http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/6357/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=15351

http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/6357/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=15351 The U.S. planning nuclear bomb test.  WHY?!

Conservative Christians conspiracy theories

I just had to post this funny/bizarre piece via Salon.

For the Christian right, having a “faith-based” worldview extends far beyond claims about demons and angels. Unsurprisingly, the world of fundamentalist Christians is absolutely crawling with conspiracy theories, urban legends, and just plain bizarre beliefs about how the world works. Here’s a list of 10 of the weirder ones are currently in circulation.

1) Same-sex marriage is an elaborate scheme concocted by lesbians to entrap men. David Usher of the Center for Marriage Policy managed to cough up a theory that is an outstanding blend of homophobia, misogynist myths about the mendacity of women, and paranoia about the supposed gravy train that is child support. He argues that women will marry each other and conscript men into supporting them by “pretending they are using birth control when they are not.” The men will then “become economically conscripted third parties to these marriages, but get nothing in return,” presumably because the only reason a man would want to care for his own children would be in exchange for sex and housework. He also assumes that the only sources of income women have access to are child support and welfare; the possibility that women hold jobs doesn’t seem to occur to him.

Usher is trying to find a way to justify the increasingly ridiculous right-wing claim that same-sex marriage is somehow undermining “traditional” heterosexual marriage. He has zero-evidence for his claim outside of his belief that women are generally sleazy liars, and will “cheat” men out of the straight marriages they’re entitled to by sneaking off with women.

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2) Planned Parenthood is trying to get kids “hooked” on sex. The anti-choice organization American Life League has been peddling the idea for a long time now that Planned Parenthood works like a mythical drug dealer, but with sex. The theory, summarized in this amazing video, goes like this: Planned Parenthood lures otherwise asexual young people into thinking sex is fun (something they are dead certain that you would never, ever think if not for Planned Parenthood). They then trick them into having sex by telling them contraception works, but (evil laugh), the contraception doesn’t work and the young people get pregnant and have to have abortions. Which means profit for Planned Parenthood! This neat little theory requires ignoring both the fact that Planned Parenthood is a non-profit and that the overwhelming scientific evidence shows that contraception does work, but ignoring facts and evidence is what the Christian right does best.

3) Gay men wear special rings for the sole purpose of giving innocent straights HIV. This one was trotted out recently by everyone’s favorite disseminator of Christian right urban legends, Pat Robertson. “You know what they do in San Francisco, some in the gay community there they want to get people so if they got the stuff they’ll have a ring, you shake hands, and the ring’s got a little thing where you cut your finger,” he explained, suggesting there’s a serial killing ring of gay men who kill with HIV for reasons undetermined. Robertson backpedaled, but as Anderson Cooper suggested, only because he got caught.

4) The abortion-mad Chinese eat human fetuses. This one is popular in anti-choice circles, because it hits both the abortion-obsessed and racist sweet spots. The claim is sometimes that the Chinese eat “fetus soup” as an aphrodisiac, because concern that other people are enjoying sex too much is always part and parcel of any anti-choice urban legend. This obviously false bit of racist propaganda is spread mostly through email, though prominent anti-choice activists like Jill Stanek have also perpetuated it.

5) Crazed liberals in Illinois want to teach 5-year-olds how to have sex.A Chicago school district has implemented a mandatory sex education program for each grade level, leading Christian right publications to accuse the district of practicing “pedophilia” by trying to get kindergartners to think about “sex and sexual acts.” While it’s no surprise that fundamentalists love the opportunity to titillate and outrage themselves by imagining kids getting blow job lessons, the reality is much more mundane….and pedophilia-preventive. Lessons for kindergarten and first grade will simply be about anatomy, with an emphasis on learning the difference between “good touch vs. bad touch,” specifically so children who are targeted by pedophiles know to report what’s happened. But perpetuating the belief that evil pervert liberals are targeting innocent children clearly matters more to the Christian right than stopping real-life perverts who are actually targeting children.

6) Obama is the Antichrist and plans to rule America by sharia law. Even though you’d think Obama would be getting on with this plan already instead of wasting time talking about bombing Syria, the belief that any day now a combination of sharia law and the apocalypse will be brought on by Obama still rules in Christian right circles. Public Policy Polling found that an alarming 13 percent of Americans are sure Obama is the Antichrist and another 13 percent entertained the possibility. Christian right-wingers are always on the lookout for “evidence” that Obama’s secret sharia plan is about to take off, leading to headlines likes this one from Breitbart.com: “Obama administration paves the way for sharia law.”

7) Charles Darwin took it all back the day he died. This one has been around since the 19th century, but still has a significant amount of play on the Christian right, as part of the ur-conspiracy theory which holds that scientists are just making up evolutionary theory as part of a grand atheist conspiracy conducted for reasons unknown. Interestingly, this is one legend leaders in the Christian right have been trying to put to bed recently, with even the group Answers In Genesis—which believes that dinosaurs and humans lived in harmony together—denying that Darwin recanted his atheistic views on his deathbed.

8) JK Rowling is trying to lure your children into Satanism with her Harry Potter books. Hardline Christian conservatives have always been afraid pop culture is a conspiracy of Satan’s to attract impressionable young people, so it’s unsurprising that Rowling’s Harry Potter series, with its portrayal of fantasy magic, made the top of the list of products to be feared. The hysteria hit a peak in 2001, with fundamentalist activists accusing the books of trying to “desensitize readers and introduce them to the occult” and “trafficking in evil spirits.” Things were made worse when the Onion published a satirical article Christian conservatives didn’t realize was satire, causing them to literally believe young kids told the Onion things like, “But the Harry Potter books showed me that magic is real, something I can learn and use right now, and that the Bible is nothing but boring lies.” The furor has died down somewhat, but plenty of evangelical leaders still routinely claim demons can possess your body if you read Harry Potter.

9) Pro-choicers in Texas were planning to pelt the state senate with jars of feces. This one rose up and was debunked within the space of six weeks over this summer of 2013. The claim, which unfortunately was given credence by the Texas Department of Public Safety back in July, was that evil pro-choicers were planning to sneak jars of poop into the debate and were only stopped by brave, poop-confiscating lawmakers. Eventually, the TX DPS reluctantly handed its actual documents regarding the protests over and sure enough, there is no evidence outside of urban legend-mongering from conservatives that there were any jars of any human waste whatsoever. Unfortunately, the legend was already out and circulating.

Humorless fundies are also perpetuating the claim that there was Satan-worshipping from pro-choicers at the protests, even though a cursory perusal of the evidence shows that the shouts of “hail Satan” were not a prayer so much as a joke aimed squarely at the Christian right protesters.

10) Birth control pill turns your uterus into a grave littered with teeny-weeny corpses of fully formed babies.Kevin Swanson, Christian right talk show host, expelled this one recently, claiming that “certain doctors and certain scientists” are finding that women on the pill have, “these little tiny fetuses, these little babies, that are embedded into the womb.” An evocative image, albeit one that requires not only falsely believing the pill “kills” embryos (it works by suppressing ovulation), but also simply refusing to believe that menstruation actually exists.

These are just a sampling of the stories you’ll hear in hushed, can-you-believe-it tones in Christian right circles, where the urban legend is a primary form of communication.

Amanda Marcotte is a Brooklyn-based freelance writer and journalist. She's published two books and blogs regularly at Pandagon, RH Reality Check and Slate's Double X.

julieswhimsies: SWIM!

julieswhimsies: SWIM!

SWIM!

I'm thinking a lot about my swim last summer up in Harbor Springs.  This year I won't make it.  My torn rotator cuff is really slowing down.  I had to sell my horse, Sunny, because I could no longer tack her up.  That was the saddest day of my life.  BUT.  I refuse to stop swimming.  Yeah, it hurts a lot to swim...but my shoulder hurts worse when I don't. I know eventually, I will end up having my shoulder replaced with an artificial one...But not now.  I WILL swim in next year's Coastal Crawl, and I will do well.  I just canNOT stop swimming.  Next year Coastal Crawl 2014.

Frustrating week.  After 6 weeks of Physical Therapy on my swimmer's shoulders, I am still having a lot of pain.  Therefore, as my therapy is now over, I have to get an MRI of both shoulder's this coming Friday at 10 PM.  Yep.  10 PM.  Can't wait.  They're looking for a tear in a tendon or some other anomaly.   I hope they don't find anything.  That could mean surgery.  The problem was an Open Water Swim up in Harbor Springs last summer.  It was a windy day, creating waves and cross-currents.  I missed the 1/2 mile turn around for the one mile race, and ended up at the turn-around buoy for the 2 mile race.  The whole trip took me 66 minutes. (Not a bad time for a 2 mile swim, but it put me in 4th (last) position in the one mile.)  It wasn't ever about winning for me, as I'm 61 years old, and I am not interested in winning races in any sport.  It was a rough swim, but I loved it!  I would absolutely do it again.  The real problem was training for 1 mile, and swimming two.  Maybe not next summer, but I will swim that race again.  It was SO much fun!  Can't ride my horse until I figure out what's up with the shoulders.  Merde on that!

Nick

Nick came into this world in the same way he has always managed his life.  He was patient, with a streak of my stubbornness. His birth took 48 hours.  He would come when he was ready. He was born by C-section, as he was having difficulty breathing.  He was immediately put on a respirator and taken to the NICU.  At the time, I was heart-broken, at not being able to witness his birth, but my Doctor felt I was too exhausted to stay awake during the surgery. In a day or two I was wheeled in to the NICU to see my beautiful boy.  I was shocked to see all of the tubes, and monitors attached to my son.  His head and body was banged and bruised due to his long delivery.  I knew he would make it, though. There was a strength emanating from this infant.  He reminded me of a tree. An oak tree.  I decided that one day I would plant an oak tree for him.  Oak trees are sturdy, and stubborn...patient and beautiful. When I brought him home, I was amazed at his "easiness".  He was not a "fussy" baby at all.  His father and I were amazed at how he slept through the night in his first month.  As he grew, he exhibited tendencies that would get him through his life.  Only Nick would take apart a broken toaster at age 10, and put it back together again.  I truly don't remember whether or not it worked again.  I was just profoundly amazed at the extent of his curiosity, tenacity, and intelligence.  As an artist myself, I watched him develop his drawings, and Art.  When he went to High School, he decided to take Photography class.  I lent him my beloved Pentax Spotmatic camera.  Later on, I decided that the camera belonged to him. It was important that I let him have it.  To this day, he has an "eye", as they say in photography.  I finally gave him the rest of my photographic equipment.  I was almost brought to tears when I saw his home in Portland, Oregon for the first time, and he showed me that he had set up a darkroom with my old college equipment. I digress, I know.  The day he brought his beautiful young girlfriend home to meet us, I knew that she was the "one".  She was so much like Nick...beautiful and brilliant, loving and kind. At the time she was a young Taiwanese University of Michigan PhD candidate in a science that I cannot describe.  Nick filmed Yi-Hsuan's dissertation.  Such a sign of love...to document a student turning professional...in a second language.  Brilliant.  The two of them are not a match, really.  They complement each other.  Theirs is a love that is truly eternal.

Nick is a private. patient and loving son, and husband.  It really is different with sons.  There is a lot of unspoken words...stuff that does not need to be said.  You just know it is there.  He is the child who shared my passion for Art, and his father's love of music. He has so much talent in Graphic Arts, that he has no problem staying employed.  His latest band...The Silent Numbers...(the very name a play on a Mathematical concept) is doing well in the Portland music scene.

Nick is happy.  He wishes to lead a simple, uncluttered life with Yi-Hsuan.  I love him for that

There is nothing I would not do for this boy/turned man/turned artist/turned husband. I hold him close to my heart, and love him as only a mother can understand...and yet.  There is something deeper in my love for Nick.  It contains respect.  Love and respect entwined.


 Now, we have the home where I can plant his tree.  An oak tree...this Spring.

Stevens Johnson Syndrome

I can now write about this experience without re-experiencing the trauma, as I am free of this terrible disease.

One day, I noticed a swollen lymph node on my neck.  Figured I was coming down with something. The next day I was experiencing fever and chills...temps around 102.  Then. Nothing, except a small rash on my right arm.  It was extremely itchy and I scratched constantly in my sleep.  The rash spread to my chest, and my stomach.   I got up the next morning and it was everywhere...head to toe.   Michael took  one look at me and said:"We've gotta take you in".  I went immediately to Chelsea's ER (shorter wait time.).  They wanted to send me to the U of M ER, as they were not equipped to handle "weird".  However, The U had 42 people in gurneys in the hallways, so I was transferred by ambulance to St. Joe's, where I was admitted.  The rash turned into painful blisters...and I was put on a morphine drip.  Even bed linens were painful.  Students were continually coming in to examine me, as what I had was quite rare.  Stevens Johnsons can be deadly, cause blindness, or develop into a chronic, lifetime, condition.  I was terrified.  I was in the hospital for 3 days in this condition.  Unfortunately, there is no treatment...only cortico-steroids and palliative care. The whole situation was made worse, as I had also developed "swimmer's shoulders" from my first open water race.  I had trained to swim a mile, and ended up swimming two miles.  I am still in PT for that.  After I returned home, I had 2 more "pain emergencies".  I was again put on morphine, given pain killers (in my case, Dilaudid).  The 2nd trip I went to the ER at UofM, and spent the day with docs and amazing nurses trying to control my pain.  It took at least a month to recover.  I would not wish this illness on ANYONE!  To this day, it's hard for me to talk about it.