Put it this way: if a prominent Muslim leader denounced Christianity as a "very evil and wicked religion,"

Aren't those just about the words Louis Farraken used to describe Judaism? I didn't see him getting invited to any government prayer functions.

Of course, I would prefer there be no government prayer functions, then this would all be moot.

BBBBBBut in the canyons of her own mind, Sister Sarah is the Joan of Arc of the 21st century - won't anyone listen to her? (Or the obvious voices in her head?) -Kevo

Definitely the right call! True Americans cannot/should not/would not tolerate religious bigotry, especially from those self-righteous zealots who claim to speak the word of a Christian God. Now, let the countdown to evangelical outrage begin, 5... 4... 3... 2...

I suggest dropping the term "former half-term Gov." to describe Saint Sarah and replace it with "former half-term, still half-wit Gov.".

He's also known for running a controversial evangelical relief organization called "Samaritan's Purse," which sought to enter Iraq in 2003 to convert Iraqis to Christianity after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime.

Considering that one of the casualties of GWB's "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq was the demise of Iraq's Christian community -- How did Rev. Graham's program work?

If we don't stop bickering over whose imaginary dog has the bigger dick, we may not survive into the next generation.

Why we are having a debate about Graham instead of a debate about the appropriateness of the Pentagon being the arbiter of mainstream religion?

Why we are having a debate about Graham instead of a debate about the appropriateness of the Pentagon being the arbiter of mainstream religion?

As long as the Pentagon is in line with the rest of the government, what's the dif? Particularly when the issue the guy is advocating could get our soldiers killed in an ongoing war.

By definition every evangelical of whatever religion is a religious zelot/bigot who thinks his is the only path to God. They are all in competition. None of them, be they Christian, Muslim, Jewish or whatever, has any respect for members of any other faith. For nearly 2 thousand years Christians, Muslims and Jews have been killing each other over one profound belief shared by all evangelicals of all time--God likes me better than you. Christians think it, Muslims think it, Jews think it. Graham is no different than any religious zelot who has cast a shadow over the Earth at least since the time of Abraham.

Frankly, I would be very much surprised if God likes members of one faith better than another. More likely, if he has any thoughts on the subject at all, God is bemused by, or maybe ashamed of, all the childishness expressed by true believers of all stripes.

graham turned my stomach when he showed up at virginia tech to sniff the dead and gain a photo-op...he is one picture boy of the gospel of hate 'n greed...

I appreciate Steve's use of the term "former half-term Gov." and I appreciate his use of "painfully unintelligent media personality" as descriptions of Saint Sarah.

It would be great if additional descriptions could be suggested for Steve to add to his arsenal of Sarah descriptions.

Maybe a contest? Wit and sarcasm as primary objectives?

"...the painfully unintelligent media personality..."
Beautiful.

The Religious Right is already baying at the moon on this one, only while they know 'some enemy is behind this' they are having trouble deciding which one.

For Gordon Klingenschmitt it's Mikey Weinstein:

The anti-Christian complainer once described by a Pentagon spokesman as "a rabid anti-evangelical," Mikey Weinstein has duped Pentagon officials into disinviting Franklin Graham, leader of The Samaritan's Purse and son of legendary evangelist Billy Graham, from praying with our troops on the National Day of Prayer (NDOP), because Graham is Christian and opposes Islamic terrorism.

Tony Perkins sees the culprit as the war on Christians in general:

This decision is further evidence that the leadership of our nation's military has been impaired by the politically correct culture being advanced by this Administration. Under this Administration's watch we are seeing the First Amendment, designed to protect the religious exercise of Americans, retooled into a sword to sever America's ties with orthodox Christianity.

Andrea Lafferty -- who is coming from nowhere to a position as a major challenger in the Crazy Christian Cup race -- has a slightly more targeted idea:

"This attack on Franklin Graham and Christians was engineered by CAIR and it has the fingerprints of Barack Obama's White House all over it," said Traditional Values Coalition Executive Director Andrea Lafferty.

But is is Bryan Fischer, still the Cup favorite, who has a different idea -- actually Fischer has only one idea, he just has new ways of expressing it:

Bottom line: you want to know who's now running the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy and the Marines and calling the shots where it counts? Fundamentalist Muslims and homosexual activists.

In fact, I'll predict that there will be a day of prayer at the Pentagon on May 6, and it will feature a Muslim imam, a homosexual clergyman, and no conservative Christians of any kind.

This is not your father's military. It's not even your father's country anymore.

And that's all from just one post at Right Wing Watch

@ Ron Byers -

Who are you calling "he," White Man?

i thought the national day of prayer was unconstitutional

It is not bigotry to oppose an ideology which people are free to adopt or to renounce.

It is demagoguery to categorize opposition to an ideology as bigotry.

I like "Former half-term, half-educated Governor".

She probably knows more about white Christian energy than anybody in America.

It is not bigotry to oppose an ideology which people are free to adopt or to renounce.

It is demagoguery to categorize opposition to an ideology as bigotry.

If all religions are choices of freely adopted 'ideology' how does the the poster explain persistent demographic trends with respect to religion and geography? Completely free choice would indicate a different distribution than presently exists. I would suggest that the accusation of 'demagoguery' fails at very rudimentary level of its formulation and gets worse from there.

God, don't blame me. I didn't invent English.

Why settle for half?

With Sarah Palin, you have it all:

Half-term, half-wit, half-cocked, half-assed.

And his daddy hated Jews.

"hyper-politically correct" - Palin

I am so sick of hearing the phrase 'politically correct' from people who seem to think it's vile, and complete non-sense.

If Palin and her ilk don't like, stop using it, after all speech is free and protected in this country. Say what you mean Mrs. Palin, quite hiding behind the very phase you find so vulgar for political reasons.

jpd - The ruling that the National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional is being appealed clearing the way for it to be held this year.

I wouldn't call this bigotry.
Bigotry tells me there's some antipathy towards the people themselves.

Maybe that's true, but he's expressed his condemnation of a FAITH, not a people.

Am I a bigot is I condemn Satanism? Am I a bigot if I denounce Christianity?

He didn't say MUSLIMS are evil and wicked. Just Islam.

He may be incorrect. Worse, he may be counterproductive towards all types of goals Christians likely support. But a bigot? I'd call that imprecision of language.

I've read the Koran. I condemn the few parts that DO advocate killing infidels and support that greater number of verses that advocate peaceful co-existence.
============
Second point, Christians used to be content to threaten people's eternal souls. There's room for doubt and debate on this matter.

When he says no Muslim is "free" without Jesus, what the hell does that even MEAN?

He's enslaved by something? Right now? Are Jews equally enslaved? Pagans? Atheists? Buddhists?

Free from what? Enslaved by what?

I'm overjoyed that this inchoate blathering is (for now) not going to be consuming our military men's precious time.

"When he says no Muslim is "free" without Jesus, what the hell does that even MEAN?"

Most religions define freedom as choosing their right path. It's pretty basic. I'm surprised that anyone would even ask.