American Glob

Mediabistro reports that the Huffington Post is suddenly interested in religion. Hallelujah…

Today’s top story is an open letter from Raushenbush to “Religious (and sane) America.” In it, he promises that “HuffPost Religion will demonstrate the vibrant diversity of religious traditions, perspectives and experiences that exist alongside and inform one another in America and throughout the world.” He goes on to highlight the positive aspects of religion and — of course — invites users to submit content to the site. Below the article are images of books written by Raushenbush. Click on one, and a pop-up window invites you to buy it.

Other articles focus on the issues one typically sees addressed on the HuffPost, with a God angle tacked on. Examples: “Gays in the Military: A Religious Issue?”; “Judaism, Ethics, and Ecology”; and “The Great Recession: A Spiritual Crisis.”

In a statement announcing the launch, Arianna Huffington said, “All too often, when talking about it, we end up talking at each other instead of with each other.”

Off in the sidebar is one more link: “Elton John In ‘Parade’: Jesus Was Gay.”

Hmm…

I think I’ll stick with Beliefnet and DOGMATRON.

What happens when an 8 year old boy draws a picture of a stick-figure Jesus on the cross? He gets suspended from school, of course. Merry Christmas!

“A Taunton father is outraged after his 8-year-old son was sent home from school and required to undergo a psychological evaluation after drawing a stick-figure picture of Jesus Christ on the cross.”

“The father said he got a call earlier this month from Maxham Elementary School informing him that his son, a second-grade student, had created a violent drawing. The image in question depicted a crucified Jesus with Xs covering his eyes to signify that he had died on the cross. The boy wrote his name above the cross.”

“As far as I’m concerned, they’re violating his religion,” the incredulous father said.”

“He requested that his name and his son’s name be withheld from publication to protect the boy.”

“The student drew the picture shortly after taking a family trip to see the Christmas display at the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette, a Christian retreat site in Attleboro. He made the drawing in class after his teacher asked the children to sketch something that reminded them of Christmas, the father said.”

Meanwhile, another public school in Indiana is taking a more ahem progressive view of religion in the schools. By singing about Islam. Merry Christmas!

“A battle over religion is brewing in central Indiana after a public school wanted second graders to sing a song declaring, “Allah is God.” The phrase was removed just before the performance after a national conservative group launched a protest.”

“The principal of Lantern Road Elementary School in Fishers, IN, said they were trying to teach inclusiveness through their holiday production. It included references to Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan, Las Posadas and Kwanzaa. However, no other deity, other than Allah, was referenced in the show.”

“It went off…without a hitch,” Danielle Thompson told the Indianapolis Star. “Several families thought it was a nice program.”

“But others did not – especially David Hogan. His daughter came home with a copy of the lyrics just days before the production. Hogan, a Christian, told the American Family Association, a conservative advocacy group, that he was deeply concerned to learn that his daughter had been singing, “Allah is God.”

Confused yet? Merry Christmas!

The American left is very effective when it comes to keeping prayer out of public schools. One has to wonder if they will use their skills to stop this…

“LEWISTON — A national Muslim civil rights organization has filed a formal request with the Lewiston School Department to allow a middle school student to pray on school property. The group also wants Lewiston to modify existing policy and provide “constitutionally protected religious accommodation,” such as a designated prayer room.”

“The group has also requested the school department institute diversity training for school staff, and to ensure the middle-schooler won’t face retaliation because of her request to pray at the Lewiston Middle School.”

“According to the Washington, D.C.,-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, seventh-grader Nasra Aden had been routinely “praying discreetly during her free time or lunch break in a corner of a school hallway.” But, on Tuesday, CAIR asserts a teacher told Aden “never to pray on school property” after Aden was seen preparing to kneel in prayer in a corner of one of the hallways.”

“CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper said Friday that if the Lewiston School Department did not address its four requests to allow prayer, modify school policy, institute training and protect Aden from retaliation, “we wouldn’t really have much choice but to take the case further” because “the student has the legal right and the constitutional right to pray in school in a manner that is not disruptive to the learning environment.”

Maine could learn a thing or two from Tennessee. Paging the ACLU…

“ASHLAND CITY, Tenn. (ABP) — Tennessee’s chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Nov. 16 accusing the Cheatham County Board of Education of ignoring more than four decades of court decisions interpreting the separation of church and state.”

“The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, claims board members and the principals of two schools for years have endorsed and promoted religion through extracurricular activities like marching band, choir and sports; classroom instruction and related content; and graduation ceremonies and other school events.”

I sure hope the ACLU goes after CAIR for trying to provide “constitutionally protected religious accommodation” like prayer rooms in public schools. They wouldn’t want to be seen as hypocrites, would they?

The people of Maine should weigh in here, too. Will they be OK with their tax dollars being used to create “prayer rooms” for Muslims in their publicly funded schools?

Most likely, liberals will have no problem with any of this. Unless of course, Muslims in Maine suddenly want to put up Christmas Trees in the schools.

After all, that would be an outrage.

American leftists are quick to cry foul when they see any combination of religion and politics on the conservative side, but it’s a different story if religion can be used to promote their agenda.

Case in point? Liberals recently held faith based “prayer vigils” in favor of ObamaCare at Senator Joe Lieberman’s house in Connecticut…

Talking Points Memo:

“A growing number Connecticut’s religious leaders are calling on Sen. Joe Lieberman to appeal to a higher power and change his mind about including a public option in a health care reform bill. Last night, hundreds of reform supporters from congregations across the state held a candlelight vigil outside Lieberman’s home in Stamford, CT.”

SEIU:

On Sunday, members of the Connecticut faith community staged a candlelight vigil outside Sen. Joe Lieberman’s home in Connecticut. The Stamford Advocate reported, “clergy from several religious dominations prayed in three languages outside the fourth-term senator’s home, surrounded by a crowd the Fire Marshal’s Office estimated to number nearly 500.”

My Left Nutmeg:

“This has to send a potent message to Lieberman. The symbolism is simply stunning. Rabbis protesting outside Joe Lieberman’s home in Stamford? Dan Malloy? Who thought they’d ever see this happening?”

Connecticut Bob:

“Over 500 clergy, parishioners, and residents attended a prayer vigil outside the Stamford home of Sen. Joe Lieberman last night to protest the senator’s promise to block a vote on health care reform.”

Huffington Post:

“More than 400 Connecticut residents, health care reform advocates, and clergy attended an evening prayer vigil that began at Senator Joe Lieberman’s Alma Mater, Stamford High School.”

This is a typical double standard which everyone remembers from the 2008 presidential election.

Sarah Palin’s religious beliefs were continually twisted into lies:

“Three months before she was thrust into the national political spotlight, Gov. Sarah Palin was asked to handle a much smaller task: addressing the graduating class of commission students at her one-time church, Wasilla Assembly of God. Speaking before the Pentecostal church, Palin painted the current war in Iraq as a messianic affair in which the United States could act out the will of the Lord.”

Yet Obama’s documented radical religious connections were no problem at all:

“Of all the strange features of this presidential race, the tarnishing of Barack Obama has got to be the most ridiculous. First Obama was accused of anti-religious elitism. Then he was accused of identifying with the underclass anger of his spiritual mentor. Excuse me, but which is it? Start with Obama’s turbulent preacher. Yes, Jeremiah Wright says some disgraceful things. But can anyone explain how that changes Obama’s qualities as a candidate?”

You guys on the left have no business holding “prayer vigils” for ObamaCare or anything else for that matter.

Don’t think this will be forgotten when you’re thrown out of power.

Tick tick tick tick tick tick………

The most recent issue of Newsweek gleefully declares “The End of Christian America.”

“This is not to say that the Christian God is dead, but that he is less of a force in American politics and culture than at any other time in recent memory. To the surprise of liberals who fear the advent of an evangelical theocracy and to the dismay of religious conservatives who long to see their faith more fully expressed in public life, Christians are now making up a declining percentage of the American population.”

*Note that in the first sentence, the writer fails to capitalize the H in “He,” a custom respected by most writers when using the pronoun in place of the word “God.”

This article goes on and on with statistics Newsweek compiled to back up the claim made in the title, none of which are trusted by this author. The point is that Newsweek, which features Obama on its cover whenever possible and regularly publishes pieces by known political leftists, has an agenda that’s crystal clear to anyone who has been paying attention. The subtext of their article seems to be it’s no longer cool to be Christian. However, a quick search reveals that Newsweek doesn’t feel that way about all religions.

On March 21 they published a piece called “The Guard Who Found Islam.”

“Army specialist Terry Holdbrooks had been a guard at Guantanamo for about six months the night he had his life-altering conversation with detainee 590, a Moroccan also known as “the General.”

“Holdbrooks pushed a pen and an index card through the mesh, and asked Errachidi to write out the shahada in English and transliterated Arabic. He then uttered the words aloud and, there on the floor of Guantánamo’s Camp Delta, became a Muslim.”

Sounds rather sympathetic doesn’t it?

How about the March 14 piece they published called “Jihad Chic Comes to London.”

“In fact, during my three-month stay in England I met a surprising number of Muslims who shared Jan’s fascination with the Taliban. The older generation, urbane and relatively well educated, had little love for the extremists. But among some younger men, frustrated and marginalized in British society, I discovered a fury that was depressingly familiar. I met many immigrants who were blatant, vocal and unquestioning in their support for what they imagined to be “jihad.” Few seemed troubled by the brutality that characterized Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar’s reign, or by his banning of music or girls’ education. Indeed, many looked back on Omar’s rule as a kind of Islamic utopia, and they eagerly snapped up the Islamist leaflets handed out after Friday prayers at various mosques around town.”

And who could forget Newsweek’s February blockbuster “Learning to Live With Radical Islam.”

Beyond Afghanistan, too, it is crucial that we adopt a more sophisticated strategy toward radical Islam. This should come naturally to President Obama, who spoke often on the campaign trail of the need for just such a differentiated approach toward Muslim countries. Even the Washington Institute, a think tank often associated with conservatives, appears onboard. It is issuing a report this week that recommends, among other points, that the United States use more “nuanced, noncombative rhetoric” that avoids sweeping declarations like “war on terror,” “global insurgency,” even “the Muslim world.”

Note that the writer slips in “a think tank often associated with conservatives.” Talk about nuance…

The Washington Institute’s own website states its mission this way:

“The Washington Institute for Near East Policy* was established to advance a balanced and realistic understanding of American interests in the Middle East. Under the guidance of a distinguished and bipartisan board of advisors.”

The “about” page even includes two quotes, one from Charles Krauthammer and the other from Al Gore.

You can choose to read Newsweek or not. You can believe our point or not. If however, you have any doubt about Newsweek’s agenda, just remember this is the same publication which waited about one week after President Obama’s inauguration before joyfully announcing We’re All Socialists Now.