Like phony RW scandals? You'll LOVE this!

[Enrique]

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/how-president-obama-destroying-our-freedom-religion

Do you ever get the impression that the Religious Right is just making up "controversies" that they can pretend to get upset about? Or do you get the impression that they just don't even bother to do so much as a minute of research before voicing their outrage about some nonexistent threat?

Behold the latest such incident, courtesy of the Family Research Council:

Can one word change the world? President Obama certainly hopes so. Since last year's speech in Cairo, one phrase is subtly worming its way into speeches with high level White House officials. With incredible precision, the President is abandoning the term "freedom of religion" in favor of what he calls the "freedom of worship." Now to most people, that rhetoric is nothing to write home about. But to those of us standing guard for our faith in Washington, the shift is ominous. As Nina Shea, director of the Center for Religious Freedom said, " excludes the right to raise your children in your faith; the right to have religious literature; the right to meet with co-religionists; the right to raise funds; the right to appoint your religious leaders, and to carry out charitable activities, to evangelize," and perhaps the most troubling, to engage in the public square.

This is the culmination of a 40-year process to expel God from America. First it was taking prayer and the Bible from public schools; then it was driving out the 10 Commandments from courthouses and nativities from town squares. Now religion would be squeezed out of every pocket of society until it exists only within the four walls of the church. This is more than semantics; it's a bold leap forward to completely secularize America. We've already witnessed what the courts and culture have done to alienate faith. President Obama's vision is to codify those decisions in policy--making it virtually impossible for men and women to exercise their religion in public. And that includes any church outreach like homeless shelters or orphanages. If we pursue this to its logical conclusion, America would eventually shut out or constrict anything having to do with Christ. President Obama says plenty of things he doesn't mean. But in this, his pursuit of wiping religion off the map, we should take him at his word.

Really? This is what it has come to? President Obama doesn't use the phrase "freedom of religion" and it is proof that he is out to "completely secularize America"? Even by the Religious Right's standard, this is laughably pathetic.

Hey, take a look at this proclamation that President Obama issued just four days ago:

The journey towards worldwide freedom and democracy sought in 1959 remains unfinished. Today, we still observe the profound differences between governments that reflect the will of their people, and those that sustain power by force; between nations striving for equal justice and rule of law, and those that deny their citizens freedom of religion, expression, and peaceful assembly; and between states that are open and accountable, and those that restrict the flow of ideas and information. The United States has a special responsibility to bear witness to those whose voices are silenced, and to stand alongside those who yearn to exercise their universal human rights.

In fact, a search of the White House website returns 124 uses of the phrase "freedom of religion" compared to just 9 uses of "freedom of worship."

Interestingly, a search of the George W. Bush White House website archive also returns exactly 124 mentions of "freedom of religion" versus 33 uses of "freedom of worship."

Do you remember the Religious Right freaking out when Bush used the phrase several times in proclaiming Religious Freedom Day 2008? Me neither:

Thomas Jefferson counted the freedom of worship as one of America's greatest blessings. He said it was "a liberty deemed in other countries incompatible with good government, and yet proved by our experience to be its best support." On Religious Freedom Day, we celebrate the 1786 passage of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom.

The freedom to worship according to one's conscience is one of our Nation's most cherished values. It is the first protection offered in the Bill of Rights: that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." In America, people of different faiths can live together united in peace, tolerance, and humility. We are committed to the proposition that as equal citizens of the United States of America, all are free to worship as they choose.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Those assholes love to throw gasoline on every little spark to try to create a huge fire.

If there is no spark to be found, they will set something on fire themselves just to be able to scream, yell, and point at it...and yell "FIRE! FIRE!"


I guess they are comparable to arsonists who set fires because they love to stand and watch the flames. And like those arsonists, they do not have any concern for the collateral damage and lives that are lost in order to satisfy their sick needs.

[xxqqqzme]

4. They have to keep providing

something - anything - for the fux 'n fiends to wail about.

[Bitwit1234]

These people are such evil Aholes they know exactly

how to capture the mind of the stupid and ignorant. Pretty soon Fox will pick up the message and it will start to be broadcast over the fair and balanced airwaves.

I believe that all peoples should be able to worship as they please. What upsets me is a religious organization which tries to COMPEL ALL PEOPLES to worship in their religious way.

My first cousin about six times removed was instrumental in getting the US government to allow WICAN crosses on the headstones in Arlington Cemetery. I am afraid to even mention her last name for fear some nutcase will appease their "religious furor" for the government allowing it. That is an example tho of religious freedom and it should be allowed for any and every religion no matter what.

[LaurenG]

2. They just make stuff up as they go along, as usual. nt

[Blue Owl]

3. Lying, Cheating, Stealing.

Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing. Lying, Cheating, Stealing.

BEHOLD THE GOP (in their favorite disguise as the "concerned religious right")

[SkyDaddy7]

5. America was founded as a secularized country...

It is the Christian Right in this country that want to rewrite history and turn this country into a theocracy!