You Can't Divorce Your Siblings

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*Slow clap*

On MLK day, no less. Well done, Alabama. Thanks for reminding me why I've never visited you.

Delishuss on January 18, 2011 at 9:49 AM

I'm scared for this country.

pastaefagoli on January 18, 2011 at 10:01 AM

@1 - right on.

side note: the birmingham news asking the idiot governor if he meant to insult other faiths is frustrating. really? you're going to set him up like that? douchebag or not, questions like that make the other side of the story look like a bunch of mean-spirited knuckleheads. frame the question better. ask him if he would accept the 'brotherhood' extended to him by someone of another faith. then when he says no, he looks mean-spirited and narrow-minded, not the other way around. lame shit like this is the tiny nugget of "truth" from which the right wing nut jobs springboard into their "lamestream" media crap.

sigh.

AmyC on January 18, 2011 at 10:02 AM

"We're not trying to insult anybody." Well, whether he was trying or not, he certainly succeeded.

Fifty-Two-Eighty on January 18, 2011 at 10:04 AM

On MLK day, in the same church MLK was pastor of? Wow. The arrogance is astounding.

Thank god I'm an atheist...

BEG on January 18, 2011 at 10:04 AM

And he's "color-blind" no less.

samktg on January 18, 2011 at 10:07 AM

inbreeding.

scary tyler moore on January 18, 2011 at 10:10 AM

It' s Alabama, ferchrissakes! It is mandatory they have a fucking inbred moron for their governor. Don't go there. And if you live there, get out.

Vince on January 18, 2011 at 10:11 AM

So depressing. How did a once-just church allow themselves to become hosts for such ugly rhetoric?

Canadian Nurse on January 18, 2011 at 10:15 AM

"In Birmingham they love the governor..."

DOUG. on January 18, 2011 at 10:17 AM

@9 Learn your history. Religion ALWAYS gets ugly and murderous.

Vince on January 18, 2011 at 10:18 AM

That gene pool could use a shitload lot of chlorine.

despicable me on January 18, 2011 at 10:23 AM

"I don't like Alabama
There were chickens in the gutters
There was murder in the drive
I was not the first to utter
Let me make it home dead or alive

If I should die here
Don't say goodbye here
Send my body home"
--Uncle Bonsai

Canuck on January 18, 2011 at 10:32 AM

You can too divorce your siblings.

Chicago Fan on January 18, 2011 at 10:38 AM

When, oh when, will we finally naturally select against religion and once and for all rid this planet of the abomination that is Christianity? I hope it's before they get what they want and blow the whole planet to shit.

shaneleopard on January 18, 2011 at 10:47 AM

If it's any consolation (because I know those of you who are not Christian are hurt deeply by not being considered a brother or sister to the Governor of Alabama and need to be consoled), he left an awful lot of Christians out of his "family," too, because there are a lot of us who don't believe in decision-theology, including Catholics and most mainline Protestants.

Sheryl on January 18, 2011 at 10:50 AM

5280-

Insulting you is the last thing I want to do, but it is on the list...

lol

tupa on January 18, 2011 at 10:51 AM

Oh, and for a different perspective on Christianity, go read this (sorry - I don't know how to make a fancy link): http://www.achurchforstarvingartists.com…

Sheryl on January 18, 2011 at 10:52 AM

Just for the record I divorced my entier family 16 years ago. Years of being brought up in a "home" where I was beat then having to make up lies to the school nurse about where the bruses came from and sexual abuse when I was in second grade laid a strong foundation of why you can divorce not just your siblings but your entire family.

(PS they love to say they're good Christians too)

Cato the Younger Younger on January 18, 2011 at 11:55 AM

@18 That was a good article. I wish there were more like that and less Pharisees like the idiot, divisive Alabama governor.

shaneleopard on January 18, 2011 at 11:59 AM

Cato, and I can hear it now, these same assholes are the ones telling everyone that you are their "black sheep" ex-family member.

FWIW, my family divorced my brother years ago for the same reasons you left yours except he was the beater and abuser. The only good thing he ever did in his life was give us our beautiful nephew. It has taken my nephew years and the death of his father last year to complete the healing process.

All my best to you, you definitely made the right decision.

despicable me on January 18, 2011 at 12:18 PM

I'm reminded of Malcolm X saying (something along the lines of) that he actually preferred the white southerner to the white northern liberal, because at least with the former, he knew where he stood.

That level of candor is pretty unusual in a politician. Having grown up in a Southern Baptist church, I can assure you that his conviction is completely sincere. He's not saying it to be provocative or insulting, he's saying that because *that's actually what he believes*.

bleedingheartlibertarian on January 18, 2011 at 12:19 PM

''Now I will have to say that, if we don't have the same daddy, we're not brothers and sisters"

So if you have the same mom but different dads you can't be brother and sister?

jenojeno on January 18, 2011 at 1:01 PM

I'm pretty sure this guy missed the day in church when they taught the lesson of the Good Samaritan.

Allie on January 18, 2011 at 1:10 PM

@14: yup. In alabama, where you marry em first

fannerz on January 18, 2011 at 1:31 PM

It's not just non-christians he's disowning--it's non-baptists. He says "if you are not saved and accept jesus christ as your personal savior" that excludes catholics, anglicans, presbyterians, mormons, any christian group which does not use that terminology nor believe that that's the way it works.

on January 18, 2011 at 1:34 PM

Funny he invoked MLK in his stand against interfaith brotherhood. Didn't the good Rev. Dr. get a lot of his ideas and inspiration from the work of that one Hindu leader off in India?

venomlash on January 18, 2011 at 1:51 PM

Gross. At least he's honest. At least he doesn't pretend he's tolerant of other faiths/non-faiths. At least he's forthright in his slant. And clearly, he's preaching to his choir. Ain't nobody in that room gonna disagree. But man, oh man, what I wouldn't give for one brave Christian to stand up and say that's not right and it's not acceptable in a place of government leadership. Ain't gonna happen in Alabama, though. Religion is gonna be the kindling that fuels the coming revolution.

procupcake on January 18, 2011 at 4:59 PM

@24...nope, that's about neighbors, not brothers. At least, that's what this governor would say.

JunieGirl on January 18, 2011 at 6:06 PM

The problem isn't religion. It isn't even Xtianity, or the Abrahamic faiths in general. The problem is the egotism of exclusionary theology.

To claim the "one true morality" is merely an elevation of self as part of the "in group" and an implicit devaluing of anyone that is other. That is not a spiritually mature principle, it is ego.

The developement of our species has been the ever greater expansion of the community of humankind: self, family, tribe, nation, empire, globe. Any religion that persists in claiming exclusive rights to truth is an atavistic club for assholes.

Any modern religion is/must be universal in its respect and care for others. Troglodites like this guy are just a joke.

The fact that he is a governor is the scary part.

Ophian on January 19, 2011 at 8:10 AM

@31: Too true. I wish that people would read Durkheim before mouthing off about how their religion is unique.

venomlash on January 19, 2011 at 1:30 PM

Cheers to that Venomlash.

Ophian on January 19, 2011 at 2:53 PM

You Can't Divorce Your Siblings

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