Miami Herald drops a word bomb on Florida governor

From today's article in the Business Insider piece about a Miami Herald op-ed about Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his "Christian Nationalist shtick:”

"The governor's Christian nationalist shtick only separates us," the paper says, adding that Democrats should "counter it more boldly and bring back into their tent voters who feel that, on the issues of religion and faith, the party has nothing to say to them." Read entire article at Business Insider.

I would send you to the full Miami Herald but it has a very sturdy paywall. I already subscribe to several notable newspapers and the Herald is one but not now. Also, it sometimes drops the paywall in emergencies such as killer hurricanes. So stay tuned...

So shtick is the word of the day. You've probably heard it thousands of times. It’s from the Yiddish: Shtik, schtick, shtick, schtick. It means a “bit” or “bits of business” and usually pertains to a performance such as the one delivered to his Trumpian base every day by DeSantis.

Here are precise definitions:

Cambridge Dictionary: a particular ability or behaviour that someone has and that they are well known for (note the U.K. spelling)

Free Dictionary: An entertainment routine or gimmick.

Definitions.net: A contrived and often used bit of business that a performer uses to steal attention

All apply. I suppose you can catch the Governor’s shtick on his official web site. I just couldn’t bear to look.

Highlands Presbyterian shines "More Light" on equality in Wyoming

From the Channel 5 web site:

The Highlands Presbyterian Church board [in Cheyenne] voted Monday to become a "More Light" church. More Light churches invite members of the LGBTQ community to worship. More Light also advocates for the rights of gays and lesbians across the country.  

Highlands Presbyterian is the first church in the state of Wyoming to adopt this practice. The Reverend Rodger McDaniel said the two-month process was met with little opposition. Highlands was also the first Presbyterian church in the state to elect and openly gay member to it's board.  

More Light churches originated at the 1978 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church. Since then they've encouraged individual members and congregations to signal that they welcome the LGBTQ community into their church.

Churches recycle old spiritual cliches -- and drive away the seekers

Stephen Mattson writing on Sojourners' God's Politics blog had me at the first paragraph:

In a world where people are craving inspiration, growth, and information, many churches maintain a cyclical pattern based on redundancy, safety, and closed-mindedness. Unfortunately, many pastors and Christian leaders continue to recycle old spiritual clichés — and sermons — communicating scripture as if it were propaganda instead of life-changing news, and driving away a growing segment of people who find churches ignorant, intolerant, absurd, and irrelevant.

Read the whole blessed thing at http://sojo.net/blogs/2013/10/29/do-churches-alienate-intellectuals

I grew up Catholic, received all the sacraments (except for holy orders and extreme unction -- you have to be Catholic or at least Latin-friendly to know what that means), attended parochial school, baptized my kids as Catholics, and so on.

My wife and I fought like heck to stay in the church. Alas, old cliches and right-wing propaganda drove us away. I'm no more an intellectual than the next day, if the next guy happens to be Elmer Fudd. I ask questions, and am among the curious. I am also a Liberal, which is more of a sin in the church than being an intellectual. Strange thing is, I was taught by well-educated nuns and priests that it was OK to ask questions. More than OK -- it was encouraged. I wonder what Sister Miriam Catherine would make of the church in the second decade of the 21st century?

Keep asking questions, she used to tell us.

So old school. 

Back by popular demand: "Cotton Patch Gospel"

A troupe of local musicians and actors resurrected the "Cotton Patch Gospel" last fall for a series of SRO performances at the Vineyard Church downtown. The book was written by Tom Key and Russell Treyz, with music and lyrics by Harry Chapin. Read my post about the play's origins here. 

The "Gospel" returns July 12-13 and 19-20, 7 p.m., at Cheyenne First Baptist Church, 1800 E. Pershing Blvd. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children. You can buy tix at the door. All proceeds benefit Convoy of Hope Christian Outreach.

The cast features "The Cotton Swabs" made up of Kevin Guille, Brad Eddy, Randy Oestman, Jerry Gallegos, Kevin Uhrich and Bob Fontaine.

FMI: 307-638-8700

Promoting righteous justice -- and Rage Against the Machine

Chris Hendrichsen ran for Congress as a Democrat in 2012. In Wyoming, that takes chutzpah and a dash of foolhardiness. A gallant effort, but he lost. I've posted often about Wyoming's overwhelming Republican majority. I've also posted often about Democratic candidates tilting at windmills. They do win sometimes. I've witnessed two Democratic governors and quite a few legislators, most of them from Laramie, Albany, Teton and -- until recently -- Sweetwater counties. Democrats allegedly have been sighted in Natrona County but voters there tend to elect wackos to the legislature. Nice city, Casper, but Dems don't get elected there.

Chris is from Casper. I think he's moving out-of-state soon. He writes a good blog and blogs under "Approaching Justice" on Patheos: "Hosting the conversation on faith."

Chris describes himself this way:

I am a political philosopher and a political scientist. I am a devout Mormon as well as a committed egalitarian liberal. These two categories might appear to be a paradox. That paradox is me.

On Facebook, Chris referred to a post about righteous anger (May 5) which I read and really liked. It also featured a topical Rage Against the Machine video. He refers to Rage's Zack De La Rocha as a prophet, and this Christian agrees. Tom Morello is pretty righteous on that guitar of his too. The post also got some interesting comments on Patheos, most disagreeing with Chris. Read it and the comments.

Chris, we'll miss you here in Deep Red Wyo, but keep on posting.

"Who do they say I am? Interfaith perspectives on Jesus" begins May 23

Cheyenne Vineyard Church's "Cotton Patch Gospel" has roots in Christian social justice

My former work colleague Randy Oestman left state employment to serve as a minister for the Cheyenne Vineyard Church, 1506 Thomes Ave. Vineyard services are very musical, I am told, which is not surprising, considering Randy's theatre background. Randy and his Vineyard colleagues take the New Testament's social justice message seriously. They minister to Cheyenne's homeless and collect leftover foodstuffs from farmers' markets to distribute to needy families. I buy my eggs from Randy, whose chickens lay the darndest-colored eggs. Randy even practices his theatrical skills in the chicken coop.

In October, the Vineyard Church is producing the "Cotton Patch Gospel," based on a book by Tom Key and Russell Treyz, with music by Harry Chapin, written just before he died in a 1981 traffic accident. Anything with music by Harry Chapin has to be good.

Here is a description of the play from Wikipedia:

Cotton Patch Gospel is a musical by Tom Key and Russell Treyz with music and lyrics written by Harry Chapin just before his death in 1981. Based on the book The Cotton Patch Version of Matthew and John by Clarence Jordan, the story retells the life of Jesus as if in modern day, rural Georgia.

Using a southern reinterpretation of the gospel story, the musical is often performed in a one-man show format with an accompanying quartet of bluegrass musicians, although a larger cast can also be used. A video recording of the play was released in 1988 with Tom Key as the leading actor.

Interesting to note that Clarence Jordan was the founder of the Koinonia Farm,  a ground-breaking Christian social justice community that infuriated its white Georgia neighbors by practicing and preaching equality for all, including African-Americans. During the Civil Rights struggles of the 1950s and '60s, Koinonia was the target of a local economic boycott and several bombings. It was able to survive by shipping all of its goods through the U.S. Postal Service because, as we all know, "the mail must go through." Jordan also was instrumental in the founding of Habitat for Humanity, another revolutionary Georgia organization. Koinonia and Habitat had a big influence on one of its neighbors, Jimmy Carter of Plains. Clarence Jordan's nephew, Hamilton, was President Carter's chief of staff.

"Cotton Patch Gospel" will be performed at the Cheyenne Vineyard Church Oct. 5-6. 12-13 and 19-20 at 7 p.m. Admission is free but please bring grocery gift cards or non-perishable food for the needy. Call for tickets: 307-638-8700.

DNC delegates will hear social justice speech from Sister Simone Campbell on Sept. 5

The Democratic Party has the wisdom to realize that activist nuns have a lot to teach its convention delegates. This news comes from NETWORK, a national Catholic social justice lobby.

NETWORK is pleased to confirm that Sister Simone Campbell has accepted an invitation to speak at the Democratic National Convention on the evening of Wednesday, September 5. This will provide an important opportunity to talk about what she has learned after decades of work for social and economic justice.

We also regret that no similar invitation was extended by the Republican National Convention and that, despite our efforts, NETWORK was unable to find a venue there for sharing information about economic justice rooted in Catholic Social Teaching. Sister Campbell would have been delighted to speak at the convention.

We are pleased that Cardinal Dolan will be present at both the Republican and Democratic conventions.

Note: In addition to her speech, Sister Simone Campbell (and NETWORK staff) will be facilitating two social justice workshops during the Democratic convention: “Mind the Gap” on Wednesday, Sept. 5 from 10 AM to noon (http://charlottein2012.com/events/mind_the_gap_) and “Nuns on the Bus” on Thursday, Sept. 6 from 10 AM to noon (http://charlottein2012.com/events/nuns_on_the_bus). She will also provide the keynote address at the Faith Caucus meeting of the College Democrats of America annual convention prior to the Democratic National Convention.

Rev. Rodger McDaniel's Labor Day sermon: "Cesar, Samuel, Shanker & Moses"

The Rev. Rodger McDaniel is one of my fellow progressive bloggers. While none of us take any pledges as bloggers, Rodger has pledged a lifetime of service to God. As pastor at Highlands Presbyterian Church in Cheyenne, he has taken to heart the old adage, "to comfort the afflicted to to afflict the comfortable." Newspaper reporters used to believe in that, although in today's media, it seems as if that gets turned on its head to become "to comfort the comfortable and to afflict the afflicted."

That carries over into politics. Republicans make no secret of their disdain for working people, especially the working poor. They spent all last week comforting and praising their rich-boy presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who aims to gut government programs for working people while giving more tax breaks to his rich pals.

This week, the Democratic Party will showcase a different philosophy. While the Dems sometimes are beholden to the same corporate interests that own the Republicans, there is a clear-cut difference in their policies. They will speak in Charlotte about health care, liveable wages, protecting Social Security and Medicare, education, environmental policies and that nebulous thing known as "the future." It's up to us to hold them accountable once the convention is over. This is good to keep in mind on this Labor Day as we remember the workplace sacrifices of our ancestors.

In his Labor Day sermon reprinted on his Blowing in the Wyoming Wind blog,  Rodger reminds us that our religious traditions have a long history -- going back to Moses -- of standing up for working people. He also notes that our modern churches must do more than conduct the occasional holiday food drive, that they must actively champion the rights of people to receive a living wage and fair benefits. Read his sermon: "Cesar, Samuel, Shanker & Moses"

Birth control debate provokes sixties' flashback

Catholics of a certain age will recognize Foster Friess’s recent “aspirin solution” comment as a joke from an earlier age.

In case you hadn’t heard, Rick Santorum’s premier contributor, Foster Friess of Jackson, joked last week that back in his day, aspirin was the perfect birth control pill. Women were told (only half-jokingly): “Take an aspirin, and hold it between your knees.”

LOL.

Although we didn’t say LOL then. We said hardy-har-har, or something similar.

In America’s pre-pill era, women, especially Catholic women, were screwed. They were sexual beings who were told by the men in their lives – boyfriends, husbands, priests, politicians – that birth control was not an option. It was their womanly duty to have sex and their bear the consequences – children. It was God’s will. Barefoot and pregnant and in the kitchen was the reality of this “every sperm is sacred” mentality.

The guys were in charge.

That changed with the advent of safe birth control. And the women moved out of the kitchen and went to work and here we are today, debating this subject all over again.

But men, especially older white men, are being threatened as never before by smart and successful women. Minorities, too -- we have a black president! Technology and rapidly changing world events are scary. All hell is breaking loose! Women back to kitchen!

I grew up Catholic and am still, nominally, a Catholic. My coming-of-age was in the sixties. My parents were devout Catholics and they practiced the rhythm method.

LOL.

This was the only birth control method available to church-going Catholics. Abstinence, too – can’t forget that. Thus, most Catholic families engendered multiple offspring. In the case of the Shay family, that was nine children (with two miscarriages). My mother used to joke, “I was pregnant for 15 years.” That would have been longer had she not had twins. In the end, she had a hysterectomy and that was that. She died at the young age of 59, two years younger than I am now. She lasted only 18 months after an ovarian cancer diagnosis.

My parents urged their children to be careful and judicious when it came to sex. My mother, a nurse, urged birth control upon her offspring. In the emergency room, she regularly saw the depredations of unwanted pregnancy. She cast a jaundiced eye on church fathers that urged sex-for-procreation-only and then turned their backs on the results. On the other hand, she was mightily offended whenever people would look down their noses at her brood. “Nine kids – heavens to Betsy!” It usually wasn’t elitist secularists and liberals making these remarks. In the South, it tended to be our Protestant brethren and sistren. They tended to have smaller families, whether the result of birth control or abstinence or sheer cussedness I cannot say. As I look back, I remember that we were a large family even among my Catholic high school friends. Three kids tended to be the norm, with a few in the five-seven range and some of us with whopping big numbers. But we were rare.

What kind of birth control did I practice in high school? Fear and guilt kept me from toiling in the devil’s workshop. We joked about the rhythm method or the aspirin-between-the-legs or chastity belts or whatever. Meanwhile, we only had lust in our hearts. Nothing could be done for it. In our senior year, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed head cheerleader got in trouble, courtesy of the football star. She was sent away to live with her aunt in Ohio, and she missed graduation. The football star did not. Both of these people were my friends. From what I hear, both have had more than their share of life’s struggles. But their fate could have easily been ours. Just say no! And that’s what I did until I was 21.

Catholics of a certain age know the tragedies behind the church’s procreation policies. There are tragedies repeated today, in a time when science has given us an array of dependable birth control, a time in which college students can purchase morning-after pills along with Twinkies in student union vending machines. Birth control has given us all more freedom. Women, especially. And they should have all possible means available to them.

What has happened to my brothers and sisters? Surviving members (we lost a brother in 2010) all seem to be leading useful and productive lives. Among the nine of us, we have 19 children. My two kids have plenty of first cousins, although they live far away in Florida. None of my siblings are devout Catholics, although some go to church. When my brother Patrick Kevin Shay (my son’s godfather) died in 2010, he had a secular ceremony in a park. I officiated. Good ol’ secular liberal me. There were remembrances and even a few prayers. We partied later and remembered the dead. We even argued politics, which we consider a contact sport.

Even when I was a practicing adult Catholic, I paid no attention to the church’s pronouncements of matters that were none of its business. The church cannot tell me whom I can sleep with, appropriate procreation methods, which candidate to vote for, what books to read, etc. Church fathers make it their business but they are regularly ignored, if recent polls can be believed. It’s interesting to note that most Catholics who have to live in the real world regularly ignore those who don’t.

Mr. Friess can joke about the aspirin solution all he wants. We know that it’s not a joke to most women. Women who vote, women like my wife Chris of 30 years, do not consider Foster Friess a comedian. They see him as a tired old man living in an imagined golden age. That’s the way she sees Rick Santorum, too, and all of his fellow travelers. They are throwbacks to another age. This is their last hurrah and they are being as loud and as obnoxious as possible. It’s up to us to ignore them, and then go to the ballot box to vote for people who believe in a future filled with intelligence and empathy and choice.

I ask Slim: "Why are Tea Party people so damn mean?"

I asked Tea Party Slim, "What makes you people so damn mean?"

Slim seemed taken aback. "Mean?"

"You're doing pretty well, aren't you?" I said, feeling a need to elaborate and/or rub it in. "Many of you are retired. Your homes are paid off and you have cars and RVs. You can visit your grandkids any time you want. Some, like you, are veterans and have the entire VA medical system at your disposal."

Slim appeared thoughtful. "We worked hard for our money. And some of us slogged through rice paddies protecting our freedoms."

"Were you ever actually in a rice paddy, Slim?"

He seemed to blush a bit. "You know what I mean. Some of us served."

I had come to grips with my non-service during the Vietnam era. Apparently Slim had not. "But you're doing pretty well now, right? No a rice paddy in sight here in Wyoming."

"We're taxed to death. I wouldn't say that's 'well off' "

"Just how are you taxed to death? We don't have a state income tax. Property taxes are low. Sales taxes are 5 percent...."

"But they tack on that 1 percent to pay for things we don't need."

"Like road improvements?"

"They are always working on the roads but nothing gets improved. And how come sand trucks take all day to 'improve' the roads every winter?"

I had to admit he had some good points. "But overall, our roads are good. No muddy quagmires to get bogged down in, right?"

Slim shrugged.

"Sewer and water system improvements. Flood control. New landfill. New library. I know that you and the misses use our library."

"All right, all right. The 1 percent added tax isn't so bad."

"There's no regressive grocery tax."

"We buy our groceries at the base BX."

"Like I said..."

"You wouldn't deny a veteran his benefits, would you?"

"I'm happy to pay my taxes so that you get those benefits." I smiled. It was my Cheshire Cat grin.

"Federal taxes are too high. Government too big."

Slim often digs these holes for himself. We sat there for several minutes while his words drifted through the air.

"Government...." I began.

"O.K., I was a government employee most of my life," Slim sputtered. "We all know that. But government is way too big. You wouldn't believe the waste that I saw. Taxpayer money isn't being spent wisely."

"At last we can agree on something," I said. Then I was silent as a Buddha. I felt like crawling out of my chair and sitting cross-legged on the floor. I would have too, if my knees weren't so ancient and bad.

Slim broke the silence. "Mr. Anti-War Pinko," he said.

"Make that Mr. Bleeding Heart Anti-War Pinko."

"Done."

"You call me names. Why is that?"

"You call us names. Teabaggers, filthy things like that."

"But that's a sexual term. And you guys yourselves used that, at least in the beginning."

"No we didn't."

"Maybe not. But the words you direct at Occupy Wall Street are so much more hurtful."

"They're bums," spat Slim.

"See what I mean? They're kids just trying to make a living."

"Why aren't they making a living? They're out on the streets throwing bricks at cops."

"First of all, they're not throwing bricks at cops. The protesters are nonviolent. The cops are the violent ones."

"They have to protect themselves!"

"From what -- peace, love and understanding?"

"A cop in San Francisco -- your favorite hippie town -- was slashed by a razor during a demonstration."

"I heard about that. There have been a thousand of these Occupy events and that's all you have?"

"There have been thousands of violent acts."

"Name them -- all of them."

Slim stared at me.

"You can't, can you? Meanwhile, you Tea Party guys pack heat to your demos and the cops look on meekly."

"Second amendment."

"Spare me," I said. "Name one incident where there was gunplay at an Occupy event." I could tell that Slim was replaying in his head hours upon hours of Fox broadcasts. "If this was a violent revolution by a bunch of wild-eyed radicals, don't you think there would have been gunplay by now?"

"Just wait," said Slim. "It will happen." He grinned. "And when it does, the cops can count on us loyally armed citizens to back them up."

I had a mental image of thousands of well-armed geezers taking to the streets. A cop's worst nightmare.

"I keep asking the same question but don't get an answer: Why are you so damn mean?"

"It's our God-given right as American citizens," said Slim.

"God, I'm sure, will be pleased to hear that."

WY Association of Churches presents "Civility Matters!" Oct. 8 in Casper

http://www/uwyo.edu/humanities

I was just at a Civility Matters! forum at Summit E.S. in Casper this past weekend featuring Palestinian-American poet Naomi Shihab Nye (see my previous post). Here's another one, courtesy of the Casper Star-Tribune:

The Wyoming Association of Churches will host a town-hall style "Civility Matters" forum from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Oct. 8 at the First United Methodist Church of Casper, 332 E. Second St.

The forum will focus on three issues: judicial responses for youth offenders in Wyoming, featuring Michael Blonigen and Beth Evans; the definition of marriage and civil unions as they relate to couples' sexual orientation, featuring Rodger McDaniel and Bob Norris; and providing health care for wyoming's poor, featuring Kellie Clausen and Sarah Gorin. Former TV broadcaster and Wyoming state legislator Nimi McConigley will moderate the session.

Each speaker will be allotted 20 minutes, followed by 40 minutes allotted for questions and discussion by the public.

Lunch will be provided at a cost of $10, and advance registration is encouraged. To register in advance, contact Steven Mitchell at stevmitch2002@yahoo.com, write him at 1275 Adams Ave., Rock Springs, Wyoming, 82901, or visit http://www.wyomingassociationofchurches.org.

Read more: http://trib.com/news/local/casper/article_d00c9422-630f-51f8-99c8-7af16e041e4b.html#ixzz1Z1jIzKPs

UPDATE: Cheyenne Interfaith Council 9/11 commemoration

September 11, 2011 - 10th Anniversary of 9/11. The theme of the Cheyenne Interfaith Council Observance is “Remembrance, Healing, and Hope." On the 11th, there will be a presentation by Hands in Harmony starting at 2:45 PM at the Capitol. The Interfaith Service will begin at 3:00 PM with a program that includes music, readings from the Quran, Hebrew Bible, Gospel, Greek Orthodox, and other traditions... Each faith community is asked to bring a meaningful “broken” item to the September 11 commemoration. All broken items will be brought forward and used by a local artist, Forest King, to create a work of art symbolizing the transition from brokenness to hope. Please come! 

Cheyenne Interfaith Council marks 9/11 anniversary with readings, art and music

The Cheyenne Interfaith Council invites you to a ceremony at the Wyoming State Capitol Building on Sunday, Sept. 11, 3-4 p.m., marking the 10th Anniversary of the attacks of 9/11. The theme is "Remembrance, Healing and Hope." This will be a contemplative ceremony with Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Unitarian readings, Hands in Harmony and an interfaith community choir. Cheyenne artist Forrest King will be there to create a special piece of art symbolizing the movement from brokeness to healing. The public is encouraged to attend. 

Colorado Rockies get desperate as another season tanks

This is the most ridiculous promotion I've ever seen. Rockies Faith Day? Why not call it Rockies Sucking Up to Churches Day? Or maybe New and Interesting Ways to Fill the Ball Park as the Rockies Choke Day? Maybe Rick Perry could conduct the opening prayer?

Weird.

If this is a trend, sign me up for Rockies Flying Spaghetti Monster Day.

Go to http://mlb.mlb.com/col/ticketing/faithday.jsp?partnerId=aw-5951796513581239158-1070

Little nukes on the prairie: how our Air Force missileers are being trained

A slide from a PowerPoint presentation for nuclear missile officers cites St. Augustine's Just War Theory to teach missile officers about the morals and ethics of launching nuclear weapons. Image: United States Air Force. Re-posted from truthout.

Very interesting set of blog posts today for those of us who are neighbors to the many nuke missile silos that dot the Wyoming prairie.

The U.S. Air Force has pulled a missileer training course that enlists former Nazi Party member (and one of the architects of the U.S. space program) Wernher von Braun as a moral authority and leans heavily on the Bible (and St. Augustine) to justify throwing nukes at our neighbors.

Truthout broke the story and now notes today that the USAF has pulled the Powerpoint program. I was first alerted to the story by problembear at 4&20 blackbirds. This is appropriate since Montana and North Dakota and Wyoming are home to the majority of U.S. land-based nukes.

First read problembear, and then move on to truthout's original piece and today's follow-up.

And then go read The Confessions of St. Augustine (I read it in the eighth grade to little effect) and see what he has to say about throw weights and MAD and nuclear winter.

UPDATE: Read problembear's post and then spend time reading the incendiary comments. Yowzir!

ANOTHER UPDATE: Satirist Tom Lehrer's take on Wernher von Braun' opportunistic politics at http://youtu.be/TjDEsGZLbio

Do Leftie bloggers really hate Christians or their un-Christian attitudes?

Seems that I will always have material for weekend blogging as long as the local Radical Christian Right is on the job.

Harlan Edmonds wrote an op-ed in today's Wyoming Tribune-Eagle. Mr. Edmonds has hit those pages before -- and hit them hard -- with screeds against abortion, Liberals, immigrants, RINOs -- you name it.

I don't mind screeds as I sometimes engage in those same tactics. But shouldn't they make sense or present some solid evidence for the Average Joe (or Mike) to latch onto.

His target is "Tough Enough to Wear Pink" day held Thursday at Cheyenne Frontier Days. On that day, burly dudes in pink wrestle steers and ride bucking broncos. In Thursday's parade, Gov. Matt Mead wore pink, as did Secretary of State Max Maxfield. Members of the CFD committee wore pink. This was a statement advocating increased funding for breast cancer research for all those women in our lives faced with the disease. The CFD's charity of choice on this issue is the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundations. Christian Right activists contend that some of the money donated to Komen MAY end up being donated to Planned Parenthood which MIGHT use it to counsel poor women to have abortions.

In the name of Christian purity, Mr. Edmonds and Mr. Wall contend that not a penny of our money should go to a wonderful charity which saves lives and will some day help to find a cure for women afflicted with breast cancer. They may be our wives or daughters or co-workers or someone we don't even know.

How very un-Christian of you Christian gentlemen.

But that's not the point, is it? Mr.. Edmonds will believe what he believes and logic will not shake him. He spends most of his column with ad hominem attacks local Christian minister and fellow Leftie blogger Rodger McDaniel. Mr. Edmonds says that the Rev. McDaniel "managed to squeeze more anti-Christian bigotry into a single WTE piece recently than Mullah Omar could fit in a four-hour fatwa."

I always like it when Christian fundamentalists try to equate Lefties with Muslim fundamentalists. As we all know, Fundies of all stripes believe in the same basic philosophy -- literalism. This is one of the reasons that some of my fellow Leftie bloggers label the American Christian Right "the American Taliban."

And I just did the same thing. Oops!

Lefties have learned a few things during the past 40 yars or so. Literalism is a dead end, whether it applies to the Bible or to The Communist Manifesto, the Koran or Mao's Little Red Book, the Book of Mormon or The Port Huron Statement. Living your life by the tenets of one little book penned by humans (and possibly inspired by God) eventually backs you into a corner.

It's also un-democratic (small "d"). The humanist principles upon which America was founded call upon citizens to continue to continually think and grow. Fundies, by nature, reach a dead end in their personal growth. All they are left with is a striving toward the End Times and eternal salvation. The hell with society. The hell with my fellow man and human. The hell with cancer cures and global arming solutions and universal health care.

In the end, they are anti-life.

In its efforts to aid humankind, CFD advocates life over death. I have a feeling that there are a few Christians within the CFD leadership ranks. And you can't swing a cat at a rodeo without knocking down a Christian cowboy or cowgirl. I know because I tried that last year and burly security guards wearing pink threw me out of the rodeo grounds.

SECURITY GUARD: "We don't cotton to your kind around here."
ME: "Leftie bloggers?"
SECURITY GUARD: "No, guys who swing cats."

I left, chastened.

Another thing I've noticed about fundamentalists, whether they be Mullah Omar or Harlan Edmonds -- they have no sense of humor.

I strive for humor and sometimes succeed. Maybe that's why I was inspired to wear pink fairy wings during my turn as emcee Thursday evening at the Atlas Theatre's old-fashioned melodrama. The pink wings looked great with my cowboy duds. "Tough enough to wear pink fairy wings!"

Take that, you close-minded fundies.

America's own Taliban -- Al Jazeera English

We have some of these strange people in Wyoming. They advocate the destruction of Native American religious artifacts. Go to America's own Taliban - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

Christian, Jewish and Muslim views of Noah and the flood Monday at "Bibles and Beer"

Noah's Ark, oil on canvas painting by Edward Hicks, 1846, Philadelphia Museum of Art (Wikimedia Commons)

From Rodger McDaniel, Cheyenne's indefatigable minister and activist:

"Bibles and Beer" on Monday, July 11, 5:30 p.m. at Uncle Charlie’s Grill & Tavern in Cheyenne. Happy hour Bible study... inviting all open-minded over 21 persons interested in learning what the Bible says! We are talking about Noah and the Flood...the Christian view as well as the Jewish and Muslim. Join us!

Look up Rodger on Facebook and RSVP.