Federal Overstep or Hint of More to Come?

By now, I'm sure most people have heard about the Department of Homeland Security report on "right-wing extremists" that it defines as

those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.

That broad, sweeping generalization - particularly taking aim at opposition to abortion or immigration, implies that religious beliefs or political opinions could make a person a target for investigation (or worse) by the federal government.

The report is also famous for saying that returning military veterans could become recruits for homegrown terror movements. The American Legion slammed DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano for that anti-military bias.

The best take-down of the report can be found here, at Powerline. Additionally, even the #1 liberal Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee found himself dumbfounded that DHS would issue a report, noting:

"This report appears to raise significant issues involving the privacy and civil liberties of many Americans -- including war veterans," Mr. Thompson said in the letter sent Tuesday.

"As I am certain you agree, freedom of association and freedom of speech are guaranteed to all Americans -- whether a person's beliefs, whatever their political orientation, are 'extremist' or not," Mr. Thompson said.

The report "blurred the line," and Mr. Thompson said he is "disappointed and surprised that the department would allow this report to be disseminated" to law enforcement officials nationwide.

"I am particularly struck by the report's conclusion which states that I&A 'will be working with its state and local partners over the next several months to ascertain with greater regional specificity the rise in rightwing extremist activity in the United States with a particular emphasis on the political, economic, and social factors that drive rightwing extremist radicalization,'" Mr. Thompson said, demanding to know what types of activities DHS had planned for "the next several months."

Now Napolitano is doing the rounds trying to apologize for the blow up. I think she should be fired anyway. Here she is on Fox News trying to spin the report. When called on the broad definition of rightwing extremist included in the report, however, all she can do is stumble. I like it how the Fox News guy asks if all Catholics, because of their opposition to abortion, are now considered extremists by the federal government:



Even if this report is just an incredibly stupid, poorly worded, bureacratic SNAFU - I wonder if it is an indication of things to come. The Washington Post did a recent article (safe link to avoid drive-by-media) noting that religious people are increasingly losing in court as conflicts arise between the homosexual activists and their allies in government, and religious groups. Religious freedom, protected by the First Amendment, loses out to homosexual activism. The article notes these examples:

Faith organizations and individuals who view homosexuality as sinful and refuse to provide services to gay people are losing a growing number of legal battles that they say are costing them their religious freedom.

The lawsuits have resulted from states and communities that have banned discrimination based on sexual orientation. Those laws have created a clash between the right to be free from discrimination and the right to freedom of religion, religious groups said, with faith losing. They point to what they say are ominous recent examples:

-- A Christian photographer was forced by the New Mexico Civil Rights Commission to pay $6,637 in attorney's costs after she refused to photograph a gay couple's commitment ceremony.

-- A psychologist in Georgia was fired after she declined for religious reasons to counsel a lesbian about her relationship.

-- Christian fertility doctors in California who refused to artificially inseminate a lesbian patient were barred by the state Supreme Court from invoking their religious beliefs in refusing treatment.

-- A Christian student group was not recognized at a University of California law school because it denies membership to anyone practicing sex outside of traditional
marriage.

"It really is all about religious liberty for us," said Scott Hoffman, chief administrative officer of a New Jersey Methodist group, the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, which lost a property tax exemption after it declined to allow its beachside pavilion to be used for a same-sex union ceremony. "The protection to not be forced to do something that is against deeply held religious principles."

The article includes this chilling summary:

Some legal analysts suggest that religious groups that do not support gay rights might lose their tax exemptions because of their politically unpopular views.

Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University who supports same-sex marriage, said the Bob Jones ruling "puts us on a slippery slope that inevitably takes us to the point where we punish religious groups because of their religious views."

Right now, it seems that the Courts are willing to take up the effort of punishing religious groups because of their religious views. But DHS might not be far behind. Hopefully if I have time, I'll post more on what I think are various clues that America is slowly becoming a new unfree police-state like Roman Empire, content to throw Christians once again to the lions, along with other indications showing a general decline. New tag to go with that type of post: the Long Defeat of America.

An ok summary of the term Long Defeat can be found at Wikipedia.

Deranged Abortion-Loving Sickos...

Sick, sick sick. This woman should be institutionalized. Her sanity is clearly absent.

We need to create a world where a woman having an abortion is as respected and supported as a woman having a baby. As the movement for abortion pride and the recognition of women's human rights progresses, we will continue to speak out with our voices, our experiences, our bodies - and our lives. YES - ABORTION PRIDE!

What is it that makes people so deranged that they think the disemboweling and murder of babies should be just as celebrated as becoming a mother?

I wonder if this "abortion pride" crap is the start of a new honesty from the murder-lovers of the left. At least they're not cloaking it in some false sense of shame.

I should hope that abortion will never be as respected as having a baby. But never underestimate the depths of cultural suicide that America will succumb to. I give it until the end of Obama's term as president before this woman's rant becomes standard in the Democratic party platform.

Note: Always, always, always use the term "pro-abortion" instead of pro-choice. And then when you're called on the use of that term, you can point to sickos like Marcy Bloom and Katherine Ragsdale who proudly advocate the choice of abortion instead of the choice to have a baby. Abortion should always and everywhere be equated with premeditated murder, because that's exactly what it is.

Evil Priestess Worships Abortion...

This sermon by Katherine Ragsdale, a so-called "priest" in the Episcopal Church, is illuminating for several things. Written in 2007, it has come to attention because of her recent election as Dean of the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge and has caused a firestorm because she says "abortion is a blessing." No, she doesn't just say it. She chants it:

When a woman finds that the fetus she is carrying has anomalies incompatible with life, that it will not live and that she requires an abortion – often a late-term abortion – to protect her life, her health, or her fertility, it is the shattering of her hopes and dreams for that pregnancy that is the tragedy; the abortion is a blessing.

When a woman wants a child but can’t afford one because she hasn’t the education necessary for a sustainable job, or access to health care, or day care, or adequate food, it is the abysmal priorities of our nation, the lack of social supports, the absence of justice that are the tragedies; the abortion is a blessing.

And when a woman becomes pregnant within a loving, supportive, respectful relationship; has every option open to her; decides she does not wish to bear a child; and has access to a safe, affordable abortion – there is not a tragedy in sight -- only blessing. The ability to enjoy God’s good gift of sexuality without compromising one’s education, life’s work, or ability to put to use God’s gifts and call is simply blessing.

These are the two things I want you, please, to remember – abortion is a blessing and our work is not done. Let me hear you say it: abortion is a blessing and our work is not done. Abortion is a blessing and our work is not done. Abortion is a blessing and our work is not done.

The comments in her own blog, if they're not deleted, are illuminating. Of course she has been called out for her evil, wicked prayer. Abortion is her sacrament. But doing a little more digging has shown me several things.

First, take a look at her bio. Here's her wikipedia page. What has she been doing?

Ragsdale has served for 17 years on the national board of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. She is also on the board of NARAL Pro-Choice America, The White House Project, the Progressive Religious Partnership, as well as the bi-national advisory board of The Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence. She presented to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on behalf of NARAL Pro-Choice America and the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice in 2004.^[3]

Aside from being a "priest", her entire life has been devoted to abortion. She's on the board of the National Abortion Rights Action League (now called NARAL). She worked for nearly 20 years for the Clergy Consultation Service on Abortion (now called Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice). Her entire purpose and meaning in life revolves around abortion (ever notice how those groups got rid of the word ABORTION from their names?).

This woman puts the lie to the theory that people who are "pro-choice" are not pro-abortion. Of course they are pro-abortion. Because to them, abortion is a blessing. "Pro-choice" fundamentally means pro-abortion. It is ridiculous to be in favor of a choice if one of those choices is inherently evil. You'd might as well say you're pro-choice if the choices were eating applesause or drowning your mother.

But notice anything else?

She's glad that: "The Democrats have removed "safe, legal, and rare" language about abortion from the platform. About time!"

A little digging in her other blogs found me this other sermon, where she said (in 1996):

So, the first question – addressed to us all – is: what are we doing to reduce the need for abortions? None of us, regardless of our position on choice, approves of a world where pregnant women are faced with despair and see no viable options but to abort. But what are we doing, as God’s agents in the world, to change that situation?... No, we cannot eliminate the need for abortion. But we could dramatically reduce it. What are we doing to make our society more supportive of children and families? What are we doing to reduce the need for abortion?

How to square her desire to reduce the need for abortion in 1996, with her sermon in 2007 saying that she's glad the Democrats dropped the "rare" crap from their platform and that abortion is a blessing?

It's because she was lying in 1996. She doesn't want to reduce abortions at all. They do not want abortion to be rare - and not only because NARAL and people like Ragsdale are funded by the abortion mills. The other reason? Ragsdale says: "The ability to enjoy God’s good gift of sexuality without compromising one’s education, life’s work, or ability to put to use God’s gifts and call is simply blessing." Yes, abortion is all about me me ME! She doesn't want people to be "compromised." Just like Obama doesn't want his daughters to be punished with a baby.

So whenever you hear someone say that they're not pro-abortion and they're really pro-choice, know that they're lying, both to you and possibly to themselves. And whenever you hear someone say that they want abortion to be rare, they're probably lying as well. Abortion-lovers don't want abortion to be rare.

(Hat tip to Hot Air's headlines, which brought them to Amy Wellborn's beliefnet post, which devolved into another religious fight, so much that she closed the comment thread.)

UPDATE: Ragsdale deleted her post. Here's a cached version, scroll down to find the sermon. Unfortunately, the comments were lost.