Televangelist To Glenn Beck: 'Glee' Being Used By 'Powers In The Realm Of Darkness' To 'Deceive' & 'Bring Us Down'

While Glenn Beck and his guest, televangelist James Robison, certainly agree that the talent on display in 'Glee' is "staggering" and "brilliant," it appears that they also believe all that singing and dancing is the work of Old Scratch himself.

Robison, the founder of Life Outreach International, appeared on Beck's show last week and stated that the wonderfully talented actors and singers on 'Glee' are being used by the "principalities and powers in the realm of darkness and deception" to "deceive and really to bring us down, away from God, away from truth."

Watch:

Penn Jillette's 10 Commandments For Non-Believers

Penn Jillette writes in his book God, No! about how he responded to a challenge from Glenn Beck to come up with 10 commandments for non-believers.

I wanted to see how many of the ideas that many people think are handed down from (G)od really make sense to someone who says, ‘I don't know.'

I've argued here before that the Ten Commandments of the Bible are not really such a great guide to morality. We would actually do well to follow one: Always act to minimize the suffering and increase the well-being of living things. But of course, The One Commandment doesn't command the authority that we seem to get from a decalogue.

Here's Penn's list. It's actually quite nice.

1. The highest ideals are human intelligence, creativity and love. Respect these above all.

2. Do not put things or even ideas above other human beings. (Let's scream at each other about Kindle versus iPad, solar versus nuclear, Republican versus Libertarian, Garth Brooks versus Sun Ra — but when your house is on fire, I'll be there to help.)

3. Say what you mean, even when talking to yourself. (What used to be an oath to (G)od is now quite simply respecting yourself.)

4. Put aside some time to rest and think. (If you're religious, that might be the Sabbath; if you're a Vegas magician, that'll be the day with the lowest grosses.)

5. Be there for your family. Love your parents, your partner, and your children. (Love is deeper than honor, and parents matter, but so do spouse and children.)

6. Respect and protect all human life. (Many believe that “Thou shalt not kill” only refers to people in the same tribe. I say it's all human life.)

7. Keep your promises. (If you can't be sexually exclusive to your spouse, don't make that deal.)

8. Don't steal. (This includes magic tricks and jokes — you know who you are!)

9. Don't lie. (You know, unless you're doing magic tricks and it's part of your job. Does that make it OK for politicians, too?)

10. Don't waste too much time wishing, hoping, and being envious; it'll make you bugnutty.

One could do much worse.

The 10 Nuttiest Quotes From The Values Voter Summit (And 1 Sensible One)

This past weekend, thousands of cultural conservatives descended upon Washington, DC for the Values Voter Summit, sponsored by designated hate group Family Research Council. Each of the major GOP presidential hopefuls were in attendance, as were dozens of political and religious figures with well-documented affinity for religious bigotry, discrimination, xenophobia, and dishonesty. 

While this cast of characters generally toned down their rhetoric on the national stage, the event was in no way devoid of bilious remarks and poisonous ideology (and some good old fashioned insanity):

Bryan Fischer: "I submit to you that not a single one of our unalienable rights will be safe in the hands of a president who believes that we evolved from slime and that we are the descendents of apes and baboons."

Glenn Beck, in reference to Occupy Wall Street: "The violent left is coming to our streets" to "smash, to tear down, to kill, to bankrupt, to destroy."

Bryan Fischer: "Just as Islam represents the greatest long term threat to our liberty so the homosexual agenda represents the greatest immediate threat to every freedom and right that is enshrined in the First Amendment...we must choose as a nation between homosexuality and liberty, because we cannot have both."

Mat Staver: "The battles we face in America today are not about necessarily tangible borders but intangible ones, they involve the borders around life, liberty and family. And these borders like those physical borders in Israel are under intense attack. In America we are witnessing fierce battles to boot God out of the public schools and out of the public squares, to teach even the youngest of our children about sex and homosexuality, to make America a tax-supported right for any reason and to redefine the very definition of family and marriage."

Bryan Fischer: “We need a president who will treat homosexuality not as a political cause at all, but as a threat to public health...Homosexual behavior represents the same threat to human health that injection drug use does. I believe we need a president who understands that neither homosexual behavior nor injection drug use represent lifestyles that any responsible government ought to normalize, legitimize, legalize, protect, sanction, or subsidize."

Bryan Fischer: "By God's blessing, we have not been hit by a Muslim attack since 9/11. I suggest that in part, we have Major League Baseball to thank. You remember that the week after 9/11 Major League Baseball converted the seventh inning stretch from the singing of 'Take Me Out To The Ballgame' to the singing of 'God Bless America?'"

Rep. Steve King: "I believe that the declaration was written with divine guidance. I believe that God moved the Founding Fathers around this country and the globe like men on a chess board."

Robert Jeffress: "That is a mainstream view, that Mormonism is a cult...Every true, born again follower of Christ ought to embrace a Christian over a non-Christian.”

Glenn Beck: "There is a race war that is going on in our country, declared by the black panthers and Louis Farrahkaun and anybody else says that America, somehow or another, stole the land from Mexico. There is a race war. It wasn't started by us, but they have declared it and we must end it."

Ed Vitagliano: "...The male desire to go out and conquer and to wander. I think that is part of the makeup of a man, but marriage helps to channel those things in a constructive way. I believe that's why there's so much promiscuity in the male homosexual community, because they're two men who behave the same way and there is no civilizing influence in their lives."

The most sensible and compassionate quote from the weekend came from Mitt Romney who stated:

“Our values ennoble the citizen and strengthen the nation. We should remember that decency and civility are values too. One of the speakers who will follow me today [Bryan Fischer], has crossed that line. Poisonous language does not advance our cause. It has never softened a single heart nor changed a single mind."

Amen.

The Batshit Files: News Roundup | 6.15.11

 A whole buttload of crazy:

• Citing the Bible, a government recreational facility in Kentucky forced two gay males with developmental and intellectual disabilities to leave the premises. (KYEquality)

• Family Research Council: Gay-straight alliances make kids unhealthy (Right Wing Watch)

• Rick Perry says he's a prophet and that's why Texans don't like him much. (Houston Press)

• American Family Association's Bryan Fischer: Gay adoption is a "social disaster." (Right Wing Watch)

• More than 70,000 so-called "moral police" officers have been deployed in Tehran to enforce a government approved dress code. (Al Jazeera)

• Southern Baptists still totally (and officially) believe in Hell. (Associated Baptist Press)

• Rush Limbaugh is launching his own line of tea, featuring Limbaugh as Paul Revere on the label. (Raw Story)

• Tea Party camp. For kids. Really. (Crooks & Liars)

• Texas Republican says it is ‘very insulting’ to use Spanish in his presence. (Raw Story)

• Glenn Beck, huge Ayn Rand fan, despises Ayn Rand. (Huffington Post)

Glenn Beck's Jerusalem Rally To Restore Something Or Other

Via Ynet:

Tens of thousands of excited Israelis and Americans, music performances, appearances by local and international celebrities, senior politicians and a live broadcast that will reach millions of viewers – this is just some of what is in store for Glenn Beck's upcoming rally "to restore courage," which is set to take place on August 24 in Jerusalem. 

The staunch Christian Fox News personality aims to show support for Israel by recreating last August's rally "to restore honor," which he held in Washington, DC.

This year, the Wailing Wall will replace Lincoln Memorial as the backdrop for the event, which will take place at Jerusalem's Old City and the Teddy Stadium simultaneously.

The multi-million dollar production is expected to be attended by a convoy of American dignitaries, including former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. US Senator Joe Lieberman, a independent, and Republicans Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee and Congresswoman Michele Bachmann are to join Beck at the rally as well. 

And if that's not enough:

A pyrotechnic show and free snacks and drinks are anticipated as well.

What exactly is Glenn Beck doing in Jerusalem? And what exactly is he restoring?

Well, two things.

Anetha Butler writes at Religion Dispatches:

Beck’s obsessions with Jews, from his attacks on George Soros, to his statement that Reform Judaism was like radical Islam, have brought the religious huckster condemnation and scorn. Beck wants to prove himself a true "friend" of Israel with this rally, but his relentless fear- mongering--along with his disappearing audience--suggest a more selfish motive.

Although a Mormon, Beck’s beliefs appear here to be more aligned with conservative Christian beliefs regarding the end-times, and a particular reading of the Book of Revelation that lends itself to raptures, dispensations, and popular culture depictions like Left Behind and a Thief in the Night. Unlike Harold Camping, who just wants his calculations to be correct for once, Beck wants to write himself into the latter days history, by staging a Jerusalem rally in which he invokes not Lincoln and King, like he did on the National Mall, but Moses.

Beck's latest venture is sure to draw a variety of Christian Zionists, his own supporters, and assorted end-timers, who all may get more of a show than they bargained for. Beck's statement, "I've been asked to stand in Jerusalem" suggests that he may be conflating his role with that of the two witnesses of Revelation 11:3: "And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1, 260 days, clothed in sackcloth." If Sarah Palin joins him in Jerusalem, you know what's coming.

The Batshit Files: News Roundup | 6.10.11

• Glenn Beck compares media coverage of Sarah Palin to a KKK lynch mob (Media Matters)

• NOM's Brian Brown: Anti-gay marriage amendments keep LGBT teens safe (Pam's House Blend)

• Creationists explain that transgender identity is a serious medical problem resulting from The Fall of Man (Right Wing Watch)

• Those racist anti-choice billboards are back.  This time they're targeting Latinos. (GOOD)

• The KKK is proud of its new "positive" image. (Huffington Post)

• 18 killed in wave of homophobic violence in Puerto Rico (ColorLines)

• Coulter: If my child said he was gay, "Obviously I'd tell him he was adopted...Ask for some help redecorating the dining room" (Media Matters)
  

• The North Carolina House voted to pass the “Women’s Right to Know” Act which forces women to wait 24 hours to have an abortion, forces them to see a sonogram and feeds them “information” about the risks of abortion. (Feministing)

• Limbaugh: "Belief in man-made global warming is a lot like believing in Santa Claus." (Media Matters)

• God is separately backing at least three different contenders for the Republican presidential nomination (New York)

• Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed — the 2008 creationist propaganda movie fronted by Ben Stein — is scheduled to be auctioned, pursuant to the bankruptcy proceeding of Premise Media Holdings LP. (NCSE) 

• Santorum: Climate Change is a “scheme” for “more government” (Discover)
  

Bin Laden's Ritual Burial at Sea Not Good Enough For Anyone

According to U.S. Defense officials, Osama Bin Laden was buried at sea within 24 hours of his death.  Initially, this raised questions on the blogosphere and in the news, as to why the U.S. would toss the world's most wanted man into the sea so quickly.

According to the official, the U.S. was ensuring that the body was handled in accordance with Islamic practice and tradition. "This is something that we take very seriously. And so therefore, this is being handled in an appropriate manner," the source stated. In addition, the choice to bury him at sea was due to several factors. There did not appear to be any country willing to accept the body. Secondly, burying him in the U.S. would have been a terrible idea for obvious reasons. Thirdly, any land burial site may have ended up serving as a site of worship for Bin Laden's followers.

The official described the procedure to NBC News as follows:

• The deceased's body was washed and then placed in a white sheet.
• The body was placed in a weighted bag.
• A military officer read prepared religious remarks which were translated into Arabic by a native speaker.
• After the words were complete, the body was placed on a prepared flat board, tipped up, whereupon the deceased's body eased into the sea from the USS Vinson.

However, several Muslim clerics and scholars have expressed that the burial was not aligned with Islamic tradition, and that the U.S.'s handling of Bin Laden's body may only exacerbate anti-American sentiment and further incite attacks against U.S. citizens.

"The Americans want to humiliate Muslims through this burial, and I don't think this is in the interest of the U.S. administration," said Omar Bakri Mohammed, a radical cleric in Lebanon.

"What was done by the Americans is forbidden by Islam and might provoke some Muslims," said another Islamic scholar from Iraq, Abdul-Sattar al-Janabi, who preaches at Baghdad's famous Abu Hanifa mosque. "It is not acceptable and it is almost a crime to throw the body of a Muslim man into the sea. The body of bin Laden should have been handed over to his family to look for a country or land to bury him."

And of course, many American conservatives are not thrilled with the fact that the U.S. followed any Islamic rituals at all when burying Bin Laden. Enter Glenn Beck:

"My problem with this is that we gave this guy a dignified burial at sea, or at least that’s what they said. I really would have put this guy in a meat grinder with a pig, sorry. Oh, you’re not going to get your 72 virgins? Sorry, that sucks to be you. Wrap him up in Hormel, pack him in a can of Spam, man."

The right wing blogs, as well as sites like World Nut Daily and FreeRepublic, seem to echo Beck, in that by taking the high road, the U.S. caved in to Sharia Law.

While we're pointing out the nitpicking from the right:

• Apparently Obama did not gloat enough in his announcement of Bin Laden's death, and is therefore "catering to thugs." 
• And of course Obama only killed Osama to help his reelection.

This is just the beginning. Enjoy the fireworks.