Well, at least that's what the Columbia Christians for Life were saying yesterday. We've just received another email from the group, and now it seems to be saying that God sent Katrina after Louisiana to prevent Southern Decadence, an annual gay-themed bash that was scheduled for Labor Day weekend in New Orleans.

The Columbia Christians for Life forwarded to us a press release from a Philadelphia-based outfit called Repent America. In it, Repent American director Michael Marcavage explains: "Although the loss of lives is deeply saddening, this act of God destroyed a wicked city. From 'Girls Gone Wild' to 'Southern Decadence,' New Orleans was a city that had its doors wide open to the public celebration of sin. May it never be the same."

I read this to my co-worker, and we had a brief conversation about the fact that Jesus -- the dude this group allegedly worships -- loved the sinners, the whores and depraved sort. He didn't kick the shit out of them, and he certainly didn't destroy their homes.

I'm confused by this. I was under the impression that most ID people are part of the Religious Right, and that most of the Religious Right wants ID taught.

The problem is that Intellegent Design isn't very well-formed and isn't, in its current state, something that can be "taught." It's a group of suppositions that are supposed to illustrate holes in Darwinian evolutionary theory and at the same time demonstrate "irreducable complexity" that can only be explained as the "signature of a creator."

I mean, how do you teach all that to a seventh grader in a science class? You can't. It's just a bunch of random quasi-scientific pieces, and none of it is useful in biological study. (Not to mention the problem of it being wholly incompatible with the scientific method.)

The Discovery Institute, the people who bring you Intellegent Design, has been adamant about schools not trying to teach this stuff.

"Jesus loved whores - How about you?"

More Marigny (which loves carrots incidentally) update:

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I understand from several sources that Bywater has fared quite quite well. Little or NO water, minor to moderate wind damage. Phone service still working in many locations throughout the Bywater, Marigny and Uptown. Schiro's has a working phone! Kerry Irish pub has a working phone!

Wheeeeee!

Greenville, SC - It began, as many road trips do, with a stop at Wal-Mart to buy a portable DVD player.

But Mario DiMartino was planning more than a weekend getaway. He, his wife and three children were embarking on a pilgrimage to South Carolina.

"I want to migrate and claim the gold of the Lord," said the 38-year-old oil company executive from Pennsylvania. "I want to replicate the statutes and the mores and the scriptures that the God of the Old Testament espoused to the world."

DiMartino, who drove here recently to look for a new home, is a member of Christian Exodus, a movement of politically active believers who hope to establish a government based upon Christian principles.

At a time when evangelicals are exerting influence on the national political stage - having helped secure President Bush's reelection - Christian Exodus believes that people of faith have failed to assert their moral agenda: Abortion is legal. School prayer is banned. There are limits on public displays of the Ten Commandments. Gays and lesbians can marry in Massachusetts.

Christian Exodus activists plan to take control of sheriff's offices, city councils and school boards. Eventually, they say, they will control South Carolina. They will pass godly legislation, defying Supreme Court rulings on the separation of church and state.

"We're going to force a constitutional crisis," said Cory Burnell, 29, an investment advisor who founded the group in November 2003.

"If necessary," he said, "we will secede from the union."

[link]

"If necessary," he said, "we will secede from the union."

Because that always goes so well.

"If necessary," he said, "we will secede from the union."

That trick never works.

Most of my education was in religious institutions. From nursery school through high-school, my day was always split between Judaic studies, and what we would refer to as secular studies. Over the years I had many different science teachers teach us about biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, earth sciences, and yes, evolution. Never, not once, did a science teacher attempt to teach us creationism. Why? Because that's what the religious half of the day was for.

Wolfram, this was my experience in Catholic schools, as well.

"If necessary," he said, "we will secede from the union."

Because that always goes so well.

Hey, I'd be thrilled to have the whack-jobs out.

Because that always goes so well.

Hey, it's the ultimate expression of State's Rights.

That trick never works.

Yeah, it worked so well for South Carolina last time.