Bundbuster
Bundbuster's JournalAre you sick of proselytizing, preaching athletes & coaches?
Teed off by K.C. Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker's recent racist, sexist, and homophobic commencement rant, I am re-posting a GD thread which should have originally appeared in the safe haven of this Forum.
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"I just want to thank my Lord & Savior Jesus Christ, without whom this would not be possible."
Anyone watching sports hears that increasingly familiar unsolicited refrain launched by proselytizing evangelical athletes into TV cameras and cringing interview microphones - always after a win, never following a loss. This refrain is stating that Jesus loves the proselytizing winner more than the loser, and it is intended to convert you to their Faith. Does God really care about the results of a sporting match? Instead of caring about genocide, poverty, environmental destruction, or the host of problems facing the globe He has decided to focus on a sporting match?
Tom Krattenmaker, who has written on Christian athletes, remarks that these athletes are promoting a particular type of evangelical Christianity that has an us vs. them mentality. It's good vs evil, winner-take-all. Therefore, the team that has won clearly is favored by God. Krattenmaker has argued a unique problem is that the same players that praise God for winning are usually silent about issues like racial discrimination, which you would think a Christian would be fighting against.
These proselytizers are the same hypocrites who drove Colin Kaepernick clear out of the NFL for silently taking a knee in support of Black Americans murdered by police brutality. These are the hypocrites most likely to oppose a woman's right to choose, and to call for banning any support by sports teams for LGBTQ rights, such as one Pride Day a year. These are the same hypocrites most likely to identify with the Christian Nationalist movement threatening our democracy as I write. They slather their bodies with tattoos of biblical verses and huddle in their divisive "Christian" prayer groups, but strike out on humanity and empathy.
I have seen athletes literally grab the microphone from the hands of a shocked tv announcer to forcefully inject their propaganda onto the airways and into the public sphere. They just cannot be content keeping their religious beliefs where they belong - in their own hearts, minds, and churches.
My message - Keep your damned preaching and evangelical proselytizing out of my face!
Ratcheted up a few levels of influence and danger is the insidious militaristic evangelizing of sports coaches, managers, and owners. I need only look at my own small Blue State of Colorado for 3 quick examples:
"Evangelicalism Is the Official Religion of the Air Force Academy"
"Chaplain of the Year" Maj. Warren Watties reportedly told incoming cadets last summer they "will burn in the fires of hell" if they are not "born again." The Air Force ruled in late April that Watties' remarks, calling for cadets to evangelize bunkmates during basic training, as well as warning of burning in hellfire, were "appropriate and consistent" with federal workplace rules.
https://ffrf.org/component/k2/item/13195-evangelicalism-is-the-official-religion-of-the-air-force-academy
"McCartney’s Views on Homosexuality Draw Fire : Football: The Colorado coach is criticized for using his position to gain publicity for a fundamentalist group."
Regents, faculty members and others were outraged. Rep. Pat Schroeder (D-Colo.) accused McCartney of “hate-mongering” and called him a “self-anointed ayatollah.” Students protested. The furor isn’t McCartney’s first brush with controversy. Three years ago, he endorsed the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue.
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-03-25-sp-4239-story.html
"Baseball's Rockies Come Out as "Christian Organization"
Colorado, headquarters of Christo-fascist leader James Dobson and his Focus on the Family cult. Not surprisingly, the Colorado Rockies are owned by Republican wingnut and brewery magnate Pete Coors. Quotes from Scripture are posted in the weight room. Chapel service is packed on Sundays. Prayer and fellowship groups each Tuesday are well-attended. It's not unusual for the front office executives to pray together.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2006/6/3/215665/-
This all reeks of the same stink as House Speaker MAGA Mike Johnson, which should nauseate you. I call for the separation of Church & Sport, asking holier-than-thou jocks and coaches to keep your damned preaching and evangelical proselytizing out of my face!
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The original thread of this slightly edited version, with all replies, is here:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100218489750
Rude Pundit: Other Things Martha-Ann Alito Will Do If She's Mad at the Neighbors
https://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2024/05/other-things-martha-ann-alito-will-do.html1. If you call her a "bitch," she'll fly a Nazi flag at her house.
2. If you put up a Black Lives Matter sign, she'll come to the neighborhood cookout in a Klan robe.
3. If you say her husband is responsible for killing women, she'll fly the flag of Gilead.
4. If you put up a yard sign for Joe Biden, she'll piss the word "Trump" on your lawn.
More......
'None of them have clean hands': Dems rebuke Alito, SCOTUS over flag controversy
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/18/alito-flag-recuse-jan-6-reactions-00158775Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who has long called for a congressionally enforced code of conduct for the Court, released a statement Friday night calling on Alito to recuse himself from cases relating to Jan. 6 and the 2020 election, reiterating a previous admonishment that “the Court is in an ethical crisis of its own making.”
In a statement rebuking Alito released on Friday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) echoed calls for congressional guardrails on “a runaway Supreme Court.” “Samuel Alito should apologize immediately for disrespecting the American flag and sympathizing with right-wing violent insurrectionists. He must recuse himself from cases involving the 2020 election and former President Donald Trump,” Jeffries wrote. “Congress should immediately consider legislation to impose an ethical code of conduct on a runaway Supreme Court. The Constitution demands and the American people deserve more from a justice serving on the highest court in the land than baseless election denial.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) reposted the Times’ report on X Friday evening, writing: “Your eyes don’t deceive you — that’s an election-denying, Big Lie ‘sign of distress’ waving on a Supreme Court justice’s lawn before Biden took office. On and off the bench, our Supreme Court is waist-deep in MAGA.”
“Look at some of the other appointees of Trump too,” Nadler said. “All three of them, when asked about Roe v. Wade assured the Senate ‘that is settled law, that is settled precedent’ — they all but swore they were not going to overturn it, but of course they did at the first opportunity. So none of them have clean hands.”
Harrison Butker's jersey sales rise as right wing lauds Chiefs kicker after rant
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/may/17/harrison-butker-jersey-speechHarrison Butker’s university commencement address at Benedictine College excoriating Pride month, working women, abortion rights activists and others has prompted the National Football League to disavow his remarks – but the Kansas City Chiefs placekicker’s jersey sales have spiked as conservatives seize on their latest culture war.
Butker has also drawn an impassioned statement of support from Josh Hawley, the far-right US senator from Missouri known for his opposition to abortion and a viral video which showed him running away from the mob he incited during the US Capitol attack on 6 January 2021.
“We need a different generation of kids that are willing to say no that’s not right, there is such a thing as right and wrong, I’m not going in for all of this lefty garbage and I just thought that his calls for folks to stand up and be bold was great,” Hawley said in reference to Butker during an interview on Wednesday with Spectrum News.
“He talks about not being too nice when you’re standing up for your convictions,” Hawley said to Spectrum News, a little more than three years after he threw up a clenched fist at – and then was caught on video running from – a mob of Donald Trump supporters who carried out the deadly Capitol attack after the former president’s 2020 election defeat to Joe Biden. “And I just think he’s right about that.”
We have a toxic sickness to defeat in November.
A song to grieve for your country
As Maga racism permeates my country, I find myself listening to this often.
McConnell says GOP shouldn't 'get too excited' about chances of winning Senate
https://www.alternet.org/mitch-mcconnell-schumer-senate/Political pundits have been floating a variety of possible scenarios about the outcome of the 2024 election. In one of them, President Joe Biden is reelected, and Democrats flip the U.S. House of Representatives but lose their U.S. Senate majority.
In that scenario, Biden, during a second term, could have a hard time getting his nominees confirmed — especially if the Senate ends up with hardline GOP leadership that is even to the right of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), who is stepping down as Senate minority leader in November but plans to serve out the rest of his term.
Democratic strategists have reportedly given up on holding a U.S. Senate seat in deep red West Virginia, where centrist Sen. Joe Manchin isn't seeking reelection. And they know that keeping Democrat-held seats in Ohio and Montana could be challenging.
"The minority leader is clearly wary of his party overextending itself despite the advantageous conditions after the twin debacles of 2020 and 2022, when former President Donald Trump's embrace of flawed GOP nominees contributed to surprising Democratic wins," Everette explains in an article published on May 2. "While former Senate GOP campaign chief Rick Scott (R-Fla.) predicted the party would win up to 55 seats in the midterms, Democrats ended up gaining a seat. So even though Republicans have room to compete in eight states, McConnell said in an interview that he's primarily focused on four for now."
The Turtle pokes his head out from his shell.
CO Republicans revolt after state GOP demands support of Trump's 'America-first agenda'
https://www.alternet.org/republican-revolt-colorado/The Colorado Republican Party's chairman is experiencing stiff backlash from candidates running for office after suggesting they should be enthusiastic backers of former President Donald Trump.
According to the Colorado Sun, GOP candidates running in the Centennial State's June primary were sent a three-page questionnaire to determine whether they would receive the endorsement of the party ahead of the primary — a major break from past tradition. One of the criteria for an official endorsement is if a candidate supports "President Trump’s populist, America-first agenda." Colorado GOP chairman Dave Williams was blasted by candidates for appearing to put his finger on the scale over candidates with more raw voter support.
"Grassroots conservatives spoke at the [Congressional district] Republican assembly," said Colorado Board of Education member Stephen Varela, who is running for the GOP nomination in the state's 3rd Congressional district. "I won top line. Why would a handful of party bosses disrespect the grassroots and consider endorsing someone else?" County-level Republican leaders are also pushing back against Williams' purity testing of candidates. La Plata County GOP chairman Dave Peters said he "strongly advise[s] him to remain neutral on all candidates," though he added he was "generally supportive" of Williams' leadership.
One of the Centennial State GOP's most notable endorsements in the 2024 cycle is of Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado), who is running for reelection to represent an entirely new district. The Colorado Republican Party's endorsement may very well give her the edge she needs in the crowded five-person primary, with all of her other opponents gathering petition signatures to win ballot access.
At what age did you become an atheist/agnostic? And what brought that about?
Myself: Around 10 or 12 years old I learned that there are about 4000 religions in the world, virtually all of which claim to be worshipping the one and only true god. Logic told me that since the odds of one out of 4000 being right about that gawd thang was so miniscule, they must all be wrong. The lack of any proof of a god reinforced my disbelief. Later in life, when I learned of all the evils and cruelty wrought in the name of religion, I became an avid atheist.
What has your journey been? 
"The Bible is one of the worst books ever"
https://www.salon.com/2024/04/30/brian-cox-bible-worst-books-ever/?in_brief=trueBrian Cox, the 77-year-old "Succession" actor is a self-proclaimed socialist well known for his controversial and discourse-sparking opinions. In an episode of "The Starting Line Podcast" with Rich Leigh, Cox shared more of his thoughts on religion, wealth distribution and politics.
When asked about religion holding humanity back, Cox said, "Oh considerably, yes – I think religion does hold us back because it's belief systems which are outside ourselves."
"They're not dealing with who we are. We’re dealing with, 'Oh if God says this and God does that, and you go, 'Well what is God?' We’ve created that idea of God, and we’ve created it as a control issue, and it’s also a patriarchal issue . . . It’s essentially patriarchal; we haven’t given enough scope to the matriarchy."
"I mean the propaganda goes right way back. The Bible is one of the worst books ever, for me, from my point of view." He continued that people may need religion, "but they don’t need to be told lies, they need some kind of truth, and that is not the truth. It is not the truth, it’s a mythology you know . . . it’s not really to do with what women understand more than anybody."
&t=4s
Rude Pundit: The Question that Justice Sonia Sotomayor Should Have Asked About Absolute Immunity for Presidents
https://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2024/04/the-question-that-justice-sonia.htmlLast week's Supreme Court hearing in Trump v. United States (as accurate a case name as I've seen), aka "The One About Immunity from Prosecution," was, to put it mildly, a shitshow at the monkeyfuck factory. In a case that should never have been taken, at least 5 of the justices, all the men, seemed to actually believe that Donald Trump and, presumably (but who knows), every president should have some immunity from being charged and tried as a criminal from acts done while president. In this case, it's to try to get Trump out of any responsibility for the January 6 insurrection, which Special Counsel Jack Smith is trying to get to trial. Frankly, the hearing was a disgrace, a disgusting display of a deviant ideology that was disposed of in the goddamned Declaration of Independence. These right-wing dickholes actually tried to come up with ways that laws don't apply to a president.
Early in the arguments, Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked Trump's attorney, D. John Sauer, the question on everyone's mind: "If the president decides that his rival is a corrupt person and he orders the military or orders someone to assassinate him, is that within his official acts for which he can get immunity?" And Sauer gave the answer that everyone expected: "It would depend on the hypothetical. We can see that could well be an official act." In other words, "Yes." In otherer words, the president can render the death penalty without any due process at all. In otherest words, there really is no difference between a president and a king and fuck the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the entire history of the country.
Later in the hearing, Alito tried to throw aside Sotomayor's speculation about assassinations like he tosses civil rights into the garbage. "I think one could say it's not plausible that that is legal, that that action would be legal," Alito stammered to Sauer, trying to unfuck the fucked up implications of what he plainly believes. "And --and I'm sure you've thought --I've thought of lots of hypotheticals, I'm sure you've thought of lots of hypotheticals, where a president could say, I'm using an official power, and yet the president uses it in an absolutely outrageous manner."
See, what Sotomayor should have asked at that moment of panicky bullshit from Alito was "Could President Biden decide Justice Alito is corrupt and order that he be assassinated? Is that an official act for which he could get immunity?" Because then Sauer would have had to repeat his answer that it "could well be an official act" and then that puts things in fucking stark territory: A vote to uphold this insanity is a vote for your own murder.
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Member since: 2003 before July 6th
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