Palin’s Preacher Problem

Michelle Goldberg blogs (with video):

In 2005, the Kenyan preacher Thomas Muthee stood on the stage of Alaska’s Wasilla Assembly of God and called on Christians to take over the world’s economic system. “The Bible says that the wealth of the wicked is stored up for the righteous. It’s high time that we have top Christian businessmen, businesswomen, bankers, you know, who are men and women of integrity running the economics of our nations,” he said, his remarks captured in recently unearthed video footage. Then he continued: “If you look at the – you know – if you look at the Israelites, that’s how they work. And that’s how they are, even today.”

It’s seems pretty clear that Muthee was alluding to Jewish control over global finance. But if Sarah Palin objected, she certainly didn’t show it when, a few minutes later, she joined him on stage. There, as she bowed her head and turned her palms toward heaven, Muthee laid hands on her and beseeched God to pump money into her gubernatorial campaign coffers.

On being transgender

Mia, at Black Looks, blogs:

My name is Mia Nikasimo. As a volunteer for Changing Attitudes at the Lambeth Conference I found myself in an opportune position to reflect from a translesbian (i.e. a transsexual woman who identifies as a lesbian not to be confused with above or beyond “lesbians,” or a transgender man) standpoint on the Anglican Communion and attempts to exclude the LGBTI.

I have purposely mentioned my trans status here because “transgender” as an umbrella term (for transsexual female, male, sister, brother, mothers, fathers any of the following might choose to cross dress, are intersexed, queer, kings, drag queens and more) can easily loose ones identity in the mix and because I can only share this reflection as a translesbian in the full awareness that some, like my LGBTI African brothers, sisters cannot. As the founder of an online support group call Transafro I aim to give voice to our various narratives Anglicans or otherwise, to promote, empower and raise consciousness in Africa, the Diaspora and allies.

White by the Numbers

Tammerie, who is pursuing a dissertation on anti-racism and Christian theology, blogs:

By the numbers, white people still hold a preponderance of the positions that count, out of proportion to our presence in the population, from which I would argue we are able to maintain white-privileging control over the systems and institutions that shape our society, including business, legislative and judicial systems, property sales and management, education and health care. (Note that the percentages of non-white, non-male legislators was considered too small to be tabulated.)

Of course, not all white people are employed in positions that afford economic power and privilege. Whites represented 44 percent of the 37 million U.S. citizens living below the poverty line in 2006. The (historically constructed) sad thing about that is that most of the white people living in poverty think they have more in common with wealthy white people than they do people of color also dealing with poverty. And that keeps folks from banding together and working together to insist on change in an unjust reality.

The Transgender Sista Among Us

A blogger at Black Women, Blow the Trumpet, blogs about MtF transgendered women within the Black community:

The church folks who read this blog and who know me personally have noticed that I have a few transgender friends. I never set out to find transgender friends, but life has a way of bringing us into situations that are intended to teach us. My transgender friends have always created a huge scene whenever they visit my church. People seem to become nervous and afraid when seeing transgenders. I think that our natural instinct is to fear whatever we do not understand. There is a blog that addresses transphobia. Click here to read the writings of a 30-something transwoman.

The Talaban and Debates Within the Communist Sphere of Pakistan

Vidrohi blogs:

The recent military operations by Frontier Corps (FC) on the religious extremist groups around Peshawar led to a series of debates and discussion amongst the CMKP members regarding the position to be adopted on the question of Taliban and religious-extremists. The conclusion of the debate has been summarised by Ali Jan that is being presented as follows with minor  editions

Happy Birthday to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz

In honor of this blogs namesake.

Sylvia blogs:

In honor of what would have been Malcolm X’s 83rd birthday, Villager has compiled a phenomenal list of links to some of his famous speeches and interviews, including “Ballot or the Bullet,” “Who Taught You to Hate Yourself?” and “House Negroes vs. Field Negroes.” He’s also leading a discussion about how this man has touched the lives of so many people through his voice, his fire, and his life.

…

Happy birthday, Brother; your spirit lives on.

Latoya blogs:

The Autobiography of Malcolm X is one of the defining books in my life. The first time I read it, I was nine. Even now, though I haven’t picked it up in about five years, I can still remember whole passages by heart, and the basic wording of much more. What I find interesting is that as I grew older, my interpretation and understanding of the book changed. When I was younger, I was enthralled by ex-criminal, black nationalist Malcolm X; as I got older I began to wonder more about his transformation to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, his journey to Mecca, and his change in mindset and focus. It is his journey that inspires my own.

Melissa blogs:

Many of our modern leaders live by cynical double standards. They practice slippery personal ethics, while lecturing the masses about morality. They consume conspicuously, while telling ordinary folks to save their pennies. They father children outside of marriage, then blame single mothers for the violence in black communities. They blame individuals for their circumstances, rather than help them deconstruct, understand and overcome the historical, structural, political, reasons for their plight.

Malcolm taught us better. He criticized the powerful rather than the powerless. He pointed to the pathologies of the privileged instead of the failings of the oppressed. His own story of redemption was emblematic of the possibilities available to even the most disempowered, but when he pointed to solutions, they were consistently collective.

Miss Jones blogs:

…very few people, even those who claim to love him, have taken the time to learn more about what he believed and what he did over his lifetime. There was more to Malcolm X than his views on race; his leadership style is something to admire. Too often, as I have written about here, older leaders are inaccessible because they are spoken about as though they are angels who neither grow nor change over their lifetime. However, Malcolm X never hid the fact that he made mistakes and that he was constantly learning and growing nor that he expected people to take ownership of their lives.

Mr. Shadow blogs:

Above all we must understand what Malcolm stood for: justice, freedom and equality for Africans in America and abroad. It is for this he fought and it is for this that he died.

I think it is appropriate to end this post with the spiritually moving eulogy at Malcolm’s funeral given by our late elder, actor and activist Ossie Davis.

The Left, Religious Fundamentalists, and Lebanon

As’ad, a professor at CSU Stanislaus and a visiting professor at UC Berkeley, blogs about the radical left and the situation in Lebanon and the dangers in blindly supporting Hizbullah:

I believe that the radical left, or the revolutionary left, should be careful in evaluating the situation. I see that the Lebanese Communist Party has for all purposes conflated its position with that of Hizbullah–at least during this crisis. The radical left should keep a distance from an organization (i.e. Hizbullah) with which it does not share an ideology–a religious fundamentalist one at that. Today, I kept thinking of the leader of the Iranian Communist Party who sang the praises of Khumayni only to be forced to appear on TV (after the revolution) and make Stalinist-style “confessions”. He later was executed as were other communists.

[Hat Tip: Farfahinne]

In Search of Ramrajya

V Ramaswamy writes a four part series on Muslims and Hindus in India and his own experiences as a community and grassroots organizer. Below is an excerpt from part I. Ramaswamy wrote this post for Blogbharti’s Spotlight Series.

It was only in the aftermath of 6 December 1992 that I came alive to the question of Muslims in India. I was an atheist, and a left-oriented social activist working on issues of urban poverty, low-income housing, slums and squatters. Riots had hit Calcutta too, with Muslim bastis being torched in Tangra in east Calcutta and in Metiabruz in the west. This was the first time in my life that I knew communal riots in my city. The enforced stay at home when Calcutta was under curfew in the days following 6 December 1992, led to an enforced engagement with this question, the Muslim question, something I had hardly thought about earlier. Afterwards, my friend, photographer Achinto, and I went to Tangra. The people from the burnt out slum were sheltered in the municipal slaughterhouse. I will never forget that sight, a vision of hell.

Part II, Part III.

Authentic Mystical Experiences

The Stumbling Mystic blogs about the documentary Jesus Camp, a movie on a camp that indoctrinates children into a hard-ling arch conservative Christian message:

Authentic spiritual experiences erase the “us versus them” mentality. They blur the boundaries between self and other. Emotional and vitalistic experiences like the ones portrayed in Jesus Camp by their very nature reinforce the shadow rather than transmuting it and therefore deepen the fault lines within humanity. Some of the children in the movie report feeling “disgusting” inside when they meet a non-Christian. What a terrible tragedy that such nonsense is being peddled in the name of Jesus of Nazareth!

Blog first viewed at BlogBharti.

Religious Fundamentalism and Imperialism

On the blog Red Diary, Vidrohi writes:

Imperialism succeeded in pushing back the Left through an expensive smear campaign against the Leftist forces trough out the world – a campaign that was not limited to mere words, but involved systematic suppression of Communist Parties. However, it could not eliminate the roots of the Left, which lie in the misery and poverty that Imperialism inflicts due to its inherent nature. Thus, in the absence of Left, it was all the more expected from the people to be attracted to any force that gives voice to their grievances, even if they do not provide a coherent program as an alternative to capitalism and Imperialism. This phenonmenon may not be the reason behind the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, for no one denies the working of Imperialism behind their birth, but it surely constitutes as a major cause in their continued existence (even without the enormous U.S. and Saudi funding that they received during the Cold War).

Sartre’s Godless Philosophy and those of the Bourgeoisie

Lenin, of Lenin’s Tomb, blogs about Sartre and atheistic, or non-theistic, philosophy:

The trouble with the professional atheists or anti-theists these days is, apart from everything else that is bad and reductionist and ridiculous in what they write, that their apparently passionate commitment comes too cheap. It doesn’t require that they give anything up, change anything about themselves, or challenge anything fundamental about the society. They don’t have to engage in any analysis deeper than that which finds religious doctrine to be literally false, philosophically shallow, socially repressive and politically dangerous. Big deal. It never seems to have occurred to them that there might be more radical consequences of the absence centre of ontology than that you should support the teaching of evolution, not kill people for God, and support the right of knocked up teenagers to have abortions. Actually, there is nothing there but the regurgitation of bourgeois wisdom and morality, both of which are pretty contemptible.

79th Edition of Carnival of the Godless

The 79th Carnival of the Godless is being held at the Sexy Secularist!:

Twas the month before Christmas, when – hey, what the heck?
Up go lights, decorations – all the holiday dreck!
Just this Thursday, we ate and we offered our thanks,
As next Christmas rolled in like an army of tanks.
All the stores are bedecked, all the streets are bedazzled,
And these holiday songs leave a man well-near frazzled.

What’s an atheist to do at the end of November?
How to kindle his hearth with a warm, godless ember?
Never fear, herded cats! Pour yourselves some eggnog,
Gather round for a godless, great carnival blog.

“Watch Out For Dem Burqas! Dems Is Dangerous!”

Samhita, on Feministing, writes:

O’Reilly appeared on Good Morning America yesterday to talk about his new book on the youth of today. I am scared that O’Reilly actually was near young people. But I remember teachers like him, the ones that did it to really set these kids straight. They sucked.

But now he has a book out about young people and how to control them and how they act in school. I wouldn’t normally pay attention this, but this got me. O’Reilly claims that wearing a burqa/hijab/veil, is an imposition of religion onto OTHER people. Huh?

“Watch Out For Dem Burqas! Dems Is Dangerous!”

Samhita, on Feministing, writes:

O’Reilly appeared on Good Morning America yesterday to talk about his new book on the youth of today. I am scared that O’Reilly actually was near young people. But I remember teachers like him, the ones that did it to really set these kids straight. They sucked.

But now he has a book out about young people and how to control them and how they act in school. I wouldn’t normally pay attention this, but this got me. O’Reilly claims that wearing a burqa/hijab/veil, is an imposition of religion onto OTHER people. Huh?

Malcolm’s Religion and Elijah’s Religion

Michael Fisher, on the blog The Assault on Black Folk’s Sanity, writes about Malcolm X and his religious views after breaking with Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam:

Therefore, from the point of view of a White Supremacist, given the political content of Elijah Muhammad’s religion and that of Malcolm’s religion, which political content of which religion, Elijah’s or Malcolm’s would be less dangerous to the white supremacist?

I would argue that it would be that of Malcolm’s for it provides an “in” to what otherwise under Elijah would potentially have been a system which at the very least theoretically closed the white supremacists’ access to the minds of black people.

Under the system of White Supremacy the political content of Malcolm’s religion, I would argue, is less than useless. It is dangerous to black people. First, as we already know, the existence of “good” white people is, on balance, thoroughly irrelevant. In fact, an ally without power is a liability.

Malcolm’s Religion and Elijah’s Religion

Michael Fisher, on the blog The Assault on Black Folk’s Sanity, writes about Malcolm X and his religious views after breaking with Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam:

Therefore, from the point of view of a White Supremacist, given the political content of Elijah Muhammad’s religion and that of Malcolm’s religion, which political content of which religion, Elijah’s or Malcolm’s would be less dangerous to the white supremacist?

I would argue that it would be that of Malcolm’s for it provides an “in” to what otherwise under Elijah would potentially have been a system which at the very least theoretically closed the white supremacists’ access to the minds of black people.

Under the system of White Supremacy the political content of Malcolm’s religion, I would argue, is less than useless. It is dangerous to black people. First, as we already know, the existence of “good” white people is, on balance, thoroughly irrelevant. In fact, an ally without power is a liability.

Channel 4 Spreads Hate

Lenin comments on a recent police investigation of a Muslim mosque in Britain after an “undercover” operation by a Channel 4 news team in Britain which aired footage of Muslim clerics allegedly preaching a Wahhabist view of Islam and hatred toward the West:

this particular programme ran into trouble because the West Midlands police decided to investigate their claims to see if anyone could be banged up over it. What the police appear to have found is that statements were spliced together to fundamentally distort what most of the speakers they quoted were actually saying. A CPS lawyer reviewing the footage agreed.

Naturally, the right-wing papers are whinging that the police should be ‘doing their job’, which as they see it involves arresting Muslims and spying on their meetings. The fascists are obviously howling with indignation as well. However, if the police are right, then Channel 4 is possibly guilty of incitement to racial hatred.

Dalit Seminar

A blogger at Teluga Bloggers writes about an upcoming national seminar in India about Dalits and religion:

Religion is one of the problems for Dalits in India. It is the question of its being implicit and explicit, inclusive and exclusive, an insider and outsider for Dalit life. Dalits have been in dilemma as to which religion they have to follow in the Post- Colonial period. Dr. B. R. Ambedkar has made a statement that he will not die as a Hindu. It had an impact on several Dalit Hindus. Moreover, his conversion to Buddhism has influenced thousands of Dalits to follow. However, there may be a few Dalits who are in Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism, Islam and some others have considered Ambedkarism as one of the religions. The Dalits who are in the religions of Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism have constitutional benefits and others who are in Christianity and Islam are denied the same. This could be one of the debates that the seminar is looking forward to address.

Originally linked by Kuffir on Blogbharti.

Carnival of the Godless 71

The 71st Carnival of the Godless is up at Aardvarchaeology.

Poll Says: “Muslims Seeking Destruction!!!”

Tereza at White Anti-Parent:

About a month ago, on May 22, the Pew Research Center released a report on Muslim Americans entitled Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream. Headlines announcing the results and commentary on the study continue to appear in the press.

…

Abdus Sattar Ghazali, Executive Editor of the online magazine American Muslim Perspective, made some interesting points about the Pew study. In his article, “Hidden agenda of PEW Center’s million dollar survey of American Muslims”, for The American Muslim, argues that the report grossly undercounts the Muslim population in this country by as much as sixty percent, putting the total of U.S. Muslims at 2.4 million instead of the 6 or 7 estimated by many researchers and Muslim organizations.

Poll Says: “Muslims Seeking Destruction!!!”

Tereza at White Anti-Parent:

About a month ago, on May 22, the Pew Research Center released a report on Muslim Americans entitled Muslim Americans: Middle Class and Mostly Mainstream. Headlines announcing the results and commentary on the study continue to appear in the press.

…

Abdus Sattar Ghazali, Executive Editor of the online magazine American Muslim Perspective, made some interesting points about the Pew study. In his article, “Hidden agenda of PEW Center’s million dollar survey of American Muslims”, for The American Muslim, argues that the report grossly undercounts the Muslim population in this country by as much as sixty percent, putting the total of U.S. Muslims at 2.4 million instead of the 6 or 7 estimated by many researchers and Muslim organizations.

Rushdie: Blasphemer or Critical Thinker?

 Cubano, of Eccentric Optimism, blogs:

Like most Muslims, I was raised to think that Sulman Rushdie was some sort of a demon.  It wasn’t until recently that I decided to actually read a few books written by Rushdie and realized that his writing is simply brilliant.  Pakistanis and other Muslims should be proud of a writer of such caliber.  The National Assembly of Pakistan is an embarrassment for the people of the country.

Just Another Dumb Bitch

Margari Aziza Hill writes:

It doesn’t matter if you spent elementary school in Gifted and Talented.
It doesn’t matter whether you broke the curve in that exam.
It doesn’t matter whether you were an honors student or excelled in Physics.
It doesn’t matter whether you graduated Cum Laude or Magna Cum Laude.
It doesn’ matter if you IQ puts you in the top 5 percentile.
Nor does it matter whether you are a scholar or thinker.
If your point of view does not agree with some men, you will always be some dumb bitch.

What is “Atheist”?

The Radical Atheist states:

Atheism is not a belief system in opposition to religion. Atheism is simply the lack of any belief in gods. Atheism is the way all people would view reality if religious belief was removed from the picture. Everyone’s an atheist until they adopt theistic beliefs.

What is “Atheist”?

The Radical Atheist states:

Atheism is not a belief system in opposition to religion. Atheism is simply the lack of any belief in gods. Atheism is the way all people would view reality if religious belief was removed from the picture. Everyone’s an atheist until they adopt theistic beliefs.