Judgment House Not, lest ye be Housed in Judgment

When I moved to Virginia from Yankee Land I expected to find, and was not surprised when I did find, extremely overt fundamentalist Christianity everywhere I looked.

I was, however, surprised to find (when I visited my home back in the Midwest a few years later) that there was almost as much back there as down here. I guess it is a reflection of this Administration's determination to reduce the separation of Church and State and the terror inspired by 9-11 that has everyone waving flags and crosses. I'm not against flags and crosses, understand, just nervous when they are waved in unthinking combination as part of an effort to exclude rather than embrace...but I digress.

One thing I've recently become aware of down here is the Baptist Church sponsored alternative to Halloween. There was a hubbub in the news locally because Halloween falls on a Sunday this year and the Baptists (who always try to ban observance) this year tried to get them to at least move trick or treating to Saturday.

No dice. The government left Halloween where it is.

Sooo, the Baptists have created this thing called Judgment House as an alternative to traditional Halloween observance to protect the kiddies. There are billboards all over town encouraging people to not Trick or Treat but bring their kids to the Baptist Church to walk through a scary foretaste of Hell.

I understand the room of murdered fetuses is particularly horrifying.

I will, out of morbid curiosity and a misguided sense of journalistic investigation, go to Judgment House so that you don't have to, and will duly report of my adventures. I'm looking for a Virgil, (Or Mussolini for you Larry Niven fans) but am likely to have to go it alone, just like Everyman must, I suppose.

My wife has refused to accompany me. Alas, no Kith and Kin, and I think there is an admission price so not even Worldly Goods will go along. Wonder where I buried Good Deeds?

I'm anxious to discover if this House of Godly Punishment will have a room full of Kerry supporting, sodomy promoting, God- and America-hating liberal democrats. That should be interesting to see.

Well, as my pastor back at the Methodist church said, "Laws without punishment are just good advice. " Hell is sort of the epitome of "Necessary Evil," I guess.

I just wish more people were motivated to become Christians by other Christians living as close to a perfect example as possible rather than Christians going all out to scare the bejesus out of little kids with the wrathful side of God.

Oh, well. Not my will but thine, Lord, forgive us all for being as imperfect as you made us.

And for those far flung folks that read this thing, I'm also curious--Are there Judgment Houses in your neck of the woods, or is it just where I live?

Archie

Who's the real fake Christian?

I was in a pretty heated debate about Christianity this morning, and granted, the only thing I should be heating at this time of day is the water for my instant coffee, but there I was, discussing religion and politics via Instant Message.

My invisible opponent in this argument had asked me what type of Christian I was: Evangelical, Fundamentalist, Charismatic, moderate or liberal. You'll notice "moderate" and "liberal" I didn't capitalize. That's because he didn't either.

I replied to his question that I think there are more kinds of Christians than the nuanced categories which favor radical right wing positions like fundamentalist, evangelical, and charismatic.

Moderate and Liberal have such negative connotations, especially to the aforementioned categories of Christian, that if that is what I am, it feels like I'm a "fake" Christian because I am not one of the first three categories. That really makes me mad. I find this concept of considering me a fake Christian as offensive as Ann Coulter considering me a fake American. I guess I'm aiding and abetting the Devil by my liberal attitudes in the same way I'm giving aid and comfort to the enemy by opposing the war.

Well, hey, "real" Christians, read the Goddam Bible.

Christ stopped a legal execution, Christ was not for legislating morality but getting people to follow a perfect example, he rebuked the pharisees for adhering to the letter of the law rather than embracing the spirit of the law, his best friend was a prostitute, he encouraged people to render under Caesar that which belonged to the state instead of finding every conceivable way to avoid paying their taxes, and he never ever once called for regime change in Rome. Unlike Pat Robertson who called on his followers to pray to God to kill a few Supreme Court Justices as soon as Bush got in office, Jesus while on the cross asked God to forgive his enemies, not smite them. And this whole turn the other cheek thing is about as far as you can get from "Let's Roll" or "Bring it On!" Both of which I have seen on the bumpers of cars also proudly sporting Bush-Cheney, pro-life, and "Charlton Heston is MY President" bumper stickers.

None of the positions listed above that JESUS CHRIST actually took and died for are what modern evangelical, fundamentalist, or charismatic Christians advocate.

So why are THEY considered "real" Christians and I'm the faker?

Well, by their fruit shall they be known....And don't forget, Jesus also said we would suffer in His name...If those other Christians don't seem to be suffering much, maybe they are not the real Christians after all.

Archie

She cried when they tore her Bush sign in half...

Some of you may recall front page coverage in many newspapers a few weeks ago, of the story about a very young girl in tears because Kerry supporting hoodlums had torn in half the Bush-Cheney sign she and her daddy had put in her front yard.

It now appears that the young girl, inspired by the vigilante justice embraced by her candidate, has taken matters (and the law) into her own hands.

Over the weekend in my area (and perhaps yours?) there was a rash of Kerry signs defaced or stolen in what seems to be an organized effort. Last week in my community, a little girl of about eight was witnessed stealing a Kerry yard sign and getting into a vehicle which sped from the scene of the crime.

The owner of the sign later saw that very same vehicle at the local Republican headquarters. He saw that there were people in the HQ, but when he went to the door to confront them, they locked the door and pretended they weren't there.

Great Ceasar's Ghost....is this what constitutes the current state of political debate in this country? Sending out little girls to do Dick Cheney's dirty work, then hiding under the bed and giggling when they get caught?

Please, God, don't let this be the government we deserve, because I don't think I could stand it. But, by God, until the people decide in November, I'm sure as hell not going to stand for it.

If that eight year old girl tries to steal my Kerry yard sign again, I'm going to have the little scofflaw arrested faster than you can say "Free Elections in Iraq."

Listen, don't fall into their game. Sure, there are a lot of Bush signs in flag draped yards with yellow ribbons tied around the old oak tree and God Bless America blasting from the speakers normally used behind the Nativity scene...but instead of shooting those signs with paintballs, spelling "Kerry 2004" with RoundUp in their yard, or even knocking on their door and asking the idiot who lives there to explain Bush's plan for Iraq, how this death toll is a sign we're winning the War on Terror, or any other aspect of his foreign or domestic policy on anything besides tax cuts...here's what you do...register a voter and offer to drive them to the polls on election day for each and every Bush sign you see.

Don't be pessimistic just because the Republicans say that's what Democrats are. When it comes to elections, voting is the only thing that matters. Kerry will win if enough people vote for him, and no eight year old thug is going to cancel my vote just because she stole my yard sign. Don't let that pint-sized Ann Coulter cancel yours.

Archie

Bush Resigns: Cheney Taps Ashcroft

October 15th:

Republicans finally realize the hypocrisy of calling Dan Rather a liar and screaming for his resignation while not considering Bush's reliance on forged documents to take us into an illegal war anything but an honest mistake by minions below him in the CIA.

They seek Bush's resignation rather than give up their hatred of Dan Rather, martyr of the liberal press.

Bush resigns, Cheney takes top slot, and taps Ashcroft for his running mate.

The resulting wave of sympathy for Bush and right wing religious zealots combined with pro-business patriots likely to result in a landslide victory.

The above is Archie's entry in a nifty new on-line contest for predictions of the October Surprise. See: Name the October Surprise for more details!

Archie Levine

Holy Crap! The Pentagon is keeping people from voting!!!

How can we be making the world safe for democracy when we are doing all we can to subvert it in our own country?

Not worried about this administration?

Read this, and then tell me you feel comforatable with Bushco running the show.

Pentagon blocks site for voters outside U.S., by Jennifer Joan Lee, International Herald Tribune, September 20, 2004

One thing you have to say for this bunch of crooks, they sure don't give up easy.

What's it gonna take people? Pitchforks and torches held high as we storm the White House? Please, for the love of God, don't let it get to that point.

Vote Kerry this November...if only because the government is trying so hard to keep you from doing it.

Archie

GUESTWORDS: By E.L. Doctorow

The Unfeeling President

Please read, and spread the link far and wide.

Sent to me by the minister of my church.

You can be Christian without being Republican.

You can be a Democrat and still be an American.

If we're going to take back the White House in 2024, kick the condom habit and start breeding more liberals

It's true, I read it in the Boston Globe:

Is the right outbreeding the left? By Ellen Goodman, Globe Columnist, September 19, 2004.

Of course, it is our own fault, embracing those Godless Sodomites and endorsing Gay Marriage in our Anti-American stance against procreation.

Plan for the long term, breed up some voting power.

Holy Crap! How do they get away with this???

Well, the short answer is by you and me letting them.

SO STOP LETTING THEM.

Or you're going to get the government you deserve. Like it or not, and I bet you ain't gonna like it at all.


GOP Mailing Warns Liberals Will Ban Bibles
****************excerpt*****************************
Fri Sep 17,11:58 PM ET

By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - Campaign mail with a return address of the Republican National Committee warns West Virginia voters that the Bible will be prohibited and men will marry men if liberals win in November. "

Follow link for full story.
****************excerpt*****************************

Are we really willing to let these guys win this way?

Can we live with ourselves if we do?

Do we want a President and ruling party who are in power because we have been made so terrified of a shadow enemy which the government can shape for us at will while at the same time using carefully modulated fear of that enemy to strip away every freedom and liberty the claims they are defending from that enemy?

Do we really want a government whose primary purpose is to go to war against one type of religious extremism while doing all they can to promote their own religious extremism?

Are we really willing to abandon the concept of "loyal opposition" and trash a two party system by equating liberals and democrats with sodomizing hedonist America-hating terrorist helpers?

Do we really want a nation which increasingly defines itself by what it is not rather than by what it is? Do we really want to embrace a culture of Nationalism rather than Patriotism?

Where did America go?

I miss my country. Do you?

Thoughts On the Killian Documents and Bush's Service in Viet Nam

Hey.

My name is Archie Levine, and this is what I think.

I, like many of you, have about had it with this whole "prove Bush used his family name to skip over hundreds of other young men to avoid combat duty by going in the Texas Air National Guard, and then proceeded to fail to fulfill his obligation to the Texas Guard, the Alabama Guard, and the Nation, etc."

It is so obvious from the available record that this is exactly what he did (http://www.glcq.com/trans.htm) that there really isn't any need for the Killian documents, whose authenticity has been called into question.

Yes, by all means, let's examine font spacing instead of the allegation.

I happen to believe they are genuine, but I'm a rug biting liberal of the "Ann Coulter wants to personally shoot you for treason" school.

Setting that aside, just for the sake of argument, let's assume for a moment that the CBS documents ARE forgeries. Let's also assume that Dan Rather didn't know they were fakes, and he genuinely believes them to be authentic because he trusts his sources. Let's say, then, that this honest belief compels him to act in what he thinks is the best interest of the nation.

Sound familiar?

How's come when the Neo-Cons and George Bush relied on forged documents "proving" that Iraq had purchased uranium to start making "nucular" weapons of mass destruction...Which was the oft repeated justification for the invasion of Iraq and ultimately the deaths of over 1,000 Americans and an Iraqi death toll now mounting over 15,000....We're not supposed to question their fact checking ability, or presume that they were lying when making that case. We've been asked to believe that the administration was operating on the "best available intelligence" and that they acted in good faith, in the best interest of the nation.

They tell us that it is unpatriotic and dangerous to claim in hindsight that because the documents turned out to be both wrong and lacking in authenticity we should second guess our rush to war or tarnish the noble sacrifices of our soldiers who killed and died as a direct result of the claims based on those forgeries.

But, within minutes of Dan Rather making his claim against the administration's version of Bush's service record, the world is deriding Rather and CBS for not doing a better job of fact checking and clamoring for an apology.

Um, hello?

Priorities, people.

If it wasn't wrong for Bush to operate on the assumption that documents he was provided with were real until proven forged, a position which led us into the first "pre-emptive war" in our nation's history, how on God's green Earth is it wrong for Dan Rather to move forward on the assumption that the Killian documents are authentic until proven otherwise?

Thousands of people died because Bush felt it was more important to move forward on his allegation than to fact check.

How can the Republicans complain when Democrats follow their lead and contend that the allegation regarding Bush's service might also be more important than the credibility of the documents themselves?

Bush never apologized.

He strong armed Kerry into agreeing with him that he made the right choice even though it was based on falsified documents. Why should Dan Rather apologize even if the Killian papers are proved falsified?

What matters is doing what you think is right based on what you know at the time, right, George?

Right?

Nah, I didn't think you really thought that....What matters is whatever matters to you, and the rest of us can go screw ourselves.

Archie Levine
archie_levine@yahoo.com

Ref:
Dan Rather Keeps the Faith by Andrew M. Alexander, The Intellectual Conservative, 12 September 2004

See also:

Is Our President Really an Action Hero? (Archie Levine's Look at Bush's Service Record)

A Request to EnviroMate Insulation on the termination of Lynne Gobbell for displaying a Kerry sticker on her car while parked on company property

From: Archie Levine, online columnist

To: EnviroMate Insulation
13855 Court Street
Moulton, Alabama 35650
Phone: 800.339.3531
Email Address: service@alcosystems.com

Hello,

I was recently shocked to read a story in the press (which I realize is dominated by the liberal media who are not above fabrications to suit their agenda, just look at what they did with those fake documents about Bush's military service!)

(ref: Moulton woman says she lost job for sporting Kerry sticker on car, by Clyde L. Stancil,
Decatur DAILY)

In the interest of getting the full and complete story, would you please respond with the following details?

1) A formal statement regarding your version of events leading to the termination of this employee.

2) A formal statement regarding your company's policy on the expression of political speech on the premises of this business (both by the employer and employees, if different) and whether or not this policy is available for view by all employees.

3) A copy of your written termination policies.

4) A statement that you thoroughly investigated and documented the reasons for termination, and a copy of that documentation.

5) A list of options to termination which were presented to the employee (Such as removing her bumper sticker)

6) A written statement of opportunities given the employee for corrective action.

7) A copy of any minutes or records of the termination meeting with the employee

8) A copy of your last evaluation of termination procedures

9) A statement as to whether the employee was ever warned prior to the event which led to her termination that any viewpoints not shared by her employer would not be tolerated, whether such viewpoints were expressed orally or in writing (as in the case of a bumpersticker).

4) A written statement detailing other expressions of speech which are not allowed orally or in writing on the premises (for example, bumper stickers of a religious nature, advocating or expressing pride in a particular sexual orientation, etc.?

I'd appreciate your getting back to me with these details as quickly as possible so that I can do all in my power to stop yet another liberal media hack job on the efforts of a patriot to run his or her business without the kind of fetters one normally associates with communists.

Yours,

Archie Levine, Online Columnist
archie_levine@yahoo.com

(I openly encourage all to copy the text of this letter and send it to them yourself, or call their 800 number to get the answers you need. They wouldn't have their number on-line if they didn't want to hear from you...and they wouldn't make it free if they weren't really really interested in hearing from you. Make them feel better, let them know you care. )

Who's Your Daddy?

An Archie Levine Editorial for September 10th, 2004

Hey.

My name is Archie Levine, and THIS is what I think.

I think there's a fair to middling chance that by November 2nd my head will explode!

Have you watched this president speak live and un-cut?

Have you seen a press conference where he actually takes questions?

You know, like the one where he yelled at a reporter for asking a question that hadn't been submitted in advance and in writing.

What was that question?

"After 9/11, what do you think has been your biggest mistake?"

He couldn't think of one.

He couldn't think of ONE MISTAKE in almost FOUR YEARS!

I could understand having trouble PICKING one, but he couldn't THINK of one!!!

AT ALL!!!!

It boggles the imagination....At these speeches and extremely infrequent press conferences, George Bush always repeats himself and clarifies points that don't really need clarification. It drives me insane.

He'll say something like...I don't know..."My job is to keep America secure."

Then he'll say, "That's my job." But he doesn't stop. He'll go on like, "Look, a job is where someone expects you to do something, and you've agreed to do it. See, it's a fee for service. So, when you have a job, you provide a service and then you get paid. And you keep coming to work because you want to keep getting paid. You have to understand, it is a really simple arrangement between an employer and an employee. That's me, I'm your employee, and you've hired me to keep you safe and I'm going to work my ass off to do it so I don't get fired. See, you can fire me, if you're dissatisfied with the job I'm doing. The job of protecting you from Terrorists."

Do you know what I mean? It's like he thinks he has to dumb it down because he doesn't trust us to understand all that big important stuff he does at work.

For nearly four years now, I thought he thought you and I were idiots...But I was wrong.

Unlike George, I can recognize a mistake when I make one, and I can admit it.

Last week, Andy Card cleared up the whole thing in a way that finally made everything make perfect sense. Andy said the president sees America as a child needing a parent.

Well, probably two parents, though if he means him and Cheney he's already violating that Constitutional amendment he's pushing for. But, then again, like most parents, he and his life partner co-parent are always going to disagree on a few things here and there.

It doesn't mean the marriage is on the rocks, just that they're healthy, human, and alive.

I know, nothing is as dangerous as an over extended metaphor, but stay with me here...

Did your parents ever admit to making a mistake? Mine sure didn't.

Not because they were arrogant, or because they didn't know they made them...But because admitting fallibility would be bad for the kids...

When your parents were too lazy or embarrassed to teach you moral lessons, did they rely on their church or some other faith based organization to do it? Mine sure did.

When you mouthed off to your parents, criticize them in any way, or try to question their authority over you did they slap the shit out of you and lock you in a closet the neighbors couldn't see? Mine sure did.

Did your parents ever say "trust us" or "because I said so" or "someday you'll thank me for this" the whole time they were making you standing fully clothed in the shower and washing your mouth out with soap? Mine sure did.

How about the way your parents cut your allowance while they gave you more chores to do and made you work longer hours doing them?

And what about that whole enema thing as a panacea for every illness you complained about so you eventually just stopped complaining about being sick rather than suffer that kind of indignity?

That's what my parents did.

I bet yours did, too.

My parents were secretive, condescending, snide, cruel, and never for a second let me forget how much power they had over me or how much worse my life would be if they weren't my parents....

And look how I turned out!

But you know, my childhood wasn't all bad...There were good times that I cherish...

Gosh, I sure miss that closet. It was so safe and so dark...

Ref: Card says president sees America as a child needing a parent, by Sarah Schweitzer, Boston Globe Staff, September 2, 2004