Archive for December, 2010

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Happy New Year from TFN!

December 31, 2010

Texas Freedom Network staffers wish all our readers and supporters a 2011 filled with happiness and good health. We are very grateful for your support over the past year, and we hope you will continue to find TFN Insider a valuable resource for information on our efforts to promote public education, protect religious freedom and defend civil liberties against the far right’s increasingly radical agenda.

One way you can continue supporting our work is by donating to TFN today. Until midnight tonight, donations to TFN will be matched by a generous donor. So please consider a gift to TFN by clicking here. You can also join TFN and donate anytime here.

More resources for you:

Happy New Year!

Posted in Texas Freedom Network | 1 Comment »

The Year in Quotes: Potluck Nuttery II

December 31, 2010

We end our review of what we heard from the far right in 2010 with a second round of potluck nuttery. Click here, here, here, here, here and here for earlier posts about quotes from the far right this year.

“Q: What would you do if you found yourself in a room with Hitler, Mussolini and an abortionist, and you had a gun with only two bullets? A: Shoot the abortionist twice.”

– A flier sent to the homes of University of California at San Francisco medical school students and professors in 1992, New York Times Magazine, July 14, 2010

“I assume that the majority of students at San Marcos High School are Christian. And if that is the case, then this whole thing is anti-Christian.”

– David Castillo, trustee on the San Marco CISD (Texas) school board, explaining why he voted against a proposal to adopt an abstinence-plus sex education curriculum for the school district. Despite Castillo’s objections, the board voted to abolish the district’s abstinence-only curriculum in favor of an abstinence-plus approach. San Marcos Local News (formerly Newzstreamz), July 20, 2010

“Being anti-religion is cool, so Edwards’ non-theological theology gets props from the neo-communists. Still, at her death bed and giving what most folks are calling a final goodbye, Elizabeth Edwards couldn’t find it somewhere down deep to ask for His blessings as she prepares for the hereafter? I guess that nihilism I’ve been discussing reaches up higher into the hard-left precincts than I thought.”

– Donald Douglas, a neoconservative blogger, in a stunningly insensitive criticism of Elizabeth Edwards’ final public message before she died from cancer, Politics Daily, December 8, 2010

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Posted in The Year in Quotes | Leave a Comment »

The Year in Quotes: Potluck Nuttery I

December 30, 2010

As we continue our review of what we heard from the far right in 2010, let’s call this sampling “potluck nuttery.” Click here, here, here, here and here for earlier posts about quotes from the far right this year.

“Yoga is demonic . . . It’s absolute paganism . . . Yoga and meditation and easternism is [sic] all opening to demonism . . . if you just sign up for a little yoga class, you’re signing up for a little demon class. That’s what you’re doing. And Satan doesn’t care if you stretch as long as you go to hell.”

– Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington, joining the ranks of prominent fundamentalist Christian leaders who have recently launched a puzzling attack on yoga, Religion Dispatches, October 27, 2010

“And you know, Kristi, something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French, uh, you know Napoleon the 3rd and whatever, and they got together and swore a pact to the Devil. They said, ‘We will serve you if you’ll get us free from the French.’ True story. And so the Devil said, ‘Okay, it’s a deal.’ And, uh, they kicked the French out, you know, with Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since they have been cursed by, by one thing after another, desperately poor. That island of Hispaniola is one island. It’s cut down the middle. On the one side is Haiti on the other side is the Dominican Republican. Dominican Republic is, is prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, etcetera. Haiti is in desperate poverty. Same island.”

– Far-right televangelist Pat Robertson, asserting that this year’s devastating earthquake — and other events — in Haiti was God’s punishment for the Haitian people’s alleged pact with Satan, ABC News, January 13, 2010

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Posted in The Year in Quotes | 1 Comment »

The Year in Quotes: The War on Gays

December 29, 2010

Homosexuality is a year-round obsession for the far right in America. So there’s no surprise that some of the most ignorant and vitriolic quotes from the right in 2010 targeted gays and lesbians. Tragically, even elected officials bowed to anti-gay prejudice of the most vile kind. Click here, here, here and here for earlier posts on what the far right had to say in 2010.

“[B]eing a fag doesn’t give you the right to ruin the rest of our lives. If you get easily offended by being called a fag then dont tell anyone you are a fag. Keep that s— to yourself. I dont care how people decide to live their lives. They dont bother me if they keep it to thereselves [sic]. It pisses me off though that we make a special purple fag day for them. I like that fags cant [sic] procreate. I also enjoy the fact that they often give each other aids [sic] and die.”

– Clint McCance, a board member in a northern Arkansas school district who has since resigned his seat, writing on his Facebook page that he wants LGBT students to kill themselves, Advocate, October 26, 2010

“There is still a land of opportunity, friends — it’s called Texas. We’re creating more jobs than any other state in the nation. … Would you rather live in a state like this, or in a state where a man can marry a man?”

– Texas Gov. Rick Perry, speaking last month on the campaign trail, Texas Tribune, August 30, 2010 (audio here)

“Not since Adolf Hitler prepared a generation of German and Austrian youth for war has so grand a strategy been attempted.”

– James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family and its Canadian branch, warning Canadians that a cabal of gay activists have drafted a sinister plot against North American schools, The Tyee (Canada), July 19, 2010

(more…)

Posted in LGBT issues, The Year in Quotes | 1 Comment »

The Year in Quotes: Muslim Bashing

December 28, 2010

This year we saw a spike in anti-Muslim hostility — even hysteria — from the right. Even some who have long claimed to support the First Amendment’s protections for religious freedom have been among those ready to target others politically and legally simply for their religious beliefs. So today we review some of what we heard from the right when it came to anti-Muslim hysteria in 2010. You can read earlier reviews of what we heard from the far right this year here, here and here.

“I urge all Texans to support the Texas State Board of Education members who want to stop the pro-Islam/anti-Christian, anti-Judeo bias in our students textbooks. School children should be spared the move to ‘political correctness’ and instead be taught a true and correct version of history.”

– Texas state Rep. Dan Flynn, R-Van, speaking in support of an anti-Muslim resolution passed by the State Board of Education in September, Texas Insider, October 5, 2010

“Progressives and Islamists are indeed on the same side. Their common disdain for Christianity explains why left-wing judges in America find any inkling of Christianity in the public square unconstitutional, while Islamist judges in the Middle East deem it executable. Their common view that life is expendable explains the left’s embrace abortion-on-demand and why the Islamists don’t hesitate to deploy their own children for homicide bombings.”

– Religious-right leader and former Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer, in an essay exploring President Obama’s “affinity for Islam.” Human Events, August 31, 2010

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Posted in Islam, The Year in Quotes | 4 Comments »

The Year in Quotes: Religious Freedom

December 27, 2010

Threats to religious freedom — and the constitutional protections for that freedom — were evident in much of the far right’s political rhetoric in 2010. Some right-wing politicians even sought to turn religion and government into enemies by using faith as a political weapon. You can read more of our review of what the far right had to say in 2010 here and here.

“Our country was founded on religious principles … and our students will know that. . . . I think the [Founding Fathers] fully intended that our government would not separate church and state.”

– Gail Lowe, chair of the Texas State Board of Education, talking about new social studies curriculum standards for public schools, North Texas Daily, September 20, 2010

“The exact phrase ‘separation of church and state’ came out of Adolf Hitler’s mouth. That’s where it comes from. So next time your liberal friends talk about the separation of church and state, ask them why they’re Nazis.”

– Glen Urquhart, Republican congressional candidate from Delaware, Washington Post, April 2010

“WE [sic] elected a house [sic] with Christian, conservative values. We now want a true Christian, conservative running it.”

– John Cook, an elected State Republican Executive Committee member, explaining his opposition to current Texas House of Representatives Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, who happens to be Jewish, Texas Observer, November 30, 2010

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Posted in church and state, religious freedom, The Year in Quotes | 3 Comments »

The Year in Quotes: Science

December 26, 2010

The religious right continued its relentless assault on science and science education in 2010. Unfortunately, even elected public officials expressed support for promoting personal beliefs over sound science in our children’s public schools. Let’s take a look at some of what we heard from the right on science over the past year. Click here other quotes from the religious right in 2010.

“I am a firm believer in intelligent design as a matter of faith and intellect, and I believe it should be presented in schools alongside the theories of evolution. The State Board of Education has been charged with the task of adopting curriculum requirements for Texas public schools and recently adopted guidelines that call for the examination of all sides of a scientific theory, which will encourage critical thinking in our students, an essential learning skill.”

– Texas Gov. Rick Perry, in response to a question about his stance on creationism being taught in public schools, San Angelo Standard-Times, September 11, 2010

“[Y]ou need to know that for our opponents, nothing makes sense except in the light of evolution. The great story coming out of Texas is that their spell has been broken. We have ended the dogmatic teaching of evolution, and we have restored the founders’ idea of a Creator.”

– Don McLeroy, Texas State Board of Education member and former board chair, discussing his departure from the board. McLeroy was defeated in the primary election for his seat earlier this year, but he warns: “You haven’t seen the last of Don McLeroy.” Texas Tribune, November 17, 2010

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Posted in evolution, science, The Year in Quotes | 1 Comment »

The Year in Quotes: The Texas SBOE

December 24, 2010

It’s time for our annual review of what we heard from the far right over the past year. We’ll start with some of the nonsense uttered by members of the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE) in 2010.

“One of the first real breaches of limited government was public education.”

– SBOE member Don McLeroy, R-College Station, in a debate with his election opponent Thomas Ratliff, R-Mount Pleasant, BurkaBlog, Texas Monthly, February 17, 2010

“I reject the notion by the left of a constitutional separation of church and state. I have $1,000 for the charity of your choice if you can find it in the Constitution.”

– SBOE member David Bradley, R-Beaumont Buna, New York Times, March 12, 2010

“Conservatives on our board are the only ones—the Christian conservatives—that are able to sit there and to think for themselves and say, well, wait. Is this really good policy? Should we just trust what’s being brought to us? Should we just rubber-stamp it?”

– Departing SBOE member Don McLeroy, speaking last week on a PBS program about the controversy over social studies curriculum standards in Texas, Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, April 30, 2010

(more…)

Posted in State Board of Education, The Year in Quotes | 5 Comments »

To Our Readers: Help TFN Keep Fighting

December 24, 2010

Update: There’s less than a week left in TFN’s matching donor challenge. Double the impact of your year-end gift to TFN, and help our Insider blog keep a close eye on the religious right in 2011.

TFN Insider readers know that this has been a busy year for the Texas Freedom Network. We have been fighting hard to defeat efforts by right-wing extremists to rewrite history in our public schools, politicize our children’s education, threaten the separation of church and state and keep young people ignorant about how to protect themselves from unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Our public opinion research and citizen education and training opportunities have provided important lobbying tools for activists across the state.

All of that work, frankly, costs money. So as this year comes to a close, we are asking TFN Insider readers and other supporters to consider donating to help fund our critical work in 2011.

With so much at stake, a few generous TFN donors have established a 2010 Matching Gift Challenge. That means every dollar you donate before the December 31 deadline will be matched dollar-for-dollar — up to the $50,000 limit of our matching gift.

Well-heeled donors poured millions of dollars into far-right causes and pressure groups in the months leading up to last month’s elections. And they are prepared to keep spending mountains of cash to support a divisive and destructive agenda that threatens the values we all hold dear.

The Texas Freedom Network is proud to work with a coalition of other organizations on a range of issues critical to the future of this state. But it remains true that TFN is the only organization that fights the religious and radical right in Texas on a broad front, full-time, 365 days out of the year.

We’re glad that so many people come to this site for reliable information about politics and the radical right in Texas. And we will be grateful for any support you can provide as we continue our work for a Texas that respects religious freedom, defends civil liberties for all and promotes strong public schools.

Please click here to support the work of the Texas Freedom Network.

Posted in Texas Freedom Network | Leave a Comment »

Tea Party Nation Founder Attacks Methodists

December 21, 2010

Polls show a significant minority of Americans voice support for the Tea Party, an anti-government movement tied closely to a variety of right-wing funders, lobbyists and causes. Whether or not we agree with them on specifics, we don’t doubt that there are civic-minded Tea Partiers frustrated about what they see as over-reaching government. But it has become clear that the Tea Party movement is tied more and more to religious and political extremists. The newest example is an online rant by Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips against, believe it or not, the United Methodist Church. Writing in a blog post on Sunday, Phillips attacks the church for its support of immigration reform and allegedly a “social justice manifesto [that] is like reading a socialist wish list”:

“They want amnesty, they want ‘economic justice’, they opposed ‘global climate change’ (earth to the Methodists, man isn’t doing it), fighting global poverty (here is another hint, most poverty is caused by a lack of freedom and lack of a free enterprise system). Not shockingly, the Methodists side with the Islamists against Israel, and of course oppose America in Iraq.”

Phillips says his dream is “no more United Methodist Church,” a church he lumps in with “Socialists, Communists and Marxists”:

“In short, if you hate America, you have a great future in the Methodist church.”

So says one of the “patriots” of a Tea Party movement whose supporters claim to be “taking back our country.” The closer one looks at the Tea Party movement, the clearer it becomes just what kind of country they really want America to be.

Posted in tea party | 11 Comments »

Maybe He Wants to Be on the Texas SBOE

December 20, 2010

Remember the revisionist history that members of the Texas State Board of Education were pushing in the debate over new social studies curriculum standards? This was especially evident in efforts by some board members to whitewash American history when it came to race and civil rights issues. At one point board member Don McLeroy even suggested that women and minorities should thank men and white people for securing their civil and equal rights — as if the decades of struggle to win those rights were just a footnote in history.

Now Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is trying to revise the racist history of White Citizens Councils in the South during the civil rights era of the 1950s and 1960s. Here’s Barbour talking about his hometown of Yazoo City, Miss.:

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Posted in civil and equal rights, social studies, State Board of Education | 2 Comments »

Anti-Straus Forces Step Up Pressure

December 20, 2010

Religious-right groups are taking the highly unusual step of calling a public rally next month at the state Capitol in Austin to demand the removal of Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, as Speaker of the Texas House. This  newest intimidation tactic comes after a weeks-long religious campaign against Straus in which Straus opponents have noted that other candidates for Speaker are Christians. Straus is Jewish. Nonpartisan organizations such as PolitiFact have also flagged the anti-Straus campaign for distortions and outright lies.

The public rally, set for Jan. 11, is just one more step in the far right’s efforts to elect an obedient House Speaker who is willing to put extremist policies ahead of the Legislature’s most important work in the coming session — closing a massive budget deficit, tackling election redistricting, strengthening public education and helping working families who are struggling in a difficult economy. Two years ago Straus replaced the last Speaker who was beholden to the far right, Tom Craddick. Under Craddick’s six-year, autocratic tenure, legislators regularly faced intimidation and pressure tactics to force them to vote for policies like draining money from neighborhood public schools to subsidize private and religious schools, gutting the Children’s Health Insurance Program and tearing down the wall separating church and state.

Posted in Joe Straus, Texas Legislature | 1 Comment »

Jesus Favored Tax Cuts for the Rich?

December 17, 2010

In case you missed it, on his show last night Stephen Colbert gave a theology lesson to Bill O’Reilly and the other sanctimonious supply-siders who draft Jesus into their “no help for the poor” army.

Because if this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn’t help the poor, either we’ve got to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we’ve got to acknowledge that he commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition. And then admit that we just don’t want to do it.

Check it out. It’s not to be missed.

Posted in Uncategorized, war on Christmas nonsense | 10 Comments »

Rick Perry’s War on Christmas

December 15, 2010

In his 2008 book, On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting For, Texas Gov. Rick Perry criticizes the American Civil Liberties Union for supposedly engaging in a “war on Christmas” by forcing schools to remove references to Christmas in holiday programs and decorations.

Last year one of Gov. Perry’s loudest supporters, Liberty Institute — Texas affiliate of Focus on the Family — absurdly claimed that curriculum writers were trying to keep public school students from learning about Christmas in their social studies classrooms, shrieking: “Merry Christmas: Don’t be afraid to say it!”

But maybe Liberty Institute should have a chat with Gov. Perry and find out whether he’s “afraid to say it.” As in the past, Gov. Perry’s holiday card to thousands of his closest friends doesn’t say a word about Christmas. Click on the picture for the full version.

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Posted in American Family Association, Liberty Institute, Rick Perry, war on Christmas nonsense | 16 Comments »

Oh Please. Give It a Rest.

December 14, 2010

The right thinks the “war on Christmas” meme works so well that it gets trotted out now for just about everything. Today U.S. Senator John Kyl, R-Arizona, whined that plans by the Democratic majority to work through the holidays is somehow disrespectful of Christmas:

“It is impossible to do all of the things that the majority leader laid out without doing — frankly, without disrespecting the institution and without disrespecting one of the two holiest of holidays for Christians and the families of all of the Senate, not just the senators themselves but all of the staff.”

News flash for Sen. Kyl: millions of Americans will be working through the holidays this year in jobs far harder than anything facing you and your colleagues. Are their employers not respectful of Christmas? Or of their employees’ families? And maybe our terribly (boo-hoo) overworked senators wouldn’t have to work through Christmas if some of them stopped obstructing work on just about every bill. Just sayin’.

UPDATE: Now Senate Republicans are refusing to support a budget bill for 2011 that would keep the federal government open after this Saturday. Why? The bill includes earmarks for pet projects senators have in their own states. Says Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas:

“Part of the reason we’re doing this is to raise the attention of the American people and let them know what’s happening so they can express their outrage.”

But Sen. Cornyn is having trouble explaining why he put some of his own earmarks into the bill he’s now complaining about. Hmmm…

Look, the problem in Congress right now isn’t a “war on Christmas” or disrespect for Christian holidays. The real problems are a war on common sense and a lack of respect for voters. Congress isn’t getting its work done because too many of its members are grandstanding and obstructing progress on just about everything.

Posted in war on Christmas nonsense | 11 Comments »

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