BlueGrassRoots

Unicorns: Prepare to Believe

Northern Kentucky's new museum, coming soon.

Genius.

But I doubt it's as good as this one.

 

Jack Conway, Democratic Candidate for Attorney General

Thursday morning, Democratic candidate for Attorney General Jack Conway held an open question and answer session for supporters and the curious at Democratic Party headquarters in Lexington. We were wined and dined with cheap coffee, cheese cubes and some type fruity nut bread.

Conway opened by explaining who he is and why he's running. He vowed that his responsibility is to enforce and uphold the law, not to run his office according to what he thinks the laws should be. He contrasted this with Stan Lee, who has made it perfectly clear that he will push his own lunatic version of Christianity on Kentuckians. The separation between church and state is a myth to Stan Lee, and the laws and constitution of the United States would be mere inconveniences to him. (those are my words, not his, but he was rather harsh in his assessment of Lee). Conway's stated that his priorities are (1)setting up a skilled online task force to combat child predators and (2) to attack the meth epidemic that is plaguing rural Kentucky.

He opened up the floor to questions, and being the person I am, decided not to throw him any softballs. I've been a registered Independent my whole life anyway, and I have a reputation to uphold.

I asked him whether the domestic benefits plans of UK and UL are constitutional under KY law. He stated first of all that his duty was to uphold the law, whether or not he agrees with that law. He  agreed with AG Stumbo's opinion that the plans in question were far too specific to be constitutional, but also agreed with Stumbo's statement that if the requirements were more broad, they would be legal. I asked him a follow up on whether UK's recent adjustment of their plan to make it more broad was constitutional. He kind of hedged, saying that he would have to look at it, so he didn't have an opinion yet.

If he was in fact dodging the question, it was probably smart politically, as Stan Lee will be fanning the flames of homophobia and hatred towards gays, and he doesn't need any more ammunition. That's why I'll never run a campaign, as I shouldn't. Conway did seem to feel that with so many Kentuckians without health care, we should not be actively trying to take health care away from people, so I'll give him credit for that. I also asked him how he would deal with legislation that tried to put the 10 commandments in the public square (courts, public schools, legislature). He said once more that he would follow the law. If they were displayed with other historical documents, or other religious texts, this would be legal. If they were simply presented by themselves, this is unconstitutional, and he would enforce this. As far as the religious texts that might have to be included with the 10 commandments, one I will not print that he mentioned, for obvious reasons. In some respects, people are just stupid, so I'd rather not.

If it was up to me, no religious text would be allowed, but I am well aware that I am in a large minority in KY, and I know that will not change in my lifetime. He also talked about his view of Jesus Christ (12 years in Catholic school), saying that he stood for tolerance of others, not villainizing those who are different, like Stan Lee does towards gays and hispanics. There's no greater political pandering than talking about your relationship with Jesus Christ, but considering who he's running against, I'll let that slide.

The race for Attorney General (and it will be a race, unlike the blowout in the governor's race) is the most important in Kentucky this fall. If Stan Lee is AG, you will see Kentucky become the laughing stock of the country. Lee would do his best to make KY a de facto Christian state, in which our government explicitly endorses it over other religions. Active discrimination will be ignored as acceptable.

This is why Jack Conway needs to be elected (despite where he went to school). We need integrity and decency in the AG's office, and Conway would give us this, especially in comparison to Stan Lee.

As Conway said after his primary win in response to Lee's odd response that Conway could not grow a mustache,

"I am not going to get into a mustache growing contest with Stan Lee because his is quite impressive. But as I've said before, I have grown a sense of decency, respect and tolerance and that is something that Stan Lee has yet to grow."

You betcha. Here is Jack Conway's website, if you would like to contribute, and I suggest that you do. dinosaurs like Stan Lee have no place in our government.

The KY Media’s Endorsement of the Anti-Science, Anti-Gay Agenda

(I have absolutely no idea if Nougat is going to publish this column. The ownership's new "no reference to religion or icky gay people" policy is certainly being put to the test by me. I assumed that they would refuse to run it, and it looked like they weren't, but now I'm hearing it will run, though I had to butcher it down to 950 words. Anyway, more of you will read it here than in the soccer mom advertising flyer, so there)

(additionally, if this is published I'd love the fact that I managed to sneak in graphic depictions of injuries from ass rape which will infiltrate the living rooms of these delicate flowers. Be careful what you wish for, editors/publishers of America... a pissed off, stubborn writer can be a dangerous thing)

“This conduct [homosexuality] is anti-social, and it is a pathology. It is a sickness, and it needs to be treated.”

-Pat Robertson

On May 24th, George W. Bush nominated Kentucky’s own Dr. James Holsinger to be America’s next Surgeon General. After serving as the chief medical officer of the Veterans Administration, Holsinger was chancellor of UK’s Chandler Medical Center and most recently the secretary of Health and Family Services under Gov. Ernie Fletcher.

As a prominent Kentucky public figure, Holsinger was overwhelmingly endorsed by both the Lexington Herald-Leader and the Courier Journal. Both Kentucky newspapers wrote glowing and uncritical editorials for him, wishing him an easily confirmation and deriding those as “crazy” that would consider not doing so.

These uncritical endorsements were awarded despite the fact that Holsinger has a past of using junk-science and cherry picking data in order to fit his own fundamentalist religious views towards homosexuality. In 1991, he wrote a “scientific” study of the dangers of homosexuality for his church. The study was highly inaccurate and used misleading data, its conclusions being far outside of the mainstream of peer-reviewed medical research. Additionally, Holsinger has actively sought to discriminate from homosexuals in his private church activities, even founding a church that seeks to “cure” gay people.

Considering the fact President Bush has a disgraceful history of pressuring those in his executive branch to distort, manipulate and ignore well accepted scientific research in order to promote his own political and ideological agenda, one would think that Holsinger’s nomination would throw up some obvious red flags. Additionally, Bush’s tendency to surround himself with cronies and yes men might raise questions of Holsinger’s independence, as he has long been a major donor to the Republican Party and George W. Bush.

But the Herald-Leader and Courier Journal dismissed such rational concerns. Not only that, but both papers followed their endorsement with a series of guest editorials that were blatantly dishonest and full of hated towards homosexuals. Whether this was due to deference for a powerful local official or fear of a backlash from prominent anti-gay bigots in the state is up debate. In either scenario, it was a sad display of cowardice and political expediency in the face of anti-scientific intolerance.

*********************************************

Soon after Holsinger’s nomination, reports of his anti-gays writing began to surface in the media. The major research cited was Holsinger’s “Pathophysiology of Male Homosexuality”, written in 1991 for the United Methodist Church’s Committee to Study Homosexuality. The paper gave the appearance of a well documented piece of medical research, citing prominent academic sources. However, a close examination of the study reveals intentional manipulation of evidence to fit his preconceived bias against homosexuality, concluding that male homosexual intercourse is unhealthy and unnatural.

Greatest. Video. Ever.

Jim Pence at Hillybilly Report has a rather brilliant Ned Flanders/Stan Lee video up. I think I woke up my neighbors laughing.

Gunterman adds some additional comments that are right on the mark.

Boat People

Enjoy. The pirates' loss is our gain.

The Bigot Writes an Editorial

Our favorite mustached bigot writes a column in the Courier-Journal about how domestic partner benefits will destroy, I say DESTROY traditional marriage.

I think I've finally figured this out. Correct me if I'm off base here. We have Stan Lee, who obviously has had some issues growing up about his sexuality. In order to defend himself from anyone who might catch on to his sexual confusion, he puts on a lifelong front of virulent hatred of homosexuals, so that no one will question his hetero manliness. But why this fear of something as innocuous as health benefits for domestic partners? As Ned says, the universities are trying to "systematically dismantle marriage in our society". I think what Ned fears is that sexually ambiguous married folk like himself, when presented with the public and visible acceptance of homosexual couples, will be unable to resist their urges. Therefore, waves of such men will be forced to divorce their wives, now presented with the option to follow their repressed sexual urges.

Well, at least that's the only explanation that makes sense to me. Maybe I'm wrong. That, or he's just a crude, hateful and immoral politician that is making political gain by tapping into hatred of unpopular people.

(crossposted at DitchMitchKY)

Self-Censoring a column about Self-Censorship (wtf?)

UPDATE: I should emphasize that I am NOT referring to Jennie Leavell in this post, who is the actual editor and has been quite awesome through all of this. Please don't direct any of this towards her, it is someone else.

Update #2: I've been told that the column will now be published. We'll see. There's been a great amount of pressure put on the magazine in response to this, which I did not ask for, but is nevertheless greatly appreciated. I'll keep you all updated.

If you care to indulge me, let me get something off of my chest about my earlier column on self-censorship in the media and Nougat Magazine (Lexington's supposed "indy-alt-arts magazine", if you don't know that)

As of the time of my writing this tonight, there is a good chance that my editor is going to censor my entire column because of its content. Yes, that would be self-censorship of a column about self-censorship.

Let me go back a bit to explain the context.

About a week and a half ago, I pitched an idea to one of my editors about writing a review about my little visit to the Crazy-Ass Creation Museum.

My editor wrote me back saying that Nougat will no longer make any reference to "controversial" subjects, so they could not do any story on the museum. In fact, she specifically said that Nougat will now refuse to run any article that talks about "religion, gays or abortion".

I replied, "so you're an alternative independent magazine, yet you refuse to even mention women's reproductive freedom, attacks on science and human reason, and the denial of civil rights for an entire class of citizens? ........ Interesting."

She responded by saying that they've tried that "edgy" stuff before, but they're now going to cover safe topics so they can get more advertising dollars. Additionally, she said that since they're starting to mail to one Lexington zip code, they could be sued by someone for "corrupting their children".

I shit you not. wtf???

An additional inside source told me that advertisers will now pay to have fluff pieces written about them in the magazine. So they are basically seeking to become an advertising flyer.

Anyway, at this time I was finishing up my Media Czech column about the 100% false myth that gets repeated over and over again as fact in the media without challenge-- that Saddam wouldn't let weapons inspectors in and that's why we had to invade.

So I scrapped that column. I decided to write the one on self-censorship in the media instead (linked earlier). I considered it a subtle but firm FUCK YOU to my editor.

Anyway, the latest word is that the editor with the most clout is going to refuse to run it, which is just wonderful irony, don't you think? One person within there is going to fight for it, but we'll see how it works out very very soon.

Regardless of how this turns out, how fucking pathetic is it that Lexington has no alt-indy magzine worth a shit anymore? (Shit, we can't count Ace, can we?) And how are we going to fucking fix this problem in Lexington? And keep the Main/Limestone/Vine/Upper block from getting leveled so they can build a fucking hotel??

If you're interested, let's brainstorm, eh?

More Creationist Wingnuttery, Wearing a Tinfoil Hat

This letter to the editor was actually published in a Kentucky newspaper. I think it's a pretty good representation of the kind of mindset and mental health that it takes to believe that Adam and Eve played fetch with dinosaurs 6,000 years ago while their kids were busy fucking.

Let me just summarize the wonderful pontification in the letter. The evolution "mythology" and science being taught in our schools is "dumbing down" our kids. This is being taught so the "Illuminati" and the Rockefeller family can control our kids. Oh, and they control the Federal Reserve and engage in occult activities, too. Also, her family loved the Creation Museum and the animatronic dinosaurs "concretely prove that God created the heavens and the earth".

I really do hope that they chose to run this because it was funny, or they accidentally ran some wonderfully crafted snark.

(crossposted at DitchMitchKY)

Thank you Creationists!

I heartily echo the sentiments of my colleague Matt Gunterman over at DitchMitchKY. These nutjobs have managed to push the progressive Kentucky blogosphere into a new era. I believe thats called "blowback".

Getting front paged at DailyKos, Huffington Post, Crooks and Liars, Andrew Sullivan and Pharyngula, not to mention many, many others, brought in 55,000 page loads and 40,000 unique visits over the past two and a half days. DitchMitchKY got a considerable amount of links from this, too.

Oh, and I also thank them for a very entertaining 2 hours in their hall of horrors.

Fun at the Creation Museum!!!!

This Saturday, I made my much anticipated field trip to the Answers in Genesis Creation Museum, a $27 million monstrosity devoted to religious fanaticism, disguised as “science”.

Two of my heretical friends and I ventured an hour north up I-75 from Lexington, just short of Cincinnati, to discover a museum full of shocking idiocy and unintentional humor.

Early in the museum, the visitor is given advice on the proper mind frame to have for your visit: “Don’t think, just listen and believe”. As you can see in the picture below, Human Reason is the enemy and God’s Word is the hero. Descartes represents Human Reason, saying “I think, therefore I am”. But God tells us there no need to waste your beautiful mind, for God says “I am that I am”.

So logic, reason and science are Bad; blind faith is Good.

“Reason” says the planets formed many billions of years ago. God’s Word says only 6,000 years ago.

“Reason” says the evolution began 14 billion years ago. God’s Word says creation began 6,000.years ago.

After showing the “days” (literally days) of creation, we venture into the 6th day of creation, when we meet Adam and Eve. A video recreation below shows how Adam was created. In about 3 seconds, a burst of wind swept up funnel of dirt and, “wah-la”, it turned into Adam. Oh, and the actor playing Adam? He happens to be a naughty, naughty, naughty boy.

We then venture into the recreation of the Garden of Eden, where we get to meet the Beastmaster himself. Here, a creatively covered up Adam pets the friendly animals of the garden. Oh, and there’s no need to be afraid, because all of the animals at this time were like Disney cartoon characters. They did not bite, sting, or even defecate for that matter. Even the T-Rexes were playful and gay. Adam even gave them all names! How cute!

Unfortunately, there was no display of Adam riding a Lion, much like The Beastmaster, the film that I believe was based on Adam’s life story. This will disappoint many of the “Christian Academy” students here in Kentucky attending the museum for a field trip, for their psycho “Biology” textbooks have supercool illustrations of the Lion-riding-Beastmaster/Adam next to bears and brontosauruses.

Psychotic foxes in the henhouse

Bush's new Surgeon General is a certified evangelical lunatic. Joseph Holsinger and his wife...

...founded Hope Springs Community Church in a warehouse at 1109 Versailles Road. Calhoun called it a socially diverse congregation with a "very vital recovery ministry." It serves the homeless and those with addictions to drugs, alcohol and sex; and it has a Spanish-language Hispanic congregation with its own pastor.  [...]

Hope Springs also ministers to people who no longer wish to be gay or lesbian, Calhoun said.

"We see that as an issue not of orientation but of lifestyle," he said. "We have people who seek to walk out of that lifestyle."

He also...

...supported a pastor who would not permit an openly gay man to join the church...(The church's bishops voted later to allow the gay man to become a member.)

I enjoy laughing at psychotic fundamentalists as much as the next guy, but when they attain prominent positions in our federal government, its just scary.

Jerry Falwell dead

Jerry Falwell dead at the age of 73.

I'm assuming that family members of those who died in 9/11 have enough class not to blame his death on heterosexuals.

28 Days and Counting!!!

The countdown officially begins here at BlueGrassRoots. I vividly remember in High School counting down the days until Pulp Fiction came out. Last year I anxiously awaited Borat. And now, potentially the greatest work of comedy I will ever witness is only 28 days from opening just an hour away from Lexington.

The Answers in Genesis Creation Museum.

Yes, kids from all over the Bluegrass State will be herded in for field trips to learn that 6,000 years ago, a magical person in the clouds decided to make the earth and all of it creeping things. One can see how man and "dreadful" dinosaurs co-existed, and how Adam "named them all"! One can see an actually "life sized" section of Noah's Ark!  Learn how the Grand Canyon was created in a matter of days from the Great Flood! Find the truth behind the Great International Conspiracy of Scientists to Propagate the Myth of Carbon-Dating! Discover the Garden of Eden where men and beasts co-existed in a Disney wonderland, before that silly bitch Eve fucked it all up!

And the best part is that students in Kentucky's "Christian Academies" can see firsthand in animitronics what they have been learning in their science textbooks. Its one thing to see a picture in their textbook, but to see Adam riding a Lion in person....priceless.

Or, one can just watch The Beastmaster on WGN at 3am.

Nevertheless, I will definitely make a pilgrimage there, as I can imagine this will be hours of laughter. Its rare that you get to see legitimately insane people build a $25 million museum, and when they do, you must take full advantage of it.

Oh, and the pride this will build in the image of Kentucky! Shedding off the ignorant redneck stereotype, we will now be seen as the center of cutting edge, out of the secular box science.

And what a boom to our economy. Just take the story of Jeremy Huff, who gained a job, as well as a new relationship with Jesus.

"I guess I was always on my way. I used to go to church, but I got away from it. And I wanted to accept the Lord into my heart, but I didn't really have anyone to help me. Now I think God put me here for a reason, and I'm working for God."

Yes, Ernie Fletcher might not be able to create jobs in Kentucky, but the magical white-bearded man in the sky who grants wishes can!

Can't wait. 28 days and counting....

My Sweet Lord

OK, so I've never had a favorite sculptor.....until now.

I give you......Cosimo Cavallaro.

Anyone able to make Bill Donohue have a seizure, while simultaneously allowing the public to consume the King of Kings' delicious chocolate balls, is an absolute fucking hero in my book.

As Homer would say, "mmmmmm......sacrilicious"

Biological Gayness

Let's set aside Al Mohler's "Island of Dr. Moreau" concept of altering genes to eliminate gayness in fetuses for a moment and digest the important part of this story.  Al Mohler, as kooky and militant as he often comes across, has just acknowledged that homosexuality is not necessarily a choice.  While the whole "let's put a hormone patch on 'em" concept reeks of Mary Shelley, this is a major policy shift in the militant wing of the religious right.

If gay people are born gay then it's no different than being born with three arms, or being born gay and with three arms.  Let them blather about "prenatal treatment" - just relish the fact that the most inane talking point, that gayness is a choice, is done.  A three armed gay person can now be treated humanely, just as a three armed straight person.  After all, we can't punish the innocent babies.  Yes, the hypocrisy of supporting prenatal gene alteration by a religious kook deserves to be drug kicking and screaming into the light, by Al Mohler has just humanized gays.  There is no more important step to claiming your freedom than to be seen as a human being in the eyes of your oppressor.

Give gays their rights and let Mohler and his whacked out religious extremists lock themselves and their "scientists" in a bunker and search for a cure.  By the time they emerge with their holy snake oil the world will have moved on without them having long seen gay people as equals rather than punching bags.

Biology: God's Living Creation....more fun

Here are some more excerpts from our favorite wacky ID'ers Biology textbook that students at LCA use.  Enjoy

Chapter 20: Arthropods

"It is apparent that God has chosen the animals without backbones to display His creative powers through the magnificent variety among them....The awesome complexity of the invertebrates displays God's delight in variety"

Insects and Man
"The plan of God.  God created the insect world (as part of the "creeping things" in Gen. 1:24-25) to benefit mankind.....In God's providence, insects provide food for numerous other creatures and such products as beeswax, honey, shellac, and silk.  Insects, one of God's major provisions for His living creation, were designed to be man's friends"

"Man's fall and God's curse.  When God cursed the earth after the fall (Gen. 3:17-19; Rom. 8:20-21), the relationship between man and some of the insects changed.  No longer were all of the insects man's friends; some became enemies and competitors.  Sin, disease, suffering and death entered the world; as a result, some insects became transmitters of disease and causers of suffering.  Although certain helpful insects became predators or parasites of harmful insects, the proliferation of harmful insects would make man's life more difficult...."

Oh, how I long for the days when the creeping things were our friends...alas.  Here is an artist's rendition of what they were like. Me Gusta!

Biology: God's Living Creation....excerpt #1

The following is an excerpt from an actual science textbook that thousands of high school kids in private schools are using, including Lexington Christian Academy here in town.  I swear that I am not making any of this up.  To God.  Seriously though.

The following is an excerpt from the books preface:

Life is God's most marvelous and complex creation.  Biology: God's Living Creation presents life as God created it and now controls it.  Historically, biology was the first major area of assault in the American classroom as evolution permeated the schools in the 1920's.  Even today, evolutionism poisons biology textbooks and distracts from God's glory in creation.  High school students need to understand God's living creation from a Biblical perspective, as God created it, and as man has learned of it.

...

Evolution is presented for what it is---a retreat from science.  Students and teachers alike will feel more comfortable when they realize that it not biology that is in conflict with Scripture, but rather the ungodly philosophy of some biologists.

Since the day Darwin invaded the classrooms, God's glory has been hidden from students.  Now there is an opportunity in the Christian classroom to declare that glory with Biology: God's Living Creation.

Yes, thats just the tip of the iceburg of fucked up crazy shit in this thing.  I'll put more up later, including the chapter on things that "creepeth".

The Meaning of X-Mas...by Chuck Norris

Beware fellow Secular Progressives!  Our diabolical War on Christmas has been dealt a crushing blow.  General O'Reilly has enlisted a man of great power, intellect and....um...Roundhouse Kicks!  The one and only Chuck Norris. 

Help us Steven Segal. You're our only hope.....

The Editors Answer Your Mel Gibson Questions

While Mel Gibson may or may not be a bigot, depending on whether he's in a drunken rampage or a stoic hangover, the Editors try to straighten out the issues.

So That's Where They Find Them

I'm having a hard time finding anything about Debbie Robbins that would qualify her to write columns in the Courier-Journal.  Although I think I did figure out why she wrote a column replete with undercurrents of gay bashing.

Christian Values

The far out wing of the religious right in action:

This is a painful drama playing out at dozens of military funerals across the country. The group is led by Fred Phelps.

He and his family have picketed and heckled military families at more than 100 funerals since June. They say the soldiers are fighting for an army that represents a country that accepts homosexuality.

I'm not qualified to give a clinical diagnosis but this guy is completely nuts (I was really hoping that was a parody sight - I don't think it is).  And I'll send a shout out to all the KY legislative peeps that voted to keep this religious nutbag out of our backyard:

Kentucky, home to sprawling Fort Campbell along the Tennessee line, was among the first states to attempt to deal with Phelps legislatively. Its House and Senate have each passed bills that would limit people from protesting within 300 feet of a funeral or memorial service. The Senate version would also keep protesters from being within earshot of grieving friends and family members.

Cartoons

I've been largely ignoring the whole cartoon controversy, since it seems to involve cultural and religous issues I will never understand seeing as how I'm not Muslim and am never likely to be Muslim.  I certainly don't think any censorship of "something likely to offend someone" is the answer, nor do I see that offering token condemnation of "something that has offended someone" achieves anything either.

Quite frankly, the ability to piss someone off with a cartoon is a freedom I happen to hold dear, even if I don't regularly draw cartoons that piss people off.  It's a little thing I call "freedom of speech" and while some cartoons may be drawn for the sole purpose of hurting someone's feelings or making someone mad, that's hardly a good enough reason to go crazy ape and start burning crap down.  What this nutty reaction to a cartoon printed half a world away tells me is that the rioting mob doesn't want "freedom of speech" (but they sure like "freedom of assembly" I guess).  If I'm wrong, and they do want it, then they need to find it on their own.

What I'm saying is that "freedom on the march" sounds good and all, but if you get the horse to the water and he starts burning buildings instead of drinking, well....

War on Christmas

It seems like every year there's a big controversy about the use of "Christmas" versus "Holidays" and this year is no exception.  Besides being completely inane when compared to the other affronts to Christ's teachings that occur on a daily basis, the whole debate is years behind the times.  Christ was taken out of Christmas years ago, not by political correctness, but by retailers and a society that is absorbed with the consumerism of the season.  Yet I never hear anyone complain when retailers exploit the birth of Christ to boost profits:

"This will go down as one of the earliest and most promotional Black Fridays in history," NRF President Tracy Mullin said in a statement Friday. "Many stores opened earlier than ever before and retailers offered unbelievable sales and discounts to get people shopping."

I'm a fairly private person in my religious practice and don't really feel that a Happy Holiday card threatens my relationship with my God.  But if there's a serious problem with Christmas, it's not with political correctness, it's with crass commercialism.  Just a thought.

Medicine: does birth control save lives?

With the election of the new pope, and the use of birth control in the third world a hot topic, I decided to peruse the medical literature to see what I could come up regarding whether it is valid to say that a lack of access to contraception leads to poor maternal-fetal health. Here's a sample of what I've found. Those without Medline access may have trouble with the links.

Women in developing countries suffer considerable morbidity and mortality due to inability to control their own fertility and lack of access to family planning services. Over 500,000 deaths each year are related to pregnancy. Two thirds of these maternal deaths could be prevented by providing contraception to those women who wish to use it in developing countries.
The fifth freedom. Kincaid-Smith P. Bioethics. 1995 Jul;9(3-4):183-91.

Increased use of family planning and safe abortion might avert 100,000 maternal deaths each year due to pregnancy related causes and 200,000 maternal deaths due to unsafe abortion.
Curlin P, Tinker A. Women's health. Infect Dis Clin North Am. 1995  Jun;9(2):335-51.

And some info derived from the very important World Fertility Surveys from the early 80s, compiling data from 41 developing countries:

Only about 6000 of the estimated half million maternal deaths each year occur in developed countries. The indirect causes of maternal mortality are related to the unfavorable status of women reflected in poverty, illiteracy, lack of access to health care, and procreation patterns. The World Fertility Surveys indicate that 200,000 maternal deaths would be avoided each year if women not wanting more children had access to contraception. Contraceptive use would also prevent most of the estimated 100,000-200,000 maternal deaths from complications of abortion each year.
Aizenman DE. Impact of family planning on maternal-child health. The future of humanity depends on our children. Profamilia. 1988 Dec;4(13):28-33.

The Catholics for Choice website lists the following information, but there aren't proper citations. However, the information seems very consistent with previously properly cited work.

Access to contraception is proven to reduce maternal and infant deaths, slow the spread of HIV/AIDS, reduce the number and need for abortions, and improve the life expectancy of children. Every year:

• Half a million women die of pregnancy-related causes each year, because the pregnancies come too often, too close, too early, or too late in life.
• Seven million infants die because their mothers were not physiologically ready for pregnancy or lacked obstetric care.      
• 75,000 women die worldwide from unsafe illegal abortions, according to conservative estimates.

Regardless of whether the Catholic doctrine against contraception is consistent or inconsistent with scripture, it is a public health disaster of severely epic proportions that is simply unacceptable to non-Catholics, and should be realized and considered by the Catholic church itself. A ban on contraception may very well be inconsistent with support for a 'culture of life.'

Religion: Pope Benedict XVI

Well, I can't say I'm not disappointed that the Cardinals of the Catholic Church have chosen a European to lead their church.  Plus, "God's rotweiller" is a hard-liner opposed to liberation theology, homosexuality, and women's ordination. 

As an outsider, it appears to me that the Catholic Church has missed a great opportunity to move forward. 

But, I guess that's why you can't say "Protestant" without saying "protest."

Politics/Religion: Nathan Wilson Sermon

We're really cranking on BlueGrassRoots today, with updates on Daniel Mongiardo, the Kentucky Young Democrats, vigorous commenting, and now this:

Nathan Wilson, a friend and guest on BlueGrassRoots Radio, has a sermon featured on the Disciples of Christ of Kentucky's website.  You can read it here, but here is the meat of the text:

God’s vision of justice and peace --  Where the poor, and the  marginalized are not seen as people we simply cannot understand, not seen  as the enemy, not seen as losers; but rather as brothers and sisters, our  equals, who may need our help.

God’s vision of justice and peace where we try to identify with  the down-and-outters, looking them in the eye instead of observing them  only from some great height of supposed superiority.

God’s vision of justice and peace where we work to make it possible  so that someone who wants to earn a living, or an education, will have  a good chance to do so.

God’s vision of justice and peace where God’s people – us – become  more aware of where those things that happen all the time that prevent  people from getting daily necessities. For instance, any idea how difficult  it is for people without a car to get to the grocery, or to school, or  to work, or to church?  Any idea how frightening it must be to have  a sick child but no health insurance?  Are we, God’s people,  aware of such things?

God’s vision of justice and peace that challenges us to move beyond  our selfish preoccupation with how we are doing to ask how is everyone  doing.

Politics/Religion: Talking God and Politics on Talk Radio

I told you yesterday that I couldn't find the audio file from our interview with Nathan Wilson, minister of Clintonville Christian Church.  Well, last night, call it an epiphany or grace, I figured it out and found the file.

Interview: BlueGrassRoots Radio talks God and politics with Nathan Wilson.

Politics/Radio: Nathan Wilson Talks Religion and Politics

Nathan Wilson, minister of Clintonville Christian Church in Bourbon County and Director of the Young Democrats' Southeastern Region, came into the studio today and talked--eloquently--about religion and politics and the intersection between the two. 

We talked about Jesus as a political figure in his own day, the standard by which all public policy proposals should be judged, and talked about what Democrats can do to reach out to religious people. 

It was, in short, an awesome conversation (which makes my inability to locate a copy of the interview all the more egregious).  I wish we could instill Nathan's commitment to social justice in all of us, starting with me.

Nathan mentioned a number of resources toward which I'd like to point your attention:

God's Politics: Why the Right Gets it Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It, a book by Jim Wallis
Sojourners Online
Call to Renewal
2020 Democrats
Clergy and Laity Network

When I locate a copy of the interview, I will be posting it here pronto.  See, this is the risk you run by relying on me to record the interviews...  You should really just be waking up at 6 each Wednesday to make sure you don't miss a thing.

Oh, and if you want to get a sense of where Nathan is coming from, you can read his fantastic speech, "Public Good, Personal Beliefs, Political Choices."  Here it is:

Politics is not about campaigns or candidates or even elections. Politics is about the water you drink and the air you breathe and making sure both are clean. Politics is about children not going to bed hungry. Politics is about all of us having access to the health care we need. Politics is about people being at war or at peace.

Politics is about distributing economic goods and defining what property rights are. Politics is about determining what a crime is and how it will be punished. Politics affects the degree to which we can speak or write or even worship. Politics defines who will be accepted as members of a community and who will be placed in the margins. Politics even seriously influences how you raise your children by determining the circumstances of family life and, don't forget, establishing much of the subject matter of their education.

So, then, the question "should religion have a role in politics" is the wrong question. It does. Religion matters. A better question is how should religion and politics interact or relate? Religion has long been important to people who are concerned about politics, and politics have been important to the people who are most concerned about religion.

Let me say it another way. Those who are serious about politics must also take religion seriously and those who are the most deeply religious must pay attention to politics.