Unholy Belief

Many religious people talk about "morality". Yet, many of the tenets about religion could themselves, be viewed as immoral.
There is nothing the least bit moral about eternal damnation,(especially for engaging in actions which hurt no one) or in smiting non-believers or in "holy wars".
How could a merciful god allow eternal damnation exist? Worse yet is that such a fate is deserving of someone just because they follow the "wrong" faith, or are non-believer or because they were gay or had sex without marriage?
Oh, yes, there is salvation, but only if you submit and give up personal autonomy. A choice between heaven and hell is tantamount to no choice at all. This is the most extreme form of blackmail imagination the guise of "glory" and "faith".
In the end, this isn’t truly "morality", but reward and punishment taken to its most hideous extremes.

The Beast From Bennington

Wal Mart isn’t just expanding in the US, but is muscling their way into overseas markets as well. In Latin America, they have become one of the top five retailers.
This is dream come true for Wal Mart. That part of the world has little middle class to speak of, and the rights of both unions and consumers is next to zero. This is the perfect environment for a company which will do anything, regardless how underhanded, to make the greatest profit.
It’s also no wonder Wal Mart has such a cosy relationship with the totalitarian state of China. After all,"uppity" workers who live in a democracy where unions are allowed is very bad for a low-end discount chain.
And the shameful fact is that this low-end discounter is now the top employer in the US. Most of their employees work only part time, have few benefits and tend to have a very high turnover.
What we have in this country seems to be vicious cycle. As many working people see there wages stagnate, workers from well paying jobs outsourced and benefits and pensions are being slashed.
And, as a result, many more people are shopping at discount chains like Wal-Mart. They are virtually being "forced" by social-economic conditions to do so.
The more people shop at such places, the more well paying jobs will be outsourced in the quest for ever lower prices. And so and so on.
Of course, there is a limit to how far this trend can go. If workers are payed too little, they won’t be able to buy products even at a low-end discount chain. But, Wal-Mart and its ilk do have a stake in relatively low wages for the populous. Because people who are of greater means generally don’t shop at such places. If there were no "lower class", Wal-Mart and similar stores might very well go out of business.

Nostalgic Beauty

The ideal of beauty in this society is out of touch with biological reality. Back in the 50's and before, attractive women had a much more healthier(and in my opinion, more attractive) look. Why should we view a grown women who is built like a 12 year old? Isn’t there something vaugly Pediphilic about that?
Women of that time were a bit more stocky, more muscular, athletic and magnificent. To be sure, some women still have that look, the essence of classic female beauty.
And ironically, women, on the whole, were less obese back then. In American society. In contemporary America, the ideal of beauty and the way the average female is built has never been more disparate.

Where the Blame Really Lies

The two historical events that contributed to the 9/11 are the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, and Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait.
It was the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan which allowed the global jihad movement to get off the ground. (And allowed Bin Loudin to gain experience) After the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan, the jihadists became more embodied. Having defeated the Soviets, they then set there sights on the US.
After the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein, the US sent troops to Saudi Arabia, where they stayed for over a decade. The presence of "infidels" near the most sacred sites of Islam enraged many of the jihadists and may have very well made terrorism against the US more likely.
Without these two events, its doubtful that the attacks of 9/11 would ever had happened.

Honor Killing In Europe

Its not only the rights in Europe that are a problem. In many Islamic enclaves, Honor killing are on the rise.
Part of the problem here is that many Europeans give rights to cultures and not individuals, at least when it comes to immigrants.
Honor killing isn't happening in the US quite as often. Here, Muslims have integrated better.

Abstinance Only Is Balony

The problem with "abstinence only" programs is that the tend to be based on fear. But, fear in teenagers tends to be transient. When the fear wears off, they are more likely to have unprotected sex. This ultimately means more sex deceases, teen pregnancy and ironically, more abortion as a result.
Despite all the heavy handed sermonizing, the US has the highest levels of teen pregnancy and abortion of any industrialized country.

The Ultimate totalitarianism

The idea of an all-powerful, all knowing God who is constantly judging our personal behavior is the working definition of totalitarianism. This would make the entire universe the ultimate police state.

Iraqi Occupation Doomed

The Iraqi occupation was doomed from the beginning. Why? because we didn’t have near enough troops. It is simply impossible to stabilize a country of millions with only 160, 000 troops. A civil war is all but assured.
The choice is simple. Either we boost troops to 300,000 or more and stay until Iraq is a stable democracy or we should just get the hell out. War and nation building can’t succeed unless you committee to it completely.
In Iraq, it either the right way or the highway.

The Greatest Threat To Freedom

The greatest threat to liberty and freedom in the world today is religious fundamentalism and fanaticism. This is, after all, the nature of those who perpetuate terrorism.
Fundamentalism in the US may not be as blood thirsty and violent, but, the movement shares a disregard for personal freedom and individual choice. And they also confuse morality with dogma and merge righteous with narrow-mindedness.

Anti-Christian Conspiracy?

Many Fundamentalist Christians believe that a "secular humanist" conspiracy is out to destroy Christianity through a "well funded" campaign. And of course, the federal government is supposedly the means by which this agenda is imposed on believers.
As Bill O’Reilly recently put it:(via dailyKos)
"On the November 28 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, host Bill O'Reilly pointed to "a very secret plan" by the "secular progressive" movement, which he said aims to "diminish Christian philosophy in the U.S.A."
. . . According to O'Reilly, the "secular progressive" movement has three elements:

* First, progressive financiers George Soros and Peter Lewis "pour money into the ACLU [American Civil Liberties Union], they pour money into the smear websites, you know, they buy up a lot of media time."
* Second, "the ACLU is their legal arm. ... [T]he ACLU runs around the country suing everybody and intimidating people."
* Third, "the smear websites are their media arm."
But, the reverse is actually true. Under the Bush administration, fundamentalism and conservative Christians have never had the kind of access or influence over the government than they do now. In fact, some of the most powerful figures in congress and the White House are Conservative Christians! (Ako Rick Santorium, Bill Frist, and until recently, Tom Delay)
The Federal government is spending billions on "abstinence only" sex education. Many abstinence only educators are religious fundamentalist who subtly put their extreme beliefs into the curriculum. According to the Washington Post, some examples of this includes:
# "43-day-old fetus is a 'thinking person.'
# HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, can be spread via sweat and tears.
# Condoms fail to prevent HIV transmission as often as 31 percent of the time in heterosexual intercourse."
# Half of gay male teenagers in the U.S. are HIV-positive.
# Touching a person's genitals "can result in pregnancy."
# Another program says that women who get abortions "are more prone to suicide" and that 1 in 10 become sterile.
According to mainstream health professionals, these claims are false.
And school districts who refuse to embrace this questionable program lose funding. (So much for local control).
Bush’s faith based programs is headed by a staunch evangavical and only seems to give money primarily for like minded religious groups.
If there is indeed a "secular" conspiracy, it’s a dismal failure.
The Funies also are wrong to assume we are a "Christian" nation. As The Reaction Points Out.

"American secularism is rooted in Lockean political philosophy, in the modern project initiated by Machiavelli and liberalized by Hobbes and Locke. The modern project sought to liberate humanity from the shackles of superstition and the domination of politics by religion. Lockean political philosophy is the philosophy of American constitutionalism, the philosophy that deeply animated the Founders as they sought to forge a new nation in a new world. To be sure, there are theological strains guiding much of American life, but American is a fundamentally liberal nation."

So, even the founding fathers would have called the religious right insane!