Pat Robertson, meet Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi

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 Why wasn't Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi invited to opine on the real cause of the attacks on 9/11/01 with Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. Where was he when blame was placed for Katrina? OK, I admit that I don't watch the 700 Club. Was he invited on? Maybe after the earthquake in Haiti? I'm just asking because he and Pat Robertson seem to have a lot in common. James Dobson would fit right in, too.

A senior Iranian cleric says women who wear immodest clothing and behave promiscuously are to blame for earthquakes.

Has a familiar ring, doesn't it?

"What can we do to avoid being buried under the rubble?" Sedighi asked during a prayer sermon Friday. "There is no other solution but to take refuge in religion and to adapt our lives to Islam's moral codes."

It's always been hard to understand how extremely conservative Christians don't see how they are just the same as extremely conservative Islamics. The name you use to call on your God of intolerance is not the point. Fundamentalists are fundamentalists, no matter what the creed.  

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Can We Learn Anything From George Tiller’s Murder?

When I read about the murder a few hours ago, I was going to post something to the effect that the apologists should be making statements shortly. There was always a script for it. Pro-life groups would condemn the act and after about 24 hours or so there’d be  a“but” attached to the condemnation. It’s always something to the effect that the victim of the murder was, after all, someone who took innocent life, but killing is never, ever acceptable. Well, things are moving a lot faster these days and not everyone is quite so delicate about it.Statements have been pouring out from pro-life groups, abortion rights groups and everyone else who will make a statement.  Randall Terry, for one, does not seem to feel constrained to express any condemnation other than to regret that Dr. Tiller was not afforded time to meet his Maker.

Grandpa Eddie reminds us of that report that had some right wing panties in a bunch. The one that referred to home grown terrorists. Sounds like it was right on to me. He also provides a retrospective of violent acts of terrorism targeting abortion providers.

Fitness for the Occasion makes the very simple, but insightful, point that things like this are the problem with calling abortion murder.

So, there are lessons about domestic terrorism, lessons about rhetoric and how not to use it, and I’d hope there is a lesson about thinking hard about how a public message might affect persons who have serious mental health issues.

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A Zealot By Any Other Name Would Stink, Too

Via Washington Monthly the Religious Right wants a new name. "Religious Right" can cast a negative connotation, they say. Others worry that "Christian Right" is too limiting. They want fundamentalists of other denominations to feel free to join in their quest to force public policy, and thereby the rest of us, to conform to their rather narrow religious beliefs. They seem to hate affectionate alternatives such as "American Taliban", which is a shame because it seems so apt.

I've always favored "Religio-fascist". I think it really works. It could be considered pejorative, I suppose, but it should only bother you if it applies to you. If you're minding your own business then there's no reason to care how socially conservative your religion requires you to be and you're not a religio-fascist, except to those closest to you. Fair enough?

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• Man who coined 'moral majority' dies (telegraph.co.uk)

No One Really Wanted to go to Auschwitz

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The Holocaust denying Bishop who got his excommunication lifted by the Pope will possibly reconsider his position on the subject, but not really. The Vatican is insisting and Bishop Richard Williamson says he'll do some more research and get back to them. You know, see if he can turn up any evidence that Jews were gassed by Hitler. Because, really, what's a Nazi sympathizer to believe? And there are complaints about a few glitches in the Obama administration's vetting process?

One thing Williamson is not doing is going to Auschwitz. For one thing he lives in Argentina, so it's damned incovenient. Um...Argentina...Isn't that where a bunch of Nazis escaped to after the war? I think it is. And anyway, who really ever wanted to go to Auschwitz. It's a fair bet that no one ever did. Of course, Williamson would be free to leave whenever he wanted.

If my father were alive he would be all, "I told you so." He never really got over what he saw as shortcomings of the Roman Catholic Church during the Holocaust. That might have been unfair, or at least not totally accurate, but he'd be all over this if he were around.

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