EthixBytes
A Collection of Quotes, Comments, Statistics, and News Items

“The science of interpreting elections has a fancy name: psephology. A shorter, simpler and more accurate title for much election analysis is: fiction.”
Columnist David S. Broder.

“GOD IS NOT A REPUBLICAN OR A DEMOCRAT—We believe that sincere Christians and other people of faith can choose to vote for President Bush or Senator Kerry for reasons deeply rooted in their faith. We believe all candidates should be examined by measuring their policies against the complete range of Christian ethics and values.”
A Sojourners full-page ad in the New York Times, August 30, 2004, supported by 3500 donors and 41,500 signers

“For conservative people of faith, voting for principle this year means voting for the re-election of George W. Bush. The alternative, in my mind, is simply unthinkable.”
Rev. Jerry Falwell in his ‘Falwell Confidential’ email July 1, which Americans United charge breaks the law by using his tax-exempt organization to endorse a candidate for re-election.

“Evangelicals should join political parties and fully express their biblical values [but] they must be careful not to equate Christian faith with partisan politics.”
National Association of Evangelicals in For the Health of a Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility.

“Efforts aimed at transforming houses of worship into political campaign offices stink to high heaven.”
Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in response to the Bush-Cheney campaign effort to lure churches into political activity.

“The Democrats may not like it, but we’re serious as a heart attack.”
Richard Land, President of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission in an August 13 Wall Street Journal story about the SBC iVoteValues.com campaign.

“The purpose of separation of church and state is to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless strife that has soaked the soil of Europe with blood for centuries.”
James Madison.

“The government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion.”
President John Adams, Treaty of Tripoli, 1797.

“I asked them, ‘Why are you here?’ Now they have changed the regime, they have the oil. Why were they in this street?”
Yasser Matloob al-Ani, Iraqi whose 3-year old son was killed on July 5 when American troops opened fire on the family car at a temporary checkpoint.

“Mississippi could be officially Baptist, and Utah could be officially Mormon. If his viewpoint ever became the majority on the high court, it would tear our country apart along religious lines.”    
Rev. Barry Lynn, Exec. Dir. of Americans United, commenting on U. S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ opinion on the Pledge of Allegiance case that the U. S. Constitution does not preclude states from adopting official religions.

“In 2003, nearly 5 million people contracted HIV, more than any previous year. More than half were in sub-Saharan Africa, where the culture’s male-dominated sexuality contributes heavily to the spread of the disease.”
Kenyan National AIDS Control Council.

“This year only 36 of 435 contests for the House of Representatives are regarded as competitive, a drop from about 150 in 1992. Over 90% are safe for one party or the other, due to the politics of redistricting. Smug in their safe districts, members know that their political futures depend more on loyalty to the party than on legislative accomplishment.”
The Christian Century, June 29, 2004.

“We were hot and tired and terribly, so terribly frustrated with this place and these people that we would respond to even the slightest provocation with enthusiastic and brutal violence.”
Last email from 2^nd Lt. Brian Smith explaining why his soldiers fired upon children who were flashing mirrors at them, days before he was killed by a sniper on July 2.

“Some Christians want the Ten Commandments posted in public places, but none seem to want to do the same with the Beatitudes. “Blessed are the merciful” in a courtroom? “Blessed are the peacemakers” in the Pentagon?”
Truthout, May 10, 2004.

“Nearly 36 million Americans now live in poverty, the number increasing from 12.1% in 2002 to 12.4% in 2003. Uninsured Americans grew to 15.6%, now 45 million.”
Census Bureau Report in EthicsDaily.com.

“I think that evangelicals are so concerned with the unborn—as we should be—that we have failed to pay enough attention to the born—to those children who do live and who are being left behind by a system that has gone in favor of corporate interests and big money.”
Tony Campolo, in beliefnet.com.

“The total amount owed—by consumers, businesses, governments and financial institutions—totaled $34.4 trillion at the end of 2003, according to the Federal Reserve. The economy produced 11.3 trillion of output. That makes the nation’s debt triple its gross domestic product.”
The Miami Herald.

“He said they are like dogs, and if you allow them to believe at any point that they are more than a dog, then you’ve lost control of them.”
Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, describing how she was ordered to treat inmates at Abu Ghraib by the current Iraqi prison chief Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, formerly in charge of detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

“All these atrocities continue in spite of the fact that we now have the ‘right’ people in places of power. Indeed, the occupant of the White House is a professing Christian. The U.S. attorney general is believed to be a devout Christian. ‘Conservatives’ control both Houses of Congress, and Republican presidents appointed seven of the nine Supreme Court justices.”
From the ChristianExodus.com website of a religious right group.

Updated Thursday, December 23, 2004