The Puritan Dress Code.

Anne Hutchinson. Puritan dissident.

In 1676, Hannah Lyman was in trouble. She was among three dozen or so young women who had been summoned to court: They had flouted the laws of the colony of Connecticut by wearing silken hoods. Among these “overdressed” women, Lyman was, apparently, the most rebellious and strong-willed. She appeared in court wearing the very silk hood that she had been indicted for donning.

The judge was, predictably, not very happy. He accused her of “wearing silk in a flaunting manner, in an offensive way, not only before but when she stood presented” at court. She and the other young women were fined for their offensive sartorial choices.

It’s quite interesting, visualizing just how one would wear a silk hood in an offensive manner. This is obviously projection writ large, but many of the puritan sentiments are still with us, to a very deep degree. Consider how many people refer to something like silk sheets as terribly decadent, something only people of a very weak nature would indulge in, and so forth. We won’t even get into silk underwear. (Pardon, pardon, couldn’t help it.) To the puritans, silk spoke of degeneracy, a terrible flaw in one’s moral framework. All these centuries later, I can feel for Ms. Lyman, who probably just wanted to enjoy her silken hood.

The Massachusetts Bay Colony passed its first law limiting the excesses of dress in 1634, when it prohibited citizens from wearing “new fashions, or long hair, or anything of the like nature.” That meant no silver or gold hatbands, girdles, or belts, and no cloth woven with gold thread or lace. It was also forbidden to create clothes with more than two slashes in the sleeves (a style meant to reveal one’s rich and fancy undergarments). Anyone who wore such items would have to forfeit them if caught.

I can’t help but wonder just who got those “forfeited” clothes. Not that some higher up puritan would be able to wear them outside their own house, but I can imagine some scenes going on behind closed doors. Puritans were very serious about ornamentation of all kinds though, and that extended to things like christmas:

You’ll note in the above: “dressing in Fine Clothing”, with the stress of capital letters.

For decades the colony continued to refine these laws. In 1639, the colony instituted a stricter law against lace and forbade clothes with short sleeves. In the 1650s, the law became more class-conscious. Only those who had more than 200 pounds to their estates were allowed to wear gold and silver buttons and knee points, or great boots, silk hoods, or silk scarves. Exempt from the rule were magistrates and public officers, their wives and children, as well as militia officers or soldiers, and anyone else whose with advanced education or employment, or “whose estate have been considerable, though now decayed.” In 1679, the colony also started worrying about hair, since “there is manifest pride openly appearing among us by some women wearing borders of hair, and their cutting, curling, and immodest laying out of their hair.”

Oh my, how things never, ever change. The rich are different, because money allows them to be. It’s interesting to see the nod to decayed estates, there’s a bit of classism at its very finest. Naturally, those wealthy puritans had to have some way to distinguish themselves, one might say a way to flaunt their wealth. No point in having position and money if you can’t separate yourself from the puritan rabble. The hypocrisy of those who always make a claim to the highest of moral grounds is breathtakingly blatant.

Massachusetts and Connecticut were not the only colonies to pass such laws. In New Jersey, by 1670, it was illegal for a woman to “betray into matrimony any of His Majesty’s male subjects, by scents, paints, cosmetics, washes, artificial teeth, false hair, Spanish wool, iron stays, hoops, high-heeled shoes, or bolstered hips.” And if they did? The marriage would be “null and void.” Oh, and they would be punished exactly as if they had been convicted of witchcraft or sorcery.

Oh my, my, my. Betray into marriage. That’s pretty strong language, and it would be very nice if that sentiment was one that was long lost to the mists of time. Unfortunately, it isn’t at all lost, and it’s a frequent cry of complaint among MRAs. When it comes to personal ornamentation, women can never win. If we have the nerve to wander about sans cosmetics, there are complaints. If we use cosmetics, there are complaints. And there are never ending complaints about dress, of course. “Too sexy!” “Too distracting!” “Slutty!” “Drab.” “Uninteresting.” “Slovenly.” And so on and on and on it goes. Anyroad, looking at the above list, all I can say is I’m beyond grateful I didn’t live in an age where iron stays were obligatory.

Atlas Obscura has the full run down on puritanical clothing codes.

Aww, No Gluten-Free Jesus.

An assistant prepares ciboria of hosts for Communion before Pope Francis’s celebration of Mass marking the feast of Pentecost in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican June 4. ( Credit: Paul Haring/CNS.)

Pope Frank has ruled that gluten-free hosts are out of the question. Low gluten is okay, though. A call for eucharist oversight has been added, apparently there’s some distress about the wide availability of hosts, why you can even get them on the internets! *gasp*

Because bread and wine for the Eucharist are no longer supplied just by religious communities, but “are also sold in supermarkets and other stores and even over the internet,” bishops should set up guidelines, an oversight body and/or even a form of certification to help “remove any doubt about the validity of the matter for the Eucharist,” the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments said.

You really have to love the absolute silliness of the whole transubstantiation business. It’s so wonderfully contradictory, and well, just absurd. Here’s a bit of it:

The letter also reiterated norms already in place regarding Eucharistic matter:

– “The bread used in the celebration of the most holy Eucharistic sacrifice must be unleavened, purely of wheat, and recently made so that there is no danger of decomposition.”

I would have thought that Jesus, being a god and all, wouldn’t be subject to decomposition.

– Bread made from another substance, even grain or mixed with another substance so different from wheat that it would not commonly be considered wheat bread, “does not constitute valid matter.”

– The introduction of any other substances, “such as fruit or sugar or honey, into the bread for confecting the Eucharist,” it said, “is a grave abuse.”

Why? A tiny sliver of a pleasurable sensation would be that mortal [as in sin] in nature? Sugar is inimical to Jesus? Hmmm. So, Jehovah can be defeated with iron, or a chariot, if you have one handy, and Jesus can be handled with a liberal application of sugar, fruit, or honey. Good to know.

– Low-gluten hosts are valid matter for people who, “for varying and grave reasons, cannot consume bread made in the usual manner,” provided the hosts “contain a sufficient amount of gluten to obtain the confection of bread without the addition of foreign materials and without the use of procedures that would alter the nature of bread.”

– Completely gluten-free hosts continue to be “invalid matter for the celebration of the Eucharist.”

Who would have thought Jesus to be so darn complex?

– Eucharistic matter made with genetically modified organisms can be considered valid matter.

I think I’d like some details here.

The U.S. bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship has said Catholics who cannot receive Communion wafers at all, even under the species of low-gluten hosts, “may receive Holy Communion under the species of wine only.” The church teaches that “under either species of bread or wine, the whole Christ is received,” it said.

There, the whole matter of baked Jesus is now settled.

The whole silly mess is here.

God has raised up…a breaker anointing.

If anything is to be said for the nonsense to follow, it’s that it’s at least somewhat accurate. Not the “god” business, of course, but the extremely limited skill of the Tiny Tyrant.

“So, you know, North Korea, you’d better be on your toes because you’re up against a breaker anointing of God,” he said. “This isn’t about politics, this isn’t government as usual, this isn’t even militaristic, God has raised up…a breaker anointing. Anything that God opposes him against, he breaks up. He broke up the Republican Party…he broke up the Democratic Party, he broke up the news media. Everything that comes against him, he has a hammer against. So, I’m telling you, North Korea, you’d better stand down because you’re up against the breaker anointing of God.”

Does it really need to be pointed out, even to fundamentalist, conservative christians, that having only one tool that allows you smash, and nothing more, is not a good thing? Regardless of any “hammer”, it won’t stand up to nuclear weapons; nor will it stand against other nations coming to the conclusion that America no longer has any significant role to play on the world stage. Isolation is not the glory the Tiny Tyrant attempts to sell.

Bakker and Amedia then discussed the president’s volatile Twitter presence, which Bakker said was all part of the “gift of wisdom” that God had told him he gave Trump.

No matter how you slice it, Jehovah keeps winning the worst god ever dreamed up contest. The idiocy which keeps drooling out of Trump could not pass as wisdom under any definition. More than half the time, it barely reaches coherency.

Amedia offered that Trump tweets because he gets bored with nonconsequential things, part of his God-given gift of “discernment.”

Well, that’s, um, special. Pretty much all the Tiny Tyrant does tweet about is non-consequential crap, so I wouldn’t call that discernment, of any kind. For one thing, in order to be discerning, it certainly helps if you have knowledge of things first. We can definitely rule that one out.

“I believe he receives downloads that now he’s beginning to understand come from God,” Amedia said.

:Snort: Ah, it’s downloads now, is it? There’s always this terrible desperation on the part of fundamentalists to sound modern and relevant, and they never, ever get it right. That sort of thing will happen when you insist on believing in a god that would be too psychopathic and regressive for the stone age. If Donny’s receiving downloads, they’re coming in on a floppy disk in a worn out drive.

Right Wing Watch has the story, and video.

Crucifix! Crucifix! Crucifix!

Evangelist Joshua Feuerstein is all upset again, this time demanding a crucifix icon as some sort of rebellion (or possibly protection) against all those evil rainbows. Facebook has no intention of providing a crucifix for all the christians to mount themselves on, so good for them.

One user wrote:

“Remember GOD used the rainbow as a promise never to flood the earth again…but he will burn it with fire…so get ready…you can’t use a symbol that God created and pervert it without repercussions,”

Oh, christians are always so gosh darn loving, it just oozes out. Like poison. Such puerile whining! Where in the fuck is your faith? Why doesn’t that sustain you in the absolutely unbelievable torment and anguish of a rainbow icon? Isn’t suffering good for the soul? It’s all “god’s” plan or will or whatever? Mysterious ways, all that shit? Well, if I have to go up in flames, you’ll go too, if that vaunted flood of yours is any example. Unfortunately, any flames we see are more likely to be those of our own doing, in regard to climate change.

Via Raw Story.

Sunday Facepalm.

The Tiny Tyrant was busy spending a fucktonne of taxpayer money in some useless flying about. He held the first “freedom rally” at the Kennedy Center. Now, I would have thought, what with being on the verge of National Fireworks and Stupidity Day, there would have been much jingoistic glurge over our precious freedoms tossed about, but there was a Trump curveball in this July freedom fest – the war on christmas!

Donald Trump spent an extra $400,000 of taxpayer dollars to fly from Washington, D.C. to his resort in New Jersey then back to Washington again for “the first ever Freedom Rally” at the Kennedy Center Saturday. During his speech, Trump decided “freedom” meant celebrating Christmas in July.

Trump began his speech by attacking the media and touting his election win, as he is known to do.

He went on to involved [sic sb invoked?] the memory of Benjamin Franklin and noted that at the Constitutional Convention, Franklin reminded his fellow delegates to “bow their head in prayer. I remind you, we’re going to start saying Merry Christmas again.”

Yep. It’s barely July, and at this point, I’d dearly like to see xmas stomped into the ground, scraped up, and tossed into a convenient abyss somewhere. The crass commercialism of it all is bad enough, and it’s beyond bad enough that every fucking year, the xmas panic has to begin earlier and earlier, and then there are all the fucking idiotic christians who are just convinced they are being horribly persecuted if everyone doesn’t go around shouting “merry xmas!” Some christians get it right, when they point out that the whole business of christmas isn’t christian at all, but they are far and few in between. The majority of christians “celebrate” the same commercialized pressure of gifting gone mad, forcing family together, and traditional overeating as everyone else, there isn’t any sort of sacred difference. This insistence that a majority are being disrespected by people saying anything other than “merry xmas” is absurd, at best, and it serves well to highlight the fucking idiocy of so many christian conservatives.

For years, I used to respond to “merry xmases” with “merry giftmas” or “merry mixmush” and people would always laugh. The ‘giftmas’ was always appreciated. That’s what it is, and if devout theists eschew the commercialized crap and do indeed celebrate their particular god[s], that’s fine, who cares? Why would they give a shit over a greeting? Truth be told, I’ve always been surprised over this manufactured drama, because if I were a christian, I think I’d resent people using my particular god as a banal greeting, especially one which typifies the worst sort of commercialized greed.

The comments came after Trump asked veterans to stand for recognition. he told the veterans that he was “handed a mess, believe me,” alluding to the previous administration. Trump has pledged to fix the Veterans Administration but this far he’s only signed an executive order that allows federal employees to be fired more easily.

“My administration will always support and defend your religious liberty. As long as I am President, no one is going to stop you from practicing your faith or from preaching what is in your heart,” Trump continued.

Oh yes, religious liberty! As long as you’re the right religion. There’s going to be much more of such shit from the Tiny Tyrant, because the hysterical idiots of christendom are the only corner still solidly backing him, as they have not given up on their Theocalypse yet. Fuck your religion. Fuck your gods. Fuck you, too. I want nothing to do with it, and I don’t care what you do at home or in church, but instead of constantly looking for ways you are being “persecuted”, it might be nice for once is you pay attention to all the people you’re busy oppressing.

Trump closed his speech to encouraging chants and assured supporters, “For those that are curious, we will build the wall.”

And there’s the anemic close. The wall has gone to being a footnote, while the “war on christmas” is the headline.

Via Raw Story. Video at the link.

ObDisclosure: We do celebrate Ratmas (One, Two). The rats love it, and it’s traditional.

The Sweet Rainbow Image, Violated, Raped!

Photo by Benson Kua.

A few days ago, I posted about Linda Harvey’s deranged rant over some rainbow french fries containers at a Washington DC McDonald’s. She’s at it again, apparently unable to let this whole rainbow business go. In yet another unhinged screed at WND, Ms. Harvey comes up with every possible epithet to hurl at those who don’t pay attention to her particular meaning when it comes to rainbows. The title of her screed is The cross beats the stolen rainbow, but for all that, Ms. Harvey seems to be unable to focus on the cross, her eyes constantly sliding back to the rainbow and all those horrible sexual anarchists. Perhaps if you indulge in a few days worth of porn, Ms. Harvey, you might be able to loosen your fascination with all those speedo-clad, gyrating bodies.

Take, for instance, the magnificent rainbow. Its celebration overtones convey simple joy, innocence and purity of heart.

But the sweet rainbow image has been violated, raped by the deluded and fraudulent, and it now serves too often as a garish signpost for slavery to grave homosexual sin.

No, the ‘sweet’ rainbow image (which fucking one?) has not been violated, and it most certainly has not been raped. I have little use for idiots who just love to use the word rape to try and add shock value to something minor. People who have been raped would be happy to explain the differences to you, I’m sure. So, a depiction has been used by people you don’t like. Got it. That’s not rape, Ms. Harvey. Now, a rainbow is a rainbow is a rainbow. There are only so many ways to depict one, and they’ve all pretty much been done. Rainbows haven’t gotten more garish when they are on the queer side of life. As you’re the one who insists that rainbows began with the psychopathic tantrum you call Jehovah, perhaps you should be questioning his taste.

Rainbows are a natural phenomenon, and as I pointed out earlier, people have no doubt been fascinated with them for always. Most people figure out early in life how easy it is to make a rainbow. Not a big deal. It is in no way fraudulent for people to use depictions of rainbows in any way they want.

It’s clear God did not intend for the rainbow to represent rebellion, iniquity and division.

The rainbow flag in the queer community does not represent rebellion, iniquity and division. It represents acceptance, community, unity, and love.

The mightiest logo of all time is the cross, where Christ shed His blood for the world’s sin and God transformed the tool of torturous execution – what Satan intended for destruction and permanent humiliation – into eternal hope for all who would believe in Jesus.

Oh, I don’t think a cross is the mightiest logo of all time, Ms. Harvey. At the moment, it’s not even strong enough for you to keep your eyes on it. How does Lucifer get into this? The whole moronic scheme of “oh, hey, I’ll have a kid, then kill it to fix all my fuck ups” was Jehovah’s idea. A stellar example of how a fucking idiot thinks, to be sure. Anyroad, without all that nonsense, the bad plot of christianity falls apart.

Atheists want crosses removed wherever visible, of course, believing they deserve veto power over what they ironically find offensive – God’s salvation offer to humankind.

It’s not a matter of offense, Ms. Harvey. It’s a matter of the government not supposedly favouring one religion over others. That’s part of that constitution you fucking fanatics claim to love so much.

Well, I’m offended by the rainbows hung all over Columbus, Ohio, every June for “pride” month, as this beautiful image morphs into a brand identity for perversion. I feel excluded because the depraved have taken the Lord’s glorious sign of hope and corrupted it. Why shouldn’t I sue?

The beautiful image doesn’t morph at all. It’s still a rainbow. Go ahead and sue, who the fuck cares?

As Christians, we have that option, of course, but believers in Jesus Christ don’t always go this route because we are more secure than that, knowing that in this life or the next, every person’s knee will bow before Him and every tongue will confess that He is Lord.

:Snort: Oh, oh my :falls over laughing: About the most insecure people on the planet are christians. Your whole bloody history is a monument to the constant insecurity over your idiotic beliefs. Your insecurity is why there is always a court case in the queue over christians whining about having to bake a fucking cake or some other nonsense. If you truly had faith, none of this would bother you in the slightest. You don’t have faith, however, which is why you always go the same old route: oppression.

Yet millions are being misled by this wicked movement, and it’s especially heartbreaking that so many are children and teens.

Many children and teens are LGBTQ, and many of them are ruthlessly rejected by family, and often mercilessly bullied. A sign of acceptance, community, and love is crucial for those children, and yet, you would deny them that. Christian love in action.

The rainbow stands as God’s covenant with all mankind – not just those who believe in Him now, because some of these flagrant sinners will repent, which is our constant prayer.

Yeah, that’s what a rainbow means to you. It’s not what it means to everyone else. Historically speaking, rainbows have stood for all manner of things, and once again, your Johnny-come-lately god is not the be all end all in the matter.  Besides, that so-called covenant makes you christians a bit crazy, doesn’t it? You never shut up about wanting the apocalypse to hit, when there’s gonna be a great smiting and slaughter, and blood flowing from all us awful unbelievers. You don’t want peace, christians never want peace, so yeah, I can see how the rainbow as a symbol of love gets under your skin.

Is Satan clever or what? He has countless people in this country doing his bidding, failing to understand they are preppers for the pit of hell.

Their Savior – if they would recognize Him – is the real author of the rainbow for His original life-affirming, godly purposes.

:eyeroll: Lucifer doesn’t exist, anymore than your idiotic Jehovah, or the sacrifice on legs, Jesus. Being a prepper is more of a christian thing, Ms. Harvey, more of that apocalyptic wishful thinking. I’m not a prepper of any kind. Jehovah is not the author of rainbows, or anything else. “life-affirming” purposes? Oh, please.

Its current misuse needs to end. Rainbows should accompany what God would smile on. God is not smiling on homosexual conduct, gender defiance or the corruption of children, and He never will.

Oh, yes of course, you know exactly what Jehovah would and wouldn’t smile upon! It’s so convenient, isn’t it, having a little god puppet that believes exactly as you do? Even if your nasty god was real, I wouldn’t give a shit about what he did or didn’t like. An ugly, evil being, and not one I’d want anything to do with.

An appropriate rainbow for the “LGBTQ” sin identity front would look very different, featuring colors like brown, puce, mauve, gray and black – lots and lots of black.

Right, because we all know black is bad. Very bad. Man, you are such a nasty person. Well, Ms. Harvey, I guess you haven’t heard about the new rainbow flag! I’m sure we can all look for yet another screed once you do find out.

Depressing, uninspiring, empty, leading nowhere. Satan’s banner.

Um, I’m not sure how puce and mauve got in your depressing, uninspiring flag, do you even know what those colours are, Ms. Harvey? As for brown, gray, and black, those are lovely colours, many people like them, and they can be made to be quite exciting, dramatic, and inspirational. You’re quite the idiot, Ms. Harvey. This would be a nice project for a fucktonne of artists, though! I might have to play with this at some point myself, when I’m not quite so backed up with work.

The rainbow’s current use by sexual anarchists turns hope into a license for sin. Rainbow-adorned clergy? You are in for some hot eternal times, unless repentance comes along soon.

No, no, you have that all wrong. As previously noted, the rainbow is a symbol of acceptance, community, unity, and love in the queer community. That’s just brimming with hope. What do you offer? A lifetime on your knees, polishing the knob of a psychopath so you won’t be eternally tortured. Yeah, I’ll stay on the queer side here, thanks. Oh, rainbow adorned clergy – yes, there are some christians who try to get it right, but until they unite to take assholes like you down, being rainbow clad is not enough.

Gyrating, Speedo-wearing sado-masochists on rainbow-decorated “pride” floats? Look out for what’s coming, unless you bow before the King of Kings.

:falls over laughing again: Oh honey, you walked right into that one. Now, I would like to know how you deduce sadomasochism from dancing in speedos. Well, maybe not. Your tortured reasoning would be painful, I’m sure.

McDonald’s selling French fries in rainbow containers, and Amazon peddling an array of rainbow “pride month” apparel? There will be an accounting, do not doubt this.

Yeah, yeah, what the fuck ever. That useless god of yours never comes through though, does he? So you end up reduced to ranting on the internet, like millions of others, your screed whipped into the ever active whirlpool of internet screeds, a meaningless howl into the pixelated void.

Via WND.

Angel Dust.

No, not that kind of angel dust. This would be Jehovah blessed, gold dust, from angels. Angel dandruff. Whatever it might be, it’s got Lance Wallnau all kinds of high, as he descends further into the well of weirdness. Naturally, the angeldruff is gold, what better colour for money-grubbing members of the Religious Reich?

Right-wing preacher Lance Wallnau posted a video on his Facebook page yesterday recounting a meeting he had just attended that had such a strong presence of the Lord that he left literally covered in angelic gold dust.

Wallnau said he had recently joined with several “Seven Mountains” activists in Bend, Oregon, at a meeting where “I literally could feel the rush of God in the room, the hair stood up right on the back of your neck.”

On top of that, Wallnau said he also kept “getting this gold dust and glitter on my face” because of the presence of angels.

“That stuff is real,” he said. “It’s like angels were in the room.”

So, gold glitter is real. Yeah, that’s not news. Glitter is one of the most evil things on the planet, y’know. Can’t get rid of it. Years later, you’ll still be picking bits of glitter out of wherever. If Jehovah is a glitter peddler, oh, that’s bad news, dude. So, it was like angels were in the room, or angels were in the room? Because there are lots of stories about fairy dust and pixie dust, and so on. Could have been socialist pixies droppin’ the glitter bomb on you, Lance. Never know. Probably should track those ‘angels’ down and interrogate them.

These angels are on assignment to take control of the media for Jesus, Wallnau said, which is why “the New York Times and CNN [are] in such deep doo-doo and what’s happening with Hollywood and Johnny Depp and Bill Maher and all the big mouths and the crazies as they’re running their mouths; God is literally taking the wheels off of the chariot of pharaoh as he’s trying to persecute what God is doing” through President Trump.

I kinda think it’s your god emperor Trump who is in “deep doo-doo”. I will grant you the crazies are running their mouths, you fellas in the Religious Reich seem to be utterly incapable of shutting up, even when the slightest reflection would tell you yeah, maybe I should keep that to myself. So all of media, from journalism to television/movies to idiot preachers on the net, that’s pharaoh? Hmm. Do you really want to bring that up, Lance? Jehovah doesn’t have a good track record with chariots, seeing as they confounded him to the core. That brings us back to iron, which seems to have a nasty effect on your god. In many of the old stories about magical beings, iron is inimical to them. So, combined with the glitter, I’d say there’s a suspicion your god is some sort of evil elvish being. Don’t listen, Lance, the elves just want to play with you! I recommend reading Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett. Don’t worry, the witches are the good kind.

There’s video at the link for those who might want to watch. Via RWW.

For Shame!

Have you no shame?

Shame on you for suggesting that!

Take the walk of shame down the hall of shame.

I can’t, I am beyond shame.

What a shame — you’re naked;

cover your shame!

But, I have no shame.

Well, it is a bit small, but nothing to be ashamed of.

Adam and Eve left the garden, ashamed.

Ain’t that a shame?

A low-down dirty shame!

Odgraphix has an excellent post up about shame and embarrassment, very powerful tools. I had a solid eight years of that, courtesy of catholic school, and we probably don’t think about the mechanics of shame and embarrassment often enough, or their effects on our lives. Go have a read, highly recommended.

Pence’s Pandering.

Yesterday was Focus on the Family’s 40th anniversary. I remember 1977 well enough, and I remember the low stirrings of this evil beast of christianity. Back then, no one took this sort of nonsense seriously; Wildmon was ranting about decadent television shows, which had little more effect than to boost ratings for said shows. The anti-abortion groups were just starting up, and most of the fanatical groups were focusing on that during the remains of the ’70s. They didn’t start getting serious traction until the mid ’80s.

Before Pence took the stage, Focus on the Family president Jim Daly announced that the group would donate an ultrasound machine to a crisis pregnancy center in Indiana in the vice president’s honor.

Pence began his speech by delivering greetings from Trump, “a good friend of mine, who’s a leader, who’s a believer, who’s a tireless defender of the values that will make America great again,” and praising firebrand Focus on the Family founder James Dobson as a “friend” and a “mentor.”

“I promise you, Focus on the Family, you have an unwavering ally in President Donald Trump,” he said.

This is why I wish people wouldn’t keep nattering on about how Pence would be so much worse than Trump as far as the presidency is concerned. Trump is beginning to lose support even among his faithful, he cannot afford to alienate those christians who would like a theocracy. They are, unfortunately, a powerful base, one most moderate christians won’t oppose for one reason or another. So far, Trump has gone out of his way to give these fanatics what they want.

Pence assured the group that Trump would stand beside them in defense of “those who are persecuted for their faith, no matter the country they call home or the creed they profess,”

Um, I, uh, no. No, that’s not what’s happening, not at all. The Tiny Tyrant is busy persecuting the hell out of a whole lot of theists.

“President Trump has stood without apology for the most vulnerable in our society, the aged, the disabled, the infirm and the unborn,”

:Snort: Yeah, right. The ‘unborn’ aren’t people. I’m aged, and while I don’t consider myself disabled, I do have specific health problems which impact my quality of life. Whatever side Trump is on, it’s certainly not mine, and it’s not anyone else’s, either, unless you count billionaire’s row. Stripping people of healthcare and safety nets? That’s not care, of any kind. The only thing Trump stands for is his own pockets.

But Pence saved his most impassioned praise for Trump’s opposition to abortion rights, telling the audience that Trump “stands without apology for the sanctity of human life.” He cited the confirmation of Justice Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, the reinstatement of the Mexico City Policy, also known as the global gag rule, the elimination of U.S. support for the UN Population Fund, and the passage of a law allowing states to pull funding from Planned Parenthood.

“And this summer, when we repeal and replace Obamacare, we’re going to defund Planned Parenthood once and for all,” he promised.

Oh, there’s the wet dream of all those fundies: no more Planned Parenthood. Today would be a good day for donations. There’s video of the whole mess at RWW.

America: Draconian, Backwards, Doomed.

Shutterstock.

America, the experiment, is one that will fail. And no, this isn’t yet another report about the disastrous regime, which is simply yet another symptom of the failure in progress. It doesn’t matter that there a few states sprinkled here and there that you could consider progressive and social minded. The majority of states are not those things. A whole hell of a lot of people aren’t those things. Christianity is the biggest obstacle to social progress, morality, and humaneness. And no, I don’t give a shit if you’re a progressive, social minded christian. Until I see all of you busy, active, protesting, and lobbying against all the asshole christians, I don’t care what you say in private. Whatever you’re doing, it isn’t enough.

The insistence on puritanism rooted in misogyny is one big reason this lost country will continue to slide inexorably downwards. Too many Americans seem to think of the country as a church, and they should have the right to oppress and stomp all over certain people. Missouri is providing a fine example of this in action:

Missouri’s Senate is considering legislation that would allow employers and landlords to discriminate against women who use birth control or have had abortions. The bill, which has the support of the state’s governor, Eric Greitens, was approved by the Missouri House Tuesday.

Known as SB 5, the bill was first passed by the Senate on June 14 following a special session called by Greitens. His aim was to overturn an ordinance that prevents employers and housing providers from punishing women for their reproductive health choices, according to a report by Feministing, a feminist website.

The ordinance was passed by the city of St. Louis, and Greitens had said it made the area into “an abortion sanctuary city.” The Senate seemed to agree with him, as did the House, which on Tuesday passed an expanded version of SB 5 that included more anti-abortion restrictions. Given the Senate’s vote on June 14, it it seen as likely to approve the updated version of SB 5. This would mean that landlords could refuse to offer housing to women based on their reproductive health choices, while employers could fire female staff members who were using birth control, or refuse to hire them. And while of course this isn’t information most landlords or employers have access to, under SB 5 they could ask women what forms of reproductive health care they are using.

Yes, of course women could lie; that’s not the point though, is it? The mere fact that anyone could be given the authority to question you on your contraception use* or specific bits of your medical history ought to scare the living hell out of everyone, it should not be something enshrined in law, to say the least. Can you imagine anything of this kind of thing being applied and passed in regard to men?

* Not that most women will be able to afford contraception in the near future.

Full story here.

Standing With Russia, Against …

The Obscene Kiss, an illustration of witches kissing the Devil’s anus from Francesco Maria Guazzo’s Compendium Maleficarum (1608).

Satanists! Who else? Rick Wiles is on a tear over it all:

“I believe the deep state, at it’s core, is satanic,” Wiles said. “It is Luciferian. They, that synagogue of Satan dark state, in 1917, overthrew the Russian government … The Russian people were trapped in communism, atheistic God-hating communism for 70 plus years; the Russians finally cast it off and came out from under this communist oppression. I believe the deep state is furious with them that they dared to overthrow their God-hating atheism, their Satanism.”

Sigh. I get very tired of repeating this, but atheism and satanism, not the same thing. Atheists don’t believe in any gods. Satanists are Christians as far as their mythology goes, Lucifer/Satan/Devil/Whatever is part and parcel of the christian mythos. Jehovah and Jesus and the rest of the cast don’t matter much without the foil of Lucifer. As for the deep state stuff, some evidence please.

“The people in control of America today are Satanists,” he continued. “What do they defend? Baby killing. Selling baby parts. Homosexuality. Pedophilia. They celebrate it.”

An embryo is not a baby. No one is selling baby parts. Or adult parts. Nothing at all wrong with homosexuality. And then, the big ol’ chestnut of christian fanatics – pedophilia! I’d like to know why, as much as they love to bring it up, they never address the mass amounts of rape and sexual assault committed against children by christians. Work on that one, Mr. Wiles.

Wiles went on to praise and defend Russia’s strict anti-LGBTQ laws, declaring that “as a Christian, I stand with the Russian people in their defense of morality and I condemn the dark state that is in control of the United States and Europe and Canada and Australia and New Zealand; it is a Luciferian, demonic Satanic empire that is against God, hates God.”

As it would seem the Luciferian Demonic Satanic Empire is firmly on the social justice side, it doesn’t appear to be terribly powerful, looking at what’s happening in the world at the current time. Interesting how Wiles carefully picks out all those places dominated by white people as being under attack, which is not at all subtle in its appeal to bigotry.

After asserting that he feels “more threatened and afraid of the CIA” than of the Russians, Wiles again insisted that “Luciferian, devil worshiping” forces within the “deep state” are working to foment a war in order to punish Russia “for breaking free of that communist tyranny that that satanic group had put on Russia.”

Some days, I just can’t get over how very much some things have changed. I can’t imagine anyone having the spine to say this sort of thing in the 1960s or  1970s.

Wiles was also outraged that some Christians are “condemning Russia for being an anti-Christian nation that persecuted Christians” simply because it had banned the Jehovah’s Witnesses and seized the group’s churches.

“You know what the Russians did?” Wiles asked. “They banned the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Kicked them out of the country. Well, congratulations! I’m glad you did it. I wish we could do it. I wish we could get rid of all the cults in this country. We’d be better off for it.”

Yes, I have no doubt many christians would just love that sort of power, and it would be damned scary if they had it, to say the least. They are working towards that, and Trump is working at giving them what they want. As for cults, it would be really nice to stick a muzzle on christianity.

Via RWW, one and two.

On the other side of the aisle, Sam Rohrer is all about the antichrist:

“Lawlessness is what the devil, Satan, is attempting to create,” Rohrer said, explaining that the “enemies of Christ”—by which he meant globalists, Islam, and the cultural “establishment”—are “all working together” because “they hate God, they hate the Constitution, they despise Jesus Christ, they want to destroy Israel and the United States and they are using chaos and division as their way of creating the circumstances … out of which will come the Antichrist.”

“These things that we’re seeing are preparatory for the emerging of the Antichrist,” he said. “We have to understand that what we are seeing has been foretold, it is exactly what the Bible is talking about will happen, is happening and we need to, as God’s people, be taking advantage of this time and pointing people to Jesus Christ, understanding the Battle of the Ages is unfolding before our very eyes.”

Hate crimes have spiked under Trump, and they keep escalating. Crimes committed by people who describe themselves as god lovin’, constitution lovin’, Jesus lovin’ christian patriots. I think Rohrer and company have this whole antichrist thing backwards, to say the least.

Via RWW.

It’s Not About Sex. It’s Not About Sex. It’s Not About Sex.

Pride Leadership Award
Navy Lt. Cmdr. Damita Zweiback presents a Department of Defense Pride Military Leadership Award to Army Maj. Gen. Tammy S. Smith, deputy commanding general for sustainment of the Eighth Army, during an award ceremony marking LGBT Pride Month at the Pentagon, June 12, 2017. Army photo by Zane Ecklund.

Christians, some of the most willfully obtuse assholes on the planet, dedicated to obscurantism. One Jerry Boykin, executive vice-president of the Family Research Council, is terribly upset over the cowardice of the Regime, characterised by the Pentagon’s annual LGBT Pride Event.

“This is a social experimentation, and it has so demoralized our military,” Boykin said. “And it’s not just gay pride day, it’s women in the infantry, it’s a variety of things that were part of the Obama administration’s agenda.”

Boykin said that he had “great expectations” that the new administration would be “stopping this kind of stuff,” but was disappointed.

No, it’s not a social experiment. It’s acknowledging and accepting people for who they are, recognizing that they are indeed full humans, who have all those nifty human rights. As for “stopping this kind of stuff”, at least the people in the Pentagon had the integrity to continue inclusiveness and recognition.

“They may be otherwise very courageous people, but when it comes to this issue they have shown no ounce of courage whatsoever, and they’re better people than that,” he said of Trump-appointed Pentagon officials. “It is time to take this on and say, ‘We are not going to celebrate how people have sex.’”

It’s not about sex. It’s not about sex. It’s not about sex. It’s not about sex. It’s not about sex. It’s not about sex. It’s not about sex. It’s not about sex. It’s not about sex. It’s not about sex. What in the Fuck is wrong with christians, that they simply cannot stop obsessing about and over sex? No one wants your disgusting, judgmental noses all up in their sex lives, and no one is interested in regaling you with sex stories. Maybe that’s the problem, I don’t know. Christians of all stripes are one the leading consumers of porn, when in the hell are you all going to get enough, and leave the rest of us alone?

Boykin went on to say that he is “saddened” that Defense Secretary James Mattis “doesn’t see” that “the biggest thing that has happened to our military” is not sequestration budget cuts but instead is “these social experiments where our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, coastguardsmen have essentially been told by the actions of the administration that your primary mission really isn’t as important as a social agenda, and therefore I will put you into combat, I will put you in harm’s way, but what I’m really concerned about is whether we allow women to serve in the infantry, whether we celebrate how people have sex. That is insane as far as I am concerned.”

Your obsession with sex and toxic misogyny are right on the border of questionable sanity as far as I’m concerned. How about you get that looked at? And shut the fuck up while you’re at it.

Via RWW.