Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”
This is the second week in a row that I don’t really have anythig appropriate. Not, certainly, that it has been a week without outrage – far from it – but what appear to be the big news storeies seem not quite right. Yes, it’s been – almost a month really – that we’ve been fixated on guns. But I can tell the ladies to go deal with Wayne La Pierre in twenty-five words or less. I don’t have anything we don’t all know. The White House revolving door – I don’t know who will be the next to leave, and the Furies probably don’t either. And Mueller’s investigation – which is big and getting bigger – the more we can leave him to do it in peace, the better it will be for all of us (tempting as it is to discuss it.)
What I do think maybe needs to be talked about AGAIN is religious persecution. People for the American Way’s Right Wing Watch sends out five stories a week on the craziest things the right wing is doing and saying. It isn’t all with regard to the religious right, but it does so happen that this week five of the stories do explicitly feature the religious right (I might say “the guanopsychotic religious right,” but that’s a bit of a tautology, and also anticipates the material.)
Here are this week’s headlines, all five of them:
Lori Bakker: Liberals Want To Lock Christians ‘Away In Mental Illness Centers”
Yes, that’s Jim Bakker’s (new, trophy) wife, and his show is her platform If only there were such a thing! Maybe mental illnesses could be treated which are now going untreated for lack of funds and lack of caring.
Cindy Jacobs Convenes The Court Of Heaven At ‘Prophetic’ Turnaround Conference
The “court of heaven” is to rule over SCOTUS through these nutjobs who are “God’s enforcers in the Earth for His will to be done.”
Extremist Anti-Choice Activists Boasts Of Sharing His Views As Public School Substitute
I’m calling this one not explicitly religious, but what do you want to bet he “shares his views” on that too.
Mike Cernovich Says Social Media Censorship Is A ‘Warm-Up’ For Christian Persecution
It’s only surprising he talks about the persucutin as being in the future. Most wing nuts think they are already persecuted.
Paul McGuire Warns Christians Who Oppose Trump Will Not Get Into Heaven
Well, I don’t want to go where he’s going, that’s for sure.
Given all of this, it’s clear that SOME people need a reminder of what is and is not violation of religious liberty. This list has been all over without attribution, but for here I thought I’d better research the origin, which was not difficult. It’s taken verbatim from a chart based on the work of the Rev. Emily Heath of the United Church of Christ. And as long as SOME people think that “religious liberty means they have a right to infringe on other people’s religious liberty,” it will need to be re-circulated.
How To Tell If Your Religious Liberties Are Being Violated
Your Religious Liberties ARE Being Violated If:
You are not allowed to attend a religious service of your choice.
You are not allowed to legally marry the person you love.
You are being forced to use birth control even if it is against your religion.
You are not allowed to pray privately in your home or a public place.
You are not allowed to read, possess or purchase religious books and materials.
You are not allowed to teach the tenets of your faith to your children at home.
Your Religious Liberties are NOT Being Violated If:
Others are allowed to attend a religious service of their choice, or not at all.
Someone else is allowed to legally marry the person they love no matter what your religion says.
You are unable to prevent others from using birth control.
You are not allowed to force others to pray publicly.
Others are allowed access to books, movies and websites that you don’t like.
Public schools are teaching science in science classes instead of your religion.
Please share this far and wide, attributed to Emily, not to me. And one other thing that I ran across, which might just scare a Seven Mountains Dominionist (and that would be a good thing) –
Alecto, Megaera, Tisiphone, you share it too. Thanks.
The Furies and I will be back.
Cross posted to Care2 HERE.
12 Responses to “Everyday Erinyes #114”
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Interesting post.
Wow! I did not know about the GOP logo!
Personally, I’d rather be one with the earth and what’s good for my mind/heart. Most preachers (like these), want you to believe their rhetoric and lies. I can’t abide by their insane thoughts with how I feel or should feel/embrace their words, or about religion, or of dt.
I’ll get to Heaven the way I want to, not the other way around by their standards…thank you. lol.
Thanks, Joanne for posting.
Us atheists now have it easier, because we’re not led by scaremongering tactics by threatening us we won’t go to heaven, and our non-faith predecessors have heard all the threats before but then coming from the mouths of so called ‘true believers’ directed at them. Sadly in many parts of the world that still is the case. While some churches have preached more tolerance towards other faiths, that never included atheists.
So from my point of view denying others their (non)religious freedom in order to claim all rights for their own particular view. and playing the martyr (pun intended) when others resist those infringements on their personal religious choices, is both amusing and at the same time very scary. And that goes for all faiths or Weltanschaungen that overstep those boundaries of personal choice.
I never understood why so many people seem to think atheism is not entitled to the same tolerance as any other belief system – that seems idiotic to me. I could mention some other idiotic notions … but it would just be distracting.
So, I am consulting my King James Bible, Rev. Ch. 17, has mention of “…the great whore,” and this: 3-“So he carried me away the spirit into the wilderness:and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.” In 5, the woman has “And upon her forehead was a name written, “MYSTERY….” There is no mention of the beast having anything on its forehead. Where it has those names is not noted.
Apparently that is not the case with the GOP logo, but it is okay, they are abominable enough without that stuff.
The issue of religious liberty has been hijacked, as was the symbol of the U.S.A.’s flag during the Vietnam era, by the right, and they have transposed it so that it serves their Theocratic agenda. They take as theirs the “religious liberty” to constrain everybody else’s…period.
The seven mountains are in verse 9. As for the names of blasphemy, the KJV says “full of” but some other translation might say “forehead.” “Full of” may fit the logo even better, as only one is on the forehead of the logo. I found myself wondering whether someone designed it deliberately to mess with them. I’m sure they went with all red because they can’t stand Democratic blue – another irony (multiple levels).
Yes, “Full of,” and yes the 7 mountains are in 9. How about “The elephant at issue is “FULL OF SHIT”?
I hd no intention, by the way, of criticizing you, was just looking for accuracy. I guess different versions will, indeed, have different wording.
No offence taken. I shared it because the author has several good thoughts about how these – people – are DEMONSTRABLY following the beast rather than, as they claim, the Christ.
Excellent piece, JD. I frequently use RWW materials in my articles.
For a Republican Supply-side Pseudo-Christian, religious freedom is the freedom to impose their dogma and piety codes on others.
I very much like your “guanopsychotic religious right”
It’s a perfect alternative to my standard “Talibangelical christianists”
Thanks. I got “guanopsychotic” from Kossack indyada (loved it at fort sight.) I also love “Talibangelical” – you may have noticed I used it in the tags (I added “ism.”)
And Kossack Rumarhazzit has come up with another one we need to add to our mental thesauruses: “porn-again” Christians.