Tag Archives: Martin Luther King

The Religious Crisis at the Heart of the Occupy Movement

Notice the religious dimension that was present in 1960s protests, but absent in the Occupy movement. Martin Luther King had Jesus to appeal to, a readily recognizable symbol in our culture of two key things: the receiving of suffering; and … Continue reading

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Mao Luther King?

I don’t like the look or feel of the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington D.C. For one, he looks fat, and he wasn’t particularly fat. And there’s something weirdly Maoist about it—a throwback to 20th century communist … Continue reading

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Let Freedom Sing: Feminism Under Fire in Israel

The intellectual and cultural rot of religious fundamentalism continues its 21st century spread. This is in Haaretz today: Secular and religious cabinet members engaged in a heated discussion over the issue of women’s rights in Israel on Sunday, forcing Prime … Continue reading

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Dearborn Free Speech Watch: ACLU Supports Pastor Terry Jones’s Right to Free Speech Outside of an Islamic Center

Great news! The ACLU filed a friend of the court brief in favor of Pastor Terry Jones’s right to speak outside of an Islamic Center in Dearborn, Michigan. The following was in the Detroit News on Friday: The ACLU’s brief … Continue reading

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The Two Confidences of Atheism vs. The Four Confidences of Theism

When it comes right down to it, what are atheists confident about and what are theists confident about? It occurs to me that, to be an atheist, your life ultimately rests on just two rather naked confidences: God does not … Continue reading

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What Is The Universe? And What Should We Be Doing In It?

My guess is that the universe may be the mind of God calculating—then presenting the sums, before the witness of consciousness, in four dimensions (height, width, depth, and time). The universe, as it were, is the ones and zeroes made flesh; God’s search … Continue reading

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Amy Goodman on the Ground Zero Mosque: This is Not a Time for Silence

At TruthDig, Amy Goodman bemoans those who have fallen silent over the mosque near ground zero and asks a good question: [There is an] absence of people in the U.S. in leadership positions in every walk of life, of every political stripe, … Continue reading

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Health Care Reform: Yes We Did

I’m so proud to have supported and worked for this man’s election to the presidency. Barack Obama is proving to be an even better president than I had dared hope for when I voted for him in November of 2008. And on Sunday … Continue reading

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Do fundamentalists own the Bible?

No. No more than Republicans own the American flag. And this is something that annoys me about the post-9-11 New Atheists: they are happy to cede biblical interpretation to fundamentalists. It is as if, in Japan and China, there was … Continue reading

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Martin Luther King

“Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality …” – Martin Luther King

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Love, Dignity, Freedom, and Hope

Make way.

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GottaLaff?

How about WTF instead? The far right’s murderous id impulses toward President Barack Obama keep drifting to the surface, don’t they? This today at Alternet: On Saturday, a user on Facebook posted a poll asking, “Should Obama be killed?” The … Continue reading

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Glenn Beck Racist Watch: Glenn Beck Declines an Opportunity to Explain What He Means by “White Culture”

Hilarious. Glenn Beck is asked to explain what he means when he talks about “white culture”, and words completely fail him. He is so full of shit. Watch him squirm at the question here. Oh, and it’s here at YouTube, … Continue reading

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Love, Love, Love: President Barack Obama, Officer James Crowley, and Henry Louis Gates

President Barack Obama is a lover, not a fighter. His remarks about Officer James Crowley’s actions at Henry Louis Gates’s house were ill-considered, and in advance of the facts, and he apologized. Good for Obama. I don’t want a president … Continue reading

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A Reading of Walt Whitman’s “O Captain! My Captain!”

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State of New Mexico Tells a Religious Photographer: You Have to Take Pictures at a Gay Commitment Ceremony!

I am a strong supporter of gay marriage, but I think that the below story is an outrageous violation, by authorities in New Mexico, of conscientious religious objection. According to the Associated Press this weekend: A professional photographer who refused … Continue reading

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Martin Luther King Died 41 Years Ago Today

It was on April 4, 1968 that Martin Luther King was shot and killed. Below is his famous last speech. King’s bravery is at once inspiring and something very hard to live up to. We didn’t deserve such a figure in our history, but we … Continue reading

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Bearing Witness to the Holocaust: The Story of German Senior Officer, Albert Battel

In one segment of the PBS DVD, Auschwitz, is the story of Albert Battel, a German senior officer who took great risks to protect Jews (in the Polish city of Przemysl) from deportation and the death camps: At the German … Continue reading

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November 4, 2008: Barack Obama

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Not Abbey Road, But Obama Road: Image of Obama in Hawaii After Visiting His Grandma

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