but they need 144,000 of us . . .

but it does deserve more coverage. i've felt a perceptable increase in intolerance online, forcing people to adhere to one ideology or the next, or suffer attack. maybe that's just mirror of what's going on in our communities.

to do the appropriate thing would be to interview members of the community and the family pressured to leave their home, and to put together a complete picture of what's taking place there.

more here, here, here , here.

in addition, while it was done after the family moved from what I understand, and while it maybe legal, the use of the web to post personal information, in an effort to intimidate, is deserving of contempt (here
). the web shouldn't be a tool to enforce and encourage mob rule.

as for my religion, and thoughts on how it effects my politics and my views, I couldn't say it better then J.F.K.:

I believe in an America that is officially neither Catholic, Protestant nor Jewish; where no public official either requests or accept instructions on public policy from the Pope, the National Council of Churches or any other ecclesiastical source; where no religious body seeks to impose its will directly or indirectly upon the general populace or the public acts of its officials, and where religious liberty is so indivisible that an act against one church is treated as an act against all.

For while this year it may be a Catholic against whom the finger of suspicion is pointed, in other years it has been -- and may someday be again -- a Jew, or a Quaker, or a Unitarian, or a Baptist. It was Virginia's harassment of Baptist preachers, for example, that led to Jefferson's statute of religious freedom. Today, I may be the victim, but tomorrow it may be you -- until the whole fabric of our harmonious society is ripped apart at a time of great national peril.

Finally, I believe in an America where religious intolerance will someday end, where all men and all churches are treated as equals, where every man has the same right to attend or not to attend the church of his choice, where there is no Catholic vote, no anti-Catholic vote, no bloc voting of any kind, and where Catholics, Protestants, and Jews, at both the lay and the pastoral levels, will refrain from those attitudes of disdain and division which have so often marred their works in the past, and promote instead the American ideal of brotherhood.

That is the kind of America in which I believe.

we've gone so far, and so little, in these past forty years.

I'd been contacted by someone working with produsers of an Air America Show called State of Belief a couple of weeks ago. At the time I referred them to folks like Pam Spaulding (Pam's House Blend), Rev. Tim Simpson/CAP, Arthur Waskow(Shalom Center), Terence Heath (Republic of T) and Peterson Toscano (A Musing) for personal stories and ideas for guests. Last night, I forwarded links to the story to Air America and recieved the following email in reply:

Hey Cranky!
We are not only covering this Sunday, we are featuring a bit on religious progressive bloggers. See below for details. PLs let me know how we can share this with Pam also.
Hope you catch- and enjoy, the show!
Tks so much.
Betty

This Sunday's State of Belief Radio Welton on Obama’s Speech and Religious Conventions; Michelle Goldberg on Christian Nationalism

On this Sunday’s "State of Belief," The Interfaith Alliance
Foundation’s show on Air America Radio, Rev. Welton Gaddy speaks with
author Michelle Goldberg about the rise of Christian authoritatism in America; examines Barack Obama’s speech on how faith affects his life; examines the effect of recent religious conventions on the landscape of America; and explores how faith bloggers plan to make their mark.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) spoke last week on the value of his faith to his public and political life which set off a firestorm discussion regarding the role of religion in the Democratic Party. The speech drew many reactions as Welton says, “it was the most impressive statement on faith and politics in recent memory and a refreshing departure from the self-righteous certainty of so many politicians’ religious speech.”

This summer, several religious denominations held annual meetings including the Unitarian Universalists, the Episcopal Church USA, the Presbyterian Church USA and the Southern Baptists. Important decisions came out of each one as Jennifer Kottler, Deputy Director of Protestants for the Common Good joins Welton to talk about their impact. Welton asks her about the Episcopal Church naming their first female presiding bishop. Kottler says, “I would like to think the church is stepping out in some ways but I think we’re seeing the
church start to reflect the broader society especially in the role of women.

Michele Goldberg, author of Kingdon Coming: The Rise of Chrisian
Nationalism, talks with Welton about Dominionism and how the Religious
Right is building its own fairy tale world. Goldberg says, “it’s a whole library of lies. You’re talking about stacks and stacks of endless books and revisionist histories and revisionist science books…all of it describing this completely imaginary world.”

Blogger Velveteen Rabbi, also known as Rachel Barenblat, explains the
importance of not just the blogosphere, but of religiously progressive blogs and how they can impact lives, religions and even elections. Rachel is heading up a Progressive Blog Conference with more than 30 bloggers next week to discuss the best way to spread their message.

State of Belief explores the intersection of religion with politics, culture, media, and activism. Through interviews with newsmakers and celebrities, reports from the field, and his own commentary, Welton shows how religion and radical freedom are best friends and how the religious right is wrong – wrong for America and bad for religion.

State of Belief
Religion and radio, done differently
Brought to you by The Interfaith Alliance Foundation
5:00 to 6:00 PM EST each Sunday
Air America Radio Network

Maybe the folks at Faux News will blow a gasket that the liberals are talking religion again and inadvertently draw even more attention to the issue.