because militant atheists want to kill believers

And burn churches, that is not ok. Anyone calling themselves a militant atheist is in the same groupnas hicks and does not belong on this site.

Norwegian Muslims volunteer to protect synagogue

After deadly attack at prayer site, activists intend to form a human ‘peace ring’ of protection after weekend services

By Stuart Winer February 18, 2015, 12:28 pm



In the wake of a deadly shooting attack at a synagogue in Denmark last week, a group of Norwegian Muslims intends to hold an anti-violence demonstration at an Oslo synagogue this coming weekend by forming a “peace ring” around the building.

“We think that after the terrorist attacks in Copenhagen, it is the perfect time for us Muslims to distance ourselves from the harassment of Jews that is happening,” Arshad told the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation NRK in an interview cited by The Local News website on Tuesday.

She noted that the group aimed to “extinguish the prejudices people have against Jews and against Muslims.”

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Arshad promoted the initiative as an event on Facebook, and by Wednesday morning over 630 people had indicated that they would attend.

“Islam is about protecting our brothers and sisters, regardless of which religion they belong to,” the event page explains. “Islam is about rising above hate and never sinking to the same level as the haters. Islam is about defending each other.”

Angry White American Man

David Rovics

Published on Feb 12, 2015

A song in memory of Deah Barakat, 23, Yusor Abu-Salha, 21, and Razan Abu-Salha, 19, killed on Tuesday, February 10th, 2015 by a deranged man. The particular form of derangement suffered by the killer, Craig Stephen Hicks, is a sort of anti-theist variation of the "disenfranchised white American male with illusions of grandeur" syndrome, and this is what I'm attempting to explore in this composition.

Lyrics:

He was 46 years old, he had 2 parking places
He got angry if one of the residents took one of the visitor spaces
In the apartment complex that might provide one little clue
That this middle-aged man had accomplished little that he set out to do
He spewed anger at all of his neighbors and he hated religion so much
Maybe that's why he moved to the Bible Belt, because hatred is such a good crutch
He spewed anger about all religions with his back against the wall
Why stop at just hating one of them when you can just hate them all
Another angry white American man with a gun
Another angry white American man

He was 46 years old, he didn't live among his peers
Neighbors mostly younger by about 24 years
Neighbors from all over, some in religious dress
But what in hell the man was thinking, we can only try to guess

He was 46 years old, his neighbors had a meeting last year
To talk over what they might do about this man they feared
He carried a loaded pistol, no telling what might inspire
Him to pull it out one day and fire, fire, fire

Earlier this year I wrote a piece on why Christians might want to abstain from reciting the pledge of allegiance which generated some good conversation, but also received a bit of push-back as well. My arguments against saying the pledge of allegiance are essentially two-fold: Jesus taught his disciples to not take any oaths but instead said to “let your yes mean yes, and your no mean no.” In addition, Jesus invites us to follow him and reminds us that “no person can serve two masters,” which means that it’s functionally impossible to give our allegiance both to Christ and to America– we must pick one or the other, but one cannot be equally loyal to both since they are different entities.

Still, even with the biblical arguments that I feel are straight forward (“I pledge allegiance to the flag” vs “…but I tell you, do not take a pledge”), some Christians are hesitant to let go of this tradition that as children we were indoctrinated to engage in– and I understand that. When you’ve had nationalism and tradition drilled into your head for years on end it can be hard to step back and realize that maybe we’ve been wrong– that’s how indoctrination works and why it’s so hard to break free from it. We grow up being taught that America is the greatest nation that has ever existed, that we are exceptional compared to others, that we are a “Christian” nation, and that whatever we do is good, right, and justified. And so, pledging to give our allegiance to such an entity is an easy sell, as the narrative we are given doesn’t seem on the surface to conflict with some basic understandings of following Jesus.

However, the release of the now infamous CIA Torture Report should be the final blow that closes the case on Christians reciting the pledge of allegiance. From reading the report, it should now be crystal clear to anyone who has read the teachings of Jesus as found in scripture that one cannot swear their allegiance to America while simultaneously giving our allegiance to the alternate way of Jesus. Absolutely, positively, impossible.

The contents of the report reveal what the US has done, and what has been done is anti-Christ– pure, absolute evil.

How a Jesus person could continue to swear allegiance to an entity that engages in behaviors that are so unarguably anti-Christ, sins against God, and crimes against humanity, is beyond me.

Should we be good citizens? Well, of course– though the Bible actually invites us not to live as citizens but to live as immigrants and exiles who are in a foreign land.

snip--------------------

My prayer for Christians in America is that we would be people who are radical, subversive culture changers– not people who throw our undying loyalty and complicity to culture. You see, this was always the invitation of Jesus– it was an invitation to live differently than the rest of the world. To be in it, but not of it. To be salt and light, a city on a hill, and people who point the rest of culture to his alternative way of living.

The way of Jesus is different than anything culture teaches– regardless of the culture or nation one finds themselves in. It is the way of a radical, inexplicable love that is found no where else– and we should be the people who give the whole of our allegiance to this different way of living and interacting with the rest of the world.

Personally, I can think of no more of a compelling reason to close the case on Christians reciting the pledge of allegiance: we can pledge our allegiance to Jesus and his way of enemy love (which he said was a requirement to become God’s children), or we can pledge our allegiance to the empire who tortures and kills its enemies (the opposite of what Christ tells us to do, thus being an “anti-Christ” nation). But, I don’t see how one could do both, as they are complete opposites. As much as I hate lines, I don’t see how this isn’t one: we can follow Jesus, or follow America, but we cannot follow both Jesus and America at the same time as they are busy doing opposite things.

The calling of a Christ-follower is so all-encompassing, so overwhelming (in a good way) that there’s just no room or time left for competing allegiances. Certainly, there’s no room for us to give our allegiance to an entity who engages in horrific torture– because that stands in opposition to everything Jesus taught.

If you’re a Christian who still covers their heart and pledges their allegiance “to the nation for which it stands,” please read the torture report for yourself. As you read it, I pray that you’ll ask yourself where you are placing your allegiance: is it in the radically different way of Jesus, or is it in the American way?

Unfortunately, they’re not the same– so you’ve gotta pick one of the two.

Why I Represent the New Orleans Immigrant Workers Who Committed Civil Disobedience

by Bill Quigley



In the thirty six-years I have been a lawyer, I have seen many people take brave moral actions. I have represented hundreds in Louisiana and across our country who have been arrested for protesting for peace, civil rights, economic justice, and human rights for all. It is amazing to see people put their freedom on the line when they risk jail for justice.

None are braver than the seventeen immigrant workers arrested in New Orleans at the office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). These mothers and fathers, members of the Congress of Day Laborers at the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice, are standing up for justice and risking being deported from the U.S. They risk being separated from their children, many of whom are U.S. citizens.

snip-----------------

Another is Jimmy Barraza, who lives with his wife and stepson Carlos. One night, while Jimmy and his wife were unloading groceries in their apartment parking lot, ICE agents surrounded them, guns drawn. They immediately handcuffed Jimmy and questioned his wife. When Carlos came out of the house, hoping to translate for his parents, ICE agents pinned him against a wall, cuffed him, and threw him to the ground in front of his mother. “For God’s sake, let him go,” his mother said.

An ICE agent answered: “There is no God here. I’m the only one in charge here.”

Immigrant workers and family members like these live in constant fear. If they leave their homes to walk their children to school, if they go to the laundromat or the barber shop or the grocery store, they will be targeted for nothing more than looking Latino, and their families will never see them again.

Stories like Irma’s and Jimmy’s, and there are hundreds of them in New Orleans alone, are the reason that we need an end to the raids and comprehensive immigration reform with strong worker protections. Until we do, people like these will have to continue standing up for justice: immigrants, people of faith, civil and labor rights leaders, and ordinary people from all walks of life who believe in that all workers deserve dignity and all families belong together.

I volunteered to represent these mothers and fathers because they are struggling for human dignity, human rights, and for social justice for their children and for others. I am a Catholic social justice lawyer. How could I not stand in solidarity with these mothers and fathers? I am inspired by their courage and passion for justice. It is an honor to defend them.

Open Carry Activist Charged With Shooting Ex-Husband And Stepdaughter Dead

A woman charged with shooting and killing her ex-husband and stepdaughter has strong connections to groups advocating for expanding open carry gun laws in Texas.


Local news outlets on Wednesday reported that Veronica Dunnachie was arrested and charged with shooting and killing her ex-husband and step daughter.

Buried in some of the initial reporting on the arrest of Dunnachie seems to have been an active participant in open carry groups in Texas. The local ABC affiliate, WFAA, noted that Dunnachie's Facebook page is photos of her engaged in open carry firearm advocacy activities. WFAA also noted that one of her profile pictures included the text "Sometimes removing some people out of your life makes room for better people."

Veronica and Russell Dunnachie were going through a divorce, according to court records.


Photo from Dunnachie's Facebook.

Reached by TPM on Thursday, Arlington, Texas police pointed to Dunnachie's Facebook page and the photos on there showing her involved in Open Carry Tarrant County and pictures of Open Carry Texas.

"We aren't in a position to give someone's affiliation to a group or organization but if you go to her Facebook page, it's pretty clear," Arlington Police Department Officer Tiara Richard told TPM, referring to Open Carry Tarrant County.

Those two groups, Open Carry Tarrant County and Open Carry Texas, are Second Amendment rights groups that want to expand Texas law to allow carrying all weapons openly. Right now Texas law just allows for carrying guns openly.

"We're comfortable with the charge of capital murder that she intentionally killed more than one person," Arlington Police Department Sgt. Jeffrey Houston told TPM.