Archive for religious right
oh, dog…!
Posted in Books, Kids with tags American Gods, bad graph, Hell, irrational beliefs, Pew Research Center, religion, religions, religious beliefs, religious right, secularism, survey, The New York Times, US culture, USA on April 22, 2025 by xi'an
Blitzkrieg [gegen Demokratie]
Posted in Books, pictures, Travel with tags 06 January 2021, anti-abortion organisations, BJP, blitzkrieg, democracy, far-right, federal agencies, Federal Government, federalism, Narendra Modi, National Prayer Breakfast, nationalism, Project 2025, religious right, riots, The Guardian, The New York Times, Trump administration, US Constitution, US elections 2024, US politics, White House on February 15, 2025 by xi'an
“The stream of transparently lawless executive orders — to make it easier to fire federal officials, to freeze spending that the president cannot freeze, to take away a right to citizenship that is written into the Constitution, to name just three — tell us in no uncertain terms that this administration has no intention of respecting the law or the Constitution.” NYT Feb 07
The frantic and unhindered pace at which the Trump regime is drifting away from democratic principles is both shocking despite the low expectations attached to the elected President, and terrifying. The demolition of the rules of law and of the Federal Government services seems to proceed like a bread-knife through butter.
“But it is important to understand that the anti-democratic movement is not monolithic. In fact, it isn’t even coherent. One part of the program answers to the oligarchs (…) Another part of the program is the work of fanatics (…) The Christian nationalist ideologues who supply much of the rest of the ideology of the movement are no less extreme.” NYT Feb 07
Every aspect of society and most of the planet are impacted, from the disengagement from international institutions and treaties, to the utter disregard for nation sovereignty (beside the USA!, of course) and the right of people to choose their own way. Making the Orange Menace turning more and more into the past and current fascist leaders he admires so much. By cancelling one way or another legal counter-powers, sapping all levels of federal administrations and agencies, buying out media or threatening them by a flurry and fury of frivolous suits, releasing and pardoning rioters, forcing entry into and sometimes deleting crucial or confidential data, turning the army into an auxiliary police force, in scapegoating more and more categories.
“The executive order is meant to reverse what it calls an `egregious pattern of targeting peaceful Christians, while ignoring violent, anti-Christian offenses’ under President Joseph R. Biden Jr. It cited the convictions of anti-abortion demonstrators for blocking access to abortion clinics.” NYT Feb 07
The most recent attempt at specifically “protecting” Christian activists (announced during the National Prayer Breakfast!) is yet another illustration of the Trumpian multi-tiered vision of the society, where different groups get different rights, some being “more equal than others”, under the pretence of protecting those groups. This is very similar to the argument used by Modi and the BJP in India.
bigots of the World, unite! [in confusing Seine or scène with Cène]
Posted in Books, pictures with tags Cène, controversies, Dionysus, Donald Trump, end blasphemy laws, France, French Bishops' Conference, Greek mythology, Jan van Bijlert, Last Supper, Le Festin des Dieux, Leonardo Da Vinci, Olympus, opening ceremony, Paris, Paris 2024 Olympics, religious right, secularism, Sein, Seine, Tayyip Erdogan, Victor Orban on August 1, 2024 by xi'an
“Disgraceful scene in Paris offended not only the Catholic world, not only the Christian world, but also us as much as them. Immorality displayed at the opening of the Paris Olympics once again highlighted the scale of the threat we face. An international sporting event that is supposed to unite people unfortunately opened with hostility to humanity and the values that make human beings human.” Tayyip Erdogan
“Westerners believe that nation-states no longer exists. They deny that there is a common culture and a public morality based on it. There is no morality, if you watched the Olympics opening yesterday, you saw this” Victor Orban
“We won’t be having a Last Supper as portrayed the way they portrayed it the other night. I mean, they can do certain things. I thought it was terrible. Look, I’m for everybody. I’m very open-minded… but I thought what they did was a disgrace.” Donald Trump
“We are thinking of all Christians on every continent who have been hurt by the outrageousness and provocation of certain scenes. We want them to understand that the Olympic celebration goes far beyond the ideological biases of a few artists.” French Bishops’ Conference
state of the [des]Union
Posted in Statistics with tags abortion pills, abortion rights, Aid Access, conservative Christians, FDA, Mifepristone, Misoprostol, religious right, reproductive rights, Roe v. Wade, SCOTUS, U.S. District Court, US politics on April 10, 2023 by xi'an
what happens when you mix religious beliefs and reproductive rights
Posted in Books, Kids, Travel with tags abortion, Catholic Church, freedom of religion or belief, gender equality, Malta, religious beliefs, religious right, reproductive rights, UK Government on August 27, 2022 by xi'an“Certain practices associated with the manifestation of a religion or belief, or perceived as such,may constitute violations of international human rights standards. The right to freedom of religion or belief is sometimes invoked to justify such violations. The EU firmly opposes such justification, whilst remaining fully committed to the robust protection and promotion of freedom of religion or belief in all parts of the world. Violations often affect women, members of religious minorities, as well as persons on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity.” EU Guidelines on the promotion and protection of freedom of religion or belief, 2013
On 5 and 6 July 2022 the UK Government hosted a human rights conference to urge increased global action on Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all. (Countries involved in this International Freedom of Religion or Belief Alliance do not include Belgium, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, or Switzerland, in the signatories. I am also unclear about the final purpose of this conference, beyond good-will statements.) Among several such statements, one brings a connection between FoRB and gender equality.
The statement in its original format is quite mush-y-mash-y, as methinks promoting (one’s) religion rarely walks hand in hand with supporting (all) gender equality and even less reproductive rights. Witness the Catholic Church’s unremitting activism against abortion, up to this day, from Poland to the US.
“As such, FoRB serves not only to protect people from discrimination, inequality, and violence; it can also serve as a source of empowerment for those who find inspiration and strength in their convictions to fight for gender equality and justice.” Statement on freedom of religion or belief and gender equality, 7 July 2022
But the main issue here is that the final statement published by the UK Government eliminated reproductive rights that were present in the original version, as of below, which was signed by many of the participating countries. Without said countries being informed of the cancellation and some now refusing to sign the new version…
“…support and build capacities of local religious and belief leaders to advocate for gender equality, denounce sexual and gender-based violence and harmful practices and ensure access to sexual and reproductive health and rights”. Statement on freedom of religion or belief and gender equality, 7 July 2022
This is sadly connected with the unceasing attacks of religions on abortion rights. For instance, Malta suddenly appeared as a signatory of the final version, while missing from the earlier one. Which may have a correlation with Malta being a country where abortion is completely prohibited. (Nor Poland neither the USA have signed either.) And the (former) prime minister’s special envoy is co-chairing the MP “pro-life” group (funded by the anti-abortion “Right to Life UK” “charity”).
