The Cunning Man

In Terry Pratchett's I Shall Wear Midnight, one of the few Discworld books for young adults, we are introduced to a force of nature called the Cunning Man. A thousand years before the story starts, the Cunning Man was a real man. He was a witch-hunter, a book-burner, and a torturer. His hate became so poisonous that it never really died. As the Discworld witches say to each other, "Poison goes where poison's welcome." The Cunning Man, now pure hate, continues to inhabit living people, and wherever it goes, the people who are "others" die.

I mention this by way of reminding you that the Southern Poverty Law Center's annual report on hate and extremism has been released, putting the total number of hate groups operating in America at 1,018.

Poison goes where poison's welcome.

Florida School Prayer Bill Passes House

Aw fuck:

Children across the state may soon have the right to offer organized prayer — or, critics say, political messages or even Satanic verses — at mandatory school events.

The Florida House voted 88-27 Thursday to give final approval to a bill that allows school boards to set policies that would allow students to offer "inspirational messages" at school events, including mandatory gatherings such as student assemblies. The bill now goes to Gov. Rick Scott.

I am not at all impressed that the bill's authors claim to be getting around the constitutional issues by, along with the famous "it's constitutional because I said so" tactic, delegating the evocation to the children. In no way does this resolve the church/state issue, nor does it address how these "inspirational messages" will be abused by privileged Christians.

As for the critics who are worried about Satanic verses, they are just as batshit as the bill's religion-pimping authors. If y'all would just respect the separation of church and state, you wouldn't have to worry! And by the way, Satan isn't real!

Andrew Breitbart Is Dead

Because I am a decent human being and not, say, Fred Phelps, I am not happy that Andrew Breitbart is dead and I do not condone those who are.

I am sorry for his family. For them, it's a devastating loss.

I freely admit -- in the interest of intellectual honesty -- that I will not miss his contributions to the political conversation in this country. I do think, though, that everyone can take a moral from an apparently healthy man* dying at age 43:

Get off your duffs, people. Life is shorter than you think.

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*Secondary moral: Get your heart checked.

Republicans Say the Darndest Things, II

"Santorum says he doesn't believe in separation of church and state."

Okay, not much of a surprise there, but get this:

Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum said Sunday that he doesn't believe in the separation of church and state, adding that he was sickened by John F. Kennedy's assurances to Baptist ministers 52 years ago that he would not impose his Catholic faith on them.

Hear that, Baptist Republicans? You realize what this means; Rick Santorum doesn't like your religion any more than he likes mine. He'd be Catholic when you wouldn't want him to be. Are you really going to nominate this schmuck?

The great irony, of course, is that Rick Santorum's religion is one that certainly would have been outlawed in parts of the country if religious preferences could be made law -- one of the reasons, as a matter of fact, that many Catholics have historically been stalwart supporters of the church-state separation.

Why Should I Be Afraid?

I hate it that I need to be careful about how I reveal, even to people in my day-to-day life, some of the most fundamental facts of my existence. Worse, though, is the organized assault from my own government, because I realize the sheer size of the harm it does.

Sometimes it's "okay" that I'm an atheist -- to which I say, jeez, thanks, I was waiting for your approval. But it's never "okay" to affirm my beliefs, which include, among other things, the non-divinity of Jesus of Nazareth, the necessary secularity of public schools, and that there is literally no Catholic bishop I want to hear talking about sex. G-d forbid that a law protect these beliefs.

Sometimes it's "okay" that I'm a feminist -- to which I say, how kind of you, and to think I was staying up nights worrying! But it's never "okay" to assert my convictions, which include, but are not limited to, access to safe abortion as a necessary component of freedom, premarital sex as something most people should try, and the beautiful fluidity of gender expression and identity. But I live in a country where the rights of the insurer, not the insured, are held to most dearly, and where gender deviation in the wrong time and wrong place is punishable by death.

I'm outspoken on this blog. I'm outspoken in life, too. But I have to count the costs and calculate the risks. I'm a feminist atheist. My own political party has absolutely no use for me. My husband's family is overtly hostile to my identity. Any number of people I know have no tolerance for what I believe.

If the word "liberty" is to have any meaning at all, I shouldn't have to be afraid.

They Frown on Marital Sex, Too

There are a lot of ways to have sex. (Hopefully that first sentence will derail anyone who is less-than-sure about consuming the content of this post.) Some people disapprove of almost every possible way to have sex, including harmless and fun ways, such as premarital sex and masturbation. These people are boring, unrealistic, and should not be elected to public office.

Some people, such as myself, only disapprove of harmful sex: sex with someone/something that can't consent, karma-imperiling extramarital sex, abusive/non-consensual, etc. We find our patience with the first group wearing thin.

At the very least, amid the storm of sex-negative tropes we're subjected to on a daily basis, you would think that the type of sex I have -- married, heterosexual sex -- is not only okay but in fact expected and encouraged. But I'm happy (read: not at all happy) to report that this isn't true! Even married couples can just be abstinent as a preferential form of birth control (scroll down to the end of the post, which is quite long).

Thank you, legislators of New Hampshire, for making your anti-"those dirty sluts are fucking without getting pregnant" agenda so perfectly clear.

Leon Panetta, Your Opinion Is Not Needed

Reposting a link from my last post to highlight an irritating detail:

Obama's staff was deeply divided over the decision to require free contraception, with Vice President Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, both Catholics, very opposed, ABC's Jake Tapper reported earlier this week.

Biden is the VP. We have to put up with his bull on these issues. Secretary Panetta, on the other hand, is invited to sit down and shut up.

Should the secretary of defense ever be asked about health care? Even if I agreed with him, I'd need a compelling reason to think he should be weighing in.

You Keep Using That Word...

Yesterday, the Obama administration exhibited severe cowardice by announcing a "compromise" that would exempt religious institutions from providing contraception coverage to its employees, as other health insurance providers are required to do.

I didn't blog about it yesterday because I wanted to wait for the inevitable objection from the moral minority, and here it is, right on schedule: "U.S. Catholic bishops oppose Obama birth-control plan."

U.S. Catholic Church leaders said they will fight President Barack Obama's controversial birth-control insurance coverage policy despite his compromise that religious employers would not have to offer free contraceptives for workers, shifting the responsibility to insurers.

In an abrupt policy shift aimed at trying to end a growing election-year firestorm, Obama on Friday announced the compromise.

But the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said its concerns were not addressed and cited "serious moral concerns."

Memo to President Obama: Haven't we been over this? It isn't a "compromise" if you give up something and the other guy says, "Fuck you!"

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." - Inigo Montoya to Barack Obama.

History's First Unbaptism

This is from last week but it hasn't stopped being awesome:

Jessica Ahlquist

I haven't posted much about Jessica Ahlquist for the simple reason that listening to hordes of Christians bully and threaten a 16-year-old is more than my stomach can take.

To the people who want Jessica to suffer a horrible demise: Do you feel that you're suffering more from a case of Inquisition Nostalgia, or from a case of Fatwa Envy?

(Or, being that it's New England, maybe they think she's a witch. She is a teenage girl with extraordinary powers. I mean, my G-d! She read the Constitution correctly!)

To the Christians who keep saying that the Christians making death-threats "aren't really Christians:" Don't tell me, tell them. Or better yet, defend Jessica. If you can't, shut up.

Do the Math

Ladies, don't be upset that you perhaps do more work than your male partner! New patriarchal studies have revealed that you only work, on average, a mere 20 minutes a day more! Wow, Time Magazine, thanks for the info! presented in such a small! manageable! context!!!

(I mean, it adds up to five full 24-hour days a year that your husband or boyfriend has free because you are the one cleaning the toilet, but just let it goooooo. 5 days a year doesn't matter, sez Time, patriarchy rag extraordinaire.)

WTF.