This Battle Cry shit just might be the final straw for me. These fucks just may make me lose it. I'm not at all surprised when the religionists try to rally their moral troops, and I'm not surprised that christian teenagers, like all teenagers, are unable to stand up to idiocy.
Kids, teenagers, are mostly great people, but they are young and gullible all too often. As well we know that parts of their brains are still developing. They don't always have to ability to think ahead or to see the variety of outcomes. How many people start smoking as teens versus the number that start smoking in their twenties?
Who but teenagers would wear clothes so baggy and ill fitting that they are unable to walk reasonably and explain it as individuality while surrounded by like minded and similarly dressed peers? Who but teenagers would follow the example set by every religious leader for whom they have respect, never questioning the biblical text or their leaders' words and describe it all as thinking for themselves?
I try so not to be antichristianist, to see all people in terms of equality. I'd like to believe that we are all mostly the same with similar drives and ambitions. But I just can't accept that most christianists want what is best for us. They have such a disturbing and facist view of what is best for us, a world where our morals are forced on us, not unlike what the mullahs are forcing on too many islamist nations. Wow, there's the comparison.
I'm trying to remember the point in the bible where it states that believers should arm themselves for battle against people. There are references to a battle against evil, but these are not battles against people who are perceived as evil. They are exhortations to believers to practice their religion personally. There are passages that suggest that believers should preach their story, their truth as they see it. But never does the bible say that nonbelievers should be forced to do anything. In fact the bible does indeed preach that people have the choice to follow or not follow the bible.
Christianist people have no rights to try to force their codes of conduct, their beliefs or their morality on anyone. It's really that simple. I do not believe their stories nor will I ever. I have no room in my life for their brand of hell. I refuse to allow them to win. This is not their country nor is it a christian nation. We are a republic that was founded on a certain set of beliefs in the freedom and rights of men and women.
"Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" does not really leave much to debate. Those are very important principles to very many of us, American and otherwise. They are obviously not important to the growing movement of fascist christians. Those words don't open the door to a theocracy no matter how far into the door you try to wedge your bible. Our founders did not say "Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness within narrowly defined parameters as set down in the bible." It does say that these rights are given us by our creator and that these rights are inalienable, or nontransferrable, or ours and not to be taken or taken lightly.
The enemy that we are supposed to be fighting tells us their god is most powerful and wants us all to wear beards and burkahs. If our own religious fundys get any more power, how far away are we from the protestant burkah? They are fighting what they might call an immoral and violent society and want to turn us to christ. That won't happen.
Islamic nations are known for having religious based police, morals police, whose job is to basically drive around and harass people who are not following the koran properly. Iraq is currently engulfed in a civil war pitting two opposing sides of the very same religion. If we are forced to become a theocracy, how long until we start seeing truckloads of dead baptists killed by the catholics from the next neighborhood over? And before we know it, the baptists have struck back with a car bomb. Not to be outdone the episcopalians are tossing a molotov cocktail through the door of the synagogue. It sounds crazy doesn't it? But were Iraqis killing each other like this last year? And what of the catholic versus protestant battle in Ireland? Not so far fetched now is it?
Is this what you want battle cry? Do you really want a war? Please, christian Americans, don't force us into a civil war based on your superstitions. What you see as an immoral and depraved American society is starting to wake up to your fascism, wide eyed fully awake. God is not telling you to start this fight, and he/she won't help you survive it. But there are plenty of us more than willing to fight a real fight for a freedoms. I'm not willing to die for oil in a desert, but I will stand up for my rights, my children's rights and the rights of anyone who values liberty.
Thanks to the Daily Pitchfork for bringing this to my attention moments before Kos would have. Okay, it's only because the fine folks in hell come first in my bloglines.
