Daily Archives: 09.24.2011

Why Does the South Execute More People?

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The regional disparity is striking. Since the Supreme Court lifted a ban on death sentences in 1976, 1,264 people have been executed in the U.S. And 921 of those executions — or 73 percent of the total — took place in 13 Southern states . . . 

But less discussed is the racial divide in how people view the death penalty. For example, underneath the polls showing widespread support is one of the most well-documented facts in death penalty research: that it enjoys much higher support among whites than other racial groups, especially African-Americans. Read more . . . 

Dominion Denial: Methinks Chuck Colson Doth Protest Too Much

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Do Religious Right zealots want to take “dominion” in America and govern according to their version of biblical law?

Of course they do. But all of a sudden, leaders of the movement say they don’t. Stung by a series of articles exposing the dominionist agenda, they are desperately trying to rebrand themselves as moderates . . .

I do think they want to tear down the wall of separation between church and state so they can fund religious schools and other ministries with taxpayer dollars, pervade public schools with their religious perspective, ban all abortions, deny basic civil rights to the LGBT community and festoon courthouses and other public buildings with the symbols of their faith . . .

Sorry, Chuck. We aren’t mischaracterizing your agenda. We’re exposing it. Read more . . . 

Widening Income Inequality Bad For Economic Growth: IMF Report

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The study out of the International Monetary Fund found that greater income equality positively correlates with stronger economic growth
. . . Indeed, greater levels of income equality corresponded more strongly to sustained economic growth than other economic factors, including lower debt levels, according to the report . . .

The United States Income inequality has grown in the United States over the past four decades and now more closely compares to the income distributions of Russia and Iran than many other developed economies
. . . Some economists have attributed stagnant wages for most Americans over the past four decades in part to growing inequality, as the rich have mostly benefitted from the country’s recent economic gains. Read more . . . 

God and Class Warfare

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Well, let’s be clear: There really is a class war going on and the upper class is winning . . . As former President Bill Clinton also pointed out this week, 90 percent of income gains in the last decade went to the top 10 percent, and 40 percent of the increased wealth went to the top 1 percent . . . Almost fifty million Americans are now in poverty — the largest rate in 50 years, including 22 percent of all our children — in this the richest country in the world . . . [T]he top 1 percent of the country controls 42 percent of the nation’s financial wealth — more than 90 percent of the rest of us — and the ratio of CEO pay to average workers salaries at 400-to-1 . . . 

God’s prophets say that nations will be judged by how they treat the poor and vulnerable — not by how much they lower tax rates for the wealthy
. . . In 2008, the wealthiest 400 Americans on average paid only 18 percent of their income in taxes . . . Growing income inequality actually hinders economic growth, and reducing economic inequality actually helps spur the economy[.] Read more . . . 

No Tolerance for Bigots! Atheists Shouldn’t Tolerate anti-Atheist Bigotry

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Bigotry isn’t just a matter of treating one group as inferior, but also of treating another group as superior. Anti-atheist bigotry can be expressed by telling atheists that they aren’t moral enough for politics and by telling Christians or religious believers that they are needed in politics because the government is in need of their moral values. They are two sides of the same coin and each must be opposed as strongly as the other . . .

Most religious theists probably won’t express anti-atheist bigotry very openly, directly, or publicly. The more common situation is to have a small number of vocal bigots plus a much larger number group of people who passively nod their heads and go along with it, giving the impression that the bigotry expressed is natural, expected, and proper. Read more . . .