On Friday, April 16, Sarah Palin spoke at the Women of Joy Conference in Louisville, Kentucky to a group of women who, like Palin, believe in a religion based on human sacrifice that regularly engages in symbolic cannibalism.  During her speech, Palin said, “Lest anyone try to convince you that God should be separated from the state, our founding fathers, they were believers.  And George Washington, he saw faith in God as basic to life.”

As tempting as it may be, I will not discuss Palin’s abysmal syntax because that would be like complaining because a duck quacks instead of singing arias.  Nor will I go into a lengthy explanation of why these remarks are enough to make little jets of blood shoot out of the eyesockets of any informed American familiar with the Constitution of the United States.  There is an abundance of information readily available that proves Palin to be flat wrong.  Rather than dissect the mind-blowing inaccuracy of Palin’s statements, I want to address the attitude on display here.  It is an attitude Palin shares with her admirers.

According to these people, America is a nation of the Christians, by the Christians and for the Christians.  It was founded by the Jesus-loving faithful to be populated by Jesus-loving faithful and its laws and Constitution were based on the bible.  Some seem to believe that the Constitution was simply copied out of the bible word for word.  These people want prayer to be mandatory in public schools and civic functions – not just any prayer, but prayer to their specific god, the victim of their beloved gory human sacrifice (as depicted in Mel Gibson’s popular 2004 homoerotic BDSM porn film), their lord and savior Jesus Christ.  This reveals not only their unfamiliarity with the Constitution and the intent of the founding fathers, but also their unfamiliarity with the bible, which claims Jesus Christ himself told his followers not to pray in public, but to go to their closets where they wouldn’t be seen or heard and wouldn’t make arrogant spectacles of themselves (Matthew 6:5 – 8).  Of course, it’s much easier for one to believe the bible is the infallible revealed word of god if one doesn’t know what’s in it, just as it’s much easier to believe the Constitution says whatever you want it to say if you simply choose to ignore what it really says.

These same people are fond of saying, “America – love it or leave it!”  For decades now, this slogan has been emblazoned on bumper stickers and T-shirts and has been shouted at anyone who does not agree with those who shout it.  The shouters believe that anyone who has not pitched a tent in their particular political camp hates America and takes undue advantage of its freedoms.  You disagree with the government when a Jesus-loving, flesh-eating, blood-drinking Christian Republican is in office?  Then you hate America and should leave.  You agree with the government when a godless, Marxist, America-hating Democrat is in office?  Then you hate America and should leave.  You don’t support any and all wars in which America participates?  Then you hate America and should leave.  You don’t go to church?  Then you hate America and should leave.  You don’t believe in god?  Well, in that case, these people will pack your bags for you and, at their own expense, put you on the next bus to godless Europe.

I find this baffling.  Most of the people this group identifies as unpatriotic haters of America are simply trying to go about their business in a country that they, in reality, appreciate and love a great deal, a country which they feel not only free but duty-bound to criticize when they disagree with its actions or upkeep.  America is, after all, a country where dissent is not only allowed but needed.  It is a free society in which you don’t have to agree with anything anyone says, but you have to agree that they have just as much right to say it as you have to say whatever’s on your mind.  In fact, America was created by dissenters!  Of course, it helps if both sides of the disagreement are inhabiting the same reality.  As Daniel Patrick Moynihan so eloquently put it, “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.”  But the “love it or leave it” crowd seems to think that anyone who disagrees with or doesn’t like their America should get the hell out of it.

There’s just one problem.  Their America doesn’t exist and never has.

America is and always has been a secular nation.  Yes, it’s true that the population of this country is predominantly Christian, but that has nothing to do with the government, which recognizes no religion and allows and accepts all religions – and all who are not religious.  The freedom to believe or not to believe, to worship or not to worship is part of what makes America such a great country.  One of the keys to maintaining that greatness is to keep religion out of government and government out of religion.  The daring experiment known as the United States has not always succeeded in this, but it is a country that is constantly evolving.  More than 230 years after it opened for business, America is still growing into itself.  Church and state have not always been kept as separate as they should be and mistakes are still being made and corrected, made and corrected.

For example, in March of this year, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the phrase “one nation under god” in the Pledge of Allegiance is not a prayer or a recognition of religion, but instead invokes patriotism.  The court claimed that it is “a recognition of our founders’ political philosophy that a power greater than the government gives the people their inalienable rights.”  This, of course, suggests that those of us who do not believe in god and do not think that any of our rights come from such a being are unpatriotic.  Sooner or later, this will be challenged again.  This is how America works – it feels it’s way along.  Don’t forget that once upon a time in this country, black people were bought and sold like property and women were not allowed to vote.  We’ve moved past that, we’ve grown, evolved.  We will continue to do so.

Unless the “love it or leave it” crowd has its way.

This group labors under the weight of the delusion that America was created only for people exactly like them.  They think this used to be a white Christian theocracy in which they got everything they wanted and there was no disagreement or dissent allowed, and somehow, bad people have come along and changed it into a country in which – gasp! – folks are allowed to have other opinions, other beliefs, or – even bigger gasp! – no beliefs.  Now they are angry, and they are determined to change the country back to the way it never was.  They are so committed to this delusion that they simply turn their noses up at the intent of the founding fathers, at the words of the men who shaped this nation, and at the Constitution – just as they turn their noses up at science when it disagrees with their superstitions and myths, and just as they turn their noses up at their own lord and savior Jesus Christ when he says they should go home and pray in private and leave everybody else the hell alone (apparently Jesus is good enough to eat, but not good enough to obey).  In the last couple of decades, their delusion has become so complete that, for them, it has taken on the appearance and texture of solid, tangible, three-dimensional reality.

In the beginning, there was Rush.  Then followed the flood of angry, mean-spirited, logic-defying, fact-trampling Christian right babble – Fox News (facts are not “fair and balanced,” they simply are – only opinions can be “fair and balanced,” but opinions are not “news,” and on Fox News, opinions are not “fair and balanced”), Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Ann Coulter, Glenn Beck, Laura Ingraham and all the others.  Now add to that group Sarah Palin, who has become their patron saint.  These talking heads have made the delusion of the “love it or leave it” crowd a kind of reality, an alternate universe that exists side-by-side with this universe, the universe in which the Constitution of the United States exists, the universe in which our founding fathers lived.  For years now, these people have lived in a bubble in which everything they watch on TV and listen to on the radio has told them that they are right, that this country was founded on Christian principles, that there is no separation of church and state, that all of our founding fathers were devout, Jesus-loving, flesh-eating, blood-drinking Christians.  This bubble has allowed them to become utterly confident that this nation used to be what they think it used to be, but that some bad people have changed it into something else and must be stopped.  They place this template over reality so that no matter where they look, no matter what they see or hear, they are able to continue this delusion uninterrupted.  I live in an area of California in which I am surrounded by these people.  They know no other reality.  If you try to discuss with them the facts, no matter how gently, they react exactly like an addict in denial who’s been told he has a problem and needs to get help – they argue, then they get angry, then furious, then comes a storm of personal attacks, sometimes threats, and then they stomp away in a rage.  Like angry little children, they clap their hands over their ears and shout, “La la la la, I can’t hear you!”

Then something happened in 2008 that threw a wrench into their delusion generator.  A Democrat was made the President of the United States.  But not just any Democrat, no – a BLACK Democrat.  This has made it impossible for them to maintain their delusion.  Even when that fantasy template is placed over reality, there’s still one very big problem for these people – there’s a black man in the White House.  It’s right there, plain as day.  Even Fox News, the window into their alternate universe, cannot erase the fact that Barack Obama is black, so even when the deluded watch it with the expectation of having their delusion nourished, what they see instead disrupts their delusion:  A black man in the White House.  Somehow, right here in the United States of America, the country that Jesus built, the majority of the nation voted a black man into the White House!  Not only that, but a black man with the name Barack.  Hussein.  Obama.

Wait a second – what the hell kind of a name is that?  With a name like that, he couldn’t have been born in this country, could he?  Of course not!  No real ‘Mericans would name their kid that.  And what about Hussein?  That’s a Muslim name, ain’t it?  What decent Christian ‘Mericans would name their kid Hussein?

The bubble in which they’ve been living has popped and they are very, very angry.  Although they don’t seem to realize it, they are also very, very confused.  Now, all across the land on talk radio and at Tea Party rallies and at Sarah Palin’s poorly phrased speeches, you can hear their cry:  “WE’RE TAKING OUR COUNTRY BACK!”

But from whom?  Who stole the country that never existed?  In order for bad people to take over the country, they would have to change or abolish the Constitution and make the country into something it wasn’t before.  The Constitution is still there, and it still says the same thing – that the government will neither enforce nor prohibit the practice of any religion.  Read it again if you haven’t recently and try to find something in that document – anything at all – that makes this a Christian nation.  It’s not there.  The “love it or leave it” crowd claims it is – but it’s not.  They also claim that this country was built on Christian principles, but plenty of documentation – most notably Article 11 of the 1796 Treaty of Tripoli, which states, quite unambiguously, “As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion” – proves otherwise.  They claim that our founding fathers were Christians, but the words left behind by Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and others – some of which are quite acidic about religion in general and Christianity in particular – clearly state otherwise.  Although it has suffered some mighty blows over the years, the Constitution is still in place, none of the founding fathers have risen from the dead to declare their acceptance of Jesus Christ as their personal lord and savior, and America is still America.  So how can the “love it or leave it” crowd hope to take back their Christian nation built on Christian principles by Christians for Christians if it wasn’t that in the first place and no one has taken it away from anyone?  They can’t, of course.

They can’t take it back.  But they can take it.  If we let them.

Am I the only one who finds it odd that the very people most likely to shout, “America – love it or leave it!” are the same people who seem to be very unhappy with America as it is and want to change it into something it isn’t now and never has been?  These people don’t love America.  If you doubt me, just listen to them!  They have big problems with the Constitution of the United States, so big that they claim it states things it doesn’t.  It’s obvious that this Constitution doesn’t work for them and they want it to go away.  They have big problems with the secular government of the United States, so big that they want that government to adopt their religion and recognize it in an official capacity.  They say this is a Christian nation, but we do not have a Christian government, so clearly they want a Christian government.  That is their goal!  It’s obvious that this government doesn’t work for them and they want it to be replaced with one that does.

Do these people have any business shouting “America – love it or leave it!” to anyone who disagrees with them when it seems pretty clear that they do not love it?  They don’t even seem to like it!  America gives them the freedom to believe and worship as they please, but they abuse that right by demanding that their religion be king of the hill, that it be injected into government, that everyone be required to pray as they pray and recognize their god.  For them, the freedom of religion is not enough and they seem determined to get what they want.  When they say they want to take the country back, it seems that they, like Sarah Palin, are simply inarticulate and unable to express themselves clearly.  It would seem that what they really mean is this:  They want to overthrow the secular government of the United States, abolish the Constitution as it currently exists and turn this into a Christian theocracy.

That is un-American.  That is unpatriotic.  That is the attitude of people who live in a country they hate so much that they want to overthrow it, dominate it, remake it in their own image.  When it comes to the separation of church and state, they don’t care what the Constitution says, they don’t care what the founding fathers intended – just as, when it comes to public prayer, they don’t care what Jesus Christ, who they believe to be the son of god, said.  They want what they want and they just don’t care about anything else.

And goddammit, there’s a black man in the White House!

They have wrapped themselves in the American flag, commandeered words like “freedom” and “patriotic” and “traditional” and “values” and are using them against the very country that affords them the freedom to do all these things.  If they get their way, you can kiss freedom goodbye.  And all they need to get their way is our silence and inaction.  All they need to get their way is our continued fear of making waves, our fear of offending someone, making someone angry.  They certainly don’t care about making waves or offending or angering people.  They’re happy to do those things.  They are bullies – bullies for Jesus.  They own talk radio and the window into their alternate universe regularly kicks ass in the TV “news” ratings, and with those tools, they are confusing an increasingly uninformed electorate and capturing hearts and minds.  They are well on the way to overthrowing this nation, and all they need from us is a little more polite confrontation avoidance.

It’s time to start calling this what it is – an attempt to overthrow the United States of America and turn it into a fascist theocracy.  It’s time to start telling the truth and saying it to their faces.  You want to throw out the Constitution by which this country is governed?  You want the United States to be a Christian nation?  Then you are unpatriotic.  Then you hate this country.

America – love it or leave it!

S.E. Cupp’s commentaries on Tucker Carlson’s new conservative website The Daily Caller. You can read her in the online New York Daily News, and you can see her in her role as TV personality/commentator on Faux Fox and CNN.

Who is S.E. Cupp?

She is an American conservative political commentator and writer, and co-author of the book Why You’re Wrong About the Right with Brett Joshpe. She is also a strong “defender of the faith”. Her newest book is titled Losing Our Religion: The Liberal Media’s Attack on Christianity. Just another fundie crying persecution about the evil liberal media and the evils of evolution? Guess again. S.E. Cupp claims to be an atheist who is defending Judeo-Christian values which she says is what this country was founded upon. In her just released book mentioned above, she also defends creationism. Confused yet?

From her book site:

From her galvanizing introduction, you know where S. E. Cupp stands: She’s an atheist. A non-believer. Which makes her the perfect impartial reporter from the trenches of a culture war dividing America and eroding the Judeo-Christian values on which this country was founded. Starting at the top, she exposes the unwitting courtship of President Obama and the liberal press, which consistently misreports or downplays Obama’s clear discomfort with, or blatant disregard for, religious America—from covering up religious imagery in the backdrop of his Georgetown University speech to his absence from events surrounding the National Day of Prayer, to identifying America in his inaugural address as, among other things, “a nation of non-believers.” She likens the calculated attacks of the liberal media to a class war, a revolution with a singular purpose: to overthrow God and silence Christian America for good. And she sends out an urgent call for all Americans to push back the leftist propaganda blitz striking on the Internet, radio, television, in films, publishing, and print journalism—or invite the tyrannies of a “mainstream” media set on mocking our beliefs, controlling our decisions, and extinguishing our freedoms.

She claims to be an atheist, but her commentary and the content of her books prove otherwise. Is she just using the Christian base in order to stir up support for her conservative bias? It’s either that or she is a liar when claiming to be an atheist.

Steve Levingston has written this commentary about S. E. Cupp at The Washington Post.

Cupp skips the facts in arguing against evolution

This is the article I read first before doing some background research on Cupp. When I read in Wiki that she is an atheist, I had to dig further because they could be wrong. I found that is indeed what she claims herself to be in her own biography at Simon and Schuster.

Here are some highlights from Levingston’s article:

Now she has a new book due out next week called “Losing Our Religion: The Liberal Media’s Attack on Christianity,” with a foreword by Mike Huckabee. The former presidential candidate vouches for Cupp’s devotion to facts in arguing her points: She “uses the sharp blade of careful research, thoughtful reasoning, and brilliant logic,” he writes, adding “she reaches a level of substance many writers twice and thrice her age only hope for.”

Huckabee, like other fundies compliments her “sharp blade of careful research, thoughtful reasoning and brilliant logic” because she is speaking out in support of his cherished Christian values and willful ignorance.

The thrust of Cupp’s argument is summed up in her introduction in which she says the American media, “with careful, covert nudges from the Obama administration,” are leading a revolution. “This revolution, already in full throttle around the country,” she writes, “is being waged against you and me and every other American, and its goal is simple: to overthrow God, and silence Christian America for good.”

She sounds just like a Christian fundie to me who feels threatened by the ever-increasing number of people giving up the mythology in lieu of Science and reason.

Levingston brings to our attention the chapter in her book titled “Thou Shalt Evolve”:

It is important to distinguish between rhetoric and fact and to hold authors accountable for the information they impart to the public. Statements of fact should have no trouble withstanding educated scrutiny. Mike Huckabee endorses Cupp’s methods. Her “substance,” as Huckabee terms it, is scattered throughout the book. So let’s single out one chapter to zero in on, as a measure of the entire work. I have chosen Chapter Four – Thou Shalt Evolve. In this chapter, Cupp sums up her take on evolution like this: “The debate over the legitimacy of evolution isn’t really about a battle between fact and fiction. It’s about Christianity, and the liberal media’s attempt to eradicate it from all corners of society.”

And here is what Joshua Rosenau has to say in response to Cupp’s chapter on evolution: (”Rosenau is public information project director at the National Center for Science Education, which is a not-for-profit organization devoted to the teaching of evolution in public schools. Among its 4,000 members are scientists, teachers, clergy, and people holding a variety of religious beliefs.”)

S.E. Cupp’s handling of science and religion misrepresents the nature of evolution, obscures the science of biology, and dismisses the deeply-held religious views of most Christians outside of the fundamentalist subculture. This is the sort of misrepresentation which leads her to concoct an anti-Christian conspiracy on the part of reporters, and – bizarrely – to say that Darwin is “quite literally the Anti Christ” for liberals.

Cupp presents creationism as “a counter-argument” to evolution, yet never provides a clear account of what evolution is, nor what she thinks creationism means.

I am deeply insulted when dumb shits claim to be one of us.

Christianity neither is, nor ever was, a part of the common law. -Thomas Jefferson, letter to Dr. Thomas Cooper, February 10, 1814

Many, if not most Christian Republicans don’t want the government and their tax money used to help the general public with things like health care and other social programs. They claim to want as little government interference as possible, but they hypocritically and constantly push for “faith based” programs which promote their own version of god delusions onto the general population. They have gotten their way with interjecting “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance long after it was written, and the placement of “in God We Trust” on our country’s currency. We are forced to swear in court on their mythology book, to say it when taking the oath for public office and when joining the military (unless we make a fuss about it, which can have negative outcomes when we do). In many places their Ten Commandments from their book of woo is on display in government buildings and even schools (until someone makes an issue of it). They want to force our children to pray along with them in public schools, even though they are free to pray to themselves any time they want without bothering anyone else. They feel the need to drag everyone forcefully into their “faith”.

Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU Press Mention) “It’s incredibly hypocritical that Sarah Palin, who disapproves of government involvement in just about anything, now suddenly wants the government to help people be religious,” Barry Lynn, the executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, told ABC News. “It is wildly inconsistent with her views on limited government to get the government involved in matters of faith.”"

If one really understands the foundations this country was built on, there should be no question as to if America is a Christian nation. But Sarah Palin and others who hold her fundamentalist sky daddy beliefs just don’t get it. On Friday, Sarah Palin said that it’s mind-boggling to suggest that America is not a Christian nation.

“Lest anyone try to convince you that God should be separated from the state, our founding fathers, they were believers,” said Palin. “And George Washington, he saw faith in God as basic to life.”

“In Washington’s farewell address, he wrote ‘Of all the dispositions and habits that lead to political prosperity, religion, faith, morality are indispensible supports,’” she continued. “So Women of Joy, remember that, and remember that even today this nation needs you.”

According to ABC News “two groups dedicated to the separation of church and state are now speaking out against her, arguing that she is misreading the founders’ intent.”

A spokesman for the Secular Coalition for America told ABC News that Palin is misconstruing the founders’ intent on matters of church and state.

“While the founders’ views on religion varied from person to person, there is no doubt that they believed strongly that religion had no place in government,” said Paul Fidalgo, the communications manager for the Secular Coalition for America. “John Adams signed the Treaty of Tripoli which stated in no uncertain terms that ‘the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion.’

Palin told the women in attendance, whom she referred to as a “mom of faith movement,” that they should not listen to critics who would make them feel that their movement is “all a low-cost brand of ignorance.”

That’s exactly what it is, though. A “low-cost brand of ignorance”. She describes the fundamentalist religionist mindset perfectly. I call it “willful ignorance”.

Just ran across this at Salon.com

Iranian cleric: Immodest women cause quakes
Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi issues a warning about seismically slutty dames

As we have discussed here on more than one occasion, when disaster strikes, lunatics come out in full force. Back in January, Pat Robertson attributed the earthquake tragedy in Haiti to a ‘deal made with the devil by Haitians to oust Napoleon’. An Iranian cleric is now blaming the recent number of earthquakes on “slutty women”.

Amid all the recent speculation over what only feels like an unusual number of earthquakes around the world, an Iranian cleric has offered a novel explanation for the source of seismic activity: promiscuous women. Unless Iranians “take refuge in religion” and “adapt our lives to Islam’s moral codes,” they can expect to be “buried under the rubble,” said Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi, a senior cleric, during Friday prayers in Tehran. As usual, these moral responsibilities are projected onto women’s bodies: “Many women who do not dress modestly … lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which increases earthquakes,” he said.

Every country has its own share of religious whackadoos.

In case all you GifS peeps haven’t noticed the link in the sidebar, Ron has put a twitter account up for GifS. It’s “@gods4suckers”, located at twitter.com/gods4suckers, and automatically posts a “tweet” of every post made at GifS. So check it out! You can now keep up with GifS everywhere you go. Thanks Ron!

So often are we embroiled in contextual as well as metaphorical battle with the minions of religious darkness, that we sometimes neglect to notice that the world is advancing. True enough, it is halting, it is sporadic, but the days of torches and pitchforks at the door seems to become more a thing of the past, and those of us that aren’t supernaturally dysfunctional needn’t develop cricks in our necks by glancing over our shoulders constantly. 

I stumbled upon this little gem recently, and found it cool.

This is a panel from a graphic novel from Marvel, a part of the Dark Reign story arc. More specifically, the gentleman in white is one Fantomex, and the other fellow (without the mask) is Noh-Varr. The synopsis can be found at this link, as this is just an example of what I am speaking to.

Now for a personal anecdote. I’ve been unemployed since February of 2009, and just recently, I was contacted by the US 2010 Census for work. I took the test (and scored pretty high too), and called them every couple of weeks to see what was up. Finally, I fielded a barrage of calls from them after months of silence, and this last Friday (April 16th), I was sworn in. As the group I was in was walked through the folder full of governmental documents, we came to the swearing-in document. Upon reading it, the code words “So help me God” caught my eye. The Asian gentleman who was giving us the run down was reading it off to us prior to the swearing-in. Oh crap, I thought silently, here we go. I raised my hand. “Yes?” “I’m an atheist.” The older fellow responded, “So?”, but his (much) younger assistant popped up with, “I can give him the alternative oath.” So as the rest of the group (9 people) were swearing and affirming to uphold the constitution “so help me god”, I was off to the side, using almost the same oath verbatim, sans the nod to on high. The only response outside of this was one elderly retired woman snorting derisively, but everyone else took it in stride. Once done, we were trained on how to fingerprint people (as we will be spending an entire day fingerprinting other enumerators), and there was no drama, no confrontations during or after the procedure. In fact, I had most of my co-workers alternately laughing or in stitches, and I let the snort go.

So, let’s try this gedankenexperiment – please share your positive experiences with other readers. Some time or another when you weren’t excoriated for your lack of religious dysfunction.

It might do you a bit of good – or me – or someone else. Masticate on it, and get back to me.

Till the next post, then.

Well, one judge in Wisconsin understands the concept of Separation of Church and State.

Judge rules National Day of Prayer unconstitutional

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A federal judge in Wisconsin ruled the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional Thursday, saying the day amounts to a call for religious action.

U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb wrote that the government can no more enact laws supporting a day of prayer than it can encourage citizens to fast during Ramadan, attend a synagogue or practice magic.

However, our President chooses to support the god botherers in the matter and is defending “Talking to Yourself Day”.

Obama will still issue National Day of Prayer proclamation

White House officials say President Barack Obama still will recognize a National Day of Prayer after a federal judge’s ruling the day is unconstitutional.

My Catholic and fundamentalist Christian friends in particular are in a tizzy, posting the rumor on their Facebook statuses anyway that their freedom to pray publicly is being taken away.

The rumor states:

President Obama has decided that there will no longer be a “National day of prayer” held in May. He doesn’t want to offend anybody. Where was his concern about offending Christians last January when he allowed the Muslims to hold a day of prayer on the capitol grounds. As a Christian American “I am offended.” if you agree copy and paste no matter what religion you are!

I point out that whether there is a proclaimed national day of magical incantation or not, they are still free to pray whenever and wherever they want and churches can get the required permits and all join together and talk to their imaginary friends just as atheists, Muslims, Buddhists, KKK members can all come together and form whatever day they want to have. But just don’t expect a secular government to recognize and proclaim a special day for you. I try to explain as politely as I can that when one religion is endorsed, then others will want equal time and it gets insane. Someone will always be left out. Church and State cannot be mixed and must be kept separate.

They just don’t get it. In a country that is 80 something percent Christian, they are still paranoid and thrive on feeling persecuted.

On April 11, Pope Benedict XVI took a break from his busy schedule of hiding and protecting child rapists – and browbeating anyone who happens to disapprove of that – to forgive the Beatles.

The Beatles? Did I imagine the last 40 years? Am I seven again? Are the Beatles back together? No, wait … it’s 2010 and half of them are dead. Did the pope resurrect John and George? If so, I’d find that very odd. If the pope is going to be bringing people back from the dead, I would think he’d start with Michael Jackson. I mean, hey, they share some interests and at least they’d have something to talk about.

My first reaction to this news story was to laugh. Hard. This whole thing about Catholic priests fucking little kids has been going on for a long time now. It has always been horrible. How can you get more horrible than Catholic priests – in untold numbers, by the way – having sex with children and then being protected by the church? But since this ongoing scandal has expanded to include the Catholic Fuhrer, Joseph Ratzinger, who actively tried to cover for predatory priests before he became the Catholic Fuhrer – in fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that his pope gig was a reward for doing such a good job of hiding the kiddie rapists – it left the realm of horrible and entered a rarified area of epic black comedy that is unparalleled in any other branch of show business. And now, the pope “forgives” the Beatles?

This, of course, begs the question, Who the hell does this guy he think he is?

What, we must ask, did the Beatles do that would require forgiveness – especially from a former Nazi and current pedophile-protector? What kind of unspeakable crimes were committed by John, Paul, George and Ringo? Was it the music? The haircuts? Was it because they helped introduce Eastern religion into Western culture?

According to the UK Telegraph, “the Church dismisses previous moral outrages including blasphemous remarks, drug taking and even the dissemination of Satanic messages through their music.”

“Blasphemous remarks” is a reference to John’s comment that the Beatles were “bigger than Jesus.” Of course, he was right — they were bigger than Jesus. When was the last time you saw a sea of screaming, crying girls pulling their own hair over the Prince of Peace? Was Jesus on The Ed Sullivan Show? No. Jugglers? Check. Acrobats? Check. Magicians? Check. A talking mouse? Check. Jesus? Um … afraid not.

“Drug taking?” Well, if it’s necessary for the Catholic church to forgive everyone who’s taken drugs since the 1960s, then I suspect it’s rather understaffed for that task and should send out a call for more pedophiles.

“Satanic messages?” Oh, puh-leeeeze! Did the pope actually fall for that backward-masking bullshit about evil messages in rock records that summon the devil, cause teenagers to become possessed and move furniture around the room? I can imagine him sitting on his throne in his big hat while some flunky plays records backwards, ear cocked, frowning as he listens closely. “Vait, vait, play zat back for me. I sink zat said sometink about zmoking pot vis Zatan.” Well, hey, if he fell for a one-testicled niece-fucking vegetarian copraphiliac, I guess he’ll believe anything.

If you do the math and add up all of the Beatles’ “offenses,” I don’t care how many different ways you rewrite the equation — they did not fuck any kids!

But the Catholic church doesn’t have to make sense because it’s … well, the Catholic church. They invented Christianity, they assembled the Christian bible, they commissioned all the art that has come to define the religion. In the Christian world, they are the cock of the walk, so to speak. And since the entire religion they represent doesn’t make a lick of sense anyway, why should we be surprised that the church’s former Nazi leader has spent much of his career protecting men who betrayed the trust of their flocks by fucking little kids and telling them it was something Jesus wanted them to do? (”Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for I want them to touch my penis.”) Why should we be surprised that, according to pope, the real villains here are the people who have the gall to talk about this and criticize those involved? Why should we be surprised when the pope’s right-hand man says the real problem here is not pedophilia but homosexuality, from which springs all sin and evil and perversion and lower back pain?

What infuriates me just as much as the skull-fracturing insanity of all this is the reaction that comes from so many of the religious – not just Catholics but the religious in general. They express disapproval, but it always comes with so many “buts” and “wells” and “ifs.” Yes, it’s awful, it’s sad, but it’s a sign of the times and, well, it’s proof that the devil is working hard in the church, and if it happens everywhere then we shouldn’t be so hard on the Catholic church, and blah blah blah blahblahblahblah. Even the protestants can’t get too worked up over this because they’re afraid that the spotlight now shining on the Catholic church might swing over in their direction next. You know why?

Because this isn’t a Catholic problem, this is a religion problem. Religion is a favorite hunting ground for sexual predators. It is teeming with juicy prey. These are people who already believe in talking animals, pregnant virgins, holy zombies and a big invisible punisher in the sky. Half the prep work is done! All of these churches and church schools are crawling with predators sniffing around for their next victim, and they’re also full of people who are ready and waiting to make things as easy as possible for those predators – and worse, to protect them while they continue preying on children! Why? Because they can’t bear the thought of letting anything get out that might tarnish the image of the church.

Let’s say a teacher at a Christian school gets caught diddling a child. The first thing they do is almost never to call the cops – and in the rare event that does happen, it only comes after a long huddle to decide how it’s going to be presented to law enforcement and to get everyone’s stories straight before the cops are brought in. Because the one thing that is paramount in the minds of all these people is the image of their church, the public relations damage that will be done if word gets out that one of their teachers or pastors or other employees has been raping children. The most common response to this is to cover it up. Have a somber, pious talk with those involved and explain to them how ugly it would be if the whole thing were made public. Explain that the only law enforcement that needs to be alerted is god. All that really matters is what god thinks. Bringing in the police will only complicate things and embarrass everyone, especially the poor child, who will be humiliated by the revelation that he or she has engaged in – Gasp! – sex! And if the parents of the raped child are trouble-makers, if they disagree with the pious leader who’s explained all of this to them and threaten to make some noise, then perhaps it becomes necessary to provide a little remuneration. And then the rapist is ushered off to another school, another church, someplace where no one knows what makes this guy’s dick twitch, so all the people there will give him a warm Christian welcome and embrace the new teacher or pastor or whatever, and by the way, have you met my children? Sometimes the child rapist is even promoted! Got a pervert teacher you need to get rid of? Well, the only opening in the system right now is a position as principal of an entire school. Will that do? Sure, anything, anything, just get him out of here and let somebody else deal with him. Once the offending teacher is removed, you would be appalled to know how many parents send their raped child, or other children in their family, back to the same school or church!

This goes on all the time, and not only in the Catholic church. I was educated in the Seventh-day Adventist school system and during my 12 years in two different Adventist schools, I know of at least four such incidents. And I know of plenty more in other Adventist schools. And those are only the ones I know about! The latest one occurred a couple of months ago at an Adventist academy in Auburn, Washington. That case involved an extremely rare occurrence – as soon as the principal learned that the bible teacher was having sex with an underage student, he called the police. Good for him! But I’d start looking for other work if I were in his position. He can no longer be trusted. He’s willing to throw the church’s image under the bus in favor of the safety of a student – and we can’t have that! I talked to an area reporter who was covering the story and when he asked the academy how long this bible teacher had taught at the school where he’d worked prior to this one, they refused to tell him and referred him to the state office. I laughed. Of course they don’t want to talk about this teacher’s employment background in the Seventh-day Adventist school system because they know what it will reveal! He’s probably been moved around from school to school. If this is the first time he’s been caught doing this, I will eat my foot.

But right now, the focus is on the Catholic church, and with good reason. The combination of hubris, back-pedaling, tap-dancing, blame-tossing and subject-changing that’s gone on in the last few weeks has provided more slapstick than a dozen Three Stooges shorts and enough infuriating bullshit to make the head of any thinking person with a shred of decency explode and splatter brains in all directions. If the Catholic church were a chain of daycare centers and this was going on, those centers would be stormed by law enforcement, there would be mass arrests and convictions, and the public would be ready to lynch those people in the street. But this is a religion. This involves things like faith and belief and we can’t interfere with that, can we? No, we must respect religion. We must show deference to an institution that demands belief in invisible beings and unprovable things. We mustn’t offend any of the believers … even if incalculable damage is being done to untold numbers of innocent, trusting children. Right?

The focus in all of this has been on the pope, the bishops, the priests. I don’t think that’s inclusive enough. There’s a very significant group that’s being ignored here, a vast army of blinder-wearing enablers who not only sit on their hands and allow this to happen, but who knowingly fund it with money out of their own pockets. And even worse, they continue to provide a seemingly endless supply of children for these cassocked monsters to rape. I’m referring to Catholics everywhere.

If a business or organization sends money to terrorists to fund terrorist activities – even if it’s done secretly, and even if that business or organization does not itself engage in terrorist activities – then it is considered a terrorist organization. Our government has seized and shut down such businesses and organizations once they’re discovered.

The fact that Catholic priests have been raping children and the fact that the Catholic church has systematically protected them from punishment and moved them to other churches where they can continue to rape children is not news. It’s newsworthy, yes, but it’s been going on for decades and nobody is surprised by it. We know this goes on. It’s no secret. It’s common knowledge. And knowing this …

If you are a Catholic who still attends church and puts money in the offering plate, you are supporting and funding this activity and you are complicit in the systematic rape of children and the institutionalized protection of child rapists. If you are a Catholic parent and you send your child or children to Catholic school or to a Catholic church, then you are offering up your children to known child rapists. You are knowingly putting your children in danger of being raped.

What, you think your hands are clean? You know this is going on! And yet you continue to give them not only your money but your children! That means you are involved. That means you are helping them commit their crimes. If you belonged to a fruit-of-the-month club and you learned that your dues were funding the production of child pornography, you would cancel your membership immediately and alert the authorities. You think this is any different? Actually, it’s worse. You think going to mass every Sunday and sending your kids to Sunday school and Catholic school is somehow a good thing given all we now know? Are you learning disabled? You’re no better than the very priests who tell children that Jesus wants them to have the experience of touching a priest’s penis. You’re no better than the priests and bishops and the very pope who protect those monsters. In fact, you are one of them.

I look forward to your letters.