I've always had a "thing" for the radical Christian right ... on many days, I would amuse myself by listening to the confused rantings of radio preachers and pulpit politicians like Dobson, Kennedy, and J. Vernon McGee. Their voices provided me with a window into a world I truly cannot understand or empathize with ... to me, it remains a source of endless curiosity and wonderment.
The Internets are full of wackadoodle Christian websites, but OneNewsNow is a true, perfect confluence of every attribute that fascinates me about the insular world of the web-based evangelista. Unapologetically rhetorical demagoguery ... stridently ignorant commentary ... citation of biblical verse to rationalize away any apparent contradictions ... liberal use of ALL CAPS and punctuation (???!!!!!!!) to emphasize "points" ... exclusion of dissenting viewpoints ... xenophobia and unconditional faith in conservative leaders ... equation of the ACLU with Satanism ... and an irrational fear/hatred of all things Mormon.
To get a taste of OneNewsNow.com, let's take a look at one of today's stories. It's a touching, cautionary tale of the Christian majority once again being silenced in America's heartland, where clearly the Jew and the homo have taken over.
A graduate of Lewis-Palmer High School in Denver has filed a lawsuit against the school for taking disciplinary actions against her for talking about her faith during her May 2006 graduation ceremony. Erica Corder, who was one of 15 valedictorians in her graduating class given opportunities for 30-second speeches that day, says she was escorted to the assistant principal's office following the ceremony and told that she could not be given her diploma because of her speech. Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel, the Christian law firm representing Corder, says she was then given direction on a corrective action.
According to OneNewsNow, the divine Miss Corder initially "complied with the disciplinary actions out of fear. She was worried that the school would withhold her diploma and put disciplinary notes in her file that could hamper attempts to enter the teaching field. " While one would hope that "disciplinary action" in thise case might include some good ole' Old Testament-style punishment, it consisted merely of issuing an apology via email. But that's neither here nor there ... because Erica's right to free expression has been egregiously violated, right?From time to time, I will point out examples from articles that are excellent illustrations of "The Tenets of ONN." This news item is an example of Tenet #1: "Don't Ever Include Any Relevant Information That Might Work Against Jesus." For some reason, it would hurt our Lord in Heaven if the ONN readers knew that Erica (and the 14 other speakers that day) had to have her comments pre-approved by the faculty ... and that Erica's father is an employee of Focus on the Family, and he likely put her up to this.
The fact that Erica deliberately went off-script and deviated from pre-approved comments might actually lead some folks to believe that Erica's "punishment" was for simply violating protocol, and that it wouldn't matter if she had mentioned Buddha, Gandhi, or Tom Sizemore in her speech - each would have been dealt with in the same way. But don't tell that to the commenters at ONN:
It just goes to show that those with a liberal agenda will even break the law in
order to push their religion on us conservative christians.
Posted by John in AZ
Way to go, Erica. I thank God for your courage. You had every right to say what
you had planned. The principal is the one who should be embarassed. I pray for
your victory in the legal outcome of the suit.
Posted by Robert H Finch
THOSE WHO MADE HER APOLOGIZE FOR HER STATEMENTS WILL BE ON THEIR KNEES ONE DAY WHEN JESUS RETURNS. UNFORTUNATELY, THE LORD WILL BE TELLING THEM TO DEPART FROM HIM AS HE NEVER KNEW THEM! JUSTICE AND FAIRNESS WILL BE SERVED. "VENGEANCE IS MINE SAYETH THE LORD."
Posted by JAACKIE J. JOLLY
And on and on and on it goes. Other comments take aim at the ACLU ("the bane of our free society"), the NEA ("their primary goal is social change, not education of our youth"), gays, liberals, Muslims, and "Buddists." An astonishing lack of comprehension of the principles of free expression dominates the discussion.
I found one overlooked irony in this whole mess ... this girl basically "pled guilty" to her "crime," and then, when faced with the consequences, decided she really did nothing wrong and decided to take her "case" public. Sound familiar?
At least when the Operation Rescue folks crossed the line and got arrested, they would do their time in jail. Now it seems like this new breed of warriors for Christ wants to fight the battle from a cozy couch in the midwest, rather than a cell. Note to Erica: my guess is that they still would have admitted you to Liberty College (or whatever bullshit Christian university you're attending) without a high school diploma if you had stood your ground and refused to consent to your "punishment" ... in fact, I'll bet they would have given you a scholarship to reward your "courageous" act of civil disobedience. But you decided to cave in, out of fear that you wouldn't be accepted at the college of your choice. Just imagine if Martin Luther King decided that he "Had a Dream ... to attend a good college, so I better shut my mouth and lay down or the white man might get mad and keep me out."
Martyrs sure do come cheap these days in the One World world.
