What Would Jesus Think?

I was over at Mad Mike's America rooting around this morning and almost choked on my  coffee when I came across this  info-graphic. Nothing like simple, black and white, fear-based, authoritarian thinking to keep the peasants on the straight and narrow, is there?  Mad Mike made a few comments on it that are worth reading and  I'd like to make a few more.

 Listen up, Bible Thumpers. America was not founded by Bible Believing Christians no matter what you hear in church.  Jefferson, Washington, Adams, Frankllin and the rest of the boys wanted  total separation of church and state, and thank God we still have it (at least officially). They wanted it because they had seen the trouble religion had caused in Europe from the Crusades through the Reformation.   They set up America's government with separation of powers and separation of church and state in part so no one religion could ever become as powerful as the pre-reformation Catholic Church had been in Europe. They wanted no more Spanish Inquisition or burning books and people because of religion. They were not anti-religion. They just wanted all religions to be treated equally under the law.

You can believe what you want.  You can base your beliefs on your interpretation of the bible if you want. Just don't try to impose your narrow  views on the rest of your fellow citizens. Vote for whomever you wish-- just don't try to make your religious views the law of the land. - The rest of us, who live in the real world,  require more objective proof than your interpretation of a few bible verses.

In case you haven't noticed, the science is pretty much in on climate change, evolution and the notion that the world is round not flat.  You can ignore and deny that and call it religious faith. It's your right as an American-- but don't defend your beliefs on the basis of the bible.  Need I remind you that, that poor book has been twisted to justify such evils as slavery , racism, sexism, war, and xenophobia  for  hundreds, if not thousands of years, so most of us are not buying your claims.

Because you live in a free society, you are free to be as narrow-minded as you like. Just don't try to impose your  narrow-mindedness on your fellow citizens and call it Christianity.  I'm fairly sure your version is not what Jesus was thinking-- but never mind. He loves you anyway.

How the Religious Right Rebranded Planned Parenthood

In the upside-down world of the religious right where zygotes are human beings and evolution is a dirty word, Planned Parenthood is being cynically re-branded as an abortion mill.  As usual no attention is being paid to facts. Here's a sample of what I mean from Pro-life news, which recently announced  a  new online strategy the prolife movement is using :

 "Over six million searches for “abortion” and related phrases are typed into search engines every month in America. Online for Life has a novel approach to saving babies: they buy ad space at the top of some of these searches, and direct women to clinics that offer a free ultrasound and pro-life counseling. "

This sort of deceptive bait and switch is ethically, and perhaps legally questionable and notice that the word baby is used from the moment sperm meets egg.  Although 98% of abortions done in the United States are done in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy when the correct term is embryo not baby,  the pro life crowd  likes to say " baby" which is kind of like calling an acorn an oak tree.   Just imagine what their idea of counseling is when they do get their hands on a young, frightened girl.  They claim a 98 % success rate ( based on what I don't know) but I imagine there is a lot of shaming and bullying and pressuring, without much concern for the needs of the girl or the baby once it is born.

But that is not the half of it.  What really burns me up is the way they play fast and loose with the facts in totally mis-representing  Planned Parenthood, painting it as a money grubbing abortion mill.  Nothing could be further from the truth. Here's how Pro Life News paints Planned Parenthood

 "The abortion industry is a business, and despite the claims of Planned Parenthood and other such “family planning” clinics, abortion is their biggest money maker. In select US cities, though, a different advertisement floats to the top of the page, and–in contrast with Planned Parenthood–these advertisements are helping to save the lives of the unborn. "

Here's the real story. Abortions represent about 3% of what  Planned Parenthood does. The organization is, and always has been since its founding by Margaret Sanger in 1895, primarily concerned with preventing unwanted pregnancies by educating women about and providing them with contraceptive options.  It has always been about women's health.. It provides free and low cost gynecological services, birth control, testing and treatment for  HIV and other STDs, mammograms and tests for cervical cancer among many other things.  Moreover, the organization  is forbidden by law to use government money to fund abortions. so the notion that Planned Parenthood is part of an " abortion industry" using taxpayer dollars to fund abortions is absolute nonsense.

The rebranding of Planned Parenthood by the religious right has nothing to do with any interest in women's health or in babies for that matter.  These same people are all for cutting the WIC program and  health care for poor pregnant women as well as pre-school  education programs like Head Start.  The sanctimonious manipulation of truth is either very cynical or very misguided.

I suppose their justification is that they think they are doing God's work. Well, the Spanish Inquisition felt the same way when they were burning people at the stake to save their souls.  Some things never change

The Biography of Planned Parenthood's Past President
Faye Wattleton. What A Read and What a Life!