Category: Religion

Big Guns in Little Pavo

9/29/2015

Connect:

Deacon McArthur Bentley and his Pavo congregation rock out, while Brent and Joelle remind terrorists, big government, and affordable healthcare to stay out of the South. Pavo is a few miles down the road from where I grew up.

Ted Cruz: "What I'll Do as President is Kill the Terrorists"

With big guns like these, who needs government?

With guns like these, who needs govenment?

Pavo, population 600, has fancy police cars, an old water tower, and lots of guns... everything a small town needs.

Tony Harrell photography commented on the engagement photos they took for Brent and Joelle:

As South Georgia Wedding Photographers, Lisa and I shoot a lot of engagements and weddings. We normally find the grooms-to-be somewhat reserved in their enthusiasm during the picture taking process. Until Brent. The man is an image producing beast. We couldn’t throw a shot idea at Brent that he didn’t like – nor did he have any problems coming up with stuff on his own. Joelle was right there with him though – in the tick infested overgrowth, the deserted buildings, the potential trespassing… We all had a great time.

"This shot was inspired by
their current Facebook avatar."

"Located in the Tallahassee FL area. 20 miles north in GA 50 miles from the Emeril coast. (Emerald coast, the area of the Florida panhandle near Destin that is affectionately known as L.A., or Lower Alabama). Pavo is also the home of the World Champion Arm Wrestler, Cleve "Arm Breaker" Dean."

World champion arm wrestler Cleve Dean of Pavo was featured in "Over the Top" and was called the filet mignon of arm wrestling by the Los Angeles Times.

Arm-wrestling legend Cleve Dean passes

Pavo is also featured in country music star Alan Jackson's video for hit song "Little Man" that laments the decline of small-town America.

Get your own Lower Alabama
t-shirt (mullet not included)

Little Man

Now the court square's just a set of streets
That the people go round but they seldom think
Bout the little man that built this town
Before the big money shut em down
And killed the little man
Oh the little man

He pumped your gas and he cleaned your glass
And one cold rainy night he fixed your flat
The new stores came where you do it yourself
You buy a lotto ticket and food off the shelf
Forget the little man
Forget about that little man

He hung on there for a few more years
But he couldn't sell slurpees
And he wouldn't sell beer
Now the bank rents the station
To a man down the road
And they sell velvet Elvis and
Second-hand clothes
There goes little man
There goes another little man

Now the court square's just a set of streets
That the people go round but they seldom think
Bout the little man that built this town
Before the big money shut em down
And killed the little man
Oh the little man

Now the stores are lined up in a concrete strip
You can buy the whole world in just one trip
And save a penny cause it's jumbo size
They don't even realize
They'er killin' the little man
Oh the little man

It wasn't long ago when I was a child
An old black man came with his mule and his plow
He broke the ground where we grew our garden
Back before we'd all forgoten
about the little man
The little man
Long live the little man
God bless the little man

Read more about the decline of small towns, racial integration, and selling out the middle class in Brooks County 3: Season of Dedication.

Truth be told, folks in South Georgia don't care much for North Georgia Yankees. Alan Jackson you're okay. Calhoun, we owe you.

There are other artists who actually are from South Georgia, such as Mickey Thomas of Starship. Abe Lincoln? Grace Slick don't care!

Mickey honed his singing skills in an old farmhouse in Brooks County while singing for The Jets, featured below. They rocked out of Valdosta, GA.

Southgeorgiagaragebands:

"We are not sure where Slais called home, probably California, but he came here by way of Moody AFB. He had played sax for Billy Preston's band The Shindogs forthe 60's TV show Shindig.

The Jets were an extremely popular band based in Valdosta, GA, in the early and mid 1970s. They played all over Georgia and the Southeast. Their main venue was Doc Holiday's Long Branch Saloon in Five Points. They were the trend setteers of that era. Crowds packed the Long Branch to hear these talented guys."

Members left to right:: Bud Thomas, rhythm guitar from Valdosta; Curt "Catfish" Nelson, lead guitar from Minneapolis; Bill Silas, keyboards and sax; Tommy Verran, drums from Cairo; Charles Connell, bass; Mickey Thomas, singer from Cairo/Valdosta. Mickey Thomas went on to gain fame as the featured singer with Elvin Bishop and then joined Grace Slick and the Jefferson Airplane. Mickey is now the leader of Starship and resides in California. Bud Thomas went on to gain fame as Bud Thomas and still resides in Valdosta, Georgia. Many stories about Bud are still told around campfires. Bud is a legend in his own mind.

For 30 years, Bernie Sanders has
NOT YIELDED in defending the little man

Rick Steves Quotes Bernie Sanders: Income Inequality at Nicolas Fouquet's Vaux-le-Vicomte
Recipe for Hopelessness: Greed, Addiction & No Mental Health
High on Capitol Hill was a lonely goatherd, lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo
Bernie The Carpathian Saves America from Anarchy, Oligarchy, Destruction

Who are you, Ted Cruz? Bernie Sanders Blitzes Wolf About Iran
Bernie's 95 Theses at Liberty University: Abortion, Poverty, Racism, War on Cops, and Other Unconscionable Acts

Click image for link.

Grace Slick, Billy Graham, and Jerry Garcia
discuss greed in the music industry and...

Quaalude?!?

Mental Health Pharma:
On a roll with Quaalude,
Xanax, and Oxycontin

Since 1983, the Date of this Video Clip:
Pharmacist & Patient Safety Has Not Improved.
Mental Health in America Has Not Improved.

Special Thanks:

Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan (for starting the War on Drugs and putting minor drug offenders and the mentally ill in prison). At least you fulfilled your dream of a small government by making the prisons private.
FDA (For approving the #RxProblem)
DEA (For making safer drugs such as cannabis and classic hallucinogens illegal)
American Psychiatric Association (For eliminating non-drug therapies in America)

Stanford: The incarceration rate in California skyrocketed when funding was pulled from its state mental hospitals.

Ronald Reagan, we'll also blame you for the mass shootings that happen today. Conservative politicians love blaming them on mental illness. (NRA, you're still on our list).
When Reagan was elected President in 1980, he discarded a law proposed by his predecessor that would have continued funding federal community mental health centers. This basically eliminated services for people struggling with mental illness.

Between 1967 and 1975, Governor Ronald Reagan slashed funding to mental hospitals leading to a dramatic decline in the number of mentally ill individuals being treated in the hospital setting. Click for source.

Enjoy the Rest of Your Musical Journey

Steve Winwood was the 14-yr old with a soulful voice who joined the Spencer Davis Group with his older brother, Muff. The younger Winwood joined the band Traffic in 1967 before teaming up with Clapton and Ginger in Blind Faith.

I'm a Man

Lola - The Kinks

Read: Lou Reed's contribution to transgender visibility

Lou Reed & Rachel's 3rd Anniversary Party

Walk on the Wild Side

Mt Pleasant Baptist Church
Pavo, GA
Deacon McArthur Bentley

First Church Nothin'
But the Truth
Bishop Bullwinkle

Tabernacle Church of God
Lafollete, TN
Pastor Andrew Hamblin

FADEAWAY, a movie
with a dude named Pavo

"Jamie wants to be a woman; his lover Pavo wants him to remain a man."

"Fadeaway chronicles a relationship in crisis, as Jamie and Pavo struggle to cope with Jamie's intention to fully transition from man to woman. Her resolve threatens to destroy their loving relationship, and plunges Pavo into questions about his own identity and closeted lifestyle and values.

Set against the backdrop of the hyper machismo world of inner-city basketball and rarified environment of sport, bromance and romance.

Fadeaway intends to share it's heartbreaking intimacy and exuberant athleticism to tell a human story of a man in transition and the world evolving around him."

Learn more about gender identity here.

Enjoy select tunes from Postcards of Life, a family band known outside of the United States for their hit song, Children of the Sun.

Just Like Heaven

The Fox

The Donkey

Comments

Bernie's 95 Theses at Liberty University: Abortion, Poverty, Racism, War on Cops, and Other Unconscionable Acts

9/15/2015

Comments

Tonight, we target the question regarding racism that Liberty University asked Bernie Sanders on September 14:

If you were elected president, what would you do to bring healing and resolution to the issues of racism in our country?

@OAWoww:

Peruse Our Amazing World
See question 2 below regarding discrimination.
Quit watching FoxNews, a bastion of hate that strips away
human dignity (watch/enjoy the following examples).

Fox News: The Poor They Know

The Daily Show
Daily Show Full Episodes, More Daily Show Videos, Comedy Central Full Episodes

Link: Once again, there is no ‘war on cops.’ And those
who claim otherwise are playing a dangerous game.

Here are the remaining 2 questions David Nasser, the senior vice president for spiritual development at Liberty, asked Bernie following his speech at the university on September 15.

Question 2: What would you say to Christians concerned that they will now face discrimination both in society and in the workplace for holding a traditional view of marriage?

Click image to access link.

@OAWoww: Liberty University students must rethink their definition of discrimination. Are they talking about preventing LGBT couples from getting married? Do they realize how important a life event marriage is to human beings? Preventing a lawful marriage is nearly equivalent to stripping someone of their religion. If you personally cannot issue a marriage license, please have a backup plan. This is not an issue of religious discrimination or religious persecution, as Ted Cruz likes to call it. Sometimes America can be cold as hell.

Question 3: You've talked in your campaign about how it is immoral to protect the billionaire class at the expense of the most vulnerable in our society: obviously, children. A majority of Christians would agree with you, but would also go further to say that children in the womb need our protection even more. How do you reconcile (long applause)..How do you reconcile the two in your mind?

Nasser: Obviously you can see this is what they want to ask. I know that you have a different view. I know that, you sir, that you and I don't have to be eye to eye on it.

Senator Sanders: Understand, this is an area where we disagree. I do understand and I do believe that it is improbable for the United States government or state government to tell every woman in this country the very painful and difficult choice that she has to make on that issue.

And, I honestly don’t want to be too provocative here, but very often Conservatives say, “You know, get the government out of my life. I don’t want the government telling me what to do.” But on this very sensitive issue on which this nation is divided, a lot of people agree with you, a lot of people agree with me. But my view is, I respect absolutely a family that says, “No, we are not going to have an abortion.” I understand that. I respect that. But I would hope that other people respect the very painful and difficult choice that many women feel they have to make and don’t want the government telling them what they have to do.

But, but...I want to take that question a step further, David. We do disagree on that issue, no if, and, or buts about it. But here is where I hope we have common ground. Now, I've not tried to be partisan during my remarks. I have not. But I'm going to be partisan for a moment, because I wanna lay this on your shoulders. I am the ranking member of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee. That means I lead the Democrats in opposition. The Republicans control the House and the Senate.

Now I wanna to tell you what was in the Republican budget that passed a number months ago. Check it out if you think I'm not telling you the truth. When you talk about issues of children, understand that the Republican budget threw 27 million people off of healthcare, including many children, at a time when many families cannot afford to send their kids to college. And I'm running on a program, by the way, that says every college and public university in America should be tuition-free. But at a time when families cannot afford to send their kids to college, the Republican budget cut $90 billion in Pell Grants over a 10 year period. At a time when children in America are going hungry, the Republican budget cut billions of dollars in nutrition programs, including money for the WIC program which goes to low-income pregnant women and their babies. And to add insult to injury in that budget, the Republicans provided over $250 billion over a 10-year period in tax breaks to the top 2/10 of 1 percent (top 0.2%). I don't think that is a moral budget.

Nasser: I'm not..I don't pretend to be an expert on budgets, but, uh, I think a lot of us would be very interested in our government and budgeting for Planned Parenthood. I think a lot of us would be interested at looking at those budgets..I think they get a lot more complex.

One student took issue with Sanders:

“The biggest inconsistency is the woman’s right to control her own body,” said Cameron Swathwood, a student [at Liberty] who attended the speech. “That assumes her body is the only one in question. … But if the unborn is in fact a human being which science and philosophy say it is, that killing the unborn is a grievous moral wrong.”

Our Amazing World's take:

Is it not equally as immoral and a greater detriment to our country to allow children to grow up in poverty with parents that struggle to provide appropriate care (and healthcare) for their children because of poverty?

“How can this be the wealthiest country in the world when one in four of America’s children has been living in poverty for over four decades?” said Thomas K. McInerny, MD, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). "The AAP and the Academic Pediatric Association (APA) have decided that now is the time to work on reducing childhood poverty as a major step to improve the health of our nation’s children, our most precious resource.”

PBS Frontline: Poor Kids

“As a society, we have chosen to use government programs to protect seniors from poverty. What the U.S. does for seniors is clearly good; so why do we not also protect children from the life-altering effects of poverty?” said Benard P. Dreyer, MD, FAAP, past president of the APA and co-chair of the APA Task Force on Childhood Poverty.

Although the nation has made policy decisions to support the elderly (whose poverty prevalence has dropped from 35 percent in 1959 to 9 percent in 2010), the same has not been done for children.

Don't forget the effect of poverty and prenatal stress on an unborn child, as well as the effect of poverty and stress on early childhood development.

Is it Immoral to Allow Corporations to Continue
Making Huge Profits on Addictive Psychoactive Drugs
That Do More Harm Than Good in Our Society, While
Turning a Blind Eye to the Lack of Non-Drug Options?
(All we ask for is for more options, better regulation, and mental health parity)

Regarding rights of unborn children, do Liberty students know about the harm placed on unborn children (and living humans) at some Pentecostal churches in their own backyard? Serpent handling is not the safest of religious practices among pregnant women. Religious Freedom laws should protect churches that perform serpent handling, as well as churches that use yagé, teonanáctl, and peyote as a religious sacraments.

Click for article

NM State Capitol

Clockwise from top right: Teonanácatl presentations at the New Mexico State Capitol, DEA Headquarters in Albuquerque, and Santa Fe Police Department show that after 494 years of prohibition, sacred sacraments are legal for certain Native American Church-affiliated chapters to utilize.

NM State Capitol

Santa Fe Police

DEA Headquarters

Religious Freedom Laws should not protect and provide tax breaks to
televangelists who rip off vulnerable seniors and homebound adults.

Could psilocybin also help homebound older adults, folks with unmet mental health needs that are too-often treated with benzodiazepines like diazepam or lorazepam?

Bernie, He Knows Me. Click to access link.

Religion should worry about their own religious practices and not worry about what other people are doing to their own bodies.

From BC3: A Season of Dedication..

There were few good jobs in Quitman, GA. Meat packing and textile jobs had moved overseas, leaving people without work. Quitman was deteriorating like many other towns in the Deep South.

In the 2000 Census, the median income in Quitman was $20,924 per household and $24,154 per family. The per capita income for the city was $10,594. About 31.2% of families and 34.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 46.7% of those under age 18 and 20.9% of those age 65 or over."

According to the Washington Post and national statistics, the South looks in rough shape on national maps of many kinds:

Life expectancy, single-parent families and households without bank accounts.
South is where poor children have the worst economic mobility and where, as teenagers, they're
Least likely to graduate from high school on time.

Chaos and Humanity While Helping Syrian Refugees
in Macedonia. Remembering Yugoslavia's Civil War

Like us and tell your friends.

We are healthcare professionals who do our best
to tell it like it is while giving a healthcare
and mental health flavor to the issues.

Facebook | Twitter

Full speech

Comments

Humanitarian Crisis for Syrian Refugees in the Balkans, Remembering the Yugoslav Wars

9/13/2015

Comments

Please donate or help bring
attention to the Syrian refugee
crisis by sharing this page.

Syrians are great people who
are victims of a brutal war.

At first, all the refugees fled into neighboring Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan. Many stayed in refugee camps that were set up in southern Turkey, while others went to larger cities like Istanbul to try and find work. Some refugees, like a friend I met in Istanbul, had parents stay behind to help those who were still in the country.

Learn more about the refugee camps in our fundraiser (includes video). I initially set it up to help my Turkish friends return to the refugee camps for humanitarian work, but now its purpose is to raise awareness about the refugee crisis. Any funds donated will be given to the organizations listed below.

Half of the Syrian population has fled the fighting. There are too many refugees for neighboring countries to handle, so many Syrians are risking their lives by traveling by sea to countries like Greece, then walking north on foot through neighboring Macedonia and the Balkan peninsula. They are trying to reach Germany and Scandinavia where there might be a better chance of finding jobs and a place to stay.

ABC News Report

Refugees often start at the bottom of the Balkan peninsula in Greece, then travel north through Macedonia, Serbia, and Hungary, then turn northwest through Austria and on to Germany.

The Promise of Art: Do You Still Believe in Humanity?

#Macedonia Minister of Defense @MoDMacedonia @ZJolevski visited transit center today w/@RefugeesMedia pic.twitter.com/0t7GXipT30
— Jason Miko (@JasonMiko) September 12, 2015

#Macedonian army helps vulnerable pp & those w/special needs make way to waiting trains at transit center pic.twitter.com/dOIBeF0Gg3
— Jason Miko (@JasonMiko) September 12, 2015

A Macedonian soldier carries a refugee child to the right.

As the video below shows, it is a stressful and difficult situation for everyone.

Macedonian Soldier

How can I help?

DONATE to the United Nations Syrian Refugee Agency (UNHCR)
UN Population Fund: Crisis in Syria
Why has the world not responded?
Syrian refugees (Wikipedia)
Learn more about Turkey and Syrian refugees in our Fundraiser

From UNHCR: In the Syrian conflict’s fifth year, millions of refugees are caught in alarmingly deteriorating conditions, facing an even bleaker future.

With no solution to the conflict in sight, most of the 4 million Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt see no prospect of returning home in the near future, and have little opportunity to restart their lives in exile.

Inside Syria, the situation is also deteriorating rapidly. Millions of children are suffering from trauma and ill health. A quarter of Syria’s schools have been damaged, destroyed or taken over for shelter. More than half of Syria’s hospitals are destroyed.

“We have only a narrow opportunity to intervene now as this potentially lost generation confronts its future”, warns UNHCR High Commissioner Antonio Guterres. “Abandoning refugees to hopelessness only exposes them to even greater suffering, exploitation and dangerous abuse."

Skopje, Macedonia

Macedonia, birthplace of Mother Theresa, has seen its share of difficulties following the war that divided Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

Skopje, Macedonia

Current countries that were once republics (states) of Yugoslavia:

Bosnia & Herzegovina
Croatia
Macedonia

Montenegro
Serbia
Kosovo (Autonomous region of
Serbia that is mainly ethnic Albanian)

Remember that all of former Yugoslavia and the Balkan peninsula was part of the Ottoman Empire centuries before. The Ottoman Empire lasted from 1299-1923 (seven centuries is a long time). The Ottoman Sultans were tolerant of all religions, though you might have to become a eunuch and guard the harem or fight as a janisserie. At least you had political clout. Eunuch life is underrated.

Skopje, Macedonia

Skopje Airport

Skopje is the capital of Macedonia. The photo above in the Skopje airport shows a piece of art in the shape of a tulip. The tulip represents Islam because the word God (Allah) written in Arabic resembles a tulip (click if you cannot access document below).

Yugoslavia came into existence after World War I in 1918 and lasted until the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s. It was formed from territories that had been part of the Ottoman Empire and Austria-Hungary for centuries. Renamed Kingdom of Yugoslavia (ruled by Serbian dynasty of Karađorđević) on 3 October 1929, it was invaded by Hitler and the Axis Powers on 6 April 1941.

Josip Broz Tito, born into a working class family–his father was Croat, mother was Slovene–was leader of the Partisan Resistance, the most effective resistant movement to Hitler. Tito took over Yugoslavia in 1943 until his death in 1980.

While his presidency has been criticized by some as authoritarian, especially in the early days, Tito was eventually regarded by most as a benevolent dictator who was a stabilizing factor in a country of various ethnicities and religions. He was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, and was once called by Orson Welles, "the greatest man in the world today."

10 years of peace after Tito's death:

He practiced "Tito-style" Communism with economic and diplomatic policies that never submitted to the United States or the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Viewed as a unifying symbol, his internal policies maintained the peaceful coexistence of the nations of the Yugoslav federation.

Tito love in Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina

NBA Players Vlade Divac (Serbian) and Drazen Petrovic (Croatian) were members of the 1990 FIBA World Championship basketball team from Yugoslavia. They came to the United States and starred in the NBA.

Once great friends, the war in Yugoslavia caused unnecessary tension between them, and Petrovic died in a tragic car accident before the two could make amends.

Prototypical example of Croat-Serb fighting:

Croatian Offensive on Knin, Operation "Oluja"
Knin on Wikipedia

On the left is an ESPN documentary about Divac and Petrovic called "Once Brothers." On the right is Vlade Divac's Ted Talk where he uses "All Lives Matter" in the right context.

Below is information about the Bosnian War, including Srebrenica, Mostar, and Sarajevo. The War in Bosnia was part of the greater
Yugoslav Wars.

Tragedy of Srebrenica (July 1995)

Ratko Mladić was a rogue commander of the Yugoslav People's Army who was responsible for the deceit and massacre of thousands of Muslims civilians in Srebrenica, located within Bosnia and marked with a the red X.

the serbians slaughtered 5000 men and boys in #srebrenica Today they are one of the kindest countries to syrian refugees.
— القعقاع بن عمرو (@Vandaliser) September 9, 2015

Mladić was a Bosnian Serb, meaning he was from Bosnia with Serbian identity. Below is a map of ethnicities/religions/identities.

A Cry From the Grave

Srebrenica: A Town Betrayed

The charges brought against Mladić in International Criminal Court include:

Genocide against a part of the Bosniak and/or Bosnian Croat national ethnical and or religious groups with the object of permanently removing Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats from the territories of Bosnia and Herzegovina claimed as Bosnian Serb territory.
Genocide against Bosniaks in Srebrenica by killing the men and boys of Srebrenica and forcibly removing the women, young children and some elderly.
Persecutions as a crime against humanity including murder, torture, beatings and rape against Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats.
Extermination and murder of Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats in the municipalities.
Murder of Bosniaks in Srebrenica.
Murder of civilians in Sarajevo.
Forcible deportation of Bosniaks, Bosnian Croats or other non-Serbs from the municipalities.
Forcible deportation of Bosniaks, Bosnian Croats or other non-Serbs from Srebrenica.
Terror and unlawful attacks against civilians.
Sniping and shelling against civilians in Sarajevo.
Hostage-taking of United Nations military observers and peacekeepers.

Srebrenica Museum, Sarajevo.
Click image to enlarge.

War in Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina

The Seige of Mostar lasted started April 1992 after Bosnia & Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia/Serbia.

It first involved the Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Muslims fighting the Serbs (Yugoslav People's Army). The Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Muslims then fought against each other until February 23, 1994 in what was called the Croat-Bosniak Conflict.

Stari Most is the bridge in Mostar that is the soul of the city and its people. It was built in 1566 and stood for 427 years until it was
destroyed on November 9, 1993 by the Bosnian Croat army and air force. It took over 60 direct missile hits to bring it down. It was
rebuilt in 2004.

Cat Norman Photography. Click image to see more photos from her website.

Photos of Mostar, today.
Click image to enlarge.

135 Seconds of Happiness in the
Balkans (And Realities of America)

The Seige of Sarajevo lasted nearly 4 years. Sarajevo is the beautiful and diverse capital city of Bosnia & Herzegovina. Sarajevo is truly a special place. Below are places of worship for Christian Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish, and Christian faiths.

Sarajevo Roses are red resin-filled scars from mortar shell explosions.
The JNA and affiliated armies lobbed thousands of mortars indiscriminately into the city during the four year siege, killing thousands. Like the tulip, roses are a symbolic flower in Islam, as they resemble "Muhammad" written in Arabic.

Wounded Knee, Yesterday and Today

Life Purpose Following Career Success

Crack'n Cats of Turkey & The Balkans

Be kind and set the example in America. It's not too late.

Click image to access story.

R-word and the
Key to its Revival

Click image to access story

Is Consciousness the Only
Savior for a Changing America? Meditation Has People Believing.

TRAVEL RAP: Europe Through the Back Door (Pretty Much Da Bomb, If Ya Know What I Mean)

If They Kill Me, I Will Rise Again in My People.

Touching Moment of Happiness
in Syrian Refugee Tent City

World Traveler Rick Steves' Perspective on Income Inequality at Nicolas Fouquet's Vaux-le-Vicomte

Travel as a Political Act

Taking a Stand for Humanity

Click image to access story

Celebrating 7 years of independence in Kotor, Montenegro.

Kotor, Montenegro

Sunday driver.

Dubrovnik, Croatia.

More from Macedonia

Ohrid, Macedonia

More from Ohrid

Ohrid, Macedonia

Ohrid, Macedonia. Proud.

Rainstorm in Skopje, Macedonia

Skopje, Macedonia

Skopje

Please donate or help bring attention
to Syrians refugees who need our help.

Syrians are great people who
are victims of a brutal war.

Comments

Lyin' Ted Cruz Shows His Religious Ignorance

8/28/2015

Comments

Connect with us: FACEBOOK | TWITTER

Updated 3/29/16

American religious fundamentalist Ted Cruz knows nothing about Muslims in the United States, but he wants to monitor them. It's the 21st century Information Age, Ted Cruz. Nobody is going to be fooled by your religion shtick that serves as a distraction for your bad policy proposals that benefit the top 1%. Neither will Americans be fooled by your efforts to send the United States to war with Iran.

Ted Cruz Gets Shot Down On CBS
Ted Cruz knows nothing about Muslims living in the U.S., but he wants to monitor them
Posted by NowThis Election on Thursday, March 24, 2016

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal blocked a "Religious Liberty" law proposed by GA state representatives who had nothing better to do with their time:

“I do not think we have to discriminate against anyone to protect the faith-based community in Georgia,” the governor said.

Eat that, Ted Cruz, you extremist religious fundamentalist wannabe http://www.ouramazingworld.org/life/lgbtcruz
Posted by Our Amazing World on Monday, March 28, 2016

Georgia State Rep Karla Drenner speaking against HB 757

Ted Cruz remembers #ReligiousLiberty talking points

Ted Cruz Slams Governor Nathan Deal For Vetoing GA's 'Anti-LGB...
Ted Cruz is angry because Georgia’s governor vetoed an anti-LGBT bill
Posted by NowThis Election on Monday, March 28, 2016

GOP Family Values Keep America in Poverty: Tackling Greed, Holding Healthcare to a Higher Standard to Protect America's Future

Are Family Values Killing Americans? Politicians in the Midwest and Appalachia Lack Courage to Support Harm Reduction, Mental Health & Drug Policy Reform

Culture is Not Your Friend: Senator Bernie Sanders Gets Between American Cultural Institutions and the Next Overdose Epidemic

Ted Cruz Booed Offstage By Christians Who Had Enough

Time: "Most American evangelicals are likely not even familiar with the Christian leaders gathered at this event, even though the headliners are the Rick Warrens, Cardinal Dolans, and even Pope Francises of their own

Eastern Christendom communities, who also met with Obama at the White House on Thursday: Patriarch Mar Bechara Boutros Cardinal Raï, Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and All the East; Gregorios III Laham, Melkite Greek Catholic Patirarch of Antioch and All the East, Alexandria, and Jerusalem; Ignatius Youssef III Younan, Syriac Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and All the East; Aram I Keshishian, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia of the Armenian Apostolic Church; Metropolitan Joseph Al-Zehlawi, Archbishop of New York and All North America for the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America; Bishop Angaelos, General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria; Ibrahim Ibrahim, Bishop Emeritus of Chaldean Eparchy of Saint Thomas the Apostle.

Whether or not Cruz meant to rile up the crowd to rally his own base or whether it was all a giant mistake is hard to parse. Whatever the case, it caused quite a stir. James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute and another speaker at IDC’s conference, calls Cruz’s performance “bizarre” yet “expected.”

“Like most other blind ideologues on the far right, he cared not a bit for the reality and the sensitivities of Middle East Christians,” he says. “If policy makers want to help Christians, they will first listen to them, before they try to lecture them. Having an ‘I love Israel, and I don’t care about the rest of the Arab World’ mindset may work in US politics, but it’s why we are in the mess we are in across the region.”"

Bernie's 95 Theses at Liberty University:Abortion, Poverty, Racism, War on Cops, and Other Unconscionable Acts

Nothing Sacred in America? Unholy Churches, Unholy Mental Health, Unholy Pharma, Sacred Plants

Blagaj Tekke, a Dervish House in Bosnia and Herzegovina, near Mostar.

R-Word:

Reaganomics Went Against Family Values: Bernie Sanders the Best Candidate to Help 80% of Americans Stuck in Neverending Recession

War on Drugs Went Against Family Values: Aide says Nixon's war on drugs targeted blacks, hippies

Making Up for Lost Time in Mental Health Research:

Shamanic Medicines Want to Help a Broken and Addicted U.S. Mental Health Care System

Real "Death to America" that Should Be Ted Cruz's Focus

Religious Ideology that Lacks Openness and Compassion Destroys Dignity, Religion Itself

Pew Research:

When you're the major religion of a country that is supposed to be free, slowly chipping away at your own dignity doesn't hurt as much as destroying the dignity of a child who grows up being different than everyone else.

Gender identity is an important aspect of self-identity, especially for those who do not fit into traditional gender roles. Those individuals have had to fight battles with self-acceptance as well as acceptance in society. Gender isn't something that is learned, born into, or chosen like religion or nationality. It transcends all other human identities.

When a Presidential Candidate Wants to Violate Human Rights of U.S. Citizens in the Name of Religion

Last year, actress Ellen Page asked United States presidential candidate Ted Cruz about his thoughts on LGBT rights. Cruz failed to acknowledge her concerns, then turned the conversation into a lecture about religious persecution in the United States and gay rights in other countries.

Know Your Stuff: Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Definitions

Risky Business: U.S. ally Saudi Arabia uses religion as a tool for power struggle almost as much as Ted Cruz

Ted Cruz at Liberty University: "Those who hate Jews hate Christians"

Bernie Sanders: 95 Theses on American Reality at Liberty University

Reviving the R-Word: Mystical Experience

Where's the Beef? Lacking Transcendence

Forget the State Bird: TN House of Representatives vote Bible as state Holy book

Quran vs Bible: Can you tell the difference?

Nothing Sacred: Unholy Churches, Unholy Pharma, Unholy Pentagon, Batman

You Matter: Make the most of it!

Senator Ted Cruz Lacks Insight

Ego, conditional love, and intolerant attitudes are reasons so many people have become unaffiliated with Christianity in the last decade.

Cruz: "If I'm elected President, it’s real simple -- we’ll kill the terrorists, we’ll repeal Obamacare, and we will defend the Constitution, every single word of it!"

This Deal with Iran Sets a Dangerous Precedent
We celebrate the release of Americans from Iran, but this deal with Iran sets a dangerous precedent.
Posted by Ted Cruz on Sunday, January 17, 2016

Reignite the Promise of America
If I'm elected President, it’s real simple -- we’ll kill the terrorists, we’ll repeal Obamacare, and we will defend the Constitution, every single word of it! #CNNDebate
Posted by Ted Cruz on Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Exorcise: Ukraine and Appalachian Mining Villages Abused

Cruz Trying to Use Religion for Political Gain: "Never have the threats to our religious liberty been greater than they are today. Stand with us to #DefendReligiousLiberty"

We Must Defend Religious Liberty!
Never have the threats to our religious liberty been greater than they are today. Stand with us to #DefendReligiousLiberty: www.defendreligiousliberty.com
Posted by Ted Cruz on Thursday, August 27, 2015

U.S. Traitors: "Jesus Says Bomb Iran"

Old Yugoslavia:

Humanitarian Crisis for Syrian Refugees in the Balkans, Remembering the Yugoslav Wars

Click for video.

Rick Steves: Nicaragua, Iran (Value of Travel)
http://blog.ricksteves.com/blog/tehran-heavenly-pistachios-and-a-pinch-of-valium/http://www.ouramazingworld.org/adventure/romerohttp://www.kpbs.org/news/2009/may/19/rick-steves-iran/
Posted by Our Amazing World on Sunday, February 7, 2016

More from Pew Research:
10 facts about religion in America
Decline of Christians in the U.S. has corresponded with the continued rise in the share of Americans with no religious affiliation (religious “nones”)
America’s Changing Religious Landscape
Americans have continued to become more supportive of same-sex marriage. Aggregated data from 2015 polls show that fully 55% of U.S. adults favor same-sex marriage, which is now legal nationwide following a Supreme Court ruling in June. That represents a rise of 20 percentage points over the last decade or so. Among the major religious groups, White evangelical Protestants are the least supportive of gay marriage (24%), while those without any religious affiliation are the most likely to favor allowing gays and lesbians to wed (82%).
In a typical week, about one-in-five Americans share their faith online. This is about the same as the number who tune in to religious talk radio, watch religious TV programs or listen to Christian rock music
Religious freedom or discrimination? A 2014 poll found that Americans are divided on the question of whether wedding-related businesses should be allowed to refuse service to same-sex couples for religious reasons, with 47% saying businesses should be able to refuse service and 49% saying establishments should be required to serve same-sex couples.
Public Health or Political Issue? God's Plant May Supplant Opioids in Cocke County, TN

Differing opinions in the news:

Breitbart: Ted Cruz Shuts Down Ambush from Actress Ellen Page at Iowa State Fair

MSNBC: Actress Ellen Page confronts Ted Cruz on gay rights at Iowa State Fair
Fox News: No story

Republican Reminder: Unneeded Military Spending Will Always Trump Veteran Benefits

2 Convocations at Liberty University:

At least he tried? Trump Bible reference falls flat as he tries to woo evangelicals
Bernie's 95 Theses

Source: Hal Hefner. Click for link.

Anytime, Anyplace: Rand Paul and Aqua Buddha are Ready for a 1-on-1 Debate with Bernie Sanders

GOP's Saudi Doppelgangers

Risky Business?

Click for link.

FDA-ADDICTED: Politics, Faux Morals Trump U.S. Health

The Lyin' Hillary Clinton War Machine: "Furqa al-Sultan Murad receives weapons from the U.S. and its allies as part of a covert program, overseen by the CIA, that aids rebel groups struggling to overthrow the government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, according to rebel officials and analysts tracking the conflict."

Hillary's Unconditional Love: Israel, Dictators and Human Rights Violators

Hillary Clinton: Gotta Wear Shades
Hillary Disaster: Gotta Wear Shadeshttp://www.ouramazingworld.org/politics/hillary-clinton-neoconservatism-versus-bernie-sanders-insight
Posted by Our Amazing World on Tuesday, March 22, 2016

WARRIOR PEOPLE: