The American Taliban

Warning: the American Taliban is on the move. Tamara Scott, a Republican National Committeewoman just made the case in Iowa for teaching Christianity in public schools during an address to the Republican Presidential Forum:

From Right Wing Watch.

I guess I’m tired of the right-wing fundamentalists ignoring the facts and creating an alternative reality that agrees with their delusions. Perhaps it’s time to request that these jihadists do something to show that their myths are real. I suggest that all the right-wing ersatz-Christians (CINOs) pray really really hard and have their god show up at the July 4th picnic in Ames, Iowa.Then we can ask him (or her) a few simple questions to better understand how we are doing as god’s chosen people.

Question 1: If Jesus of Nazareth, assuming he really is the son of god (or even actually existed) teaches us to love and care for our neighbors and to help the poor and the infirmed, how does he think the conservative Christians that profess to oodles of faith and piety are actually doing? Is their a chance that any of them will be saved?

Question 2: If the United States of America was founded on the principles of Christianity (which it wasn’t) how do the Christians explain that the country is in such bad shape, especially when the Republican party, which at least gives lip-service to the right-wing fundamentalists, is operationally opposed to almost ever teaching of Jesus (or is someone going to try to suggest that Jesus actually meant to ignore the sick and infirm so as to increase the wealth of the few and powerful?).

Question 3: If Christianity is the one true church, how does that explain Judaism and Islam? How can one god (the one and only god?) serve three religions and yet only give the true franchise to Christianity? I have heard the argument that Christianity superseded the old outdated religion, Judaism, but when it is suggested that Islam superseded the old outdated religion, Christianity, the Christians revert to un-Christian language suggesting things like Islam is a gutter religion (and remember, Baha’i superseded Islam so Christianity is way out of date … so third century.)

Since I mentioned Baha’i, here’s a short piece from Wikipedia which seems to make a lot of sense, especially in light of the friction between the other religions. By the way, the center for the Baha’i religion is in Israel.

The Bahá’í Faith is a monotheistic religion which emphasizes the spiritual unity of all humankind. Three core principles establish a basis for Bahá’í teachings and doctrine: the unity of God, that there is only one God who is the source of all creation; the unity of religion, that all major religions have the same spiritual source and come from the same God; and the unity of humanity, that all humans have been created equal and that diversity of race and culture are seen as worthy of appreciation and acceptance. According to the Bahá’í Faith’s teachings, the human purpose is to learn to know and to love God through such methods as prayer, reflection and being of service to humanity.

The Bahá’í Faith was founded by Bahá’u’lláh in 19th-century Persia. Bahá’u’lláh was exiled for his teachings from Persia to the Ottoman Empire and died while officially still a prisoner. After Bahá’u’lláh’s death, under the leadership of his son, `Abdu’l-Bahá, the religion spread from its Persian and Ottoman roots, and gained a footing in Europe and America, and was consolidated in Iran, where it suffers intense persecution. After the death of `Abdu’l-Bahá, the leadership of the Bahá’í community entered a new phase, evolving from a single individual to an administrative order with both elected bodies and appointed individuals. There are probably more than 5 million Bahá’ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories.

In the Bahá’í Faith, religious history is seen to have unfolded through a series of divine messengers, each of whom established a religion that was suited to the needs of the time and to the capacity of the people. These messengers have included Abrahamic figures—Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, as well as Dharmic ones—Krishna, Buddha, and others. For Bahá’ís, the most recent messengers are the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. In Bahá’í belief, each consecutive messenger prophesied of messengers to follow, and Bahá’u’lláh’s life and teachings fulfilled the end-time promises of previous scriptures. Humanity is understood to be in a process of collective evolution, and the need of the present time is for the gradual establishment of peace, justice and unity on a global scale.