Jon Stewart On Religion
Posted on March 14, 2012 in Political Cartoons
Jon Stewart provides a sage quote on the wisdom of religion in a world torn apart by religion.
15 Ways Christians And The GOP Use The Bible To Control Women
Posted on March 14, 2012 in Articles
The Article: 15 Ways the Bible Is Used by Christians and the GOP to Control and Malign Women by Valerie Tarico in Alternet.
The Text: Why can’t GOP politicians trumpet their religious credentials without assaulting women?
Because fundamentalist religion of all stripes has degradation of women at its core, and fundamentalist Christianity is no exception. Progressive Christians believe the Bible is a human document, a record of humanity’s multi-millennial struggle to understand what is good and what is God and how to live in moral community with each other. But fundamentalists believe the Bible is the literally perfect word of the Almighty, essentially dictated by God to the writers. To believe that the Bible is the literally perfect word of God is to believe that women are tainted seductresses who must be controlled by men.
Power To The People…If We Realize It
Posted on March 13, 2012 in Political Cartoons
We have more power than we think…if only we could realize this and act upon it.
Gay Marriage…Worse Than Horse Sex!
Posted on March 13, 2012 in Political Cartoons
Sometimes I don’t even know where to begin.
The Real Problem In Uganda
Posted on March 13, 2012 in Articles
The Article: The Real Battle in Uganda by Jackee Budesta Batanda in Foreign Policy Magazine.
The Text: While the rest of the world jumps onto the Kony2012 bandwagon — wrongly assuming that the main problem in Uganda is the Lord’s Resistance Army — Ugandans are worrying about the much more urgent problem plaguing their country: nodding disease.
The cause of the disease is unknown. It affects thousands of children in Northern Uganda, causing symptoms similar to epilepsy, but with more severe mental and physical retardation. (The photo above shows 12-year-old Nancy Lamwaka, a victim of the disease.) Yet the Ugandan government has been notably slow to deal with the problem.
A lot has happened since I last blogged about the government’s strange priorities. As I noted at the time, the Ugandan president’s office requested additional funding for its own needs that amounted to nine times of what the Health Ministry had specified for its first response to the disease. The government’s failure to allocate resources to this threat raises serious questions about its competence and its commitment to dealing with crises.
So the Hon Beatrice Anywar, an MP for Kitgum District, decided to take action: she ferried a number of children from her constituency to Mulago National Referral Hospital in the capital, Kampala. There were reports that the police tried to stop the bus from leaving Kitgum for fear that she would parade the children before Parliament.
When the sick children arrived in Mulago, journalists had a field day taking pictures. While the ethics of this display are questionable, I think it was necessary in order to shock our leaders into action. And Anywar did exactly that by bringing nodding disease to our doorstep. The issue can no longer be ignored.
The president later visited the victims at Mulago, where he promised more government support.
In the spirit of International Women’s Day, women activists in Uganda tied themselves to trees today in solidarity with Northern Ugandan mothers whose children are afflicted by the disease. Parents are often compelled to tie their sick children to trees to protect them from falling down or wandering off.
The gravity of the problem has been aptly described by women’s rights activist Jackline Asiimwe: “It is not acceptable for any parent to think that the only option left to save their children is by tying them to trees when they have a government whose mandate is to ensure that the citizens exercise their right to good health and access to medical attention wherever and whenever necessary.”
