Making herself at home

I wish this little critter had gone elsewhere to construct the elegant little nest, because of course I will have to remove it. It is about 6 inches from the frame of my front door and about five feet above the floor of the front porch.

Click the photograph for a larger view.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Accountability in Bush II

So Lurita Doan, the Bush appointee running the GSA, violated the Hatch Act.

Like so many Bush appointees lately summoned to account by Congress, Ms. Doan repeatedly said she could not recall details of the meeting. In a bit of novelty, she claimed to be engrossed in reading her BlackBerry e-mail messages. Investigators of the United States Office of Special Counsel found no forensic evidence that she was using electronic devices during the meeting. Her other defense — that her accusers were poor-performing malcontents — was also found untrue, with several holding merit citations. [New York Times Editorial: Forget Ethics, Remember Politics, 5-29-2007]

I personally believe that people should pay for their crimes (violations of law) within the established justice system -- Constitution, statutory law, precedent, day in court, right to face accusers, judge and jury, penalty hearing, sentence, paying your debt to society, all that stuff, remember? But I grew up in fundamentalism, and this is how the final court in Christian fundamentalism works if you are charged with some variance from God’s law:

• you die
• you go to Hell
• you wait in the Hell situation until the ending of time
• at the ending of time, you find yourself standing before the judgment seat of Christ
• books are opened in which all of your deeds have been written down.
• your sinful deeds are read for all to hear, and you are judged
• you are thrown into the eternal lake of fire and brimstone

You can find the process described in greater detail here

Of course there is that little thing of asking God for forgiveness. When you do that, your accounting page is washed clean by the blood shed at the crucifixion, and your name is written in the Book of Life. So I figure that none of the Bush appointees, who are fundamentalists (first requirement) are at all nervous. They just have a little prayer closet off the courtroom where they ask forgiveness when they finish testifying. That way, when they get hit by a truck on the way home and find themselves standing at the white throne and facing the open book, God won’t recall their perjury. He would have forgotten as well anything they have done that might have called them to testify in the first place. Though their sins [might have been] as scarlet, they shall be as white as wool. [Isaiah 1:18]

Kerry promises to vote "No"

The new legislation is more of the same, and I campaigned for Democrats in the last election so we could have something different.

Kerry is asking you to read more than 25 words, (all related to the same topic!) but he is right as usual. And I am tired of the slogan culture myself. If we see our nation plundered and our democracy undermined, we will have at least two factions to blame. One will be the plunderers, and the other will be an electorate that can't take time to read a paragraph or think about an issue.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/5/24/114745/908

Bible class lawsuit

In an article titled Advocacy groups sue to halt Bible classes in Texas schools, posted May 16 2007 by Education, from Associated Press in Dallas tells about eight parents in west Texas who are suing a school district over a Bible course. They say it violates their religious liberty, and they have sued to have the class discontinued:

< blockquote>The American Civil Liberties Union and People for the American Way Foundation sued the Ector County Independent School District, asking the Odessa school system to stop teaching the course.

The people objecting to the program say that the course “contains errors, dubious research and blatantly favors a fundamentalist, Protestant view of the Bible.”

You can’t teach “about” the Bible as literature without offending fundamentalists, and you can’t teach the fundamentalist viewpoint without offending just about everyone else. This will be an interesting case, since the brief story reports that one of the plaintiffs is a Presbyterian deacon.

The course materials come from National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools (NC) and “backers of the National Council include David Barton, who operates a Web site that promotes helping local officials develop policies that reflect Biblical views and encourages Christian involvement in civic affairs.” American Family Association, Eagle Forum and Plano-based Liberty Legal Institute are named as supporters of the program.

PFAW outlines the origins and associations of the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools, and says that:

NCBCPS has boasted that anywhere from 45 to 300 school districts have adopted its curriculum, but no one really knows, and NCBCPS won't tell the public. NCBCPS has generally refused to make its curriculum available for evaluation by scholars and the media, selectively disclosing it only to friendly school board members and parents.

Jerry Falwell's Passing Over

In other terms than global warming, the world probably got just a little warmer with the passing of Jerry Falwell. He grew hate in his backyard and spread it around by the truck load -- and with his masterful use of the media and political influence, he made a hate-filled version of Christianity the norm of the day. He played upon the fears of people and helped rally the Christian right to place George W. Bush in the presidency and our democracy at risk as it is today.

There is hardly a segment of society that he did not insult, including many Christians, with his bigotry and arrogance. With his passing, Christianity has an open door to move to a more actually Christian attitude. I found a message on that topic at Pomomusings that is worth reading.

As for whether Rev. Falwell is in heaven or hell, you already know I don't believe in the existence of hell. As I have said before, hell is just wishful thinking. In the reality Falwell has left for his followers and his enemies, the damage he did will be a long time healing.