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   Dan Savage, the brilliant and foul-mouthed sex columnist, has become one of the most important ethicists in America. Are we screwed?
 The federal government is supposed to issue new rules about debt levels for students in for-profit colleges. In the meantime, the states are working on their own regulations.
 Washingtons budget hawks want to decimate the federal workforce to shrink the deficit. It will have the opposite effect.
 There arent nearly enough counterterrorism experts to instruct all of Americas police. So we got these guys instead.
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August 8, 2009
THIS WEEK IN GOD.... First up from the God Machine this week is a development that's gone largely under the radar in the debate over health care reform: leaders from the religious community who are weighing in on the side of reformers.
Some heavy hitters are apparently part of the campaign, including the Rev. Jim Wallis and Rabbi David Saperstein. Sponsoring the campaign are the PICO National Network, Faith in Public Life, Faithful America, Sojourners, and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good. Depending on the size and intensity of their efforts, the push from the faithful has the potential to make a difference. Generally speaking, when religion, policy, and politics mix, the impression is that it's with a conservative goal -- banning abortion, restricting gay rights, etc. -- in mind. Here's a chance to prove otherwise. It would also be interesting to see a clash between the right-wing mob and religious leaders committed to improved health care for all. Videos of far-right activists screaming at policymakers make the activists look pretty bad. Videos of far-right activists screaming at ministers would likely be seen as worse by much of the country. Also from The God Machine this week: * Several dozen politically conservative churches deliberately violated federal tax law the Sunday before the 2008 presidential election, formally endorsing John McCain's presidential campaign. The goal, the churches said, was to be punished by the Internal Revenue Service, which would in turn offer the churches a chance to sue and challenge the constitutionality of restricting the political conduct of tax-exempt institutions. Much to the churches' disappointment, the IRS has decided not to pursue investigations against the ministries. * Say goodbye to Dinosaur Adventure Land: "A federal judge has cleared the way for the government's seizure of a creationism theme park in Pensacola owned by a couple convicted of tax fraud.... Kent Hovind, who founded the park and a ministry, Creation Science Evangelism, is serving 10 years in federal prison for failing to pay the Internal Revenue Service more than $470,000 in employee taxes." (thanks to L.M. for the tip) * Gallup had an interesting report this week on religious identity by state: "The states of the union differ remarkably from one another in terms of their residents' religions. Non-Catholic Christians -- the largest religious group in the country today -- are heavily concentrated in the South and nearby states, while constituting only a minority of residents of Northeastern states, and of many Middle Atlantic and Western states." * And in Iowa, the Iowa Atheists & Freethinkers group took out some bus ads in Des Moines that read, "Don't believe in God? You are not alone." The ads were not well received. (thanks to B.D. for the heads-up) —Steve Benen 10:45 AM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (21)
Comments
And in Iowa, the Iowa Atheists & Freethinkers group took out some bus ads in Des Moines that read, "Don't believe in God? You are not alone." The ads were not well received. Excellent! I would ask the Governor and the other detractors what precisely is "offensive" about saying you don't believe in God? Posted by: DelCapslock on August 8, 2009 at 11:11 AM | PERMALINKI can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm very disappointed in the IRS. I suppose the right-wingers will be all frothing at the mouth because the Iowa Atheists & Freethinkers are having their freedom of speech curtailed. Posted by: hells littlest angel on August 8, 2009 at 11:22 AM | PERMALINKIsn't the choice to believe or not part of our 'freewill', supposedly given to us by god? If the governor doesn't like this and attempts to stamp it out, the he is playing god himself, attempting to usurp god's power, and is a classic blasphemer. Freewill is god's gift. Those who try to disparage our choice to believe or not believe are onky proving their own lack of belief in god's word. Posted by: In what respect, Charlie? on August 8, 2009 at 11:23 AM | PERMALINK...some bus ads in Des Moines that read, "Don't believe in God? You are not alone." The ads were not well received.****************** Isn't the choice to believe or not part of our 'freewill', supposedly given to us by god? If the governor doesn't like this and attempts to stamp it out, the he is playing god himself, attempting to usurp god's power, and is a classic blasphemer. Freewill is god's gift. Those who try to disparage our choice to believe or not believe are only proving their own lack of belief in god's word. Posted by: In what respect, Charlie? on August 8, 2009 at 11:25 AM | PERMALINKAnd: Thanks, Steve. I missed TWIG last week. It's my favorite feature on this blog. Posted by: hells littlest angel on August 8, 2009 at 11:27 AM | PERMALINKglad to see god had a light week -- the dude obviously is in way way way over his head... Posted by: neill on August 8, 2009 at 11:31 AM | PERMALINKthe dude obviously is in way way way over his head He's just phoning it in until Cthulhu's shift starts. The atheist ads will go back on the buses, according to the Des Moines Register. Culver clearly miscalculated with this one, judging from the comments in the original story. He has not been a bad governor imho (much better than Vilsack) but his instincts are certainly not progressive. Posted by: Iowan on August 8, 2009 at 12:00 PM | PERMALINKVery disappointing decision by the IRS. Basically they have decided not to enforce their own rules, thus giving churches carte blanche to violate the law. Posted by: mfw13 on August 8, 2009 at 2:05 PM | PERMALINKIt is my understanding from info on another site that the IRS has a rule that requires senior-ranking agents to look into the church-state infractions but they don't have enough of these higher ranking people to do the work. And yes, it does look like the IRS is defaulting and it will provide impetus for more infractions. Posted by: athena on August 8, 2009 at 2:30 PM | PERMALINKNeat trick by the conservative churches, setting up the narrative so that it is tails they win, heads we lose. And of course the IRS's reaction is to not enforce the law, not unlike the Justice Department and the crimes of the previous administration. We can't punish people, because then they win a P.R. victory, which is unthinkable! And, exactly what does Chet Culver find offensive about the statement "Don't believe in God? You are not alone."? The ad didn't read "Believe in God? You are an idiot." or "Do you go to church? If you do then I hope you die an early death." Those are offensive statements. All kinds of religious groups have ads welcoming people into their faith, why should atheism be treated any differently? Besides, the text of the ad is a clear statement of fact that no one would dispute. Politics in this country keep sliding farther and farther down the stupid pole. Posted by: kidcharles on August 8, 2009 at 3:02 PM | PERMALINKthe gallup link has maps, too...interesting how the maps match up with the chunk of the country who doesn't believe obama's a citizen... Posted by: dj spellchecka on August 8, 2009 at 4:02 PM | PERMALINKThe goal, the churches said, was to be punished by the Internal Revenue Service, which would in turn offer the churches a chance to sue and challenge the constitutionality of restricting the political conduct of tax-exempt institutions. theses pissant churches must be wondering who's side is god on. lost the election and no one cares about their pissant violations. of course, if they really want to speak freely on all matters, they can just reject tax-exempt status. last time i checked it wasn't a constitutional right. Posted by: mudwall jackson on August 8, 2009 at 6:49 PM | PERMALINK"Don't believe in God? You are not alone." The ads were not well received. As if we didn't know already, that we *are* very much alone, in this country... It's "funny" how I'm expected to be ever so respectful about the feelings and beliefs of others, but those same others don't feel any need to reciprocate. Posted by: exlibra on August 8, 2009 at 8:10 PM | PERMALINKA federal judge has cleared the way for the government's seizure of a creationism theme park in Pensacola Why, oh why is it always my old hometown, Pensacola? Since I've been gone, it seems the place has become the nutjob capital of the South. Posted by: Quaker in a Basement on August 8, 2009 at 11:11 PM | PERMALINKWhen it comes to my views on Christianity, I make Madelyn Murray O'Haire look like Billy Graham, but if some Christian wanted to put a ad on buses that said "Believe in Jesus? You are not alone.", I wouldn't care. Gov. Culver comes across as an idiot here. "A federal judge has cleared the way for the government's seizure of a creationism theme park in Pensacola" If the claim by Kent Hovind, that the Park was a religious statement was accepted, would that mean all of the attempts by creationsists to pass creationism as not a religion been seen as false? Would this have been a way to get creationism out of the schools? Posted by: Marc on August 9, 2009 at 7:55 AM | PERMALINKSee how you're so threatened by a little sign? It's so hard to pretend that there's a god. Posted by: your common sense on August 9, 2009 at 8:33 AM | PERMALINKGallup doesn't count Mormons as "non Catholic Christians." This is bizarre. There are some fringe evangelicals who don't consider Mormons to be Christian, but they and Gallup are pretty much alone in this. Posted by: Win Pollard on August 9, 2009 at 2:17 PM | PERMALINKYeah, well at least Gallup included Mormons in the survey. Somehow they couldn't find enough Muslims to bother reporting any results, although Muslims are more numerous in the US than either Mormons or Jews. Post a comment
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