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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=rvrcowboy@clearwire.net
href="mailto:rvrcowboy@clearwire.net">rvrcowboy</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=owner-vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:owner-vision2020@moscow.com">owner-vision2020@moscow.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, June 01, 2006 7:40 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Hate Speech on your forum</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Dear Sir,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I have been a subscriber to your Vision2020 forum
for several weeks. During that time I have witnessed, and participated in
several discussions that became heated and hotly debated. That is all
right, after all we are all entitled to our opinions.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Now, one of your subscribers is posting materials
of an inflamatory nature against a specific segment of the subscribers on the
list. This hate speech is aimed at Christians, Fundamental Christians
specifically, but all Christians in general. This individual has admitted
to being atheistic many times, which is his right. However, he is now
posting materials aimed directly at Christians with the intent of creating a
hostile atmosphere on the forum.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>This is my formal complaint to you about this
matter. I am also filing a complaint with the Idaho State Attorney
General's Office concerning this matter. I have personally emailed several
people I know to be Christians subscribers to your site and requested that they
not respond to this vindictive post.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The specific post is from a subscriber known as
"Chasuk" and was posted on 6/1/2006 at 3:49pm. It is copied in its
entirity herein:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-slater/the-great-fundamentalist-_b_21944.html">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-slater/the-great-fundamentalist-_b_21944.html</A><BR><BR>by
Philip Slater<BR><BR>THE GREAT FUNDAMENTALIST HOAX<BR><BR>Thoughtful Americans
have long wondered how it is that fundamentalist<BR>Christians--followers of
someone who preached pacifism and<BR>tolerance--became the poster boy for hate
speech, touting "moral<BR>values" indistinguishable from those of the Taliban.
They wonder why,<BR>for example, fundamentalist Christians so seldom quote from
the New<BR>Testament--which is supposedly what Christianity is all
about--but<BR>prefer citing the Torah and Old Testament prophets.<BR><BR>One
reason is that the Old Testament is full of murder,<BR>vindictiveness, and
genocide--all supposedly ordered by God. So when<BR>fundamentalists want a
Biblical excuse for hate speech and hate<BR>crimes--which they seem to need with
considerable frequency--they turn<BR>to Old Testament sources.<BR><BR>Christian
homophobes, for example, carry signs saying 'God hates<BR>fags', which they
justify by claiming that Leviticus 18:22 (condemning<BR>male homosexuality as
"abomination") is the 'word of God'. Yet more<BR>than a third of the entire book
of Leviticus is devoted to God's<BR>detailed instructions on the proper manner
of making burnt offerings<BR>of animals to Him. (The rest deals with keeping
Jewish dietary laws,<BR>avoiding pollution from inadvertent contact with
menstruating women,<BR>forbidding haircuts and beard trimming, justifying
slavery, and saying<BR>anyone who swears should be stoned to death). Why doesn't
God hate<BR>those who fail to make offerings in the exact manner He so
carefully<BR>spelled out in chapter after chapter? Since fundamentalists
feel<BR>comfortable ignoring 95% of the 'word of God' in Leviticus, why
have<BR>they latched onto this isolated phrase? If "God hates fags", then
God<BR>must feel positively murderous toward people who don't make
burnt<BR>offerings of animal carcasses in the precise manner so
carefully<BR>indicated, and in such extreme detail. (God must also hate people
who<BR>eat lobster, shrimp and pork, which are also "abominations"
according<BR>to Leviticus).<BR><BR>It's startling, in fact, how rarely
fundamentalist Christians mention<BR>the sayings of Jesus. 'Morality' to them
means the sexual inhibitions<BR>of ancient Middle Eastern patriarchies. They
seem to be nostalgic for<BR>the pruderies of the 1950s, when the Hays office
decreed that movies<BR>couldn't show pajama-clad married couples in bed together
lest it<BR>incite teenage moviegoers to fornication. This obsession
with<BR>sexuality is surprising, since Jesus seemed to have very
little<BR>interest in the topic. In the four Gospels there are only
four<BR>statements about sexuality, and these deal with adultery and
divorce<BR>rather than sex per se. That is, with relationships--with
causing<BR>injury to another.<BR><BR>Compare this with the nineteen statements
Jesus makes about the<BR>importance of giving, and the value of divesting
oneself of money and<BR>possessions. Yet we seldom hear fundamentalist
Christians saying it's<BR>easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle
than for a rich<BR>man to enter heaven. Or quoting the ten statements exhorting
us to<BR>turn the other cheek--a Christian idea that seems to be anathema
to<BR>hate-filled fundamentalists.<BR><BR>The Bible becomes the 'Word of God'
when a bigot wants to use it to<BR>bludgeon his neighbor, and a mere archaic
relic when it would be<BR>inconvenient for him to take it seriously.
Fundamentalists of all<BR>persuasions--Christian, Muslim, Jewish--often manage
to find some sort<BR>of backing for their hatreds in their sacred texts; for
these texts<BR>were written in societies that were misogynistic, militaristic,
and<BR>rigidly authoritarian--written, furthermore, by men who believed
the<BR>earth was flat.<BR><BR>The reason why so many fundamentalist Christians
are so notoriously<BR>"unChristian" is simple: for the majority of Christians
(Quakers are<BR>among many notable exceptions) Christianity isn't about the
teachings<BR>of Jesus, and never was. The early church fathers knew that
Jesus'<BR>rather Buddhist message of nonviolence and voluntary poverty
wouldn't<BR>fly in the Graeco-Roman world, let alone in the Middle East. The
idea<BR>of a Redeemer on the other hand--someone who would
voluntarily<BR>sacrifice Himself for humanity and their sins--was very
popular.<BR>Instead of having to give up their worldly goods and
espouse<BR>non-violence, all the Romans had to do was believe in the
miraculous<BR>stories surrounding Jesus' birth and death, which was easy for
them,<BR>since such stories had been told about pagan gods and heroes and
were<BR>already familiar.<BR><BR>Christianity as it exists among fundamentalists
isn't about behaving<BR>like Jesus. It's all about faith--about believing the
story. The<BR>underlying message seems to be: you can behave any way you want
as<BR>long as you believe the story and say you're sorry before you
die.<BR>Following the teachings of Jesus is much too demanding, whereas
with<BR>the Christianity of fundamentalists all you have to do is shut
your<BR>mind off.<BR><BR>There ought to be a term that would designate those who
actually<BR>follow the teachings of Jesus, since the word "Christian" has
been<BR>largely divorced from those teachings, and so polluted
by<BR>fundamentalists that it has come to connote their polar
opposite:<BR>intolerance, vindictive hatred, and bigotry.<BR></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I trust you will handle this matter quickly and
discretely.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sincerely</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Dick Sherwin</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>208-743-0604</FONT></DIV>
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