Who are the religious zealots?

[adymond]

Where are the cries about religious zealots with this crap? Sarah Palin asks people to pray that the plan for our troops are doing God's will and I hear cries that her statements prove she is a zealot.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/09...lin-is-pilate/

Tennessee Rep. Compares Obama to Jesus, Suggests Palin is Pontius Pilate
by FOXNews.com
Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen riled Republicans Wednesday after he compared Barack Obama to Jesus Christ and suggested Sarah Palin is akin to Pontius Pilate.

The Tennessee Democrat, who supports Obama, was on the House floor giving a one-minute speech when he offered the comparisons.

“If you want change, you want the Democratic Party,” Cohen said. “Barack Obama was a community organizer like Jesus, who our minister prayed about. Pontius Pilate was a governor.”

A similar statement has been circulating in e-mails and on blogs in recent days, before Cohen spoke Wednesday.

But Cohen was referencing shots Palin took at Obama during her address last week at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. Palin, a former mayor, poked fun at Obama for crediting his work as a community organizer, saying, “I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee objected to Cohen’s statements Wednesday in a press release, pointing out that Pilate sentenced Christ to death and asking, “What point was Cohen trying to make?”

Cohen’s remarks also play into Republican charges that Obama fancies himself a celebrity-like or messianic figure in the 2008 race. They also come on the heels of Obama’s comment Tuesday that “you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.”

Palin supporters allege the oft-used expression was directed at Palin, who joked in the same speech that the difference between hockey moms like her and pit bulls is lipstick.

Click here to watch the video of Cohen’s comments.

FOX News’ Chad Pergram contributed to this report.

[Eugene V. Debs]

Originally Posted by adymond

Where are the cries about religious zealots with this crap? Sarah Palin asks people to pray that the plan for our troops are doing God's will and I hear cries that her statements prove she is a zealot.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/09...lin-is-pilate/

Tennessee Rep. Compares Obama to Jesus, Suggests Palin is Pontius Pilate
by FOXNews.com
Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Tennessee Rep. Steve Cohen riled Republicans Wednesday after he compared Barack Obama to Jesus Christ and suggested Sarah Palin is akin to Pontius Pilate.

The Tennessee Democrat, who supports Obama, was on the House floor giving a one-minute speech when he offered the comparisons.

“If you want change, you want the Democratic Party,” Cohen said. “Barack Obama was a community organizer like Jesus, who our minister prayed about. Pontius Pilate was a governor.”

A similar statement has been circulating in e-mails and on blogs in recent days, before Cohen spoke Wednesday.

But Cohen was referencing shots Palin took at Obama during her address last week at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. Palin, a former mayor, poked fun at Obama for crediting his work as a community organizer, saying, “I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee objected to Cohen’s statements Wednesday in a press release, pointing out that Pilate sentenced Christ to death and asking, “What point was Cohen trying to make?”

Cohen’s remarks also play into Republican charges that Obama fancies himself a celebrity-like or messianic figure in the 2008 race. They also come on the heels of Obama’s comment Tuesday that “you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.”

Palin supporters allege the oft-used expression was directed at Palin, who joked in the same speech that the difference between hockey moms like her and pit bulls is lipstick.

Click here to watch the video of Cohen’s comments.

FOX News’ Chad Pergram contributed to this report.

Okay, Cohen is a zealot too. Happy?

[adymond]

Originally Posted by Eugene V. Debs

Okay, Cohen is a zealot too. Happy?

Well it's nice to see you think so too, but I don't think Palin's words mark her as a zealot. The funny thing about this is I think he is Jewish. Didn't the Jews have to deal with some sort of blame for killing Jesus in the past? I'm just thinking that didn't turn out well for them why would he try to make that annalogy? That's just stupid. I haven't heard the media bringing this up at all though. Another point is the he is on the floor of the US SENATE.

[Eugene V. Debs]

Originally Posted by adymond

Well it's nice to see you think so too, but I don't think Palin's words mark her as a zealot. The funny thing about this is I think he is Jewish. Didn't the Jews have to deal with some sort of blame for killing Jesus in the past? I'm just thinking that didn't turn out well for them why would he try to make that annalogy? That's just stupid. I haven't heard the media bringing this up at all though. Another point is the he is on the floor of the US SENATE.

I think Palin is a zealot. Unfortunately a lot of people in our country are. Religiosity has run amok in our society-- we're only a little better than the Middle East and South Asia in that regard.

[adymond]

Originally Posted by Eugene V. Debs

I think Palin is a zealot. Unfortunately a lot of people in our country are. Religiosity has run amok in our society-- we're only a little better than the Middle East and South Asia in that regard.

We can agree to disagree then. There are as many atheist zealots as religious. Maybe if you could point to something a bit more conclusive than her statements in church or the supposed (proven to be inaccurate) agenda to teach creationism in schools I might be able to see where you are coming from, but from what I have seen she is far from a zealot.

We demand tolerance, but as soon as a politician from a different party espouses religious beliefs we attack them. Call them zealots or try to portray them as something they are not. I think claiming Palin is a zealot is just as bad as claiming Obama is a Muslim.

[Eugene V. Debs]

Originally Posted by adymond

We can agree to disagree then. There are as many atheist zealots as religious.

Highly unlikely. If we are to assume a constant percentage of zealots across all religions and non-religious worldviews alike (pretty much have to until I find a poll on zealotry, which, I'm not sure how you would even measure that, especially for atheists), then there would necessarily be more religious zealots than non-religious zealots. Only 8% of Americans identify as having "no religion", and not all of them are atheists.

I'll pull some sources and other facts/figures when I have time, but time for procrastination is over-- back to work.

[PocketProtector]

zeal·ot

1 : a member of a fanatical sect arising in Judea during the first century a.d. and militantly opposing the Roman domination of Palestine
2: a zealous person; especially : a fanatical partisan <a religious zealot>

[unloved]

Originally Posted by adymond

There are as many atheist zealots as religious.

Nonsense. Considering that 70-90 some percent of people surveyed in the U.S. profess to "believe in God" how could that be possible?

ETA: I should have read the entire thread, Eugene V. Debs beat me to it.

[adymond]

Originally Posted by unloved

Nonsense. Considering that 70-90 some percent of people surveyed in the U.S. profess to "believe in God" how could that be possible?

ETA: I should have read the entire thread, Eugene V. Debs beat me to it.

So belief in God = zealot? That's news to me. Zealots are fanatical. I think a small percentage of believers are fanatical and probably a slightly larger percentage of non believers are fanatical. I am basing that on the fact that atheists seem to be in a reactionary phase and as soon as anyone professes a belief in God the lables of zealot are thrown out. One can believe without being a fanatic.

[LittleRedToyota]

i hate to post anything negative about mccain/palin as i absolutely shudder at the thought of obama being president, but palin is a religous zealot. not because she believes in god or wants to pray for the troops or anything like that, but because she wants to use government to impose her religous convictions on everyone else.

some examples:

1. she wants to have creationism taught in public school science classes. (http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h...wCveQD92VG7C80)

2. she is anti-choice even in cases of rape. (http://dwb.adn.com/news/politics/ele...-8266781c.html)

3. she opposes sex-ed other than abstinence-only "sex-ed". (http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmi...sed_sexed.html)

4. as mayor, she tried to ban books from her local library (http://www.time.com/time/politics/ar...837918,00.html)

i have absolutely no problem with people believing whatever they want to believe and practicing their own religion with as much fervor as they want to.

but when you cross the line into trying to use government to force your religous convictions on others, you become a zealot in my book...and something to be fought against.

if palin were running against obama, i would without a doubt vote for bob barr. as it is, i will likely vote for mccain (unless he continues drifting further and further into the "let's flood the economy with more worthless dollars to try to alleviate the problems caused by our having flooded our economy with worthless dollars for so long" camp) and just hope he doesn't die before the end of his tenure.