SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE…..

What part of that do you NOT understand, Southern Baptists ??

I am soooo sick of these "conservative Christians" thinking that they are the arbiters of truth and light for the rest of this country. And I am sick and tired of them using their "religious freedom" to force the rest of us to live the way THEY think we should. And I am REALLY disgusted with the fact that they continue to disparage the poor, make them jump through hoops for assistance, shame them for being in their poverty……all the while these same churches do NOT contribute one darn cent (by way of taxes) to the betterment of this country.

Everybody in the SBC should pray for the Supreme Court to decide THEIR way:

……….

• God can turn the hearts and minds of the justices to do his will (Prov. 21:1). Pray for the Supreme Court justices, that they would be receptive to the arguments being made passionately before them.
• God can guide the mind and speech (Exod. 4:11-12). Pray for lead attorneys who will be arguing on behalf of the states seeking to uphold marriage. Ask God to give them clarity and wisdom, for their arguments to be persuasive, and for God to give them favor before the justices.
• God can give understanding to make sound decisions (Prov. 2:6-8). Pray for those who disagree with us, that God would help them understand and respect the opinions of those whose definition of marriage is grounded in the biblical witness……...

http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/2015/04/10/southern-baptists-want-you-to-pray-for-marriage/

Did you get that last one about "respecting the opinions of those who disagree" with them? Oh, the hypocrisy doth the flow like wine on Communion Sunday.

The End Result….

Just saw a segment on CBS on how schools are getting by after all the cuts being demanded from them (not to mention the attrition of good teachers due to "teacher-shaming" from the Right). It proved to me just how well the "small government" folks in our country are doing, at our expense. We all know that teachers in the last decade or so have had to supply all sorts of teaching materials and everyday necessities for students….out of THEIR paychecks, that is. Now they have have to be more creative:

"Many school districts across the country face budget cuts just about every year. In Chicago, teachers are turning to crowdfunding website Donors Choose, which helps them raise funds for classroom necessities." http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/teachers-turn-to-online-donors-to-fund-classrooms/

Why allocate more funds to our kids' education from government, federal or state budgets when you can get the taxpayers to pay for it (use the word "donate" to make them feel better about it). Then we can give more tax breaks to big corporations and the 1 percent... 

Same thing with helping workers: instead of asking billionaire business owners (let's say…..Walmart) to cut into their earnings to give employees more hours, better wages, and possibly healthcare, they let the taxpayers do it.
"..a single Walmart Supercenter cost taxpayers between $904,542 and $1.75 million per year, or between $3,015 and $5,815 on average for each of 300 workers.”
http://tinyurl.com/puu9eyf

All those overstocked, out of date, no longer useful bullet proof vests, tanks, tazers, and tear gas that the government contractors have produced, at a profit to shareholders and political investors alike, …..give or auction them off to state and local police forces.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/09/us/war-gear-flows-to-police-departments.html
That way you are "killing two birds with one stone"…..sorry…..giving these articles of war a "peacetime" use, and keeping the people you despise the most at bay when they finally have had enough.  At least for awhile.

At this point I am afraid that the selfishness, greed, misinformation and not-bothered-to-be-concealed racism is finally winning. It will not always be this way; everything in this world comes and goes in cycles. I just makes me cringe to see that so many people…in government and otherwise….do not understand and do not even care enough to see how it ultimately affects their lives and those of their families.

“The darkest secret of this country, I am afraid, is that too many of its citizens imagine that they belong to a much higher civilization somewhere else. That higher civilization doesn’t have to be another country. It can be the past instead—the United States as it was before it was spoiled by immigrants and the enfranchisement of the blacks.
This state of mind allows too many of us to lie and cheat and steal from the rest of us, to sell us junk and addictive poisons and corrupting entertainments. What are the rest of us, after all, but sub-human aborigines?” ― Kurt Vonnegut, Bluebeard

And Lyndon Johnson had it right:" If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."  Today, a winning strategy…….

Avoid The "The Fiscal Cliff".....Only shove The "Low Priorities"

We don't have to worry about any upcoming "disaster". The good folks from the Big Corporations are going to tell us how to do it: take money away from the seniors, sick, and poor. Or "entitlements" in Frank Luntz terms....you know, those words that can be spoken to conjure up a negative appeal to the masses.

The new push comes from Fix The Debt,..... consisting of such people as the head of Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Honeywell...... another innocuous sounding group with ulterior motives.

"Yet the CEOs are not offering to forgo federal money or pay a higher tax rate, on their personal income or corporate profits. Instead, council recommendations include cutting "entitlement" programs, as well as what they call "low-priority spending."

As part of their push, they are advocating a "territorial tax system" that would exempt their companies' foreign profits from taxation, netting them about $134 billion in tax savings, according to a new report from the Institute for Policy Studies titled "The CEO Campaign to ‘Fix’ the Debt: A Trojan Horse for Massive Corporate Tax Breaks" -- money that could help pay off the federal budget deficit."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/25/deficit-reduction-council-fiscal-cliff_n_2185585.html

 I'm so glad I have these guys, CEOs of about thirty-two companies looking out for me, my family and my future, since these "entitlements" will be the mainstay of my retirement plan. Remember those pension plans, 401Ks, CDs stocks, appreciating home values you used to have to live comfortably after you've worked 30 to 40 years.........?

Again, consider the facts:
1. They've destroyed jobs. According to Newsweek, "the CEOs of the 50 firms that laid off the most workers since the onset of the economic crisis took home 42 percent more pay in 2009 than their peers did -- largely because cutting workers boosts short-term profits."

2. They've made the country less productive. As noted by Frontline's Money, Power, and Wall Street, the financial industry is almost double the size of the manufacturing sector.

3. They've taken massive bonuses for their failures. Again from Frontline's Money, Power, and Wall Street: Since the crash of 2008, banks have paid out more than $80 billion in bonuses.

http://truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/item/17655-corporate-payrolls-dwarf-the-take-home-pay-of-

working-stiffs

ADDENDUM

Another tactic being used now is trying to "protect folks from these awful upcoming tax increases that would hurt seniors" when in fact, it would only seriously hurt their own already wealthy investors:

" As negotiations to avert the so-called fiscal cliff intensify, corporate lobbying groups are pushing key tax perks that benefit the wealthy. A coalition of financial institutions, fossil fuel companies, telecommunications firms and even the cigarette company Altria are teaming up to block a tax increase on dividends -- a policy that overwhelmingly aids the rich."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/27/fiscal-cliff-corporate-lobbying_n_2199313.html

The reality is that most of us would not be affected by this increase as most low to middle class seniors have retirement plans which invest in stocks, like 401K or IRAs which are already exempt from these taxes. Most of today's seniors depend on Social Security as the basis of their retirement since even these are being phased out by employers.

Doesn't their concern make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?

WHAT HAPPENED TO VOTER REGISTRATION FRAUD ??Seems like the Repubs doth protest too much these days:

 Conservatives Coming to Ohio for Registration Drives

DAYTON – Two conservative policy organizations will bring their “values bus tour” to Ohio this week, with multiple stops planned in southwest Ohio as the groups aim to register Christians to vote. Family Research Council, which focuses on issues such as abortion and marriage, and the Heritage Foundation, which is promoting its Saving the American Dream fiscal plan, have taken the tour to about a dozen states.

“The main thing we’ll be doing, and we’ll do this at all the stops, is our voter registration project,” said Tom McClusky, senior vice president of the Family Research Council’s political action committee. “There are a lot of Christians who have not been engaged (in the political process).............from the Dayton Daily News 4/07/12

We've got to keep that conservative Christian "majority" voting bloc strong. No matter that the Right has been working over time, and not-so-silently, to keep everyone ELSE from doing the same thing. Blacks. Seniors. The poor. College students. Tech school students. And of course "illegals...you know how they vote in DROVES....

Then you have efforts like these by those on Right:

  http://www.rockthevote.com/about/press-room/press-releases/florida-assault-on-young-voters.html

http://www.lwv.org/content/statement-elisabeth-macnamara-president-lwvus-forum-entitled-excluded-democracy-impact

and in South Carolina: http://signon.org/sign/sc-government-stop-the

Oh, yes..that Family Research Council that is so diligently "getting out the vote?"http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/americas-third-party-will-just-be-anti-gay-marriage-says-frc/politics/2012/04/06/37664
Nothing says conservative Christian voter....like a hate group. Are people THAT stupid??