4 November 2012. RIA-Novosti Infographics. The Five Steps One Needs to Do to Become the President of the USA

______________________________

On 6 November, the USA will hold its 57th presidential election, to determine who’ll be at the helm of the country for the next four years. The main contenders are Republican candidate Mitt Romney and current American President Barack Obama, a Democrat. According to recent polls, most Americans believe that Barack Obama will win the election, to be re-elected for a second term. About 54 percent of Americans think that the Democratic candidate will win, whilst only 34 percent expressed confidence in a Republican victory. Meanwhile, a survey conducted among residents of the UK, Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Norway, showed that 90 percent of Europeans wish to see an Obama victory. None of the seven countries, Republican Mitt Romney didn’t get even 10 percent support in any of these seven European countries. Joe Twyman, the head of the political and social research organisation YouGov said, “Without a doubt, many Americans don’t particularly care what Europeans think about their candidates, but on the other hand, history shows that if the president isn’t popular in Europe, it has far-reaching consequences for European attitudes to the USA as a whole”.

3 November 2012

RIA-Novosti

http://en.rian.ru/infographics/20121103/177148084.html

US State Department Accused Russia of Violating the Rights of Religious Minorities (Again…)

Scientology’s E-Meter… if this isn’t proof that “there’s a sucker born a minute and two born to take ‘em”, I don’t know what is. I don’t cry over cults getting the chop from the authorities… they’re more P T Barnum than C S Lewis… and that’s a fact.

______________________________

According to a report published by the US State Department on patterns of religious freedom in the world, Russia has significant restrictions on religious freedom. The report said, “The RF Constitution guarantees freedom of religion; however, other laws restrict this freedom. Some religious groups suffer discrimination; others can ‘t register officially”. The State Department stated that Russia doesn’t have a state religion, but the Russian Orthodox Church (sic) has a dominant position, “giving it a privileged status, along with other traditional religious groups”. In the opinion of the report’s authors, other religious organisations in Russia, in particular, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Scientologists, still face difficulties in registering. In addition, often, the authorities ban their literature. “For most Russians, religious questions aren’t a source of social tension or other problems. However, there are tensions between the majority religions and religious minorities”, the compilers of the State Department report concluded.

14 September 2011

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=42220

Editor’s Note:

We’re supposed to boo-hoo over JWs and Scientologists… they’re cults, NOT religions. If adult nutters want to kill themselves by refusing proper medical treatment, so be it… let them do so. The Russian government is correct when it steps in and overrides nutcase parents, though. Let ‘em howl, I say… save the kid’s life… that’s what’s important. These people are the equivalent of Fred Phelps, Terry Jones, and Harold Camping. To say that they’re fringe lunatics is an understatement… such sorts make all believers look bad (Pat Robertson and Franklin Graham aren’t much better).

The state has the right to preserve order… and Radical Sectarians are Nihilist Anarchists to the bone. If you don’t believe in the Church, you proclaim an anthropocentric and self-absorbed faith. It’s “Me and Jayzuss”… “Jayzuss, my personal saviour”, no doubt about it… and that’s NOT Christian in the least. Remember, Sectarianism requires Anarchy to thrive… and the most vicious form of Anarchy is Nihilistic Libertarianism. It’s not just “Objectivism”… Ayn Rand’s noisome little ideology… it’s also the Prosperity Gospel, the Religious Right, and the Moral Majority sorts (the organisation’s gone, but its sordid ethos lives on). That’s why the Religious Right is brutally Neoliberal and Laissez-Faire. If there were order and justice… why, there’d be no place for them, don’t you see? Order implies structure, which implies hierarchy, which implies the Church, which implies God… and His Truth. Anarchy implies formlessness, which implies cacophony, which implies self-absorption, which implies Satan… and his lies and deceptions. Reflect on this… those who have the name of Jesus most on their lips honour Him the least by their actions.

None dare call it blasphemy.

BMD