"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." ---Sinclair Lewis
GOP VOTER BUTTON
NOTE: Due to the Labor Day Holiday and the tidal wave of Sarah Palin diaries that rolled over DKOS yesterday, I am re-offering yesterday's diary for further evaluation.
Seems that the G.O.P. VOTER who designed that button and those G.O.P. VOTERS who wear it have wrapped their party's politics in a cross built out of USA flags. One hopes the designer was aware of the Lewis quote, if not actually inspired by it.
Undoubtedly today's diaries (like yesterday's and the day's before) will be dominated by the Sarah Palin story. Well, fear not, this edition of Your Sunday Atheist will feed your well-justified Sarah Palin paranoia.
John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his Vice-Presidential running mate was more than just a play for disgruntled Hillary supporters: she was chosen to appease the hard religious right in an attempt to mobilize the coalition that brought the last two presidential elections within plausible stealing range for the G.O.P. (They've gotten away with it twice in a row, so why mess with success?)
Here's a LINK to another diary posted earlier that goes into Sarah Palin's "neopentecostal dominionist" religious background. (Wow, I think I just committed the opposite of diary pimping. Be sure to come back to YOUR SUNDAY ATHEIST after checking out this Palin diary).
Just who are these hard right religious voters who base their entire political lives on the Bible as-told-to-them by the frauds, scam artists and hypocrites who gleefully manipulate their emotions while picking their pockets? How did they become what they've become?
I guess it all started in childhood.
Meet Marjoe Gortner
from the documentary Marjoe
The entire Marjoe documentary is on YouTube, in 9 parts. If you viewed the above clip, you just watched Part 1. Here is the link to Part 2.
The Marjoe film is from 1972 and deals with one pentecostal preacher and his unique story (although we get a good long look at pentecostal congregations at the same time).
How about someone whose story is a little more contemporary?
Meet Becky Fischer
from the documentary Jesus Camp
The entire Jesus Camp documentary is on YouTube, in 9 parts. Here is the link to Part 1.
If Marjoe is a child victim turned victimizer, then Becky Fischer is a mass victimizer of children. And her stated intention is to turn these children into Christian warriors. Watch the entire film if you can stomach it, because it does feature substantial footage of Ted Haggard before his "fall from grace."
I don't want people to think I'm just picking on pentecostals (even though I consider them at best no more than a notch above the delusional level of "UFO abductees" in terms of full-on batshit craziness). Let's face it, no credible short list of religion and child abuse can afford to omit the Catholic priest child sex abuse scandals.
Meet Father O'Grady
trailer for the documentary Deliver Us from Evil
The entire Deliver Us from Evil documentary is on YouTube, in 10 parts. Here is the link to Part 1.
In conclusion, I would like to direct your attention to the story of one child victim of fundamentalist Christian indoctrination who managed to escape the pyschological conditioning and become not only a strong atheist, but a writer-director-producer of documentary films: Brian Flemming, whose film The God Who Wasn't There can be obtained HERE. This documentary is not wholly available on YouTube, but you can view a trailer and several short clips HERE.
ATHEIST RESOURCES ONLINE
Here are a few useful links:
American Atheists
American Humanist Association
Americans United for Separation of Church and State
Freedom from Religion Foundation
Full disclosure: I am a member of the above organizations.
Now let's start a list of great atheist blogs:
Pharyngula
Anyone else have a favorite blog to nominate for this list?
Links to PREVIOUS EDITIONS of YOUR SUNDAY ATHEIST:
Please check out earlier editions of the series:
#3: Barna Evangelicals
Explodes the myth of Monolithic Evangelicalism in the USA (sort of).
#2: Contraception & Abortion Edition
Discusses the Bush Administration's recent attempts to blur the distinction between contraception and abortion.
#1: Anti-Puritan Rebellion Edition
Discusses the John Edwards kerfluffle and the effect America's obsession with illicit sex has had upon society.
Reminder: It is never too late to add your own comments, tips & recs to a diary entry.
As always, here is your Video Reward for making it all the way to the end.
God is Dead (with proof)