[Vision2020] Postcardgate [LONG]

[deb]

Oh, you marvelous troublemaker! I laughed until my ribs hurt! Truly 
unfortunate that those who are thinking people will chuckle and move on, 
those who have a severe religious bent will be infuriated at your 
"blashphemy", and those with short attention spans will just delete it!
Just to continue the fun (Warning! Warning!):
I don't think I would be welcome in the Freeze Church---I have a hunch they 
might take me out back to use as kindling for the barbeque.
As far as "God" goes, I think he's taking an extended nap until we all clap 
our hands and declare "I do believe, I do believe" loud enough to wake him 
up. Unfortunately, he will need to get breakfast from the "Mother" prior to 
doing any smiting, and then a walk followed by a gossip at the pub, and 
lunch, and by then probably down for a postprandial nap....thinking about 
smiting is hard work!! Meantime, the Mother is calling up generic ("this 
will affect all you idiots equally until you get the drift!") hurricanes, 
ice-melts, earthquakes etc. just to get the attention of the dwellers on her 
skin. Imagine how surprised she must be when those disasters of "Mother" 
Nature are attributed to a snoozing boy-God, labeled his response to "sins" 
for which she doesn't give a solar flare, and those same people proclaim 
climate change is a hoax! WELL! Ever seen your own Mom well and trully 
hacked off?

But, being a Wiccan, I care not what others believe. I hope they get what 
they need from their church-of-choice!  How ever they catch the boat to 
Diety is just fine with me. Insisting I ride the same boat (or suffer the 
fires of eternal damnation, burning at the stake, being stoned, spat upon, 
etc. of things NOT in their Bible)  is problematic, however. I'd rather swim 
(and I'm a poor swimmer) than catch the diety boat with some of these nutso, 
nasty, loathesome beggars--I suspect I'd still make it to a happy afterlife 
faster swimming than in their sinking boat, anyway.

Now for a not so fun:
The "religious" folks who a attempted to disrupt schools, colleges, and 
communities this last week over the "Laramie Project" are a perfect example 
of religion gone awry. All thinking people, all believers in the dignity and 
decency of religion, all those who understand that a diverse community is a 
healthy community, all those who stand for inclusion, tolerance, and respect 
for others......You hear the call. Stop standing by waiting for someone else 
to hold the banner, lead the charge, make the statement, interrupt the 
behaviour. Act on your beliefs for a change in this sick culture before it 
becomes terminal. Theocracy is NOT in the Constitution of the USA. This 
country was founded by people who wanted to AVOID imposed religion, and the 
political crap associated with that state.....

Debi Robinson-Smith
Tired of the Dumbing Down effect the religious right has had on my country.
SUPPORT AND FUND PUBLIC EDUCATION!!!

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dickow" <dickow at turbonet.com>
To: "Joe Campbell" <philosopher.joe at gmail.com>; <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 23, 2010 7:30 PM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Postcardgate [LONG]


> I've just got to play devil's advocate...
>
> [WARNING: People with jobs or have actual responsibilites or are short on 
> time should avoid reading this posting.]
>
>> Gresham Bouma’s situation got me thinking about false religions.
>>
>
> Any religion that is not my religion is a false religion. When I was an 
> active Catholic, I could get stuck in purgatory after my death for a 
> gazillion years (or more...but who's counting at that point?) if I but set 
> foot in some other denomination's church on Sunday. That's because 
> anything other than the Catholic Church is a false religion. At least 
> that's what we were taught when I was a kid. But.. doesn't that seem 
> silly?
>
>> I know I may not be too popular with some of you for my stance, but I
>> think Bouma’s Freeze Community Church is as dangerous to America as
>> the infiltration of our society by Islam and Sharia Law.
>>
>
> Infiltration? Now... you don't really believe that do you? By the way, 
> what about belief in Bokonon? I think we'd better investigate the rising 
> tide of Bokononism. And just why do they call it the 'Freeze' Church? Do 
> they have a stash of that Ice-9 stuff or something? Pretty suspicious if 
> you ask me.
>
>> Bouma says that his campaign is not a political gathering, but a call
>> to return to God and His Laws, the Laws that this nation was founded
>> on. On the surface, a Christian could hardly be opposed to that call.
>>
>
> Yeah. Thank God he only has about 10 laws, which will simplify many of our 
> court decisions. I say AT LEAST 10 laws because, according to Mel Brooks 
> in The History of The World Part I, there were more laws, but Moses 
> accidentally broke the third stone tablet after descending Mt. Sinai.]
>
>> But what god is Bouma calling America to return to? Certainly he’s not
>> calling us to return to the God of the bible.
>>
>
> People of faith will recognize that we never left God. He is just in 
> 'standby' mode. Push the play button again and God will be back with us in 
> full.
>
>>
>> Bouma’s god was once a human being just like you or I.
>
> Uh oh... then we really are doomed.
>
>> I could go on
>> and on about the blasphemy and the heresy of Bouma's
>> non-denominational Freeze Community Church, but suffice it to say that
>> when Bouma tells you that you serve the same god that he does, he’s a
>> liar.
>>
>
> He just THINKS we serve the same God (oh... be sure capitalize God when 
> you refer to X73&S@#$ (name changed to avoid being struck by lighning)). I 
> think the god some folks worship in the conservative party is named with a 
> single symbol, the $ (dollar) sign. So, there are other gods out there 
> that are worthy of our prasie, especially when those sales are announced 
> at Walmart. (to be fair, I've know some Democrats and Independents who 
> also praised the $).
>
>> I am appalled at the number of Christians who follow Bouma’s pastor,
>> Lloyd Knerr,
>
> People follow when they hear stuff they want to hear, that affirms their 
> fears and hopes.But I thought that Lord Knerr's religion or church is 
> non-denomination. Are atheists welcome there, by the way?
>
>>
>> If you think a man’s religion doesn’t make any difference, the day
>> will come when you will realize that you have been sadly mistaken.
>>
>
> That's why Bokononism is the only way to go. Trust me on that one. I'm 
> really not sure about Catholicism these days.
>
>> I would guess that 90% of those who attend Bouma’s non-denominational
>> Freeze Community Church would call themselves Christian. If that’s
>> true, the church in America today is in greater danger than I ever
>> believed.
>
> What is 'the church' in America? I hope our citizens still recognize that 
> we welcome all religions. There is no 'the church'. Unless of course, the 
> reference is to the Catholic church. Then... ok.
>>
>> The true Jesus says that in the last days, many will be deceived. I
>> pray that you will not be one of them.
>>
>
> But... this suggests that we are now in 'the last days.' Huh? I keep 
> hearing that. In fact, I have trouble counting how many times I've lived 
> through the predicted end of the World. Well, I suppose, philosophically 
> speaking, we are forever in 'the last days'. How long are 'the last days?' 
> I million years? 3 billion years? When is the sun going to explode anyway? 
> I forget. God... I lose sleep just thinking about that... when the sun 
> explodes. It's going to, you know. Any time now. And, by God, I'm a 
> Catholic, so I'll be ready.
>
> Bob Dickow, troublemaker
>
> P.S. You were warned.
>
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