www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall John Edwards' anti-Christian bloggers quit

Wednesday, 14 February 2007



Hi Everyone,

The two anti-Christian bloggers who were on Sen. John Edwards' presidential campaign staff have quit, as of Tuesday (13 February 2007).

I first became aware of this scandal on Monday (12 February 2007) when it was reported by Bill O'Reilly on Fox News. (Yes, I do actually watch him from time to time.) If you are not aware of it, here is the gist.

Former Senator John Edwards hired two internet bloggers to help his presidential campaign on the internet. However, these particular bloggers had written against Christianity extensively on the internet.

Some of their anti-Christian remarks were vile. You can read one of the vilest quotes in the original context here: http://pandagon.net/2006/06/14/pand...atholic-anti-contraception-seminar-pt-ii . WARNING: IT IS TRULY VILE.

Bill O'Reilly reported all this on his TV show on Fox News on Monday (12 February 2007). http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,251693,00.html WARNING: the report by Bill O�Reilly quotes one of the vilest remarks by one of the anti-Christian bloggers. However, the article is worth reading: especially for Christians who may have been considering supporting Mr. Edwards� campaign for the presidency.

Both bloggers resigned their positions from the Edwards campaign by the next day.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/viewstory.asp?Page=/Politics/archive/200702/POL20070213c.html

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/02/13/D8N97I880.html


-- John

At least you can see these people for what they are, and that includes John Edwards.

Birds of a feather........................

I thought the two liberal bloggers were posting anti-Christian remarks in general but reserved their most insiduous attacks against the Catholic Church specifically.

Thus, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, under the leadership of Bill Donahue, mounted a campaign to end this hypocrisy of the bloggers and also by addressing the issue directly to Sen. Edwards and his presidential campaign.

It seems the 2 bloggers resigned their positions in Sen. Edwards' presidential campaign due to the successful "pressure" exerted by the Catholic League.

Wow, that is vile.

I would suggest no one click on that first link (I didn't click on the second one).

That was so bad, I wish I hadn't clicked on it. I should have listened to Harmon's warning!

Dear Nathan,

I am not clicking. Do you guys suggest I edit it out? I defer to my friend Harmon here, because I don't want to offend him, and he posted it.

Thanks everyone. I appreciate your input.

In Christ,
Alice

Leave it up Alice - the warning has been given

The article is vile, but so was Our Lord's death. I think the link should stay so we all know what we're dealing with. But, I defer to John and Alice.



Even though it was about the Catholic teaching, don't think that your Church isn't next!

I agree. It brings to the light of day not just the prejudice, but the sickness that they harbor. It also shows how pathetic the response of Mr. Edwards is given what people in his employ openly espouse. It also again highlights the glaring double standard that exists regarding Christianity and the public discourse of religion.

To give some context, the link goes to a blog which is countering NFP. The two-line intro is what the author considers to be a joke about the conception of the Lord and the possibility of Mary using an abortafacient. He uses crude imagery, comparing the Holy Spirit to semen. After that, he goes down a list of pro-NFP points and offers his opinion on why they are misleading, misguided, or false.

There are currently 66 responses. Though I haven't read them all, the ones at the top are polite, avoid name calling, and counter his opinions with facts on NFP.

The second link quotes the above mentioned "joke" as well as several other one-liners by the bloggers. One calls Christians a curse word saying Christians should stay out of her bed and britches. Another makes light of a sexual assault by several young men against a young woman, saying it is OK because the men were white and the woman was black. It also provides more commentary on the bloggers' connection to John Edwards, saying he was made aware of these comments and decided to continue hiring them.

With the above information, people can choose to click on the links or not. However, I would vote in favor of keeping them there as I think it provides the context for the uproar over the bloggers.

I have seen worse.on vileness, of a scale of one to ten, I give it a six. I wouldn't be so quick to align Edwards with those two as far as sentiment goes, but I would think that the man would be watchful enough to see what goes on. for Edwards' sake, I am glad that they are gone, especially as more and more Catholics move South, the base that he hopes to build on. what Wondering cites is accurate, I had only hoped that he/she noted it for what it was: blasphemy, but I guess I'll do it.I am sure that this has not seen the end, and Edwards will have a lot of explaining to do (as will all the other candidates). but has anyone bothered to see what Edwards believes as far as not only NFP, but Christianity in general?
Much Love,
Jonn

Jonn,

Yes, I am sorry I did not make that clear. I thought the blasphemy stood on its own and did not need me to further explain. After reading the posts to this thread, I had no clue what kind of vileness to expect when clicking on the links and could not judge if I wanted to. So I gave a brief explanation to allow others to make a better judgment on if they wish to follow the links or not.

right you are! it does stand on its own, but I wanted to call a spade a spade in case anyone out there had any questions.
Much Love,
Jonn

Sen. Edwards is a Methodist and, presumably, his wife Elizabeth. Both are trial lawyers who made a fortune in malpractice suits.

By bringing in a NARAL advocate as one of his 2 major campaign advisers, Sen. Edwards has stated his stand on abortions rights and birth control, which points to the anti-Catholic bigotry of his 2 hired "super" bloggers: Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan with their initial foray into the Catholic Church's stand on birth control, abortion, same-sex marriage, etc.

Probably, it was an effort to discount the "Catholic vote" and those other Christian denominations that tend to align themselves with the Catholic Church. (Anecdotal: During the confirmation hearings for Chief Justice Roberts and Associate Justice Alito, both Catholics, Sen. Edwards came out with a disclaimer that he was against the appointment of the two.)

So far, with negative results!

Dear Alice,

I would appreciate it if you left my post up and with the links. The warning is clear, and Wondering did a good job describing the actual vileness.

The purpose of my post is to alert people at this forum about the judgement of a candidate for the presidency of the U.S. I doubt that Sen. Edwards shares the sentiment of those bloggers. Indeed, in another statement, Mr. Edwards admitted that he knew that the bloggers posted some materials that were very offensive. Nevertheless, John Edwards chose to give them jobs in effecting the internet portion of his presidential campaign. That, at minimum, indicates either a tolerance for such attitudes or a massive miscalculation about how offensive such attitudes would be to Christians. Either way, it reflects on the judgement of John Edwards, a candidate for the presidency of the U.S.

Sadly, it also candidly illustrates just how much hatred and vile contempt there are among some people in the U.S. regarding Jesus Christ and Christianity. The number of such people is not small, and the need for prayer and penance is indeed large. That is not news, but posts such as that can shock me and others back into awareness of just how critical the need is. A good wake up call for the beginning of Lent.

-- John