The Raw Naked Truth about Christians

The Raw Naked Truth about Christians
(A Response to The Raw Naked Truth About Homosexuality By Bert M. Farias)
By Lord Kristoffer Jay Martin

This is a response to the article The Raw Naked Truth about Homosexuality by Bert M Farias. (http://www.charismanews.com/opinion/the-flaming-herald/44730-the-raw-naked-truth-about-homosexuality)

The truth is that Christianity is a destructive religion, with many people who claim to be Preachers, such as Bert Farias, who take the bible out of context and attempt to apply it to the here and now. They speak of “godly Christians” who “die a thousand deaths” when it comes to realizing a family member is gay, be it a son, daughter, sister, brother, etc. The fact is that homosexuality is an innate sexual orientation. It isn't a lifestyle.

These same preachers would have you believe that god, if there is such a being, hates gays. They assert absurdities that go against fundamental functions of our country's supreme law, assert things that are inherently not true, and otherwise use demonstrably archaic and fallacious arguments to attack homosexuals.

In the case of Bert, here, he asserts that because Denmark has passed a law saying religious institutions cannot discriminate against people because of their sexual orientation and must administer gay marriages (which isn't entirely true) that the US may follow in their footsteps. However this ignores two facts; one) in Denmark the vast majority of people licensed to officiate a marriage are the clergy of churches (of which there are several religions all of which are under the same requirements under the law) and there are few secular officials capable of marrying people. And two) the US has a First Amendment, that we are free to choose which religion we follow, including none at all. No religious person can be legally forced to do something that goes against their moral judgment. This is because under this same first amendment it states “No law may be made in respect of a religion”.

His secondary argument is a scare tactic that holds no merit. Might I also remind him that the bible does state “As it is written on Earth so to will it be written in Heaven” (Matthew 18:18). The law of the land is the law of heaven, the laws of man are the laws of heaven.

Gay rights and gay marriage are human rights and human marriage. As much as you dislike reality, the US constitution protects all people equally and by your own bible, the law of the land, our Constitution, is the law of heaven. If you are a Christian it is time to realize that there are those who would preach to you to condemn others in the name of god, and Christ, and there are those will tell you to love thy neighbor.

There are those who will tell you “The Bible says that homosexuality is unnatural. Men in gay relationships have given up the natural use of the woman and women the natural use of the man.” Ignoring the myriad of other biblical laws that they choose to ignore. The bible tells us we can't eat shell fish, or wear mixed fiber clothing, it tells us that divorce is wrong or that raped women should marry their rapists. It tells us slavery is not only okay but just and right and the slaves should obey their masters. There are four quotes that are arguably about homosexuality in the bible, just four, but dozens on divorce. Yet these so called preachers harp on and on about homosexuality.

Bert here says “Homosexuality is not ordained by God, nor is it even biologically right or natural. People are gay because they choose to be--not because they can't help it.” But this flies in the face of science. We know that homosexuality is not only innate, but we've even pinpointed the genes and traits that lead to homosexuality. Homosexuality is no more a choice than what color hair you're born with or what color your eyes will be. This is not about political correctness, this is about evolving how we think and how we approach reality.

Christianity is outmoded, outdated, and frankly, a harm to society. As is the case for most religions today. Most religions preach concepts that are thousands of years old that have no true relevancy today.
There isn't a single quote of scripture that exists in the bible that is truly relevant today. Not one, all of them that are applied to the world today by these preachers like Bert are taken out of context. Their meanings are muddied by the bigoted interpretation by these so called “loving” people who are just trying to do “god's work”.

The truth, people, is that homosexuality is here to stay, a part of our society. There will never be an end to it. It has been imbedded in humanity for all of history. It is a naturally occurring thing that exists in hundreds of species. Human Rights will never cease to exist either, the natural innate right to exist, to free will, to knowledge and growth and subsistence and life shall not be lost do to the actions of even the millions of Christians who harbour hate where they claim love lies. Why, because no matter how hard you try humans will always be human. There will always be gays born to christian and non-christian parents. They will grow up, they will live a human life and exist to experience and love and care for others. Some may fall victim to the vitriol and angst that comes from the christian world view about homosexuality, but most will escape and go on to lead loving long lives. Without the shackles of religion, without the shackles of Christianity, without the stupidity with which these arrogant peons who have no real care for anyone that doesn't agree with their world view, lorded over them from some high assumed moral pedestal. And when the day is done, when their lives come to a close, they will know that they loved someone who loved them back, without condition, without some religious ideology telling them to love them.

You, Bert, can take your god, your religion, and disappear into the annals of time. Take your living myth and leave the rest of us alone. Because eventually, inevitably, the christian god will be added to the ranks of the hundreds of other gods now dismissed as being nothing more than myth and legend. These last ditch efforts to criticize and attack with serpentine tongue are the anger filled howls of a dying beast we call religion.

Lord Kristoffer Jay Martin, B.A., M.A.

Doom Gloom and Girl Scout Cookies

Dear Readers


Ugh...ugh ugh ugh...that is the only sound I can make as of late with all the awkward, annoying, and disturbing news I've had the unfortunate opportunity to read. Unfortunate, not because I could read about it, but because of what the news contained.

The first news report comes from Rachel Maddow's Facebook who relayed this news article;  (http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/meet-mccrorys-top-environmental-official)

"World Net Daily occasionally influences politicians like Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), but in general, most sensible folks have some rudimentary understanding of where oil comes from. Weird extremists have a very limited ability to influence public policy.

But consider this recent exchange between WRAL’s Laura Leslie in North Carolina and John Skvarla:
LESLIE: I’m thinking about what you’re saying about natural gas and that’s true. You know, obviously, it’s very cheap right now. You know, on the flip side, it’s a finite resource and fossil resource. I mean, is there –

SKVARLA: There are some people who disagree with you. The Russians, for instance, have always drilled oil as if it’s a renewable resource. So far, they haven’t been proven wrong. There’s a lot of different scientific opinion on that."

Yep you read that right, Skvarla, one of the top North Carolina Environmental Specialists believes that natural gas and oil are infinite renewable resources.

Okay, there is some truth to this ideology, but the time frame is all wrong. Skvarla, along with most of World Net Daily's readership believe in a young Earth, ie, Creationism. This is their attempt to reconcile science with their delusion of reality. What's worse is that the creationist Christian movement is a derisive ideology that is harming humanity and our future.

Yes, if given another several million years, possibly even a few hundred million years the oil reserves we used would be replenished. The concept of Abiogenic Oil is false and has no basis in reality.

The next thing in my lovely list of anguish this morning was a video that I think needs to be disseminated.

Upworthy recently posted an article on the anti-gay violence occurring in Russia and it's definitely worth a watch. (http://www.upworthy.com/here-is-the-shocking-footage-of-gay-men-being-beaten-on-camera-in-russia)

The violence in Russia against gays has only escalated since the installation of their new anti-gay laws. Anti-gay laws that are scary in similarity to the laws now trying to be passed in the US. Arizona recently passed a resolution to allow for religious discrimination against gays. Similar laws have been put forward by state houses all over the US. Many being defeated by their respective senates. Both Kansas and Maine and Utah have all had anti-gay discrimination laws put forward by religious groups, passed by the house, and defeated by their Senates. Ohio seems to be next in line.

These "Religious Freedom Laws" vary in writing and form, but all essentially do the same thing, they give license to those of a specific religious class (Christianity) to hold prejudice and discriminate against gays and gay couples based on their religious beliefs. Every "christian" person who opposes homosexuality, be it the local baker, photographer, or business owner, to public servants such as; the police, firefighters, doctors, paramedics, etc, can refuse to help or provide services to a person if they're gay or perceived to be gay.

These laws are so wide and sweeping that they give a good deal of license to discriminate for one specific group of people against another. Any law of this nature that does pass their respective state congresses would be a violation of the constitution and would be one more law that gays and human rights activists will have to stand up to and defeat in court.

**

The deep and intrinsic connection between religious ideology and socio-cultural disdain for gays is overwhelming. Because of overzealous people lording their religion over their respective societies is the very reason why we must move away from Christianity and all religions. Christianity is the bane of our existence. For everything that it does that is "good" it does a dozen things that are bad.

However, it's not all doom and gloom.

In San Francisco a Girl Scout sold 117 boxes in front of a cannabis shop, she's been invited back. Read the entire article here: "http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/national-international/Girl-Scout-Does-Brisk-Business-Selling-Cookies-Outside-San-Francisco-Pot-Club-246452511.html" 

The Other Anti-Gay Country Not in the News; Nigeria

Dear Readers

While I stew over Russia's anti-gay hyper-religious laws, one country's radicalism has escaped my postings.
One of the reasons why I rag on Russia is because Russia is supposed to be civilized, a developed nation. Not Third World or even Second World (yes that is a term). It is supposed to be the Eastern equivalent to the US. In many ways it is, and in many oh so many ways it's not. So oppressive laws, overt in their language, coming out of Russia and the violence spurred there against the LGBT community is appalling and worth fighting against on both principle and as a fact that Russia, as a major world power, is meant to be setting a standard of sorts for human rights and progressiveness.

However, Nigeria has passed laws that go far beyond the disgusting oppressive (regressive) laws of Russia. Where Russia has acted to ban free speech on the matter of homosexuality, Nigeria has moved to make it out right illegal. Punishable by death. Many Nigerians that are of the LGBT community are afraid to leave their homes, to speak out against the law (especially because the laws against homosexuality also make it illegal to support homosexuality in any way).

From "http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/13/nigeria-gay-marriage-_n_4590799.html"
"Nigeria's president has signed a law banning same-sex marriage as well as homosexual associations, societies and meetings, with penalties of up to 14 years in jail.

The Associated Press obtained a copy of the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act on Monday signed by President Goodluck Jonathan and dated Jan. 7.

Any public show of love by people of the same sex is a new crime punishable by up to 10 years in jail. It is already a crime to have homosexual sex in the West African nation.

Operating or even going to a gay club, society or organization also becomes a crime.

Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States was "deeply concerned" by a law that "dangerously restricts freedom of assembly, association, and expression for all Nigerians."


"BAUCHI, Nigeria (AP) — Thousands of protesters massed outside the Shariah court in Nigeria's northern city of Bauchi, throwing stones into the building to demand the speedy convictions of seven men arrested for belonging to gay organizations.

Security officials shot into the air to halt the protest and the judge quickly halted the trial. He ordered the seven be returned to the safety of the prison.

The same court last week convicted a young man of sodomy and had him publicly whipped with 20 lashes. Though he was tried under Islamic law, his was the first conviction of a gay man in Nigeria since the president signed a bill that further criminalizes homosexuality under the penal code.

Bauchi state has both the Western-style penal code and Shariah, under which sodomy carries the death sentence."
"http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/22/nigeria-gay-trial-protest_n_4645942.html"

Not only is homosexuality now barred by two separate legal systems, but one of the punishments is death.
This is a human rights travesty. Nigeria's President has institutionalized radical religious ideology mirroring the actions of one of humanities' greatest (yet evil) leaders of all time, Hitler.

It may seem cliche to compare a leader of a little known or country with little power taking radical actions to Hitler, but the comparison is valid. Hitler used radical religious rhetoric and laws to first ban Jews from working in Germany and Nazi controlled territory, then made them wear marks to identify them as Jews, regardless of if they were Jewish or Not. He held hearings to determine if people were Jewish or not. Sentenced many to imprisonment in internment camps, and then proceeded with genocide and the absolute persecution of those he found unworthy.

Nigeria is heading down a dark road we have already experienced and the US and the UN needs to act to squelch this discrimination before it balloons into a much bigger threat.

Sochi Olympics a World Stage: Why Russia's Hosting of the Olympics is an Stab in the Gut to Free Countries

Dear Readers

Oh the Olympics are under way an as we sit here cheering for Team USA or which every country you might be cheering on, I want you to consider just what having the Olympics in Russia represents.

Russia's draconian laws that ban free speech in regards to homosexuality, it's extreme anti-gay laws which come with anywhere between 15 days to decades long prison sentence only represents the surface of Russia's anti-freedom regime.

The list of Russian laws that allow very loose vague interpretations is long and branching. However, the current laws that go after the LGBTQ community are directly in violation of Russia's Constitution (The Constitution of the Russian Federation) which is closely tied to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

"Between 2006 and 2013, ten regions enacted a ban on "propaganda of homosexualism" among minors. The laws of nine of them prescribe punishments of administrative sanctions and/or fines. The laws in some of the regions also forbid so-called "propaganda of bisexualism and transgenderism" to minors. As of May 2013 the regions that had enacted these various laws, and the years in which they had passed the laws, included: Ryazan Oblast (2006), Arkhangelsk Oblast (2011), Saint Petersburg (2012), Kostroma Oblast (2012), Magadan Oblast (2012), Novosibirsk Oblast (2012), Krasnodar Krai (2012), Samara Oblast (2012), Bashkortostan (2012),[note 3] and Kaliningrad Oblast (February 2013).[38]
In June 2012, the Moscow City Court upheld a new law banning gay pride parades in the city for the next hundred years.[39][40]" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Russia)

"In June 2013 the national parliament (the State Duma) unanimously adopted, and President Vladimir Putin signed,[41] a nationwide law banning distribution of "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations" among minors.[33][4][42][43][44] The law does not explicitly mention the word "homosexuality", but instead uses the euphemism "non-traditional sexual relations".[4][45] Under the statute it is effectively illegal to hold any gay pride events, speak in defense of gay rights, or say that gay relationships are equal to heterosexual relationships.[37][4][42][43][44]
The law subjects Russian citizens found guilty to fines of up to 5,000 rubles and public officials to fines of up to 50,000 rubles.[46] Organizations or businesses will be fined up to 1 million rubles and be forced to cease operations for up to 90 days. Foreigners may be arrested and detained for up to 15 days then deported, as well as fined up to 100,000 rubles. Russian citizens who have used the Internet or media to promote "non-traditional relations" will be fined up to 100,000 rubles.[4]
The statute amended a law that is said to protect children from pornography and other "harmful information".[41] One of the authors of the statute, Yelena Mizulina, who is the chair of the Duma's Committee on Family, Women, and Children and who has been described by some as a moral crusader,[47][48][49] told lawmakers as the bill was being considered, "Traditional sexual relations are relations between a man and a woman.... These relations need special protection".[37] Mizulina argued that a recent poll had shown 88% of the public were in support of the bill.[50]
Commenting on the bill prior to its passage, President Putin said, during a visit to Amsterdam in April 2013, "I want everyone to understand that in Russia there are no infringements on sexual minorities' rights. They're people, just like everyone else, and they enjoy full rights and freedoms".[45] He went on to say that he fully intended to sign the bill because the Russian people demanded it.[37] As he put it, "Can you imagine an organization promoting pedophilia in Russia? I think people in many Russian regions would have started to take up arms.... The same is true for sexual minorities: I can hardly imagine same-sex marriages being allowed in Chechnya. Can you imagine it? It would have resulted in human casualties."[37] Putin also mentioned that he was concerned about Russia's low birth-rate and that same-sex relationships do not produce children.[41]
Critics say that the statute is written so broadly that it is in effect a complete ban on the gay rights movement and any public expression of homosexuality.[21][37][45]
On 21 July 2013, four Dutch tourists were arrested for allegedly discussing gay rights with Russian youths. The four were arrested for allegedly spreading "propaganda of nontraditional relationships among the under-aged" after talking to teens at a camp in the northern city of Murmansk.[51]"

Not only do these laws violate the freedom of religion clause of the Russian Constitution, but it also violates the freedom of speech guaranteed under the Russian Constitution. And because the law make's illegal to even raise a voice against the law, no one has attempted to successfully sue the Russian government over it's violations with these laws.

So what does this have to do with the Olympics?
The Olympics stand for unity of the world. Where everyone joins together to celebrate physical and mental achievement of our top athletes. It has served to represent a world community. However, with the Olympics in Russia with the current laws in place, it is serving to high light Russia's anti-gay laws and to exemplify Russia.

While it's true that the Olympics are bring a light to the lawlessness of Putin and his government, the truth is that the Olympics is also supporting the country by bringing business and people from all around the world to Russia. It's also putting many people at risk, regardless of the guarantees made by Putin and his government.

It's clear that Putin has any intention of reversing these laws or countering the hate speech and hate acts being carried out against gays while the Olympics take the spotlight. As we focus on the events, in the background the LGBTQ community is being beaten, hunted down, shunted, shuttered, and oppressed.

And because the Olympics bylaws prevent the Olympiads from using the Olympics as a political stage, we'll hear little to nothing about the problems during the Olympics. It is the perfect cover to keep Russia's human rights violations out of the international eye for awhile.

State of the Union Review

Dear Readers

It's been awhile, I've been on hiatus trying to get things in order. The good news is that I might be moving to South Korea to teach English in the near future. I also just got another job so I might just be able to pay for food and rent. Ha!

On the State of the Union;

Oh what a development this is, don't you think? Not the State of the Union itself, Obama's speech reached many people and touched on many points in an otherwise vague way. No, I mean the response from the religious right.

The funniest so far is from Alex Castellanos who said on CNN “I think I’ve said before that I think a speech by Barack Obama is a lot like sex. The worst there ever was is still excellent, and I thought he gave a very competent performance tonight.”

But some of the more ludicrous ones came right from the post speech response.

The GOP's response was the worst droning dribble I've heard in a good long time. The woman there is Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and she delivered the post SotU address response by the GOP.

(Full transcript here http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/29/us/politics/text-of-the-gop-response-to-obamas-speech.html?_r=0)

The first thing to note is that it was tapped before the State of the Union Address aired and is based on a transcript of Obama's speech rather than the actual speech itself. This means that it has nothing whatsoever on how the audience reacted to the speech.

The first problem I have with the response is how it addresses the US. "Tonight we honor America, a nation that has witnessed the greatest rise of freedom and opportunity our world has ever seen, a nation where we are not defined by our limits but by our potential, and a nation where a girl who worked at the McDonald’s drive-through to help pay for college can be with you from the United States Capitol."

Rep. Rodgers asserts a massive contradiction here, we as a nation have limits, those limits are defined and thus they define us as a country. Our potential, being an unknown thing, is undefined, and the logical fallacy asserts that we are defined by the undefinable. More importantly, we have the potential to be great or to fall flat on our faces. The next big issue is that Rep. Rodgers makes the speech about her and not the people or the SotU speech. She makes another fallacious argument that, because she worked at McDonalds while in college and now is an Elected Representative that everyone who works at McDonalds must be in college and can make the same move as she does. Of course this doesn't come across in the written form, but that is the air with which she speaks if you listen.

The next paragraph again doesn't address the speech, but rather sets up an Ad Hominem argument that is appealing to the personal events of the viewers rather than taking on any specific part of the speech.

"But the most important moments right now aren’t happening here. They’re not in the Oval Office or in the House Chamber. They’re in your homes, kissing your kids good night, figuring out how to pay the bills, getting ready for tomorrow’s doctor’s visit, waiting to hear from those you love serving in Afghanistan or searching for that big job interview. After all, we the people have been the foundation of America since her earliest days, people from all walks of life and from all corners of the world, people who come to America because here no challenge is too great and no dream too big. That’s the genius of America."

Of course this section ignores many problems and challenges that people are facing today; hunger, homelessness, the fact that the GOP is pushing to kick out even more foreign persons and immigrants, but it is also a misnomer, the argument doesn't follow the SotU or any of it's major points. It really doesn't have a place in the response. Sadly it becomes the basis of the rest of the speech.

"Tonight the president made more promises that sound good but won’t actually solve the problems facing Americans. We want you to have a better life. The president wants that too. But we part ways when it comes to how to make that happen."

This section made me laugh, the President's points were solid and if it were true that the GOP wanted us to have a better life they wouldn't stand in the way of legislation that would force regulations on businesses who are taking advantage of the American workers. If it were true, the GOP wouldn't be pushing to give big businesses more tax breaks while forcing higher taxes on the poor and middle class, or making claims like "The poor should pay more taxes because they can pay with welfare" (Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert (R) has proposed raising taxes on the poorest Americans even if the only money they have to pay is money that they get from government programs like welfare.~http://mikenormaneconomics.blogspot.com/2014/01/david-edwards-louie-gohmert-raise-taxes.html).

"So tonight I’d like to share a more hopeful Republican vision, one that empowers you, not the government. It’s one that champions free markets and trusts people to make their own decisions, not a government that decides for you. It helps working families rise above the limits of poverty and protects our most vulnerable, and it’s one where Washington plays by the same rule that you do. It’s a vision that is fair and offers the promise of a better future for every American." 

This is the last pertinent piece of the speech for several minutes as she drones on about her life growing up and having to work hard. A anecdote that has little to do with the issues at hand and seems to present the idea, as most GOP speakers do, that if people were to just work hard they'll get ahead. Sadly this isn't the case in the US. She talks about her son after she was elected who has down syndrome and stated "But when we looked at our son, we saw only possibilities. We saw a gift from God. And today we see a 6-year-old boy who dances to Bruce Springsteen; who reads above grade level; and who is the best big brother in the world."

This is her first reference to 'god' in her speech and it won't be the last. It's clear that her religious views are more and more a factor in her speech and how she, and the GOP, perceive how the US works.

She again illustrates her lacking understanding of logical contradiction as she states; "...whether we’re born with an extra 21st chromosome or without a dollar to our name, we are not defined by our limits, but by our potential, because our mission, not only as Republicans, but as Americans, is to once again to ensure that we are not bound by where we come from, but empowered by what we can become. That is the gap Republicans are working to close. It’s the gap we all face: between where you are and where you want to be."

Besides the obvious grammar errors, this is a crucial insight as to what the Republicans would like us to do, that is, to forget what they've done in the past so as to empower them to continue doing what they're doing now. Let's get rid of the extra verbiage shall we? Paraphrased "Our mission as Republicans is to once again ensure that we are not bound by where we come from, but [are] empowered by what we can become..."

Restated: Our missions as Republicans is to not be held accountable for our past mistakes so we can remain empowered to do what we want in the future. The "gap" is the closing of the control of the Democrats seats and government at large. This reminds me of the subversive speech Umbridge spoke at Hogwarts...Rodgers Umbridge...maybe there's a connection there.

"The President talks a lot about income inequality, but the real gap we face today is one of opportunity inequality. And with this Administration’s policies, that gap has become far too wide. We see this gap growing every single day. We see it in our neighbors who are struggling to find jobs, a husband who’s now working just part-time, a child who drops out of college because she can’t afford tuition, or parents who are outliving their life’s savings."

It's funny, actually, the GOP doesn't seem to grasp that "Opportunity" is tied to "Income". If you want to fix the opportunity gap you have to fix the income inequality gap. Whatmore, Rep. Rodgers wants to blame Obama's policies for the gap becoming "far too wide", but doesn't seem to grasp or doesn't want the audience to grasp that it is GOP obstructionism that blocked policies that would have lessened that gap. A similar sentiment was expressed by Michelle Bachmann when she went up against Bernie Sanders in a  debate.

Michelle completely fails to acknowledge that it is GOP partisanship and obstructionism. She says "We've had five years of Obama's Policies and the Economy is in the tank." Ignoring that fact that we've had five years of Obama trying to get policy into place and five years of the GOP standing in the way at every turn preventing 39 of 41 asked for policy changes last year and 90% of all policies in his first term.

How about that hypothetical college student? Yeah, the one who can't pay tuition? Well for a start tuition costs have increased dramatically, because of many different factors including decreases in available FAFSA funds. So students have to take out more loans and go further into debt to go to college. So what is the GOP plan for education? Not one damned thing, nothing. Nor do they make any such plan clear in their speech they just jump to another area, the job market. 

Can we fix the tuition in the US? Hell yes we can. (http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/03/how-washington-could-make-college-tuition-free-without-spending-a-penny-more-on-education/273801/)

The Atlantic reported that higher education institutions (aka colleges and universities) earned about $60 billion dollars in tuition while the US Federal Aid Program (FAFSA) spent some $77 billion dollars on that tuition (via grants and tax breaks) and covering interest and other costs. Rather than making students take out loans and go into debt the US could pay for the cost of higher education for free for all students giving all students and people applying to school a step up which would drive the economy and bring money into the economy rather than taking it out as more and more students' debt skyrocket.

"Last month, more Americans stopped looking for a job than found one. Too many people are falling further and further behind, because right now, the President’s policies are making people’s lives harder. Republicans have plans to close the gap, plans that focus on jobs first without more spending, government bailouts, and red tape. Every day, we’re working to expand our economy, one manufacturing job, nursing degree and small business at a time."

This was already fact checked by Politifact and Factcheck.org. This statement ignores that many people who left the workforce are retirees, and again Rep. Rodgers asserts a fallacy that it is the President's policies that are making people's lives harder, it is the GOP's policy of obstructionism that has prevented policies that have affected and made people's lives harder.

If it is true they have a plan to help create jobs without extra spending, bailouts, or red tape, working to expand the economy, etc, they've not shown it. Every policy that would have made getting a job easier, that would have helped people, was blocked by the GOP. How exactly are they going to expand the economy? They don't bother to say in this speech. However, if it follows past trends, it will rely on the debunked trickle down economics model and will only put the economy in the tank all the more.

It should also come as no surprise that GOP wants to take away welfare support from the people who need it the most. " Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) floated the idea of capping government benefits for women who have children out of wedlock...."(http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/01/29/3220881/rand-paul-welfare-cap-children/)

Or that the GOP has little to no respect for our President. One even walked out on his SotU (http://www.examiner.com/article/republican-congressman-walks-out-during-obama-s-state-of-the-union-address) Rep. Steve Stockman walked out halfway through the President's speech. Stating as an explanation "Tonight I left early after hearing how the President is further abusing his Constitutional powers. I could not bear to watch as he continued to cross the clearly-defined boundaries of the Constitutional separation of powers...Needless to say, I am deeply disappointed in the tone and content of tonight’s address." "After five years in office Obama refuses to admit his policies have failed...He instead demands we double down on the bitter class warfare that has left Americans jobless and hopeless. Obama’s plan for higher taxes and more spending is a blueprint for perpetual poverty. The last thing America needs is more of the Democrats’ class warfare that has left our economy a barren landscape."

If you're thinking that this sounds familiar, you'd be spot on the nose. The GOP wants to make the President's policies look as though they've failed, all the while ignoring their hand in making them fail.

This section of the SotU response made me laugh "And with too many Americans living paycheck to paycheck, we have solutions to help you take home more of your pay, through lower taxes, cheaper energy costs and affordable health care."

The GOP has blocked all policies that have been attempted to push better clean energy solutions in the US like wind turbines, solar, etc. They've pushed for further fracking, coal mining, and oil production including a massive oil pipeline that would go right through the central plains crossing three of our major aquifers. I've already shown that several GOP members want to raise taxes on the poor and middle class while reducing taxes on the rich. They've spent an estimated $50 million dollars to repeal Obamacare which was originally a GOP program, and they've made wild claims about Obamacare's effectiveness when people they hired and their own sponsored site was designed to create denial of service attacks on the website.  Cheaper energy costs...more like damaged environment and more sick people from more human caused environmental disasters.

The funniest part of the speech is this statement "The president said many things tonight. But now I ask him to listen to you, for the true state of the union lies in your heart and in your home."

I think that it is the GOP who needs to listen to the people, as the President already has and he's doing his best to do what the people have asked of him.

The last part of the GOP response is the most disturbing and clearly shows a religious bias. "So tonight I simply offer a prayer, a prayer for Sergeant Hess’s family, your family and for our larger American family, that with the guidance of God, we may prove -- proves ourselves worthy of His blessings of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. For when we embrace these gifts, we are each doing our part to form a more perfect union.

May God guide you and our president, and may God continue to bless the United States of America."

This section only proves, again, the GOP is very christian and holds no respect for people who aren't christian. It's insulting for them to address the US this way, they represent dozens of people and yet they make some pretty big assumptions. I'm annoyed at best with this final statement. The whole of the response was vague, offered no concrete expectations or realistic plans. It didn't describe anything beyond the same old rhetoric.

That's it for this post. I'm still working on my debunk of the anti-gay site....look forward to the next post soon.

Krist