@dustcirclenews - HEADLINES: Our Founding Fathers, FCC Disclosure Proposal, Where Are the Unions, Israeli Chemical Weapons, More Snowden Revelations, The Rising Anti-Science, People Want Full Medicare, NSA's Mass Spying, Hunger-Striking Radicals, Global Warming, Social Network Diagrams, Opposition to Faith Schools, Biblical Child Abuse, American Exceptionalism, American Outsourcing Exposed, more.

Many great political and non-religious quotes at: http://www.dustcircle.com! And don't forget to visit us at FACEBOOK and TWITTER.

Our Founding Fathers Never Imagined Congress Would Behave This Badly
http://bigthink.com/praxis/what-james-madison-would-say-to-john-boehner

FCC proposal would require carriers to disclose network reliability in disasters
http://www.fiercemobilegovernment.com/story/fcc-proposal-would-require-carriers-disclose-network-reliability-disasters/2013-10-02?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

Where are the Unions?
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Where-are-the-Unions-by-Robert-De-Filippis-Business_Capital_Class_Economic-131003-399.html

World Should Pressure Israel To Eliminate Its Chemical Weapons
http://www.countercurrents.org/gottinger041013.htm

We Now Live in World in Which No One Is Listening to the Planet’s Sole Superpower
http://www.alternet.org/world/we-now-live-world-which-no-one-listening-planets-sole-superpower

More Snowden Revelations Coming, Guardian Cryptography Analyst Says
http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/more_snowden_revelations_coming_says_guardian_cryptography_analyst_20130926

The Rising Antiscience
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/victor-stenger/rising-antiscience-faith_b_3991677.html

NSA Chief, General Alexander defends US surveillance programs as a Noble Mission
http://thehackernews.com/2013/09/nsa-chief-general-alexander-defends-us.html

Why No One’s Investigating Wall Street

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article36355.htm

Leaks Show NSA is Working to Undermine Encrypted Communications, Here's How You Can Fight Back
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/09/leaks-show-nsa-working-undermine-encrypted-communications-heres-how-you-can-fight

People Want Full Medicare for All
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/09/26-11

Time to Speak Up Against the NSA’s Mass Spying
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/09/time-speak-against-nsas-mass-spying

Look Around, Workers Are Pissed

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/09/26

Rules for (hunger-striking) radicals
http://wagingnonviolence.org/feature/rules-hunger-striking-radicals/

Surveillance and Human Rights Principles are launched at 24th Session of the Human Rights Council
https://www.accessnow.org/blog/2013/09/22/surveillance-and-human-rights-principles-are-launched-at-the-24th-hrc

Snowden urges EU parliament to protect whistleblowers
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Snowden-urges-EU-parliamen-by-RT-TV-Prism_Russia_Snowden_Surveillance-131001-729.html

Global Warming Could Destroy the Lives of 750 Million People in the Short Future
http://www.alternet.org/environment/global-warming-could-potentially-destroy-lives-750-million-people-next-three-decades

NSA using metadata to compile “social network diagrams” on Americans
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/09/30/surv-s30.html

Eye on Palestine – This is occupation: Deprivation of Healthcare
http://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/2013/09/26/eye-on-palestine-this-is-occupation-deprivation-of-healthcare/

Study: Combative People "Remember" Hostile Acts That They Didn't Commit
http://bigthink.com/Mind-Matters/study-combative-people-remember-hostile-acts-that-they-didnt-commit

Opinion poll shows big opposition to “faith schools”
http://www.secularism.org.uk/news/2013/09/opinion-poll-shows-big-opposition-to-faith-schools

Breaking Their Will: The Sick Biblical Literalism That Leads to Child Abuse and Even Death
http://www.alternet.org/belief/breaking-their-will-sick-biblical-literalism-leads-child-abuse-and-even-death

Edward Snowden: Surveillance of Whole Populations Threatens to be the Greatest Human Rights Challenge of Our Time
http://www.alternet.org/edward-snowden-surveillance-whole-populations-threatens-be-greatest-human-rights-challenge-our-time

WHY AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM IS WRONG
http://americanhumanist.org/HNN/details/2013-10-why-american-exceptionalism-is-wrong

Atheist students use federal law to pursue same rights as Christians for ‘secular safe zones’
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/sep/30/atheist-students-use-federal-law-to-pursue-same-ri/

Send the Bill For the Shutdown to the Evangelicals
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/frankschaeffer/2013/10/send-the-bill-for-the-shutdown-to-the-evangelicals/

America For Sale: Outsourcing Exposed

7 Free Documentaries: One Second to the Next, Evolution vs. God, DEFCON, Turnstile, BioBricks, Modern Spies, Nazi Concentration Camps.

If the videos aren't visible in the emails, see them on the website:  http://www.dustcircle.com

From One Second to the Next

These are some of the stories that Werner Herzog portrayed in this It Can Wait documentary dedicated to horrors and victims of texting and driving.

Evolution Vs. God

Evolution Vs. God is a documentary trying to challenge the theory of evolution. Evangelical leader Ray Comfort, known as the bananaman, interviews evolution proponents (mostly students) from different universities in the United States and tries to expose the so called “unscientific nature” of evolution which he refers to as a “blind faith”, not science. The film tries to show intelligent design as a competing theory and suggests that the academe continues to bully intelligent design as an option. The film also aims to get some evidence for Macroevolution.

DEFCON: The Documentary
DEFCON is the world’s largest hacking conference, held in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 2012 it was held for the 20th time. The conference has strict no-filming policies, but for DEFCON 20, a documentary crew was allowed full access to the event. The film follows the four days of the conference, the events and people (attendees and staff), and covers history and philosophy behind DEFCON’s success and unique experience.


Turnstile
Turnstile is focused on women involved in the criminal justice system and drug policy reform. The 36 minute film offers an exploration of three women’s experiences with addiction and incarceration, and interviews with other women that have been working for decades on criminal justice reform.


BioBricks: Building Blocks of Life
In the race to decode the human genome, scientists have long developed the tools that allow them to read and influence the building blocks of life. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute are able to decode the genome of Neanderthals and compare it with the human genome. Synthetic biology is no longer just practiced in university laboratories anymore. The next step could be for scientists to bring extinct species back to life – maybe even Neanderthals. Things that aren’t ethically defensible today could become normal in the future.


Modern Spies
From James Bond to Jason Bourne, the fictional world of spying is a world of danger and deception, glamour and lies. But how does the myth compare with the reality?


Nazi Concentration Camps
The Nazi Concentration Camps documentary was filmed in 1945 and entered as evidence at the Nuremberg Trials of Rudolf Hess, Hermann Göring, and 22 other Nazi officials in the aftermath of World War II. It revealed a stark, horrifying image of the atrocities of the Holocaust and ensured than no one would ever doubt the meaning of the charge, “crimes against humanity.”

@dustcirclenews - HEADLINES: U.S. Public Hates NSA Spying, DOJ/FBI Admits Analysis Abuse, Navy Child Porn Docket, 80% U.S. Adults Face Near-Poverty, Railroading Bradley Manning, False Memories in Mice, Sky Darkens for American Journalism, more.

Lots of good stuff at: http://www.dustcircle.com

Poll: US Public Hates NSA Spying

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/07/25-12

DOJ/FBI Admit They May Have Abused Hair Analysis To Convict Hundreds To Thousands Of Innocent People
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130723/00563923895/dojfbi-admit-they-may-have-abused-hair-analysis-to-convict-hundreds-to-thousands-innocent-people.shtml

Child porn, sex assault fill Navy docket
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/jul/22/navy-court-martial-sex-assault-data/

Obama touts economic “recovery,” steps up assault on workers
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/07/24/pers-j24.html

50 Things Young People Say About Why They Don’t Participate In Politics
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/07/23/usa-today-finds-young-people-think-politics-irrelevant-50-reasons-why-video/

80 Percent Of U.S. Adults Face Near-Poverty, Unemployment: Survey
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35682.htm

Four in five Americans economically insecure
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/07/29/pove-j29.html

Snowden's Whistleblowing Creates Climate for Critical House Vote on NSA Surveillance http://www.opednews.com/articles/Snowden-s-Whistleblowing-C-by-Kevin-Gosztola-130724-159.html

Railroading Bradley Manning
http://socialistworker.org/2013/07/25/railroading-bradley-manning

Scientists Plant False Memories in Mice--and Mice Buy It
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=scientists-plant-false-memories-in-mice-and-mice-buy-it&WT.mc_id=SA_DD_20130726

Which Citizens Are Under More Surveillance, U.S. Or European? 
http://www.npr.org/2013/07/28/206231873/who-spies-more-the-united-states-or-europe

The Original American Dream Was Not About Getting Rich
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/original-american-dream-was-not-about-getting-rich

How do we keep religious education out of the hands of the evangelists?http://www.secularism.org.uk/blog/2013/07/how-do-we-keep-religious-education-out-of-the-hands-of-the-evangelists

The Sky Darkens for American Journalism

Former US marine calls Zionist a prostitute on Press TV Debate

Why Young People Are Fleeing Conservative Evangelicalism

By Eleanor J. Bader

[REPRINT]

 

Some leave because they oppose the church's doctrinal stance. Others are turned off by its hostility to science. Others reject the limitations placed on sex.

 

February 9, 2012  |  

 

The results of a five-year study of the Millennial Generation—people born between 1982 and 1993—are in. Thanks to the Barna Group, a 28-year-old, California-based, Christian research firm, we now know that conservative evangelical churches are losing formerly–affiliated “young creatives:” Actors, artists, biologists, designers, mathematicians, medical students, musicians, and writers.

Some leave because they oppose the church’s doctrinal stance. Others are turned off by its hostility to science, and still others reject the limitations placed on permissible sexual activity. The report cites the tension felt by young adults who find it difficult—if not impossible—to remain “sexually pure,” especially since most heterosexuals don’t marry until their mid-to-late twenties. “Young Christians are as sexually active as their non-Christian peers,” Barna concludes. What’s more, the report admits that Millennials see the evangelical church as an exclusive club, open only to those who adhere to every rule. This runs counter to values that rank high on the Millennial playlist—among them, open-mindedness, tolerance, and support for diversity.

These findings, of course, don’t necessarily mean that young evangelicals are becoming progressively engaged, but they do suggest that an opening exists for prochoice, feminist, and pro-LGBTQ activists to touch the hearts and minds of Generation Y. Angela Ferrell-Zabala, director of Spiritual Youth for Reproductive Freedom, a project of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, says that former Evangelicals are hungry for information about alternative faith and lifestyle options. “Technology has given Millennials access to philosophies and people from all over, and they tend to think in ways that are bigger than where they came from or how they were raised,“ she begins.” At the same time, “young folks are not necessarily throwing in the towel on their faith. They’re working to reconcile the pieces of their lives, asking, ‘Who am I?’ and ‘What is my place in the world?’“

The relationship between seemingly disparate issues, or intersectionality, holds great appeal to Millennials, Ferrell Zabala continues. “When we speak about reproductive justice we’re speaking about the whole person--being able to access jobs and higher education as well as contraception. When we talk about voter suppression or immigration, the conversation leads back to the choices a person is able to make.” And regardless of whether Millennials ultimately join a mainline Protestant church or live as atheists or agnostics, Ferrell-Zabala is adamant that the desire to respect others and be respected is of utmost importance to them.

That said, it is often difficult for ex-evangelicals to break away from family and childhood friends. Carol Hornbeck, an Indianapolis-based Marriage and Family therapist, stresses that when an individual’s worldview begins to unravel they typically feel unsettled. “People’s ideas usually begin to shift when a personal experience runs counter to their expectations,” she begins. “This may be because they’ve learned that a trusted friend or colleague is gay or has had an abortion. As long as the issue is at arm’s length, they can hate it, but it changes the paradigm when it’s your next-door neighbor or your friend’s sister. When the person is one step removed from your inner circle, it’s hard to be judgmental or condemning.”

But it may still be unsettling. “If the young person continues to want a connection to Christianity, he or she will need to find a church that welcomes uncertainty,” Hornbeck concludes.

Writer/activist Brittany Shoot grew up in Anderson, Indiana, the headquarters of the Church of God, in a deeply religious evangelical family. Her move away from the church was gradual. “When I was a child I was told that someone I cared about was HIV-positive. I somehow learned that he was gay and had contracted the virus through sex. There was such shame around the diagnosis. I knew that I shouldn’t tell anyone he was sick because they might shun me. Even as a kid I thought, ‘something is wrong here.’” Later, when Shoot was in high school, a friend disclosed his homosexuality. “You didn’t come out in the Christian culture we lived in,” she says. “He didn’t feel safe; we also knew that no church in the area would love and protect him.”

Now 29, Shoot no longer attends services but frequently writes about religion, feminism, and sexuality. Although she is critical of evangelism, she is also protective of people of faith. “In progressive circles it’s common to trash talk religion. This is damaging,” she says. “Most people who’ve moved away from evangelism still have family members who are religious. Those outside the community need to be sensitive and not make churchgoing people their target.”

Activists should also be open to questions about sexuality, Shoot says. “Despite Internet access, kids raised in the church were told, ‘don’t do anything until marriage,’ so when they finally get to a place where they can talk freely, they need it to be judgment free. Don’t hate on the girl who doesn’t know what a vibrator is or who knows next to nothing about reproduction.”

Writer/activist Mandy Van Deven agrees. Van Deven grew up in small-town Georgia where schools taught nothing but abstinence. “When you grow up in communities where sex outside of marriage is stigmatized, you see the effects of not having access to comprehensive sex education or reproductive health services—high rates of teen pregnancy, abortion, and sexually transmitted infections.”

While outsiders can certainly organize in these locales, Van Deven puts the onus for outreach on former evangelicals. “It’s helpful for the people who have already started to sway to the reproductive justice end of the continuum to preach to those who haven’t yet made the leap,” she says. “They know better than others what it takes to reconcile a more liberal ideology with the conservatism of their upbringing.”

Whether or not former evangelicals will do this remains uncertain. Nonetheless, the Barna report implies that once Millennials abandon evangelism, the barriers to progressive change can begin to crumble. Stay tuned for developments.

 

Eleanor J. Bader is a teacher, freelance writer and activist from Brooklyn, NY. She is also the co-author of Targets of Hatred: Anti-Abortion Terrorism, St. Martin's Press, 2001.

Are Evangelical Christians Warmongers?

Are Evangelical Christians Warmongers?

[REPRINT]

By Chuck Baldwin
 I’ve been an evangelical Christian since I was a child. I’ve been in the Gospel ministry all of my adult life. I attended two evangelical Christian colleges, received honorary degrees from two others, and taught and preached in several others. I’ve attended many of the largest evangelical pastors’ gatherings and have been privileged to speak at Christian gatherings–large and small–all over America. I have been part of the inner workings of evangelical ministry for nearly 40 years. I think I learned a thing or two about evangelical/fundamentalist Christianity in America. And I’m here to tell you: I don’t like what I see happening these days!


Let’s get this straight right out of the gate: nothing touched by man can be perfect, because none of us is perfect. There is no perfect church, perfect school, perfect mission board, perfect Sunday School class, perfect pastor, perfect deacon, or perfect Christian. Until the afterlife, we are all yet encased in Adamic flesh, complete with human weaknesses and imperfections. And only the Pharisaical among us are too proud to admit it.