Berenger Sauniere

Perhaps those Christian-Idiot Texas Conservatives should just chain the United States Constitution up to a pick-up truck and drag it down the highway until it falls to pieces, amendment by amendment.

RobertE

[QUOTE]Originally posted by atheist_in_foxhole:
[QB]The platform approved this week by the Texas Republican Party includes the following:

• A declaration that the United States is a Christian nation
• Support for posting the Ten Commandments on public property
• Support for the teaching of "creation science" in public schools
• Opposition to the "myth" of church/state separation

As much as it pains me to say it, please, please, please bring back the Country Club Republicans. The theocrats who've taken over the party have got to go! At least with the Country Clubbers you could have a good political argument. The religious nutters can't argue their way out of a wet paper bag, especially when the believe such obvious twaddle as this.

Alonzo Fyfe

I think it would be useful to invent a new word, and to get it introduced into the american language as quickly as possible.

This new word being 'talibanization' and introduced in the context of the 'talibanization of the Republican party.'

simian

The problem is, as I see it, that the voters seem to fall for the twaddle they peddle. Or at least a very significant portion of the voting pool. Or, to put it another way, the party is reflecting the voting pool. Having a religious nut party doesn't bother me, it is having such a large number of religious nuts that vote and elect bigger religious nuts that scares me.

Simian

Toto

<a href="http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/1448082" target="_blank">Democrat fires back: - Party leader assails Texas GOP platform, supports Church State Separation</a>

[ June 13, 2002: Message edited by: Toto ]</p>

Oresta

Dang! It looks like Barton is making up history again in the above link.

This certainly doesn't sound like what Madison would do, as Barry Lynn points out in the Americans United article below.

<a href="http://www.au.org/press/pr042902.htm" target="_blank">http://www.au.org/press/pr042902.htm</a>

(Edited for typos, clarity, etc., etc.)

[ June 13, 2002: Message edited by: Oresta ]</p>

Buffman

Unaffiliated

Just a small caution when discussing this:

<a href="http://www.ashastd.org/stdfaqs/syphilis.html" target="_blank">http://www.ashastd.org/stdfaqs/syphilis.html</a>

(Extract)

How common is it?
In the United States, syphilis has been on the decline, with a record low number of cases reported in 1998. Most of the reported syphilis is in the Southeast of the country, with a higher percentage of cases among African-Americans than whites. Syphilis rates usually increase and decrease in seven- to ten year cycles, so we may see an increase over the next few years.

(End extract

There appears to have been an increase since 2000.

theyeti

Oh, they're still there. The Country Clubbers just use the religious nuts to their end. There's no better way to rationalize your greed than to get someone to proclaim that God wants it that way, and to spread that belief with religious fanatacism. At a recent "Worldview Weekend" in Texas, one of the speakers informed the audience that the Bible has verses that "unequivocally" support a flat tax, the abolition of social programs, etc.

Very few neoconservatives actually believe the religious right crap, but are more than happy to let them do the shit work for them. The only consistent philosophy that neocons follow is that whatever increases their power is good, whatever threatens it is bad.

theyeti

RufusAtticus

The Bush family are the County Clubbers. And Dubya uses the religious right so much that the Southern Baptist convention are convinced that he is the first Baptist president, despite his Anglican childhood and methodist marriage. I guess it just shows how wrapped up the SBC is in politics that they can't even tell the difference between Methodists and Baptists anymore.

What? He's a conservative that doesn't speak in tongues or worship Rome. He must be a Baptist then.

Never mind that Clinton and Carter are Baptists. But then again they are Democrats which gets the disfellowshiped from the SBC nowa days.

~~RvFvS~~

atheist_in_foxhole

The scary thing about all of this is that the latest polls show the Republicans winning big in Texas this fall. I don't even want to think about the right-wing crap they'll pull once in power with a "mandate" from the people.

Indeed. But they've managed to convince millions of people that they understand the plight of the common man. Nevermind the fact that the Bushes own several sprawling estates and send their kids to the finest schools.

[ June 13, 2002: Message edited by: atheist_in_foxhole ]</p>