A moderate republican believes in the beliefs of the Ten Commandments but unlike a regular republican or far right wing republican, a moderate republican believes that most issues of today’s society should be handled in man’s logic and perceptive instead of the religious way.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.ph…

He's not doing either Christianity or himself any favors.

Carrying a cross and wrapped in a flag...

Wasn't it the christians that had to conform with pagan year-end holidays that brought christmas to when it happens in the modern era? This is where I get all upset with this "Put Christ back in Christmas" campaign.

"I'm Rick Perry, and I'm becoming more and more unelectable every day."

I just want the Obama haters who claim they are going to pout in 2012 and vote for a "third party" because there is no difference between the R's and D's to really consider this ad and tell me if that belief could possibly be true.

Rick Perry can suck my dick.

Er, and probably would.

Why does Rick Perry hate Jesus so much that he wants to celebrate his July birthday at a pagan holiday in December?

Talk about apostate ...

He's toast.

"Now, I want to say that I put all my faith in The Father, The Son, and... uh.... what was that third one......"

Holy Spigot?

Holy Goat?

Wait, I got this one ...

@6,

It's not just the timing; almost everything about Christmas is pagan. The trees, the candles, the gifts, the food. It's all a big pagan solstice festival.

@15 It's what Christianity does best. The entire religion has been expropriated from others. From Jews, Pagans, Greeks, Asians, Etruscans, all of them. All stolen.

Perry has been hiding behind the Bible whenever shit hit the fan for his entire career. Have you already forgotten about praying for rain?

When I saw this earlier today, I was briefly ashamed to be a native Texan. But then I thought... ...wait. Ya know what? This dildo with legs doesn't represent the Texas I love. The Texas I love has an El Paso mayor who stood up to a religious zealot. It has the fourth largest city in the country that just so happens to have a lesbian as mayor. It's the Texas that gave us Barbara Jordan's courage, Ann Richards's sass, Willie Nelson's puffing, Farrah Fawcett's hair, Beyoncé's ass, Matthew McConaughey's nipples, plates of sizzling fajitas, empty cases of Shiner under a moonlight Hill Country night, and the final 27–25 Longhorn victory over Texas A&M. It's the Texas that let me, a gay atheist, count a Republican Zorastrian, a devout Christian Leftist, and a Buddhist school teacher (all three Texans!) as some of my closest friends. So no, no thanks Rick. The only war is the one going on in his head and he'll be a loser on THAT battlefield. Faith has made America strong, yes. But so have my friends, family and heros that don't fit his tiny, narrow mold. ::running off to make an angry plate of fajitas for lunch::

@18 I believe you. What I have a problem with is your reference that "faith" has somehow made America stronger. It has been doing the opposite. It was secular government that made us stronger in spite of the religious fanatics and their history of dark ages and murderous rampages. It was secular government in combination with science that has made us a force to be reckoned with and the envy of the world.

This guy is ADORABLE.

Yeah! Because no-one reading these comments could EVER believe that far left whack jobs hate Christianity! Geez, Perry got it SO wrong!

BTW Vincey Boy, your obsession with Christianity and the lies/historical revisionism that 'inform' your world view are very astutely telling. Not about Christianity of course, but about you.

What's funny is the unintentional irony of a blog post that equates Christianity and whatever 'going full Jesus' might be with stupidity, and then discounting Perrys claim that the left is warring on faith.

@19 As an atheist, I didn't mean faith in the definition that Perry uses; that is, exclusively religious or theistic. Although... ...my parents have a strong faith in their God and I'd like to think they are good people and have made this country stronger with their dedication to education and law enforcement.

@16, do you know of any good online resources that catalog these dogma appropriations? I'm too lazy to look myself.

@24 You don't know the half of it. Redneck religion? I say bash the fuck away.
@23 Geez, crack open a few history books.
@21 You have made my day! When I get under the skin of somebody like you, I have a feeling of accomplishment. I know it's easy to do. You scream incessantly. But, still, it's enjoyable to read.

Also, apologies for the language earlier. I didn't mean to demean dildos by comparing them to Perry.

Just as funny as you're commenting here. There is a Pink Floyd song that should be your anthem, Seattleblues.

And, maybe our Vince has met too many of your kind.

Happy slogging.

@21: You're right, SB. Slavery also played a large role in giving America its early edge to become the world power it is today, and Vince didn't mention that, or the religious leaders who provided a Biblical defense of slavery.

@28, your point is well taken and all, but the thing is he's not right. He is in fact absolutely, unequivocally, objectively wrong, and I can only assume he either doesn't know about, or actually believes in, the Divine Right of Kings.

@28: No, Christianity was totally against antebellum American-style slavery! If you look in Exodus 21, the death penalty is commanded for kidnapping people to sell as slaves and killing slaves outright, and slaves must be set free after six years of service. I mean, those Christians in the South followed their religion's commandments, right?
Right, guys? Right?

@16,

Well, to be fair, their religion was founded by a bunch of Jews.

Reaches for antacid, shoves bottle down throat of nearest Republican

/feel better now

I'd hit it.

@30

In order-

Nothing. I don't say Perry is right about his stances on some things, just that the left generally hates and fears Christianity.

The ACLU, for a start. The much much much lesser Ronnie Reagan, for another. But for my money it's a battle Christianity shouldn't be waging. Prayer should be voluntary or not practiced at all, either as a student or as an adult.

They don't. So why is a Christmas tree in the Capitol, or merely saying Christmas sometimes, so threatening to those who don't practice Christianity? It isn't as though it's not as much a secular as religious holiday already for those who wish it that way. If you're Islamic or Hindu or Pagan and offended by the expression of Christian values in a majority Christian nation I have a piece of advice for you. Move.

@32

I don't know how Judaism views human nature, but Christianity views it as flawed by our own choices. You can point out errors the church has made like endorsing slavery or the inquisition or what have you (unless like Vince you just outright lie, at which point I'll challenge the lie) or hypocrisies on the part of those who espouse Christianity and you won't hear a peep of argument from me. That's why the Christian church is needed, from the perspective of a Christian. Religion, Christianity or Judaism or any other, isn't infallible. It's a human, and therefore finite, attempt to understand the infinite divine. It's going to fall short. I'd sooner fall short in a noble effort than not try though.

@31

It's either been a long day, or you're not making any sense. And it hasn't been a long day...

Yes, yes. I get it. I'm a horrible Christian- no, a horrible person- because I accept that most of the teachings of my chosen faith are basically good. Which is kind of why I chose it, you know? You're very superior since you make no judgement about anything of any kind (except Christians) or believe anything any one might find offensive (except Christians.) And you're very humble because you find joy in approving of the abuse of those who mis-state, slander or actively lie about the faith and those who espouse it which you claim to have chosen.

If I understand your stated positions correctly, there's a word for the kind of diluted weak Christianity with no hard and fast principles or beliefs which you seem to have embraced. Apostasy.

If the thinking is that you're making Christianity more attractive to those who hate it already by this watering down process, you're wasting your time. NALT or not, selling water with 2 parts milk as whole milk is still a kind of fraud.

If the thinking is that you're representing Christianity more truly than the pastors and leaders whose sole job is the study of Christianity, or my own humble opinions come to that, you might be right. There is the possibility. Kim in Portland has decided that much of what Christianity believes is false, that she has a superior vision of what it is to be Christian. The collected wisdom and teachings of 2 millenia of the Catholic and Protestant churches disagree.

And you think ME arrogant?

You seem a genuinely nice person. But one of the snares of pride, not the least subtle one either, is pride in a false humility.

Jesus wouldn't recognize SB as a Christian. But, whatever he wants to call himself is fine with me.

Are you okay, Seattleblues?. I was talking about page hits, the fact that your comments make money for the Stranger.

Are you a lousy Christian? My guess is that you would have that answer by looking in the mirror. What does the mirror show you? Do those here read you as Christ-like? You know that answer all by yourself.

What you fail to consider, and you do this on many subjects, is that your definitions are not pronouncements from God. You have no right to define Chrtstanity, family, marriage, patriotism, etc., for any person but yourself. No-one is under moral obligation to accept your proclimations as to who is or is not a Christian, who is or is not married, who's family is real or not, or who cares for this nation. You're not divinely
ordained, and you are not special, nor am I.

As to what I call myself, that is not any of your
business is it. Nor does it matter, it is completely
irrelevant, because what matters is what I do with my
life. What matters is how I treat people. If that is your definition of "pride in humility", then okay, as you get to have your own opinion.

Now if you want to keep padding the pockets of the Stranger by making page hits have at it. And if you want to insult people and continue to proclaim yourself a moral authority then continue to do so. It is your time and your character that you are painting.

I reserve the right to accept the consequnces that my words are a reflection of my character. And if I wish to treat others with kindness, because their humanity demands that of me. I reserve the right to giggle everytime I catch myself being a sooty pot grumping at an equally sooty kettle, and I'll be amused by you and any other person who acts that way. I will continue to be frustrated by any person be they straight, gay, cis, trans, religious, atheist who is fanatical in their belief that they are correct and have the right to define life for others and decide who is acceptable or not.

I hope you feel better now.

@18: God Bless Texas. Thanks for reminding us of all that we love about Texas.

This ad was about to make my blood boil until I recalled that this idiot schmuck is polling at about 3% even among the Republican base.

The nice thing about being a Christian is that we believe in justice tempered by mercy.

Merciful God, please save Rick Perry from the humiliation that will ensue from this pathetic ad.

@37: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." --Jesus of Nazareth
I see an awful lot of needless vitriol coming out of your mouth.

@43 - I thought about listing a greatest hits of SB's Unchristian comments, and - worse from a salvation standpoint - his attitude toward the poor.

I wouldn't want to deny him this teaching moment of self-reflection, though. He's smart enough to measure his own hypocrisy, right?

Look at your archives, SB, and see how that makes your head hang.

@39 Maybe you should try dropping the sarcasm and take an honest look at yourself and the things you say for once. You criticize others because you claim they ignore facts or because they supposedly want to impose their beliefs on you, but you have no problem ignoring facts when you make an argument, and your arguments are mostly about your desire to make the rest of the world conform to your beliefs.

You claim that you "accept that most of the teachings of my chosen faith are basically good", but that's an understatement. Your statements make it clear that you think your beliefs, even ones that have nothing to do with your "chosen faith", make you superior to others, and that anyone who disagrees, even if they have facts and logic to back up their position, is inferior. But if those teachings are so important to you, really, why do you retreat whenever you're challenged? Maybe it's because you don't really believe in those teachings. You just like to stir people up and take a lot of smug satisfaction in getting the attention.

I'm not going to say you're a lousy Christian. You'd have to be a Christian to be a lousy one.

@36- "The Left" doesn't have a single stance on Christianity. There are plenty of leftist Christians. Entire denominations (like the UCC for example) are extremely left wing.

The fact you don't really know much about the religion you claim to belong to doesn't surprise me.

Well, Seattleblues, i went to bed thinking about what you wrote about your thinking that the teachings of your faith are basically good. I wondered if you were thinking about the commands to love your neighbor as yourself, or the ones to act justly and to love mercy, or the one's that state that love is the greatest virtue, or the ones that state that storing up wealth is wrong, or the ones state that man cannot serve both God and money, or those that command that followers take care of the poor, widows and orphans, or the one that states that followers are not supposed to judge others. I agree that those are all positive verses. So I tried to think back on your comments on the blog and to examples where you reveal that you love your neighbor as yourself, the ones where you support caring for the poor, the ones were you reveal how important it is to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. And, I can't remember any. I tried but I only remember vitriol, name calling, and judgement. My memory could not provide me with evidence that You think those verses are "good". Or any where your fellow commenters harangued you for stating your support of compassion and justice.

And, I thought too about your argument that I should following pastors and leaders whose job is to study Christianity. Am I supposed to ignore the decades that I have spent studying it? Ignore the years that I wrote Bible studies for churches? Am I to ignore the Biblical scholars that have Ph.D. and full teaching positions at universities around the world, too? And, ignore those denominations within Christianity that do not agree with you? And, I came to the conclusion that I'm supposed to ignore everything that doesn't agree with your interpretation, and the interpretation of your pastors and leaders. And, we are back to the false premise that Seattleblues' opinions are correct and his definitions are the ones we must follow. Sorry, but no, I won't follow you or accept your interpretations that I disagree with and appear to be highly uneducated on the subject. You might be a fanatic about your "correctness", but I don't agree. And, there are many others who do not agree who have better degrees, and who matriculated from better schools, who have made studying Christianity their life work.

You should know that I have no wish to make Christianity, your interpretation or any other interpretation, attractive to anyone. I think that a belief must stand on it its own to be worth having. I think that may offends you, because you believe that your opinions, definitions, and interpretations are "correct". It seems necessary to repeat that I don't think you are "correct" and I will not go against my conscience and treat/support any law that creates different levels of citizenship.

I also reserve the right to regret the suffering of others brought on by those who bully and think themselves justified by their interpretation of Christianity. Especially as Christians claim to believe in Jesus' message of empathy and grace for themselves and then turn and deny it to others. But, I don't really care for the actions of any bully and always regret the suffering of others.

Cheers.

@31, 32: That was meant as sarcasm, fellas. I guess I shoulda made that more apparent. I'm glad you jumped all over it, though. (Not that either of you are likely to come back, but I want it on the record.)