MY NEW HERO
Nuns on the Bus
“It’s immoral!” [Sister Diane Donohue, an] 81-year-old Catholic nun said of [Paul Ryan’s] fiscal plan, as the crowd gathered on Capitol Hill erupted in cheers. Another nun, Sister Simone Campbell, denounced the proposed cuts to food stamps, child care, and other programs for the needy. “That’s not Christian,” said Campbell, who leads a Catholic social justice lobby called NETWORK…. But the Catholic nuns also understand that Kumbaya moments aren’t enough to change votes in Washington: They have a full-fledged lobbying campaign, complete with a 53-page “faithful budget” that outlines their own fiscal priorities in considerable detail, backed by an interfaith coalition of social justice groups.
OK, so I’ll admit this right up front. This is a blatant, unabashed rip-off of Steve Benen’s This Week in God…but imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, amiright?? It’s been awhile since I’ve done my This Week in Jesus schtick, but a salute to Nuns on the Bus seems very appropriate.
In an era when Right-wing politicians use their flavor of God to justify disenfranchising and discriminating against minorities, the sick, and the poor (groups which tend not to vote Republican, BTW), and the Vatican seems to have forgotten the teachings of the same Jesus Christ they purport to represent, Nuns on the Bus is almost enough to make me believe in a benevolent God. Almost.
Unlike so many “Christians” who use their religion to justify their their own unquestioned self-superiority, Nuns on the Bus are actually walking, talking, and living their faith. I can’t imagine that the Vatican is altogether pleased that Catholic women are taking it upon themselves to be so “uppity,” but it’s not as if the men in the Church are tripping over themselves to protest the travesties the Right-wing is visiting up on the social contract.
Mosques are not churches like we would think of churches. They think of mosques more as a foothold into a society, as a foothold into a community, more in the cultural and in the nationalistic sense. Our churches — we don’t feel that way, they’re places of worship, and mosques are simply not that, and we need to take that into account when approving construction of those.
From the, “If they were REAL Amercians, they’d pray to Jesus!” department comes this gem celebrating the diversity of faith and culture that makes this country great.
What…what?? A Republican politician proposing legislation that openly discriminates against Muslims and their constitutionally-guaranteed right to freedom of worship?? Evidently, the 14th Amendment was intended only to apply to good, God-fearing, White Christian patriots. As any REAL American can tell you, all Muslims are terrorists.
Is it just me, or have a growing number of Right-wing nutjobs (RWNJ) convinced themselves that the Constitution applies only to people who look, think, believe, live, and love as they do? Isn’t it interesting that a country founded on the idea of religious freedom by those fleeing religious persecution is now home to a cabal of RWNJ’s who see no contradiction in or problem with openly discriminating against Muslims?
Hmm…what if the 9.11 terrorists had been Canadian?
I envy religious people… I envy the faithful. I would like to be a person of faith, but I’m not there yet…. Speaking of atheists, I find atheists — militant atheists — to be among the most intolerant people that I’ve ever come across in my religious-sort-of dealings…. I am not one of these crazy, militant atheists — and I say crazy and mean it….
I know; the idea of S.E. Cupp saying something absurd and/or just plain stupid is…well, not exactly shocking. It seems not to have occurred to her that displaying her own militant intolerance to take down what she views as militant craziness seems like something out of Theater of the Absurd (Ionesco would be SO proud).
What did the “crazy, militant atheists do?” Did they burn a stack of Bibles in front of the White House? Did they conduct some sort of weird atheist ritual designed to…well, I’m not really certain what? Did they sacrifice a virgin to the pagan ideology? Uh, not exactly.
The Secular Coalition for America (SCA) put together a scorecard for the Presidential candidates…much as every other secular or religious has done or will be doing this election cycle.
Perhaps someone should buy Ms. Cupp a clue (and get her a copy of the Constitution), but what SCA did was to exercise their constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression. Period. Nothing more, nothing less. Evidently to her way of thinking, a group that worships no deity is a threat to Our Way of Life ©.
Here’s a radical idea; perhaps a President should look to the Constitution for guidance instead of whoever their imaginary friend happens to be. Like it or not, America is not a Christian nation; it’s a secular nation with a Christian majority. Big difference, no??
What Cupp and Conservatives who think like her fail to realize (and all they have to do is actually read the Constitution) is that America is a country dedicated to freedom of religion. That also means freedom FROM religion if someone is so inclined. In this case, Cupp has her panties in a wad over nothing of consequence. SCA merely did the same thing many religious groups do every election cycle. SCA’s scorecard is no more or less valid than anything produced by the Catholic Church or the Southern Baptists.
What is it about atheism that so thoroughly frightens Cupp? Does the lack of an identifiable deity (that looks a lot like a Christian god) really stamp someone as a threat to Our Way of Life ©?
Perhaps before she shoots from the lip next time, Cupp might think about perusing the Constitution she claims to revere. She might just be surprised by what it has to say about freedom of religion and freedom of speech and expression.
