And of course, this diocese was one of those that has harbored child rapists in the past.

But she’s very reluctant.

Eh, at least she’s pretty.

Sorry, but this is hilarious.

Saturday night in downtown Salt Lake City and many people are talking about porn in Utah. David Clark Jr. of Provo said, ‘I believe that since this is the true church Satan works harder on members.’

Elder Richard G. Scott at General Conference Saturday spoke similar words about pornography. Scott said,’ This potent tool of Lucifer degrades the mind and heart and soul of any who use it.’

Some say people in Utah are vieweing porn more than any other state in the country after a study earlier this year by a Harvard economics professor. Professor Benjamin Edelman tracked subscriptions to online porn sites. He discovered that Utah is number one in the nation in online porn.

Of course, the big religious influence in Utah is the Mormon church. That state probably has the tightest combination of church-state relations as we have in the U.S., and Utah regularly votes the most Republican (62% for McCain in 2008). But the anonymity of the Internet has unmasked the fact that the loudest most pious voices out there are as debauched as the rest of us.

The bill requires public schools to guarantee students the right to express their religious viewpoints in a public forum, in class, in homework and in other ways without being penalized. If a student’s religious beliefs were in conflict with scientific theory, and the student chose to express those beliefs rather than explain the theory in response to an exam question, the student’s incorrect response would be deemed satisfactory, according to this bill.

Mayoral Candidate Anna Falling Wants Creationism Exhibit

A push to exhibit the Christian story of creation at the Tulsa Zoo failed four years ago. Republican candidate for Tulsa mayor, Anna Falling, is bringing the issue front and center.

It’s the same exhibit and the same arguments, but now it is given from the bully pulpit of a candidate running for mayor.

“Some may ask why this issue during a Mayoral campaign? And I say why not?” said candidate Anna Falling.

Oklahoma GOP Platform (via)

7. We believe that the scientific evidence supporting Biblical creation should be included in Oklahoma public schools curricula, and if any evolution theory is taught, that both should receive equal funding, class time, and material. Teachers should have the freedom to cover creation science without fear of intimidation, reprimand, or lack of professional respect.

[...]

Curriculum
1. Curricula should include [...] the option of using the Bible as HISTORY [emphasis added] or literature text.

Study Questions Okla. School Performance

A new study claimed that one in four Oklahoma high school students couldn’t identify the first person to be President of the United States.

The study, which found that students also struggled to answer other basic questions, has some people questioning the effectiveness of Oklahoma schools.

Researchers from the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs questioned 1,000 high school students and said that only 3 percent of them would be able to pass the United States Citizenship Test.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Government (CREW) has just released a report tallying visits to the Bush White House by major Religious Right players. CREW filed a request for visitor records that coughed up the information.

According to a Sept. 4 CREW press release, the count looks something like this:

* For the period April 2001 through June 2006, Focus on the Family Founder and Chairman Emeritus James Dobson visited the White House 24 times; 10 of those visits were to President Bush.

* Andrea Sheldon Lafferty, executive director of the Traditional Values Coalition, made an astonishing 50 visits to the White House starting on Feb. 1, 2001, and continuing through March 16, 2008. Six of those visits were to President Bush.

* Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America, made 43 visits to the White House between May 2001 and August 2006. Four of those visits were to President Bush.

* Gary Bauer, president of American Values, made 10 visits to the White House, starting with a Jan. 6, 2003, visit to Vice President Cheney and ending with a July 20, 2006, visit to President Bush.

* The late Jerry Falwell, of Jerry Falwell Ministries, made eight visits to the White House between May 2001 and September 2004. Three of those visits were to President Bush.

* Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council, visited the White House 14 times between February 2001 and June 2006, including two visits to President Bush.

* The Rev. Louis Sheldon, chairman of the Traditional Values Coalition, made 19 visits to the White House between March 2001 and September 2006, including two visits to President Bush.

* The late Paul Weyrich, founder of Free Congress Foundation, made 17 visits to the White House between May 2001 and July 2005, including six visits to President Bush and one to Karl Rove.

* The Rev. Donald Wildmon, founder of the American Family Association, made three visits to the White House between July 2001 and March 2003, including one visit to President Bush.

On August 16, Anderson delivered a sermon titled “Why I Hate Barack Obama.”

In it, Anderson admitted he prays for the president’s death.

It is a position he reiterated Sunday.

“If you want to know how I’d like to see Obama die, I’d like him to die of natural causes,” said Anderson. “I don’t want him to be a martyr, we don’t need another holiday. I’d like to see him die, like Ted Kennedy, of brain cancer.”

The sermon so incensed Bill Demski he traveled from his home in Glendale to picket Anderson’s 10:30 a.m. Sunday morning service in Tempe.

“A man of the cloth wants to kill the president, how sick can you get,” asked Demski.

The president of the United States, in a top-secret phone call to a major European ally, asked for French troops to join American soldiers in attacking Iraq as a mission from God.

Now out of office, Chirac recounts that the American leader appealed to their ‘common faith’ (Christianity) and told him: ‘Gog and Magog are at work in the Middle East…. The biblical prophecies are being fulfilled…. This confrontation is willed by God, who wants to use this conflict to erase his people’s enemies before a New Age begins.’

This bizarre episode occurred while the White House was assembling its ‘coalition of the willing’ to unleash the Iraq invasion. Chirac says he was boggled by Bush’s call and ‘wondered how someone could be so superficial and fanatical in their beliefs.’

One of the continuing themes we’re seeing with the conservative movement’s attempts to recover from the last two elections is a search for leadership. The problem is that structurally conservatism has a strong tendency to gravitate towards the known – a mindset that’s part and parcel of an ideological movement that thinks America’s best days were in 1950.

As such, the new leadership of the GOP looks a lot like the old leadership – Gingrich, Limbaugh, DeLay, etc. Add to that I guess Ralph Reed who wants to start up the old Christian Coalition in some fashion. Of course, Ralph’s problem is that he left the Coalition in disgrace to the point where they lost their non-profit status and he got entangled with now-jailed conservative lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Oh, he also had a disastrous run for Lt. Governor.

Political parties in America tend to have their success when they face down what ailed them and come up with fresh voices and fresh takes on the issues. It could be the Reagan revolution, Clinton triangulation, Dean’s 50 state strategy, or some other fundamental change in how the party operates but the right seems to be locked in to retread action. Even George W. Bush tried for a while to at least dress up old school conservatism in the cloak of “compassion”. Sarah Palin isn’t subtle enough to do that with her clear desire to whip up the tired old culture war of us vs them.

Unlucky for us, conservatism failed America again under the last president, but unlucky for them as a movement they think the blind are the perfect navigators for the blind.

The family of slain abortion provider George Tiller said Tuesday that his Wichita clinic will be “permanently closed,” effective immediately.

In a statement released by Tiller’s attorneys, his family said it is ceasing operation of Women’s Health Care Services Inc. and any involvement by family members in any other similar clinic.

“We are proud of the service and courage shown by our husband and father and know that women’s health care needs have been met because of his dedication and service,” the family said.

I hear the rapture will never come unless you lock in your votes for Dancing With The Stars. Go for it, wingnuts!

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius as health secretary, filling a crucial spot in President Barack Obama’s cabinet amid growing fears of a possible swine flu pandemic.

The Senate voted 65-31 for Sebelius, brushing back Republican opposition to her support for abortion rights. Sebelius was tapped by Obama to lead his push to overhaul the U.S. healthcare system.