Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Talk:Women's rights

2012-01-21T22:37:29Z

Adambro: +cmt

Campaigns for women's rights are not all to be identified with feminism, an ideology which blames men for all of the problems women have ever faced. I think we need to break up the [[Feminism]] article into two parts. --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] [[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]] 14:09, 21 January 2012 (EST)
: Campaigning for women's rights ''is'' feminism, an anti-men attitude is not even if it is sometimes mistakenly described as such. [[User:Adambro|Adambro]] 15:29, 21 January 2012 (EST)
::Ed Poor is right here. Feminism refers to a radical, anti-men ideology, whereas women's rights refers to a much broader range of subjects, such as women's suffrage. [[User:NickP|NickP]] 16:49, 21 January 2012 (EST)
:::OED says: Feminism is "Advocacy of the rights of women (based on the theory of equality of the sexes)". That some people want to go further than that and attack men doesn't mean campaigning for women's rights is no longer classed as feminism. An anti-men ideology would be more accurately described as misandry, female chauvinism, or as radical feminism, not simply feminism. Sadly some in the media are quite happy to confuse the situation by inappropriately branding the radical, anti-men ideology you describe as feminism. It isn't. [[User:Adambro|Adambro]] 17:37, 21 January 2012 (EST)

Talk:Women's rights

2012-01-21T20:29:13Z

Adambro: +cmt

Talk:Stop Online Piracy Act

2012-01-19T21:58:56Z

Adambro: /* Do you have a source for your claim that Lamar Smith is a RINO? */ +cmt

== Harry Reid is pushing this through because the bill is for Democratic supporters ==

The Senate bill is PIPA. SOPA is a House bill. We should be specific. [[User:ScottDG|ScottDG]] 10:08, 18 January 2012 (EST)

:SOPA is its commonly known name. Feel free to add a footnote to clarify its name in the Senate. Liberals are pushing this through for their base.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 10:14, 18 January 2012 (EST)

Why would Lamar Smith, a republican who has criticized the Hollywood for its liberal bias<ref>http://lamarsmith.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=263109</ref>, be pushing a bill at the behest of Liberal interests? Just because some of the supporters of this bill are liberals doesn't mean that it is a liberal issue. There are people on both sides supporting and opposing this bill. for example, Conservapedia and Wikipedia seem to be in agreement over the issue, and Wikipedia is 6 times more liberal than the rest of America.

Also, Aschlafly, Obama seems to be against the bill, so which liberals are pushing the bill and to which base?[[User:RachelW|RachelW]] 14:33, 18 January 2012 (EST)

==Do you have a source for your claim that Lamar Smith is a RINO?==
I haven't been able to find anything online that suggests he is. The American Conservative Union gave him a lifetime Career rating of 92, and he is an opponent of abortions, drugs, homosexuality and fiscal waste. It seems that claims of him being a RINO started when this bill became unpopular, so I have to guess that calling him that is the GOP's way of distancing themselves from him, but copyright isn't a liberal vs conservative issue, and his support of this bill is not evidence of liberal influence, but the influence of big money copyright holders on both sides of the political spectrum.[[User:RachelW|RachelW]] 10:41, 19 January 2012 (EST)
<references/>

:Lamar Smith, like many congressmen, started out conservative but is increasingly liberal. Search on "Lamar Smith" and RINO and you'll quickly see many explanations of how liberal he is. Notice how liberal Democrats have generally not dropped their support for the bad bill? Hollywood owns the [[Democrat]] Party, and the bill is for Hollywood.

:: As you keep putting the claim into articles, I should think YOU would be the one finding a reference for your claim. I'm sure you can find a hundred different explanations for why he is a liberal, probably by cherry picking one or two instances where he voted for a liberal issue, but his voting record, which I cited on his article, is clear: he is a conservative in almost every circumstance, and you really can't call him a RINO without condemning most of the GOP to that label. Perhaps you need a more concrete definition of liberal, conservative, and RINO, and not one that is based on personal opinion.

BTW, I tried to post this on your talk page, but I think the Spam Filter is on the fritz because it won't allow any edits to your page.[[User:RachelW|RachelW]] 11:13, 19 January 2012 (EST)

:::Also, your citation for Lamar Smith being a RINO says nothing of the sort, it calls him a moderate republican and cites nothing but some statistical process to back it up. Apparently, a process which ignores party affiliation and bill content is a good basis on which to judge someone's RINO status. Frankly, since nobody would ever admit to being a RINO, and the only sources you are likely to find are ones biased against the target of the word, you're better off leaving the word out of the encyclopedia. If you read the rules, gossip is not allowed on this site, and the word RINO is a form of malicious gossip unless it has a concrete definition that can be applied objectively.

By all means, post specific examples of where Lamar Smith advocated for positions that are definitely liberal, you'll paint a far more accurate and telling picture of his liberal views that way and you'll avoid getting in trouble with the people in charge of this site, who don't normally approve of uncited material.[[User:RachelW|RachelW]] 12:26, 19 January 2012 (EST)

:I'm not so sure it would be malicious gossip to label someone a [[RINO]], but perhaps we can agree that the article should not simply label Smith a RINO but quote someone who thinks he is one. --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] [[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]] 12:41, 19 January 2012 (EST)

I think part of the problem here generally on Conservapedia is that the term liberal is used not to suggest someone supports liberalism but simply because they don't agree with the precise definition of conservatism that some subscribe to and they say or do something some conservatives dislike. Inevitably that leads to confusion for those who assume liberal means the kind of things you'd actually find in the dictionary. [[User:Adambro|Adambro]] 16:58, 19 January 2012 (EST)

== Help requested ==

Can users please help out with the [[PROTECT IP Act]] article I just created? Fighting PIPA is more important at the moment. The Senate will have a cloture vote on January 24th. See http://www.publicknowledge.org/blog/pipa%E2%80%99s-january-24th-vote-and-how-filibuster-w --[[User:Michaeldsuarez|Michaeldsuarez]] 14:49, 18 January 2012 (EST)

Planned Parenthood

2012-01-19T13:24:38Z

Adambro: clearly not correct, presuming premarital sex means intercourse

[[File:Abortion pro support.jpg|thumb|Supporters and "pro-lifers" controversy.]]
The '''Planned Parenthood Federation of America''' operates clinics which perform [[abortion]]s and provide [[birth control]]<ref>'The controversial topic of "reproductive health services," better known as birth control, was one of many topics debated at the 2002 U.N. General Assembly Special Session for Children.' [http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june02/un_children.html (PBS)] </ref> and a limited amount of [[health care]]. Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in the United States. <ref>http://www.all.org/stopp/rr0404.htm</ref> It performs nearly 200 times more abortions than referrals for adoption. <ref>http://www.lifenews.com/nat3104.html</ref> It is a [[Eugenics|eugenicist]]-founded organization. It is taxpayer subsidized based upon its tax exempt status and federal funding for birth control.

It promotes alternatives to [[premarital sex]] to teenagers, suggesting in a publication called ''Making Sense of Abstinence'' that teenagers experiment with foreplay, despite the fact that there is "no research that teenagers who engage in these activities avoid going on to engage in sexual intercourse." [http://thewaronintimacy.com/chapter_2.html]

Planned Parenthood, a non-profit organization, reported an average annual surplus of over $40 million from the fiscal years ending in 2001 through 2006.<ref>http://www.lifeissues.org/pp/index.html</ref> and had over $1 billion in income in 2006. Planned Parenthood had a surplus of nearly $115 million and received $336 million dollars from the government in order to carry out its operations, including almost 300,000 abortions that year.<ref>http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/mmalkin/2008/mm_06041.shtml</ref>

The organization boasts that it provides "sexual and reproductive health care", but this is rather transparent code for [[abortion]] and [[contraception]].

Planned Parenthood annually gives awards to those who support their agenda and the top award which they give is called The Margaret Sanger Award. <ref>[http://www.mailman.hs.columbia.edu/news/e-newsletter/AtTheFrontline-vol1no3/ne-AR-Sanger-Award.html]</ref> <ref>[http://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/who-we-are/ppfa-margaret-sanger-award-winners.htm]</ref> 80% of those who have won this award have been pro-eugenics.

[[Margaret Sanger]] was the founder of Planned Parenthood and was also a proponent of [[eugenics]], believing that blacks were a racially inferior race, along with being a member of both the [[American Eugenics Society]] and the [[English Eugenics Society]]. <ref>[http://www.all.org/abac/contents.txt]</ref> <ref>[http://www.lifeadvocate.org/1_98/feature.htm]</ref> She has been widely praised by many [[liberal]] politicians like [[Hillary Clinton]]. <ref>[http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/04/sec_clinton_nonsensically_comp_1.asp Mrs. Clinton Nonsensically Compares Margaret Sanger to Thomas Jefferson]</ref>

[[Alan Guttmacher]], who was a President of Planned Parenthood from 1962 to 1974 and who was also former Vice-President of the American Eugenics Society,<ref>http://catholicwriter.wordpress.com/2007/01/29/what-is-roe-v-wade/</ref><ref>http://www.eugenics-watch.com/</ref>
stated: "We are merely walking down the path that Ms. Sanger has carved out for us." <ref>http://www.nationallifechain.org/PP.pdf</ref><ref>http://www.lifesite.net/waronfamily/Population_Control/Inherentracism.pdf</ref> Similarly, Faye Wattleton, who was the president of Planned Parenthood until 1992, stated that she was "proud" to be "walking in the footsteps" of Margaret Sanger.<ref>http://www.lifesite.net/waronfamily/Population_Control/Inherentracism.pdf</ref>

==Statements by founder Margaret Sanger==
{{cquote|''We don't want the word out that we want to exterminate the negro population.''}}

{{cquote|'''The campaign for Birth Control ''is not merely of eugenic value'', but is practically identical in ideal with the final aim of Eugenics.''' <ref>October 1921 issue of The Birth Control Review</ref>}}

{{cquote|''The most merciful thing that the large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it.'' <ref>http://www.bartleby.com/1013/5.html</ref>}}

*"the mass of signficant Negroes, particularly in the South, still breed carelessly and disastrously, with the result that the increase among Negroes, even more than among whites, is [in] that portion of the population least intelligent and fit and least able to rear children properly." - ''Margaret Sanger - The "Negro Project"'' quoting [[W.E.B. DuBois]] with the omission of one word <ref>http://www.jstor.org/view/00147354/di975884/97p14282/1?frame=noframe&userID=80cdbf34@buffalo.edu/01cce4406300501bbf062&dpi=3&config=jstor</ref>

*'''"Before eugenists and others who are laboring for racial betterment can succeed, they must first clear the way for Birth Control. Like the advocates of Birth Control, the eugenists, for instance, are seeking to assist the race toward the elimination of the unfit. Both are seeking a single end but they lay emphasis upon different methods…"''' <ref>http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/hypatia/v022/22.2sanger.html</ref>

*"Organized charity is itself the symptom of a malignant social disease. Those vast complex, interrelated organizations aiming to control and to diminish the spread of misery and destitution and all the menacing evils that spring out of this sinisterly fertile soil, are the surest sign that our civilization has bred, ''is breeding and is perpetuating constantly increasing numbers of defectives, delinquents and dependents.'' My criticism therefore, is not directed at the ‘failure’ of philanthropy, but rather at its success" - Margaret Sanger, ''The Pivot of Civilization'' [NY: Brentano's, 1922], p. 108).<ref>http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/socl/socialconcerns/ThePivotofCivilization/chap6.html</ref>

*'''In Margaret Sanger's book ''The Pivot of Civilization'' she also called for the elimination of "human weeds," for the segregation of "morons, misfits, and maladjusted," and for the sterilization of ''"genetically inferior [black] races."''''' <ref>http://www.ewtn.com/library/prolife/pp04a.txt</ref>

==Breaking the Law==
Planned Parenthood consistently flaunts the law <ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,463404,00.html Planned Parenthood Caught Covering Up Statutory Rape] Fox News, December 08, 2008</ref>

* Aiding child sex-traffickers. <ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=259813</ref>

* Lawsuits alleging they shelter child rapists by not reporting underage rape and abuse. <ref>http://www.childpredators.com/CoverUp.cfm</ref>

* 107 criminal charges, which includes 23 felony charges of late-term abortions and falsifying documents, at the Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid Missouri. <ref>[http://www.womeninfluencingthenation.com/a-new-front-in-the-abortion-wars-by-robert-d.-novak.html A New Front in the Abortion Wars] Women influencing the nation</ref>

* Defrauding the State of [[California]] of $180 million in taxpayer funds. <ref>[http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000006735.cfm Planned Parenthood Accused of Overbilling Government]Citizen Link, March 10, 2008</ref>

* Advises underage teenagers to experiment with pornography and sex without telling parents through their website for teens.

* In February 2010, Planned Parenthood was caught covering up child-sex abuse during an undercover sting for the 10th time.<ref> http://www.freerepublic.com/%5Ehttp://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=125970</ref>

* California and Washington State Planned Parenthood facilities have violated the law by overcharging the government tens of millions of dollars. <ref>[http://www.aclj.org/TrialNotebook/Read.aspx?ID=970 A Big Win Against Planned Parenthood, ACLJ, July 1, 2010]</ref>

== Children Aborted ==
Since 1977, 4.8 million children have died at the hands of Planned Parenthood. <ref>[http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=46449 Planned Parenthood's Annual Report Shows Record Net Assets, Increased Abortions]CNSNews, April 13, 2009</ref>

==Deaths, Lawsuits, Grand Juries==

===Deaths===
[[File:Planned parenthood.jpg|right]]
*Diana Lopez, age 25, was 19 weeks pregnant when she went to a Planned Parenthood for a safe and legal abortion on February 28, 2002. Before the day was over, Diana had bled to death. She left two sons, 4-year-old Frankie and 2-year-old Fabian, motherless. The taxpayers of California paid for the fatal abortion, courtesy of Medi-Cal.<ref>http://realchoice.0catch.com/library/deaths/bl02dlopez.htm</ref>
*Edrica Goode, 21, died Feb. 14, 2007, who died from a botched abortion when a nurse attempted an abortion despite signs indicative of infection.<ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56394 Who's to blame when aborting women die?], Jill Stanek, ''WorldNetDaily.com'', June 27, 2007.</ref>

The Blackmun Wall lists all the women who died from legal abortions. <ref>[http://www.lifedynamics.com/Pro-life_Group/Pro-choice_Women/ The Blackmun Wall]</ref>

[[Michelle Malkin]] comments on the deaths of several patients at Planned Parenthood clinics.<ref> [http://michellemalkin.com/2007/06/21/the-forgotten-victims-of-planned-parenthood/ The forgotten victims of Planned Parenthood]</ref>

===Lawsuits===

==== Phill Kline vs. Planned Parenthood====
"In Kansas, Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline charged Comprehensive Health Of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid Missouri with 107 criminal charges after a District Court judge reviewed the evidence and found probable cause that crimes have been committed." <ref>[http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=23937 Phill Kline v. Planned Parenthood], Brian Burch, ''[[Human Events]]'', 12/13/2007</ref>
"The Comprehensive Health for Women clinic is being charged with 29 counts of performing illegal late term abortions; 20 counts of unlawful failure to determine the viability of late term abortions; 23 felony counts of making false information and 27 counts for unlawful failure to maintain records." <ref>[http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=3170 Kansas Planned Parenthood Clinic Charged With 107 Violations Of Law], ''[[Traditional Values Coalition]]'', November 1, 2007</ref> <ref>[http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=3175 Kansas Planned Parenthood Clinic Charged Over Illegal Late-Term Abortions], Andrea Lafferty, ''[[Traditional Values Coalition]]'', November, 2007</ref>

====Malpractice====
The San Jose Mercury News reports that the mother of a young woman who died at a Riverside, Calif., Planned Parenthood clinic has sued the abortion provider blaming malpractice for her daughter’s toxic shock syndrome death.(requires account registration)<ref>[http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_6195970?nclick_check=1]</ref>

===Grand Juries===

====Overland Park, Kansas====
A Grand Jury met on December 10, 2007 to begin an investigation into the practices of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Overland Park, Kansas. <ref>[http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=3203 Grand Jury Convenes On Kansas Planned Parenthood Clinic], '[[Traditional Values Coalition]]'', December 6, 2007</ref>

== Planned Parenthood and Charges of Targeting Minority Communities ==

According to writer George Grant author of ''Killing Angel'':

"During the 1980s when Planned Parenthood shifted its focus from community-based clinics to school-based clinics, it again targeted inner-city minority neighborhoods...Of the more than 100 school-based clinics that have opened nationwide in the last decade [1980s], none has been at substantially all-white schools....None has been at suburban middle-class schools. All have been at black, minority or ethnic schools.” <ref>http://www.citizenreviewonline.org/special_issues/population/the_negro_project.htm</ref>

Planned Parenthood itself reported that its abortions on minorities in 1991 was 42.7% of its total abortions. <ref>http://www.ewtn.com/library/PROLIFE/PPRACISM.TXT</ref>. However, during that time period, minorities comprised only 19.7% of the U.S. population.<ref>http://www.ewtn.com/library/PROLIFE/PPRACISM.TXT</ref>

According to [[Cybercast News Service]]: "An analysis by the Cybercast News Service compared the location of Planned Parenthood abortion clinics with population data from the U.S. Census in 2000. The results appear to bolster the charge that the organization targets black communities."<ref>http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewSpecialReports.asp?Page=%5CSpecialReports%5Carchive%5C200502%5CSPE20050207a.html</ref>

{{cquote| One out of every two black children are aborted.}} <ref>[http://www.defundplannedparenthood.org/home.html#jf5361f800 Citizen's Petition] Defund Planned Parenthood</ref>

== Minority Employees Charge Planned Parenthood with Racism ==

Recently, several minority employees of Planned Parenthood have filed multiple complaints of racism against the organization and they stated they were the target of constant slurs in a hostile, anti-male environment controlled by white women.<ref>http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40023</ref> An employee who is charging Planned Parenthood with discrimination said that a complaint was forwarded to Planned Parenthood human resources department and nothing was ever done about it and later he was put on probation and subsequently fired. <ref>http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40023</ref> Attorney Richard D. Ackerman, the lead attorney for two claimants, stated "This is a really sad state of affairs. It is unfortunate to find out that [Planned Parenthood, Los Angelos] PPLA, as a self-proclaimed promoter of 'tolerance and diversity,' is engaging in what appears to be the most primitive form of hate against its own employees." <ref>http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/aug/04081909.html</ref>

== Planned Parenthood's Teen Website Gets It Barred from California High School ==
A California father looked at Planned Parenthood's teen website and found it disgusting and vile. <ref>http://www.all.org/stopp/st020627.htm</ref>
The father shared what he learned about the site to the school board and they were so shocked they cancelled Planned Parenthood's appearance at the school which is in Coronado, California. <ref>http://www.all.org/stopp/st020627.htm</ref> The teen website also promotes [[Pornography|porn]] to teens. <ref> The Planned Parenthood teen Web site that says it was created "to provide medically accurate sexual health information for teens on the Internet," is advising teens that viewing pornography is a normal and "safer" way of enjoying sex. </ref>

== Planned Parenthood and Requests to Issue a Formal Apology ==
Planned Parenthood has been asked to issue a formal apology for what they did under Margaret Sanger's leadership and stop giving awards in Margaret Sanger's name but Planned Parenthood refuses to do so. <ref>http://www.cnsnews.com/Culture/Archive/200205/CUL20020506a.html</ref>

== Planned Parenthood and Charges It Still Carries Out Racist and Eugenic Policies ==
A critic of Planned Parenthood wrote:

<blockquote style="background: #F9F9F9; border: 1px solid #AAAAAA; padding: .3em;">
'''"In the latter half of the 1960s, Planned Parenthood and similar groups spent'''
'''millions of dollars promoting the idea that the U.S. was in the midst of a'''
'''dangerous population explosion. The idea was so absurd it could be disproved'''
'''in five minutes at any public library. Caught up in the hysteria, however,'''
'''the nation's news media never questioned why groups were warning of a'''
'''"population bomb" in the midst of plummeting birth rates.'''
</blockquote>

<blockquote style="background: #F9F9F9; border: 1px solid #AAAAAA; padding: .3em;">
Among friends, Planned Parenthood officials described the real situation. On
August 11, 1965, Dr. Robert Nelson, Medical Director of Planned Parenthood of
metropolitan Washington, spoke at the Senate "Baby Boom" hearings. He noted
that in Washington, DC, "the less well-off economic section birth rate is
29/1000 and going up; the rate of the economically more secure group is
16/1000 and going down."<ref>http://www.ewtn.com/library/PROLIFE/PPHISTRY.TXT</ref>
</blockquote>

Some critics of Planned Parenthood charge that it has a history of racist and eugenic policies and still carries out those policies advocated by its Founder.<ref>http://www.citizenreviewonline.org/special_issues/population/the_negro_project.htm</ref><ref>http://www.leaderu.com/humanities/casey/ch3.html</ref>

== Taxpayer Money ==

See [http://www.conservapedia.com/Taxpayer-funded_abortion Taxpayer-funded abortion] 
Planned Parenthood has received over $3.9 billion dollars of taxpayer money since 1987. Over $1 billion dollars worth of federal grants (taxpayer dollars) in the years 2002- 2008 is unaccounted for. <ref>[http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=172573 Missing: $1.3 billion in taxpayers' money, WND.com, July 3, 2010]</ref> In April 2011, Indiana house and senate members voted for a bill stripping Planned Parenthood of its federal funding. Governor Mitch Daniels signed the bill in May, stating that he opposes any tax dollars going to agencies that perform abortions. The federal government is challenging the law.

==Planned Parenthood's missing millions==
According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), audits show the organization spent just $657.1 million between 2002 and 2008 from federal government grants and programs, but the abortion behemoth's own annual reports show that it took in $2.3 billion from government grants and programs during the same time period.<ref>Washington Times, "Planned Parenthood's missing millions", June 18, 2010</ref>

==See also==
*[[Previous Breaking News/Planned Parenthood|Articles about '''Planned Parenthood''' from previous "Breaking News"]]
*[[Margaret Sanger]]

==External links==
*[http://www.plannedparenthood.org/ Planned Parenthood Federation of America]
*[http://www.all.org/stopp/plan.htm American Life League presents STOPP International]
*[http://www.ldi.org/ LifeDynamics.com]
*[http://www.newsbusters.org/node/11573 LA Times Writer Eludes Truth On Planned Parenthood Founder]
*[http://www.defundplannedparenthood.org Defund Planned Parenthood petition]
*[http://www.maafa21.com Racist founding of Planned Parenthood]
*[http://www.childpredators.com/ Planned Parenthood Exposed- Conceals Child Rape]
*[http://www.klannedparenthood.com/History_of_Abortion_Statistics/ Klan Parenthood]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{liberalism}}
[[Category:Abortion]]
[[Category:Racism]]
[[Category:Liberal Deceit]]
[[Category:Featured articles]]
[[Category:Lunatics]]
[[Category:Racist Organizations]]

Planned Parenthood

2012-01-19T13:22:44Z

Adambro: being a non-profit and having a surplus are entirely compatible.

[[File:Abortion pro support.jpg|thumb|Supporters and "pro-lifers" controversy.]]
The '''Planned Parenthood Federation of America''' operates clinics which perform [[abortion]]s and provide [[birth control]]<ref>'The controversial topic of "reproductive health services," better known as birth control, was one of many topics debated at the 2002 U.N. General Assembly Special Session for Children.' [http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/jan-june02/un_children.html (PBS)] </ref> and a limited amount of [[health care]]. Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in the United States. <ref>http://www.all.org/stopp/rr0404.htm</ref> It performs nearly 200 times more abortions than referrals for adoption. <ref>http://www.lifenews.com/nat3104.html</ref> It is a [[Eugenics|eugenicist]]-founded organization. It is taxpayer subsidized based upon its tax exempt status and federal funding for birth control.

It promotes [[premarital sex]] to teenagers, suggesting in a publication called ''Making Sense of Abstinence'' that teenagers experiment with foreplay, despite the fact that there is "no research that teenagers who engage in these activities avoid going on to engage in sexual intercourse." [http://thewaronintimacy.com/chapter_2.html]

Planned Parenthood, a non-profit organization, reported an average annual surplus of over $40 million from the fiscal years ending in 2001 through 2006.<ref>http://www.lifeissues.org/pp/index.html</ref> and had over $1 billion in income in 2006. Planned Parenthood had a surplus of nearly $115 million and received $336 million dollars from the government in order to carry out its operations, including almost 300,000 abortions that year.<ref>http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/mmalkin/2008/mm_06041.shtml</ref>

The organization boasts that it provides "sexual and reproductive health care", but this is rather transparent code for [[abortion]] and [[contraception]].

Planned Parenthood annually gives awards to those who support their agenda and the top award which they give is called The Margaret Sanger Award. <ref>[http://www.mailman.hs.columbia.edu/news/e-newsletter/AtTheFrontline-vol1no3/ne-AR-Sanger-Award.html]</ref> <ref>[http://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/who-we-are/ppfa-margaret-sanger-award-winners.htm]</ref> 80% of those who have won this award have been pro-eugenics.

[[Margaret Sanger]] was the founder of Planned Parenthood and was also a proponent of [[eugenics]], believing that blacks were a racially inferior race, along with being a member of both the [[American Eugenics Society]] and the [[English Eugenics Society]]. <ref>[http://www.all.org/abac/contents.txt]</ref> <ref>[http://www.lifeadvocate.org/1_98/feature.htm]</ref> She has been widely praised by many [[liberal]] politicians like [[Hillary Clinton]]. <ref>[http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/04/sec_clinton_nonsensically_comp_1.asp Mrs. Clinton Nonsensically Compares Margaret Sanger to Thomas Jefferson]</ref>

[[Alan Guttmacher]], who was a President of Planned Parenthood from 1962 to 1974 and who was also former Vice-President of the American Eugenics Society,<ref>http://catholicwriter.wordpress.com/2007/01/29/what-is-roe-v-wade/</ref><ref>http://www.eugenics-watch.com/</ref>
stated: "We are merely walking down the path that Ms. Sanger has carved out for us." <ref>http://www.nationallifechain.org/PP.pdf</ref><ref>http://www.lifesite.net/waronfamily/Population_Control/Inherentracism.pdf</ref> Similarly, Faye Wattleton, who was the president of Planned Parenthood until 1992, stated that she was "proud" to be "walking in the footsteps" of Margaret Sanger.<ref>http://www.lifesite.net/waronfamily/Population_Control/Inherentracism.pdf</ref>

==Statements by founder Margaret Sanger==
{{cquote|''We don't want the word out that we want to exterminate the negro population.''}}

{{cquote|'''The campaign for Birth Control ''is not merely of eugenic value'', but is practically identical in ideal with the final aim of Eugenics.''' <ref>October 1921 issue of The Birth Control Review</ref>}}

{{cquote|''The most merciful thing that the large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it.'' <ref>http://www.bartleby.com/1013/5.html</ref>}}

*"the mass of signficant Negroes, particularly in the South, still breed carelessly and disastrously, with the result that the increase among Negroes, even more than among whites, is [in] that portion of the population least intelligent and fit and least able to rear children properly." - ''Margaret Sanger - The "Negro Project"'' quoting [[W.E.B. DuBois]] with the omission of one word <ref>http://www.jstor.org/view/00147354/di975884/97p14282/1?frame=noframe&userID=80cdbf34@buffalo.edu/01cce4406300501bbf062&dpi=3&config=jstor</ref>

*'''"Before eugenists and others who are laboring for racial betterment can succeed, they must first clear the way for Birth Control. Like the advocates of Birth Control, the eugenists, for instance, are seeking to assist the race toward the elimination of the unfit. Both are seeking a single end but they lay emphasis upon different methods…"''' <ref>http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/hypatia/v022/22.2sanger.html</ref>

*"Organized charity is itself the symptom of a malignant social disease. Those vast complex, interrelated organizations aiming to control and to diminish the spread of misery and destitution and all the menacing evils that spring out of this sinisterly fertile soil, are the surest sign that our civilization has bred, ''is breeding and is perpetuating constantly increasing numbers of defectives, delinquents and dependents.'' My criticism therefore, is not directed at the ‘failure’ of philanthropy, but rather at its success" - Margaret Sanger, ''The Pivot of Civilization'' [NY: Brentano's, 1922], p. 108).<ref>http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/socl/socialconcerns/ThePivotofCivilization/chap6.html</ref>

*'''In Margaret Sanger's book ''The Pivot of Civilization'' she also called for the elimination of "human weeds," for the segregation of "morons, misfits, and maladjusted," and for the sterilization of ''"genetically inferior [black] races."''''' <ref>http://www.ewtn.com/library/prolife/pp04a.txt</ref>

==Breaking the Law==
Planned Parenthood consistently flaunts the law <ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,463404,00.html Planned Parenthood Caught Covering Up Statutory Rape] Fox News, December 08, 2008</ref>

* Aiding child sex-traffickers. <ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=259813</ref>

* Lawsuits alleging they shelter child rapists by not reporting underage rape and abuse. <ref>http://www.childpredators.com/CoverUp.cfm</ref>

* 107 criminal charges, which includes 23 felony charges of late-term abortions and falsifying documents, at the Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid Missouri. <ref>[http://www.womeninfluencingthenation.com/a-new-front-in-the-abortion-wars-by-robert-d.-novak.html A New Front in the Abortion Wars] Women influencing the nation</ref>

* Defrauding the State of [[California]] of $180 million in taxpayer funds. <ref>[http://www.citizenlink.org/content/A000006735.cfm Planned Parenthood Accused of Overbilling Government]Citizen Link, March 10, 2008</ref>

* Advises underage teenagers to experiment with pornography and sex without telling parents through their website for teens.

* In February 2010, Planned Parenthood was caught covering up child-sex abuse during an undercover sting for the 10th time.<ref> http://www.freerepublic.com/%5Ehttp://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=125970</ref>

* California and Washington State Planned Parenthood facilities have violated the law by overcharging the government tens of millions of dollars. <ref>[http://www.aclj.org/TrialNotebook/Read.aspx?ID=970 A Big Win Against Planned Parenthood, ACLJ, July 1, 2010]</ref>

== Children Aborted ==
Since 1977, 4.8 million children have died at the hands of Planned Parenthood. <ref>[http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=46449 Planned Parenthood's Annual Report Shows Record Net Assets, Increased Abortions]CNSNews, April 13, 2009</ref>

==Deaths, Lawsuits, Grand Juries==

===Deaths===
[[File:Planned parenthood.jpg|right]]
*Diana Lopez, age 25, was 19 weeks pregnant when she went to a Planned Parenthood for a safe and legal abortion on February 28, 2002. Before the day was over, Diana had bled to death. She left two sons, 4-year-old Frankie and 2-year-old Fabian, motherless. The taxpayers of California paid for the fatal abortion, courtesy of Medi-Cal.<ref>http://realchoice.0catch.com/library/deaths/bl02dlopez.htm</ref>
*Edrica Goode, 21, died Feb. 14, 2007, who died from a botched abortion when a nurse attempted an abortion despite signs indicative of infection.<ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56394 Who's to blame when aborting women die?], Jill Stanek, ''WorldNetDaily.com'', June 27, 2007.</ref>

The Blackmun Wall lists all the women who died from legal abortions. <ref>[http://www.lifedynamics.com/Pro-life_Group/Pro-choice_Women/ The Blackmun Wall]</ref>

[[Michelle Malkin]] comments on the deaths of several patients at Planned Parenthood clinics.<ref> [http://michellemalkin.com/2007/06/21/the-forgotten-victims-of-planned-parenthood/ The forgotten victims of Planned Parenthood]</ref>

===Lawsuits===

==== Phill Kline vs. Planned Parenthood====
"In Kansas, Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline charged Comprehensive Health Of Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid Missouri with 107 criminal charges after a District Court judge reviewed the evidence and found probable cause that crimes have been committed." <ref>[http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=23937 Phill Kline v. Planned Parenthood], Brian Burch, ''[[Human Events]]'', 12/13/2007</ref>
"The Comprehensive Health for Women clinic is being charged with 29 counts of performing illegal late term abortions; 20 counts of unlawful failure to determine the viability of late term abortions; 23 felony counts of making false information and 27 counts for unlawful failure to maintain records." <ref>[http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=3170 Kansas Planned Parenthood Clinic Charged With 107 Violations Of Law], ''[[Traditional Values Coalition]]'', November 1, 2007</ref> <ref>[http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=3175 Kansas Planned Parenthood Clinic Charged Over Illegal Late-Term Abortions], Andrea Lafferty, ''[[Traditional Values Coalition]]'', November, 2007</ref>

====Malpractice====
The San Jose Mercury News reports that the mother of a young woman who died at a Riverside, Calif., Planned Parenthood clinic has sued the abortion provider blaming malpractice for her daughter’s toxic shock syndrome death.(requires account registration)<ref>[http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_6195970?nclick_check=1]</ref>

===Grand Juries===

====Overland Park, Kansas====
A Grand Jury met on December 10, 2007 to begin an investigation into the practices of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Overland Park, Kansas. <ref>[http://www.traditionalvalues.org/modules.php?sid=3203 Grand Jury Convenes On Kansas Planned Parenthood Clinic], '[[Traditional Values Coalition]]'', December 6, 2007</ref>

== Planned Parenthood and Charges of Targeting Minority Communities ==

According to writer George Grant author of ''Killing Angel'':

"During the 1980s when Planned Parenthood shifted its focus from community-based clinics to school-based clinics, it again targeted inner-city minority neighborhoods...Of the more than 100 school-based clinics that have opened nationwide in the last decade [1980s], none has been at substantially all-white schools....None has been at suburban middle-class schools. All have been at black, minority or ethnic schools.” <ref>http://www.citizenreviewonline.org/special_issues/population/the_negro_project.htm</ref>

Planned Parenthood itself reported that its abortions on minorities in 1991 was 42.7% of its total abortions. <ref>http://www.ewtn.com/library/PROLIFE/PPRACISM.TXT</ref>. However, during that time period, minorities comprised only 19.7% of the U.S. population.<ref>http://www.ewtn.com/library/PROLIFE/PPRACISM.TXT</ref>

According to [[Cybercast News Service]]: "An analysis by the Cybercast News Service compared the location of Planned Parenthood abortion clinics with population data from the U.S. Census in 2000. The results appear to bolster the charge that the organization targets black communities."<ref>http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewSpecialReports.asp?Page=%5CSpecialReports%5Carchive%5C200502%5CSPE20050207a.html</ref>

{{cquote| One out of every two black children are aborted.}} <ref>[http://www.defundplannedparenthood.org/home.html#jf5361f800 Citizen's Petition] Defund Planned Parenthood</ref>

== Minority Employees Charge Planned Parenthood with Racism ==

Recently, several minority employees of Planned Parenthood have filed multiple complaints of racism against the organization and they stated they were the target of constant slurs in a hostile, anti-male environment controlled by white women.<ref>http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40023</ref> An employee who is charging Planned Parenthood with discrimination said that a complaint was forwarded to Planned Parenthood human resources department and nothing was ever done about it and later he was put on probation and subsequently fired. <ref>http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40023</ref> Attorney Richard D. Ackerman, the lead attorney for two claimants, stated "This is a really sad state of affairs. It is unfortunate to find out that [Planned Parenthood, Los Angelos] PPLA, as a self-proclaimed promoter of 'tolerance and diversity,' is engaging in what appears to be the most primitive form of hate against its own employees." <ref>http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2004/aug/04081909.html</ref>

== Planned Parenthood's Teen Website Gets It Barred from California High School ==
A California father looked at Planned Parenthood's teen website and found it disgusting and vile. <ref>http://www.all.org/stopp/st020627.htm</ref>
The father shared what he learned about the site to the school board and they were so shocked they cancelled Planned Parenthood's appearance at the school which is in Coronado, California. <ref>http://www.all.org/stopp/st020627.htm</ref> The teen website also promotes [[Pornography|porn]] to teens. <ref> The Planned Parenthood teen Web site that says it was created "to provide medically accurate sexual health information for teens on the Internet," is advising teens that viewing pornography is a normal and "safer" way of enjoying sex. </ref>

== Planned Parenthood and Requests to Issue a Formal Apology ==
Planned Parenthood has been asked to issue a formal apology for what they did under Margaret Sanger's leadership and stop giving awards in Margaret Sanger's name but Planned Parenthood refuses to do so. <ref>http://www.cnsnews.com/Culture/Archive/200205/CUL20020506a.html</ref>

== Planned Parenthood and Charges It Still Carries Out Racist and Eugenic Policies ==
A critic of Planned Parenthood wrote:

<blockquote style="background: #F9F9F9; border: 1px solid #AAAAAA; padding: .3em;">
'''"In the latter half of the 1960s, Planned Parenthood and similar groups spent'''
'''millions of dollars promoting the idea that the U.S. was in the midst of a'''
'''dangerous population explosion. The idea was so absurd it could be disproved'''
'''in five minutes at any public library. Caught up in the hysteria, however,'''
'''the nation's news media never questioned why groups were warning of a'''
'''"population bomb" in the midst of plummeting birth rates.'''
</blockquote>

<blockquote style="background: #F9F9F9; border: 1px solid #AAAAAA; padding: .3em;">
Among friends, Planned Parenthood officials described the real situation. On
August 11, 1965, Dr. Robert Nelson, Medical Director of Planned Parenthood of
metropolitan Washington, spoke at the Senate "Baby Boom" hearings. He noted
that in Washington, DC, "the less well-off economic section birth rate is
29/1000 and going up; the rate of the economically more secure group is
16/1000 and going down."<ref>http://www.ewtn.com/library/PROLIFE/PPHISTRY.TXT</ref>
</blockquote>

Some critics of Planned Parenthood charge that it has a history of racist and eugenic policies and still carries out those policies advocated by its Founder.<ref>http://www.citizenreviewonline.org/special_issues/population/the_negro_project.htm</ref><ref>http://www.leaderu.com/humanities/casey/ch3.html</ref>

== Taxpayer Money ==

See [http://www.conservapedia.com/Taxpayer-funded_abortion Taxpayer-funded abortion] 
Planned Parenthood has received over $3.9 billion dollars of taxpayer money since 1987. Over $1 billion dollars worth of federal grants (taxpayer dollars) in the years 2002- 2008 is unaccounted for. <ref>[http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=172573 Missing: $1.3 billion in taxpayers' money, WND.com, July 3, 2010]</ref> In April 2011, Indiana house and senate members voted for a bill stripping Planned Parenthood of its federal funding. Governor Mitch Daniels signed the bill in May, stating that he opposes any tax dollars going to agencies that perform abortions. The federal government is challenging the law.

==Planned Parenthood's missing millions==
According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), audits show the organization spent just $657.1 million between 2002 and 2008 from federal government grants and programs, but the abortion behemoth's own annual reports show that it took in $2.3 billion from government grants and programs during the same time period.<ref>Washington Times, "Planned Parenthood's missing millions", June 18, 2010</ref>

==See also==
*[[Previous Breaking News/Planned Parenthood|Articles about '''Planned Parenthood''' from previous "Breaking News"]]
*[[Margaret Sanger]]

==External links==
*[http://www.plannedparenthood.org/ Planned Parenthood Federation of America]
*[http://www.all.org/stopp/plan.htm American Life League presents STOPP International]
*[http://www.ldi.org/ LifeDynamics.com]
*[http://www.newsbusters.org/node/11573 LA Times Writer Eludes Truth On Planned Parenthood Founder]
*[http://www.defundplannedparenthood.org Defund Planned Parenthood petition]
*[http://www.maafa21.com Racist founding of Planned Parenthood]
*[http://www.childpredators.com/ Planned Parenthood Exposed- Conceals Child Rape]
*[http://www.klannedparenthood.com/History_of_Abortion_Statistics/ Klan Parenthood]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{liberalism}}
[[Category:Abortion]]
[[Category:Racism]]
[[Category:Liberal Deceit]]
[[Category:Featured articles]]
[[Category:Lunatics]]
[[Category:Racist Organizations]]

Democratic Party

2012-01-19T12:48:53Z

Adambro: rmv weird bolding of half of name

{{AmericanPoliticalParty
| party_name=Democratic Party
| party_articletitle = Democratic Party (United States)
| party_logo = [[Image:democraticpartyusalogo.png|200px]]
| website = [http://www.democrats.org www.democrats.org]
| headquarters = 430 South Capitol Street SE [[Washington, D.C.]] 20003
| chairman = [[Tim Kaine]]
| houseleader = [[Nancy Pelosi]]
| senateleader = [[Harry Reid]]
| foundation = 1832
| ideology = range from extreme [[leftist]] to [[moderate]]
| fiscalpolicy = [[Socialist]]/[[Liberal]]
| socialpolicy = center-liberal/[[Hollywood values]]
| colors = Blue (unofficial)
| footnotes =
}}
The '''Democratic Party''', more properly known as the [[Democrat Party|Democrat Party]], is one of the two major political [[parties]] in the [[United States of America]]. In general it is the [[pro-abortion]] ("pro-choice"), higher taxes, anti-gun and big government party, while the [[Republican Party]] is the [[pro-life]], lower taxes, small government party. President [[Barack Obama]] and other Democrats are [[liberal]] / [[Progressive]] leftists.

Members of the Democratic Party are known as Democrats. In the 19th century -- when it supported [[slavery]] -- the party was sometimes called "The Democracy." There are Democrats who claim to be more [[conservative]] than typical liberals, called the "[[Blue Dogs]]" in [[Congress]], but they often behave like "lapdogs" for the [[liberal]] party leadership when there is a controversial vote.

In the doldrums after 2000, the party roared back with major gains in 2006, which it expanded in 2008 to sweep control of the national government, and leave the GOP in a state of confusion and decline. The GOP bounced back in 2009, with near-unanimous opposition to contentions Democratic policies, especially as stimulus spending and health care reform. Polls show Obama's popularity began to sink in the summer of 2009.

The Democrats currently control the White House and hold a slim majority in the Senate, but in the 2010 midterm elections, the Republican party won decisive control of the House of Representatives; suburbs and rural areas are still more likely to be in Republican hands.<ref>[http://www.multistate.com/Site.nsf/Elections2006PostMaps?OpenPage Multistate.com] Post-Election 2006 Maps</ref> Polls show 50% of voters identify themselves with the Democratic Party as opposed to 35% for the Republican Party.<ref>[http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=312 Trends in Political Values and Core Attitudes: 1987-2007] Pew Research Center, 22 March 2007</ref> The Democratic-majority Congress currently has a 55% negative approval rating, with only 31% expressing approval.<ref> [http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/congressional_job_approval-903.html]</ref>

==Policies and criticism==
The views of individual Democrats sometimes diverge from the party's official stance as expressed in its national platform, however unlike the Republican party, the Democratic National Committee has not allowed dissenting opinions to share the podium on matters such as abortion at National Conventions. <ref>[http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2005_03/005787.php] , http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2005_03/005787.php, March 6, 2005</ref>

===Economic policy===
[[Image:Unemployment.jpg|thumb|241px|right|''Source: Bureau of Labor Statisitcs'' [http://astuteblogger.blogspot.com/2009/07/anti-stimulus-in-pictures-any-questions.html]]]
In the field of economic policy, Democrats tend to favor high progressive taxes, more regulation, and higher government spending.

The Democratic Party has historically had ties to [[labor union|organized labor]].<ref> http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/913wopoz.asp Paying Dues - The Democrats settle up with their union bosses, [[Weekly Standard]], July 25, 2007 </ref>

The [[National Education Association]],<ref>[http://www.nea.org/index.html National Education Association homepage]</ref> the largest union of public school teachers, is a backbone of the party, supplying the largest number of delegates to its national conventions.

Democrats typically state that they want to help low-income Americans, however they usually seek to accomplish this by increasing the tax burden on the wealthiest Americans.

Since passage of the Economic Recovery Act of 2009, [[unemployment]] has increased from below 7% to slightly under 10%.

===Foreign and military policy===
According to its platform, the Democratic Party has the objective of strengthening America. Democratic national leadership has been accused of being ambivalent about terrorism<ref>[http://www.news10.net/display_story.aspx?storyid=22045 "Democrats, ACLU Outraged Over Traveler Terrorism Screening Program"] C. Johnson, Associated Press</ref> and insufficiently patriotic.<ref>[http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0112/01/smn.19.html CNN Saturday Morning News]Transcript: December 1, 2001 </ref> A poll conducted by [[Fox News]] released in October 2007 found that 1 in 5 Democrats – nearly 10 million voters – think the world will be better off if the [[United States]] were to lose the [[War in Iraq]].<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,299374,00.html Nearly 1 in 5 Democrats Say World Will Be Better Off if U.S. Loses War], FOX News Poll, October 04, 2007.</ref> The poll found this sentiment 3 to 4 times higher among Democrats than among moderate, centrist, and Republican voters.

===Education===
An organization affiliated with the [[Democratic Leadership Council]] called the [[Progressive Policy Institute]] claims a long-standing opposition to school vouchers.<ref>21st Century Schools Project Bulletin: Special Edition [http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=110&subsecID=900001&contentID=250630 ''Putting Vouchers in Perspective''], PPI E-newsletter 2 July 2002</ref> Jonathan Alter of ''Newsweek'' warned that opposition to vouchers might alienate some traditional Democratic voting blocs:
:"Can wealthy white liberals - many of whom send their kids to private school - really say to poor parents: 'We can have choices, but you must not?'...This is a glaring hypocrisy sitting at the heart of the liberal opposition to targeted vouchers… Right now, Democrats are in a highly compromised position on education."<ref>[http://www.edreform.com/index.cfm?fuseAction=newsLetter&sectionID=29&NLissueID=4&articleID=11&altCol=2 Center For Education Reform, Monthly Letter to Friends No. 75], Back to School 2002.</ref>

===Environment vs Labor===
Two other important coalition groups also find themselves in direct conflict with each other within the Democratic party coalition--[[Environmentalist]]s and Labor Unions. While environmentalists support efforts like clean air and alternative fuels, for example, this creates tension with the workers of American automobile manufactures whose jobs are threatened by environmental policies such as increasing regulations and high costs. Such policies can lead to cutbacks and layoffs. Balancing these issues is difficult because some sacrifices of interests must be made by both sides.

===Healthcare===
Democratic leaders have endorsed various [[Democratic Health Care Plans]]; the question in 2009 was whether a new trillion dollar plan could pass in a time of economic crisis. On March 21, 2010, [[ObamaCare]] was passed by Congress into federal law.

Many argue that there may be some advantages to a universal health care system. Democrats generally regard [[universal health care]] to be a priority because of the appeal to poorer voters without any kind of [[health insurance]].

===Gay Rights===
White Democratic leaders --but not blacks or Latinos--consistently favor measures such as the establishment of [[same-sex civil union]]s.

===Other Policies===
Democrats frequently support the minimum wage, workplace protections, the right of women to choose to have an [[abortion]], [[gun control]], gay marriage, and the separation of church and state.

==Religion==
In the United States, there is some correlation between religious and political affiliation, though people of all faiths and denominations can be found among the supporters of each of the main parties.

Historically [[Roman Catholic Church|Catholic]] voters have had a tendency to identify with the Democratic Party; in recent decades there has been little difference. However Catholic politicians are mostly Democrats, including Speaker of the House [[Nancy Pelosi]]. However, several general ideals of the Democratic Party's platform - most notably, the party's overall support for the legality of [[abortion]] - are contrary to the position of the [[Catholic Church]].

With regard to Protestants, members of [[Evangelical]] churches in recent years have voted about 70-80% Republican. However, the large majority of Democratic Party members are Protestants. One unusual feature of the Democratic Party, however, is that it draws substantial support both from committed African-American Protestants (most of whom are Baptists) and from secular and atheist voters. The strong opposition to [[homosexuality]] found among many Black Protestants contrasts strikingly with the support frequently shown by other Democrats for the [[homosexual agenda]]. One reason for this contrast could be the Democrats' strong support for minority rights.

Democrats also generally believe that religion should be separate from public life, and as such are typically supported by the ACLU. For example, in 1999 the Congress took up a bill to protect the display of the [[Ten Commandments]]. In the House of Representatives, over 3/4ths of the Democratic party members voted to remove the display.<ref>http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/06/18/gun.rollcall/ten.commandments.html</ref>. The measure did not pass the Legislature, and as a result when Justice [[Roy Moore]] posted a [[Ten Commandments]] display in his courthouse, the ACLU was able to have the display removed.

==History==
[[File:Dem-leaders.jpg|thumb|300px|Clockwise from far left: presidents Carter, Kennedy, Clinton, Wilson, Johnson, Truman, Jackson, Roosevelt]]
===First Party System===
Democrats claim the [[Thomas Jefferson]] founded their party in 1793 at the start of the [[First Party System]]. The [[Democratic-Republican Party]] was a political party established during the 1790's under the leadership of Thomas Jefferson and [[James Madison]]. It was generally called the Republican Party, but it had no relation to today's Republican Party, founded in 1854. By about 1816, the Federalist Party had broken up as a national organization. With its decline, the Democratic-Republican Party split into several groups. [[Andrew Jackson]] emerged as the candidate of one of these groups and was elected President in 1828.

===Origins===
Most historians regard Jackson's 1832 campaign organization as the beginning of today's Democratic Party. The Democratic Party itself traces its origin to Jefferson's Democratic-Republican Party.<ref>[[World Book]]</ref> A few Democratic-Republicans, such as [[John Quincy Adams]] and [[Henry Clay]], created the [[National Republican Party]]. Adams supporters called themselves National Republicans, antecedents of the Whig and later the Republican parties.<ref>William DeGregorio, ''The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents'', Gramercy 1997</ref>

The modern Democratic party was formed during 1828-34, under the national leadership of Jackson and Van Buren, with organizations in all the states comprised of local political leaders. This became the era of [[Jacksonian Democracy]]. The Jacksonians resembled the [[Jeffersonian Democracy|Jeffersonians]] especially in terms of anti-elite rhetoric of opposition to "aristocracy" (that is, wealthy old families), distrust of banks (and paper money), and faith in "the people." By his extensive use of federal [[Spoils system|patronage]], President Jackson removed old office-holders to make way for party loyalists. With the emergence of the Whig Party, the nation now had a new party system, the [[Second Party System]], which lasted until 1854.

The party held its first national convention in 1832 to choose a new running mate for Jackson; it nominated Martin Van Buren for vice president and endorsed the reelection of Jackson. Jackson easily defeated Clay in 1832. In the political realignment of 1828-32, some of Jackson's supporters from the election of 1828, especially businessmen and bankers, switched to the opposition Whig Party as Jackson crusaded against the [[Second Bank of the United States]]. The name "Democratic Party" became common by the mid-1830s.

== Jacksonian Democracy: 1832-1854 ==
[[image:donk1837.jpg|thumb|300px|1837 cartoon shows Democratic Party as donkey ]]
The new party dominated the [[Second Party System]] (as political scientists call it; historians call it "Jacksonian Democracy", 1832-54. After 1832, the Democratic Party drew support from a cross section of the country; every group was represented. However the vast majority of rich merchants, bankers and plantation owners were Whigs, as were most evangelical Protestants. The party was strongest among traditionalistic farmers, frontiersmen, unskilled workers, Irish Catholics, and local or state political leaders. It was weakest in [[New England]], where industrialization turned most factory workers and white collar workers into Whigs, but was dominant in all other regions. The key issues it promoted were opposition to elites and aristocrats, popular democracy (in terms of voting rights and access to government patronage jobs) and opposition to the [[Bank of the United States]] (Jackson vetoed its charter renewal in 1832). The policies were known as [[Jacksonian Democracy]]. [[Image:Jackson1832.jpg|thumb|300px|left]]

Banking and tariffs were the central domestic policy issues from 1828 to 1852. The Democrats favored the [[Mexican-American War]]; Whigs opposed it. Democrats attracted Catholic Irish and German immigrants and denounced anti-immigrant nativism. Both the Democrats and Whigs were divided on the issue of slavery.

In the 1830s the [[Loco-Focos]] in New York City were radically democratic, anti-monopoly, and proponents of [[laissez-faire]]. Their chief spokesman was writer [[William Leggett]]. At this time labor unions were few; some were loosely affiliated with the party.

The economy went sour in the late 1830s with Van Buren getting the blame; he lost reelection as president in 1840 to the Whig [[William Henry Harrison]]. The Democrats gained the White House back in 1844 with [[James K. Polk]]. He had a successful term, then retired. The Democratic National Committee was created in 1848 at the convention that nominated General [[Lewis Cass]], who lost to General [[Zachary Taylor]] of the Whigs. In state after state the Democrats gained small but permanent advantages over the Whigs, until by 1852 the Whig Party was fatally weakened by divisions regarding the issue of slavery and they soon vanished.

The Democratic party dominated the North from the 1840s to 1854. Northern Democrats opposed banks, criticized corporate practices, and preached the ideals of a free society. They called for rapid territorial expansion of the United States, saying that in territorial expansion lay a means for thwarting the pretensions of the [[Slave Power]].

[[Franklin Pierce]] of New Hampshire was elected president in 1852, followed by [[James Buchanan]] of Pennsylvania in 1856. They proved poor presidents who lost control of the slavery issue, and the party, as the nation broke apart and fought the [[American Civil War]].

==Third Party System: Civil War, Gilded Age: 1854-1896==
During the [[Third Party System]] (1854-1896) the Democrats became the minority in the face of the newly formed Republican Party, which controlled nearly all northern states by 1860, bringing a solid majority in the Electoral College. A powerful Republican issue was the allegation that northern Democrats, including "Doughfaces" like Pierce and Buchanan, and advocates of popular sovereignty like [[Stephen A. Douglas]] and [[Lewis Cass]], were accomplices to the [[Slave Power]]. The Republicans meant by Slave Power the conspiracy of slaveholders to seize control of the federal government and block the progress of liberty.

[[Image:DEM1860.JPG|200px|thumb|left|To vote for Douglas in Virginia, a man had to deposit the ticket in the official ballot box.]]
In 1860 the Democrats were unable to stop the election of Republican [[Abraham Lincoln]], even as they feared his election would lead to civil war. The party split in two. The northern wing nominated Douglas, and the southern wing nominated Vice President [[John C. Breckinridge]]. Douglas campaigned across the country and came in second in the popular vote, but carried only Missouri. Breckinridge carried 11 slave states.

The Republican Party was beginning a 50-year era of dominance (1858-1910). During the war, Northern Democrats divided into two factions, [[War Democrats]], who supported the military policies of President Lincoln, and [[Copperheads]], who strongly opposed them. Historian Kenneth Stampp has captured the Copperhead spirit in his depiction of Democratic Congressman [[Daniel W. Voorhees]] of Indiana:
<blockquote>There was an earthy quality in Voorhees, "the tall sycamore of the Wabash." On the stump his hot temper, passionate partisanship, and stirring eloquence made an irresistible appeal to the western Democracy. His bitter cries against protective tariffs and national banks, his intense race prejudice, his suspicion of the eastern Yankee, his devotion to personal liberty, his defense of the Constitution and state rights faithfully reflected the views of his constituents. Like other Jacksonian agrarians he resented the political and economic revolution then in progress. Voorhees idealized a way of life which he thought was being destroyed by the current rulers of his country. His bold protests against these dangerous trends made him the idol of the Democracy of the Wabash Valley.<ref>Stampp, 211.</ref></blockquote>

The Democrats lost consecutive presidential elections from 1860 through 1880 (but 1876 was in dispute); 1884 was their next victory. The Democrats were weakened by their record of opposition to the Civil War but nevertheless benefited from white Southerners' resentment of Reconstruction and consequent hostility to the Republican Party. The [[Redeemers]] gave the Democrats control of every Southern state; the disenfranchisement of black voters in most of the South took place 1890-1900. From 1880 to 1960 the "[[Solid South]]" voted Democratic in all presidential elections (except 1928). After 1900 the key election in southern states was the Democratic primary; victory in the that primary was "tantamount to election" because the GOP was so weak.

Though Republicans continued to control the White House until 1912 (except 1884 and 1892), the Democrats remained competitive in the states, especially in the mid-Atlantic and lower Midwest, and controlled the House of Representatives for most of that period. In the election of 1884, [[Grover Cleveland]], the conservative Democratic Governor of New York, won the presidency, a feat he repeated in 1892, having lost in the election of 1888.

[[Image:1893cleveland-typewriter.jpg|thumb|350px|Typewriters were new in 1893 and this Gillam cartoon from ''Puck'' shows that Cleveland can't get the Democratic "machine" to work as the keys (key politicians) won't respond to his efforts.]]

Cleveland was the leader of the [[Bourbon Democrats]], the conservative wing of the party. They represented business interests, supported banking and railroad goals, promoted capitalism, opposed imperialism and U.S. verseas expansion, opposed the annexation of [[Hawaii]], fought for the [[gold standard]], and opposed [[Bimetallism]]. They strongly supported reform movements such as [[Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act|Civil Service Reform]] and opposed corruption of city bosses, leading the fight against the [[Tweed Ring]]. The leading Bourbons included [[Samuel J. Tilden]], [[David Bennett Hill]] and [[William C. Whitney]] of New York, [[Arthur Pue Gorman]] of Maryland, [[Thomas F. Bayard]] of Delaware, [[William L. Wilson]] of West Virginia, [[John Griffin Carlisle]] of Kentucky, [[William F. Vilas]] of Wisconsin, [[J. Sterling Morton]] of Nebraska, [[John M. Palmer]] of Illinois, [[Horace Boies]] of Iowa, [[L.Q.C. Lamar]] of Mississippi, and railroad builder [[James J. Hill]] of Minnesota. A prominent intellectual was [[Woodrow Wilson]]. The Bourbons were in power when the [[Panic of 1893]] hit; it was a deep depression and they took the blame. A fierce struggle inside the party ensued, with catastrophic losses for both the Bourbon and agrarian factions in 1894, leading to the showdown in 1896.
[[Image:Dead-dem1880.jpg|thumb|550px|In 1880 when General Hancock (right) became the presidential nominee of the Democrats, Republican cartoonists showed the Democratic party history as a horror chamber featuring atrocities in the Civil War era; the donkey" shows the party as a coalition of the rear end of the South joned to the rear end of the North]]

===Ethnocultural voting: pietistic Republicans versus liturgical Democrats===
Religious lines were sharply drawn.<ref>Kleppner (1979).</ref> Methodists, Congregationalists, Presbyterians, Scandinavian Lutherans and other pietists and evangelicals in the North were tightly linked to the Republican Party. In sharp contrast, liturgical groups, especially the Catholics, Episcopalians, and German Lutherans, looked to the Democratic Party for protection from pietistic moralism, especially prohibition. Both parties cut across the class structure, with the Democrats more bottom-heavy.

Cultural issues, especially prohibition and foreign language schools became important because of the sharp religious divisions in the electorate. In the North, about 50% of the voters were pietistic or evangelical Protestants who believed the government should be used to reduce social sins, such as drinking. Liturgical churches (Roman Catholics, German Lutherans, Episcopalians) comprised over a quarter of the vote and wanted the government to stay out of the morality business. Prohibition debates and referenda heated up politics in most states over a period of decade, as national prohibition was finally passed in 1918 (and repealed in 1933), serving as a major issue in the North between the wet Democracy and the dry GOP.<ref>In the South the Democrats were mostly on the dry side. Kleppner (1979).</ref>

==The Bryan Movement==
[[Image:Mark Hanna 1896 election.jpg|thumb|290px|right|Democratic attack ad in 1896 against GOP National Chairman [[Mark Hanna]]; cartoon by Davenport depicts Hanna as a slave driver; from Hearst's ''New York Journal'']]
[[Grover Cleveland]] led the conservative, pro-business [[Bourbon Democrat]]s but as the [[Panic of 1893|depression of 1893]] deepened his enemies multiplied. The Panic of 1893 started in February 1893, a full month before Cleveland became president. Convinced that the [[Sherman Silver Purchase Act]], passed under the administration of [[Benjamin Harrison]], was largely responsible for the alarming drain on federal gold, President Cleveland called Congress into special session to urge its repeal. Congress consented, but only after bitter debate that divided the Democratic party into two hostile camps-the eastern "goldbugs" and the silver wing of the West and South that was to propel young [[William Jennings Bryan]] to the fore in 1896.<ref>William DeGregorio, ''The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents'', Gramercy 1997</ref> At the 1896 convention the silverite-agrarian faction repudiated the president, and nominated the crusading orator [[William Jennings Bryan]] on a platform of inflation through "free" silver. The idea was that minting huge numbers of silver dollars would flood the economy with cash and end the depression. Eastern Democrats, unable to accept the party's free-silver platform and unwilling to support McKinley for his tariff views, nominated their own candidate, John M. Palmer of Illinois and called themselves the National, or Gold, Democrats.<ref>William DeGregorio, ''The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents'', Gramercy 1997</ref> The [[Gold Democrats]] attracted politicians and intellectuals (including [[Woodrow Wilson]] and [[Frederick Jackson Turner]]) who refused to vote Republican.

Bryan, an overnight sensation because of his phenomenal "Cross of Gold" speech, crusaded against the gold standard. Crisscrossing the Midwest and East by special train, he gave over 500 speeches to audiences in the millions. In St. Louis he gave 36 speeches to workingmen's audiences all over the city, all in one day. Most Democratic newspapers were hostile (except [[William Randolph Hearst]]'s ''New York Journal'') but Bryan seized control of the media by making the news every day, as he hurled thunderbolts against Eastern monied interests. The rural folk in South and Midwest were ecstatic, showing an enthusiasm never before seen. Ethnic Democrats, especially Germans, however, were alarmed and frightened by Bryan. The middle classes, businessmen, newspaper editors, factory workers, railroad workers, and prosperous farmers generally rejected Bryan's crusade. Bryan was overwhelmed by [[William McKinley]] in the most exciting race in national history.<ref> Refuting Bryan's charges, historians have discovered there was little coercion of workers.</ref> McKinley promised a return to prosperity based on the gold standard, support for industry, railroads and banks, and pluralism that would enable every group to move ahead. Bryan did however, win the hearts and minds of a majority of Democrats. The election of 1896 was a political realignment. The victory of the Republican Party marked the start of the "Progressive Era," from 1896 to 1932, in which the GOP usually was dominant.

==Fourth Party System: Bryan, Wilson, Progressivism: 1896-1932 ==
The [[Fourth Party System]] began with the 1896 election, a realignment during which the GOP controlled the presidency for 28 of 36 years. The GOP dominated most of the Northeast and Midwest, and half the West. Bryan, with a base in the South and Plains states, was strong enough to get the nomination in 1900 (losing to McKinley) and 1908 (losing to Taft). [[Theodore Roosevelt]] dominated the first decade of the century—and to the annoyance of Democrats "stole" the trust issue by crusading against trusts.

[[Image:Steal~trust.JPG|thumb|250px|[[Theodore Roosevelt]] steals the anti-trust issue from the Democrats, 1904]]

Anti-Bryan conservatives controlled the convention in 1904, but they faced a [[Theodore Roosevelt]] landslide. Bryan dropped his free silver and anti-imperialism rhetoric and supported mainstream progressive issues, such as the income tax, anti-trust, and direct election of Senators. He backed [[Woodrow Wilson]] in 1912, was rewarded with the State Department, then resigned in protest against Wilson's non-pacifistic policies in 1916. Northern Democrats were progressive on most issues, but generally opposed prohibition, were lukewarm regarding woman's suffrage, and were reluctant to undercut the "boss system" in the big cities.

Taking advantage of a deep split in the GOP, the Democrats took control of the House in 1910, and elected the intellectual reformer [[Woodrow Wilson]] in 1912 and 1916. Wilson successfully led Congress to a series of Progressive laws, including a reduced tariff, stronger antitrust laws, the [[Federal Reserve System]], hours-and-pay benefits for railroad workers, and outlawing of child labor (which was reversed by the Supreme Court). Furthermore, constitutional amendments for prohibition and woman suffrage were passed in his second term. In effect, Wilson laid to rest the issues of tariffs, money and antitrust that had dominated politics for 40 years. Wilson led the U.S. to victory in the World War, and turned his attention to foreign affairs. He wrote parts of the [[Versailles Treaty]], especially the new [[League of Nations]]. But in 1919 Wilson's political skills faltered, and suddenly everything turned sour. The Senate rejected Versailles and the League, a nationwide wave of strikes and violence caused unrest, and Wilson's health collapsed. The GOP came roaring back in a landslide in 1920, as [[Warren G. Harding]] defeated a Democratic ticket memorable for having [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] as the vice presidential nominee.

[[Image:D-Edge-Congress.JPG|thumb|300px|Before 1932 Republicans usually controlled Congress; after 1932 the Democrats usually were in control]]

At the 1924 Democratic National Convention, the big fight was over a resolution denouncing by name the [[Ku Klux Klan]]; it was pushed by New York governor [[Al Smith]] and Alabama Senator [[Oscar W. Underwood]] in order to embarrass the front-runner, [[William McAdoo]] of California. After furious debate, the resolution failed by just a single vote. The KKK faded away soon after, but the deep split in the party over cultural issues, especially Prohibition, facilitated Republican landslides in 1920, 1924 and 1928. However [[Al Smith]] did build a strong Catholic base in the big cities in 1928, and [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]'s election as Governor of New York that year brought a new leader to center stage.

== Fifth Party System: The New Deal ==
[[Image:509px-FDR in 1933.jpg|thumb|left|180px|President [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]] (1933-1945)]]
The [[Wall Street Crash 1929|stock market crash of 1929]] and the ensuing [[Great Depression]] set the stage for a more progressive government and [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] won a [[landslide victory]] in the [[U.S. presidential election, 1932|election of 1932]], campaigning on a platform of "Relief, Recovery, and Reform." This came to be termed "[[New Deal|The New Deal]]" after a phrase in his acceptance speech. The Democrats also swept to large majorities in both houses of Congress, and among state Governors. Roosevelt altered the nature of the Party, away from laissez-faire capitalism, and towards an ideology of economic regulation and insurance against hardship. Conservative Democrats were outraged; led by [[Al Smith]] they formed the [[American Liberty League]] in 1934 and counterattacked. They failed and either retired from politics or joined the GOP. A few of them, such as [[Dean Acheson]] found their way back to the Democratic Party.

After making gains in Congress in 1934 Roosevelt moved left and embarked on an ambitious legislative program called "The Second New Deal." It was characterized by building up labor unions, nationalizing welfare by the [[WPA]] (which 2 million employed unemployed men), setting up [[Social Security]] and raising taxes on business profits.<ref> In general the New Deal, 1933-40, did not raise taxes, except for the Social Security tax that went into effect in 1937.</ref>

Roosevelt's [[New Deal]] programs focused on job creation through public works projects as well as Social Security. In the name of "reform" it imposed strong regulations on the banking and financial system, transportation, communications, stock markets and labor-management relations.

Roosevelt successfully built up the "[[New Deal Coalition]]", a powerful coalition of voters and interest groups that supported liberalism. Key components included big city machines and labor unions. Key voter groups included traditional Democrats, white Southerners, Catholics, Jews, and liberals, as well as many blacks. This united voter base allowed Democrats to be elected to Congress and the presidency for much of the next 30 years.

After a sweeping landslide reelection in 1936--losing only Maine and Vermont--Roosevelt stunned the nation, and his party, by calling for legislation to enlarge the Supreme Court by five new members. A firestorm of opposition erupted, led by his own vice president [[John Nance Garner]]. Roosevelt was defeated by an alliance of Republicans and conservative Democrats, who formed a [[Conservative coalition]] that managed to block nearly all liberal legislation. (Only a minimum wage law got through.) Angry with the conservative wing of his own party, Roosevelt tried to destroy it. In 1938, he actively campaigned against five incumbent conservative Democratic senators; all five senators won re-election.

Under FDR, the Democratic Party became identified closely with modern liberalism, which included the promotion of social welfare, unions and regulation of the economy. Civil rights were not on the party agenda at this time.

==Truman to Kennedy: 1945-1963==
Harry Truman took over unexpectedly in 1945, and the rifts inside the party that Roosevelt had papered over began to emerge. Former Vice President [[Henry A. Wallace]] denounced Truman as a war-monger for his anti-Soviet programs, the [[Truman Doctrine]], [[Marshall Plan]], and [[NATO]]. By cooperating with internationalist Republicans, Truman succeeded in defeating isolationists on the right and pro-Soviets on the left to establish a [[Cold War]] program that lasted until the fall of Communism in 1991. Wallace supporters and fellow travelers of the far left were pushed out of the party and the CIO in 1946-48 by young anti-Communists like [[Hubert Humphrey]], [[Walter Reuther]], and [[Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.]]. [[Hollywood]] emerged in the 1940s as an importance new base in the party, led by movie-star politicians such as [[Ronald Reagan]], who at this point in time strongly supported Roosevelt and Truman.<ref> Reagan became a conservative around 1960, saying the Democratic party had left him.</ref>

On the right the Republicans blasted Truman’s domestic policies. "Had Enough?" was the winning slogan as Republicans recaptured Congress in 1946. Many party leaders were ready to dump Truman, but they lacked an alternative. Truman counterattacked, pushing [[J. Strom Thurmond]] and his [[Dixiecrats]] out, and taking advantage of the splits inside the GOP. He was reelected in a stunning surprise. However all of Truman’s Fair Deal proposals, such as universal health care were defeated by the [[Conservative Coalition]] in Congress. His seizure of the steel industry was reversed by the Supreme Court.
In foreign policy, Europe was safe but troubles mounted in Asia. China fell to the Communists in 1949. Truman entered the [[Korean War]] without formal Congressional approval—the last time a president would ever do so. When the war turned to a stalemate in 1951 he fired General [[Douglas MacArthur]], a hero to conservatives. Republicans blasted Truman's failure to stop Communist gains in Asia. A series of petty scandals among friends and buddies of Truman further tarnished his image, allowing [[Dwight Eisenhower]] and the Republicans in 1952 to crusade against "Korea, Communism and Corruption." Truman dropped out of the presidential race early in 1952, leaving no obvious successor. The convention nominated [[Adlai Stevenson]] in 1952 and 1956, only to see him overwhelmed by two Eisenhower landslides.

[[Image:1952-32.jpg|thumb|480px|right|Stevenson and labor unions warn against a return of the Republican policies of Herbert Hoover in 1952 campaign poster]]

In Congress the powerful duo of House Speaker [[Sam Rayburn]] and Senate Majority leader [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] held the party together, often by compromising with Eisenhower. In 1958 the party made dramatic gains in the midterms and seemed to have a permanent lock on Congress. Indeed, Democrats had majorities in the House every election from 1930 to 1992 (except 1946 and 1952). Most southern Congressmen were conservative Democrats, however, and they usually worked with conservative Republicans. The result was a [[Conservative Coalition]] that blocked practically all liberal domestic legislation from 1937 to the 1970s, except for a brief spell 1964-65, when Johnson neutralized its power.

The nomination of [[John F. Kennedy]] in 1960 energized the Catholic population, which jammed motorcades and turned out in heavy numbers (over 80% voted for Kennedy), while also causing a backlash among white Protestants (over 70% of whom voted for Republican candidate [[Richard Nixon]]. Reaching beyond the traditional Irish, German, Italian and Polish Catholic ethnics, Viva Kennedy set out to mobilize the previously passive Latino vote, and it perhaps provided the margin of victory for Kennedy in Texas and New Mexico. Kennedy's victory reinvigorated the party. His youth, vigor and intelligence caught the popular imagination. In foreign policy he was strongly anti-Communist, and promptly launched an invasion of casto's Cuba; it failed badly. A few new programs like the Peace Corps harnessed idealism. In terms of legislation, Kennedy was stalemated by the [[Conservative Coalition]], and anyway his proposals were all cautious and incremental. In three years he was unable to pass any significant new legislation.

Kennedy's election did mark the coming of age of the Catholic component of the New Deal Coalition. After 1964 middle class Catholics started voting Republicans in the same proportion as their Protestant neighbors. Except for the Chicago of [[Richard J. Daley]], the last of the Democratic machines faded away. His involvement in Vietnam proved momentous, for his successor Lyndon Johnson decided to stay, and double the investment, and double the bet again and again until over 500,000 American soldiers were fighting in that small country.

==Civil Rights, Riots, War and collapse of the New Deal Coalition==
[[Image:LBJ-64.jpg|280px|left|thumb|President Lyndon Johnson ran for reelection in the shadow of Kennedy]]

The New Deal Coalition began to fracture as union and religious leaders demanded support for [[civil rights]], upsetting the party's traditional base of conservative Southern Democrats. After Harry Truman's platform showed support for civil rights and anti-segregation policies during the 1948 Democratic National Convention, many Southern Democratic delegates decided to split from the Party and formed the "[[Dixiecrats]]," led by [[South Carolina]] governor [[Strom Thurmond]] (who, as a Senator, would later join the Republican Party). Over the next few years, many conservative Democrats in the "[[Solid South]]" drifted away from the party. By 1940 most northern Blacks had shifted to the Democratic Party due to its New Deal relief programs and support for civil rights.

The party's dramatic reversal on civil rights issues culminated when Democratic President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] signed into law the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]]. The new laws ended segregation and also ended the main argument Democrats had used to block Republican gains in the South (that is, only the Democrats could protect segregation). The South became competitive in presidential politics in the 1970s and 1980s, giving strong support to Republican Ronald Reagan and rejecting the liberal northern candidates. The Democrats responded by nominating Southerners (Carter in 1976 and 1980, Clinton in 1992 and 1996, Gore in 2000). Few southern states were won by Democratic presidential candidates from the North (Humphrey in 1968, McGovern in 1972, Mondale in 1984, Dukakis in 1988, Kerry in 2004). At the state and local level the Republicans made slow, steady gains, especially among upscale middle class whites and migrants from the North. By the 1990s the GOP was competitive at the state and local level throughout the South. The Democrats made gains in the west, converting California to a Democratic stronghold and gaining in fast-growing Arizona and Nevada. The Northeast became more and more a Democratic enclave, especially after 2006 when numerous Republican moderates were defeated for reelection. the Midwest remained a battleground. The Democrats made strong gains in Illinois, but slipped a little in Minnesota.
[[Image:Demfight1968.jpg|thumb|290px|By 1968 Democrats were bitterly fighting over Vietnam and the failures of the Great Society]]

==1968 to 1999==
The Democratic party split five ways in 1968 and became the minority party in presidential elections for decades; after 1964 they won a majority of the presidential vote only in 2008.

[[Image:Carter.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Jimmy Carter was elected in 1976 and defeated in 1980.]]
In 1972, the Democrats nominated Sen. [[George McGovern]] (SD) as the presidential candidate on a platform which advocated, among other things, U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam and a guaranteed minimum income for all Americans. McGovern's forces at the national convention ousted Mayor [[Richard J. Daley]] and the entire Chicago delegation, replacing them with insurgents led by [[Jesse Jackson]]. After it became know that McGovern's running mate, [[Thomas Eagleton]], had received electric shock therapy, McGovern said he supported Eagleton "1000%" but he was soon forced to drop him and find a new running mate. With his campaign stalled for several weeks McGovern finally selected [[Sargent Shriver]], a Kennedy-in-law who was close to Mayor Daley. On July 14, 1972, McGovern appointed his campaign manager, Jean Westwood as the first woman chair of the Democratic National Committee. McGovern was defeated in a landslide by incumbent [[Richard Nixon]], winning only Massachusetts and Washington, D.C. The [[Watergate affair]] of 1973-74 made corruption a central issue, especially after [[Gerald Ford]] pardoned Nixon in September 1974. The Democrats made major gains in the 1974 off-year elections.

In 1976, mistrust of the administration, complicated by a combination of economic recession and inflation, sometimes called ''[[stagflation]]'', led to Ford's narrow defeat in 1976 by [[Jimmy Carter]], a former governor of Georgia.

Carter represented the total outsider, who promised honesty in government. He had served as a naval officer, a farmer, a state senator, and a one-term governor. His only experience with federal politics was when he chaired the Democratic National Committee's congressional and gubernatorial elections in 1974. Some of Carter's major accomplishments consisted of the creation of a national energy policy and the consolidation of governmental agencies, resulting in two new cabinet departments, the [[United States Department of Energy]] and the [[United States Department of Education]]. Carter also successfully deregulated the trucking, airline, rail, finance, communications, and oil industries, bolstered the [[social security]] system, and appointed record numbers of women and minorities to significant government and judicial posts. He also enacted strong legislation on environmental protection, through the expansion of the [[National Park Service]] in [[Alaska]], creating 103 million new acres of land. In foreign affairs, Carter's accomplishments consisted of the [[Camp David Accords]], the [[Panama Canal Treaties]], the creation of full diplomatic relations with the [[People's Republic of China]], and the negotiation of the [[SALT II]] Treaty. In addition, he championed human rights throughout the world and used human rights as the center of his administration's foreign policy.

Even with all of these successes, Carter failed to implement a national health plan or to reform the tax system, as he had promised in his campaign. Inflation was also on the rise. Abroad, the Iranians held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days, and Carter's diplomatic and military rescue attempts failed. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan later that year weakened the perception Americans had of Carter. Even though he had already been defeated for re-election, Carter fortunately was able to negotiate the release of every American hostage. They were lifted out of Iran minutes after Reagan was inaugurated and Carter served as Reagan's emissary to greet them when they arrived in Germany. In 1980, Carter defeated liberal champion [[Edward Kennedy]] to gain renomination, but lost to conservative [[Ronald Reagan]] by a landslide. The Democrats lost 12 Senate seats, and for the first time since 1954, the Republicans controlled the Senate. The House, however, remained in Democratic hands.

===1980s: Battling Reaganism===
Instrumental in the election of Republican [[Ronald Reagan]] in 1980, were Democrats who supported many conservative policies. Among legislators, one of the most prominent of these consevative Democrats was Georgia congressman and second chairman of the [[John Birch Society]], [[Larry McDonald]], who was a passenger on [[Korean Airlines Flight 007]] shot down by the Soviets near [[Moneron Island]] on Sept. 1, 1983. The "Reagan Democrats" were Democrats before the Reagan years, and afterward, but they voted for [[Ronald Reagan]] in 1980 and 1984 (and for [[George H. W. Bush]] in 1988), producing their landslide victories. They were mostly white ethnics in the Northeast who were attracted to Reagan's social conservatism on issues such as abortion, and to his strong foreign policy. They did not continue to vote Republican in 1992 or 1996, so the term fell into disuse except as a reference to the 1980s. The term is not used to describe southern whites who became permanent Republicans in presidential elections. Stanley Greenberg, a Democratic pollster analyzed white ethnic voters, largely unionized auto workers, in suburban Macomb County, Michigan, just north of Detroit. The county voted 63 percent for Kennedy in 1960 and 66 percent for Reagan in 1984. He concluded that Reagan Democrats no longer saw Democrats as champions of their middle class aspirations, but instead saw it as being a party working primarily for the benefit of others, especially African Americans and the very poor. Bill Clinton targeted the Reagan Democrats with considerable success in 1992 and 1996.

[[Image:Liberal1984.jpg|thumb|350px]] The failure to hold the Reagan Democrats and the white South led to the final collapse of the [[New Deal coalition]]. Reagan carried 49 states against former Vice President and Minnesota Senator [[Walter Mondale]], a New Deal stalwart, in 1984. Massachusetts Governor [[Michael Dukakis]], running not as a New Dealer but as an efficiency expert in public administration, lost by a landslide in 1988 to Vice President [[George H. W. Bush]].

In response to these landslide defeats, the [[Democratic Leadership Council]] was created. It worked to move the Party rightwards to the ideological center in order to recover some of the fundraising that had been lost to the Republicans due to corporate donors supporting Reagan. With the Party retaining left-of-center supporters as well as supporters holding moderate or conservative views on some issues, the Democrats became generally a "big tent" or "catch all party" with widespread appeal to most opponents of the Republicans.

===The South Becomes Republican===
In the century after the end of [[Reconstruction]] in 1877, the white South identified with Democratic Party. The Democrats' lock on power was so strong, the region was called the [[Solid South]]. The Republicans only controlled parts of the Appalachian mountains, but they sometimes did compete for statewide office in the border states. Before 1964, the southern Democrats saw their party as the defender of the southern way of life, which included a respect for states' rights and an appreciation for traditional southern values. They repeatedly warned against the aggressive designs of Northern liberals and Republicans, as well as civil rights activists whom they denounced as "outside agitators."

However, between 1964 and 2004, the Democratic Party's lock on the South was broken. The long-term cause had to do with the South becoming more like the rest of the nation. It could not long stand apart in terms of racial segregation. Modernization had brought factories, national businesses, and larger, more cosmopolitan cities to the South, as well as millions of migrants from the North and more opportunities for higher education. Meanwhile, the cotton and tobacco economy of the traditional rural South faded away, as former farmers commuted to factory jobs.

Integration and the civil rights movement caused enormous controversy in the white South, with many attacking it as a violation of states' rights. When segregation was outlawed by court order and by the Civil Rights acts of 1964 and 1965, a die-hard element resisted integration, led by Democratic governors [[Orval Faubus]] of Arkansas, [[Lester Maddox]] of Georgia, and, especially [[George Wallace]] of Alabama. These populist governors appealed to a less-educated, blue-collar electorate that on economic grounds favored the Democratic Party, but opposed desegregation. After 1965 most Southerners accepted integration (with the exception of public schools). Believing themselves betrayed by the Democratic Party, traditional white southerners joined the new middle-class and the Northern transplants in moving toward the Republican Party. Meanwhile, newly enfranchised Black voters began supporting Democratic candidates at the 80-90-percent levels, producing Democratic leaders such as [[Julian Bond]] and [[John Lewis]] of Georgia, and [[Barbara Jordan]] of Texas. Just as Martin Luther King had promised, integration had brought about a new day in Southern politics, freeing both blacks and whites from old hatreds and fears.

Using issues of cultural conservatism, especially opposition to abortion and homosexuality and support for school prayer, Republicans attracted strong majorities among evangelical Christians. They were nationwide, but strongest in the South; before to the 1980s they were largely apolitical. Exit polls in 2004 showed that Bush led Kerry by 70-30% among Southern whites, who comprised 71% of the voters. Kerry had a 90-9 lead among the 18% of Southern voters who were black. One third of the Southern voters said they were white evangelicals; they voted for Bush by 80-20.<ref> See the exit polls at [http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/US/P/00/epolls.3.html |date=[[2004-11-02]]|accessdate=2006-11-18]</ref>

===1990s===

In the 1990s the Democratic Party revived itself, in part by moving to the right on economic and social policy. President [[Bill Clinton]], who defeated the incumbent [[George H. W. Bush]] in 1992, implemented a balanced federal budget and [[welfare reform]] (cutting benefits and requiring many recipients to take jobs), traditionally conservative causes. Labor unions, which had been steadily losing membership since the 1960s, found they had also lost political clout inside the Democratic Party: Clinton enacted the [[NAFTA]] free trade agreement with Canada and Mexico over the strong objection of these labor unions, much to the disappointment of those on the left of the party. The [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] took control of both the House of Representatives and the United States Senate after the 1994 election. Clinton was impeached in 1998 and subsequently acquitted in 1999.

When the [[DLC]] attempted to move the Democratic agenda in favor of more centrist positions, prominent Democrats from both the centrist and conservative factions assumed leadership of the party and its direction. Some liberals and progressives felt alienated by the Democratic Party, which they felt had become unconcerned with the interests of the common people and left-wing issues in general. Some Democrats challenged the validity of such critiques, citing the Democratic role in pushing for progressive reforms.

==21st century==
===Election of 2000===
During the presidential election of 2000, the Democrats chose Vice President [[Al Gore]] to be the party's candidate for the presidency. Gore and [[George W. Bush]], the Republican candidate and son of former President George H.W. Bush, disagreed on a number of issues, including abortion, gun control, environmentalism, gay rights, tax cuts, foreign policy, public education, global warming, judicial appointments, and affirmative action. Nevertheless, Gore's affiliation with Clinton and the DLC caused critics—Green Party presidential candidate [[Ralph Nader]] in particular—to assert that Bush and Gore were too similar, especially on free trade, reductions in social welfare, and the death penalty. "We want to punish the Democrats, we want to hurt them, wound them," Nader's closest advisor said.<ref>Harry G. Levinem "Ralph Nader, Suicide Bomber." ''The Village Voice'' May 3, 2004 at [http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0418,levine,53179,1.html] </ref>

Gore won a popular plurality of over 500,000 votes over Bush, but lost in the electoral vote by four votes. In a close election anything can be decisive, but many angry Democrats blamed Nader's third-party spoiler role for Gore's defeat. Controversy plagued the election, and Gore largely dropped from politics for years; by 2005 however he was making speeches critical of Bush's foreign and environmental policies.

Despite Gore's close defeat, the Democrats gained five seats in the Senate (including the election of [[Hillary Clinton]] in New York), to turn a 55-45 Republican edge into a 50-50 split (with a Republican Vice President breaking a tie). However, when Republican Senator [[Jim Jeffords]] of Vermont decided in 2001 to become an independent and caucus with the Democrats, the majority status shifted along with the seat, including control of the floor (by the Majority Leader) and control of all committee chairmanships. However, the Republicans regained their Senate majority with gains in 2002 and 2004, leaving the Democrats with only 44 seats, the fewest since the 1920s.

===2001-2003===
In the aftermath of the [[9-11 Attacks]], the nation's focus was changed to issues of national security. All but one Democrat<ref> Representative [[Barbara Lee]] of Texas</ref> joined the Republicans to authorize President Bush to invade invasion of Afghanistan and overthrow the Taliban. House leader [[Richard Gephardt]] and Senate leader [[Thomas Daschle]] pushed Democrats to vote for the [[USA PATRIOT Act]] and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The Democrats were split over entering Iraq in 2003 and increasingly expressed concerns about both the justification and progress of the [[War on Terrorism]], as well as the domestic effects, including supposed threats to civil rights and civil liberties from the PATRIOT Act. Senator [[Russ Feingold]] was the only Senator to vote against the act; it received more resistance when it came up for renewal, but was renewed in 2006.

In the wake of the financial fraud scandal of the [[Enron Corporation]] and other corporations, Congressional Democrats pushed for a legal overhaul of business accounting with the intention of preventing further accounting fraud. This led to the bipartisan [[Sarbanes-Oxley Act]] in 2002. Economic issues did not work well in 2002, as the Democrats lost a few seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. They lost three seats in the Senate. While Democrats gained governorships in New Mexico (where [[Bill Richardson]] was elected), Arizona ([[Janet Napolitano]]) and Wyoming ([[Dave Freudenthal]]), other Democrats lost governorships in South Carolina ([[Jim Hodges]]), Alabama ([[Don Siegelman]]) and, for the first time in more than a century, Georgia ([[Roy Barnes]]). The election led to another round of soul searching about the party's narrowing base. The party's miseries mounted in 2003, when a voter recall unseated their unpopular governor of California, [[Gray Davis]], and replaced him which a charismatic liberal Republican [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]]. By the end of 2003 the four largest states had Republican governors: California, Texas, New York and Florida.

===Election of 2004===
The 2004 campaign began in late 2002, when Gore said he would not run again. [[Howard Dean]], former Governor of Vermont, an opponent of the war and a critic of the Democratic establishment, was the front-runner leading into the Democratic primaries. Dean had immense grassroots support, especially from the left wing of the party. Massachusetts Senator [[John Kerry]], a more centrist figure with heavy support from the [[Democratic Leadership Council]], was nominated because he was seen as more "electable" than Dean. Democrats moved to populist anti-business positions that denounced free trade and the [[NAFTA]] agreement. The party rhetoric attacked the Bush administration rather than propose alternative programs.

In the end, Kerry lost both the popular vote (by 3 million out of over 120 million votes cast) and the [[Electoral College]]. Republicans also gained four seats in the Senate and three seats in the House of Representatives, and for the first time since 1952, the Democratic leader of the Senate lost re-election. In the end, there were 3,660 Democratic state legislators across the nation to the Republicans' 3,557. Democrats gained governorships in Louisiana, New Hampshire and Montana. However, they lost the governorship of Missouri and a legislative majority in Georgia, which had long been a Democratic stronghold.

There were many reasons for the defeat. After the election most analysts concluded that Kerry was a poor campaigner.<ref>Evan Thomas and Staff of Newsweek,''Election 2004: How Bush Won and What You Can Expect in the Future''(2005)</ref> A group of Vietnam veterans opposed to Kerry called the "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" undercut Kerry's use of his military past as a campaign strategy. Kerry was unable to reconcile his initial support of the [[Iraq War]] with his opposition to the war in 2004, or manage the deep split in the Democratic Party between those who favored and opposed the war. Republicans ran thousands of television commercials to argue that Kerry had flip-flopped on Iraq. When Kerry's home state of Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriage, the issue split liberal and conservative Democrats and independents (Kerry publicly stated throughout his campaign that he opposed same sex marriage, but favored civil unions). Republicans exploited the same-sex marriage issue by promoting ballot initiatives in 11 states that brought conservatives to the polls in large numbers; all 11 initiatives passed. Some Democrats argued that flaws in vote-counting systems may also have played a role in Kerry's defeat in Ohio. Other factors include a healthy job market, a rising stock market, strong home sales, and low unemployment.

After the 2004 election, prominent Democrats began to rethink the party's direction, and a variety of strategies for moving forward were voiced. Some Democrats proposed moving towards the right; others demanded that the party move more to the left and become a stronger opposition party. . Rethinking the party's position on gun control became a matter of discussion, brought up by [[Howard Dean]], [[Bill Richardson]], [[Brian Schweitzer]] and other Democrats who had won governorships in states where Second Amendment rights were important to many voters.

===2005 - 2007===
These debates were reflected in the 2005 campaign for Chairman of the [[Democratic National Committee]], which [[Howard Dean]] won. He sought to move the Democratic strategy away from the establishment, and bolster support for the party's state organizations, even in Red states.

When the 109th Congress convened in 2005, [[Harry Reid]], the new Senate Minority Leader, tried to convince the Democratic Senators to vote more as a bloc on important issues; he forced the Republicans to abandon their push for privatization of Social Security. In 2005, the Democrats retained their governorships in Virginia and New Jersey, electing [[Tim Kaine]] and [[Jon Corzine]], respectively. However, the party lost the mayoral race in New York City, a Democratic stronghold, for the fourth straight time.

In 2006, with scandals involving Republican lobbyist [[Jack Abramoff]], as well as GOP House leader [[Tom DeLay]], Ohio GOP governor [[Bob Taft]] and others, the Democrats used the slogan "Culture of corruption." Negative public opinion on the war in Iraq, along with widespread dissatisfaction among conservatives over government spending, dragged President Bush's job approval ratings down to the lowest levels of his presidency. To win control the Democrats had to add 15 seats in the House (they added 30), and 6 in the Senate (they added 6).

The Democratic Party's electoral success has been attributed to running relatively conservative Democrats in close seats, such as the Senate races in Virginia, Pennsylvania and Montana. <ref> Dewan Shaila and Anne E. Kornblut, "In Key House Races, Democrats Run to the Right," ''New York Times,'' 2006-10-30; but compare Rick Perlstein, "Who deserves credit for the Democratic comeback?" ''The New Republic'' 2006-11-08]] at [https://ssl.tnr.com/p/docsub.mhtml?i=w061106&s=perlstein110806] </ref> Exit polling suggested that corruption was a key issue for many voters.<ref>CNN, "Corruption named as key issue by voters in exit polls," 2006-11-08 at [http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/07/election.exitpolls/] </ref>

In 2006 Democrats gained a majority of governorships and made gains in many state legislatures. No Democratic incumbent was defeated in any major race.
===2007-2010===
[[File:Obama_approval_index_december_22_2009.jpg‎|thumb|250px]]
House Democrats chose Rep. [[Nancy Pelosi]] of California for Speaker, the first woman ever, but rejected her choice for House Majority Leader, electing Steny Hoyer instead of John Murtha. Senate Democrats promoted Harry Reid to Majority Leader. Neither have been very effective.

The presidential campaign of 2008 featured a remarkable duel between Obama--the first major black candidate, and [[Hillary Clinton]], the first major woman contender. Obama won with his charismatic oratory and his highly efficient fund-raising and strong organization in the caucus states, while Clinton went downscale to pick up big majorities among poor whites and Hispanics. The contest between Obama and GOP nominee [[John McCain]] showed Obama being the clear favourite, with the vast majority of polls (with the exception of early September) depicting Obama as the clear favourite.

The [[Obama Administration]] got off to a fast start in 2009, especially in vigorous efforts to combat the [[Recession of 2008]] with heavy new stimulus spending, massive loans to banks, increased regulation, and deep intervention in the automobile industry. All those policies were begun by Bush, and had failed to reverse the decline of the economy in late 2008. Whether they will now succeed remains an open question, with the GOP now voting solidly against them and some conservatives like [[Rush Limbaugh]] hoping that the Democrats will fail badly and that the people will again turn to the Republican party. The Democratic Party is feeling the sting from the opposition and many Democrats are beginning to question their own leadership. Liberals are disenchanted with Obama's hawkish position on the [[Afghanistan War]]. The health care reform that consumed most of 2009 remains unsettled, as public opinion has turned against it. Environmentalists now seem resigned to the failure of a [[cap and trade]] program to reduce CO2 emissions. Most of all the recession drags on. The stimulus bill was passed quickly in Feb. 2009 over almost unanimous GOP opposition, but despite promises of "shovel ready" projects, most of the money has not been spent a year later and the economy remains in the doldrums.

The elections in Nov. 2009 in New Jersey and Virginia went badly for the Democrats, as the GOP gained both governorships and many local races, not to mention the Democrats' fifth straight loss for the mayoralty of New York City.

see [[2010 Midterm Elections]]

==Symbols==
The most common symbol for the party is the donkey, although the party itself never officially adopted this symbol.<ref>[http://www.democrats.org/a/2005/06/history_of_the.php History of the Democratic Donkey]. </ref> Some historians suggest the jackass was born 1828 when Jackson was sometimes called a jackass by his opponents as a play on his name. A political cartoon depicting Jackson riding and directing a donkey (representing the Democratic Party) was published in 1837. A political cartoon by [[Thomas Nast]] in an 1870 revived the donkey as a symbol for the Democratic Party. Cartoonists ever since have followed Nast and used the donkey to represent the Democrats, and the elephant to represent the Republicans.

In the early 20th century, the traditional symbol of the Democratic Party in many states was the rooster, as opposed to the Republican eagle.

There is no official color, but since election night 2000 blue has become the identification color of the Democratic Party for maps, while the red has become the color of the Republicans. Increasingly blue is used by Democrats for promotions (e.g BuyBlue, BlueFund) and by the party itself, which in 2006 unveiled the "Red to Blue Program" to support Democratic candidates running against Republican incumbents in the 2006 midterm election.

[[Jefferson-Jackson Day]] annual fundraising celebrations are held by local chapters of the Democratic Party.

The song "[[Happy Days Are Here Again]]" is the unofficial song of the Democratic Party. It was used prominently when Roosevelt was nominated for president at the 1932 Democratic National Convention and remains a sentimental favorite for Democrats today. During the [[Bill Clinton|Clinton]] era, the [[Fleetwood Mac]] song "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow" became a popular song at Democratic events, reflecting the growing prominence of Baby Boomers in the party.

==Democratic Presidents==
* [[Andrew Jackson]] (1829-1837)
* [[Martin Van Buren]] (1837-1841)
* [[James K. Polk]] (1845-1849)
* [[Franklin Pierce]] (1853-1857)
* [[James Buchanan]] (1857-1861)
* [[Grover Cleveland]] (1885-1889) (1893-1897)
* [[Woodrow Wilson]] (1913-1921)
* [[Franklin Roosevelt]] (1933-1945)
* [[Harry S Truman]] (1945-1953)
* [[John F. Kennedy]] (1961-1963)
* [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] (1963-1969)
* [[Jimmy Carter]] (1977-1981)
* [[Bill Clinton]] (1993-2001)
* [[Barack Obama]] (2009 - Present)

==See also==
*[[Previous Breaking News/Democrats|Articles about '''Democrats''' from previous "Breaking News"]]
*[[Obamacare]]

==Bibliography==
===Current===
*Barone, Michael, and Grant Ujifusa, ''The Almanac of American Politics 2008: The Senators, the Representatives and the Governors: Their Records and Election Results, Their States and Districts'' (2007) covers all the live politicians with amazing detail. New edition every two years since 1975.
* Brownstein, Ronald. ''The Second Civil War: How Extreme Partisanship Has Paralyzed Washington and Polarized America''(2007)
* Crane, Michael. ''The Political Junkie Handbook: The Definitive Reference Books on Politics'' (2004) covers all the major issues explaining the parties' positions
*Sabato, Larry J. ''Divided States of America: The Slash and Burn Politics of the 2004 Presidential Election'' (2005).
*Sabato, Larry J. ed. ''The Sixth Year Itch: The Rise and Fall of the George W. Bush Presidency'' (1907), in-depth essays by scholars on key states in 2006
* Sabato, Larry J., and Howard R. Ernst eds. ''Political Parties and Elections'' (2007), 540pp; an encyclopedia with 450 entries by scholars; focus is 1945 to present
* Sabato, Larry J. and Bruce Larson. ''The Party's Just Begun: Shaping Political Parties for America's Future'' (2001) textbook.
* Shafer, Byron E. and Anthony J. Badger, eds. ''Contesting Democracy: Substance and Structure in American Political History, 1775-2000'' (2001), long essays by specialists on each time period
* Shafer, Byron and Richard Johnston. ''The End of Southern Exceptionalism'' (2006), uses statistical election data & polls to argue GOP growth was primarily a response to economic change
===Historical===
* ''American National Biography'' (20 volumes, 1999) covers all politicians no longer alive; online and paper copies at many academic libraries.
* Jensen, Richard. ''Grass Roots Politics: Parties, Issues, and Voters, 1854-1983'' (1983) [http://www.questia.com/library/book/grass-roots-politics-parties-issues-and-voters-1854-1983-by-christopher-c-gibbs-richard-j-jensen-steven-l-piott.jsp online edition]; survey by conservative scholar, with primary sources
* Kennedy, David M. ''Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945'' (2001), synthesis by leading scholar; Pulitzer prize [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=52284041 online edition]
* Kleppner, Paul et al. ''The Evolution of American Electoral Systems'' (1983), essays by scholars (some of them conservatives), 1790s to 1980s.
* Kleppner, Paul. ''The Third Electoral System 1853-1892: Parties, Voters, and Political Cultures'' (1979), analysis of voting behavior, with emphasis on region, ethnicity, religion and class. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=24451028 online edition]
* Ling, Peter J. ''The Democratic Party: A Photographic History'' (2003).
* Patterson, James T. ''Grand Expectations: The United States, 1945-1974'' (1997) synthesis by leading scholar. [http://www.amazon.com/Grand-Expectations-United-1945-1974-History/dp/0195117972/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211911625&sr=1-2 excerpt and text search]
* Patterson, James T. ''Restless Giant: The United States from Watergate to Bush vs. Gore'' (2005) synthesis by leading scholar. [http://www.amazon.com/Restless-Giant-United-Watergate-History/dp/0195305221/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1211911625&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Ritchie, Donald A. ''Electing FDR: The New Deal Campaign of 1932'' (2007) [http://www.amazon.com/Electing-FDR-Campaign-Presidential-Elections/dp/0700615504/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195784762&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
* Rutland, Robert Allen. ''The Democrats: From Jefferson to Clinton'' (1995).
* Shafer, Byron E. and Anthony J. Badger, eds. ''Contesting Democracy: Substance and Structure in American Political History, 1775-2000'' (2001), most recent collection of new essays by specialists on each time period:
**includes: "State Development in the Early Republic: 1775–1840" by Ronald P. Formisano; "The Nationalization and Racialization of American Politics: 1790–1840" by David Waldstreicher; "'To One or Another of These Parties Every Man Belongs;": 1820–1865 by Joel H. Silbey; "Change and Continuity in the Party Period: 1835–1885" by Michael F. Holt; "The Transformation of American Politics: 1865–1910" by Peter H. Argersinger; "Democracy, Republicanism, and Efficiency: 1885–1930" by Richard Jensen; "The Limits of Federal Power and Social Policy: 1910–1955" by Anthony J. Badger; "The Rise of Rights and Rights Consciousness: 1930–1980" by James T. Patterson, Brown University; and "Economic Growth, Issue Evolution, and Divided Government: 1955–2000" by Byron E. Shafer
* Schlisinger, Galbraith. ''Of the People: The 200 Year History of the Democratic Party'' (1992)
* Sundquist, James L. ''Dynamics of the Party System: Alignment and Realignment of Political Parties in the United States'', (1983) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=29223022 online edition
* Wilentz, Sean. ''The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln'' (2005), detailed synthesis by a leading liberal scholar. [http://www.amazon.com/Rise-American-Democracy-Jefferson-Lincoln/dp/0393058204/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1195784940&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Witcover, Jules. ''Party of the People: A History of the Democrats'' (2003)
* Schlesinger, Arthur Meier, Jr. ed. ''History of American Presidential Elections, 1789-2000'' (various multivolume editions, latest is 2001). For each election includes a short history by a leading scholar and a selection of primary documents.

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
*[http://www.democrats.org/ Democratic Party Official Site]
*[http://www.demconvention.com/assets/downloads/2008-Democratic-Platform-final.pdf 2008 Democratic Platform (pdf download)]

[[Category:United States Political Organizations]]
[[Category:United States Political Parties]]
[[Category:Democratic Party]]
[[Category:Progressive Era]]
[[Category:Gilded Age]]
[[Category:New Deal]]
[[Category:Reagan Era]]
[[Category:1960s]]
[[Category:Obama Presidency]]
[[Category:Liberals]]
[[category:Jacksonian Democracy]]
[[Category:111th United States Congress]]

Stop Online Piracy Act

2012-01-18T17:45:44Z

Adambro: rv per Conservapedia:Commandments, says "Everything you post must be true and verifiable" and "Always cite" so not clear what the problem with this is

The '''Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)''' (also known as House Bill 3261 or H.R. 3261) is a bill demanded by [[Hollywood]] [[liberals]] who are big supporters of the [[Democrat Party]] and [[Obama]]'s reelection efforts. If passed, this bill would impose a number of controversial measures for dealing with online piracy including the distribution of copyrighted material via the [[internet]]. The Attorney General would be able to close down websites that infringe copyrights, and ban the site from online payment mechanisms such as [[PayPal]] and [[Visa]]. He could also prohibit the sites' online advertising, and disable [[Google]] from ranking and linking to infringing sites.

The corresponding Senate bill, deceptively named by [[Democrat]] leadership as the PROTECT IP Act, is being pushed through the [[Democratic]] Senate by [[Harry Reid]] (D-NV), whom liberals helped reelect in 2010. SOPA was introduced by a liberal [[Republican]] in the House, Judiciary Committee Chair [[Lamar Smith]] (R-TX).<ref>http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/pdf/112%20HR%203261.pdf</ref>

Proponents of the bill claim that it exists to protect the intellectual properties, and revenue of copyright holders, and is necessary to enforce copyright laws in the US. However, opponents state that it violates the [[First Amendment]], that it will cripple and ultimately destroy the [[Internet]], and will threaten online free speech. Some critics have likened this bill to China's [[Great Firewall]].

Those supporting the bill include [[television]] and [[music]] companies (and their trade group, the Recording Industry Association of America), whilst critics include [[Google]], [[Facebook]], [[Twitter]], [[Wikipedia]], [[Yahoo!]], and [[Mozilla]], the creators of [[Firefox]].

The [[Obama Administration]] released a statement which read, in part, "we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet. Any effort to combat online piracy must guard against the risk of online censorship of lawful activity and must not inhibit innovation by our dynamic businesses large and small."<ref>[http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/01/14/obama-administration-responds-we-people-petitions-sopa-and-online-piracy]</ref> In political terms, such a statement means that the politician may sign the bad bill{{Citation needed}} but then claim it does not harm anything. The administration has also released a statement implying that it will veto the legislation should it reach the president's desk.

==External links==
*[http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/pdf/112%20HR%203261.pdf House Bill 3261]

[[Category:Copyright]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Law]]
[[Category:Censorship]]

==References==
<references/>

Lamar Smith

2012-01-18T15:34:43Z

Adambro: add categories

'''Lamar Smith''' is a [[liberal]] [[Republican Party|Republican]] Congressman from [[Texas]] who has held office for more than 14 years. He is one of the wealthiest members of [[Congress]].

Lamar Smith repeatedly pushes legislation for the benefit of the [[Democrat Party]], such as [[SOPA]].

[[Category:Republican Party]]
[[Category:United States Representatives]]

Stop Online Piracy Act

2012-01-18T15:30:39Z

Adambro: opps, can't read, fix

Stop Online Piracy Act

2012-01-18T15:27:20Z

Adambro: partial reinstate, how SOPA, a HR bill can be pushed through the Senate is puzzling.

The '''Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)''' (also known as House Bill 3261 or H.R. 3261) is a bill demanded by [[Hollywood]] [[liberals]] who are big supporters of the [[Democrat Party]] and [[Obama]]'s reelection efforts. If passed, this bill would impose a number of controversial measures for dealing with online piracy including the distribution of copyrighted material via the [[internet]]. The Attorney General would be able to close down websites that infringe copyrights, and ban the site from online payment mechanisms such as [[PayPal]] and [[Visa]]. He could also prohibit the sites' online advertising, and disable [[Google]] from ranking and linking to infringing sites.

The corresponding Senate bill, the PROTECT IP Act, is being pushed through the [[Democratic]] Senate by [[Harry Reid]] (D-NV) under the deceptive name PROTECT IP Act, whom liberals helped reelect in 2010. SOPA was introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chair [[Lamar Smith]] (R-TX).<ref>http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/pdf/112%20HR%203261.pdf</ref>

Proponents of the bill claim that it exists to protect the intellectual properties, and revenue of copyright holders, and is necessary to enforce copyright laws in the US. However, opponents state that it violates the [[First Amendment]], that it will cripple and ultimately destroy the [[Internet]], and will threaten online free speech. Some critics have likened this bill to China's [[Great Firewall]].

Those supporting the bill include [[television]] and [[music]] companies (and their trade group, the Recording Industry Association of America), whilst critics include [[Google]], [[Facebook]], [[Twitter]], [[Wikipedia]], [[Yahoo!]], and [[Mozilla]], the creators of [[Firefox]].

The [[Obama Administration]] released a statement which read, in part, "we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet. Any effort to combat online piracy must guard against the risk of online censorship of lawful activity and must not inhibit innovation by our dynamic businesses large and small."<ref>[http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/01/14/obama-administration-responds-we-people-petitions-sopa-and-online-piracy]</ref> In political terms, such a statement means that the politician may sign the bad bill{{Citation needed}} but then claim it does not harm anything. The administration has also released a statement implying that it will veto the legislation should it reach the president's desk.

==External links==
*[http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/pdf/112%20HR%203261.pdf House Bill 3261]

[[Category:Copyright]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Law]]
[[Category:Censorship]]

==References==
<references/>

Stop Online Piracy Act

2012-01-18T15:18:02Z

Adambro: rewording the lead doesn't change the lack of a source problem, clarify Senate bill situation per talk page

The '''Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)''' (also known as House Bill 3261 or H.R. 3261) is a bill demanded by [[Hollywood]] [[liberals]]{{cn}} who are big supporters of the [[Democrat Party]] and [[Obama]]'s reelection efforts. If passed, this bill would impose a number of controversial measures for dealing with online piracy including the distribution of copyrighted material via the [[internet]]. The Attorney General would be able to close down websites that infringe copyrights, and ban the site from online payment mechanisms such as [[PayPal]] and [[Visa]]. He could also prohibit the sites' online advertising, and disable [[Google]] from ranking and linking to infringing sites.

The bill was introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chair [[Lamar Smith]] (R-TX).<ref>http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/pdf/112%20HR%203261.pdf</ref> The corresponding Senate bill, the PROTECT IP Act, is being pushed through the [[Democratic]] Senate by [[Harry Reid]] (D-NV), whom liberals helped reelect in 2010.

Proponents of the bill claim that it exists to protect the intellectual properties, and revenue of copyright holders, and is necessary to enforce copyright laws in the US. However, opponents state that it violates the [[First Amendment]], that it will cripple and ultimately destroy the [[Internet]], and will threaten online free speech. Some critics have likened this bill to China's [[Great Firewall]].

Those supporting the bill include [[television]] and [[music]] companies (and their trade group, the Recording Industry Association of America), whilst critics include [[Google]], [[Facebook]], [[Twitter]], [[Wikipedia]], [[Yahoo!]], and [[Mozilla]], the creators of [[Firefox]].

The [[Obama Administration]] released a statement which read, in part, "we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet. Any effort to combat online piracy must guard against the risk of online censorship of lawful activity and must not inhibit innovation by our dynamic businesses large and small."<ref>[http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/01/14/obama-administration-responds-we-people-petitions-sopa-and-online-piracy]</ref> In political terms, such a statement means that the politician may sign the bad bill{{Citation needed}} but then claim it does not harm anything. The administration has also released a statement implying that it will veto the legislation should it reach the president's desk.

==External links==
*[http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/pdf/112%20HR%203261.pdf House Bill 3261]

[[Category:Copyright]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Law]]
[[Category:Censorship]]

==References==
<references/>

Stop Online Piracy Act

2012-01-18T13:06:01Z

Adambro: remove speculation as to Obama's position per Conservapedia:Commandments, clearly not "true and verifiable"

The '''Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)''' (also known as House Bill 3261 or H.R. 3261) is a bill demanded by wealthy [[liberals]] in [[Hollywood]]{{Citation needed}} and the music industry, who are massive contributors to the [[Democratic Party]]. If passed, this bill would impose a number of controversial measures for dealing with online piracy including the distribution of copyrighted material via the [[internet]]. The Attorney General would be able to close down websites that infringe copyrights, and ban the site from online payment mechanisms such as [[PayPal]] and [[Visa]]. He could also prohibit the sites' online advertising, and disable [[Google]] from ranking and linking to infringing sites.

It is publicly supported by [[liberal]] Senator [[Harry Reid]] (D-NV), who enables it to be pushed through the [[U.S. Senate]]. House Judiciary Committee Chair [[Lamar Smith]] (R-TX) has also supported it.

Proponents of the bill claim that it exists to protect the intellectual properties, and revenue of copyright holders, and is necessary to enforce copyright laws in the US. However, opponents state that it violates the [[First Amendment]], that it will cripple and ultimately destroy the [[Internet]], and will threaten online free speech. Some critics have likened this bill to China's [[Great Firewall]].

Those supporting the bill include [[television]] and [[music]] companies (and their trade group, the Recording Industry Association of America), whilst critics include [[Google]], [[Facebook]], [[Twitter]], [[Wikipedia]], [[Yahoo!]], and Mozilla, the creators of [[Firefox]].

The [[Obama Administration]] released a statement which read, in part, "we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet. Any effort to combat online piracy must guard against the risk of online censorship of lawful activity and must not inhibit innovation by our dynamic businesses large and small."<ref>[http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/01/14/obama-administration-responds-we-people-petitions-sopa-and-online-piracy]</ref> In political terms, such a statement means that the politician may sign the bad bill{{Citation needed}} but then claim it does not harm anything.

==External links==
*[http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/pdf/112%20HR%203261.pdf House Bill 3261]

[[Category:Copyright]]
[[Category:Internet]]
[[Category:Law]]
[[Category:Censorship]]

==References==
<references/>

Stop Online Piracy Act

2012-01-17T22:34:37Z

Adambro: mention Smith first as introducer of bill, Reid more relevant for PIPA though I'm not clear on the relationship between the two

The '''Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)''' (also known as House Bill 3261 or H.R. 3261) is a bill which was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on October 26, 2011, by House Judiciary Committee Chair [[Lamar Smith]] (R-TX) which would impose a number of controversial measures for dealing with online piracy including the distribution of copyrighted material via the [[internet]]. If passed, this bill would give the United States law enforcement and copyright holders greater control to fight Internet [[piracy]] (copyright infringement). The Attorney General would be able to close down websites that infringe copyrights, and ban the site from online payment mechanisms such as [[PayPal]] and [[Visa]]. He could also prohibit the sites' online advertising, and disable [[Google]] from ranking and linking to infringing sites.

It is supported by [[liberal]] Senator [[Harry Reid]] (D-NV).

Proponents of the bill claim that it exists to protect the intellectual properties, and revenue of copyright holders, and is necessary to enforce copyright laws in the US. However, opponents state that it violates the [[First Amendment]], that it will cripple and ultimately destroy the [[internet]], and will threaten online free speech. Some critics have likened this bill to China's [[Great Firewall]].

Those supporting the bill include [[television]] and [[music]] companies (and their trade group, the Recording Industry Association of America), whilst critics include [[Google]], [[Facebook]], [[Twitter]], [[Wikipedia]], Yahoo!, and Mozilla, the creators of [[Firefox]].

==External links==
*[http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/pdf/112%20HR%203261.pdf House Bill 3261]

[[Category:Copyright]]
[[Category:Internet]]

CE

2012-01-17T20:50:38Z

Adambro: +cat

One suggestion for the origin of the term '''"Common Era" (CE)''' is an anti-Christian attempt to conceal that Jesus is the historical basis for the primary calendar dating system. "Common Era" has no real meaning, and even the origin of this term is unclear. A later edition (11th) defines it as the Christian Era. The first recorded use of the phrase "common era" was in 1708.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=D_wvAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA2-PA515&dq=%22common+era%22&lr=lang_en&as_drrb_is=b&as_minm_is=1&as_miny_is=800&as_maxm_is=1&as_maxy_is=1740&as_brr=0&cd=2#v=onepage&q=%22common%20era%22&f=false ''History of the Works of the Learned'', January 1703]</ref>

The established calendar dating system, which uses the [[Anno Domini]] ('AD') notation, is based on the calculations of [[Dionysius Exiguus]] for the birthyear of [[Jesus]] relative to the foundation of Rome.<ref>[http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/calendars.html Index to Calendars, NASA site]</ref> At the time, dates used the 'AD' system instituted by pagan and murderer Emperor Diocletian, which used his own date of birth as year 0. Because Dionysius Exiguus in the year 525 wanted to end the memorialization of an evil man who persecuted Christians, he invented a new numbering system based on his calculations of the birth year of Jesus Christ. However, as he miscalculated, the terms BCE/CE are more accurate than BC/AD as the first few years BC were not actually Before Christ, and hence 1 AD is not actually the first year since Jesus' birth.

While the use of the phrase "Common Era" has existed for hundreds of years, only recently have [[political correctness|politically correct]] [[liberals]] attempted to replace all instances of 'AD' with 'CE.' The original use of 'CE' was to avoid the common practice of countries basing their dates on when their rulers reached power <ref>ex. 15 years in the rulership of King Steven the Third</ref> or were born, i.e. the "regal era" from the birthdate of Jesus Christ, which belonged to all men "the common era." While use of "Common Era" attempts to erase recognition for the Christian basis of the calendar, there are no similar attempts to erase non-Christian religious names from the calendar, such as the days of the week named after Norse gods. Numerous texts, particularly schoolbooks, have replaced "B.C./A.D." with "Common Era" symbols over the past decade. This is part on an international effort to establish common values for those of all cultures, not just Christians. While the calendar may be Christian in origin, it is no longer exclusively to Christians. <ref> Former Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi A. Annan in "Common values for a common era" on 28 June 1999 [http://www.un.org/News/ossg/sg/stories/articleFull.asp?TID=37] </ref>

== References ==
<references/>

[[Category:History]]
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Dating Systems]]

Anno Domini

2012-01-17T20:50:05Z

Adambro: +

'''''Anno Domini''''' is a [[Latin]] phrase conventionally translated into [[English]] as "in the year of the Lord." The conventional abbreviation is '''AD'''; periods after each letter are an optional matter of style, but modern usage discourages this.

AD is sometimes misinterpreted as being an abbreviation for "after death," referring specifically to the death of [[Jesus Christ]]. This causes the common confusion resulting from the general consensus is that Jesus died roughly AD 32.

In general, English usage follows Latin by placing the abbreviation ''before'' the year number for AD, but ''after'' the year number for BC, although there are several exceptions to the first part of this principle. Constructions such as "the fourth century AD" are widely accepted, but using full month-and-day with '''AD''' is not (one does not write "September 11, 2001, AD").

[[BC]] is an English [[initialism]] meaning "Before Christ" and always is the last element. If the context does not otherwise indicate we are in such times, one is obligated to use this form. One can use it with full explicit dates, e.g., "Julius Caesar was killed March 15, 44 BC".

* Though the Anno Domini dating system was devised in 525, it was not until the eighth century that the system began to be adopted in Western Europe. [http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Anno_Domini]

The Anglo-Saxon historian [[Bede]] was one of the first scholars to use the AD system around 700 AD, in his book [[The Ecclesiastical History of the English People]].

==See also==
*[[Anno Mundi]]
*[[Common Era]]

[[Category:Dating Systems]]

CE

2012-01-17T20:48:57Z

Adambro: link Anno Domini

SOPA

2012-01-17T16:45:57Z

Adambro: create

#REDIRECT [[Stop Online Piracy Act]]

Stop Online Piracy Act

2012-01-17T16:44:26Z

Adambro: create

The '''Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)''' is a bill that proposes a number controversial measures for dealing with online piracy including the distribution of copyrighted material via the [[internet]].

Those supporting the bill include [[television]] and [[music]] companies whilst critics include [[Google]], [[Facebook]], [[Twitter]], [[Wikipedia]], and [[Yahoo]].

==External links==
*[http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/pdf/112%20HR%203261.pdf House Bill 3261]

[[Category:Copyright]]
[[Category:Internet]]

Euro

2012-01-17T14:08:16Z

Adambro: /* Value */ update

[[Image:Euro banknotes.png|right|thumb|Euro banknotes|300px]]
The '''euro''' is the common [[currency]] in the Eurozone (a group of 15 [[European Union]] member states with a population of 320 million), five other states with formal agreements to use it, and four others without formal agreement. Use of the euro began in January 2002, and 12 nations switched their currency immediately to the euro. There was more than €610 billion in circulation in December 2006 (worth US$802 billion at the time), hence the euro has the highest value of cash in circulation in the world, having surpassed the U.S. dollar.<ref>{{cite web| last = Atkins| first = Ralph| title = Euro notes cash in to overtake dollar| publisher = Financial Times|date=2006-12-27| url = http://www.ft.com/cms/s/18338034-95ec-11db-9976-0000779e2340.html| accessdate = 2007-05-04}}</ref>

==Creation==
In January 1999 the exchange rates of countries that had passed the criteria (and were not exercising an opt-out) were fixed to the euro. The European Central Bank (ECB) came into being. Euro coins and notes were introduced to the general public on the 1st of January 2002 as legal tender, alongside national currencies. In March 1998, when the calculations in countries that had met the convergence criteria were finalised, eleven countries were admitted to join the European Monetary Union: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. In June 2000 Greece was admitted. Slovenia joined in 2007, and Malta and Cyprus joined in 2008.

==Criteria for adoption==
Countries within the European Union were able to join the Common Currency if they met four criteria (known as the 'convergence criteria'. These were: 
1. The budget deficit must be below 3% of GDP (the difference between government receipts and expenditures.) 
2. The total government debt must be below 60% of GDP. 
3. The country must have an [[inflation]] rate within 1.5% of the lowest 3 inflation rates of EU countries. 
4. Nominal Long-term interest rates must be within 2% of the interest rate of countries with the lowest 3 inflation rates. 

In addition to these criteria a member state's currency must fluctuate within the margins allowed. Countries were allowed to join the common currency if their budget deficit and total government debt were approaching the reference values at a 'satisfactory pace', but not actually on them.

==Non-participant members==
In the United Kingdom the currency is still the [[pound]], but there is pressure to convert to the euro that is used throughout Europe. The UK and [[Denmark]] are the only European Union member states with an 'opt-out' (allowing them to select not to join the common currency despite meeting the criteria). In addition to the four criteria of entry set out in the Maastricht Treaty the Chancellor of the Exchequer laid out 5 economic tests the United Kingdom must meet to join; at the last report it had met one, with three others dependant on the final condition which had not been met. Many conservatives in the UK ([[Tories]]) resist conversion to the European currency because a reliance on a common currency represents a loss in sovereignty and control. In particular, there is fear that joining the synchronised EU policy may result in sub-optimal interest rates in difficult periods.

==Value==
[[Image:626px-Euro coins version II.png|right|thumb|300px|Euro coins]]
Initially the value of the euro fell on the exchange markets, while many expected it to do the opposite. However it has strengthened in the years since, partly due to the falling value of the dollar. The ECB is charged with maintaining the inflation rate in the Eurozone between 0 and 2%.

By the end of 2006, after about five years of the euro, a French magazine Le Pèlerin reported that 52% of the French feel that the euro is a "bad thing", blaming it for price hikes and job losses. 71% of French [[blue-collar workers]] said that euro has hurt them personally.<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2006/12/28/cneuro28.xml French hostility to euro begins to gather pace], The Telegraph, 27 December, 2006</ref>

As of January 2012, the euro is worth approximately [[US]]$1.27 and GB£0.82.<ref>http://www.xe.com/</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Currency]]
[[Category:Europe]]

Leap second

2012-01-16T13:32:53Z

Adambro: create

A '''leap second''' is a time period of one [[second]] that may be added or subtracted from the current time to improve the synchronisation between the [[Coordinated Universal Time]] standard (UTC) as measured by atomic clocks and time based on the rotation of the [[Earth]].

The next leap second will be on 30 June 2012 when a second will be added to UTC.

It has been proposed that leap seconds are abandoned, with a decision possible in early 2012.<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/9004147/Leap-second-could-be-abolished.html Leap second could be abolished]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Time]]

Talk:Vancouver

2012-01-15T20:28:59Z

Adambro: /* Copy-pasted */ +cmt

== Copy-pasted ==
From the section '''History''' to '''Religion in Vancouver''' is taken from the Wikipedia's "Vancouver" section '''Demographics''' and the 2nd paragraph of the article. Is it okay to leave it like this? 
The religion data is out-dated. There are Census results for 2006. [[User:JonG|~ ]][[User_talk:JonG|JonG]][[Special:Contributions/JonG| ~]] 15:41, 23 December 2011 (EST)

:JonM suggests that the content on Wikipedia was copied from "the website of vancouver" but it's not even a month since this was added and the link to the Vancouver website doesn't seem to work and I can't find the content anywhere on the website. Even if this was on the Vancouver website, what would be the copyright situation there? It doesn't look like it's in the public domain. [[User:Adambro|Adambro]] 15:16, 15 January 2012 (EST)
::It's a civic website, I think it's fine. If not, revert me.[[User:JonM|JonM]] 15:26, 15 January 2012 (EST)
:::Well I wasn't sure exactly since I couldn't find the precise source to be sure about the copyright situation. [[User:Adambro|Adambro]] 15:28, 15 January 2012 (EST)

Talk:Vancouver

2012-01-15T20:16:14Z

Adambro: /* Copy-pasted */ +cmt

Finland

2012-01-15T19:12:58Z

Adambro: Reverted edits by Repub42012 (talk) to last revision by PhilipN

{{Country
|name =''Suomi'' ''Finland''
|map =Finland rel96.jpg
|map2 =Finland location.png
|flag =Flag of Finland.png
|arms =Arms of Finland.png
|capital =Helsinki
|capital-raw =
|government =Parliamentary Democracy
|government-raw =
|language =Finnish, Swedish
|king =
|queen =
|monarch-raw =
|president =Tarja Halonen
|president-raw =
|chancellor =
|chancellor-raw =
|pm =Mari Kiviniemi
|pm-raw =
|area =130,558 sq mi
|pop =5,296,128 (2007)
|pop-basis =
|gdp =
|gdp-year =$193.491 billion (2005)
|gdp-pc =$40,197 (2005)
|currency =euro
|idd =
|tld =
}}
'''Republic of Finland''' (''Suomi'' or ''Suomen tasavalta'' in Finnish, ''Republiken Finland'' in Swedish) is a country of northern [[Europe]] known for its largely [[social democracy|social democratic]] economic system. The Finnish [[conservative]] party, the [[National Coalition]] led by [[Jyrki Katainen]], is its principal conservative organization.

The state capital is [[Helsinki]] and the principal exports are machines, electronics (for example cellphones) and forestry products. [[Finnish]] is the principal language spoken, a [[Finno-Ugric]] language. Like many nations that do international business, or have a strong tourist trade, many Finns speak English to facilitate communication with other countries. The second official language is Swedish, which has the same status as Finnish in the country. Finland is known as "the land of lakes".

==Geography==
[[File:Mantyluoto, Pori, Finland..jpg|thumb|left|Mäntyluoto, Pori.]]
The area of Finland is approximately 338 000 square kilometers, with a north-south axis of 890 kilometers. Most of the landscape is covered with lakes and forests. Finland is often called the "Land of Thousands of Lakes", which is true, because the number of lakes in the country exceeds 188 000, of which about 56 000 have an area of one hectare or more. In the sea there are more than 3 000 islands. Cultivated land and habitation only account for 17% of the land area, rest being mainly [[Norway spruce]] forests.

Finland is bound by [[Sweden]] in the Northwest, [[Norway]] in the North, [[Russia]] in the East, the [[Gulf of Finland]] in the South and the [[Gulf of Bothnia]] in the West.

==People==
*Population (September 2007): 5.29 million.
*Population growth rate (2006): 0.4%.
*Ethnic groups: Finns, Swedes, Lapps, Sami, Roma, Tatars.
*Religions: Lutheran 82.5%, Orthodox 1.1%.
*Languages: Finnish 91.5%, Swedish 5.5% (both official); small Lapp- (0.03%) and Russian-speaking (0.8%) minorities.
*Education: Years compulsory--9. Attendance--almost 100%. Literacy--almost 100%.
*Health: Infant mortality rate--2.8/1,000 (2006). Life expectancy--males 75.8 yrs., females 82.8 yrs.
*Work force (2.65 million; of which 2.44 million are employed): Public services--32.8%; industry--19%; commerce--15.6%; finance, insurance, and business services--13.8%; agriculture and forestry--4.7%; transport and communications--7.4%; construction--6.7%.

===Culture===

[[File:Yyteri beach during Yyteri Beachfutis Finland.jpg|thumb|left|280px|Yyteri beach during Yyteri Beachfutis.]]
Finnish people (Finns) are known for their love of nature. Nature is prominent in the works of Finnish artists, such as [[Jean Sibelius]], [[Aki Kaurismäki]], [[Alvar Aalto]].

The great masters of Finnish literature include [[Mika Waltari]], [[Väinö Linna]], [[Johan Ludvig Runeberg]]. Finland is a bi-lingual country and has produced its literary heritage in both Finnish and Swedish. The beloved Moomintrolls were created by the writer and graphic artist Tove Jansson.

Another important facet of traditional Finnish culture is the love of the Finnish [[sauna]].

Northern Finland is home to a culture called the [[Sami people]], or [[Laplanders]], which are known for wearing red clothing and herding reindeer. Santa Claus is based on this culture.

They are considered a high context culture.
<div style="font-size: 80%">
{|class="wikitable" align=right border=1 style="border-collapse: collapse; margin-left: 10pt; margin-right: 1pt"
!colspan=4|Population of Finland, 1750–2000<ref>{{cite book | last=Aunesluoma | first=Juhana | coauthors=Heikkonen, Esko; Ojakoski, Matti | title=Lukiolaisen yhteiskuntatieto | language=Finnish | publisher=SanomaWSOY|WSOY | date=2006}}</ref>
|-
!Year!!Population!!Year!!Population
|-
||1750||align=right|421,000||1880||align=right|2,060,800
|-
||1760||align=right|491,000||1890||align=right|2,380,100
|-
||1770||align=right|561,000||1900||align=right|2,655,900
|-
||1780||align=right|663,000||1910||align=right|2,943,400
|-
||1790||align=right|705,600||1920||align=right|3,147,600
|-
||1800||align=right|832,700||1930||align=right|3,462,700
|-
||1810||align=right|863,300||1940||align=right|3,695,617
|-
||1820||align=right|1,177,500||1950||align=right|4,029,803
|-
||1830||align=right|1,372,100||1960||align=right|4,446,222
|-
||1840||align=right|1,445,600||1970||align=right|4,598,336
|-
||1850||align=right|1,636,900||1980||align=right|4,787,778
|-
||1860||align=right|1,746,700||1990||align=right|4,998,478
|-
||1870||align=right|1,768,800||2000||align=right|5,181,000
|}
</div>

 

===Population===
Finland currently numbers 5,302,778 inhabitants and has an average population density of 17 inhabitants per square kilometer. This makes it, after Norway and Iceland, the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Finland's population has always been concentrated in the southern parts of the country, a phenomenon even more pronounced after 20th century urbanization.

The share of foreign citizens in Finland is 2.5 percent being among the lowest of the European Union countries. Most of them are from Russia, Estonia and Sweden.

===Religion===
[[File:Helsinki Lutheran Cathedral Finland.jpg|thumb|left|Helsinki, Lutheran Cathedral.]]
Most Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (81.7 percent). With approximately 4.6 million members, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland is one of the largest Lutheran churches in the world. A minority belong to the Finnish Orthodox Church (1.1 percent; see [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]). Other Protestantism denominations and the Roman Catholic Church in Finland are significantly.

The main Lutheran and Orthodox churches are constitutional national churches of Finland with special roles such as in state ceremonies and schools. A university degree in theology is compulsory for Lutheran priests. Representatives at Lutheran Church assemblies are selected in church elections every four years.

Even though the membership in main Lutheran church is high, the population is not highly religious. Polls suggest that 28-60% of the population to be either agnostics or atheists. <ref>http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_atheist.html</ref>

===Government===
====President and cabinet====
Elected for a 6-year term, the president:
*Handles foreign policy, except for certain international agreements and decisions of peace or war, which must be submitted to parliament, and EU relations, which are handled by the prime minister;
*Is commander in chief of the armed forces and has wide decree and appointive powers;
*May initiate legislation, block legislation by pocket veto, and call extraordinary parliamentary sessions; and
*Appoints the prime minister and the rest of the cabinet (Council of State). The Council of State is made up of the prime minister and ministers for the various departments of the central government as well as an ex officio member, the Chancellor of Justice. Ministers are not obliged to be members of the Eduskunta and need not be formally identified with any political party.
The president may, upon proposal of the prime minister and after having heard the parliamentary groups, order parliament to be dissolved, and a new election held.

====Parliament====
Constitutionally, the 200-member, unicameral Eduskunta is the supreme authority in Finland. It may alter the constitution, bring about the resignation of the Council of State, and override presidential vetoes; its acts are not subject to judicial review. Legislation may be initiated by the president, the Council of State, or one of the Eduskunta members.

The Eduskunta is elected on the basis of proportional representation. All persons 18 or older, except military personnel on active duty and a few high judicial officials, are eligible for election. The regular parliamentary term is 4 years; however, the president may dissolve the Eduskunta and order new elections at the request of the prime minister and after consulting the speaker of parliament.

====Judicial system====
The judicial system is divided between courts with regular civil and criminal jurisdiction and special courts, with responsibility for litigation between the public and the administrative organs of the state. Finnish law is codified. Although there is no writ of habeas corpus or bail, the maximum period of pretrial detention has been reduced to 4 days. The Finnish court system consists of local courts, regional appellate courts, a Supreme Court, and a Supreme Administrative Court.

====Administrative divisions====
[[File:Gulf of finland.jpg|thumb|Gulf of Finland.]]
Finland consists of five provinces and the self-ruled province of the Aland Islands. Below the provincial level, the country is divided into cities, townships, and communes administered by municipal and communal councils elected by proportional representation once every 4 years. At the provincial level, the five mainland provinces are administered by provincial boards composed of civil servants, each headed by a governor. The boards are responsible to the Ministry of the Interior and play a supervisory and coordinating role within the provinces.

The island province of Aland is located near the 60th parallel between Sweden and Finland. It enjoys local autonomy and demilitarized status by virtue of an international convention of 1921, implemented most recently by the Act on Aland Self-Government of 1951. The islands are further distinguished by the fact that they are entirely Swedish-speaking. Government is vested in the provincial council, which consists of 30 delegates elected directly by Aland's citizens.

====Military====
Finland's defense forces consist of 35,000 persons in uniform (26,000 army; 5,000 navy; and 4,000 air force). The country's defense budget equals about 1.3% of GDP. There is universal male conscription under which all men serve from six to 12 months. As of 1995, women were permitted to serve as volunteers. A reserve force ensures that Finland can field 490,000 trained military personnel in case of need.

====Political parties====
Finland's proportional representation system encourages a multitude of political parties and has resulted in many coalition governments. Political activity by communists was legalized in 1944, and although four major parties have dominated the postwar political arena, none now has a majority position. In elections held in 2007, the Center Party (Keskusta), traditionally representing rural interests, kept its position as the biggest party. The then-opposition Conservative Party, however, came away as the biggest winner, gaining 10 seats and becoming the second-largest political party in the country. The Center then formed a four-party governing coalition with the Conservatives and the Swedish People's Party and the Greens. The Social Democratic Party (SDP) suffered a defeat in these elections and fell to the third position among the big parties. Of the other parties, the True Finns, the Green League, and the Swedish People’s Party were able to gain seats in parliament. The Conservative Party received the portfolios of foreign minister, finance minister, and defense minister, among others, and became an important player after a long interval.

===Principal Government Officials===
[[File:Tarja Halonen 2003.jpg|thumb|Tarja Halonen, 2003.]]
*President--[[Tarja Halonen]]
*Prime Minister--Mari Kiviniemi
*Foreign Minister--Alexander Stubb
*Ambassador to the United States--Pekka Lintu
*Ambassador to the United Nations--Kirsti Lintonen

{{Clear}}

===Foreign Relations===
Finland's basic foreign policy goal from the end of the Continuation War with the U.S.S.R. in 1944 until 1991 was to avoid great-power conflicts and to build mutual confidence with the Soviet Union. Although the country was culturally, socially, and politically Western, Finns realized they must live in peace with the U.S.S.R. and take no action that might be interpreted as a security threat. The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 opened up dramatic new possibilities for Finland and has resulted in the Finns actively seeking greater participation in Western political and economic structures. Finland joined the European Union in 1995.

====Previous relations with the Soviet Union, and today with Russia====
[[File:Uspenski cathedral Helsinki.jpg|thumb|The Uspenski cathedral of Helsinki; with its golden cumpolas and redbrick façade, the cathedral is one of the clearest symbol of the Russian impact on Finnish history.]]
The principal architect of the post-1944 foreign policy of neutrality was J.K. Paasikivi, who was President from 1946 to 1956. Urho Kekkonen, President from 1956 until 1981, further developed this policy, stressing that Finland should be an active rather than a passive neutral. This policy is now popularly known as the "Paasikivi-Kekkonen Line."

Finland and the U.S.S.R. signed a peace treaty at Paris in February 1947 limiting the size of Finland's defense forces and providing for the cession to the Soviet Union of the Petsamo area on the Arctic coast, the Karelian Isthmus in southeastern Finland, and other territory along the former eastern border. Another provision, terminated in 1956, leased the Porkkala area near Helsinki to the U.S.S.R. for use as a naval base and gave free access to this area across Finnish territory.

The 1947 treaty also called for Finland to pay to the Soviet Union reparations of 300 million gold dollars (amounting to an estimated $570 million in 1952, the year the payments ended). Although an ally of the Soviet Union in World War II, the United States was not a signatory to this treaty because it had not been at war with Finland.

In April 1948, Finland signed an Agreement of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance with the Soviet Union. Under this mutual assistance pact, Finland was obligated--with the aid of the Soviet Union, if necessary--to resist armed attacks by Germany or its allies against Finland or against the U.S.S.R. through Finland. At the same time, the agreement recognized Finland's desire to remain outside great-power conflicts. This agreement was renewed for 20 years in 1955, in 1970, and again in 1983 to the year 2003, although the subsequent dissolution of the Soviet Union led to the agreement's abrogation.

The Finns responded cautiously in 1990-91 to the decline of Soviet power and the U.S.S.R.'s subsequent dissolution. They unilaterally abrogated restrictions imposed by the 1947 and 1948 treaties, joined in voicing Nordic concern over the coup against Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, and gave increasing unofficial encouragement to Baltic independence.

At the same time, by replacing the Soviet-Finnish mutual assistance pact with treaties on general cooperation and trade, Finns put themselves on an equal footing while retaining a friendly bilateral relationship. Finland now is boosting cross-border commercial ties and touting its potential as a commercial gateway to Russia. It has reassured Russia that it will not raise claims for Finnish territory seized by the U.S.S.R. and continues to reaffirm the importance of good bilateral relations.

====Multilateral Relations====
Finnish foreign policy emphasizes its participation in multilateral organizations. Finland joined the United Nations in 1955 and the EU in 1995. As noted, the country also is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Partnership for Peace as well as a member in the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council. As a NATO partner, Finland had 100 troops in Afghanistan as of September 2007.

Finland is well represented in the UN civil service in proportion to its population and belongs to several of its specialized and related agencies. Finnish troops have participated in UN peacekeeping activities since 1956, and the Finns continue to be one of the largest per capita contributors of peacekeepers in the world. Finland is an active participant in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and in early 1995 assumed the co-chairmanship of the OSCE's Minsk Group on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Cooperation with the other Scandinavian countries also is important to Finland, and it has been a member of the Nordic Council since 1955. Under the council's auspices, the Nordic countries have created a common labor market and have abolished immigration controls among themselves. The council also serves to coordinate social and cultural policies of the participating countries and has promoted increased cooperation in many fields.

In addition to the organizations already mentioned, Finland became a member of the following organizations: Bank for International Settlements, 1930; International Monetary Fund, 1948; International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 1948; General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), 1950; International Finance Corporation, 1956; International Development Association, 1960; European Free Trade Association, 1961; Asian Development Bank, 1966; Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 1969; Inter-American Development Bank, 1977; African Development Bank, 1982; Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, 1988; the Council of Europe, 1989; European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Central and Eastern Europe, 1991; World Trade Organization, 1995; and INTELSAT, 1999. Finland entered Stage Three of EMU (the European Monetary Union) in 1999. All the Nordic countries, including Finland, joined the Schengen area in March 2001.

==Economy==
[[File:Logs in Yyteri 2009.JPG|thumb|left|300px|Logs in Yyteri.]]
Finland has an industrial economy based on abundant forest resources, capital investments, and high technology.

The Finnish economy has made enormous strides since the severe recession of the early 1990s. Finland successfully joined the euro zone and has outperformed euro-area partners in terms of economic growth and public finance. In the last few years, the Finnish economy has performed reasonably well. Total output was 5% higher in 2006 than in 2005, but economic activity leveled off in the latter half of the year. GDP is predicted to grow by 4.4% in 2007, while 2008 is likely to show a slower rate of growth, estimated at 3.3%. Despite the current favorable outlook, there is a degree of uncertainty in the Finnish economy caused by the large fluctuations in electronics industry production, together with resource constraints. Cost and price pressures have increased, and there is a threat of industry’s price competitiveness starting to weaken.

Unemployment decreased significantly from 1994 to 7.7% in 2006 and is expected to drop to 6.7% in 2007. A relatively inflexible labor market and high employer-paid social security taxes hamper growth in employment. Labor bottlenecks are becoming more common in certain sectors, and this will increasingly restrict growth in output in the future. The main constraint to medium-term economic growth will be the drop in the population of working age once the post-war baby boomers reach retirement age.
[[File:Headquarters of Nokia Keilaniemi Finland..jpg|thumb|The headquarters of Nokia Corporation in Keilaniemi, Espoo, 2005.]]
Exports of goods and services contribute 32% of Finland's GDP. Metals and engineering (including electronics) and timber (including pulp and paper) are Finland's main industries. The United States is Finland's third most important trading partner outside of Europe. With a 3.8% share of imports in 2006, the United States was Finland's seventh-largest supplier. The total value of U.S. exports to Finland in 2006 was $2.6 billion. Major exports from the United States to Finland continue to be machinery, telecommunications equipment and parts, aircraft and aircraft parts, computers, peripherals and software, electronic components, chemicals, medical equipment, and some agricultural products. The primary competition for American companies comes from Russia, Germany, Sweden, and China. The main export items from Finland to the United States are electronics, machinery, ships and boats, paper and paperboard, refined petroleum products, telecommunications equipment and parts. In 2006, the United States was Finland's fourth-largest customer after Germany (11.3%), Sweden (10.5%), and Russia (10.1%), with an export share of 6.5%, or $5 billion. However, trade is only part of the totality: the 10 biggest Finnish companies in the United States have a combined turnover that is three times the value of Finland's total exports to the United States. About 2.3% of the Finnish GDP comes from exports to the United States.

Except for timber and several minerals, Finland depends on imported raw materials, energy, and some components for its manufactured products. Farms tend to be small, but farmers own sizable timber stands that are harvested for supplementary income in winter. The country's main agricultural products are dairy, meat, and grains. Finland's EU accession has accelerated the process of restructuring and downsizing of this sector.
*GDP: $210.8 billion (EUR 167.9 billion).
*GDP growth rate: 5%.
*Per capita income: $40,036 (EUR 31,886).
*Inflation rate: 1.6% (2006 average); 2.6% (September 2007).
*Natural resources: Forests, minerals (copper, zinc, iron), farmland.
*Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (2.9% of GDP): Products--meat (pork and beef), grain (wheat, rye, barley, oats), dairy products, potatoes, rapeseed.
*Industry (30.1% of GDP): Types--metal (including electronics and electrical equipment) and engineering, forest products, chemicals, shipbuilding, foodstuffs, textiles.
*Trade: Exports--$77.08 billion. Major markets--EU 56.9%, Russia 10.1%, U.S. 6.5%, China 3.2%. Imports--$68.9 billion. Major suppliers--EU 55.3%, Russia 14.1%, China 7.5%, U.S. 3.8%.

==History==
[[File:Johan Ludvig Runeberg statue Finland.jpg|thumb|left|Johan Ludvig Runeberg statue.]]
The origins of the Finnish people are still a matter of conjecture, although many scholars argue that their original home was in what is now west-central [[Siberia]]. The Finns arrived in their present territory thousands of years ago, pushing the indigenous Lapps into the more remote northern regions. Finnish and Lappish--the language of Finland's small Lapp minority--both are Finno-Ugric languages and are in the Uralic rather than the Indo-European family.

Finland's nearly 700-year association with the Kingdom of [[Sweden]] began in 1154 with the introduction of Christianity by Sweden's King Eric. During the ensuing centuries, Finland played an important role in the political life of the Swedish-Finnish realm, and Finnish soldiers often predominated in Swedish armies. Finns also formed a significant proportion of the first "Swedish" settlers in 17th-century America.

Following Finland's incorporation into Sweden in the 12th century, Swedish became the dominant language, although Finnish recovered its predominance after a 19th-century resurgence of Finnish nationalism. Publication in 1835 of the Finnish national epic, The Kalevala--a collection of traditional myths and legends--first stirred the nationalism that later led to Finland's independence from Russia.

In 1809, Finland was conquered by the armies of Czar Alexander I and thereafter remained an autonomous grand duchy connected with the Russian Empire until the end of 1917. On December 6, 1917, shortly after the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, Finland declared its independence. In 1918, the country experienced a brief but bitter civil war that colored domestic politics for many years. During [[World War II]], Finland fought the [[Soviet Union]] twice--in the [[Winter War]] of 1939-40 and again in the [[Continuation War]] of 1941-44. This was followed by the [[Lapland War]] of 1944-45, when Finland fought against the Germans as they withdrew their forces from northern Finland.

During the Continuation War (1941-1944) Finland was a co-belligerent with [[Germany]]. However, Finnish Jews were not persecuted. Of the approximately 500 Jewish refugees who arrived in Finland, eight were handed over to the Germans, for which Finland submitted an official apology in 2000.<ref>[http://www.uta.fi/~tuulikki.vuonokari/fin-1.html Jews in Finland During World War II]</ref> Also during the war, approximately 2,600 Soviet prisoners of war were exchanged for 2,100 Finnish prisoners of war from Germany. In 2003, the Simon Wiesenthal Center submitted an official request for a full-scale investigation by the Finnish authorities of the prisoner exchange. It was established there were about 70 Jews among the extradited prisoners but none was extradited as a result of ethnic background or religious belief.

Treaties signed in 1947 and 1948 with the Soviet Union included obligations and restraints on Finland vis-a-vis the U.S.S.R. as well as territorial concessions by Finland; both have been abrogated by Finland since the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union.

{{Template:Copyright Details (US Government)}}

==References==
<references />

{{European Union}}

[[Category:Finland]]
[[Category:European Countries]]
[[Category:Nordic Countries]]
[[Category:Christian-Majority Countries]]

Vancouver

2012-01-15T18:04:14Z

Adambro: remove "history of vancouver" section as copied from Wikipedia, not source given (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vancouver&oldid=466966975). not sure how to attribute that.

[[File:Vancouver1.jpg|thumb|450px]]
'''Vancouver''' is a city located in southwestern [[British Columbia]], [[Canada]]. Named after Captain [[George Vancouver]], an English explorer, the city was founded in 1886 when the first Canadian transcontinentinetal railway arrived. In November of 2008, the city elected Gregor Robertson as its mayor. Vancouver has a population of 578,041 while its CMA has a population of 2,116,581. <ref> 2006 Canadian Census : [http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/profiles/community/Search/SearchForm_Results.cfm?Lang=E]</ref> Greater Vancouver is the largest metropolitan area in western Canada and the third largest in the country. It is also the largest city in the Pacific Northwest and is the second-largest metropolitan area (second to [[Seattle]])

'''[[Vancouver, Washington|Vancouver]]''' is also the name of a city in Southern [[Washington|Washington State]] in the [[United States of America|US]], across the [[Columbia River]] from [[Portland]], [[Oregon]]. <ref>http://www.cityofvancouver.us/default.asp Offical Website</ref>

__TOC__
=Politics of Vancouver=
Vancouver is per capita the most liberal city in British Columbia<ref> cite [http://www.statcan.gc.ca/search&query=british_columbia&order=politics&search#2039089q89 Stats canada]</ref>, with the liberal party, Vision Vancouver leading in all elections since 2003<ref> [http://votevision.ca/ very liberal policies]</ref>. Vancouver also has a large [[homosexual]] presence<ref>[http://davievillage.ca/ davie village]</ref>
==Religion in Vancouver==
Vancouver is generally tolerant of public displays of religion, than other Canadian cities, barring [[Calgary]].

{|class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right; font-size:90%"
|+ Religion in Vancouver City and Vancouver (CMA), compared with British Columbia and Canada
|-
!Religion !!Total !!% !!Total !!% !!Total !!% !!Total !!% 
|- class="sortbottom"
|
!colspan=2|Vancouver City
!colspan=2|Vancouver (CMA)
!colspan=2|British Columbia
!colspan=2|Canada
|-
|align=left|''Total''||539,630||100.0%||1,967,480||100.0%||3,868,875||100.0%||29,639,035||100.0%
|-
|align=left|'''Catholic'''[1]||102,315||19.0%||364,790||18.5%||675,320||17.5%||12,936,910||40.6%
|-
|align=left|'''Protestant'''||94,010||17.4%||499,185||25.4%||1,213,290||31.4%||8,654,850||20.2%
|-
|align=left|'''Christian Orthodox'''||9,090||1.7%||26,520||1.3%||35,655||0.9%||479,620||1.6%
|-
|align=left|'''Christian,n.i.e.'''[2]||23,600||4.4%||101,620||5.2%||200,340||5.2%||780,450||2.6%
|-
|align=left|'''Muslim'''||9,345||1.7%||52,590||2.7%||56,220||1.5%||579,640||2.0%
|-
|align=left|'''Jewish'''||9,620||1.8%||17,270||0.9%||21,230||0.5%||329,995||1.1%
|-
|align=left|'''Buddhist'''||37,140||6.9%||74,550||3.8%||85,540||2.2%||300,345||1.0%
|-
|align=left|'''Hindu'''||7,670||1.4%||27,410||1.4%||31,495||0.8%||297,200||1.0%
|-
|align=left|'''Sikh'''||15,200||2.8%||99,000||5.0%||135,310||3.5%||278,410||0.9%
|-
|align=left|'''Eastern religions'''[3]||1,250||0.2%||5,580||0.3%||9,975||0.3%||37,550||0.1%
|-
|align=left|'''Other religions'''[4]||2,455||0.5%||6,195||0.3%||16,205||0.4%||63,975||0.2%
|-
|align=left|'''No religious affiliation'''[5]||227,925||42.2%||692,765||35.2%||1,388,300||40.9%||4,900,090||19.5%
|-
|colspan=9 style="text-align:center;"|Source:[[Canada 2001 Census]]<ref>
{{cite web
| url= http://www12.statcan.ca/english/profil01/CP01/Details/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Ceo2=CMA&Code2=933__&Data=Count&SearchText=Vancouver&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=59&B1=All
| title= Religion Statistics in Vancouver, in BC, in Canada}} Select Another Region for other columns</ref>
|-
|colspan=9 style="text-align:left; font-size:90%"|
[1] Includes Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholic, Polish National Catholic Church, Old Catholic 
[2] Includes mostly answers of "Christian", not otherwise stated. 
[3] Includes Baha'i, Eckankar, Jains, Shinto, Taoist, Zoroastrian and Eastern religions, not identified elsewhere. 
[4] Includes Aboriginal spirituality, Pagan, Wicca, Unity – New Thought – Pantheist, Scientology, Rastafarian, New Age, Gnostic, Satanist, etc. 
[5] Includes Agnostic, Atheist, Humanist, and No religion, and other responses, such as Darwinism, etc.
|}

==Vancouver Sports Franchises ==

[[Vancouver Canucks]] ([[NHL]] [[Hockey]])

[[British Columbia Lions]] ([[CFL]] Football)

 The XXI Olympic Winter Games took place in 2010 and were held in Vancouver and in the resort community of Whistler some 60 miles to the north west.

==References==
<references/>

== External Links ==
* [http://www.tourismvancouver.com/visitors/ Tourism Vancouver]
* [http://www.vancouver2010.com/en/ Offical Website of 2010 Winter Olympics]

[[category:Canadian Cities and Towns]]
[[Category:Urban History]]
[[Category:Canadian History]]

Americans For Truth

2012-01-15T17:31:32Z

Adambro: merge refs

[[Image:Peter.jpg|right|thumb|150px|[[Peter LaBarbera]]]]
'''Americans For Truth''', formerly referred to as Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH), is a national organization devoted solely to confronting the [[homosexual agenda|homosexual activist agenda]].<ref name="AFTabout">http://www.americansfortruth.com/about/</ref>

[[Peter LaBarbera]], the president of Americans for Truth, said the following regarding the need for the organization Americans for Truth:
{{cquote|[[Homosexuality|Homosexual]], [[bisexual]], and transsexual groups spend tens of millions of dollars every year to market and normalize their aberrant lifestyles, yet after all these years there is not a single, serious national group dedicated specifically to exposing and countering their agendas...

It’s time for Americans to unapologetically resist the demands of this lobby, and to counter the lies upon which it is built-the foremost being that certain people are inherently or ‘born’ homosexual and that this is a [[civil rights]] issue.ref name="AFTabout"/>}}

In addition, [[Peter LaBarbera]] has written [[Fox News and homosexuality|various criticisms of Fox News coverage of the homosexuality issue]].

==External Links==
*[http://americansfortruth.com/ Americans for Truth blog]

== References ==
<references/>

[[Category:Homosexual Agenda]]
[[Category:Homosexuality and Religious Liberty]]
[[Category:blogs]]

Naturism

2012-01-15T17:28:20Z

Adambro: I'm assuming not all

'''Naturism''' or '''nudism''' is a cultural and political movement advocating and defending social nudity in private and in public. It may also be a lifestyle based on personal, family and/or social nudism. Naturists (or nudists) often visit holiday spots or camping grounds that specifically cater for them. However there have been cases of naurists taking over public areas such as beaches.

Some who support naturism quote ''Genesis 2:25'', ''"And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed."''

However, the [[Bible]] clearly says that such behavior is not acceptable. ''Genesis 3:9-10'' says, ''"And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself."''

Further, ''Leviticus 18'' is far more explicit against naturism:

<blockquote>
''None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD. 
The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. 
The nakedness of thy father's wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father's nakedness. 
The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, whether she be born at home, or born abroad, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover. 
The nakedness of thy son's daughter, or of thy daughter's daughter, even their nakedness thou shalt not uncover: for theirs is thine own nakedness. 
The nakedness of thy father's wife's daughter, begotten of thy father, she is thy sister, thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. 
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's sister: she is thy father's near kinswoman. 
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister: for she is thy mother's near kinswoman. 
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's brother, thou shalt not approach to his wife: she is thine aunt. 
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law: she is thy son's wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. 
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife: it is thy brother's nakedness. 
Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter, neither shalt thou take her son's daughter, or her daughter's daughter, to uncover her nakedness; for they are her near kinswomen: it is wickedness. 
Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time. 
Also thou shalt not approach unto a woman to uncover her nakedness, as long as she is put apart for her uncleanness. ''
</blockquote>

[[Category:Hobbies]]

Dan Savage

2012-01-15T17:05:15Z

Adambro: /* Personal life */ link to Same-sex marriage

'''Dan Savage''' is a columnist for the ''Seattle Stranger'' and has engaged in various campaigns to promote homosexuality and to smear conservatives and Christians.

== [[Gary Bauer]] ==
In the year 2000, in revenge for comments Bauer made, Savage infiltrated Bauer's campaign with the intent to infect Bauer with the flu (which Savage had at the time) by doing such things as licking doorknobs he thought Gary Bauer may touch. <ref>[http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=3092 Here, Dan Savage details his efforts infecting Gary Bauer]</ref> He also illegally voted in the Iowa caucus despite not being an Iowa resident, and was thus arrested on misdemeanor charges and sentenced to 50 hours of community service and a year's probation.<ref>http://qrd.org/qrd/media/radio/thiswayout/summary/newswrap/2000/N659-11.13.00</ref><ref>http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/07/opinion/how-to-be-an-iowan-for-a-day.html?src=pm</ref>

==[[Rick Santorum]]==
After Santorum's statements on homosexuality<ref>http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-04-23-santorum-excerpt_x.htm</ref> in 2003, Dan Savage urged his readers to find another, less flattering definition for "santorum." After such a definition was chosen, Savage created a site called spreadingsantorum.com (not appropriate) and had instigated a Google-bombing campaign placing it as the first result given for every search. Savage later instigated a similar but ultimately unsuccessful campaign against [[Rick Warren]].

== It Gets Better ==
After a spike in news reports on [[Homosexuality and mental illness|gay youth suicides]], Dan Savage started the [[It Gets Better project]]. The point of the project is to make videos assuring gay youths that their lives will improve after high school and college, and that bullying experienced for being gay will subside or be overcome by positive experiences.

== Personal life ==
An [[open homosexual]], Savage was [[Same-sex marriage|married]] in Vancouver to his long time partner Terry Miller, and they have an adopted son DJ.<ref>http://www.npr.org/2011/03/23/134628750/dan-savage-for-gay-teens-life-gets-better</ref>

==See also==
*[[Liberal smear machine]]
*[[Village Voice]]

==References==
<references/>

==External link==
*http://www.youtube.com/user/itgetsbetterproject

{{Liberalism}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Savage, Dan}}
[[Category:Liberal Activists]]
[[Category:Homosexuality]]

Slavery

2012-01-15T15:56:23Z

Adambro: /* British Empire */ send > sent

'''Slavery''' was a legal economic system with involuntary servitude, such that the people held in bondage must work for their owner, and can be bought and sold (see [[Slave trade]]).

Legally, the slave has limited rights. For example, it was a crime in the American South to kill or maim a slave, except in self-defense.

In the American South, slavery normally was a lifetime condition, and children born to slave mothers automatically became slaves of the owner.

In human history, slavery originated when people were captured in warfare. Secondarily, slavery resulted when some able-bodied people became so poor through debts that some wealthy people claimed them as property at least until they worked off their debts. The [[Year of Jubillee]] was instituted by God for His own nation in order to prevent slavery from becoming a means by which cleverly unscrupulous, or cleverly ignorant, people made a living, such as happened in the American South.

In America the vast majority of slaves were African blacks, and many of these had been bought from African tribal leaders; Indians starved themselves to death rather than live as slaves. From 1500 to 1820, hundreds of thousands of Europeans were captured in war by Muslims and made slaves.

Western Christendom abolished slavery during the 19th century.
The last forms of legal slavery were outlawed in 1970 in the Arabian countries, but hidden slavery still exists today in remote parts of Africa such as the [[Sudan]] where Arabs own black slaves. In Mauritania, dark-skinned people own lighter-skinned slaves.<ref> [http://www.leaderu.com/ftissues/ft9605/articles/gregory.html African Slavery 1996]</ref>

Slavery was found in the history of most civilizations. Slavery flourishes where there is a high demand for labor and not enough workers. When the workers are plentiful, slavery dies out because it is unprofitable. That is, it becomes cheaper to free a slave and hire low cost paid labor than to buy and maintain slaves. Typically, when it had almost died out, it was made illegal by the government, as in Brazil.

The most famous instance of slavery was in the American South until it was forcibly ended during the [[American Civil War]] (1861-65)--the only major war in world history fought over slavery.

==Economics==
The two main forms of slavery are house servants (in which slaves are luxury items owned by the rich), and field work, in which slaves are used as a cheap labor force. If free labor is cheaper than expensive slaves, slavery will disappear. If there is a shortage of laborers (and an abundance of work to do), slavery becomes economically possible. It is especially profitable in new lands with few people and rich soils or mines that require imported labor.

Slavery tended to die out in cities and flourished only in rural areas. In the cities rich families owned many slaves as a luxury good guaranteeing good servants. Otherwise, slaves in cities were more expensive to maintain than free labor, which could be hired and fired as needed. Slave labor was profitable for farms, mines, and construction jobs; it was not profitable for factories.

==History==
===Ancient world===
Most ancient civilizations, including Greece and Rome, had slavery on a large scale.

In [[Egypt]], Hebrews were slaves. The primary slave market in ancient Greece was on an island in the Aegean sea known as "Delos". From there slaves were traded and used throughout the Greek city-states. In [[Ancient Greece|ancient Athens]] about 30% of the population consisted of slaves.<ref>[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_1741501460_4/Ancient_Greece.html Ancient Greece]</ref>

Often prisoners of wars in ancient history were used as slaves, particularly during the [[Roman Empire]]. Historians debate how extensive slavery was in the Roman Empire--estimates go as high as 25% of the population.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/slavery_01.shtml BBC - History - Resisting Slavery in Ancient Rome]</ref> [[Christianity]] helped lessen the harshness by which Romans treated slaves.

Slavery died out in the Roman Empire because the population was ample to work the land. Most of the slaves became serfs, who were attahed to certain lands but who had more legal rights and who could not be bought and sold or moved off their specific land.

According to the [[Domesday Book]] census in 1086 AD, 10% of England's population was enslaved.<ref>[http://www.domesdaybook.net/helpfiles/hs2970.htm Domesday Book Slave]</ref>

===Medieval Europe===
[[Image:Ruslavery.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Painting of a slave market in late medieval Eastern Europe.]]

Slavery in [[Poland]] was forbidden in the 15th century; in [[Lithuania]], slavery was formally abolished in 1588; they were replaced by the second enserfment.

Slavery was a major institution in [[Russia]], and families facing starvation often sold themselves into slavery. Russian agricultural slaves were formally converted into serfs earlier in 1679. In 1723, when the [[Peter the Great]] converted the remaining household slaves into house serfs. <ref>[http://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-24160 Welcome to Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to Black History]</ref> Serfdom was abolished in 1863 by Tsar [[Alexander II]]; however, most serfs had to pay the government for giving them land.

===1492-1865===
In 1455, a "papal bull" (formal letter by the [[pope]]) justified a right of Christian nations to enslave any non-Christian in the name of exploration. The Spanish had already been enslaving South American natives on a limited basis, but with the rise of sugar plantations the need for a larger slave force arose. 12 million of African slaves were brought by the Europeans to [[Mexico]], [[Peru]], the [[Caribbean]] and [[Brazil]]. The demand for sugar was exploding throughout the entire western world. Soon France, the Netherlands and Britain were also establishing profitable sugar plantations in the new world. The plantation system began in Brazil, where rich white [[plantation]] owners were the highest rung in the social hierarchy and black slaves were at the bottom. Obviously life on a sugar plantation was very hard work for a slave; most died in less than 10 years, and had to be replaced.
====African Slave Trade====
Slavery was widespread within Africa itself, and the richest in Africa were not those owning the most land, but those who owned the most slaves. In the Sahara Desert, slaves worked in caravans and were used in gold and salt mining. Slaves were usually prisoners of war from other areas of Africa, or debtors, or enemies or the king, but many women outside of those three categories were also enslaved in African societies.

European traders encouraged Africans to trade slaves with them. The [[Trans-Atlantic slave trade]] became a booming business for Europeans and Africans alike, in which African rulers sold prisoners of war and even their people to Europeans for goods such as iron, alcohol, tobacco and most importantly, guns. Trans-Atlantic trade led to the degrading use of "chattel" slaves, whereby the slaves were treated purely as property of the owner. The slaves served as sailors, skilled craftsmen or farmers. The journey across the Atlantic, known as the Middle Passage, led to the death of 10-20% of the African slaves. But an even higher percentage lost their lives in the journey from their homes in Africa to the African coast, where they were to board the slave ships.

* After kidnapping potential slaves, merchants forced them to walk in slave caravans to the European coastal forts, sometimes as far as 1,000 miles. Shackled and underfed, only half the people survived these death marches. [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1narr4.html]

The Trans-Atlantic slave trade was one component in a system of routes known as the "Triangular Trade" between South America, New England, and the West Coast of Africa. The three main items that were exchanged were sugar, rum and slaves. European goods, mainly guns, were used to buy slaves from Africa. The slaves were then shipped to the Americas. Then, from America, sugar, rum and tobacco were brought back to Europe, completing the "triangle" of trade. Slavery is one of the less noble aspects of American history.

====White slaves====
Between 1530 and 1780, Europeans including Britons and even some Americans were frequently taken captive and enslaved by privateers from the [[Barbary States]]. Estimates of so-called "white slavery" vary from as little as 50,000 to in the millions <ref>http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/whtslav.htm</ref>. Generally Europeans enslaved by the [[corsairs]] were usually poorer sea merchants and city dwellers whose families were unable to pay the ransom necessary to free them. Often the [[Pasha]] would purchase the female captives into his harem. Many were forced to "go turk" or convert to "mohammadism" in order to stay with their children who were raised as Muslims. Occasionally slaves would convert in order to escape harsher labors such as tending the oars in the corsairs <ref>http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/white_slaves_print.html</ref>.

For a long time, until the early 18th century, the Crimean Khanate maintained a massive slave trade with the [[Ottoman Empire]] and the Middle East. Kefe was one of the best known and significant trading ports and slave markets. In a process called "harvesting of the steppe" Crimean Tatars enslaved many Slavic peasants.
[[Image:Boulanger Gustave Clarence Rudolphe The Slave Market.jpg|right|thumb|350px|Boulanger Gustave Clarence Rudolph's painting ''The Slave Market'']]

====Islam====
In Senegambia, between 1300 and 1900, close to one-third of the population was enslaved. In early [[Islamic]] states of the western Sudan, including Ghana (750-1076), Mali (1235–1645), Segou (1712–1861), and Songhai (1275-1591), about a third of the population were slaves. In [[Sierra Leone]] in the 19th century about half of the population consisted of slaves. In the 19th century at least half the population was enslaved among the Duala of the Cameroon, the [[Igbo]] and other peoples of the lower Niger, the [[Kingdom of Kongo|Kongo]], and the Kasanje kingdom and Choke of [[Angola]]. Among the Ashanti and Yoruba a third of the population consisted of slaves. The population of the [[Kanem]] was about a third-slave. It was perhaps 40% in Bornu (1396–1893). Between 1750 and 1900 from one- to two-thirds of the entire population of the Fulani jihad states consisted of slaves. The population of the Sokoto caliphate formed by Hausas in the northern [[Nigeria]] and Cameroon was half-slave in the 19th century. It is estimated that up to 90% of the population of [[Arab]]-Swahili Zanzibar was enslaved. Roughly half the population of [[Madagascar]] was enslaved.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-24157 Welcome to Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to Black History]</ref>

The Anti-Slavery Society estimated that there were 2 million slaves in [[Ethiopia]] in the early 1930s, out of an estimated population of between 8 and 16 million.<ref>[http://www.yale.edu/glc/events/cbss/Miers.pdf Twentieth Century Solutions of the Abolition of Slavery]</ref> Ethiopia officially abolished slavery and serfdom after regaining its independence in 1942. On August 26, 1942 [[Haile Selassie]] issued a proclamation outlawing slavery.<ref>[http://www.globalmarch.org/resourcecentre/world/ethiopia.pdf Ethiopia]; [http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/2691/COS2.html Chronology of slavery]</ref>
====India====
India in 1841 had an estimated 8,000,000 or 9,000,000 slaves in India.<ref>According to Sir Henry Bartle Frere (who sat on the Viceroy's Council).</ref> In Malabar, about 15% of the population were slaves. Slavery was abolished in both Hindu and Muslim India by the Indian Slavery Act V. of 1843. Provisions of the Indian Penal Code of 1861 effectively abolished slavery in India by making the enslavement of human beings a criminal offense.<ref>[http://www.wluml.org/english/pubs/pdf/occpaper/OCP-07.pdf Islamic Law and the Colonial Encounter in British India]</ref>
====Korea====
Indigenous slaves existed in [[Korea]]. During the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910) about 30% to 40% of the Korean population consisted of slaves. Slavery was hereditary, as well as a form of legal punishment. There was a slave class with both government and privately owned slaves, and the government occasionally gave slaves to citizens of higher rank. Privately owned slaves could be inherited as personal property. During poor harvests and famine, many peasants would voluntarily become slaves in order to survive. In the case of private slaves they could buy their freedom.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/topic-693609/history-of-Korea Korea, history pre-1945:slavery -- Encyclopaedia Britannica]</ref><ref>[http://www.geog.buffalo.edu/~geobl/main/lectures/l17.html The Choson Era: Late Traditional Korea]</ref><ref>[http://ideas.repec.org/p/snu/ioerwp/no26.html Korean Nobi]</ref> Slavery was officially abolished with the Gabo Reform of 1894.

===Present Day===
Slavery was also known among [[Arabs]] into the 20th century. As recently as the 1950s, [[Saudi Arabia]] had an estimated 450,000 slaves, 20% of the population.<ref>[http://www.answering-islam.org/Silas/slavery.htm Slavery in Islam]</ref><ref>[http://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/apr07/page18.html £400 for a Slave]</ref> It is estimated that as many as 200,000 people had been taken into slavery in Sudan during the Second Sudanese Civil War.<ref>[http://www.iabolish.org/slavery_today/in_depth/sudan-genocide.html War and Genocide in Sudan]</ref><ref>[http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/livewire/archived/the_lost_children_of_sudan/ The Lost Children of Sudan]</ref> In [[Mauritania]] it is estimated that up to 600,000 men, women and children, or 20% of the population, are currently enslaved, many of them used as bonded labor.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1458_abolition/page4.shtml The Abolition season on BBC World Service]</ref> Slavery in Mauritania was finally criminalized in 2007.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6938032.stm Mauritanian MPs pass slavery law]</ref> In [[Niger]], slavery is also a current phenomenon; a Nigerien study has found that more than 800,000 people, or almost 8% of the population, are slaves.<ref>[http://abcnews.go.com/International/Story?id=813618&page=1 The Shackles of Slavery in Niger]</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/4250709.stm Born to be a slave in Niger]</ref>

Also, the term "slavery" is often used metaphorically for sex workers who are controlled by pimps.

==Famous Slaves==
* [[St. Felicity]]
* [[St. Patrick]]
* [[Pope Pius I]]
* [[Pope Callixtus I]]
* [[Pope Clement I]]
* [[Spartacus]]
* [[Frederick Douglass]]
* [[Harriet Tubman]]
* [[Dred Scott]]
* [[Booker T. Washington]]
* [[Atilla the Hun]]

==Abolition of Slavery==
===France===
France had slavery in its Caribbean colonies and [[Condorcet]] (1743 - 1794), an influential [[philosophe]], rejected slavery as antithetical to Enlightenment morality. He became a leader in the antislavery movement and in the 1780s attacked the institution of slavery on philosophical and moral grounds in his writings. After 1780, Condorcet took a leading, though secret, role in antislavery agitation by writing ''Reflections on Negro Slavery'' under the pseudonym Dr. Schwartz. In 1784, he was a founder and principal actor in La Société des Amis des Noirs, which sought to prepare for the eventual abolition of slavery. By 1794, Condorcet still supported colonization, but believed that a colonization based on liberal economics and civil equality could transform the world.

[[Napoleon]] (ruled 1799-1815) made a major adventure into the Caribbean--sending 30,000 troops in 1802 to retake Saint Domingue ([[Haiti]]) from ex-slaves under black leader [[Toussaint L'Ouverture]] who had revolted and killed off the whites and mulattoes. Napoleon wanted to preserve France's financial benefits from the colony's sugar and coffee crops; he then planned to establish a major base at New Orleans. He therefore reestablished slavery in Haiti and [[Guadeloupe]], where it had been abolished after rebellions. Slaves and black freedmen fought the French for their freedom and independence. Revolutionary ideals played a central role in the fighting for it was the slaves and their comrades who were fighting for the revolutionary ideals of freedom and equality, while the French troops under General Charles Leclerc fought to restore the order of the ancien régime. The goal of reestablishing slavery - which explicitly contradicted the ideals of the French Revolution - demoralized the French troops. The demoralized French soldiers were unable to cope with the tropical diseases, and most died of yellow fever. Slavery was reimposed in Guadeloupe but not in Haiti, which became an independent black republic. <ref> Philippe R. Girard, "Liberte, Egalite, Esclavage: French Revolutionary Ideals and the Failure of the Leclerc Expedition to Saint-Domingue." ''French Colonial History'' 2005 6: 55-77. in [[Project MUSE]]</ref> Napoleon's vast colonial dreams for Egypt, India, the Caribbean, Louisiana, and even Australia were all doomed for lack of a fleet capable of matching Britain's Royal Navy. Realizing the fiasco Napoleon liquidated the Haiti project, brought home the survivors and sold off Louisiana to the U.S.<ref>Steven Englund, ''Napoleon: A Political Life'' (2004). p 259. Slavery remained in Guadeloupe until 1848.</ref>

===United States===
The first black slaves were brought to [[Jamestown]] Colony early on. Originally, slavery was legal in every British American colony. However, after the [[American Revolution]], the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that, since the new state constitution read, "All men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights; among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties", it made slavery illegal. By 1804, slavery had been abolished in every northern state.<ref>However, in many states, current slaves remained in servitude for the rest of their lives.</ref>

[[The South]] after 1800 became more militant in defense of slavery. [[John C. Calhoun]] and other southerners called it the South's "peculiar institution" and proclaimed it a good idea. Some proponents suggested it would also be a good idea for white workers who were living under worse conditions in Northern cities.<ref> Elizabeth Fox-Genovese and Eugene D. Genovese, ''Slavery in White and Black: Class and Race in the Southern Slaveholders'' (2008)</ref> It flourished in the Southern states until [[Abraham Lincoln]] and his Union Army abolished it during the [[American Civil War]]. This was a case of racial slavery--the slaves were black, the owners were white.<ref> A few free blacks owned slaves--usually relatives they had purchased from whites. Indian tribes also had slaves, both Indian and black.</ref>

===British Empire===
Emancipation of slaves in the British Caribbean became a major cause by the 1800s, when abolitionists such as [[William Wilberforce]] and [[John Wesley]] began speaking out against the evils of the system.<ref>[http://www.brycchancarey.com/abolition/wilberforce.htm William Wilberforce (1759-1833)]</ref> Wilberforce was supported in his efforts by [[John Newton]], a slave trader who became a Christian and then opposed the slave trade. In 1807 the [[House of Commons]] passed the Slave Trade Abolition Bill by a 283-16 vote. It made the international slave trade a crime of piracy and sent the Royal Navy to enforce it.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/content/articles/2007/03/20/abolition_navy_feature.shtml Sailing against slavery. By Jo Loosemore] BBC</ref> In 1808 the U.S. also outlawed the international trade. However, some slave traders evaded the prohibition--many were caught and hung, with the freed captives sent to [[Sierra Leone]]. Slavery remained legal inside the [[British Empire]] (including Canada) until 1833 when the government bought all the slaves from the owners<ref> Mostof the owners lived in great mansions in London, and appreciated the money.</ref> and freed them.<ref>The ex-slaves went through an apprenticeship process before gaining freedom. Andrea Curry ''Timeline: The Abolition of the Slave Trade'', British Heritage Magazine (May 2007)</ref> <ref>[http://slavetrade.parliament.uk/slavetrade/history/parliamentabolishestheslavetrade/draftdocument.html History: Parliament Abolishes the Slave Trade] Parliamentary House of Lords</ref>

===United States===
In the United States, the northern states abolished slavery by 1803--most of the slaves there were house servants. In [[The South]], however, cotton made slavery very profitable and 11 states seceded in 1861 to protect their interest. [[Abraham Lincoln]] achieved the end of slavery in 1863-65, using the Army and the [[13th Amendment]]. In Cuba and Brazil, slavery was unprofitable and finally collapsed in the 1880s as few people wanted to buy slaves.

===Abolitionists===
*[[Harriet Tubman]], Underground Railroad. (1820 - 1913) <ref>http://www.heritageny.gov/Railroad/urny.cfm</ref> Well-known associate of the Underground Railroad. Acted as a spy and led raids to assist others in gaining their freedom.
*[[Frederick Douglass]], orator, writer and publisher. (1817 - 1875) <ref>http://www.nndb.com/people/447/000048303/</ref> Respected leader of the abolitionist movement, consummate freedom seeker, orator and publisher.
*[[Ralph Waldo Emerson]], unitarian minister and freethinker. (1803-1882) <ref>http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/ralphwaldoemerson.html </ref> Expressed visceral public disapproval of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Exhorted people to "do the duty of the hour", and support abolition.
*[[William Lloyd Garrison]], anti-slavery editor of the Liberator (1805 - 1879); the single most imfluential abolitionist <ref>http://www.nndb.com/people/966/000049819/</ref> Founded the Liberator with partner Isaac Knapp in 1831.
*[[Elizur Wright]], abolitionist, freethinker. (1804-1885) <ref> http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0852788.html</ref> Became involved in the abolitionist movement while attending Yale university. Eventually worked as a secretary with the American Anti-Slavery Society in 1833 and assumed the editorship of the Massachusetts Abolitionist in 1839.
*[[John Brown]] (1800-1859), tried to lead a slave rebellion in 1859; the slaves did not join him, but white Southerners became convinced there were many more John Browns to come if they stayed in the Union
*[[John Stuart Mill]], philosopher, essayist. (1806 - 1879) <ref>http://www.nndb.com/people/147/000030057/</ref> Wrote numerous essays on abolition during the American Civil War. Asserted the war was being fought to abolish slavery, an unpopular political opinion at the time.

==Biblical Perspective==
{{main|Slavery in the Bible}}

Slavery was an well-established institution throughout the Ancient Near East, and the
[[Old Testament]] sanctions its form of regulated slavery, though that is seen as being counter cultural in its degree of amelioration, including as compared to that of ancient slave states as Greece and Rome, and the typical practice of slavery in American history.<ref>[http://www.christian-thinktank.com/qnoslave.html ''Does God condone slavery in the Bible?'']</ref><ref>[http://www.christian-thinktank.com/qnoslavent.html ''The issue of 'slavery' in the NT/Apostolic world'']</ref> The New Testament does not condemn the institution itself, but makes requirements upon both masters and slaves in further improving treatment in the inherited economic institution.

Slave owners in the antebellum South cited both Old Testament and New Testament texts, such as Ephesians 6:5, “slaves, obey your masters”, in arguments for the Christian endorsement of slavery. Another Bible verse states that thieves should be sold into slavery.<ref>Exodus 22:3 "He should make a full restitution; and if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.</ref> Under the [[Mosaic Law]], Hebrew slaves could be kept for six years, and offered release in the seventh for nothing. They were to be treated as hired servants, and generous provisions given to them at termination, though they could choose to be lifetime servants. However, daughters who were sold to be betrothed to the owner or his son, were not set free in their seventh year but were to be allowed to be redeemed if that marriage had not taken place done. If marriage occurred, they were to be set free if the husband was negligent in his basic marital obligations.(Exodus 21:1-11; cf. Dt. 15:12-18)

The system of slavery commonly diminished a person to the point where they would be regarded as a thing or an object to be owned. The Christian [[abolitionists]] disagreed with this valuation, and saw the New Testament in particular, and its ethos of love for neighbor as oneself, as supporting the abolition of slavery, and advanced an interpretation of the Bible which presented human value in terms of God's parental love for all people as His children (see [[human rights]]).<ref>[http://docsouth.unc.edu/church/bourne/bourne.html Bourne, George, 1780-1845, ''A Condensed Anti-Slavery Bible Argument; By a Citizen of Virginia'']</ref><ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=3n4OGC-OoqIC&dq=God+Against+Slavery+George+B.+Cheever,&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=YCiuzJHs7T&sig=GyTdW1UZEO6eqV6XxdKv2v_SJF8&hl=en&ei=oaWRSvHyJpPDlAeXqdCjDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false George B. Cheever, ''God Against Slavery'' (1875)]</ref>

While requiring Christian obedience <ref>''Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible'', Eph. 6:7; cf. Rm. 13:1</ref> of slaves toward their masters, the New Testament also requires masters to exercise their duties in the fear of God, and prohibits threatening, abuse or unequal pay for slaves. ((Eph. 6:9; Col. 4:1) (1Cor. 7:21) It also commands slaves to obtain freedom if possible, and contains the record of the [[apostle Paul]] requiring that the escaped slave Onesimus be received back by his master Philemon, no longer "as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved", even as Paul himself (Philemon 1:16,17)

===Curse of Ham===
Some Southern white theologians before the Civil War asserted that the slavery of blacks was the result the curse of Ham. However, there is no evidence that the curse had to do with skin color, and the descendants of [[Canaan]] most likely were not black, and it is generally concluded that they did not settle in [[Africa]].<ref>http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=70</ref><ref>http://www.christiananswers.net/q-aig/race-blacks.html</ref><ref>Full Life Study Bible, Zondervan Publishing Company (September 1992)</ref><ref>A Condensed Anti-slavery Bible Argument By George Bourne </ref>

==Further reading==
{{main|Bibliography of Slavery}}
* [[Abolitionism]]
* [[American Civil War]]

===Reference===
* Finkelman, Paul, and Joseph C. Miller, eds. ''Macmillan Encyclopedia of World Slavery'' (1999), very good reference
* Morgan, Kenneth. ''Slavery and the British Empire: From Africa to America'' (2008) [http://www.amazon.com/Slavery-British-Empire-Africa-America/dp/0192892916/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241544745&sr=1-5 excerpt and text search]
* Parish, Peter J. '' Slavery: History and Historians'' (1989) [http://www.questia.com/library/book/slavery-history-and-historians-by-peter-j-parish.jsp online edition]
* Rodriguez, Junius P., ed. ''The Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery'' (2 vol. 1997), very good reference
===Rome===
* Bradley, Keith. ''Slavery and Society at Rome'' (1994) [http://www.amazon.com/Slavery-Society-Themes-Ancient-History/dp/0521378877/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254513594&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Westermann, William L. ''The Slave Systems of Greek and Roman Antiquity'' 91955) 182pp [http://www.questia.com/read/3797806?title=The%20Slave%20Systems%20of%20Greek%20and%20Roman%20Antiquity online edition]

===United States===
* Fogel, Robert. ''Without Consent or Contract: The Rise and Fall of American Slavery'' (1989) [http://www.questia.com/library/book/without-consent-or-contract-the-rise-and-fall-of-american-slavery-by-robert-william-fogel.jsp online edition]
* Genovese, Eugene. ''Roll Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made'' (1974), the most important book, written as Genovese was moving from Marxism to conservatism
* Miller, Randall M., and John David Smith, eds. ''Dictionary of Afro-American Slavery'' (1988), exellent reference
* Phillips, Ulrich B. ''American Negro Slavery: A Survey of the Supply, Employment and Control of Negro Labor as Determined by the Plantation Regime'' (1918), the best older history; leftists complain it does not share their biases. [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/11490 free edition online]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:Black History]]
[[Category:The South]]
[[Category:Civil Rights]]
[[Category:British Empire]]
[[Category:African History]]

Virginity pledge

2012-01-15T15:40:45Z

Adambro: presumably a link to info on these studies could be included which would be helpful

A virginity pledge is a commitment, usually made in a group, to practice [[abstinence]] until [[marriage]]. These pledges are usually symbolized by purity rings, or covenant cards.<ref>http://www.waitt.org/</ref>
Christian scholars have put forth the rationale behind the Virginity Pledge movement, that success in life is correlated to respect for oneself, and respect for oneself begins with respect for one's one body. By teaching children to respect their bodies with regard to intimacy, it has been shown in studies that students are more likely to have a positive self-image and less likely to compromise their bodies with drugs and alcohol.{{Fact}} Similarly, teens who took virginity pledges are more likely to exercise regularly and far less likely to be overweight or obese.{{Fact}}
According to the [[Heritage Foundation]], teens who make virginity pledges enjoy the following life outcomes <ref>http://www.heritage.org/Research/Abstinence/cda04-07.cfm</ref>:

*Are less likely to experience teen pregnancy;
*Are less likely to be sexually active while in high school and as young adults;
*Are less likely to give birth as teens or young adults;
*Are less likely to give birth out of wedlock;
*Are less likely to engage in risky unprotected sex; and
*Will have fewer sexual partners.
[[Image:Virginity pledge.jpg|right]]
In contrast, a study by Janet Elise Rosenbaum PhD, published in the January 2009 edition of the journal ''Pediatrics''<ref>Rosenbaum, Janet '''Patient Teenagers? A Comparison of the Sexual Behavior of Virginity Pledgers and Matched Nonpledgers''', ''Pediatrics'' 2009, vol 123, issue 1, e110-e120</ref>,addressed the sexual behavior of socially/religiously conservative students who signed a virginity pledge compared to the sexual behavior of socially/religiously conservative students who did not sign a pledge. This study found that pledgers and nonpledgers were not different in likelihood of premarital sex (53% vs 57%), age at first sex (21.2 vs 20.7), number of lifetime sexual partners (3.2 vs 3.5), and number of sexual encounters in the previous year (22.8 vs. 23.6). Overall there were no differences between the two groups in 12 of 14 measured sexual behaviors, 3 of 3 STD rates, and 4 of 4 marriage outcomes. The study did not address overall pregnancy rates, teen pregnancy rates, or birth rates. Rosenbaum found that pledgers did differ from socially similar nonpledgers in the following ways:

*Unmarried pledgers were less likely to report using birth control and condoms over the last year;
*Unmarried pledgers were less likely to report using birth control at last intercourse;
*Pledgers reported 1.09 last-year sexual partners, compared to 1.2 last-year partners for nonpledgers; and
*1.04% of pledgers reported having been paid for sex, compared to 3.34% of non-pledgers.

==references==
<references/>

[[Category:Abstinence Campaigns]]

Virginity pledge

2012-01-15T15:19:26Z

Adambro: link Heritage Foundation

A virginity pledge is a commitment, usually made in a group, to practice [[abstinence]] until [[marriage]]. These pledges are usually symbolized by purity rings, or covenant cards.<ref>http://www.waitt.org/</ref>

According to the [[Heritage Foundation]], teens who make virginity pledges enjoy the following life outcomes <ref>http://www.heritage.org/Research/Abstinence/cda04-07.cfm</ref>:

*Are less likely to experience teen pregnancy;
*Are less likely to be sexually active while in high school and as young adults;
*Are less likely to give birth as teens or young adults;
*Are less likely to give birth out of wedlock;
*Are less likely to engage in risky unprotected sex; and
*Will have fewer sexual partners.
[[Image:Virginity pledge.jpg|right]]
In contrast, a study by Janet Elise Rosenbaum PhD, published in the January 2009 edition of the journal ''Pediatrics''<ref>Rosenbaum, Janet '''Patient Teenagers? A Comparison of the Sexual Behavior of Virginity Pledgers and Matched Nonpledgers''', ''Pediatrics'' 2009, vol 123, issue 1, e110-e120</ref>,addressed the sexual behavior of socially/religiously conservative students who signed a virginity pledge compared to the sexual behavior of socially/religiously conservative students who did not sign a pledge. This study found that pledgers and nonpledgers were not different in likelihood of premarital sex (53% vs 57%), age at first sex (21.2 vs 20.7), number of lifetime sexual partners (3.2 vs 3.5), and number of sexual encounters in the previous year (22.8 vs. 23.6). Overall there were no differences between the two groups in 12 of 14 measured sexual behaviors, 3 of 3 STD rates, and 4 of 4 marriage outcomes. The study did not address overall pregnancy rates, teen pregnancy rates, or birth rates. Rosenbaum found that pledgers did differ from socially similar nonpledgers in the following ways:

*Unmarried pledgers were less likely to report using birth control and condoms over the last year;
*Unmarried pledgers were less likely to report using birth control at last intercourse;
*Pledgers reported 1.09 last-year sexual partners, compared to 1.2 last-year partners for nonpledgers; and
*1.04% of pledgers reported having been paid for sex, compared to 3.34% of non-pledgers.

==references==
<references/>

[[Category:Abstinence Campaigns]]

User:Adambro

2012-01-14T17:06:26Z

Adambro: Reverted edits by H0RSE5H1T (talk) to last revision by Adambro

Nothing to see here, just wanted to get rid of the red link.

User talk:Adambro

2012-01-14T17:06:24Z

Adambro: Reverted edits by H0RSE5H1T (talk) to last revision by JonM

{{welcome}}
If you did not already know, please do not edit war, as you did with [[user:RedGoliath]]. Thank you.[[User:SusanP|SusanP]] 12:48, 10 January 2012 (EST)

This is your second warning for troublesome editing in 8 hours. Either contribute to the project in a constructive way or face possible blocking. This is your final warning, and I will be watching your activity. [[User:TonyPark|TonyPark]] 19:18, 10 January 2012 (EST)

:I'm confused as to exactly what you are warning me about. In your edit summary you say "2nd edit war warning in 8 hours" but I fail to see how any of my recent edits could be described as edit warring. When I saw my change to [[Age of the Earth]] had been removed again with not much in the way of an explanation, instead of engaging in an edit war and reinstating it again I raised the issue on the talk page as I assumed would be the right course of action though in hindsight I would accept my tone wasn't probably that helpful.

:Looking through your edits around the time you posted this warning, I note you've gone and undone a couple of my edits. In the first case reinstating the word liberal in the [[Gun]] article to describe those involved in the recent riots in England as a liberal riot mob. I still don't understand how exactly those involved could be described as liberal. However, that still isn't an example of edit warring even if you disagree with my view about whether the word is appropriate.

:I also note you've undone to some degree my edit to [[Liberal Democrats]] regarding the largest donor to the party, suggesting a "Liberal loophole". I again don't understand your use of the term liberal in that context. Is "liberal" just being used as a generic insult for people or things you dislike? The "loophole" is simply the main element of the law relating to political donations, that the donor is someone allowed by law to give money to a political party. That's not simply a "technicality in the rules" that the Liberal Democrats have "exploited". Anyway, I shan't undo your edit since that would actually be edit warring. If I'm so inclined I'll raise it on the talk page for discussion.

:I'd therefore be grateful if you could explain exactly what "troublesome editing" or apparent edit warring you are referring to that I should discontinue. [[User:Adambro|Adambro]] 07:59, 11 January 2012 (EST)
----
::I believe he meant talking back, and questioning our goal. In either case, here is the helpful links again.
{{warning}}
[[User:JonM|JonM]] 12:55, 11 January 2012 (EST)
:Well I have those links just above so that isn't too helpful. Perhaps you could advise what the correct way of resolving disagreements regarding content is then if it isn't to discuss those issues? I'd also be grateful if you could point out any examples where I've been "questioning our goal". [[User:Adambro|Adambro]] 13:09, 11 January 2012 (EST)

::A quick look at your contributions list shows that the entirety of your activities on this site have been small edits adding liberal POV to articles you don't agree with, punctuated with reverting a bunch of vandalism by what looks like the same vandal/sockpuppet. Tell me, Adam, why is it that every time a vandal shows up with a name like BU99ERY or something similar, you're there to revert the vandalism only a minute later? I've gone through your contribution logs and the pattern is obvious. You're trying to raise your edit count by making minor edits to articles without adding content, and you either are or are cooperating with a vandal who is repeatedly vandalizing this site, only for you to swoop in a minute later to "save" us. You are an obvious fraud and I will not allow you to compromise this project. [[User:TonyPark|TonyPark]] 16:19, 11 January 2012 (EST)
:::[[Correlation is not causation]]... But seriously, it isn't too hard to spot vandalism using [[Special:RecentChanges]]. It's even easier when the vandal involved edits my own talk page resulting in me seeing the "you have new messages" thing. I'll admit though that as, like you, I haven't been here very long, dealing with vandalism is an easy and obvious way to help out. Learning the ropes as to actually writing and editing articles is harder and I fully expect to make some mistakes along the way. I do hope that we can deal with any of what may be those mistakes in a sensible manner however. [[User:Adambro|Adambro]] 18:12, 11 January 2012 (EST)

==Unblocked==
I unblocked you but I believe your contributions will be monitored so try to be careful !--[[User:PhilipN|PhilipN]] 16:38, 11 January 2012 (EST)

==Blocking Rights==
Congrats on your promotion. I think I was rashful in my judgement, please accept my apologies.[[User:JonM|JonM]] 21:00, 11 January 2012 (EST)

Obama's Religion

2012-01-14T16:08:11Z

Adambro: remove "our country" suggestion per http://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk%3AEarly_life_and_career_of_Barack_Hussein_Obama&action=historysubmit&diff=953885&oldid=948025

[[Image:OBAMA MUSULMAN.jpg|right|thumb|'''Then-Senator Obama wearing traditional African garb''', a gift from his hosts while visiting Kenya<ref>[http://sweetness-light.com/archive/obama-wore-muslim-gear-during-kenya-trip]</ref>]]
'''[[Barack Hussein Obama]]''''s ties to [[Islam]]ic religion and culture possessed have been revealed in many of his own comments and actions, both before and after taking the office of [[President of the United States]]. While he has a Muslim heritage, and he professes to be a Christian, there is evidence to suggest that he is a Muslim. These are just some examples that show the influence of Islam on him:

*Obama declared in prepared remarks, "The United States has been enriched by '''Muslim Americans'''. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because '''I am one of them'''."<ref>http://middleeast.about.com/b/2009/04/06/obama-in-turkey-at-the-gates-of-islam.htm</ref>
*Obama's wife Michelle does not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would apply to her there; on a presidential trip she was with him until France, but then returned home.
*Obama's background, education, and outlook are [[Muslim]], and fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity.<ref>http://www.religionnewsblog.com/17736/barack-obama-2</ref><ref>http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina31103.htm. During the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class, according to the LA ''Times''. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.obama16mar16,0,1634059,print.story?coll=bal_news_nation_promo Campaign downplays his connection during boyhood in Indonesia, Baltimore Sun, March 16, 2007]</ref>
*Obama's middle name (Hussein) references '''Husayn''', who was the grandson of [[Muhammad]],<ref>A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. 2004.</ref><ref>al-Qarashi, Baqir Shareef (2007). The life of Imam Husain. Qum: Ansariyan Publications.</ref> which most Christians would not retain.<ref>Only after Obama became politically ambitious did he declare himself to be a [[Christian]], yet he never replaced his [[Muslim]] name "Hussein" with a Christian one as most do when they undergo a religious conversion. For example, when the Italian journalist Magdi Allam recently converted to Christianity, he took a new name: "Cristiano".[http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=30814] When Saul became a Christian, he changed his name to "Paul"; when the famous boxer Cassius Clay converted to [[Islam]], he took the Muslim name of [[Muhammad Ali]]. "It is common for those converting to a new religion to change their name on conversion"[http://www.ukdp.co.uk/pages/religiousconversion.php] or adopt a Christian name at [[baptism]].[http://www.answers.com/topic/christian-name]</ref>
*Obama has said "[[my Muslim faith]]."<ref>Obama declared, "John McCain has not talked about my Muslim faith."[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKGdkqfBICw]</ref>
*He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world."<ref> [http://www.newsweek.com/id/145971 Barack Obama's Christian Journey | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008]</ref>
*Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," and recited "with a first-class [[Arabic]] accent" the opening lines: Allah is Supreme! ... I witness that there is no god but Allah ...."<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=78309</ref>
*Obama stated that the autobiography of Malcolm X, a Nation of Islam leader who became a Muslim, inspired him in his youth.<ref>For example, Obama writes in his own autobiography, "Only Malcolm X's autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me. The blunt poetry of his words, his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order, martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will. ... [E]ven as I imagine myself following Malcolm's call, one line in the book stayed with me. He spoke of a wish he'd once had, the wish that the white blood that ran through him, there by an act of violence, might somehow be expunged."[http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/does_obama_know_america.html]</ref>
*Obama raised nearly $1 million and campaigned for a [[Kenyan]] presidential candidate who had a written agreement with [[Muslim]] leaders promising to convert Kenya to an Islamic state that bans Christianity.<ref> [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78324] Text of the agreement, as three images: [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78323]</ref>
*Obama's claims of conversion to Christianity arose after he became politically ambitious, lacking a date of conversion or baptism.<ref>In his book, Obama oddly claims to have been baptized without giving his age or date, and later gave a date that postdates his political ambition (1992).</ref>
*In the book ''Obama,"Renegade"'' his friends say that "he actually really wasn't much of a churchgoer." <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/06/16/wolffe-president-missed-rev-wright-s-racist-rants-because-he-wasn-t-much- Wolffe: President Missed Rev. Wright’s Racist Rants Because 'He Wasn’t Much of a Churchgoer'] NewsBusters.org, June 16, 2009</ref>
*On the campaign trail, Obama was reading "The Post-American World" by [[Fareed Zakaria]],<ref>http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=fa8cf1bf-2cc8-4d6e-b72d-a07d406e19ff</ref> which is written from a Muslim point-of-view.<ref>http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-09/news/the-interpreter/</ref>
*Contrary to [[Christianity]], the Islamic doctrine of [[taqiyya]] encourages adherents to deny they are Muslim if it advances the cause of Islam.
*Obama uses the Muslim Pakistani pronunciation for "Pakistan" rather than the common American one.<ref>Obama repeatedly pronounced "Pakistan" as "Pokiston" in the first presidential debate.</ref>
*Obama was thoroughly exposed to Christianity as an adult in Chicago prior to attending law school, yet no one at law school saw him display any interest in converting. Obama unabashedly explained how he became "churched" in a 2007 speech: "It's around that time [while working as an organizer for the Developing Communities Project (DCP) of the Calumet Community Religious Conference (CCRC) in Chicago] that some pastors I was working with came around and asked if I was a member of a church. 'If you're organizing churches,' they said, 'it might be helpful if you went to a church once in a while.' And I thought, 'I guess that makes sense.'"<ref>[http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=15363 Obama, ACORN, and the churches] SperoNews, October 7, 2008</ref>
[[File:Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in Dimashq.jpg|left|175px|thumb|''"I really endorse and support the policies that he has adopted,"'' [[Libya]]n leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] said of President Barack Obama as reported by the ''[[Washington Post]]''.<ref> [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/26/AR2010042604170.html ''Man's worst friend?''] By Dana Milbank, ''Washington Post'', April 27, 2010.</ref> ]]
*Obama is mentioned as helping to organize the 1995 Million Man March led by black [[Muslim]] leader [[Louis Farrakhan]] from the [[Nation of Islam]]. <ref>[http://www.nowpublic.com/world/obama-organized-farrakhan-s-million-man-march, Obama Organized Farrakhan’s ‘Million Man March’, NowPublic.com, April 2, 2008 </ref>
*Obama visited "more than one mosque" in Kenya while on a political trip there but did not visit any churches, although there are a large proportion of churches and even a National Temple in Kenya.<ref>http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/kenyan-delegation-visits-sderot-israel.html</ref>
*Obama has chosen the [[Secret Service]] code name "Renegade". "Renegade" conventionally describes someone who goes against normal conventions of behavior, but its first usage was to describe someone who has turned from their religion. It is a word derived from the [[Spanish]] ''renegado'', which originally meant "Christian turned Muslim."<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/3452281/Renegade-and-Renaissance-Obama-to-replace-Trailblazer-and-Tempo-Bush-in-the-White-House.html</ref>
*Obama enjoyed a bigger increase in voter support in 2008 (compared to 2004) by Muslims than by any other voting group, including blacks;<ref>http://www.altmuslim.com/a/a/a/2873/</ref> "Muslim turnout in the U.S. elections reached 95 percent, the highest Muslim turnout in U.S. history."<ref>http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/islamsadvance/2008/11/is_obama_the_muslim_worlds_sup.html</ref>
*"President-elect [[Barack Obama]] has yet to attend [Sunday] church services since winning the [[White House]] earlier ..., a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors."<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15902.html</ref><ref>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-obama-religion26-2008dec26,0,1910913.story</ref>
*Obama used his Muslim middle name when sworn in as President.<ref>http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ET_Cetera/Obama_to_take_oath_using_middle_name_/articleshow/3813120.cms</ref><ref>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/12/10/politics/main4660590.shtml?source=RSSattr=Politics_4660590</ref>
*Obama botched his public oath of office in which he placed his hand on a Bible, and then chose not to use the Bible for his real, private oath.
*'''At the G20 summit in April 2009, Obama bowed deeply to Saudi King Abdullah, a Muslim who is also the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.'''<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEUif1--r38&feature=player_embedded Video of Obama bowing almost to King's waist]</ref> [[Image:Obamabow.jpg|thumb|right|250px|'''President Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia''' - April 2009]]Never before in the history of the U.S. has a president displayed such shocking deference to a foreign official and Obama has not bowed to any other royal leaders. Obama later stated, "We have to change our behavior in showing the Muslim world greater respect."<ref>http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/07/barack-takes-a-bow/</ref> Obama's spin doctors and left-wing apologists dismissed the obviousness of the bow. One anonymous aide stated, "It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah."<ref>http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0409/White_House_No_bow_to_Saudi.html</ref> However, in video of the incident, Obama's left hand can clearly be seen staying at his side until after he had finished his bow.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WlqW6UCeaY</ref> Additionally, Obama also met with Queen Elizabeth, who is much shorter than King Abdullah, but he did not bow when he shook her hand and neither he nor the queen appeared to have any difficulty.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71N34K9EVLU</ref> (Many liberals and even a handful of conservatives have proposed that President Bush also bowed before King Abdullah.<ref>http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/33289_Bush_Bowed_Too</ref> However, there is a vast, inexorable difference between bending down to receive a medal as Bush did and bowing in deference to a foreign leader as Obama did.)
*Obama required that a religiously affiliated college take the extraordinary action of concealing with wood the monogram "IHS", which represents the name of Jesus, during a speech by Obama there<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/16/georgetown-university-hid-religious-symbols-white-house-request/ Georgetown hides Jesus' name at request of Obama's White House]</ref>
*On more than one occasion, Obama verbally attacks the economic livelihood of Las Vegas for unknown reasons. The reason may be his contempt of gambling which is forbidden in the Koran. <ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2010/02/02/AR2010020203169.html Lawmakers upset over Obama's 2nd anti-Vegas remark, WashingtonPost, February 2, 2010]</ref>
*In 2006, Obama gave an irreverent speech about using the Bible in public policy. It resembled a stand-up comedy act, with Obama making fun of the books of the [[Torah]], the [[Ten Commandments]], the [[Sermon on the Mount]] and other key Biblical passages.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnmS_vULPxw</ref>
*In 2010, Obama changed the logo of the Missile Defense Agency, incorporating a crescent star.<ref>[http://loganswarning.com/2010/02/23/us-missile-defense-agency-changes-logo-to-obamaislamic-crescent-hybrid/ US Missile Defense Agency Changes Logo to Obama~Islamic Crescent Hybrid!]</ref> The new logo closely resembles that of the Iranian Space Agency.<ref>[http://www.prlog.org/10550380-missile-defense-agency-logo-new-twist-to-the-tale.html Missile Defense Agency Logo – A new twist to the tale]</ref>

Obama tries to downplay his [[Islamic]] background by claiming that his [[Kenya|Kenyan]] [[Muslim]] father was a "confirmed [[atheist]]" before Obama was born, but in fact less than 1% of Kenyans are atheists, agnostics, or non-religious.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_14.html</ref> There is apparently no evidence of any Christian activities or local church participation by Obama while he was in Massachusetts from 1988 to 1991. Finally, Obama abruptly left his radical Christian church in Chicago in 2008, when it became politically controversial, without first finding another church to join. On April 7, 2009, Obama visited a mosque in Istanbul, Turkey.<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.c2e3700ab4e271bc32827b0fccfe560b.421&show_article=1</ref>

==See Also==
* [[Muslim agenda of the Obama administration]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}
[[Category:Obama Administration]]
[[Category:Islam]]

Early life and career of Barack Hussein Obama

2012-01-14T16:06:05Z

Adambro: remove suggestion that Obama refuses to refer to the United States as "our country" per talk page comments

'''Barack Hussein Obama II''' aka '''Barry Soetoro''',<ref>[http://hillbuzz.org/2011/01/23/hawaii-ground-report-could-hawaiian-governor-neil-abercrombie-not-be-as-incompetent-and-foolish-as-he-appears-but-orchestrating-a-deliberate-birth-certificate-recovery-dead-end-to-cover-his-own-pap/ Obama never changed his legal name from Soetoro, HillBuzz, January 23, 2011]</ref><ref>''When Barry Became Barack'',
By Richard Wolffe, Jessica Ramirez and Jeffrey Bartholet, NEWSWEEK, Mar 31, 2008
[http://www.newsweek.com/id/128633/page/1]"It didn't happen overnight. But in college, the young Barry took to being called by his formal name. What this evolution tells us about him."</ref><ref>[http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Politics/13056.htm] israelinsider. 14 August 2008. Accessed 23 January 2010.</ref><ref>McGrew, Mark S. [http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/19-01-2009/106972-Barry_Soetoro-0 Barry Soetoro aka Barack Obama vs World Leaders]. ''[[Pravda]].ru. 19 January 2009. Accessed 23 January 2010.</ref> born in [[Honolulu]], August 4, 1961<ref>[http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=82033]</ref><ref>[http://www.factcheck.org/UploadedFiles/birth_certificate_5.jpg Large, high-resolution picture of his birth certificate]</ref><ref>[http://www.kitv.com/politics/17860890/detail.html?rss=hon&psp=news KITV Honolulu report]</ref><ref>[http://www.newsmax.com/farber/Obama_birth_certificate/2009/04/06/200320.html]</ref><ref>Obama's [[African]] grandmother Sarah Hussein Obama says Barack was born in her presence in Kenya.[http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2104131/posts Obama Born In Kenya? His Grandmother Says Yes, Israeli News, October 12, 2008][http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78931 Democrat: Obama's grandma confirms Kenyan birth, WND, October 23, 2008][http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b58_1225645143 Audio Conversation Link]</ref>)

Obama was born in [[Honolulu]], Hawaii to [[Barack Obama Sr.]] (b. Alego, Kenya, 1936 - d. Nairobi, Kenya, 1982) and Stanley Ann Dunham (1942–1995) in 1961, however some still question Obama's [[natural born citizen]] status. Obama's birth father, a natural born citizen of Kenya, was a [[Marxist]], while Obama's maternal family had roots in other [[progressivism|progressive left]] and [[atheist]] traditions. Obama later was to make the rather ostensible claim to the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' religion editor Cathleen Falsani on April 5, 2004, "I'm rooted in the Christian tradition."<ref>http://www.suntimes.com/news/falsani/726619,obamafalsani040504.article</ref> In point of fact, Obama was reared in the [[Islam]]ic faith while living with his mother and stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, in Jakarta, [[Indonesia]] in the mid-1960s until the early 1970s.<ref>[http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/pipes_obama_muslim/2008/10/09/138898.html Obama 'Lying' About Muslim Past, Expert Says] NewsMax, October 9, 2008</ref> It is believed Stanley Ann Dunham moved to Hawaii with the young Obama about 1970 or 1971 where he attended the elite Punahou School and graduated in 1979. Ann Dunham died at Straub Clinic, Honolulu, Hawaii on Nov. 7, 1995. (She was born in Wichita, Kansas, 29 Nov. 1942). Dunham wrote "Surviving Against the Odds: Village Industry in Indonesia, ca. 1992. (Published: 2009, Duke University Press) <ref> [http://www.dukeupress.edu/Catalog/ViewProduct.php?productid=46699 Surviving against the Odds: Village Industry in Indonesia.] </ref> 
__TOC__
[[File:FrankMarshallDavis2.jpg|right|202px|thumb|'''Frank Marshall Davis, Communist Party Card No. 47544.'''<ref>[http://www.usasurvival.org/docs/Frank_Marshall_Davis_5.pdf FBI file Frank Marshall Davis], v.5 p. 58 pdf.</ref> The [[U.S. Congress]] found the Communist Party an "instrumentality of a [[conspiracy]]...the agency of a hostile foreign power."<ref>[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode50/usc_sec_50_00000841----000-.html Subversive Activities Control Act of 1950], 50 U.S. Code Chapter 23 Subchapter IV Sec. 841</ref> The [[FBI]] placed Davis in its security index, meaning he could be detained in the event of a national emergency.<ref>[http://www.usasurvival.org/docs/Frank_Marshall_Davis_3.pdf FBI File 100-15799 Frank Marshall Davis], v. 3 p. 26.</ref> Davis was an early influence on Obama.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=HRCHJp-V0QUC&pg=PA220&dq=Frank%2Brecognizing+their+struggle+as+my+own#v=onepage&q=&f=false ''Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance''], By Barack Obama, Random House, 2007, pp. 89-91, 96-98, .</ref>]]
''[[Political Affairs]]'' magazine describes itself as "affiliated with the [[Communist Party USA]],"<ref>http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/static/17/1/3/</ref> (CPUSA) published a speech by Prof. Gerald Horne upon receipt of the CPUSA archives at the Tamiment Library at New York University on March 28 2007. Prof. Horne stated,
{{Cquote|an African-American poet and journalist by the name of [[Frank Marshall Davis]]...befriended another family – a Euro-American family – that had migrated to Honolulu...a young woman from this family eventually had a child with a young student from [[Kenya]] ...who retracing the steps of Davis eventually decamped to Chicago. In his bestselling memoir ''Dreams of my Father'', the author speaks warmly of an older black poet...as being a decisive influence in helping him to find his present identity as an African-American... At some point in the future, a teacher will add to her syllabus Barack’s memoir and instruct her students to read it alongside Frank Marshall Davis’ equally affecting memoir...when that day comes...a future student will ...examine critically the Frankenstein monsters that US imperialism created in order to subdue Communist parties..."<ref>[http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/5047/ Rethinking the History and Future of the Communist Party],By Gerald Horne, ''Political Affairs magazine, March 28 2007.</ref>}}
evoking the language in [[Chairman Mao]]'s ''Little Red Book'',
{{Cquote|unite and defeat the U.S. aggressors... Monsters of all kinds shall be destroyed.<ref>''Statement Supporting the People of the Congo (L.) Against U.S. Aggression'' (November 28, 1964), ''People of the World, Unite and Defeat the U.S. Aggressors and All Their Lackeys'', 2nd ed., p. 14. Cited in Quotations from Mao Tse Tung from: 1927 - 1964, Mao Tse Tung, [http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/works/red-book/ch07.htm Chapter 7 Dare to Struggle and Dare to Win], Peking Foreign Languages Press, 1966. Online Version: Mao Tse Tung Internet Archive (marxists.org) 2000.</ref><ref>Quoted in [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ccbh/souls/vol1no4/vol1num4art1.pdf ''Black Like Mao: Black Like Mao: Red China and Black Revolution''], Robin D.G. Kelley and Betsy Esche, ''Souls'' Volume 1, Number 4 Fall 1999, p. 11 in original (p. 7 pdf).</ref>}}

In the 1995 book, ''Dreams from my Father'', the author wrote Obama learned to respect Davis's struggles, "recognizing them as my own." Obama sought Davis's advise as he left for college.<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=HRCHJp-V0QUC&pg=PA97&dq=manipulate+words+so+they+don%27t+mean+anything+anymore#v=onepage&q=manipulate%20words%20so%20they%20don't%20mean%20anything%20anymore&f=false ''Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance''], By Barack Obama, Random House, 2007, pp. 97, 220.</ref> Initially Obama attended Occidental College in Los Angeles, [[California]], before transferring to [[Columbia University]] in New York, [[New York]] and graduating without honors as a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in [[political science]]. Obama refuses to describe his academic performance at Columbia despite commenting about New York during this period and despite disclosures of the academic record for all other major-party presidential candidates since at least 2000.<ref>http://www.nysun.com/new-york/obamas-years-at-columbia-are-a-mystery/85015/</ref>

== Education ==
In 1983 and 84 while a senior undergraduate at Columbia University, Obama attended several annual sessions of the Socialist Scholars Conference<ref>http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/10/president_obama_and_the_radica.html</ref> held in New York's Cooper Union. It was here Obama first was exposed to [[Black Liberation Theology]] and [[community organizing]] and made the career choice to leave the field of foreign relations and nuclear disarmament to pursue community organizing.<ref>http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/251721/radosh-reviews-iradical-chiefi-stanley-kurtz</ref>

After working as a community organizer in New York City and Chicago, Illinois, Obama enrolled at [[Harvard]] Law School. He became a member of the ''Harvard Law Review'', which uses racial quotas, in 1989. He was then elected by popular vote as its first African American president in 1990, a story that was immediately promoted in the [[New York Times]].<ref>http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE2DC1631F935A35751C0A966958260&scp=3&sq=Obama%201990&st=cse</ref> He graduated ''magna cum laude'' with his J.D. in 1991, but did not serve in a clerkship. Federal clerkships are the typical post-graduate position for top law students. Obama has stated that his favorite professors in school were Marxists.

Obama has described himself as a constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago.<ref>[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/03/30/politics/p132303D74.DTL&type=politics]</ref> He held the position of Lecturer, an adjunct position, from 1992 to 1996. He held the position of Senior Lecturer from 1996 until his election to the senate in 2004. Dan Ronayne, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, has pointed that Obama was only a senior lecturer and not a full professor. <ref>[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/03/30/politics/p132303D74.DTL&type=politics]</ref>The University states that Senior Lecturers are regarded as professors, although not full-time or tenure track.<ref>http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/was_barack_obama_really_a_constitutional_law.html</ref><ref>[http://www.law.uchicago.edu/media/index.html]</ref>
[[Image:Bernardine Dohrn.jpg|right|thumb|250px|'''Bernardine Dohrn formerly of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted''' enjoyed somewhat of a celebrity status among [[radical leftist]]s when she, along with her husband Bill Ayers, hosted a fundraiser for the relatively unknown Barack Obama in 1995; Dohrn issued the Weather Underground terrorist organization's Declaration of War Against the United States ([http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Weather_Underground_Declaration_of_a_State_of_War Full Text]) in 1970.]]
According to the White House website, White House Press Secretary [[Robert Gibbs]] responded to this to this question on April 14 2009,
<blockquote>
Q Why is the President blocking habeas corpus from prisoners at Bagram? I thought he taught constitutional law. And these prisoners have been there -- 

MR. GIBBS: You're incorrect that he taught on constitutional law.<ref>[http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Briefing-by-White-House-Press-Secretary-Robert-Gibbs-4-14-09/ Office of the Press Secretary], April 14, 2009, whitehouse.gov </ref></blockquote>

== Radicalism ==
:''Main article : [[Radical roots of Barack Hussein Obama]]''
Following law school, Obama linked up with local communist networks in Chicago<ref>[http://newzeal.blogspot.com/2009/06/obama-file-78-smoking-gun-proof-that.html The Jarrett Connection. Proof That Obama’s Hawaii and Chicago Communist Networks Were Linked] Trevor Louden, June 01, 2009.</ref> and oversaw community organizing as director of Illinois Project Vote! Obama states he saw opportunism in Chicago after the election of Harold Washington as the city’s first black mayor. <ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/07/us/politics/07community.html</ref> John Bachtell, CPUSA Illinois district organizer, said at a special meeting on African American Equality, Building the Communist Party and the Young Communist League on September 30, 2007, "The historic election of Washington was the culmination of many years of struggle. It reflected a high degree of unity of the African American community and the alliance with a section of labor, the Latino community and [[Progressivism|progressive]] minded whites. This legacy of political independence also endures."<ref>http://www.cpusa.org/article/articleview/858/1/39/</ref>

Obama with [[Al Sharpton]] and [[Louis Farrakhan]] led the [[Million Man March]] on Washington in 1995.[http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/04/wright-obama-helped-organize-march-with.html][http://www1.chicagoreader.com/obama_reader/what_makes_obama_run/?q=012009K]

Obama states that he has consistently opposed the [[Iraq War]] since 2002. In his famous speech delivered at a rally organized by [[SDS]] veterans<ref>[http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/376/from_protest_to_politics/ ''From Protest to Politics:When war begins progressive work doesn’t end,''] Jeff Epton, ''In These Times,'' December 15, 2003. Retrieved March 15, 2010.</ref><ref>[http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Barack_Obama's_Iraq_Speech Against Going to War with Iraq (2002)] by Barack Obama. Delivered on Wednesday, October 2, 2002 by Barack Obama, Illinois State Senator, at the first high-profile Chicago anti-Iraq war rally (organized by Chicagoans Against War in Iraq) at noon in Federal Plaza in Chicago, Illinois. Retrieved from Wikisource.com, March 15, 2010. </ref> [[Carl Davidson]] and Marilyn Katz in Chicago on October 2, 2002<ref>[http://www.barackobama.com/2002/10/02/remarks_of_illinois_state_sen.php Remarks of Illinois State Sen. Barack Obama Against Going to War with Iraq,] October 02, 2002. Retrieved from www.barackobama.com March 15, 2010.</ref> Even though Saddam had, in Obama's words, "developed [[weapons of mass destruction|chemical and biological weapons]]" Obama condoned the most hideous [[torture]]<ref>[http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/jackstraw1.html Saddam Hussein's Regime Methods of Torture]</ref> and dismissed Bush administration objectives of democratization and [[human rights]] as fighting a "dumb war." A commentator observed, "one would search long and hard for any words from this apostle of hope and change about the palpable benefits that [[democracy]] might bring to the Arabs and Muslims of the Middle East.<ref>[http://www.commentarymagazine.com/viewarticle.cfm/obama-s-war-11263 Obama's War], Peter Wehner, ''Commentary'', April 2008.</ref>

== Early career ==

===Internship===

Michelle Robinson began employment at the Chicago Law firm of Sidley-Austin in 1988 where disbarred attorney and [[Weather Underground]] [[terrorist]] [[Bernardine Dohrn]] also worked.<ref>http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NjY4YzdhMDBkZGQ3ZmU2MTUzYjdkMzc5ZjUzYmViZWM=</ref><ref>http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MDIxMDJiNzU5M2Q1MTY3ZGI1YTdmOWY5MzkwN2QxYzg=</ref> Sidley-Austin is the legal advisor to [[ACORN]],<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.printable&pageId=84434 Michelle Obama's old law firm defends ACORN], ''WorldNetDaily, December 23, 2008.</ref> a group accused of facilitating tax fraud, ballot box stuffing, human trafficking and child prostitution.<ref>http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NmIzOTBmNGY3OGEwNzgwZWU1MjMzMjJkNWM4NzVkNmI=</ref> Barack Obama was hired a year later and appears to have misrepresented where he and future First Lady - Michelle Robinson Obama - first met.

In 1993 he was hired as an associate at the Chicago law firm Miner, Barnhill & Galland, P.C., and lectured at the University of Chicago. At this time he was also cited as being the author of ''Dreams from My Father'', an account his background, youth, early life influences, and education. ''Dreams'' was published in 1995.

===Engineers defeat of moderate Democrats ===

In 1992 as head of Illinois Project Vote, Obama was instrumental in [[subversion|subverting]] the reelection bid of a [[centrist]] Democratic Senator.<ref>[http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/January-1993/Vote-of-Confidence/ Vote of Confidence : A huge black turnout in November 1992 altered Chicago's electoral landscape—and raised a new political star: a 31-year-old lawyer named Barack Obama],
By Gretchen Reynolds, ''Chicago Magazine'', January 1993.</ref> Obama engineered the defeat of incumbent U.S. Senator Alan Dixon<ref>[http://articles.latimes.com/1992-03-18/news/mn-3844_1_gus-savage Veteran Illinois Senator Dixon Defeated - Congress], By Bob Sector, ''[[L.A. Times]]'', March 18, 1992.</ref> after Dixon voted in favor of placing a black man in a high federal office. The [[leftist]] website [[Daily Kos|dKosopedia]] reported "Dixon's vote to confirm [[US Supreme Court]] Justice [[Clarence Thomas]]" outraged the Braun forces.<ref>[http://www.dkosopedia.com/wiki/Carol_Moseley_Braun#Political_career Carol Moseley Braun], dkosopedia.com, retrieved October 25, 2009. Some sources state Moseley Braun's "outrage" was directed at the treatment of Anita Hill over her claims of sexual harassment by the nominee, however Moseley Braun voted to acquit President [[William Jefferson Clinton]] of charges stemming from a [[sexual harassment]] suit which Clinton settled by paying the aggrieved party $850,000 out of court to satisfy damage claims.</ref> With [[CPUSA]] and Obama organizing efforts,<ref>http://newzeal.blogspot.com/2008/10/obama-file-39-barack-obama-carol.html</ref> Braun's forces defeated the moderate incumbent in the Primary, 38% to 35%.

Sandy Newman, founder of Project Vote! told ''Chicago Magazine'', "I was asking around among community activists in Chicago and around the country, and they kept mentioning him (Obama)... He did one hell of a job." The magazine further reported, "To understand the full implications of Obama's effort, you first need to understand how voter registration often has worked in Chicago. The Regular [[Democratic Party]] spearheaded most drives," with Obama at the helm of Chicago's Project Vote!, those conditions had been reversed. "He helped train 700 deputy registrars, out of a total of 11,000 citywide." Joseph Gardner, the director of the steering committee for Project Vote! said the numbers of new voter registrations under Obama were "overwhelming."

== Illinois State Senate (1995-2005) ==

=== Radical and terrorist endorsements and associations ===

:''Main article see [[Weather Underground]]''
[[File:Youngobama2.jpg|320px|thumb|left|'''Dr. Quentin Young (left) is personal physician to Barack Obama (right) and [[Bernardine Dohrn]] (not shown)'''. Dr. Young was reimbursed by the [[KGB]] after he paid rent in advance on a storefront he used to treat injured rioters during the disruptions of the 1968 Democratic National Convention.<ref>[http://www.usasurvival.org/docs/Transcript_May_22_edited_version.pdf ''The Stealth Candidate''], Transcript, Cliff Kincaid and Herbert Romerstein, May 22 2008, p. 16.</ref><ref>House Committee on Un-American Activities, ''Subversive Involvement in Disruption of 1968 Democratic Party National Convention'', and ''Hearings Before the Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations With Respect to Intelligence Activities of the United States'' Senate. Ninety-
Fourth Congress. First Session. Volume 6. Federal Bureau of Investigation. 1976, Exhibit 68-13., cited in ''Communism in Chicago and the Obama Connection'', Cliff Kincaid and Herbert Romerstein, usasurvival.org</ref> The ringleaders, principally [[Weather Underground]] terrorists, received urban guerrilla warfare training in Cuba from the [[DGI]] prior to the attacks.<ref>[http://www.usasurvival.org/docs/Cuban_DGI.pdf Final Talk to the Fourth Contingent, Julian Rizo DGI.]</ref> ]]
In 1995 a cadre of like minded individuals gathered in the home of [[Weather Underground]] (WUO) [[terrorist]]s [[Bernardine Dohrn]] and [[William Ayers|William "Bill" Ayers]]. According to Dr. Quentin Young, "I can remember being one of a small group of people who came to Bill Ayers' house to learn that [[Alice Palmer]] was stepping down from the senate and running for Congress." Dohrn<ref>Georgie Anne Geyer and Keyes Beach "Cuba: School for U.S. Radicals", ''Chicago Daily News/Chicago Sun-Times'' five part series October 1970, excerpted in [http://foia.fbi.gov/filelink.html?file=/weather/weath1c.pdf FBI file Weather Underground Organization (Weatherman),] Part 1c pp. 5-7 pdf (113-115 in original). [http://therealbarackobama.wordpress.com/2009/06/07/clandestine-agents-of-the-cuban-government-ayers-dohrn-myers/]</ref> is a veteran of [[guerrilla warfare]] training in Cuba prior to the attacks on the 1968 Democratic National Convention. [[Carl Davidson]], webmaster of [[Progressives for Obama]], was told by [[Fidel Castro]] at the same time Castro believed the United States was ready for [[revolution]].

Dr. Young related Illinois State Senator Alice Palmer was choosing then Chicago city councilman Barack Obama as her successor.<ref>[http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8630.html Obama once visited '60s radicals.], Ben Smith, Politico, February 22, 2008.</ref> Palmer once served on the executive board of the [[U.S. Peace Council]], a [[KGB]] front organization<ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=_PZy-U7G2EMC&pg=PA111&dq=U.S.+Peace+Council%2Bkgb&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q=%22U.S.%20Peace%20Council%22&f=false The Apocalyptic premise : Nuclear Arms Debated], By Ernest W. Lefever, E. Stephen Hunt, Ethics and Public Policy Center, Washington, D.C., 1982, pp. 127-137.</ref> that actively opposed President [[Ronald Reagan]]'s defense program.
[[Image:Features ayers1.jpg|200px|thumb|right|'''Obama served on the Board of the Woods Fund of Chicago with [[Weather Underground]] [[terrorist|terrorist group]] co-founder Bill Ayers'''<ref>[http://foia.fbi.gov/weather/weath1a.pdf FBI file Weather Underground]</ref> '''at the time this photo appeared of Ayers stomping the American flag''' in ''Chicago Magazine'' in 2001. Ayers, Obama's boss at the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, authored ''Dreams from My Father'' published under Obama's name.]]

Ayers and Dohrn took credit, and have never denied, responsibility for a series of [[terrorist]] bombings which included the [[U.S. Capitol]], the [[Pentagon]] and the [[State Department]].

Ayers, Dohrn and Barack Obama's friendship and associations go back to the 1980s. The Ayers/Dohrn group lent notoriety among [[leftist]]s to launch Obama's career. Ayers, Dohrn and [[Jeff Jones]]<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=106653 ''Obama's 'green jobs czar' worked with terror founder] Van Jones served on board of activist group where ex-Weatherman serves as top director'', By Aaron Klein, [[WorldNetDaily]], August 13, 2009.</ref> of the Apollo Alliance authored ''[[Bill_Ayers#Prairie_Fire_Organizing_Committee_and_Maoist_thought|Prairie Fire: The Politics of Revolutionary Anti-imperialism]],'' the title of which is taken from ''The Sayings of Mao Zedong,''<ref>[http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/works/red-book/]</ref> "a single spark can set a prairie fire." The book declares "we are communist men and women."<ref>Harvey Klehr, ''Far Left of Center: The American Radical Left Today'' (Transaction Books, New Brunswick, 1988), 109.</ref> Obama Green Czar [[Van Jones]] is a founder of the Apollo Alliance. In response to the [[Gulf of Mexico]] oil spill disaster, Katrina Vanden Huevel of ''[[The Nation]]'' magazine suggested "we need a [[Manhattan Project]], an Apollo Alliance."<ref>[http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100007216&docId=l:1179238159&isRss=true ''This Week,''] [[ABC News]] Transcript, 2 May 2010. Retrieved from LexisNexis, 3 May 2010.</ref>

Obama was elected to the Illinois State Senate in 1996 and served there for the next eight years.

President Obama is the first person having ties to a known former terrorist to gain control over America's nuclear weapons.<ref>http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/7127</ref><ref>http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/08/26/obama-associate-bill-ayers-unrepentant-for-acts-of-terror/</ref> Author and blogger Jack Cashill requisitioned a comparison of the writing style of [[Bill Ayers]]' 2001 memoir, ''Fugitive Days'', with Barack Obama's earlier 1995 book, ''Dreams From My Father'', and came to the conclusion that Obama's former boss, Bill Ayers, had ghostwritten ''Dreams''.<ref>www.cashill.com, ''Who Wrote "Dreams From My Father"?'', by Jack Cashill, October 9, 2008, retrieved on 10/16/2008 [http://www.cashill.com/natl_general/who_wrote_dreams_from.htm] Cashill states that a computer comparison of Obama's so-called autobiography with that of the terrorist Bill Ayers, supports the evidence that Ayers actually wrote parts of Obama's book; also he wrote "None of this, of course, proves Ayers' authorship conclusively, but the evidence makes him a much more likely candidate than Obama to have written the best parts of ''Dreams''". "In assessing the signature of sample passages from ''Dreams''," the experienced analyst found "a very strong match to all of the Ayers samples" that he processed. He did not address the possibility that Ayers had plagiarized from Obama's earlier book. A philosophy professor from England disagreed.[http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=77815]</ref> Ayers confesses to violent acts, planting bombs, says he has no regrets and feels he "should have done more."<ref>[http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/7127]</ref> Later Ayers was to publicly admit that he actually did author the book.<ref>http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/03/ayers_affirms_he_wrote_dreams.html</ref>

=== Candidate of the Marxist New Party ===
:''For the full article see '''[[New Party]]'''''
In 1995 Obama accepted the nomination, signed a contract,<ref>From the Chicago DSA website, "Candidates must be approved via a NP political committee. Once approved, candidates must sign a contract with the NP. The contract mandates that they must have a visible and active relationship with the NP. The political entourage included ...Barack Obama, chief of staff for State Sen. [[Alice Palmer]]. Obama is running for Palmer's vacant seat." Retrieved from [http://www.chicagodsa.org/ngarchive/ng42.html#anchor792932 Chicago New Party Update,]
by Bruce Bentley. Retrieved March 15,2010.</ref> and ran as a candidate of the openly [[Marxist]] New Party.<ref>[http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=7434 NEW PARTY (NP)], discoverthenetwork.org.</ref><ref>Rick Moran. [http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/06/obamas_alliance_with_marxists.html Obama's Alliance with Marxists], ''American Thinker'', June 03, 2008.</ref> The [[New Party]] was an electoral alliance that worked alongside [[ACORN]], formed by members of the Democratic Socialists for America (SPUSA and DSAUSA) and leaders of an offshoot of the [[Communist Party of the United States of America|Community Party USA]] (CPUSA).<ref>Aaron Klein. [http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=78945 Newspaper shows Obama belonged to socialist party], ''[[WorldNetDaily]]'', October 24, 2008.</ref> The New Party was funded by literally hundreds of leftist front-groups operating as special interest 527 organizations.<ref>JB Williams. [http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/13872 Obama’s Well Organized Community Is Falling Apart], ''Canada Free Press'', August 18, 2009.</ref>

=== Opposition to the War on Terror ===

Obama established himself as a chief spokesperson in opposition to the [[War on Terror]] during an October 2002 rally at Federal Plaza in Chicago<ref>The rally was organized by Chicagoans Against War in Iraq (CAWI) later renamed Chicagoans Against War and Injustice. [http://www.noiraqwar-chicago.org/?page_id=2 About CAWI] by Carl Davidson, Nov 02 2006. Retrieved from Chicagoans Against War and Injustice, March 15, 2010.</ref> [[community organizing|organized]] by [[radical]] [[SDS]] veteran and later [[Progressives for Obama]] webmaster,<ref>[http://www.linkedin.com/in/carldavidson Carl Davidson,] LinkedIn.com, retrieved March 13, 2010.</ref> [[Carl Davidson]]. The speech was delivered before [[Operation Iraqi Freedom]] was authorized by the [[Democratic]] controlled [[U.S. Senate]]. A Transcript of Obama's speech can be found on barackobama.com and a portion reads as follows:
[[File:O-2002-antiwar-rally-davidson.jpg|left|thumb|250px| Obama speaking at the October 2002 rally in Chicago organized by [[Carl Davidson]].<ref>Davidson is a longtime [[Mao]]ist and champion of the ''Thought of Mao Tse Tung.'' Davidson's anti-Trotskyite polemic, [http://www.wengewang.org/read.php?tid=10925 ''Left in Form, Right in Essence''] defends Maoist doctrine. Retrieved from 对当代托洛茨基主义的批判：英文论集百花齐放 - 中国文革研究网, March 15, 2010.</ref> ''"[H]e is a brutal man who butchers his own people,"'' nevertheless Obama opposed ''"dumb wars".'']]
{{Cquote|What I am opposed to is the attempt by political hacks ...to distract us from a rise in poverty ... I'm opposed to a dumb war...A war based not on...principle but on politics. Now let me be clear - I suffer no illusions ...he is a brutal man. A ruthless man. A man who butchers his own people to secure his own power. He has ... developed chemical and biological weapons, and coveted nuclear capacity. He's a bad guy. The world...would be better off without him. But I also know that [he] poses no imminent and direct threat to the United States, or to his neighbors, that the Iraqi economy is in shambles, that the Iraqi military a fraction of its former strength, and that in concert with the international community he can be contained until, in the way of all petty dictators, he falls away into the dustbin of history. I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences. I know that [it] will only... strengthen the recruitment arm of Al Qaeda.<ref>http://action.barackobama.com/page/share/2002iraqfull</ref>}}
According to [[NPR]]'s Don Gonyea the [[Barack Hussein Obama 2008 Presidential campaign|2008 Obama Presidential campaign]] re-created portions of the speech for a television ad with Obama rereading the text and crowd noises added in a sound studio.<ref>http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88988093</ref>

== U.S. Senate (2004-2008) ==
Following a failed campaign for the House of Representatives, Obama ran for the open Senate seat from Illinois in 2004. Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. He won a seat in the [[U.S. Senate]] after [[liberals]] obtained the release of confidential and personally embarrassing divorce records of his opponent, Jack Ryan, forcing him to resign from the race and be replaced by the out-of-state candidate [[Alan Keyes]].

===Radical endorsements, support, and get out the vote efforts===

The ''[[People's Weekly World]]'' which describes itself as "the direct descendant of the ''[[Daily Worker]]'' " that enjoys "a special relationship with the [[Communist Party USA]], founded in 1919," and publishes its news and views,<ref>[http://www.pww.org/article/static/320 About the People's Weekly World] pww.org</ref> reported on Obama's 2004 Senate primary campaign: {{Cquote|Activists from Illinois were immersed in the campaign to elect Barak Obama to the U.S. Senate. Obama won a landslide victory in the March 16 Democratic primary.<ref>''A turning point election'', Joelle Fishman, People's Weekly World, 04/24/04.</ref>}} John Bachtell, Illinois Communist Party district organizer added,
{{Cquote|This was a historic victory. It was a victory for political independence and grassroots, coalition, and issue oriented politics over the machine and money.<ref>[http://www.pww.org/article/articleprint/5145/ The CPUSA fires up its members to ‘Dump Bush!’], By Tim Wheeler, Washington correspondent, People's Weekly World , 04/24/04.</ref>}} In June the ''People’s Weekly World'' carried a piece by Dee Myles, chair of the education commission of the Communist Party USA, eulogizing [[Frank Marshall Davis]]'s old colleague, [[Vernon Jarrett]]. Myles said,
{{Cquote|from his hospital bed, [Jarrett] wrote an article appealing to Black Chicago to turn out to vote for [[Barack Obama]] in the Illinois primaries. Obama astounded everyone with an incredible landslide victory as the [[Progressivism|progressive]], Black candidate for the [[Democratic Party]] nomination for the U.S. Senate seat from Illinois. From his sickbed, Vernon Jarrett issued a clarion call, and the people responded.<ref>[http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/5331/ Vernon Jarrett: a partisan journalistic giant], Dee Myles, [[People's Weekly World]] Newspaper, Jun 5, 2004.</ref>}}

===Senate career===
[[Image:obama.jpg|thumb|left|Senator Barack Obama]]

October 2008 crimes against Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson's family highlighted Obama's record against law and order, as he voted against making it a crime in Illinois "for convicts on probation or on bail to have contact with a street gang".<ref>[http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/obamas-crime-votes-are-fodder-for-rivals-2007-03-13.html]</ref><ref>The person of interest in the murders of Hudson's mother, brother, and 7-year-old nephew is the estranged husband of Hudson's sister and a convicted felon who had violated his parole conditions.[http://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-julian-king-autopsy-1029,0,2752431.story]</ref> "'We've got 75,000 gang members - that's almost six gang members to one police officer,'" in Obama's hometown of Chicago.<ref>"More people have been murdered in Chicago this year than in New York - even though New York's population is three times greater. When Hudson's mother, brother and nephew were killed last month, they pushed the city's homicide total for the year to 436 and counting. New York has had 430 homicides." [http://www.nydailynews.com/news/us_world/2008/11/01/2008-11-01_chicago_buried_in_murders.html]</ref>

A March 16th, 2005 AP article puts Senator Obama on record to ban oil drilling in the Alaska frontier known as ANWR <ref>http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0316-13.htm</ref>

In May 2007, Obama (and Sen. Hillary Clinton) voted against funding the Iraq War for the first time.<ref>[http://uspolitics.about.com/od/legislatio1/a/HR2206.htm HR 2206 - Emergency Appropriations], Kathy Gill, Your Guide to U.S. Politics: Current Events. May 26 2007.</ref><ref>[http://more.gov.mtopgroup.com/2007/05/votes-hr-2206-iraq-supplemental.html Votes - H.R. 2206: Iraq Supplemental], May 28, 2007. Retrieved from Deeper Inside the Mountain, June 4, 2007.</ref>

His 2007 voting record in the U.S. [[Senate]] makes him as its most [[liberal]] member. Among fellow Senate Democrats, he was further left than liberals like [[Ted Kennedy]], [[John Kerry]], [[Dianne Feinstein]], [[Charles Schumer]], [[Russ Feingold]], [[Carl Levin]], [[Joseph Biden]] and [[Harry Reid]].<ref>[http://nationaljournal.com/voteratings/sen/lib_cons.htm?o1=lib_composite&o2=desc]</ref> He has grown steadily more liberal since arriving at the Senate: the same analysis assessed him as 10th most liberal in 2006<ref>[http://www.nationaljournal.com/members/news/2007/voteratings/sen/lib_cons.htm?o1=lib_composite&o2=desc]</ref> and 16th most liberal in 2005.<ref>[http://www.nationaljournal.com/members/news/2007/voteratings/sen/lib_cons.htm?o1=lib_composite&o2=desc]</ref>

In late 2006, Obama's second book, ''The Audacity of Hope'', was published. Its title was supplied by the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., a minister who has stated that "racism is how this country was founded and how this country was run .... We believe in white supremacy and black inferiority and believe it more than we believe in God."<ref>http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/03/14/obama_condemns_pastors_remarks.html</ref> The book contains more of Senator Obama's personal story including the roles of both family and politics. ''Audacity'' spent 30 weeks on the ''New York Times'' Nonfiction Best Sellers list.<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/27/books/bestseller/0527besthardnonfiction.html?_r=1&oref=slogin New York Times Best Sellers Non Fiction]</ref>

Senator Obama is the chairman of an important subcommittee that has oversight of our efforts in Afghanistan. He has not held a single hearing on Afghanistan even though American forces are risking their lives in a theater of war. Since joining Foreign Relations, Obama has missed three meetings on a "new strategy" in [[Afghanistan]], a country he only visited in 2008.<ref>[http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/obama-absent-at-afghanistan-hearings-2008-03-01.html</ref> Barack Obama clinched his party's nomination for President after 16 straight months of campaigning.

In June 2008, Obama voted with the Democratic party to kill the sunset provision of the [[Bush]] tax cuts. By letting these tax cuts expire, single mothers with two kids will pay an additional $1,800 annually. Married couples with incomes of $50,000 will pay an additional $2,180 annually. Elderly couples will pay an additional $2,000 annually and a family of four will pay 191% more per year in taxes. Barack Obama often claims to be for taxing the rich their fair share. By voting to eliminate the Bush tax cuts, Obama is taxing most middle class and blue collar families.

Obama and the Democratic-led Congress has voted for the upgraded GI Bill despite the opposition from the President, the Secretary of Defense, the Pentagon, the generals in combat zones and the GOP Presidential nominee. It was crafted to increase veteran benefits. Yet, the strain on our military is great.<ref>[http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/mccain_to_obama_dont_demagogue.php] http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/05/mccain_to_obama_dont_demagogue.php , McCain To Obama: Don't Demagogue The GI Bill, May 22, 2008</ref> The bill would cost $2.8 to $4 billion per month. Some argue that this bill depletes the US's volunteer military personnel by enticing them to leave service rather than be re-deployed.

As senator, Obama has requested nearly $936 million in earmarks which averages to $500,000. per day over four years, <ref>[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122108935141721343.html?mod=googlenews_wsj Obama Can't Win Against Palin] Wall Street Journal, September 11, 2008</ref> for which the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste has given him a rating of 10% in 2007 (18% lifetime).<ref>[http://councilfor.cagw.org/site/DocServer/2007_Senate_Ratings_Final.pdf?docID=3242 2007 Senate Scorecard]</ref> A score of 100% represents voting against all pork, and 0% represents voting ''for'' all pork. Democrats averaged 5% in 2007, whereas Republicans averaged 60%. <ref>[http://councilfor.cagw.org/site/News2?abbr=CCAGW_&page=NewsArticle&id=11590 CCAGW Releases ''2007 Congressional Ratings'']</ref>

According to a Fox News report on October 5th, Obama has taken more than $126,000. in campaign contribution from [[Fannie Mae]] in a little over three years. This ranks him second, only Chris Dodd has received more campaign contribution dollars from Fannie Mae.

===Use of filibuster and obstructionism ===
White House Communication Director Dan Pfeiffer described the frustration of an Administration having its legislative agenda delayed by [[filibuster]]s and obstructionism:
{{quotebox|If we're going to have a government that works for the American people, then we need to focus on the things that actually matter ...Every day we waste delaying votes on well-qualified public servants or obstructing progress on problems that need solving is a day we're not doing our jobs. [http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/02/03/needless-delays-and-filibusters-run-amok-a-case-study]}}
The ''[[Washington Post]]'' claims [[partisan]] obstructionism is "a legislative tactic [Obama] once practiced himself" :
:*In 2005, a year after his election to the Senate, Obama placed a hold on Susan Bodine to lead the Environmental Protection Agency office that oversees Superfund and emergency cleanup programs because the agency had missed a deadline on new regulations for lead paint exposure.
:*In September 2006, Obama and Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) blocked Robert L. Wilkie's nomination as a Defense Department assistant secretary over a long-delayed Pentagon report on Midwestern wind farms.
:*And Obama joined with other Democrats in October 2007 to block the nomination of Hans von Spakovsky to the Federal Election Commission. Von Spakovsky later withdrew; Wilkie and Bodine were eventually confirmed. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/03/AR2010020303801_pf.html]

===Voted agaist debt ceiling increase===
In 2006 Senator Obama vote against an increase in the [[National debt]] ceiling. Obama stated that raising the debt was "a sign of leadership failure." When the question was posed to former press secretary [[Robert Gibbs]] on January 5, 2011, Gibbs said Obama's vote was acceptable because it was symbolic.<ref>http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/04/obama-once-opposed-debt-ceiling-hike/237129/</ref>

=== Bills co-sponsored ===
Obama's principal legislation was S. 2433, which was an attempt to force the U.S. to increase its foreign aid by hundreds of billions of dollars under the guise of reducing global poverty, which was subsequently blocked by [[conservatives]].<ref>http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-2433</ref>

Obama did support and co-sponsor a bill championed by [[Tom Coburn]] and known as the Coburn-Obama Government Transparency Act of 2006, which was signed into law by President [[George W. Bush]] on Sept. 9, 2006. This law created a website that will list the federal government's grants and contracts.<ref> http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/09/20060926.html</ref>

Between Jan 13, 2007 and March 13, 2008, Sen. Obama has sponsored 120 mostly [[liberal]] resolutions and bills in the Senate.<ref>http://thomas.loc.gov/</ref> His supporters cite the following less liberal examples, but this list is not representative:

*S.117 : A bill to amend titles 10 and 38, United States Code, to improve benefits and services for members of the Armed Forces, veterans of the Global War on Terrorism, and other veterans, to require reports on the effects of the Global War on Terrorism, and for other purposes.

*S.133 : A bill to promote the national security and stability of the economy of the United States by reducing the dependence of the United States on oil through the use of alternative fuels and new technology, and for other purposes.

*S.453 : A bill to prohibit deceptive practices in Federal elections.

*S.713 : A bill to ensure dignity in care for members of the Armed Forces recovering from injuries.

*A bill to raise the [[minimum wage]]; Obama voted against the bill when it was later attached to an Iraq war supplemental bill to pay the troops.<ref>[http://uspolitics.about.com/od/legislatio1/a/HR2206.htm HR 2206 - Emergency Appropriations], Kathy Gill, Your Guide to U.S. Politics: Current Events. May 26 2007.</ref><ref>[http://more.gov.mtopgroup.com/2007/05/votes-hr-2206-iraq-supplemental.html Votes - H.R. 2206: Iraq Supplemental], May 28, 2007. Retrieved from Deeper Inside the Mountain, June 4, 2007.</ref>

=== Senate Foreign Relations Committee ===

Obama worked with Sen. Lugar writing legislation aimed at improving conventional and nuclear non-proliferation efforts. This legislation was signed by [[George W. Bush|President Bush]] in January 2008.

In June 2007 the Senate passed his resolution condemning violence by the [[Zimbabwe]] government. It also passed legislation co-sponsored by Obama that financed a Special Court for Sierra Leone to prosecute former [[Liberia | Liberian]] President [[Charles Taylor]]. <ref> http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/02/26/obamas_senate_foreign_relations_work/ </ref>

Barack Obama continued to collect money for a 2010 Senate re-election campaign as late as June 2008, and filed reports indicating money was still pouring into this fund. This is especially notable because it is an efficient way of sidetracking donations from his Presidential race. The website<obamasenate2010.gov> is now defunct.

=== Foreign policy experience ===

In his presidential campaign, Obama stated<ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mayhill-fowler/obama-says-no-to-foreign_b_95357.html</ref> that "foreign policy is the area where I am probably most confident" and then cited "having lived in Indonesia for four years, having family that is impoverished in small villages in Africa". He lived in Indonesia from age 6 to 10, and he later discovered that his father had some other children in Africa.

While campaigning, he has visited several foreign countries. In [[Russia]] and the former Soviet republics, he met with representatives of the International Republican Institute and National Democratic Institute to discuss democracy in the former Soviet republics. He also met with Russian military officials and visited several nuclear and biological weapons destruction sites in Russia, [[Ukraine]], and [[Azerbaijan]] with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-IN). On the same tour, he visited London, UK, and met with [[Tony Blair]], sitting UK Prime Minister.

Obama visited South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Chad; he discussed his tour of Robben Island prison, met with U.S. troops, and visited refugee camps of the people fleeing Darfur. He also addressed Africa's growing [[AIDS]] epidemic.

During a ten-day-long tour of the Middle East, he talked with government leaders in Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Jordan, and Israel.
 

== Presidential Election (2008) ==
[[Image:Obamapullup2.JPG|325px|thumb|right|'''Candidate Obama cultivated an image''' of sportsmanship and competition; as President, Obama ridiculed disabled people who compete in the [[Special Olympics]]. The comments "set us back decades," according to the program's director. <ref>[http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2009/mar/20/local/chi-090320obama-special-olympics-react Special Olympics chief responds to Obama gaffe], Stacy St Clair, ''Chicago Tribune'', March 20, 2009]</ref>([http://www.necn.com/Boston/Politics/2009/03/20/Obamas-comment-sets-us-back/1237552251.html Video])
]]
:''See Main article'' : [[Barack Hussein Obama 2008 Presidential campaign]]
Obama and his running mate [[Senator Joseph Biden]] won the presidential election<ref>[http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/obama_wins_presidency/2008/11/04/147788.html?utm_medium=RSS]</ref> after 23 months of campaigning that spent over $700 million,<ref>http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/summary.php?cid=N00009638</ref> much of it raised from undisclosed or [[fraud]]ulent donors,<ref>"Obama’s finance team missed quite a few obviously troubling large donations, from such unsavory individuals as Mr. Jfggjjfgj, 'Mong Kong,' 'Test Person,' and 'Jockim Alberton,' who lives at a fictional address on a street that does not exist in Wilmington, Delaware. How many fictional characters might there be among the $220 million that Obama has collected in small, undisclosed contributions? Obama's small donors have all been recorded, and he could easily follow McCain’s lead by disclosing this major source of his campaign’s money."[http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=OTllNTk2MDNmNDk1YmQ0OWEzOTZmMTVmODUwZTQwY2E= "Fake Donors, Phony Pledge, ''National Review'' (Oct. 22, 2008)] Obama did not.</ref> [[bailout]] recipients<ref>http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.php?cid=N00009638&cycle=2008</ref><ref>http://www.votesmart.org/finance.php?can_id=9490</ref><ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2008/10/14/business/14bailout.graphic2.html ''Beneficiary Banks'', New York Times. 2008-10-14.]</ref><ref>[http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20090219/FREE/902199983]''UBS fined $780 million in tax evasion scandal, Investment News, February 19, 2009.</ref> and big oil [[pollution|polluter]]s.<ref>http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0505/obama-biggest-recipient-bp-political-action-money-20-years Obama is biggest recipient of BP’s political action cash in the last 20 years,] John Byrne, 5 May 2010. Retrieved from rawstory.com 9 May 2010.</ref><ref>Jake Tapper, Political Punch, [[ABC News]], 5 May 2010. [http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2010/05/white-house-idea-that-bp-given-special-exemption-because-of-campaign-cash-to-obama-silly-and-ridiculous.html?cid=6a00d8341c4df253ef0134807669a3970c]</ref><ref>http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2010/04/on-thursday-oil-giant-bp.html</ref> Obama spent far more per vote than McCain did: Obama spent $7.39 per vote, while McCain spent only $5.78 per vote.<ref>http://query.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/cancomsrs/?_08+00+PR</ref>

To announce his trip to [[Berlin]] in July 2008, Obama used posters which show a marked similarity to posters of [[Lenin]] and [[Che Guevara]].<ref>[http://andrightlyso.com/2008/07/24/obama-lenin-gaffe/ Obama's direct copy of a Lenin poster for his Berlin visit]</ref><ref>[http://michellemalkin.com/2008/05/31/the-la-times-looks-into-the-obama-che-iconcography-connection/ The LA Times looks into the Obama-Che iconography connection] by Michelle Malkin </ref>

Obama carried 52% of the popular vote and the states [[John Kerry]] won in 2004, in addition to Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Florida, and Indiana. Of the 127 million votes cast, Obama beat John McCain by 8 million total votes.<ref>http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/</ref> [http://images.newsmax.com/misc/2008_Election_Map.jpg See county breakdown map] <ref>[www.cnn.com/election]</ref>

The [[Association of American Physicians and Surgeons]] observed that Obama used techniques of [[mind control]] in his campaign, as in this speech: "a light will shine down from somewhere, it will light upon you, you will experience an epiphany, and you will say to yourself, 'I have to vote for Barack.'"<ref name="mind control">http://www.aapsonline.org/newsoftheday/0089 . The doctors observe that "Obama's logo is noteworthy. It is always there, a small one in the middle of the podium, providing a point of visual fixation ... [that] resembles a crystal ball, a favorite of hypnotists."</ref>

=== Birth Certificate Controversy ===
:''Main article'': [[Natural born citizen]]
During the democratic primaries the [[Hillary Clinton]] Campaign,<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/barackobama/8478044/Birther-row-began-with-Hillary-Clinton.html</ref> led a smear campaign against the validity of Barack Obama's Hawaii Birth certificate, claiming that it was false and that he was ineligible for Presidency. <ref>[http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZTgxZmIwNTg0OWVhMWJkODNmZjI4ZjY4Mjg2OWRmNzI= http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZTgxZmIwNTg0OWVhMWJkODNmZjI4ZjY4Mjg2OWRmNzI=]</ref>

After two and one half years of refusing to address the matter and more than 2 million dollars in legal fees, the White House produced a copy of Barack Obama's long-form birth certificate.<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/04/27/white-house-releases-obamas-long-form-birth-certificate/ "White House Releases Obama's Long-Form Birth Certificate", '''Fox News''']</ref> In attempting to ameliorate the question from the podium of the White House press briefing room, Obama descended into ''[[ad hominem]]'' attacks against his rivals.<ref>http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201104270015</ref><ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/28/carnival-barkers-slam-obama_n_854702.html</ref> Obama told the journalists gathered that he had more important things to do and immediately flew to [[Chicago]] for a taping of the [[Oprah Winfrey]] show.<ref>http://www.mullings.com/04-29-11.htm</ref>

===Hamas endorsement===
Obama hired Robert Malley as a senior foreign policy adviser. Malley told the ''Times of London'' that he had been in regular contact with the [[terrorist]] organization [[Hamas]]. In April 2008 Hamas made its endorsement of Obama for President.<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=61631 Hamas terrorists make 2008 U.S. presidential pick], WolrdNetDaily.com, April 14, 2008.</ref> Malley is the son of a key member of the Egyptian Communist Party.<ref>http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/individualProfile.asp?indid=2310</ref>

== Ideological views and affiliations ==
:''For the full article see [[Political positions of Barack Obama]]''
Although polls<ref>http://pewforum.org/A-Religious-Portrait-of-African-Americans.aspx#1</ref> reveal [[African-American]]s claim a Christian identity in larger numbers (78%) than the U.S. population as a whole, only one in three Americans believe Obama's contention that he is a Christian.<ref>Pew Research Center Poll, August 2010.</ref>
Obama's socio-political positions have been described as that of a [[Communism|“Marxist leftist".]]<ref>http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1753197/posts</ref> On numerous occasions Obama [[community organizer]]s have been found flaunting banners of the notorious [[Marxist]] [[guerrilla]] and [[murder]]er, [[Che Guevara]].<ref>[http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2008/02/obama_workers_c.html Obama Workers' Che Guevara Poster Was No Fluke] from Moonbattery</ref> Former presidential candidate [[Alan Keyes]] calls Obama a "radical communist." <ref>[http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/keyes_obama_destroy_US/2009/02/23/184503.html Alan Keyes: Obama Will Destroy U.S.] NewsMax, February 23, 2009</ref>

===Obama and Islam===
[[File:Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi in Dimashq.jpg|right|175px|thumb|''"I really endorse and support the policies that he has adopted,"'' the ''[[Washington Post]]'' reported [[Libya]]n leader [[Muammar Gaddafi]] said of President Obama;<ref> [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/26/AR2010042604170.html ''Man's worst friend?''] By Dana Milbank, ''Washington Post'', April 27, 2010.</ref> in 2011 Obama authorized covert aid to [[al Qaeda]] in Libya.<ref>http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2011/03/17/libyan-rebellion-has-radical-islamist-fervor-benghazi-link-islamic-militancyus-milit</ref><ref>http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1371184/Libya-Obama-says-noose-tightening-Gaddafi-Natos-Al-Qaeda-warning.html?ito=feeds-newsxml</ref><ref>http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_162-20048982-503543.html</ref><ref>http://www.odysseydawn.com/2011/04/04/al-qaeda-backing-libyan-rebels/</ref>]]
More than a year and a half into Obama's presidency, a poll conducted by the Pew Research Center found a growing number of Americans believe the president is a [[Muslim]]. The poll found only about one-third of adults (34%) believe Obama is a [[Christian]], down sharply from 48% in 2009. Among Democrats, 46% said they think Obama is a Christian, down from 55% in March 2009.<ref>http://pewforum.org/Politics-and-Elections/Growing-Number-of-Americans-Say-Obama-is-a-Muslim.aspx</ref> The evidence that Obama is a Muslim may include:
*Obama declared in prepared remarks, "The United States has been enriched by '''Muslim Americans'''. Many other Americans have Muslims in their families or have lived in a Muslim-majority country - I know, because '''I am one of them'''."<ref>http://middleeast.about.com/b/2009/04/06/obama-in-turkey-at-the-gates-of-islam.htm</ref>
*Obama's wife Michelle does not accompany him to Muslim nations because [[Sharia law]] would apply to her there; on a presidential trip she was with him until France, but then returned home.
*Obama's background, education, and outlook are [[Muslim]], and fewer than 1% of Muslims convert to Christianity.<ref>http://www.religionnewsblog.com/17736/barack-obama-2</ref><ref>http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/sina31103.htm. During the third and fourth grades, Obama learned about Islam for two hours each week in religion class, according to the LATimes. [http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal-te.obama16mar16,0,1634059,print.story?coll=bal_news_nation_promo Campaign downplays his connection during boyhood in Indonesia, Baltimore Sun, March 16, 2007]</ref>
*Obama's middle name (Hussein) references '''Husayn''', who was the grandson of [[Muhammad]],<ref>A Brief History of The Fourteen Infallibles. Qum: Ansariyan Publications. 2004.</ref><ref>al-Qarashi, Baqir Shareef (2007). The life of Imam Husain. Qum: Ansariyan Publications.</ref> which most Christians would not retain.<ref>Only after Obama became politically ambitious did he declare himself to be a [[Christian]], yet he never replaced his [[Muslim]] name "Hussein" with a Christian one as most do when they undergo a religious conversion. For example, when the Italian journalist Magdi Allam recently converted to Christianity, he took a new name: "Cristiano".[http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=30814] When Saul became a Christian, he changed his name to "Paul"; when the famous boxer Cassius Clay converted to [[Islam]], he took the Muslim name of [[Muhammad Ali]]. "It is common for those converting to a new religion to change their name on conversion"[http://www.ukdp.co.uk/pages/religiousconversion.php] or adopt a Christian name at [[baptism]].[http://www.answers.com/topic/christian-name]</ref>
[[Image:OBAMA MUSULMAN.jpg|left|thumb|'''Then-Senator Obama wearing traditional African garb''', a gift from his hosts while visiting Kenya<ref>[http://sweetness-light.com/archive/obama-wore-muslim-gear-during-kenya-trip]</ref>]]
*Obama mentioned his religion as "[[my Muslim faith]]."<ref>Obama declared, "John McCain has not talked about my Muslim faith."[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKGdkqfBICw]</ref>
*He has said that "Islam can be compatible with the modern world."<ref> [http://www.newsweek.com/id/145971 Barack Obama's Christian Journey | Newsweek Politics: Campaign 2008]</ref>
*Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth at sunset," and recited "with a first-class [[Arabic]] accent" the opening lines: Allah is Supreme! ... I witness that there is no god but Allah ...."<ref>http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=78309</ref>
*Obama stated that the autobiography of Malcolm X, a Nation of Islam leader who became a Muslim, inspired him in his youth.<ref>For example, Obama writes in his own autobiography, "Only Malcolm X's autobiography seemed to offer something different. His repeated acts of self-creation spoke to me. The blunt poetry of his words, his unadorned insistence on respect, promised a new and uncompromising order, martial in its discipline, forged through sheer force of will. ... [E]ven as I imagine myself following Malcolm's call, one line in the book stayed with me. He spoke of a wish he'd once had, the wish that the white blood that ran through him, there by an act of violence, might somehow be expunged."[http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/04/does_obama_know_america.html]</ref>
*Obama raised nearly $1 million and campaigned for a [[Kenyan]] presidential candidate who had a written agreement with [[Muslim]] leaders promising to convert Kenya to an Islamic state that bans Christianity.<ref> [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78324] Text of the agreement, as three images: [http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=78323]</ref>
*Obama's claims of conversion to Christianity arose after he became politically ambitious, lacking a date of conversion or baptism.<ref>In his book, Obama oddly claims to have been baptized without giving his age or date, and later gave a date that postdates his political ambition (1992).</ref>
*In the book ''Obama,"Renegade"'' his friends say that "he actually really wasn't much of a churchgoer." <ref>[http://newsbusters.org/blogs/jeff-poor/2009/06/16/wolffe-president-missed-rev-wright-s-racist-rants-because-he-wasn-t-much- Wolffe: President Missed Rev. Wright’s Racist Rants Because 'He Wasn’t Much of a Churchgoer'] NewsBusters.org, June 16, 2009</ref>
*On the campaign trail, Obama was reading "The Post-American World" by [[Fareed Zakaria]],<ref>http://www.canada.com/topics/news/world/story.html?id=fa8cf1bf-2cc8-4d6e-b72d-a07d406e19ff</ref> which is written from a Muslim point-of-view.<ref>http://www.villagevoice.com/2005-08-09/news/the-interpreter/</ref>
*Contrary to [[Christianity]], the Islamic doctrine of [[taqiyya]] encourages adherents to deny they are Muslim if it advances the cause of Islam.
*Obama uses the Muslim Pakistani pronunciation for "Pakistan" rather than the common American one.<ref>Obama repeatedly pronounced "Pakistan" as "Pokiston" in the first presidential debate.</ref>
*Obama was thoroughly exposed to Christianity as an adult in Chicago prior to attending law school, yet no one at law school saw him display any interest in converting. Obama unabashedly explained how he became "churched" in a 2007 speech: "It's around that time [while working as an organizer for the Developing Communities Project (DCP) of the Calumet Community Religious Conference (CCRC) in Chicago] that some pastors I was working with came around and asked if I was a member of a church. 'If you're organizing churches,' they said, 'it might be helpful if you went to a church once in a while.' And I thought, 'I guess that makes sense.'"<ref>[http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?id=15363 Obama, ACORN, and the churches] SperoNews, October 7, 2008</ref> *Obama is mentioned as helping to organize the 1995 million man march led by black [[Muslim]] leader [[Louis Farrakhan]] from the [[Nation of Islam]]. <ref>[http://www.nowpublic.com/world/obama-organized-farrakhan-s-million-man-march, Obama Organized Farrakhan’s ‘Million Man March’, NowPublic.com, April 2, 2008 </ref>
*Obama visited "more than one mosque" in Kenya while on a political trip there but did not visit any churches, although there are a large proportion of churches and even a National Temple in Kenya.<ref>http://islamizationwatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/kenyan-delegation-visits-sderot-israel.html</ref>
*Obama has chosen the [[Secret Service]] code name "Renegade". "Renegade" conventionally describes someone who goes against normal conventions of behavior, but its first usage was to describe someone who has turned from their religion. It is a word derived from the [[Spanish]] ''renegado'', meaning "Christian turned Muslim."<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/3452281/Renegade-and-Renaissance-Obama-to-replace-Trailblazer-and-Tempo-Bush-in-the-White-House.html</ref>
*Obama enjoyed a bigger increase in voter support in 2008 (compared to 2004) by Muslims than by any other voting group, including blacks;<ref>http://www.altmuslim.com/a/a/a/2873/</ref> "Muslim turnout in the U.S. elections reached 95 percent, the highest Muslim turnout in U.S. history."<ref>http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/islamsadvance/2008/11/is_obama_the_muslim_worlds_sup.html</ref>
*"President-elect [[Barack Obama]] has yet to attend [Sunday] church services since winning the [[White House]] earlier ..., a departure from the example of his two immediate predecessors."<ref>http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15902.html</ref><ref>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/washingtondc/la-na-obama-religion26-2008dec26,0,1910913.story</ref>
*Obama used his Muslim middle name when sworn in as President.<ref>http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ET_Cetera/Obama_to_take_oath_using_middle_name_/articleshow/3813120.cms</ref><ref>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/12/10/politics/main4660590.shtml?source=RSSattr=Politics_4660590</ref>
*Obama botched his public oath of office in which he placed his hand on a Bible, then chose not to use the Bible for his real, private oath.
*'''At the G20 summit in April 2009, Obama bowed deeply to Saudi King Abdullah, a Muslim who is also the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.'''<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEUif1--r38&feature=player_embedded Video of Obama bowing almost to King's waist]</ref> [[Image:Obamabow.jpg|thumb|left|250px|'''President Obama bowing to the King of Saudi Arabia''' - April 2009]]Never before in the history of the U.S. has a president displayed such shocking deference to a foreign official and Obama has not bowed to any other royal leaders. Obama later stated, "We have to change our behavior in showing the Muslim world greater respect."<ref>http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/07/barack-takes-a-bow/</ref> Obama's spin doctors and left-wing apologists dismissed the obviousness of the bow. One anonymous aide stated, "It wasn't a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he's taller than King Abdullah."<ref>http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0409/White_House_No_bow_to_Saudi.html</ref> However, in video of the incident, Obama's left hand can clearly be seen staying at his side until after he had finished his bow.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WlqW6UCeaY</ref> Additionally, Obama also met with Queen Elizabeth, who is much shorter than King Abdullah, but he did not bow when he shook her hand and neither he nor the queen appeared to have any difficulty.<ref>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71N34K9EVLU</ref> (Many liberals and even a handful of conservatives have proposed that President Bush also bowed before King Abdullah.<ref>http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/33289_Bush_Bowed_Too</ref> However, there is a vast, inexorable difference between bending down to receive a medal as Bush did and bowing in deference to a foreign leader as Obama did.)
*Obama required that a religiously affiliated college take the extraordinary action of concealing with wood the monogram "IHS", which represents the name of Jesus, during a speech by Obama there<ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/04/16/georgetown-university-hid-religious-symbols-white-house-request/ Georgetown hides Jesus' name at request of Obama's White House]</ref>
*On more than one occasion, Obama verbally attacks the economic livelihood of Las Vegas for unknown reasons. The reason may be his contempt of gambling which is forbidden in the Koran. <ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2010/02/02/AR2010020203169.html Lawmakers upset over Obama's 2nd anti-Vegas remark, WashingtonPost, February 2, 2010]</ref>
*Americans of the Muslim faith give Barack Obama the highest job approval rating of any major religion. <ref>[http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/ct-talk-obama-muslims-0830-20100829,0,5457812.story Obama job approval highest among Muslim, Chicago Tribune, August 29, 2010]</ref>

Obama tries to downplay his [[Islamic]] background by claiming that his [[Kenya|Kenyan]] [[Muslim]] father was a "confirmed [[atheist]]" before Obama was born, but in fact less than 1% of Kenyans are atheists, agnostics, or non-religious.<ref>http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_14.html</ref> There is apparently no evidence of any Christian activities or local church participation by Obama while he was in Massachusetts from 1988 to 1991, nor of Barack Obama's joining of a Mosque (The Islamic house of worship) at any time in his life. Finally, Obama abruptly left his radical Christian church in Chicago in 2008, when it became politically controversial, without first finding another church to join. On April 7, 2009, Obama visited a mosque in Istanbul, Turkey.<ref>http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.c2e3700ab4e271bc32827b0fccfe560b.421&show_article=1</ref>

=== Barack Obama and Liberal Elitism ===
''See also:'' [[Barack Obama and liberal elitism]]

Obama has consistently shown himself to be a [[Liberal Elite|liberal elitist]] who looks down on "ordinary" Americans. Asked while campaigning for the [[Pennsylvania]] primary to explain why small-town [[Democrats]] did not support him, Obama fumed "it's not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." When Obama made this remark he was alluding to small-town people who had experienced long periods of joblessness. In response to predictable outrage when his remarks were unexpectedly publicized, Obama did not recant his statement but instead replied, I "didn't say it as well as I should have."<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7344532.stm</ref> Although many rural counties went for McCain, Obama carried the state with 54.6% of the vote, compared to 44.3% for John McCain.<ref>[http://www.electionreturns.state.pa.us/ElectionsInformation.aspx?FunctionID=13&ElectionID=28&OfficeID=1]</ref>

In an attempt to counter the view held by many of Obama's elitist and [[bourgeois]] lifestyle, he began running campaign ads claiming that he "worked his way through college and Harvard Law." This claim is at best an exaggeration, as Obama only held summer jobs while in college and law school<ref>http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/obamas_work_claim.html</ref>, and he would have likely benefited from special scholarships not available to most students.

====Obama's Charitable Giving====

''For more information please see'': [[Barack Obama and uncharitableness]]

In the years 2000 through 2004, before becoming a United States Senator and being in the public spotlight, Obama gave less than 2% of his earnings to charity even though he made $250,000 per year. Since becoming a national figure, that amount has jumped to about 6%.<ref>http://patterico.com/2008/10/31/obama-and-bidens-charitable-giving-they-dont-want-to-spread-their-own-wealth-around/</ref>

Below is Obama's charitable giving expressed as percentage of his income for the years of 2000 to 2006 when he was earning about $250,000 per year:

*2000: 0.9%
*2001: 0.5%
*2002: 0.4%
*2003: 1.4%
*2004: 1.2%
*2005: 4.7%
*2006: 6.1%<ref>http://atangledweb.squarespace.com/httpatangledwebsquarespace/obamas-charitable-contributions.html</ref>

Obama's charitable giving pattern is not surprising given what we know about United States [[liberal]] politicians and charitable giving and also the charitable giving in the general population of liberals in the United States.<ref>http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1c5_1238044128&c=1</ref><ref>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/03/conservatives_more_liberal_giv.html</ref>

==== The influence of Maoist thought ====
:''For more information, see [[Maoism]]''
A deep strain of Maoist thought has pervaded Barack Obama's influences throughout his life and persisted in appointments he has made as President.

SDS veteran and [[Progressives for Obama]] webmaster<ref>[http://www.linkedin.com/in/carldavidson Carl Davidson,] LinkedIn.com, retrieved March 13, 2010.</ref> [[Carl Davidson]] first met Barack Obama through the Chicago [[New Party]], whose endorsement and campaign workers Obama sought and accepted in his run for the Illinois state senate in 1996. Davidson organized the October 2002 rally at Federal Plaza in Chicago<ref>The rally was organized by Chicagoans Against War in Iraq (CAWI) later renamed Chicagoans Against War and Injustice. [http://www.noiraqwar-chicago.org/?page_id=2 About CAWI] by Carl Davidson, Nov 02 2006. Retrieved from Chicagoans Against War and Injustice, March 15, 2010.</ref> where Obama was established as a chief spokesperson for anti-US [[foreign policy]]. Davidson was a leading member of the October League (OL) and the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist), or CP(M-L)<ref>[http://archives.econ.utah.edu/archives/pen-l/2005w11/msg00045.htm Reply to Carl Davidson], 15 Mar 2005. Progressive Economists Network List (PEN-L) Internet discussion. The poster states, "Any investigation of the 1970s will reveal that the "New Communist Movement" evolved more than less outside the Soviet ideological polarity, with many clinging to their particular conception of ''Mao Ze Tung Thought.'' During the 1973-1975 period Mr. Davidson did conduct polemics against [[Trotsky]]ism in the pages of the [[Guardian (NY)|Guardian]] and this is perhaps the reason for the current continuing dispute. At that time I was a member of the Communist League in Detroit and Mr. Davidson was a leading member of the October League which sided with the China polarity in the "Sino-Soviet" split rather than taking marching orders from the [[Kremlin]]."</ref> hailed by [[Chinese Communist Party]] chairman [[Hua Guofeng]] at banquet for CP(M-L) leaders in [[Beijing]] in 1977 as the semi-official Maoist party in the United States. Hua Guofeng declared the founding of the CP(ML) a “new victory of the [[Marxist-Leninist]] Movement in the U.S.”<ref>[http://www.revolutionintheair.com/chron/chron4.html Chronology of Political Events, Part Four 1975-1980.] Max Elbaum. Retrieved from Revolution In The Air: Sixties Radicals Turn to Lenin, Mao and Che, March 16, 2010. Exerpted: '''1977-''' June 4-5: October League holds founding convention of Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist) - CP(ML); [[Mike Klonsky]] is chair... August 12-18: Eleventh Congress of the [[Chinese Communist Party]]. Mao and the [[Cultural Revolution]] are given positive assessments but the Congress officially declares the Cultural Revolution ended. That same month, CPC chair [[Hua Guofeng]] and U.S. CP(M-L) chair Mike Klonsky exchange toasts at banquet for CP(M-L) leaders in [[Beijing]]; this is effective recognition of the CP(M-L) as the semi-official pro-China party in the U.S. The June founding of the CP(ML) had been hailed by a top CPC leader as a “new victory of the [[Marxist-Leninist]] Movement in the U.S.”... '''1979-''' Beginning of crisis and collapse of CP(ML)... In early 1979 there was also a trip to [[China]] by representatives of CP(ML), LRS, RWH, PUL, BACU and other “pro-China” collectives as part of the efforts to build unity among all those who supported the [[CCP|CPC]] and the Three Worlds Theory, but the Chinese do not press the groups to unite although they effectively withdraw the idea (as does CP(ML) itself) that the CP(ML) is “the” party in the U.S... '''[[U.S. Peace Council]]''', with CP activists in pivotal positions, is founded... </ref> Davidson is a longtime supporter of the [[VVAW]]<ref>[http://www.vvaw.org/veteran/article/?id=412 VVAW Letter of Support,] ''The Veteran'', Spring 2004 (Volume 34, Number 1).</ref> whose chief spokesman [[John Kerry]] charged American servicemen with [[war crimes]]. The VVAW worked in collusion with [[North Vietnam]] and the [[Vietcong]] to organize a domestic insugency<ref>[http://www.wintersoldier.com/staticpages/index.php?page=vcdirective Directive on the American Antiwar Movement] captured by US military forces in South Vietnam on May 12, 1972, is a communist Directive designed to motivate discussions within Vietnam about promoting the ongoing antiwar activities in the United States. The fifth paragraph of this document makes clear that the Vietnamese communists were utilizing for their [[propaganda]] purposes the activities of the [[Vietnam Veterans Against the War]]. The protest described as occurring from April 19 through April 22, 1971 coincides directly with the dates of Dewey Canyon III, the Washington, DC, protest led by John Kerry, during which John Kerry's testimony before Senator Fulbright's Foreign Relations Committee was a televised centerpiece. The description of the protest activities in the Directive even include the "return their medals" ceremony in which John Kerry and other VVAW members threw their medals and/or ribbons toward the steps of the US Capitol, with several shouting threats of violence against their government as they did so.Retrieved from www.wintersoldier.com, March 16, 2010.</ref> and the defeat of the United States in [[Vietnam]].<ref>[http://www.wintersoldier.com/staticpages/index.php?page=puppets ''John Kerry and the VVAW: Hanoi's American Puppets?] Newly discovered documents link Vietnam Veterans Against the War to Vietnamese communists,'' Jerome R. Corsi and Scott Swett. Retrieved from www.wintersoldier.com, March 16, 2010.</ref> In 2004 Davidson said, "the U.S government, at least over the past 50 years, has been the chief terrorist and sponsor of terrorism in the world."<ref>[http://www.zcommunications.org/the-2004-elections-by-carl-davidson ''The 2004 Elections'',] Carl Davidson, May 20, 2004. Retrieved from zcommunications.org, March 18, 2010.</ref>
[[File:Shepard-Fairey-imgs.JPG|right|thumb|250px|Shepard Fairey, designer of the official Obama hope and change logo, is more known for his anti-American and pro-communist themes. Here a Maoist revolutionary is depicted. [http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-ContextMenu&rlz=1I7ACAW_en___US352&tbs=isch:1&q=Shepard+Fairey&sa=N&start=40&ndsp=20] ]]

Obama appointed [[Anita Dunn]] as White House Communications Office Director in April 2009. In June 2009 Dunn publicly declared herself, before a group of high students, to be a deep admirer of Chairman Mao's political philosophy. Mao is recognized as the largest mass murderer ever on the planet.<ref>[http://mises.org/daily/3796 ''Maoist in the White House,''] Dr. George Reisman, Ludwig von Mises Institute, October 19, 2009.</ref>

Obama appointee [[Van Jones]] was a founder<ref>[http://machete408.wordpress.com/2009/03/23/revolutionaries-in-high-places-van-jones/ Revolutionaries in High Places- Van Jones], by adamfreedom March 23, 2009.</ref> of the "often vulgar Maoist"<ref>
[http://newzeal.blogspot.com/2009/04/obama-file-72-obama-appoints-former.html Obama File 72 Obama Appoints "Former" Communist To White House "Green Job"], Trevor Louden, April 06, 2009.</ref><ref>[http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:9UyDTPx6dGEJ:machete408.wordpress.com/2009/03/23/revolutionaries-in-high-places-van-jones/+van+jones+demos&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=nz Machete 48]</ref> organization STORM. STORM's own literature describes the organization as laying a foundation to build "Third World communism." The group studied [[Lenin]]'s theories of the state, revolution, the party, and "the political ideas of Mao Tse-tung."<ref>[http://www.capitalresearch.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/stormsummation.pdf ''Reclaiming Revolution]: history, summation & lessons from the work of Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement (STORM)'', Spring 2004, p.15 pdf.</ref> According to the document, the "growing Maoist orientation" within the group was a factor contributing to internal strife and the group's eventual dissolution.<ref>Ibid, p. 23 pdf.</ref> The document states that in addition to "the basics of Marxism, including [[dialectical materialism]]," it conducted "a group reading of Mao's ''On Practice'' and ''On Contradiction''" and "pushed at or went beyond the limits of the traditional Marxist canon, studying such topics as revolutionary feminism, the Palestinian liberation struggle, transgender liberation, methods of evaluation, self-care for cadre and revolutionary mass [community] organizing."<ref>Ibid, p. 25 pdf.</ref> The group was extensively involved in the [[community organizing]] movement.<ref>Ibid, pp. 8, 10, 15 pdf.</ref> In 1992 the premier Maoist organization in the United States, the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP)<ref>[http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6197 Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP).] Retrieved from dicoverthenetworks.org, March 8, 2010.</ref> and offshoot of SDS was instrumental in fomenting riots in Los Angelas in which 58 people were killed, and more than 2,300 injured in the wake of the trial of four police officers charged with beating [[Rodney King]].<ref>[http://97.74.65.51/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=8939 ''Unholy Alliance: The "Peace Left" and the Islamic Jihad Against America,''] David Horowitz and John Perazzo, FrontPageMagazine.com, April 13, 2005. Retrieved March 11, 2010.</ref> Van Jones traveled from Connecticut to be on hand and was arrested in the aftermath.<ref>[http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-722-Conservative-Politics-Examiner~y2009m7d17-Van-Jones-Green-Jobs-Czar-a-selfdescribed-communist-arrested-during-Rodney-King-riots ''Van Jones, 'Green Jobs Czar', a self-described 'communist' arrested during Rodney King riots'',] Kathy Shaidle, July 17, 2009. Retrieved from examiner.com March 11, 2010.</ref> Van Jones is also a founding board member of Apollo Alliance for clean energy and so-called "green-collar jobs." [http://apolloalliance.org/blog/?tag=van-jones] [[Jeff Jones]] is the New York State director of Apollo Alliance. [http://apolloalliance.org/state-local/new-york-state/new-york-state-partners/] Jeff Jones was a member of the Maoist Action Faction of SDS and along with Ayers and Dohrn co-authored ''[[Prairie Fire: The Politics of Revolutionary Anti-imperialism]]'' based on the ''Sayings of Chairman Mao.''

Obama Car Czar [[Ron Bloom]] declared himself in agreement with Chairman Mao and referred to the free market system as "nonsense."<ref>[http://www.breitbart.tv/obama-czar-agrees-with-mao-too-and-thinks-free-market-is-nonsense/ Speech delivered to the 6th Annual Distressed Investing Forum Union Club], New York, February 27-28, 2008, BriebartTV, Retrieved February 15, 2010.</ref>

Obama fundraiser, personal friend, and former employer Dr. [[Bill Ayers]]' teaching curricula relies heavily on material that use Mao Zedong, Josef Stalin, Vladimir Lenin, and Fidel Castro as authoritative sources.<ref>[http://www.academia.org/bill-ayers-unmasked/ Bill Ayers Unmasked,] Bethany Stotts, August 25, 2009, Accuracy in Academia. Retrieved February 15, 2010.</ref> Ayers has been a committed Maoist since at least 1969.<ref>Foreign Influence - Weather Underground Organization (WUO). FBI Chicago Field Office Report, August 20, 1976. Section I. Ideology D. [http://foia.fbi.gov/weather/weath1b.pdf ''Influence of Marxism-Leninism-Mao Tse-tung Thought'',] Pages 55-62 in original (pp. 18-25 pdf).</ref> Ayers is said to have ghost written part of Barack Obama's autobiography, ''Dreams From My Father.''<ref>[http://www.cashill.com/natl_general/who_wrote_dreams_from.htm, ''Who Wrote “Dreams From My Father"?'',] by Jack Cashill, October 9, 2008.</ref> Ayers was a leader in the [[SDS]]'s Maoist "Action Faction" which became the [[Weather Underground]] (WUO). Ayers, [[Jeff Jones]], and [[Mark Rudd]] of [[Progressives for Obama]] paid homage to [[Anna Louise Strong]], author of the ''The Thought of Mao Tse-tung,''<ref>[http://openlibrary.org/b/OL16335649M/thought_of_Mao_Tse-Tung ''The thought of Mao Tse-Tung,''] Anna Louise Strong, Published in 1947, ''[[Amerasia]]'' (New York).</ref> after purging deviationist elements from the SDS leadership in 1969.<ref>Foreign Influence - Weather Underground Organization (WUO). FBI Chicago Field Office Report, August 20, 1976, [http://foia.fbi.gov/weather/weath1c.pdf ''Influence of China''], Pages 144-145 in original (pp. 32-33 pdf).</ref>

Ayers wife, former FBI Top Ten Most Wanted terrorist [[Bernardine Dohrn]], worked in the Law Firm of Sidley Austin<ref>Of the nearly $700 million dollars Barack Obama raised in 2008 to run for President, Sidley Austin was the 9th largest donor to the campaign. [http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/contrib.php?cycle=2008&cid=n00009638 Barack Obama (D) Top Contributors',] Center For Responsive Politics. Retrieved from opensecrets.org, March 2, 2010.</ref> in the late 1980s where Barack, Michelle Obama, and Dohrn first met. Dohrn participated in the purging of [[CPUSA]] elements from SDS leadership and declared the refurbished SDS leadership would be responsible for the correct Marxist-Leninist line and would exclude non-Maoist, "[[deviationist]]" views. Dohrn held the leadership position of Inter-Organizational Secretary in the SDS National Office. The Ayers/Dohrn faction of SDS formed the Weather Underground Organization. SDS Regional [[Community organizing|Community Organizer]] [[David Gilbert]] declared violent [[Third World]] revolution was the only way to achieve "world communism," the goal of WUO.<ref>Foreign Influence - Weather Underground Organization (WUO). [http://foia.fbi.gov/weather/weath2a.pdf FBI Chicago Field Office Report,] August 20, 1976. Page 202 in original (p. 17 pdf). Gilbert reiterated the WUO's founding statement from [http://foia.fbi.gov/weather/weath1a.pdf ''You Don't Need A Weatherman To Know Which Way The Wind Blows,''] ''New Left Notes,'' June 18, 1969, reprinted in the Chicago Field Office Report, Section I. Ideology. A. Major Political Statements, pp. 6-15 original (pp. 39-48 pdf), which reads in part, "The goal is the destruction of US imperialism and the achievement of a classless world: world communism. Winning state power in the US will occur as a result of the military forces of the US overextending themselves around the world..." (p.41 pdf).</ref>

[[ACORN]] founder Wade Rathke was an alumni of the Maoist dominated [[Students for a Democratic Society]] (SDS).<ref>[http://www.americanthinker.com/printpage/?url=http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/11/a_tale_of_two_community_organi.html ''A Tale of Two Community Organizers,''] Elinor Lynn Warner, American Thinker, November 19, 2009.</ref> Obama told ACORN "during the transition, we're going to be calling all of you in to help us shape the agenda. We're going to be having meetings all across the country with community organizations so that you have input into the agenda for the next presidency of the United States of America."<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=110131 ''Unearthed! Obama's twisted ACORN roots'',] Chelsea Schilling, ''WorldNetDaily'', Track timeline of president's ties to group immersed in scandals, September 18, 2009.</ref>

The ''[[Koji_Ariyoshi#The_Honolulu_Record|Honolulu Record]]'', the newspaper Obama's mentor [[Frank Marshall Davis]] wrote for was accused of Maoist [[deviationism]] during the Sino-Soviet split by its CPUSA overlords.<ref>[http://www.archive.org/stream/scopeofsovietact411956unit#page/n248/mode/1up Scope of Soviet activity in the United States.] Hearing before the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Eighty-fourth Congress, second session - Eighty-fifth Congress, first session. Washington, U.S. Govt. Print. Off. (1956), [http://www.usasurvival.org/docs/Scope_of_Soviet_Activity.pdf p. 2865 (p. 14 pdf).]</ref>

=== Jeremiah Wright and liberation theology ===
[[Image:Barack Obama Jeremiah Wright.jpg|thumb|left|'''Obama and Jeremiah Wright.''' Despite Wright's rabid and sarcastic anti-American sermons, the Obama's regularly took their two small children to hear him speak. One Obama supporter remarked, "I cannot fathom allowing my children to hear filth from the pulpit."<ref>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barack-obama/on-my-faith-and-my-church_b_91623.html?show_comment_id=12042024#comment_12042024</ref> ]]
Obama and his wife (raised a Baptist) were members of the Trinity [[United Church of Christ]]<ref>http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1776246/posts</ref> in Chicago. The church embraces [[black liberation theology]] and its emphasis on empowering so-called "oppressed groups" against "establishment forces." This denomination was the first in America to ordain gays as ministers.<ref>http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/31079.html, Obama's church pushes controversial doctrines, March 20, 2008</ref> According to his sister, Obama was baptized at this church the same year.<ref>[http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/30/america/30obama.php?page=2 http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/30/america/30obama.php?page=2]</ref> Obama describes his conversion in ''The Audacity of Hope''. The title was inspired by one of Wright's sermons.
After 20 years of being an active member, in April 2008 candidate Obama made public statements poised to set him at odds with the man who conducted his wedding and baptized his children. With the negative publicity persisting, a month later Obama ended the friendship, left Wright's church, and blamed the media.<ref>[http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/05/31/obama-resigns-church-membership-in-chicago/], Obama Drops Church Membership in Chicago, May 31, 2008</ref> Obama claimed “It’s not fair to the other members of the church who seek to worship in peace...", and distanced himself from Wright's sermons as "a bunch of rants that aren't grounded in the truth."<ref>USA TODAY, ''Obama breaks with former pastor, Candidate cites rants on U.S. role in terror, AIDS'', by Kathy Kiely and David Jackson [http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20080430/1a_offlede30_dom.art.htm]</ref><ref>''Obama Says He Is Outraged By Wright's "Rants"''[http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/bulletin/bulletin_080430.htm]</ref> Wright had been making inflammatory comments and posting his sermons online for sale. These include the statement "G-d damn America," and in describing the September 11th attacks, "We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards. America's chickens are coming home to roost."<ref>[http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Story?id=4443788 Obama's Pastor: G-d Damn America, U.S. to Blame for 9/11]</ref> In addition, Rev. Wright blamed America saying "We supported Zionism shamelessly while ignoring the Palestinians and branding anybody who spoke out against it as being [[anti-Semitic]]."

[[Daniel Pipes]] claims that Obama was raised a [[Muslim]] because he attended classes on the [[Koran]] while attending a Muslim school.<ref>[http://www.danielpipes.org/article/5286 Was Barack Obama a Muslim]</ref> Obama did attend a school administrated by Muslims but [[CNN]] reports that it was a non-religious public school attended by students of many faiths, not a [[madrassa]].<ref>http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/22/obama.madrassa/</ref>

{{QuoteBox|In Indonesia, I'd spent 2 years at a Muslim school, 2 years at a Catholic school. In the Muslim school, the teacher wrote to tell mother I made faces during Koranic studies. In the Catholic school, when it came time to pray, I'd pretend to close my eyes, then peek around the room. Nothing happened. No angels descended. Just a parched old nun and 30 brown children, muttering words. Sometimes the nun would catch me, and her stern look would force my lids back shut. But that didn't change how I felt inside." <ref>Dreams from My Father, by Barack Obama, p.142 Aug 1, 1996 </ref>}}

Obama has described his upbringing as occurring in a non-religious environment.

{{QuoteBox|In sum, my mother viewed religion through the eyes of the anthropologist that she would become; it was a phenomenon to be treated with a suitable respect, but with a suitable detachment as well. Moreover, as a child I rarely came in contact with those who might offer a substantially different view of faith. My father was almost entirely absent from my childhood, having been divorced from my mother when I was 2 years old; in any event, although my father had been raised a Muslim, by the time he met my mother he was a confirmed atheist, thinking religion to be so much superstition.

And yet for all her professed secularism, my mother was in many ways the most spiritually awakened person that I've ever known. She had an unswerving instinct for kindness, charity, and love, and spent much of her life acting on that instinct, sometimes to her detriment. Without the help of religious texts or outside authorities, she worked mightily to instill in me the values that many Americans learn in Sunday school: honesty, empathy, discipline, delayed gratification, and hard work. She raged at poverty and injustice.<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1546579-4,00.html My Spiritual Journey] Time Magazine, October 2006</ref>}}

== Books ==

* ''Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance.'' (B. Obama and, allegedly, William Ayers <ref>http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/10/who_wrote_dreams_from_my_fathe_1.html</ref>) ISBN 0307383415
* ''The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream.'' (B. Obama) ISBN 0307455874
* ''Barack Obama in His Own Words.'' (B. Obama and Lisa Rogak) ISBN 0786720573
* ''Change We Can Believe In. Barack Obama's Plan to Renew America's Promise.'' (B. Obama)
* ''The Case Against Barack Obama. The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media's Favorite Candidate. '' (David Freddso) ISBN 1596985666
* ''The Obama Nation. Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality.'' (Jerome R. Corsi) ISBN 1416598065
* ''Obama Unmasked. Did Slick Hollywood Handlers Create the Perfect Candidate?'' (Floyd Brown and Lee Trexler) ISBN 0936783591
* ''Obama: The Man Behind The Mask.'' (Andy Martin) ISBN 0965781240
* ''The Audacity of Deceit. Barack Obama's War on American Values.'' (Brad O'Leary) ISBN 1935071025

== Quotes ==
* Early in his campaign for president in 2007, Obama declared in an interview with the [[Chicago Tribune]], "I'm a [[Christian]]. And so, although I try not to have my religious beliefs dominate or determine my political views on this issue ... my religious beliefs say that [[marriage]] is something sanctified between a man and a woman."<ref>http://thehill.com/cheri-jacobus/obama-and-miss-california-2009-04-23.html</ref>
*"This country is going to honor our [[collective]] responsibility." [http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Weekly-Address-President-Obama-Announces-New-Initiatives-for-Retirement-Savings/]

== See also==
*[[Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN)]]
*Birthplace of Barack Obama:
**[[Birthplace of Barack Obama]]
**[[Barack Obama birthplace controversy]]
**[[Obama birth certificate controversy]]
**[[Obama birth certificate lawsuits]]
*[[Essay: The Special Interests Candidate]]
*[[Jobsgate]]
*[[Recovery Summer]]
*[[Lobbyists ties to the Obama administration]]
*[[ObamaCare]]
*[[Obama doublespeak]]
*[[Obama inauguration]]
*[[Religion of Barack Hussein Obama]]
*[[The Honorable James David Manning]]
*[[Young Communist League]]

== Further reading ==

*[[Peter Hitchens|Hitchens, Peter]] [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=511901&in_page_id=1811 ''The Black Kennedy: But does anyone know the real Barack Obama?''] [[Daily Mail]]. Accessed 4 February 2008.
*James Simpson, [http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/09/barack_obama_and_the_strategy.html ''Barack Obama and the Strategy of Manufactured Crisis''], American Thinker, September 28, 2008.
*[http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1901/witbd/ ''What Is To Be Done?] Burning Questions of our Movement'', [[Vladimir Ilyich Lenin]], Lenin’s Collected Works, Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1961, Moscow, Volume 5, pp. 347-530.
*The Manchurian President: Barack Obama's Ties to Communists, Socialists and Other Anti-American Extremists (April 20, 2010) by Aaron Klein, Brenda J. Elliott ISBN 1935071874


== Sources ==

*[http://www.barackobama.com/ Official Obama for President Website]
*[http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/pfd2005/N00009638_2005.pdf Barack Obama Personal Financial Disclosures Summary: 2005], retrieved from opensecrets.org 17 June 2007.
*[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=O000167 Biographical Directory of the United States Congress]
*[http://www.law.uchicago.edu/faculty/obama/cv.html University of Chicago Law School] Faculty Listing
*[http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=12782369 Barack Obama Biography] from Biography.com
*[http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_obama/index.html?inline=nyt-per New York Times Topics, Barack Obama]
*[http://youtube.com/watch?v=zUdjhKbImwE Documentary on Barack Hussein Obama]
*[http://www.votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=9490 Voting Record of Barack Hussein Obama]

==References==

{{reflist|3}}

==External Links==
*[http://www.antiobama.net/ Anti Obama.net]
*[http://www.dontvoteobama.net/ Don’t Vote For Obama.net]
*[http://nobamanetwork.com/ Nobama Network]
*[http://www.audacityofhypocrisy.com/ Audacity Of Hypocrisy]
*[http://therealbarackobama.wordpress.com/ The Real Barack Obama]
*[http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/6130/ The New Cult of Personality]
*[http://www.survivingobamunism.com/index.html Surviving Obamunism T-shirts]
*[http://www.barackobamaantichrist.blogspot.com/ Barack Obama the Anti-Christ ?]
*[http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/06/23/che-obama-and-the-revolutionary-agenda/ Che, Obama, and the Revolutionary Agenda]
*[http://www.audacityofhypocrisy.com/fashion-shows/ Obama Laundry List of Lies]
*[http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/09/americas-first-muslim-president/ GAFFNEY: America's first Muslim president?] Washington Times
*[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-l-esposito/barack-obama-and-islam_b_212519.html Barack Obama and Islam.] by [[John L. Esposito]].
*[http://www.wargs.com/political/obama.html Ancestry of Barack Obama.]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obama, Barack Hussein}}
{{USPresidents}}
{{2008 presidential candidates}}
{{Liberalism}}
[[Category: Barack Hussein Obama]]
[[Category:Socialists]]
[[Category:Socialism]]
[[Category:Former United States Senators]]
[[Category:Democratic Party]]
[[Category:Liberals]]
[[Category:Illinois]]

Talk:Early life and career of Barack Hussein Obama

2012-01-14T16:05:44Z

Adambro: /* "our country" */ new section

== Assertions concerning Barack Obama's Sexual Preference ==

I noticed that there is no mention regarding books and articles which discuss Obama's homosexual liaisons during his marriage and senate career. If there was only one claim to this by Larry Sinclair it may not be enough to document however, apparently, there is much more information out there. Here is an article that I just noticed bringing up Obama's Chicago bath house exploits: [http://hillbuzz.org/2011/11/07/why-wont-the-agenda-driven-media-report-on-barack-obama-being-gay-dating-actor-kal-penn-and-frequenting-chicago-bathhouse-mans-country-you-know-the-way-they-leaped-to-trash-herman-cain-with-u/]. [[User:Dwain|Dwain]]

== Eliminating Birth Certificate Conspiracy Nonsense ==

Can we be actual adults and not engage in the kind of pettiness that liberals do on this issue. He's there and all of this ineligibility stuff is stupid. Let's just focus on getting him out.

== "our country" ==

The suggestion that Obama refuses to refer to the United States as "our country is clearly inaccurate. A quick Google search found a number of examples of where he has done so. For example: [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/12/us/politics/12obama.html here], [http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57338052/text-obama-address-on-the-economy-in-kansas/?pageNum=2&tag=contentMain;contentBody here], and [http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/09/08/address-president-joint-session-congress several times here]. Perhaps there was a time when he didn't but it certainly isn't true now. [[User:Adambro|Adambro]] 11:05, 14 January 2012 (EST)

Conservapedia:Community Portal

2012-01-14T13:14:38Z

Adambro: /* 90/10 block of Rudrick Boucher */ +cmt

<center>''This is the place to discuss issues of interest to the Conservapedia community.''</center>
__NEWSECTIONLINK__
[[Conservapedia:Community Portal/archive1|Archive 1]]

==Please delete this category==
Can someone please delete this category (or give me the adequate rights): Italian_Cities, it is a duplicate of Italian_Cities_and_Towns. --[[User:PhilipN|PhilipN]] 22:07, 27 December 2011 (EST)

== Insults ==

On Dec 16, 2011, I wrote an email to aschlafly@aol.com and conservapedia@zoho.com. No one bothered to answer me, though I asked repeatedly. So, that seems to be an insufficient way of communication, therefore I repeat the text of my email here:

''Hi,

''I use this way of communication as I want to stay away from public mud-slinging. But I expect that something is done about the tone at Conservapedia. Please have a look at this comment by User:Conservative, directed to me:

''http://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk%3AMain_Page&action=historysubmit&diff=945748&oldid=945729

''Excerpt: '''I know you are a so called "liberal Christianity" adherent. Face it liberal Christianity is an immoral, heretical and wimpified version of Christianity that tries to turn God into some kind of permissive Santa Clause. The only thing "liberal Christianity" loves more than extramarital sex and pro-abortion policies is [[gay bathhouses]]!'''

''I once stated that I'm a member of a mainstream Protestant Church (in fact, the Evangelical Church of Hesse Electorate-Waldeck) But I'm not liberal, pro-abortion, pro-sodomy or pro-adultery!

''It seems to be impossible to get into a productive discussion with User:Conservative: Bullying, intimidating,and outright insulting the target-audience of Conservapedia is nearly always the consequence...

This has been worse enough. But today I read [[Talk:Essay: Militant atheism and short man's syndrome]], where User:Conservative asks: '''''By the way, is your "liberal Christianity" "pastor" a lesbian or sodomite?''''' I fail to see any humor in it and I would expect that such accusations aren't made in a conservative environment.

[[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 16:11, 1 January 2012 (EST)

Aschlafly, would you please stop to ''trim'' my contributions? Ignoring a problem generally doesn't lead to a satisfactory conclusion! [[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 02:02, 2 January 2012 (EST)

::AugustO, I am perfectly willing to apologize if necessary. Let me ask you a few questions for clarification. Is the Protestant denomination you belong to pro-evolution? Does the Protestant denomination you belong to ordain women as pastors? Does the Protestant denomination you belong to marry homosexuals? Is the Protestant denomination you belong to shrinking in membership? While I don't agree with this blog's entire contents, I have a feeling the Protestant denomination you belong to is [http://voxday.blogspot.com/2011/05/and-here-i-thought-slippery-slope-didnt.html on this slope] and has a [http://creation.com/truth-decay significant case of "truth decay".] If you could provide additional clarification, it would be appreciated. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 04:39, 2 January 2012 (EST)

:*The EKKW is one of the more conservative ''Landeskirchen'' of the EKD.
:*Generally in Germany you don't shop for a church - a relict of ''cuius regio eius religio''. So under the tent of a ''Landeskirche'' you will find various, often struggling opinions.
:*'''All such questions should have been asked before you made your insulting remarks.''' You insulted my faith and my church without bothering to make the most basic inquiries.
:*I'm not the first one to be treated this way - [[User:MaxFletcher]] was insulted similarly.
:[[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 08:20, 2 January 2012 (EST)
AugustO, I have found that liberals are often evasive and don't want to be called liberals. I will ask for further clarification: Do most of the churches in your Protestant denomination you belong to take a pro-evolution stance? Do most of the churches in your Protestant denomination that you belong to ordain women as pastors? Do most of the churches in your Protestant denomination you belong to marry homosexuals? Is the Protestant denomination you belong to shrinking in membership?

I did do some cursory investigation into your denomination's stances (unfortunately the sources in English were very scarce and I could only find Wikipedia as a source) and it appears as if your denomination is generally pro-homosexual marriage, ordains women and the denomination you belong to is shrinking in size (But again, I only have one source and I don't take that source as the gospel truth). Given the cultural landscape of Europe, this does not surprise me if it is true.

Lastly, are you pro-evolution, are you for or against the ordination of women, are you for or against homosexuals being able to marry? [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 18:05, 2 January 2012 (EST)

:Funny, I found that conservatives are often straightforward and don't want to be called liberals neither. As for the rest of your comment: it may be that the EKD is less to your liking. But I'm fairly sure that almost all of our brothers and sisters in the various ''Landeskirchen'' would repelled by your statement that the only thing they love more than extramarital sex and pro-abortion policies is [[gay bathhouses]]. What percentage of Christian in the world do you try to alienate?
:[[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 18:51, 2 January 2012 (EST)
::::You didn't answer my simple questions regarding your views on evolution, ordination of women, an whether or not homosexuals should be allowed to marry (I should have said by a church) and if your denomination is declining in membership. I conclude therefore that you are not a conservative and you are liberal and that denomination is generally liberal also and declining in membership. There are consequences to rejecting biblical authority and some of them are: an increase in sex outside of a marriage (specifically marriage between a man and a women which is a legitimate marriage), an increase in abortions and a church that is spiritually dying and declining in membership. Generally speaking, churches/individuals that start the process of rejecting biblical authority drift more and more away from biblical authority and become more and more liberal and licentious. While I may have being wrong about the degree of licentiousness within your denomination and if so I apologize, but it does appear as if it is on the decline spiritually, morally and in membership. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 19:23, 2 January 2012 (EST)
:::::Addendum: The Book of Revelation declares: “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: 'These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.'" Based on your replies, I regrettably have to say that you and many if not all of the churches in your denomination are not hot but are very lukewarm and you and those churches have been spit out. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 19:54, 2 January 2012 (EST)
:::::::Personal attacks are unbecoming and unproductive. I would suggest you stop, User:Conservative. You have passed the line from satire to the crude and tawdry--[[User:CamilleT|CamilleT]] 22:40, 2 January 2012 (EST)
::Camille, you certainly made quite an allegation there. If you are confident your allegation can withstand scrutiny, I suggest you take it up with the owner of the website. We both know your allegation will be ignored/trimmed though, don't we? [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 23:08, 2 January 2012 (EST)

*User:Conservative, you have made up your mind about my belief, and no simple statement of mine will change this. But that doesn't matter: ''I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.''
*Your ability to condemn your Christian brothers and sisters ('''''I regrettably have to say that you and many if not all of the churches in your denomination are not hot but are very lukewarm and you and those churches have been spit out. '''''), while admitting that you have not much information ('''''I did do some cursory investigation ''''') is truly amazing!
*A statement like '''The only thing "liberal Christianity" loves more than extramarital sex and pro-abortion policies is [[gay bathhouses]]!''' is just wrong, insulting, and should be rejected by ''all'' Christians. [[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 02:26, 3 January 2012 (EST)

August, I asked you a few simple questions about biblical beliefs and received no reply as to your positions on these matters. For example, I asked if it is right for a church to marry two homosexuals and you gave no reply. You have given me no reason to believe that you are a bona fide Christian. Jesus warned about wolves in sheep's clothing so I see no reason to believe that every person who professes to be Christian is truly a Christian. There are plenty of cases in history of false/heretical people and sects proclaiming to be Christian when they have radically different beliefs than orthodox forms of Christianity.

For example, consider this: "In 1984, David Jenkins, Anglican Bishop of Durham, described Christ’s resurrection as “a conjuring trick with bones” (“English Bishop Calls Christ’s Resurrection Conjuring Trick,” AP, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Oct. 28, 1984). Jenkins also said, “The Christian is not bound up with freak biology or corpses getting up and walking around” and “You don’t have to believe in the virgin birth.” (On July 9, 1984, three days after Jenkins was consecrated bishop, lightning struck his cathedral and caused extensive damage. A spokesman for the fire brigade said that though the roof was fully wired with lightning rods, none of them worked that morning; the smoke detectors in the ceiling did not go off, even though they were tested only a month before; and there was no thunder accompanying the lightning. EP News Service, Dec. 21, 1984)."[http://www.wayoflife.org/files/4fa466c4c219ef7377db25265f553ab7-183.html]

If you were more forthcoming, I might shed my skepticism, but instead you have given me no option but to still retain it. That's your choice. But you have to accept responsibility for the consequences of that choice. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 07:29, 3 January 2012 (EST)
:::: Lieber AugustO hoffe es macht dir nichts aus, wenn ich ihm seine Fragen beantworte (leider nur über Online-Recherche). Falls doch, so entschuldige ich mich und bitte dich meinen Eintrag zu streichen.
::::@ user:conservative: Since I speak German I checked out the website of the EKKW. This is what I found: Women can be ordained. Homosexuals can '''not''' be married. Unfortunately the membership of the EKKW is slightly declining. As for evolution: I could not find any information. As far as I can say, evolution vs. creationism is not that big of a deal in Europe, or at least the German speaking parts. I for one have never seen a discussion about it on TV or in a newspaper. Hope this helped to clarify your questions, so you can go back to the actual argument, which was that AugustO felt insulted by your remarks.
::::AugustO denk doch auch an Lk. 6.29: ''Dem, der dich auf die eine Wange schlägt, halt auch die andere hin, und dem, der dir den Mantel wegnimmt, lass auch das Hemd.'' Herzlich --[[User:VPropp|VPropp]] 08:25, 3 January 2012 (EST)

@VPropp: Thanks for your contribution! Sorry if I created the impression that I was after a personal apology by User:Conservative. That is somewhat meaningless for me. It is the language I just don't want to encounter in a '''family-friendly encyclopediay'''. I would like User:Conservative to stop spouting invectives without (or even) with reason.

Recently I discussed with friends whether it would be a good idea to steer candidates for conformation to Conservapedia, to help them to improve there knowledge of English (and the little they know already on Greek). We agreed that this wouldn't be a good idea:
*they are more likely to stumble upon articles on homosexuality etc. on Conservapedia than on Wikipedia
*there is a high probability that they get insulted after a short period of editing
*frankly, the ''Popular articles at Conservapedia '' aren't written that well - and I can detect this though I'm not a native speaker!
*finally: what should I answer a catechumen if he asks me whether our pastor is a lesbian or sodomite? Or what he loves most, extramarital sex, pro-abortion policies or gay bathhouses?
It is deeply disturbing that User:Conservative can be sure that all such concerns will be ''ignored/trimmed''. [[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 10:41, 3 January 2012 (EST)

: Sorry if I misunderstood you AugustO. I can see your point, why you would not want candidates for confirmation working on Conservapedia. But I have to interject a few things: 1. I think a far bigger problem, language wise are not the active users here, but the vandals, who very often post disgusting things in a disgusting language. 2. Conservapedia is, in my opinion, still far more family friendly than Wikipedia. I strongly discourage you from bringing your confirmation candidates to Wikipedia. In my experience, one of the first things teenagers will look up are the articles on reproductive organs. On Wikipedia those articles are accompanied by, at the very least, borderline pornographic images. There is also a lot of extremely vile language on the talkpages, which is usually not reverted, unlike (with as you pointed out, a few exceptions) on Conservapedia.
: If you want to improve their English language skills, there are other playfull methods to do so. For instance: watching English movies, discussing song lyrics, writing essays in English, which you or another member of your congregation could proof read. You can give all of those suggestions a strong Chritian focus rather easily. --[[User:VPropp|VPropp]] 11:03, 3 January 2012 (EST)
:::Despite his refusal to answer my simple questions, it is obvious that August belongs to a so called "liberal Christianity" denomination and that they are [http://voxday.blogspot.com/2011/05/and-here-i-thought-slippery-slope-didnt.html on the slope] and a denomination in moral, spiritual, and numerical decline. It is also equally obvious to anyone who has read Conservapedia's [[Christian apologetics]], [[evolution]], [[homosexuality]] and [[liberal]] articles that liberal theology is errant. I see no point in wrangling with someone who takes issue with what I am saying, but is unwilling to answer a few simple questions which are a starting point to a fruitful discussion. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 17:46, 3 January 2012 (EST)
:: Dear user:conservative, I'm hesitant to call the EKKW a "liberal Christianity" denomination. Since I just gathered some infos from their website and you just read a very short article on Wikipedia, I think we should hear AugustO out, since he's the one that frequents this chruch and is thus more qualified to make statements about its principles. I'm also not quite sure I agree with the blog post you provided about liberal Christianity denomination being "on the slope". While I can see how ordaining homosexuals can bring sexual depravity to a church, I don't see how this is connected with women being ordained. Unfortunately I have also to add that ''my'' [[catholic church|church]] has had some history of sexual depravity. Regretfully I have to say, that among those depravities was just the one that was mentioned in the blog post. Is my church now on the slope. Is my church liberal? I don't think we should judge whole churches based on the errors of a few of its sheep and shepards. I also am a bit disappointed that you refuse to discuss the issue any further with AugustO Sincerely --[[User:VPropp|VPropp]] 19:12, 3 January 2012 (EST)

The EKKW is perhaps the most conservative church within the EKD. But that doesn't matter - even if I lived a couple of kilometers to the west in an enclave of the EKIR, I should be save from being accused from being a "liberal Christian". Fact is that Protestant churches in Europe generally work in a different way than in the U.S.: you have little choice which church to go to, but this is balanced by a greater spectrum within the membership of a church. And therefore, there often aren't official positions of a church, and rivaling views can be seen within a church (though the idea of "special creation" and especially the idea of a "Young Earth" is a minority position - held by only few people in Europe.)

As I said: this all is irrelevant. I shouldn't read a statement like '''The only thing "liberal Christianity" loves more than extramarital sex and pro-abortion policies is [[gay bathhouses]]''' in a family-friendly encyclopedia, and I find the various interrogations into my faith - and whether my '''"liberal Christianity" "pastor" '''[is]''' a lesbian or sodomite''' insulting.

I'm not looking for an apology, I'd like the management of this site (this means [[User:Aschlafly]]) to step in and prevent such language. Unfortunately that won't happen - as [[User:Conservative]] has observed so smugly.

[[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 08:10, 4 January 2012 (EST)
:::August, the EKKW is in spiritual decline and losing members, while Bible believing churches are vibrant and prospering in the world. Maybe you will find someone interested in talking about you and your dying denomination, but it is not going to be me given your stubbornness and unwillingness to have a fruitful conversation. I tried to help you discover the root cause of the problem that you and your church suffer from via some simple questions, but you didn't want to cooperate. When a church or individual starts getting slack about biblical authority and clear teachings within the Bible, church history shows they very often decline and enter into moral decline. The EKKW and EKD is [http://voxday.blogspot.com/2011/05/and-here-i-thought-slippery-slope-didnt.html on the slope]. I did say that if I overestimated the amount of moral decline at this juncture, my apologies. However, you didn't want to accept my apology. But nonetheless, they are [http://voxday.blogspot.com/2011/05/and-here-i-thought-slippery-slope-didnt.html on the slope] and in need of repentance. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 10:24, 4 January 2012 (EST)
:::::By the way, I seem to recall that you are the one who picked a fight with me. Then you get mad when I point out the shortcomings of your belief system in return. I wouldn't be surprised if you poke sleeping dogs with sticks in your neighborhood and then complain when you get bitten. I would suggest throwing your stick in the bushes if you can dish it out, but you get angry when criticism is directed towards your errant beliefs which you obviously cannot defend. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 10:47, 4 January 2012 (EST)

:*''August, the EKKW is in spiritual decline and losing members, while Bible believing churches are vibrant and prospering in the world. '' Show me some examples ''Bible believing churches'' in Germany - I would be surprised if their vibrancy and prosperity reaches the degree of my church though she is in ''spiritual decline''. I assume that your ''Bible believing churches'' are as energetic as the ''Question Evolution campaign!''.
:*''Maybe you will find someone interested in talking about you and your dying denomination, but it is not going to be me given your stubbornness and unwillingness to have a fruitful conversation.'' It was you who asked about my denomination, so I assumed that you have some interest in it.
:*''I tried to help you discover the root cause of the problem that you and your church suffer from via some simple questions, but you didn't want to cooperate.'' Sorry, but I don't trust your remote diagnosis.
:*''When a church or individual starts getting slack about biblical authority and clear teachings within the Bible, church history shows they very often decline and enter into moral decline.'' Another hidden attack against my church - and me...
:*''The EKKW and EKD is [http://voxday.blogspot.com/2011/05/and-here-i-thought-slippery-slope-didnt.html on the slope].'' You obviously aren't well informed. That's generally not a problem, as long as you don't offer advice.
:*''I did say that if I overestimated the amount of moral decline at this juncture, my apologies. However, you didn't want to accept my apology.'' Of course, I would accept an apology. I just don't expect one. And I'm right: this isn't an apology, it's just another insult.
:*''But nonetheless, they are [http://voxday.blogspot.com/2011/05/and-here-i-thought-slippery-slope-didnt.html on the slope] and in need of repentance. '' Again, you gave no reason for having confidence in your remote diagnosis.
:*''By the way, I seem to recall that you are the one who picked a fight with me. '' I didn't pick a fight with you, I criticized one of your statements: see [[Talk:Main_Page/Archive_index/106#Conundrum|here]]
:*''Then you get mad when I point out the shortcomings of your belief system in return.'' I got ''mad'' because you aren't able to stay on the subject. Try to differ between the ''debate'' and the ''debaters'' - a good argument should be valid without judging the person who makes it.
:*''I wouldn't be surprised if you poke sleeping dogs with sticks in your neighborhood and then complain when you get bitten.'' Sorry, not my sport.
:*''I would suggest throwing your stick in the bushes if you can dish it out, but you get angry when criticism is directed towards your errant beliefs which you obviously cannot defend. '' *LOL*

:So, let's summarize: my church and I are in moral decline, I adhere to errant beliefs, and my pastor has to be a lesbian or a sodomite. And the whole reason for this conclusion: I don't share your beliefs on ''Young Earth Creationism'' and you have read something on wikipedia about the EKKW.

:Don't you see that this is quite ridiculous? [[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 11:23, 4 January 2012 (EST)

::I'm intrigued by all this about "liberal" Christianity versus "Bible-believing" churches. User:Conservative, which denominations do you consider to be "liberal"? What about the Church of England, for example? Are you saying that these aren't true Christians? How many "true" Christians would you estimate that there are worldwide? Which do you consider more pressing: evangelising to "liberal" Christians, or to atheists?--[[User:CPalmer|CPalmer]] 12:05, 4 January 2012 (EST)
:::::CPalmer, there are a lot of denominations and I don't pretend to know all of their doctrinal beliefs nor do I want to take the time to do the requisite research. Plus, there are a lot of non-denomination churches and churches which are split between conservatives and liberals. For example, as far as the Anglicans it is well known there is a struggle going on between Bible believing Anglicans and liberal Anglicans and the flash point in recent times has been the homosexuality issue. Third, it is well known that moderate/liberal churches are losing members in the West and conservative, Bible believing churches are seeing growth. There have been numerous books/articles about this matter and this has been happening for decades. As far as evangelizing, a general principle is that Jesus said to preach to those who had ears to hear and to move on and shake the dust off your feet for heavily resistant populations. But that is a general principle, an atheist who just hit rock bottom might be open so you have to be Spirit led. I think prevention is far more effective when it comes to something like atheism as atheists tend to be very resistant to the gospel. On the other hand, if very tough economic times hit I think the atheist population could see big declines. Men do tend to arrogant when wealthy and tend to be more humble when experiencing economic problems. Next, I don't care to speculate on the amount of bona fide Christians in the world as I am not done a significant amount of research in terms of the current Christian population. I am encouraged though as Bible believing churches have seen significant growth worldwide and they appear to be the fastest growing faith in the world. Here is what I do know: 1) The Apostle Paul said to examine yourself and see if you are a member of the faith. 2) In the Book of Revelation a church body was warned that they were lukewarm and were about to be spit out of Christ's mouth. In addition, the Bible says God rewards those who diligently seek Him. However, information on Christianity is publicly available and church bodies do issue statements of faith, so if you are very interested in this matter, I am sure you can find out estimates of the amount of Bible believing Christians in the world. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 17:01, 4 January 2012 (EST)
:::Just as I suspected! It appears the reason why August0 fired the first shot in this small series of exchanges is that he is upset about the [[Question evolution! campaign]]. I can see why since once it hits Germany, God willing, it will no doubt further accelerate his declining denomination's membership should they decide to be recalcitrant and continue to flout biblical authority. Given Germany's population relative to the European population, it wouldn't be surprised if the members of this young social movement have plans concerning Germany. Since evolutionists cannot satisfactorily answer the questions, it would certainly be interesting to watch creationist throw spanners into the machinery of German evolutionary indoctrination. Spanner is a word for wrench with Germanic roots. :) Oh, look [http://questionevolutionde.blogspot.com/ HERE], it seems as though Question Evolution! Germany preparations have started! :) I wonder when Germany will see waves of biblical creation material sweep across their land! :) [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 19:38, 4 January 2012 (EST)

I don't know what gave you the impression that the reason I ''fired the first shot in this small series of exchanges is that he is upset about the [[Question evolution! campaign]]'' - I criticized two sentences in which you described how to debate atheists, namely:
*''Bring down the banhammer early and often at Christian/creationist forums and wikis when it comes to these types of atheists/evolutionists. It's fun and entertaining! Mr. Militant, Rude and Ignorant Atheist/Evolutionists, don't get sassy with me! Bam! You're out of here! '' and
*''Never read more than a few words or sentences of inane and socially challenged atheist/evolutionist comments before deleting them''
I think that these ideas don't help to have a ''fruitful dialog''. AFAIK, you elaborated these ideas at first without mentioning ''Question Evolution!'', though you published them on the blog of the campaign.

My position to the campaign: I'll judge it by its fruits. And as you stated [[Talk:Question_evolution!_campaign#Who_is_this_campaign_aimed_to_.3F|here]], this gives me ample time... At the moment, I'm reminded of the ''Hornberger Schiessen''.

[[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 20:07, 4 January 2012 (EST)
::::Did I publish "them"? Secondly, where in the New Testament does it say to have dialogues with rude and militant people? Didn't Jesus talk about not casting pearls before swine and shaking the dust off your feet? Am I missing something? Lastly, I am still not impressed with the fruits of your declining denomination and I have noticed your silence on the issue of marrying homosexuals in the church and other matters. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 20:53, 4 January 2012 (EST)
::::::AugustO, some Flickr user by the username "atheism" has a rather [http://www.flickr.com/photos/evolution_atheism/3360230417/ unique picture] relative to criticizing Darwinism. User: Atheism also has pictures taken in Germany in his/her photostream as can be seen [http://www.flickr.com/photos/evolution_atheism/3676931503/in/photostream HERE] and [http://www.flickr.com/photos/evolution_atheism/3666454904/in/photostream HERE]. Do you think the creationist "User: Atheism" has been to Germany? Do you think User: Atheism knows fellow creationists in Germany? There may be some Bible believing churches in Germany. If so, I would guess there is a good chance they are growing. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 21:27, 4 January 2012 (EST)

:*'' Am I missing something? '' Yes, the point: whether you were convinced by my arguments is secondary, the statement ''August0 fired the first shot in this small series of exchanges is that he is upset about the [[Question evolution! campaign]]'' is just not true.
:*''Do you think the creationist "User: Atheism" has been to Germany?'' And to Greece, the Netherlands and France. Looks like a guided tour - the probability that he could engage some people living there in a discussion on creationism is fairly small.
:*''If so, I would guess there is a good chance they are growing.'' One of the main problems with your arguments - you take your ''guesses'' as something to bolster your ''convictions''!
:[[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 03:16, 5 January 2012 (EST)
:::It does appear as if you didn't take a poke at me and merely criticized my approach. I do stand by my approach as far as dealing with militant atheists who are rude though. Second, because I had limited information about your church in Germany at the time of my initial comments, I do think I should have had a more measured response at the time and I assumed too much. Given that my atheism, evolution and homosexuality articles have factual content which is upsetting to liberals, I do get my share of attacks, but I needn't have a hair trigger in terms of letting someone have it with both barrels which is what happened in your case. However, given that it appears as if your denomination appears to flout what the Bible says about homosexuality and other issues and is losing membership, it does appear as if it is in need of repentance. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 03:40, 5 January 2012 (EST)

*''It does appear as if you didn't take a poke at me and merely criticized my approach.'' Indeed.
*''I do stand by my approach as far as dealing with militant atheists who are rude though.'' Your prerogative. But it won't strengthen your position, doesn't help to evolve debating skills, and can be often seem to be overly defensive. BTW, how to you deal with rude Christians?
*''Second, because I had limited information about your church in Germany at the time of my initial comments, I do think I should have had a more measured response at the time and I assumed too much.'' Yes, you should have had a more measured response - but not only because of your lack of knowledge! Before writing sentences like '''The only thing "liberal Christianity" loves more than extramarital sex and pro-abortion policies is [[gay bathhouses]]!''' you should ask yourself whether this is something you want to read in a family-friendly environment.
*''Given that my atheism, evolution and homosexuality articles have factual content which is upsetting to liberals, I do get my share of attacks, but I needn't have a hair trigger in terms of letting someone have it with both barrels which is what happened in your case.'' Especially under attack you should try to show the superiority of your position by levelheaded responses.
*''However, given that it appears as if your denomination appears to flout what the Bible says about homosexuality and other issues and is losing membership, it does appear as if it is in need of repentance.'' A ''non sequitur''. Yes, not all is well in the EKD, and even not in the EKKW. And I'm generally willing to discuss the problems, though I don't see any benefit in doing so with you: it would put to much strain on you to make yourself acquainted with the situation so that you can provide fruitful advice. Generalities and tautologies are easy to come by.

As a conclusion from my experiences: when asking about the religious beliefs of somebody, you should be as polite as possible, as this is a sensitive area. And even if you think that your interlocutor isn't honest about his beliefs, you shouldn't insult him - as you may alienate those readers who share his ''pretended'' belief.

Not spouting vitriol against anyone who doesn't share your beliefs completely doesn't make you lukewarm.

[[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 17:53, 6 January 2012 (EST)
::AugustO, as far as the issue of dealing with a difficult people: our recent discussion, other events and material I read recently, has caused me to rethink matters and make some beneficial changes.[[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 05:58, 8 January 2012 (EST)

::::Conservative, you seem a bit obsessed with gay bathhouses, gay marriage, and homosexuality in general...is there something that you would like to share with the class? --[[User:RudrickBoucher|RudrickBoucher]] 09:26, 9 January 2012 (EST)

== Deletion of debate aboute 15 questions ==

User:Conservative deleted [[Debate: 15 questions for evolutionists.]] and stated as the reason for this action ‎''if you want to keep deleting my posts to this debate page fine - bye page!''

This comment strikes me as a little juvenile, especially for an administrator (''I'll take my ball and go home''), therefore I created [[Debate: 15 questions for evolutionists]]. The debate is important, as the '''15 questions''' are featured all over Conservapedia and not showing the attempts to answer them could lead to accusations of censorship.

To avoid further tit-for-tat, I try to get a moderated debate.

[[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 08:17, 12 January 2012 (EST)

::::It is interesting that he justified deleting it based on the fact that his repeated comments (calling me a "shyster") were deleted. It seems that these are the 15 questions that no biologist ("evolutionist" is a rather empty neologism) is '''allowed''' to answer...--[[User:RudrickBoucher|RudrickBoucher]] 21:28, 12 January 2012 (EST)

== 90/10 block of Rudrick Boucher ==

[[User:RudrickBoucher]] was blocked for '''two years''' for breaking the [http://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Special:Log&type=block&page=User%3ARudrickBoucher 90/10 rule]. As he is a first-time offender this seems to be an extraordinary long ban - and therefore smacks of ideological censorship.

[[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 03:15, 14 January 2012 (EST)

:I do find the 90/10 rule a bit of a strange one. Considering how so many articles here are protected, in many cases for no apparent reason it seems, and how the [[Conservapedia:Editing etiquette]] encourages a cautious approach to editing with an emphasis on discussing changes first, the best contributor could be someone who actually violates the 90/10 rule, because they are careful to ensure there is agreement about the change they want to make or simply that they can't edit the article due to protection. Then of course there are the debate pages which are clearly venues for people to talk about issues. The ratio of talk page to article edits alone is a very poor measure of the value of a contributor. It does seem one rule that can easily be abused. [[User:Adambro|Adambro]] 08:14, 14 January 2012 (EST)

User talk:Jpatt

2012-01-13T18:58:41Z

Adambro: Reverted edits by FREDxPHELPS (talk) to last revision by Jpatt

== Archive 2008 ==
[http://www.conservapedia.com/User_talk:Jpatt/Subway_Troll Here]

== Archive 2009 ==
[http://www.conservapedia.com/User_talk:Jpatt/2009]

== Archive 2010 ==
[http://www.conservapedia.com/User_talk:Jpatt/2010]

== Archive 2011 ==
[http://www.conservapedia.com/User_talk:Jpatt/2011‎]

== Blank3r ==

Good job stopping him.[[User:JonM|JonM]] 14:40, 11 January 2012 (EST)

==Adambro==
Hi Jpatt, what did you mean by "AdamBro is clan but keep on eye on him. Sock puppets of BL4NK3R; NoohWicky, UtterMuppet, Maggie, B0LLL0X". Is he a sockpuppet ? --[[User:PhilipN|PhilipN]] 17:04, 11 January 2012 (EST)
:AdamBro is clean, as far as socks are involved. He might be what Tony has said, so follow his future edits.--[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 17:10, 11 January 2012 (EST)
::I will, thanks for the info. --[[User:PhilipN|PhilipN]] 17:15, 11 January 2012 (EST)

== Thank you ==

Thanks for the welcome and reverting vandalism on my user and talk page! I don't understand that vandal --- it was my first day and I don't think i wrote anything controversial, why would anyone do that to me? [[User:Lansing|Lansing]] 12:02, 12 January 2012 (EST)
:Get used to liberal intimidation. We can block their ideology but they counter with vandalism. --[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 12:15, 12 January 2012 (EST)

Talk:Debate: 15 questions for evolutionists

2012-01-13T17:08:24Z

Adambro: /* Open question to readers of this page */ +cmt

==Personal attacks==
AugustO, I am sure the homosexual members of the Evangelical Church of Hesse Electorate-Waldeck that you belong to who were "married" in one of their "churches" are going to love the material you posted here. Liberals love error. By the way, what are your thoughts on the Conservapedia [[homosexuality]] article? [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 08:47, 12 January 2012 (EST)
:Is there a reason you have deleted and then recreated this page without any of the preceding posts? It does seem rather arbitrary. [[User:Davidspencer|Davidspencer]] 08:52, 12 January 2012 (EST)

User:Conservative, have you anything pertinent to contribute to the debate? Otherwise I just go to ignore your invectives. [[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 08:59, 12 January 2012 (EST)
::August), is your liberal Protestant denomination still declining in their membership? How is that church's embracing of Darwinist naturalist philosophy and liberalism working out for you guys? Any miracles happen in the last service you attended? "O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called" (1 Timothy 6:20) "holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these." (2 Timothy 3:5) [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 09:07, 12 January 2012 (EST)

User:Conservative, the [[Question Evolution! campaign]] provides a list of questions to be asked, e.g. in school. What good are these questions when they can be answered - and these answers can't be rebutted, because those who should provide such rebuttals prefer to use their time to alienate their fellow Christians? [[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 09:11, 12 January 2012 (EST)
:::AugustO, fellow Christians? You still haven't answered my questions from our last exchange or other questions I have. There have been too many heretical groups in history calling themselves Christians for me to automatically believe without due diligence that they are bona fide Christians. The fruit I have seen from my preliminary investigation is not encouraging. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 09:24, 12 January 2012 (EST)
:::: @user:Conservative: Concerning your first post here: I think I told you on the Community Portal, that AugustO's church does not marry homosexual couples. It is one of the things that is stated rather clearly on their German website...--[[User:VPropp|VPropp]] 11:13, 12 January 2012 (EST)
::::::True, you told me and did not show me. My preliminary research definitely leans towards them embracing this practice although it is not absolutely conclusive. Of course, this could better be cleared up if AugustO simply answers my questions. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 09:48, 12 January 2012 (EST)
*I doubt that there is anything I could write about me that would change your heart.
*The answers to your questions can be found in the internet, I think you will have more trust in your own research than in any of my statements.
*You seem to have not much of a problem to condemn the 900,000 members of the EKKW (or the 23,000,000 members of the EKD) as heretical! What does more harm: to condemn and insult a fellow Christian - or to engage respectfully in a debate with a member of one of the ''many heretical groups in history calling themselves Christians''.
*All of this doesn't matter when it comes to the ''15 questions for evolutionists''. Really, I don't know how you want to witness to any of the hostile atheists when you can't keep your cool in this sheltered environment?
[[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 09:45, 12 January 2012 (EST)
::::AugustO, have homosexuals been "married" inside of Evangelical Church of Hesse Electorate-Waldeck "churches"? It is an easy enough question for you to answer unless of course you want to hide something as liberals often want to do. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 09:54, 12 January 2012 (EST)
Is this 15 questions for evolutionists or just simply 15 questions for AugustO? [[User:Adambro|Adambro]] 09:55, 12 January 2012 (EST)

:*What has this to do with [[Debate: 15 questions for evolutionists]]? Is this a typical example of the tactic of diversion which is often used by liberals?
:*No "marriages" have been performed - but there may be congregations which have allowed "blessings".
:[[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 09:58, 12 January 2012 (EST)
:::Evobabbling, women "pastors" "blessing" homosexual "marriages", declining membership - the Evangelical Church of Hesse Electorate-Waldeck is [http://voxday.blogspot.com/2011/05/and-here-i-thought-slippery-slope-didnt.html on the slope]. Of course, when you start flouting biblical authority and [[Christian apologetics|ignoring the large amount of evidence for the Bible]], that's what happens. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 10:23, 12 January 2012 (EST)

Thanks for your telediagnosis! Now, can we get to the debate at hand, or do you prefer to stick to personal attacks - at tactic often used by liberals? [[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 10:26, 12 January 2012 (EST)
:::August, when you start presenting actual evidence instead of just-so stories and stop [[Christian apologetics|ignoring the large amount of evidence for the Bible]] and the effects of when a church does this, then we can start debating. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 10:31, 12 January 2012 (EST)
:::::August, by the way, what do you think of Conservapedia [[homosexuality]] article in terms of the factual evidence it presents? [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 10:35, 12 January 2012 (EST)

I don't see how the perceived decline of the EKKW has anything to do with the ''15 questions'' - how does the very existence of a church you hadn't heard of a month ago can influence your evidence? Please, stop obfuscating (a tactic often used by liberals), and try to support the [[Question Evolution! Campaign]]. [[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 10:44, 12 January 2012 (EST)
::I am just point out through the social science of history using church history in particular what happens when churches put on their liberal evobabble skiis and liberalism ideology goggles and [http://voxday.blogspot.com/2011/05/and-here-i-thought-slippery-slope-didnt.html start going down the slope] - moral depravity and the condoning of the behavior of pretentious fraudulent shysters such as User: RudrichBoucher. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 11:03, 12 January 2012 (EST)
::: I'm intrigued, the history of which churches have you looked at? The accusation of moral depravity was used during the Reformation quite often and on both sides. Yet Catholicism and reformed churches still flourish.--[[User:VPropp|VPropp]] 11:13, 12 January 2012 (EST)
Thanks for pointing out! Now I can see the following dialogue happening somewhere in Texas:
*'''Pupil: ''' Here are fifteen questions you can't answer, Mr. Evolutionist-Teacher!
*'''Teacher: ''' Well, let's see. Question One isn't that difficult to answer - ''Darwin's 1859 book was called On the Origin of Species, not On the Origin of Life, his theory didn't cover the very beginnings of life, but what happened when speciation started. Similarly, we have helpful physical theories about the behavior of objects in the universe, though there is a scientific debate about the creation of the universe... '' So, what do you say?
*'''Pupil: '''RudricBoucher is a pretentious fraudulent shyster!
Yes, that will show the teacher! [[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 11:14, 12 January 2012 (EST)

::Hi AugustO, I've always found this answer (Evolution is about origin of species not origin of life) quite lazy. If you contest the fact that God created the species as they are today, you will have to provide an explanation for the beginning of life as well. To me, it's a bit like saying "I don't know how the thief got into the house, I just study how he stole the money"... --[[User:PhilipN|PhilipN]] 15:24, 12 January 2012 (EST)
:::By the way, I thought you had more than just 3 answers ?--[[User:PhilipN|PhilipN]] 15:26, 12 January 2012 (EST)

:::*To provide a theory of everything is a little bit to ambitious for me - most theories have a more or less well-defined area which they are covering: Quantum mechanics starts to explain much of the world shortly ''after'' the big bang (if there was one). And there may be specialists who are only looking how the safe was opened in the burglary without knowing how the thief entered the house. Their expertise may help to solve find the criminals. But you should state you rebuttal in the actual debate.
:::*I hadn't contributed to the previous version of the debate. There have been more answers to the questions, but they were deleted. I can't reconstruct them on my own...
:::[[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 15:44, 12 January 2012 (EST)
::::*So, should we add our arguments directly into the debate page, isn't it going to be messy ?
::::*Oh, I had not noticed that the previous version had been deleted... I believe this is the consequence of an edit war with a senior admin !--[[User:PhilipN|PhilipN]] 15:54, 12 January 2012 (EST)
VPropp, Western Roman Catholicism which has many members which have embraced liberalism and evolutionism (particularly starting in the 1950's and accelerating post 1960's), is not flourishing and is: bleeding members, plagued with scandals and experiencing a shortage of priests. It is not uncommon for Jesuits in academia to claim the Bible is riddled with historical error, etc. etc. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 17:11, 12 January 2012 (EST)

== Heresy hunting ==

"Conservative", if you're really on the lookout for the "many heretical groups in history calling themselves Christians" why don't you start with [[User:Ed_Poor|Uncle Ed]]? I guarantee you that no matter what August's church believes, it doesn't include the idea that Jesus is a rich old Korean guy who owns the Washington Times. --[[User:MarkSpace|MarkSpace]] 11:18, 12 January 2012 (EST)
:Lately, my editing at this wiki has been on the world economy, the 2012 U.S Presidential election and the [[Question evolution! campaign]] (which will accelerate the [[Global atheism|global decline of atheism]]). I will paraphrase and take liberties with a quote a relative of mine said to me: "In life, you have to pick your battles" (the actual quote related to his relationship with his wife). While it is certainly possible for me to battle every religious faith different from my own and every false ideology (Darwinism, liberalism), ultimately I am a mere mortal (or perhaps several). :) Of course, if [[Richard Dawkins]]' wacky false ideology (which is [[Atheism|bereft of evidence]] and [[Christian apologetics|counter to the vast evidence we have for Christianity]]) were true, I could easily be an advanced piece of artificial intelligence left by little green men who were the product of Darwinian evolution! [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 16:46, 12 January 2012 (EST)
::User:Conservative, applying the defintion of Christianity that you seem so fond of using (capitalist, anti-homosexuality, pro-life, anti-evolution, democratic) the number of real Christians might be between 60 and 100 million globally. You seem to lack any sort of imagination of other countries or understanding that their structures, as much the American structures, are fundamentally different rom each other. Quite frankly, I and most other people would say that upon reading this discussion, you belong in a mental asylum. As I have lived in Germany all my life, it is very probable that that was were the German authorities would put you. And I believe they would be right in doing so. --[[User:NekD|NekD]] 17:38, 12 January 2012 (EST)
::::NekD, I would suggest using Firefox as it finds typos and misspellings. You misspelled the word definition. Second, please demonstrate I have defined Christianity in the exact manner you have claimed (for example, I personally believe in a republic with a representative government rather than a democracy plus capitalism. Plus, where have I said that biblical Christianity precisely prescribes a certain form of government or economics?). Third, you seem to be quite angry and have a penchant for armchair internet pop psychological diagnosis. I think I struck a nerve and pointed out some unpleasant truths for you. Often, the bitten dog yelps the loudest! Lastly, consider reading [[Essay: Counseling psychology and Dumbo's feather|this essay]]. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 18:10, 12 January 2012 (EST)
:::::Really? Are you that stupid not to recognize trolling? Have you so gotten used to being called insane that it doesn't even jump out at you?
:::::Most people will believe the exact opposite of what you tell them, Ken DeMyer, that it because you are so often wrong people have stopped counting the times you are wrong and started counting the times you are right. --[[User:NekD|NekD]] 18:22, 12 January 2012 (EST)
[[User:Conservative]], you should follow your own advice. Then you wouldn't have to erase [http://conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Talk:Debate:_15_questions_for_evolutionists&curid=118883&diff=953459&oldid=953458 revisions] to cover up your mistakes while lecturing others on theirs! [[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 18:20, 12 January 2012 (EST)
:::::NekD, I see you are unable to back your claim that I have defined Christianity in the precise manner that you claimed I did - very telling. :) Second, I am used to armchair internet psychological diagnosises by some very angry and frustrated members of a certain website who have many members afflicted with [[Essay: Conservapedia obsessive compulsive disorder|Severe Conservapedia obsessive compulsive disorder]]. :) However, I don't give credence to the obsessive ruminations of [[Essay: Atheism is a clown and it did not know it|atheist clowns]]. By the way, no true skeptic claims to know my/our name. :) [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 18:35, 12 January 2012 (EST)

::::::Hi Conservative, I've seen you say "no true skeptic claims to know my/our name" a couple of time and I was wondering, what do you mean by that ?--[[User:PhilipN|PhilipN]] 19:07, 12 January 2012 (EST)

User:Conservative, earlier I [[Talk:Homosexuality|tried to answer]] one of your questions... [[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 19:08, 12 January 2012 (EST)
:::AugustO, that was not the question I specifically asked. Oftentimes, liberals engage in the style over substance fallacy rather than address the facts I present so I can understand your reluctance to address central issues. Once again, you prove to be a slippery character who fails to address the relevant questions I ask. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 19:16, 12 January 2012 (EST)

*LOL* taking into account your comments on this very page, this is the funniest thing I have seen today! [[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 19:20, 12 January 2012 (EST)
:::PhilipN, see [[Essay: Conservapedia obsessive compulsive disorder|symptom #8.]] Often, people with SCOCD like to obsess about various Conservapedia Admins, but unfortunately for them their one-way obsessions are unrequited obsessions not shared by the targets of their obsession. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 19:23, 12 January 2012 (EST)
::::AugustO, I was just trying to be helpful. He had two typos in his post to me. I merely made a single helpful suggestion. I didn't desperately create a whole web page of material indicating I had style over substance issues when it comes to my debate opponents that I was obviously losing to like you unfortunately did. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 19:27, 12 January 2012 (EST)

d. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 19:27, 12 January 2012 (EST)

::::I'd like to point out that every question on the page has an evolutionist response as of writing, and it is not looking good for the Question Evolution campaign. Maybe it should be changed from "15 questions evolutionists cant answer" to "A fifteen question exam on basic high school evolutionary biology, with some weird, bizarrely vague questions thrown in."[[User:TonyPark|TonyPark]] 19:42, 12 January 2012 (EST)
::::::Tony, do you attend a public school? The reason I ask is that in many public schools it doesn't matter if the answers to questions on tests are wrong answers or poorly answered, they still pass the students onto the next grade level. Tony, it appears as if you don't yet understand that poorly answered questions deserve a failing grade. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 19:54, 12 January 2012 (EST)

[[User:Conservative]], I <s>created a whole web page</s> discussed the first sections of your article on [[homosexuality]] on its talk-page. Judging from the corrections you made to the article afterwards I get the impression that I not only tried, but actually succeeded in being helpful! You're welcome!

As for ''losing the debate'' - where is this debate? I can find only personal attacks, while I am waiting for your rebuttals to evolutionists' responses.

[[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 19:59, 12 January 2012 (EST)

{|
|style="background-color: lightgrey;"|
Now I can see the following dialogue happening somewhere in Texas:
*'''Pupil: ''' Here are fifteen questions you can't answer, Mr. Evolutionist-Teacher!
*'''Teacher: ''' Well, let's see. Question One isn't that difficult to answer - ''Darwin's 1859 book was called On the Origin of Species, not On the Origin of Life, his theory didn't cover the very beginnings of life, but what happened when speciation started. Similarly, we have helpful physical theories about the behavior of objects in the universe, though there is a scientific debate about the creation of the universe... '' So, what do you say?
*'''Pupil: '''RudricBoucher is a pretentious fraudulent shyster!
Yes, that will show the teacher! [[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 11:14, 12 January 2012 (EST)
|}
::::AugustO, you still haven't answered all my questions. For example, is the Evangelical Church of Hesse Electorate-Waldeck still in decline as far as continuing to lose members? It still appears to me that they are [http://voxday.blogspot.com/2011/05/and-here-i-thought-slippery-slope-didnt.html on the slope]. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 20:04, 12 January 2012 (EST)
:::Conservative, do you like anchovies on your pizza? I ask because it is about as relevant to this debate as where I went to school. If you want to debate the questions, feel free to add something to the debate page. How is the Question Evolution campaign going to cut global atheism by 50% without Conservative there to defend the 15 questions that every evolutionist can answer?[[User:TonyPark|TonyPark]] 20:08, 12 January 2012 (EST)
::::::One of the questions is: "Why is a fundamentally religious idea, a dogmatic belief system that fails to explain the evidence, taught in science classes?". I was just pointing out to AugustO that the evolutionism/liberal "Christianity" religion he is subscribing to is morally bankrupt, produces bad fruit and is in decline and the reason it is taught in science classes is that [http://conservapedia.com/Talk:Question_evolution!_campaign/Archive_2 pretentious fraudulent shysters (such as User: RudrichBoucher)] want to promote it. Anyone who has read [[evolution|this article]] or [[Atheism|this article]] and similar material on the internet (or simply honestly examined God's creation) is very aware of this matter. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 20:19, 12 January 2012 (EST)

[[User:Conservative]], have you read the material of the [[Question Evolution! Campaign]]? It's about the theory of evolution, not the catechism of the EKKW. [[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 20:29, 12 January 2012

::Thank you Conservative, I needed a summary of this day long non sequitur you've managed to build up. Making fun of AugustO's church gave you an excuse to dodge the real debate, but that's okay because nobody expected your input to be anything but a demonstration of the Dunning-Kruger effect. If you want to talk turkey, take your best shot ON THE DEBATE PAGE. Otherwise, go write another "essay" about atheism and _______. [[User:TonyPark|TonyPark]] 21:02, 12 January 2012 (EST)

==Open memo to User:Conservative==

Christianity has changed quite a bit over the course of its history. Differences in theological interpretation, cultural tradition, and even geopolitical circumstance, have given rise to the many diverse denominations of Christianity that exist today. As early as the second century, there were scholars (a few of whom are now saints) who openly doubted the historicity of certain aspects of the gospels; including the virgin birth, the resurrection, the exact nature of Jesus' divinity, many of the miracles, and even Christ's message in general.

[[The New Testament]], as it survives today, is not, by any stretch of the imagination, the "inspired word of god". Instead, it is a compilation of writings which were agreed to be considered "canonical" at the Council of Rome in 382 AD. This council was convened by Pope Damasus I at the request of Emperor Theodosius I. Up until that time, there were at least 30 different gospels in widespread circulation and use; many of which disagreed widely on many key points. At the time, the Roman Empire was in a state of massive political upheaval (it would collapse entirely only eighty years later) and it had turned to its new state religion (Christianity) to provide political and social stability. Central to that aim was defining a core set of doctrines to define and unite Christianity, and also safeguard the political interests of the Roman state. The books and epistles that were ultimately included in the New Testament were deliberately chosen because they satisfied these aims.

Because of this, attacking a user's denomination of Christianity is an inherently meaningless exercise. Even the Catholic church acknowledges that it is not so much the substance of a person's faith that matters--it is that they have faith.

To summarize the Bhagavad Gita (and this is appropriate, considering that there are more philosophical parallels between Hindu and Judeo-Christian scripture than there are differences), mankind lacks the capacity to properly comprehend heavenly things (Jesus himself made similar assertions). It is not the place of mankind to judge the righteousness of men. Only God, with his heavenly perspective, can do that. This is one of the core tenets of Judeo-Christian philosophy--that is, leave the judging to God.

Accordingly, questioning another person's faith is highly inappropriate. "Spread the word" means just that, spread the word; don't attack another person for their interpretation of the word.

I know I speak for more users than myself on here when I say this. Please desist from making faith-based personal attacks. It is highly inappropriate (by all interpretations of the Gospel), and it is highly offensive.--[[User:RudrickBoucher|RudrickBoucher]] 22:48, 12 January 2012 (EST)

==Open question to readers of this page==

Because I believe that answering these questions in more detail would be a fun intellectual exercise, if the Conservapedia community would be okay with it, I would like to compose a 1-2 page answer to each of these questions and post them here as an essay. This would probably take me about a week to do (I have other, real, work to do on top of this), but I would be more than happy to do it if people are interested in reading more in-depth answers to each of the questions.

In the name of taking a balanced approach to such an effort, I am open to collaborating with other users on here in such an effort. I may even be able to get some of my colleagues to weigh in as well. Collaborating with one or more creationist users may also be particularly helpful, that way I can be sure of addressing all of the concerns underlying each of the questions.

Anyway, just food for thought. I know that there are already a number of pages devoted to this topic on here, but if people are interested, I am willing to do it. --[[User:RudrickBoucher|RudrickBoucher]] 21:44, 12 January 2012 (EST)

:::Colleagues? Do you mean other biologists or your friends from the Pretentious International Society of Shysters? Seriously though, its not like these questions are deeply insightful inquiries into evolutionary theory. A reasonably astute high schooler with an interest in biology could answer them satisfactorily. The answers for every one of these questions is freely available on any number of research web sites. CMI is not interested in having these questions answered; if they keep repeating the phrase "15 questions evolutionists can't answer", they can continue to denigrate and disrespect the work and motivations of the thousands of scientists without actually doing any work to come up with questions that might actually stump them. Save your effort. [[User:TonyPark|TonyPark]] 22:29, 12 January 2012 (EST)

:::::I have a few co-workers and classmates who are interested in this debate. Many of them have backgrounds in different sub-disciplines, so their input would be valuable. And, no, it's not wasted time at all. As scientists and educators, it is our duty to address misconceptions in the public square. --[[User:RudrickBoucher|RudrickBoucher]] 22:48, 12 January 2012 (EST)

:As a creationist, I am always interested in discussing the matter. Anyway, I believe most of those 15 questions are disapointing, there are other far more interesting questions to ask. I may try to draw a list of questions of my own if you are interested.--[[User:PhilipN|PhilipN]] 22:11, 12 January 2012 (EST)

:::If you want to come up with additional questions, I'd love to see them. A civil discourse is the only way that this tired issue will ever finally be put to rest. --[[User:RudrickBoucher|RudrickBoucher]] 22:48, 12 January 2012 (EST)
TonyPark, I didn't force RudrichBoucher to confess that he acted with a degree of pretentiousness in describing his relevant resume as far as the creation vs. evolution issue.[http://conservapedia.com/Talk:Question_evolution!_campaign/Archive_2] He freely admitted he overstated his resume. I am merely reminding Conservapedians of his self-described character deficit and that the material he writes cannot be trusted in terms of its truthfulness. [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 04:38, 13 January 2012 (EST)

:The following comment was previously deleted:
{|
|style="background-color: lightgrey;"|

:User:Conservative, when you stated ''AugustO, as far as the issue of dealing with a difficult people: our recent discussion, other events and material I read recently, has caused me to rethink matters and make some beneficial changes'', I hoped this would include stopping the stream of invectives you are hurling seemingly randomly on anyone who crosses your path. There is no need to call [[User:RudrickBoucher]] a ''pretentious fraud'' and ''shyster'', and those who defend him ''whiners''. You yourself are often inconsistent in your statements: sometimes you describe yourself as a single person (''I take a part in a nativity play'', ''I'm too sick to play my part'') sometimes you imply that you are a group of people. Following your example, I should disregard everything you write and answer to any of your statements with: '''''User:Conservative has proven to be a dyscalculexic fraud'''''. [[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 17:54, 11 January 2012 (EST)
|}
I assume you are smart enough to know that if there were more than one person sharing this account that a person in such a group could refer to themselves as I. :) Second, I do understand that Darwinists love the word random, however, if you could curb your enthusiasm in this matter, it would be appreciated. Third, RudrichBoucher is a self-described person who engaged in pretentious behavior concerning his creation vs. evolution resume. Perhaps you should consider asking him to stop hurling invectives against himself. When a creationist hears an evolutionist self-admit to engaging in fraud, it is similar to him posting a "kick me" sign on his back. :) [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 10:52, 13 January 2012 (EST)

:Then you are lucky: there is certainly no scientist who never made an error - and good scientists will acknowledge those errors. You may take these acknowledgements out of context, and just say: "''you admitted to be wrong - I won't listen to you ever again and ignore your arguments and the facts which you are presenting''".
:And now I understand why neither you nor Aschlafly are able to admit errors: you are afraid to stick a ''"kick me" sign on'' your backs. So you have to keep up all the charades which cumulate over time, looking more and more foolish (really: ''I am many''?)
:But experience of life tells us that a human who pretends to err never cannot be trusted, so your tactic may fail you (''errare humanum est'').

:[[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 11:20, 13 January 2012 (EST)

:Conservative, this is not a debate about RudrichBoucher's resume, nor does anybody but you think that he has engaged in "fraud." Nobody gives a crap about one line in a conversation you had with him months ago, and nobody cares that you think he is a shyster. Rudrick's qualifications are irrelevant to the debate about evolution vs. creationism. You have contributed NOTHING to this debate, except for personal attacks on the participants. If you notice, all of the spaces under "What an evolutionist would say" are full, and almost all of the spaces underneath "What a creationist would reply" are empty. Why don't you take 5% of the effort you spend trashing AugustO's church and use it to actually make some content?

Oh, and by the way, don't just write another paragraph attacking someone and paste in onto all 15 questions. There is no excuse for that level of immature behavior.[[User:TonyPark|TonyPark]] 11:35, 13 January 2012 (EST)

::It does seem a little ungracious to take someone's admission that they may have overstated the case on a peripheral point, and beat them over the head with it and call them a fraud and a liar. I should say that allowing people to qualify, explain and refine what they say is fairly essential to a constructive dialogue. Otherwise, you are just going to encourage pig-headedness and heel-digging.--[[User:CPalmer|CPalmer]] 11:51, 13 January 2012 (EST)
:::Darwinists have had over 150 years to provide sufficient evidence, yet they are still dogged by legitimate charges of engaging in deceit (see: [[Atheism and deception]]), suppressing evidence, using strong arm tactics and being chicken to debate and losing 300 debates to Dr. Duane Gish. Instead of having shifty people posting some lame material at CP, why don't you ask the evos Shermer, PZ Myers, and Dawkins debate the 15 questions with CMI? Are you afraid they will chicken out like atheists Penn Jillette and Don Exodus2 or like the 2010 Global Atheist Conference? :) [[User:Conservative|Conservative]] 11:55, 13 January 2012 (EST)

Obviously it doesn't take ''Shermer, PZ Myers, and Dawkins'' to address the 15 questions satisfactorily. So why bother them? Just because you want to get their attention for your ''campaign''? [[User:AugustO|AugustO]] 11:59, 13 January 2012 (EST)
:On the subject of creationist/evolutionist debates, I do find the idea quite amusing since they inevitably involve and attract people who are so firmly entrenched in their position that to acknowledge the other side may have made a good point, however small, would be impossible for them. I do wonder whether there has ever been a debate on this subject that has actually been anything other than a waste of time. Whether the questions here can ever be satisfactorily addressed is a similar issue. [[User:Adambro|Adambro]] 12:08, 13 January 2012 (EST)

Fight at Monterey Pass

2012-01-12T15:54:14Z

Adambro: fix category