I read these things, and I think about how Trayvon Martin’s family can read them too. How they watched their son go out to buy some candy for his little brother, and the next time they saw him was cold and dead and gone forever, in the morgue with his chest blown open for the crime of being black, shot because some cop-loving motherfucker saw him put his hood up in the rain and decided he was a criminal and a drug addict; and how now the name of their dead child is on the front page of every newspaper in America, and all they have to do is scroll down a few inches and read ten thousand anonymous racist cowards salivating out pure acid about how he deserved it and worse. And I think, I should say something. But what can I say that will make one goddamn bit of difference to them, to their grief and pain, to their dead son whose crime was his color?

Wow.  Powerful words.  I’ve generally refrained from reading too much or posting about young Mr. Martin, because I knew I would get more angry than is perhaps healthy.  But damn.  These are powerful words, especially for me, who has no words to express my feelings here.

(Source: azspot)

(via hesychia)

Well.  Isn’t that adorable!

Mekeeda Austin: Undercover Nun is praying for your immortal soul.  And for the immortal soul of your mother.

(Source: onionlike)

Undercover Nun gets angry at the hypocrisy.  Don’t claim you’re a Christian if you plan to get into office and shaft everyone.  That isn’t “love your neighbor.”  I wish Jesus and I could tear through the Capitol like he did in the Temple, overturning desks and whipping lobbyists until they run away in shame.  Of course, this is the kind of behavior that got him crucified…

wilwheaton:

Yesterday, I Twittered:

Majority of Americans: Please raise taxes on billionaires. Congress: Herp derp screw the middle class! Majority: #fuckyouwashington

Senator Bernie Sanders (one of the few Senators I respect) says essentially the same thing, but more eloquently than I did:

The rich are getting richer. Their effective tax rate, in recent years, has been reduced to the lowest in modern history. Nurses, teachers and firemen actually pay a higher tax rate than some billionaires. It’s no wonder the American people are angry.

Many corporations, including General Electric and Exxon-Mobil, have made billions in profits while using loopholes to avoid paying any federal income taxes. We lose $100 billion every year in federal revenue from companies and individuals who stash their wealth in tax havens off-shore like the Cayman Islands and Bermuda. The sum of all the revenue collected by the Treasury today totals just 14.8% of our gross domestic product, the lowest in about 50 years.

In the midst of this, Republicans in Congress have been fanatically determined to protect the interests of the wealthy and large multinational corporations so that they do not contribute a single penny toward deficit reduction.

If the Republicans have their way, the entire burden of deficit reduction will be placed on the elderly, the sick, children and working families. In the midst of a horrendous recession that is already causing severe pain for average Americans, this approach is morally grotesque. It’s also bad economic policy.

The whole thing isn’t very long, and it’s worth your time to give it a read.

It’s just a fact that the GOP caused this “crisis”, and the lunatic fringe in the House is entirely responsible for it … but the White House and Democrat response to it has been pathetic. Even though public opinion is overwhelmingly against the GOP position, Obama and the White House have allowed the GOP to control the “debate” — which is really little more than stupid kabuki, anyway.

The way I see it, there are two options to explain the behavior from Obama and Senate Democrats: 1) They really are that incompetent, and completely got themselves rolled or 2) They want to slash federal spending that helps the poor and the middle class, and the lunatic fringe of the GOP is giving them the cover they need to please their corporate masters.

I’m not sure which it is, to be honest, though it seems that Obama wants his base to be furious with him (so he can go after the ever-changing “center” that will never support him the way his base did until he sold us out over and over again) and he seems more interested in presiding over some huge “compromise” with the lunatic fringe of the GOP than he is in protecting the people he supposedly serves.

I think it’s just an unavoidable truth: Barack Obama isn’t the great Hope he lead us to believe he was. He’s a weak negotiator, he’s a corporate tool, he doesn’t care at all about the least among us, and he isn’t willing to fight for anything. This president isn’t the guy I supported during the election, and he is a tragic failure for progressives.

I’m angry because the government of my country has abandoned its people, and I don’t think there’s anything we can do to take it back.

Dear Entire World,

Mark Driscoll is not a typical Christian.  I promise you, the majority of us by far do our best to embrace the infinite loving-kindness of God, as shown to us in the person of Jesus.  While none of us is perfect, we do know that we must value and respect all persons. We know that, while sex and gender and orientation are fundamental to our identity as a person, these have absolutely nothing to do with God’s love for anyone.  We agree with Rachel Held Evans when she says:

Mark Driscoll is wrong. 

Godly men stick up for people, not make fun of them.

Godly men honor women, not belittle them. 

Godly men love their gay and lesbian neighbors, not ridicule them. 

Godly men celebrate femininity, not trash it.

Godly men own their sexuality, not flaunt it. 

Godly men pursue peace, not dismiss it. 

Godly men rise above violence, not glorify it. 

Godly men build up the Church, not embarrass it. 

Godly men imitate Christ—who praised the gentle and the peacemakers, who stood up for the exploited and abused, who showed compassion for the downtrodden,  who valued women, and who loved his enemies to the point of death.

Christians take seriously the charge Jesus gives us to forgive each other, forgiving over and over and over.  We also take seriously the charge Jesus gives us to take care of every person, most especially the least of these, those who are unable to protect themselves. 

With each word spoken, each blog posted, each tweet or facebook status message, Mr. Driscoll does harm to the least of these. He puts stumbling blocks between God’s children and God’s kingdom.  Christlike forgiveness does not mean we have to allow this harmful behavior to continue. 

On behalf of Christianity, I am so very sorry for the harm Mr. Driscoll continues to do to anyone who isn’t just like him.  I hope you will be able to see that no one person can represent the Church as a whole; we are so varied, so many, so different.  Please don’t let Mr. Driscoll be your only experience of God and God’s church.

With love,
the Undercover Nun