Archive for April, 2011

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Sharia Hysteria: Dancing with Bigots

April 29, 2011

As we have reported, an Arizona attorney and white supremacist who traffics in anti-Muslim and anti-black bigotry created the model legislation for House Bill 911, an anti-Sharia bill that passed the Texas House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee last week. And who is supporting HB 911?

One supporter testifying in favor of state Rep. Leo Berman’s bill during the Texas House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee hearing on April 4 described herself as a “national member of ACT! For America.” ACT! describes itself as providing “American citizens a means to be a collective voice for the democratic values of Western Civilization, such as the celebration of life and liberty, as opposed to the authoritarian values of radical Islam, such as the celebration of death, terror and tyranny.” In truth, ACT! works overtime to smear all Muslims as “radicals” and “militants.”

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Posted in ACT! For America, Islam, Leo Berman | 7 Comments »

Berman’s Portable Goal Posts

April 28, 2011

Say what you will about Texas state Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, you have to give the man credit for becoming a master at moving the goal posts.

Unless you were nowhere near a TV or computer on Wednesday, you missed the big dose of widely verified reality the White House dropped on the world when it released President Obama’s long-form birth certificate proving what most rational people already knew: President Obama was, in fact, born in the United States.

Maybe not surprisingly, that still doesn’t satisfy Rep. Berman, who filed a bill (HB 295) this year requiring that presidential and vice presidential candidates present an original birth certificate to qualify for the Texas ballot. But after President Obama presented his birth certificate to the nation yesterday, Birther Berman flipped the switch and got those goal posts a-movin’ out of the stadium and all the way out into the parking lot.

The Texas Tribune wrote the following about Berman:

He said he’s now seen two birth certificates: the Hawaiian one released by Obama this morning, and one he said indicates Obama was born in Mombasa, Kenya. And he claims the hospital Obama lists on his birth certificate — in fact, all hospitals in Honolulu — have denied the president was born there.

And here’s video from the Tribune of Berman’s lingering doubts:

See? He’s just asking questions — not giving any credible answers, but at least he has the courage to ask questions.

You know who else asks a lot of questions? PolitiFact Texas. The award-winning website has vetted Berman’s latest claims and guess how they rated them? C’mon, guess.

Yep, Pants on Fire.

Posted in Barack Obama, Leo Berman, political extremism | 4 Comments »

Talking Points

April 28, 2011

From today’s TFN News Clips:

“Are you kidding me, Earth Day in the schools? We’ve got to save the Earth? I mean, that’s like a tick . . . trying to save a whole heard of cattle. I mean, ticks go along for the ride, they don’t manage the cattle, they don’t tell them where to go. And that’s our arrogance in thinking that we can do something to save the planet and control where the planet goes. You know, we’re just along for the ride and we’re insignificant peons on this thing.”

– David Barton, head of the Texas-based religious-right group WallBuilders, arguing that it’s silly to think human beings can do anything to lessen problems caused by pollution and climate change (problems he doesn’t recognize anyway).

Stay informed with TFN News Clips, a daily digest of news on issues involving religious freedom, civil liberties and public education. Subscribe here.

Posted in climate change, David Barton, Talking Points | 2 Comments »

The Successful/Failed Amendment

April 28, 2011

Texas state Rep. Wayne Christian, R-Center, may have succeeded and failed at the same time.

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Posted in religious right, Wayne Christian | 3 Comments »

They’ll Say Anything

April 27, 2011

The religious right is angry again (so what else is new?) with President Obama. This time religious-right pressure groups are attacking the president (and closet Muslim, right?) for not issuing a proclamation in honor of Easter. Here’s a Twitter post on Monday from David Barton, head of Texas-based WallBuilders:

@whitehouse fails to release #Easter Proclamation and no statement from @BarackObama

Barton’s Tweet links to a disingenuous (one wonders if there is any other kind with that outfit) Fox News piece noting the “failure” of the president to issue such a proclamation.

Then in an “Action Alert” email on Tuesday, the American Family Association (which the Southern Poverty Law Center has identified as a hate group) told its supporters:

The president has been devoted to issuing statements marking all major Muslim holidays, which are of no historical significance to the United States whatsoever. He has released statements in honor of Ramadan, Eid-ul-Fitr, Hajj and Eid-ul-Adha, holidays which most Americans cannot pronounce and certainly do not celebrate. More glaringly, President Obama made no mention of Good Friday or Easter in his weekly address to the nation on Saturday.

AFA shrieked that the president’s failure to issue an Easter proclamation “was an intentional act of disrespect” toward Christian Americans.

Actually, what’s really, deeply disrespectful is how religious-right groups treat their conservative Christian supporters like they’re stupid and gullible. In fact, a blogger searched through presidential proclamations going back to 1980 and found no Easter proclamations from other presidents. Search for yourself here. Moreover, President Obama spoke at an Easter Prayer Breakfast at the White House last week about the importance of the day to himself and other Christians. Here’s just part of what he said:

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Posted in Barack Obama, religious right | 7 Comments »

The Man Behind the Sharia Hysteria

April 26, 2011

So who is really behind House Bill 911, the proposed Texas legislation that supporters say will stop the mythical threat of Sharia law from being imposed on Texas? As we’ve said before, scratch the surface of the anti-Muslim hate and hysteria promoted by far-right pressure groups in this country and you’ll sniff the familiar stench of bigotry.

The House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee unanimously passed HB 911 last week. At the committee’s April 4 public hearing on that bill, an attorney told lawmakers that he had helped develop the model policy on which those Texas bills were based. And with whom did he work on the so-called “American Laws for American Courts” model? David Yerushalmi — an Arizona attorney and white supremacist who traffics in anti-Muslim and anti-black bigotry and is one of the biggest promoters of Sharia hysteria in America.

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Posted in David Yerushalmi, Islam, Leo Berman, Randy Weber | 4 Comments »

Publisher Proposes Creationist Materials

April 25, 2011

A 2009 decision by the Texas State Board of Education has enabled creationists to once again try to mess with science in public school classrooms in Texas.

Read the Press Release from the Texas Freedom Network and the National Center for Science Education

The Texas Education Agency has released proposed supplemental web-based materials for science courses from publishers who want their product in your child’s classroom as early as the 2011-2012 school year.

But there’s a problem with at least one of those publishers that represents a potential leap backward for science education in Texas.

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Posted in creationism, evolution, intelligent design, science, Science adoption (2011), State Board of Education | 22 Comments »

Celebrate the First Amendment

April 25, 2011

Our friends at the San Antonio Chapter of Americans United for Separation of Church and State are extending an open an invitation to their “First Amendment Day Celebration,” next Saturday, April 30.

“First Amendment Day Celebration!”
Celebrating the Constitution and the Bill of Rights
1 – 4 p.m., Saturday, April 30
Radius Center, 106 Auditorium Circle
www.radiuscenter.org
Admission is free and open to the public

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Posted in Events | 1 Comment »

The Week in Quotes (April 17 – 23)

April 24, 2011

Here are some of the week’s most notable quotes culled from news reports from across Texas, and beyond.

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Posted in The Week in Quotes | 3 Comments »

Terry Jones Does Something Good

April 22, 2011

Terry Jones has popped up again getting another hit of his addiction: media attention.

Jones, the controversial pastor from a small church in Florida who threatened to burn the Quran, then didn’t, and then did, is in the press again for a protest he planned for today — one of the holiest days in Christianity — in front of the largest mosque in the country in Dearborn, Mich., in what is a continuation of his fight against what he calls the evil that is Islam.

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Posted in Islam, religious right | 11 Comments »

Blast from the SBOE Past

April 21, 2011

UPDATE
Former state board member (and chairman) Don McLeroy contacted our office this morning to dispute the accuracy of information in this post. Specifically, Dr. McLeroy claims that the substitute English/language arts TEKS document given to board members only hours before the final vote was not – as we (and the Associated Press) maintained – a “new” document. Dr. McLeroy claims that it incorporated elements of earlier versions that the board had previously considered during the marathon two-year review process.

We appreciate Dr. McLeroy’s courtesy and concern for accuracy. However, even granting the argument that the board had at various times seen all the elements in the final standards document, we believe it is fair to characterize this last-minute substitute document as a “new” version – or even a “never-before-seen” version, as the AP article states. A 100+ page document that cobbles together bits from more than one source – even if the sources themselves had been reviewed earlier – is a substantially new set of standards.

And semantics aside, our larger point stands: forcing board members to vote on something this important after only a few hours of review is simply not a reasonable way to write curriculum standards. That’s precisely why we support Rep. Strama’s bill to require a modest amount of time for consideration before the board makes these once-a-decade curriculum decisions.

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More than once this legislative session, the far-right supporters of the status quo at the Texas State Board of Education have argued that it ain’t broke, so don’t fix it. They usually say the SBOE process is top-notch and the envy of other states.

How soon we forget.

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Posted in English/Language Arts, State Board of Education | 3 Comments »

Take Action: SBOE Reform

April 20, 2011

Three days out of a once-a-decade process isn’t much. State Rep. Mark Strama, D-Austin, agrees. We at TFN also agree. And so did almost everyone else at last night’s hearing before the Texas House Committee on Public Education, which took testimony on Rep. Strama’s HB 3257.

The legislation would require that any amendments to public school curriculum standards be made available for public review at least three business days prior to the SBOE voting on them. It also mandates that the final version of the complete standards be posted for at least 24 hours before the board votes on final adoption.

This is how TFN President Kathy Miller explained the organization’s support for the bill:

It represents transparent and open government, and it will go a long way in alleviating concerns that parents have about the procedures at the State Board of Education.

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Posted in State Board of Education | 1 Comment »

Exposing David Barton’s Lies about America

April 19, 2011

We’re glad to see that more Americans are learning the truth about the far right’s minister of propaganda — phony historian David Barton. Regular TFN Insider readers already know a lot about Barton and his Texas-based organization’s efforts to destroy basic constitutional protections for religious freedom in America. In addition, the Texas Freedom Network Education Fund’s 2006 report on the religious right in Texas exposed Barton’s politicization of religion.

Yesterday MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell turned his focus to Barton as well, asking why this fringe right-winger matters. Guest Peter Montgomery of People for the American Way gave O’Donnell’s audience a pretty accurate portrayal of the far right’s minister of propaganda. Here’s a little of what Montgomery had to say about Barton:

“He’s a historian in the same way that the creationists who teach that the world is 6,000 years old are scientists. they comb through history, looking for one little scrap of evidence, and they ignore mountains of evidence to the contrary.”

…

“By making every issue a religious issue and claiming that God has one particular position — and Barton will tell you that the Bible mandates the far-right position on everything, not just abortion and gays but immigration and economic policies — he then says  if you’re wrong, if you disagree with him, you’re not just wrong on the issues, but you’re anti-God. . . . We believe that’s dangerous and it’s bad for democracy. If you’re opponents are ‘evil,’ it makes it a lot harder to have a real conversation about policy and to reach compromise. It makes it very hard to solve are problems.”

…

“I think a lot of Christians would not recognize the Bible as David Barton promotes it.”

Watch O’Donnell’s segment on Barton here.

Posted in David Barton | 21 Comments »

Can’t We Just Move On?

April 19, 2011

What started with a roar of outrage last May, ended last week with a whimper. And without a vote.

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Posted in social studies, State Board of Education | 5 Comments »

I Heard It on the Radio

April 19, 2011

Late Monday evening, the Texas House Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee voted unanimously to pass House Bill 911 by Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, a statute that purports to bar Texas courts from applying “foreign laws,” but is really about responding the paranoid fears and biases of those who claim Sharia law is going to “take over the country” (as one of the bill’s supporters testified in committee).

To be clear, every single member of the committee (with one member absent) voted to pass this bill, despite the fact that no one is aware of any legitimate problems the bill will address.

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Posted in Islam, Leo Berman | 6 Comments »

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