Sunday my liberal Presbyterian minister said in his sermon:

[DemoTex]

"For every penny we have cut from aid to the poor and public safety in New Orleans and on the devastated Gulf Coast, it will cost us thousands and thousands more. We have sown the wind and we shall reap the whirlwind."

I almost stood up and cheered. He was pissed. Rev was on a roll. He was hard on Bu$h. He was hard on us in our cool, dry, middle-class security. Rev was right, a whirlwind is coming .. even a shit-storm. Let's just hope that it is channeled into restoring a sense of "the common good," and that the first order of business is ousting the enemies of "the common good."

Let this national nightmare help end the bloody, illegal Bu$h-war and heal our country from within and forever rid us of the horrible scourge that is Bu$h and his cabal. Let peace and a just society be the memorial to those who needlessly died or suffered from Katrina (and/or in Iraq). Let this long hideous slide into perdition that Bu$h has brought upon us end with his removal; be it resignation, impeachment, or criminal conviction.

Mark these phenotypes well, the Bu$hies and Rummies and Condies and Cheneys and their wannabes, and squash them and their philosophical progeny like bugs when the light catches them scurrying in their filth. Take this to the streets, if we must, for the streets are our streets. Just like it is our government: not Cheney's or Rummy's with which to wage endless illegal wars; not Norquist's to drown nor Falwell's to damn; not even the royal Bu$h family's to destroy for their and their friends' obscene profit.

The Bu$h scandals are manifold and leave a trail of abuse, contempt, lies, hubris, and death. The litany is numbing: 9/11, Enron, Iraq, "Mission Accomplished," "Bring 'em on!," Abu Ghraib/Gitmo, Plame/Rove, Bolton, purged voter lists and BBV, Tom Delay & Co., Gannon/Guckert, Cindy Sheehan and Camp Casey, the endless vacations, and - finally - the coup de grace: the preparation for and response to Hurricane Katrina. The smirking, joking, Franco-phobic little emperor has finally met his waterloo; ironically in a city, formerly owned by France, inundated with fetid, poisonous sea water.

[qanda]

1. Amen!

[Talismom]

2. What a righteous minister you have! Tell him how much

his teaching is appreciated and to keep it up!

[kstewart33]

3. Well said, by your minister and by you! nt

[faithnotgreed]

4. exactly so

[Ernesto]

5. I'm an old atheist............

But your pastor is my kinda guy!

[DerekG]

6. Harkening back to the prophetic tradition of the abolitionists

Most of them perceived the Civil War to be this very whirlwind, for centuries of institutionalized slavery. I believe the warrior Calvinist, John Brown--who would himself serve as the final spark--said "our cup of iniquity is overflowing."

In other words: "God is not mocked."

I'd rather hear the language of a prophetic preacher over a Marxist any day.

[Joe Chi Minh]

7. I couldn't help laughing

at your typically robust, American parlance, with your "shit-storm", almost in apposition to the biblical word, "whirlwind". I mean the Bible is full of very earthy stuff, but I don't believe I recall ever coming across that particular word...!

Anyway, I know that, like you, God has far more serious matters to occupy him. To the innocent, all things are innocent - just as to the wicked, even their putative propriety stinks to high Heaven.

Marxists, who plagiarised from the Gospels understandably without shame, in the absence of the Church's own shameless collusion with the rich and powerful, have played a positive role in our world, in the absence of that prophetic Gospel emphasis.

Unfortunately, the effective atheism of almost all leftist politicians ultimately means that the Gospel message cannot really take root, and they themselves end up as right-wingers, all too often, extreme right-wingers. It transpires that far from having been inspired by a Christian sense of justice, it was only their own disadvantage that rankled with them, and they use the Second Commandment as a ladder for their own political ambition. Agnostics, on the other hand, may have great integrity. A lot of Americans who called themselves atheists are really sheep in wolves' clothing Agnostics, whom God will welcome into the courts of Heaven, despite their protestations that they don't know him!

Commenting on Jesus' beatitude, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness", Pope St Leo the Great observed, '... Happy the soul which desires the food of righteousness and thirsts for such a drink; had it not already tasted of their sweetness, it would not seek after them. When the soul hearkens to the spirit of the prophet saying, 'Taste and see that the Lord is good', it has already received some part of the heavenly sweetness and been inflamed with love for this purest of joys. Henceforth, despising all wordly things, it is totally consumed with the desire to feast on righteousness, and to grasp the full meaning of that first commandment: you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your mind and with all your strength': for to love God is nothing other than to love righteousness.

Just as in that commandment, care of our neighbour is closely linked with love of God, so in this passage the virtue of mercy is joined to the desire for righteousness, and we read, 'blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy'.

[DemoTex]

14. Excellent commentary KCabotDullesMarxIII, near the Firth of Forth..

I often wonder why some American Christian fundamentalists - especially those with a political axe to grind - often cite the vengeful language of the Old Testament, rather than conciliatory scripture from the New Testament. You seldom hear a right-wing fundy refer to The Beatitudes and the righteousness of The Sermon on the Mount. It's like they think Christ is siding with a bunch of losers (the meek, the merciful, the peacemakers, etc). Even atheists can get their heads around the life-lessons of The Beatitudes.

Actually, a shit-storm is a Level "D" whirlwind on the Leanon-Portadine "trombone" scale. As for earthy Biblical language, my favorite verse is Acts 9:5 (KJV): It is hard to kick against the pricks ..

[Joe Chi Minh]

26. I'm not sure I'd find it hard, mind you, Tex.

(Incidentally, I think I may be a bit nearer to the Forth of Fifth, but there you are - you weren't far out).

"Actually, a shit-storm is a Level "D" whirlwind on the Leanon-Portadine "trombone" scale".

Are you serious, Tex! That's even funnier, if it's official parlance!

[Mythsaje]

23. I'm not Christian myself...

but I've said this many times. They were warned about false prophets and yet they follow them with all the fervor of a pack of mindless lemmings, screaming at anyone who dares point out their folly..."I'm serving God!!!"

No...you're serving the false prophets as you were warned not to do...and it's anybody's guess who THEY serve.

Fools.

[Joe Chi Minh]

27. Well, actualy, Jesus was quite specific

on that subject, Myhsaje, telling the scribes and Pharisees that they were like their father, the Devil, who was a liar and the father of lies. So they were doing his bidding, instead of God's.

[Warren DeMontague]

24. If your implication is that atheists are "wolves", who can't

"have integrity" or otherwise be good and moral people, I would kindly suggest, sir, that you go %&^$# yourself.

Addendum: I read your post three times, sir, and each time I analyzed it closer I found it more personally offensive.

[Joe Chi Minh]

28. Christians are always being offended by infantile

aggressive atheists on this board, impeachdubya. Maybe you don't figure among them. If so, be more careful with the company you keep. A man is known by his friends.

[libhill]

33. Sounds like Bush and Co.

Are screwed and tattooed - might even be "Left Behind" -

[glitch]

8. Liberal preachers are the only kind worth listening to.

I wish you had stood up and cheered! Thanks for posting.
Nomination number 5!

[Alcibiades]

10. It was a Presbyterian church, after all

Presbyterians don't act like that.

[greekspeak]

12. Condi is a presbyterian,,,,

so are a lot of other heartless RWingnuts. Luckily many Presbyterians have sense and heart to go with it. It is just like any other group...there are bad apples, and good apples.

[brentspeak]

18. Strangely enough, Bush is United Methodist

But the United Methodist leadership has condemned his performance as president many times. Bill Clinton, on the other hand, is a Southern Baptist. The Kennedy's are Roman Catholic, but then again, so is Jeb Bush and Antonin Scalia and Sean Hannity.

[RevCheesehead]

22. Hey, we have assholes in our church, just like any other.

Too bad it has to be the Spawn of Satan. :evilfrown:

[daninthemoon]

9. I wish I could find a preacher lilke that in my town. All right wing here.

[The Backlash Cometh]

11. Praise he who speaks the truth.

[greekspeak]

13. Its always good to see Clergy standing up for what is right!

Over the din of hate from the "Christian right," some sane voices do get heard.

[GreenPartyVoter]

15. Awesome!

------------------------------------------------------
Would Jesus love a liberal? You bet!
http://timeforachange.bluelemur.com/liberalchristians.htm

[applegrove]

16. That is Christianity. No lights, no cameras. Just a person reading

all the parts of the bible and processing its wonderful messages.

[RevCheesehead]

17. There are more of us around that people realize.

Believe me, we are doing our damndest to get the message out.

People, if you're looking for a church, NOW IS THE TIME TO LOOK. You'll find the right one when you ask "what kind of response are you doing to help with Hurricane relief?" and you get a positive reply.

[librechik]

19. B-b-b-ut Clenis got a blowjob! He shamed the Oval Office!

Why does Bush hate America?

[Liberty Belle]

20. Could you publish his name? I'd love to attribute this quote

and print it in a progressive newsletter that I publish.

Please send me a private message, since the last couple of days they've had the "my posts" turned off here due to heavy traffic.

[anarchy1999]

21. Mother Nature and God have conspired against our RW Fundamentalist

Christians and peeled off their mask!!

[Warren DeMontague]

25. If You Plant Ice, You Gonna Harvest Wind

Thus Spaketh The Gospel of Franklin's Tower 2.3,
Book of Hunter-Garcia.

[Arugula Latte]

29. Could you tell what the reaction was of the parishoners

or whatever you call church people ... sorry ... can't remember the proper term.

Was there any nodding or head shaking or some such?

[mzmolly]

30. Wow, what's his name!? I'd love to keep that quote.

To your minister :toast:

[WiseButAngrySara]

31. This was wonderful to read...nominated and kicked. Nothing like a

liberal Presbyterian minister...!

[susu369]

32. Beautiful

Am I confused or do you not descend from Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar, DemoTex? Hope my memory is not off too far there; if this poor old woman's memory is right - then Mirabeau is doing cartwheels in heaven because he's so proud of you.

And hello to my friend KCabotDullesMarxIII.
:hi: