http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/category_rss/religion Comments by Nelson Bock, of Colorado Interfaith Power and Light, on the need to support green jobs in a renewable energy economy. I am pleased to represent Colorado Interfaith Power and Light, and the IPL movement which now has affiliates in 28 states, and whose mission is to mobilize the religious community to respond to the threat of climate change. I am here to support green jobs in a new energy economy, because it is our conviction that green jobs is not just an economic issue, and not just an environmental issue, but that it is also a profoundly spiritual issue. The earth, our home, is a sacred gift, the care of which we have been entrusted, and on which we live in a web of interdependent relationships. Living with reverence for that gift and those relationships is at the core of spirituality, and also the key to our survival and health as a human family. This is an issue that connects the health of our planet, the health of our people, and the health of our economy, because those things are all intrinsically connected in the larger scheme of things The earth, our home, is in peril because of our excessive dependence on the fossil fuel economy we have built over the last two hundred years. Climate change, accelerated and exacerbated by greenhouse gases accumulating in the atmosphere as a result of human activity, threatens to severely disrupt the ecological balance which has supported human life, and the life of millions of other species with whom we share the earth. At the same time, human health is threatened by the emission of many other pollutants which foul not just the air, but the water and the land on which we likewise depend. And the health of our communities is threatened by economic dislocation and by the environmental destruction of public lands caused by ever more rapacious activities necessitated by the drive to seek and extract the last drops of fossil fuels wherever they may be found. These activities do not just damage landscape and wildlife habitat; they damage our spirits, as they increasingly estrange us from the earth, which we treat not as a living system of which we are a part, but as an inert depository of raw materials and a convenient repository for our waste. Further, these activities estrange us from one another, as exploitation of the earth's resources is based on exploitation of people and communities whose environment is despoiled and whose labor is treated as just another commodity, and who are then left to deal with the economic and environmental fallout when the resources are depleted. What we are learning is that a healthy society--one in which people and communities are healthy and happy and secure-- is dependent on a healthy relationship to our environment. Yes, people need jobs, and that is why we are here today. But a job is not just a job. Work is an expression of the human spirit. The work we do also shapes our spirit, making us more or less healthy as we embody our relationship to the earth through our work. So what kind of jobs are going to give us healthy people, a healthy economy, and healthy communities? The kinds of jobs which preserve a healthy planet. Jobs which discover, create, and utilize renewable sources of energy, jobs which help us to conserve the earth's finite and precious resources. Jobs which are based on sustainable sources of energy and other natural resources. Jobs which create and promote alternative forms of transportation. Jobs which allow communities to be more self-sustaining and less dependent on global supply lines and the exploitation of the labor and resources of people from other parts of the world. Jobs which allow people to express and take pride in the dignity of their labor through a reverent and respectful use of the earth's resources, and which provide families with a living wage. So we want to urge the people of Colorado and the United States to support candidates, initiatives, and policies which move us away from our unhealthy reliance on fossil fuels and towards green jobs in a green economy, for the health of our people, our communities, and our planet. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/nbock6552/CQDS http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/nbock6552/CQDS/commentary#comments Mon, 24 Nov 2008 09:24:51 MST http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/nbock6552/CQDS Nelson Bock http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/4b519578d91f18752b_efm6b4e7n.jpg Nelson Bock 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQDS/ Obama advisers: Bush era war criminals will walk . No Accountability for Bush, CHENEY, Rumsfeld, Addington, and the rest of these scum. IF THAT PISSES YOU OFF Call 800-828-0498 Ask for each of Colorado's Congressmen in turn and tell them to file their own Impeachment Resolution and to do it THIS WEEK. (Hint: leave a voicemail at night) IF enough Congressmen file single crime impeachment resolutions during the same week (this week) it will get the attention of the Media. Yes the MEDIA got Obama elected, and now are much more likely to pay attention to impeachment. WE MUST GET PEOPLE RILED UP ENOUGH TO DEMAND IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS NOW John Kennedy Impeach Colorado Coalition ImpeachCO.com QUESTION: HOW MANY US SOLDIERS HAVE TO BE KILLED AND MAIMED FOR THE BUSH/CHENEY WMD LIES Before Colorado Voters (you and me) bother to call the state's US Congressmen and Demand Impeachment Hearings NOW? Hint: Over 4,197 Killed Over 30,000 Maimed (some reports say it's over 70K) .. .... http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/CQzh http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/CQzh/commentary#comments Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:32:56 MST http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/CQzh John H Kennedy http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/5e4c96e6db734362f3_l5hmv2v71.jpg John H Kennedy 1 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQzh/ OBAMA CITY, JAPAN :  Banners on parade and dancing in the streets with shouts in English "YES WE CAN" KENYA:  Dancing in the streets - 2 days of national holiday declared amid chants of "YES WE CAN" FRANCE:  People pour into the streets of Paris amid dancing and singing there are shouts "YES WE CAN" LONDON, SOUTH AFRICA....ALL OVER THE WORLD: The REVOLUTION has been legitimized, accepted and praised.               WE actually won the 2nd revolution for the United States of America. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/Jan/CQ88 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/Jan/CQ88/commentary#comments Wed, 05 Nov 2008 08:26:59 MST http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/Jan/CQ88 The Mad Woman http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/fcb34917d9fd3e3809_u806mvulr.jpg The Mad Woman 2 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQ88/ The McCain Campaign is out answering the internet blogosphere again. A continuation of the policy of smoke and mirrors... "SO, Mr. McCain, what about the Economy?"   "uh, uh, HEY! Look over here...Obama stubbed his toe and he didn't bleed - proves he's a vampire!!! Afterall,we knew he had to be... He runs with alien terrorists from MARS!!!!! The Washington Post has films of the landing and met with their leader..... We are demanding right here and now....RELEASE THE FILM!!!!!" YES McCAIN and his Campaign are LIKE BUSH in one major way... They will SAY anything (LIE); They think WE are STUPID; And when all else fails, blame the Democrats! http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/Jan/CQ8Z http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/Jan/CQ8Z/commentary#comments Thu, 30 Oct 2008 05:15:10 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/Jan/CQ8Z The Mad Woman http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/fcb34917d9fd3e3809_u806mvulr.jpg The Mad Woman 271 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQ8Z/ The "right-to-life" movement that elevates embryonic life above women's lives is more accurately termed "right-to-prenatal-life." One of the most extreme 2008 anti-abortion, anti-contraceptive ballot measures is the so-called Colorado "Personhood" amendment - number 48 - defining fertilized eggs as "persons" with Fourteenth Amendment rights to "life, liberty and due process of law." Simultaneously, rightists have opposed the same rights for women as "reading feminism into the Constitution." Both Amendment 48 and a rule change proposed by the Bush administration Department of Health and Human Services would re-define pregnancy as the point of conception, disregarding the medical definition of pregnancy - "the implantation of a fertilized egg." They would effectively categorize as abortion any contraception (e.g., the pill, IUD, emergency contraception, contraceptive patch) that interferes with the implantation of a fertilized egg, thus outlawing most contraception - the primary means to reduce the need for abortion. In a slippery slope to 19th century status for women, rightists have promoted "conscience clauses" permitting pharmacists' and others' refusal to fill prescriptions or provide health care for women. The HHS proposal states, "[T]he conscience of the individual or institution should be paramount in determining what constitutes abortion..." - holding women's health hostage to anyone's professed religious/ideological beliefs. It is time to recognize that abortion serves as surrogate for a spectrum of unspoken issues related to female personhood and male entitlement. The anti-abortion political litmus test was introduced by Paul Weyrich, who dictated that women step aside and "make way for new life." It serves dual purposes - the marginalization of women and the lightning rod around which to mobilize political coalitions, notably, Evangelicals and Catholics. The elevation of fetal life over women's lives, coupled with conservative strategist Howard Phillips' euphemistically described goal of return to "one-family-one-vote," is calculated to marginalize and disenfranchise women, consistent with the ultraright tenet that ultimately, only select white Christian males should retain the right to vote or hold office. Rickie Solinger concluded from her historical research of women's health care that women's rights have often been held hostage by politicians and others with "political agendas hostile to female autonomy and racial equality" ( Wake Up Little Susie: Single Pregnancy and Race Before Roe v. Wade , 1992). The criminalization of contraception and abortion, and the widespread U.S. adoption black market that assigned value to babies and punishment to women based on race, were some effects of pre- Roe efforts to control women's reproduction. At core, Weyrich's anti-abortion, anti-contraceptive and abstinence-only ideology serves as cornerstone of an anticipated male supremacist theocracy. It is the platform upon which the majority of Republican candidates continue to run in 2008. The greatest conceit - that pregnancy is not a health issue and women's lives are expendable - underlies the dual standards of Republican Party pronatalist policy demanding female submission to males who presume the right to hold women hostage to personal beliefs. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/micheleswenson/CQ8R http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/micheleswenson/CQ8R/commentary#comments Tue, 28 Oct 2008 23:42:59 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/micheleswenson/CQ8R Michele S Michele S 2 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CQ8R/ Either Disney has gone to a new generation of Animatronics or we now have proof of pod people taking over the country........ Is SARAH PALIN For real? http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/Jan/CZGh http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/Jan/CZGh/commentary#comments Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:21:26 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/Jan/CZGh The Mad Woman http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/fcb34917d9fd3e3809_u806mvulr.jpg The Mad Woman 1 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZGh/ Sarah Palin's training and experience as a TV personality dominated her performance last night. It was a theatrical performance. She stuck to her script and provided no more than the kind of idle chatter expected of a small-market TV news sub-anchor. We now have the answer why she has been so distant and untouchable for the past few weeks. The McCain team has been prepping and coaching her at an unprecedented level. She did not demonstrate the depth and scope needed to rise to the level of serious consideration of filling the job of VP, and certainly not reach any level of assurance that she is competent to follow fragile John McCain into the Oval Office. The GOP is so off-course to continue to promote her presence on the ticket as qualified in any sense of the word. The dodge and weave she demonstrated throughout the night was infuriating. The WingNuts succeeded in their pre-emptive intimidation of Gwen Ifill. Necessary and justified follow-ups and clarifications were obviously by-passed by Ifill to avoid post-debate vilification by the Radical Right. Palin's few clear pronouncements on security and foreign policy issues were deplorable. The casual mention of moving the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem is a toxic position that surely pleases the American Radical Religious Right (i.e., Talibangelist Mullah Dobson), but is an idea that has been known for decades to be immeasurably inflammatory to every Muslim influenced government in the world. By side-stepping the question on nuclear weapons and nuclear non-proliferation she definitively disqualified herself in this election. The balance between deterrence and pre-emption has been horrifically blurred by the current mis-adminstration. Sarah made it even murkier. Sarah Palin's performance last night was too close to the narrow, partisan message of the GOP Convention and totally devoid of any promise of potential to serve in the highest executive office. The best that could be offered is that she's now completed the crash course of study to be a good spokesperson for the McCain campaign. Competently reciting talking points with no further depth or capability. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/ralphtrenary/CZGp http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/ralphtrenary/CZGp/commentary#comments Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:48:32 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/ralphtrenary/CZGp Ralph T http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/22970b0cb82ab5861b_e6yymv1de.jpg Ralph T 2 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZGp/ If ministers want to endorse political candidates then their ministries should be taxed because they have become active political organizations that are partisan in nature and by extension adjuncts to any political campaign and political party. Laurie Goldstein, New York Times, writes : The protest, called Pulpit Freedom Sunday, was organized by the Alliance Defense Fund, a consortium of Christian lawyers that fights for conservative religious and social causes. When the fund first announced the protest this year, it said it planned to have 50 ministers taking part. As of Thursday it said it had hundreds of volunteers, but had selected only 33 who were fully aware of the risks and benefits... Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, said: “This is not something these churches want to do in secrecy and hiding. In fact, they don’t believe they’re doing anything wrong. They don’t believe they’re violating the law. “What they’re doing is talking to their congregations about biblical issues related to candidates and elections, and they believe they have the constitutional right to do that.” The protest is challenging an amendment to the tax code passed by Congress in 1954 saying that charitable organizations known as 501(c)(3)’s, which accept tax-deductible contributions, cannot intervene in political campaigns. The legislation was intended to prevent nonprofit organizations from funneling money and resources to political candidates.... Clearly the Alliance Defense Fund's lawyers are inducing ministers to undermine tax laws.  The New York Times article continues: Three former I.R.S. officials, now lawyers in a Washington firm, recently sent a letter to the I.R.S.’s Office of Professional Responsibility urging that the Alliance Defense Fund and its lawyers be investigated for “inducing churches to engage in conduct designed to violate federal tax law in a direct and blatant matter.”   http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CZMW http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CZMW/commentary#comments Fri, 26 Sep 2008 09:43:39 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennethdebacker/CZMW Ken Ken 2 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZMW/  On August 29, the Friday before the Republican Convention, members of the Council for National Policy convened in Minneapolis to grant their imprimatur to the vice presidential candidacy of Sarah Palin. Focus on the Family's Tom Minnery described the group's reaction in a Focus on the Family Action video, which has since been removed from their website: "There could not be more excitement based on the little we know about Palin so far," enthused Minnery. Given general longstanding opposition to women in positions of power among CNP members, Minnery was asked whether James Dobson could possibly support a woman for the office. He quoted Dobson: "If it's the right woman, we are ready to vote for her." Dobson has been hoping for some time to find a "Margaret Thatcher" type, noted Minnery. Outside the obvious, i.e., her anti-gun control and anti-abortion positions, Minnery recited Palin's positives as a conservative candidate: a hocky mom in an intact marriage who "has not rejected her feminine side"; because she and her husband are union members, it was speculated that blue collar voters in important swing states would be attracted; and (improbably) because she is a woman, that she would appeal to Hillary Clinton supporters. The Council for National Policy (CNP) has remained largely below the radar since its 1981 founding as an umbrella group uniting a network of over 500 members from Congress, the business community and hard-right evangelicals. The press are excluded from their secretive invitation-only strategy meetings, held three times annually. The group is strongly influenced by the teachings of the late Rousas Rushdoony , a CNP member and patriarch of the reactionary Christian Reconstructionist (Dominionist) movement that has infused the doctrine of conservative churches since the '60s, and seeks Christian dominion over all aspects of society and the world. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/micheleswenson/CZMG http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/micheleswenson/CZMG/commentary#comments Sun, 21 Sep 2008 22:48:40 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/micheleswenson/CZMG Michele S Michele S 1 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZMG/ Of late, it appears the Democratic Party has been falling all over themselves to prevent themselves from appearing insensitive to that little woman from Alaska.... Fear of sexism, fear of appearing to beat up on the poor little lady.... The poor little Sarah, that sweet lil' thang.....that fighter for femininity and the rights of women everywhere in a sea of male domination.... Claiming the title of Feminist and the woman that will pick up the mantle dropped by Hillary so she can blast through that glass ceiling http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/Jan/CZGy http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/Jan/CZGy/commentary#comments Fri, 12 Sep 2008 18:12:25 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/Jan/CZGy The Mad Woman http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/fcb34917d9fd3e3809_u806mvulr.jpg The Mad Woman 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CZGy/ Several email exposes regarding Sarah Palin have landed in my in-box. The most useful is the message from MoveOn.org (go to the extended Post Text). I hope my mother, my wife and my teenage daughter will excuse this one - but, my initial reaction holds that McCain is having a post midlife crisis moment here. Now he gets to spend the rest of the campaign on stage with either a blonde or a brunette former beauty queen; sometimes both. Considering the depth and experience available to him in the rest of the GOP universe I am completely baffled that there can be any other reason for this decision. I am now even more appreciative for the intelligent and practical decision by Barack Obama to grab Joe Biden as his VP running mate. The supposed VP Debate won't be. With this line-up it is clear that candidate Palin will carefuly recite radical right wing talking points fed to her by the McCain handlers. Even if Biden were allowed in the format/rules to challenge her on any issues we'll hear nothing original. Thus there could not be a more distinct choice between the two tickets. Looking at the "rap-sheet" provided by MoveOn, American voters can have no doubts of the radical and destructive policies and positions John McCain is accepting by filling the GOP ticket with Palin. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/ralphtrenary/Cq7N http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/ralphtrenary/Cq7N/commentary#comments Mon, 01 Sep 2008 09:56:44 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/ralphtrenary/Cq7N Ralph T http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/22970b0cb82ab5861b_e6yymv1de.jpg Ralph T 2 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/Cq7N/ Publically calling upon God for Bible-thumping rain during Barack Obama's speech on Thursday night may have landed Focus on the Family, a Colorado Springs religious organization, into hot water with the Big Guy. Earlier this month, Stuart Shepard, who is FOF's digital media director, called upon his congregation to pray for rain of "biblical proportions" at the Mile High stadium for the closing of the Democratic Convention. However, the current Denver weather report calls for sun. Lots of it. Yet perhaps God didn't want Shepard's congregational prayers to go unanswered during this presidential election. Hurricane Gustuv is brewing in the Gulf and may hit the coastline just in time for the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina...and President George Bush's speech at the Republican National Convention on Monday. Another possible hurricane is lining up to make a U.S. landfall later in the week. Better watch what you pray for next time, oh ye Focus on the Family flock. Apparently, God was not amused with your previous request. References: medhttp://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/aug/11/focus-action-pulls-video-asking-people-pray-rain-b/ http://www.coloradoindependent.com/4891/stuart-shepard-rocky-mountain-news-put-colorado-on-olbermanns-map/ http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/leslierobinson/Cq7j http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/leslierobinson/Cq7j/commentary#comments Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:40:44 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/leslierobinson/Cq7j Rifle Shots by Leslie Robinson http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/4ff03b14c9ae1d793a_9770mvu15.jpg Rifle Shots by Leslie Robinson 1 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/Cq7j/ "The Democrats are trying very hard to show ... that they're not going to re-open these issues and that the Bush crimes will remain buried for all time," Turley told MSNBC's Keith Olbermann on Tuesday. "It would start a new administration on the same level that George Bush left it. And that's a very sad thing." "Turley was particularly concerned about a recent statement by law professor Cass Sunstein, an Obama adviser, that only "egregious" crimes by Bush officials should be prosecuted by an Obama administration." "There are very few obligations that a president has to do under the Constitution, but one of them is not to violate the laws that he is supposed to enforce," explained Turley. Turley further pointed to Speaker Nancy Pelosi's refusal to initiate impeachment proceedings against the president, saying, "I don't understand why some Democrats can't just simply accept a very straightforward proposition, that we'll prosecute any crimes committed by this administration, an Obama administration, a McCain administration. Because they're crimes. They're all egregious." From an article by RawStory.com John H Kennedy, 43 yr Democratic voter, Obama delegate to the Denver County Convention and organizer of the Impeach Colorado Coalition ImpeachCO.com Join our Impeachment Protests, see the Calendar on the website .. .. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/CqPg http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/CqPg/commentary#comments Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:47:00 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/CqPg John H Kennedy http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/5e4c96e6db734362f3_l5hmv2v71.jpg John H Kennedy 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CqPg/ Breaking:  Statement on 10th Circuit's Ruling on Colorado Christian University FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, July 23, 2008 CONTACT: Michael Huttner, Executive Director 303-931-4547 "We are disappointed by the Court's ruling, we believe that giving public funds to Colorado Christian University is a clear violation of the separation of church and state and urge the state to appeal," stated Michael Huttner, Executive Director of ProgressNow. "That our tax dollars will be given to Colorado Christian University and its President, right-wing activist William Armstrong for his religious crusades should outrage Colorado taxpayers." Huttner added, "this decision will be cheered by the original proponents of the so-called 'College Opportunity Fund,' who have been trying to starve Colorado's higher education system of revenue for years and likely hoped for this exact result. For everyone who cares about Colorado's most valuable institutions, our public colleges and universities, this ruling is a disaster." Read the text of the court's ruling here: http://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/opinions/07/07-1247.pdf ### http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/al/Cq7y http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/al/Cq7y/commentary#comments Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:36:37 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/al/Cq7y Alan Franklin http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/1b6fb917dd91e10cc0_ge5omv53a.jpg Alan Franklin 78 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/Cq7y/ So you always thought, whether you agreed with him or not (and in my personal case the answer is usually a hearty 'not'), that James Dobson of Focus on the Family was a man of principle. You know, a man who wouldn't sacrifice his core values on the altar of political expediency. Or you may have known better all along, that Dobson is, at the end of the day, a partisan hack who delivers the votes for the team--the Tom DeLay team, the Larry Craig team, whatever. Proof positive of the latter: Dobson shifts positions, may endorse McCain Conservative Christian leader James Dobson has softened his stance against Republican presidential hopeful John McCain, saying he could reverse his position and endorse the Arizona senator despite serious misgivings. "I never thought I would hear myself saying this," Dobson said in a radio broadcast to air Monday. "... While I am not endorsing Senator John McCain, the possibility is there that I might." Dobson and other evangelical leaders unimpressed by McCain increasingly are taking a lesser-of-two-evils approach to the 2008 race... Of his new position, Dobson said in the statement to the AP, "If that is a flip-flop, then so be it." As a reminder last January, A prominent Christian leader whose radio and magazine outreaches are solidly in support of biblically-based marriages - and keeps in touch with millions of constituents daily - says he cannot consider Arizona Sen. John McCain a viable candidate for president. "Speaking as a private individual, I would not vote for John McCain under any circumstances," said James Dobson, founder of the Colorado Springs-based Focus on the Family as well as the Focus Action cultural action organization set up specifically to provide a platform for informing and rallying constituents... He noted that legislation he'd just been discussing on the program, regarding an attempt by Democrat leaders in Congress to create obstacles for ministries such as Focus to reach constituents with action messages about pending legislation, is being supported by McCain, too. "That came from McCain, and the McCain Feingold Bill kept us from telling the truth right before elections … and there are a lot of other things. He's not in favor of traditional marriage, and I pray that we won't get stuck with him," Dobson said. I suppose I'm not really in a position to make judgments on one position or the other coming from Dr. Dobson. He's a big boy and no stranger to politics . It's the act of flip-flopping , from this man who invokes absolute moral authority to justify everything he says, that tells you everything you need to know. And, well, duh--don't get so high and mighty next time, right? http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/al/Cq7P http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/al/Cq7P/commentary#comments Mon, 21 Jul 2008 19:19:20 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/al/Cq7P Alan Franklin http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/1b6fb917dd91e10cc0_ge5omv53a.jpg Alan Franklin 1 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/Cq7P/ Phil Graham former Senator and current Economic advisor to Presidential candidate John Mc Cain, believes we're a nation of whiners. If he were a liberal he'd be accused of hating America. I wouldn't go that far but it does appears Graham hates Americans enough to call them whiners and tell us any economic woes we are experiencing are merely figments of our whining imagination. Can you blame him? After all, a complaint against our economy is a direct attack on the failure of the economic philosophy Graham and his conservative buddies worked so hard to build. He was instrumental in de-regulating the home mortgage industry himself. If you lost your home because you were duped into signing a flexible rate mortgage by being told you could re-do it later, you can thank conservative economics and Phil Graham personally. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/bingvangorden/Cqy4 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/bingvangorden/Cqy4/commentary#comments Fri, 11 Jul 2008 19:19:27 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/bingvangorden/Cqy4 BingVanGorden http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/25bd1354620e434bc8_ixsmv2dwg.jpg BingVanGorden 1 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/Cqy4/ From David Swanson: The peace movement has stood for peace and justice, for ending wars, preventing new ones, and building peace. Our top priority in Washington, D.C., has been ending the funding of the occupation. That work is over for the next year, because Congress has provided that funding. We can still work against recruitment, we can still educate, we can still agitate, we can still oppose an attack on Iran. But one of our secondary priorities in Washington has been imposing a penalty for the illegal attack on Iraq in order to discourage future attacks on Iran or anywhere else. We have pushed half-heartedly for impeachment, with our main lobbying focus on cutting off the money. Now, at the same time that the money is a done deal for another year, the possibility of impeachment is beginning to spark. After over two years of declaring impeachment "off the table," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has relented and suggested that some sort of preliminary hearing be held in the Judiciary Committee - and specifically on the impeachable offense of misleading a nation into war. If the peace movement is not just a movement against one war or occupation, but a movement for peace, we should push with everything we've got for that (impeachment) hearing to happen, happen soon, and happen well. We should ask everyone who cares about peace to phone Pelosi and Committee Chairman John Conyers, as well as their own representatives, whom they should ask to introduce their own articles of impeachment. We've been on a losing streak, brothers and sisters, and the door is cracking open toward a major victory. Let's open that door fully and lead a peaceful march of millions through it. http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/34705 PLEASE CALL and demand that Impeachment Hearings be started BEFORE the Election House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, Jr.: (202) 225-5126 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: (202) 225-4965 And your Congressman: Contact info Please join our weekly Impeachment Events, see our Calendar on the website ImpeachCO.com or in the Calendar here on ProgressNowAction.org John H Kennedy, organizer Impeach Colorado Coalition ImpeachCO.com .. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/CqyT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/CqyT/commentary#comments Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:32:28 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/kennedyjohn/CqyT John H Kennedy http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/5e4c96e6db734362f3_l5hmv2v71.jpg John H Kennedy 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CqyT/ Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?' Current mood: inspired Category: Life Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies - or else? The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or else we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation. Martin Luther King, Jr. He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it. Martin Luther King, Jr. (WAR = EVIL) THIS IS MY FAVORITE ONE...... An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity. Martin Luther King, Jr. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word. Martin Luther King, Jr. NO I LIED....these next two are my favorite ones...... I so would go to jail if I had too!!!! An individual who breaks a law that his conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law. Martin Luther King, Jr. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. Martin Luther King, Jr. Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men. Martin Luther King, Jr. A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus. Martin Luther King, Jr. A man can't ride your back unless it's bent. Martin Luther King, Jr. A man who won't die for something is not fit to live. http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/jaquelinechristopher/Cqyg http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/jaquelinechristopher/Cqyg/commentary#comments Sun, 29 Jun 2008 17:31:41 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/jaquelinechristopher/Cqyg Seeker of truth and freedom! http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/5cb1b68022f95ff4c0_ng4mv24hl.jpg Seeker of truth and freedom! 1 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/Cqyg/ Agendas within agendas seems to be the theme of the current administration... first we're going to invade and get rid of Saddam Hussain... then we're going to eliminate Al Kaida from Iraq... where it wasn't, then we're going to bring Democracy to the Middle East, as if Israel wasn't enough... Now America is going to convert the heathen Arab while catalyzing Armageddon. When did we become so arrogant as to think we dictate to God when the end will arrive? Ask you local fundamentalist Army, I'm sure they have a pamphlet for it. Article quoted below courtesy of VVAWnet: "US Military's Middle East Crusade for Christ by Robert Weitzel "They are proselytizing not on behalf of the Constitution of the United States . . . but rather on behalf of some sort of fanatical view of end times. And they are using our army to affect that." -Former Ambassador Joseph Wilson Last August the watchdog group Military Religious Freedom Foundation foiled a Pentagon plan that would have allowed the shipment of "freedom packages" to soldiers and Marines in Iraq. The parcels were put together by the fundamentalist Christian ministry, Straight Up, and contained Bibles, proselytizing tracts in English and Arabic, and the apocalyptic "Left Behind" computer game, in which Christian Tribulation forces convert or kill infidels-nonbelievers, Muslims and Jews. On May 1 the Senate approved the promotion of Brigadier General Robert L. Caslen Jr. to Major General. Currently the commandant of cadets at West Point, he will become the commander of the 25th Infantry Division. He is also president of the stridently fundamentalist Officer's Christian Fellowship, whose vision is a "spiritually transformed military, with ambassadors for Christ in uniform, empowered by the Holy Spirit." General Caslen was promoted despite the Defense Department's recommended disciplinary action against him and several other senior military leaders because they had "improperly endorsed and participated with a nonfederal entity while in uniform" by participating in a promotional video for the Campus Crusade For Christ's Christian Embassy, an evangelical organization that ministers to Beltway politicians and sponsors weekly Bible studies at the Pentagon. According to the DoD Inspector General's report, one of the generals involved "asserted that Christian Embassy was treated as an instrumentality of the Pentagon Chaplain's office for over 25 years, and had effectively become a 'quasi federal entity.'" Arguably, he believed his participation in the video was in the line of duty. Considering both the Pentagon's evangelical proclivity and a 2006 Pew survey which found that of the major religious groups in America, evangelicals have the most negative views of Islam and Muslims, the U.S. sniper who was recently caught using the Quran for target practice in the Baghdad neighborhood of Radhwaniya might be excused for thinking the book was a legitimate target upon which to perfect his craft . . . excused for thinking he was acting in the line duty. And is it any wonder that with evangelicals and fundamentalists at the very top of the military's officer corps -- to say nothing of their Commander in Chief -- that an enlisted Marine was passing out Christian "witnessing coins" inscribed in Arabic at a checkpoint in Fallujah? One side of the coin asked, "Where will you spend eternity?" An evangelical favorite, John 3:16, was on the flip side. Sheik Adul-Rahman al-Zubaie, a tribal leader in Fallujah who was outraged by the Marine's proselytizing said, "This event did not happen by chance, but it was planned and done intentionally." While the Marine's proselytizing is not the official policy of the predominately Christian force occupying the predominately Islamic Iraq, it was done "in the line of duty" with a wink and a nod from his chain of command. Think Abu Ghraib! >From Fort Jackson, the Army's largest basic training facility, where trainees are encouraged to attend Campus Crusade's weekly "God's Basic Training" programs, to the U.S. Air Force Academy where students are pressured to attend the Crusade's weekly "cru" (short for crusade) Bible study, American military personnel are, as Campus Crusade's Scot Blom gloats, "government paid missionaries" when they complete their training. As the demands of fighting a perpetual war against "radical Islam" begins to strain both the military's resources and the country's resolve, the Pentagon has begun outsourcing larger chunks of the war to private contractors. Predictably, our "government paid missionaries" have become more expensive and much less controllable or accountable. The Bush administration's favorite contractor, Blackwater, is the most powerful private army in the world. It commands thousands of mercenaries in Iraq and Afghanistan, has over a billion dollars in government contracts, and enjoys complete immunity from prosecution for its theater of operations' conduct. Blackwater's founder, Erik Prince, a staunchly conservative Catholic, has also served on the board of directors of Christian Freedom International, a crusading missionary organization operating in the overwhelmingly Islamic countries of Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq. Prince envisions an evangelical "end time" role for his warriors: "Everybody carries guns, just like Jeremiah rebuilding the temple in Israel -- a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other." No one in the last decade has contributed more to end time, apocalyptic evangelism than John Hagee, a televangelist seen by millions of viewers weekly and pastor of the 19,000-member Cornerstone Church. Hagee preaches that in order to bring about the Second Coming of Christ and the Rapture of true believers, Islam first has to be destroyed. In a 2006 interview with National Public Radio's Terry Gross, Hagee told her, "Those who live by the Quran have a scriptural mandate to kill Christians and Jews." He went on to claim that there are 200 million Muslims waiting for the chance to attack Israel and the United States. From his pulpit, Hagee makes it clear to his congregation and the radio and television audience what they can expect from American Muslims if such an attack ever took place: "While American Muslims live in America, 82 percent are not loyal to America and are not willing to fight and defend America." In his book, "Jerusalem Countdown - A Warning to the World," Hagee warns that the war between Islam and the West "is a war that Islam cannot and must not win." John Hagee is not just a mad evangelizing prophet. He is the mad evangelizing prophet who is courted by a war president, a hawkish presidential candidate and members of Congress from both parties. His Islamophobic bilge has trickled down from Capital Hill, through the labyrinthine corridors of the Pentagon, and into the chamber of a sniper's rifle and the hand of a Marine guarding a checkpoint in Fallujah. Officers in the military are expected to lead by example. Enlisted personnel are expected to follow that example. If the recent incidents at Radhwaniya and Fallujah are not just the acts of renegades, then the chain of command seems to be working the way it was designed." Here's the link: http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/06/09/9510/ http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/richardplambeck/Cqmf http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/richardplambeck/Cqmf/commentary#comments Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:21:48 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/richardplambeck/Cqmf Doc http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/7fb070b28e7075984a_06bmv2oev.jpg Doc 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/Cqmf/ On Saturday, July 19 from 1-3 pm Soulforce in Colorado will launch a discussion group exploring the wide-ranging oeuvre of nonviolent theory entitled "Readings in Nonviolence". We will meet at The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Colorado (1050 Broadway in Denver). I hope you might consider joining us. Christopher Hubble http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/christopherhubble/CqmL http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/christopherhubble/CqmL/commentary#comments Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:42:14 MDT http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/christopherhubble/CqmL Christopher Hubble http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/profile_picture/4dee335ad966caf645_t4kmv2lwg.jpg Christopher Hubble 0 http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/comment_rss/CqmL/