tvashtarkatena

Throw a hood over me and that's a pretty good likeness.

Correction: The boy scouts will not admit gay boy scouts, either. Full disclosure: the Boy Scouts first got me out of the house and into the mountains. I owe that organization a life long debt of gratitude. Can I interest you in makeing a contribution to Boy Scouting and/or leading classes on climbing? Yes, I would be happy to help in leading some classes on climbing for your troop. Promise I won't preach Atheism. PM me.

They won't give loans to Boy Scouts? Aren't they too young anyway?

Bank of America is run by Boy Scouts? That much I knew.

ACLU has sued to; Halt the singing of Christmas Carols in public facilities. Deny tax -exempt status for Churches. Remove all military chaplains. Remove all Christian symbols from public property. Prohibit Bible reading in classrooms even during free time. Remove In God We Trust from our coins. Remove God from the Pledge of Allegiance Deny federal funding for Boy Scouts until they admit gays and atheists Hate to break it to you, there, SH, but to be credible it it helps to cite the court cases for each issue. Now get your lazy ass out there and do your homework for once, sport. Otherwise, you could just be quoting this from a Christian propoganda website put up by some unaborted Down's syndrome case. You're not doing that, are you now? Are you denying this is true??? To make you look bad I will look up the cases but first want to know if you deny it so I can make you look as stupid as you are. I'm saying you pulled this off some propoganda website like a trained monkey (apologies to monkeys everywhere), without any knowledge, or desire to know, the constitutional issues that were argued in each case. Now show us all an iota of willingness to not be the inert lump you usually are and Google those case citations for us so we can take your posting seriously. I'm not going to do your homework for you like you're obviously well used to, you glom. Otherwise, you've wasted your time and convinced no one of anything.

Correction: The boy scouts will not admit gay boy scouts, either. Full disclosure: the Boy Scouts first got me out of the house and into the mountains. I owe that organization a life long debt of gratitude.

On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country. To obey the scout law; to help other people at all times, to keep myself physically fit, mentally awake and morally straight. Tell me, what is so bad about this? Jesus, SWA, have you taken dumb pills, lately? She meant screw the Boy Scouts if they want federal funding. Sorry, buddy, it's a separation of church and state issue, and the Boy Scouts are an unapologetically religious organization. It's the Boy Scout's choice to be so, thus making themselves uneligible for federal dough, so blame them.

They sued to stop federal funding to the boy scouts. Thats why I no longer bank with Bank of America. Cuz it has 'America' in the name, and 'America' doesn't fund the Boy Scouts?

ACLU has sued to; Halt the singing of Christmas Carols in public facilities. Deny tax -exempt status for Churches. Remove all military chaplains. Remove all Christian symbols from public property. Prohibit Bible reading in classrooms even during free time. Remove In God We Trust from our coins. Remove God from the Pledge of Allegiance Deny federal funding for Boy Scouts until they admit gays and atheists Hate to break it to you, there, SH, but to be credible it it helps to cite the court cases for each issue. Now get your lazy ass out there and do your homework for once, sport. Otherwise, you could just be quoting this from a Christian propoganda website put up by some unaborted Down's syndrome case. You're not doing that, are you now?

This bit of ancient history is often dusted off and hauled out of the attic by those attracted to conspiracy websites as proof that the ACLU is somehow behind a communist conspiracy. The ACLU was originally founded in 1920 to get unfairly imprisoned labor organizers out of jail for trying to organize the labor movement (the benefits of which, including the 40 hour/5 day work week) even Seahawks enjoys). Many of these labor organizers were members of the IWW and domestic communist party (no news here, plus, is there something wrong with that in a country where political freedom is protected?) In 1940, however, the ACLU passed a resolution to free itself from any party affiliations, including its formers ties with the Communist Party. It remains a non partisan organization to this day, which means it does not endorse candidate or contribute to individual campaigns. Furthermore, it's often overlooked that the ACLU membership, about 400,000 now, includes many tens of thousands of conservatives, in addition to others across the political spectrum, as members. Now, if there are IRS and Justice Department attorneys who are 'card carrying members of the ACLU', I suppose that would constitute a massive conspiracy, would it not? But what if they were also members of the Sierra Club? And Costco? And...?

Sorry to dissappoint you, but the ACLU's charter does not include prosecuting tax evation cases. The IRS needs no help with that. If, in fact, the ACLU is involved in any way in any of the GENERAL REFERENCES you've posted (I've heard a million of these conspiracy references, but I'm still waiting for a critic such as yourself to come up with even a single specific case where their conspiracies are even remotely supported by events), it would have to have something to do with a constitutional issue, because that's all the ACLU does. Now, you may object to the ACLU's support of the establishment clause in the U.S. Constitution. Fair enough, many do. But don't waste your time screaming about the ACLU. Lobby your congressman to have that clause removed. Good luck with that.

MoveOn is a Political Action Committees and thus donations are not tax deductible. Churches are tax except and donations a tax deductible. If a church starts telling it's congregation how to vote then they should lose their tax exempt status and donations should not be tax deductible. Agreed. IRS has been going after a couple such churches the last year or so. It's been in the papers. correction, ACLU using the IRS to go after the Christian God. Yeah, because we all know the ACLU secretly runs things I believe the IRS just might have access to it's own attorneys. Just a guess.

The New Testament according to Tvash: The Jews: "Life under the Romans sucks." Jesus "I'm Love!" The Jews "WTF?" Jesus "I'm a Sword!" The Jews "Thats better, MF" Jesus "Free eats!" The Jews "Fuck ya" The Romans "Fuck this. Tack 'im up" Jesus "WTF?" The Jews "Jesus who?" The Apostles "Yeah, so and so said he saw 'im, too!" Matthew "Freakin' Night of the Living Dead, bitches!" Mary Magdelene "You guy's are trippin" The New Christians "STFU, slut" Paul "Lets kick some ass!" The New Christians "Fuck ya. Christ is King, MF. Who's is charge of fund raising?"

I wouldn't worry about it too much, because from what I hear, Heaven is a place...a place where nothing ever happens.

Separating church and state requires a really long, sharp crowbar.

Donations to Moveon are not tax deductible, but it is a tax exempt organization. It has the same tax status as the Christian Coalition. It's important to note that urging a congregation to vote a certain way does not constitute lobbying (which means urging members of congress to vote a certain way and helping to draft legislation). There are many kinds of 501© charitable organizations, with different restrictions on their political activities. Something to confuse the issue further from wiki: Political activity Organizations with this classification are prohibited from conducting political campaign activities to influence elections to public office. Public charities (but not private foundations) are permitted to conduct a limited amount of lobbying to influence legislation. Although the law states that "no substantial part" of a public charity's activities may be devoted to lobbying, charities with very large budgets may lawfully expend a million dollars (under the "expenditure" test) or more (under the "substantial part" test) per year on lobbying. [5] All 501©(3) organizations are also permitted to educate individuals about issues, or fund research that supports their political position without overtly advocating for a position on a specific bill. Think tanks such as the Cato Institute, Center for American Progress, and Heritage Foundation and other 501©(3) organizations produce reports and recommendations on policy proposals that do not count as lobbying under the tax code. [edit] Examples of 501©(3) organizations Many 501©(3) organizations are part of nonprofit "conglomerates," having organizational control relationships with other nonprofit organizations. A 501©(4) advocacy organization may create a 501©(3) that operates solely for "educational" purposes. The League of Women Voters advocates positions on issues and evaluates candidates as a 501©(4) and uses its 501©(3) arm to provide nonpartisan voter information. A 501©(6) business league may create a 501©(3) arm to conduct research related to the business focus of the parent organization. Prominent 501©(3) organizations include: American Red Cross Catholic Charities Goodwill Industries Habitat for Humanity Planned Parenthood Salvation Army United Way Feed The Children Charity Navigator offers information on more than five thousand 501©(3) public charities. [edit] 501©(4) 501©(4) exemptions are given to civic leagues or organizations not organized for profit but operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare, or local associations of employees, the membership of which is limited to the employees of a designated person or persons in a particular municipality, and the net earnings of which are devoted exclusively to charitable, educational, or recreational purposes.[6] 501©(4) organizations differ from 501©(3) in that they are permitted to lobby for legislation. The exemption applies so long as "...no part of the net earnings of such entity inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual."[7] [edit] Deductibility of donations to 501©(4) organizations Unlike donations to the more prevalent 501©(3) non-profit organizations, donations to a section 501©(4) organization are not deductible by the donor under section 170 of the code unless the recipient organization is a volunteer fire department as described in revenue ruling 80-77 or veteran organizations with at least 90% of its membership consisting of war veterans as described in IRS Revenue Ruling 84-140. [edit] Prominent 501©(4) organizations AARP National Rifle Association MoveOn.org League of Conservation Voters Christian Coalition

We atheists are a hateful bunch. Being one means I have to hang around with one whether I like it or not, which puts me in even a fouler mood. That's why we have to continually recruit new climbing partners. Who wants to climb with a raving maniac who can't hear you say "off belay" over his screeching about hating God all the time? Plus, you never know when we're going to up and rape a five year old or bludgeon a puppy to death...BECAUSE WE CAN.

At about 3% of the population, I wouldn't feel too threatened. Pontif, when are going out to worship the powdery white god on the holy long shoes?

...but not, under any circumstances, up Tiger Mountain.

I don't subscribe to the notion that religion, per se, causes most wars. The root cause of many wars isn't really knowable, kind of like a marital argument, but it seems that competition for land and other resources is near the top of the list. Religion has provided a great deal of legitimacy and social control required for such ventures, though. The conquistadores didn't sail to the New World to spread the faith, they did so to gain riches and status denied to them in the stayed society of the Old World. Spreading the faith helped them get legitimacy and funding for their projects. Even the Crusades were not primarily about religion; they were about consolidating political power and wealth in Europe. Religion made for a great recruitment and fund raising tool, however, as well as a dark pallete with which to paint the enemy.

Funny, I don't remember ranting on this thread, Pontif. You may doubt, non-believer, but I challenge you to quote anything I've said on this thread so far that I don't actually believe. Ready, set, go.....

Flagrant violation of the Establishment Clause. Constitutional law 101. As for KKK's stupid post; um, we non-believers don't hate something we, um, don't believe in. What is it that you don't get? As being the servants of Satan, well, of course that goes without saying.

The Great One has Spoken. End of Discussion. "This is great stuff...but it just makes you guys look bad." Talk about covering all your bases. Am I the only one to see the irony of this high horse proclamation?

What in God's name are you trying to say here?

Considering the fundamentalist christian legislative agenda to firmly establish this country as a christian nation, I'd say that the strong emotional response is both warranted and deserved.