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 'Left Behind' video game imageThe Shaming Project

does the violence of "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" bother you ? If so, what can you do ? Well, to begin with you can email Jonathan Hutson's stories to people you know. That will help to bring more public scrutiny of the game. Public shaming really works ! Just click on the "email" icon and link at the top or bottom of the story and you'll be taken to a form that will allow you email the first story, The Purpose Driven Life Takers or the latest installment without leaving this site. Thanks. 'Left Behind' video game image




Blog Against Theocracy -- This Weekend!
By Frederick Clarkson Thu Apr 05, 2007 at 01:50:28 AM EST printable version print story
The Blog Against Theocracy blogswarm is this weekend! And I have been hearing about a lot of people planning to participate.  Blue Gal got the whole thing started down in 'Bama, where they have a fair number of theocrats running around -- like Roy Moore!. She was joined early on by  Neural Gourmet and Mock, Paper Scissors. I am delighted to report that Talk to Action has been named as a "co-conspirator."

For more on the campaign, and what the coconspirators are saying about it, follow me on the flip.

topic: Taking Action
While Blue Gal is understandably sounding the alarm from Alabama, personally, I live in the anti-theocratic stronghold of Massachusetts. Way, way back, we had a theocracy here -- but we got over it. And what with the ratification of the Constitution and all, there has been no going back. It took us awhile, but we got with the program.

We managed to eventually distestablish our official state church, the Congregational Church, in the 1820s -- we were the last of the original 13 states to do it.   So it happens that we know a thing or two about what a nasty business theocracy can be -- having persecuted religious minorities like Quakers, and executed a bunch of people we suspected of witchcraft:  we even used "spectral evidence" to make some of our cases.

Been there. Done that.

We are so over theocracy here that the successor denomination to the Congregationalists -- the United Church of Christ, the largest Protestant denomination in Massachusetts, is deeply commited to separation of church and state. It was also the first Christian denomination to vote to support marriage equality at their national meeting -- and recommend that their member churches do so as well. Here in Massachusetts, we view all this as great progress. And because it's Massachusetts -- the former Puritans now have the religious freedom to marry same sex couples if they want to -- but no one is forcing anyone either. Unitarians and Reform Jews perform a lot of same sex religious marriage ceremonies as well.  

But I digress.

The simple fact is that there is an active theocratic political movement in the U.S. I have been writing about it for 25 years, and I think it is one of the most successful and powerful political movements in American history. True, the religious right has had some set backs of late; and the movement's founding generation of leaders is fading from the scene; but the movement has new leadership coming up and big institutions it didn't have just a few years ago -- and I believe it will continue to play a major role in American politics for the rest of the lives of everyone reading this.

The Blog Against Theocracy blogswarm is an opportunity for us to flex our antitheocratic muscles a bit. At least the ones between our ears and in our fingers. Unlike some people, who think that blogging isn't really "taking action,"  I am of the view that the excercise of those muscles can be pretty damn important.

Last week Mainstream Baptist was the first among us to announce his intention to blog against theocracy -- on Easter Sunday. I followed up with a further discussion of the campaign, then in its early stages.  Now Blog Against Theocracy weekend is upon us.      

Here are a few words from the co-conspirators:

Mock, Paper, Scissors

...a blogswarm is when bloggers descend on a single topic and "catapult the propaganda" (as the Decider once said), with the hope and intention that it might influence the larger society. In other words, if we lowly citizens make a big enough squawk, we might be able to give the media a goose, who in turn might give the dark overlords in Washington DC pause to reconsider the error of their ways.

As Blue Gal says,  there are no rules to this.

So please join us in the fun:

If you have a blog, sometime during Easter weekend, post an entry against theocracy and in favor of the separation of Church and State. You can check this post here at MPS for ideas,  or go to our good friends and allies at
First Freedom First for more background material.  

I designed the logo above, feel free to download it and use it on your blog.

If you do not have a blog, join me here and comment, Comment, COMMENT.  

If you do not have a blog, this might be a great time to start. You have a voice, use it.  
Just to warm up to the idea, here are some issues that the First Amendment currently addresses:  

No religious discrimination

PRO End-of-Life Care (Terri Schiavo Travesties)  

Reproductive health decisions made by individuals (think about your pharmacist, would he (and it is almost always a he) deny you the ability to choose birth control)

Democracy not Theocracy

Academic Integrity (Bible study as a required component of public school curriculum)

Sound Science (Intelligent Design (creationism with labcoats), geology vs. Biblical interpretations, archeology -- Adam rode a dinosaur to work didn'tcha know... )

Respect for ALL families (The Gay Marriage Amendment)  

The right to worship, OR NOT

 
I want to stress that this is not an anti-religion activity -- I personally do not care if you worship a rock, a picture of Elvis or some other dead guy, or nothing at all in a church, mosque, temple or at the local bar -- this is about keeping the Government and all Religions separate, and never shall the twain meet.
 
Neural Gourmet
If you've been out of the loop, the idea is simple. Just write in support of church-state separation each day April 6-8. Blog Against Theocracy promises to be absolutely HUGE!  

You'll want to read Blue Gal's full post but here are some topics that you might want to blog about during the blogswarm taken from First Freedom First's website. Really, the establishment clause touches on so many issues of importance to everyone in our country, not just liberals or atheists

 
Blue Gal  
I really hope this blogswarm does more than just let the world know how we feel about the separation of Church and State. I hope it improves and awakens how we feel about each other. I may be a "believer" whatever the hell that means, but I can't have too many smart, funny, and fascinating, atheists, scientists, agnostics, GLBT bloggers, etc. etc. around here. Who the fuck did JESUS hang out with, anyway? I don't think if he were here today, Jesus would have a beer with some hypocritical preacherman, even if the preacherman was buying. MY God is Love, and Mind, and Truth. And this blogswarm is all about those. Thanks for participating.
 
Here at Talk to Action, I wrote:  
I think no one has ever done anything remotely like this, and that the blogosphere is long overdue to flex its muscles more knowledgeably, articulately and collectively in response to the theocratic politics of our time.



Display:
If you do, be sure to email Blue Gal so she can add your post to the Blog Against Theocracy link archive.

Blog Against Theocracy diaries are welcome and encouraged here at Talk to Action.

by Frederick Clarkson on Thu Apr 05, 2007 at 02:07:35 AM EST


Count me in this weekend!

by Leckey on Thu Apr 05, 2007 at 09:49:52 AM EST

I've just about got my BIG contribution done. I was going to post it Easter, but somehow midnight leading into Good Friday seems so much more appropriate. Besides, I'm worrying about the responses I'm going to get, I've re-edited one spot over and over again, and the sooner it's up the less time I have to worry about hypothetical reactions and the sooner I can respond to real ones.

There's just so much to discuss about even the suggested topics. It's going to be interesting to read all the different voices and viewpoints, and to see what sort of reactions we all get from outside and from each other.

by Cassandra Waites on Thu Apr 05, 2007 at 04:42:35 PM EST



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Left Behind: Eternal Forces: Installments of Jonathan Hutson's Talk To Action expose series on the "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" video game have been viewed by up to 1/2 million people. See our site section featuring Over 35 original articles covering the controversial "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" video game that has provoked a boycott by a coalition of religious groups and a letter writing campaign urging Walmart to stop selling the game. Media inquiries click here
(image: detail from Francoise Dubois' rendition of the Bartholomew's Day Massacre reveals the actual nature of religious warfare)