Hate News

Recent News Accounts About Hatred

 (with thanks to the SPLC)

 

Cross-Burner Headed Back To Prison

Redding Record Searchlight

June 7, 2008

Christopher Dale Easley, 26, who served 41 months in federal prison for burning a cross in a black family’s lawn in 2004, was sentenced to another year after he tested positive for methamphetamine and admitted recently distributing white supremacist literature.

 

http://www.splcenter.org/blog/?source=redirect&url=hatewatch.org

Can the man sink any lower?

After all, we’re talking about a fellow who pickets the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq, shouting that they are being punished by God for somehow helping America in its “fag-enabling” ways. A man whose own children have accused him of beating them viciously with a mattock handle. A “pastor” who has celebrated the deaths of coal miners trapped beneath the earth, children killed in school bus accidents, even the thousands murdered on Sept. 11, 2001. The language he employs in his sermons attacking homosexuality — versions of which have been hissed at passing children by his followers — is so disgusting that it is unprintable in the major media.

But now Fred W. Phelps, who runs the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) of Topeka, Kansas, and the infamous GodHatesFags website, has taken another step down into the slime. His latest, posted last week on Friday the 13th, is “Thank God for Dead Boy Scouts.” The WBC Video News production opens to the strains of a hymn. ( continue to full post… )

 

Even while they spread vicious rumors and lies about Obama, some White Supremacists are hoping that Obama will win the election, as they hope to use this as a trigger to a race war.

With the nomination of Barack Obama as the Democratic presidential candidate clinched, large sections of the white supremacist movement are adopting a surprising attitude: Electing America’s first black president would be a very good thing.

It’s not that the assortment of neo-Nazis, Klansmen, anti-Semites and others who make up this country’s radical right have suddenly discovered that a man should be judged based on the content of his character, not his skin. On the contrary. A growing number of white supremacists, and even some of those who pass for intellectual leaders of their movement, think that a black man in the Oval Office would shock white America, possibly drive millions to their cause, and perhaps even set off a race war that, they hope, would ultimately end in Aryan victory.

 

Media Matters Report Further Debunks Dobbsian Myths

Posted by David Holthouse on May 30, 2008

Undocumented immigrants:

·                                 Commit a disproportionate number of crimes throughout the country.

·                                 Rely heavily on taxpayer-funded services while paying no taxes themselves.

·                                 Bring to America rare and nasty diseases, such as leprosy.

Sound familiar?

That could be because you’ve heard it all before on cable news, where derogatory myths about immigrants are regularly presented as fact.

Last summer the Intelligence Report revealed that several major cable news hosts, most notably CNN’s Lou Dobbs, were broadcasting discredited information as part of their ratings-grabbing anti-immigration polemics, in some cases relaying falsehoods that originated with white supremacists.

Now, a new report from the Media Matters Action Network further debunks the most pernicious of these rumors with statistics from respected sources, and offers a blistering criticism of three cable programs whose hosts — Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck and Lou Dobbs — never seem to tire of blaming illegal immigrants for various societal ills or demonstrating a reckless disregard for the truth.

“When it comes to this issue [of anti-immigrant rhetoric], cable news overflows not just with vitriol, but also with a series of myths that feed viewers’ resentment and fears, seemingly geared toward creating anti-immigrant hysteria,” states the introduction to Fear & Loathing in Prime Time. ( continue to full post… )

[CO] White Supremacist Threatens To Kill Judge
Pueblo Chieftain / May 17, 2008
Aryan Brotherhood member Jay Gregory threatened at a sentencing hearing to have a federal judge murdered and referenced the 1984 assassination of a Jewish radio show host by the white nationalist group The Order.

[OK] Man Arrested For Trying To Sell Cyanide To Aryan Brotherhood
The Oklahoman / May 15, 2008
Texas resident Jeffrey Don Detrixhe allegedly agreed to sell 100 pounds of cyanide for $10,000, a thermal imager and a fully automatic AK-47 to a federal informant that Detrixhe believed was
representing the Aryan Brotherhood.

[PN] ACLU: York Public Assembly Law Still Unconstitutional
The York Daily Record / May 17, 2008
Proposed changes to a York, Penn. law governing protest rallies, several provisions of which were struck down in court after a white supremacist group sued the city, are not enough to make it constitutional, according to the ACLU.

[CA] Sacramento Men Arrested For Gay Bashing
Orange County Register / May 16, 2008
Micah Jontomo Tasaki, 21, Gregory Lee Winfield, 20, and Robert Lee Denor, 19, allegedly uttered anti-gay slurs then beat and kicked a gay man just hours after the California Supreme Court issued a ruling overturning a state ban on same-sex marriages.

Far Right Wins in Florida, Loses in Indiana

Posted by David Holthouse on May 21, 2008

Every election season brings a new crop of political hopefuls from the radical right. So far this year, their win-loss record is a respectable 1-1.

Black voters in Lake Wales, Fla., are claiming they were “snookered” into voting for John Paul Rogers, the former Florida grand dragon, or state leader, of the United Klans of America (UKA), who was sworn in as Lake Wales city commissioner May 6. “We were caught asleep at the switch on this thing,” black civic leader Clinton Horne told The Ledger, a regional daily paper.

Though he refused to answer any questions from The Ledger concerning his past Klan activities, Rogers pledged to treat blacks fairly. “I don’t let my personal views interfere with the basics,” he said.

Rogers, 66, told Florida law enforcement investigators in 2005 that he joined the Klan in 1963 or 1964, rising to become the Florida state leader of the UKA, a post he occupied until 1988. That year, the Southern Poverty Law Center bankrupted the group by winning a $7 million judgment for the family of Michael Donald, a 19-year-old black man who was murdered by Klansmen in 1981. The UKA disbanded as a result.

It’s not clear what Rogers’ current racial attitudes are. A few years ago, the former Klan chieftain served as the campaign manager for Booker Young — a black civic activist — in Young’s unsuccessful bid for city commissioner. This year, Young returned the favor by campaigning door-to-door with Rogers in northwest Lake Wales, which is predominantly black.

Less surprising were the results of the May 6 Republican primary in Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District, in which Crown Point, Ind., lawyer Tony Zirkle finished a distant third with 16% of the vote after openly pandering to uniformed neo-Nazis. ( continue to full post… )

============================================================================

Anti-Gay ‘Christian’ Activist Cites Radical Anti-Semite

Posted by Casey Sanchez on May 20, 2008

Peter LaBarbera has spent more than 20 years on the hard edge of the religious right, ranging from a stint as a reporter for The Washington Times to a whole career as what he calls a “conservative critic of the homosexual activist movement.” He has been an official of far-right groups like Concerned Women for America, the Family Research Council, the Illinois Family Institute, and Accuracy in Media. The founder of the gay-bashing Lambda Report, LaBarbera is now president of Naperville, Ill.-based Americans for Truth About Homosexuality.

LaBarbera is no friend of gay people, whose lifestyles he characterizes as “aberrant” and whom he accuses of working diligently to “penetrate” the schools. But up until now, he hasn’t relied on the help of radical anti-Semites.

That ended the other day when LaBarbera — who claims to operate “in a spirit of love and truth” — posted portions of an article by one Ted Pike (right), the Oregon-based reverend who heads the National Prayer Network and who was described by LaBarbera as simply a “pro-family advocate.” (Pike’s article described an April 12 encounter in Champaign, Ill., which ended with one college student charged with an anti-gay hate crime for attacking another.) Pike may or may not be pro-family — but he is most definitely anti-Jew, as reflected in his endless rants about the “Jewish origins of bolshevism, Jewish dominance of Hollywood and the media, [and] Jewish control of Congress.” Last year, Pike said that the Jewish holy book, the Talmud, “is full of moral filth” and attacked mainstream Christian evangelical leaders for “carefully concealing the Jewish identity of those who corrupt Christian culture.” ( continue to full post… )

============================================

Nativism in the News

Posted in NN headline by Hatewatch Staff on May 20, 2008

[IL] Simcox To Speak At DePaul University
The Chicago Sun-Times / May 18, 2008
DePaul University is asking a student group to put up $2,500 to cover the cost of private security officers at a lecture by Minuteman vigilante leader Chris Simcox.

[AZ] Arizona Governor Terminates Controversial Sheriff’s Immigration Contract
The Arizona Daily Star / May 14, 2008
Gov. Janet Napolitano ordered the state to cancels its $1.6 million a year immigration enforcement contact with Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who’s facing widespread accusations of racial profiling.

[CA] Minuteman Project Mobile Consulate Protests Criticized
The Press-Enterprise / May 11, 2008
Recent Minuteman Project demonstrations targeting the Mexican consulate’s mobile services program seem designed more to intimidate immigrants than to reform immigration policy.

[USA] Anti-Immigrant Hate Speech Thrives On Right-Wing Radio Shows
The (Waltham, Mass.) Daily News Tribune / May 19, 2008
Racial slurs and harsh rhetoric demonizing all Latinos have found a home on conservative radio broadcasts.

 

Technorati Tags:white supremacist, racism, news, hatred, fred phelps, cristy li, pamela geller, robert spencer, barack obama, immigration, minutemen, kkk, lou dobbs, hate speech
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Hagee Continues to Push Hatred

We have previous reported on Pastor Hagee's hatred and bigotry against Jews, Catholics, blacks, hispanics, homosexuals and immigrants. Hagee has endorsed John McCain for president, and McCain says he's proud of the endorsement. At times McCain (who in 2000 labeled Hagee a "hate monger") condemns some of Hagee's specific statements, yet has refused to disavow the endorsement of this hate-filled racist who pursues Armagedonite theology.

Recently Hagee called Catholics supporters of Adolf Hitler, and labeled the Catholic Church "the whore of Babylon". Due to the uproar caused by those remarks, Hagee is issuing a half-hearted apology (see story below.)

McCain Backer John Hagee Apologizes to Catholics

Elizabeth Holmes reports on the presidential race.

John Hagee, the controversial evangelical pastor who endorsed John McCain, will issue a letter of apology to Catholics today for inflammatory remarks he has made, including accusing the Roman Catholic Church of supporting Adolf Hitler and calling it “The Great Whore.” (See a copy of the letter PDF.)

“Out of a desire to advance greater unity among Catholics and Evangelicals in promoting the common good, I want to express my deep regret for any comments that Catholics have found hurtful,” Hagee wrote, according to an advanced copy of the letter reviewed by Washington Wire. “After engaging in constructive dialogue with Catholic friends and leaders, I now have an improved understanding of the Catholic Church, its relation to the Jewish faith, and the history of anti-Catholicism.”

In the letter, addressed to Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League and one of Hagee’s biggest critics, Hagee pledges “a greater level of compassion and respect for my Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ.”

Hagee met with 22 Catholic leaders in Washington on Friday to apologize for his comments, according to a source familiar with the meeting. Despite the McCain’s condemnation of Hagee’s anti-Catholic remarks, the campaign had no role in that meeting or Tuesday’s apology, according to the source who said it was something Hagee did because he felt it was necessary.
Donohue is expected to release a letter in response today, accepting Hagee’s apology. The Catholic leader slammed both Hagee and McCain in February, releasing a statement titled “McCain Embraces Bigot.”

(read the full story at the link)

(Editorial Comment here): Christ died for all mankind, not just for Evangelicals. Jesus taught us that hatred is wrong, and that we are to love our neighbor. It seems some people slept through that part of Sunday School.

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Drunken Delusional Diatribes of Atlas Shrugs

DRUNKEN, DELUSIONAL DIATRIBES

Pam Geller Tries to Sell Herself – and Fear – Again

For too long, we’ve only peripherally mentioned Pamela Geller, author of Atlas Shrugs and well known as the Harlot of Hatred. It’s time to take some Pepto-Bismol, examine some of her recent rantings, and show the deceit of her site and her life.

Recently, Pam Geller, (formerly known as Pamela Geller Oshry) author of the semi-pornographic site Atlas Shrugs (out of her clothes) posted the following, in an obvious attempt to scare readers (anyone who has seen Pammy’s videos is already scared) into thinking these events are terrorist related. To Pammy, all terrorists are blacks and Muslims. Even the ADL has condemned Pammy’s bigoted writings. When Pammy is not out selling her body, she’s working just as hard to sell fear. I could spend years writing about the highly inaccurate, drunken rants of Pamela (or “Pammy” to the vast number of people who love to laugh at her) but frankly, she’s not worth it. Pammy’s rants are sort of like diarrhea – you want to get rid of it as soon as possible. So here are just a few examples, picked from her “stories” at random, each followed by a comparison to the facts, and finally by the sad conclusion about Pammy. Mistakes, typos, misspellings, poor grammar, are all Pammy’s, all shown as written. Links to the complete articles on her site are provided, I couldn't bring myself to reprint the complete articles here, after all, there are laws against cruel and unusual punishment.

From: http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/02/strange-explosi.html

Pammy Says:

Strange Explosions,Occurances and WMD

Over the past 36 hours, across America...................

Las Vegas:

Police Investigate Ricin Scare

A hazmat situation has been unfolding throughout the night. Several federal and local agencies are involved in the investigation into what might be a possible chemical incident.

The incident happened at the Extended Stay America Hotel, not far from the Las Vegas Strip.

What is Ricin?

A lengthy process of decontamination and cleansing is going on at the Extended Stay America. This afternoon, what police believe to be the chemical Ricin was found in a room, that set off a hazardous materials emergency that quickly got the attention of federal authorities.

Around 3 p.m., Metro says someone brought the suspicious substance from a room to the front desk. Managers then called police, leading to this chemical scare.

Authorities quickly determined this might be some kind of biological agent and now officials are all but certain this is Ricin.

Three hotel employees and one citizen were rushed to the hospital, and for good reason — experts say Ricin as small as a pinhead can be deadly.

The Facts Say:

Note: In the real world, police claim to have found guns, "anarchist-type" fiction (with the ricin section highlighted) and castor beans in the suspect's (Bergendorff’s) room. Bergendorff has been under medical supervision since mid February, and only recently awakened from a semi-coma. There is no indication of any link to terrorist groups or any involvement of crime syndicates active in the locality. The seized literature and the social behavior of Bergendorff suggest that this is likely a case of ‘millenarianism’ or an individual with an ‘apocalyptic’ worldview (remember Heaven’s Gate or Aum Shinrikyo cult). In other words, the police have determined that whatever the intent of the person behind this, he appears to be influenced by the likes of Christian Identity or Armagedonists, and he was acting on his own. The FBI has now arrested the person responsible for this event, knowing that he is a nutcase who acted alone, influenced by Armagedonists’ claims. Wrong terrorist group, Pammy. But hey, why let facts get in the way of a good rant?

============================================================

Pammy Claims Florida Blackout is a Terrorist Attack: http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/02/strange-explosi.html

Florida:

Questions Linger in Florida Blackout

Florida blackout sparks chaos

Florida blackout affects 3 million people

Reason for Florida blackout still a mystery

MIAMI (AP) -- Power executives are still in the dark about how a glitch at a substation triggered a blackout that cut power to millions across south Florida.

The outage caused gridlock when traffic signals went dead, forced hospitals to scramble for generators and cut off air conditioners in the afternoon heat.

The sporadic outages yesterday spanned 300 miles of the peninsula but appeared to be concentrated in the southeast portion of the state. Communities along the southwest coast, in the Florida Keys and as far north as Daytona Beach reported interruptions.

The president of Florida Power and Light says an equipment malfunction at the substation should not have caused the outages.

The outages initially affected about a fifth of Florida's population.

The Facts Say:

In reality, it was an employee screw-up, what’s known as “human error”. It was not a terrorist attack.

FP&L: Human error caused blackout
Bizjournals.com, NC - 2 hours ago
Florida Power & Light Co. said its preliminary investigation indicates human error was the cause of a blackout Feb. 26 that knocked out power across the ...

Power Company: Human Error Behind Massive Florida Blackout FOXNews

UPDATE 1-FPL cites human error as cause of Florida blackout Reuters

Florida Power & Light blames human error for recent power outage CNNMoney.com

======================================

Pammy Says: http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/02/strange-explosi.html

Illinois

Explosions in Waukegan, Illinois

WAUKEGAN - An explosion ripped through a shopping plaza Thursday in this Chicago suburb

It sent eight people to a hospital, but none with life-threatening injuries, fire officials saidThe (sic) explosion struck around lunchtime in the business district, located about 40 miles north of Chicago. The impact shattered windows and collapsed the roof of the plaza, which housed businesses including a cell phone shop, a tuxedo store and a hair salon.

Posted by Pamela Geller on Friday, February 29, 2008 at 03:27 PM | Permalink |

The Facts Say:

Illinois authorities have stated that the explosion was from a faulty natural gas line, this was due to age and deterioration and no people were involved in its cause at all.

===========================================

Also, in a show of her incredible bravery, Pammy courageously investigates why it’s raining in NYC! Pammy even challenges the police to stop the cover-up as to why it’s raining! Will her heroics never end?

===========================================

Very recently, Pammy managed to sit up for a change, and spewed the following:

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/05/beirut-has-fall.html

Friday, May 09, 2008

BEIRUT HAS FALLEN TO ISLAMIC JIHAD

WTF happened to resolution 1701? Only Israel has to adhere to UN anti-Jewish resolutions. As far as Islamic jihad, they can't be expected to, they're savages, right?

Islamic jihad takes another pawn off the global chessboard in its battle against the West.

Lebanon, another victory in Islam's bloody crusade to dominate the world. Beirut falls to Islamic jihad, and invariably that leaves teeny tiny itsy bitzy Israel the the last one standing, the lone country in an Islamic Middle east, land of robotic, programmed savages.

In every continent, in every country, Islam wages jihad approaching each country differently but the objective is the same.

So Pammy bravely reports that Lebanon has fallen. Of course, we’re supposed to overlook the glaringly obvious mistakes, such as writing Lebanon has not fallen! Such as her claim: “Islamic jihad takes another pawn off the global chessboard in its battle against the West” (mistakenly stating that Islamic jihad is an entity, instead of a disputed phrase for struggles of one’s spirituality and struggles when an enemy invades your country); also her claim: “Islamic jihad takes another pawn off the global chessboard in its battle against the West” (ahem, Lebanon – to whom she is referring here – is neither a pawn nor in the West! Get a map, Pammy.) Also, “Islam wages jihad”, Islam is a religion, and a religion cannot wage a struggle, fight, battle or war; religions are a set of principles of faith, religions are not a people or an army. Just from the minor part of Pammy’s article above, we also note that the Middle East is NOT inhabited by robots. Pammy “forgets” to mention that Lebanon has not fallen, was never even close to falling, and that this was an isolated flare-up by malcontents, part of the on-again, off-again civil war that has been part of life in Lebanon since 1975. This latest localized uprising by Islamist renegades was put down by the Lebanese army within two days. It is likely that sectarian fighting will continue for decades, that just the way life in Lebanon. Yet Pammy is all in a dither, thinking that the country has been lost to the Bogeyman, (likely the only “man” she hasn’t slept with…yet.)

Pammy’s claims are not even close to what anyone in their right mind (and that pretty much excludes Pammy’s blathering) would believe.

Whether the recent unrest in Lebanon was another coup attempt, or sectarian clashes, no one, not even the highest clerics in neighboring countries, sees it as any sort of sustained uprising. It was put down very quickly by the Lebanese military, which is now carrying out the government’s directive to disarm the militants of all factions.

Pammy would have us believe that this is simply a matter of Islamists fighting the Lebanese government. In the real world, this is a very complicated continuation of fighting between Christian militias, Shi’a militias, Sunni Militias, the Druze militia, Greek Orthodox Christian groups, Communist and Marxist groups, Syrian Social Nationalists, a Maronite militia, and other miscellaneous factions. Various truces and cease-fires were supposed to bring some stability to the country, along with dissolving the militias, but none of them worked for any period of time. These are disputes, sometimes armed disputes, between sectarian gangs and sometimes the government has to step in, using the military, to put them down. When the USA has problems with armed gangs in LA, Dallas, Chicago, NY and DC, do we claim that the USA has been lost or taken over? No, we stay based in reality (look it up, Pammy, I’m sure you don’t know the meaning) and state that there are gang problems. Why is Pammy exaggerating? Because fear sells! The more people that she can convince to be afraid of all Muslims and blacks, the more people she hopes will contribute to her site with the “Pay Here” button (just like the one next to her bed.) As if paying her is going to accomplish anything (as so very many men will testify).

CONCLUSIONS:

Pammy whines and complains that not enough people read her site anymore, yet she readily acknowledges she brought it on herself – her hate-filled, half-naked postings via video have (for the most part) been banned from YouTube, her bilious writings have been blocked by many of the major content filters and ISPs, and it has cost her. Most of her remaining fans visit her website only out of prurient interest, to see the videos that she posts there after they are deemed too salacious to be on any of the regular video sites. Since she refuses to work after her latest divorce, and spends most of the day with the bottle and the keyboard, she’s relying on advertising from her web site to support her and her daughters (underage daughters, whom she uses in her hateful, often close to obscene videos – hello, Children’s Services?). Her advertising revenue is down so badly that she’s complaining she may actually have to get a real job! Good luck with that, since Mayor Giuliani cleaned up Times Square. Pammy’s attempts to sell her body have so far only brought in enough to pay her paperboy. Nobody wants to pay for something with so much mileage on it.

It’s always easy to tell when Pammy is drinking; her common sense and logic are the first things to fly out the window, followed by her clothes. But, to her credit, she’s doing better, now she’s only drunk on days that end in “y”, and then only when it’s daylight or dark. No wonder her three husbands left her to slum around with the likes of Robert Spencer and Europe’s leading neo-Nazis at a recent meeting in Belgium. Of course, even Spencer had to be drunk to hang with Pammy. The word on the street is that alcohol may help with the disease ridden, hate ridden, addle-minded, highly contagious Pammy, but I think massive doses of Penicillin and Fluconazole would do far better.

For all of you male readers, I know you’ve been waiting for the typical Pammy photo here. While I am abhorrent to propagate Pammy’s campaign of selling herself, I will post one photo of her sans clothing, here.

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From CAIR: Update on the Stop Savage Bigotry Campaign

From CAIR:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FIVE MORE ADVERTISERS DROP 'SAVAGE NATION' RADIO SPOTSCommercials dropped after release of Brave New Films video

(WASHINGTON, D.C., 2/8/08) - The Hate Hurts America Community and Interfaith Coalition (HHA) today announced that five more radio advertisers have joined a growing list of companies that have stopped advertising or refuse to place their ads on Michael Savage's "Savage Nation" radio program.

HHA said the advertisers - ITT Technical Institute, Chattem, Inc. (owners of Gold Bond, Icy Hot, and Selsun Blue), Union Bank of California, Intuit (parent company of TurboTax and QuickBooks), and GEICO Insurance - dropped their commercials after being contacted by visitors to the newly-created "No Savage" website.

That site, a project of Brave New Films, also contains examples of bigoted on-air comments by Savage targeting Muslims, immigrants and women, as well as contact information for remaining advertisers.

SEE: No Savage

An ITT Tech official stated: "It was brought to our attention this week that ITT Tech spots had been heard in the Michael Savage Show. As a result, we have contacted all stations participating in the ITT Tech program and strongly reiterated that they are NOT to run ITT Tech spots in the Michael Savage Show."

A letter from GEICO's media buyer said: "We have contacted all our affiliate(s) to ensure that GEICO advertisements, including any inadvertent errors, will not appear on the Savage Nation."
HHA, a group of religious and civic organizations seeking to challenge hate speech on talk radio, was formed as a result of Savage's rhetorical attacks on religious and ethnic minorities. Coalition members are calling on advertisers nationwide to stop airing commercials on Savage's nationally-syndicated program.

SEE: Hate Hurts America

Late last year, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called on radio listeners of all faiths to contact Savage's advertisers to express their concerns about the host's anti-Muslim bigotry. CAIR is a member of the Hate Hurts America Community and Interfaith Coalition.

SEE ALSO: National Radio Host Goes on Anti-Muslim Tirade (CAIR)

Savage has a long history of rhetorical attacks on a variety of minority groups. He says he has lost at least $1 million in revenue because of the advertiser campaign.

SEE: Michael Savage (Media Matters)

Advertisers that have already stopped airing or refuse to air commercials on "Savage Nation" include US Cellular, Sprint Nextel, Sears, Universal Orlando Resorts, AutoZone, Citrix, TrustedID, JCPenney, OfficeMax, Wal-Mart, and AT&T.

The Hate Hurts America Community and Interfaith Coalition includes public officials and civil rights advocates, as well as representatives of the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Latino, and Asian communities.

- END -

CONTACT: Hate Hurts America Community and Interfaith Coalition Coordinator, E-Mail: coordinator@hatehurtsamerica.org

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Catholicism and Islam

(Lex runs the popular blog site "What would Charles Martel Do?", and gave permission for use of this article.)

"Catholicism & Islam"--When Freaks Attack Faith Part Whatever

OK, I found my qualifying links to back up my statements that there are honest-to-God

Catholic haters out there, true bigots, at the request of a friend. I ended up linking the entire Google search as a link because there was so much. But look at this one, and look closely. "Catholicism & Islam: Ties That Bind" is so amateurish, as well as being incredibly insulting with its old fashioned bigotry-dusted-off-for-reuse false statements, that I just had to share. I have been writing quite a bit lately about a completely different similarity between Catholicism and Islam. My main point has been that both Faiths are studied by people who begin their research with a negative view of their subject already and then use that research, usually relying on only a few practices within each Faith, to make broad, sweeping indictments of all adherents to each Faith in a hideous display of cultural bigotry. That the bigotry against the cultural heritage common to almost all Roman Catholics as well as Muslims is wrapped up in arguments against Doctrine and usually quite shoddy theology does very little to disguise the fact that the generalizations aimed at every practitioner of either Catholicism, Islam or both, are not truly representative of any Catholic or Muslim. These people would have to combine several Muslims and Catholics, usually from different countries and frequently different centuries, to create their supposedly "average believer" that their research has led them to believe actually exists in the world, though this fact is usually ignored in order to keep painting these believers as "enemies" of their own cultural-religious group.

I will elaborate much more on this bit of web hideousness later, but for now I'm just so happy that I'm just another one of those wacky idolaters....ROFL...sorry, this one really is a total howler, folks.

Some highlights:

"Catholic and Islamic prayers have many similarities. For the Muslim, praying to Allah five times a day is altogether an act of obedience, and the prayers are always repetitive. As one former Muslim puts it, "It's hardly intimate communication with Allah;...it's done more to escape the punishment due to those who neglect prayer." Most prayers prayed by Catholics are also rote and repetitive, saying the rosary being the best example. Repeating 16 "Our Father's" and 153 "Hail Mary's" is far from personal communication. Furthermore, when a Catholic goes to confession the priest assigns rosaries as severe punishment, or penance, for one's sins.

Prayer beads were a part of Islamic devotion to Allah long before an apparition of the Blessed Lady taught St. Dominic to pray the rosary beads in the thirteenth century. Prayer beads, by the way, are a stock item in ancient and modern paganism. On an ironic note, Catholic Church historians credit the prayers of members of the Confraternity of the Rosary for a major naval victory over the Turks, which "saved Europe from the Mohammedan peril."

Catholics and Muslims regard pilgrimages as a means of obtaining favor from God. The hadj, one of the five pillars of Islam, is a required (one-time) journey to Mecca. For Catholics, pilgrimages historically have been acts of religious purification, often induced by the promise of indulgences. Multi-millions of Catholics travel yearly to hundreds of shrines (nearly all dedicated to Mary) located throughout the world. The Crusades were indulgence-stimulated attempts to regain Jerusalem from the infidel Muslims in order to re-establish Catholic pilgrimages. Incidentally, the Church of Rome offered the crusaders full pardon from purgatory should they die trying to liberate the Holy Land. Similarly, Islam offers rewards in and assurance of Paradise to those who die in religious battles (jihad), including suicide bombings."

Those were some of the 'highlights' I chose to post last night, knowing I'd have no time to really write much on these quotes. Note, however, what these statements have in common regarding Muslim and Catholic practices: They (gasp!!) have roots in very old traditions which are Eastern rather than of a Northern/Western European cultural tone. I haven't the slightest idea how translating the ancient use of prayer beads into aspects of both Islam and Catholicism as preferred by some believers in each of those Faiths, nor how the use of beads or repetitive, meditative prayer practices are in any way sinful or even bad, by the standards of Islam or the Vatican, or really by any Protestant forms of Christianity other than being distasteful by association and unfamiliarity to such Protestants. It is merely a different and less familiar cultural tradition, and therefore an automatic target for those determined to hate (usually based on learned prejudices) Islam, Roman Catholicism, any of the Eastern Orthodox Churches, Buddhism, etc. The interesting point to me is that most of the evangelical Christian writers who dislike any of these religions choose to try and justify their bigotry either by claiming that these religions represent a threat to their own, that these religious practices go against their interpretation of Scripture (Christian), or both.

These excerpts were just the tip of this particularly hateful diatribe, unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, if you are (like me) secure enough in your own Faith to find such writings to be merely confused bits of hateful invective to be comical. Of course, the most laughable thing to me regarding this entire essay by T.A. McMahon is the fact that it is found on a web site called "Reaching Catholics for Christ", a site that doesn't seem to "reach" Roman Catholics by insulting and infuriating them. Seriously, after reading this or perusing any of their other articles, why would any Catholic want to join them? If I dedicated a site to insulting these writers' parents using shoddy and hateful arguments, should I then expect them to accept an invite for dinner at my place? Yet they think that this tactic will work in getting someone to convert to a different church? The basic argument behind their site is actually worse than the arguments made within the site itself.

Mr. McMahon, we discover, holds a Masters degree in Communications, which gives me hope that I might someday use my credentials from Film School to begin a blog on Quantum Physics. Speaking of film though, we also learn that McMahon has also "he has researched and written numerous documentaries and scripted several feature films", one of which is called, "A Woman Rides the Beast". Oh man, for a guy who makes broad assumptions based on mere labels, he really leaves himself wide open to some hearty jokes here. Oh wait, I forget, here I am making a reference to the possibility of some creative porn, all from a guy whose biggest fans have likely never even seen porn. OK, I need to go laugh for a few hours before I can even finish this post....A Woman Rides the Beast....this guy is just bloody golden!

But please, let me get back to McMahon's stunning accusations and theories. I must include his point here, both for its absurdity as well as because he makes the point I've been making for ages now about Catholicism and Islam both being a matter of one's cultural heritage. He just seems to consider this to be a negative thing, along with some other fun tidbits:

"Starting with the number of adherents, Catholicism and Islam each exceed one billion, nearly all of whom enter their respective faiths as infants. More than 16 million babies are baptized into the Roman Catholic Church each year. It's a family thing. My sisters and I were baptized as Catholics because our parents were Catholics, and they and their siblings were baptized into the Church because their parents were Catholics. That's the primary way the faith is propagated.

Practically speaking, although baptism is not part of Islam, all children born into a Muslim family are Muslims. Their official "confirmation" follows as soon as they are able to confess the shahada ("There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger"). This baby-oriented process for increasing their ranks has been a motivating factor in the Vatican/Saudi-sponsored lobby (emphasis mine) against UN endeavors to introduce contraception and other methods of population control, especially in third-world countries. "

"(T)he Vatican/Saudi-sponsored lobby...."? Oh, this is good. Too good. I can't possibly start there. Let me start again...

"That's the primary way the faith is propagated." You don't say? And this practice contrasts starkly with which other religious tradition? Almost none on the planet, it is the same as most religions practiced by humans? Oddly, that's what I have thought all along. In fact, my opinion here is barely important at all since this has also been studied by virtually every nook and cranny of the World of Social Sciences. Yes, this is how religions are propagated, other than those which practice forms of very aggressive and widespread proselytizing. One sect of Christianity that would fall into that category is "Evangelical Christianity" and the newer and fast growing phenomenon of "mega-churches", usually centering around the long-term work of one church community and the personality and teachings of one preacher. Yet even under the umbrella of "evangelical" Christians, we find both branches of the American Baptist Church. I may be horribly mistaken here, but I have noticed that most Protestants in the U.S. tend to stay with either the denomination they grew up with or the next closest thing. I should be a bit less like Mr. McMahon on this and check the facts, I just know off the top of my head that Protestant mass conversions to local Orthodox Churches is not a chief concern of evangelicals where I live, on the web, or even in reports from the rest of the country. No, instead the chief worries of this particular group of Christians seems to be trying to get everyone to join in and then lashing out in bizarre articles such as this one.

When you get right down to it though, what is the point exactly of this article at all, and how are we to take it in the context of the other articles posted at www.reachingcatholics.org? The title says simply, "Articles about Roman Catholicism...." and includes titles ranging from, "Are We Really Catholic Bashing" to "Do You Know Mary?". The inclusion of this article in this list and on this site is certainly not to prove my point that the religious traditions of one's family and nation (in many cases in this discussion) represent that person's cultural heritage, and that for Roman Catholics, the Orthodox Churches and Muslims as well, statements against these religious traditions are culturally bigoted. However, McMahon seems to go out of his way to prove my point. I'm pretty sure that the only way this piece could possibly "reach" any Catholic in a way that doesn't include feeling hated, discriminated against and possibly like punching people named T.A. McMahon is that if the particular Catholic reading this hates Islam just enough (and also knows nothing about their own Faith to be unable to defend it against these shoddy claims of similarity) they may want to decamp to a more American version of Christianity. When you get right down to it, that's one of the biggest differences between Catholicism and modern forms of evangelical Christianity, that these evangelical variants are very American in their development, theology and outlook. They frequently argue as though they are directly from the arms of Martin Luther (and frequently evangelicals seem to have more reverence for Luther than any Catholic could ever have for Mary) and that the Reformation is still going on, that the Counter-Reformation never occurred or deny that any changes have been made within Catholicism since Luther. Look at McMahon's desperate attempt to find a Catholic similarity to Islam regarding suicide bombers. First, he has to use a religious tenet that is not common to most Muslims in a show of a most ignorant cultural bigotry, in which Muslims are only Muslims because their families are Muslim and Muslims (according to McMahon's view of matters) cannot possibly vary personally or more broadly speaking on the issues, and therefore all support suicide bombers as well as the notion that these bombers will go straight to heaven to their virgins in the sky. This is a pretty broad assumption to make of "Islam" by someone who doesn't even bother to point out that there are different sects within Islam just as in Christianity, and multiple national/cultural points of view within just one sect of Islam, a real similarity between Islam and Catholicism. Note that he also must refer to a religious decree brought by Rome in the Middle Ages to find his parallel, but this is common with argumentative evangelicals. I've actually had one laugh at me when I stated that the Counter-Reformation had occurred, as well as hundreds of years of other reforms, laugh and make a "shooing" motion with his hand as if I were endorsing a conspiracy theory involving aliens in flying saucers.

But McMahon's still on a roll here, throwing out statements that most first graders could refute, or rather grasping at straws.

"Catholicism has its own grievous and well-documented history of slaughtering the Jews."

Yes, it was all us Catholics, every time. Other than when it's in Islamic texts....see? we are just alike! Since this history is so "well-documented", why not throw out some sources? Perhaps also some sources who can back up the absurd insinuation that there were Protestants "in the closet" since the death and resurrection of Christ? Honestly, it's almost as if the ancestors of Protestants may have been....Catholics! Certainly people as grievously well-documented in their rantings as McMahon seem to despise Catholic beliefs so much that they almost start hating them themselves. This is clearly seen when more virulent anti-Catholics bring up the subject of The Virgin Mary. I have frequently seen evangelicals either on TV or in person have to pull back from their bashing of Catholic veneration of Mary just in time to stop themselves from beginning to actually bash the Mother of Jesus along with the Catholics they're busy condemning. This can frequently also be seen in evangelical condemnations of the Catholic Sacrament of the Eucharist, though we are spared in this article any attempts at tying either the Eucharist or The Last Supper to anything in Islam. He used up that sort of creativity with the reassignment of all Christian anti-Semitism to Catholics alone. This guy is about as knowledgeable about what's really going on as "Borat", he just fails to see that he is the joke himself.

Of course, no anti-Catholic argument would be complete, especially one that is also anti-Muslim, would be complete without a real clincher like this one,

"The Church has also a high regard for the Muslims. They worship God, who is one, living and subsistent, merciful and almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, who has also spoken to men. They strive to submit themselves without reserve to the hidden decrees of God, just as Abraham submitted himself to God's plan, to whose faith Muslims eagerly link their own.

Although not acknowledging him as God, they venerate Jesus as a prophet, his virgin Mother they also honor, and even at times devoutly evoke. Further, they await the day of judgment and the reward of God following the resurrection of the dead. For this reason they highly esteem an upright life and worship God, especially by way of prayer, alms-deeds and fasting (Nostra Aetate, Vatican II).

Consider carefully the above quote (taken from what the Roman Catholic Church claims is an infallible council) and you will realize what truly binds Catholicism and Islam together: They both have a Jesus who cannot save their souls. The Qur'an teaches that Jesus did not die on the cross: "And because of [the Jews] saying, We slew the Messiah Jesus son of Mary, Allah's messenger They slew him not nor crucified, but it appeared so unto them; and lo! those who disagree concerning it are in doubt thereof; they have no knowledge thereof save pursuit of a conjecture; they slew him not for certain" (Sura 4:157). Vatican II may give Muslims credit for "venerating" Jesus, but in fact, it's a bogus Jesus. Sadly, Catholicism also has a false Christ. It teaches that His death on the cross was not sufficient for our salvation. Not only must His sacrifice (which, according to the Scriptures, was offered only once to take away our sins completely [Heb 9:28]) be "re-presented" as a daily sacrifice for sins on altars around the world, but Catholics must expiate their own sins through sufferings here on earth and in purgatory."

(emphasis mine)
Oh dear, my mistake, McMahon in fact does bash the Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist. He just gets it so wrong, though predictably so, that I failed to realize it during the first read, instead laughing myself silly over his "false Christ" comment as well as his attempt to throw in another favorite anti-Catholic belief, the belief that the Roman Catholic Church requires salvation through works. The whole "justification" dance. I'm not even going to get into this one except to say that those who believe that Catholics believe that Christ must die again at every Mass to fulfill either our own Salvation or to "complete" the Eucharist should probably at least do some more reading. This is not true, though widely believed and bandied about regularly by anti-Catholic evangelicals. In fact, it is so frequently thrown around that most sources on Catholic Apologetics refute it fully. I highly recommend A Biblical Defense of Catholicism by Dave Armstrong.

Regardless of what typical anti-Catholicism arguments are used here by Mr. McMahon, the end result is as obvious as the original intent. The author does not like Islam, and certainly tries to prove that the God worshiped in Islam is not the same as the God worshiped by Jews and Christians. This is a hotly debated topic, but it is usually drawn upon when one is trying to really demean the religion of Muslims. McMahon also makes the case back there before his "Vatican/Saudi sponsored lobby" fantasy that Muslims are in fact Muslims because they come from Muslim families and countries. He doesn't elaborate on the fact that many of these said Muslims pay little attention to being devoutly religious, and that many born and raised in nominally Muslim homes actually know less about Islam than many post-9/11 non-Muslim Americans. They are born and raised to identify as Muslim, even to practice the religion of Islam. This makes the arguments against them bigoted by definition, and no matter how many times people jump up and down screaming that most Muslims have heard enough about Christianity to have had the opportunity to convert, why would they? I myself left the Christian Faith for 15 years after being exposed so heavily to a very evangelical Protestant rendering of Christianity, and this country has no shortage of people who also left Christianity due to Christian extremists being so distasteful that many refuse to identify with them in any way. When presented with people whose beliefs outside of Scripture are similar to T.A. McMahon's, why would anyone not a Christian find Christianity even remotely appealing, Muslims included? This is not "reaching" anyone, it is like an appeal by the KKK for more black members. Why would either Catholics or Muslims join people like these at "Reaching Catholics for Christ"?

Fine. They reached me much as the bad salesman reached me by phone this morning. I'm still not buying. I am however, more convinced that these arguments are culturally bigoted by their very nature, whether applied to Islam, Hinduism or to the Catholic or Orthodox Churches. They actively hate our religious beliefs just as much as they deny that their own are couched firmly in certain cultural circles in America and would not have developed otherwise, as much as they deny that their beliefs are based on a biased isogetical interpretation of Scripture, not some higher and more pure Scripture that cannot be interpreted, based on the belief that the Scripture is already "God's Truth". I was not brought back to Christianity by Catholics myself even, but when it came time to choose a church, I decided to join my family's on the condition that I didn't find anything in the Roman Catholic Church to be unsatisfactory after attending the courses on the Church required for Confirmation. Indeed, I found nothing objectionable other than that which I find I don't agree with in most Christian Churches, namely official stances on homosexuality. So what though, the other churches I've learned about feel either the same way or more vehement in their condemnations. The point is that my family came out of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, with one Grandmother being a convert from the Southern Baptist Church. Religiously, it is the only cultural choice that makes sense to me. Mass makes sense to me, both intellectually and in terms of what seems right having attended only Catholic and Orthodox services other than that brief time in an evangelical church that left me agnostic. For others, Mass might be a big turn-off, may not fulfill spiritual needs better suited to long sermons. The point is, I didn't pick one denomination to be a snob or thinking that it would be viewed that differently by certain Protestants I knew, but it has been. The bigotry still exists, and is quite possibly gaining steam.

At least now I know that Muslims are really, truly no different though! Had I known this before, I may have considered history and the present in quite a different light. I mean, come on you silly Spaniards! Why La Reconquista when you were simply being occupied by others of the same faith? And more militant Muslims out there, why the continued cries for the reconquest of al Andalus? You may be seeing crosses on the buildings in Spain, but come on, they're Muslims! T.A. McMahon says so, and he "reaches" people. 9/11 "Trooooooothers", now you guys even have a whole new angle! Who hijacked those planes? In light of what I have read, I must conclude that it was the "Vatican/Saudi sponsored lobby". Had to be.

Our Newest Guest Writer

The Jena 6

I'd like to introduce our newest guest writer, Lynn Johnson, who is cooking up some food for thought, mixing the basic ingredients (bullet points of information) with her own special spices to serve up a delicious new meal for the mind. Lynn has worked quietly online to reduce racism and hate speech, and will occasionally help with our blog. Lynn's food for thought is below, with her special spices in italics.

I don't fully appreciate the Jena 6's situation, so I am less qualified to make any comments than the next person - I think. Some of the news articles I read about this forgot to remind me that we're talking about our disgust of the White Supremacists and their actions. Rather it's summarization could point to either group...

* Jena, LA, is a small southern town (pop. 2,976, 86% white, 12% black) with not-so-distant memories of racial problems, slavery, lynchings, etc.

It seems the Deep South will always have deep racial imprints. Just when we think this dark phase of history has passed, racism rears its ugly head to remind us that it is so ingrained in our national psyche that it cannot be eradicated in mere centuries.

* In September 2006, some white kids hung nooses from a tree outside the high school in Jena, after a black student had asked the vice principal if he and some friends could sit under the tree, where white students had typically congregated. Most people in this small southern town take as a symbol of lynching (when black slaves used to be hung for trying to run away and other "offenses"). The police and prosecutor decided to not charge the white boys with any crimes. Although the school administration recommended expelling the white students who hung the nooses, they were overruled by the school board.

Why not? What else would hanging nooses represent? Were the white youths all identified? There is no good reason why they did not receive charges of some kind. (Is there the possibility that we're seeing some political influence, even the influence of the White Supremacists?) Not charging these kids just exacerbates the centuries-old racial tension in this small town. (And now, the USA.) How do we hold the authorities responsible for setting the stage for further retaliation? Who is policing the police?

* In December, 2006, six black youths beat up a white youth. No weapons were involved. The white youth was released quickly from the hospital with very minor injuries and felt well enough to attend a dance that night. That's not to say the six black youths weren't wrong or that they didn't commit a serious crime, however common high school fights may be. The police and prosecutor charged 4 of the black youths (who were 17 years old) with attempted murder, and charged them as adults. The 5th youth is 17 but charged as a juvenile, the 6th youth is 16 so his case is properly in juvenile court, those charges are not publicly available.

So, here we go... ATTEMPTED MURDER?? An over-charge; a sickening abuse of power by the ones who carry the biggest burden of blame - just because they didn't take the proper steps in dealing with the originating offense. What, if any, could all this be pled down to, without deeply impacting these black kids lives forever? Is there even a chance that the charges can be backed down, or even dismissed? Doubtful, since this has now escalated to bodily harm, minimal as it was. Just as the original lack of charges was more of an injustice than the (uncharged) crime, the charges against the black youths are more of an injustice than the crimes they allegedly committed.

* The black community, and even many white people, are outraged at the level of injustice in this situation. The white youths who hung nooses had no charges at all, the blacks were seriously over-charged. While it is not unusual for a prosecutor to over-charge, leaving more room for a plea deal, this particular level of over-charging is far above the norm.

Again, an abuse of power. What was the prosecution's motive for taking this path? They KNEW it would instigate more trouble. Are there WS' in the prosecution's ranks?

* Now a known Klan member has posted the names and addresses of the 6 black youths on a website and not so subtly called for other Klan members to "take action" against them. This is being investigated by the FBI, since it could be taken as encouraging the assault or murder of the 6 boys, or arson of their homes, or some violent action.

Of course a Klansman is readily available to further exploit the circumstances with hatred! The call to his fellow Klansmen to take action holds the town captive to fear, growing resentment and probable violent eruptions throughout the area. Can the FBI do anything about that?

* Should the white boys who hung nooses should have been arrested (assuming there is a crime they could be charged with)?

Absolutely. Find something to charge them with to show them this behavior will not be tolerated.

* Do you think the black boys were over-charged?

Considerably so. Where are the scales of justice?

* What do you think of the prosecutor charging the blacks and not the whites? Another, similar recent incident was when a white student brandished a gun at a convenience store after a verbal exchange. Black students allegedly wrestled away the gun and were then held in custody and charged with theft while no charges were made against the white student.

Ignoramus. Biased. Time to get some new blood in that office. Do a background check this time!

* What do you think about the Klan getting involved, encouraging people to use violence against the black youths?

Typical. They are bloodsucking leeches of opportunity. It seems too simple, a set-up against the black kids. The Klan reveals itself as a deep darkness of men's souls. Void of the God they profess, void of compassion, void of even the capability to love.

The Idiots Strike Again

The Idiots Strike Again

Anytime, anywhere, any way they can blame a Muslim, no matter how outlandish, they will grab the opportunity. And of course, all the while denying that they are bigoted.

From John LaTemple, aka Foehammer:


Madeleine McCann possibly held by Muslim Moroccan slave traders
Published 4 hours, 25 minutes ago in News, Islamophobia? and Slavery. Tags: blond haired, child exploitation, european descent, head coverings, interpol, Islamophobia?, madeleine, mccann, moroccan woman, morocco, muslim nations, News, photographic evidence, Slavery, white girls, white slavery.

As incredible as it might sound, very recent photographic evidence is stirring interest in the case of missing Madeleine McCann not in Portugal, but in Morocco. The photo being examined also clearly shows something else of great interest to me: the women that are carrying the white, blond-haired girl are most certainly Muslim. Simply take into account the nation of Morocco (98% M