{"id":10965,"date":"2012-10-23T10:32:48","date_gmt":"2012-10-23T14:32:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/?p=10965"},"modified":"2012-10-23T10:32:48","modified_gmt":"2012-10-23T14:32:48","slug":"montana-is-californias-route-to-the-sea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/slacktivist\/2012\/10\/23\/montana-is-californias-route-to-the-sea\/","title":{"rendered":"Montana is California’s route to the sea"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Dawn Duncan Harrell<\/a>:<\/p>\n

The problem is that we project our own definition of stupid, bad, evil, and satanic onto our Other (1 John 1:8). Then we can define ourselves as the opposite \u2014 smart, good, righteous, and godly \u2014 but within this tidy little package, we\u2019ve created Satan in our own image (Rom 2:1).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Pro-life protesters<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Pro-life protesters in Chicago\u2019s Daley Plaza on Saturday said that abortion was \u201cworse than Hitler\u201d and that President Barack Obama was a \u201cCommunist Nazi.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat children\u2019s rights? They want to abort them before they can even become anything,\u201d one protester told independent YouTube reporter DogStar7. \u201cIt is worse than Hitler. How many millions of people have they killed compared to Hitler?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a Communist Nazi,\u201d another protester [said].<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>* * * * * * * * *<\/p>\n

\u201cGeorge Marsden and Mark Noll on America\u2019s Christian Roots<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

George Marsden: \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s ever a good strategy to exaggerate the facts, to change the facts in order to make a current point.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bad news for American evangelicalism is that this needs to be said at all. The good news is that we\u2019ve got people as wise and knowledgeable as Marsden and Noll saying it. But then the bad news (again) is that they\u2019ve been saying this for more than 30 years and don\u2019t seem to be gaining any ground.<\/p>\n

* * * * * * * * *<\/p>\n

The first decade of the 21st Century \u2014 the Naughty Oughts \u2014 was the first (since the 1940s) that saw no such technological tsunami, making America rich enough to buy from the world.\u00a0 As the internet boom petered out, we could have made sustainable energy<\/em> our Next Big Thing. It was proposed, and the rate that China and Germany are getting rich off solar and wind is most impressive!<\/p>\n

By coincidence, that was also the decade when the Fox War on Science hit full stride. When science became the right\u2019s enemy number one.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2014 David Brin<\/a><\/p>\n

* * * * * * * * *<\/p>\n

Matthew Soerens of the evangelical pro-immigration group (yeah, you read that right) G92 makes a bold statement<\/a>:<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to make a prediction that I don\u2019t think is mere wishful thinking: 2013 will be the year that immigration reform finally passes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I hope he\u2019s right. Whether he is or not depends completely on what happens on Nov. 6<\/a>.<\/p>\n

* * * * * * * * *<\/p>\n

This (funny) video highlights the barriers to healthcare women face in many parts of the world<\/a>, such as in countries where a husband\u2019s consent is required to get birth control.<\/p>\n

The goal of this project is to help improve women\u2019s access to health care around the world by working to remove such barriers. I\u2019m worried, though, that someone like Texas Gov. Rick Perry will see this video and adopt its litany of obstacles to women\u2019s health care as his legislative agenda for 2013.<\/p>\n

Related: Christianity Today<\/em> reports on glimmers of good news for women from Uruguay and Buenos Aires, mistaking it for bad news<\/a>.<\/p>\n

* * * * * * * * *<\/p>\n

\u2022 Here\u2019s one difference between England and American ca. 2012. In England, they have charming eccentrics whose fascination with unexplained phenomena and Forteana leads them to write books about local legends and to give the occasional lecture at the public library<\/a>. In America, we have much angrier cranks who believe even stranger things, and we elect them to Congress<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2022 I don\u2019t disagree with Dean Baker lightly, but the headline on this post of his is simply not true: \u201cNot Just Tax Increases, but ANY Deficit Reduction Will Cost Jobs<\/a>.\u201d The substance of the post is fine, but that headline is just wrong. We\u2019ve got 7.8 percent unemployment. That means that right now the best way to reduce the deficit is to put the unemployed back to work. Creating jobs is<\/em> deficit reduction. And creating jobs will not cost jobs. Massive investment in infrastructure, right now, would reduce the deficit.<\/p>\n

\u2022 \u201cAgain I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favour to the skilful; but time and chance happen to them all<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 Josh Romney is a handsome fellow. Rebecca Schoenkopf<\/a> thinks he has Patrick Bateman-like good looks, but I\u2019d say he looks more like a young Robert Redford<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The Dude abides<\/a>: \u201cWe must end our national problem of hunger through national and political leadership. Charity is nice for some things, but not as a way to feed a nation. We don\u2019t protect our national security through charity, and we shouldn\u2019t protect our families and children that way either.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Want to feel better about yourself? Pretend everyone else is a “Communist Nazi” baby-killer. There, now you’re better than everyone else. See how much easier that was than the hard work of being a decent person?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[27,29],"class_list":["post-10965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-politics","tag-satanic-baby-killers"],"yoast_head":"\nMontana is California's route to the sea<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Want to feel better about yourself? Pretend everyone else is a "Communist Nazi" baby-killer. There, now you're better than everyone else. 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