Retractions
Franklin Graham, the son of Billy Graham, made some outlandish comments about President Obama a few days ago. He also went out of his way to endorse any republican candidate for president instead of Obama. It’s a fun video. Check it out below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DGqyZ0tW6I
Of course, Franklin recants… after he is called out by a group of religious leaders within the NAACP. It’s great to see them smack Frankie back down a bit. In a statement from the NAACP, they said,
We can disagree about what it means to be a Christian engaged in politics, but Christians should not bear false witness. We are also concerned that Rev. Graham’s comments can be used to encourage racism. By his statements, Rev. Graham seems to be aligning himself with those who use faith as a weapon of political division. These kinds of comments could have enormous negative effects for America and are especially harmful to the Christian witness. (emphasis mine)
Finally someone is hitting on the part that bugs me the most. The thing that sends this over the top for me is Franklin – a religious leader – is telling people essentially who to vote for. That is a clear violation of the law as I know it. The church is supposed to stay away from endorsing candidates. Anyone want to write in to yank his religious tax exempt status? =)
Turnabout is Fair Play
In the feel good story of the last couple days, Debbie Cook, the former darling of Scientology, counter-sues David Miscavige. While she is suing for an unspecified amount of money, the interesting part is she is trying to add the Religious Technology Center (RTC), Church of Scientology International (CSI), and the Flag Service Organization to the suit. Since Debbie used to work at the SeaOrg in Florida, David was not her direct boss. But, David is the kingpin of the Scientology conglomerate. Adding the RTC and CSI will keep David on the hook. If we are really lucky, it will force him to testify. Heady days are coming in the fourth quarter when the trial begins, my friends…
Those Silly Mormons
Dustin, our Fearless Leader, wrote about Anne Frank, famous Nazi hunters, and many others getting posthumously baptized as Mormon recently. This has stirred up a lot of animosity toward the LDS as a whole. But, it has also got a lot of people curious who else has been baptized without their permission. I’m going to start posting the names of well known deceased people that have been converted as they roll into my Google alerts.
- Daniel Pearl – A reporter for the Wall Street Journal. He was captured and killed in Pakistan while investigating a possible link between Richard Reid (the “shoe bomber”) and Al-Qaeda.
- Mahatma Gandhi – A man who helped keep his people oppressed and technologically in the stone age.
Roman Catholic Conspiracy Trial
In another “can’t wait for it to start” trial, Monsignor William Lynn is on trial in Philadelphia. He is charged with sheltering pedophile priests in the 1990s and being part of a large Roman Catholic conspiracy to hide the priests that need to be in jail. The kicker? Most of the jury have strong catholic ties in the community. Some even attended the local Catholic schools. Even though they all swore impartiality, I have a feeling this won’t end well for Lynn.
On trial for rape are Rev. James Brennan and the defrocked priest, Edward Avery. Both had a lot of laughs while the jury selection was going on. As they enjoy the courtroom banter, I hope they remember the long prison nights ahead that will not be so jolly. In a slightly sperate case, Rev. Charles Engelhardt and Bernard Shero are on trial for raping the same alter boy. For reasons that I do not understand, Engelhardt and Shero are being tried separately since they were not archdiocesan priests.
I hope to see each and every one of you at the Northwest Free-thought Convention close to Seattle, Washington in a few weeks!
~Wesley