Evil Mommy » religion

About the “Mosque at Ground Zero”

spyderkl — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 19:09:41 +0000

There are currently plans in place to build an Islamic Community Center in lower Manhattan. there are some (deliberate, I think) misconceptions about the center. It’s not a mosque, although a mosque is a part of it. It’s not “at Ground Zero” – it’s 2 city blocks away. And it’s drawn considerable interest from people who couldn’t find Ground Zero if somebody dropped them by helicopter into the pit. Nor is this unique to Manhattan, as written about in yesterday’s New York Times .

Here’s the thing.

If you don’t live i Manhattan, the Cordoba Center is none of your goddamned business. I haven’t lived there for quite some time. It’s none of my goddamned business either. If you could also extend the infamous Christian tolerance (face it, most of the complaints are coming from Christians), that would sure be super. Also deeply appreciated by your Muslim neighbors, I’m sure.

The healing power of prayerdoctors

spyderkl — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:01:24 +0000

I don’t write about religion much here. Or the lack of same. But this is a serious thing that affects more children than I want to think about. As a parent, I just can’t imagine not taking a child to the doctor. But there are plenty of people who don’t – not because they can’t afford to, not because they don’t have a doctor that they can easily access, but because their church tells them that healing can happen with prayer alone.

There are lots of examples of this, a disturbing number of which involve dead children. Here’s the latest example. The only difference is that, thanks to Oregon’s DHS and the court system, she’s not dead yet.

Take a look at the picture at the above link. She’s just a baby, not even a year old. Her condition could have been treated easily if it had been addressed sooner, but now she needs surgery. At the very least, she could lose her sight.

Bottom line, as the kids say: Prayer doesn’t work, but doctors almost always work. My faith’s with the doctors.

Don’t Know Much About History?

spyderkl — Tue, 25 May 2010 17:04:12 +0000

Our kids may not either. Thank you, Texas Board of Education.

On Friday the TX State Board of Education approved sweeping changes to their social studies/history curriculum. Among the changes, approved by a 9-5 vote, are eliminating mentions of slavery…pretty much anywhere (the “slave trade” will now be referred to as the “triangular trade”), and almost complete elimination of one of our founding fathers from history texts among other changes:

The new standards say that the McCarthyism of the 1950s was later vindicated — something most historians deny — draw an equivalency between Jefferson Davis’s and Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural addresses, say that international institutions such as the United Nations imperil American sovereignty, and include a long list of Confederate officials about whom students must learn.

Who gives a damn about what Texas children learn, you might ask? It matters because the state of TX is the second largest textbook market in the US. TX standards are the de facto standards of the US. No mention of slavery? Most likely no mention of what happened to all of the people who were here when the Mayflower landed either. Best of all, the propagation of the fantasy by Christian Dominionists that the US is a Christian nation founded on “Christian principles”.

California, the largest textbook market in the US, is taking action with a newly introduced bill to define their own history and social studies standards

Does anybody know of a decent US history book geared toward grades 4-6? School Girl won’t be in 4th grade yet, but she’s reading at a 5-6th grade level and I figure the options will be more varied. Hit me up with some suggestions in the comments if you wouldn’t mind. Good luck to our children. They’ll need it.

Odd Comparisons

spyderkl — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 15:50:01 +0000

Did you know that complaining about the little problem that the Roman Catholic Church appears to have with child rapists is exactly like being an anti-Semite? According to the Pope’s official pastor, it’s true! That, by the way, was the topic of his Good Friday sermon.

Those mean child advocates! How dare they complain about a few (thousand) priests who rape children and receive little to no punishment for it. It’s just like those Jews that the Church has persecuted for two thousand years and counting. Yeah! Like that! Big meanies who have it in for the Church.

Yesterday, on Easter Sunday, one of the top officials in the Vatican gave a very public show of support to the Pope during the Easter Mass. Because it only makes sense that, at a time when the Church should be looking more closely at their attitudes toward pedophiles and child rapists within their ranks, any criticism would be taken as an attack on the Pope. Not that this particular Pope has done much to address the problem in any serious way.

My child will never go anywhere near a church if I can help it. Certainly not alone…

A Most Inoffensive Billboard

spyderkl — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:45:55 +0000

This
has got to be one of the most inoffensive billboards I’ve ever seen:

I’m not very comfortable with placing labels on children that may change as they become older. Race, nationality, sexual orientation, gender (sometimes), biological vs. adopted (or placed/surrendered) – those are things that cannot change. Gender…well, maybe. But things like a religion, social class (and for the most part I’m talking about the US here) – those can and sometimes do change as a child grows up and becomes more independent.

We have always tried to expose School Girl to different religions as she’s been growing up. Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Wicca, Islam, and Christianity so far. Right now, we’re working on talking to her about her friends’ religions and that we aren’t religious at all; which is perfectly appropriate for a 7-year-old. Of course, her “God” is a giant elephant with a lollipop in his mouth…

I should say that I couldn’t see all the fuss about the “Don’t Believe in God? You are not alone” that was displayed not far from us last November and December. So perhaps I’m not as sensitive as some.