" a tide of immorality in Louisiana"....good grief

[AnnInLa]

Under a burning afternoon sun, a crowd of clergy and parishioners gathered at the Capitol steps Saturday, exhorting Louisiana to avoid a different kind of heat.

People from several Southern states as well as two state legislators came to pray the state out of trouble on what Mayor-President Bobby Simpson declared as "Divine Protection Day" for Louisiana.

While organizers said they expected 300 to 500 people, the crowd struggled to reach 100, including presenters and Capitol tourists.

Still, optimism ran high that the mix of prayer and gospel music at the annual prayer rally would stem what many attendees see as a tide of immorality in Louisiana.

"Last year, we prayed to catch that serial killer and not only one serial killer was caught, but two," said Cynthia Rucker, public relations director for World Link of Churches and Ministries.

Donning a purple shirt, sunglasses and a golden, gem-encrusted cross, the Rev. Lloyd Benson urged the crowd to pray for Louisiana and the United States.

"Our nation was founded on Christian principles, and I believe we should continue with that," said Benson, who founded World Link and spearheaded Saturday's event. "We're going to see changes as we pray today."

Benson echoed the sentiment of many present when he said stopping gay marriage is a chief concern of pray-in organizers.

"Same-sex marriage is not based on the Bible, not based on how God established a family as one man and one woman," Benson said. "We should stick to (traditional marriage) for the sanity of the home."

Also addressing the rally were state Sen. Melvin "Kip" Holden, D-Baton Rouge, who is running for East Baton Rouge Parish mayor-president, and state House Speaker Pro-Tem Sharon Weston-Broome, D-Baton Rouge.

Included in the lengthy presentation was a prayer for Louisiana that began, "This state belongs to God! It does not belong to crime, pornography, racism, abortionists, murderers, homosexuals, gamblers, drug dealers, alcoholics and those who profit from these ills."

Asked how gay constituents might feel about him attending an event that included a prayer lumping gays with murderers and drug dealers, Holden, who voted against the proposed state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, said God should bring people together.

"This country is built on diversity," Holden said. "It may not be something you agree with, but you can't go out and condemn people because they are living a lifestyle you don't agree with."

more at www.2theadvocate.com/stories/072504/new_prayers001.shtml

hope I didn't copy/paste too much?

[lil-petunia]

1. Devine Protection Day

As that as in Dick Devine, the former coach?

Must be looking for big linemen.

So, only 100 turned out to seek something - in a state that gladly hosts Mardi Gras. must have been one family.

[Atlas Mugged]

3. No no no - it's DIVINE

As in Lady Divine. I suppose their sacrament is dog shit served on the sidewalk.

[olddem43]

9. No, it's Andy Devine - the old comic actor

This is a comedy isn't it?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. The pastor is wrong

the Bible doesn't say marriage is one man, one woman. In several places, it says marriage is one man, several women. Also it is perfectly ok, according to the Bible, for a man to take concubines.

Don't these fundies read the Bible? Or do they have their own verison tailored to fit their own prejudices?

[whistle]

4. Boy if this works, maybe Bush can send them....

...a couple million dollars for their faith-based initiative program. Heck, Bush will send the money whether it works or not, just as long as they vote for him.

Now exactly how the good Mayor-President Bobby Simpson and others who are supporting this effort plan to measure the results, I guess only God knows for sure. But, I suppose if in one year the folks of Louisiana can actually reduce or even eliminate "pornography, racism, abortionists, murderers, homosexuals, gamblers, drug dealers, alcoholics and those who profit from these ills", then the purpose will be fulfilled. Stand up and be counted! (Remember, if they can be identified, they can be eliminated, Patriot Act II).

[boobooday]

5. No more thong underwear in Louisiana!

No more gays? No more sin in the "big easy?"

How freakin' unAmerican can you get?

The state belongs to God? Can we hold Him responsible for David Duke?

http://www.wgoeshome.com

[juajen]

12. Well, Hell's bells,

No, we are not responsible for David Duke. We hereby disown him. This is a laugh; but Louisiana is a very conflicted state. We have regular bible-thumpers in the Northern bible belt; Catholic anti-abortioners in the Southern parts. Thank God I live in the Southern part. While most Catholics are anti-abortion, they also are pro-fun, hence Mardi Gras and all the beer you can drink. Don't worry, Southern Louisiana is like a different state. They'll never change us. I remember how shocked I was when we moved here twenty years or so ago and they had drive-through Daiqueri Huts. Gigantic to go cups full of liquor, what a State!!! Of course, I moved here from Texas by way of Tennessee where only liquor stores could sell booze. In Louisiana, it is sold everywhere from Rite-Aid to all the grocery stores.

[The Flaming Red Head]

14. There's a lot of pro choice catholics there too

and I think they forget that.

But hey as long as all they do is beat up on gays, women, blacks, children and the environmentalist. ( some of the preachers down there think that environmentalist are of the anti christ)

What the hell lets all get drunk and screw.

[AnnInLa]

17. Hi....greetings from Abbeville!

[Pepperbelly]

6. I must say, as a str8 man, if I hear one more time ...

That it's Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve, I will fucking shriek until I can shriek no more.

[Sparkly]

20. And it's always said as if the speaker had made it up

and was saying it for the first time ever, feeling very clever.

[The Flaming Red Head]

7. Its hard to tell the Dems from the Repugs in that state

W poured a lot of money into LSU for homeland defense research and security and I can't figure out why they would get it.

So far we've had one sniper, two serial killers, and possible links to the anthrax mailings with Steven Hatfield hired by LSU.

It's a loony mixed up place.


Edited to add the Fragging incident: He was from Louisiana,too.

[DemBones DemBones]

13. "W poured a lot of money into LSU for homeland defense research and

and security and I can't figure out why they would get it."

"So far we've had one sniper, two serial killers, etc."


Serial killers have nothing to do with homeland security, they are a police and FBI problem, as are snipers.

Fragging is a matter for military justice, not homeland security.

As for LSU hiring Steven Hatfield, as far as I know he has not been charged, much less found guilty, of anything. Except for being tried in the press, a la Richard Jewell.

Louisiana is a state with a coast and with the Mississippi RIver running through it. There are your two reasons why Louisiana's security is important for homeland security.

As for being "a loony mixed-up place," that's a matter of opinion.

New Orleans is my favorite American city, because it's very European in character.

[The Flaming Red Head]

15. W W W W W W W

on all the bumpers and W on all the license plates and W at the Chimes and W everywhere you look.


W is homeland defense and he is giving a lot of money to people down there to support his agenda.

Whose side are you on anyway?

[The Flaming Red Head]

16. oh and BTW I don't think Hatfield did anything, either

I think he's being harrassed.

I love N O but try living in Louisiana if you're poor. It's like hell.


If you have AIDs it's very hard to get any treatment and it's hard to get any healthcare at all there without insurance.

I wish they would pour money into improving the poverty rate and not homeland defense.

[skooooo]

8. "We should stick to (traditional marriage) for the sanity of the home."

Ah..yes..the "sanity of the home." ALmost forgot about that !!!

[whistle]

10. Wait a minute, I think Bobby Simpson may be onto something...

...By invoking Patriot Acts I and II, all the authorities have to have is a "suspicion" that someone falls into one or more of these Un-American activities and they can be rounded up, lock-up and never heard from again. The Act does allow this, plus if it's initiated through prayer, Bush will send federal money. Now, let see, who are the easiest to finger, in order of of their obvious outward appearances and behaviors? I have one possible list in the order of friends, families and neighbors who could identify such perverts:

- alcoholics
- homosexuals
- abortionists
- pornography(ers)
- gamblers
- drug dealers
- murderers

As for racism or racists (the persons) and those who profit from these ills listed above, they will be the hardest to find because they are the ones who have the most to loose by being exposed, to say nothing of the fact that for decades, if not centuries, these individuals have always evaded authorities and society's efforts to apprehend them, not just in the U.S., but throughout the world.

The top three on the list above are easy targets, because anyone can call name another person as being this type of individual, plus in Louisiana as elsewhere, people who fall into these groups (alcoholics the easiest of all three) can be found frequently very specific well known places, where like-minded individuals gather to partake in their perversions. The other four present a challenge, but hey, law enforcement has always tried to find these individuals, so there is no need to hold back on the effort now.:wtf:

[The Flaming Red Head]

11. Wait Bobby's a genius

"According to Mayor Bobby Simpson of Baton Rouge, approximately 50 percent of the ozone in the Baton Rouge area is produced naturally by trees and other vegetation, while 40 percent comes from vehicle and industrial emissions." BR Advocate 8-21-03

[Moderator]

18. AnnInLa

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
copyrighted news source.


Thank you.


DU Moderator

[SheilaT]

19. I thought God

was pro-choice and in favor of couples establishing permanent, loving unions, regardless of gender.

Guess I'm wrong.

[leesa]

21. The concept of God never brings people together.

It is always devisive and stirs up hatred. I don't imagine God intended it that way, but it is the way it goes. Saying "This state belongs to God" is stupid and anti-American.