I can't say anything that isn't in this article better than Bill Moyers did. It may make you angry. It may make you sad & despondent. I hope it does some good. http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/20666/

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Zap

God, protect me from your followers, as the bumper sticker says.

Those people simultaneously piss me off, make me sad, make me shake my head in disbelief. How can they be so....never mind. I won't go there.

More important, everyone, check out the GREAT site he mentions in the article, Grist.org. It's fab.

OHMYGOD. I'm going to take this to some fundamentalist Christians I know at work and ask them what they think. They seem, except for their professed Sunday activities, to be fairly reasonable people. I hope they see the problem. I'll let you know what they say. Eeeeeeeeeeee

"The last time I Googled it, the rapture index stood at 144 – just one point below the critical threshold when the whole thing will blow, the son of god will return, the righteous will enter heaven and sinners will be condemned to eternal hellfire."

I guess I don't have to worry that I missed almost 2 weeks of my medications because I was unnecessarily preoccupied with studying for Finals.

Not all Chrsitians are against protecting the envirionment. I think it's a shame what happened to the environment & it needs protecting... <img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/peace.gif" width=16 height=16>

And now for something positive about Christians

Apparently the United Church of Christ is not taking the NBC and CBS boycott of their commercials lying down. It is their position that anyone has the right to worship however they feel appropriate (Gay, Lesbian, purple, chook whatever). and, that they should be able to advertise that they will accept any into their congregation. Hip Hip Hooray for the UCC.

I hope that no one is taking that article as a slight to Christians! It's warning that there are some people in power now who are using their own twisted ideas and fantasies via religion to quite possibly try to bring about the so called biblical "end of times". Whether or not they succeed, they're pretty much screwing up the planet in the meantime. Bill Moyers is no flake. He is a well respected senior journalist on PBS who hosts the program "Now" (highly suggested...Friday nights on most PBS stations). He also conducted the hours long interview with mythologist Joseph Campbell, "The Power of Myth" (also on PBS) just months prior to Campbell's death. A Christian himself, Moyers would be one of the last people to disparage a religion. The article is more of a wakeup call, folks!

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Zap

True enough, although those Christians is this country who are always calling on Muslims to "clean out the nutcase fanatics" from their religion should likewise make clear that the attitudes in the Moyers piece are not welcome in their faith.

While there are many good Christians in this country, it appears that the "in your face" brand of evangelical is a fast growing group, sadly.

I guess the knot in my gut is just going to get tighter over the next 4 years.

(Hey, PSBeaty my chooks love you!!! Yeah thats right!! they insist on reading Arlonet and Group W through the window!! Have to get up on their perch to do it!! He's now their Guru!!!!) There I hope that loosened that knot a little.

The United Church of Christ seems to want Christian churches to involve Christianity in some way. If you go doing that, who knows what might happen? Actually, this is pretty cool. They're really out there, fighting the rightwing version of Christianity. There are, in actuality, lots of alternatives to those churches, but the Jerry Falwells got where they are on being controversial and getting publicity for it, so maybe it can work for the good guys, too? Probably not as well. When you have principles you're really hampered, at least in these United States these days. But hey, if you're Christian and are tired of the bigotry and hate couched in pious sermons that encourage you to support those leaders who most emphatically do NOT have your interests at heart, let alone God's, give them a try:
http://www.stillspeaking.com/default.htm

I am a Bill Moyers fan. I am a Joseph Campbell fan (I have a huge stack of his books, from the Primitive to the Occidental, They hang out with the KJV Bible, the Tanak , the lost Gospel Q, the Rumi, the Will Durant, William Burroughs, Salvador Dali, etc etc etc, even Garrison Keillor’s Good Poems Collection). There are those in my household who suggest they party together way to often (with my Buddha, my Shiva, my Day of Death Icon, my guitar and my music collection) on the living room floor! They have a tendency to party so hard they pass out all over the place. So, no worries Zap. And, yes this UCC thing is wonderful. I am not exactly Christian (?and I am not exactly not?). But, I have many close friends who are “traditional” Christian and I love them dearly. I encourage them to read the Bible carefully, it is not coded and you don’t need other people to interpret it for you. These UCC people seem to be saying that very thing and fighting for their rights to do so!

Also, I encourage my Muslim friends and my chook friends and my Okie friends to do the same and I encourage all my friends to SING LOUD!

This section for the Chooks! I love chooks. I have a Chooks of the world poster on my wall (the Dutch version, I believe). You guys know any Polish Chooks with the funny Beatle hair do’s. Those guys are a blast. We get together and sing, “the sky is not chicken its yellow.” and we laugh and laugh Later!

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There is lots of cackleing coming from outside my window!! The chook dome is due to be moved on it's 2 monthly rotation at the end of this month!! Looks like I'm gonna have a riot on my hands........

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I used to have Polish Chook friends. They were so cute with their topknots. They coexisted nicely with their Arucana friends from South America, who laid blue, green, and the occasional pink eggs. It was quite a cosmoplitan group and they liked to listen to readings of Joseph Campbell. Okay, I don't know if they LIKED it, but they hung around. That had nothing to do with it being feeding time. (Which takes us back to feed 'em and they'll agree with you.)

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Wondering why you haven't heard from me????
The CHOOKS took me prisoner and only released me when I promised that when I move the dome I will set up mirrors to reflect the competer screen so they can view
arlonet and see their escapeologist(is that a word Shel??)hero. I also had to promise to stop bugging him about 32 cents.(I'm still allowed to use it as a Blunderite password though)