Letters to the Editor
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Here is what the Bible has to say about them:
'These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.'
Matt.6
[5]And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
[6] But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
Matthew 6
[7] But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Mark.12
38] And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces,
[39] And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts:
[40] Which devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation.
Luke18
10] Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
[11] The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
[12] I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
[13] And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
[14] I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
Luke 20
[46] Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts;
[47] Which devour widows' houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation.
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Re: Let us prey
When prophets warned the people of Israel of impending doom, it was primarily because they denied the poor justice. Isaiah (10:1-2) says, “Shame on you! You who make unjust laws/ and publish burdensome decrees,/ depriving the poor of justice,/ robbing the weakest of my people their rights, despoiling the widow and plundering the orphan.”
Amos says there would be no reprieve for the crimes of Israel because, “they sell the innocent for silver/ and the destitute for a pair of shoes.” These are not isolated quotes.
In the New Testament, the only person who Jesus explicitly consigned to Hell was the rich man who did not show charity to the poor man.
The Republican Party is an economic class based party that represents maybe one percent of the American people. Their top priority is to take wealth off the tax table and let people use their wealth in an unregulated manner. Republicans intend to make life much more difficult for the poorest and weakest Americans so billionaires won’t have to pay taxes. Legislative breakthroughs after the 2004 election made access to legal redress for the poor more difficult and make it harder to seek protection in the bankruptcy laws. Budget proposals will cut Medicaid funding, housing aid and student loans. Sound much like the behavior described in Isaiah?
Every time I hear pious Republicans, I get a whiff of burning sulfur.
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My idea
Here's an idea. Instead of bickering over what this or that passage in the Bible means to who, why don't we just throw that Bronze Age bestseller in the fiction section where it belongs.
God, Jesus, Allah, Buddah...whoever won't be throwing Abramoff, Delay, Reed and Lapin's, etc. asses in prison. It will be a federal judge.
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Let us prey
The lead to the story includes "swindling Indian tribes." The story itself has no information about how the Indians were swindled or if the Indians have complained. Although new to Salon, I am an avid news reader and I have seen no information about this in the newspaper or other blogs. The lead is inflamatory. Shouldn't you address an inflamatory lead in the article?
Also, the tone of the piece seems to be more about the anger and hate regarding the religion and hypocracy of Lott et al Although I agree that there is much hypocracy within politics, it is nothing new to either Republicans or Democrats.
I am disappointed that this web site does not deal in more factual terms.
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Indians
B...
I'm sorry, but you must have spent the last two years on Mars. The controversy over the Indian tribe's casinos has been very documented across a wide spectrum of the media. Your letter smacks of the usual right wing Christian attempt to deflect and deny.
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Shameful Christian Fascism
Headline on the front page Austin American Statesman Friday morning:
(Governor) Perry: Add Intelligent Design to Classes
So now, just 36 hours after UT wins the big one, I go back to deep, intense shame for being a "Texan." Fuck this place. So this is going to be the defining issue in the Texas governor's race this year? Intelligent design? I am a christian, but what I see going on is shameful. I stopped going to church YEARS ago because I couldn't stomach being around such hypocrites. I'm not saying that I'm holy or better than anyone else--far from it. My feet are clay just like everyone else's. But here's the difference: I'm not going around saying I have some hotline to God while at the same time cheating and swindling honest people. Intelligent Design belongs in Sunday school. Why is that so hard to understand?
Christian Fascism is happening right now, people. The thing that really chaps my ass about it though, is MOST "republicans" aren't don't support Intelligent Design, and aren't happy about all this corruption, but they willingly tolerate it because of their core defining issue: Taxation. The rank and file Republicans really care about nothing other than keeping their tax rate as low as possible. All the other issues are just white noise. Screw education. Screw roads and infrastructure. Screw the environment. "Just keep my taxes low, goddammit." How very sad. God, I'm ashamed.....
ps--vote Democrat in 2006 and forever!!!