous catch phrase turned sales gimmick, WWJD. My question, however, goes a little further and asks you to dig a little deeper ??? not into your pockets as every organized church would do, but into your spirit and your soul. And I ask you, WWJT? What would Jesus THINK of someone who preaches kindness and sensitivity to one while viciously attacking another? Did He not tell us, "Turn the other cheek?" Did He not try to teach His followers to turn away from insult and offense and offer, instead of anger and retribution, compassion and understanding and love? Christianity is not just a banner for the self-righteous to drape themselves in. It is not a platform by which to elevate one's self higher than his fellow man. Neither is it a yardstick by which to measure others to be certain they are 'good enough' to be in our company.
Christianity is a guide book with which we test ourselves and attempt to shape ourselves into something as close to the model as we possibly can. It is the set of rules through which we are given to judge ourselves, not others.
Through the ages, men have been manipulating the words of the Bible to conform to their own politically motivated needs. Hence the multiplicity of versions of the Bible. And, not to offend anyone but, Wesley, Calvin, Luther, etc. all had disagreements with their established church and broke away, starting their own religions! Even the king of England had a falling out with his church and his pope when the pope refused to grant Henry VIII a divorce from his first wife. In order to retain control of the crown, the church eventually relented and granted an annulment. But, when Hal decided he wanted to dispose of another marriage and the church adamantly refused to back down a second time, he merely formed his own church and his own religion. One which, apparently, allowed murder as an acceptable form of dissolving a marriage.
So where exactly among all of your hateful anger and name-calling, mab22, is the reflection of, not what Christians believe but, instead, what the Christ instructed us to believe and how the Christ taught us to behave? Organized religion has destroyed religion.
A good man would not lie, but a less than good man would. So if he tells you of his faith in the Lord ... can

Mad Dog Palin: The scariest thing about John McCain's running mate isn't how unqualified she is - it's what her candidacy says about America.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/23318320/mad_dog_palin

[Posted By: mrsortafixit @ 10/29/2008 7:49:34 AM:
Comment: It has always stuck me about the anti choise people....you never care about the baby after birth. Is it that you just want more to brainwash and to grow up to be sacrificed as soldiers in your crusades. The laws of our great nation are designed to give everyone the right to choose thier life path. I do not like abortion, but I do not have the right to tell a women what she can do or not do."]

[Posted By: baybay @ 10/29/2008 7:53:33 AM:
Comment: "NO, BECAUSE IT IS **NOT** A WOMAN'S RIGHT TO CHOOSE WHETHER OR NOT TO MURDER HER OWN CHILD. "ABORTION" & "PRO-CHOICE" ARE THE SAME THING! The Bible says "You shall not murder." PERIOD."]
The laws of our great nation are a dichotomy. The government has continually struggled to do what's right while trying to appease everyone. There is a lesson to be learned from Abraham Lincoln's observation that "You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time." You might extrapolate from that another dictum by which to live??? "You can't please everyone," ??? But that hasn't stopped congress from trying. We have laws that back up those laws from the mountain. Among those is one which states, essentially, "Thou shalt not kill." But then, in a twisted effort to please everyone congress equivocates on that law and thoughtfully adds a codicil which, in essence, says, "except in certain cases." You can't have it both ways???but that hasn't stopped them from trying.
Obama, recognizes that you can make all the rules and laws you want to but people will still behave in a manner which seems to be in their own best interests most of the time, especially when you are dealing with young people or those with limited life experience. When questioned about his stand on abortion, he stated that he, personally, was opposed to it. But he was sworn to uphold the laws of the land, even those of which he did not approve, with which he did not agree. And those laws included Roe v. Wade. That is why he continually stresses the need for prevention rather than abortion. If you can avoid the pregnancy in the first place, you eliminate the desire and/or need for the abortion in the second place. Perhaps it's because I, and many others, have been supporting this approach for years that I see it as the logical and rational approach to the problem of unwanted pregnancies in this country. Or maybe it really is the best approach. ["Duh" moment warning:] Instill a higher sense of self in young men and women. Teach them to respect themselves and others ??? ALL others ??? Teach them the difference between love and lust and how to separate the two. And, yes, teach them how to avoid unwanted pregnancies through birth control. Reduce the number of teenagers getting pregnant and you will reduce the number of

[Posted By: BigDwane @ 10/29/2008 7:52:14 AM:
Comment: "It's about time someone covered the spiritual warfare side. The apostle Paul speaks of the spiritual war waging by speaking of putting on the armor of God. If more folks recognized the danger, they would be do the same as Governor Palin."]
Paul may not be the best to quote on this particular forum. He was a known misogynist and also preached that women were not only subservient to men but were, in all ways, inferior to men. So, BigDwane, if you have ever benefited from the hard work, intelligence, or skills of a woman, don't lean too heavily on the apostle Paul as your guiding source.


[Posted By: Palin Supporters Do Not Know Their Own Bible @ 10/29/2008 7:51:02 AM:
Comment: "Jeremiah indicates, it was usually the false prophets who identified their own government's activity with the will of God. It was the false prophets in 1 Kings 22 who said that their leaders were doing God's will in going to war. The true prophets like Amos were critical of political policies that supported the rich at the expense of the poor. ??? The author of Revelation was critical of an imperial power that had invaded the Middle East from the west and tortured and executed the founder of his movement. People who think that the USA has a special plan from God in its own invasion of the Middle East for the profit of the rich are rather selective in their use of their own Bible."]
And during WWII, while the US splattered "In God We Trust on every bit of currency paying for the Allied version of the war, Axis military sported military regalia including belt buckles and other accoutrements with the legend "Gott mit us" or "God With Us". And, of course, during the Crusades, the Christians went into battle with the confidence that God was on their side, and proceeded to slaughter tens of thousands of innocent people whose greatest crime was that they called God "Allah".
[Posted by: grams @ 10/29/2008 7:49:48 AM:
Comment: "Wow..this is the first itme I've read a "blog" I am so surprised at how "hateful" everyone becomes. What happened to debate? Yes, express your views and respect the opposing views of others."
Thanks, grams. I've been beating that drum for years! They don't seem to care, really. Some of these posters, under the protection of anonymity, release all of their personal, and totally unrelated, angst into these blogs. Their personal hatefulness which they are unable to vent in our so-called civilized society is released here attacking people they are confident they will never meet and to whom they will never have to defend their vitriolic rambles.

Comment: I admire all your ethics, beliefs, Religion, and sprituality. I hope you can say the same for me. I respect and honour all beliefs and Religions. But very few lack the respect and positive view of my Sprituality and Religion. I practice Paganism (The Old Religion), as old as mankind itself. We believe in prayer and all Sacredness. All energy is positive or negative, it is what we make of it. So be it, I am a Pagan, I study Enochian Magic, and my religion is Wicca which in the old Anglo-Saxon word meaning Wise. My people do not recieve there Dogma from books or political influences. My people recieve our spirituality from our heart, love and all that exist, which is sacred. Such as the earth, the universe, all polarity such as day and night for such is nature, and most of all from The Supreme. I respect your beliefs and I honor them. and I pray that with an open mind you can respect, and honor mine. It was my pleasure and great honor to have written to all, no matter what judgement you may have upon me or my people. May the Supreme Bless you, and yours. Please do not act with Religious Dogma passed on by your beliefs towards mine. If you do I can only pray that one day we may all get along as one people without prejudice and hatred due to religion, politics, race, ethnicity, our sexual preference or anything that makes no difference between the color of our blood. May blessings befall all even during these troublesome times. I wish to add one more comment, I am not a zealot, just a man that believes that one day we can all become one race that can be benevolent and human.

Certitude and fervor that a faith is the correct one gave us the Inquisition, as only one example. Religious 'faith' gave us witch hunts in America.

Then the Founding Fathers banned religion from government.

Palin believes in witches and warlocks.