From the KC Star:
Last week was an active one for religious bigots.
On Sunday a gunman slaughtered six Sikhs who were going to their house of worship in the outskirts of Milwaukee. ....
The next day, a Muslim mosque near Joplin, Mo., burned to the ground. The fire has been labeled “suspicious.” ...
It would be a mistake, however, to dismiss the nativist paranoia behind this terrorism as an aberration. For it echoes through mainstream politics and culture, with right-wing media personalities and elected officials promoting the idea that Christians are somehow victims of religious discrimination.
Consider the constitutional amendment Missourians overwhelmingly approved at the polls the day after the mosque fire. It purported to secure the “right to pray.” It passed by a 5-to-1 margin, and no wonder: Its most troubling passages were not spelled out on the ballot.....
[O]ther language in the amendment was not included in the ballot, such as: “No student shall be compelled to perform or participate in academic assignments or educational presentations that violate his or her religious beliefs.” ...
....
[W]hen pressed by media, many backers of the amendment spoke about ensuring that school children have the right to refuse learning about Buddha, or Islam, or being somehow indoctrinated by learning about how Muslims pray.
And there the true intent is discovered. This amendment is for conservative Christians who are offended that they might have to acknowledge that not everyone in the world is Christian.
...
Classic. It’s always a red flag when a majority group, falsely claiming discrimination against itself, lays the groundwork for tolerating discrimination against another group.
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here for other discussions at FoJ on the fake "religious freedom" meme.
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According to Sunday's L.A. Times, For hip-hop and gay rights, a transformative moment.
"Hip-hop has been described as the heartbeat of urban America, but for years, it had an open secret — that heart was brimming with hate. Rap was one of the most reliably homophobic arenas in American pop culture. Its stars casually tossed off references to stabbing gays in the head or shooting them in the crotch. Rappers felt compelled to devise a catchphrase to give themselves cover while saying something nice about another man — 'no homo,' as in: 'That's a cool shirt. No homo.'"
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"Across the board, hip-hop is having a change of heart. Either in song or in interviews, one headliner after another — the mogulJay-Z; Jayceon Taylor, better known as Game — has thrown his support behind the gay community.
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