“Up until now, the idea of being American and believing in God were synonymous”

At the Washington Post, Sally Quinn is the most—
The most wrong, most annoying, most vile
Now she’s written a screed that’s offensive indeed
And it’s full of the usual bile
Says “belief is a must, cos in God we do trust
So our coins are the ones God would favor
You can see every time, on a nickel or dime…”
And again, I pull out my engraver

Oh, it’s badly thought out, badly written, and (yay!) badly received.

This is a religious country. Part of claiming your citizenship is claiming a belief in God, even if you are not Christian.. We’ve got the Creator in our Declaration of Independence. We’ve got “In God We Trust” on our coins. We’ve got “one nation under God” in our Pledge of Allegiance. And we say prayers in the Senate and the House of Representatives to God.

An atheist could never get elected dog catcher, much less president. (Democratic Rep. Pete Stark of California is a nontheist but doesn’t talk much about it).

Up until now, the idea of being American and believing in God were synonymous.

The comments are hilarious. And, for the most part, excellent.

But, as per my promise, this means once more into the breach, and another batch of coins gets de-godded.

He’s Made A Little List

As someday it may happen
An election we must hold
I’ve got a little list
It’s not a little list
Of the lies and utter falsehoods
That this Romney chap has told
Which must not be dismissed
They cannot be dismissed

Sadly, I don’t have time right now to complete the Mikado list song–might have to revisit this concept, or just let you do it. But the list itself is now in the neighborhood of 700 documented lies, in weekly installments by Steve Benen each Friday on the Maddow Blog. You can find the 35th installment of the list here. It has links to all the previous versions.

(Their standards are a bit stricter than mine–repetitions of the same lie on different occasions counts for them, and some of the lies are, I think, open to interpretation, although an honest observer would have to admit that Romney is at minimum stretching the truth beyond its capacity to recover. With my looser standards, you’d only have perhaps a couple hundred unique lies being told. Which is still plenty of grist for the lyrical mill.)

Time To Fear–UnderDog Is Here!

In interviews on TV shows,
In papers, or in someone’s blog
The campaigns fight like no one knows,
To claim the title “underdog”.

One candidate’s the president
And one a multi-millionaire;
Some sympathy’d be heaven-sent
And underdogs make people care

Let’s make a play for sympathy
And keep the expectations low
We’re not expecting much—you see,
We’re underdogs in this year’s show

“The other side” both sides proclaim
“Is clearly in the privileged seat”
It’s almost like it’s all a game—
The only rule is, don’t get beat.

Your tactic’s weak; the best you’ve got’s
A line of bullshit claims to flog
These stupid claims, and low cheap shots
Dilute the name of “Underdog”. [Read more…]

News Site Debates Existence Of Hell. Seriously. In 2012.

I read it just this morning (I will need to make this clear,
But I had to check the calendar to verify the year)
On what claims to be a news site, and a major one, I fear—
They debated the reality of Hell

I thought Hell was merely fiction; just a myth from long ago
An adapted form of Hades, which the Greeks saw down below
For an educated person, this is something you should know
It’s a story that the ancients used to tell

In our modern world, the concept of a Heaven or a Hell
Or creation in a paradise from which our species fell
Is a sign that the believer isn’t thinking very well—
Those are remnants of beliefs from way back when

Or at least that’s how it should be; I was truly shocked to see
In our age of information (and so much of it is free!)
Such an ancient and outdated view—so how, then, could it be
On the home page—yes, today—at CNN?

No, really! Look:

Ah, but on the story’s page itself, the title is a bit less sensationalistic: Different Takes: Should we abandon idea of hell?

(Oh, and given the predictable nature of the comments, I am a bit disappointed in CNN that they didn’t tweak the comments page to read “Abandon all hope, ye who enter”)

God Saves Texas From … What?

“Forty Days To Save America”
Had placed a conference call
Cos a pastor had some news to share
About his favorite pol.

To hear the pastor tell it,
Climatologists are irked
Cos that prayer y’all made fun of?
Here’s the funny thing—it worked.

Perry saved the state of Texas
When he prayed for rain to fall
Simple church and state entanglement
Has rescued one and all!

I say “one and all”, but really,
There’s a long, long way to go—
Is the drought in Texas over?
There’s a simple answer: no.

There are aquifers in trouble
In the South, and in the West
(So it’s clear—Northeastern Texas
Is the part God loves the best)

But it’s better than it once was
So they’re crediting the Guv;
If he hadn’t prayed and fasted
God might not have shown His love.

Lest you think the pastor stupid,
Simply wrong, or off his meds…
He’s distracting our attention
From a bailout by the feds.

[Tuesday] the EPA announced they’re giving more than $57 million in grants to the Texas Water Development Board fund for drinking water. “The funds will be used by the state of Texas to provide loan assistance to eligible water systems for infrastructure improvements needed to ensure safe drinking water is available to Texas residents,” the agency says.

That was Tuesday. Today, we find out that there was no need for federal intervention–Rick Perry’s prayers and fasting are the reason the drought is over… to the extent, that is, that it is over.

It is, absolutely, the case that the drought is less problematic now than it was when Perry held his prayer at the beginning of what is typically the rainy season. It’s similar, I guess, to the success I have achieved when I head to the beach right after low tide and pray for high tide.

Either that, or the puppy sacrifice worked. (perfectly safe and heartwarming story at link)

The Room Was Full Of Wealthy Men

The room was full of wealthy men
And one of them was Mitt
He felt he could speak freely there,
And lighten up a bit.

He thought his friends would have his back;
That wasn’t how it went.
And now we know how Romney feels
For the forty-seven percent.

The poor among us always thought
That Mitt was unaware—
It seems we’re wrong; he knows, all right
He simply doesn’t care

It’s not his job to care about
The folks who don’t have much;
Who don’t have yachts, or second homes,
Or Cadillacs and such

It’s not his job to give a damn
About the working poor
Which Mitt said, to the wealthy men
He’s really working for.

The wealthy play by different rules—
Why can’t we just admit?
The room was full of wealthy men…
And one of them was Mitt.

via every damn news source on the planet.

Mitt And God

Mitt doesn’t have charisma
He doesn’t have appeal
He doesn’t have the common touch
He doesn’t have the feel
He doesn’t have the numbers
But still Mitt wants the nod
Instead of talking politics,
It’s “God, God, God, God, God!”

He’ll keep God in the public square
He’ll keep God in the pledge
He’ll keep God on our bills and coins
(and not just on the edge)
He’ll keep God in his platform
And he’ll keep God in his heart
Mitt’s bound to win — God’s helping him!
(I wonder when He’ll start.)

Oh, Those Undecided Voters

There was a voter, undecided,
Though I cannot fathom why;
Perhaps a faulty compass guided
Him, as days and weeks flew by.
Friends would prod, and neighbors chided
“Such an indecisive guy!”
With rapt attention undivided
All would roll their eyes and sigh.
The networks parked where he resided
(Never was he camera-shy)
The interviews that he provided
Kept the ratings climbing high.

Today, as news-mobiles collided
In his yard, I caught his eye:
“If I decide”, the man confided,
“All these cameras say good-bye!” [Read more…]

In God We MUST

There is God along my drive to work—the church upon the hill
There is God in every pocket; He’s on every dollar bill
But I saw an empty courthouse wall—it nearly made me ill!
So you know, I’m only doing what I must!

There was godless empty space there, so I had to take a stand,
And in similar locations all across our blessed land
Every courthouse in the country, if they meet with my demand
Will display, for all to see, “In God We Trust”

It reminds us all that, really, it was God who gave us rights
So we’ll put His name upon the walls, in everybody’s sights
And never mind the atheists—they always lose these fights—
There’s no reason we should hear them out at all

Now, in near 300 counties, there’s a useful little perk:
Every councilman and woman, every jurist, every clerk
Has the right to be a Christian, and to spend the day at work
With “In God We Trust” emblazoned on the wall

Via the Tulare County Atheists, a report on In God We Trust–America, whose mission is

“To Promote Patriotism
By Encouraging Elected Officials
To Legally Display Our National Motto,
“In God We Trust”
In Every City, County and State Chamber in America”

IGWT-A is the work of Jacquie Sullivan, who expected more resistance to the idea of promoting God in a culture where only 80% of her fellow citizens are Christians:

Sullivan said she at first expected that “In God We Trust” would be challenged in court, but so far no lawsuit has targeted a city or county.
Cities frequently ignore her letters urging adoption, Sullivan said, but if the motto gets on the agenda it almost always passes.

Why on earth would anyone object?

The most common argument against it is that the “establishment” clause of the First Amendment bans the government from getting involved in religion, she said.

“It’s a misconception. I’m not a scholar, but it was referring to not having a state church,” Sullivan said. “This is a free-speech issue.”
In Kings County, Iraq War veteran Richard Leach, 29, spoke against the motto proposal at the board of supervisors meeting.
“Government should be a neutral zone for people who are believers and those who are not,” Leach said. “It alienates a certain portion of the population.”

She’s not a scholar on this, but… The proper punctuation on that sentence should be a period after “this”.

As the Tulare County Atheists report notes, the placing of the motto is (or would be) an example of “ceremonial deism”, a spin that allows clear but historic violations of the establishment clause to continue, constitutionally, under the argument that this mention of “God” does not actually refer to the Christian God, or any other particular god, but rather to some impotent bit of fluff, a cardboard cutout god that’s mostly there to add three syllables between “one nation” and “indivisible”.

Back when I was a Christian, I’d have found this offensive.