Author: R J Adams

Oh dear! It’s ‘National Day of Prayer’ time again in the United States of America. The Holy Rollers will be out in their multitudes. There’s even a National Day of Prayer “task force”. It has its own logo. And, its own trademark. Well, actually the logo is the trademark, complete with a little ^TM[1].

If you’re one of the 20% or so of Americans who have no religious affiliation then you have reason to feel aggrieved. Aggrieved because religion has done so much damage to your country, and consequently to the world, that it’s hard to see how we’re ever going to recover from it.

Such hypocrisy is hardly worth wasting one’s time writing about more than once, so rather than pen another post on the subject, here’s one from Sparrow Chat, May 2nd 2006, when the NDP was on May 4th. This year it’s on May 5th.

“National Day of Prayer” – When Americans Annually Forswear Their Constitution…

If one is ‘foreign’ and lives in America, it’s easy to become heartily sick of the whole Christian movement. It’s a sad fact, because there are many genuine Christians in the country who have no desire to be linked with pseudo-political idealists posturing towards theocracy. But, for a nation that titles itself, “Land of the Free”, so-called ‘Christian faith’ is fast becoming more of a sickness than an asset. The disease is spread via false ministries utilizing media channels to perpetrate what they call the “God-given message’, when in reality it’s no more than a means of raking in vast fortunes from thousands of gullible individuals indoctrinated to believe they are buying a ticket to Heaven. Politicians are happy to cow-tow to these false, egocentric, ‘ministers’, utilizing them as opportunistic vote-reapers.

America’s hypocrisy is taken one step further by the upcoming “National Day of Prayer”, a government sponsored, annual event in early May, where plenty of money is to be made. This event is recognized by a Congressional Bill passed in 1952. The American people make much of their Constitution, yet blatantly ignore its content when it suits them.

“Separation of Church and State?” I believe I mentioned hypocrisy?

In 1813, American President James Madison proclaimed a day of prayer, but later decided such proclamations were not appropriate – “They seem to imply and certainly nourish the erroneous idea of a national religion,” he said.

Thomas Jefferson was also opposed to any Federal involvement in such things – “Fasting and prayer are religious exercises; the enjoining them an act of discipline. Every religious society has a right to determine for itself the time for these exercises, and the objects proper for them, according to their own particular tenets; and right can never be safer than in their hands, where the Constitution has deposited it.”

In 1999, the then governor of Minnesota, Jesse Ventura, refused to proclaim the NDP in his state. His view: “There are people out there who are atheists, who don’t believe at all. They are all citizens of Minnesota, and I have to respect that.” Now, I have to say, he sounds like my kind of American. Unfortunately, there are few of them left – at least in high office [it’s rumored even Ventura eventually left the country!].

Every president since Truman has proclaimed a National Day of Prayer.
In 2002 George W Bush decreed that the two purposes of the NDP were: “…to reaffirm the role of prayer in our society and to honor the religious diversity our freedom permits…”

We’ve learned over the years how George W Bush is incapable of speaking anything other than bullshit, so when we read statements of that type it should come as no surprise. What is shocking, is the manner in which the American people ignore, condone, or downright applaud, such political hypocrisy that cuts right to the heart of their nation’s legal system.

The truth today is that religious diversity is not tolerated in many areas of American society. One example occurred during the NDP of 2003 when Pastor William Keller, president of the Delaware County Evangelistic Association, organized an exclusively ‘conservative Christian’ event in Munci, Indiana. His reason: “My people wouldn’t come to a meeting that is an inter-faith event.”

As to “the role of prayer in our society”, I would dearly love to see some concrete evidence of this role. Frankly, wherever American influence is to be found on this planet there appears only a sad lack of anything remotely connected with ‘God’ or prayer. Will I find it in Iraq, or Guantanamo Bay Detention Center? Will I find it in the heart of nuclear bombs that may soon to be used against a nation that dares to copy the nuclear ambitions of its intimidating adversary? Would I have found it at Hiroshima, or Nagasaki on August 6th and 9th, 1945? Should I look in the violence, horror, and sadism spawned by Hollywood, or the sick video games American parents buy their kids to practice on before shooting up their friends and schoolteachers?

“God Bless America” – I see the stickers everywhere. I find it hard to envisage any ‘God’ that would not turn away in sick disgust from the nation that has taken His name and turned it into a marketing tool, an excuse to kill and maim innocents, and a quick pathway to wealth and power over the backs of the poor and the needy.

On the subject of marketing tools, one thing never short in America is another idea to make money. The latest “Christian” money spinner is “Christian Yoga.” The Hindu religion, which of course pre-dates Christianity, is an anathema to many American Christians, and yoga as a spiritual exercise doesn’t sit well with them. Quite recently, the Catholic Pope Benedict XVI warned “that Yoga can turn into a cult of the body.” – whatever that means!

To overcome this aversion Christians have done what they’ve always done from their beginnings -they’ve simply stolen it. How they are doing so, is seen in a BBC video report. Personally, I get an overwhelming desire to smack the instructor, Susan Bordenkircher, in the mouth each time I view this video, especially at the point where she chides – with just the touch of a whine, “The only way we can hear God is if we’re quiet enough to li..st..en!” – but such a violent response may just be the result of living in American society for four years.^[2]

Of course, we should expect these obsessive Christians to steal from others. They are very adept at it. The virgin birth; the birth date of December 25th; the miracles with twelve disciples; the resurrection after three days – all have their roots in Mithraism, which in turn evolved out of Zoroastrian concepts. The ‘Trinity’ theme was common in so-called ‘pagan’ religions: Hinduism embraced the triune godhead of Brahma the god of creation, Vishnu the god of maintenance, and Siva the god of destruction. One of Egypt’s many trinities was Horus, Isis and Osiris. There is nothing – absolutely nothing – original in Christianity. Of course, Christian leaders don’t advertise those facts to their congregations.

The National Day of Prayer 2006 is scheduled for May 4th. For some years now, this annual event has been hijacked by the Dobson clan – James Dobson and wife, Shirley, of ‘Focus on the Family’ fame. His is a household name in America, where many regard him as a theological authority and moral leader. Few realize he has no religious qualifications whatever, though he does hold “….a doctorate in child behavior…” and “….was an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Southern California School of Medicine for fourteen years….” according to Wikipedia. One has to wonder how useful such qualifications rate when applying for the position of “most politically powerful Evangelical in America today.”^[3]

Given the man’s crass and very un-Christian opinions, which are well documented elsewhere, one has to wonder how he can steal the National Day of Prayer from under the noses of Americans, and turn it into an Evangelical Fundamentalist revival meeting – or rather, many thousands of them.

In case you’re wondering – I won’t be attending any.

^{[1] “National Day of Prayer Website 2016”}

^{[2] The BBC was unable to unearth the Susan Bordenkircher ‘Christian Yoga’ video, which in itself is probably a gift from God to spare Sparrow Chat readers the agony of watching it.}

^{[3] “Janice Hahn Walks Out Of Event After James Dobson Calls Obama The ‘Abortion President’” Huffington Post, May 1st 2014}

Oh, Mister Cruz, you sank your last hope this week. You torpedoed your own ship.

And here’s the warhead you used to do it:

This woman should never be allowed within viewing distance of the White House, least of all, inside as Vice- President.

Still, let’s look on the bright side. If there has to be a lunatic like Trump in the White House, he’s marginally better than an obsessive religious nutter like Mister Cruz.

After all, America’s used to mentally unstable presidents: Richard Nixon, George W Bush…it’s really not necessary to go on.

Trump versus Clinton now looks a safe bet for the Presidential campaign. Unless, of course, Bernie Sanders can pull off a miracle.

You never know, it’s the official United States ‘National Day of Prayer’ tomorrow. Perhaps if everyone wrote their letters to God and posted them up their chimneys, He might just give Bernie a helping hand.^[1]

^{“Builders find 1930s letter to Santa stuck in chimney” BBC, December 4th 2015}

^{Click to enlarge}

Any clear-thinking individual abhors racism. We are, after all, members of the same species and deserve similar respect, but one can’t help thinking that British politics is taking on the same dirty tactics as its counterpart across the Atlantic, i.e. utilizing every minor faux pas of a political opponent to crucify them via the media.

One obvious, though indirect, example of this in the U.S.A. was the virulent attacks on Barack Obama via his pastor, Jeremiah Wright, during the 2008 presidential campaign. However, that will be the subject of a later post.

The British Labour Party is presently suffering a merciless onslaught from its political opponents, who are making much of a graphic from the 2014 Facebook page of British Labour Party MP, Naz Shah.

Shah, of Pakistani origin, worked as an aide to the Labour Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell, but had to quit when she was suspended from the Party this week by its leader, Jeremy Corbyn, for anti-semitism – which seems somewhat unfair as she wasn’t even an MP when the graphic (see above) was published.

A right-wing, Libertarian, blogger (yes, they’ve crept across the pond, too) discovered the image and accused Shah of anti-semitism. As a result Shah was suspended pending an investigation.

Jumping to her defence, Labour MP Ken Livingstone was also suspended for stating in a BBC interview:

“When Hitler won his election in 1932 his policy then was that Jews should be moved to Israel. He was supporting Zionism before he went mad and ended up killing six million Jews.”
This was roundly condemned and led to a televised confrontation with a furious John Mann, the Labour MP who chairs Parliament’s all-party group against anti-Semitism.”^[1]

What Ken Livingstone said was, in essence, quite correct. Hitler disapproved of the 1933 Haavara Agreement between Nazi Germany and German Zionist Jews, (allowing their emigration to Israel) though between 1937 and 1939 he became more supportive, considering it a way to rid Germany of Jews once and for all. Of course, once the invasion of Poland began all agreements were revoked.

The irony in this case was that Shah was merely reproducing an image from an August 2014 blog post by Norman G Finklestein, author, political activist, and an American-Jew, both of whose parents suffered in Nazi concentration camps.^[2]

No-one batted an eyelid when Finklestein published the image, but the British media – always ready to set its hounds on any poor fox who dares to cross its path – picked up the story and set about a methodical crucifixion of both Shah, and their long-time foe, Ken Livingstone.

Even the BBC, once reticent until sure of its facts, launched an immediate attack on Livingstone via the ‘analysis’ of its political editor, Laura Kuenssberg:

For years it has been more surprising when Ken Livingstone hasn’t raised hackles than when he has.
That’s why so many Labour MPs feared a miscalculation when their party’s leader brought his old comrade back into the fold.
But his staggering comments today about Hitler and anti-Semitism crossed a line – they were enough for Jeremy Corbyn to suspend him.
But the problem for the leader doesn’t end with that act.
No one believes that Jeremy Corbyn himself tolerates discrimination against Jews.
But on repeated occasions Labour has been slow and clumsy in closing down cases of anti-Semitism among its members when they emerge.
Any moments of delay or doubts about the leadership’s determination, open the window a tiny crack to the kind of intolerance that the vast majority of the Labour Party, and indeed the public, find appalling.
Public denials that there is even an issue could make it even worse. Perhaps in politics as in normal life, the first step towards fixing a problem is acknowledging that it exists.
And with only a week before Jeremy Corbyn’s first big test at the polls, In elections in London, Scotland, Wales, and all round England, it’s the kind of mess, and political distraction Labour could do without. [my bold]^[3]

It’s difficult to extract from all this the “anti-semitism” that the media, and Laura Kuenssberg, are ranting about. Whatever happened to free speech? Naz Shah uploaded an image to her Facebook page two years ago, together with the words, “Problem solved,” both of which were extracted from the blog of a Jewish author. Ken Livingstone, Labour’s pet firebrand, stated historical fact, albeit somewhat passionately, on British television.

Apparently, those in the Jewish community who care about such things (and in 2016 it’s hard to believe many outside of political circles, Jews or otherwise, do, despite Kuenssberg’s assertions) find it quite acceptable for their own to behave in such a manner, but we ‘outsiders’ must hold our tongues – or else!

Frankly, political correctness that dictates views we are not allowed to hold for fear of upsetting the delicate sensitivities of one section of the human species, is political correctness gone too far.

Had Naz Shah taken a map of Syria and placed it in the middle of Iran, with the caption, “Problem solved – Peace!”, no-one would have turned the proverbial hair. Criticizing Muslims, or for that matter Christians or Buddhists, is not considered in the least politically incorrect, so why should we have to pussy-foot around Zionist Jews whose country has done nothing but wage war, commit terrorist acts against innocent people, and defy the international community for decades?

And if that comment makes the writer anti-semitic, he’ll hold up his hand to it. Just so long as Norman G Finklestein does the same.

^{[1] “Q&A: Labour anti-Semitism row” BBC, April 29th 2016}

^{[2] “Solution for Israel-Palestine Conflict?” Norman G Finkelstein, August 4th 2014}

^{[3] “Jeremy Corbyn denies crisis as Ken Livingstone suspended” (see “analysis”) BBC, April 28th 2016}