That depends on what you mean by religious folks. You don't have to believe
the Bible is literally written by God and is literally all true to be
religious. The PTA at my son's school rejected birth control in the health
clinic and a discussion of sexual assault and child sexual abuse, but didn't
mind a unit on comparative religion.
Abby
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Miriam Vieni
Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2016 7:02 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Why Ted Cruz Is Unfit to Be President
Abby,
The problem is that religious folks would be upset if the bible were taught
objectively. It's never just taught. It's always interpreted. If it were
taught, we'd explain to children that it is a collection of stories made up
by people, some of which are attempts to explain natural phenomena, and some
of which are just stories, and that none of it comes from God, and that it
is the choice of individual people, whether or not any of it is considered
sacred. Just imagine the fights at school board meetings.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Abby Vincent
Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2016 7:07 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Why Ted Cruz Is Unfit to Be President
This is another reason why the Bible should be taught in school. The
Republicans often distort what it actually says. Most notably, Jesus never
weighed in on abortion or homosexuality. Besides we wouldn't want the kids
to think Bernie Sanders said "It's easier for a camel to go through the eye
of a needle than it is for a rich man to get into heaven".
Abby
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Miriam Vieni
Sent: Tuesday, February 02, 2016 2:17 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Why Ted Cruz Is Unfit to Be President
Why Ted Cruz Is Unfit to Be President
Tuesday, 02 February 2016 00:00 By The Daily Take Team, The Thom Hartmann
Program | Op-Ed Ted Cruz isn't just winning the support of religious
extremists; he's celebrating their support, and in some cases, hiring them
to work for his campaign. (Photo: CJ Hanevy / Shutterstock.com) One of the
most disturbing developments of the 2016 Republican race for president has
been Donald Trump's popularity among the most racist elements in US society.
The New Yorker, for example, had lengthy piece over the summer detailing the
excitement he has generated in the neo-Nazi movement.
But here's the thing: Trump isn't the only guy with dangerous supporters.
The media don't talk about it as much, but Ted Cruz - Trump's closest
competitor for GOP front-runner status - has also won the backing of some
downright terrifying people. Take, for example, anti-choice activist Troy
Newman, who the Cruz campaign just tapped to head up "pro-lifers for Cruz."
As the head of the radical male supremacist group Operation Rescue, Newman
straddles the very thin line between "activism" and domestic terrorism - and
I mean really straddles it. His organization harasses abortion providers and
their patients, and some of its members have been involved in plots to blow
up women's health clinics. Newman himself has called for the murder of
abortion doctors, said AIDS is a warning from God and believes that drought
is God's revenge for abortion.
See more news and opinion from Thom Hartmann at Truthout here.
Seems like a great guy, huh? Well, he's just the tip of the iceberg when it
comes to Ted Cruz's supporters.
There's also Dick Black, who the Cruz campaign has appointed as the co-chair
of its Virginia campaign. In addition to advocating for the total
criminalization of homosexuality, Black is also a rape truther. Back when he
was a Virginia state delegate, Black openly questioned the existence of
marital rape, something one of his opponents hammered him on in a campaign
ad.
So much for family values, huh?
Cynthia Dunbar, Black's fellow co-chair of the Ted Cruz campaign in
Virginia, isn't much better. She's compared women having reproductive rights
to the Holocaust, fought to make far-right Christianity part of the public
school curriculum and believes that elected officials should have to pass a
"biblical litmus test." She also says that politicians "don't have the
freedom to make any laws if they are contrary to what God has said in his
Holy Scripture."
Swap out the words "Holy Scripture" for "Qu'ran" and that speech could have
been made by Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, the head of ISIS.
Another Ted Cruz supporter, Iowa conservative and head of The Family Leader,
Bob Vander Plaats, also says the US should be a Saudi Arabia-style
theocracy. Here he is just a couple of years ago talking about why our
government should be based on "Godly principles" - i.e. far-right
evangelical Christianity.
As unsettling as that kind of talk is, it's nothing compared to what
Colorado pastor Kevin Swanson, another big-time Ted Cruz supporter, said
about homosexuality this summer: that it was worthy of the death penalty.
Amazingly, it gets even worse than that.
Ted Cruz supporter and Texas preacher Mike Bickle believes that Jews should
be forcibly converted to Christianity and says that if they refuse to do so,
God will send a "hunter" like "Adolf Hitler" to get them to change their
minds.
Now, it'd be one thing if Mike Bickle was just some random guy with bigoted
views who just happens to support Ted Cruz, but he's not, or at least not
according to the Cruz campaign.
When Bickle announced last week that he was endorsing Ted Cruz for
president, the Cruz campaign published a statement on its official website
saying in big bold letters, "CRUZ FOR PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES ENDORSEMENT OF
MIKE BICKLE."
There's an old saying that says you are the company you keep, and if Ted
Cruz is the company he keeps, that's downright terrifying.
He's just not winning the support of people like Mike Bickle and Dick Black;
he's celebrating their support, and in some cases, hiring them to work for
his campaign.
Of course, there's always the case that this is just one big cynical ploy to
win the Evangelical vote, but even if it is, it says a lot about Ted Cruz as
a person and as a leader that he'd willingly associate himself with people
who are pretty much the US version of ISIS.
This is one of the biggest stories of the 2016 race for president, but the
really disturbing thing is that the media almost completely ignore it.
Turn on CNN or any of the other major networks and you're more likely to
hear about poll numbers than the fact that the potential Republican nominee
for president has been endorsed by a guy who thinks Hitler was sent by God.
It's almost like the media think it's acceptable that someone running for
president likes to pal around with Christian extremists and theocrats.
Well, it's not acceptable; it's a direct threat to our democracy, which is
why it's time for the media to start taking Cruz and his extremist
endorsements seriously. Based on everything we've seen up to this point, we
have every reason to believe that a Ted Cruz presidency could mean the start
of a Saudi Arabia-style theocracy right here in the US. The media should
function as the fourth estate and wake the American people up to this before
it's too late.
This article was first published on Truthout and any reprint or reproduction
on any other website must acknowledge Truthout as the original site of
publication.
RELATED STORIES
Ted Cruz Was Too Busy Playing With His "Gun" in Sixth Grade to Pay Attention
By The Daily Take Team, The Thom Hartmann Program | Op-Ed Ted Cruz's Path to
the White House By Tom Tomorrow, This Modern World | Cartoon Ted Cruz
Implies He Would Nuke ISIS Targets By Robert Parry, Consortium News | News
Analysis ________________________________________
Show Comments
Hide Comments
<a href="http://truthout.disqus.com/?url=ref";>View the discussion
thread.</a> Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.
Why Ted Cruz Is Unfit to Be President
Tuesday, 02 February 2016 00:00 By The Daily Take Team, The Thom Hartmann
Program | Op-Ed
. font size Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.Error! Hyperlink
reference not valid.Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.Error! Hyperlink
reference not valid.
. Ted Cruz isn't just winning the support of religious extremists;
he's celebrating their support, and in some cases, hiring them to work for
his campaign. (Photo: CJ Hanevy / Shutterstock.com)
. One of the most disturbing developments of the 2016 Republican race
for president has been Donald Trump's popularity among the most racist
elements in US society. The New Yorker, for example, had lengthy piece over
the summer detailing the excitement he has generated in the neo-Nazi
movement. But here's the thing: Trump isn't the only guy with dangerous
supporters.
The media don't talk about it as much, but Ted Cruz - Trump's closest
competitor for GOP front-runner status - has also won the backing of some
downright terrifying people. Take, for example, anti-choice activist Troy
Newman, who the Cruz campaign just tapped to head up "pro-lifers for Cruz."
As the head of the radical male supremacist group Operation Rescue, Newman
straddles the very thin line between "activism" and domestic terrorism - and
I mean really straddles it. His organization harasses abortion providers and
their patients, and some of its members have been involved in plots to blow
up women's health clinics. Newman himself has called for the murder of
abortion doctors, said AIDS is a warning from God and believes that drought
is God's revenge for abortion.
See more news and opinion from Thom Hartmann at Truthout here.
Seems like a great guy, huh? Well, he's just the tip of the iceberg when it
comes to Ted Cruz's supporters.
There's also Dick Black, who the Cruz campaign has appointed as the co-chair
of its Virginia campaign. In addition to advocating for the total
criminalization of homosexuality, Black is also a rape truther. Back when he
was a Virginia state delegate, Black openly questioned the existence of
marital rape, something one of his opponents hammered him on in a campaign
ad.
So much for family values, huh?
Cynthia Dunbar, Black's fellow co-chair of the Ted Cruz campaign in
Virginia, isn't much better. She's compared women having reproductive rights
to the Holocaust, fought to make far-right Christianity part of the public
school curriculum and believes that elected officials should have to pass a
"biblical litmus test." She also says that politicians "don't have the
freedom to make any laws if they are contrary to what God has said in his
Holy Scripture."
Swap out the words "Holy Scripture" for "Qu'ran" and that speech could have
been made by Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, the head of ISIS.
Another Ted Cruz supporter, Iowa conservative and head of The Family Leader,
Bob Vander Plaats, also says the US should be a Saudi Arabia-style
theocracy. Here he is just a couple of years ago talking about why our
government should be based on "Godly principles" - i.e. far-right
evangelical Christianity.
As unsettling as that kind of talk is, it's nothing compared to what
Colorado pastor Kevin Swanson, another big-time Ted Cruz supporter, said
about homosexuality this summer: that it was worthy of the death penalty.
Amazingly, it gets even worse than that.
Ted Cruz supporter and Texas preacher Mike Bickle believes that Jews should
be forcibly converted to Christianity and says that if they refuse to do so,
God will send a "hunter" like "Adolf Hitler" to get them to change their
minds.
Now, it'd be one thing if Mike Bickle was just some random guy with bigoted
views who just happens to support Ted Cruz, but he's not, or at least not
according to the Cruz campaign.
When Bickle announced last week that he was endorsing Ted Cruz for
president, the Cruz campaign published a statement on its official website
saying in big bold letters, "CRUZ FOR PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES ENDORSEMENT OF
MIKE BICKLE."
There's an old saying that says you are the company you keep, and if Ted
Cruz is the company he keeps, that's downright terrifying.
He's just not winning the support of people like Mike Bickle and Dick Black;
he's celebrating their support, and in some cases, hiring them to work for
his campaign.
Of course, there's always the case that this is just one big cynical ploy to
win the Evangelical vote, but even if it is, it says a lot about Ted Cruz as
a person and as a leader that he'd willingly associate himself with people
who are pretty much the US version of ISIS.
This is one of the biggest stories of the 2016 race for president, but the
really disturbing thing is that the media almost completely ignore it.
Turn on CNN or any of the other major networks and you're more likely to
hear about poll numbers than the fact that the potential Republican nominee
for president has been endorsed by a guy who thinks Hitler was sent by God.
It's almost like the media think it's acceptable that someone running for
president likes to pal around with Christian extremists and theocrats.
Well, it's not acceptable; it's a direct threat to our democracy, which is
why it's time for the media to start taking Cruz and his extremist
endorsements seriously. Based on everything we've seen up to this point, we
have every reason to believe that a Ted Cruz presidency could mean the start
of a Saudi Arabia-style theocracy right here in the US. The media should
function as the fourth estate and wake the American people up to this before
it's too late.
This article was first published on Truthout and any reprint or reproduction
on any other website must acknowledge Truthout as the original site of
publication.
Related Stories
Ted Cruz Was Too Busy Playing With His "Gun" in Sixth Grade to Pay Attention
By The Daily Take Team, The Thom Hartmann Program | Op-EdTed Cruz's Path to
the White House By Tom Tomorrow, This Modern World | CartoonTed Cruz Implies
He Would Nuke ISIS Targets By Robert Parry, Consortium News | News Analysis
Show Comments
