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POPSWhy many Christians reject "Left Behind" views It expresses a minority view - albeit a popular one - that misses the main themes of the New Testament. Its adherents are largely unaware that other Christians find it a distortion of the Bible. Its trendy, highly questionable theology forms the basis of unquestioned support for Israel.
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POPSWhat Obama Means to America's 'Info Ops' One of the themes of this conference was information operations, or "IO" -- how the U.S. can influence others around the world. This officer and other conference-goers were disgusted, by how badly the U.S. had bungled this war of ideas, and allowed opinions about America to sink so low. Candidate Obama, the group concluded, was the best IO campaign America had had in years. Allies were more ready to listen. Enemies' narratives about America were being undercut.
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POPSMcCain's problem All politicians stretch the truth. Unfortunately, for John McCain he and Palin have taken it to new heights and the MSM is going to keep calling him on it....to his detriment.
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POPSThe Lunatic Fringe's Political Twilight Zone (revisited) After 8 long years of the Bush Twilight Zone. Here we are again being sucked into the McCain's version of this same Zone. Where the HELL is reality? McCain's pick of Sarah Palin is almost as troubling as a W. Bush second win. After proving himself totally incompetent with his first 4 years, the US people gave him the majority vote to rule for another 4 years. I know the rest of the world must think of us as Nut Cases. And we deserved the title! Sarah Palin is as nutty as a Jerry Falwell, the "man" who had babbled "AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals; it's God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals." AND, "The idea that religion and politics don't mix was invented by the Devil to keep Christians from running their own country." ALSO, "Good Christians, like slaves and soldiers, ask no questions." (MORE BELOW)
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POPSA Special Report: The Right's America-Hating Preacher
Once his plan to “swallow entire America” is complete, Moon told his followers in one sermon, there will be “some individuals who complain inside your stomach. However, they will be digested.” But Moon’s hatred of America is not deemed news, in part, because Moon has financed the Washington Times since 1982 to the tune of more than $3 billion, according to former newspaper insider George Archibald. Moon also has lavished many millions of dollars more to pay for conservative conferences and to bail out key right-wing figures when they have found themselves in financial distress, including Republican direct-mail guru Richard Viguerie and the late Jerry Falwell. Plus, Moon has paid large speaking fees to former President George H.W. Bush – estimated in the millions of dollars – and has feted President George W. Bush’s brother Neil at recent events for the Moon-sponsored Universal Peace Federation. In 2004, thankful Republicans even gave Moon use of a room in the Senate Dirksen
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POPSObama's Minister Committed "Treason" But When My Father Said the Same Thing He Was a Republican Hero My dad's books denouncing America and comparing the USA to Hitler are still best sellers in the "respectable" evangelical community and he's still hailed as a prophet by many Republican leaders. When Mike Huckabee was recently asked by Katie Couric to name one book he'd take with him to a desert island, besides the Bible, he named Dad's Whatever Happened to the Human Race? a book where Dad also compared America to Hitler's Germany. We Republican agitators of the mid 1970s to the late 1980s were genuinely anti-American in the same spirit that later Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson (both followers of my father) were anti-American when they said God had removed his blessing from America on 9/11, because America accepted gays. Falwell and Robertson recanted but we never did.
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POPSTheocracy Rejected: Former Christian Right Leaders 'Fess up
About 30 years ago, a young lawyer named John W. Whitehead worked alongside people like Jerry Falwell to help birth the Religious Right. Hoping to give the movement an intellectual grounding, Whitehead penned a series of books attacking the separation of church and state and demanding a government based on Christian fundamentalism. Whitehead's books -- The Separation Illusion, The Second American Revolution and The Stealing of America -- made him a popular figure in Religious Right circles. Whitehead repudiated theocracy years ago. It's unlikely he'd be welcome at a CNP meeting now. "Politics," he said in a recent interview, "would never even figure into Jesus' mind. He was a homeless person. He was like Gandhi. It wasn't in the picture. Christianity was not founded on politics. It was founded on helping the less fortunate .... That's how you impact culture." Schaeffer and Whitehead are two high-profile Religious Right apostates, but they aren't the only ones.
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POPSThe unexpected monks We've been talkibng about having a synchroblog on the new monasticism, and suddenly it seems to be popping up all over the place. Hat-tip to Paul Grabill for this link.
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POPS"Great Whore" Bits back: Religion in US Election "By receiving the endorsement of an outspoken critic of the Catholic church, McCain once again demonstrates that he is willing to sell out his principles for a chance to win the presidency," said Chris Korzen, executive director of Catholics United. McCain also campaigned in Ohio this week with Rod Parsley, a television evangelist who leads a group called the Centre for Moral Clarity. McCain called Parsley — who has suggested that adulterers should be prosecuted and compared members of the abortion-rights group Planned Parenthood to Nazis — a "spiritual guide". "During his 2000 run for president against George Bush, McCain called evangelical preachers Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson "agents of intolerance". He later apologised in the face of mounting anger from Christian groups, saying he intended the statement as a joke. ...Guardian
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POPSThe passing of the Christian Right "Indeed, as President Bush's political star has waned, the Religious Right's legacy and its ability to positively impact the nation are increasingly being called into question. Critics contend that the evangelical movement has been largely reduced to political impotence and moral irrelevance."
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POPSThe 10 Biggest Religion Stories
#4 | The Pope and Latin Mass Benedict XVI relieves priests of having to get their bishop’s permission to celebrate mass in old-school Latin. To many, it is an unwelcome return of church élitism. Others sink happily back into it. #5 | The Slow-Motion Episcopal/Anglican Train Wreck The Episcopal Bishops’ meeting in New Orleans fails to stem the ongoing defection of conservatives over the church’s positions on gays, or the likelihood of a worldwide Anglican split over the same issue. #6 | Green Evangelicals Global warming, along with poverty and torture, have become hot issues to a maturing conservative Christian movement. #7 | The Roar of Atheist Books There may or may not be more atheists, but there are more atheist authors--and readers want to give them a hearing. #8 | Another Blow to a Megachurch A year after Ted Haggard resigned as pastor of Colorado’s New Life Church--having admitted to “immorality” involving a gay escort--a gunman kills two congregants in
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POPSStrap on Your Sidearms Boys - It's Wartime Again The time is here! Dig those trenches; arm the battlements; the heathens are at the gates!!!! This is one "War" I find great amusement with. Watching fools act out their paranoid fantasies has great entertainment value.
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POPSAmerica's Armageddonites Push for More War
THIS IS REAL FOLKS! THESE PEOPLE ARE REALLY OUT THERE! HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Based on this Biblical interpretation, the Armageddonites vehemently argue that America must protect Israel and encourage its settlements on the West Bank in order to help God fulfill His plans. The return of Jews to Palestine is central to the prophetic vision of the Armageddonites, who see it as a critical step toward the final battle, Armageddon, and the victory of the righteous over Satan's minions. There are a couple internal inconsistencies with this prophecy, such as the presence of Christians already living in the Holy Land and the role of Jews in the final dispensation. In the first case, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and other Religious Right leaders tried to pretend that Christians already in the Holy Land simply didn't exist. As for Jews, they needed to become "born again" Christians to avoid God's wrath (or, according to some Armageddonites, a separate Jewish covenant with God will gain them a se
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POPSGays Burning Down California!! Wow. I had know idea us gays have so much power in this world. I thought it was hot shit when Falwell and Robertson blamed us for the attacks on 9/11, but now we're also responsible for the wild fires in California. Gays everywhere! It is time we claim our true power and take over this world which is rightly ours!!!