BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

Maybe if the courts and government refuse to see the danger here, we need to start an Underground Railroad for these girls! A 17-year old girl who fled from her home, fearing her Muslim parents would kill her for converting to Christianity, must go back to Ohio, a Florida judge ruled Tuesday. Judge Daniel Dawson ruled Ohio has jurisdiction over the case involving the teen, Rifqa Bary. Before the girl gets sent back, the judge says he needs immigration papers proving her status in the U.S. and proof from the state of Florida that she can continue her virtual schooling and receive credit in Ohio. She is expected to be placed in foster care when she returns and will also be provided with psychiatric evaluations. Her parents will also receive psychiatric evaluations. Rifqa can be back in Ohio as early as this week, or by an Oct. 23 follow-up hearing. Rifqa fled to Florida after her parents, Mohamed and Aysha Bary, learned that she was baptized earlier this year without their knowledge. The...

Without a Pastor of His Own, Obama Turns to Five by Laurie Goodstein President Obama has been without a pastor or a home church ever since he cut his ties to the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. in the heat of the presidential campaign. But he has quietly cultivated a handful of evangelical pastors for private prayer sessions on the telephone and for discussions on the role of religion in politics. All are men, two of them white and three black — including the Rev. Otis Moss Jr., a graying lion of the civil rights movement. Two, the entrepreneurial dynamos Bishop T. D. Jakes and the Rev. Kirbyjon H. Caldwell, also served as occasional spiritual advisers to President George W. Bush. Another, the Rev. Jim Wallis, leans left on some issues, like military intervention and poverty programs, but opposes abortion. None of these pastors are affiliated with the religious right, though several are quite conservative theologically. One of them, the Rev. Joel C. Hunter, the pastor of a conservative meg...

CHRISTIAN NATION... OF IGNORANCE With a presidential election coming in about a year, there's been much chatter in the blogosphere about the candidates. Some even on this blog. I have lamented with other bloggers that there are no real leaders anywhere in either party. To me, it all seems very homogenized. I love politics and history. Always have. My late mother, however, would draw me into a political discussion with her other adult friends then chastize me severely for having strong opinions as well being able to argue point for point with her friends. She didn't like it and made me believe I was being 'uppity.' My trauma counselors believe she was jealous. I learned to keep my mouth closed and just shut down that part of me until recently. Another family member is a big politics-junkie too. And that got me going again as well as into blogging in 2003. Additionally, if I hadn't been so good with English Literature and Writing in undergrad school, I wou...

A CHRISTIAN NATION? The religious right is still working tirelessly to push America towards a theocracy. Something our founding fathers POSITIVELY did not want! Our military is being steered towards Christianity and the separation of Church and State is being chipped away at right under our noses. Precedents are not just being overturned--the five Catholic justices (John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Anthony Kennedy) are endangering jurisprudence in this nation by violating their oaths of office. Instead of maintaining judicial impartiality it appears they are imposing their religious and political ideology upon all Americans. The U.S. Code Title 28, Part I, Chapter 21 at Section 453 states the oath of justices and judges as follows: Each justice or judge of the United States shall take the following oath or affirmation before performing the duties of his office: "I, ________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I...

Myth: Republicans value sexual morality (If links are broken or missing, Google.com is your friend. These all happened prior to the Mark Foley Scandal) Adelphia Communications Corp. : Donated large sums of money to some of the most conservative members of Congress. They are also the first cable company to offer hard-core adult movies to subscribers. Daily Kos article Edison Misla Aldarondo, Republican legislator from Puerto Rico , was sentenced to 13 years in prison for molestation of his daughter and her friend for eight-year period starting when they were 9. Full Article Randal David Ankeney, Republican activist from Colorado , arrested on suspicion of sexual assault on a child with force. He faces 6 charges related to getting a 13-year-old girl stoned on pot and then having sex with her. Source Also accused of sexually assaulting another girl. Denver ABC Article Dick Armey (R-Texas) , former professor, has been accused by The Dallas Observer of sexually harassing female students. J...