Rev. Barry on Larry King; Dr. Drake prays for evil to befall AU staff

I got the following alert from AU and wanted to share it here!

Tune in to CNN’s “Larry King Live,” tonight for a segment previewing a three-part series from Christiane Amanpour on the worldwide rise of religion as a political force. King’s segment will include input from the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director, regarding the increasing religious influences on politics in America. “Larry King Live” starts at 9 p.m. ET. Amanpour’s series begins tomorrow night at 9 p.m. ET on CNN.

In other AU related news; Dr. Drake, who has recently been called out by Americans United for endorsing Republican candidate Mike Huckabee via his position as pastor at a California based church, has responded to the request by AU for an IRS investigation into his behavior. And of course, he didn't respond to the charges; that wouldn't do at all! Instead, he called on his congregation to fight the forces of evil (aka Americans United) through imprecatory prayers (prayers for evil and misfortune to befall those being prayed against) targeting Rev. Lynn and two other AU staffers.

I don't even know what to say about that one! "We don't like that you pointed out our potentially illegal behaviors, so we're going to ask God to kill you?" Wow. I pity the congregation that keeps such a foolish man in the pulpit. They could do a lot better for themselves.

More from AU on the Dr. Drake issue can be found here!

What happened to responsibility?

I am not a mother, but I am an aunt. That is a role I take very seriously and so four times in the past month and a half, I've went through the same worry that parents all over the place have undergone and have rushed about the house with my sister (who is a mom), frantically dumping toy boxes and bib drawers.

We've picked up the phone and dialed my mother, my grandmother, my older sister. We've crossed checked toys they have with lists of recalled toys. And in the end, we've breathed sighs of relief that our boys are safe. Despite the toy boxes they have all over our house, my mother's house, my grandmother's house, my older sister's house they owned not a single toxic toy or bib.

That is to say none that we know about at any rate. And that's what worries me the most. I've become quite livid about the entire situation. Not just because it's kids, my kids (or close enough to being my kids that biology and the fact that they have two moms really doesn't mean crap at this point), but because it just keeps piling up.

Don't we have government partly so they can ensure our safety? And doesn't part of ensuring the safety of citizens mean ensuring that the foods they consume are free of killer bacteria, that the products they buy are free of killer toxins? Isn't that what the CPSC the FDA and several other of those acronyms were created to do?

So, why aren't they doing their jobs? And why aren't we kicking up more of a fuss about it than we have thus far? Has consumerism become tantamount to risk and are we really okay with that as a society?

Goddess knows, I'm not okay with it. Not even a little bit.

First it was massive food recalls after people started turning up gravely ill or dead. Peanut butter that we had already half eaten. And then it was blood in the urine of my Chihuahua and a rush to the vet after he had consumed pet food that was killing cats and dogs. And then it was the frantic rush to make sure the toothpaste that we use religiously was okay. Thomas the Tank Engines that we had to pry out of Kaia's hands to cross check with the list. Fisher Price toys that we had to sneak out of toy boxes to look at. Bibs we had to secrete away from Alo to compare.

And with each frantic check, we became more nervous and more angry. We are a nation of consumers. And, until all of this started, we would happily shell out 20.00 for the train set that would send Kaia into an immediate squeal of toddler delight, 5.00 for the giant jar of peanut butter that would have sis happily munching PB&J sandwiches like she was a kid, a few dollars for the gravy covered dog food that had my pets lolling at my feet like I was the Queen of the World. It wasn't a big deal. We bought because we wanted too and because could afford too.

And now, being a consumer is no longer such a thoughtless deed. Just yesterday I stared for half an hour at a train table the boys would have absolutely adored, torn between the desire to gift them with something that would thrill them into a frenzy of flying toys until every train they own had been depositing onto that table, and the fear that I would be gifting them with something that I would only then have to pry away from them to keep them safe. I walked out of the store without that train table.

And that pissed me off. It shouldn't be like this. We should be free to march into the grocery store, the pet store, the toy store and buy what we want; free of worry that doing so will result in illness or potential death. Instead, we march in and stare in trepidation at the products lining the shelves, wondering which will be next on the ever growing list of killer products. We eat, drink and make merry at our own risk. That's just not acceptable to me. Not as a consumer, not as a wife and sure as hell not as an aunt to toddlers.

The FDA, the CPSC and all of those other acronym known organizations need to step up and do what they were instated to do. Until they do that, they’ve failed society. And we have allowed it by not holding them to their responsibilities, by looking the other way, and by pretending that the latest problem was just another fluke or a China problem. It’s not just a fluke; it’s not just a China problem.

When it comes into our nation and into our hands, it becomes an American problem, whether it was made in China, California or on Pluto. Laying the blame on China and saying China must fix it does little to address the fact that if it can happen to Chinese made products, it can (and does) happen to American made products.

Cross-posted to ProgressiveU.org

For Immediate Release: Speak up on H.B. 1034

### Press Release ###

From: Pagan Unity Campaign
Date: August 5, 2007
Subject: Speak up on H.B. 1034
Contact: Rev. Pia Fontaine (Sunshinemoonraven@comcast.net)
PUC TX- State Chair
www.paganunitycampaign.org

Thomas Jefferson once said,

"Is uniformity attainable? Millions of innocent men, women, and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined, imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity. What has been the effect of coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites. To support roguery and error all over the earth.”

The school year is coming upon us and this year our children will be forced, unless you write a note, to now include, in addition to the Pledge of Allegiance, the Pledge to our State flag which will include the verbiage found below:

"Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God and indivisible."

These changes are a result of a 142 Yeas, 1 Nay vote by our 80^th Texas Legislature in favor of House Bill no.1034, which relates to the pledge of the Texas State Flag

This is the third piece of legislation since last May that has now been ratified in lieu to Church being associated with the State of Texas.

House Bill No. 1287 now allows Elective Courses in History and Literature of Old and New Testaments Eras. They also ratified House Bill 3678, which relates to the Religious Viewpoint Anti-Discrimination Act AKA “Marian’s Law”.

There are a lot of other cultures outside of the “Big Three” Monotheist faith systems that honor more than “One God”. Some examples are the Hindu faith, Buddhists, Indigenous folk of the Hawaiian Islands, the people of the First Nations, Taoists, Shinto, and the many varied faiths that come under the umbrella of Paganism.

We are also taught that we have First Amendment rights, one of which includes the establishment clause, firmly separating church and state so that all may feel free to make religious expressions as they deem proper without fear of governmental influence. Let's remind Rep. Riddle and our elected officials that they are elected to represent all the people and their ideals and that "One God" concept has no place in the classrooms of America."

To email your local legislator and find your House Representative and District Information Click Here:

http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/zip.aspx

To email Rep. Debbie Riddle Click here:

http://www.house.state.tx.us/members/email.php?dist=150&rep=debbie.riddle

District Office
3648 F.M. 1960 West
Suite 106
Houston, TX 77068
(281) 537-5252
(281) 537-8821 Fax

Links for the Full Text Version of the Bills and Votes Below:

H.B. 1034 Author: Riddle, Berman Flynn, Hildebran, Branch
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/80R/billtext/html/HB01034I.htm
Relating to the pledge of allegiance to the state flag.
Voted on Record : The motion to concur in senate amendments prevailed by (Record 1616):
142 Yeas,1 Nays,1 Present,not voting.
http://tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us/hjrnl/80r/pdf/80RDAY82FINAL.PDF#page=8

H.B. No. 1287 Author: Chisum Joint Authors: Flynn, Zerwas, Berman, Eissler
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/80R/billtext/doc/HB01287I.doc
Elective Courses In History and Literature of Old and New Testaments Eras
Voted on Record:iYeas28,Nays2.
http://tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us/sjrnl/80r/pdf/80RSJ05-23-F.PDF#page=70

H.B 3678 Primary Author: Howard, Charlie Joint Author : Chisum
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/80R/billtext/html/HB03678I.htm
Religious Viewpoint Anti-Discrimination Act AKA “Marian’s Law”
Voted on Record: 107 Yeas,28 Nays,2 Present,not voting.
http://tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us/hjrnl/80r/pdf/80RDAY85FINAL.PDF#page=174

####

---

^[1] (Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 1782; from George Seldes, ed., The Great Quotations, Secaucus, New Jersey: Citadel Press, 1983, p. 363.)

Pagan Bill of Rights

1. Pagans shall have the same freedom to worship that is granted to followers of other religions.

2. Pagans shall have the same respect of all elected officials who represent them that is afforded to followers of other religions.

3. A Pagan parent's religion shall not be used as evidence for the purpose of deciding child custody issues.

4. Pagans shall be free to work without regard their religion, and should be free from proselytizing and harassment at the workplace.

5. Pagans shall have the same freedom to conduct their lives that is given to followers of other religions, within the boundaries of the law, without interference by, or discrimination from representatives of their local, state, or federal government.

6. School district personnel and classroom visitors shall not proselytize or harass Pagan children while on public school property or at public school functions.

7. Pagans shall have the same freedom to exercise all of their rights as do all other American citizens.

8. Pagans are entitled to the free exercise of their beliefs and rituals and must must be protected from the interference of others during the practice thereof.

9. Pagans shall have the right to redress when their religious rights are abused.

10. Pagans shall be able to wear sacred symbols of their faith in environments where followers of other faiths are free to express themselves similarly.

Mission Statement

"The United States is not a Christian nation any more
than it is a Jewish or a Mohammedan nation."

-- Treaty of Tripoli (1797) signed by John Adams


The above clipping from America's first international treaty goes unnoticed by the media, elected officials and political pundits.

The quote stands by itself in its unquestionable meaning and was signed by many of the Nation's founders. The political policies that were obviously present in 1797 pales to the backward bigotry of the majority of our present day elected officials.

This is not a Christian nation. Neither we, nor President Adams, could say it any more clearly. America is a secular nation, where all are free to worship as they wish.

The mission of the Pagan Unity Campaign (PUC) is to unify the many diverse branches of Paganism in America. A lofty goal that has been tried many times before and not succeeded. However, we are not attempting to unify Pagans under a religious umbrella, but we want Pagans to come together under the banner of Freedom.

To underscore our goal and our issues, we drafted and signed the Pagan Bill Of Rights; a document based on secular rights that all Pagans should have access to, but all too often are denied.

It is our hope that we can all agree that unifying on this one, single position; the Pagan Bill Of Rights, would be a powerful first step. If we are successful here, the next issue will be easier.

Nothing would be more unifying than if we could all feel safe enough to emerge from the social darkness of the broom closet, free of the oppressive chains of fear and hate.

I wake up in the morning and thank the Goddess that I AM FREE, and Brothers and Sisters, WE ARE UNITED.

Storm Bear Williams
Founder
Pagan Unity Campaign