Obama's right, Americans can't succeed without government

My grandfather was a small business entrepreneur. He owned a clothing store in Penns Grove, New Jersey, and families came from across the southern part of the state to get slacks and blouses and jumpers for their kids. My grandfather employed two people who earned decent, middle class wages and made a good living for himself, probably upper middle class for that region.

And good for him. He worked hard and earned it.

But there were things that helped my grandfather’s business that he didn’t have to pay for. The roads trucks drove on to bring him products to sell. The court system that incorporated his business and protected the patents of what he sold. The police force that made it safe for people to shop there. The public schools that taught his employees how to read and do math, so my grandfather didn’t have to teach them. Make no mistake about it — my grandfather succeeded because of his hard work and initiative. But government played a supporting role.

By grandfather was not rich, certainly not by today’s standards. But when Ronald Reagan was president, my grandfather paid almost 50% of his income in taxes to help make sure that good public schools and safe streets and the things we all need to succeed in America would be available for the next generation. Today, hedge fund managers and big business CEOs pay lower tax rates than middle class families. In fact, the tax rate for the very wealthy is the lowest it’s been in over 60 years

--snip--

My grandfather built his business with his own two hands, ran it every day, paid far more than his due of taxes and never complained. He would be appalled that big business CEOs today aren’t paying near their fair share.

We should all be appalled.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/07/17/obama-right-americans-cant-succeed-without-government/?intcmp=obinsite#ixzz21vUZDfL5

Jonathan Merritt, the son of famous evangelist James Merritt, has become a prominent evangelical blogger, writing for, among others, USA Today and The Atlantic (where he most recently wrote about his support of Chick-fil-A). Turns out he's, as Queerty puts it, also "a deeply conflicted gay man" who just got busted for canoodling with gay blogger Azariah Southworth.

James Merrit, the former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, is currently the pastor at an Atlanta mega-church, had promised that his son would join the church this weekend for a special announcement, but no word on whether this was what they had planned. Southworth outed Merritt in his blog this week, so Merritt responded by admitting his "inappropriate" actions to evangelist blogger Ed Stetzer.

Joe.My.God’s Joe Jervis posted a rundown of the relationship between Merritt and Southworth that occurred in 2009. Merritt says he and Southworth began emailing and sexting each other after Merritt wrote an article saying "that Christians must love people who experience sexual brokenness." The sexting led to a meet up and "as we were saying goodbye, we had physical contact that went beyond the bounds of friendship. I was overcome with guilt, knowing I had put myself in an unwise situation. We never saw each other again and we ceased contact after a period of time."

Merritt says he saw a Christian counselor to sort through his childhood and "what I believed God wanted for me. I also began to acknowledge to myself that I have sin in my past, sin for which I accept responsibility. Inappropriate texting, inappropriate actions are inappropriate no matter who the other party is. These were my decisions and no one else’s. It’s from my brokenness, that I feel I can now be transparent, honest, and authentic about these accusations. Those close to me know I have actually been planning to share the story of my brokenness for some time. Because it is part of my spiritual journey. And because it underscores the power of the Gospel to transform lives.”

http://www.advocate.com/society/coming-out/2012/07/27/prominent-antigay-evangelical-blogger-outed-gay

Jonathan Merritt, the son of famous evangelist James Merritt, has become a prominent evangelical blogger, writing for, among others, USA Today and The Atlantic (where he most recently wrote about his support of Chick-fil-A). Turns out he's, as Queerty puts it, also "a deeply conflicted gay man" who just got busted for canoodling with gay blogger Azariah Southworth.

James Merrit, the former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, is currently the pastor at an Atlanta mega-church, had promised that his son would join the church this weekend for a special announcement, but no word on whether this was what they had planned. Southworth outed Merritt in his blog this week, so Merritt responded by admitting his "inappropriate" actions to evangelist blogger Ed Stetzer.

Joe.My.God’s Joe Jervis posted a rundown of the relationship between Merritt and Southworth that occurred in 2009. Merritt says he and Southworth began emailing and sexting each other after Merritt wrote an article saying "that Christians must love people who experience sexual brokenness." The sexting led to a meet up and "as we were saying goodbye, we had physical contact that went beyond the bounds of friendship. I was overcome with guilt, knowing I had put myself in an unwise situation. We never saw each other again and we ceased contact after a period of time."

Merritt says he saw a Christian counselor to sort through his childhood and "what I believed God wanted for me. I also began to acknowledge to myself that I have sin in my past, sin for which I accept responsibility. Inappropriate texting, inappropriate actions are inappropriate no matter who the other party is. These were my decisions and no one else’s. It’s from my brokenness, that I feel I can now be transparent, honest, and authentic about these accusations. Those close to me know I have actually been planning to share the story of my brokenness for some time. Because it is part of my spiritual journey. And because it underscores the power of the Gospel to transform lives.”

http://www.advocate.com/society/coming-out/2012/07/27/prominent-antigay-evangelical-blogger-outed-gay

A black couple in Crystal Springs, Missouri says that a predominantly white Baptist church refused to let them get married because of their race.

Charles and Te’Andrea Wilson told WLBT that the day before they were to be married, the pastor of First Baptist Church of Crystal Springs informed them the ceremony would have to be moved due to the reaction of some white church members — even though the couple had attended the church regularly.

“The church congregation had decided no black could be married at that church, and that if [the pastor] went on to marry her, then they would vote him out the church,” Charles Wilson explained.

“He had people in the sanctuary that were pitching a fit about us being a black couple,” Te’Andrea Wilson added. “I didn’t like it at all, because I wasn’t brought up to be racist. I was brought up to love and care for everybody.”

Dr. Stan Weatherford, the church’s pastor, was forced to perform the marriage at another church after he was taken by surprise by his congregation’s outrage.

“This had never been done before here, so it was setting a new precedent, and there are those who reacted to that because of that,” Weatherford said. “I didn’t want to have a controversy within the church, and I didn’t want a controversy to affect the wedding of Charles and Te’ Andrea. I wanted to make sure their wedding day was a special day.”

Church officials said they would hold meetings to decide what to do if another non-white couple wanted to use their facility in the future. They insisted that all races were welcome at the church.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/07/27/white-baptist-church-in-missouri-bans-black-wedding/

The Catholic Church has been caught both lying and openly discriminating against a gay couple in Massachusetts. James Fairbanks and Alain Beret were planning to purchase a mansion and surrounding property from the Diocese of Worcester in Northbridge, MA, in hopes of renovating it into a banquet hall, and the deal was negotiated. Last month, the pair was notified they’d have to renegotiate because of additional costs for a sprinkler system, so they made a new offer that should have satisfied everyone, but the diocese suddenly backed out to pursue “other plans.”

Monsignor Thomas Sullivan, who overseas property sales for the diocese explained that Fairbanks and Beret “couldn’t come up with the money,” but he accidentally included an email to the broker with a very different explanation:

I just went down the hall and discussed it with the bishop. Because of the potentiality of gay marriages there, something you shared with us yesterday, we are not interested in going forward with these buyers. I think they’re shaky anyway. So, just tell them that we will not accept their revised plan and the Diocese is making new plans for the property. You find the language.

Beret and Fairbanks never declared that they were married, but even if they were not gay, the potentiality for same-sex marriages to take place at the mansion would be no different. Massachusetts law prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation, and Beret says he will fight: “For the sake of my dignity, I’m not walking away.”

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2012/07/26/593861/catholic-church-discrimination/?mobile=nc

The new American Atheists Public Relations Director is a former Christian pastor.

Teresa MacBain began working for the organization on Monday, July 23, 2012.

For three years, MacBain was the minister at the Lake Jackson United Methodist Church in Tallahassee, Florida. She resigned from the church on March 30 and publicly came out as a non-believer at a conference sponsored by the American Atheists. "I was one of those crazy fundamentalists, right wingers, haters…that's the only word I can use for it," she said.

David Silverman, President of American Atheists stated, “We are pleased to have Teresa join us on staff at American Atheists. She began work filled with enthusiasm and new ideas for the public relations department. I believe Teresa’s prior work as a pastor will bring fresh ideas to our organization.”

http://www.goddiscussion.com/99090/former-christian-pastor-assumes-leadership-role-for-american-atheists/

The Catholic bishops rarely miss a chance these days to suggest that their religious freedom is under attack in the United States, which is why the Missouri hierarchy recently came out in support of the so-called “right to pray” amendment.

Amendment 2, which will be on the Missouri ballot Aug. 7, purports to protect religious freedom in the state. But religious freedom is already safe, thanks to solid safeguards in the U.S. and Missouri Constitutions. What this deeply flawed measure would actually do is disrupt the state’s public education system, invite coercive prayer and proselytizing into classrooms and create an unknown number of conflicts that would have to be sorted out through lengthy and expensive lawsuits.

Naturally the Missouri bishops ignored these facts. In a statement, they said, “Increasingly, it seems, religious values are becoming marginalized in our society. People of faith need assurance that they remain free to exercise and express their religious beliefs in public, provided just order be observed, without threat of external pressure to conform to changing societal ‘norms.’”

The bishops went on to say that “true religious freedom does not just constitute freedom to worship on Sunday,” and that real freedom includes “express[ing] one’s faith publicly through acts of mercy, and through prayerful witness to matters of importance to the common good of society as a whole.” In fact, of course, there is no mass effort to marginalize religion in America, nor is anyone in this country restricted from praying or expressing one’s faith publicly – unless they’re trying to impose such practices by government action on an unwilling audience.

So what’s really going on? The bishops simply see Amendment 2 as yet another opportunity to promote their sectarian agenda and carve out exemptions from laws they don’t like under the guise of “religious expression.”

Fortunately, some clergy are speaking out in opposition to Amendment 2. In a St. Louis Post-Dispatch op-ed, the Rev. Jason W. Samuel of the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration in Lake Saint Louis wrote that ballot measure 2 is unnecessary, unwarranted and constitutionally dubious.

http://www.secularnewsdaily.com/2012/07/catholic-hierarchy-endorses-missouri-ill-advised-amendment-2/

(CNN) -- For all of the rhetoric about Christianity being under attack in this country, oftentimes it feels no one does a better job of hurting Christianity than the people who call themselves Christians. Especially after a national tragedy.

For example, after the September 11 terror attacks, Jerry Falwell blamed the ACLU, as well as feminists, gays and lesbians, for lifting God's veil of protection.

After Hurricane Katrina, Pastor John Hagee said he believed God caused the largest natural disaster in U.S. history to stop a gay pride parade in New Orleans.

Bodies were still being recovered from the 2010 earthquake in Haiti when Pat Robertson said the country was struck because it made a "pact to the devil."

And just this weekend, as the nation is trying to heal from the theater shootings in Aurora, Colorado, Jerry Newcombe, a spokesman for the evangelical group Truth in Action, took time out of his day to inform mourners that some of their loved ones were going to hell.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/24/opinion/granderson-christians/index.html?hpt=op_t1

Msgr. William J. Lynn was sentenced to 3 to 6 years in state prison Tuesday by a judge who said he turned a blind eye while "monsters in clerical garb" sexually abused children, devastating families and shaking the Catholic church across Philadelphia and beyond.

Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina said she believed Lynn was once the kind and selfless parish priest that his supporters so passionately described. But as the aide Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua tapped to investigate clergy-sex abuse, Lynn instead chose to protect the church over victims, she said.

"You knew full well what was right, Monsignor Lynn, but you chose wrong," she told him.

The sentence, the first for a Catholic leader for enabling clergy sex abuse, fell just short of the maximum seven-year term Philadelphia prosecutors sought. It was hailed by victims and advocates who had complained church officials long eluded justice for accommodating or concealing priests' attacks on children.

http://articles.philly.com/2012-07-24/news/32828948_1_william-j-lynn-monsignor-lynn-clergy