Enough with the Psalms 109:8

Sick ? You can't buy them from Psalms 109:8 designs from CafePress anymore. Polite applause, y'all.

eBay says 'no' to the Roeder auction

Attempting to raise money for the defense of Scott Roeder, who is charged with first-degree murder in George Tiller's death, supporters planned an eBay auction. Planned, and written about by the Kansas City Star. And eBay says "no:"

"Based on the details we know about the anticipated listings, we believe these would violate our policy regarding offensive material," the company said in a statement issued to The Kansas City Star. "eBay will not permit the items in question to be posted to the eBay site, and they will be removed if they are posted."

How offensive?

Mark Silk explains:

Among the items they planned to auction is a prison drawing by Roeder of David and Goliath depicting David holding the head of Goliath with the name "Tiller" inscribed on Goliath's forehead. On the corpse are the words "child-murdering industry."

Perhaps it was not a flatly stated point of the overall effort to both rationalize and glorify violence. But that drawing. And calls for Roeder to use a "necessity defense," saying that Tiller's killing on May 31 was an act of justifiable homicide.

Accusing eBay of violating someone's First Amendment rights, and auction proponents are doing that, is a red herring.

H/T: Mark Silk

Responding to the Rev. Steven Anderson and others

An anti-violence protest group plans regular Sunday demonstrations outside the church of "Why I Hate Barack Obama [.mp3]" Pastor Steven Anderson's independent Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, AZ.

Anderson, among whose parishioners is Chris Broughton, who recently brought an AR-15 rifle and a handgun to an Arizona Obama rally, may be seen as part of an organized politics of hate. Frederick Clarkson chronicles the mix of theology and right-wing politics of which Anderson is apparently a part. In a June, Clarkson reports, Anderson spoke at a rally of the Constitution Party, which has a focus on theocratic governance [excerpts from party platform via the Southern Poverty Law Center].

Southern Baptist pastor Paul Brewster deals with important elements of the theology involved. For example, Brewster wrote in a LifeWay Viewpoints column:

According to the pastor's church website, he prides himself on his commitment to soul-winning and on retaining a robust doctrine of hell. But of all people, soul-winners should live to see men delivered from judgment and not to condemn men to it. As one who believes I have escaped the wrath of God for my sins only because of the grace of God available by faith in Christ, I can take no delight in the thought of others who might perish. Beyond this, to think that we are in the position of pronouncing judgment over souls is to usurp authority that has not been delegated to us in this life. We are always called to warn people of the awful reality of hell, but with humility, tears, and aching hearts.

The protest group, People Against Clergy Who Preach Hate, responds to Anderson's call for Obama's death [.mp3] on its FaceBook page, saying in part:

This is the type of disgusting behavior which has destroyed and is continuing to destroy not only the democratic civilization of Arizona but of the United States of America as well. We ask that you please join us in publicly standing non-violently against these hate-mongering clergy who are liable to be the cause of the next act of American terrorism by the hateful brain washed people they are provoking to violence against our loved ones and our family.

Pastor and owner of Anderson Fire and Security Inc. Steve Anderson apparently didn't fellowship with the roughly 125 People Against Clergy Who Preach Hate protesters Sunday, according reporter Stephen Lemons of Phoenix New Times:

It was a diverse crowd, with a smattering of Christian ministers, young girls strumming guitars, a faux monk, and Code Pink's Liz Hourican offering free hugs. She wanted to offer Anderson a hug, but Anderson only briefly stuck his head out the front door of his church, declining to address the flock of press present. He did, however, reaffirm that he hated Obama, and that, "I'm not changing anything that I said."

Lemons is the reporter whom Anderson called "a jerk" during an intense discussion of Anderson's use of the same mailing address for the church [directions] and for his business, Anderson Fire and Security Incorporated, and of use of church facilities in association with that business. Anderson says in ABC15's raw video of the extended, church-door conversation with Lemons, that his business pays the church rent for space in which to store equipment for the business.

Web pages and the YouTube site of Anderson Fire and Security Incorporated have apparently been deleted since Anderson's conversation with Lemons. A screen shot of the former andfire.com credentials page with the business address is here. A screen shot of the former andyfire.com home page is here. A screen shot of the former YouTube page is here. Video of with images of the demonstration is below:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIW27p4BI_g&feature=player_embedded]

Anderson became a right-wing celebrity of sorts after being tasered by the Border Patrol in April of this year. A month ago, Yuma police said they charged Anderson with disorderly conduct after a group he was with confronted border patrol agents and a manager at a pizza restaurant. He's a confrontational attention-seeker, and that's one of the issues he raises.

Mark Silk at Spiritual Politics suggests we consider "how much attention to give, and how much significant to attach, to marginal characters like Broughton and Anderson."

Certainly Brewster was right to make clear, gentle distinctions between Anderson and other evangelicals, specifically Southern Baptists. Given the rise of the militias documented by the SPLC, ignoring the problem is unwise. Rational, secular expressions of dissent from the rhetoric of violence have an important place as the phenomenon of which Anderson is a part manifests itself.

Rick Warren: domestic violence != divorce

Right Wing Watch is being a little unfair to Rick Warren.

Their criticism is based on an Associated Baptist Press story which says:

In audio clips on his Saddleback Church website, the Purpose Driven Life author says the Bible condones divorce for only two reasons -- adultery and abandonment.

"I wish there were a third in Scripture, having been involved as a pastor with situations of abuse," Warren said. "There is something in me that wishes there were a Bible verse that says, 'If they abuse you in this-and-such kind of way, then you have a right to leave them.'"

That means in essence that Warren runs a doctrinaire conservative Southern Baptist church (the woods are full of them around here). And he's almost inevitably the kind of pastor Mary Gruben wrote about in the Abilene, Texas, newspaper:

I was married to a violent and abusive man. When I talked to my pastor about the physical abuse, he asked me if I was "willing to give my life for my husband." When I could no longer follow that kind of warped thinking, I got a divorce. I began to realize that the God I know and serve loved my children and me more than that. After the divorce, I was told I should have tried harder and prayed harder.

She's an inerrantist, according to well-known, Oklahoma Southern Baptist pastor Wade Burleson, and nonetheless goes on to say:

Our Southern Baptist system sets women and children up to be abused. The "prominent" Southern Baptist thinkers have no idea the jeopardy their view places women and children in. They have given husbands carte blanche to do what they want to. It also gives the impression that the men are perfect and the women are flawed. It is a closed system when it comes to the woman's place at home and in ministry.

Her view is the exception among Southern Baptists, as she makes clear.

Whereas Saddleback Church pastor Warren's is commonplace in his denomination.

So let's be fair.

Gruben is right -- it's a doctrine which puts women and children in danger. And should in the name of simple humanity be abandoned.

But not a view about which to affect outraged surprise when Warren's church uses Web-delivered audio files to teach it.