Do you have a link for the Hitchens quote?

www.vastleft.com

It's in WaPo, today.

No authoritarians were tortured in the writing of this post.

Do you really think we Christians look at George W. Bush as our king on earth? What a ridiculous generalization. I characterize myself as an evangelical fundamentalist, and I have little respect for his presidency. And I'm not the only one from my background that feels that way.

In the same way that the Democratic party has paid lip service to black people and made big promises, but delivered little in the way of substantive change, G.W.B. Has used an aura of christian-ness to dupe the less critically minded members of my faith.

Good to know.

Here, in relevant part, the story from the Times, before it disappears completely off the intertubes:

In Niceville, Bush's appearance took on the air of a revival meeting as the audience chanted affirmation to his description of the rationale for his antiterror efforts and roared at any religious reference. Gary Walby, a resident of nearby Destin, told the president during a question-and-answer session that though he always voted Republican, "this is the very first time I felt God was in the White House."

To which Bush replied "Thank you."

And the basic answer to your question, Mr. Fundy, Yes. If you support the conservative movement, you support what that movement has long planned for: a chief executive--I try to reserve the word "President" for Constitutional officers--has seized "monarchical powers," as conservative scholar (for once, no irony required) Bruce Fein puts it. Personally, I think it's all projection: Authoritarians want a king on earth, and so they imagine that there must be a king in heaven. In reality, there shouldn't be the one (Constitutional monarchs aside), and there isn't the other.

Also, you're wrong on both counts to write:

n the same way that the Democratic party has paid lip service to black people and made big promises, but delivered little in the way of substantive change, G.W.B. Has used an aura of christian-ness to dupe the less critically minded members of my faith.

The Democratic Party is only now recovering from what LBJ said would happen when we passed Civil Rights legislation: Delivering the south to the Republicans for a generation. We've been punished for that good deed by the racist Republican Southern strategy ever since.

And The Bush Court--since Thomas and Scalia stole election 2000 for the Republicans to get the votes that would give them the kind of judicial outcomes they wanted--is rapidly delivering the kind of decisions that will help the Christianists to control their women by forcing them to bear children they don't want. Really, what's not to like?

No authoritarians were tortured in the writing of this post.

Ridiculous generalization, but not a denial? = Okay, how about Junior King?

Evangelical Fundamentalists = Have ZERO respect for equality under the law.

Dems - Voting Rights Act. Civil Rights Act. Etc., etc., etc. = Substantive change for millions of blacks.

Repukes - Tax breaks for rich, illegal war, torture, New Orleans = Squat for almost everybody.

Those who were duped by Dumbo's "Christian-ness" = mirror. Clear?

of religion and authoritarianism:

Fascism Anyone? By Laurence W. Britt, Free Inquiry Magazine http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/f...

Living Under Fascism by Davidson Loehr, First UU Church of Austin http://austinuu.org/sermons/2004/2004-11...

Not everyone who is religious is also authoritarian. It is possible to be delusional in one aspect of consciousness and perfectly decent in all others. Still, religious literalism is a warning sign and absolutely unacceptable as a basis for democratic governance.

Luke 20:25

... reading about a bunch of Israeli fundies, after Begin first got elected, dancing around in a circle and singing "Begin, King of Israel" and thinking WASF. And indeed we were, I just couldn't have predicted how badly.

They wanted a king just like our own fundies do, and for much the same reasons.

No authoritarians were tortured in the writing of this post.

the delusion that we have been created diseased, by a capricious despot, and then abruptly commanded to be whole and well, on pain of terror and torture

and yet this is exactly his position on the political situation in Iraq, and he thinks it's highly moral.

Hitchens is as god-addled as anyone out there. His god just buttpisses after a night of scotch.

Not that you don't, Lambert; I just like giving back the advice handed to me so often.

Many of us heathens in fact became heathens, or at least finally admitted our heathen-inity, when we could never resist giggling at the "What's God's given name?" joke. You know:

Our Father, who art in heaven, Harold be thy name...

Which causes us to break down at that point and not take seriously the rest of the spiel:

...thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.

This is the problem with Christian Fundy's logic in the end. He criticizes Bush for not delivering what the "evangelicals" want in temporal terms. He does not criticize himself for wanting these things--in effect imposing on all of us the rules prescribed for Christians to live by--merely Bush's inability to bring this theocratic state about.

Which is of course an abomination in both secular and theological terms. He too needs to RTFM, particularly that part about "render[ing] unto Caesar that which is Caesar's and unto God that which is God's" and think about it long and hard. And the part about going into one's closet to pray rather than out loudly and conspicuously in public. And most especially the line which reads, in my Bible at least, "ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." The Bibles many of these folks have seem to be special editions which read "All but_______ [fill in name of Bible owner here] have sinned" and etc.

Sigh. I so deeply, desperately want to figure out a way under which all fundies of whatever stripe are subjected to involuntary exile for some period, at very least one year, in a nation ruled by a theocracy of a religion to which they themselves do not subscribe.

Christians should have to go live in Sri Lanka, Muslims perhaps to, oh, say Japan--someplace where they will not be actively persecuted but not exactly indulged, either. Someplace where their norm is not the norm, their assumptions are not those of the people around them.

You may say I'm a dreamer..... :)

Oh, we're in trouble now.

Of course, I haven't actually done any of the arithmetic. But clearly a lot of work went into that page. The part about Bush giving "the Satanic 'horned hand' salute--with photos and analysis--is especially excellent.

If only these people would study, instead of repeating the blast-faxes...

No authoritarians were tortured in the writing of this post.

.... Read The, er, Friendly Manual.

No authoritarians were tortured in the writing of this post.

..."We Are So Firkytoodled"?

Yes in fact it's a real word--means "sexual play" according to theDictionary of Slang & Euphemism, p 156 of the 2nd edition.

Meaning it even means pretty much what the F in WASF means. This follows the rule that in just about any acronym found on the internet, particularly on a political site, most especially if the topic at hand is the Usurper in Chief or any of his minions, their actions past present and future, or their intentions at any time whatever, stands for Fuck or some variant.

Nor did we even invent this custom, alas, as anyone familiar with the military acronyms such as COMMFU, FUBAR, FUBB, FUMTU, IMFU, JAAFU, CACFU, JANFU, SAMFU, SAPFU, SNEFU, TAFUBAR, or the best known SNAFU is aware. (There are several others omitted on acount of I do not have my glasses to hand and the type in this book is small. Also because they are dirty.)

Tsk, Lambert. I did not expect prissiness from the janitorial closet. Are you well? Is the liquor supply running low? After all, you are normally the first to assure newcomers that they can say "Clusterfuck!" here. :)

... it's just that RTFM really is used out in the real world, in the cubes, with managers around, 'n' stuff. Cf. FUBAR.

No authoritarians were tortured in the writing of this post.