U.S. District Attorney not detecting any irony with his takes on the 1st amendment

But first some exciting news out of Egypt.


From the Washington Times:

An Egyptian court has convicted a Coptic Christian lawyer in the southern province of Assiut on charges of blasphemy and sentenced him to one year in prison with hard labor.

The verdict against Roman Murad Saad was handed down on Saturday. It’s the latest in a surge of blasphemy cases following Egypt’s 2011 uprising.

Saad was sentenced in absentia. If he’s arrested or surrenders to authorities, he will be given a retrial and will have to pay 10,000 Egyptians pounds (around $1,400) in fines.

Court officials say Saad was found guilty of ridiculing Islam’s holy book, the Quran, at a lawyers’ union library. No further details were immediately available in the case.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to media.

(italics, ours)

No further details were immediately available? No, were good with just those. Don't need to know more about that case.



Well, good thing we've got that whole Bill of Rights thing to protect against anything untoward like that from happening here, right?

Good thing that 1st amendment protects us from being punished by our own government for potentially "offending" anyone elses religious sensibilities, right?

Well, a government official charged with upholding the Constitution appears to be looking at a looser interpretation of the 1st amendment than our "reasonable person" model.

Special speakers for the event will be Bill Killian, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee, and Kenneth Moore, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Knoxville Division.


Killian and Moore will provide input on how civil rights can be violated by those who post inflammatory documents targeted at Muslims on social media.

“This is an educational effort with civil rights laws as they play into freedom of religion and exercising freedom of religion,” Killian told The News Monday. “This is also to inform the public what federal laws are in effect and what the consequences are.”

(italics, ours)

Whaaaa?

Why does a talk about freedom of religion and federal laws and consequences seem a bit incongruous?

Killian gives a specific example of someone behaving poorly towards the Muslim community:

Killian referred to a Facebook posting made by Coffee County Commissioner Barry West that showed a picture of a man pointing a double-barreled shotgun at a camera lens with the caption saying, “How to Wink at a Muslim.”f

Killian said he and Moore had discussed the issue.r

“If a Muslim had posted ‘How to Wink at a Christian,’ could you imagine what would have happened?” he said. “We need to educate people about Muslims and their civil rights, and as long as we’re here, they’re going to be protected.”

Actually, we do. There is precedence for this. We know it was 4 years ago, but do you all remember this?


*


We do. And we also remember the rioting that took place across northern Europe when that and other alleged offensive cartoons of Muhammed were re-printed in a Danish newspaper.


And let's not forget about Salmon Rushdie who still has a bounty on his head for his "Satanic Verses" that was printed over 20 years ago.



We wonder if Killian remembers this from about the same time period as "Satanic Verses"?





Yep. Good ol' "Piss Christ". And the amount of riots, death threats and overall incidents of violence caused by this piece of "art" have a common number. For Mr. Killian's benefit, that number would be "zero". A demeaning and degrading image of the central figure of Christianity elicited a relatively big fat whateverburger from Christ's followers.



Back to the article:

Killian said he has made other presentations in the state about Muslim culture and civil rights laws, and the Muslims he’s become acquainted with are outstanding citizens.

“Some of the finest people I’ve met are Muslims,”

Awwww.... he has Muslim friends!



And now for the money paragraphs:

“We want to inform everybody about what the law is, but more importantly, we want to provide what the law means to Muslims, Hindus and every other religion in the country.

“It’s why we came here in the first place. In England, they were using Christianity to further their power in government. That’s why the First Amendment is there.”

That this man is in any position of authority scares the living hell out of us.

That he says what he says without any hint of irony simply blows our mind.

The first amendment is there precisely to protect U.S. citizens from clueless idiots like you, Killian, that are on some sort of P.C.-driven power trip.


Descending into some third world crap hole where the law is selectively applied before our very eyes.



We have to break this off but an exit question: Is this loser Killian suggesting that people on social media and "just bloggers" are not afforded the same 1st amendment protections as traditional media outlets? It would seem to be that way to us.



* It has occurred to us that we may very well have violated Mr. Killian's police state interpretation of the law with this post.

Got Tebow?

.

Our blog-buddy Harrison over at Capitol Commentary gives his take on the Tim Tebow phenomena. He's not a big fan of Tebowing though he uses solid Scripturally-based logic to make his case.

In his post, he called us out specifically for our thoughts on the matter for which we obliged. The following is our edited-up comment:

We have zero issues with Tebow and his Tebowing. In reality, sports figures have been Tebowing and praising God in interviews for years now.

A confluence of circumstances have led to this: an overtly spiritual young man (who actually appears to walk the talk) and absolutely the most improbable, absurd, and fun! sports runs that we have ever witnessed. These week-after-week Indiana Jones-like cliff hangers defy all logic and conventional wisdom.

If Tebow remained buried at #4 on the depth chart, all this, of course, would be a non-issue. But head coach John Fox and general manager, John Elway bowed to popular pressure knowing that there was no way in hell heck that this Heisman Trophy winner with the atrocious mechanics and unconventional style would succeed in the NFL: Put him out there, watch him flail, bench him for good and get on with business. Well, well, well.

Early in the run, it was priceless to see Elway up in the luxury box gritting his teeth and grimacing as if to say, "Damn Dang, this kid is actually going to pull this thing out, again."

Our advise to opposing players (and for everyone else out there) who take issue with Tebow getting too Jesus-y: Keep him and his Bronco teammates out of the endzone in the last two minutes of the game and in overtime which appears to be the only time the Broncos score.

Full disclosure: We are Charger fans… but still can’t help but having our ever-lovin’ brains blown away by this guy’s performances every week.

P.S. Tebow was mic’ed up for last week’s game against the Bears. When he was praying during the game-winning field goal, he was essentially desiring to give glory to God win OR lose.

Now, this might not represent the most noble logic but another reason why we're just enjoying the heck out of this ride is, of course, because Tebow is cheezing off all the right people.

Here's liberal tool, Bill Press, illustrating perfectly, our point.





For those of you in Placentia, California, "S-T-F-U" translates to "Shut the f#@k up".

Just some more of that new civility we've been hearing so much about.

And for Press to become so exorcised and agitated over someone who merely plays professional football and is of absolutely zero consequence to Press's life, we won't have to waste a whole lot of time wondering who is the real disgrace and embarrassment here.

And speaking of freedom...

Shahbaz Bhatti, the Pakistan government's only Christian minister (he was Roman Catholic) was assassinated while on his way to work in Islamabad on Wednesday. Bhatti was in the process of pushing for the reform of harsh blasphemy laws that impose the death penalty for insulting Islam.

Earlier this year, Punjab province Governor Salman Taseer, a liberal Muslim was killed by a bodyguard who said he was angry that the politician opposed the blasphemy laws.

Bhatti remained single not wanting his wife and children to suffer for what he believed - he was fully aware of what potentially lay in store for him as the video below which was made four months ago will show.

In an interview he did while in Canada in February, this is what he said about this potentiality:

“I have been told by pro-Taliban religious extremists that if I will continue to speak against the blasphemy law, I will be beheaded.” But he said his faith gave him strength.

“As a Christian, I believe Jesus is my strength. He has given me a power and wisdom and motivation to serve suffering humanity. I follow the principles of my conscience, and I am ready to die and sacrifice my life for the principles I believe,”

So sure was Bhatti of his fate that he left instructions with friends to send this video to media outlets should he die at the hands of those opposed to him and his ideals.

This is what we are fighting for?

An Afghan physiotherapist will be executed within three days for converting to Christianity.

Said Musa, 45, has been held for eight months in a Kabul prison were he claims he has been tortured and sexually abused by inmates and guards.

Mr Musa, who lost his left leg in a landmine explosion in the 1990s, has worked for the Red Cross for 15 years and helps to treat fellow amputees.

He was arrested in May last year as he attempted to seek asylum at the German embassy following a crackdown on Christians within Afghanistan.
He claims he was visited by a judge who told him he would be hanged within days unless he converted back to Islam.
But he remains defiant and said he would be willing to die for his faith.

He told the Sunday Times: 'My body is theirs to do what they want with.
'Only God can decide if my spirit goes to hell.'

Defence lawyers have refused to represent him, while others have dropped the case after receiving death threats.

Mr Musa was arrested after a TV station showed western men baptising Afghans during secret ceremonies.

Mind you, this isn't going down in some outlying province of Afghanistan under the control of an Islamist warlord rather in the Afghan capitol where one might think that the mayor of Kabul, Hamid Karzai, might be able to influence a more desirable outcome.

Nation-building is a bitch but since we're doing the heavy lifting over there, we don't think it would be too much to request of our hosts that they might possibly respect some of the most basic of basic human rights and not being put to death for one's religion might be an appropriate and entirely relevant jumping off point considering the time table Mr. Musa is apparently willing to eschew.

We know that it may sound a little too 1st amendment-y for some but since we are ready to throw out the old in the name of "democratic reforms" in Egypt, what's our excuse for inaction here?

As we are spilling American blood in Afghanistan in order to fashion a reliable ally that doesn't harbor terrorists, we've a tough time coming to terms with who exactly are the good and bad guys and for what principles we are willing to look the other way.

And this was supposed to be the good war.

Video clip of the day

Via Temple of Mut:

The story of the Nativity in the digital age...





We couldn't help but note the people that put this together omitted Joseph's response to Mary's gmail informing him she was pregnant.

It is a "G"-rated production, after all, so we suppose we can understand.

Christianity in America

Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift from God? That they are not violated but with his wrath?

- Thomas Jefferson, 1781


Bill Whittle provides an outstanding summation of morality, Christianity, self-governance and how they are woven into the fabric of America in the 8-minute Firewall video below.

If you are of a non-Christian faith or no faith at all, don't be alarmed. Give it a view and let us know what you think.





We dig the fact that he brings up good citizenship and upright behavior as the bulwark against government intrusion.

When we don't govern ourselves internally, there is always someone else who will do it for us.

See also: the myriad of social programs that have attempted to clean-up the mess caused by anti-social behavior to little or no effect.

Quickies

A round-up of articles, columns, news items and blog posts that caught our eye this week.

Programming note: We will be out of pocket for most of the rest of the day on work-related matters. We'll share later.



You can gage the effectiveness of a piece of legislation when two people get into a pissing contest with respect to semantics alluding to just how god-awful that particular piece of legislation was.

In my August 23 Examiner column I wrote, “The 2009 stimulus package is so unpopular that Democrats have banned the word from their campaign vocabulary. ‘I’m not supposed to call it stimulus,’ Rep. Barney Frank told the Daily Show’s Jon Stewart. ‘The message experts in Washington have told us that we’re supposed to call it the recovery plan.’” Chairman Frank, whom I’ve known and admired since I was in college, writes and says that I misinterpreted his comment. I’m not sure he’s right, but I’m not sure the point is worth quibbling about. So let me quote the text of his letter and let readers decide.

More Michael Barone v. Barney Frank, here.




Christoper Hitchens on the cease-less and end-less chore civilizations must perform in being a moderating influence on religion

Those who wish that there would be no mosques in America have already lost the argument: Globalization, no less than the promise of American liberty, mandates that the United States will have a Muslim population of some size. The only question, then, is what kind, or rather kinds, of Islam it will follow. There's an excellent chance of a healthy pluralist outcome, but it's very unlikely that this can happen unless, as with their predecessors on these shores, Muslims are compelled to abandon certain presumptions that are exclusive to themselves. The taming and domestication of religion is one of the unceasing chores of civilization. Those who pretend that we can skip this stage in the present case are deluding themselves and asking for trouble not just in the future but in the immediate present.

We suppose this is a sword that cuts both ways. We know a few conservative Catholics out there that are not terribly pleased with the outcome of Vatican II and the World South of the Anglican church is resisting many of the changes of their "reform"-minded brethren of the Northern Hemisphere.



Not enough Labor. Steve Chapman of Reason on the job-killing consequences of government. These two paragraphs caught our eye:

Many liberals admire Europeans for their civilized habit of working less than Americans do. But they used to work more. The change came about because higher taxes on that side of the Atlantic have greatly reduced the gains from working.

Generous social welfare benefits were another factor in sapping the European work ethic. But the United States is moving in the same direction. President Obama recently signed a bill extending unemployment insurance benefits, allowing those out of work to collect for up to 99 weeks.

As recently as just a couple years back we recall both friends and writers alike pining for the "civilized" European lifestyle with its sub-40 hour work weeks and month-long vacations in August and how it contrasted so sharply with the brutish nature of the work-a-daddy American lifestyle. How's that worked out for Europe?



And speaking of how's that worked out?: Pass. the. Damn. Bill., they clamored:

"It's a process argument of murky merits that will be long forgotten by November," Chait wrote in January of the roundabout moves used by the Democrats to Pass The Damn Bill once Scott Brown was elected. But a USA Today/Gallup poll taken March 26 to 28 found that 53 percent of adults and 58 percent of independents considered these tactics an "abuse of power" and 50 percent of independents (and 49 percent of all respondents) blamed them for the ugliness that surrounded its passage.

"Because of the way it was passed ... the country has simply not accepted it," Pat Caddell would say later.

The main reason given to "Pass. The. Damn. Bill." was to give Democrats something to run on, but Democrats who voted "no" are now running against it, while others don't dare bring it up. "Being perceived as wrong, as opposed to ... wrong and incompetent is not much progress," political pollster Charles Cook noted.

As Tom Bevan wrote when Chait had his brainstorm, they "seem to have no comprehension of the political consequences of pursuing action that treats the public -- not just in Massachusetts, but across the country -- with such utter contempt."

Again, process matters. It's unconstitutional and the manner in which it was pushed across the finish line wheezing, creaking, stalling and with parts falling off and lobbyist-approved Bondo covering the many puncture wounds has rendered ObamaCare illegitimate.





Via KT: The Ole Miss Rebels have been without a mascot since the apparently slavery era-invoking Colonel Reb was banished from the scene back in 2003. 7 years is an awful long time for a proud institution like the University of Mississippi to be without a mascot and all that results in either insipidness or genius depending upon your viepoint.



Us? Seeing the leader of the rebel alliance knocking back a few cold ones with campus co-eds at The Grove before the game would be awesomely surreal. And what's not to like about that?

Of pickles, Glen Beck, God and bagpipes

We found out this past week that the Von's grocery market where we shop no longer carries Clausen dill pickles. This is the sort of news that can send one into a downward tailspin for days. In order to avert this fate, check out B-Daddy's excellent post regarding Glen Beck's Restoring Honor rally, here.

His calls for piety and invocation of Judeo-Christian values undermine the premises of the left's political argument which goes something like this. "The world is very complicated, and the average person can't understand it all. In order to improve the lives of all citizens only smart and expert people can properly order society; leaving to the free choice of individuals is too messy, unpredictable and ultimately will result in societal failure. Elect us and we will invoke scientific principles to establish an earthly utopia." Sound familiar?

B-Daddy contends that though it was prima facie, an apolitical event, it was, just the same, very much a political one.

We contend that is was more of a cultural event that reflected the growing discontent and disillusionment Americans have with the people who are at the levers of power in our man-made institutions and the implicit recognition that We the People are ultimately responsible for the fate of our Republic. And because the system is rigged with respect to gerry-mandered districting and campaign finance laws that tilt the playing field toward the incumbent, the cleansing of these institutions that are the framework of this Republic will first require a self-cleansing and then a super-human effort fueled by divine inspiration.

For those conserva-libertarian non-believers that may have been put off by the overtly religious nature of the event, keep this in mind: All of us over here on this side of the aisle believe that, at the end of the day, whether by God or just the natural order of being, we are sentient individuals possessing the absolute capabilities of thinking and acting completely on our own and that we are charged with forging our own destiny holding to the belief of the primacy of the individual over that of the collective. We receive direction from no person, group nor government without our consent.



Side note: And why would it be beyond the realm of possibility for a God-fearing liberal to attend Beck's event? As we've stated many times before in this blog, why wouldn't a good-government liberal, were he being perfectly honest with himself, be appalled at the shocking lack of transparency and atrocious display of unethical behavior borne of condescension and a sense of entitlement in the elected and bureaucratic ruling class? Are not goo-goo liberals our brothers out here in the Country class, as well?

We leave you with this from the rally (via What Make Us Right).

No Big Media love for mighty Mo?

We noted last week Newsweek's mocking and chiding of the American public for allowing the possibility to think that the President might be Muslim and we are beginning to wonder just what is Big Media's problem with Islam for we have never seen a more vigorous defense of Christianity at the expense of another widely practiced and perfectly legitimate Abrahamic faith.

Check out the WaPo who caught up with the President's former pastor, the quote machine, Jeremiah Wright, who was blasting those who think that Obama is a Muslim:

Wright's only reference to Obama came when he compared Griffen's opponents to those who incorrectly think Obama is Muslim. The president, whose full name is Barack Hussein Obama, is Christian.

And later:

A poll released this month found that nearly one in five people, or 18 percent, said they thought Obama was Muslim, up from the 11 percent in March 2009. The proportion who correctly said he was Christian was 34 percent, down from 48 percent in March of last year. The poll, conducted by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center and its affiliated Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, surveyed 3,003 people.

(italics, ours)

If it's an opinion poll, then why do we need to be told what the Washington Post is insisting is the right answer... that would only be their opinion, no?



And check out the perky one, Katie Couric from last week:

Embed is currently disabled. Please go here

Couric:

"He is not (a Muslim)"

"For the record: He is a Christian"

Are you all noticing a pattern here?

Newsweek, the Washington Post and CBS Evening News all saw fit to instruct, nay, admonish us for thinking that the President was anything but a follower of Christ and most certainly not, pffft, a Muslim.

It certainly looks from our vantage point that Big Media would have a problem if it indeed turned out that the President is a closet Muslim. Given the context of the comments and the narrative, how could it not?

How wacky are things these days when a small neighborhood right-wing blog like ours is coming to the defense of the religion of peace?

Easter 2010

Freedom to believe... (or not)

Freedom to worship... (or not)

Freedom to love... (or hate)

Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!


Happy Easter, everybody!

Can't hit'em where they ain't

The early Christians living in the Roman Empire were very much a leaderless and decentralized movement. Far from being a detriment to the advance of Christianity, however, the nimbleness inherent to the early Christian church proved to be an asset resulting in the spread of Christianity in the face of Roman persecution.

Be it warfare, both ancient and modern, religion or even politics, there are key advantages to achieving your ends via diffusion as your enemy is swinging at air unable to land blows upon a vaporous target.

B-Daddy ties it all together here.

Any hope?

As promised, your very heavy Sunday thought piece...

Dialog, discussion, debate, compromise and reconciliation all require a degree of commonality between the two parties.

B-Daddy has noted while trolling over at the Daily Kos, that many/most (?) of the commenters view universal healthcare as a fundamental right. Well, if you come from a conservative/libertarian point of view, that renders any discussion regarding some of the finer point of healthcare moot.

And what of religion? Can there be any reconciliation beyond politically correct platitudes (offered up by Christians) between the Islamic and Christian faiths?

We’ve discussed with B-Daddy the intellectual rigor to which Catholics have exercised their faith that surpasses that of Protestants and indeed B-Daddy leans heavily on the writings of the current Pope to inform this excellent post on the fundamental natures of Islam and Christianity and any hopes of reconciling between the two religions. Read it here.

Yeah, but can He convince you to vote for John Kerry?

While John Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen and other musicians were trying to win hearts and minds for Anybody but Bush back in ’04, it seems the music of one Johan Sebastian Bach has people leaning towards another non-politically affiliated individual. Fellow Theo-cat, Foxfier aka Precentor of Measurements, has linked to an interesting piece documenting a seemingly unlikely triad of Bach’s music, Asians and Christianity. Click here.

We liked this quote from the original story…..,

“The reason why Bach’s most abstract works guide some Asian people to Christ is because his music reflects the perfect beauty of created order to which the Japanese mind is particularly receptive,” suggested Charles Ford, a mathematics professor at the University of St. Louis. “Bach has the same effect on me, a Western scientist…”

…… because we’ve always wondered why mankind's seeking of God and his seeking of reason and rationality had to be mutually exclusive endeavors.